Nail of the Day: Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Red Reveal

Avon Nailwear Pro+ in Red Reveal

Today I bring to you Avon's Nailwear Pro+ polish in Red Reveal.

As I may have told you in past posts, I have A LOT of nail polish.  Surprisingly enough, out of all of the colors I own, I didn't actually have a true red polish until now!  I received this little gem in a Christmas gift bag from my friend Becca that was full of Avon products!  

If you would like to see what else I got, check out my haul video here:

Avon Haul!

Avon Nailwear Pro+ is a very smooth-applying cool red polish.  After the first coat, I was quite satisfied with the color payoff.  The second coat easily made the color even more vibrant.  The staying power of this polish has been very good so far.  After a full day, there is not a chip in sight (which is really good for me since I'm SUPER hard on my nails).   Overall, I am very satisfied with the polish.  I'm extremely happy to finally have a classic red polish in my collection.  I'm sure I will be getting a lot of use out of this color!

If you have used any Avon polishes that you have enjoyed, be sure to let me know!  

Thanks for reading!

Review: Gap Favorite Lip Balm

This might sound weird, but...

I am a self-professed GAP CHAPSTICK LOVER.  I know, I know.  This sounds very weird.  I mean, how in the world is a chapstick that comes from a clothing store actually good enough quality that you would say it's your favorite??  

Well let me just tell you, they are amazing!  I mean, AMAZING.  

These little ditties are super hydrating and come in some delicious flavors!  I have been using Gap Favorite Lip Balm regularly for over five years now.  I bought my first tubes in Hawaii on a whim while shopping with my sister. I was in need of some chapstick during the trip and found that the flavors they were offering sounded delicious!  Little did I know that I would end up owning I would say, upwards of 30 different tubes over the next five years.

I have always had trouble finding a chapstick that felt great on my lips when first applied, but also kept them hydrated for a few hours without the fear that they will dry out and I will jump into a panic for another swipe of hydration across my lips.  Gap Favorite Lip Balm gives me an adequate amount of hydration and keeps my lips happy for quite a few hours.  Another great thing about these guys is that they protect you lips from the sun.  All of their "Favorite Lip Balms" include SPF 18 in them, which is pretty awesome if you ask me.

These are just a few of the many "sticks of AMAZING" that I own.  

I am excited to share this little wonder that is so underrated in the beauty community!  I hope that you will pick up a Gap Favorite Lip Balm next time you are in a store.  I usually find them at the checkout counter in one of those plastic bins next to the register.

Be sure to check out my "December Favorites 2012" video on Youtube, which included Gap Favorite Lip Balm.

Find it here:

December Favorites 2012

Enjoy!

I'm Back! I Promise!

I Owe You An Explanation...

All I can say is that I'm bad.  So bad.  So bad at keeping up with things I vow to never let fall to the wayside.  I have no excuse.  I was a bad blogger for the past month!  I have a slough of things I could tell you that got in the way of me posting, but none of them are really valid reasons as to why I didn't keep up.  What I will tell you is that I'm back!  And I'm here to stay.  The past month was filled with so many disappointments in the job market, as well as some real improvements in my outlook for the next year!  

Christmas brought about a slough of products and opportunities for more products for me to try out new things, review them, and share those reviews with you!  Therefore, I wanted to give you an explanation and a promise that there are many new, fun things in store for this new year coming!  Thanks for sticking around and keep an eye out for some fun new posts!

Nail of the Day: Butter London Queen Vic & Nailtini Millionaire

Butter London Queen Vic & Nailtini Millionaire

Today I bring to you yet another Nail of the Day!  This week my nails are painted with a beautiful Butter London polish in the color Queen Vic with an accent nail with an overlay of Nailtini's Millionaire.

Queen Vic is one of Butter London's Fall 2012 collection.  Butter London polishes are definitely one of my favorites.  The polishes are very smooth and long-lasting.  I LOVE the packaging of these polishes as well and the brush is fantastic.  It is small enough to get the polish on the nail precisely, but large enough that it doesn't take FOREVER to paint one nail.

This color is also amazing.  It's a great, wine-toned purple polish.  It's perfect for the fall and has such a versatile tone to it that it can be paired with a variety of different glitter polishes (which is one of my favorite things to do this time of year).

Butter London polishes retail for around $14, so I make sure to buy them when they are on sale.  Fortunately, Ulta tends to have BOGO sales on Butter Londons every few months, so I make sure to grab at least two if I can afford it at the time.

Millionaire is a polish I received in my November glam bag.  I did a more detailed review on that polish in my MyGlam aka Ipsy November Bag post.  I will say that the colors in this polish lent themselves well to Queen Vic.  It's a really fun accent nail to have going on this week.  :D

Have you tried either of these polishes?  Do you have a "Nail of the Day" that you want to share?  Leave a comment!

MyGlam aka Ipsy November Bag

"Party Perfect"

So, here it is!  The mighty Glam Bag I have mentioned a few times!  This subscription service is seriously awesome.  For $10 a month you get a makeup bag filled with a few full-sized and a few sample-sized beauty products.  The types of products received every month range from hair products to skin products to makeup and sometimes, nail polish!  There is always something exciting to try in each bag and there have been times that I have discovered a product that I love and would have never tried otherwise.

Each month the "Glam Girls" come up with a theme for the bag and try to tailor the products they send out to that theme.  For November, the theme is Party Perfect.  The products in this bag are great for a "night out" look for the Fall and Winter season.  In this post, I have included pictures of the products I received, as well as mini reviews (from what I've gathered from them) of each product!

The bag is a nice size and quality. 

 It is a dark brown nylon-type material with a gold zipper.

The first product I pulled out of my bag was this Nailtini Nail Lacquer in Millionare.  I had never heard of this brand before, but after some research they seem to do nail, lip and eye products.  This polish is a gold and red micro glitter with a clear base.  It also has big teal and gold flecks throughout.  The polish is actually really nice.  I am picky about the application of glitter polishes and the micro glitter in this allows for easy application with a good amount of glitter distributed throughout the nail.  This polish is okay on it's own, but will definitely be complimented well by a lot of different shades underneath.  I will definitely be doing a "Nail of the Day" post soon with this polish.

Okay, so first and foremost I love the name of this The Balm Meet Matt(e) Eyeshadow (my fiance's name is Matt).  Second, I have always wanted to try The Balm's eyeshadows.  I have to say, the shadow is really nice.  It is well pigmented and blended easily on my hand.  I also like the color...it is a dark, matte gunsmoke color, which I don't believe I have a color like this in my collection.  The packaging of this product is also awesome.  It is one of the best sample eyeshadows I've received.  The cover closes magnetically, so that it's never a hassle to open the sample and try out the color.

I was a little disappointed when I pulled this is out of the bag.  :(  Apparently this month we would receive one of two items from the following choices: This eyebrow gel from Chella OR Benefit's "They're Real" Mascara.  I wanted the mascara SOOOO bad!  As luck would have it, I didn't get it.  :(  Boo.  However, the only other eyebrow gel I own is from ELF, which is doing the job.  But, I can't complain about getting another one.  This product does just what it is supposed to as a brow gel.  The brush is actually rather nice compared to my ELF gel so I'm sure I will be using this one instead.

The next product is an eyeliner from Starlet Cosmetics in the color Chocolate.  I was really excited to get this liner because I actually don't have a brown liner.  This liner was a little bit of a miss for me.  I was expecting it to be a bit smoother as far as application. It's not a bad pencil for lining above the lash line on my top lids, but it is definitely not something to use on the waterline.  It was a little too waxy and was dragging across my waterline rather than gliding on.  It is a decent liner from smudging around the lash line, but wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

Above the gloss swatch is a swatch of the Starlet eyeliner.

The final product in my bag is a (rather large) sample of Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss.  This gloss claims to be a volumizing gloss that also hydrates the lips.  First of all, I love this color.  It is beautiful any time of the year and is definitely something I am fond of wearing.  The gloss is a decent texture in my opinion.  I am really funny about "sticky" glosses and was pleasantly surprised to find that this is not too terribly sticky.  The pigmentation is very sheer at first, but it can be built up a little to be a little more opaque.  It is definitely a very shiny gloss and has a nice minty feel to it.  It doesn't have a strong tingly sensation like some lip plumpers tend to have.  It almost feels like I brushed my teeth and left a little toothpaste on my lips.  I would recommend this gloss to someone looking for a lip plumper than wont hurt their lips and they want a slightly pigmented, highly shiny gloss.

All in all, this months Glam Bag was fun.  It definitely wasn't my favorite bag I have received, but I will definitely get some use out of each product.  I definitely recommend to anyone who loves beauty products and trying new things to give MyGlam (Ipsy) a try.  It's only $10 a month and each month you receive more than $10 worth of products.  Hope you enjoy!

If you have any questions or comments or if you have tried MyGlam or these products, let me know in the comments!  :D

Product Review: Wet n' Wild Color Icon Palettes

Can I just say...AMAZING

So, if you've been at least a little into makeup throughout the years, you have probably had your hands on a Wet n' Wild product or two.  Wet n' Wild has always been a brand I was able to find at my hometown drugstore that had a low price point and allowed me to buy makeup that would get me out of my comfort zone.  Normally, it would be something like a red lipstick or some crazy-colored eyeshadow, because let's face it...I was never an "out-of-the-box" kind of makeup wearing girl.  Wet n' Wild was always hit or miss, usually a miss for me.  The products were not really the highest quality, but honestly what could you expect from a $1 lipstick?

Well, ladies (and possibly gentlemen)...hold onto your hats.  Over the past few years, Wet n' Wild has been working on improving their products.  And boy, have they improved!  And then some!

I have been hearing around the beauty community that the Wet n' Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palettes are nothing to ignore.  Emily from Beauty Broadcast has raved so much about these palettes, that I couldn't help but go out and find a few!  Having had no luck finding the particular palettes I wanted at the new Walgreens down the road, I checked last night at one of the older ones that my roommate needed to go to for a prescription.  As luck would have it, they had BOTH palettes I had been looking for!

Here are the two palettes I bought, along with swatches and a mini review on them.  Pardon the fact that I obviously already used them...I was a little overly excited last night when I got them.  If you follow me on Instagram (@FlipOverBuggie), you have already seen the swatches I took on my phone at midnight last night...haha!

Wet n' Wild Color Icon 

Comfort Zone 738

The palette retails in my area for around $4.99

This is an AMAZING deal for 8 great colors!  And you'll see what I mean when you see the swatches.  The palette is very easy to use and clever with the suggested use of each color stamped into the actual shadow.  Of course, you can use the colors any which way you choose, but it is helpful and gives a general idea of how the colors can work together.

Direct sunlight 

The shades are in order from top to bottom, left to right starting with the light gold "Browbone" shade.  This is a great neutral palette with many different "look" options to choose from.  They are all warm colors, which happen to be my favorite as opposed to cool colors.  I have blue eyes, so the golden undertones of the shades really help to bring out the color in them.

All of the shades are AMAZING but I will point out a few that really struck me.  The third shade from the left, labeled as "Crease" on the palette is a gorgeous copper-gold color with the slights hint of a rose undertone.  This shade is absolutely beautiful and blends out nicely to a great all-over shade.  The third shade from the right, labeled as "Eyelid" on the palette is a rich, buttery green with beautiful gold shimmer in it.  I find it hard sometimes to wear green eyeshadows, but this is such a subtle green that I'm sure I'll be taking advantage of it a lot.  The final color that was the one that seriously had me floored was the color all the way to the right.  This shade is seriously ridiculous it is so beautiful.  The camera picked it up a little, but this is a gorgeous brown-bronze color with some red undertones...the ridiculous part of it?  It has this blueish green-gold shimmer throughout it that makes this shade SO complex.  At first I thought the blue color was a sprayed on overlay...but NO.  It is distributed throughout the entire shadow.  It is seriously AMAZING.  That alone was worth the $5 I spent on this awesome palette.

Indirect sunlight

Automatic flash

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Wet n' Wild Color Icon

Walking on Eggshells 380B

This little trio retails in my area for about $2.99

Throughout the beauty community, it is well known that this little ditty is a "must-have", "holy-grail" palette to have in your collection.  For only $3 you get a simple, amazing trio of rich, buttery neutrals that rival some of the most popular Mac shades.  According to Emily from Beauty Broadcast, these three shades are perfect dupes for the Mac shadows Shroom, Cork, and Naked Lunch.  (See the Mac dupe video here)

I am so glad to finally have this trio and am positive I will be using it almost exclusively for everyday looks.

Indirect sunlight

These three shades lend to a perfect natural, neutral eye that is super quick and easy to apply.  I can't really pick a favorite out of the three or one that stands out the most to me because all three of these shades are just gorgeous.

Automatic flash

I absolutely recommend the Wet n' Wild Color Icon Shadow Collection.  There are in all, 12 trio palettes in the permanent collection (I'm fairly positive) and 3 of the 8-color palettes available.  Wet n' Wild also introduces limited edition palettes at different times of the year that have some AMAZING colors as well.  Right now, there are three LE 8-color palettes out there that I haven't been lucky enough to find.  Keep your eyes peeled though, and pick one up for yourself!  I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Have you tried any Wet n' Wild products that you've been impressed with lately?  Have you tried these shadows?  Please leave a comment below!  :D

I LOVE Ulta.

Samples, samples, and more SAMPLES.

If you read one of my earlier posts, you may know that since moving to Wilmington, I discovered Ulta.  Ulta is this great beauty store (similar to Sephora) that carries not only high-end brands, but also drugstore brands.  They even have fragrances, nail polish out the whazoo and some of them even have salons and brow bars.  Since discovering my love for Ulta, I have decided to do some of my Christmas shopping there.  Now, I won't be telling you what I purchased because some of you guys may be receiving one of these items from me.  ;)

Ulta does not only have a store in the town I live in, but they also have online shopping!!  I love online shopping a little too much (at least, when I can afford it...which right now Christmas is the extent of that venture).  One thing I love about ordering from Ulta online is that they send you a TON of free samples.  Not only do they do that anyway, but when I ordered my items the other day, they were offering a free "goodie bag" of even more samples just for spending over $35 with them...(which let's be honest, is NOT difficult to do).  

Therefore, I give you my plethora of samples haul.

The red bag is the goodie bag and the clear bag is the normal Ulta sample bag

Schick Hydro Silk

What what??  A razor?!  This was super exciting to me.  Razors are expensive!

Exuviance SkinRise Bionic Tonic

This claims to be a moisturizer with anti-aging and antioxidant properties.

Nine West Love Fury Eau de Parfum & Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Pearl Essence

I always like to try out new perfumes!  The Love Fury smells heavenly!

Fekkai Advanced Essential Shea Tame and Style & Biolage Hydra-Seal Softening Mist

Fekkia claims that their product tames, smoothes, and helps control frizz.  Biolage claims that this product will tame flyaways and give your hair instant moisture and softness.

AHAVA Deadsea Plants Firming Body Cream & Hugo Naturals All Over Lotion in Vanilla and Sweet Orange

AHAVA claims this will firm, smooth, and hydrate.  Hugo Naturals offers a "super-moisturizing" lotion that I am super excited to try because it sounds like it smells AMAZING.

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Brightening Makeup

I have heard good things about this makeup so I'm interested to try it.  Perhaps tomorrow?  :D

Fekkai Protein Rx PM Repair Strengthener

Pureology Color Stylist Nourishing Nectar Sculpting Gel

Nick Yucca Root Conditioning Cream

I am a sucker for hair products, especially nourishing ones and all three of these sound like they will be great.

I plan on trying each and every one of these products and I will attempt to give a review of each one.  I'm not sure how long it will take me to try them and how often I will review them, but I am excited to get to try all of these great products and give you my opinion!

One thing I will leave you with is definitely check out Ulta.  If you don't have a store near you, never fear...I feel like most of the time I tend to get better deals and samples if I shop online with them!  Also, their rewards program is great!  I get $6.00 off my next purchase if I choose to use my points I have racked up.  :D

Product Review: Tresemme Split Remedy Shampoo & Conditioner

Mend Split Ends?  Really?

So a few weeks ago, I went out to the mailbox and to my surprise, inside was a box of trial-sized hair products!  Tresemme had sent me (and I'm still not sure how this happened) a sample of one of their newest additions to their collection, Split Remedy Shampoo & Conditioner.  Now, I feel like I take pretty good care of my hair.  I am usually an "air dry" kinda gal (except when it's 30 degrees outside and my wet hair might freeze to my head), but on occasion I do like to blow-dry it and sometimes I will even straighten or curl it.  Therefore, I don't really seem to have much of an issue with split ends lately. However, I wanted to give these samples a try.  Although I knew I wouldn't be the best tester for what the product claims, I know when a product is making my hair better than before and I know when it is making my hair dull.  So, with that said, during my three uses of the product (which is about how much product is in the bottles and is the time-frame the company claims that I will see a result in my hair), I took note of the smell, general quality of the actual shampooing and conditioning, texture of the products, and the overall feel to my hair when wet and after both blow-drying and air-drying.

During the first use of the products, my initial reaction to them was the smell.  The shampoo and conditioner both have a very pleasant smell, which is most prominent in the shampoo.  The shampoo has a nice lather to it and was easy to really get through all of my hair (which is quite thick).  It rinsed clean.  The instructions on the conditioner were to rub it in your hands before applying to damp hair in order to activate the technology.  Now, I have never had to do this with another product, but I did find that rubbing it between my hands changed the consistency from a normal conditioner to almost a thick gel-like texture.  The conditioner rinsed fairly well from my hair.  My initial thoughts after blow-drying my hair and paying attention to the shine and softness and smell of my hair throughout the day was that my hair has kept the very pleasant smell of the shampoo extremely well and it is fairly soft considering I didn't use any of my normal moisturizing products like I would normally do.

My thoughts on the product?  I think this would be a great product to use for about a week or so if you start to notice that your hair is looking a little dull and is starting to get damaged.  I think that this product did a great job at making my hair look a little healthier and shinier.  I'm sure that if I had split ends, I would have noticed a difference.  Each individual hair strand does look healthy, as if I had just had my hair cut.  

However, I did notice that my hair had a sort of waxy residue feel to it and I feel like if I used this product on a daily basis until I ran out of a normal sized bottle, my hair would need some kind of clarifying shampoo to get out that waxy feeling.

Overall, I would recommend this product to someone looking for some extra help with their split ends...perhaps if they are looking for a week-long treatment to get their hair back to the "just cut" feeling and look.

Thanks for reading!  Please leave a comment if you've tried this product or something similar or have anything to add!  :D

Nail of the Day: Revlon Colorstay Vintage Rose

Revlon Colorstay: Vintage Rose

So, if you ask my fiancé, he will tell you that I love nail polish a little too much.  To him, I have entirely too many bottles of it and there is no need for one person to have so many different colors to choose from for their nails.  What's the point, right?  Well to me, there are never enough bottles of nail polish in my collection.  For the sake of his sanity, I try to make sure that I do at least wear the colors I own throughout the year and I do throw out or give away the colors I am not so fond of.  I thought that one of the best ways for me to keep up with trying out all of my colors throughout the year is to do "Nail of the Day" posts on my blog!  It definitely won't be a daily post, but I will try to share one with you at least every two weeks!  It will keep my nail polish fresh and allow me to really enjoy my collection and get the best out of all of my great colors!

So, to start things off, I decided to go with one of my new polishes that I have only worn once since purchasing it about a month ago.  Revlon Colorstay in Vintage Rose (310) is a beautiful dusty rose color with a cream finish.  By cream finish, I mean that the color has no noticeable shimmer or glitter to it.  It is a nice, opaque rose color that is perfect for fall.  

The polish is extremely easy to apply and after two coats, it is completely opaque.  One thing I love about the polish is that it doesn't streak.  I have a hard time with finding polishes (especially cream finishes) that do not streak when I paint my nails.  I am admittedly not the best at giving myself a manicure, so I need all of the help I can get when it comes to streaking.  The polish is also very long-wearing, hence the name Colorstay.  With a top coat, I can wear the polish for almost an entire week without a single chip (which is HUGE for me, as I am ROUGH on my nails).  

The Colorstay line of polishes from Revlon have gotten rave reviews from many other bloggers and Youtubers.  I have only tried this color so far, but I definitely plan to purchase a few other colors in the future.

I hope you enjoyed this Nail of the Day!  I look forward to sharing many more polishes with you!  

October Favorites!

And the winners are...

So, I have a dirty little secret.  I love Youtube.  Not in the, oh someone posted a Youtube video on Facebook so I'll watch it kinda way.  In the, I am subscribed to Youtubers and watch their new videos everyday kinda way.  I have a mix of Youtubers I am subscribed to, such as Khan Academy, TED Talks, musicians, etc.  But most of my subscriptions, and my favorite videos to watch are "beauty guru" videos!  These girls (and sometimes guys) do a mixture of different types of videos including makeup tutorials, product reviews, and my personal favorite, MONTLY FAVORITES!  The favorite things they talk about in their videos are not only beauty products, but also random household favorites, food favorites, and even Iphone App favorites!  Therefore, in the spirit of monthly favorites and since it is the first of November, here they are.  My monthly favorites!  

Let's just be honest.  I like beer.  I don't like to drink a lot of beer in one sitting, but I like beer.  I'm the kind of girl who wants to go to a bar and try a beer she's never heard of just to see if she likes it.  I don't like getting drunk off of beer.  I honestly love the taste of a good brew.  This, although not quite an "October kinda beer" is a winner.  The Leinenkugel's Lemon Berry Shandy made it in just under the wire for an October favorite when our friend bought it as a Halloween night beer for us to drink while we watched scary movies.  The brew is described as a "weiss beer with blackberry juice and other natural flavors".  To me, it has a nice tangy citrus kick with a hint of sweetness from the blackberry juice.  The lemon flavor is very present, especially at the end and leaves a nice fresh taste in the mouth.  I definitely would recommend this beer for a warm summer afternoon.  I imagine it would be quite tasty with a nice turkey wrap (one of my favorite summer lunches).  Leinenkugel's has a nice line of beers.  I once tried another berry brew from them that was also very tasty.  I am usually picky about fruity beers because I think they are way too sweet and don't actually taste like beer, but I think Leinenkugel's has done well with making a tasty fruit inspired brew.

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Do you like cereal?  I like cereal.  In fact, I'm fairly sure I could eat cereal for every meal.  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but I am very fond of cereal.  Always have been.  Always will be.  (I hope).  These days, cereal has become an indulgence for me.  With all of the sugar in most cereals that are in the market (even a lot of the so-called "healthy" cereals), I like to enjoy a bowl of cereal as a snack or as my dessert.  This is where Cap'n Crunch's Chocolately Crunch made its debut in our cabinet this month as my go-to sweet snack.  I have always been a big fan of Cap'n Crunch...just ask my friends in high school....we had a few late nights eating Cap'n Crunch before bed at sleepovers at my house.  So, naturally with my love for all things chocolate and my love for Cap'n Crunch gave way to the purchase of this delectable sweet treat!

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So, back in January I came across this great subscription service from one of the Youtuber's I follow called MyGlam (these days they are called Ipsy).  The service is $10 per month and for this price you are sent a makeup bag with a few beauty items that can range from a lipstick to eyeshadow to a hair product sample to a face product.  One month in my bag, I received a sample of this little gem from Philosophy.  I loved the sample so much that I decided to drop the $34 (YIIIIKES) on the Philosophy Take a Deep Breath moisturizer.  The product is described as an "oil-free gel cream moisturizer" and claims to detoxify the skin and protect it from environmental factors that cause it to look dull over time.  Now, I don't know if the product is actually detoxifying my skin, but the lightweight formula feels AMAZING on my skin.  I have very acne-prone skin that is affected by the smallest things, so I am constantly looking for great products.  This product delivers what I look for in a moisturizer, which is something lightweight that won't make my face feel oily, yet it gives me enough moisture that the dry patches I sometimes can get stay hydrated.  I have yet to use the product throughout the length of the cold months when my dry areas tend to get worse, so I will have to keep an eye on that and will report back with my findings.  :)

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2245234&productId=xlsImpprod4280093

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This product is something I have been wanting to try for a long time, but kept forgetting about.  I have heard about this product from multiple girls on Youtube as a great all-around blush.  NYX products in general have become a new go-to brand.  NYX is sold at Ulta stores and where I grew up, we didn't have an Ulta.  Well, hello Ulta Wilmington!  I have now started to add NYX products to my makeup collection slowly but surely.  NYX is a line that is the closest in quality to high-end makeup brands but with the drugstore price.  This particular product, NYX Blush in the color Pinched is a great coral-peachy shade with a warm golden shimmer to it.  It has great pigmentation, so a little goes a long way.  It gives a nice, natural glow to the cheeks and has become my everyday cheek color.

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I am in love with Bath and Body Works home fragrance products.  I have a wallflower in every room of our apartment and I bought an embarrassing number of 3-wick candles when they were on sale and I had a few coupons back in September.  This particular candle, Slatkin & Co Pumpkin Carving was a free small candle I received at a BBW event. This has definitely become my favorite fall scent.  I know this sounds a little crazy, but this candle literally smells like a pumpkin.  A carved pumpkin.  They did it!  They seriously made the candle smell like a carved pumpkin.  I just don't know how they do it, but they were successful.  

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On the Bath and Body Works candle theme...these amazing containers are a project I found on Pinterest!  All it took, was a little time in the freezer, a butter knife and a little patience to remove the wax and stickers.  Then, a little was in the sink with some Dawn soap removed all of the residue and...VOILA!  Perfect little containers for things such as pens, paperclips and Post-it flags, and teabags!  Next on my list is a jar to hold "honeymoon funds".  :D

http://snapguide.com/guides/remove-residual-candle-wax-from-candle-jars/

I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about some of my favorite things from the month of October.  Perhaps they will inspire you to try something new that I have enjoyed lately.  In writing this post, I found that I really enjoy doing reviews...so if there is something you are interested in trying out but aren't quite sure, leave a comment and perhaps I may have already tried it or can get my hands on it to give it a shot!

Okay, let's be real.

There I go again!

Okay folks, I'm gonna be real with you.  I am the worst when it comes to starting things and not carrying through with them.  I will be the first to tell you that I am the girl who gets super excited about a new endeavor and I put all of this time and effort and unfortunately sometimes, money and then, I just drop it.  Just ask my extremely supportive father and fiance.  They both see this pattern from me very often...my dad can probably tell you I've done it my whole life.  

Like, for example, in high school I took an arts and crafts class.  One week we made baskets.  Well guess who went home and decided she was gonna be the next professional basket maker in the family?  This girl!  Right here!  So what did I do?  Found the first online retailer for basket-making materials and bought enough supplies to make oh I don't know, probably fifty baskets!  The problem was, I made one basket and retired from my new profession.  I never made another basket again.  Two years later I finally threw out the leftover materials.  

Once, I decided I was going to run a half-marathon.  Having not been much of a runner my whole life, I was under the impression that this task would be easily attainable.  Unfortunately after my first few failed runs, I found out that running a half-marathon was too much of a task for little old me to take on, so I gave up running completely.  

Now, I can't say that I've never started something and actually completed it.  On the subject of running, I actually undertook a training program (Couch 2 5K) in order to run my first 5K.  And guess what?!  I actually ran (well, actually ran/walked because I got a liiiiittle excited out of the gate and crashed halfway through) my first 5K last spring!  Mission accomplished.  I started something and finished it.

With all of these things in mind, I am here.  Again.  On this blogging site.  Writing a silly explanation of my life in the hopes that perhaps you will understand why I haven't posted a blog in four months and why I am posting now.  I am determined to finish what I started.  I have new stories and new endeavors and new things I want to share.  I hope you'll stick with me.  Because I am determined to continue this blogging adventure!

Hurry!  Hurry!  Let's Make Curry!

I apologize for my corniness...

Anywho...one of Matt and mines favorite restaurants here in Wilmington is called Indochine.  It is an amazing Thai restaurant with a delicious menu which includes a wide variety of curry dishes!  We are big fans of going out to Indochine, but going out is expensive and making our own versions of food we love to order when we go out is one of our favorite things to do!  Luckily for us, we live less than five minutes away from an Asian market who has a wide variety of Thai ingredients, including many great choices of curry paste!  Matts favorite curry dish at Indochine is Jungle Curry, while mine is Panang Curry...and we happened to find Panang Curry paste at the Asian market!  So, we decided to make our own curry at home and invite a few friends over to join us!

So to make curry, you need a few basics.  From there, you can add pretty much any ingredients you think would be tasty.  To me, there's really no rhyme or reason to it.  It really depends on personal preference and what you thinks would go well with the particular curry paste you are using.  Curry ranges from bold, spicy red to grassy green to mild, mellow yellow.  There are also other varieties that have slightly different flavors such as Massaman and Panang, which is what we made.

The basics you need for curry are usually some type of stock (chicken, vegetable, etc.), coconut milk, and of course the curry paste.

For our curry we decided to do a hybrid of what is found in the Panang Curry at Indochine and some of our favorite Asian vegetables found in many dishes.  We went with chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans, baby corn, and bean sprouts.

First, Matt cooked the chicken in a skillet with a little salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, I combined the two boxes of chicken stock, three cans of coconut milk, a few small spoonfuls of curry paste and the cubed sweet potatoes.

We brought this to a boil and let it simmer until the sweet potatoes could be poked through with a fork.  Next, we added the cooked chicken, green beans, baby corn, and bean sprouts.

In order to thicken the curry, we allowed it to simmer and reduce...meanwhile, we added a little cornstarch (about 2 TBS total) here and there to achieve a thicker consistency.

Curry is definitely best when served over top of rice (in our opinion).

Everyone seemed to enjoy it!  We all went back for seconds and in some cases, thirds!  It was a great dinner.  I hope you will try your hand at curry sometime.  It was fun and simple and DELICIOUS.

ENJOY.