Anastasia Glow Kit Review

 This is Anastasia's Aurora Glow Kit, and it is absolutely addicting. Actually, I am obsessed. I wear it every time I wear make up now. I will probably not buy another brand of highlighter ever again.

The highlighters are metallic powder highlighters for intense luminosity. The highlighters are velvety and creamy. The highlighters can easily be used for a subtle glow or to get that glazed donut, brighter than the sun glow. 

Here are swatches of all 6 of the highlighters.

I used different colors each day, the only color I haven't worn yet is Spectra. It is a little too bold for me.

Spectra: Plum shade (Not Pictured)

Eclipse: Champagne/peachy golden shade.

Helia: Pale lime green shade.

Luna: Silver/white shade

Lyra: Orange shade

Orion: Pale powder blue shade-- You can make this more blue by layering it on. I didn't an intense amount of blue on my face.

The Good, the Bad, and the Apple Cider Vinegar

Always, ALWAYS consult your doctor before starting a new diet or workout routine and NEVER believe everything you read on the internet without doing your own research.

Drinking raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized, and organic apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a great way to improve nearly every aspect of you life. It may be seemingly unrealistic that one drink can offer so many benefits, but research shows the powerful effects of this miracle liquid.

Before we get to the benefits, I'm going to be honest. It's rather horrible tasting at first, but if you just take it like a shot, it goes down way easier than sipping on it. If you can't just throw it back, you can cut the bitter taste with some honey. I always mix my ACV with water and sometimes a little honey if I'm not in the mood for something acidic.

The Top 3 Benefits:

1. Accelerates Weight loss:

Drinking 1 tablespoon of ACV to 16 ounces of water has shown to increase satiety. Scientific studies have shown that people who consumed ACV for 12 weeks lost more weight and stomach fat than those who didn't consume ACV.

2. Improves Heart Health:

ACV contains potassium, which is known to maintain the body's sodium levels and help maintain optimal blood pressure. It also contains magnesium, which helps relax the blood vessels and helps lower blood pressure. This can lesson the risk of heart disease. ACV also can improve HDL (good cholesterol) and help control triglycerides.

3. Regulate Blood Sugar:

ACV, again, increases satiety along with reducing postprandial glycemia, if ingested during meal time. It also helps reduce morning sugar levels, if taken just before bed time.

ACV doesn't only improve health if ingested, it also works wonders if applied topically. It can be used to reduce acne, tone skin, soften dry skin as well as several other common beauty dilemmas. 

MAC Eylashes

Before the eyelashes:

After:

                                      

I probably actually look the same in both pictures, but I feel like fake eyelashes just make everyone look 1000x livelier. They're not the most fun part of putting make up on, but sometimes all you need is fake eyelashes to make everything look better.

I've never used any fake eyelashes other than Mac's eyelashes. They're reusable and washable. I use my makeup brush cleaner to wash them off. They also dry rather fast, so they're ready for reapplication almost immediately. Unfortunately, I'm a tad (probably a lot more than a tad) unorganized and always lose them when I take them off, so I've only reused them maybe three times, but they looked good as new after every washing.

I'm also not saying fake is better than natural. They're just fun to try when you're going for a bold makeup look, so give them a try sometime.

From Bleached Hair to Black Hair

I thought it'd be fun to bleach my hair blonde...  because as the saying goes, blondes have more fun. Well, it wasn't and no I did not have more fun. Not one second of it was fun. The process just to get it to this level of blondness was painful. I shortened it to a week long. I got my hair highlighted to start then I went for the hard core bleaching a few days later. I did 3 bleaching sessions after the high lighting session. I had so many sores on my scalp from the bleach burning me.  

My hair still felt soft and brush-able after the third bleaching session. The next day I washed my hair and towel dried it. My hair was so hard and dry, even while it was still wet. No amount of conditioner would soften it. I couldn't brush it when it was wet and it was even worse when it was dry. It looked bushy and dead, so I immediately died it black to hide the damage I had caused.

You can really see how damaged my hair was in this picture. My hair was absolutely dead. I was afraid to touch it. The hair salon told me I was one product away from a chemical meltdown and the best solution was to just cut all of my hair off. 

I wasn't ready to lose all of my hair. I waited so long to get it to this point. There was no way I'd just cut it off and start fresh. So I got serious about fixing my hair. 

My first step was to stop using any kind of heat on my hair. I put away all of my straighteners and curlers so I wouldn't have the slightest temptation. I said goodbye to my blowdryer.

Next, I got even more extreme. I said goodbye to my shampoo. Yep, I cut down to washing my hair once a week with conditioner only.  Conditioner is very important in this process. I used tons of coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, and homemade hair masks. Within a month I notice my hair was becoming silkier and easier to manage.

A lot better than having my hair all chopped off and this was just a month of taking extremely good care of my damaged hair.

I decided to try a little heat on my hair to see if it could withstand it and not burn off.

It looked nice and felt healthy but I decided not to risk it anymore until my hair was healthier.

A year and two hair trims later and my hair is back to normal. I thought I'd never see this hair again. I learned a huge lesson from this. I will never bleach my hair again. The process is not worth it. 

Cream Contour Kit

Have you noticed how everyone is tarting to have impeccable jaw bones? Well, I have and I figured out how to have one too! It's all in the art of applying make up and contouring your face, apparently. Some days, it looks really good, and other days not so much.

Here's how I highlight... 

It looks terrible! Who does this to themselves. It gets better though. Maybe.

Excuse the fact that I look like a baby chimpanzee, at least I have a jaw now.

No Contour

Contour.. I am a vampire.

Okay, so here's what I use to make my face look like everyone else's face (or at least try to): Click photos for the links to products!

Cover FX cream contour kit

Smashbox cream contour pencil kit

Nars bronzer

Nars Blush

Nars translucent powder

Nars The Multiple for highlighting

Avocado Hair Mask & Face Mask

It's that time of the year again. Time for hot chocolate and yes, dry hair that needs to be moisturized.

Hair Mask

1/2 Avocado

3 Tbs olive oil

1 egg yolk

Blend ingredients in a blender or mix with a mixer. Rub through hair like conditioner and leave in for 15-20 minutes. Wash hair like normal.

Face Mask

1/2 Avocado

1 Egg white

Whisk ingredient in bowl. Apply to face and let dry for 15-20 minutes. Rinse face with luke warm water. Pat dry.

One and done!

Natural Avocado Hair and Face Masks

Dry, flaky summer skin or damaged hair? Okay, let's get to business. 

Here are two great recipes I found and they work wonders for your skin and hair.

The first recipe is for your skin. 

Ingredients:

1/2 Avocado, pitted

1 tsp honey

2 Tbs hot water

Directions:

Dissolve the honey in the hot water by stirring it. Add this mixture to the avocado and combine ingredients until smooth. You can use a fork or a mixer. 

I used a fork, and it took a few minutes to mix up.

Apply the mixture to your face. Make sure you coat your face with a thick enough mask.

Set a timer for 10-20 minutes until the avocado has dried and then rinse the mask off. It's best to rinse off the mask in the shower because it is a little messy,

A little frightening, but I look like a ninja turtle "chya chya." 

The second recipe is the hair mask. This one is strictly for your hair, the other one can be added to the hair mask, if you do not have enough.

Ingredients:

1/2 Avocado, pitted

1 Tbs Honey

1 TbsAvocado oil

Directions:

Put ingredients in mixing bowl and mix on high until combined and smooth. You want this to be completely smooth or you will have trouble getting the clumps of avocado out of your hair. I don't know too many people who like green chunks in their freshly washed hair.

Distribute the mixture throughout the hair. Use only on tips of hair first then apply the rest to the roots. The tips tend to be the most damaged because they've been around much longer than the hair closer to the scalp.

Enjoy!

Natural Makeup Ideas for Interview

Heading to a job interview? This means you may need a makeup makeover.

You don't want to show up caked in makeup and bright eye shadow. You just want to enhance your natural look without overpowering it.

For your face, use a light foundation and a loose powder. A few dabs of the powder should do the trick and rub a quick swab of a tissue to pick up the extra foundation off your skin.

For your eyes, use a natural shade of eye shadow like brown, tan or any color that is a shade or two darker than your skin color. You just want to add some shine to your eyes, but not make them the only thing you can focus on. Definitely skip the liquid eyeliner. It may be cute, but it isn't very professional. Save it for casual events like parties and gatherings. Mascara and eyeliner are fine, but don't wear too much or it can make you look intense and overdone.

Skip the lip gloss and opt for a light lipstick close to your natural lip color or stick with chap stick.

Make sure you use the right shade of foundation too and don't get any on your collar.

My favorite makeup items:

The Naked Palette is perfect for finding eye shadow colors that match or are the closest to your skin color. They have a light dusting of shimmer to them to help make your eyes pop.

Covergirl has an amazing foundation that helps with oil control. Do you know what that means? Less acne. It's a perfect creamy foundation that isn't too thick like a lot of other liquid foundations I have used in the past.

Ofra mascara is stunning. In one swipe you have instantly bolder eyelashes, without the clumpy mascara residue most mascaras leave behind.

My favorite eyeline is Clinique's quickliner. It is easy to apply and doesn't run or smudge easily. It will smudge if you cry or sweat a lot, but it is pretty resistant to water.

Just Natural Hair & Skin Care

I think everyone could find use of these products.

This is a great natural product to help relieve acne. All you have to do is dab it on the blemish before bed and in the morning the blemish will be noticeably smaller. It reminds me of tea-tree oil without the intense scent. It is a powerful antibacterial and will leave your face looking smooth and refreshed within days.

This is my favorite product. I use it every night before bed along with vitamin B and other hair vitamins. This nightly scalp massage helps your scalp absorb essential nutrients to help your hair grow stronger and longer.

My hair hasn't grown much, but over the past few months it has changed significantly. In the above picture, my hair isn't short, I'm just holding some of it back. My hair is naturally curly and pretty frizzy. I manage the frizz using this oil and putting coconut oil on the tips of my hair to keep it soft.

Here is the length of my hair straightened. If you look at previous pictures on my blog, you will see how much my hair has grown over the past 8 months. The only products I use on my hair are the ones I have posted on my blog, but recently I've only used this product. I have to say I absolutely love it.

So go check out www.justnaturalskincare.com and/or www.justnaturalhaircare.com to check out their wonderful products and order yours today.

Disclaimer: Products were given in exchange of an honest review.

DermOrganic Hair and Body Care Try Me Sets

Prepare to be wowed. This stuff works great! 

This is face and body moisturizer and face cleaner from www.DermOrganic.com

The face cleaner is soap free. If you're anything like me, that's not only great for the health of your skin, but also the health of your eyes. I always end up getting soap in my eyes, but this stuff doesn't burn at all.

This stuff is AMAZING. I absolutely love it. It is a shampoo, hair mask, and Argan oil.

 I haven't washed my hair with shampoo in over two months because most shampoos strip your hair of oils and damage your hair. This shampoo doesn't suds up and it actually cleans your hair. My hair hasn't been this clean and healthy at the same time in a very long time.

This is after washing my hair and using the mask. I applied the Argan oil right before this picture. I also used the moisturizers before this picture too. Excuse my huge eyebrows.

After my hair air dried, this is how it turned out. Pretty nice, huh? Especially if you look at my previous posts and see how bushy my hair usually is. This is truly a miracle product. 

Disclaimer: Products were given to me in exchange for an honest review.

DIY Coconut Vanilla Body Butter

Hey everyone! I decided to make a coconut oil and vanilla extract body butter. It smells delicious! 

You use as much coconut oil as you'd like then add a few drops of Pure Vanilla Extract and mix with an electric mixer until combined. After, you can place it in a container of your choice.

I placed mine in a cleaned coconut shell then stuck it in the freezer. You don't have to keep it in the freezer.

It's great for moisturizing and tanning. Go give it a try.