#books | The Garbage Sifter by Barry Jones

This is the first book by Barry Jones that I have read. The book combines politics, drugs, sex, murder, and an innocent Argentinian widow who is supporting her family by dumpster diving. The woman comes across a partially shredded CIA document while sifting through trash and decides to use to her advantage to better her family's well being.

The story combines government agencies from Argentina and the United States, and drug cartels out of Mexico. This can be really confusing normally, but the author is nice enough to break the book up into three parts and provide lists of the key characters for each. This makes the book read like a book of short stories almost, told from the different perspectives of the key players, but all of the stories tie back into the bigger picture and make that bigger picture easy to follow. The book is fast paced and an easy read. I personally liked that none of the sex or violence in the story was overly graphic either. I really liked this book and will definitely be picking up more from this author.

You can pick up The Garbage Sifter for yourself here

note: I was sent this book for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

#review | Adeline Organic Eye Serum

I've been looking for for a decent eye cream to help with the sunken in look of the area under my eyes for a real long while now. I've found with all of the eye products I've tried for probably the last couple of years that they just never love up to the claims. Most did nothing at all. A lot of them didn't fully absorb into my skin and just clogged the pores around my eye area as a result. I came across this serum and thought I might have better luck with it since it's not a cream, but rather a gel. I am transitioning to a greener beauty routine also, so I liked that it was a natural and organic product. You can see in the pic below that the list of ingredients in this serum is pretty short, and most of them are organic.

The bottle has a pump applicator, and the serum comes out as a clear gel. I found the pump to dispense too much product, so I kind of just give it a half squeeze each time I use it.

I feel like the gel spreads and absorbs really well, and my makeup sits nicely on top of it on days that I wear concealer and what not. There is no scent that I can detect, and it's a really gentle formula. No stinging, burning, or any other eye irritations. While I haven't seen a massive difference in my under eye area, you can see in the pics below that my under eye area is a little plumper and brighter after a few weeks of use.

The top photo is before use, the bottom is after 3 weeks:

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this eye serum. Given how little I need to use this bottle is going to last a very long time, which makes it a little budget friendly as well.

If you want to check out Adeline Organic Eye Serum for yourself, click here



note: I was sent this product for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Wow of the Week! | nyl Skincare Organic Shimmer Scrub

I got this sparkly jar of goodness in my May Petit Vour box. At first glance, I honestly didn't think much of it. I can always use a good sugar scrub, but I am almost always let down by the shimmer factor in skin care products that are supposed to leave the skin sparkling. Either no shimmer sticks to my skin at all, or the little that does wears off in a matter of just a couple/few hours. Here is a pic of the packaging and how the scrub looks. You can see from the ingredient list that there are lots of great, organic, skin loving things in this scrub to nourish the skin!

I found this scrub to leave my skin very soft and smooth, without leaving an overly heavy oily film on the skin(which I can't stand in scrubs). The best part though, I looked like I was covered in diamonds! The sparkle left behind by this scrub is AMAZING! Now, I'm a glitter nerd by nature so I am all for the super glittery after effect of this scrub, but if you just want a hint of shimmer you can easily buff away as much of the sparkle as you want with a dry towel. Then, to top it all off, it smells like fresh squeezed oranges(one of my favorite smells), and the shimmer stayed on my skin for two days. Two days! Here are some pics of how glittery it left my skin. My camera is not the best at picking up glitter, so you'll just have to take my word for it that it is way better in person.

If you are a fan of sparkling skin too, you can pick up this scrub here

If you're not a fan of shimmer but dig the organic natural ingredients, you can check out the non-shimmer version of this scrub as well as everything else that nyl Skincare has to offer here

Wow of the Week! | OZ Naturals Anti-Aging Solar Shield

Oz Naturals Anti-Aging Solar shield is an all natural sunscreen. It uses zinc oxide and titanium dioxide to provide SPF 30 sun protection, as well as a bunch of other skin loving ingredients to nourish and protect the skin.

I found this sunscreen to be very gentle. My sensitive skin didn't have any sort of reaction to it. There is a super mild citrus-herbal scent to it, not strong at all. Unlike a lot of other sunscreens it didn't feel heavy or greasy on my already oily face. It absorbed relatively quickly, and left my skin with an almost matte feel to it. This, like most natural sunscreens, does leave a slightly white tint to the skin. For me personally this is kind of a bonus since I have so much sun damage and freckles that my face is considerably darker than my neck and chest. The tint actually helps to even things out for me. You can see in the pics below what I'm talking about.

While I have been using this on my whole body, one unexpected surprise that I found while using it on my face is that it works better as a primer under my makeup than any other primer I've tried. I have really big pores around my nose, and most primers actually skip over the pores and create pockets around them so that when I put my foundation on my pores are actually more visible than if I had used nothing at all. When I use this sunscreen under my makeup it actually smooths over the pores and makes the less visible. Finally! I found something that works!!

One more nice thing about this product is that it is vegan and cruelty-free for all of the animal friendly shoppers out there.

Overall, I really like this natural sunscreen and will definitely be picking another bottle up when this runs out.

You can find OZ Naturals Anti-Aging Sun Shield here

note: I received this product for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Wow of the Week! | Lauren B. Beauty nail polish

FINALLY! A pastel polish that applies opaque in one streak-free coat!! I got this Lauren B. Beauty polish, in the color My Private Cabana, in my Petit Vour box last month. My initial impression was that this stuff is expensive...I've never spent $18 on a bottle of nail polish. However, after using it I get it. This polish glides across the nail and coats the nail effortlessly, so that's a pretty fancy pants brush they have going on there. I've never had a polish apply this smoothly, not even the "higher end" brands I use like Zoya and Julep. It dries pretty quickly too, since you only need one coat, which is a nice bonus. The formula is 5-free, cruelty free, vegan friendly, and made in the U.S.A. They have a decent range of neutral and trendy shades as well. I will definitely be looking into more of these polishes in the future!

Book Review | Snacktastic!

Cooking Light Snacktastic!: 150-Calorie Snacks That Keep You Satisfied by Editors of Cooking Light

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I like the variety in this book! There are recipes for dips, spreads, smoothies, snack mixes, spiced nuts, cookies, granola, you name it. A few of the recipes are repeats from other Cooking Light cookbooks that I own, I really don't mind though because it's just convenient to have all of these snack recipes together in one book instead of flipping back and forth between the other cookbooks. You will need a food processor for some recipes, but other than that no special equipment is needed for these snacks.

Most of the recipes are pretty simple and use ingredients that you probably already have on hand.

Nutritional information for macro-nutrients is listed with each recipe, nice for anyone counting calories or doing Weight Watchers, etc.



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Book Review | The Empathy Exams

The Empathy Exams: Essays by Leslie Jamison

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


"I want to show off my knowledge of something.Anything."

That one sentence pretty much sums up the whole book. Every essay felt like an attempt to show off how smart she is. She's much better at writing about feelings than actually feeling them. Which would have been fine if her thoughts weren't so vague and scattered. She uses a lot of words in such a circular way that by the time you've finished the 218 pages you've read only a tiny bit of actual information on a lot of different subjects.

Most essays have a pretty easy to figure out formula:

1. Pick a hot button issue/little known fact to grab the readers attention.

2. Use a lot of flowery language(to sound super smart) or an excess of profanity(to make sure everyone knows she's also edgy and cool)in a circular way so that by the end of the essay the reader forgets what the topic of the essay even was.

3. Uses the circular language as a segue into a story about herself that only vaguely relates to the original topic of the essay.

She goes out of her way to tell the reader personal information about herself(i.e. getting an abortion, having an eating disorder, addiction, cutting, promiscuity...) but stops at that. No additional information, no history, just here's my problem. It's like she's fishing for empathy for herself from the reader. Which, I wouldn't have minded at all if she had given some insight into why she had those behaviors. It's hard to feel empathy about a situation when you have NO idea why it's taking place. Was she abused, bullied, neglected? Or is she experiencing some sort of unprovoked psychotic break that requires medication to control her self-harming behaviors? I don't know.

When you get to the end of the book it all just feels like a major let down. No insight into empathy, humanity, her...anything.

There were so many missed opportunities within the subjects of each essay to have really meaningful conversations about empathy that the book became just plain aggravating to read.



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Book Review | The Invention of Wings

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book was just okay to me. I think given the political climate during the time period this story was written in, both for slavery and women's rights issues, and the fact that it's based on a REAL person's life...who was a woman...and owned a slave...that was a woman...it just fell short.

Every essay just kind of skimmed the surface of emotions that the characters would have been feeling in the situations they were dealing with. It actually took me months to finish this book because there wasn't anything really gripping my attention or making me feel the need to keep reading.

It was alright but could have been so much better.



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Swatch & Review: Julep Orbital Eyshadow in Borealis

If you saw my swatch &review post last month for Julep's Orbital shadow in Supernova, you already know I LOVE these shadows! So, naturally, when they released a couple new colors this month I had to pick one up:-) I decided to get Borealis, which was described as charcoal with peacock shimmer.

Gorgeous!!

It was really hard for me to pick up the color shift in this shadow with my camera, but basically it is a deep charcoal base and, depending how the light hits it and how much light you have, will reflect with green, turquoise, or blue shimmers. REALLY stunning stand-alone shadow! In the swatches above the first swatch is 1 layer dry, the second is 2 layers dry, and the third is 1 layer wet.

Just like with the Supernova shadow, I do recommend using a flat shader brush to apply this. It's the best way to pick the shadow up. The shadow is super sparkly, so you will want to use a base and do your eyes before the rest of your makeup to clean up the fallout easily.

Overall, I am in love with these Orbital shadows and HIGHLY recommend picking some up if you like sparkle and unique colors!

Here is a look I did last week with this shadow:-)

Review: Julep Orbital Eyeshadow in Supernova

I got this shadow in my December Julep Maven box. These shadows are new to Julep this month, and come in 6 shades(although they are coming out with two new shades next month, so stay tuned for that!) These shadows come packaged in a sleek black case with a decent sized mirror inside.

Here's what the Julep site claims:
"Our multidimensional eyeshadow with triple the pigment for intense brightness, incredible stamina, and endless looks."
"• Uses iridescent pearls and vibrant metallic pigments to create an effortless, multidimensional eye look
• Blends the color payoff of a cream shadow and the layering power of a powder"

Here's my experience:
~ Definitely multidimensional! This shade in particular can look plum, charcoal, teal, or a combination of the three depending on what angle the light is hitting it from and how much light is hitting it.

~ The staying power is really good. The longest I've worn it so far is about 7 hours and had no fading or creasing whatsoever.

~ It is possible to get a variety of looks from this depending on how much you layer it. However, you're not going to get "the color payoff of a cream shadow" unless you use it wet(which I highly recommend doing for maximum color and shimmer payoff, and to minimize fallout).

~ You really have to use a primer under it, because it is very shimmery/sparkly it needs something to stick to to minimize fallout.

~ You need to use a flat shader brush or something with some density to it in order to pick the shadow up. If you use a brush that is too round or fluffy you will only pick up the top layer of sparkle and not much(or any really) of the base shadow.

~ You need to sort of swirl your brush in the shadow a little to pick up all of the pigment. If you just dab or pat the shadow, again, you will only pick up the top layer of shimmer.

Here are some swatches!

These swatches are over Avon eyeshadow primer in Light Beige.

The first and third swatch in each picture are dry. The first is 2 layers of the shadow, and the third is just 1 layer. The middle swatch in each pic is 2 layers of the shadow applied wet.

You can see that the color looks different depending on the light. In the first swatch there was bright light hitting the shadow directly, which picks up a lot of the teal shimmers and charcoal undertone and you kind of just catch a hint of the plum. In the second swatches there is a little less direct light, so the shadow shows a little more plum but you still pick up a lot of the teal shimmer as well. In the last swatches there is dim light and the shadow shows as a very sparkly plum.

Overall, I really love this shadow. The multidimensional tones and sparkle factor are SO pretty. I like that it can be used wet or dry, and that it has good staying power. There is definitely fallout with a shadow this shimmery, so do your eye makeup first when you use these so that you can clean it up before applying the rest of your makeup.

If you are not a fan of glitter you're not going to like these shadows. If you are a fan though(like me!), definitely give these Orbital shadows a try:-)

Swatch & Review: Avon Eye Dimensions Eyeshadow- Khaki Chic and Sweetheart Plum

First, let me start this off by saying that I'm in LOVE with these little palettes! They are chock full of shimmery, glittery goodness, and I really just can't get enough of them(I have two more on the way). That being said, if you are a matte shadow girl these are not going to be your cup of tea.

The pigmentation of both of these palettes is really good. The staying power is also really good. The fallout factor is pretty high, so I would recommend (1)using an eyeshadow primer, (2)patting the shadows on, as opposed to using sweeping motions, and (3) doing your eye makeup first so that you can wipe any fallout away before applying your foundation etc.

Here is the Khaki Chic palette:

Khaki Chic is a very sparkly neutral palette. The top shade is a metallic soft gold. The texture is very soft, almost creamy, and it blends really well. The middle shade is a shimmery golden taupe with with fine golden glitter throughout. This one has a slightly drier texture, but still blends really well. The bottom shade is shimmering deep khaki green with fine golden glitter throughout. It has the same texture as the middle shade, and blends really well. Again, excellent pigmentation for all three shades.

Here is the Sweetheart Plum:

Sweetheart Plum is more of a warm toned purple palette. The top shade is a super pale matte mauve base with micro-fine golden shimmers throughout. The texture is a little on the dry/powdery side, but it still blends well. Even though it's technically not matte, the shimmers are so small that they practically disappear on the skin making it a nearly matte shadow. The middle shade is really hard to explain, kind of a shimmery rose gold/soft plum duochrome with fine golden glitter throughout. It's very sparkly, and blends out well. The bottom shade is a metallic plum. Absolutely gorgeous! This is one of my favorite purple palettes that I have ever owned!

I haven't tried these shadows wet yet, but given the excellent pigmentation and high shimmer factor I feel like they would be amazing used wet!

Have you guys tried any of these Eye Dimensions shadows yet? What do you think?

Here are a couple of looks that I have done with these palettes:

Swatch and Review:Avon Glimmersticks Diamonds Onyx Collection Eye Liner

I recently picked up a couple of these new additions to the Glimmersticks liner line from Avon. While I don't feel like these are the greatest for lining the water line, they are great for the lash lines and come in a really good range of colors. I like this new Onyx collection for the holidays to add a little sparkle to your holiday makeup looks. Since the shimmer in them is very fine they look like your basic black liner from afar. It's only when someone is close to you that they will see the glints of sparkle here and there. These are a good option for anyone who wants their makeup to be a little more festive, but are maybe to shy to do a full on glittery eye look.

The two colors I picked up are Gold Onyx(on top) and Copper Onyx(on bottom). The Gold Onyx seems to be a little bit blacker because the glitter in it is less densely packed, so you just get a hint of gold shimmer here and there. The Copper Onyx has copper/red shimmers that are more densely packed and more evenly dispersed. Even though this one seems like it is a lot more sparkly than the gold it still just looks like your basic black liner from a distance since the shimmers are so fine.

There are two other shades in this collection, one with cobalt shimmers and one with magenta shimmers.

More Avon Extra Lasting Eyeshadow Pencil Swatches!

I tried a couple of these shadow pencils when they first came out and absolutely LOVED them! So I got a couple more...and then a couple more...and then the rest of them, lol:-) So here are the swatches of the last 6 colors I bought. I really cannot say enough good things about these! They are great stand alone shadows, blend really well, and make excellent long wearing shadow bases for your powder shadows.

Aquamarine is a shimmery deep aqua color. Very dense, rich pigmentation for this color! If you follow me on Facebook you can see this color used in my sugar skull makeup for Halloween as the petals around my eyes(sidenote: I also used the Extra Lasting shadow pencil in Black Diamond all over the eye and layered colors from the True Color quad in Purple Pop on top, it turned out so good!).

Sapphire is a shimmery deep blue. I really love this one layered with the Purple Pop quad for a bluish-purple eye look.

Amethyst is less purple than I thought it would be, and more like a pretty shimmering mauve.

Smoky Plum is a nice shimmery plum with really good pigmentation.

Crystal Taupe is a light shimmery taupe. This color is a great neutral to have on hand for any skin tone.

Rich Cocoa surprised me when I opened and saw that it was actually matte! This neutral chocolate brown is the only one of the shadow pencils that doesn't have any shimmer to it.

I hope Avon expands this line and brings out more colors, and more matte shades!

Review: Avon Gel Finish in Barely There

This polish has been a major fail for me:-( I hate to even post this because I have had such good luck with my other Avon nail polishes, and I have quite a few, but if you are thinking about getting this one I really don't recommend it.

The polish claims to be a 7-in1 product with built in base and top coat. I put it on my bare nails and it went on nice, smooth, very shiny, and I loved the color. I turned a documentary on and sat still for 1 1/2 hours, letting my nails have plenty of time to fully dry by the time the movie was over. I washed my hands afterwards and as soon as my fingertips hit the towel EVERY...SINGLE...NAIL...smudged! Seriously!? I can't speak to how any of the other colors perform, but I probably won't be getting any more of these based off of how poorly this one worked out for me.

Avon Extra Lasting Eyeshadow Pencils

Left to Right: Shimmering Sand, Topaz Shimmer, Violet, Diamond Black

I am LOVING these new shadow pencils! They are long lasting. I can make it through an entire day, roughly 14 hours from the time I put it on until I wash it off, with very little creasing(and I have oily lids) and no fading. All of the colors have a shimmery finish. They take a few minutes to set, which is nice since it gives you time to apply and blend however you want, and once it sets it stays in place. These work really well on their own or as a shadow base to make your shadows more vibrant and long lasting.

Review: Montagne Jeunesse Chocolate Masque

This face mask was sent to me for free to test and review by Influenster in their Holiday VoxBox. The mask is a mud mask containing clay, dead sea salt, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and shea butter. It claims to unblock pores, renew, and hydrate your skin and is supposed to be suitable for normal, dry, and t-zone skin.

First off, it took everything I had in me not to taste this stuff because it looks, smells, and feels just like milk chocolate frosting! It goes on really smooth. I was kind of worried that it would make my already oily skin a little greasy since it says it has cocoa and shea butters in it, but it didn't at all. It tightened my skin a little the way clay based masks usually do(good for oily skin) and it left my skin feeling fresh and clean and my pores looked a little tighter. Since it worked so well on my oily skin I'm not so sure it would be that great on drier skin types, the tightening action that goes on as the mask dries might be a little irritating to anyone who already has dry skin. All in all I think this was a great mask for my skin type and I would definitely purchase more of these in the future.

Pros:
There's enough product in each sachet for a couple of uses.
Smells amazing!
Relatively inexpensive
Wide variety of masks for all skin types and conditions
PETA approved for those that are animal rights conscious

Cons:
It's a UK based company, and I can't find anywhere that these are available in the U.S. except online through Amazon. Some sellers sell individual masks for a decent price and some only sell the masks by the case. I'm assuming these are going to be more readily available in the U.S. since they sent them to us to try out, but there is nothing on the Montagne Jeunesse website that says so, so I'm not really sure?

Review: Bare Minerals Prime Time- Oil Control Foundation Primer

I picked up this primer back in June because I have pretty oily skin and the primers that I had at the time weren't quite doing it for me. I wanted to find something without the slippery feel to it that so many primers have and something that would really mattify my skin so the girl at Sephora suggested this primer to me.

In the store I absolutely loved it when I tried it on my hand. It was a lightweight gel that dried pretty quickly and did not have the slippery feel that most silicone based primers have. When I got home and tried it on my face it was a whole different story. It took longer to dry on my face. In a couple of spots where I must not have blended it out well enough there were white powdery streaks across my skin. It also somehow managed to slip over my larger pores, tightening up the skin around them, so that when I put my foundation on the larger pores filled up with foundation and were then more noticeable than they are when I don't use any primer at all. This stuff also pulled off the feat of sucking all of the moisture out of my skin giving me big dry patches, and then I broke out.

Overall, I would not recommend this primer.