BH Cosmetics

Surely it's not a secret that I love makeup. I don't go all out on my makeup on a regular basis, but for special occasions, date nights, and the like I do it up a bit more. 

I've tried several different kinds of makeup. Personally, I think most of the cheap stuff works out just the same. I really like the e.l.f. brand that's super cheap and durable that you can find at Target or the e.l.f. website. 

Today, I'd like to spread the knowledge of BH Cosmetics though! My fabulous little hair/makeup junkie that I follow on YouTube led me to it:

BH Cosmetics

I haven't tried all of their products, but the ones that I have tried I extra love! I think their brushes are amazing! So soft and durable. I purchased their 10 piece deluxe set, caught it on sale for like $21.99, and it's lasted two years now and the brushes are still like new. 

There are so many other brushes and brush sets to choose from as well. I want them all!

Their eye makeup is awesome. They have these large 88 or 120 color palettes that are just amazing deals. I purchased their 120 color palette (3rd Edition) and there were lots of neutral colors that went well with my skin tone, with lots of additional bright colors for highlights. 

They have many of these to choose from, so you can definitely find a color scheme for your complexion. They have different palette sizes for you to specifically choose your own colors for too, if you'd rather.

I always use my $1.00 e.l.f. eyelid primer with these eye shadows and they last all day with no run or crease. 

Those are my favorite two. I've tried their lip gloss palette, which is nice except for it's a big palette. Not easy to carry around and we all know lip gloss doesn't stay on long term. 

The liquid eyeliner pen is so perfect for me, I use liquid eyeliner to line my top lid and those liner pens can get pricey! 

They're only $3.95 here though. 

Long story short, I like their products and they're quite affordable. Especially if you sign up for the emails. They send them too frequently in my opinion, but on a regular basis, the deals you get with them are worth it :)

Homemade Baby Food Basics

I knew for a long time before ever getting pregnant that I'd most likely have the opportunity and chose to be a stay-at-home mom and wife. 

When I had my son, that's exactly what happened. I decided I didn't really have excuses to not breast feed or make baby foods, etc. (p.s. Formula and baby food are expensive, yo?).

I think it's easy to be intimidated by making your own baby food. I know I was anyway. But after making a few batches, I realized it's not difficult at all. 

I even recently did all the math to see if it was really worth it. On average, for the same amount of baby food in store purchased jars (that cost $1 or more - but sometimes less if you catch them on sale), I'm spending $0.20. Now that's a give or take 10 cents kind of thing, but that was the average. 

That's with organic foods as well. You get the peace of mind of knowing your baby isn't getting any processed foods or preservatives. I also like the idea of making that transition to non-pureed foods too. My son won't have to accommodate for a whole new flavor of food again, just a new texture.

I found this pretty helpful resource online: Puree Recipes. 

They have quite a few helpful recipes. But, I wanted to break it down even more simply than that for you. 

Almost any fruit I'm making, I steam it for 20-30 minutes in my dual purpose rice cooker that has a handy steaming basket (here for $24.53). Except for bananas, and they don't have to get cooked. 

Then, I pour it into my food processor (here for $39.99) for about 30 seconds on "chop" then 30 more seconds on "puree" (with 1/4 cup of liquid from steamer). 

Then, tada! Baby food. 

It. Is. That. Easy. 

For vegetables, I sometimes bake or boil depending. I get bags of frozen vegetables that I'll boil for 20 minutes then puree. For potatoes I peel, and slice long ways, wrap in foil then bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes then puree.

All of my puree batches get 1/4 cup of liquid. 

I scrape that mush into ice cube trays, freeze, then pop out into labeled baggies.

I usually spend about half of a day every 2 weeks making food. Of course, you could just make small batches whenever you're cooking your own foods as well. 

A trick I learned for when baby is getting a little older and ready for a little more texture is to mix the food with a mixer instead of pureeing it in the food processor. Just adjust the time you mix for more or less texture.

I also found that there is a brand called Organics that has some peeled and cubed frozen fruit bags. Time saver! I always get the mango this way, because I find it such a pain to peel and slice mango for some reason. 

This is the best picture I found of the brand:

Sometimes I get lucky and find organic squash this way as well.

So... to say it simply:

• Steam/Bake/boil (20-60 minutes)
• Puree (60 seconds)
• Serve fresh or freeze in ice cube trays and store in baggies

iPhone Protector

I finally received my iPhone 5s. It's like magic. Anyone who says there aren't changes or any differences from previous generations would be wrong. I've been using an iPhone 4 for three years and I could already create an impressive lists of improvements.

I'm not here to review the phone though (which would get 5 stars). 

I'm hard on phones. I'm not even sure why. I'm so hard on phones that my cases usually get destroyed and I end up just carrying the phone without anything on it after a few. I just drop them a lot. I knock them off of things. I don't notice it's only half way in my pocket until it's clattered to the ground. Without fail I will spill something on it. I drop them in toilets and sinks.

It's terrible.

My new girl though, she's got to have some protection (and I've got to take better care of her). So I groaned internally and sacrificed the money to ordered a case and screen protector.

I purchased the Spigen SGP Neo Hybrid Case. Of course you know I got it from Amazon (here) for $21.69.

I love the case. It's thin and smooth. I hated my otterbox. I'm sure they really do protect your phone, but they're big and bulky. Also, I hate cases that are rubber-made. Because they're frustratingly difficult to get in and out of my pockets.

The gold trim matches the color of the gold phone perfectly, which was a nice addition in my opinion... since I'm covering it up with a case... 

Very unfortunately, I have already dropped the phone once, while the case was on it. It seems to have done its job.

Spigen makes cases for the Android phones too. If you like thin, light weight, smooth cases... I'd definitely recommend this brand. 

Now, I can't say all that much for durability just yet, but if it does what it claims it will I know I'll be completely happy with this purchase. 

A nice addition to go with this was a screen protector. But, nowadays, those terrible plastic covers aren't what's in. No, now they make tempered glass screen covers, to match the characteristics of your natural iPhone screen while protecting it at the same time.

I was hesitant, but after applying the protector and using for a few days, I'm sold! 

I purchased a KaysCase Tempered Glass Screen protector for $8.00 from Amazon (here).

If you've ever put one of those plastic ones on your iPhone, you know how much I dreaded putting this thing on. 

I cleaned the screen with the alcohol pad and cloth provided. I peeled off the back, revealing the adhesive side and cautiously lined it up with my phone. Then, grabbed the little squeegee ready for a battle to keep it straight and bubble-free. To my surprise, this stiffer glass material laid right down on the phone's screen bubble-free in one easy motion. If for no other reason than that, I'm never getting a plastic one again. 

Also, you might not have noticed the ever so subtle stick you get with your finger glide from the plastic ones, until you've used one of these glass ones. So smooth! 

And, it barely looks like anything is on it! It gets 5 stars from me. 

I would certainly recommend both of these products to anyone looking to protect their phones from natural wear and tear (and to help cushion against the more extreme - even if accidental - abuse).