Three Favorite Makeup Products

First off, full disclosure, I purchased all three of these products myself. This review is sponsored by no one other than my own personal pocketbook. I truly love these products and just wanted to tell you about them!

All of the sudden, Beauty Balms, or bb creams, are all over the place! Of course I had to try one! The general idea is that a bb cream is a moisturizer, sunscreen, and treatment serum, that also hides imperfections.

I tried the Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm, purchased from Sephora for $32. I've been wearing it as my foundation, applied with a damp foundation brush, and I love it. This only comes in one shade, and just seems to be perfect for my skintone (light/fair, with yellow undertones).

For a finishing powder, I am LOVING Too Faced Primed & Poreless. Absolutely loving it. Also purchased from Sephora, this is $28. I have somewhat oily skin, and I used to have to blot or re-powder my t-zone mulitple times a day. Somehow this powder seems to magically solve that problem, and I don't re-powder AT ALL. Love that.

Sometimes in the summer I don't want to mess with eye shadow application, but still want something on my lids. I have found that my favorite primer, Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight, looks wonderful on it's on. It's a light shimmery wash of cream shadow that lasts all day. So pretty! (Purchased from Sephora for $18.)

Have you found any new makeup this summer that you are loving?

It's Pinteresting!

Since I haven't been able to collect my thoughts enough to form a complete sentence for a blog post, I've been hanging out at Pinterest lately. Quite a bit. And I'm in love. It's oh-so-easy to drop in for a few minutes, here and there. And a few minutes is about all I feel I have these days.

If you aren't familiar with Pinterest, my friend Megan did a fabulous explanation and tutorial-of-sorts last week, so I'll let Megan fill you in.

Still not sure when I'll be back to blogging, but you can follow my pins. They're pretty pinteresting to me!

BBQ Beef Rolls

Tuesday was a wild and crazy day and I had about 40 minutes to make dinner and feed the kiddos and two friends before baseball at 6.

BBQ Ranch Chicken and Cheddar Pizza Roll 'em Ups
(recipe from Jenny Flake at Picky Palate)

I remembered seeing the awesome recipe above on Picky Palate one day so I printed it out before I left the office. I knew I had a roll of pizza crust in the fridge, and of course we always have shredded cheese. Ever the short-cutter, I figured I'd nix the ranch and use a tub of ready-to-eat shredded BBQ that I could pick up at the grocery store. I hoped to find pork or chicken, but my small neighborhood IGA only had BBQ beef, so beef it was.
It seriously took me about 5 minutes to prep it and get it in the oven. 20 minutes to bake, and that would leave us about 15 minutes to eat.
It was a HUGE hit! All the kids loved it, aside from WC who is a fruitatarian and doesn't count in the equation.

Side note: my finished product did not look nearly as pretty as Jenny's, but since they tasted so good, and my customers were 7-9 years old, I wasn't too worried about presentation!

Do you have any good dinner-in-a-hurry recipes to share?

My modified recipe:

1 Roll Pillsbury Pizza dough in can

1 container refrigerated pre-cooked BBQ meat (chicken, pork, of beef)

shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Open can of dough and press into rectangle. Spread meat on top then top with cheese. Starting at long end, roll dough into a log shape. Using a sharp knife, cut 1 inch pieces and place onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.

Trying to find my mojo

Oh Running.

You clear my mind. You relax me. You are my only "me" time and I you so much!

I tend to be quite an introvert and really value alone time..... I think that comes from being an only child and spending so much time entertaining myself growing up. So running is the perfect sport for me. No classes to rush to, to be late for. And it's such a variable exercise- feeling sluggish? Just take a slow jog and see how it goes. Feeling energetic? Go for a PR time! Just have a 30 minutes? Go for a quick 3 miler. Have a whole morning to yourself? Go for 12 miles- two hours of deliciousness!

Last week was a bit crazy and I did not get one. single. run in! It was terrible.

But I decided to do all I could to make this week better and carve out some me time. Both Sunday and Monday nights, after dinner, as the sun was going down, I set out and got 4 miles in.

It was fabulous! Made even better by the audiobook I checked our from the library Friday- Ree Drummond reading her book "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels".

I of course have read most of the story on her blog, but there is something about hearing her read it out loud- her fellow Okie twang just draws me in and makes me feel like a good friend is re-telling a story to me.

Absolute delight.

PreK Graduation (sniff sniff)

WC graduated from PreK this weekend! So hard to believe that she'll be going to K this fall. I've been hard at work getting things set up for her for next year (gotta warn those school admins about the tornado that is about to come their way!).

Last Friday afternoon, her teachers had a fabulous tea party for the graduates and invited the parents to attend as well. Earlier in the week, they sent home a note that said:

Girls can wear princess dresses or church dresses, and boys can wear
king/prince or superhero costumes.

Ever an equal-opportunity gal, WC took the opportunity to wear HER favorite superhero costume. In a sea of beautiful pink princess dresses and tiaras, she certainly stood out. And was quite proud of that! It's so interesting to see her personality develop, and we marvel every day about where she gets it, since the Mr. and I are both happy to be in the background most of the time!

But I am oh-so-proud of her and an anxious to see her continue to grow and change and can't wait to see what she makes of herself- because I suspect whatever she does, she'll make a mark on the world.

Tonight

I am making a tap dancing video for DancingMoms.com.

Swear. I don't know where my tap shoes are, so it will be sans the clack. But there will be a buffalo, a few times steps, and possibly a pullback or two. Maybe, just maybe, some wings.

Read here for all the background. I pink puffy heart Big Kid. (and Ashley too of course)

Ebates 12th Birthday

It's still super busy around here, but wanted to make sure all my online shopping friends know about this fabulous deal.

Ebates is turning 12 years old and they are celebrating by offering 12% back at 114 stores. And I don't know if you noticed, but my favorite store of all, Sephora, is included....... Squee!

Ebates will be sending me my latest Big Fat Check on Sunday, and that brings my total rebates from Ebates to...... $1198.59, and that's CASH folks. Can't beat that!

Hiatus

It's time for Sasha Says to go on hiatus.

The blog has always been so much fun for me, and I have enjoyed it so much over the last 4 (!!) years.

But life has dealt the Sashas a very busy hand of cards right now.

Hopefully I'll be back soon. No promises though. Love to you all!

Comments are closed

Let's All Be Country Chic

Yesterday P and I ran by the mall to grab him some shoes for Easter Sunday, and I stopped in Bath and Body Works to check out the new Country Chic scent that I had been hearing about. A blend of wildflowers, woods, and citrus. Since I am so sensitive to smells, I have to try them out before I buy. As in, put it on and see how I feel about it 2 hours later.

It's delightful! You know I have The Spring Fever, and this fits right in!

But I did not want to brave the mall again, so I just did my purchase online and got quite a great deal, so I thought I'd share it with you- I got 5 full-sized products for $33, shipped. And don't forget about ebates.....

1. I went through ebates and will be getting 3% back.
2. Right now BBW is running a special- Buy 3, Get 2 Free.
3. I used code S114069 to get $10 off.
4. Even after tax and shipping, I figure I saved a few bucks compared to going back to the mall.

What scents are you loving for Spring?

WC is Movin' On Up

At 5 years and 3 months, WC is finally about to hit 40 pounds (39.4 yesterday) so I bit the bullet and ordered her a booster. We moved P to a booster (a Britax Parkway SG) the week he started K at age 6. I chose to wait until age 6 mostly because boosters in general don't seem all that safe to me. The fact that they just sit in the seat, unattached to anything, is so strange. I do understand they are just meant to position the child in a safer place in relation to the seat belt.

But Britax took Boosters one step further and their newest Parkway, the SGL, includes a lower latch connection system that "secures the booster seat to the vehicle, preventing it from becoming a projectile when not in use, and stabilizes it during a crash". It also has the feature that sold us on the Parkway in the first place, Secureguard, which "works with the vehicle safety belt to prevent the child from sliding under the lap-belt portion of the safety belt (submarining) during impact, thus minimizing the risk of abdominal injury".

Hot Damn! That's genius! I am even thinking about replacing P's boosters with the newest model. It sound so much safer!

I Just Set My Tivo

to record Lemonade Mouth tonight on the Disney Channel. (And I did that right here at my computer at work, via DirecTV's website... love that technology!)

Although I'm most likely not in their demographic, I love me some teenage music movies. Plus Lemonade Mouth just told me on Twitter that it was totally OK for a 37 year old to watch their movie tonight. Phew.

Ask the Product Junkie: Clinique Repairwear

Sassy Gal said... I am DYING to try the new Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle and UV Damage Corrector? Not that we need it or anything, but just curious?

Oh, but I DO need it! Even though I've done several laser procedures at the cosmetic surgeon's office, I still have quite a bit of hyperpigmentation on my cheeks- it always seems to come right back. I'm guess I'm just very prone to it, even though I am very good about wearing sunscreen every day.

And I thought I remembered getting a few samples of this from Sephora, so I went back through my sample stash and found two .5 oz samples, the equivalent of a full-sized bottle. So I'll be testing this out in the evenings over the next few weeks and will report back with a full review. At $44.50 for an ounce, it's pretty pricey, but since I scored some samples, I'm game to give it a try.

Here's the product description from Clinique's website: Potent serum gives every skin a second chance against lines, wrinkles, sun damage. In 4 weeks, see obvious reduction in lines, wrinkles, improved texture. At 12 weeks, the visible wrinkle-reducing power is remarkably close to a dermatological laser procedure. 63%, to be exact. Different commitment, different results. And yet impressive results guaranteed.

Anybody try this already? Let us know in the comments.

Are you MiO-ing?

I have no idea what the name of the product means, but I am loving MiO Liquid Water Enhancer. Anytime I see those initials I think Made In Oklahoma.....

So far I've tried Berry Pomegranate (super yummy) and Sweet Tea (still on the fence on that one).

But the concept is fabulous and perfect for moms on the go. I paid $2.50 for mine since I used the $1 coupon that was in the Smart Source insert on 3/27.

Have you tried the other flavors?

Top 2 Tuesday: Drinks!

Thought I'd join in on Top 2 Tuesday at The Undomestic Momma.... because I need a drink today! (But isn't it just Monday??????)

1. I have a ice-cold can of full-sugar Coke every.single.morning. Can't live without it! It's my coffee!

2. My alcoholic drink of choice for years has been Mike's Light Hard Lemonade or Cranberry Lemonade. 98 calories of pure bliss! (note that it was hard as hell to find that information out!)

Last fall, I started having trouble finding it, and a beer delivery guy at Target told me it was discontinued..... which led to my devastation and also to this:

Note that the Shiner box and the one next to it are full of Mike's Light.... you just can't see it!

But guess what? They really just reformulated it..... now it's spelled "Lite" (stupid spelling!) and has 109 (Lemonade) and 119 calories (Cranberry Lemonade).

I'm super glad it's still around, but I might not have stocked up for Y2K if I had know this tid-bit of info! Well, maybe I still would have..... having that stash in my garage is quite a conversation starter. :-)

Navigating the Waters

Drowning somewhat.

I'm in the midst of figuring out what sort of accommodations WC will need for K next fall (I'm telling you, these people need to be PREPARED for her) and also working on getting P the vision assistance he needs.

I am not feeling very welcome in Holland.

It's not at all what I planned. I wish I was an eloquent writer and could adequately express to you how I am feeling right now. I love my kiddos with all my heart, and can't imagine life without them, but UNCLE.

WC's IEP evaluation is tomorrow morning, and the Mr. is researching a local vision therapy place today for P. If all goes like we think it will, he'll be doing vision therapy twice a week along with twice a week Lindamood-Bell reading tutoring.

Other issues as hand: losing 30 pounds, continuing my running (next up: a 13K relay leg in May), and cleaning up/organizing our on-going home remodel. The Mr.'s dad is in the hospital, the dog needs a bath, and I don't like my nail polish today.

So how you doin'?

Ask the Product Junkie.... Mani Tips

Jillian Inc. says: Totally agree with Mr. - that you could make a career. This isn't so much about a particular product but, in your opinion, what is the KEY to a good at home manicure? (base, top coat, etc?). How do you do yours? I really need to do mine myself but they always turn out looking like crap. Thanks!

Great question Jillian! I've been painting my nails since middle school, and through the years, I've found there ARE a few things that make a difference. I have a post here when I discuss the products I use and the order in I use them in. However, I think two of the steps are by far the most important so let's discuss them here.

1. Cuticle care. My mother was strangely incessant about pushing my cuticles back when I was growing up. Every morning she'd use a pencil eraser to ease them back. Although I hated doing it at the time, my mother was on to something: Taking care of your cuticles equals less problematic nails. Less splits, tears, and breaks.

Although I don't push my cuticles back with an eraser anymore, I do two things in particular to take care of my cuticles. First, a few times a week, before I apply fresh polish, I use a product like Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover. This softens the cuticles and allows them to be pushed back off the nail very easily. Having your cuticles pushed back allows a better, longer lasting application of nail polish.

Second, I use a cuticle cream with AHA at least once a day to keep them moisturized and maintained. Poshe Cuticle Care and CND Cuticle Eraser are two good ones.

2. Top Coat. A quick dry top coat will change your life! My potion of choice is Seche Vite, but there are quite a few different ones you can try- from what I read, based on body chemistry, some people have better luck with other choices. Others to try are Poshe, Out the Door, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri..... there are quite a few out there- you'll just need to figure out what works best for you. Most quick dry top coats need to be applied immediately after the last coat of polish is applied.

I usually start my mani about 9 and am done by 9:30 and go to bed at 10 and have perfect nails when I wake up.

Hope these tips helps Jillian!

Any CD Purchases Planned?

Amazon is offering an extra 20% off CD purchases through April 20th with the code MUSICOFF if you have an Amazon.com Rewards Visa (which I of course do.)

You don't? You need one!

(Thinking about getting the Adele CD and also I just cancelled my order for the Glee Warblers CD and re-ordered using the code and saved $2! Woot!)

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon referral links.

The Product Junkie Says....

Liz asks..... i have to know what color of creamy, nudey lipstick those kardashian gals wear. i loooove it! i don't think this fair skinned white girl can pull it off but if you hear anything, let a girl know!

Liz, I admit I was super afraid to use the words "Kim Kardashian" and "nude" in the same google search.... but just for you, I did some Nancy Drew-ing and came up with this answer.

Kim usually lightly applies MAC Lipliner in Stripdown ($13), then tops MAC Lipstick in Angel ($14.50) with NARS Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight ($24). For a very nude, matte lip, Kim wears Nars Lipstick in Belle De Jour ($24) paired with MAC Lipliner in Subculture ($13).

Ask the Product Junkie

It's been a while since we've done this.... have a question for me? Are you wondering about any new products you've seen? Makeup questions? We're talking food, cleaning products, candy, beauty products, clothes, anything.

Cause here's the deal: If it's new, on an endcap, or there's a coupon for it, I've probably bought it. And believe me, I've got opinions. Mr. Sasha is convinced there's a career out there for me in product review, but I'm not so sure. I'm a little like Rosie Perez's character on White Men Can't Jump, I know a little bit about a lot of stuff.

Anyway, leave me a comment with your question and I'll post some answers later today!

Would You Tell Me About

your clothes-cleaning/drying machines??????

Unbelievably, both our washer and dryer have gone kaput within the same week. I've been being all college-student and dragging my laundry baskets/potions over to a friend's house. In fact, I made 5 trips over there yesterday!

So I need to know, do you have HE models? Do you have the stands? We are leaning towards getting a set, but sans stands.... is that a bad idea?

HALP!