Hey Everyone!



On a recent trip to the mall, I ended up seeing this new cosmetic store called Kiko Cosmetics. The bright store and beautiful display on makeup instantly caught my eye, so I knew I had to check the store out. The sales woman told me that Kiko Cosmetics is a European brand of cosmetics that just opened up 2 stores in the US. I can't remember where the first store opened, but this store is the second store that opened in Woodbridge New Jersey and Woodbridge Mall. I wanted to show you all some of the things a picked up with a review of each of the products. I hope you enjoy!

Here's a list of the following products I got at Kiko Cosmetics. 

1. Lasting Gel Eyeliner (Black)
2. Eyeliner Brush (209)
3. Glitter Top Coat Mascara 
4. Velvet Matte Satin Lipstick (Bright Orange)
5. Invisible Lip Liner
6. Ready-To-Go Color Patch Nail Lacquer (Burgundy Red)

This gel liner wasn't what I expected when I opened it up. I thought the consistency would be more like my E.L.F. gel liner. The gel is more of a creamier texture to it and it's also more of a liquid opposed to a harder texture of the E.L.F. gel liner. It was a little different and hard to work with at first, but it really is long lasting! From the time I put it on at 8:00 AM until I took it off around 7:00 PM, the liner was still on and looking pretty well. I've been using the liner every time I do makeup since I got, so I'm sold on a great product! The only thing that I would say, is it's a little tough to get the product off of a brush, so you have to make sure you clean the brush well. 

I was also looking into buying a more defined eyeliner brush and when I found Kiko had brushes, I knew it was what I had to buy. The number of this brush is 209 and it was what I was looking for. I never used a brush like this before, I tend to always use angled brush, so it was pretty difficult for me to use. One eye I could get to be nice and thin, but I would always mess up the left eye and came out with liner thicker than I wanted. It still a good brush, the only thing I would have to say is that I did get a strand or two that was coming out. 

Okay, so you know when you get to the register and the sales person tries to get you to purchase something at the counter for a cheap price? Yea. That's what happened to me with the glitter mascara top coat. This isn't a product you wear without putting on mascara first. It's a top coat meaning you put it after you apply your regular mascara and it glides on top of it perfectly. The sales woman got me when she said it would make my eyes shine like diamonds. Now who doesn't want eyes to shine like diamonds? I know I do! Lets just say with this top coat, a little goes a long way. You can go from having eyes like diamonds, to eyes like disco balls if you're not careful. It's fun and something I would use to spice up a few looks every now and then. Perfect for special occasions, maybe even Halloween. Also, it stays on just as long as your regular mascara, even a little bit longer! 

I also really wanted to try a nice orange lipstick, matte of course because I just love matte. Yet again though, I find out that bright matte lipstick just isn't for me. It was super soft and creamy, it really felt good on the lips, however with my lips (I guess lip color?), it just wasn't taking the color fully. I ended up having to put a lot of lipstick on to get the color more opaque, but at the same time you could tell that it was just too much lipstick. I love the creaminess of the lipstick, so I definitely have to go back for more colors, but this just wasn't for me sadly. Maybe I could make it work with different lip liners and such. 

An invisible lip liner is exactly want I wanted to try as well too. I have a ton of different shades of red and purple lipstick, but only two lip liners, so it's hard to match up sometimes and I thought this would be perfect. It is a pretty good lip liner, it really does stop your lipstick from bleeding. The thing I didn't like about it though was that the color around the edge of my lips, where the liner is, was darker than the lip color and it gave my lips this weird, kinda defined look. It was a bit odd, so I tried using the liner on my lips fully and just not an outline. It did it again and I think that's just the product stopping the color from bleeding, and that's an effect it has. It can probably be cleared away with some lip gloss on top to make the lips pop more. I also found that using the liner when I use matte lipstick, makes my lips dry out more as opposed to just putting on the lipstick. I don't know if it's because of the formula of the matte lipstick, but I have to experiment some more with the liner. 

I never used nail stickers? before, so this was pretty new to me. It was on sale and I picked it up just to try it out. Being that I never used this before, it was difficult for me to put on because I didn't really know how to do it. I didn't have a nail file at the time to smooth the edges out right, so i ended up folding it over my nail until it ripped off. That wasn't good because the tips of my nails started to peel just a little bit. Nonetheless, I left it on to see how long it would really last. To my surprise, it lasted me about 2 week with very minimal of it chipping off which was a good thing. Now if I put it on more carefully and took my time, I would have had better results!

This is everything I got from Kiko Cosmetics (so far) and I can't wait to try out more products and review them. To find out if there's going to be a store opening up near you, check out their website! Kiko Cosmetics. From one beauty lover to another, see you soon!

How to make Banana Pudding

Hey everyone, 

I know this is a little different from what I usually blog, but I thought it would be perfect to share with you guys how I make banana pudding for my family. It's very simple and if you don't already know how to make banana pudding, just keep on reading!

Here's what you'll need:

1 box of vanilla wafers (mini if you prefer)

2 boxes of instant vanilla pudding

6 cups of milk (for the pudding)

4-5 bananas cut thinly 

Medium sized glass bowl

Whisk 

To start off what I find out really helps, is if you put the glass bowl and whisk into the fridge for a bit so it can stay cold while you're putting together your different layers. Then I like to make both packages of vanilla pudding. I also like to do that in two different bowls because I feel like it gives you more pudding than if you were to combine them. (Weird right?) All you need to do is mix 3 cups of mix with one box of packaging and whisk. It only takes about 3 minutes and then you leave it to set for another 5 minutes. After that, the process of cutting the bananas begin. To make things easier, you can cut off the small pieces of the ends and then cut the banana into 3 different sections. That way, it will be easier to cut your banana without the curve being in your way and it can also help you to cut out more pieces from your banana. Now with each separate piece, I can cut the banana roughly 5-10 times, depending on how thin I want the bananas. How many bananas you need is also going to depend on how big your bowl or container is and how many layers you would want to make. With this particular bowl, I made about 5-6 layers. 

After the pudding has settled, it's time to begin making the layers. I love to start off the bottom and end the top layer with pudding. That way it keeps the bananas and wafers all cuddled up between each other. You want to start with a little bit of pudding on the bottom, to give it a nice layer, and then add your wafers. I find it easier to add the wafers in a circular way to fit the bowl more and to make sure each layer has enough of the wafer. As the layers go up, the more you will need. After that I like to layer it up with bananas. This is the part where it really matters how thin you cut the bananas and how many you used. I personally like to cover the wafers completely with bananas before I add the pudding back on top. Depending on how you like it, will determine how much bananas you put in each layer. After that, you just want to cover the bananas with pudding to ensure they aren't showing through. To do that I find scooping a scoop of pudding and placing it in different parts of the bowl, help me to spread it out and make it even while covering all the bananas. After that just repeat! The layer you want it pudding, wafer, banana, pudding. 

When you get to your last layer of pudding, try to keep some wafers to the side. Finish the last part of the pudding by laying the last of your pudding on top of your bananas. I try to keep as much pudding as I can for the top that way you don't have any air or anything making your bananas turn color. (Which they will do, so don't think the pudding went bad after a day!) With the extra wafers, I like to put some of them, whole, on top of the pudding. With the rest, I put them in a ziplock bag and break them up until they're in fine to medium sized pieces. I sprinkle this on top of the pudding to give it more decoration and so it looks even yummier to eat! If I have extra crumbs left, I make sure to put it away for another time I make this. Here's what the pudding looked like after all was done. 

I know banana pudding is something simple to make that everyone should kind of know? But I just learned how to make it last year and since my family loves it so much, I thought to share it with you guys. Also remember to take your time when you're preparing your desserts because you can tell the difference between rushing something and putting your love into something. The sweetest of dishes is refreshing for the summer, NO pots or pans to use, it's easy clean up, and tastes fabulous. You should give this banana pudding a try if you never done it before. It's a life changer ;) Thank you for reading this post and even though this isn't a beauty post, it still comes from one beauty lover to another, see you soon! 

Em Cosmetics: Scribble liquid liner Review

Hey Everyone,

If you know me and I mean really know me, you will know that I love a killer wing. What better tool to do an awesome wing with than liquid liner! I was so excited for Em Cosmetics liquid liners because they finish matte and are super long lasting. I enjoy gel liners as well, but there's nothing like that perfect liquid liner. When Em Cosmetics launched their liner, I just had to get 3. The 3 most basic eyeliner colors that I know I will probably use on almost a daily basis, are black, brown, and white to be adventurous!

The three colors that I got from Em Cosmetics are Tattoo Black, Black Coffee, and Snow. Black eyeliner is definitely my signature look, so I had to use that one first of course. The only one that I haven't fully gone out and wore yet, was Snow. That's only because it's a little difficult to plan a casual eye look with white liner. What kind of look do you think you could do with white liner? Leave a comment down below letting me know.

Lets get started with the review. I'm going to review the product in 4 different categories. Longevity, Quality, Texture, and Opaqueness.

• Longevity- When I say this eyeliner can last long hours, I'm talking 8 in the morning until 5 at night. Once the eyeliner is on and set, it isn't budging anywhere. Unless you have Mulan's makeup remover. I can even fall asleep with the liner on and at least half of it will still be on. It's really great if you want an eyeliner that you don't have to worry about fixing every now and then. 

• Texture- The texture of this liner is just like any liquid liner. Smooth to glide on and of course wet. It's a liquid and feels exactly like a liquid liner except I feel it's a lot softer than most eyeliners. Liquid eyeliners tend to irritate my skin, I have sensitive skin, and this liner doesn't really irritate it at all. Since it also dries Matte, you can use the Black Coffee liner if you want a softer line and not so heavy as with black. However, Tattoo Black dries matte as well and it does bring a softer look to it than other black liners which I love. I can still wear my classic wing and not have to worry about it looking too dramatic. The matte just makes it look all that better. 

• Opaqueness- Being that this product is a liquid liner, you better hope that the color comes out well. It does, don't be scared. The color is very vivid. Even Snow comes out pretty well on a medium to deep skin tone like myself. With Black Coffee, it's very easy to mistake it for an off black. It does tend to look more on the black side than it does the coffee. Still, it's very good to use for a soft makeup look. Sometimes it looks as if you have to double it up, however, that's only because it doesn't look as bold when it dries and you might get confused. Other than that, the color quality is just great. 

• Quality- The overall quality of Em scribble liquid liner is amazing. It's a smooth application, can be forgiven if you fix it right away as well. It's not too harsh, so you can always rock a wicked wing without being too dramatic in the day time. You can use other colors such as Snow to make a more whimsical look too. To me liquid liner is more for the advance with a steady hand, but with practice, anyone can master liquid liner. 

Overall, I give Em Cosmetics: Scribble liquid liner at perfect 5 out of 5 starts! 

Have you ever tried this liquid liner? How do you feel about it? Leave a comment below letting me know what you think about it. From one beauty lover to another, see you soon!