Zoya’s America and Qtica Lip Balm – @Zoya_NailPolish

In order to qualify for their 4th of July special, I ordered the Qtica Intense Lip Repair Balm. I am a huge addict of lip balms as I have a constant habit of licking my lips. This in turn dries them out like crazy. I used to swear by Carmex but I’ve noticed that it really hasn’t been working like it used to. Not sure if they changed their formula or maybe I’m just ready to move on to something else.

The balm is really thick and waxy. I’d say just a tad thicker than Carmex and is an opaque white in color. It goes on pretty smoothly, melting down as soon it hit my skin. The scent of tea tree is very strong at first, it was almost off putting but it dissipates almost immediately. It’ll take some getting used to, I can tell that it has soaked into the lips of my skin but I can also feel it “coating” my lips. I’m not sure I care for that feeling but it may be something I can get used to as long as it helps keep my lips in shape. I’ll have to test it for the next couple weeks and then do a complete write up.

With every order over $10, Zoya also included their America nail polish. At first I was afraid that it may be too orange for my skin tone but once I got it applied, I fell in love. Probably the #1 thing that I love about Zoya polish is their formula. It’s just thick enough work with, covers well with on coat and doesn’t have a really harsh scent.

 

JCPenny’s Free Kids Haircuts in August

Spread the word! In this tough times, everyone needs as much help as they can get.

 

Sally Hansen Nails and Cuticles Hand Creme Review – #sallyhansenmoisture

Part of my Influenster Summer box was Sally Hansen’s Hand and Cuticle Hand Creme. The one thing I noticed immediately with this creme was how it soaked into my skin almost immediately. Now, this could very well be a testament to just how dry my hands are and that testament would be correct but I cannot tell you how many lotions I have used that require me to then get a paper towel to wipe the excess off.

That doesn’t happen with this lotion at all. It absorbs quickly and leaves my skin feeling incredibly soft and renewed. There is a slight scent that is refreshing but far from overpowering and it does tend to linger on the skin.

Combined with the Tips for Toes serum from ASK Cosmetics I have been using, my cuticles have been in the best shape ever. I cannot remember a time when they looked so pink and healthy.

Size: 3.4 oz
Cost: Approximately $7.99 at most drug stores

 

LOTD – July 12th 2012

This week has been crazy, I got the pics I needed for my LOTD yesterday but I just never got the chance to actually post it! So here it is, finally!

Last week, I had ordered some Glamour Doll Eyes samples and they came in on Wednesday. I just had to take one of them for a test drive yesterday. The lucky winner? Strawberry Cupcake!

This LOTD was put together with:

MAC Unpainted Primer
GDE Strawberry Cupcake (all over eyelid)
MAC Celestial Black (outer V and crease)
CoverGirl Exact Eye Lights eye liner in Vibrant Pearl
Maybelline The Falsies Volume Express Flared in Black
Revlon Just Bitton Lipstain in Frenzy

The close up didn’t come out that well, I really wish I could find the power cord to my digicamera but until then, I am stuck with my iphone camera so please pardon the photo. I really hope to get some better ones up soon.

I’ve never played with loose eye shadow before so this was a real treat for me. As this is loose eye shadow, there was some fall out but no where as much as I was expecting. As long as I took my time and pushed the color onto my lids, it worked fine. This is certainly not a product I would rush personally, at least not until I had a little more practice under my belth.

I have a total of 12 samples to play with so I will be doing swatches in an upcoming post to really show off some of the cool and fun colors I get to play with in the weeks ahead! But just as a teaser, here they are all together.

If you haven’t heard of GDE, they are an eye shadow company that primarily uses earth minerals such as Magnesium Stearate, Zinc Oxide, Kaolin Clay and Methicone Treated Titanium Dioxide. Everything is FDA approved for cosmetics and the colors are really unique and fun. I was also approved to become an affiliate so by all means, check them out! They have something for everyone!

 

BodyRock 30 Day Challenge

A couple weeks ago, I discovered BodyRock while crusing through the forums over at My Fitness Pal. I absolutely love that she uses items we have in our homes so really, no special equipment is needed. I’m all about dual purpose!

I’ve chosen to do the 3o Day Challenge just cause it seemed like a good program to start. She references her interval timer but I just use the timer on my iPhone, 10 seconds to get situated and at 50 seconds, begin my reps. For now, it works pretty well. I also really love how she breaks everything down as well as shows modifications for each step along the way.

Today marks Day 3 of the challenge for me and I’ve started to notice some improvements in my sets.

My muscles are screaming after a work out but I feel better by the end of it. Truth be told, yesterday was probably the most sore I have ever been but it really felt good. It told me I was doing something and that gave me the fire to keep going.

There are also some pretty yummy sounding recipes on the site and last night, I made up the Chicken in Carrot Ginger Sauce. I really liked it, (though I had to do some modifications since I was out of oranges and rice so I used lemons and couscous instead). It came out pretty yummy but the SO didn’t care for it much so it won’t go into the regular rotation of  meals but I think I can pare it down enough to make a couple lunches for me! I thought it was quite yummy.

Who else Bodyrocks?

 

ASK Cosmetics’ Beach-Ready Toe Nail Challenge – Week Ten

To follow along, you can go back and read Week One, Week Two, Week Three/Four, Week Five, Week Six, Week Seven,  Week Eight & Week Nine to see the whole process.

I didn’t get to go for my mani/pedi last weekend after all due to just life schedules. I’ve also done a lot of gardening this past week as well as started up my composting bin so my hands have been really beaten up. My left hand had two nails break (pointing finger and thumb) and my right has mostly been dealing with not getting enough moisturizer.

My feet are doing pretty good. At night, my feet are pretty much always in the SOs lap and he made a comment the other day about how soft my feet are feeling and the changes in my toes. That made me feel pretty good!

One thing I did notice however, is the split in my left toe didn’t actually go away. It’s not easily seen on the nail bed but it shows up once the nail grows out. This is the part that usually makes me nervous as the nail on the left side of the split is usually the part that gets ripped off but I have noticed that the nail itself seems stronger, less “flimsy” for a lack of a better term. I may just have to keep this nail trimmed down, which is fine. I’d rather have stronger nails than longer ones.

All in all, not a great week but not a bad one either so thanks to Lisa and ASK Cosmetics!

 

Daniel Tosh Being An Ass – Shocking!

Sorry, my sarcasm is showing.

Apparently a blogger and a friend decided to catch a show at the Laugh Factory and instead found herself humiliated and the butt of a rape “joke”.

Daniel Tosh would later tweet his “apology” while at the same time promotion his show.

I certainly do not understand people who are fans of this man. While I have a pretty dark sense of humor myself, I fail to find the humor in rape. In a society where rape is already more about blaming the victim than the offender, why would someone want to make light of it?

I’m glad the blogger spoke out, I’m not sure I could have been that strong.

 

Incredible Shrinking Me!

A comparison photo collage I put together. I wish I had been doing this the entire time. It’s really helped me stay motivated as well help me see myself as I am now versus how I was for so long.

Looking back, getting the lap band surgery was probably one of the better decisions I’ve ever made for myself. It’s been a long journey but I am feeling so much better these days. It doesn’t hurt to move, I am sleeping so much better and quite frankly, I think it rocks!

 

My summer wardrobe additions

I did my usual JCPenny shopping today. I had some reward certificates to burn so I tried to replicate the outfit with the BRIGHT shirt from last week. I managed to get 3 outfits for the price of one. All of the shirts are from the Arizona clothing line and the pants are St John’s Bay denim capris.

I got one pair of dark denim capris (in size 16, that still completely blows my mind!), 1 multi colored belt (all I own is my thick brown belt), white tank, red tank, blue spaghetti tank and the yellow shirt.

I really like the red tank, the details on the front are on the diagonal and float away from the body so it hides a lot of sins.

This is the outfit I chose as a way to replicate the yellow outfit that I put together at my consult with Crissy. The shirt is not quite as flowy as the other one was but it is still very comfortable and light.

The blue spaghetti strap was just too cute for words, I needed to have it. I’ve worn it a couple of times already and feel wonderful in it. Very casual without being too wallflowerish or worse, hiding me from the world.

 

When Chocolate Goes Bad

I am going to a party tonight and decided to make some balsamic chocolate truffles so I picked up some Toll House Dark Chocolate bars from the HEB close to my house. I planned on spending the entire day cooking since I am also making some deviled eggs.

This morning I woke up all excited to get to cooking and started on the truffles since they need some time to set up. I tore into the chocolate bars and slid them into my hand. I didn’t pay attention at first until I opened the second one when I realized I was holding a hand full of maggots. There were maggots all over the chocolate bars! I completely freaked out!

I wish I had thought to take a picture but all I could think to do was toss all three bars into a plastic bag and break out the bleach. I scrubbed everything down, even my hands. I was so nauseated and upset. I had to go digging in the trash can for the receipt and by then I was calm enough to drive back to the grocery store. I walked up a manager and explained what happened. They took me to the business center to give my money back but that was pretty much it. No questions, no nothing. The clerk handed me a scrap piece of paper and asked me to write my name and phone number down for the manager “in case he wanted to file an incident report”.

*IN CASE*?!

I am beyond disgusted and plan to call Nestle on Monday to report what happened. That was just completely disgusting! Needless to say, I won’t be buying Nestle products for awhile, Ghiradelli got my money today.