Simple Lime and Herb Chicken Pasta

This has seriously been one of my favorite things to make lately. It's super yummy and can be served hot or cold, so I think that makes this perfect to have as leftovers.

What you will need is:

Spices- What I usually use is: salt, pepper, garlic, paprika and occasionally poultry seasoning.

Herbs- I like fresh oregano, rosemary, basil, and parsley but you don't have to use fresh ones.

Pasta- I use a half a box of wholegrain whatever kind we have around the house. This time it was Penne.

Chicken Breast- 1 or two depending on how big they are. If they are small then two.

Olive Oil- For a half a box I use half a table spoon or less.

Lime juice- Just a squirt or two.

Parmesan to go on top. I prefer fresh but powder works too.

Okay so First things first, chop up that chicken into bite size pieces, then toss it in a frying pan and let it cook. I usually do this on pretty high heat. This is where all those spices, herbs and lime juice come to play. I couldn't tell you how much I use of those, it's all done to taste, but pretty much a little bit of everything until it smells just right. Once that's all cooked, put it in a container and cover it if you want to keep it warm, set it to the side, You will use it in a bit.

Next , or while you were frying your chicken, fill up a pot and boil some water. Once it's boiling toss in the pasta. When that's done drain it and empty it into a bowl and mix in the olive oil to keep the pasta from getting dry. You can also add more lime juice now if you'd like. Add the chicken now serve it up with a little parmesan on top!

So that's all for today!

 xoxo
Courtney

Beauty Sub Smackdown Month 2- July 2014 Beauty Box 5 vs. Ipsy

Alright! July is halfway done. When it comes to beauty subscriptions, this is the best time of the month! Really though, I wasn't super excited about anything in particular this month, just the subscriptions as a whole. For those of you who don't know, I am taking three months to compare my ipsy bag and my Beauty Box 5 and determine which one is better. This is my second month you can find the first one here.

Before we start I want to remind you of a few things:

1-Price. Ipsy is $10/month or $110/year. Beauty Box 5 is $12/month or $99/year. So though Ipsy is less expensive month to month, Beauty Box 5 is less expensive for a year.

2-Samples. Ipsy sends out 4-5 product samples a month ranging from deluxe to full size products, Beauty Box 5 guarantees 5 samples a month ranging from packets to full size.

3-Products. Though both boxes are beauty related, most often Beauty Box 5 seems more body and skin care where ipsy is more makeup. But both boxes tend to have a mix.

Alright, on to products!

Let's start with Ipsy shall we? The theme for this month is "Sensationally Sun kissed" Sounds cute, although it makes me think if tanning, which I don't do. There was a wide range of product variation this month but this is what I got...

Item #1- Bare Minerals 5-in-1 Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF15: This is by far my favorite product out of my ipsy bag this month. This initially reminds me a lot of the CoverGirl Intense Shadow Blast eyeshadow in the way that it is packaged and in staying power. They were discontinued a few years back and I can remember grabbing 3 of the "beige blaze" ones that I used to use a primers back in my freshman year. However these are more of a matte finish. The color I got in this was Barely Nude. I think this makes a great base and it's definitely on my "To Buy" list. Retail Value-$6

Item #2- Clear Clinic Laboratories Vanished Clear Spot Treatment: This was super weird for me. When I saw it in my glam room I was bummed because I got it just after my acne cleared up, but when I received it I actually had a break out (just in time?). I have to admit that this smells like straight up rubbing alcohol, which I have used to clean cuts and scrapes before since I'm allergic to antibiotic ointments. Trust me this stuff hurts just as bad. But as for it doing the job? It seems to at least reduce the size. I will test this more thoroughly and try and review it later with some other skincare items. Retail Value-$9.33

Item #3- Pixi Beauty Tinted Brilliance Balm: So this was a mini this month. Which is fine. My only tiff was that it was sooo hot that it was a bit soft and the top got smashed a bit, but it's ok since it didn't break and it's still useable. As a balm this stuff works really nicely and feels pretty moisturizing. It's not flavored or anything, but the color was interesting. I received "Unique Pink" which is supposed to adjust to you lip color to give you a look unlike anyone else's. I would say that it really just enhanced my natural lip color, but it's not a color I would go out of my way to buy. However I will still use it as it feels really nice. Retail Vaule-$9

Item #4- Pur~Lisse Pur~Protect Essential Daily Moisturizer SPF 30:  Hmmm. Well, I was pleased that I didn't get any tanning oil, but I have so many moisturizers with sunscreen that I didn't need this. However it will be nice to have this out for a couple weeks instead of leaving a giant bottle of equate daily moisturizer out and not having it fit into my bag while I'm moving and packing/unpacking. So I will be using this one a lot in the next couple weeks. Retail Value-$16.17

Item #5-Models Own Nail Polish: Generally chunky glittery nail polish is NOT my thing, especially not the color they described on ipsy.com, BUT after seeing this in person I could not wait to try it. As for actually doing it? I just got gel nails. Like 3 days before my bag came. SO it took me a while to get this done. The polish itself is kind of a thick consistency, and honestly not my favorite, but it's not horrible. Retail Value-$6

If you would like to join me on  ipsy please feel free to use my referral link. (http://www.ipsy.com/r/13bs I'm super close to a bonus item and it's all from reviewing products.)

The total value for my bag this month was 46.50

So with that in mind let's take a look at Beauty Box 5, This month's theme is "Defining Moments" Which I think is fitting because I just graduated high school and am moving out in a couple weeks. So this box looked pretty exciting, and I can't say I was super let down, but I wish I would have gotten a different starlooks product since I already had this one, but it looks like a lot of people didn't get that. Anyway on to what I got!

Item #1- Revlon Bold Lacquer Mascara: Hey remember last month when I got 2 mascaras? Well look here's another one! I actually don't like black mascara and I'm buying a brown when I run out of the glam naturals sample. This one was put in a box for the girls night in party- you can find some DIYs and other fun stuff from that here! But essentially this was a new fiber mascara (also something I stay away from) that is supposed to be high shine. I didn't use it so I couldn't tell you. Retail Value-$7.99

Item #2- HASK Argan Oil Intense Deep Conditioning Hair Treatment: I'm torn on this one. One thing that I usually don't want to do is deep condition my already oily hair. But I do have a HASK Argan Oil Healing Shine Hair Treatment to keep my hair smooth and soft. Argan oil is one of the few things that I like to use, so I think I'm going to save this for the winter months when my hair gets super dry and gross. Retail Value-$2.49

Item #3- Body Drench Candylicious Lips: I was a little ehh about putting grape lollipop flavored lip products on my lips, mostly because I don't like grape lollipops, but I find that I like this more than I thought I would. It feels nice on my lips, moisturizes really well, and smells really good. I also think the flavor isn't too overdone so I think this is by far my favorite product this month. I will definitely be buying more when I run out. Retail Value-$3.99

Item #4- Anna Naturals Glowing Mama Walnut Face & Body Scrub: This is the only sample product I got, everything else was full size. But It's not a bad sample. It doesn't tell me how much is in the little jar so I estimated about 0.5 oz. As for how his works I used it shortly after I got it and I was afraid of how the walnut exfoliating pieces would feel, but it was quite gentle. It smells amazing and I will most likely be buying the full size soon. Retail Value-$1.37

Item #5-  Starlooks Obsidian Kohl Eye Pencil: Unfortunately I already owned one of these from my first ipsy bag. I reviewed it _here_ and my opinion is the same. I still love this pencil, but this particular one is being passed on via Girls Night In. Retail Value-$12

So my total for Beauty Box 5 this month? $27.84. But I'm only really excited about the lip balm and the scrub. I do want to point out that I enjoyed this months BB5 more than last months.

 The winner is....Ipsy. This month I feel like was just more useful than my BB5. Though I discovered great products in both, Ipsy got it again this month, simply because I will use everything in the bag and it was all new to me. That being said, I might go broke this month because of how many of these products I want.

That's all for this month's smackdown! I will still do an August post, but I think we know who wins overall already.

xoxo
Courtney

Pixi H2O Skinttint Review

So beautiful people, I am here with another review, but this time it's on one of my favorite types of makeup products- foundation. Well, more accurately it's a skin tint, but it serves the same purpose- to even out skin tone. I have a lot of redness on my face and my skin tone is not exactly even, so for me it's usually necessary to have something to correct that.

This summer my favorite face product has been the Pixi Beauty H2O Skintint. This is described on pixibeauty.com as "Water-based tinted face gel that evens out skin tone and gives complexion a flawless no-makeup look. " They are also all neutral tones which is one of the reasons this product works best for me. I personally have very fair skin with a neutral undertone and I have had a very hard time finding BB creams or anything lightweight that I could wear. Though I have used and really liked my Rimmel London BB cream 9-in-1 Super Makeup, it was a few shades too dark and only really looked ok-ish after I tanned a bit on vacation. After John bought me the Pixi skin tint that I not-so-subtly hinted at wanting, for our anniversary, I fell in love instantly.

So why do I love this so much? Even though the coverage isn't anywhere near full, it cancels out redness incredibly well while still being very light feeling and comfortable to wear. The other thing that really drew me to this was the cooling feeling it gives upon application. Even though you definitely would want use a  concealer with this to hide any imperfections,  I feel like this is the best face product  for summer. The only issue I have is that  It doesn't have any SPF. So what I have been using with it is in part to prep my oily skin, is the Murad oil free mattifying lotion SPF 15.  Which I will be reviewing and buying  the full  size of as soon as possible.

The only other problem with this  item is the color selection. It comes  in three shades:  "cream" is the lightest, "nude" is their medium  shade, and "Warm" is the darkest Shade, which  contrary to what it's name suggests is still a  neutral tone.  As you could guess the color range isn't spectacular, but it's still an amazing product and, in my opinion, worth it for Pixi to expand the shade selection. I really think this is a great product no matter what age you are. It doesn't settle into lines or make your face look cakey, and it's very light weight.

I've also noticed my skin looks better when it doesn't have makeup on it, and I'm thinking that this product is really helping since it's more sanitary than some of my other foundations. It has a pump, so you aren't sticking your fingers or anything in the product and all you have to do it squirt out a small amount on the back of your hand and apply with clean fingers. You probably wouldn't want to use a brush for this or it could look a bit streaky, and if you are like me and sometimes forget to clean brushes, this can cause acne.

Interested in buying this? You can find it a pixibeauty.com or at your local Target. It's $24, but this stuff is really worth it! Until next time!!

xoxo

Courtney

New Years Resolution Update

Back in January I decided I wanted to be healthier and get back into shape. Between school and life in general, this took a back burner, but I have made conscious efforts to change how and what I eat. Now I'm not going to lie, I will never eat 3 square meals a day and a couple small snacks. I always have and always will eat small amounts of food throughout the day. Now "small" when I started, meant 1-2 sandwiches and some chips, which is not really small. But anymore it's some veggies here, half a sandwich there, and sometimes when other people I'm with are having a full meal, I have a whole sandwich or something of that size. I've cut back on the amount of sweets, but I still love myself some candy so that has been an uphill battle. But it was more than just some pounds that I wanted to deal with. I also wanted to feel better about myself. Now I have come to the conclusion that I'm not super strong or athletic but I seemed to be fine walking around Disney, other than the fact that my ankles are weak (genetics), and the fact that I STILL have blisters on my feet from it. It actually got to the point where that was causing me so much pain we had to rent a wheelchair. But for my days at Universal and Disney where I walked, I actually wasn't too tired by the end of it. Just sleepy from all the stimulation--oh and the allergic reaction I had to something I ate.

But other that I've just been trying to eat smaller amounts at a time since I eat so often, and walking whenever possible. I want to get something comfortable to start running in and maybe try to do that with John more.

My two favorite foods have been lime and herb chicken salad with whole grain pasta (I will have a recipe that I use here when it goes up next week) and Cesar salads with tomatoes. For a little pick me up, I'm also liking homemade fruit smoothies.

Since the beginning of the year, I've lost maybe 5 pounds, but I've felt a lot better. I'm hoping maybe exercise will help bring off some more weight. That's all for this update!

xoxo

Courtney

Dr. Brandt Pores No More Products

So I want to start off by saying that the samples I received were courtesy of the Dr. Brandt Skin Care company. That being said, I do intend to review them fully and give an honest opinion. I also want to give a massive thank you to them for sending out more than I even expected. They have had wonderful customer service and were very friendly. So anywhoo let's get the the products shall we?

So I was sent 3 products from the Dr. Brandt Pores No More line for "enlarged pores and excess oil". The products I received are:

1. BB Matte with Signature Shinerase. ($39 full size)
2. Pores No More Anti-Aging Mattifying Lotion ($60 full size)
3. Pores No More Pore Refiner Primer ($45 full size)

So I have used these items and tried my best to decide if they meet the product claims and are worth the money for the full size. Also since everyone's skin is different, I do want to mention that I have very combination skin. My nose and cheeks are the most oily and the rest of my skin is normal (except in winter when my forehead is really dry). Alrighty let's get into this!

Pores No More Pore Refiner Primer-

Photo Credit: drbrandtskincare.com

I like the way this looks on clear skin. The parts of my face with no black heads actually looked amazing, but where I have some blackheads on my nose and chin it creates kind of a cakey look. The consistency is nice, a bit thicker than the Professional by benefit. Though you do get more for product for your money and it claims to do more for your skin, I have found that if you do not have clear skin that it just ends up looking cakey.

Pores No More Anti-Aging Mattifying Lotion-

Photo Credit: drbrandtskincare.com

I have to say that this is the product I am the most happy with. It feels moisturizing on the skin, as well as mattifying it. I didn't notice any oiliness or anything throughout the time I wore it and I really like the way this works under a BB cream, I feel like it makes it last a bit longer. So I really like to use this when I am planning to wear one. As for it being anti-aging, I can't really speak for or against that. But as a whole I really liked this product and I will probably buy the full size.

BB Matte with Signature Shinerase-

Photo Credit: drbrandtskincare.com

This was actually the first product I was curious about. It has an interesting concept as a BB cream that is supposed to mattify your skin. Since BB creams are generally marketed towards moisturizing. First I want to start off with color selection. They offer two colors, Light to medium and Medium to dark. I was sent both and I have to say that they really wouldn't work for anyone who has more than a summer tan. I didn't notice any weird oxidization and if you can get passed the fact that they have kind of an unpleasant smell the finish is quite beautiful. However if I wasn't slightly tanned this summer it wouldn't match my skin at all, as it is, it pretty much doesn't. I applied this by itself and set it with a powder. It wore about as well as any other BB cream I have tried does. I wasn't overly impressed with this product like I was hoping to be, but that could have been the poor color selection.

I definitely took my time reviewing these products, I have had them since before my graduation in mid June. I really wanted to make sure I spent time with each product individually as well as tried them together. I wish I had liked more than just one of the products, but I just didn't. I have tried one other Dr. Brandt product via ipsy (microdermabrasion) and really liked it so they do make good products but the BB cream and the primer just weren't working for me. That's all I have for today!

xoxo
Courtney

Beauty Sub Smackdown Month 1-June 2014: Beauty Box 5 vs Ipsy

Over the course of 3 months, I will be comparing 2 beauty subscriptions. My generous and wonderful boyfriend has paid for a 3 month gift subscription of Beauty box 5 and I only have a few months left on my Ipsy subscription. So I wanted to know: Which one is better? Before I get into June's haul, I want to point out a few things:

1-Price. Ipsy is $10/month or $110/year. Beauty Box 5 is $12/month or $99/year. So though Ipsy is less expensive month to month, Beauty Box 5 is less expensive for a year.

2-Samples. Ipsy sends out 4-5 product samples a month ranging from deluxe to full size products, Beauty Box 5 guarantees 5 deluxe samples a month ranging in the same sizes.

3-Products. Though both boxes are beauty related, most often Beauty Box 5 is more body and skin care where ipsy is more makeup. But both boxes tend to have a mix.

On to the products!

Ipsy- This month's theme is "Pretty in Paradise" Which of course was such a fun idea. Everyone received 5 products this month, and I feel like I got an awesome mix of stuff! Plus I actually really loved the bag this month. It was designed by Rebecca Minkoff, which honestly I don't really care about designer stuff but I liked that the zipper was different and the only place it says ipsy is on the side tag. Also it looks super fun and summery!

Item #1- Nyx Butter Gloss in Strudel. $5. This was a full size product and it's one I really wanted to try. So I was thrilled about this.

Item #2- Be A Bombshell Lash Out Mascara. $15. Yet another full size product, and I actually wasn't too excited about it since I don't use black, but I used it on whim and really enjoyed it...until I smelled it. I watched a youtube video which prompted me to smell this and this stuff stinks! Not like normal kind of iffy smell, but full blown something is rotting smell. I can't even imagine using this stuff again.

Item #3- Nicka K New York Shimmer Eyeliner. $4.99. OH MY GOSH! I was expecting to be kinda ehh about this but this stuff is one of the best I have ever used. Better then literally ANYTHING I own right now. It is so waterproof it didn't even come off my hand after washing 5 times (not exaggerating either).

Item #4-Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray. $3.18 for sample. I was really excited about this. I really enjoy it for giving my hair some texture when I'm styling or if I just want to leave it down. Plus it smells awesome!

Item #5- Skinn Olive and Enzyme Cleanser. $12 for sample. Lately I have been all about the skincare products, if your skin is clear and smooth without makeup then you won't have much to cover. So I was pretty excited about this and I LOVE the way it smells. It reminds me of lemon cupcakes. I really like this a lot and the sample size is really hefty. I actually thought it was full size at first so I am very pleased.

As a whole my ipsy bag value was $40.17

Now on to Beauty Box 5- This month's theme was Summer Chic. Of course, this is another fun idea and it seemed to be more about pampering yourself than Ipsy did.

Item#1-Nicka K New York Nail Color. $4.99 Now where have I had this before?...Oh yeah December 2013 Ipsy bag. This time though it's a color I will actually use. I tried to like that Taupe color but I just couldn't get into it. I ended up giving it to a friend. This one though is super adorable. I got it in Lavender, however they did send it out in the same red color as well. I really love this nail polish though, and I think it's a great fun color for spring or summer.

Item#2-Organix Coconut Water Shampoo and Conditioner. $0.15 each. ($0.30 total) for sample. Honestly I was not excited to see sample packets. They are frustrating and messy. Fortunately I have some travel containers and I just empty them into those. Still, you can often get those from the company so they really don't hold much value. As for the products themselves, I liked the way they lathered up and they smelled really good. However I have very particular hair and the only kind of shampoo I can use are ones with tea tree oil. So this didn't work for me.

Item#3-Eslor Introductory Collection. $15 for samples. More sample packets. Yuck. I like these products, the full sizes are pretty pricey which is why the amount of product given in the sample has such a high value, however this is the kind of sample you can get in a store. This set included Soothing Refiner Cleaner, Soothing Cream, Replenishing Scrub, and the Comforting Mask. They are nice products and I will definitely get multiple uses but I wish they came in bottles or jars.

Item#4-Glam Natural Mascara. $7 for sample. This Mascara was hard to put a value on since it didn't tell me how much was in the sample. I pretty much compared the size of the sample to the size of a different mascara sample and used that number. I friggen love this one. Unlike the Be a Bombshell one, this one had no stinky smell and is very gentle around the eyes. I think it goes on beautifully and the wand it great for application. I'm definitely considering buying this one.

Item#5-Vita Bath Body Wash. $1.32 for sample. CUPCAKES! No really though it smells like cupcakes. Strawberry cupcakes. Yummy! Is this a trend or something? As for the way this works, it lathers up nicely and smells nice. I am very prone to body acne and this didn't break me out at all which was nice. so I will probably save it for trips but if I were to see this in a store I might pick it up, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. 

My Beauty Box 5 for this month is worth $28.61, but if you don't count the samples you could get for free it's worth $13.31.

Regardless of if you count the samples or not, Ipsy is still worth more. I was definitely more excited about my ipsy bag, but I might use what's in my Beauty Box 5 more. I think Ipsy won this month though, no sample packets and some

 fun new makeup. I can't wait to see what July has in store for me!
xoxo
Courtney