Everyday Eyes - Sealed Shorts - ELF 100 palette

Heres another look using the E.L.F. 100 palette. I really love the colors in this palette. Elf shadows have come a long way from what they were when they first came out. The biggest test for an affordable product which shows that it is actually worth it, is in the pictures!

I have come across many shadows that look good in person but once you take a picture it goes completely ashy! Thats not a good look. The colors should be just as vibrant in the pictures. I have not had this problem with either one of my Elf palettes. Super impressive!

By the way, there is something funky going on with my right eyelash... Must not have glued it down completely. :/ Oh well, don't have time to redo it so I just took it off after the pics.

 LOL Looks really crazy here :P

Products Used


Eyes
MAC Signed Sealed - Outer corner
MAC Short Shorts - Inner Corner & Highlight
ELF 100 Palette - Deep Burgundy - lid; and Sparkly Reddish Mauve - inner corner & crease
Tarte cream liner
MAC Smolder
ELF Natural Lashes & Duo glue


Face
MAC Pro Longwear foundation thinned out with Clinique moisturizer
Clinique Up-Lighting Illuminator
La Femme - Dusty Rose


Lips
MAC All Styled Up
NYX Coffee lip pencil

Salmon Jambalaya for the 4th of July!!

Yesterday was the 4th! Yay fireworks!!

lol

Of course I cooked for the holiday! It just wouldn't be right if I didn't!!

I made this amazing Salmon Jambalaya and thought it would be awesome to share it with my readers. :)
I really love seafood and if you are a fish person like me you will love this! You can make this as spicy(or not) as you like. Me loves it spicy! The more the better.

One thing you may notice is that I do not really measure when I am cooking. Everyone has different taste buds and food can also be stronger or milder depending on the season. Here I used 3 jalapenos because they were very mild in flavor. If you have really spicy jalapenos, then surely you would not use 3 of them, correct? :)

Anyways...

I prepped by roughly chopping my veggies. Here we have an onion, 3 jalapenos, scallions, green peppers, and cilantro, from left to right. I would have also added celery and red peppers but forgot them at the grocery store. You can always use what you have and modify, but the cilantro is absolutely necessary!

I then chopped 2 salmon fillets into big chunks. I used 4 Chorizo sausages chopped up but Andouille is recommended if you can find it. I also have a few handfuls of shrimp under there shelled and de-veined.

Now would be the time to start your rice so that it will be finished once you are done with everything else. It is best to use white rice since it does not take away from the flavors in the dish.

I added a couple tablespoons of EVOO to the pan and preheated, then threw in all the veggies I chopped up.

 After that cooked for a few minutes I added my spices. Here I have salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, red pepper flakes, cumin, thyme, and rosemary. I also added some minced garlic and artichoke hearts.

 Let that cook down some more and tossed in my seafood, minus the shrimp. I covered this and let it cook another few minutes.

 Almost done!! I added a can of diced tomatoes and some sugar to taste.

 Cover this bad boy and let sit for at least 10 minutes on simmer so that the flavors can soak in. Make sure to stir so that it does not stick to the bottom.

Last but not least, toss the shrimp on top and cover. At this point you can turn off your fire. You don't want to over cook your shrimp, do you?

 I went ahead and plated it in a serving dish ready to go! I don't like to mix my rice in until its in my plate. But that's just me! Plus I think it gives a prettier presentation.

Looks great right? It really did taste amazing and everyone loved it!

I love making people happy with food. ;)

Removing Acrylic Nails

I have been removing my acrylics one by one over the past few days so that I could practice more with the NSI Spa odorless system. I realized that I didn't really give myself enough time to get used to it before I decided I didn't like it. As difficult as I find this to use I could get used to it. I had to remind myself how bad and strong traditional acrylic smells. 

I find traditional acrylics much easier to work with. I caught on the those very fast. Getting the ratios right were a no brainer for me. As I work with the odorless more and more, my ratios are getting much better and I just about have it down.

So here is the process I went through to remove the acrylic from my nail.

Step 1: Soak in remover

You can use any acetone based polish remover or acrylic remover. I just used a regular sandwich bag to hold the liquid. Soak for 10 mins.

Step 2: remove acrylic

The top layer should be soft enough to scrape away. Use a metal cuticle pusher to remove as much acrylic as possible. Repeat steps 1&2 as needed.

Step 3: Clean up nail

I usually takes me 3 soaks to get the nail completely clean. At this point you can soak one last time to remove the last bit of acrylic or you can file this off.

Here is my nail with all acrylic removed. I mistakenly peeled the last layer of acrylic off and it took a little bit of my nail with it. I do not advise for acrylic to be peeled off. I usually soak it completely off and doing it that way my nail bed is just as pretty as it was before the acrylic was placed.

You do not necessarily have to remove every last bit of acrylic, only the lifting and whats necessary to rebalance the nail when reapplying.

Here I reapplied the acrylic. My shape is a little off but it is a huge improvement from the first set. I am getting used to the new system. Yay!!

Wet Twists!

I cowashed my twists and took a couple pictures. I love the way it looks when its wet. I don't twist all the way down to the end so when its wet the curls pop.

I always thought it was weird that the front does not curl much and the back curls up a lot.

When I cowash, all I do it wet the hair thoroughly while massaging the scalp. Then I add some conditioner and run that through all the hair. I don't usually rinse out the conditioner, but when I do I let it air dry halfway and then spray with some s-curl.

Everyday Eyes - Shades of Grey

With a slight hint of purple. I love this look.

I havent been wearing blush lately, guess I havent been in the mood.

PRODUCTS USED:


Eyes
UDPP
E.l.f. 100 palette - Silver- lid, grey- outer corner, & purple- inner crease & a peachy shimmer highlight
Mac Forgery - inner corner
MAC Saddle - crease
Tarte cream eyeliner
Clinique mascara

Face
MAC Pro Longwear in NC45 which I later removed
HD Powder

Lips
Clinique Think Bronze lipstick