This winter, my skin has been especially dry. My problem areas are my elbows, lower legs, feet, and hands. I'm assuming most of you ladies have the driest skin around these parts too because they are exposed to the cold the most. So let's talk about my winter skin saviors this year. I've never really stuck to a good moisturizing routine, but now that I'm starting to this year, I've noticed that my skin is so much more comfortable and supple. I will apply most of the products below right after I get out of the shower, and of course continue to re-apply my hand cream and lip balm over the course of the day. My skin has never been happier.

Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Deep Moisture Body Milk

Earth Therapeutics Foot Repair Therapeutic Balm

The Body Shop Shea Hand Cream

Burt's Bees Mint Cocoa Moisturizing Lip Balm

Blogmas 2017 : Day 11 : Weekly Meal Prep #2

Hope you guys had a great weekend!

Quick post here, doing round 2 of my weekly meal prep post. It's pretty much the same as last week. That's because I have a lot of leftovers from grocery shopping last week, and because I really liked the souvlaki chicken I made last week for lunch! I have some extra potatoes, bell peppers, and a whole bag of green beans so I thought it would be nice to make this dish again. I'm going to Trader Joe's tonight so I'll pick up some tzatziki sauce to try with the chicken. 

I also opened by Half-Baked Harvest cookbook again, and decided to make some fettucine alfredo this week. I found a lightened-up version of this comfort food staple in the cookbook, so I'll be trying that out and letting you guys know how it goes. I haven't cooked with white pasta in a while, but I'm sure it's going to be delicious no matter what. 

BREAKFAST

Scrambled Eggs with Light Butter

Lightly Buttered Whole Wheat Toast

LUNCH

Greek Chicken Souvlaki & Roasted Potatoes & Green Beans

DINNER

No-Guilt Broccoli Fettucine Alfredo (from my HBH Cookbook!)

SNACKS

Grapes

Baby carrots with ranch dipping sauce

Mild cheddar cheese stick with crackers

Horizon chocolate milk box

Goldfish crackers snack bag

Kettle cooked chips snack bag

Blogmas 2017: Day 8 : Winter Beauty Haul

Hey all. I have an Ulta and Sephora haul to share with you beautiful ladies today.
All these items were purchased before Black Friday. That doesn't mean I didn't do any shopping on Black Friday. Oh no no. I spent wayyyy too much money online shopping as I do every year. Mostly for myself, no shame there. But no, all these goodies below were purchased about a month ago, I've just been too lazy to write this blog post until now.

Let's start with the stuff from Ulta:

Morphe M433 and M504 Brushes
My first ever Morphe brushes! I'm so happy that Ulta finally started carrying the Morphe brand. I've been lusting over their makeup brushes for over a year now, but could never bring myself to pay the hefty shipping price Morphe charges. I haven't used these suckers yet, but I have high hopes. Fingers crossed!

Morphe 35F Fall Into Frost Eyeshadow Palette
Let's just talk about the main feature in this haul here, my very first Morphe palette ahhhhhh. The feeling is surreal. I really hope this palette lives up to my expectations because I've been so excited to start using this. The fall into frost palette was my favorite out of all the current palettes. I think it offers the best shade variety in terms of colors and mattes vs. shimmers. Even the box it comes in is so lustworthy. I so desperately wish this palette came with a mirror on the inside, but I cannot complain since this baby was only $23 for 35 shadows, most of which are very useable shades. I can totally seeing this being my go-to palette this winter.

Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey
This was a freebie gift because I spent more than like $50 on Clinique items. I'm a huge Clinique skincare fan, although I haven't tried a lot of their makeup products besides the foundation and powder. The lipstick is a pretty generous size and a universally flattering berry-brown shade. Not bad for a freebie!

Clinique Stay-Matte Sheer Pressed Powder in "Stay Golden"
I finally used up my old Clinique pressed powder so it was time for a refill. I love using Clinique foundation and powders because they have use good ingredients, are oil-free, have a large variety of shades to pick from, and are relatively affordable. This is holy grail status and a product I'll continue to repurchase over the years because it's just so darn good. It locks in my makeup, removes shine, and adds just a touch of extra coverage to my foundation/concealer regimen.

L'Oreal True Match Super-Blendable Crayon Concealer in "Light/Medium Warm"
My holy grail concealer from Milani was discontinued, so I needed a new concealer. I'm a fan of stick concealers and this one had good reviews. Although the crayon itself has a great formulation and applies very creamy with good coverage, the color is toooooo light for me. I'll be picking up a different shade in this range for sure though because the formula seems promising and similar the Milani Secret Cover Concealer that I've loved over the years.

Moving on to stuff from Sephora:

Fresh Nourishing Naturals Lip Duo
Despite their hefty price tag, the Fresh Sugar lip balms are one of my favorites. Some lip balms end up drying out your lips even more, but this one is extra creamy and rich. I've been meaning to try out their Sugar Cream Lip Treatments, so this set was a perfect opportunity to get one of my favorite lip balms and try out a new lip product.

Tarte Tarteist Pro To Go Amazonian Clay Palette
I got this palette specifically to travel with. I know that ever since losing my Naked palette while on vacation, I've been dead against traveling with high-end makeup products. But I just cannot bring myself to fall in love with drugstore eyeshadow palettes. Therefore, I decided that this $23 mini palette from Tarte is going to be my new travel buddy. I love this for so many reasons. It's tiny, sturdy, it's affordable, it has a mirror inside, and the shadows are right up my alley.

Sephora Collection Baby Z-Palette
Why the heck are Z-palettes are Sephora so cheap?! I got this "baby" size Z-palette to move my blush pans into, so that I could use my second, large-size Z-palette for more eyeshadow pans. But guys, this Z-palette can definitely hold more than 2-3 blush pans and probably even up to 8 eyeshadow pans. I'm very impressed.

Sephora Collection Colorful Eyeshadow in "Good Fortune Cookie"
I'll be honest, the only reason I got this is to boost my order up to free shipping status. I had low hopes for this, but it's actually quite a beautiful shade upon swatching. It has some glitter flecks in it, but isn't dripping with chunks of glitter. It may be too light for my skin tone since it's a light champagne gold, but I can see myself playing this shade especially over the holidays.

Blogmas 2017 : Day 4 : Weekly Meal Prep

Happy Monday! Today I'm post-call so going to be lazy allllll day. Just kidding. My uncle is coming into town, so I plan on sleeping for a few hours then heading into town to get dinner with him.

I wanted to do something different for my post today. I've become a big fan of meal prepping. I feel like whenever I make impromptu decisions about what I want to eat, I always make unhealthy choices. A few months ago, I was pretty consistently meal planning either on a scratch pad or the MyFitnessPal food diary, and I was soooo good about making healthy food choices. I also felt satiety and more energized because I was eating meals at proper intervals and not eating a ton of salt or fat throughout the day.

I wanted to get back into that routine. So for this month, I'm going to try my best to make weekly meal prep posts every Monday. This is also a good way to get your grocery list ready, and to make sure you're getting enough nutrients from all major food groups. I'll let you know how I do at the end of each week!

BREAKFAST

Scrambled Eggs with Light Butter

Whole Wheat Toast with Goat Cheese & Balsamic Vinegar

LUNCH

Greek Chicken Souvlaki & Roasted Potatoes

DINNER

Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole

SNACKS
Grapes

Baby Carrots with Ranch Dipping Sauce

Mild Cheddar Cheese Stick with Crackers

Horizon Chocolate Milk Box

Goldfish Crackers Snack Bag

Kettle Cooked Chip Snack Bag

Blogmas 2017: Day 1: Thanksgiving Recollections

Hello and welcome to Blogmas! I know last year I did a terrible job at keeping up with blogging through the holidays, but I'm going to challenge myself to do better this year. We can only improve with each year, right?

To start things off, I wanted to ramble on a bit about Thanksgiving weekend. I realized I never blogged last week after the occasion. Even though I was in New York over the holiday, I still had a great weekend with friends turned family. One of my college roommates was visiting so I got drinks and dinner with her and her boyfriend in the city on Wednesday. On Thursday, I drove up to Westchester to have Thanksgiving dinner with one of my best friends' family. He also invited another one of our medical school friends and his girlfriend, so it great catching up with them. His family was very warm, friendly, and inviting. Not to mention the food was delicious. I've never had such moist turkey or mouth-watering stuffing. I even got to network with my friend's aunt, who's a pediatrician up in Westchester. It was so nice to be surrounded by friends this Thanksgiving, and I'm grateful for all the memories I got to make this year.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I hosted my very first dinner party/Friendsgiving EVER! It was a lot of work, but oh my gosh you guys it was so worth it. I've quickly come to realize that I love hosting. My apartment was decorated for fall, and all my friends loved how cozy my apartment felt. I got "fancy" plastic cutlery, plastic wine glasses, and holiday-themed disposable plates and napkins from Dollar Tree that were super affordable, yet polished. My friends each brought a dish or two. I supplied a mashed potato casserole (holy crap it turned out SO good you guys), dinner rolls, brie with baguette, and some sparkling cider. We popped open three bottles of wine and spent the night playing Cards Against Humanity and Quiplash. Lots of lifelong memories were made and laughs were shared.

Even though I wasn't with my immediate family over the holiday, I spent it with some amazing friends and could not have asked for a better Thanksgiving this year. I genuinely cannot wait until this time next year, and can only pray and hope that it will be as warm as this one. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, and be tuned in tomorrow for some beauty bits and bobs!

Random Rambles: Cozy Fall Night

Just got back home from spending a weekend in Pittsburgh with the family. Oh, the long 800-mile round trip spent listening to Taylor Swift and my old favorite alternative hits from the 2000s. It was a good weekend, although it ended on a sour note with my parents have a flaming argument and horrible driving conditions that forced me to call out from clinic this morning. But nonetheless it was so nice to be surrounded by family and love. I really needed it after how terrible and overworked I was feeling after these last 1.5 months of NICU and ED. I'm back rejuvantaed and ready to just finish the last 2 weeks of ED and start my string of electives coming up. But for now I'm just so happy to be sitting in front of my iMac with my fuzzy slippers on and drinking a cup of toasted almond coffee listening to indie songs on Spotify. Pretty basic, right?

The whole trip just made me reflect on life. I spent my entire life in Pittsburgh, being so antsy to move out and experience something different. I'm finally living on my own, 400 miles away from home, with no family around, just minutes from New York City like I've always dreamt of. But now that I'm living my dream, I can't wait to return home. It's true, absence does make the heart grow fonder. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't have picked a better place to move to. I love living in New York. I feel like I have the world at my fingertips, and not a weekend goes by that I'm bored. It's pretty much impossible to tire of living here. I can do anything I want to here, and this place is a haven for foodies like me. But I miss my family so much. I was joking the other day that if my family moved here to Long Island, my life would be perfect.

Although I still have 1.5 years of residency left, I'm already starting to think about where I want to land up after it ends. As much as I love living in New York, this place is never going to be home for me. Pittsburgh will always be home and my first love. Maybe it's because my family is there but every time I drive back home, I feel so warm, safe, and happy. It's the kind of feeling I've never been able to find here in New York. Let's just say it's going to be a very hard decision about where I want to end up after residency. Although my family and home is in the Burgh, most of my good friends are back here in New York. Good thing I have 1.5 years of residency left to distract me from making that decision! 

Favorites | Fall Edition 2017

Hellooo, it's October. Not quite the ideal fall weather yet here in New York, but the mornings and nights are getting chilly with crisper air, so that means fall is officially starting. It's no secret that I love fall. As my mom says "it's my season". It's such a cozy time of year. Bundling up, spending time with loved ones, sipping hot tea, and the warmth of fall colors all around you. I'm really sad that my fall is going to be super busy with heavy rotations, but I'm trying to have some fall fun in the bits of time I have off. But as a tradeoff, I'll have a lot of free time during the Christmas/winter season, which I'm very happy about. I also have real Thanksgiving plans this year unlike last year. I'm going to one of my best friends' house for Thanksgiving dinner and then planning on hosting Friendsgiving at my place on the Saturday after.

Moving on to fall favorites, you'll notice that a lot of these are more lifestyle favorites. I've gone through a bit of makeup breakup in the past few months. I just haven't felt like wearing makeup and have been going bare faced to work most days. Working on changing that, but for now these are the things I've been calling my true loves this end of summer/fall season.

NARS Blush in 'Sin' - plummy-golden blush that's perfect for autumn looks

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blush in 'Flushed'  -- a brightening, beautiful coral-pink blush perfect for days you need a little pick me up.

ColourPop Pressed Powder Shadows in 'You Know The Drill', 'Wake Up Call', 'Bel Air' -- creamy, beautiful, blendable, richly pigmented, and only $5 a pop. Enough said. My two favorite mattes are "Wake Up Call" and "Bel Air" which work great as transition shades or even by themselves for a soft everyday look. "You Know the Drill" is a beautiful champagne-rose gold that is the perfect shimmery shade for everyday looks. I never get complimented on my makeup, but whenever I wear this shade I get multiple compliments a day, no joke. 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in 'Radiant Light' -- you guys know I'm not a highlighter fan but this highlight just lifts up the cheeks for a very subtle, office-appropriate glow

OGX Thick and Full Biotin & Collagen Shampoo and Conditioner -- I've only used these once but I'm already obsessed. Even after one use, my hair feels so much stronger and fuller. I can't wait to see how this fixes my hair with continued use.

OGX Nourishing Coconut Oil Weightless Hydrating Oil Mist -- coconut oil has a bad reputation of weighing down hair. This product, however, adds a ton of shine to hair, but is uber light and smells amaaaazing. Another fave OGX product.

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte & Maple Pecan Latte -- what's a fall favorites post without some sort of Starbucks drink? This year, both the classic PSL and the new maple pecan latte have been my favorites. The maple pecan latte sounds like it would give you a toothache, but it's a very warm blend of spices and nutty flavors with just a hint of sweetness. Really a must try this fall season! 

Spotify Autumn Acoustic Playlist -- Guys, I have to say that subbing to Spotify Premium is one of the best investments I make each month. This month I have been obsessed with the "Autumn Acoustic" playlist. I listen to it constantly when I'm at my desk just internet surfing or catching up on work. It's a super relaxing playlist full of acoustic indie tracks, and feels absolutely heart-warming on cold fall mornings and nights.

Bath & Body Works 3-Wick Candle in 'Pumpkin Pecan Waffles' -- Each year I have a favorite BBW candle and this year, Pumpkin Pecan Waffles take the prize. Smells like a bakery inside your house and has a very strong throw!

Half Baked Harvest Cookbook by Tieghan Gerard -- Last but certainly not least is this cookbook...aka my new obsession. I'm trying to get into cooking and healthy eating, but I can't stand a lot of "diet" blogs because they make such bland, disgusting food. Enter HBH. She has so many recipes that are easy to make, easy to add vegetables to/customize, healthy but still delicious, and best of all they're very comfort-type of foods, which are my favorite. The way she presents the recipes is perfection. I kid you not, every recipe I try off her book or blog turns out delicious. If you're like me and want to start eating healthier, but still want flavorful, easy to make food, go check out her blog and buy her book. Best $20 ever spent.

MIA: Where Have I Been?

One of the best parts of ED rotation: random Thursdays off.
Although the ED rotation is overall is a total nightmare because of the long hours and not getting to eat at all during a shift, the random days off are pretty awesome. There's just something about having a random weekday off that makes my heart happy. Even though those days are mostly spent getting caught up on work rather than a day of rest.

I have a bunch of paperwork to catch up on, but I wanted to take a few moments this morning to update this blog. So many things have happened over the past few months! Let's just do in bullet order instead of smashing it all in a paragraph. I lit up my candle, how it's time to get to business!

1. My Macbook died. RIP Macbook, cause of death:  coffee spill.
2. I got an iMac! I've been lusting over the iMac for sooo long, and I was like eff it. I work my ass off I deserve to use some of my savings towards the computer of my dreams. And not to mention, I really needed a computer because doing stuff of my iPad was just exhausting. 
3. I tried Coffee Meets Bagel. Epic failure. Met a guy I really liked, but he wasn't that interested in me. Let's just stop at that.
4. I went to the gym for the first time in years! If you've been following my old posts, I think I mentioned it somewhere in there that I was morbidly afraid of going to the gym. But I mustered up the energy and got my ass there. Now to just be more consistent.
5. I'm now 1 1/3 done with residency! Woo! 
6. I've decided to return to Pittsburgh after residency ends.

I think those are the major updates for now. I was going to start talking about fall favorites in this post, but I think that's better suited for a whole new post. I hate lengthy blog posts. 

BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Eyeshadow & Highlighter Palette -- Review & Swatches

Hey guys! I have a very exciting blog post for you guys today. I recently got my hands on the Carli Bybel 14 Eyeshadow & Highlighter Palette from Ulta that has gorgeous, no...absolutely scrumptious, golden and bronze hues for everyday wear.

The first two rows have 10 eyeshadows with a mix of mattes and shimmers in various warm golden, bronze, and berry toned shades.

The bottom row has 4 highlighter shades. The first one seems to be a nice cool tone but the remainder of the three are warm, golden, and right up my alley.

Swatches of the eyeshadows start bottom up. The mattes are slightly chalky, but the shimmers are very buttery and have amazing color payoff with just one swipe.

Swatches of the highlights. The first highlight shade I found to be quite chalky, but the other three highlighter shades are very pigmented and easy to apply.


I won't lie, I haven't applied this to my eyes yet but I'm really looking forward to playing with the shimmer shadows in this palette. I'm not much of a highlighter fan, but I'm looking forward to testing the highlights on both my cheeks and my eyes. I love that this palette is full of warm toned shades with a mix of gold, bronze, and copper which are my favorite. There are also a couple purple-toned shades that I'm excited to try.

Back From a Spring Hiatus

I'm back!!! For real this time. At least for the next two months.
Let's recap to the last three months -- NICU, inpatient, inpatient. It's been helllll. I've been working 70+ hours per week with barely a day off and day-night schedule shifts up the wazoo. I'm on elective again (ie - 8:30-5 everyday with all weekends off) which is heaven. So glad to be having free time off again.
Today was my first relaxing day in the last three months. I slept a solid 8 hours, woke up at 7am, drank a cup of coffee at home while browsing YouTube this morning, and got home by 4:30. I was going to cook dinner, but instead I chose to update my calendar, plan my weekend, drink a glass of wine, and order Chinese food while watching the Kardashians. This is what life should be like. 
Tomorrow morning my goal is to wake my ass up and go to the gym. It's been 9 months that I've had a gym membership and I haven't gone. It's so embarassing. That changes tomorrow!

I have some hauls, palettes, and favorites that I've been meaning to share for a longgg while on my blog. I have so many springtime favorites and discoveries from beauty to haircare to food to homeware and everything in between. Also, be expecting some travel diaries posts up this weekend or earlier next week. Cheers to a fun, laid back, casual, adventurous summer. 

Favorites | February 2017

I can't believe it's been like a month since I last blogged. Surprise surprise, this year is flying by and I still haven't adjusted to the fact that it's 2017. January whizzed by in the ED, and February whizzed by in Step 3 study land and vacation. Not sure if I've mentioned this in my last post, but for the past two weeks I have been in Dubai and India with my mom for a bit of sightseeing and catching up with family. I'm planning on writing a separate blog post this upcoming weekend for my travel experiences and photos. For now, let's just say it was a really nice trip and it sucks to be back and have a rough three months to look forward to. The only good thing is that this week is going to be fairly light since I'm on nursery night shift for the next four nights and then I'm on my golden weekend with three days off. So nice slow transition back to work life until my next easy block in three months. I also have my eye appointment this week which I'm nottttt looking forward to.

Alright let's get to some favorites for this month. Sorry it's a tad late, I'm trying to post favorites at the end of each month, but I didn't have my laptop on this trip and it's really hard blogging on an iPad! Not too many favorites this month since I haven't had too much time to try out new products, but all o these are really amazing products nonetheless.

Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette, Nougat

I've been on a cool-tone rampage this month. I've also been playing a lot with my Chocolate Bar palette, especially with the cooler shades like Nougat, Puddin', and Rum Raisin. Of all three, I think Nougat is definitely my favorite. It's a beautiful matte dirty pink sort of shade that's a lighter brown with a hint of pink-mauve undertones. Really unique shade, at least in my makeup collection. And of course, the quality of these shadows is superb and they all blend beautifully. 

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Half-Baked

How's this for a makeup throwback. I dug this out of my eyeshadow drawer and have been wearing it quite a bit this month. I used to think this was way too bright of a gold, but I wore it this past month and I loved how it made my tired-sunken eyes pop.

L'oreal Voluminous Volume-Building Curved Brush Mascara 

The L'oreal Voluminous Mascara is at the top of my holy-grail mascara list. However, I usually go for the straight brush. While shopping at Ulta a couple months ago, I accidentally picked up the "Curved Brush" version. I didn't even know they made this mascara with this type of brush. But lo and behold, this ended up being a happy accident since I fricken love the curved-brush version of this mascara...even more than the original! The curved wand boosts up my lashes and makes them look more curled and fuller than with a straight wand, so this is definitely a must-try mascara. 

NYX HD Blush in Pink The Town

This has been my go-to blush this month. It has an interesting finish, it's mostly matte but has a hint of a satin-sparkle finish if you look at it carefully. The color is pretty ordinary but nevertheless it is a brightening peachy-pink blush without making your face look like a disco ball.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Cream Cleanser

I wanted to switch things up with month and try a new acne-specific face wash. I really like Neutrogena products and I decided to try the orange-colored tube of acne face wash from the sea of Neutrogena acne face washes they had at Ulta. I think it's reduced the number of fresh acne spots that have cropped up on my face this month, but I'm going to test out it for another few months before the final verdict is out on that. But like other Neutrogena face washes, it has menthol that makes your skin tingle, has a faint cucumber scent, and it did not cause me to have an adverse reaction.

Target Valentine's Day Haul

It's snowing blizzarding outside! #SnowstormNiko. I feel extremely grateful that I'm on QI this month and don't have to go into work today. God Bless my colleagues who have to brave it into work today, hope they all stay safe. I lost my voice...again. I had a bad cold starting a few days ago and I've been coughing and hacking so much that I think my vocal cords are are swollen. And my throat is killlllling me. I've been drinking so much tea to calm my throat, it's insane. I've gone through almost two boxes just in the last few days. Thank gosh I'm on my QI block and can just relax and heal at home, instead of overusing my voice on the floors.

A few weeks ago, I was shopping at Target and found sooooo many adorable things for Valentine's Day. I really had to resist not picking everything up. OH and then I found a box of dark chocolate heart-shaped cookies at Trader Joe's that I had to include in this haul. They're super yummy! As far as the stuff I got from Target, the first thing you see on the left is this super cute mason jar topped with a heart-adorned lid. Inside the jar, I put some Hershey's Cupcake Kisses (the bag pictured above) and placed the jar in my kitchen. I'm totally going to keep it there even past Valentine's Day. Perhaps my favorite purchase are the pink and gold glitter votives in the center there. It's no surprise that I love anything glittery, and these look absolutely stunning on my work desk. I also bought a pastel pink heart-trimmed mug. I have so many mugs in my cabinet, but I couldn't pass this one up. Last, but not least, I got a sweet little heart-shaped cookie cutter. I'm hoping to make some sugar cookies this weekend, so this is going to be perfect!

If you're in the Northeast, please stay safe during this storm! 

Colour Pop Pressed Eyeshadows Review & Swatches

Hey guys, happy February! I thought I would make it all the way through my ED rotation without getting sick, but nope. I've had a horrible runny nose, cough, and sore throat for the past two days. Just grateful that it's not the flu though. I'm living on soup and tea, praying that I don't lose my voice again because that's the last thing I need after this chaotic month.

Today I wanted to talk about some new releases from Colour Pop. They released a new line of pressed eyeshadows last month and you know that I had to get my paws on some. How fricken beautiful is the packaging?! Love the silver stars theme, so stinkin' cute. Once you get past the paper packaging, each shadow comes housed in the classic round eyeshadow pans and fit easily into any Z-Palette. They come at $5 a pop as opposed to $6 for Mac and Makeup Geek shadows.

 

Left to Right: Wake Up Call, Bel Air, Note to Self, Top Notch, You Know The Drill, High Strung

The first four shades are matte, the last two shades are metallic. Even though they're called metallic, they don't have chunky glitter in them and go on very smooth. Although the four matte shades might look similar in the pan, they are quite different when swatched. 

Top to Bottom: High Strung, You Know The Drill, Top Notch, Note to Self, Bel Air, Wake Up Call

Here is my description of each shade: 

Wake Up Call -- medium neutral-toned matte brown with hints of mauve

Bel Air -- medium cool-toned matte taupe-brown 

Note to Self -- your basic warm matte brown with hints of orange

Top Notch -- matte red-brown 

You Know The Drill -- metallic medium buttery gold-bronze 

High Strung -- metallic copper rose gold with hints of mauve 

As you can see, they swatch beautifully. Each swatch above is just one swipe. Super super buttery, even the matte shades. Good, affordable matte shadows are hard to find, but these are amazing and comparable to high-end brands. The Colour Pop Pressed Eyeshadows are very comparable to the MUG eyeshadows, but I think these shadows feel even creamier than MUG ones. They are only $5 a pop, whereas the MUG and Mac shadows are $6 each. I can't say enough good things about these. These eyeshadows have everything you could want from an eyeshadow -- they blend beautifully, wear all day without creasing, have good color payoff, and come in a variety of color selections and finishes. That being said, these aren't anything extraordinary and are very similar to MUG and Mac shadows. They do feel a tad creamier, but in the end they apply just as beautifully as MUG and Mac shadows. However, I could see myself going for ColourPop over MUG because they offer free shipping and faster delivery. But as far as the product quality, it's neck in neck.

Since I've added these pans to my collection, my Z-palette is now full, yayyy! Which only means I'll have to buy a new palette since there's still so many MUG, Mac, and ColourPop shadows I still want to try. Be still, my heart.

Favorites | January 2017

January has already come and gone. How crazy is it that we're already one month done with 2017? The best part is that I only have 3 more ED shifts left and am sooooo close to finishing the worst block of the year. I'm stressing hardcore about taking Step 3 in just two short weeks. I really hope it is as easy as people say it is.

Let's switch gears and talk about my favorites from this month. I'm going to try and get better about being on top of my monthly favorites this year #newyearresolution. Since I skipped my December favorites this year, I have a ton of things to share with you guys. Not too much makeup, but lots of new skincare and haircare favorites, a lot of which have been game changing for me.

NYX Hot Singles Eyeshadow in Sex Kitten -- I ordered a bunch of new eyeshadows this month, but I've had this NYX shadow sitting in my Z-palette for months. I finally used it this month and really love the color -- a rosy gold that leans more brown than rose. Plus, this shade has a gorgeous satin finish and stays on all day.

Revlon ColorStay Creme Eyeshadow in Caramel -- I just bought this eyeshadow a few weeks ago and am already in love. The color is absolutely gorgeous. The consistency of this cream shadow is super smooth and it stays put all day without creasing. 

BareMinerals Lasting Line Long-Wearing Eyeliner in Lasting Brown -- I've never been a huge fan of eyeliners, but on my days off this month I've been reaching for a brown eyeliner. I love how creamy and easy this pencil is to apply and it smudges easily for a smoky effect.

NYX Glitter Primer -- You guys know that I love me some glittery eyeshadows. This primer has changed my life. It is super tacky, like glue, and helps chunky glitter shadows stay on all day. I put this under cream eyeshadows and super chunky shadows like the ones in the Lorac Metal Pro Palette and it helps the shadows stay in place without causing massive glitter fallout under my eyes. LOVE.

Revlon Kiss Balm Lip Balm in Berry Burst -- Very creamy and great for casual days when you just want to slip on a lip balm. I just noticed that these have SPF 20 which is a bonus!

Soap & Glory Rich and Foamous Body Wash -- this is the body wash I've been using all month. It has a very exhilarating oatmeal-sugar scent. It's a creamy body wash that doesn't lather all that well, but leaves my skin very supple and moisturized. Not sure if I'll repurchase it because of the hefty price tag, but this has definitely been a favorite this month. 

OGX Quenched Sea Mineral Moisture Shimmering Weightless Moisture Replenisher -- This product might be the star of the show this month. I haven't always advertised it on this blog, but I've always had a horrible relationship with my hair. It's okay on the days I wash and condition, but the next day it becomes very dry, coarse, and tangly to the point where I actually broke my Wet Brush earlier in the month trying to fight with second day hair. I started using this product on my second and third day hair two weeks ago and it has changed my life forever. Not only does this have a refreshing beachy 'just got out of the waves' scent, but it hydrates and softens my hair without weighing it down. This is exactly the kind of holy grail hair product I've been looking for all my life and I finally found it. This has changed my hair game to where it is smooth, healthy, shiny, and bouncy all day everyday even on days where I don't shampoo. I could rave about this product all damn day, so I'll just stop here. 

Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Treatment Masque -- This is the second part of why my hair has been so healthy this month. In fact, I ran out of this product and just repurchased my second tub. It has natural ingredients in addition to keratin that smoothens, strengthens, and restores my hair (just like the label says). I use this once or twice a week and my hair already feels thicker and stronger after using it for a month. I've since tried its counterpart shampoo and conditioner, which isn't that great, but this masque is THE best drugstore hair mask I've tried and is very affordable. Must try if you have dry and coarse hair like me. 

Revlon Spring 2017 Mini Haul & Swatches

Happy Sunday! Actually not really one of the better Sundays I've had. This month on ED has disoriented me so much. I'm switching from evening shifts to overnight shifts to daytime shifts all over the place. It's been such an exhausting two weeks, can't believe I have two more left. The only good part is that it's going to be smooth sailing from here on out once this rotation is over. To make matters even worse, I woke up feeling sick this morning and only got 4 hours of sleep because I'm on backup call today. Oh and I'm taking Step 3 in less than a month and have been spending my rare days off studying. Pretty much the lowest point of intern year thus far.

I wanted to share an Ulta haul today. I bought a few goodies last week and have been playing with them over the last few days. Revlon products were buy one get one free so I decided to pick up a few things from their new spring collection. There are soooo many new products at the drugstore this spring. It feels like every single drugstore brand is putting out a new collection. Revlon has always been one of my favorite drugstore brands, so I was super excited to try out some of their new launches!

Revlon Kiss Balm Lip Balm in Berry Burst -- I'm a sucker for tinted lip balms. I like the way these smell and the packaging. It has a pleasant fruity, berry scent and applies quite smoothly on the lips. I've been loving a sheer berry lip during the winter, and this one is perfect for those no-makeup makeup days. It's also buildable so if I do want a more opaque lip, it's achievable with this. The only con about this product is that it's not as hydrating as some other tinted lip balms out there.

Revlon Ultra HD Gel Lipcolor in Desert -- I haven't played around with this product all that much yet, so I can't give you my full opinion its application and longevity. However, it's a gorgeous pinky-brown that applies very smoothly on the swatch. I thought these would be full on opaque, but I like that it's more of a medium-opaque shade.

Revlon ColorStay Creme Eyeshadow in Caramel (710) and Chocolate (720) -- These cream eyeshadows are packaged very similarly to the Maybelline Color Tattoos so I'm assuming they are meant to be dupes. However, I personally think that these are better than the Color Tattoos. These apply much more evenly and smoothly compared to the Color Tattoos. I've worn the shade Caramel a couple times on top of my NYX Glitter Primer and I'm honestly in love. It's a gorgeous medium golden-bronze color brightens up my eyes and it lasts all day without creasing. The trick with these cream shadows is using a tacky primer underneath, such as the NYX Glitter Primer. My biggest gripe with the Color Tattoos was that they were a pain to apply without patchiness or fallout. What I love about these Revlon cream shadows is that they come with a mini brush that is perfect for applying the shadows and to evenly spread the color evenly.

I haven't played with the shade Chocolate yet, but I was a bit disappointed at how dark the color is. I'm going to try and play with this some more, but it might end up being more suited as an outer corner or crease color more than an all-over-eyelid color. But the color still applies very evenly on the swatch, so the formula is very similar to Caramel.

Berry Burst, Desert, Caramel, Chocolate

Here are some swatches of the products above. Expect a few more hauls coming up in the next few weeks! Oh and plus, this weekend Ulta launched a 20% off coupon so expect a few more goodies from Ulta to be showcased here in the next week! :)

Bath & Body Works Haul

Survived the first week of my Emergency Medicine rotation! Oh my gosh, even though it's been only one week, it feels like it has been a whole month. The shifts go by fast, but it is just so exhausting especially during the cold and flu season. I have today and tomorrow off, and it feels soooooo nice, even though most of my days off have been spent studying for Step 3.

Like every year, I bought a crap ton of stuff from Bath & Body Works during their winter Semi-Annual Sale. I love their shower gels, so I stock up each year during the winter sale. I think I got a good mix of stuff this year, so I'm super excited to be sharing it with y'all.

Yummm, the shower gels. I picked up 7 scents this year. I've been a huge fan of the B&BW shower gels for over two years now. They lather so well and the scent lingers even after I step out of the shower, which is a huge plus. This year, I tried to get a mix of scent families. Amongst my favorites Snowflakes & Cashmere, Peony, and Velvet Sugar.
My favorite of the bunch would have to be Velvet Sugar. I love the packaging and the shower gel smells just like candy, but it's not sickly sweet like Vanilla Bean Noel is. Vanilla Bean Noel has a veeeery sweet sugar cookie scent, but I'm hoping that it's not as overpowering on my skin. I'm obsessed with Cashmere Glow scent, but they didn't have it in the full size, so I purchased the travel size instead for trips and such. Snowflakes & Cashmere smells pretty similar to Cashmere Glow, so I'm happy I snagged that baby up. I was a little sad that Peach Bellini and Mango Mandarin smelled so similar to one another. I still love the freshness of each scent and can't wait to use them during the summer. Of the bunch, Freesia was a huge disappointment. It smells like laundry detergent. Yuck, that's the biggest downside of ordering online -- you can't really smell it before you purchase it. But still beats shopping in a busy little boutique and standing in the long line.

I also picked up some foaming hand soaps. Again, love these. I used to buy just regular Up & Up hand soaps from Target, but I bought a few for my new apartment last summer and fell in love. And never looked back! I currently have holiday-themed hand soaps in my kitchen and bathroom, so I picked up some for the spring when those run out. The pictures on these look so spring-y!

I burned through the last bit of my favorite candle, Marshmallow Fireside, so of course I had to pick another one up. The packaging on this year's candle looks oh so adorable.

I finally ran out of antibacterial hand gel, so it was time to restock. These 5 came in a set, I'm blanking on the name. I love the packaging and honestly there's not a scent I dislike in this bunch. My favorite is "On Christmas We Wear Pink". Super sparkly and smells like a cupcake.

Last but not least, I got a new antibacterial gel holder. This is sooooo sparkly and gorgeous, the picture does not do it justice. Looks beautiful on my black crossbody bag.

That's it for this haul! I've been shopping a ton over the last few weeks, so be expecting a Target and Ulta haul soon. January is definitely going to be the month of haul posts! Toodles <3