Avengers Manicure

This isn't really a tutorial just a quick manicure idea. In October I went to New York Comic Con and did an Avengers manicure for the event, so I snapped a few quick pictures with my phone.

SUPPLIES:

Base coat

White (or whatever background color you like) polish

Comic Books

Scissors

Nail Clippers

Nail Glue

Top Coat

Start with neat, clean, shaped nails.

Add a clear base coat.

When base coat is dry polish your nails with your background color. I chose white.

Once your background color is dry, cut the images you want to use out of the comic book. Be sure that you have selected a book with images small enough to fit on your nails.

The comic book I used had thick glossy pages, so to get them to stick to the nail I first placed a thin line of glue down the center back of the image. Then stuck it to the nail. Be sure that the image isn't covering your cuticle. If it hangs over the edge of your nail it can be trimmed later.

Once the center of the image is stuck, squeeze a small bit of glue under one side and push it down along the side of the nail. Once dry do the same on the opposite side.

Trim any excess paper over hanging the edge of the nail.

Put on a layer of top coat being sure to cover the edge of the nail thoroughly to fully seal.

VOILA! COMIC BOOK NAILS.

HAVE FUN BOOS

Boxty (Irish Potato Cakes) using leftover mashed potatoes

Now that Thanksgiving is over, if your house is anything like mine your fridge is bursting with holiday leftovers. I enjoy them at first but after awhile I just can't face into another "Thanksgiving" plate or sandwich. I also don't want to just throw the leftovers out. I hate being wasteful. So I am always looking for new ways to turn leftovers into appealing meals that we look forward to eating. One of my favorites is BOXTY (Irish Potato Cakes); they are warm, buttery, crispy, and creamy all at the same time. They can be topped with almost anything and are so easy to make. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

2 tbsp. melted butter

1/4 cup flour

pinch of salt

additionally you will need:

1 tbsp. butter for frying

flour for dusting

STEP 1:

Place potato, melted butter, flour, and salt in a bowl.

STEP 2:

Mix until the ingredients form a sticky dough. It will still feel like mash potato, but be more pliable like play-doh.

STEP 3:

Divide the dough into four equal parts.

STEP 4:

flatten each dough quarter into a cake about 1/4" thick.

STEP 5:

Dust each side of cake with some flour.

STEP 6:

Heat a frying pan on medium heat with 1 tbsp. of butter. *This is all I need in my cast iron. It is a really reliable pan and nothing sticks to it, but if you don't have a pan as reliable as mine you might want to use some cooking spray on yours so the boxty doesn't stick. Still add the butter for flavor though.

Once the butter is melted and bubbling add your cakes to the pan.

(There are no pictures of this part because my kitchen is too dark to shoot in)

STEP 7:

Fry for 5 minutes on each side, until golden and crispy brown.

(The really dark crispy bits are THE BEST. Ideally you want your whole boxty to be that color, but the large burner on my stove is broken so my pans don't heat evenly)

You can serve boxty a variety of ways. Our favorite way to eat it is with smoked salmon and a little bit of sour cream, but it is also good hot with just a little butter melted on it, or along side bacon and eggs like hash browns. 

In these pictures I served the boxty topped with some of my husband's Coronation Turkey Salad made from our left over turkey.

What is Coronation Turkey? I'll leave that recipe to my husband -

Coronation Chicken is my go-to option for handling leftover chicken. As far as I know, it gets it's name from being created for Elizabeth II's Coronation banquet (wiki it if you're seriously interested).

The proportions of the ingredients are really to taste, but here's my basic recipe:

Cooked, cold chicken or turkey

Jar of Mayo (I use the light stuff, you can't tell the difference in the end)

Your favorite curry powder (right now I use McDonnells)

Sliced almonds

Stick of celery, chopped

Onion, finely chopped

Sultanas (golden raisins)

STEP 1:

Take a handful of the sultanas and add to a small bowl. Pour some hot, not boiling, water over them and let sit as long as possible to plump.

STEP 2:

Scoop a generous helping of the mayo into a big mixing bowl. Blend in the curry to taste. Bear in mind that the curry will "wake up" as time goes by, so go by color rather then taste at this point- you're looking for a mocha color. This is the one point where your personal preference counts.

STEP 3:

Slowly add the meat to the mayo/curry. I like a moist mix, so tend to make a lot of step two.

STEP 4:

Drain the Sultanas and add everything left to the mix.

STEP 5:

Add to a sealable container or cover with foil and leave it in the fridge preferably overnight.

THANKS BABE! 

Hope you all enjoy.

November Glam Bag and Birchbox Opening

Hey Boos,

My subscription boxes were late this month because hurricane Sandy damages delayed our mail. But they did finally arrive. Have a look at opening video above to see what I got. They were pretty good this month.

Do you have any subscriptions? Which is your favorite?

Influenster

Hey Boos,

Recently you have watched an unboxing video and read loads of product reviews for things I received from Influenster as part of their VoxBox program. Want in on the action? If you're a blogger with a high social media presence you could be testing out new products too. I love being apart of Influenster it's fun, I get to try new things, and it gives me plenty of content for my blog (which I would be writing anyway). 

Check them out at: http://www.influenster.com 

Boots No. 7

I used to live in both Dublin and London for awhile and fell in love Boots products. In the UK boots is a drugstore with it's own store brand cosmetics. Their cosmetics are amazing the skin care products rival any of the drugstore brands with higher price tags (i.e. - Oil of Olay). I was thrilled the day I walked into Target and saw a shelf of Boots products. I couldn't believe my favorite Brit brand was available here in the US. My medicine cabinet currently holds Boots brand eye cream and moisturizer and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Great quality and great price.

Goody Spin Pins

Goody Simple Styles Spin Pins ($7.29) "Never have time for a great updo? Not anymore! The Goody Simple Style Spin Pin allows you to easily achieve three chic updo styles. Simply twirl your hair up and spin the two Spin Pins in for a perfect undone bun, side bun, or double bun." Provided to me free from Influenster and Goody for the purpose of review.

As you all know loyal Boos I have 4a-4b natural afro texture hair. So, there was no way I was spinning these into my hair. If had they would still be there, a tangled mess. Instead I chose to pass these onto youtube blogger courtneyxhall. She has so kindly agreed to twirl these bad boys into her long, lovely, flowing locks and give us a guest review. 

Keep watching this space....

Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream

Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream ($6.00) "Fights out of control hair and reduces styling time with coconut & silk extracts."

This is another product from my Influenster VoxBox. This product smells great but didn't quite work for me. I am black and wear my hair in it's natural 4a-4b state. My hair is thick, course, dry, and FRIZZY. Normally I use natural oils like coconut oil and olive oil to keep my hair moisturized and heavy butters like shea butter to control the frizz. This product just wasn't heavy enough to control my hair. 

I think this product just might have been a mismatch for my hair type. If you have thinner hair that can't take a lot of heavy products or oily hair that doesn't need any extra moisture you might like this more.

Full Disclosure: This product was provided to me free of charge from Influenster and Not Your Mother's for the purpose of review.

What are your go to hair products for your hair type?

Kiss Ever Pro Lash Starter Kit

Kiss Ever Pro Lash Starter Kit ($5.99), another product from my Influenster Voxbox (<- click to find out more). 

Now I am far from a lash beginner Boos. I have been wearing lashes for a very longtime. I wear light demi lashes to boost my natural lashes and draw attention to my eyes for a day look, and full thick lashes for more drama at night and on special occasions. 

Still I love this kit. The lashes in the kit are thick and dark,  if you are looking for something for daytime this isn't it, these are definitely full drama. Kiss lashes are high quality; if you take care of them, clean them with a decent eye make-up remover, and store them properly you will get quite a few uses out of them (certainly plenty to feel like you're getting your 6 bucks worth).

The glue that comes in the starter kit is latex free so no worries if you have any allergies and lasts all day. The lashes don't slip or come off at all.

The only downside for me was the applicator. It is just a pink pair of plastic tweezers that you are meant to grip the lashes with, but I prefer to use my fingers. I feel like using my hands gives me more control and isn't as scary as poking at my eye with a large piece of brightly colored plastic.

All in all, these lashes are well worth the $5.99 the lashes and the glue are both of high quality, the applicator is alright if you're into threatening your eyes with a good poking. The one negative I would say is that these lashes are full drama and if you are a young beginner you might want something a bit more natural.

Full Disclosure: I received these lashes free from Influenster and Kiss for the purpose of review.

Do you wear lashes Boos? Tell me about them.

NYC New York Color Individual Eyes Custom Compact

The NYC Individual Eyes Compact in Dark Shadows ($4.99) was one of the items I received in my Influenster VoxBox follow the link to see my unboxing video. I love NYC products, they make great quality cosmetics for drugstore prices. I already owned 2 other Individual Eyes compacts (Union Square and Central Park) that I purchased on my own. The palettes come with 4 complimentary colors and their own primer and illuminator. They are a frequent go to for me because I like to stay in bed as long as possible in the morning and having everything I need for a variety of eye looks in one compact saves me a lot of time (these work well for travel too). The custom compacts are also great if you are a smokey eye beginner because the insert clearly labels what colors are meant for your lid and which are for contouring in your crease.

Breaking it down:

The Primer - I am a brown girl and my eyelids are a darker complexion than the rest of my skin, so even when I'm not wearing make-up it looks like I have on brown eyeshadow. As a result I always wear a primer under my eyeshadow so that the color stays truer to the package color. I really only use drugstore primers and this is as good as any of the others I've tried. It evens out the color of my eyelids and helps keep my shadow in place all day. 

The Illuminator - Like the primer the illuminator is as good as any other drugstore illuminator. I pop a tiny bit of the white shimmer onto the inner corner of each eye just to keep them bright, especially when using smokey colors.

The Quad - NYC eye colors are VERY PIGMENTED. I love this because it doesn't take much product to get great color on the eye, especially when used in conjunction with the primer. Sometimes inexpensive eyeshadows can contain so little pigment that I have problems getting them to show up on my skin tone even with a primer. That is never the case with NYC. Usually with NYC eye shadows I have to make sure to use a light touch and build up color in order to get the natural look I like, otherwise it's easy to end up with too much color on. 

The colors in this particular compact were much darker than I am used to wearing, but are great for a night time smokey look. All for colors are shimmery with the heaviest sparkle being in the darkest black color. Again it is really easy to go overboard with this palette so tread lightly, but if you are going out for a night on the town and don't want to spend a lot on your smokey eye this is definitely the way to go.

Full Disclosure: I received this product free from Influenster and NYC for the purpose of review.

Do you own any NYC products? Tell me about them below.

Bath and Body Works Candle

Hey Boos,

So this is the first of my Influenster Beauty Blogger VoxBox reviews. If you haven't seen my unboxing video it's HERE. Have a look so you can see all the great products I'll be reviewing.

One of my FAVORITE items from the box was a Mahogany Teakwood Mini Candle ($3.50) from Bath & Body Works. It smelled so good that I completely burned through the candle before I could even do the unboxing video. Lucky for me Bath & Body Works also included a coupon for the larger 3-wick version the candle (regularly $20.00).

Let me start off by saying I am very picky about candle scents. I don't like fruity candles because I don't like the smell of artificial fruit (I don't like any fruit "flavored" things for the same reason - if I want a strawberry I'll eat a strawberry. Why would I put some pseudo strawberry blech in mouth?) I don't like incense, I find the smell too heavy and suffocating. I also don't see the point in scents like pumpkin pie, they never smell like pumpkin pie, they smell like wax and flaming cinnamon. 

But enough complaining, this candle is bold, earthy, and woody. The 3-wick was big enough to fill my entire apartment with it's scent in just a few minutes. I like to light it at night with the lights off, a mug of tea, and duvet on my lap. There is something extremely comforting about watching the flames dance while surrounded by the thick scent of dark wood. It is so hard to do scent justice in writing, but if you find yourself near a Bath & Body Works pop in and smell the Mahogany Teakwood it will be worth it; even if you aren't a fan of this candle they have DOZENS of other scents in the shop you're bound to find something you'll love. They even have a wide range of the fruit and food scented ones I mentioned before, LOL. With Xmas coming up one of the 3-wicks or a sampling of minis would make a great secret santa gift.

Full Disclosure: The mini candle was provided to me free of charge by Bath & Body Works and Influenster for the purpose of review ;)

What's your favorite candle scent? Let me know in the comments below.

Influenster Beauty Blogger VoxBox 2012

Hi Boos,

I was selected by influenster.com to receive their beauty blogger voxbox! The box was full of some AMAZING products. Watch my unboxing video above then come back here and check out my reviews of the products inside.

*As I write reviews I will edit this post to include links to each products page.

Lip Balm Face Off Week 7 - Final Round

So this it the final round of my lip balm face off. It has come down to Maybelline Baby lips vs. Bonne Bell Lip Blush. 

Baby lips review: It sells for $3.99, has a really nice fruity scent, good color that isn't too harsh, and lasts 4-6 hours.  Previous review: Week 4

Bonne Bell review: Retails for $2.69 and smells of sweet peaches. Has a soft but noticeable color that is really pretty and isn't overly shiny. It also leaves my lips soft and moisturized for hours.  Previous review: Week 1

I have to go with Bonne Bell as my overall winner. It is inexpensive, it has a sweet smell, a beautiful subtle color, and moisturizes well for a really long time. It is a great product at a great price and is readily available. I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

What do you think of our winner?  

Skyrim Hearthfire!

Hearthfire, the new Skyrim dlc for XBox, released TODAY!!!! I bought mine as soon as I got in from work. I can't wait to adopt my Skyrim kids. <3 Skyrim <3

Did you buy it? Are you going to?

My Glam Bag Unboxing

August My Glam Bag

This month's theme: Endless Summer

Reminder: Glam Bag is a subscription service, for $10 a month you receive 4-5 deluxe samples. 

Demeter Roll on Perfume in Clean Skin

I really liked this, it does smell light and clean and mildly soapy.

SALTY cosmetics Glamazoid eyeshadow.

This came in a beige type color I plan to use as a highlight.

Eclos Anti-aging face serum

Eclos Moisture Therapy face Cream

Circus By Andrea's Choice in Ringmaster

Andrea's Choice is a youtube channel. Andrea is a beauty guru connected with MyGlam who now has her own line of nail polishes.

My Glam's Own Lip Gloss

I have been a subscriber to MyGlam since January (I missed the much talked about December Bag), but have been less than impressed with the bags. This is the first month I have really LOVED my bag and feel like I got my money's worth from it.

Do you get MyGlam? What did you think?

BirchBox Unboxing

This month's theme is Beauty School!

Reminder: Birchbox is a subscription service, for $10 a month you receive 4-5 deluxe samples. 

Schick Hydro Razor

Miss Jessie's Creme De La Creme Conditioner

Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue

I am so excited by these Miss Jessie's products. I am a natural curly girl and I have been wanting to try Miss Jessie's for a long time, but the products are pricey.

Talika Lipocils

This is one of those eyelash growth formulas. I am intrigued.

Juicy La Fleur Fragrance Sample

Sabon Foot Cream

I'm loving this month for the Miss Jessie's alone.

What do you think?

Beauty on my Budget #2

August 2012 - The Budget

Budget Goal: $50-$100. $50 would be great, $100 I can live with, more than $100 and I lost my reason.

The Purchases: 

$10 Glam Bag Subscription

$10 Birch Box Subscription

$25 Sephora Give Me Some Lip

Look at it, isn't it beautiful? A sampler of 6 lip products, including 2 full size products all in pretty pinks and nudes. How could I resist? Something so beautiful is bound to make me beautiful too (<-- There in lies the root of my cosmetics spending problem). 

2 - Toki Doki Roulette Gloss Trio $7 each

I LOVE the Toki Doki brand, I think it's adorable, and I have wanted some of the TD stuff from Sephora for awhile but it was always pretty pricey. However, Sephora is currently phasing out the TD stuff so it is all on clearance. When I saw that these were marked down to $7 I couldn't resist. They each have 3 mini glosses clipped on to a central black plastic piece. The glosses snap in and out so they are removable but they also just slide up so you can remove the cap of the one you want and use it without removing it fro the center piece. Each gloss case has a TD character pictured on it. It is so cute. I got the pinks and nudes.

FREE - Peter Thomas Roth Cleansing Gel and Bare Minerals Foundation with mini Kabuki Brush

Sephora gives you samples if you make a purchase.

BH Cosmetics Contour & Blush Palette $18.02

I have contour powders but have had a hard time finding an inexpensive highlighter so I picked up this.

FREE - Keranique

This stuff just started turning up at my door. It is addressed to me, but I didn't buy it and it didn't come with any type of letter so.... I also have no idea what I am going to do with it. It is a serum for women with thinning hair and anyone who knows me knows that my hair is far from thinning. I have a ton of hair and don't need this, so I am not sure what I am going to do with it.

FREE - Crest Complete and Cover Girl Queen Eyeliner

Proctor and Gamble were kind enough to send me these products, so expect reviews later.

Revlon Color Burst Lipstick in Soft Nude $6.99 & Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Peach Petal $5.79.

If you are an avid Pinterest user like me then you will recognize this photo as the combo touted as the perfect nude. Well I couldn't resist that line so I bought it. It some ways it is the perfect nude and in others it isn't. Stay tuned for a review.

Physician's Formula Nude Matte Eye Quads in Canyon & Classic Nude $3.34 each

I love nudes, I very rarely wear bold colors it's just my style. I also love mattes, when I am in a hurry or don't want to work hard at applying my make-up I find a matte shadow is most flattering. You can just throw some matte shadow at your eyes and still look good in a way you can't with shimmers. What all that means is that when I saw these I couldn't resist, that added to the fact that PF was buy 1, get 1 50% off at Ulta and I had a coupon for $3.50 off a $10 purchase and I couldn't leave them in the store.

Charming Charlie Handbag $35

I had no intention of buying a handbag, but I was in the mall alone and stumbled into Charming Charlie's for the first time. I was immediately sucked in by it's charm and beautiful displays, the next thing I knew I was walking out of the door with this. Practical, pretty, and inexpensive I couldn't resist. Plus I had just gotten paid and you know how that goes.

Lush CACA NOIR Henna Hair Dye $24.95

I have used drugstore dyes to cover my grays in the past but having been natural for 6 years now I am always looking for new, natural, healthier things to use in my hair. I want to try this to cover my grays but I have also heard online that for women with natural hair using henna can help condition the hair, as well as loosen the natural curl pattern. I will let you know how it goes.

THE TOTAL: $156.43 EEK! I had a bad month, a lot of down moments and boredom that led to too much money being spent. I love everything I got but $156 in a month on stuff I don't NEED is ridiculous. =(

What was your month like?