Makeup Monday: Gatsby

Hey guys! So, I had gone out dancing Friday night and did a really awesome mermaid look, but my camera was dead and the pictures I got with m phone were god awful :( I was going to put them up anyway, but while I was meant to be studying for finals, inspiration hit (of course), so obviously I had to stop studying and strike while the iron was hot. I kept having a segment of 'The Great Gatsby' movie trailer flash through my head, and being as I plan on seeing the movie as soon as it comes out, I knew it had to be done. I mixed a bit of what I've seen in the trailers along with just some classic 1920's makeup looks, and I'd say I would up fit for a Ja Gatsby party! I had a lot of fun with this look, especially the dark lip!! Let me know what you guys think :)

Products Used:

Aloette Face Powder in Light

L'Oreal True Match Powder in n5

BareMinerals Illuminator in Glee

Urban Decay Primer Potion

NYX Jumbo Eye Shadow Pencil in Milk

MUFE Eyeshadow in White 0, Anthracite 40, and Purple 92

L'Oreal Carbon Black Eyeliner

Aloette Eyeshadows in Mauve and Grey

KVD Beethoven Palette- Leather, Lucifer

KVD Love & Fury Palette in Ace of Spades

Lorac 3D Liquid Luster in Diamond

KVD Tattoo Liner in Trooper

Benefit They're Real! Mascara

Revlon Lipliner in Blackberry

Wet and Wild Lipstick in Sugar Plum Fairy

For the "beauty mark" I used DUO Lash Adhesive and a gem from AC Moore

Gluten Free Friday: My Yellow Cake Recipe

Hey guys, today's post is just going to be a recipe because I am so swamped with finals I am too drained for new content. But don't think it's a total cop out! I am famous for this recipe! It's the only cake I ever make and everyone raves about how delicious it is and you really can't tell it's gluten free! I find it's best paired with buttercream or chocolate frosting ;)

Gluten Free Yellow Cake (from scratch)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups white rice flour 3/4 cup tapioca flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

4 eggs 1 1/4 cups white sugar 2/3 cup mayonnaise 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and rice flour two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.
2.	Mix the white rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and xanthan gum together and set aside.
3.	Mix the eggs, sugar, and mayonnaise until fluffy. Add the flour mixture, milk and vanilla and mix well. Spread batter into the prepared pans.
4.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Cakes are done when they spring back when lightly touched or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool completely then frost, if desired.

Credit: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/gluten-free-yellow-cake/

Hope everyone is having an excellent Friday!!

-Maureen

What Happens Next- A Book Review

What Happens Next by: Colleen Clayton

This book was really amazing. I couldn't put it down and I recommend everyone read it. I haven't seen all that much hype about it and I feel like there should be more. I will say though Trigger warning, message me if you want to know specific triggers as I don't want to give anything away. But I give this book a 5 out of 5 rating. 

Makeup Monday: Neutral Dramatic Wing

Neutral Dramatic Wing

Last weekend my roommate and I traveled to Rutgers New Brunswick for a bar crawl with a few of our best buds! I knew it was going to be a night of dim lighting and Rutger's has a pretty big artsy community so I went with a dramatic neutral eye. It's not exactly how I intended the wing to come out, it was actually supposed to be a little bit more cut in the crease and dramatic, but overall I was pretty happy with the effect. It's a good look for if you want to be a bit more dramatic than usual, but still find bright or super dark colors daunting. 

Products Used:

L'oreal Magic Smooth Souffle in Light Ivory

L'Oreal True Match Powder in n5

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Revlon Color Stay eyeliner in Black

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Tattoo in Inked In Pink

MUFE Holodiam Powder shade 303

Sephora Eyeshadow in Arctic Summit

Sephora Eyeshadow in Black Flame

KVD Beethoven Palette in Leather

NYX Jumbo eyeshadow pencil in Milk

MUFE Matte White

KVD Tattoo Liner in Trooper

Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in El Dorado

Benefit They're Real! Mascara

Babylips Coral

Gluten Free Friday: Baking Gluten Free- The Basics

Hey guys! As some of you may know, I am an avid baker/chef. Baking is one of the biggest ways I de-stress, plus it usually ensures that there is at least one thing I can eat, wherever I am! I thought I'd share my go-to method i've developed over the years.

For the most part I rarely follow gluten free recipes. I find they often come out, how should I put this, lacking taste, and usually have strange ingredients that can add up to a small fortune. I usually stick with the recipes my family has been using for years, or I google other peoples family recipes! The way I manage this is by converting it to gluten free myself. The method i've developed works best with baked goods such as cookies, cakes, brownies, and dessert breads (banana, pumpkin). I've also used it for muffins, but I haven't got the consistency perfect yet, so dive into that at your own risk!

I mainly use white rice flour, I find this has the smoothest consistency and is the easiest to come by; I purchase mine from the Asian Market in Cherry Hill. If I'm doing something really light and fluffy, such as cake, I will do 3 parts white rice flour to 1 part tapioca flour. This also helps your flour last a little longer. If I'm only using the white rice flour i'll do the exact same amount as if I were using regular white flour. Now, this flour is extra fine, and very light, so if you're using a mixer I suggest blending in a very small amount, little by little. The trick to getting the consistency right is by adding in Xantham Gum. Xantham Gum acts as the binder, which in a normal recipe would be gluten, this keeps your food from being crumbly as most gluten free foods usually are. For cakes, brownies, and breads I would add about 1/2-1 teaspoon of Xantham Gum. For cookies, I would use no more than 1/2 a teaspoon because they take on a strange consistency if you add too much. Now, the only thing with using Xantham Gum is it is very important you blend all of your dry ingredients first, including the Xantham Gum. If you try and add them separately, the Xantham Gum tends to bind to itself and form hard lumps in your pastry (Gross!). As I said before, this is just the method I use, there are plenty of methods out there, and you'll find your own little tricks as you experiment!

I hope this has helped some of you out, and as always if you have any questions feel free to ask! I'll help as best as I can.

Happy Friday!
-Maureen

Collision Course- A Book Review

Collision Course by: S.C. Stephens

It was a bit wordy, but otherwise pretty good. Generally I have a hard time relating to books written from the male perspective, but I though Lucas was a very relatable character who I found myself sympathizing with. I wound up skimming through a lot, especially the last three chapters or so and honestly thought there were chunks that were not detrimental and could have been cut, but hey, I didn’t write the book, so whatever. I would recommend this book at 3.5-4 stars.

Makeup Monday: Sublime

Hello again, I hope you all are well! Recently I went to a concert my school hosted with a friend, the line up included Dev, B.O.B, and Sublime with Rome, and it was amazing! I danced through every set and thoroughly enjoyed the music. This was the  makeup I sported, full list of products below! 

P.S. I though this look would be fitting to post today because it's Earth Day! I thought the green would tie in nicely. Also a great big Birthday shout out to two of my very best friends, Kati and Tess! 

Products used:

L'oreal Magic Smooth Souffle in Light Ivory
L'Oreal True Match Powder in n5

Urban Decay Primer Potion
Revlon Color Stay eyeliner in Black
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Pure Gold
KVD Tattoo Chronicles: Candelabra in Sunset Blvd
Stila Smudge Stick in Moray
KVD True Romance Ludwig Palette in Orbi, Dimebag, and Tequila
KVD True Romance Truth Palette in Long Distance, and Snake Eyes
KVD True Romance Momento Mori Palette in Peggy and Hard Luck
KVD Tattoo Liner in Trooper
Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner in El Dorado
MUFE Aqua Liner in 4
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
MUFE Eyeshadow in White
Benefit They're Real! Mascara
Benefit Posie Tint
C.O Bigelow Lemon Raspberry Lip Balm