Style

The Pink Lip

Today, I promised myself to try something different and to get out of my comfort zone. Lately, I’ve been going back to the same makeup look. Each time swearing that this time, I might look just a bit different, then the look from the day before. My current everyday makeup look has me feeling uninspired and slightly bored.

Seeing that I already own a few lipstick shades, but never use, I thought that I should give a bold reddish lip a try. I have the shades, along with the fear of testing it out and going outside with it on… does that make me sound a bit silly?… Probably…

After applying the matte red lip shade, my immediate reaction was to take it off. But then I stopped myself for the sake of not wasting time putting. I kept everything else light. My eye makeup minimal, enough concealer to cancel my trouble spots and focused more on contouring along the sides of my cheekbones and forehead. Lips were my focal point and I was nervous as I spread it along my lips.

My fear of testing red lipstick came from believing that I looked weird with it on. I had this internal worry of judgement. When I asked myself if someone had actually told me that red lipstick didn’t suit me, then is when I realized that I was being my own self critique and being a harsh one too! But once I really let go of these insecurities, I asked myself what am I really afraid of? So what was the worry?

Once I really embraced this bold lip look, I felt focused and oddly, empowered. In retrospective, putting on lipstick and wearing was not weird, but rather the boost of confidence I felt, seemingly out of the blue was. It’s funny how that works.

Thank you for reading my blog post! I’m curious to know if you have had a similar experience with makeup? If so, what inspired you to give it a try regardless of these insecurities?

Like always, have a great day!

Multicolored leaves

Is it still considered Fall after a snow storm?

Probably not, but neither am I really sure and currently to focused on finishing this post to stop writing just to google it. I still consider this time as Fall because the trees still have leaves on them. Albeit, not as much but non the less, they are still hanging on. I find it inspiring to see how many different colors the leaves turn into. Then how the ground is littered with these multicolored shades of yellow, brown and reds with a tiny streak of green. Sometimes I ask myself if these leaves would be a good source of material for creating art pieces. I wonder if someone has already been so bold to ask themselves the same thing and actually make something beautiful out of them. I’ve picked one up just to examine it; to observe the array of colors, to feel the texture and to admire its irregular shape. To bad it’ll be gone soon before I take the time to make something beautiful out of them myself.

Just like seeing how pretty the burgundy hue of the leaves were, I was equally pleased to see how nicely this thrifted Topshop burgundy wool coat fit on me. The arms were not to long or tight around the armhole. The material was in good condition, minus the signature thrift shop scent. The lining was in decent condition, shiny and smooth and the pockets had no holes. It had a detachable black faux fur Peter Pan collar that looked like it had seen better days. I was impressed. The pros were greater then the cons and that made me happy, so I took it home.

A white t-shirt and trousers

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A plain white t shirt is an essential basic top in my closet. It’s like a blank canvas and (mostly) everything in my closet compliments well with it. For this look I was inspired by fashionista I stumbled on in Instagram. I paired my white t-shirt with a pair of thrifted straight leg palazo trousers, which are slightly to long and oversized for my frame. What’s interesting about The trousers is that they are made out of silk with a chevron kind of print. Silk trousers? That was new, so felt like they needed to come home with me.

I intended to wear the trousers for casual days but Ive been told that it actually makes me look very formal. When I looked in the mirror that’s not what I saw and I kept wondering as to why would these trousers would look formal. Could it be the permanent crease in the front? I couldn’t answer that question, until I saw myself in them through pictures. Now I knew why my husband kept referring to them as my business casual pants. I might wear them with kitty heals next time lol

Easy Makeup of the Day x A Not So Helpful Guide lol

Honestly, when I feel like crap 💩 I like to do my makeup. Whenever I’m feeling so overwhelmed with different tasks, to do lists, and the on going little details of managing motherhood, I try my best to take a few moments to touch up my a face. Even with just a little bit on, my mood instantly changes from indifferent to motivated and focused. Managing motherhood feels like a challenge every day because you’ve got to learn to balance your own personal needs and the very cautious efforts of parenting and those minutes of just “me time” can make the difference. This feeling is something completely new to me and I only started to really embrace it after I gave birth. This just makes me wonder how much different my attitude about my daily activities would have been if I’d started this routine earlier in life? Why hadn’t another women ever mentioned this and how come its not more commonly mentioned? I don’t feel selfish by taking that little bit of time to just focus on me and sometimes I feel like thats the only time I can get a few minutes with my own thoughts.

I’ve been steadily getting better at doing my own makeup by trying different things or a new technique every time I take up the challenge to apply it. For this look I put a little bit of eyeshadow along with a cate eye wing (which is something I’ve never tried doing cause eyeshadow kind of intimates me). From what I’ve noticed, a light hand is key as your applying it because it can easily start looking like a mess.

Here is a step by step of what I did & please, feel free to chuckle at the subtle humor of the commentary lol:

Step one: covering up my reptilian skin lol

Step two: using this awfully bad compact makeup as a under eye concealer because I needed to use it one last time so I won’t feel so guilty for throwing it out and wasting money on it.

Step three: blended well… from this distance you can’t notice the bumpy skin. i think i did a job well done. Now its time to set it with some powder to minimize my oily skin build up. hooray

Step four: some eyeshadow because i hardly wear it and these are subtle enough for others to not notice how mediocre i actually am with makeup.

Step five: if i were in a stranded island, i would put a note inside a bottle asking for whoever reads the note to send me mascara and eyeliner… and some sunscreen cause no one wants to age prematurelyStep six: a lip liner to overline my lips and as a lipstick cause my lips can make a desert look moist and plump

Voila mistro… not bad.

and another selfie to reenforce how naturally untalented I’m with makeup and girl, let me just say that if you know how to work your angles, no one will even notice lmfao!

Thanks so much for reading along and maybe even getting a little inspired by this faux easy makeup tutorial cause a girl tried her best! show some love on the comments and I hope you all have a blessed day.

#OOTD Knit Midi Black Dress & Vintage Yankees Cap x Body Positivity

where to start?….

I’m in a plateau in my fitness journey and I think it has to do with the way I’ve been eating. Although I’ve been trying to be very careful with what types of foods I eat, I’m now realizing that it is not enough to truly change the numbers on the scale. But I am happy to say that my weight is finally starting to hover around the number that I was pre-preganancy. For the short period of time that I’ve been a mother, I’ve been going easy with myself by being conscious to not say negative things to myself about my body or how awkward my belly looks hanging over my c-section scar.

I finally got the courage to test my confidence and put on this fitted midi length Forever 21 knit black dress with a scoop neckline and short sleeves that I randomly found as I was sorting through the racks inside a messy Forever 21 store on 34th street in Manhattan. It was the last one that I could see around and sadly, it had some damages but I didn’t care. I was so in love with the silhouette and especially with the versatility of having it closed all the way or leaving room for ventilation lol that I bought it with a little damage discount to knock off some dollas off of the original price. I took it home and it fit right in with the rest of my pieces, an easy comfy dress to mix and match with other pieces effortlessly.

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¿donde empezar?….

Estoy en una meseta en mi viaje de entrenamiento y creo que tiene que ver con la forma en que he estado comiendo. Aunque he estado tratando de ser muy cuidadoso con los tipos de alimentos que como, ahora me estoy dando cuenta de que no es suficiente para cambiar realmente los números en la báscula. Pero estoy feliz de decir que mi peso finalmente está comenzando a rondar el número que era antes de la preganancia. Durante el corto período de tiempo que he sido madre, me he vuelto tranquilo al ser consciente de no decirme cosas negativas acerca de mi cuerpo o de lo incómodo que se ve mi barriga sobre mi cicatriz de cesárea.

Finalmente, tuve el coraje de poner a prueba mi confianza y ponerme este vestido midi 21 color negro Forever equipado con cuello redondo y mangas cortas que encontré al azar mientras clasificaba los estantes dentro de una desordenada tienda Forever 21 en la calle 34 en Manhattan . Fue el último que pude ver y, lamentablemente, tuvo algunos daños, pero no me importó. Estaba tan enamorado de la silueta y especialmente con la versatilidad de tenerla cerrada todo el tiempo o dejar espacio para la ventilación jajaja que compré con un pequeño descuento de descuento para quitar algunas dollas del precio original. Me lo llevé a casa y encaja perfectamente con el resto de mis piezas, un vestido cómodo y fácil de combinar y combinar con otras piezas sin esfuerzo.

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Maybelline Browprecise Mirco Pencil Deep Brown x Product Review

Lately, I feel like my eyebrows have been disappearing. Like… Where are they going? Who do they think they are and why am I not invited? lmfao

Anyways, all jokes aside (as if those two sentences even qualified as jokes) my eyebrow game has been a struggle ever since my Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz retractable pencil ran out. I’ve been wanting to purchase a new one but being that I’m on a tight budget, splurging on a 21$ item is out of the picture… for now.

When I saw a Maybelline commercial (who says that anymore?) about the ‘new’ Maybelline Browprecise Mirco Pencil, I was curious to try it. Influenced enough to get up and get out of my apartment with my baby girl in tow, to my local Walgreens. Then there it was, hidden under a bunch of other similar looking Maybelline products packaged practically exactly the same from one another and I was completely… unimpressed.

The packaging was confusing because at first glance amongst the layers of cosmetic shelves in the drugstore, one would assume it was a simple brown eyeliner pencil. It really didn’t stand out very much from the other assortment of Maybelline products and sadly, I didn’t find another color other than Deep Brown or Brun Fonce (if you want to get fancy lol). The Browprecise Mirco Pencil is offered in other shades like Blonde, Soft Brown, and Auburn to compliment other complexions for 7.99$ but I was not finding it in my store. At the end of the day, what was leftover of the packaging and labels were thrown into the trash.

The pencil is a retractable, which is such a life and money saver because no one has time to sharpen makeup pencils these days after they become dull. Then if you apply even the slightest pressure, the tip might just go falling off because of the waxiness. The pencil tip features a 1.5mm micro ultra point that made it easy to create hair like strokes for natural looking brows! The formula didn’t feel too waxy because when I tried rubbing off a mistake with my finger, it took a few rubs to get it completely off. With a heavy hand, it can easily start looking more like a sharpie than a lovely brow pencil.

As soon as I finished applying light strokes through my eyebrows, I immediately noticed a difference in the fullness of my brows. This one step that was greatly missing before (referencing the picture below) really completed my overall makeup look of the day. I know, I sound like such a newbie, but for years I really didn’t know better. Although I heard it, I never applied it in real life during my makeup routines as often as I probably should have. What can I say, I’ve become a “woke” millennial lmfao.

I really loved using the new Maybelline Browprecise Mirco Pencil because it reminded me so much of the high end Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz retractable pencil but for much less! If your ever curious to try out something new or different, perhaps a natural brow for a casual day out or to do some grocery shopping, the Browprecise Micro Pencil might finish the job perfectly without spending precious minutes in front of your mirror.

my face after realizing I have ghostly brows! lol

Thank you so much for reading my post! Please let me know what your opinions are of the product in the comments below or if you have a personal go to favorite brow pencil! Until next time ❤️

Wet N Wild PhotoFocus x First Impressions Review

Here was the agenda for the day…

Go to Manhattan to get drug tested for a new job
Go Northwest of Midtown for the DMV office
Go Southwest to visit campus to complete registration for this Fall
&& then to go back into Brooklyn to my parents house, to pick up my youngest autistic brother from the school bus…

ooh, my day wasn’t over just yet cause I needed to, then, go across town. To get back to my apartment and finally EAT!

Then once I got home, immediately start breastfeeding my babygirl cause engorgement is a mother f******.

All this had to be done in 80 degree weather, so I decided to wear some lightweight coverage because I wasn’t about to look like I just rolled out of bed…

My day was full of errands and just as I finished up the last touches of my coverage, I ended my routine with the Wet N Wild PhotoFocus Vaporisateur Setting Spray. I didn’t notice much of a scent, which is great because I hate having strong perfumes or smells around me (unless I actually put on perfume). The nozzle is not hard to push down and it doesn’t get stuck on itself as your fingers are pushing it down. From the many makeup Youtube videos I’ve seen, setting spray is key and should be one of the last steps to helping maintain all that effort you put to applying the makeup in the first place. This is a classic drugstore find and for the price point, you’ll likely find me hoarding this cause I’m a huge fan.

Throughout my agenda, I paid special attention to the overall appearance of my face which is more on the oily side and these are the things I noticed on my skin;

-my nose was not so oily even after power walking to catch the train with some of my nose contour still in place! I was really surprised by this little victory because my nose is usually the first thing that gets super oily.

-at noon, the temperature was at its highest and I started to get some sweat beads around my hairline but my eyebrows stayed the same as when I first left my house (hurray!) and

-by the time I got to my parents house, I felt super hot and humid. When I looked in the mirror, I was surprised to see that my skin still looked a bit airbrushed, except for my nose. The bit of oil on my skin looked a bit glowy also (as if I’d applied some highlighter) which was a very nice effect!

For the first time trying it out, I was really impressed by how long my coverage stayed on especially on such a challenging hot New York City day. To back up my experience and see how others felt once they put this to the test, I looked up a few Youtube videos to just see what others had experienced. Nathalie Marie Kay, a beauty Youtuber Creator, did an awesome comprehensive review of multiple drugstore and high end brand setting sprays. She felt that the Wet N Wild PhotoFocus was one of her top three choices (link of the video down below because its awesome) and she even compared it to the Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray.

Her review made me feel even more excited about this purchase because it was money well spend. Nothing gets me more disappointed then when something is overpriced and your not getting the quality that you expect for it. Especially to someone like me, who’s learning the effects of different products on my skin after pregnancy since my hormones have changed the texture of my skin.

Thank you so much for checking out this review, I’ll try to post on a more consistent basis, but I get lazy and, honestly, sometimes uninspired. Thank you again and have a blessed day!

Link of Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJa9uWdMaNI&t=1004s

Off-The-Shoulder Floral Romper x OOTD

This was a super casual floral romper for a casual stroll around the park in this crazy humid New York City heat. The romper has a trendy off-the-shoulder look with super cute floral motifs of red, pink, blue flowers and leaves that almost look drawn on. It was really comfortable and cute. I’ve been feeling a little anxious lately, mostly because I’ve been researching the classes I’ll need to take to go back to school for a bachelors degree. I’m really excited about the major I’m planning to go into but its going to be really tough for me because its mostly in math. I’ve spend so much time researching what would be the best and most flexible degree for me and my little family for a while now. It was really challenging because there were so many questions that I had about demand, pay scale, etc and nothing that could be answered by simply googling it.

Personally, I wish public high schools would incorporate and encourage other topics, something that’s more relevant long term, to build interest within the kids which would grow into a life skill. Instead of spending so much time on memorizing (what feels like now) useless facts or rules. I completely understand that education is important, but understanding whats valuable and what isn’t is just as important. Its just unfortunate that kids don’t get that time to really explore and question the things around them because of all the time spend on schoolwork or craming for tests… Anyways, I’m just ranting on my own personal experiences.

Perhaps you’ve had a different experience or have a different opinion about the education system, if so lets chat in the comments below! Also, what do you think about this outfit?

Thanks for checking out my blog and this post!

sunglasses; Ray Bans | romer; Rainbow | sneakers; Forever 21 | bag; Boohoo | baby; MINE 😅

Wet n Wild Mega Liner Glam Kat Eyes

#MOTD inspiration!

Yesterday, Americans all across the fifty states celebrated our independence day with a lot of bbq and fireworks. Its the unofficial, official start of summer, which is awesome!

But the heat and humidity makes it unbearable to put on a full face without it literally melting off your face. For the rest of the summer, my strategy is to emphasize the eyes while being subtle and light on my skin so it’ll have enough room to breath. One easy way to create glam look is a sexy cat eye. The first step to getting it done perfectly (even if you’ve got to try a few times) is by finding a pointy tip liquid eyeliner. It will revolutionize the way the wings are applied and wear throughout the day. My personal favorite drugstore liquid liner, that is amazing for your budget and overall quality is the Wet n Wild Megaliner. The Megaliner collection has a variety of liner tips and colors to create the looks your heart desires.

The rundown of products I used for my eyes…

Using the same Wet n Wild Megaliner, you can create the inner corner wings which just emphasizes the shape of your eyes beautifully. Then I used the Mega Eyeliner Pencil to trace my water line because the pencil is not as bold and looks more natural. Lastly, I applied some mascara and then curled them with my a curler so my lashes will stay up for longer. The Maybelline The Colossal Volum’Express is nice… but its not always consistent. Sometimes the mascara comes out clumpy and other times its smooth.

These are the products I used for my face. As you can see, I just focused on covering my under circles and set it with the Maybelline FIT Me! Powder so it’ll keep my face matte. By keeping the skin smooth and simple, it’ll make the eyes pop even more.

I found these blending sponges at my local bargain store. I enjoyed how they’re all in different shapes and blend smoothly.

The Neutrogena 3-in-1 Concealer has been my go-to for everything. I found that using a flat shader brush makes the littlest drop of the concealer go a long way, which helps me save on quantity

Thank you so much for checking out my post! I hope this look inspires you to try it out. Whats been your favorite liquid drugstore liner? Let me know in the comments below. Have a blessed day!

Burt’s Bees Brightening Dark Spot Corrector x Review

When I purchased the Burt’s Bees Brightening Dark Spot Corrector with Daisy Extract I was sold on the promises marketed on the packaging. Its a huge goal of mine to fade out the dark spots and so called freckles on my cheeks that were caused from too much sun exposure. If you have sun damage, you know how difficult and annoying it is to apply a full face of foundation because the freckles will easily give your attempts away which sucks! Sun damage causes age spots by the UV rays, hyperpigmentation and collagen damage. For me, sun spots are tough to tackle, so this post is a review of my first impressions on this $20.00 drugstore product.

The packaging is cute with a daisy printed on the center of the box followed by a yellow, gray and red packaging color palette. The wholesomeness of its appearance shows the honesty of the company’s 100% natural and gentle ingredients (which I love). If you would search on google ways to remove sun spots, one of the options is to bleach your skin which honesty seems unnatural and more damaging long term then sun damage.

Although it took a while to see some difference on the surface of my skin, there were a few qualities of the product that I didn’t enjoy. If you’ve tried this product before, let me know about your experience in the comments below…

Personally, I hated the smell because it was a bit bitter and like sour tea. Although I didn’t expect it to have a lot of fragrance, in my mind I envisioned a subtle floral scent or nothing at all. The smell was out of left field in a strong bad way and its was the main reason why I wasn’t using it every single night and morning like the directions suggested.

During the times I did use it, the liquid would sometimes come out clear without any traces or hints of some color even after I would shake it. It was weird. But then there were times that it looked slightly brown. Then as I got close to finishing the bottle, the color of the liquid was brown… brown? whether that was normal or not, it seemed a bit odd. After seeing that, I can’t help but feel as if I didn’t get any product throughout the time that I used it especially since it was a clear liquid that smelled bad.

From afar, I can’t notice most of my dark spots except for the ones that are in ackward places on my face which sucks. My old job required me to drive a lot and most of the time I would forget to put on sunscreen so I got more damage on one side of my face then the other. To completely thank this product is hard because for most of the year it was winter and now that its summer, I’ve been putting on sunscreen even to go to the corner store.

One thing I should have done to really monitor the product performance was to take before and after pictures. Now I know for next time but weather or not I’ll be spending 20$ for another 1 oz bottle… I don’t think so.

Thank you so much for checking out my blog! Have you had a similar experience before with this product? Whats your summer beauty must haves? Let me know in the comments below and have a blessed day!

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