Freebie Find: Victoria's Secret Lip Gloss

Victoria's Secret is offering a free Beauty Rush Lip Gloss to anyone who gets fitted for a bra.
I've written about this gloss before.
It's thick, has good coverage and lasts a long time.
And I'm just about out of mine so this freebie couldn't have come at a better time.
The offer is good through Nov. 15.
Sweet deal!

Photo courtesy of www.victoriasecret.com.

Product Review: Caress Evenly Gorgeous Body Wash

I recently picked up a bottle of the new Caress Evenly Gorgeous body wash in burnt brown sugar and karite butter.
Me likey.
The body wash is soft and sweet and I can't stop using it.
It worked up a nice, luxurious lather that gently exfoliated my skin.
After my shower, I felt like a freshly-baked goodie.


Photo courtesy of www.drugstore.com.

NOTD:Black Nail Polish

In lieu of Halloween, I painted my nails black by using Wet n Wild's Wild Shine polish.
What a color.
It's Gothic.
It's dark.
It's dreadful but beautiful.
Only problem was black is one of those colors like yellow or white where the imperfections are just so blatant.
I had to constantly keep my corrector pen nearby for touch-ups.
I like the color though.
First time I've ever worn black nail polish and it won't be my last.

Money Moment: Brownbagging My Lunch

I've been brown bagging long before the recession started.
I don't eat out as much and am a huge fan of bringing my lunch for work because I save money and like to eat what's readily available in my kitchen.
Things I like to bring for lunch are easy and cheap one-container dishes such as pasta, beans and rice, veggies and tuna packets.
I save about $30 a week by bringing lunch to work.
I also save money by bringing my own snacks like pretzels, fruit, granola bars and raisins to work instead of hitting up the snack machines.
Those dollars really do add up.
Are you a brown bagger too? If so, what kinds of things do you bring to work for lunch?
Photo courtesy of www.inomommy.com.

Product Review: EOS lip balm

My free lip balm recently came in the mail.
It's a cute little ball of balm that's 95% organic and 100% natural.
Mine came in the flavor sweet mint.
The only thing I don't like about the balm is that it's bulky and won't fit too well in a small clutch.
I'll let that slide though because the mini sphere has been keeping my lips soft, an especially good thing with this upcoming cold weather.
Overall, it's a good balm that I can't really complain about.
It was free, is organic and natural and works well.
Sweet deal:)

Photo courtesy of www.evolutionofsmooth.com.

DIY: Making Your Own Hair Spray

As you can tell, I've been running out of a lot of product lately and have been trying to conserve money by using what's readily available in my pantry and vanity.
So I recently ran out of hair spray and didn't want to buy anymore.
As a result, I decided to make my own.
All I did was mix some Carol's Daughter Khoret Amen hair oil with water in a spray bottle and voila!
The mixture has been keeping my locs moisturized and also gives them a nice sheen.
What a thrifty idea for next-to-nothing.

Photo courtesy of www.carolsdaughter.com.

Nails Of The Day: Gunmetal by Sally Hansen

Sally Hansen's "Gunmetal" has emerged as one of my fave nail polish hues.
It resembles a classic pair of jeans more so than its namesake though.
I like the color because it's dark and sexy, perfect for fall. It's both a casual and professional color.
The hue is part of Sally Hansen's "Xtreme" Wear line of polishes, which last for several days without chipping.
This is my go-to polish until I find another one:)

Meal Of The Day: Veggies and Duck Plum Sauce

Vegetables and mushrooms in duck plum sauce...yummo! (c) Rachael Ray

I'm officially a vegetarian.
Let me tweak that and say a 'Lacto ovo' vegetarian, since I'm still eating dairy products but no animal flesh (except fish from time to time).
I've always been a healthy eater and have consumed little meat in recent years, which made my decision to go vegetarian a pretty easy one.
Recently, I've been pouring through cookbooks and scouring foodie Web sites looking for veggie-friendly meals.
I've also been creative in my own kitchen.
Last weekend, I sauteed some mushroom caps, zucchini, onions, garilc and peppers in some olive oil for several minutes.
Then I added some duck plum sauce that a dear friend and fellow vegetarian told me to try.

I had the veggies and mushroom over a bed of rice and it turned out pretty good:)
The next day, I had the veggies over a bed of couscous and that was lovely too.

Sidenote 1: I've been sleeping on mushrooms!! I don't ever remember them tasting so good.
Sidenote 2: Duck plum sauce over veggies eaten by a "Lacto ovo vegetarian?" Oh, the irony, lol.
The ingredients, some of which I already had in my freezer and fridge, costed under $5 because I got them from "day old" section of the supermarket.
And it took about 20 minutes to make the dish.
Overall, the veggie-friendly meal was good and inexpensive, two things I have no problem toasting to.

Weekend Music Haul: The Rotary Connection's "Songs"

I made up my mind that I'm going to learn how to play the bass guitar.
After my Saturday morning yoga class, I strolled over to Coffey Music on Main Street and inquired about lessons.
I priced some bass guitars in the store.
After brunch, I headed to Record & Tape Traders to price their bass guitars.
Something told me to dig through their record selection.
Glad I did.
I found The Rotary Connection's 1969 album, "Songs."
My love for this group is well known so finding this record truly made my day:)
The album is a nice and easy listen of pop and R&B covers.
I'm especially loving their barely recognizable but breezy version of "Respect."
The Jimi Hendrix-written "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" and the Eric Clapton-penned "Tales of Brave Ulysses" are my other faves.
The group does a decent job with the covers.
I love the album and am excited about learning the bass guitar.

House Helpers: Olive and Vegetable Oil

Since I recently ran out of make-up remover wipes, I've been using vegetable and olive oil to do the job.
Sounds strange but hey, they've been working great.
I like using the oils because they're very gentle on my skin, especially around my sensitive eye area.
And that gentleness makes it easy for the oils to remove eyeliner, which can be hard to remove.
Overall, I'm happy with using oil to remove make-up from my face and I'm saving money by using something that's readily available in my house.

Photo courtesy of www.myyogaonline.com.

Product Review: Khadi Face Mask

One of the beauty products I brought back from India was khadi mauri clay-based face mask.
I've been using this mask about two times a week ever since and love it.
The mask is very light, goes on smoothly and washes off very easily.
It doesn't leave a thick feeling like other masks that I've tried.
The khadi mask smells like clay, but is doesn't have a medicinal scent to it which is a good thing.
Overall, it's a pretty good product.

Photo courtesy of www.architheque.wordpress.com.

House Helpers: Vinegar as a Cleaning Agent

I've been looking for alternative, earth-friendly ways to clean my home.
One thing I've come across on the web
is using vinegar as a cleaning agent.
It doesn't surprise me since my adopted mother used vinegar to clean around the house.
I poured some vinegar into a spray bottle and have been using it in my bathroom.
It has a sour smell but works well.
Plus, vinegar is inexpensive and more than likely, sitting in your pantry or cupboard.

Photo courtesy of www.vinegartips.com.

Weekend Clothing Haul

Lord knows I'm not supposed to be shopping but I came across several really good bargains this weekend that I couldn't pass up.
It's ridiculous how cute and cheap the clothes are at Walmart.
I scooped three Norma Kamali tops for $3 apiece.
Of course, they were on the clearance rack.
I figured I would wear the two collard tops for work and the T-shirt for work and play.


Next, I got this dark brown faux leather jacket from Marshall's.

I had been in the market for one for a while because I wanted a dark brown jacket to wear to work for the fall season.
The jacket comes with a hood but I took it off because it looked kinda tacky.
The jacket costed me $20.
Not bad for something that I will wear on a daily basis this fall.
So overall, I spent about $30 this weekend on clothes that I will somehow incorporate into my fall wardrobe.

Music Moment: Free Vinyl

Last week I went to a yard sale and thought I'd buy a few records.
I picked up several R&B hits such as Diana Ross and Chuck Berry at $0.45 each.
But the homeowner ended up giving me his ENTIRE collection for free.
Yes, you read that right: ENTIRE COLLECTION FOR FREE.
And I'm talking over 80 records of all kinds of stuff.
Dolly Parton.
The Supremes.
Nat King Cole.
Ray Charles.
All. Kinds. Of. Stuff!
Stuff I have never even heard of.
And all of it for FREE!!!
I later gave the guy a thank you note because I really appreciated his kindness.
Since last week, I've been having fun listening to the new tunes.
Among my faves so far are Jose Feliciano and Mountain Twin Peaks.
I spent some of Sunday listening to the stack and am smitten.
I have so much more to listen to and so much more to learn.
The musical gods sure have been good to me:)

Beauty and Movies: The Wiz

I had an at-home spa/movie night on Saturday and decided to watch one of my fave movies of all time, "The Wiz."
Now when I say this movie IS my childhood, I'm not playing.
When I was a little girl, I'd watch this movie almost every Saturday, right before eating franks and beans for dinner and watching "The A-Team" and "The Wizard of Oz."
You do NOT want to watch this movie with me because I know all the songs and can quote the movie verbatim.
Yes, "The Wiz" is very dear to my heart and my children WILL be required to watch it.
While watching the movie Saturday night, I did my toe and finger nails in the aptly-named Sally Hansen color "Emerald City."
I decided on this hue because dark green is the trend for fall and I thought it would be a nice introduction to the holiday season.

The color looks very cute on my nails.
Dark and vampy. Really sexy.
It works very well with the "black" lipstick I recently bought.

w00t! w00t!
So there you go.
Emerald City on my computer screen.
Emerald City on my nails.
I'm happy:)

"The Wiz" image from www.imdb.com.

Freebies Finds: Toothpaste and Detergent

Hey there. I've found more freebies for you in the form of toothpaste and detergent:

-Try a sample of the new DentaBurst Teeth Cleaner here.

-Check out Arm & Hammer's Advance White toothpaste here.

And try a sample of Palmolive Pure + Clear detergent by clicking here.

Product Review: Sephora Brush Shampoo

I try to clean my make-up brushes at least once a week and I recently ran out of brush cleaner.
During my last trip to Sephora, which was around June-ish, I picked up a bottle of their purifying brush shampoo.
I was using their daily brush cleaner.
It was a daily spritzer. I liked it. Got used to it.
But this new one is more like a serum, which I also kind of liked.
I cleaned my brushes.
It did the job.
I'm happy.

Photo courtesy of www.sephora.com.

Make-up Moment: My Fave Nail Polishes

I've built up a pretty sizable nail polish collection since I embarked on this beauty journey late last year. Here are my faves in no particular order:

-Essie: This brand uses no formaldehydes. It goes on really smooth and lasts several days. The coverage is top-notch and makes your fingers look very classy.

-Sally Hansen: Been using Sally Hansen products since I was a grasshopper. Classic stuff. Salon quality and bargain prices. 'Nuff said.

-Sephora: Fell in love with their polish when I bought a burgundy polish for $2. Goes on smooth and looks flawless.

-Wet N Wild: At 99 cents, you can't beat this price. Lots of colors to chose from too.

-NARS: Tried this on in Sephora a few months ago. Hefty price tag but illustrious results.

What are your fave nail polishes??

Budget Beauty: Shea Butter

I loves me some shea butter.
Since my skin is naturally super dry, especially in the winter time, shea butter is a nice moisturizer for me.
This is also a multi-use product like coconut oil and aloe vera gel.
Shea butter is a native of Africa and a highly popular moisturizer.
It can be used in cooking and hair.
I also love to use mine as a lip balm, especially before applying lipstick. I save sample jars and put shea butter in them for an inexpensive lip moisturizer.
Check it out here.

Photo courtesy of www.drugstore.com.

Beauty Products from India

Hi all.
I bought several beauty items from India.
They are:

-khadi mauri clay-based face mask
-khadi pure rose water
-Himalaya Herbals Anti-dandruff hair oil
-fabindia neem aloe vera soap
-fabindia seabuckthorn soap

Lots going on in my world right now so expect product reviews to come soon.

My Trip to India

Hi all.
I'm back on American soil.
My trip to India was one of the most fulfilling journeys I've ever taken.
I'll make my sentiments short because jet lag is kicking my bum:(
But the poverty will always stick with me.
I've never seen dirty children beg the way those kids did. It was disheartening.
Makes you truly appreciate your blessings. Cliche, I know, but very true.
But the food was to die for. I think samosas, a dough filled with veggies and potatoes, were my fave.
And I learned that there is no pure Indian curry. It's just a mixture of a whole bunch of various spices.
And I learned that chai tea is actually Masala tea.
I enjoyed going to the Taj Mahal and the mosque in Old Delhi.
I also loved going to Lohdi Gardens, which felt like heaven on earth. It was a very peaceful, quiet spot.
I've uploaded photos onto my Facebook page. Check them out here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052948&id=62303323&l=99aeb07da7.
I also plan to write about this trip for my job so be on the lookout...