Saturday, May 3, 2014

zoya Summer 2014

I received my new zoya 2014 colors and did a quick little leopard mani with the base  as Tilda and the spots are Rocha. Tilda is a smooth cool toned lime green cream. It goes on perfect and opaque in two easy coats. I don't own anything like this color. I am a huge Seahawks fan so I am excited! Rocha is a bright tomato colored orange-red that's good in two coats. It's the perfect summer red.

Here's the mani! You can buy the zoya summer collection at www.zoya.com for $9.00 a bottle. Stay tuned for more zoya summer manis!

What do you guys think about Tilda?!



*all zoya summer 2014 were provided by zoya for honest review

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Friday, May 2, 2014

Wet n Wild

As I prepare to join the army I sit and stare at my hundreds and hundreds of glitter polish. My reds and teals. Holos and pastels. I can't wear any of it unless I'm off duty in my civilian clothes. Bummer.

But my make up? Ha! I've always been a fan of a neutral face so I am darn close to owning every shade of brown in cosmetic existence. So that I don't have to change! Lately, I'm loving wet n wild's bare it all lipstick. It sits matte on the lips and doesn't budge for a solid four hours on my lips. It's a fantastic nude shade!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Weight Loss Journey

Since January 2014 I've found myself on a rather arduous weight loss journey. I had a baffling realization when I started a new job and had to order their uniform pants and shirts. 

"What's your pant size?" 

I don't know. Their sizes went by inseam and your waist in inches. I deliberately avoided stores like Vanity, and jeans like wrangler and levi because I didn't want to know. So I said I didn't know,  let's try a 32 and a large shirt. I try that on and the shirt was so tight every time I sat down the bottom buttons would unsnap. The pants were a huge fail. I couldn't get them close to buttoning or pulling them up. 

34? Nope.
36? Nope.
38? Nope.

I refused to put on a pair of pants with a 40 inch waist. So I begrudgingly put on my tight 38 inch pants. I stand at only 5'2". There was my moment of clarity. Why did I feel so depressed all the time? No energy, poor self esteem. My head was so displaced it affected my parenting abilities and I failed my college classes.

So I started walking two miles a every day because I couldn't even run a block. When I started in January I could not do one push up - not even a girl push up. My stomach was so big I couldn't do a sit up. I could struggle and finish five if I grunted and painted. By then I was sweating bullets with barely any work done. 

I worked out every day. I cut out all processed sugar, fat, and carbs unless they came from vegetables. It sounds extreme and it was very difficult at first but with the help and support of my husband we found and created quite a few filling, healthy, and tasty recipes. We made healthy kung pao chicken and a simple green bean casserole. I'll post those recipes if anyone is interested. 

And again - I kept working out always striving to make my body stronger. I started out in January walking an 18 minute mile. Then I progressed to running a block (as far as I could at the time) and walking in 16 minutes. I ran farther and felt better at a 12 minute mile but still needed more strength. More power. 

I remember the day I ran a full mile without stopping. I felt like a beast. I might've yelled Adrien.  I ran that mile in 8 minutes and 22 seconds. Never in my life have I ran an 8 minute mile. Even in high school during the presidential fitness parts of gym it was a 10 minute mile. I wish I could bottle that feeling of accomplishment up and mail jt to you all to open when you just feel beat down and tired. 

I didn't step into a gym for any of this. I didn't take fancy classes, hire someone, step into a fad diet or buy expensive equipment.I didn't starve myself or over exert. It's me, my drive, my supportive husband. I go outside and I keep going. I feel so strong and so accomplished. I started at a weight of 232lbs and damn near a 40 inch waist. Now I weigh 180 and have lost 9 inches on my waist. I still have a ways to go but I'm so happy with how far I've come. Now none of my clothes fit and I look like a hobo LOL.

I will try to find some relevant before and after pictures. I hope I can be an inspiration to any one of you!

too faced

Recently, HSN ran a great deal on the Too Faced chocolate bar palette. $29 shipped for the shadow palette and the full sized eyeshadow insurance!

This is my first delve into pricier eyeshadows. I've purchased pricey blushes and foundation and mascara in the past, but never shadow for some reason and I hoard palettes like it's Y2K.

I love neutrals and the consistency of the shadows in this palette are smooth and buttery. There's a little fallout but not significant and the color payoff for each shadow is satisfactory. The lasting power without the shadow insurance for me is 4 hours. I didn't see a difference with the shadow insurance - in fact I'm really not impressed with it. I prefer the shadow primer that comes in the NYC palettes, actually. With that shadow primer I easily get 10 hours of wear!

Overall, I give the palette an 8.5/10. Colors and texture are great but I don't really understand the pink or purple here. I feel those are wasted spaces and the shadow insurance is a 2/10 for me. For whatever reason, on my skin it slips off and just doesn't work. I highly recommend the palette though. IT SMELLS LIKE CHOCOLATE!

Here's a look I did using the too faced palette and wet n wild bare it all lipstick with gloss on top.


Thursday, January 9, 2014

Zoya

Here are a few old zoya swatches until I get the new Zoya naturel collection up! Go away polar vortex! These colors make me so ready for summer.

Rica




Tanzy



Charla