Time for another product review....

Hello...

Long time no chat.  My apologies. 

I have some new (to me) products to tell y'all about.  I spend a lot (like a WHOLE lot) of time researching make-up, make-up artist, watching You Tube videos from make-up artist, and I follow a lot of make-up blogs.  We all know I love me some Kandee Johnson...  I learn a lot about make-up from all of these people, which I in turn, like to share with you.  One of the most important things that I have learned is that some of the most successful artist don't always use the most expensive products.  Being what I like to refer to as "checking account challenged" like I am, I love this!   And I love stumbling across awesome budget friendly finds!  Here are some of the newer things that I have found and love...

The budget friendly...

1.  NYX Cosmetics:  I have had so many people suggest NYX products lately.  KJ, my favorite guy that works at Sephora, etc, so I was anxious to give them a try.  I just happened to need some help with eye brow defining when I ran across this little set up...

This is seriously awesome.  Comes in every imagineable color combo, includes two different colored shadows and setting gel, and two brushes, one for the powder, one for the gel.  Its tiny, self-contained, and perfect.  Seriously one of the best brow products I have tried.  Annnnnnd.....it was $3.99.   You.  Are.  Welcome.

*Side Note:  My Sephora buy swears by their powder for photo make-up.  BTW...Mac make-up is not photo friendly.  We've all seen the pics of the girls with the flourescent white face.  No you are not crazy, your make-up doesn't look like that in real life, some just have crazy pigments that don't react well with a camera flash.  Unfortunately, our beloved Studio Fix is one of them.

2.  Loreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes:  Y'all know I am always searching for perfect mascaras. This was another suggestion from Miss KJ.  KJ swears by Loreal for a drug store brand.  And we all know how I feel about Loreal Double Extend.  But this one comes in a close second.  It doesn't give quite as much length, but is a little quicker and easier to use, without the primer.  The brush is great too, for reaching all of your lashes.  And it gives a lot of volume.  Don't get me wrong, it is very lengthening, and it smells good.  Weird, I know, but it does.  And $7-$8.  Again, you are welcome.

3.  Elf Tinted Moisturizer:  I have been looking for a good tinted moisturizer for years (it seems like).  But I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it because its something I would only use once or twice a week maybel  In the winter, at least.  In the summer I use it everyday, so I don't mind spending a little more.  Nars has a great one, and of course my favorite, Laura Mercier.  These are my go-to's in the summer, but like I said, I was searching for a cheaper alternative for winter.  If you don't already know Elf, let me introduce you.  This brand isn't your cheap fall back for everything, but what they do well, they do great!  Brushes, check!  And tinted moisturizer, check check!  And ladies, its $3...

Thats all I have for now.  I hope you like these products as much as I do.  If you try them, let me know what you think.  And if you have tried a budget friendly product that you like, please, by all means, share the wealth!!  

Happy face painting Thursday :)

Make-up and a Make Over...

Once again, I have been a bad little blogger.  I would like to say that it is because I didn't have anything to write about but that is just simply not true.  Most of the time I find myself in situations thinking "I wish I could blog about this!"  But, I don't in order to not incriminate myself or those around me.  My partner in crime and I have decided that we need to start an anonymous blog to document all of our wild shenanigans.  I wish I could say that I will let you know when this happens, but obviously that would defeat the purpose of the anonymity.

What I've been up to:

Well, Christmas, family and all that, of course.   I had a great Christmas with the fam and I hope everyone else did too.  Sadly I don't have many pics. 

Now on to the make-up...

Here is a pic of my neice on Christmas opening her present from me.  I got her a caboodle.  Yes, a caboodle.  Remember those days?  Circa 1990.  Well, they still exist.  She loves make-up and yipp gyoss (as she calls it)  so I knew she would love this.  I filled it with lip glosses and scented nail polish and other goodies.  And she loved it!  Carried it around with her all night.  She is my little mini-me :)

I also have come across a bunch of new make-up finds lately that I thought I would share with y'all.  I love these new finds and I know you will too!!

#1.  Loreal Double Extend mascara. 

Also called "beauty tubes" and you will quickly see why!  This mascara has a primer that you use first, then the mascara.  I did it step by step for my mom and she said it looked like I had fake lashes on.  This stuff is serious.  It literally wraps your real lashes with some amazing substance that makes them longer, thicker and curlier.  Its kinda weird when you wash it off, just a heads up.  But it comes off very cleanly and doesn't leave racoon eyes.

Here is my after pick.  Extreme close up, kinda scary. 

But Lashes....Boom!

#2  My sister got this gift set for me (funny story, I actually got her the same gift set.  We got each other a lot of the same things this year, kinda scary). 

I love everything in this set!  Which is awesome, but also means that I will have to buy the big versions when I run out.  The "Stay Don't Stray" eye primer is the bomb.  It keeps your eye makeup looking like you just did it all day.  And is also a great concealer for under your eyes. 

"The Pore Professional" pore primer is great too!  I just use it through my t-zone and it is great at hiding your pores and smoothing out your skin before foundation.  And the "that gal" primer/illuminator is really fun.  And its not quite as glittery as some others I have tried.

#3  My sister also got me this fun OPI holiday gift set.

I love all of the colors and keep the tiny top coat in my purse.  Yes, I am that girl who has to have a miniature version of everything I use with me at all times.  Seriously, everything....my lotion, my mascara, hairspray, perfume, nail polish, eyeliner, eyelash curler, etc.  (Along with all my other lip glosses and compacts and all the usual stuff).  Always gotta be prepared.

One of my favorite current colors is Malaga Wine.  I used that then did a coat of the red sparkly "Speak for your Elf" color from this set.  It is a great, fun, sparkly red color.  Perfect for New Year's Eve festivities.

Malaga Wine

This is both together but it looks darker in this picture, and you can't really see the sparkles but you get the point.


On to make-overs....

Not the kind I'm sure you were expecting.  I need a desk mak-over, bad.  Even my coworkers are starting to ask when I'm gonna liven up my area.  They may be sorry after I add my Whitney touches with all my pictures, pink, and sports memorabilia.  But, I need ideas!  Help a sister out.  I have tons of space, and tons of shelves.  And if anyone would like to make me anything or donate some cuteness, I would greatly appreciate it.  I like pink, and paisley and Flors de Lis, and all that girly stuff.  I also really love sports and make-up.  Just to give you a starting off point.  Please let me know any cute ideas you have!!
Here is what we are working with:

Thats all for now!  I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I'm excited about my New Year's plans!  I will do a post next week to let you know how all of that goes! (Promise.)

Happy Turkey Day!!

Well, it is Thanksgiving day and I am partaking in the typical joys of the Holiday....Bloody Marys and Football.  I'm two bloody marys in and switching to Prosecco, which will then transition into Chardonnay, then pumpkin cheesecake....Its just what we do.

In my parents house today, we have.....My Dad, My Mom, my brother and his wife Kaci, and my two nephews, my sister and her husband Mike and my two nieces and nephew, myself, and (try to keep up) my brother -n-law's Mom and sister.  In case you lost count that is 14 people.  These 14 people bring a total of 5 dogs in addition to the 2 my parents have.  Yep, that is 14 people and 7 dogs, and 1 cat.  Now you understand the alcohol??

Pretty much every Holiday at the Smith house looks a little like this...

and this....

There is a really good reason this is my family's favorite movie.


Right now all the boys are out on the horses somewhere, dogs are asleep and girls are cooking....Gotta love the Holidays!

What are your favorite dishes, traditions, etc??  Are your Holidays this crazy??

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Enjoy your tryptophan coma!

Why I Love My Sister...

(Well, other than the obvious "because she is my sister" reason, of course)

So, let me just admit to y'all, if you haven't figured it out already, I'm crazy.  I over analyze everything and can't make a decision to save my life.  Its just me, its who I am.  Deal with it.  I have come to terms with it and I've accepted that about myself.  The problem is, I know this craziness does not only affect me.  And Lord knows no one on earth has to deal with me more than this lady:

Yep, that is my beautiful sister. 

Let me go ahead and address all of the obvious questions that I know most of you are asking right now...

Yes, I know we don't look anything alike.

Yes, we came from the same parents.

No, we are not the same age.  She is (believe it or not) 9 years older than me.  This makes it extra special when we are together and she gets carded to buy adult bevvies and I do not.  That is SO not okay.  I still try to brush this off by saying that this is merely because she is fun-sized (5'1"ish) and I am not so fun-sized (5'5"ish).  Just go with it.

So back to all of the reasons why I love her...

1.  She ALWAYS answers her phone...

-Okay so maybe not always but most of the time.  This is especially important because I call her obsessively throughout the day.  We have a rule that if we call once and there is no answer then we call a second time only in case of an emergency, so that the other knows they have to answer.  We came up with this rule because both of us really like to sleep and do not like to be woken up so this way if we are sleeping we don't have to answer unless there is a second call.  Great rule right?  Yes, except that I use the second call method at least twice a day.  Hey, I have a lot of what I think are emergencies.

2.  She lets me vent...

-....and complain and bitch and moan and all of those things.  And she does it all with little to no complaining.  

3.  She always gives good advice...

-Even if I don't always take it, and usually don't want to hear it.  She is usually right too.  That sucks.

4.  She is my favoritest wingman...

-This stems from her own selfish reasons of wanting me to have babies.  But regardless, she is always down to hunt out viable prospects at Keeneland with me.  She will even make sure to position us in close proximity to any one she sees as a good target.  And make sure we are there with a pen to lend when he needs it ;)

5.  And this is a big one....She gave me these...

How lucky am I??

In all seriousness, I really mean it when I say I don't know what I would do without her.  She keeps me sane.  We have VERY different personalities but somehow we balance each other out.  No one can get on my nerves quite like she can (and I know that is true for her too!), but there is no one I would rather have on my nerves.  I guess if you have to be stuck with someone for your entire life, I got pretty lucky.  

Thank you sister for always being there for me through all of my issues.  I really hope you know that I would do the same for you.  Just don't ask me to make any decisions.

In lust with LUSH!

Okay ladies (and gents, they have men's products too)...

Have y'all heard of Lush?

Its this really cool, handmade, natural cosmetics place.  For you Lexington ladies, we now have it in our cosmetics department at Fayette Mall.

A friend introduced me to it a couple of weeks ago and I am now OB-SESSED!

Here are the things I have tried so far:

Bath Bombs...

These are balls that you drop in your tub while your bath water is filling up.  They have all different kinds for different things...calming, moisturizing, shimmer, etc...They smell SO good.  It makes your water all foamy and bubbly and turns it fun colors....that was my favorite part.  I seriously loved this thing.  I took a bath at night and still smelled good the whole next day!  Seriously.  I'm a fan.

Dark Angels Exfoliating scrub...

It is made from charcoal, if you can't tell by looking at it.  It looks scary but its awesome.

Hint* - They will measure out any amount you want.  Think of it as a cosmetics deli.  haha.  I got $4 worth and I've used it for two weeks and it doesn't even look like I put a dent in it.  You are better off doing this because the products expire (because they are so natural) and you could never possibly use the amount they give you before it expires.

 It just takes a tiny amount, about pea sized and you mix it with a little water in the palm of your hand then spread it on and massage it in to really exfoliate.  I left it on until it dried to really give the charcoal time to do its stuff.

This stuff is intense.  But I love it!  The rep told me it was for really deep cleaning.  I was looking for something to get all those gross T-zone pores.  This is it.  They say that it is their "harshest" face scrub (again, they have different kinds depending on what you need) so I started out just using it every other day.  But I loved the way it made my skin feel so much that I now use it pretty much every day.  I have pretty sensitive skin and I have had no negative results from it.  I did break out a little bit the first couple days, but that was just because it was doing such a great job of getting deep in those pores and getting all the funk out.  My skin feels so smooth and clean after I use it.  Again...I'm a fan.

Some things I can't wait to try:

Well, pretty much everything.  But specifically the shampoos.  The shampoos are bars.  To use them, you wet your hair and rub the bar around your scalp and then work it into a later and rinse just like regular shampoo.

They have little tins to keep the shampoo bars in, and they supposedly last For-EVER!

They even have henna shampoos for dark hair, that have a natural color/shine boost in them.  How cool is that?!  They have special ones for blonde hair too.  They also have bars that have really subtle gold glitter in them to make your hair really shiny.  I can't wait to try all of them!

Here is what the website says about the henna bars:

"Reincarnate"

"Revive your sad scalp and bring your dull, dreary hair to life with Reincarnate solid shampoo. Red henna gives dark hair a brilliant shine, Rhassoul mud from the Moroccan Atlas Mountains soothes sorry scalps, while seder powder conditions and adds a resplendent gloss to your mane. All these exotic ingredients perfume Reincarnate like the scent of incense wafting from a far Eastern temple through a surrounding spice market. Do yourself a favour and pick up a piece."

There you have it ladies.  Now run to the mall or get on their website and try it for yourself.  

You. Are. Welcome.

What I'm Loving Wednesday :)

1.

I am loving how on top of my blogging I have been lately... 4 post in a little over a week??  That is pretty good for me!

2.

I love Nutella...so I am LOVING (loving way too much, I might add) these cookies I made last night.  So easy. Here is what you need...

-Peanut Butter cookie dough (I used store bought, you could be a lil more domestic if you wish)

-Nutella

-a cookie sheet and oven

Section cookie dough into one inch balls and flatten in the palm of your hand.

Put a small dab (about a teaspoon) of nutella in the center and make a little pouch. (mine looked kind of like chinese dumplings at first then I just shaped them into more circular shapes)

Place them seam side down on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 min on 375.  Seriously, that easy.  The Nutella stays all gooey and creamy in the middle.  They are SO good. 

(Okay so I have to come clean; these are not my pictures.  They came from The Yummy Mummy where I also got the recipe.  I tried to take pictures but lets face it, I am no Martha Stewart and they just were not as pretty.  I also used peanut butter cookie dough, she used sugar.)

3.

I am loving that UK Basketball officially starts tonight at Rupp with an exhibition game against Transy. Go Cats!!

4.

I am loving these new fall nail colors!  Cant wait to try them.

OPI-Black Cherry Chutney

OPI- Warm and Fozzie

5.

I am loving this new matte eye shadow color I got from MAC this weekend.  I am OBSESSED with MAC make-up.  Especially their eye shadow.  I have really been wanting to try more matte colors lately and I found this one and love it!  I will post a pic in a later blog.  (Still home sick and don't feel like putting on make-up just to take a blog picture.  Sorry.)

6.

I am loving this new Wale Album.  I realize my music taste may not be for everyone.  I keep thingking I will grow out of the rap music phase eventually but it never happens.  My Mom likes it too (yes, for serious) so there is a good possibility I may be a rap music fan for life.

Thats all for today.  What are you all loving on this beautiful Fall Wednesday??

He was just tryin to get his hair did...

So today I am home taking a sick day.  Throat funk, etc...  So of course, I thought it the perfect time to update ya'll on whats been happening in my household the last few days.  

Pretty much my life has revolved around this little guy...

I know what you are thinking..."this is different from every other day, how?"  But for serious, he has been the center of attention all weekend.  On Friday he had an appointment to get groomed.  Homeboy needed it, bad.  He was looking like quite the scrub.  The groomer called to say they needed his updated rabies info, so I called the vet to get it emailed to me.  Of course, it expired last month, don't judge me.  And the groomer makes you wait 2 days after the vaccines, so we made the vet appointment and rescheduled the grooming appointment for Monday.....

 (at the vet...not a happy camper)

During the vet appointment Friday night the vet informs me that since Bentley is now 6, he really needed to get his teeth cleaned.  They have to be put to sleep for this.  I was so nervous because he has never had to go under anesthesia for anything before! I dropped him off Saturday morning and was a nervous wreck all day waiting for the call from the Vet.  But everything went smoothly, they said he actually had very pretty, healthy teeth and he would be ready to be picked up in an hour.  He was so pitiful when I got him.  Still very groggy and had the jello-necked-head-bob thing going.  He had a band-aid on his arm from the IV, which he of course milked for all it was worth.  I was mad because they didn't give him the the pink band-aid because he's not a girl.  Umm...so??  That didn't stop me with his pink collar.  Oh well.  

 (On our way home, notice the lame blue and white band-aid...)

All was well until a few hours after we got home and little man had some constipation issues.  He is so embarrassed that I am sharing this with you all.  I will spare you the details of the multiple baths that had to be given Saturday night, but I'm sure you get the idea.  I will say that all of this made for a very cuddly, loveable little boy that slept with me all night and I must say....I kind of enjoyed that part.

I am sure it goes without saying that he was a little less than thrilled with be dropped off again for his grooming appointment yesterday.  I was a little less than thrilled when I picked up my ridiculous looking dog.  They shaved his whole body and left him with a bushy tail and long ears.  Seriously?  What about this seemed like a good idea.  He looked like a squirrel and he HATES squirrels.

 (This is after I "fixed" it a little bit...poor baby boy; .finally got the hair cut that started everything.)

So there were no cute costumes or Halloween parties for me this weekend.  But I didn't miss it at all.  I'll take a lazy weekend at home with my boogie butt any time :)  True sign that I am getting old...