Wednesday, August 14, 2013

LORAC Mint Edition Palette

I wanted to do a quick review on a palette I've been using a lot this week.  It's the LORAC Mint Edition palette. The Collection/set came with an adorable clutch and lippie but I only want to review what I have used, which is the eyeshadow and blush palette.

The box claims there are three matte colors and three shimmery. One of my matte colors, the white one (which is my least favorite color), has flecks of glitter in it. Noooo! Also, one of the shimmery colors has glitter in it too (bottom middle color). Muwhhaa! I wish that LORAC would leave out the glitter all together. I like shimmer but no thanks to the glitter.

The consistency of the eye shadow is nice, very soft, velvety, and most shades are pigmented.
My favorite colors are the soft matte brown (top middle), the mint green (top right), and the soft lavender shimmer color (bottom left). The blush is really pretty too. It's a soft peach color and lasts all day on my cheeks.

I would recommend this palette. I think the product itself is high quality and lasts a while on my skin. The packaging is cute too (palette stays shut with a magnetic closure).  On the LORAC website the value of the whole collection is $120. I purchased it for $17 on their website (in the sale section). I'm pretty sure LORAC doesn't charge anything for ground shipping either, which is awesome! I know that fall is just around the corner but for the last few weeks of summer I'm going to get a lot of use out of the summery shades in this palette. Also, I think several of the eyeshadow colors are versatile and can be worn all year round.





I purchased this item with my own money and I'm not receiving any money to review it. This is my honest opinion.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Blueberry Millet Pancakes

I was really craving pancakes this morning! We had a pint of blueberries in the fridge from the farmer's market on Saturday so I figured those would make the pancakes even tastier!
I cut the recipe in 1/2 because I knew Athan and I wouldn't eat very many, but I'm going to give you the full size recipe in case you have more than 2 mouths to feed :)

Ingredients-
1 1/4 cup organic unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole grain stone ground millet flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
2 teaspoons of sugar

1 1/2 cup  Rice Milk
1/2 cup unsweetened organic applesauce (I used my homemade, unsweetened pear butter instead)
2 TBSP melted soy-free Earth Balance
Extra Earth Balance for the pan

1 pint organic blueberries

Add the dry ingredients into a large bowl. You can sift them if you want to, I didn't bother; I was too hungry!   Heat a pan on the stove - medium/low heat. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well. Add more Rice Milk to the batter if the consistency is too thick. Add blueberries (or chocolate chips or bananas).

Add a small spoonful of Earth Balance to the pan and then pour about 1 cup of the batter in the middle. Cook evenly on both sides. My rule of thumb -when the middle of my pancake turns darker (medium yellow/beige) and has bubbles, it's time to flip!

I think this recipe is great! If you like flat ass pancakes, this isn't for you. These pancakes aren't super fluffy but they are definitely not flat.











Friday, August 2, 2013

Sweet Husband & Gazpacho

I've been on vacation for a few weeks visiting my family.  My husband, John, came back a few days earlier for work and I stayed with Athan at the beach. When we got home, John told me he had a big surprise for me and opened up the refrigerator. Inside was a huge glass bowl of gazpacho! He had taken a special trip to the farmer's market and then made a double batch of gazpacho from scratch! John also added extra lime and used less salt than the recipe called for (just how I like it). It's so delish and just tastes like summer! Thank you John!

I started salivating when I uploaded the photo for this post :)