Month: April 2015

Health: My Favorite Morning Drink!

Hi Friends,

A fun fact about me is that I love sipping on things more than chewing things! I’m not sure why, but I love a yummy drink: carbonated, fresh juice, teas & coffees (I really don’t discriminate).

Lately, one of my favorite morning drinks has been 100% Bolthouse Farms Pomegranate Juice and chia seeds! (I’ve been purchasing Bolthouse over Pom Wonderful due to the price point. I’m sure if the POM Wonderful price point were better – I’d use either/or.)

I bought the Chia Seeds from amazon for $11  – you can find them anywhere though. At night (preferred method) or in the morning (least preferred method) I take a tablespoon or two of the chia seeds ad them let them soak in the pomegranate juice. By the time I wake up or am done getting ready for the morning –I have an awesome health drink ready for me!

The benefits of pomegranate juice are never ending, but here are some of my favorite benefits of drinking it:

  • may help stop plaque from building up in blood vessel
  • loaded with antioxidants (antioxidants are known to help prevent and repair DNA damage that can lead to cancer)
  • A 2005 study on 45 patients with coronary heart disease demonstrated that a daily drink of 238ml (8.4oz) of pomegranate juice administered over three months resulted in improved blood flow to the heart and a lower risk of heart attack
  • I’m anemic and the iron content is high in pomegranate juice!

I’m also really loving chia seeds – I’m sure you’ve read a million articles dedicated to these inflatable black seeds that turn all jelly-like, but once again here are my favorite reasons for loving chia seeds:

  • one tablespoon of chia seeds have more calcium than a glass of milk, more omega-3s than salmon, and more antioxidants than blueberries
  • high in fiber
  • may help prevent cardiovascular, neurological and autoimmune diseases

I hope you’re inspired to try the combination tomorrow morning, because it’s something I’ll definitely be enjoying!

Stay healthy! 

DIY MONDAY: Quick fix for MASCARA!

OH NO: Your mascara – it’s clumping – it’s dry- and YES this is the only bottle you have on hand. What will you do? YOU WILL NOT FREAK OUT or use this clumpy-product. What you will do is fix it.

I have two favorite ways to fix it. One con with both quick fixes is that the mascara tends to sweat a little more than usual (atleast for me) and with the coconut oil I seem to get a softer lash – but I end up seeing tiny particles of the product sprinkled around my check (sometimes).

CONTACT SOLUTION / EYE DROPS:

Warning DO NOT USE:  hydrogen peroxide care systems, such as CLEAR CARE® Cleaning & Disinfecting Solution, or any sort of generic brand. IT WILL STING YOUR EYE AND CAUSE OTHER ISSUES (frankly, all I know is something horrible will happen: so DO NOT do it!!)

But you can use your regular run of the mill contact solution.

Add in a drop or two of the solution into the tube then mix it and move the wand around in it  and you should get a consistency of mascara that is not clumpy. Instead of contact solution you could also use eye drops to do the trick as well.

COCONUT OIL:

I secretly love the coconut oil method. As stated above I get softer lashes and the product in my mind seems “richer” and just better. Obviously, only put a little bit of coconut oil in the tube and then just swoosh it around.  Adding a little bit of coconut oil will allow you to probably use your tube of mascara for another 4-6 days. If you’re wondering how you can use this tip in the winter when coconut oil is in a thicker form: simply take a small glob of it in your hands and it should melt relatively quickly and just funnel it in to your tube!

Do you have any quick fixes? I’d love to hear them! 

A Charitable Socialite

Mother Teresa’s Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

I had a Sex in the City moment this afternoon, I was dropping off a random assort of chocolates to one of the homeless residents in downtown Atlanta. This quote often comes to mind, since I’ll never know what really happened to those goodies! All I know is – it was between God and me.

Dior Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum

Hi Friends,

Does anyone feel like their mascara is just not that good for their eyelashes, or is leading to fall out? I’ve had this thought and sometimes when I’m washing my face/removing my eye makeup I’ll notice a lash or two – and i’ll reminisce about the days I had gorgeous full lashes!  So a few weeks ago when I went to Sephora to purchase my new favorite eye liner — they’ll be a separate post on this— and I I apparently had like over 200, or even 300, Sephora points. I asked the teller what the gifts were and actually decided to trade in my points to try out this primer (it was 100 points). I am soooo happy I did, because I actually like it a lot, and will be purchasing the full size version once my sample size comes to an end.

Some of my own personal reasons for like it are:

  • I don’t have to worry about my mascara sweating (huge PLUS for the bottom lash mascara situation)
  • It does add added volume and length
  • It is  an incredibly easy and basic step
  • The price point is not terrible for its apparent benefits

On the online review for the product via Sephora, I noticed that some people saw improvements to their actual eye lashes due to the serum and not just in conjunction with the mascara (that is how I interpreted the results) I haven’t been using it for 8 weeks, probably more like 4? But I will have to update you all on how I feel in another month or so.

Have you tried this product? What did you think/what do you think? I would love to hear more about your thoughts and other primers you have tried.

Cheeky Bronze By MAC!

I recently self sponsored a little mini haul of cosmetics for myself, since my best friend Summar (check out her blog: https://summarbliss.wordpress.com ) had a 20% of coupon at Belk’s and COSMETICS WERE INCLUDED. Naturally, I had to splurge and indulge myself in cult favorites and restock on items that were dwindling and/or backups – because make up is expensive and sometimes having to pick up an item at the very last minute is not a real possibility. I’ll go through each product individually with a separate post, so I can really spend time discussing what I think about it.

Why my opinion matters: I’ve often wonder why my opinion matters in the realm of beauty, and my opinion matters because I am an unbiased consumer. I have high standards and I expect companies to meet that standard. When I was a little girl, I tried the L’oreal Kids 2 for 1 Shampoo – I remember not liking it and noticing fall out ( I had to have been 12 or 13). So dialed the 1-800 number on the back of the bottle and told L’oreal  my thoughts on the product and they felt for my 12/13 year old soul and refunded the purchase price. Companies want to see you happy, and I want to use my beauty blog posts as a vehicle to provide them an objective opinion from an intelligent, beauty obsessed Indian girl!

Why I purchased it: I purchased this product, since I was looking for a bronzer. I had originally purchased the Too Faced Sweet Heart Bronzer (through the ULTA promotion where they were priced at $15 each). I purchased “Peach Beach” and “Something about Berry.” The packaging was soooooooo cute, and the reviews were great, but unfortunately, for my south east Asian,  Indian girl glow, the bronzer just looked ashy and weird and powdery. Since I didn’t love the product, I took it back to ULTA. I did love the Too Faced Sweetheart Bronzer because: “Something about Berry” was cute, but the color tones looked incredibly 80’s and clowny; & “Peach Beach” was hardly noticeable. If I were a white girl, perhaps the product would have been great, but alas I’m an exotic, golden tone Indian girl, and it just didn’t work.

Like I stated earlier, I went to the mall with Summar, and she told me about the MAC Bronzer’s  – so I tried them and OMG – I LOVE CHEEKY BRONZE. It just worked. It embellished my skin tone and added this glow. I received compliments from her and another girlfriend of mine the next week (this specific girlfriend prefers a  more natural look).  Confession: I have been loving the brozner so much that I’ve been wearing it to work everyday for a week and half.

I think if you’re in the market for a bronzer and you’re south east Asian or have a more  olive undertone this is a color you should try. A good primer will help make the bronzer last through out the day, and the consistency is something I really appreciate about the product.

Haul Coming Soon

Sorry for the hiatus. I actually went on a nice sized haul, and i am INCREDIBLY excited to share what goodies I purchased. I hope things are going well in your world my beautiful, make-up junkie readers. I promise to have many exciting new posts ahead.

Keep socializing my socialites! ❤