3 Things I'm Liking in October

... well, actually 4 things, but 2 of them go together so they can technically be grouped as one.

Sorry I have been absent for a good bit, but I enjoyed a wonderful week-long vacation to beautiful Puerto Rico and then had to get everything caught up at work as a result.

Anyhow, I got a little birthday gift sampler set from Sephora a couple of months and the first two items came from that sample set. I always love getting those sample set gifts or trading in reward points for featured samples because its a great way to try different products for free...so if you don't like them, you're not out the cash. More often than not, I end up trying a product I usually wouldn't try if it wasn't a free sample....and end up liking it! Why does make-up have to be so fun to play with?!  :)

1) Benefit's Watt's Up! :   It's a stick highlighter that's super easy and fast to apply (as most sticks are).  I have it in Luminous champagne.  Right now, that may be the only color available...not sure. Sephora has it for $30. I haven't checked anywhere else. As I said before, I got it as part of a sample set, so I don't know what the full size stick looks like or how big/small it is, but I can tell you that I use my sample at least 3 times a week and I'm still using the same sample stick. On my face, a little goes a long way and I usually only use it under my eyes/high outer cheeks  and the very middle along my nose right on the bone.

My birthday sample of Benefit Watt's Up

2) Benefit's They're Real! Mascara :  Again, this was in my birthday sample kit from Sephora and I'm loving this mascara.  I had heard a lot of people raving about it and was wanting to try it, but always got distracted when I was at the store so I was really excited to find a sample of this in my bag! I thought it really lifted my lashes and volumized them.  I don't really focus on lengthening too much, but I did think my lashes looked longer.  Simply put, it almost looked like I was wearing falsies (the name is fitting).  Note: I do apply multiple coats of mascara and sometimes use a couple types of mascara on the same wear. 

My sample of Benefit They're Real! mascara

3)  M.A.C.'s lipstick in Diva:  I linked M.A.C.'s site, but I purchased mine at Dillard's. It's $15, which in my opinion is not bad at all for a department store lipstick since some nicer drug store lipsticks can be $10 or $12 dollars.  The color is a burgundy-ish color which I love for Fall!    I wear mine with M.A.C.'s lip pencil in Vino  (Which I also bought at Dillards) lining my lips.  I have a hard time finding the perfect shade of deep red/wine/burgundy lipstick so I love shopping for MAC stuff at Dillards (or your department store of choice), where the nice ladies let me try it on to see if it looks nice on me and make helpful suggestions. 

MAC lipstick in Diva -  looks lighter in this photo than in person.

Lipstick Tuesday

My plan for a crazy Tuesday....  Keep calm and apply red lipstick ;)

Seriously though, there's something about red lipstick that instantly makes me feel more put together and ready to take on a hectic day.  There are so many different shades of red lipstick, and different shades are said to complement certain skin tones better than others.  Red lipstick is also said to give the appearance of  a brighter smile since the bold contrast can appear to make teeth seem whiter.

 Today I went with MAC's Amplified in Diva and lined with MAC's lip pencil in Vino.  I also blended in a little of Covergirl's Lip Perfection lipstick in #360 Euphoria with a lipbrush to make it a little lighter/more berry-ish. 

Fun red lipstick quotes:

"Heels and red lipstick will put the fear of God into people."  -Dita Von Teese

"Beauty to me is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick."  -Gwyneth Paltrow

And one of my favorites (even though its not about specifically red lipstick) ....

"Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together."  -Elizabeth Taylor

Motivation Tuesday: Diana Nyad

....since Monday (yesterday) was Labor Day, and this happened yesterday anyway :) 


In awe of this woman:

Diana Nyad, Image from worldnews.nbcnews.com

"I have three messages. One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you're never too old to chase your dream. Three is, it looks like a solitary sport, but it is a team"  -Diana Nyad



The 64 year old woman completed a 53 hour, over 100 mile swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida without a shark cage. Talk about motivating! I think its even more amazing is that this was her fifth attempt in 35 years. She made two attemps in 2011 and 1 in 2012. I remember all of those failed attempts being reported in the evening news. The average person, would probably give up on a dream or goal after a failed attempt or two, and usually those failures don't get reported to the masses via the evening news. I'm sure she had her fair share of people saying that her fifth attempt would fail again, that she was crazy for even trying a fifth time, or that 64 was too old to be doing such a swim, but she dove in anyway and fulfilled her dream. Confession: I was brought yesterday watching media coverage of her swimming the last few miles, her arrival in Key West, and the message she gave. She is so inspiring! Thanks for eliminating any age-based excuses I've come up with, and making anything I've whined about seem silly.


Diana Nyad's site is: http://www.diananyad.com/


PS- She posted on her blog, that she will be doing the Nyad 48 Hour New York City Swim in October to help the victims of Hurrican Sandy.  Awesome!

 



3 Things I'm Liking in August

I don't do a lot of shopping, but I do occasionally find products that I end up liking alot. Lately I've been really enjoying some beauty finds..... so here are 3 products that I'm currently liking:



1)  Stila Stay All Day Foundation & Concealer  I had never tried any foundation from Stila before, but last time I was at Sephora, one of my favorite beauty consultants there did the Color IQ matching on me, and this foundation in 4, Beige was on the list.  She applied some on my face at the store, and the color was a good match.  I'm sometimes weary of trying new foundations because you get them home and they look completely different on your face, but I'm still liking this one.  It comes with concealer on the lid which is handy and goes perfectly with the foundation.  It also comes with a brush, but I haven't actually used it yet.  It has buildable coverage, is oil free,  and it lasted all day on my face. 

Stila Stay All Day Foundation & Concealer

the top concealer part



 

2) benefit the Porefessional  Also got this at Sephora. It's a great face primer that feels nice and creamy and does seem to reduce the appearance of pores on my face. I'm not sure if I'm just weird, but it seems to smell nice as well.



benefit the Porefessional


 

3) Bare Minerals Purely Nourished Moisturizer with RareMinerals ActiveSoil Complex for combination skin (they also make one for normal to dry skin which I have never tried) .  Also bought this at Sephora, but Bare Escentuals has it as well, of course.  I was looking for a non-greasy every night moisturizer and this fits the bill.  It feels great on my skin and is lightweight. It's $28.00 at Sephora, which considering the cost of some of the other moisturizers they have, is a pretty good price.  What I like is some of the things it doesn't have:  no sulfates, no Parabens, no synthetic Fragrances or dyes, no Petrochemicals or Phthalates, no GMOs or Tricolosan.  I don't have to use a lot of this each time, so it last a while.  The only thing, is that it doesn't have sunscreen and not all of my foundations have it, so I use it nightly, but not during the day.  I did see on the Sephora website that there is a bareMinerals Advanced Protection SPF 20 moisturizer available.

(BareMinerals Purely Nourished Moisturizer)

 



Birthday Thoughts -30s

My birthdays seemed to get less exciting after I turned 25.  So when celebrating my birthday recently, instead of thinking about being "another year older,"  I focused on how blessed I was to live to see my 30s since not everyone gets that honor and being thankful that I had people that genuinely care about me, to celebrate with.   Just in time, a friend posted an article from Glamour Magazine's website on Olivia Wilde's Dos and Don't of Turning 30.  I found it pretty fitting!

http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/2013/08/olivia-wilde-s-advice-for-turning-30

I enjoyed her article and think she had some good tips.  One of my favorites was  the "Don't cut your face."  It seems like you can't turn on the radio without a commercial about a plastic surgery clinic coming on telling me about end of summer deals on tummy tucks, breast augmentations, and face lifts.  They all mention their great "payment plans" too.  It's almost a fad now. I understand that there are people who need reconstructive surgery because of accident, illness, or various other reasons  or the lady with back problems that needs a breast reduction, but I would guess that the majority of people getting these procedures, do it for purely aesthetic reasons.  I guess it I just find it un-necessary.  Most people are proportional and uniquely pretty.  A size 2 woman is probably not going to have 38D's naturally, but she's more than likely proportional and looks great the way she is. 

My other favorite thing she mentioned was "Don't feel pressured to pop out kids."  This one hit home. I love kids!  I don't do well with babies mainly because they look fragile and I'm afraid of them getting hurt,  but well-behaved toddlers and older....love!  They're cute and fun, and most by that age can communicate fairly well...so I don't mind spending time with them at all. I love my niece and nephews to the moon and back.  I just don't have any of my own and have no desire to pop any out right now.  I've had people at the grocery store check out line or friends with kids give all kinds of strange responses after they ask how many kids I want to have or when I'm "planning on popping out some kids." I've received gasps and looks of disbelief.  A lady once told me "oh, you'll change your mind soon,"  while another said "your eggs will start going bad soon sweetie, you should have them sooner rather than later." Did I miss the part where it said having them was a requirement?  A friend once asked "who is going to take care of you when you get old if you don't have any kids?"  Ironically she put her mom in a nursing home after her father's death a few years ago. With 7 billion people on the planet, I'm pretty sure the survival of our species is not dependent on my having kids, so I wish some people would stop reacting as such. 

As a recently married woman, I was single for most of my 20s, and I can tell you that most women in their late twenties or early thirties that are single, have enough people pressuring them about finding Mr. Right, getting married, settling down, having a family,  and whatever else they consider a necessary step to being their idea of a "happy woman."  ....That's aside from the usual pressures to be a more responsible person, have things figured out, stay fit or recover her high school figure, and be on the way to a successful career by the time you reach 30.  I guess my questions would be: What happend to people following different paths through life?  Why are people so concerned about the life other people choose to live, and not understanding when it doesn't match their own?  and my big one would be,  Do men feel these same pressure put on them?    

What is a Spangliano?

Literally, it's a made up term I use to describe myself.  My parents are Spanish and Italian....making me a Spangliano, but since that would be a really short blog post, what the title refers to is to what I'm like...an introduction of sorts.

[Right before a lunch date with my husband]

My friends describe me as friendly and bubbly. I consider myself a complex person. Not sure if that's correct word to use. I don't mean it in a intellectually intriguing way. What I mean is that I tend to like various different things, which often have absolutely nothing to do with one another or go together in any way. I'm random maybe??

I work as a water Microbiologist and have always been a science nerd. I enjoy life sciences more so than Chemistry and Physics.  I don't consider myself a fashion connoisseur, but I've never worn a pocket protector either.

[I have no idea why I held my tea box up in this photo]

I like spending my spare time enjoying the company of my family and friends, reading, and catching up on favorite tv shows. I do have a few hobbies and interest, but I sometimes hesitate to mention them because it feels like some people expect you to be an expert at all of them, and I am a guru/expert at none. 

More about me:

• I enjoy paper crafting, and baking...I find them to be very relaxing and it gives me a chance to express some creativity. 
• I tend to be a bit of a make-up junkie- love trying new colors and products. I absolutely love browsing through Sephora.
•  I enjoy wine...usually reds, but can't resist a good Moscato either. A good Sangria is always among my favorite drinks.  
• I like traveling and visiting new places.  Budget and schedule don't allow for as much of that as I'd like, but I enjoy discovering new places,shops, and restaurants locally too. 
• I'm very accident-proned, and have been as long as I can remember.
• Love getting random snail mail or emails from friends.  Seriously! It makes my day!
• I have the ability to fall asleep almost anywhere, anytime I choose. I'm not narcoleptic, just a "gifted sleeper."
• my mom's perfume and the smell of an old book are 2 of my favorite scents in the world.
• Spanish was my first language.
• My favorite color is Red. It's my power color ;)
• I like sudoku puzzles.

                                                       [With my husband, Mike]

I recently married my best-friend, Mike, after a 3-yr relationship. We have 3 "furry kids."  Salma, my 9 y/o American short hair cat that I've had since college; Jack Black, our 2 y/o Vizsla, who I believe will always have a puppy-personality;  and Zena, a Russian blue mix we rescued, who is more Jack's kitty than ours.


[Salma napping]

                      [Jack Black and Zena]


I decided to start a blog mainly to have a outlet to express opinions, ideas,and share thoughts, life happenings, etc.  We'll see what comes up.



Side note: Writing/grammar is not my forte'.  I've never won a spelling bee, but I do consider myself a decent speller. Please do not write/comment to me just for the sole purpose of playing English professor. I'm sure there are people in blog land more grammatically-challenged than me. Maybe check if they would appreciate assistance.