NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette Review

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A couple of weeks ago, I needed to restock my Clarins products. Since I order my Clarins products from a department store online, I always look for a new makeup product to try because you never know what you may find. This time around, I found the NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette. It was only $15 so I figured it’s not too much of a loss if I don’t like it. But I actually like it a lot.

Cream vs. Powder

I typically contour my face with a powder blush from MAC called Blunt. So I was eager to see if a cream contour worked better or worse than what I was already using. Right now, I’m liking both cream and powder products so I don’t really have a preference. But I do see a difference between the two types when I wear them.

Dull Highlight or Wrong Color?

I don’t use the highlight portion of this palette very much because it didn’t show up very well on my skin. Continue reading →

2016 VMAs Recap

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The MTV Video Music Awards are an annual “holiday” of sorts for me. For the past few years, awards shows in general have been very lackluster with a few sporadic great moments. The VMAs really put in a great effort to make this year’s show one of the best.

What I Saw…

A-List lineup… FINALLY!

For the last few years, the MTV Video Music Awards have been very mediocre. But for this year’s VMAs, MTV made sure they had an all-star lineup. Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Kanye West, etc. Unlike the 2016 Grammy Awards & Billboard Awards earlier this year, the VMA producers definitely didn’t drop the ball this time when it comes to star power.

Rihanna/Video Vanguard

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I’m one of the many people who felt like MTV had no business giving the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award to Rihanna in the first place. They’ve gone years without handing out the award before (presumably due to no one being deserving at the time), so I don’t see why they couldn’t just omit the award from this year’s show. Or give it to Beyoncé again (she definitely deserved it). Rihanna is receiving the award prematurely, and her videos really aren’t good/iconic enough for her name to be mentioned in the same sentence as Michael Jackson (let alone receive an award named after him). Other recipients have made sense: Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Hype Williams, Beastie Boys, etc. But this year, it felt like MTV just wanted to make sure Rihanna performed at the show so they had to give her something.

Speaking of Rihanna’s performance…

She had four four-minute performances unlike Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake, who performed ONCE for 16 minutes. That in itself made me roll my eyes but Continue reading →

Tory Burch Miller Sandals

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I finally got them!

Back in June, I listed the Tory Burch Miller sandals as one of the five things I wanted to buy before the summer ended. These sandals were actually a “just because” gift from my fiancé. He tried to surprise me with a pair of snakeskin Miller sandals but the pair that he bought was just a little bit too small. When we went back to the store to exchange them, they didn’t have the pair that he had purchased in my size. So I ended up having him exchange for the nude pair instead. To his surprise, he was able to get some money back AND I got the pair of sandals that I really wanted.

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New Designer

As I said in the “5 Things I Want to Buy This Summer” post, I didn’t have anything from Tory Burch. No shoes, no handbags, nothing. So I’m very excited about my first Tory Burch item. It’s always cool when you make your first purchase somewhere (even though I didn’t buy these, I’m taking credit for the purchase). Sometimes I feel like my whole wardrobe came from the same place and that can be annoying. So it’s refreshing to be able to broaden your horizons with new stores/designers. Continue reading →

Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 Damier Azur

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Last weekend I bought my third Louis Vuitton bag (fourth LV item overall). I really wanted the Montaigne MM and I was able to try it on, but I ultimately decided on buying another Speedy 30 in a different canvas.

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Another Speedy

Top handle bags are my absolute favorite type of handbag. And the Speedy bags are the most iconic Louis Vuitton bag and they are definitely the brand’s most iconic top handle. And I freaking LOVE the bag. I love the shape, I love the size, I love the look… I just really adore everything about the Speedy as a whole. Since I am building a collection, I have always entertained the idea of having a Speedy in all three canvases: Damier Ebene, Damier Azur, and Monogram. Plus, Lux_Mommy (one of my favorite YouTubers/Snapchatters) has said that the best way to build a versatile collection is to: get a top handle in every canvas, a shoulder bag in every canvas, and so on.

Damier Azur

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My favorite Louis Vuitton canvas is Damier Ebene. But it would be redundant to have a collection of Louis Vuitton bags that were all the same canvas. Continue reading →

5 Things That Are Helping Me Plan My Wedding

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I’ve had to take a brief break from posting due to my schedule being overloaded with extra work (I got a promotion) and wedding planning (things are moving really fast now). I’ve had to start juggling all of the things going on in my life during these past few weeks so the blog had to take a backseat for a little bit. But I know I have a few brides and/or potential brides who read my blog, so I figured I would share the five things that I have been using to help me plan my wedding without having my head explode.

Pinterest

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Pinterest is my digital vision board for my wedding. If I need to visualize something regarding décor or attire, Pinterest is my go-to app/website. The main reason why I love it so much is because even if I’m not on Pinterest at the moment, I can still pin things to my wedding board from YouTube, The Knot, Buzzfeed, random sites, etc. I find things everywhere, so it’s great to be able to store it all in one place.

The Knot

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The Knot (app/website/magazine) is something you literally have no use for if you aren’t planning a wedding. I only got familiar with this site after my engagement but it is a godsend. I can find articles about wedding tips, Q&As, vendors, dresses, etc. I could keep listing things but basically any tool you’d ever need to plan a wedding is featured on The Knot. Continue reading →

I Said “YES” to the Dress!

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Two weeks ago… I said “YES” to the dress.

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I had such an awesome experience that I felt like I needed to write a few helpful tips so that other brides could have the same amazing experience that I had.

Go to a boutique with experienced consultants

I can’t stress this enough. You’ll be able to tell who’s experienced and who isn’t as soon as you walk into a store. Your consultant should be able to help bring your vision to life. In some stores they have girls working there who aren’t really consultants, they are just regular retail associates. You want to avoid stores like that. Read the reviews on bridal boutiques before you visit any. Continue reading →

My Top 5 MAC Lipsticks

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I have quite a few MAC lipsticks in my makeup collection. I would say I have at least twenty and I’m still adding to that. These are my five favorite MAC lipsticks that I’ve collected thus far. They’re not in any particular order, I change my mind too much for that. Plus, I love them all equally but for different reasons. Enjoy!

Up the Amp (Amplified)

Continue reading →

100 Followers!

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Hey everyone!

I’ve reached my first milestone/achievement today! 100 followers!

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I’ve been blogging sporadically for about 2 years but I didn’t get consistent with it until late last year. Apparently that consistency is paying off.

I want to thank each and every one of my readers. Your comments, “likes”, and views mean a lot to me.

I really appreciate your support!

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken

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Okay I finally tried another Pinterest recipe, so I can actually post the ingredients and instructions today. I made this on one of the weeks when I really didn’t feel like cooking anything. I hadn’t cooked a real meal for a few days and I was feeling bad for my fiancé so I turned to Pinterest for a basic chicken recipe. I was lucky to find this recipe already on one of my Pinterest boards because I already had all of the ingredients at home so I wouldn’t need to make a stop at the grocery store (thank GOD!).

Baked chicken doesn’t really excite my taste buds like a juicy steak would so that makes me less excited about cooking it, but this recipe actually surprised me. It didn’t taste like regular baked chicken. It was more fun to make and more fun to eat. I just served it with white rice and some canned green beans that I’ve been trying to get rid of for a while (I want to use fresh or frozen veggies only).

Ingredients
  • ½ cup Mayonnaise
  • ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets.
  • 4-5 teaspoons Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • pinch of salt

Continue reading →

Liebster Award

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I would like to thanks to fitnessgrad for nominating me for this award. If you haven’t seen her fitness blog, I suggest you go and check it out right now. Lots of interesting and informative stuff to see there.

With this nomination comes 11 questions to answer, 11 blogs to nominate, and 11 questions to write!

Here are those 11 questions given to me:

What is the first thing you do in the morning when you wake up?

After I hit the snooze button a few times, I usually check Twitter and IG. Then I reluctantly get out of bed. 😦

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Pepperoni, banana peppers, and extra cheese.

Who is your role model and why?

Beyoncé! She is just living proof of how great you can be when you have raw talent, good work ethic, and the courage to ignore your haters.

If you could reset your life, would you?

Nope. I’m content with where I am right now. Continue reading →