This is so beautiful...

Pixi Perfection Palette: Swatches & Review

 First and second row of eyeshadows

 Third and fourth rows of eyeshadows

Fifth row:  Three blushes

Sixth row: Highlighter and bronzer


I bought this palette a while ago...probably late last year. I got this in a clearance bin for $15 at Target. Considering that its retail price is $30, I thought I got a pretty good deal. I saw a few youtubers talk about this palette and how the eyeshadows are highly pigmented and buttery.  I love the eyeshadows as they are beautiful bronze and rose tones, suitable for everyday wear as well as for dramatic looks. The blushes are great too however they work as a highlighter on my skin as opposed to a blush. The highlighter and bronze I am not crazy about, but the bronzer works well as a crease/transition color. Overall, a nifty little palette that is compact and great for travel. A winner!

Bath and Body Works: Lemon Pomegranate Cream

Just bought these travel size body lotion and body mist for $10 at Bath and Body Works. I love tangy scents for travelling purposes as it helps to relieve nausea and any gross feelings you might have on a plane. 

Some chit chat

-I started PhD in Instructional Technology/ Learning Technologies in Summer 2014. This week was first week of Fall semester. Ugh.
-I haven't been to Oman in over 8 months now and that is a really long time gone without having seen my parents.
-I love watching random suspense movies on Netflix. Just watched Compliance and The Iceman. Pretty good.
-I am absolutely obsessed with Dr. Teal's Epsom Salt Soaking Solution . This thing is absolute magic. Your body will thank you once you've sat in a tub of warm water mixed with 1 cup of this salt.
-I love, love, love ribeye steaks. We have a new huge Brinkmann gas grill in our apartment complex and its a legit grill. We just grilled a few yesterday and  all I sprinkled was some salt, pepper and some seasoned salt. It was so moist and juicy. 6 minutes on each side. So good!
-I cut my hair. Short hair don't care :) But seriously, short hair is easier to manage and I haven't had short hair in like 5 years.
-My hubby and I like to rap when we are home. Like we improv rap about daily things in our lives...its so much fun. Like he's gonna go: 'What what...there's no chicken in the house, hungry me, hungry who, let's get some takeout'. 

French sponge cake with strawberries and whipped cream

French Sponge Cake recipe here
Whipped cream recipe here

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.