My Three Favorite Foundations

Between working for Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, free-lancing, & just being an over-all makeup junkie, I've fell in love with several products. Some of my most favorite products are foundations or bases. It's like painting, you need a proper canvas or the painting won't look right. Same goes for makeup. If your skin is uneven or a shade too dark because or your foundation, it won't matter how great your cat eye or red lipstick looks. I have a normal, combination skin; with more oil in my T-zone and dryer on my cheeks and chin. These three foundations I've found throughout the years have all worked great for me! I've also used them on other skins types as well, and as long as you adjust your moisturizer you can typically use it on just about any skin type.

Here's a little info about each one.

 #1) Covergirl Outlast 3-in-1 makeup. My favorite drug store foundation currently. It's a primer, concealer, and foundation in one. It's easy to layer to build coverage too. Use a thin layer of it for a more natural look, or add another layer for more of a full coverage. It runs around $7 at Target and is a great every day foundation.  It's lower on the SPF too, so if you're prone to breakouts, this one may be a good buy for you.

#2) Kat Von D "Lock it" Tattoo Foundation. This one's a little thicker in consistency than the Covergirl Outlast. I typically wear it for more dressier occasions because it's a pricier foundation too. You can grab this one at Sephora for about $34. (I know that sounds a little high, but I will say this full coverage foundation goes a long way. You can use about half a pump and cover your whole face. It's extremely full coverage and works great as a concealer as well. I bought the one in the picture about a year ago, and with using it sparingly, still have over half a bottle left.

#3) Estee Lauder Double Wear "Stay in Place" Foundation. This foundation & I go waaay back. I use to use it religiously when I worked for Estee in college, and I still use it probably 3-4 times a week now. It's just an over-all great foundation. Medium to full coverage. Buildable. Matte. Fragrance free. Non-drying, but oil-free. It's literally just a great go-to foundation for any occasion. This one will run you about $37 at a department store. It may be the priciest option, but I can also say it's my favorite one of the three. I've literally fell asleep in the foundation before and woke up to my eye makeup smeared, but my base completely still in place. It's name really speaks for itself. It doesn't budge. (p.s. the bottle pictured above is a tester size bottle from my previous job. The actual size of this foundation is 1 oz.)

I hope those quick little summaries helped you guys out! I really have tried probably close to two to three dozen foundations throughout the years, and I always go back to my favorites. They're all great in their own way and I think between the three, anyone can find their perfect match. :)

Snow days = Panckaes

So today we woke up to a lovely blanket of white. (with ice) and snow always puts me in the mood for good pancakes. I pieced together this recipe based off a plain pancake recipe I have used in the past, & the results were just as delicious as before. These particular pancakes are oatmeal based and gluten free, and the batter whips together in just a minute or two if you have a blender. Oatmeal pancakes are becoming a favorite of mine here recently.. and this recipe was super moist with a lovely vanilla/banana flavor. I suggest serving them with fresh sliced bananas and powdered sugar on top. ;) You can also omit the banana and add in other fruit (like pumpkin! or pureed strawberries, etc.) to make all different flavored gluten free pancakes. Replace the milk for almond/soy milk and the egg with a flax egg for a vegan pancake. (I will put the recipe for the flax egg substitute at the bottom of the recipe.) I normally would have used vanilla almond milk in these, but since we just had skim, I added a little more vanilla extract to add that missing vanilla flavor the pancakes needed. Anyway, here's the recipe! Hope you like 'em. :)

(Makes about a dozen pancakes when poured from a 1/4 cup measure.)

 

RECIPE:

2 cups oats

1 1/4 cup milk

1 ripe banana

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

dash of ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 large egg

DIRECTIONS:
Combine all ingredients minus the egg in blender and blend until smooth.
Add the egg and blend just until incorporated into batter.
On hot skillet, add butter and 1/4 cup pancake batter.
Cook 3-5 minutes on each side over medium heat.
Remove from heat and enjoy.


** Flax Egg: to make a flax egg take one tablespoon flax seed with one tablespoon water, combine and let sit for at least five minutes until it froths up a little. Replace egg with mixture.
(Replace milk with almond/soy milk and the recipe becomes vegan as well as gluten free!)

Have a great week, everyone! Eat lots of pancakes! :)

Whole Wheat Coconut Oil Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies turned out super yummy. They're based off my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe from the lid of Quaker Old fashioned Oats - just modified to be a little healthier. :) Coconut oil is a healthy fat that solidifies at room temperature, so when enjoying these cookies make sure to heat them up to bring back some moisture. Overall the cookies turned out chewy and soft in the center with the slightest hint of a coconut flavor, hope you like 'em!


Organic coconut oil can be a little pricey, but I have found great deals on it at Marshalls & TJMax!

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup coconut oil, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2  cup all purpose (you can use whole wheat for this too, the cookie will be a little tougher)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips or nuts (I prefer choc. chips :) )

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350
Beat together coconut oil & sugars until smooth
Add eggs to oil/sugar mixture, one by one, then add vanilla
In separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients
Slowly add in dry ingredients to wet ingredients & mix just until smooth
Fold in chocolate chips or nuts
Bake for 7-9 minutes, then let cool on cookie wrack
Cookies will appear slightly underdone, but will set up and have a chewy center!
Enjoy with a class of cold milk (or chocolate milk) & go back for seconds.
That's what I did anyway!;)