I am a coffee junkie. I love my morning cup so much, it is one of the only things that actually gets me out of bed (willingly) in the morning. Since I love coffee so much I heard about freezing ice cubes and instantly fell in love with the idea.
I still take my morning cup of Jo warm, however this is an ingenious way to not let anything go to waste. Also, this is one of my favorite mid-morning snacks. Simply take the extra coffee and pour into ice cube trays (I found some here, in the event you don’t have any.) Freeze. Enjoy. My favorite is to pour milk over them with a bit of sweetener and a dash of cinnamon. Voila! Delicious and ready in seconds!
I love lip gloss and am always up for trying a new one. New brands, old brands, expensive or inexpensive I will give almost anything a go. So when I saw that Revlon had a new lip gloss I just had to try some of them out.
The official name of these glosses is the Revlon Ultra HD Lip Lacquer and can be found here at drugstore.com for about $8 Online they are described as the following, “Lip lacquer goes HD with our innovative wax-free get technology. Get true color clarity, vivid high-impact shine and a bouncy, lightweight feel.” Now, I am not sure about HD, but the rest is pretty true to form. They feature a brush as opposed to a sponge tip applicator and are a comparable in size and form factor to the NARS Larger Than Life lip glosses. The colors I got were #525 Pink Diamond, #540 Petalite, #520 Pink Saphire and #555 Amber. All were moisturizing and not sticky at all. As far as color payoff, they are all fairly opaque and provide a nice shine and pop of color. In order to get the best color payoff I prep my lips with a dab of concealer to ensure that I am getting maximum color payoff. These would also work great on top of a lipstick. All of the lip glosses I purchased offer a bit of sparkle so if you prefer a matte look or lip products without sparkle, these would not be a good option.
Drugstore products can be a bit of a guessing game since most drug stores don’t offer testers. As for these glosses I would recommend any of these colors and am glad that I purchased these as I plan on getting quite a bit of use out of all of these.
I am a YouTube junkie. I became addicted about a year ago and absolutely love all videos, but my favorites are those done by beauty guru’s. Videos covered range from what are called “hauls” (basically stuff purchased) to tutorials and everything you can imagine in between. One of my favorite types of videos is called “empties” that I am obsessed with! This is where gurus will go through products they have used up and tell you whether or not they would repurchase them in the future.
Now, I am not going to a video on my “empties”, but I do have some good ones so I thought I would share some of the recent products I have used up and let you know if I would repurchase them in the future.
NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain, $4.99: I can’t say enough great things about this concealer. It is an awesome buy at $4.99 and is perfect to give the under eye a bright, creaseless glow. It also covers like nobody’s business. I have already repurchased this item.
MAC Cremesheen Glass in Right Image, $20.00: I love this color and the formula, which is very moisturizing. While this is a pigmented gloss it is one that you need to touch up during the day. Although the price on this is a little steep at $20, I think it is worth it and have repurchased this.
MAC Liquidfast Liner in Point Black, $20.00: I hate this eyeliner . It comes with a tiny brush that is difficult to work with and the tube is super tiny so it doesn’t last long at all. Needless to say I will not be repurchasing this one.
Milani EyeTech Extreme Liquid Eyeliner in Black, $8.49: I love this eyeliner and have already repurchased. It is department store quality at a drug store price. Whether you want to do a thin line or a dramatic cat eye, the fine tip on this pigmented pen is a keeper. I will definitely be repurchasing after I work through some of my other eyeliners.
MAC Paint Pot in Painterly, $21.00: This product is awesome! I have used this item religiously as an eyeshadow base or just on its own daily for at least a year and I decided it was finally time to get a new one. This is the perfect primer providing a flawless finish on your eyelids. I purchased a new one already.
Dior Airflash Foundation in Light Beige, $62.00: I really like this foundation, however for $62 I need to LOVE a foundation and this one was just ok. Coverage was OK and it didn’t break me out so that was a plus. I will not be repurchasing this item.
Healthy Sexy Hair Tri Wheat Leave In Conditioner, $12.00: This was an amazing leave in conditioner that left my thin hair shiny and voluminous. Since my hair is so thin I am careful to not use too many products and immediately stop using anything that weighs my hair down. If you have super thick, coarse hair I don’t know that this would be moisturizing enough, but if you have thin to medium hair thickness I would give this a try. I will definitely be repurchasing this.
So….do you have any products (empties) you have used up recently? I would love to hear what they are!
I love looking on the bright side of life and trying to take even challenging experiences as life lessons. In my quest to see the positive in every situation I have decided to embrace Mondays.
A fresh start, a new week to conquer my to do list and take new risks in life are all reasons to celebrate every Monday. So, every Monday I am going to post a Monday Mantra – a positive quote to start off the week that is always full of endless possibilities…
Working out is my thing…sometimes. I recently got a treadmill after years of indecisiveness and I couldn’t be happier about my decision to do so. I love working out in clothes that I normally wouldn’t be seen in public wearing and getting a good workout in whenever I can. One of the best ways to get me on the treadmill is to have something good to watch – and only allowing myself to watch these guilty pleasures while working out. Here are some of my favorites that I love watching – some will make you laugh, some will make you cry and some are just good ole fashioned entertainment…
- Videos with surprise homecomings from our troops. Wow…where to begin…I am unbelievably grateful for the the sacrifices that our armed forces give. These videos show what it means to actually have a loved one go off to to serve our country and the joy that comes when they are welcomed home by their loved ones.
Pet Videos – I am an animal lover. Is there anything cuter then puppies, or dogs and babies? Do you love watching cats fly through the air or do mean things to their owners? If you answered, “no” to either of these questions, please skip to the next set of videos. If not, click through to two of my favorite YouTube videos. The first highlighting funny animals and the second where pets play with babies.
Beauty Videos: I am a certified beauty junkie and I love me some YouTube beauty videos. My favorite types of beauty videos include monthly favorites, “empties” (where girls tell you about products they have used up and let you know if they would buy them again) and tutorials (these include everything from how to apply false eyelashes to how to do a pro manicure). Some of my favorite gurus include:
Cooking Videos: The only drawback to these is they make me really, really hungry on the treadmill. Some of my favorite YouTube cooking stars include:
So there it is, my favorite way to get me on the treadmill. Do you have any secrets to get you motivated and exercising?
XOXO,
Catherine
