Peppers and Onions: Another food post...

I love peppers and onions subs, it is definitely one of my favorite things to cook for myself. Tonight, after a long night at work, I decided to do just that.

I like to keep my recipes fairly simple while still tasting delicious so this really isn't difficult to make at all. I never have sub rolls so I just toast some bread and fold that once i'm ready to eat them (hence while they're flat in this photo). Anyways I'll tell you how I made this because I seriously love this and I know someone else is bound to as well.
To start I just heat a pan with a bit of oil, the amount I use depends on how many peppers and onions i'm throwing in, for this amount I used about 1 and 1\2 tablespoons. Once that is heated I throw in the peppers and onions and (if I have it) minced garlic. I let that cook for a couple of minutes more if they're frozen vegetables.
Now this time I did something a little different, so once they were almost cooked I added some sliced up pepperoni. I let that cook for a couple of minutes longer and while it cooked I put some mustard on my bread and on top of that some ground black pepper. Now back to the peppers and onions (and now pepperoni) I add a couple of teaspoons of balsamic vinegar  and then pepper and salt (I use a seasoning salt with a few other spices) to taste. I take it off the heat, mix it together really well, and then I put it on my bread, fold, and enjoy!

The combination of the mustard (if you have a sweeter palette or want to try something different a honey mustard is great in place of normal) and balsamic is delicious and the addition of the pepperoni this time was really nice but it definitely tastes great without them too.

I promise it looks way longer/harder than it really is!

Anyways, more posts soon!

Sammxoxo

Wish List - Orange Lippy's

So last spring I decided that my love of the color orange should spread from just the occasional shirt or accessory to my lips. I picked up Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti which come out a sheer orange-coral color. I absolutely loved it. It was perfect to try the orange lip look and see if it suited me, after all orange is quite daring, but lip butters are generally sheer. As with all of the Revlon Lip Butters I found the color buildable and I can get a somewhat substantial orange color from this lippy.

I apologize for how terrible the colors came out on these, I forgot to reset my white balance and it's too late to fix it now.... because I'm lazy.

Anyways this is the only orange color I have and I definitely want more.

The left is one swipe of tutti frutti, the middle is the color with more build, and the last is Flame by Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain

So i'm starting a wish list;

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Siren

NYX Slim Lip Pencil in Pumpkin

Mac in Morange

And that's all I have so far but that's because i'm finding nice orange lip colors hard to come by.

Sammxoxo

Blonde, Purple, Grey, Brown.

Blonde

Over the past week I have really put a strain on my hair. The beginning of the week I toned it in the hopes of lightening the yellow/orange tones as much as possible because my boyfriend wanted to try and help me dye it lilac. Now, the lilac didn't come out how I wanted but I knew that before I started dying it, however the color was quite nice and I didn't mind it.

My apologies for the terrible quality (and color) of these pictures my phone is really awful and I didn't have my camera charged

It was purple in some spots and orange in others, and after a couple of days it started to turn a bit grey so I dyed over it.
I went over it with a medium ash brown, pretty much my natural hair color, probably a bit lighter but it will do. It went a little green on the ends that were still purple-y when it was dyed, but it's really only noticeable in florescent lighting.

I'm sure my hair is glad that this is all over for now

Now, I will come up with something to review soon, maybe the BedHead Tigi Dumb Blonde, it was certainly the most helpful product I have bought recently and it definitely saved my hair,
That's all for now, more posts soon.

I think the brown makes me look a bit less pale and deathly ill, what do you think?
Sammxoxo

P.S. Feel free to ask any questions on products used

Thanksgiving

Just a quick update, I've been away from home due to Thanksgiving holiday. I've been hanging around my boyfriends being lazy about everything. A new post will be up as soon as I am home!

Quick Review: Maybelline Super Stay 24 Color Lip Color

When I bought these I originally just bought one, I liked them so much I bought another one the same night, the following week I bought four more! I absolutely adore these, the color range is definitely not the most exciting but the staying power is lovely. I can get these to last all day, the trick is to follow the instructions. The stick is actually two parts, one side color the other side is a balm to be applied after the color. When you buy these they come in individual plastic boxes that tell you to let the color dry for a few minutes before you apply the balm side and that is seriously the most important part to making these work. I don't suggest using these if you're in a rush because the color definitely needs to dry before it will stay. I've applied the balm too early before and just ruined the color. I have found that once I have messed up I cannot get the color to sit right, I'm not sure if that's an issue with the stain or with my own personal frustrations.
Overall, I love these products, I have six colors but I only have these four with me, my other two are in my travel makeup bag all packed for their travel to my boyfriends. If there is any desire I could definitely do a more in depth review on these, taking pictures throughout the day so you can see the difference, how it wears through the day, and the effects of eating.


P.S. I forgot to mention, they are absolutely terrible to take off unless you have some oil based makeup remover or baby oil!

Has anyone else tried these? What did you think?

Sammxoxo

Popcorn!

This definitely isn't beauty related, but I decided to post it nonetheless. Today I broke out my favorite kitchen appliance, the popcorn popper! I don't know why but for some reason I find popping popcorn so much more exciting when I can watch it happen myself. Our particular model has a spot where you can melt the butter while you cook the popcorn which some people might find useful, I on the other hand don't like butter, so I use that spot to peek at the popcorn while it's first starting to pop.

The popcorn comes plain, no butter, no salt, which while a healthy snack is not exactly the most exciting thing in the world. I like to add cinnamon and sugar over salt so while watching it pop I got out what I would need.
To get the cinnamon and sugar to stick most people would use melted butter drizzled over the popcorn, because I don't like butter, I use a plain vegetable oil spray. (olive oil in a water bottle works great but I only had the kind you use to grease cookie sheets today) The ability to spray it is pretty much mandatory in order to get an even spread across the popcorn, otherwise some pieces end up soggy and others completely dry.

Once everything was all popped I sprayed the popcorn with the oil and then generously coated it with cinnamon and sugar.

That was that! It was a nice treat and easy to do so I figured I would share this so maybe someone else can try it to!

Yum!

Sammxoxo

Drugstore Blusher Review

Today I decided I would do my first review for this blog however it will be slightly different than a normal review. I wanted to talk about the four drugstore blushers I have currently been trying. They are all different shades but I really wanted to talk about quality in particular as that can sometimes be hard to find in drugstore products. I have two different Maybelline blushers, an Almay blusher, and an NYC blusher. I have swatched them below.

From left to right; Maybelline Fit me, Almay Powder Blush, Maybelline Dream Bounce, NYC Cheek Glow Powder Blush

Maybelline Fit Me in Light Pink - $5.50

Now this blusher is by far my favorite of all three, it is pigmented, goes on smooth (though isn't the softest feeling), and is a nice color. It's a light matte pink color with no shimmer or glitter. I do wish it had some sort of sheen as it can look a bit flat but the color itself is beautiful. It is part of the Fit! Me collection by Maybelline. The collection revolves around categorizing your skin tone as either light, medium, or dark, and coordinating your blusher and bronzer from those sections. The collection overall is a great set up as it makes it easier to select a blusher and bronzer that really match your skin tone. At $5.50 it's a good price for the quality and I was pleasantly pleased with this purchase.

Almay Powder Blush in 160 Mauve – (discontinued) $7.99

Unfortunately as I started this review I found out that this Almay blush is no longer available in stores, however I did find it online. This blush is a very dark, pigmented color, with a silver shimmer throughout. The shimmer isn't overpowering on the face, just a nice touch. The color is quite dark so I wouldn't suggest it for anyone who is too pale as it might wash you out. The color applies very, very easily which, if you're not careful can be quite the problem. I've applied a bit too much while getting ready in the morning and only noticed once the sun came out and I looked like an 80's movie star! I found this blusher to be very smooth, and soft, and silky feeling on the skin. Overall the blusher is quite nice, and a good quality, but not really my cup of tea.

Maybelline Dream Bounce in 70 Hot Tamale - $7.99

I apologize for this image, I could not focus on this blush at all!

This is my next favorite of the four, and coincidentally also by Maybelline. This is more of a cream blush, but it's not exactly categorized as one. It is very nicely pigments and applies smoothly. There was quite a bit of hype when these first became available and I don't think it quite lives up to the hype, but it is still a nice blusher. It is the same price as the Almay and I much prefer it over that. The color has a sort of orange, coral glow to it, and does appear in a “dewy” sort of way on the cheeks. For $7.99 I wouldn't use it as my everyday blusher, but it is definitely good for those “sometimes” colors. The kind you don't wear all the time, but only when you want to make a statement, that kind.

New York Color (NYC) Cheek Glow Powder Blush in 651 Riverside Rose - $3.70

Of all the blushers this was the most disappointing with the most downfalls. The color looks lovely in the pan, and terrible on the skin. It goes on patchy, doesn't feel smooth, and lacks any real pigmentation (which is obvious by the scrape marks from me trying to get some color out). This particular brand (if you aren't familiar with it) is always quite cheap in price and now I definitely know why. It was not worth the price I payed, and I did not pay much. It cost the least of all the blushers for a reason.

Hopefully this will help the next time you decide to try a drugstore blusher, price matters. Are there any drugstore blushers you really like?

Sammxoxo

Blogs and the people behind them...

     Something I constantly find myself remembering is that those who write blogs are normal people too. Whether they're famous or completely unknown, whether they blog about fashion or cars, they are just like me. Obviously not just like me, but they too are people with hopes, dreams, disappointments,  boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends, problems, priorities and opinions and even shortcomings besides those they are open with. Within the last year I spent a lot of time on YouTube, partly due to self isolation and partly due to boredom. I watched funny channels from cats to skits, scary videos from psychological to jump scares, and finally found beauty videos. While all the other videos were nice for a bit, I got quite tired of them after some time, beauty videos however I could not get enough of. I have watched many different people from the extremely talented professionals to the everyday girl making videos in her bedroom and I found something to love in all of them.
     YouTube is a community and there is no place I better see that than through the beauty vloggers. They all seem to know one another, support each other, and have at least one other friend with whom they can make videos. I tend to isolate myself from everyone, not exactly on purpose, but because I just get really nervous going out with anyone. Even if you happen to be my best friend, you can bet i'm nervous the moment we leave my house. I find comfort in being alone, which altogether wouldn't be so bad if I didn't find myself so lonely all the time. I have friends I could talk to, and I do confide a lot in them, but I sometimes just find myself overwhelmed by only concentrating on the bad. So YouTube seems to be where I can easily turn, I can watch someones beauty review, or haul, or just vlog of the day, and have my mind on something else. Plus, I like fashion, beauty, and anyone who knows me knows that I love shopping.
     YouTube is lovely, and while I have no problem just watching videos, I thought it would be nice to try and film some of my own. So far I have only done a couple of pretty short ones on my laptop, one on my hair, and the other on a dye I used. However I think I will definitely start to do more, because I like it. Of course i'm terrified of rude comments or something of the sort but I think if putting yourself out there is what you want to do, then you should really do it.
     This is only my first post but I will hopefully definitely post more soon. I'll probably just start with simple things like reviews on products I have already used but at least it will be a start.

Sammxoxo