My Favorite Blog posts of 2011

I thought it'd be a great idea to reminisce and reflect on my blogging journey this past year. I have compiled my favorite/most memorable blog posts to date and wanted to share and reflect with all of my blog friends.


Thank you to all of my blog, youtube, twitter friends that have continued to support me.. and now this new venture of blogging/vlogging with my husband. I hope that 2012 will be just as amazing as this year was, if not BETTER!


so without further ado, let's look back... (Click titles to view complete blog post)


Beautylish Spring trend Event


I got to hang out with some of my favorite Bloggers/Youtubers :) and of course score some major goodies!

New Smashbox BB Cream?

I actually just came across this post on facebook from sephora.com that Smashbox just released their newest product on sephora/smashbox.com (originally released on QVC back in July).  Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35. It’s the multitasking miracle worker that primes, perfects, protects, moisturizes, and controls oil all in one. It sounds promising doesn't it? 

Here are a few pictures and a video from Smashbox/Sephora website (meaning these are NOT mine)

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette, Now available on Sephora.com!

This was tweeted by Urban Decay a few days ago, and I was meaning to share this with all of you, for those that wanted this palette.

The most anticipated sequel of the decade! Our new palette is meticulously packed with 12 Taupe + Greige Neutrals, featuring FIVE EXCLUSIVE NEW SHADES.

The most anticipated sequel of the decade. Naked2 has 12 pigment-rich, taupe and greige neutral eyeshadows, including FIVE NEW shades. Our palette proves once again, neutral is anything but boring, (and is downright sexy when worn Naked). Feast your eyes on our shades ranging from pale to deep, matte to sparkly. This collection lets you achieve lots of neutral looks, smoky dramatic eyes, and everything in between. Let's just say there's a whole new way to get Naked! The case has an art-school inspired look with hinged lid - taupe metal with embossed chocolate brown artwork. It's smooth, modern and cool to the touch - a real tactile experience. Plus, our palette also features a travel-size Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Naked, AND a double-ended, cruelty-free Good Karma Shadow/Crease Brush (available only in this palette). Any self-respecting makeup lover will have to have both palettes to get their complete neutral fix!

Fill Weight: Eyeshadow: 12 x 1.3g e 12 x 0.05 US oz, Lip Junkie: 3.23ml e 0.11 US fl oz

And straight from Sephora.com

Tip Tuesday :: 11 Hair Products every Woman needs :: TotalBeauty

11 HAIR PRODUCTS EVERY WOMAN NEEDS

Is your bathroom a black hole of pastes, pomades, and shine sprays? Here are the only essentials you really need for fabulous hair

There are currently 2,084 hair products on ulta.com, and I've tried almost all of them. I'm a beauty editor after all, so this comes with the territory. And while testing every new hair product that hits the market is a serious job perk, the one little downside is that my bathroom is overflowing with flat irons, curl creams, spray foams, scalp exfoliators … you get the drift. This isn't just a beauty editor's plight, though. Most women I know are on a quest for amazing hair, which leads them to buy and try an obscene amount of hair products. Click here to see the only 11 hair products you really need. Obviously we don't need hundreds of hair products. So, to weed through the superfluous and pull out the essentials, we talked to five pros: Celebrity hairstylist Sarah Potempa, celebrity colorist and owner of Juan Juan Salons in Beverly Hills, Calif., Jennifer J., owner of Marco Pelusi Hair Studio in West Hollywood, Calif., Marco Pelusi, Head & Shoulders celebrity hairstylist Sunnie Brook Jones, and celebrity hairstylist David Babaii. What they gave us: A complete list of the only hair products every woman really needs. Read on to see if you've got everything they recommend and get ready to toss anything else taking up space in your bathroom.

Click HERE to read complete & original article 

Merry Christmas!

We just wanted to take a moment to wish all of our friends & family a very Merry Christmas!

Hope this time is spent with those that mean the most in your life! :) 

Small Sephora haul plus swatches

If you remember my last haul (around november) for the VIB event.. I got the Josie Maran seductive golds set as well as the Lancome hypnose doll lashes mascara set.. well I tried them out.. and I did not fall in love with them.. so I figured i'd return them to get something else I might have use for.


the reason why i wanted to get the Josie Maran set, was really only for the gold skin illuminator, but honestly, when I used it.. it did nothing for me.. it didn't even last on my skin long enough for me to enjoy it.. and I really didn't use the other stuff in it (i know the argan oil, didn't use it)..


Don't get me wrong, the lancome set was a steal! I'm aware, but honestly - it's a waste if I wasn't going to use it.. and that's pretty much what ended up happening.. i used it once.. didn't like the artliner (it was too watery and not dark enough) the lasting power was not the best, and ultimately kept choosing my maybelline line stiletto over it.. 

(L-R: Lancome artliner, Maybelline Line stiletto, Physician Formula, L'oreal Lineur intense, Eve Pearl)

So I had been doing some research, and thought i'd stop by my local sephora to see if they had the items I was looking for.. 


Luckily they let me return the items even though I didn't have a receipt (for store credit only, which was fine because that's what I wanted).. so I ended up getting:


- Urban Decay Mariposa Palette
- Urban Decay 24/7 travel size set of 5 (electric)
Also had left over money from a gift card my mom gave me last month and snagged these:
- Tarina Tarantino Jewel Palette in "Magical"
- Bare escentuals Multi-tasking concealer in "Summer Bisque"


I also redeemed my 500 point beauty insider perk which was what I had been waiting for.. forever! the Laura mercier flawless favorites.. so excited to try it out! 


On to the photos!

26 Week Pregnancy Vlog update!

Hi everyone! I know it's been ages since my last pregnancy vlog.. and since i'm on winter vacay and had a few minutes of downtime.. decided to finally film and upload my pregnancy vlog! :)


So for those of you who follow me on twitter, or seen my past few posts.. i mentioned that I was having heart palpitations (not related to exercising).. and i even had an episode of near fainting.. so because of that, my ob/gyn had told me to see my primary care doctor to get a referral to cardiology. So I did, and at the cardiology appointment, they placed a holter/event monitor. just to monitor possible arrythmias (abnormal heart beats) palpitations, whether or not i feel them... it was pretty cool.. of course when I had it on, i only had an episode maybe 3-4 times.. lol.. I only had it on for 2 weeks, but seriously felt like ages..


It was a pain in the butt, because it was a huge like an oldschool pager.. and i had to connect it to my pants.. which by the way, because of the awkward position of my belly, always made it fall out everytime i sat down/stood up.. ugh! lol.. so glad it's over with though.. going to just wait for the results - which i'm pretty sure they'll tell me it's normal.. 


Otherwise - i've still been pretty active at the gym.. My husband took a few videos of me squatting and doing other things.. but of course I forgot to post them (like i usually do).. so hopefully i'll just do a separate video on that.. 


but here's my video! :) 




Old things I craved for:- Red Vines- Hot cheetos- Nestle Crunch chocolate bar- Lays BBQ chips
New things I crave for:- Cinnamon flavored stuff: -- Cinammon toast crunch cereal -- horchata - cinnamon rolls (specifically a place called cinnabon)- orange juice (minute maid only - with some pulp the vitamin D one)- minute maid fruit punch- Lays sour cream and onion chips- Vanilla tootsie rolls!
I know the cravings I have are not healthy - but please keep in mind, i eat these sparingly! if you follow me on twitter, i'm always posting things that I make my husband and myself (like filipino torta, carne asada burritos, buffalo chicken wraps, salads etc).. so please don't think all i do is eat junk, because I dont.. and plus I exercise/lift weights!
besides my heart issues.. i only have been having back pain and sciatic pain.. which if i stand on my right foot in a certain way, or step on it wrong while walking, i get this sharp pain throughout that leg into my hip and it HURTS.. i almost fell at the grocery store cause it was that bad lol.. 
As far as my weight gain, i've gained all in all 20lbs from the beginning of my pregnancy.. which I think isn't so bad.. considering the last trimester is where you'll see the most amount of weight gain.. (yikes!).. 
So i'm going to continue my eating habits, as i've been doing well - only gaining about 1-2 lbs a week.. and then during the last month i'll be gaining the rest of it :D 
I can't believe i have like 13 weeks left (that's if i stay pregnant for the whole 40 weeks).. but i had my two daughters early, so... who knows if this baby will wanna stay in longer or shorter lol.. we'll see! But I will enjoy the rest of my pregnancy despite how big I may get.. because knowing me.. i'm going to miss being pregnant later on! 
Let me know your thoughts about my pregnancy vlogs - should they be once a month, every 2 weeks, weekly? are there specific things you'd like me to talk about, or any questions you may have for me that I could answer? let me know! 
not only for pregnancy stuff, but other things too - let me know your video requests since i'm off school for 2 weeks! 
Thanks for watching my video, don't forget to sub to my channel if you haven't already! <3

Updated :: My Complete List of MAC Eyeshadows, Pigments & Paintpots/Paints

I had originally posted this last year (lol!) August 1, 2010 and had been meaning to update the pictures because of a post I had done on my Vanity set-up, some people had e-mailed me asking me how I set up my colors in the palettes that were on the DVD rack.. 

If you want to see that post featuring my old vanity set up (yes it moved! - if you want to see an updated picture of that, please let me know!) click here for that post!

And if you'd like to see how i used to have my palettes organized, click the post here

A

All That Glitters
Amber Lights
Antiqued

Atlantic Blue
Aquavert

B

Bang on Blue
Beauty Marked
Birds & Berries
Blackberry
Blanc Type
Black Tied
Black Tulip
Beautiful Iris
Bold & Brazen
Bough Grey

Brash

Bravado

Bright Future
Bronze
Brown Down

Bruised Plum

C

Carbon
Chrome Yellow
Cinders
Circa Plum (Pressed Pigment)
Clarity

Climate Blue

Club
Contrast
Cool Heat
Coppering

Coral
Cork
Courage
Cranberry
Creme De Violet

D

Da Bling
Daisychain
Dame's Desire
Dark Edge
Dear Cupcake
Deep Truth

E

Electra 
Electric sky

Embark 

Endless Love
Espresso
Expensive Pink

Eyepopping

F

Fab & Flashy

Femme Noir

Fig 1

Firecracker
Firespot
Flip
Flourishing
Folie
Fresh Approach
Freshwater 

G

Gentle Fume

Gentle Heat
Glamour check!
Gingersoft
Girlie
Girl Meets Boy
Goldmine

Going Bananas
Gorgeous Gold

Grand Entrance
Greensmoke
Grey Range

H

Handwritten
Hard to Please
Haux
Hepcat
Honest + Tan Pigment (Pressed)
Honey Lust
Hot Hot Hot
Humid

I

Image Maker

J

Jest

Juiced
Jungle Moon
Juxt

K

Knight Divine

L

Lavender Sky
Lotusland

M

Memorabilia
Mink Pink
Modelette
Mulch
Mythology

N

Naked Lunch

Nanogold
Next to Nothing

Nile
Nocturnelle
Nylon

O

Off the Page

One-Off
Orb

P

Paradisco
Parfait Amour

Parrot
Passionate

Patina
Pearl of the earth
Photo Realism
Pleasurepurr
Plum
Plumage 
Plum dressing
Post Haste
Print

R

Real Drama
Restless
Retrospeck
Romp
Romping
Rondelle

Rose

S

Sable

Sassy Grass
Satellite Dreams
Satin Taupe
Shale
Sharp

Shock-a-Holic
Shroom
Signed, Sealed
Silver Ring
Sketch
Smoke & Diamonds
Soft brown
Soulsong

Spiced Chocolate

Springtime Skipper
Star Violet
Stars N Rockets
Steamy

Style Influencer MES

Sumptuous Olive
Sushi Flower

Sweet Joy

Sweet & Punchy

Sweet Chestnut
Swimming
Swiss Chocolate

T

Take Wing

Talent Pool
Tease N Teal
Tempting
Tickles
Tilt

Togetherness MES

Top Hat
Trax
Twinks

U

Unreally Blue
Up-Do

V

Vanilla
Vellum
Velvet moss
Vex
Vibrant Grape

W

Waft

Warm Chill

Warm Suede
Well-Plumed

Well Spiced

Wondergrass
Woodwinked

Y

Young Punk MES

Some of the eyeshadows above, used to be in pre-made MAC Quads/palettes etc - here are where they are from:

MAC Delights: 6 Eye/Trend (have not depotted yet)

Gingersoft

Pearl of the Earth

Satin Taupe

Gorgeous Gold

Tease 'N Teal

MAC Suedette:  6 Intense Eyes (have not depotted yet)

Phloof!

With a Twist

Till Daybreak

Nightbird

Smut

Gallant

MAC Intriguing Scarlet : 6 Warm Eyes (have not depooted yet)

SweetJoy

Warm Suede

Well Spiced 

Gentle Heat

Real Drama

Grand Entrance

MAC Quads: (these are all depotted)

MAC Spring Colour 3 Forecaste : Colour 3 Eyeshadow Quad

Mink Pink

Bruised Plum

Black Tulip

Jungle Moon

Take Wing Eyes:

Restless

Take Wing

Tickles

Bravada

Photo Realism:

Photo Realism

Fresh Approach

Image Maker

Grey Range

Tempt Me:

Girl Meets Boy

Hard to Please

Modelette

Pleasurepurr

Gentle Fume eyes:

Rondelle

Waft

Gentle Fume

Carbon

Tempting:

Next to Nothing

Tempting

Sharp

Dark Edge

Diana Eyes: 1:

Vex

Up-Do

Endless Love

Soulsong

Well-Plumed Eyes:

Well-Plumed

Shroom

Espresso

Courage

Spiced Chocolate:

Nanogold

Brash

Spiced Chocolate

Sweet Chestnut

Paint Pots:

Artifact

Constructivist

Delft

Fresco Rose

Greenstroke

Indianwood (sample)

Painterly

Rubenesque

Soft Ochre

Paints:

Bare Canvas

Chartru

Pigments:

Blonde's Gold (sample)

Chocolate Brown (sample)

Gold Mode (sample)

Golden Lemon (sample)

Heritage Rouge (sample)

Jardin Aires (sample)

Later (new style jar)

Partylicious (new style jar)

Sweet Sienna (old style jar &sample)

Vanilla (sample)

My pre-made LE MAC palettes

How I store my MAC palettes (always in this order lol)

And how my palettes are organized as of 12/17/11

(you can click picture to enlarge)

My Highlight/Neutral colors

 How my palettes are labeled inside

Browns Palette

Bronze/Coppers Palette

Yellows/Golds Palette

Light/Bright Purples Palette

Dark Purples Palette

Blues Palettes

taking recommendations on new eyeshadows to put in this palette!

Greys/Blacks palette

 

Aqua's/Teals palette

taking recommendations on new eyeshadows to put in this palette!

Greens palettes

Pinks/Corals palette

taking recommendations on new eyeshadows to put in this palette!

Reds/Burgundy palette

taking recommendations on new eyeshadows to put in this palette!

Here are my paint pots:

My Pigments:

My MAC eyeshadow singles I have yet to depot

So hope that is helpful to those that had asked how i organize my mac palettes. I did not put the other brands of eyeshadows that I have, because then this post would have been way too long lol :D

but if you'd like to request any of that, please let me know!

** Please note, I did not purchase all of these overnight ** I did however purchase these with my own money, or I swapped for them on makeupalley or specktra. Please keep in mind, that I have been collecting/purchasing these eyeshadows for many, many years. So before you pass judgement - just know I worked very hard to own everything that I have today.