Sunlit Bronze Makeup Look

I have been seriously slacking lately with posts of all kinds, but hopefully today will make up for it! I wanted to do a quick post about one of the makeup looks I have been loving lately! This isn't exactly a tutorial, but I hope it is helpful in giving ideas on what you could do on yourself, or maybe a product I used could even catch your attention! If you like these simple posts, let me know-or if you would like more detailed posts, I would like your input on that too! You may have read in a previous tweet that I had a lot of fun doing this look and taking the photos (I used a tripod=way too much fun haha). Hopefully this is helpful!

Finished look!

Here is what I did:
1. Slap on some primer and foundation first. I used Almay TLC Truly Lasting Color Makeup, and The Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser (as a primer). Since the foundation is a bit thicker and fuller coverage, I used a small. slightly damp stippling brush to blend out the foundation, which made the coverage less intense. The brush I used was E.L.F Studio Small Stipple Brush.

2. Next, I conceal those under eye circles that just so happen to run in my family. See, better! I used a mixture of Maybelline SuperStay 24 Hour Concealer Cream and Covergirl and Olay Simply Ageless Concealer.

3. The main part of this look is the eyeshadow. I used the Maybelline Quad in "50 Sunlit Bronze" for the whole look. First, I applied the "lid" color all over my lid. Next, I applied the "crease" color in the outer corner of my eyes, using a sideways "V" shape. I didn't notice until just now that the first and last picture are a bit out of focus and hard to see, but I hope you still get the general idea! For the last part of the eyeshadow, I took the shimmery white-ish color "brow bone" color from the quad and focused it only on the center of my eyelid, mostly where you can feel the "ball" of the eye. Refer to the picture below for the names  (lid, brow bone, crease, etc) of each shade I am using.

4. To finish everything off, I applied bronzer using the "3-E" method. The bronzer I have been using is the Wet n Wild Color Icon Bronzer in "Princess". For blush, I used the NYX Powder Blush in "Peach". For mascara I used Benefit's Bad Gal Lash. For my lips I used the Sephora Brand Color Reveal Lip Balm. This balm is self-adjusts to your pH, giving you a unique color. (Would anyone be interested in a review?)

End look!

Hair: Result of braids, dry shampoo, and general messy-ness // Earrings: Forever 21 // Shirt: Ninja Turtle Shirt

Please let me know if you like posts like these!
Thanks for reading, 
XO, Kelsey

Sunday Social-Food Edition

Sunday Social


1. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Probably an assortment of vegetables. Not kidding. So that is my answer-one thing-my garden items? Hahaha cheater!



2. What's your guilty pleasure/comfort food?

Definitely it is chocolate. Such a “girl” thing, but I am obsessed.



3. What's the weirdest/craziest thing you've ever eaten?

I ate a night crawler once. Tell me in the comments if you have ever ate a worm too! The taste is so weird; it is a little spicy! TMI haha.



4. What foods do you avoid at all costs?

Basically only mushrooms and seafood (shellfish allergy). Everything else is fair game for the most part.



5. What meal reminds you of your childhood?

Big breakfast meals! Homemade sausage gravy and biscuits, with bacon! My grandma used to make it all the time!



6. Share one of your favorite recipes and the story behind it.

I have so many! This isn’t a fair recipe. I am just going to generalize and say potato soup; I mean you can’t go wrong there! My mom and grandma both make the best I have ever tasted, so here is a recipe very similar to how they make theirs! I just want to point out that once you get one bowl, plan on eating 2 more :)



Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped onion
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 2 large carrots, peeled, chopped
  • 2 to 3 cups diced ham, about 1 pound
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 to 5 cups peeled and diced potatoes
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup half-and-half or whole milk, more if needed to thin
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, optional
  • sliced green onions, for garnish, optional
  • shredded Cheddar cheese or Cheddar-Jack blend, for garnish, optional

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onion, celery, carrots, and ham. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute longer. Add vegetable broth and water and potatoes; cover and cook for about 25 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Whisk flour into the heavy cream until smooth; stir into the hot mixture. Stir in the half-and-half or milk. Taste and add salt and pepper, as desired. Mash slightly to thicken and add more milk if needed.

Serve garnished with parsley, sliced green onions, or a little shredded cheese.
Serves 6. 

Thanks for reading!
XO, Kelsey  

P.S- Hautelook is having a sale on Million Dollar Tan until Monday, check it out if you are looking for a self tanner! Go to the site here, and see my review here

Sometimes Simple is Better [Outfit]

Guess who's back? Back from vacation-and I already miss it! I will be putting together a vacation recap soon so I can look back on it later, so if you like those kinds of posts, be sure to keep checking for it! Anyways, while on vacation I planned on doing a few different outfit posts, but with the near daily rain, lack of "big" plans, and just being lazy, I didn't do it! I did come back with one set of outfit pictures, and I have to tell you now that it isn't anything spectacular...oops. Bigger oops is that I left all my jewelry at home, so I had none on vacation, hence the reason this outfit may be a bit boring. Either way, I love this dress and it was perfect for going out to dinner with my family after being at the beach during the day!

Love the tie back! I may or may not have tied this like a two year old...fail!
If anyone wants to take me back to Florida, be my guest! :)

Outfit details: Dress: American Eagle (similar-I don't know why this one isn't on their site!) // Sandals: Walmart  (similar)

Most simple outfit ever. Even if I had all my jewelry with me, I probably would of kept it almost as simple as this!

A little preview from my instagram of what I have been up to :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Xo, Kelsey

Linking up with many from my link-up page, as well as a new one! Real Girl Glam :)

Hana Pro 1 Inch Flat Iron Review!

Hey lovelies! Today I want to share a little beauty secret of mine, which may not be news to many of you out there, but here is goes... I rarely used a curling iron to curl/wave my hair. There, I said it. I have always found that even with a ton of hairspray, my hair won't hold a curl...but style it with a flat iron? Curls for the whole day (or two!) I taught myself how to curl with a flat iron a few years ago, and I have never looked back! [If you are interested in how I do this, let me know with a comment or email!] Now, I have been through a couple straighteners over the years, and honestly haven't been too disappointed with the ones I get, as I research a lot before purchasing! With that being said, I was pretty excited when I was approached by the company Misikko, who you may have heard about for having the best professional hair dryers. I can't say I would want to say no, as a free product is a blessing if you are offered one, so I had nothing to lose...but I only go into these sorts of offers with a mindset of honest opinions and not being biased. Before even receiving the flat iron, Misikko impressed me with the statement, "all I am looking for is your honest opinion". To me, that is someone I would like to do a possible review for-so here I am, nearly 2 months after receiving the product, and with all the time I have had it, I think I have a good feeling for the product!

I received the Hana Salon Brand Hana Pro 1" Flat Iron to review. The site states some of its features are:
 What I say about its features:
-My hair does seem to have more shine after curling or straightening with the iron (regardless of any styling serums or products before hand).
-I haven't used it long enough to really see if it slows down color fading.
-PERFECT for curling. I can't stress that enough! Also amazing as a straightening, don't worry guys! -It is comparable to my Paul Mitchell Express Ion Smooth 1.25 Flat Iron, which I have had for about 2 years. I think it is great as a straightener-and keeps my hair straight all day, I just liked it so much for curling that I want to point out that it is a good tool for that as well!
-The swivel cord is great for not getting all tangled up in in while doing your hair. I also like how long it is!
-The heat proof storage pouch and mat is great...I can't tell you how many times I have accidentally left a hot or warm straightener on my counter, and catching my mistake only after realizing there is an ugly mark where it was. Such a good idea for any flat iron/heat tool company to include this with a heat tool.
-The time it takes to heat up is more than 10 seconds. It starts getting warm within that time, but for it to reach the full level of heat that I would keep it at, it is probably about 20-25 seconds. This isn't important to me because even if any straightener took 1 or 2 minutes, I would use that time to do makeup or something. I did notice this though because my Paul Mitchell Flat Iron only take about 5-8 seconds.
-Adjustable heat is great for all the different types of hair textures-I try to keep it on the lower end for my hair type (fine to normal hair).

Overall, I am honestly impressed with this product. I would recommend it, and do think that the price is great for the quality you get. It also is nice that Misikko seems to have lower prices on many of their products than other venders do. Definitely check them out if you are in the market for a new heat tool!

My results from the flat iron:

 My normal, air-dried hair.

Straight: Not long after I cut about 6 inches off my hair-one of the main reasons I was so excited to try this iron! I knew having "shorter" hair meant being able to play around with more styles!

Curly: Taken a few days  ago! These curls are pretty "fresh" and haven't been shaken out or brushed through. Please ignore the fact that I can't take a picture of myself without cutting part of me off...hahah. I am terrible!

After flipping my head upside down and shaking my head side to side=looser curls! Love this!

I hope this is helpful! Be sure to check out their site if you are interested! What is your favorite heat tool?

XO, Kelsey

Animal Print [outfit] and Living in My Recent Purchases

Buyers Remorse? Not me, not now. I have purchased probably 5 or 6 things for the summer so far, and I am wearing the crap out of them, seriously. You may have saw my tweet about a zip up hoody I got from Victorias Secret for $13 (originally $45). I think I have had it for a little over a week, but I have worn it almost every day. I have to physically stop myself from putting it on everyday! It is so lightweight, and perfect for when there is a bit of a breeze! I also have been wearing the sequin sandals from today's post and another post, so much! I got them for $8.50...can you believe that? It is safe to say that I like to bargain shop, and then wear out everything I buy in the first month, haha. Another good buy? This top from Charlotte Russe that I am wearing in this post. $7.50. Bargain princess right here.

Probably just thinking about all the good deals I have scored recently.

If you follow me on instagram (kelseylenayy) or twitter (@kelseylenayyy), then you may have saw a sneak peek of this top! I wore this outfit to my family reunion, and with a change of scenery, I knew it was a perfect time to do an outfit post!

Top: Charlotte Russe // Pants: Kohls (no longer on site, many stores sell something similar!) // Sandals: Forever 21 (now on sale for $6.80-crazy!) //

Thanks for stopping by!
Xo, Kelsey

Weekend/Life Recently

What is more fun than the weekend? The weekend with plans! I am not kidding when I say that most of my weekends are filled with no plans-like ever. I basically just work and hang out around my moms house (since I am home from college for the summer). You can imagine my excitement when I actually have something to do! This weekend I worked on Friday and Sunday, and Saturday we had a family reunion, which was definitely a blast. I probably ate 3 days worth of calories in a span of a few hours (literally), saw some family that I don't get to see often, and just all-in-all had a good time! I still feel like I am recovering from all the food..I feel bloated and gross...but I would not be me if I didn't hit the dessert table four times! After a good weekend, I get hit with reality that I have homework for my online class due on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Hopefully I can just get it out of the way in one day-and maybe get a head start on the final project, since a majority of the work for it will be due while I am on vacation in Florida! Seriously, who wants to do homework for a class that has nothing to do with my major, while on vacation?! I will let you answer that one, haha. I hope to get a few reviews up this week, and work on some stuff that I can post while on vacation.but with my busy schedule, we will just have to see how that goes! Thanks to everyone that sticks around and continues to read this little blog of mine! Oh, and all that Google Reader talk? Lets hope that Google Friend Connect doesn't go away with it, since most of my readers follow with GFC! I do encourage anyone who wants to continue reading this blog to follow with Bloglovin', save this link in your book marks, or use some other service that allows you to follow blogs-just in case GFC disappears in the near future! You can follow with Bloglovin' by clicking on the side bar (right side), it's super easy! Anyways, here is my life from the past few days, in pictures!
 [L to R], most of these are from reunion: I guessed the exact amount of candies in the jar-so I got to keep it! // Silly faces with family // One of my brothers and I // My niece taking a selfie (we all laughed so hard at this!) // A bit of the shelter house where the reunion was held // Plate 1 out of like 5 // A storm behind us a few days ago (I was in passenger seat) // Minutes later, a rainbow! // Huckleberry lemonade from Buffalo Wild Wings (so so so good!)

That pretty much sums up my last few days...Hopefully next time I talk to you, I will have been eating healthier, haha.
Thanks for reading!
XO, Kelsey