Cocoa & Coffee Mask

So I live on Long Island currently, and where I live has hard water. This means that it makes your skin abnormally dry. I usually have pretty dry skin, so when I moved here for the summer, it got even worse. 

I work as a TV/movie extra, so I can't have dry skin because it will look horrible on camera. Not only do I lotion my face about a thousand times a day (tip: an easy way to know how much you should lotion your face-- lotion your face every time you get hungry) I've been using different kinds of DIY face masks. 

I have a shoot tomorrow, so I did this one tonight for about a half an hour, rinsed my face and then lotioned it. My skin feels great! I'm excited because my face will be nice and moisturized for tomorrow's shoot.  

I found this one online when I looked for masks for dry skin. It's suppose to use coffee grounds, but instead I used the Frank original body scrub which has amazing ingredients that help targets a number of skin conditions! I like it because it helps reduce the look of cellulite, eczema and stretch marks all of which I personally have.  

Mix: 

2 tbs coffee grounds

2 tbs cocoa powder

3tbs milk

1 tbs honey

It makes quite a bit so I've been able to use it a couple times, and I love it! My face is so smooth now, I can't even believe it. 

I'm always skeptical about beauty practices until I do them for myself to see how they work, and this one I definitely recommend!

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This is where I got the recipe for the mask, all rights reserved to original author. 

I only made the recipe better 😏

Waist Trainers: Use it or Lose it?

I recently got a waist trainer. I've seen them all over Instagram, and I'm sure you have too. Everyone seems to use them, including the notorious Kardashian clan. This is where they initially gained traction from. But are their claims legit, or just another bogus celebrity endorsement? 

I'm taking the time to help you figure this out before you spend your hard earned money on one. 

First, here's my before picture:

I've read that results come anywhere from overnight (which, let's be real, doesn't sound entirely realistic) to about a month. I'm assuming it's going to take closer to a month because you're basically reforming your body which can take a while.  

I got mine about a week ago and have been wearing it ever since. The optimal wearing time for the trainer is about 4-8 hours a day. I've personally been choosing to wear it around 7-8 hours, if I can. 

After wearing it for about a week, I do notice some slight changes, but nothing too major. When I start to notice more and more of a difference, I will update you with pictures.  So far, so good. The first time I put it on, I could barely make it to the widest clips, but I've been about to take it in to the smallest clips recently.

Unfortunately, since I didn't get a brand name one, the quality of the trainer has been lessened. This specific one has been ripping and some of the steel bars pop out, but it's an easy fix I can deal with for now. 

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Fair warning: I did not use a name brand waist trainer, I simply got a cute one (see picture) off eBay to test it out and see if it was worth spending the money on the real deal. It contains steel bones/bars just like the ones celebrities use.  

Let My Eyes Look Into Your Soul

One of my favorite things to do that both relaxes me, and makes me look better, is doing my makeup. It's really a therapeutic activity that many girls (and guys!) use for multiple reasons.  

This is one of my favorite go-to looks for work. I usually use pink and gold, or purple and gold. Sometimes I even use teal and gold.  I love gold eyeshadow with brown eyes. It just makes your eyes stand out so much more (in addition to on fleek eyebrows). 

More people should use colors that make their eyes stand out as their normal go-to look. Your eyes say a lot about you, so make sure they're saying something good!

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Used:

a small Bobbi Brown palate 

(circa 2009 so they probably don't sell it anymore)

using their light gold and dark gold for the base and the outer corner

No name brand for the purple

Maybelline Lasting Drama gel eyeliner in blackest black

NYX mascara La Amoureux

Maybelline Lash Sensation Mascara

A New Approach to the "Monthly Visit" (;

So I've been on a major baking kick lately! I recently started getting the Try the World boxes, (check them out, seriously. They send you a box every other month with ingredients from around the world. Try the World ) which has inspired me to use their ingredients to make some amazing food! 

Last week, I made a Pastafrola which is an Argentinian tarte filled with a dulce de membrillo mixture. It was so delicious!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

½ cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 stick cold butter, cubed

2 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk

2 Tbsp. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup quince paste (dulce de membrillo)

½ cup raspberry jam (optional)

½ cup pineapple preserves (option)

Powdered sugar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, incorporate the butter until combined.

In a small bowl using a handheld mixer, combine 1 whole egg, the egg yolk, milk, and vanilla. Stir into the flour and butter mixture until the dough comes together (use your hands if the dough becomes too thick). If the dough does not hold together, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Shape the dough into a disk, cover in plastic wrap, and chill 30 minutes.

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the quince paste, pineapple preserves, and raspberry jam with 2 tablespoons water. Warm, stirring frequently, until the mixture becomes viscous. Remove from the heat and let cool. The pineapple and raspberry are optional, but I highly recommend them because it tastes amazing with them!  

Roll out three-quarters of the chilled dough onto a floured surface. Transfer the dough to the springform pan and cut away any overhang. Spread the jam mixture over the dough. Roll out the remaining dough and cut into ½-inch wide strips. Arrange over the jam mixture into a lattice.

Beat the remaining whole egg with a fork. Brush over the lattice using a pastry brush. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Let cool in the springform pan over a cooling rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

P.S. Try the World also commented on my Instagram post of this asking to use it for their Instagram!
Check it out here: whitegirlish 

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This recipe was taken from Try the World, which was inspired by South American Food by Marian Blazes. 

Feeling the Blues

So another event at my school is called Culture Shock. It's a weekend-long music festival that features a lot of underground musicians. There's also rides, fried Oreo's, and lots of drinking and drugs fun! 

Since it's kind of a big deal at school and people go all out, I decided to color my hair from blonde to blue, my favorite color!

It's been two months and my hair continues to stay blue! I plan on keeping like this for the rest of the summer. 

Adore Hair Color- Baby Blue

Zombie Barbie

Every spring at my school we have a party called "Zombie Prom." 

We all dress as either zombies, or something zombie related.

This is my zombie makeup!

I even used fake blood all over my body!

Shopping for Summer!

After my thief incident, I had to buy a bunch of new clothes! 

The top picture is from Sears. I got a Kardashian Kollection mini skirt, and then just a no name maxi skirt, shirt and dress! 

Even though they're from Sears, they're actually super cute.

Bottom picture is from Charlotte Russe, I was able to get one full outfit back that was stolen!

I got an American flag long vest, a flower maxi skirt, two mock neck crop tops, the blue crop top, and the pink crop top with little bows in the back.

The Thief

Imagine- You get to your guy's car after a nice date at your favorite restaurant. He has a weird look on his face, but unlocks the door as if nothing is wrong. 

You get in the car- Where is my backpack? Where are my things? What's going on? 

"Oh my god" he finally says. You look back, the rear driver window is all over the seat, shattered. 

Is this really happening? You both pause, both in pure and utter shock. 

Then it finally hits you. You've been robbed, violated. Someone was in your car. What did I do to deserve this? 

My things, my whole life. My backpack was stolen. In it was my clothes, my laptop, my keys, my IDs, my makeup. Almost $2,000 of practically brand new things, everything I needed for my spring break this week. 

I scream. I'm crying, literally laying on the pavement wailing like I just watched someone die. My body is numb. 

Then, as I'm thinking about this things in my backpack, I realize my most prized possession is in there. A stuffed animal that I literally slept with every night since I was 5 and that my mom had before me. I scream as loud as I could from my sadness and pain. My heart sinks so low. She was something so irreplaceable I feel like I could just lay there and die from a broken heart. 

My life is gone. 

The cops come and give us a case number. There's nothing they can really do then or at all. Plus, car robberies are practically last on the list of priority crimes because they happen so very often. 

What has to happen next is the hardest-

Acceptance. You have to accept the reality of the situation; I am never going to be getting my things back. I can't do anything about it. No one saw it and there was practically no cameras. 

Nothing in life lasts forever. Sometimes it takes a traumatic experience to fully realize the impermanence of things. No matter how careful you can be, nasty people can always come along and throw a random "shit grenade" into your life. This grenade can be thrown at anyone, anything, and at anytime. The grenade is inescapable. You have to accept the ramifications of someone else's selfish actions and deal with it. It makes you realize how awful the world can be. 

On a somewhat brighter side, it makes you realize that material things aren't what matters in life. I'm alive and my date is alive. In the current day and age, only material things matter. A tragic situation and make you take a step back and understand that there are truly more things in life than materialistic things. (Almost) Everything can be replaced. 

Yes, losing something sentimental is so awful and makes you feel like your life is over. My heart was, and forever will be, broken and hurt. However, maybe your thing will serve a greater purpose in someone else's life. I hope my stuffed animal finds a good home in a little kid somewhere. Even if it is the thief's child. Lovey served me 15 years of love and comfort, I hope she can continue this with another child that needs her. 

Never get so attached to a material that you feel like you'd die without it. Accept and realize life and the world's impermanence. 

And think- Life always gets better. 

I hope my thief gets what he deserves. 

Putting Nature in a Box

A couple weeks ago, I ordered my Nature Box, and it came in yesterday! I got it for free (with only $2 for shipping) with my the Young Turks coupon code! 

I've eaten almost all of it already! It was so delicious!

It came with Strawberry Greek Yogurt Pretzels, 

Jalapaño Cashews (which were super spicy, but good!), 

Sea-Salt Sun Crunch, 

Cranberry Medley 

and Garlic Parmesan Popcorn Kernels!

They were all so good! Highly recommended! 

Holton Rower

 Okay, so I go on Facebook everyday, several times a day, like most people. Most things I see on my Facebook are from very progressive political pages that I follow. Sometimes, I'll see random posts from my friends, and sometimes, I'll see posts like this one that straight up just make me mad. 

I go to an art school, so I'm very sensitive to the arts. Art is a huge part of everyone's lives, and usually they don't even realize how prevalent it is. 

One of my Facebook friends, who is actually trying to be somewhat famous of whom I refuse to name because I will not give him publicity, made a comment about a video. This guy is trying to be a music artist, so I find it incredibly ignorant for him to make this comment. 

The video is here. 

It's an incredibly mesmerizing video that I actually love to watch over and over again.  David Kaufman made this video about artist Holton Rower who specializes in this kind of art. He's an incredible artist and his works are truly beautiful. People need to be more open minded and accepting of other's work, talent and skills. 

Would my Facebook "friend" like that comment about his music? No. Don't make rude comments about other people's art. To be fair: the video on Facebook was only from about :35 seconds to 1:40, so he may have not realized it's actual art still. This comment just made me angry because just because Rower's art doesn't make sense to him, doesn't mean it won't make sense to anyone else. 

End rant.

Do you think I'm too harsh on this guy? Or do you agree with what he's saying?

Photo Shoot Update

I know I was suppose to have a photo shoot Friday, but it snowed in New York so we had to postpone it. I'll be doing a lot as soon as I get back from Spring Break which ends April 5th! 

Sorry!

Stay tuned!

Hauling It In for Spring

I went on a huge shopping spree today with one of my best friends and spent almost $300!

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First, I went to Urban Outfitters. If you've never been there, then I'm telling you now, they're expensive. Especially for a broke college student. We immediately went to the clearance section and even that started at $19.99 for their clothes.
Thankfully I got lucky and found a cute pair of white frilly underwear! Then, we got two amazing disposable cameras that have built in graphics, so when you take a picture and develop it, the graphics show up on the picture! They're so cool.

The undies were $2.99 and each camera was $4.99. Not a bad steal for an expensive store. 

~

Next, we went into Victoria's Secret. I was looking for a good push up bra, but didn't find one that I really would spend almost $40 on.
After I couldn't find one, I decided I need something that at least says Pink on it. I found this super cute dress with "Pink" written on the sides. I love this dress particularly because of the collar. You don't really expect what almost looks like a gym band on it, especially on a cheetah print dress, and it really stood out to me because of that. It's so cute.
And it was only around $32

~

We then went to Lush! This is only my second time buying from Lush, but I absolutely love it. I'm obsessed already.
I got a toner water for your face called "Breath of Fresh Air."
I used it tonight after washing my face, and it smells so good! I can't wait to see if it helps my skin in any way. Review for that will come in time.
I also got a bubble bar called "Sunny Day." It's yellow and covered in gold sparkles. Now that I'm thinking about it, I feel like it might turn the bath water to a yellow that might look like pee, but we shall see! Lol.

That concludes my shopping day! We also got amazing Macarons from "Woops!" I got lemon poppyseed, peanut butter and rose flavor! They were incredible. I love the taste of macarons, they're so unusual, but good. Box of 6 for $15!

What are some things you plan on buying for the spring? 

Red and Lace

I went to the Danbury mall with other day and got two of the cutest crop tops. On the left is fro Charlotte Russe- I paid like $9 for it. The white one was on clearance at Hollister and I literally only paid like $8. It was a pretty successful shopping day, even though I only got two things. They are super versatile, so there's many different outfits I can make from them. 

Do you like these? What items do you think I should pair them with?

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

So, last night my good friend Alyssa (who has an amazing website that sells amazing clothes that's called Thrift Whore) went to a play at our school's Preforming Arts Center, and let me tell you- it was so amazing. It started with a chorus of the cast beautifully singing, then they start walking around the stage, pick up wooden cane-like sticks and BANG. 

Out of nowhere they banged them against the ground so loud! It scared the shit out of me, but in a good way! Lol. They did what looked like a "Stomp" number mixed with amazing singing. The script itself sounded like the original Shakespeare script, it had all the "doth" ""thou" and stuff like that. The script was hard to follow for the most part, but the amazing acting totally made up for it. Their acting was the only way I really knew what was going on. 

The acting was done by our BFA Senior Acting Group, and it totally shows. They were so into their characters, I almost believed they were the actual characters. They were running on and off stage, jumping around, kneeling on the floor. It was amazing. One of the best plays I've ever seen and it wasn't even a Broadway! The monologues were so gorgeously done, so emotional and so moving. I wish it could have been video taped so everyone could see it. 

Kiss me, I'm not Irish!

I went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade today in New York City! It was so much fun. I forgot how awful but how much I love the bagpipes. Lol. We then went to Dallas BBQ in Times Square and it was amazing. I highly recommend that. Decent prices, bangin' food.

I also love my makeup that I did for St. Patty(:

Schedule for the Week of 03/15

Here are my plans for the week- each one I'll have a post for!

Today, Tuesday- NYC's St. Patrick's Day Parade!

Wednesday-  In the evening, I'm going to Romeo and Juliet at the PAC, Preforming Arts Center, on campus

Friday- The Big TV performance- my friend wrote, directed and produced her own play and it's opening this weekend! So excited for her! 

Pink + Green = ...Blue?

I put my Pistachio NYX Macaron Lippie on my top lip and the Rose Lippie on my bottom lip to take a cool Valentine picture with a Sweetheart, and after I was done, I rubbed my lips together to see what kind of a color it would make and it turned....blue? It was a super cute baby blue! Why on Earth did pink and green make blue? No idea!

Easy Contouring!

Okay today I will tell you about my contouring routine and what I use! So after I moisturize, apply my Porefessional from Benefit, and foundation, I work on my contouring! 

Recently I got the NYX Born to Glow Liquid Illuminator and have been using it as my highlighter- full review to come soon- and it's pretty good. I apply it like this--

Down my nose, cupid's bow, chin and along the higher parts of my cheek bones. I use Kim Kardashian's picture of the way her makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic (Instagram- makeupbymario), does her contouring because it really is gorgeous. See here- 

The only difference is that I tailor this look for my own face shape. 

As far as bronzer, I apply it to the sides of my nose to make it appear thinner, my temples connecting it towards the outer part of my face to underneath my cheek bones to make them pop, and then my neck to make sure there's no harsh line from my pale neck to my nicely bronzed face! As such-

I use an E.L.F Healthy Glow Bronzer that I got for pretty cheap from like Walmart (I'm all about cheap makeup that works). 

And this is the finished product!!

It looks shimmery and glowing! 

Going Green!

I got my new lipsticks I ordered the other day! I got two of the NYX Macaron lippies! This is the Pistachio color. I've been getting tons of compliments from people all over campus. I love it because I don't even try to match it to my outfits, it just works with everything! The only problem I'm having with it is that people keep calling it blue!!! Even though it's actually green ish. Maybe I'll wear my other new color tomorrow (;

Selfie Blues

Using my OCC blue lip tar today😘💙

Feeling A Little Un-Yeezy

Can we just take a moment to look at and ponder over Kanye West's new music video for Only One? 

I'm not a huge fan of him or the song, but I like trying to stay somewhat in the loop for current celeb events and doings, so I just took some time today to watch it. 

I'd like to repeat, I don't know a whole hell of a lot about music or the industry, so this is purely a viewer's opinion. 

The music video is so...un-Yeezy. I love it because the concept is great....simple tribute to his beautiful little girl (and his mother, just not in the video part). They look so cute walking around together, holding hands, typical father-baby daughter things. The video actually changed my view of him slightly because it looks at him as a loving, kind father, instead of the way he has been portrayed through the media, the Taylor Swift incident (because I love her so very much), and even in his own songs. The way he was looking at his baby girl was the look of a truly proud, caring father. 

However, the way it was done...I could have shot it better with my iPhone. And what's with the creepy auto-tuned laugh at the beginning? I feel like it's incredibly irrelevant to the song, video, everything.  Lyrically, the song is beautiful, but the whole video is also super auto-tuned, like T Pain auto-tuned. He has a great voice and there is no need for that much auto-tuning. I can barely understand him throughout most of the video because of this. Then, towards the end, he's singing in the video as his voice-over is singing it too and it just sounds like a bit of a mess. 

So overall~

Song- great

Video- great concept, poorly executed

But don't let me tell you how to think! Watch it for yourself!

Only One- Kanye West feat. Paul McCartney

the Chameleon's before and after

So I decided to do a before and after picture today to show the drastic change from me without makeup to me with my normal makeup routine! I love before and after pictures because I find them fascinating as well as entertaining. Doing my makeup is one of my favorite things to do in the morning! It's super time consuming, but if I have enough time, it's actually like really relaxing for me!

Lip Tar Review!

Okay, so I wore my blue lip tar yesterday for the first time! This was taken after a long day of wearing it! Here is what I thought of it~

It's such a beautiful color. The blue is so opaque. However, it gets fucking everywhere! I had blue all over my hands from accidentally touching my lips. I even somehow smeared it on my nose! It also doesn't dry like I thought it would. It is kind of matte, but because it doesn't really dry that much, it's not as matte as I would have liked it to be. Beautiful color, not great consistency. I love the idea of this brand where you can mix the colors, so I would definitely recommend it. Just use the tiniest bit for your lips or you'll be covered in colored tar!!

Obsessive Compulsive...Cosmetics?

So I went to Sephora the other day and got this bright blue lip tar! Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics makes it and they are the coolest things ever! They're a thick matte lip...tar? it's thicker than lip gloss but not as solid as lipstick. They also make black and white, so they're mix able to make all kinds of tints and shades! They also have like yellow and many many shades of purples, pinks, reds, even a baby blue! However, if I got white I would be able to make the same baby blue with this blue! It's like paint for your lips! They're also super opaque and pigmented! Even though they're $18, it's soooo worth it!! Highly recommended.

Liebsterrrrr

The Liebster Award

I got nominated by Megan Jade for the Leibster Award, an award for undiscovered blogs! Her blog is super cute so stop what you're doing right now and look at it. 

RULES:

• Thank and link to the person who nominated you
• Answer the 11 questions given by the nominator
• Nominate 11 other blogs and link them (under 200 followers)
• Create 11 new questions for your nominees to answer
• Finally notify your nominations via social media/blogs

1. Where is your favourite place in the world?

     I've only been to two countries outside the US, that were for mission trips- Honduras and Mexico, and those places bring me so much sadness because of the way people are forced to live. SO, out of places I've actually been, Nantucket would be be favorite place (and I'm related to 2 out of the 5 men who founded it which is kinda cool). If I got to choose my favorite place that I've never been to, but would like to-it would be Australia! (:

2. How much would you be willing to spend on an item of clothing? 

Not much, lol. I'm broke as fuck so anything under $20, unless it's not my money!

3. Who is your 'style icon'?

I have a few. I LOVE Vanessa Hudgens, Taylor Swift and Lana del Rey. I love Vanessa because she's super boho, flower child looking and I think that's the cutest look. Taylor is just super classy and classic in whatever she wears because she's perf. And Lana just has the greatest relaxing, beautiful sense of style.

4. What is your current favorite song?

I don't have one particular song right now, but just about anything on Taylor Swift's 1989 or Macklemore's The Heist. They are my favs. 

5. Do you collect anything?

Nope! Random crap, mainly. I'm a bit of a hoarder and have a hard time getting rid of things!

6. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Good God, a lot. I just asked my mom how many she thinks I own and she gave me a snide look and said "too many." Lol, maybe like two and a half dozen? 

7. What is your guilty pleasure?

Pokémon. Super lame, I know, but I love it.

8. Do you watch any YouTubers? If so, who? 

YES! I love YouTube!! I love The Young Turks which is a super awesome news vlog, Vsauce, a science vlog, and obviously Jenna Marbles and Taylor Swift. 

9. What is one amazing thing that happened to you in 2014?

2014 was actually a horrible year for me so like, maybe going off to college for the first time would be it.

10. What are your hopes for 2015? 

To have fun and be happy (:

11. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? 

I want to be happy and making money!

I nominate: Krajji, Passion for Fashion, Bright Lights in Life, Tina Doodles, When Girl Meets College

I don't really know how to tell if someone has under 200 followers, but these blogs are cool.

My Questions:

1. What do you want to do with your life?

2. What motivated you to create your blog?

3. Your favorite specific thing to blog about?

4. One place you'd love to travel to?

5. What would be the first thing you do if you won a million dollars?

6. What is one major thing you would like to accomplish within the next two years?

7. What is your dream car?

8. How many blog posts do you have?

9. If you could learn one language, what would it be?

10. Cats or dogs?

11. Biggest accomplishment in your life so far?

'Cause baby I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream

I'm not really into music like some people are, but I love listening to undiscovered and underground artists because I enjoy giving them support because already famous singers have enough money and support. However, some of my favorite artists are super famous, like Macklemore and Taylor Swift. 

SO, saying that, I found recently on Facebook two covers of some of Taylor Swift's new songs from 1989. The first is by a girl named Louisa Wendorff. She does a mash-up of Blank Space and Style with one of her friends, Devin Dawson. This song legit gives me the chills it's so awesome. Their voices sound so good together and the way they mix the songs is so incredible. She also came out with her own debut album, so I recommend you buy it!

Louisa Wendorff- Blank Space & Style Mash-Up

The second is a Punk Goes Pop cover of Blank Space by a band called I Prevail. They are from Michigan. On their FaceBook page, they cite A Day to Remember and We Came as Romans as their influences, so that's their kind of sound. I'm not the biggest fan of this kind of music, but I do like some of it. This, is just awesome. It sounds so great. Just listen. You will not be disappointed.

I Prevail- Blank Space Cover

Healthy New Year!

While I was in the city yesterday, I ordered the most delicious salad from Guy & Gallard!

It has kale, raisons, sun dried tomatoes, cashews, tomatoes, bleu cheese dressing & croutons all chopped up and mixed together. It was pretty healthy minus the yummy croutons! Highly recommended and also only like $11 or $12. Healthy choice for less!
~xoxo

The Silver Cowboy

Aren't these delightful?!

My boyfriend got these for me for Christmas

from the Country Outfitters Miranda Lambert collection!

They are totally shiny silver that go with everything!

I used to live in Tennessee, so these speak to the part of me that loved it there.
~xoxo

Gold and Velvet

So yesterday I spent some time in NYC! I love the city so much!

Lips- Addis Ababa NYX Matte

Shoes- Shiekh.com 

Leggings- Velvet from Kohl's

and I got my nails done the other day!

~xoxo