BA Star Smoky Eye Shadow Palette Review and Discounts!

I got this BA Star Natural Shadow Palette in the mail a little over a week ago as a sample* and I've finally gathered enough info on it to do a review!

I decided to wear it for my job interview today and was quite surprised by its staying power. My interview was at 11am and it's 10pm, and it's STILL holding strong! Let me tell you, I've been really busy today running errands, working out, and I even took a nap and it's still just as pigmented as it was this morning!

Let's talk about the palette itself. It comes with three neutral shadows and two glitters, one gold and one white. I didn't use the glitters today (I didn't think it was appropriate for an interview), but I'll try them out soon.

Here are swatches of the shadows with and without primer:

without primer 

with primer

As you can see, these shadows are already highly pigmented without the primer, especially the cream color. I would say you can wear it with or without primer for pigmentation, but primer will make it last longer. 

Overall I think this is a great palette for a simple everyday school or work look. Today I went for a softer look and used the bronze color for the base, but if you want to go bolder you can use the cream color as a base and the bronze for the crease. The colors are highly pigmented and have great lasting power with a primer. 

I'm definitely going to consider investing in a few more of these palettes and you should too! BA Star Cosmetics will even help you get started with a 50% off discount code! At $8.75 retail this brings your cost down to a mere $4.37, what a deal! All you have to do is go to the BA Star website and enter the coupon code 'BBSMOKY' at checkout.

BA Star website: http://www.bastar.com/category_s/1887.htm

Discount code: BBSMOKY 

*Sponsored Post

My favorite things...

As you know Pinterest has taken over my life! Here are the most recent things I've come across that I LOVE!

 One day I hope to live in a house as beautiful and poetic as this.

I've been really into scarfs and turbans lately, I'll have to try these! 

Aren't these alice + olivia striped pumps gorgeous?! 

This lasagna soup recipe from a farmgirl's dabbles looks delicious! I'll have to make it in the near future ;)

DIY Pearled Letters

So I've been preparing to move back in with my parents after I graduate in May, *groans*and I've been thinking a lot about how I'm going to redecorate my bedroom. My room hasn't changed since I was 12, (think light blue walls and bedding, boy band posters, and Winnie the Pooh bathroom decor) so it's definitely time for a change!

Thankfully I'll be coming back with a much more mature bedding and bathroom set, but there's still the problem of decor. So in my down time I've been working on a little DIY project I learned from my friend Katherine! Pearled letters!

It's such an easy project but the results are beautiful! So let's get started!

All you need for this project is:

• A wooden letter of your choice
• A glue gun 
• Glue sticks
• Loose crafting pearls or jewels

I bought all of my supplies at my local Michaels, but I'm sure you can find these supplies at any crafting store.

Let your glue gun heat up for about 5 minutes and then place glue on any corner of the letter you'd like to start with. Place the pearl or jewel on the glue immediately after gluing! If you wait too long the glue will harden and the pearls won't stick. Make your way across the letter, gluing small sections.

It took me about 45 min to an hour to complete each letter and I still had plenty of pearls left over for the next letter! Now all I have to do is figure out what color to paint my room. Redecorating is going to be fun!

Senegalese Twists Results!

So I absolutely love how they came out! My stylist at Natural Trendsetters (shoutout to Antoinette!) did a fabulous job! I think next time I'll buy a color that blends better with my hair. For some reason I completely forgot that I have color at the ends of my hair, so now it looks like I have highlights in my twists. Haha!

If you're interested in getting these done and you're living in the South Florida area, definitely check them out! They have 3 locations in South Florida, one in Miami on Florida Memorial's campus, one in Fort Lauderdale off of Pine Island, and another in West Palm Beach. Below is a link to their website that has all of their information including prices!

Natural Trendsetters

March Madness!

Photo Credit: Tumblr

Can you believe it's March already?! I swear the holidays were like last week, and it's already springtime. I, for one am so happy that spring is here and Florida can finally defrost. I don't know what was going on with Mother Nature this year, but winter just did not want to go away!

Anyways, with spring comes new hair for me! I have been especially lazy these past few weeks. No seriously, at one point I didn't wash my hair for almost two weeks. I just kept doing twist outs on my dry hair, and slicked it up into a scarf poof. Yea, it's sad, I know. So to prevent any further damage to my hair (since I don't think this lazy streak is going anywhere, anytime soon) I decided to get senegalese twists!!

For those of you who don't know what senegalese or rope twists are, they are a extended twists done with kanekalon hair. My appointment is tomorrow at Natural Trendsetters in Tamarac, FL. If y'all don't know, that is my go-to spot for all my hair maintenance needs. They do everything! Locs, treatments, cornrows, braids, twists, sew-ins, blowouts, color...just don't ask for a perm and you're good! To my knowledge they are the #1 (if not ONLY) natural hair salon in South Florida.

Photo Credit: Dede Akiti

I bought X-pression kanekalon hair in 1. I wanted to get 1b, but the beauty supply store only carried 1 so hopefully it doesn't look bad. I bought 3 packs, and the hair is extremely long so hopefully its enough! I know it's going to take a long time for my head to get done so I better bring a butt pillow.

Well that's all folks! I need to be getting to bed soon so I can be on time for my appointment in the morning. I'll post pics of how it comes out tomorrow, wish me luck!

Updates!

Hello my lovelies!

So many things are going on around here and I've completely abandoned you guys. I'm so sorry, but the good new is that I'm back!

So what's new with me? Well I've been preparing for my upcoming graduation and my transition to law school. I've been accepted to the University of Miami and I couldn't be more excited! As you could guess, preparing to move back home to South Florida and keeping on top of my schoolwork while trying to maintain a lackluster social life has taken over my life.

However, in the midst of all this flurry of activity, I have some exciting posts waiting for you! A few DIYs, some beauty reviews, and new books! Spring means new beginnings and new posts. Get ready people!

That naughty, naughty scale!

Hola chicaroos!

So I've been noticing that ever since I've come back to college, my waistline has been expanding. Every time I step on the bathroom scale I get depressed, which makes me want to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk (circular logic, I know! But I'm an emotional eater..)

At some point, this downward spiral is going to have to stop! I told myself I would start working out again 3 weeks ago.......and I've only been once! You'd think that at this point I would have gotten it together, but alas, I have not. And why is that?

I can sit here and say that I'm too busy to workout, that school and my internship are so taxing that all I want to do is sleep when I get home...but that would be a lie..

I can sit here and say that dieting doesn't work for me, but that would be a lie as well..

What I should just finally admit to myself is that I'm weak. Yes I said it! I. AM. WEAK! I just don't have the will power to say no to food! That cookie looks just too good to turn down. That piece of pie smells too scrumptious.

And Pinterest does not help one bit! Them pics get me every single time and I'll find myself whipping up a batch of "Homemade Brown Butter Apple Handpies" at 2 in the morning... Needless to say, this vicious cycle has got to stop! Cause let's face it, my mama will KILL me if I come home looking bigger than when I left.

So how am I going to conquer my weight and late night cravings?? Well for starters, I'm going to give away every bit of fatten food I have. Them Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies I bought today need to go. Those mini cake doughnuts that have been sitting on my kitchen counter need to go too! I am going to do a kitchen overhaul and get rid of it all.

Next, I'm going to change my habits. Instead of stopping at Jimmy John's for lunch (they have the best subs!) I'll bring a sandwich with me to school. I'll snack on fruit instead of cookies and chips. If I start making little changes to my diet, hopefully they'll evolve to bigger changes in my weight (and my pocketbook).

Finally, I'm going to workout at least three times a week. The gym is literally a few steps away from my front door for goodness sakes! There really is no reason why I can't dedicate and hour of my day to get some fitness in.

I know I'm not the only one out there who gets like this sometimes. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in your life that you can lose track of other things.....like your weight. But no more! I'm making a change and now that I've told the world about it, I have no choice but to follow through ^_^

How do you keep the pounds off? A combination of diet and exercise, or maybe something a little more drastic like weight loss supplements? Share in the comments section, I'd love to hear your feedback!