So my last few post's have been about makeup. Today I figured I would talk about one of my other hobbies; Reading. I absolutely LOVE to read. I am a total book worm. When I was younger and my parents would send me to my room after getting into trouble, they used to take away my books because they knew I would just sit up in my room and read. True story lol. I have loved to read for as long as I can remember.
Back in the day my book favorites used to consist of The Boxcar Kids, The Babysitters Club and the Sweet Valley High Books. Haha, anyone remember those? Obviously now, at 26 my tastes have grown. I enjoy reading romance/suspense books, and the author Mary Higgins Clark got me started down that road. I read all of her books and then moved on to some similar writers. My current favorite authors are the following:
James Patterson: I absolutely love him. 2 of my favorite series written by him are
1. Woman's Murder Club. There are currently 12 books in this series. I have read up to book 10, and loved all of them so far. I just need to get over my money issue and actually buy the 11th and 12th book. (One bad thing about James Patterson's books are that they are not cheap, especially when they first come out!)
2. Alex Cross. There are currently 18 books in this series. I believe that I am all caught up, I might have the latest book sitting in my Nook all ready to read but I would have to check. There are so many Alex Cross books that at times it is hard to keep how many I have read straight.
The books that he writes that do not belong in a series are also great. I have many of them. He is an easy read that keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out the mystery while enjoying the romance that is progressing. He really is a great author. Judging by the amount of books he has written, I think it is safe to say that other people agree.
Lisa Jackson: She was the first romance/suspense author that I read after Mary Higgins Clark. I believe there are 2 new books that have just come out that I bought but have not read yet. She has a few different series out, and believe me they are all good, I will just name a couple of my top favorites.
1. NEW ORLEANS SERIES with Detectives Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya: This is a great series, you really start to feel as if you know these detectives. There are 7 books in this series.
2. MONTANA "TO DIE" SERIES featuring Detectives Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez: There are 5 books in this series, book 5 just came out and I have been itching to read it. Just trying to finish up the book that I am currently reading. In all reality I used to be able to read a book or more a day. Now, with a 10 month old crawling around, I'm lucky if I get to read 10 pages at once. And pick up a book at least once a day, HA, it just doesn't happen when you have kids.
The 1st Lisa Jackson book that I ever read is called, "If She Only Knew." I recommend it as a great starting point if you are interested in reading her books.
Beverly Barton: Is another good read, but I am only going to discuss her briefly. Sadly she passed away in 2011, so there are no new books from her. She has written a couple of books with Lisa Jackson, and some of my favorite books written by her would be the Dead By series, there are 3 books.
Karen Rose: She only has 14 books out, but she falls right into line with Beverly Barton. Good, easy, suspenseful reads.
Nancy Bush: Has 6 suspense books out, and has also written the Wicked Series, with Lisa Jackson.
Wendi Corsi Staub: She has 27 books total, all of which I have enjoyed reading.
Lisa Gardiner: Has written 3 series of books including the Detective D.D Warren series with 8 books, The FBI Profiler series with 6 books and the Standalone series with 4 books. She is probably the least favorite of all the authors listed so far, but she falls into the suspense category so I felt that she was worth mentioning.
Lastly there is Heather Graham. She is slightly difference because not only do her books fall in the romance/suspense categories, but they also touch upon the supernatural side of things, discussing ghosts and haunting's and what not. She has a ton of books, I am still trying to read my way through them, but I have enjoyed what I read so far.
Those are the main authors that I read. I can read, and re-read them over and over again. They are all just so good. Now mind you, this book worm has 98 books saved to her wishlist on my Nook. And speaking of the Nook, OMG. Best gift EVER from my hubby one Valentines Day when we were still dating. It was just the most perfect gift since I would be that girl that traveled with 5 or 6 books, would finish them half way through the vacation, have to go and buy even MORE books and then lug them all home. Enter Nook. I can now basically bring every book I own with me anywhere I go, and I can also buy new books at the press of a button. GENIOUS! It is my most favorite thing my hubby has ever given me aside from my engagement ring lol. Obviously now there are other reading devices out besides the different varieties that Nook offers, there are the Kindles and even the IPAD you can read off of now. But I enjoy my nook because I can use my Barnes N Noble gift cards or just a credit card and do not have to deal with Amazon like the Kindle does.
I was not sure if I would enjoy reading off an electronic reader, but it has not bothered me in the slightest. And I still have my paperback and hard cover books, come on now, I was not going to spend extra money and re-buy all those James Patterson, Lisa Jackson and Beverly Barton books I already had! Silly silly.
But I hope I left you with some curiosity on the various authors I mentioned. And whether or not you enjoy reading romance/suspense or want to try it out for the first time, I think I left you with enough choices that you should be able to find something that you will enjoy!
Oh and for the record, these are not the ONLY type of books that I read, although they are my books of choice, but this blog post has become long enough so another time I will briefly touch upon the random books I sometimes pick up. Orange is the New Black will be my next book, and after watching the series on Netflix, I am really looking forward to it!
Happy Reading!
xoxo Lauren
Friday, August 16, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Loving Lip Color
So I love makeup. I think that we established that in a previous blog. I also think that I mentioned I wanted to look more into lip color since all I use right now is a basic gloss with a little bit of shimmer. After many discussions with a friend who shares a similar makeup obsession, I decided to give it a go and try out some new products for the lips.
Now I also believe in my previous makeup post I said that I hate spending money on makeup products when I don't know how they will look on me. Fast forward to the 30 minutes I spent in the CVS makeup section looking at ONLY lipstick. lol. But I bought some! 3 to be exact, and it was stressful!!! I've never been more stressed out buying makeup. Let me also point out, that aside from lip gloss, my experience with lipstick has been minimal, basically crappy cheap brands in hideous shades for dance competitions that stain your lips and flake off and UGH I am shuddering just remembering it.
Anyway, back on topic. My friend has been raving about Revlon colorburst lip butters for $7.99. So I went there first and I chose Peach Parfait, it is a more natural peachy color and sheer. It has a little bit of sparkle to it and best of all is not dry. Bahh there is nothing worse then dry cakey lipstick! I really like how this one felt and looked on, and once I get the guts to try a less neutral color, something more dramatic and with a pop of color, this is the lip stick that I will go to.
I browsed the other brands and ended up at CoverGirl, that was always my go to brand when dealing with drugstore cosmetics. I had seen an ad on TV for their lip stain and wanted to check it out. I didn't like any of the colors that they had, so I found LipPerfecion Jumbo Gloss Balm for $8.99 and chose the color Blush Twist. It looks like a giant eye shadow pencil and twists up from the bottom. This is also a more sheer color, but the shade I chose has a little pink tint to it, also very natural looking with a slight shimmer. This is also not dry. SCORE!! 2 for 2 so far!
The last one that I ended up buying was also Covergirl, but this one is the Blast Flipstick Lipcolor for $9.99 that I got in Whisper. This is my least favorite of the 3 I bought. This one is two shades, a shimmer and a cream, and you can blend them together or fade them or wear them individually for different looks. It intrigued me. I am not sure that I love the color that I chose, it is a little more on the mauve side then the pink. It also felt more like a lipstick when wearing it. Not horrible heavy, but not light and airy like the other two. So 2 out of 3 ain't bad!! The Flipstick is deff more of a night look, to me at least where the lip butter and the gloss balm are more all day, every day looks.
From left to right: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Peach Parfait, Covergirl Jumbo Gloss Balm in Blush Twist and Covergirl Blast Flipstick in Whisper.
These are the shades on skin. The left is the Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait, the next is Covergirl Glass Balm in Blush Twist, the next 2 are Coverigirl Blast Flipstick individually, and the last is the Blast Flipstick colors combined. LOVE LOVE LOVE the 1st two!!!
Overall I was happy with my lip color shopping experience. I have 3 different shades and am in love with 2 of them. I am going to try and make it a point to wear the Flipstick and try to get used to more of a lipstick feel on my lips opposed to a gloss, I think that may be part of the issue. I'm not used to wearing something more heavy feeling on my lips. I can't talk too much yet about how long they last, I have not had the chance to put them on and test the longevity of them. But as soon as I do I'll make a note in another blog entry.
I also want to make a quick note of another makeup product the same friend mentioned to me. It's ELF (eyes, lips, face) brand facial shimmering whip. The color that I got was Lilac Petal and you can use it as a highlighter (which is what I use it for) but you can also put in on your eyes or even your lips for an added shimmer. It goes on so light and just adds a little something something. Best of all, IT'S ONLY $1.00!!! A freaking $1.00. There is nothing better then that!
So this is the ELF shimmering facial whip in Lilac Petal. Above is what the package looks like and below is the shimmer on skin. Just a nice subtle glow. This one does not have a ton of color which I love for highlighting on the face :)
So hopefully this entry gave you some guts to go and experiment with lip color, I'm glad that I did. Having color on your lips really just completes the look, especially when you spent so much time and effort putting makeup on the rest of your face :)
xoxox
Lauren
Now I also believe in my previous makeup post I said that I hate spending money on makeup products when I don't know how they will look on me. Fast forward to the 30 minutes I spent in the CVS makeup section looking at ONLY lipstick. lol. But I bought some! 3 to be exact, and it was stressful!!! I've never been more stressed out buying makeup. Let me also point out, that aside from lip gloss, my experience with lipstick has been minimal, basically crappy cheap brands in hideous shades for dance competitions that stain your lips and flake off and UGH I am shuddering just remembering it.
Anyway, back on topic. My friend has been raving about Revlon colorburst lip butters for $7.99. So I went there first and I chose Peach Parfait, it is a more natural peachy color and sheer. It has a little bit of sparkle to it and best of all is not dry. Bahh there is nothing worse then dry cakey lipstick! I really like how this one felt and looked on, and once I get the guts to try a less neutral color, something more dramatic and with a pop of color, this is the lip stick that I will go to.
I browsed the other brands and ended up at CoverGirl, that was always my go to brand when dealing with drugstore cosmetics. I had seen an ad on TV for their lip stain and wanted to check it out. I didn't like any of the colors that they had, so I found LipPerfecion Jumbo Gloss Balm for $8.99 and chose the color Blush Twist. It looks like a giant eye shadow pencil and twists up from the bottom. This is also a more sheer color, but the shade I chose has a little pink tint to it, also very natural looking with a slight shimmer. This is also not dry. SCORE!! 2 for 2 so far!
The last one that I ended up buying was also Covergirl, but this one is the Blast Flipstick Lipcolor for $9.99 that I got in Whisper. This is my least favorite of the 3 I bought. This one is two shades, a shimmer and a cream, and you can blend them together or fade them or wear them individually for different looks. It intrigued me. I am not sure that I love the color that I chose, it is a little more on the mauve side then the pink. It also felt more like a lipstick when wearing it. Not horrible heavy, but not light and airy like the other two. So 2 out of 3 ain't bad!! The Flipstick is deff more of a night look, to me at least where the lip butter and the gloss balm are more all day, every day looks.
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These are the shades on skin. The left is the Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait, the next is Covergirl Glass Balm in Blush Twist, the next 2 are Coverigirl Blast Flipstick individually, and the last is the Blast Flipstick colors combined. LOVE LOVE LOVE the 1st two!!!
Overall I was happy with my lip color shopping experience. I have 3 different shades and am in love with 2 of them. I am going to try and make it a point to wear the Flipstick and try to get used to more of a lipstick feel on my lips opposed to a gloss, I think that may be part of the issue. I'm not used to wearing something more heavy feeling on my lips. I can't talk too much yet about how long they last, I have not had the chance to put them on and test the longevity of them. But as soon as I do I'll make a note in another blog entry.
I also want to make a quick note of another makeup product the same friend mentioned to me. It's ELF (eyes, lips, face) brand facial shimmering whip. The color that I got was Lilac Petal and you can use it as a highlighter (which is what I use it for) but you can also put in on your eyes or even your lips for an added shimmer. It goes on so light and just adds a little something something. Best of all, IT'S ONLY $1.00!!! A freaking $1.00. There is nothing better then that!
So this is the ELF shimmering facial whip in Lilac Petal. Above is what the package looks like and below is the shimmer on skin. Just a nice subtle glow. This one does not have a ton of color which I love for highlighting on the face :)
So hopefully this entry gave you some guts to go and experiment with lip color, I'm glad that I did. Having color on your lips really just completes the look, especially when you spent so much time and effort putting makeup on the rest of your face :)
xoxox
Lauren
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