Ipsy unbagging for June 2015

     If this magenta bubble mailer causes excitement when you see it then you are for sure an ipsy subscriber. Every month my stomach gets butterflies the moment I open my mailbox and see this little beauty sitting there. I know amazing things await me. This month I had a new mail lady delivering. I saw her walking down the road with three of these little ladies in her arms. I had to contain my excitement when she handed me mine.

     Now, I don't know about you but I can't stand surprises. At Christmas I often let people know what I got them weeks in advance. My ipsy bags are no exception. They have a way of cheating and finding out what you are getting several days before it arrives. I often take this step and take a look at what's coming. This month was probably the best haul I've gotten so far.

     Lets start with the bag. It's made of this weird material that feels like the inside is lined with foam. I'm personally not the biggest fan of the bag. I've used every other bag so far but this one I don't think I'll be using much. It's slightly smaller than some past ones and doesn't feel as sturdy. I do like that its black with a cute little red zipper. Also the ipsy logo is embossed all over it. Some may disagree with me and find this bag one of their favorites. I probably will give it away the first chance I get.


     Now, the inside has more than made up for the bag. So many amazing items all packed into a tiny bag. This was well worth the $10 price tag.  I received products from Dr. Brandt Skincare, SheaMoisture, BioRepublic Skincare, tre'StiQue, and my absolute favorite Smashbox. Just the lipstick alone costs $10 so I made out like a bandit with this stuff. Let's take a closer look at everything.

     I'm crazy anymore when it comes to my pores. The older I get the more aware of them I become. Were they always that big? Did they appear over night recently? I feel like they had to have otherwise I was extremely unaware of what my face looked like a few years ago. I am constantly trying to rid myself of blackheads that seem to be clogging up every pore on my nose and chin. The closer I get to turning thirty the more I wish I had the skin I had when I was twenty. This product is amazing. It's made by Dr. Brandt Skincare and is called pores no more Vacuum cleaner. I love this stuff. You put a little dab on your problem spots and let it dry. Then just wash it away. The sad thing is that a full size product runs around $45! I'll just have to stick to getting rid of blackheads another way. This product will be saved for emergencies!

     Next we have the BioRepublic Best Sheet Masks. These things run about $4.50 each but looks like can only be purchased in groups of 6. Ipsy was kind enough to send me three different ones to try. I've only tried the cucumber one as it said it was good for pores... and you know how I feel about my pores. It was weird to pull this mask out and put it on. It looked like my skin was melting. It was very cooling and felt nice to have on my face. Afterwords it says to gently rub the excess product into your skin. No need to rinse off. I enjoyed that a lot but it felt like it took an awfully long time for my skin to dry. I also didn't notice any difference it my pore appearance afterwords. Maybe it takes a few times to see any results? At $4.50 a pop I expect something to happen besides my face to look sweaty. I'll probably use the other two and never think about this product ever again.

     I rarely wear lipstick. I have constant dry lips that make lipsticks look disgusting on me. If anyone has some secret to having smooth, beautiful lipstick ready lips, please share it with me. I'll be ever so grateful! No matter how many times I tell ipsy that I don't want lipstick, I still get a new one every month. This bag they sent me Shea Butter Lip Crayon and it is the most gorgeous shade of magenta that I ever did see! It looks hideous on me. HIDEOUS! I envy anyone who this shade looks good on. I'm pretty sure this is my new favorite color. I just want to stare at it all day... This lip crayon is $10 which I feel isn't that bad of a deal. It's a nice product. If they would have sent me a nice coral color I would have enjoyed it much more. I still wouldn't have worn it much though. STOP SENDING ME LIPSTICK!

     I don't usually use shadow crayons. I think that every time I've tried to they end up smudging and creasing. Not sexy. I wasn't that excited for the tre'StiQue shadow crayon. Out of all the colors they could have sent me, they shipped this gold color. I probably would have worn the green that some people got, but I most likely will never even try this color. As most of you may know, I only wear bright colors. Neutrals are just not my thing. I don't look right in them. I may just give this to my sister who looks amazing in neutral shades. I'm sure she'd enjoy it. The full sized version of this is $26. I'd never pay that for a shadow crayon. Maybe for a highly pigmented pot, but not a crayon.

     Last but not least, my favorite product. Who needs camera filters when you have Smashbox Cosmetiic's Photo Finish Foundation Primer? If I were to splurge on any of the products this month, it would be this one. $36 is a small price to pay for this little miracle in a tube. They sent me $9 worth of product and you know I'll be using this for special occasions only. This stuff is the most amazing product. You use it first and then apply your foundation over it making you look like a porcelain goddess! Your pores and lines vanish right before your eyes. I've gone to Sephora just to sample this product in the past. It feels so velvety smooth! I can't rave about this product enough. If they would have only sent me this product I would have been happy. My face is going to look so gorgeous!

     So this month's ipsy bag was well worth it. I'm sure I can find someone to take the two products off my hands that I won't use and maybe trade for something I would enjoy. Even if I don't, the foundation primer and the pores no more vacuum mask have made up for it several times over. I can't wait to see what I get next month! Do you get ipsy? If you don't, you should try it! Click this link and sign up for a month. Already get ipsy? What unique items did you get this month? I'd love to hear below in the comments!

How to make my Red Velvet Cupcakes

     Red velvet cupcakes are my absolute favorite cupcake to make. These have been my most requested ones to make for friends and family and I've even gotten paid to make some for a co-workers birthday party. The coloring on these bad boys is amazing. For a while my hair was the same dark red velvet color. Gorgeous! The chocolate in this is extremely rich and I add another layer of it with the chocolate chips. The cream cheese frosting goes so well with the chocolate. Seriously, it's to die for. 

This is how they turn out with normal cocoa. Lovely!

     Normally I use normal unsweetened cocoa but lately I've just been in love with the dark chocolate version. The coloring will be less red if you use dark chocolate cocoa, so be warned! They will probably come out as more of a red tinged chocolate cupcake if you use dark chocolate. I've also experimented with other colors in the batter. Blue comes out quite lovely. I bet purple would also look just as fine. You can alter them to fit your own personal preference. Some of you may not love red as much as I obviously do. I don't think my hair could get any redder than it is. If it could I would do it. 

     If you try this recipe I would love to hear how it turned out! Be sure to comment down below and post pictures if you got them! I'd love to hear of any tweaks you have made to the recipe as well. I'm always open to suggestions that will make these cupcakes even better than they already are!

Cupcakes

(adapted from a recipe found on White Apples)

• 
3 1/2 cup cake flour

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (You can use dark chocolate cocoa if you prefer)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cup canola oil

• 2 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 4 Tbsp (2 oz) red food coloring
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 2 1/2 tsp white vinegar

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips tossed in flour 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.  Stir in chocolate chips until just combined.

4. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

5. Divide batter cupcake pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temp

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter room temp

• 3 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Place cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 

2. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.

Once the cupcakes are cooled and frosted, I take an extra, unfrosted cupcake, and grate it with a cheese grater over the frosted cupcakes. This makes them pretty and look more presentable. 

I love geocaching.

     I first learned about geocaching about four and a half years ago. A friend of mine was telling me about how he and his father had found over a hundred of these little treasures all over the East coast. I didn't quite understand what the hell he was talking about but I was intrigued enough to check it out for myself. If you don't know what geocaching is, I'll give you a quick rundown. 

     All over the world people hide things for other people to find. Some are tiny like a hollowed out pen. Some are large like a military ammo box. I've seen a wide variety of items used. Some people get pretty creative with it. Inside these caches there is a log. You sign the log when you find it and hide it back where you found it so the next person can find it. The larger caches usually have items in it that people leave behind. The general rule is if you take something you leave something behind. 

     I grabbed my two best friends at the time and we went to the nearest dollar store to load up on tiny treasures to put in the caches we found. I think that was half the fun. After that we found a fair amount of these things. They are literally everywhere. Alls you need is the geocaching app on your phone and it'll show you all the caches you can find in the area. It's usually an overwhelming amount. My favorite geocaches have been the ones that are hidden in wooded areas. I love the outdoors and just being out in nature. One of the caches led us to a stream where we took off our shoes and played in the water. It can be a pretty enjoyable time if you do it with the right people. Much like with anything else in life.

     Recently I decided to introduce my nephew, Ash, to geocaching. He's a seven year old adventurous boy so I thought it would be a very fun time for the both of us. I had already found the geocaches I decided to start him out with. They were ninja turtle themed and easy enough to find for a beginner. Plus I know he gets frustrated easily so I wanted to make sure I knew where they were so I could help him out as much as he needed. I think he enjoyed it a lot. It probably would have been better if it wasn't so humid and buggy out. Oh well. I look forward to Avery being old enough to enjoy geocaching with me. I think it would be fun to just spend the day traveling around seeking out new caches to find together. You never know what you'll come across in your search. At one we found this giant abandoned building which I am still confused as to its purpose. It was pretty ominous looking and sort of creeped me out. 

     Rich and I went geocaching for our second date. He kept getting really close to me to look at my phone despite having the same app on his phone. It was adorable. Since then we've gone a couple more times and always have a great time with it. Recently we decided to try and make our own geocaches to hide. I think hiding your own really adds a new aspect to the game. It'll be fun to see what people think of your cache and the place you hid it. If you haven't tried geocaching yet I highly recommend you download the app on android called C:geo. It's free and so much easier to use than any of the other apps I've downloaded. Have any of you tried geocaching yet? How about hiding them? Let me know in the comments down below! 

     

The two men in my life.

     For two and a half years it's been mostly just Avery and I. His father and I were "together" for the first year and a half of his life but we rarely saw each other. I've pretty much raised our son without any help from him and let me tell you, it's been exhausting. I don't think I slept the entire first two years of his life. I was the one who was up when he would wake at 3am. I was the person who watched over him when he was up all night with a fever. I'm the one who bathed him, who rocked him to sleep, who has watched The Croods and Finding Nemo more than 30 times each. The two of us have a very close and special bond because of this. That is why I was scared to start dating.

     Dating meant that I would get close to someone and the dynamic of just Avery and I would be changed forever. Would a new guy judge me for co-sleeping with my son? Would he find Avery's weird quirks endearing or would he think there was something wrong with him? I honestly thought that this was something I wouldn't even have to worry about for quite some time. I didn't plan on introducing my kid to anyone until I fell head over heals for the guy. Little did I know that I'd find someone so amazing and perfect for me so quickly.

     I had read several articles on introducing your child to your mate prior to meeting Rich. They all seemed quite ridiculous to me. Most suggested waiting at least a year before your kids met your boyfriend. A year?! So I'm supposed to what, live a double life? What if after that year they meet and absolutely hate each other? I just shrug it off and say I wasted a year? I figured I'd ignore the advice of the "experts" and just wing it. Much like I did with child birth and raising Avery. I'll figure it out as I go.

     It wasn't long after dating Rich that I realized he wasn't like the other guys. He's genuine and thoughtful and extremely sweet. He's pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a partner plus more. So naturally, I wanted him to meet my son. Rich had zero experience with kids so I'm pretty sure he was a bit nervous about it. I know from experience how he must have felt. You don't want your partner's kid to hate you. I had to do it with both my ex-husband and Avery's dad. It was nerve-wracking both times. You never know how it will go, especially with older children.

     The good thing about Avery being only two and a half is that he will easily accept Rich into his life. He won't remember his parents being together and blame this new man for their split. Adding Rich into our tiny little family will make us stronger. He will grow up seeing what a relationship is supposed to be like and never have to see the scars his father left. He won't remember the sadness and pain his mom went through before this point.

     I personally thought that their meeting couldn't have gone better. Avery immediately started talking to Rich like he knew him. He kept saying Rich's name in every sentence he spoke. He wanted to show him all the cool things he could do, like jump and climb.

     Their first and second encounters were brief. I couldn't really tell how it was going with the two of them. They didn't have a whole lot of time to get to know one another so I had to remedy that. I decided a trip to the zoo was in order. Within the first few minutes of picking Rich up my mind was at ease. He talked to Avery and asked what animals he was going to see. When we stopped to get food I left the two of them together while I went to the bathroom. I don't think either knew what to make of the other. When I'd tell Avery to eat he'd ignore me. When Rich would tell him he would comply. I assumed that this was a good thing, for Rich anyway. Avery often thinks it's fun to ignore my requests.

     At the zoo Rich was often down at Avery's level showing him animals and talking to him. I can't speak for all the single moms out there but for me, this was an incredibly sexy thing. He made an effort to get to know my child, something that he really didn't have to do. He offered to push the stroller and was always walking next to me. I'm sure these seem like no brainer things to people in normal healthy relationships but I personally have never had experience with this. I was used to doing everything up until this point. It felt nice to have a partner for once. People walking past wouldn't have questioned our relationship. Rich wasn't shying away and distancing himself from us. He was apart of our little family.

     Even when it's just Rich and I he'll bring up Avery and show a genuine interest in him. He shows that he cares about him because he cares about me. Any worries I may have had before are gone. I loved being just Avery and I for the first two and a half years of his life but after finding Rich, I'm ready to let myself be happy again.

Tattoo Fading Tuesday - Week 2

     As of today, I have used the bentonite clay mixture on my finger a total of three times. Tuesdays and Fridays are what I've been shooting for to apply this stuff and so far, I've been pretty good about it. After my third application I've decided to try and do a thinner layer of clay on my finger. I've been applying it kind of thick and I don't think that it ever fully dries because of it. I'm pretty sure it needs to dry to get the full effect so my application of it will be adjusted for future applications. I also think that I'm going to start moisturizing the area afterwords. My finger has been extremely dry feeling ever since I started using the clay and I don't like it. Lets take a look at the progress that has been made so far!

     As you can probably tell from my ever changing skin tone, I haven't used the same lighting in all three pictures making this a bit harder to tell if it's working at all. As far as I can tell it looks pretty much the same. It still seems pretty bright to me and extremely noticeable. The dryness of my finger gives me hope though that it's actually doing something. Perhaps this will take a while to start showing any difference. Only time will tell! Check back next Tuesday to see if any progress has been made!