Five Minute Flat Beauty

Borrowing from a previously written article of mine, here are some tips to help you look stunning in a snap when a high-maintenance morning is not an option.

Get Ready In Five Minutes Flat

To hide a blemish, put a bit of concealer on a cotton swab and dab it on the spot until it disappears. This eliminates the need for a brush and the messiness of having to use your finger.

When there’s no time for makeup, be sure define your eyebrows. Tweeze any stray hairs, fill in gaps with a pencil, and blend concealer beneath the arches and on either side of your eyes to perk up your face.

Apply a quick swoosh of loose powder over your face if you have oily skin to ban excess shine.

If you haven’t had the chance to exfoliate, saturate a washcloth in warm water and use it to buff the dead skin off your face. Rinse well, and use this technique on your lips, also. Don’t forget to moisturize and use lip balm afterward. (I love using Smith’s Rosebud Salve on my own lips)

To depuff tired eyes, freeze two spoons overnight, then rest them over your eyes for a few minutes in the morning. The chill of the metal will depuff your eyes in no time.

Add body to your hair by flipping your head upside down and spritzing aerosol spray at the roots. Lift your head, and massage roots with your fingers.

Always carry key makeup items in your bag for days when you need to rush right out the door. I usually carry an eyeliner, a blush, and lip gloss that I can just whip on in the car to look enough presentable.

DIY Antioxidant Sugar Scrub

Finally, that bag of table sugar in the cupboard is actually good for something! (I’m stealing some from my boyfriend’s bag). When you don’t have time for the spa but your want your body and legs as smooth and moisturized as can be, a DIY antioxidant sugar scrub is a perfect solution.

Mash about 8 strawberries to a pulp in a small bowl (remove the leaves first). Add to this a tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of table sugar and mix until you’ve got a nice paste.

You can use this paste in shower or bath on your hands, feet, elbows, knees, legs, and anywhere else that needs smoothing. (Shave after). Rinse very well, gently pat your skin with a towel, then [optionally] smooth baby oil all over for sealed moisture.

You should now look and feel (and smell) amazing!

Steep vs. Cheap: High Shine Lip Gloss

Lip gloss - a girl can never have too much. I’ve counted, and I own over 50. It’s a sad story!

It becomes necessary to question which ones earn the top spot in our cosmetics stash.

My two favorite brands of lip gloss by far are Lancome Juicy Tubes and MAC Lipglass. They’re both high-shine and perfectly sticky making them stay put longer than most. But, not everyone wants to spend $15-20 on a tube of lip shine.

How can we get a high shine lip look without paying a high end price?

Revlon Super Lustrous lip gloss is an old favorite of mine turned new! It has a consistency like none other and contains tiny flecks of glimmer for a gorgeous shine. To the left is a picture of me wearing the hot pink Shine That Pink shade. It looks suspiciously similar to my other fall staple gloss, but when I run out of that one, I know which one I’ll buy. Who’s to tell the difference? I’ll never tell! (Except to you all, of course).

Steeper	Cheaper
MAC Lipglass $14	Revlon Super Lustrous $7

Peppered Beef Jerky Burns Fat?

I’m convinced. After spending a week eating peppered beef jerky for protein (about three times a day), I looked trimmer and did in fact shed a couple pounds. Of course there were other factors - I didn’t eat junk food during that week and I walked at least 30 minutes a day for exercise - but I’m convinced that peppered beef jerky played a factor in trimming my waist and providing energy throughout the day.

A bit of research on this theory shows that the high protein content in jerky feeds your muscles and in turn burns fat. Also, anything peppered or spicy really does speed up our metabolism (ay, mex food lovers)!

Either way, jerky tastes delicious! I was a bit disappointed however when I found that most grocery store versions contain loads of sodium, sugars, and even MSG (monosodium glutamate)!

Therefore, I buy Hal’s Homemade Jerky. Hal sells his delicious, MSG-and-sugar-free jerky locally in his Oklahoma town, but it is available to the masses via Ebay. Best part? He offers free shipping on all orders, and when I received my jerky  in the mail it was sealed fresh with mini packets of spicy pepper. Thanks, Hal!

Recipe: Spicy Salmon Filet

Tonight I think I’ll do a little grocery shopping and restock my cupboards. They’re so bare, afterall, people would swear I don’t eat. It’s just that I’m not cooking enough of my own meals anymore when on-the-go options have taken precedence in my life. More on that later (I think I’ve found a miracle diet snack of sorts, stay tuned)…

Looking through my archive of recipes, I figure it to be a perfect time to start baking and steaming healthy meals again. Tomorrow night, I think I will make my honey and I a spicy salmon dinner, chock full of omega-3’s for the both of us and spices to spark his taste buds and my metabolism.

Salmon filets are a piece of cake to bake or grill, but the spicy concoction requires a bit of mixing and the following seasonings:

Spicy Salmon Rub

You can use a different type of fish or even chicken if you’re not fond of salmon. I recommend baking or grilling your meat for best nutrition.

Ingredients

4 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons sea salt (optional)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Preparation

Blend the spices together in a small bowl. Coat both sides of your salmon filets or other meat with the rub. If you will be baking, place the meat into a pan lined with aluminum foil then stick in the oven for the allotted baking time. If grilling, lightly coat the pan with canola oil or water then grill for 4 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.

I will serve my salmon with steamed jasmine rice seasoned with ginger and steamed asparagus. Yum, can’t wait!

We can all channel our inner domestic diva.

Thanks, Martha!

Girl Gadgetry: [Pink] Revolver Blowdryer

How ‘killer’ is this revolver hairdryer??

It’s pink, which is rad, but I don’t know if I could get over the fact that I’d be scared to pull the trigger every time I blow out my hair!

I just know that Alesha would love this.

Source: Oh Gizmo

Fitness Bit: Beverage Calorie Count

I can’t help but hear a dear friend’s calorie mantra chime in my head: “Never drink your calories!”

She essentially meant that we shouldn’t drink the bulk of our calories that are high in sugars and fats. Personally, I stick to water, diet sodas, tea, and the occasional lite latte or low-carb energy drink. However, when we’re out at restaurants or bars and we want our favorite mixed drink or beer, who’s to tell how many calories we’re actually drinking - on top of the rest of our food? Thanks to WebMD and some of my own research, we’ll now an idea:

Nifty!