Revlon ColorStay Whipped Foundation Swatches and Review after Using it for a Year

When these first came out, I absolutely loved them and my little collection grew possibly because I was living in the states when they came out & they are much more affordable down there.  It can range from $15-$20 in Canada vs $10-$15 in the states and they often have BOGO type promos so you can easily pick these guys up for less $10 in the US.  Yeah living in Canada sucks for the wallet some times.  These are medium - high coverage which was great for my acne ridden skin and I feel that it looks better and better throughout the day.  It almost becomes skin like the longer you wear it and I want to look natural despite wearing makeup to achieve that look.  I find it's best to apply with your hands first and then finish with a beauty blender or a brush.

As you can see early tan matches my skin the best however I kept buying other shapes of getting a perfect match.  Such is the quest for the perfect foundation.  So I have these big tubs of 320 Warm Golden & 330 True Beige that I've been using for contour in hopes of finishing them in about 10 years.  I don't like to waste money since I do enough of that with my shopping.  I find 340 Caramel is my perfect contour shade & would repurchase.  For overall foundation I think I am falling out of love with these guys because I can't seem to find that perfect match.  I think once the summer is here & I have a tan, early tan will come back into my rotation.

The one con that I see lots of people complain about is the packaging and I would have to agree.  These guys come in heavy glass jars but what I do is move them into little sample jars which make them perfect for travelling and going through those security checks.  I almost prefer these over liquid for travelling because the whipped like consistency ensures they never really fall out of the jar.

From left to right, 320 Warm Gold, 330 True Beige, 320 Natural Tan, 340 Caramel, 400 Early Tan

From left to right, 320 Warm Gold, 330 True Beige, 320 Natural Tan, 340 Caramel, 400 Early Tan

I am addicted to StarBucks and here's how I make it a little more affordable

I am not much of a coffee drinker.  But I love me my lattes.  Recently I was listening to the Bro-rista Coffee Culture podcast from the Stuff Mom Never Told ladies and it was totally on the money, for me at least.  I don't like straight coffee or espresso or whatnot but I love my sugar syrup ladden drinks from starbucks.  I guess that makes me a girl?  My absolute favorite would be a Creme Brulee Latte that I've only ever seen on the menu in Starbucks Japan but the Caramel Brulee Latte that they have in North America during the holidays comes in a close second.  My regular go to drink is their Cinnamon Dolce Latte, tall with non-fat milk and no whip cream.

I have a starbucks lattee almost every work day (Mon-Fri) and how do I rationalize spending $4.15/day on coffee when I can spend half of that at Timmies?  I buy discounted gift cards online to pay for my purchases bringing the average cost of that latte down to ~$3.60.  I am a member of the my starbucks rewards program where every 12 drinks you buy gets you a free one.  Based on my buying habbits, that brings the cost of my latte down to ~$3.25.  I check my starbucks app to see if there are any promo codes out there I can take advantage of.  Finally I walk to work almost every single day which would be a little over $5 every day I would spend on transportation.  That last part is just me telling myself what I need to so I can sleep better at night but hey $3.25 isn't so bad.  There was a time when I was even ordering short drinks so it would work out to be slightly cheaper but now that I am working, I get the talls.  I am movin' on up as they say...

Halloween nails

I love Halloween!  It's fun to not have any inhibitions for one day.  I tried out the second skull makeup youtube video and it went well.  Not quite as good as the video but I was happy enough with it.  See below for the Halloween nails I am sporting this Halloween. 

Skull Makeup

I am planning on being a skeleton for Halloween and I have the following youtube videos bookmarked for them.  They are popular but not the first results that show up when you look up skull makeup so I thought it was worth the share.  I am leaning towards trying to combine the second and third looks.

Conair Curl Secret - Does this scare any one else?

Beauty and technology are going way too fast for me.  I saw the Curlsecret being demoed this on CityTVs Cityline demoed and that was when I truly felt old.  I thought I was young and hip and with it.  Clearly not because I had no idea this product existed and even more it scared me.  Each time the models hair disappeared in the apparatus, I was scared that it would be eaten and not come out alive.

The idea is your hair gets wound up in the device and it gets curled in there.  Good in that you just let it do it's thing and no need to wear gloves and all those other pesky things that comes with curling wands.  But as somebody that's gotten her hair tangled and ripped in Conairs Instyler, I feel like this is another one that would do the same.  I think it would work best for people with silky hair and not those with thick curly hair AKA me.

Cheap last minute kids halloween costume

I was at walmart doing some grocery shopping (yes I love the supercenter one stop shopping formats) when I decided I would check out the Halloween section to see if there was any non slutty costumes I could find for Halloween.  On the way there, I happened across this little boys hoodie which I think would work well for a kids Halloween costume.  It wasn't even in their Halloween section!  It's a regular hoodie.  If they had an adults version, I would have bought one for regular wear.  They also had a blue shark version and another animal with hors but I can't quite remember.  It's a little hard to see but those eyes stand up and are 3D.

I actually bought the super extra large one as a backup Halloween costume for myself.  Yes I was able to squeeze into it though it's pretty uncomfortable in the armpits

Easy peasy oven roasted sweet potatoes

I love sweet potato fries at restaurants and have tried making them at home without much success till now!  They always came out a little on the mushy side and not as crispy as I like.  Leaving me to buying them at restaurants and fast food joints to satisfy my craving. 

What did I do differently this time?  I cut them into smaller squares and made sure they were spread out in one layer on the baking tray even if it meant having to two batches in the oven.

First up, I bought some sweet potatoes at the local Asian grocery store only to cut in and be surprised that it wasn't an yellowy/orange color as I was used to.  Google to the rescue confirmed it was still a sweet potato...possibly a yam?  That's right, google wasn't quite conclusive on what it was.  With a little hesitation, I figured I already had bought it so I might as well cook it.  I cut it into little squares as seen below, tossed it in some olive oil, salt & pepper.

 

Then, I spread it in two trays with enough left over for another tray.  I made sure not to crowd the tray though it may look like it's crowded below.  Note that there is only one layer without more potatoes overlapping each other.

I forgot to take pictures of the end result.  Also, I munched through them pretty fast along with my family but it was crispy and delicious.  I ate most of them alone sauceless, that's how good it was.  I also enjoyed a glass of wine with it :D