DIY: Coconut oil sugar scrub

 I used to do sugar scrubs a long, long time ago but then I just stopped for some reason...So today as I was giving myself a foot bath, I decided to whip up a sugar scrub.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Coconut oil
2 tbsp Raw Sugar (Brown, white or raw can be used)
few drops Tea tree oil

There is no set recipe for this scrub but usually it works best when you take twice the amount of sugar as oil.

 So I took 1 tbsp of coconut oil and 2 tbsp of sugar and a few drops of tea tree oil in a container. Upon mixing it turns into this gritty, coarse mixture. I love the coarseness of the raw sugar, it really gives a good scrub.                        

Due to the comedogenic nature of coconut oil, I wouldn't advise using this on your face, although I've heard many people to do it with great results. I used it on my neck, shoulders, arms, legs. I just scrub it using my hands and then I just wash it off...Try to do this step after using body wash or soap because washing this off with soap kind of defeats the purpose. Anyway, the result was unbelievably soft and supple skin. I had forgotten how good this thing is. I need to make a jar and keep it in the shower. 

Product review: Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom All-in-1 Nude Palette for Face & Eyes

Last weekend, a girlfriend and I decided to swing by Walmart...I can't stress enough how relaxing it is to stroll through the makeup aisle in mega-marts for hours on end. Its therapeutic! So I picked this nifty little palette up on a whim...This palette from Physicians formula is touted as a all-in-1 nude palette for face and eyes. It comes in the shades Natural and Warm. I got it in Warm. This retails for $12.97 at Walmart but the price can go upto $15 depending where you buy it from. On to the product. Honestly, I fell in love with the packaging...its just sooo cute, pink and girly!

 It has a total of 12 shades and they are all shimmery.

 The back even has a guide and a nice built-in mirror, a face brush and an eyeshadow brush. Quite handy to carry around.

 Here are swatches of all the colors on my arm (with flash). The colors are very pigmented and quite creamy but darn powdery. If you have ever used Urban Decay and Mac eyeshadows and face products, you will know the difference..these aren't as finely milled. Nonetheless, since there are no super dark colors in this palette such as black, charcoal or dark brown, fallout won't be a major problem, just remember to wipe off fallout using a fluffy powder brush. Row 1 and Row 2 would work best as a cheek and eyebrow highlighter. The bottom two rows would work well as eyeshadow colors and a bronzer, although I don't see myself using this as a bronzer. I am not into shimmery bronzers...

 (without flash)

This is a picture of the colors blended together. The first swatch is Rows 1 and 2 blended together and the bottom swatch is Rows 3 and Rows 4 blended together.

Overall this isn't too bad a palette if you are on a budget and don't want to splurge $50 on a palette. Physicians formula makes another shimmer palette which they've had for a while now...it comes in various shades such as Miami strip, Vegas strip, etc. That one retails for around $9.99 and I have used it before. Its nice but the packaging isn't as nice as this one. I still think the former's product quality is better. They probably spent more money on the packaging than the product itself. This palette is made in Taiwan while the previous ones are made in Italy. I bought this palette mainly for the purpose of cheek highlighting...I love highlighters and thought this would lend the most perfect golden beige sheen to my cheeks. Its a slightly above- average product and for a drugstore product the price could be a little less. I give this a 4 out of 5. 

I am a goofball

I wrote this poem for my hubby a few weeks ago (I put it in his breakfast bag)...its pretty self-explanatory. I used to do this quite often before where I would write short poems about daily life activities and such...

As the night grew younger,

A thought crossed my mind.

A new breakfast for tomorrow?

Something in the fridge I can find.

A daily bowl of oatmeal,

What a bore it can be!

Brown eggs look upon me,

‘Cook me up will you please?’

Out came the frying pan,

Some onions and chillies too.

Behold! A beautiful omelet

Can this be really true?

Two slices of soft brown bread,

Hugged the eggs so nice.

A sandwich so nutritious,

You couldn’t put a price!

Tomorrow awaits new breakfast,

‘Yummy’ I hope you’ll say.

These eggs are so joyous,

They wish you a fruitful day! 

Pho on a cold day!

We went over to Pho Que Huong this past weekend for some Pho...which is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, noodles and meat or seafood of your choice. We had the Curry chicken soup. Its our favorite as the broth is  super spicy and slightly creamy with a hint of curry flavor and chunks of mushy carrots. I love the garnishes consisting of bean sprouts, basil, cilantro and lime. It's a real treat on a cold, wintry day. To switch it up, I sometimes ask for egg noodles instead of rice noodles, giving it a 'ramen' feel. There's something about eating soup out of a large bowl...it seems comforting, relaxing and effortless. 

Restaurant Review: Jasmine Thai

One of the first memories of my husband and I are of our sporadic visits to a Thai restaurant in Buffalo called Jasmine. Their food was perfection and we miss it dearly. So imagine our delight when we spotted a restaurant by the very same name right here in Dallas! This past weekend we decided to try it out and the best part is it is conveniently located at 2050 W Springcreek Pkway, Plano TX, which is right by our favorite desi grocery store (Indo pak supermarket, where we buy our meats, lentils, etc.). The restaurant is a rather small one. If you can get past the tiny seating area, its actually not too bad. Decorated aptly with golden figurines synonymous with thai culture, the interior was actually quite cozy.

For appetizer we ordered the Thai Herbal Chicken ($7.95). Its described as an original Thai dish in the menu. Its super crunchy fried pieces of boneless chicken and basil leaves, sprinkled with copious amounts of crushed chilli flakes. It was quite spicy actually. We both loved it and the portion was huge for an appetizer.

For main, I ordered the glass noodles with beef (Pad Kee Mao) $10.95 and it was dressed in the most delicious garlicky, spicy sauce with a slight hint of sweetness. They had the sweetness spot on. Usually a lot of Thai places will OD on the sugar and then I am just left with this sweet feeling in my mouth, whether I just had dessert or savory. However, this place really satisfied me thoroughly. The portion was ginormous (I did go on a very hungry stomach!). One gripe was that the pieces of beef were shredded a bit too fine, so they were almost like ground meat. Nonetheless, it was terrific. I am almost thinking about going there again this weekend :)

Hubby ordered the basil fried rice with beef $9.95. He was real happy with his meal as well. It was well-seasoned, spicy to his likeness with a generous portion of meat. Those slices of cucumber and wedge of lime really strikes a chord with our inner bangladeshiness.

We were so stuffed from all the food, we had no room for dessert. Overall, we enjoyed our experience here. Service was prompt and servers were friendly, we would definitely visit again.  

Curling my already curly hair

You know how we all love everything 'controlled'...like we don't always like things 'as is'. We want to control the look tweaking a few things. Hair is one of those things that look best when styled with either a styling tool or styling products.  For instance, I love the look of curls created by a curling iron, as it tends to look more polished and neat. So a few days ago, I decided to whip out my curling wand that I bought almost 5 years ago. I must say that using a curling iron can cause some 'wrist fatigue' which is basically the tired feeling in your wrist after holding up the curling iron for long. Anyway, I did spray some hairspray before and after curling as the curls tend to loose their bounce within an hour (in my hair at least as my hair is very fine in texture).

Recipe: Pasta with yogurt and eggs

I know this sounds weird, but it tasted oh-so-good.

Ingredients:

1 box medium shells pasta (12 oz.)
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 tbsp smashed garlic
3 eggs (fried separately)
Few grape tomatoes (halved)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tsp crushed chill flakes
2 tsp Goya Adobo seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
Salt to taste


Boil pasta according to directions on package. Drain and cool. In a large pan, add butter and oil together (to prevent the butter from burning). Add the onion and caramelize. Add the smashed garlic. Add the grape tomatoes. Crumble in the fried eggs. Follow with the crushed chill flakes, adobo seasoning, black pepper and salt. Add the pasta and greek yogurt together. Mix to combine well. Cover and let it sit on medium flame for 15 minutes. Turn down the heat and check for taste, by now the tanginess of the yogurt should have subsided and you are left with a creamy sauce. Delicious!