Breezy

This is a quick makeup look I came up with today using ELF, Urban Decay, and Maybelline shadows. I personally love wearing silver eyeshadows, and wanted to give myself a smokey eye today, but decided to go a different route. Instead of using all neutral shadows, I wanted to pop a bright, beautiful blue on the outer edge of my eye to give sort of an edgy look. I think this blue not only makes the silver shadow pop, but it also ties the whole look together giving an overall icy, cool-toned look that I ended up really liking. I hope you do too!

I started off using NYX Milk all over the lid, but mainly concentrating it in the inner third of my eye.
From ELF, I used the Drama palette (the light silver in the inner third, and the medium shade silver in the middle of my eye).

For the blue, I applied Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Tenacious Teal in the outer corner, and slightly winged it out.

From Urban Decay, I used the Book of Shadows NYC palette with the colors Radium (applied over Tenacious Teal) and Uzi (applied over the silver shadow in the inner corner of the eye).

To finish off the look, I used L'Oreal Telescopic liquid liner and Maybelline's One by One mascara. 

I decided to top it off with a glossy nude lip. 

This look is a great bold look that's perfect for a night out. Is this something you'd wear?

June's Recommended Reading

Happy June, everyone! I cannot believe it's June already. This year has gone by SO fast (at least, it feels that way to me), and I'm so fortunate and blessed to have already had an amazing first half of the year. There's been so many fun and memorable events these past six months, and I'm ready to experience even more in the future, God willing! How has your year been so far? :)

Anyway, I'm so excited to be reviewing this month's 

recommended reading. It's called Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson...

This book is seriously one of the best ones I've read in such a long time. It was actually recommended to me Ailah from Cosmetic Blur. Here's the little description on the book:

"As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I’m still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me. . . ."

Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love—all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story. Welcome to Christine's life.

Before I Go to Sleep is basically about a woman who loses her memory every time she goes to sleep. She keeps this journal that helps her regain some of the memories she's lost, and ends up realizing that the life she's been living was all a lie. I can't really say much more than that without revealing the actual story line, but it's definitely a mesmerizing read. As you read through the book, you start to predict what will happen, but the book is super suspenseful, and what you think will happen doesn't happen, and it will leave you genuinely surprised. It will capture you in its first sentence. I love the kind of books that will leave you at the edge of your seat wanting to frantically turn the page to find out more about what will happen next. If that's what you're into, you'll LOVE this. 

 What books have you been into lately?

Tuxedo Nails

This post is long overdue since I've done these nails a while ago, but work and school have demanded much of my time lately, so I apologize for the delay. This is going to be short and sweet!

I got the inspiration to do these nails as I was browsing random pictures, and I thought it looked really cute! So I tried it on myself for the first time, and had a lot of fun doing it, although it got a bit messy!

My nails definitely felt like getting dressed up that day! lol This isn't something I'd typically wear on a daily basis, but it was a cute look for a short while. I used Sally Hansen's White On and Black Out nail polishes to complete this look. I hope you liked it! :)

Purple Flare

I hadn't used my Sigma palette for the longest time, so I decided to create a fun evening look with it.

For my eyes, I used a dark purple (Gossip) and a brown (Crush) into the crease. For the lid, I used a light purple (Allure). As a highlight, a pinkish nude (Beware), and finally, a gorgeous light green on my lower lids (Oversee). Then I took my favorite L'Oreal liquid liner, Maybelline's One by One mascara, Milani pencil liner, and finally some Ardell lashes (my first time ever applying falsies). 

Tuna Salad Wrap

I made tuna salad for the first time today, which is totally exciting for me! I only tried making it once before by myself, but it didn't turn out that great. Today, it was perfectly delicious!

 

It was my first time making it, so I know that I probably made the celery chunks a little too big (which is what you prominently see in the picture), but it wasn't that bad ;)

After I made it, I stuffed it in my whole wheat wrap I bought from yesterday, and it tasted really good. It was super filling too. I love it! It's crazy to think that I used to not like wheat, but I'm starting to incorporate more and more of it into what I eat every day, which is great because we all know that wheat is a lot healthier than just plain white bread.

For my tuna salad, I didn't add any relish or anything else besides onions, celery, mayo, pickles, and tuna. Additionally, I added salt and some other things to taste. So yeah, that's about it!

What did you have for lunch today? :)

Fuchsia Nails

I painted my last weeks one of my favorite nail polish colors ever (it also happens to be my favorite color in general), which was OPI's Flashbulb Fuchsia. I haven't worn it in a while, but it's a gorgeous color for spring and summer! It's so feminine, flirty, and edgy. Totally me. If any color could describe my personality perfectly, it would be this one, for sure. It dries in less than two minutes, opaque in one coat, has a satin finish, and lasts a good four days without chipping. It's AWESOME!

What's your favorite polish to wear for this season?

Simple Work Makeup

I work in a very casual work environment, and while I don't like to leave the house without any makeup on, sometimes I dial it WAY down when it comes to what to wear to work.

My fast and simple routine includes dabbing on light, airy foundation with my Sigma F50 duo fiber brush. This brush allows your foundation to go on super light, and lets your skin breathe. Whenever I want a super natural look, that's what I go for. I also keep the lips pretty simple and neutral.

 

For the eyes, I go pretty much bare, but the only thing I add is a brown in the crease to give more definition to the eyes, and to give the illusion that you have more makeup on than you really do. Also, I add a quick line of black eyeliner across my lids to give even more of a definition.

 

 What kind of makeup do you wear to work?

Veggie Wrap

As I was reading through my June/July issue of Seventeen, I found a page that features yummy food secrets from celebs. One that particularly caught my eye was this vegetarian wrap. It looked delicious!

 

I looked at the ingredients, and overall, it seemed pretty simple to make. Even though I've neither cooked nor prepared any food like this myself before, I decided to go out to the grocery store to buy what little ingredients I needed, and came home straight away to make it!

 Here's what you'll need:

-1/4 cup hummus

-1 whole wheat wrap

-1/4 cup low fat mozzarella cheese

-1 cup fresh spinach

-1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes 

-1/4 avocado, sliced

Directions:

1. Spread the hummus all over the wrap.

2. Arrange the cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and avocado in the middle.

3. Fold the bottom up over the fillings, fold the sides in, and roll up from the bottom.

4. Heat in the microwave for 20 seconds. 

5. Slice it in half.

I did it just slightly differently in that I used shredded mozzarella and regular sliced tomatoes, but as with any food, you can make your own modifications to whatever you like, including adding some of your other favorite veggies as well.

Here's how mine came out:

 

I honestly didn't think I'd like it that much because I don't like wheat (I've always preferred white bread), I've never had a taste for spinach, and avocados? Yuck. But when they are combined, heated, and eaten all together, I was pleasantly surprised. It was so delicious and satisfyingly filling. I tasted more of the hummus and cheese than anything else. It's definitely a great combination. 

By the way, I'm not vegetarian, but I love how easy this was to make, and how HEALTHY it is too, so I'm definitely going to be whipping up some more in the future! Also, according to Seventeen, "adding hummus and a little cheese will help you get the protein you need if you're skipping meat."

Because it's so fast and easy to make, in addition to being a great healthy option, I'd recommend for others to give it a try. I don't think anyone is as picky with food as I am, but it's great to get your taste buds used to trying out different things, especially ones as healthy as this!

Have you ever tried this or something like it? If not, would you?

Something Different

My beautifully talented cousin came up with a look that she posted on Facebook, and I really liked it when I first saw it, so I knew I had to try it out myself (hers is like a thousand times better, though!).

This look is just using a few simple colors that I took from my Urban Decay NYC palette. It's cute, colorful, fun, and refreshingly different. I have done a rainbow eyeliner type of look in the past, but never as eyeshadow. This look isn't meant to be a rainbow, as I only used four colors, but I really think they look well together. To top it off, I used a dark brown, which is actually Chocolight by Motives in the crease. I really like how this came out, and I hope you do as well. It was easy to do, and it's not completely "out there" either. This isn't a typical look, but sometimes you just gotta step outside of the box, and create looks you wouldn't normally gravitate towards because those looks end up being the best! Let me know what you think! Is this a look that you'd like to try?

Over the Moon

For today's makeup look, I decided to go a little bit darker and "dramatic," if you even want to call it that. I used a shadow I hadn't used before, which was Motives Twilight all over the lid. In the crease, I used Last Call by Urban Decay (I love this color!).

I used the usual eyeliner and mascara, which are L'Oreal Telescopic liquid liner and Maybelline's One by One mascara.

I hope you like this look! Let me know what you think :)