Colourpop Ultra Satin Lippies

I got some Colourpop lippies for Christmas and let me tell you, I was excited. I've been wanting to try their products for years (I've used some friends lipstick by them before). I could not wait to get my hands on these babies.

Bichette (top), Lost (middle), Calyspo (bottom)

 I got two ultra satins, Lost and Calypso, and a lip pencil to go with Lost. Lost (the red) is gor-geous. GORGEOUS I TELL YOU. Calypso is a pinky brown nude shade which is obviously totes pretty. It's a nude.. what else do I even need to say about that? These went on SO smooth. Unbelievably smooth. The colors were absolutely stunning and so pigmented. The color pay out is truly too good for this price.

I have never ever found a red that has looked good on me. Ever. I've bought countless shades of red, different brands, different undertones and nada. I wasn't sure if this one would just like all the other red hues I've donned but I thought it was worth it to try. This shade blew me away. It compliments my skin tone so well that I think this is going to be my holy grail red. I don't ever want to look for another red shade ever again. Lost left quite the stain on my lips. I'm not going to complain about this though because that is almost expected in a dark lippie. It also means that when the color fades I'll still have some color left! :-)

Nude lipsticks never sit well with me, honestly. They never look like the shade in the bottle or even the swatch on my hand, and this was no exception. Despite it looking different than I was expecting, I still love the color. It has more of a beige-y, purple look rather than a nude mid-tone pink. This shade was fairly easy to remove and it left little-to-no stain on my lips or my hand. 

I also got the lippie pencil in "Bichette". This is almost a perfect match for Lost, thought it has a bit more of a pinky undertone rather than a red. I know in the swatch photo it looks a lot more pink but when its actually on your lips it's darker. This was pretty pigmented as well and goes on smooth. My only complaint is that this came with the lid off and the pencil broken. I've also been having the hardest time trying to sharpen it. It just breaks when it gets half sharpened and I have to start over. (I currently have it half sharpened with a rigid tip)


Overall, I really really liked these and will definitely be purchasing more colors in the future. These shades and presumably other shades are definitely worth it as they're only $6 a pop. (lippie pencil is $5)

Cinnamon Pebble Marshmallow Cookies

Thought I'd share this yummy recipe with ya'll since we liked it so much! These cookies do have a bit of a chewy, stuck in your teeth, texture because of the marshmallows. So if you don't want that then this recipe is not for you!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cinnamon cereal
• 1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°. 
2. Cream butter and sugar. Add in vanilla and the egg.
3. Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in cinnamon pebbles and marshmallows. 
4. Scoop onto a cookie sheet. (Make sure marshmallows are not visible on bottom of cookie or they will melt onto the sheet)
5. Bake for 9 minutes. You will want to watch them to make sure the marshmallows don't melt too much. 

Pink Valentine Cakes + Lemon Buttercream ♡

Hi y'all! I know this is kinda last minute but I've actually been trying to get this post up for weeks now. Originally, I wanted to make this a strawberry cake but after too many bad recipes and burnt cakes, I settled on a plain old white cake. I also made the cake pink because it's valentines day and you know what else? pink is cute. These cakes are perfect for your valentine, or your galentine, or even yourself!! In the words of Donna Meagle..

I'd like to point out that I am in no way a professional cake decorator.. obviously.. So just ice them the way you want them to look :-)

 

P.S. writing in icing is harder than you might think

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups flour (sifted)
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil (or vegetable)
• 5 egg whites
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup buttermilk
• red food coloring (I used about 12 drops)

Frosting 

• 1/2 cup shortening *
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

*You can use more butter instead of the shortening. It will make it taste more buttery/creamy rather than just straight lemon.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet w/ parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set mixture aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the egg whites, vanilla and oil. Mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. 
4. Pour in 1/2 of the flour mixture and 1/2 of the buttermilk while mixing on low. Turn mixer off and scrape sides of bowl if needed. Mix in the rest of the flour and buttermilk. Stir in food coloring. 
5. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes. 
6. Cool completely before frosting. 
7. For the frosting, beat together butter and shortening until fluffy. Add lemon juice and lemon zest. Slowly add in powdered sugar (while mixing). Taste it, and keep adding lemon juice and powdered sugar until it's the way you want it. Separate about 1/3 of the frosting and add red food coloring to the smaller bowl. Put the pink frosting into a piping bag and repeatedly make the hearts. If you want the pink frosting to be thinner, add milk. 

That's all for this recipe! Let me know if you make these ♡

January Favorites

This post is going to be me talking about all the things I loved during the month of January. Enjoy!

Waterparks- When I say this, I don't mean the kind of water parks you go to in the summer.. I mean the band, Waterparks. I started listening to them this month and let me tell you, I am obsessed. Completely obsessed. I listen to a lot of music and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT, but for some reason I just refused to listen to them. I wish I had started listening sooner though, because this band is so freaking good. Check out their new album "Double Dare" !! You'll like it I promise.

"Bad Behavior"- If you know me, then you know that The Maine is one of my favorite bands in the entire world. I've been listening to them since I was like 10 years old.. Well they just released their brand new single Bad Behavior and it is amazing. It's a little bit different from what they usually put out but I dig it a lot. They truly keep getting better and better as the years go on and I can not wait for them to get the recognition they deserve. Listen to it here! And if you like that, buy their album "Lovely, Little, Lonely" It comes out April 7th so be sure to pick it up!

Mule Loafers- This style is definitely on trend right now. Everyone and their mother has been spotted wearing these or something similar to them. Now the pair that people are wearing are most likely Gucci slides which are obviously soo expensive and not everyone has $600 to drop on a pair of shoes.. So if you want to rock this style but not take out a loan to get them, go to Target! That's where these babies are from, and I actually found them while I was trying on another pair of shoes! These will only cost ya $22 and they are super comfortable. When I first looked at them I wasn't sure they would be since the soles of the shoes seemed so thin, but boy was I wrong. Go buy these shoes!!

Mules- Another popular shoe trend that all the bloggers seem to be following. I first saw heeled mules on my favorite blogger Courtney, and I fell in love. You can wear these shoes with almost anything and they come in so many different colors, different heel heights, you really can't go wrong with these. This pair is from Forever 21 and they are so comfortable! The heel isn't too high so that is great if you plan on doing lots of walking in these babies. My one complaint is that they gave me blisters on the top of my toes the first time I wore them, but now that they're broken in they don't hurt anymore. Get them here!

Mario Badescu Rose Water Spray- I was a bit skeptical to try this as I was afraid of how my skin would react to the rose. After using it once, I wish I had started using this sooner. I spray it on my face before I do my makeup and it refreshes my skin and gets rid of my dry patches (not completely but it still helps). My makeup goes on so much smoother now that I've started to use this and I'm going to purchase this again when I run out! Also I'd like to try the new Aloe, Cucumber, and Green Tea Spray, have any of you tried it? Let me know what you think!

A Series of Unfortunate Events- I was a big fan of the movie when it came out so I had high hopes for this show and it surpassed my expectations. Now I haven't finished it yet, I'm only on episode 6, but I really really like it so far. I think Neil Patrick Harris is a great Count Olaf (Jim Carrey was great but the two play completely different versions of the character). I don't want to talk about this too much in case people reading this haven't watched it so I'll leave it with this, If you liked the movie you'll like the show. Have you seen it yet?

Sorry it's not a lot, but I hope you liked it and hopefully you found some inspo here!

Holiday Mandarin Orange Jello

For my first official blog post, I'm going to share a jello recipe with y'all that we have every single year on Christmas. My grandma is usually the one that makes it, but this year I thought I would attempt to make it myself (without a recipe). And I know it isn't Christmas anymore but you can really make this whenever you want.. it isn't holiday exclusive and I sure wouldn't mind eating this every single day. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 6 oz Orange jell-o mix & 1 3 oz orange jell-o mix (if you use something smaller than a casserole dish or you just aren't really a jell-o fan you can just use the 6 oz mix) 
• 1 8 oz  cream cheese
• 2 15 oz cans of mandarin oranges (the amount is really your call.. we like a lot of them in there but if you're not really a fan you can use less)
• 2 cups of cool whip*
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla 

*You can try using homemade whipped cream if you'd like, I'm sure it will still taste good. 

Directions:

• Make the jell-o and pour into a casserole dish (You can use a bowl as long as the sides don't rise too much) 
• Let it sit in the fridge for 15-30 min until it is a bit firm
• Pour the mandarin oranges into the jell-o. You may want to dice them up before pouring them. 
• Let sit for 30 minutes or until firm. You don't want it to be too soft when you put the whipped cream on top, but you don't want it so firm that the topping will just slide off. 
• You'll want to let the cream cheese sit out while you make the jell-o so it will be easier to mix! 
• Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Fold in cool whip.
• Spread the topping on the jell-o and cover the dish with saran wrap. Let sit in the fridge for at least a few hours (I recommend leaving it over night).

That's all! I hope you enjoy! Let me know if you make it!!