MAC MatchMaster Foundation Review

I've been on the hunt for a new foundation. For the past 8 years, I've been using Estee Lauder Double Wear Light. It's varied from different shades, but as of late, I was the 1.0 - the fairest shade available. Now my skin has a lot of olive undertones, so even at that shade, I didn't feel as though I looked super pale just because of my undertones. But believe or not, I've become even lighter than the 1.0 and need something else. Side note, I've stopped tanning purposefully about 2 years ago. Skin cancer ain't cool kids. Protect yourself. Anyway, so even with the color change and Estee Lauder not being able to accommodate, I did feel as though I don't need quite as much coverage as the DWL was providing.

Since it has been so long, I really didn't know where to begin with a foundation search. I've been following some makeup Guru's on Youtube which is helpful in a lot of areas, but when it comes to foundation, everyone's skin is different, so it's hard to really take someone's recommendation and expect it to work for you too.

Which is why I hope you take my foundation reviews with a grain of salt. What may work or not work for me, might be an entirely different situation for you based on skin differences. What I will try to do in this review is provide my observations in wearing this foundation.

Here is the MAC Matchmaster foundation: 

Here is the description of the foundation from MAC's website - Uses Shade Intelligence Technology to bring customized shades in a flawless demi-matte finish with medium, buildable coverage and broad spectrum UVA/UVB SPF 15 protection. Gives perfect colour purity without looking ashy or chalky, reduces shine on the skin's surface and helps to absorb excess oil. Conditions and soothes skin while minimizing the appearance of pores and imperfections.

Let's break it down. I've always been skeptical of anything that has any sort of "smart shade technology." Maybe it's just because I don't understand how it works, but I mean come on! You mean to tell me my foundation is smart enough to adjust itself to match my skin tone?! GET OUT! Yeah I'm not buying it. When I was getting matched at the MAC counter in Omaha, I was pretty frustrated with the MAC associate. She seemed in a hurry to make a sale and didn't really try any other colors on  my except for the 1.0. Her words were and I quote "it may be a shade too light for you but this foundation will adjust for you. Will that be all today?" Well, if it's a shade too light, shall we try the next shade up ma'am? As someone who used to work at a makeup counter for Estee Lauder, I couldn't imagine saying something like that to one of my clients. So, my first impression was a bit sketchy. But, benefit of the doubt right?

Demi-matte finish - Yep, I would say that is a spot on description. 

Medium, Buildable Coverage - Ooooo so close. I need something with medium and buildable coverage for sure. Lots of redness and texture on my face that I wish I could get rid of. When I would apply this foundation, I would do one coat over the whole face, then touch up and build some more foundation in areas where it needed a little more attention. I would follow up with MAC Studio Finish concealer and set with a powder. First glance, the finish and coverage looks great. A couple hours later, it's like my foundation has magically disappeared. The lasting power is absolutely terrible. I am constantly reapplying and that just doesn't make for a very nice finish when I've already applied bronzer, blush and a highlight. 

I do feel that this foundation made my skin look like skin. When freshly applied, it wasn't ashy or chalky as indicated. It felt like I wasn't wearing anything. Unfortunately a couple hours later, I wasn't. But, I digress. I was recommended this foundation because I have normal combination to dry skin. So the fact that this description says that it absorbs oil, I'm wondering what that MAC counter associate was thinking with this recommendation. It didn't further dry me out thankfully. But I wouldn't say that my skin felt any more conditioned or soothed from wearing this. And it most certainly didn't make the appearance of pores disappear after a couple hours. 

So, like I said earlier. Take this review with a grain of salt. Well, take ANY of my reviews with a grain of salt for that matter. What works for me may not work for you. I hope that I was able to provide some insight on how the foundation performed on my skin to give those of you with similar skin types, or even completely opposite skin types. 

My big hurdle now, is attempting to return this foundation to the MAC company and get my money back. I bought this at the closest MAC counter to where I live which is 200 miles away. I am most certainly not making the drive just to return it. So I am curious as to how the customer service for my predicament will be. Maybe that will be a followup review - MAC Customer Service Review!

Anyway, back to the drawing board on finding a new foundation. I will keep you posted! Sorry for the ramble! 

Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls Review

For a while now, I've been dying to achieve a makeup look that leaves a nice sheen to my cheekbones. Something that can give me a glow without being too glittery, and define my cheekbones even more than just a contour shade and blush. Like this:

Jaclyn Hill - check out her Youtube page here

Look at those cheeks. I love the look. Dewey yet not overdone. That's what I wanted.

I've seen a lot of different highlighting products that can be used on that upper cheekbone to help achieve that look. Unfortunately, a lot of them, are quite expensive. Here are a couple I've considered -

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light $45.

Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in either Soft and Gentle (left) or Lights Capade (right) $32

Too Faced Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush in Candy Glow $30

There were a couple others, but theses were the highest contenders. Notice that not one of them is under $30. Now, don't get me wrong, I am definitely a fan of high end makeup and believe in it's magical powers. However, if I can find a dupe that works just as well but is cheaper, you can bet your ponies I'm getting that instead. All three of the products above are very different in formula and color. Those are just the ones that I have seen and touched/swatched in person. The color doesn't need to be spot on to one specific shade, no no. Just something that works for my skin.

I was determined to find something that would be a good dupe in general for a highlighting powder. And I think I found it! Let me introduce to you.....

Physicians Formula Mineralize Glow Pearls in Translucent Pearl (for all skin tones) $13.95 

I'm so stinkin' happy right now. $14 is a lot more manageable than $30...or $45 for that matter with the Hourglass Ambient Light! Now, is the texture of this formula as great as the others mentioned above, well no. Its not as smooth, maybe even a touch on the drying side. However, it's really not that bad. Definitely an acceptable alternative. I couldn't wait to try it and I'm happy I bought it. Maybe in the future when I'm a millionaire I'll go out and buy the Hourglass, but for now, this product does what it's supposed to do and I like it. So if you are interested in getting some glowy highlight on those cheeks of yours, I would definitely recommend this. It comes in a couple other shades as well for more medium skin tones. So pick obviously what you think would be best for your tone. However the one pictured above, is supposed to work on all skin tones.

Much love,

Healthy-ish Oatmeal Pancakes with a Twist!

I first saw a recipe for healthy oatmeal pancakes through Pinterest which linked me to this blog called Sally's Baking Addiction.

Looks scrumptious.

I have now made this recipe (kind of) several times since first seeing it. Honestly, not once did I follow the recipe exactly.

This recipe has all your staples when you try to think of a healthy pancake recipe - whole wheat flour, oats, egg whites, greek yogurt, etc.

I made simple changes to make the recipe my own. For example, not once did I use Greek yogurt. Not because I didn't want to or didn't like it, I didn't have it on hand. So, that's out. Also, I enjoy adding different flavors. Since there is a wonderful presence of cinnamon and brown sugar, I took Gerbers toddler apple fruit pickups (yes, that's right, I said toddler food), and mixed that into the batter. You may be thinking to yourself, "why in the world is that lady adding baby/toddler food to her pancakes?" Well, in all honesty, okay, yes, TECHNICALLY it's food for young tykes. However, it's not apple puree, it's chunks of apple. Even if it were apple puree, it's all natural apple. Anyone can eat it.  I have it on hand always for my 13 month old. These apple chunks are the perfect consistency of cooked apples, without the work of cutting and cooking. They are soaked in a grape juice and have a wonderful tang to their flavor. Let me tell you, these pancakes tasted like apple pie. My family loves it. Plus, it's different. The recipe is great on it's own, and yes, it takes like oatmeal just as described. But adding the apple sure did turn this recipe into something else for sure!

Just so you know, I have made this recipe without putting in the Greek Yogurt at all or even substituting for it and the consistency came out just fine for cooking. It wasn't too thick - it's a naturally thick batter anyway due to the oats. As another option if you don't have the Greek yogurt, you can supplement with the apple chunks that I described. If you have more time than I do, feel free to cook up your own apples. I am now thinking of what other fun yummies I can add to the mix. Delicious I tell you!

Here is the original recipe via Sally's Baking Addiction:

Ingredients:
1 cup (123g) whole wheat flour (or white whole-wheat)1/2 cup (40g) quick oats1/4 teaspoon salt2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1 large egg (or 2 egg whites)1 cup (240ml) milk*2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar (or light brown)1/4 cup (63g) Greek yogurt*1 teaspoon vanilla extract1/2 cup add-ins like chocolate chips or fruit, optional

Directions:
Toss the flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Whisk in the brown sugar and yogurt until no lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla until combined.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in. Stir gently until just combined. Do not overmix the batter or your pancakes will be tough and very dense. Add any mix-ins you prefer, but again - do not overmix the batter.
Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Coat generously with cooking spray, oil, or butter.  Once hot, drop about 1/4 cup of batter on the griddle. Cook until the edges look dry and bubbles begin to form on the center or sides, about 1 minute. Flip and cook on the other side until cooked through, about 2 more minutes. Coat griddle/skillet again with nonstick spray for each pancake or batch of pancakes.

Pinterest Inspired Nursery Project!

It won't be very often that you will me come up with some sort of creative idea on my own. I wish I had that ability to think up designs or projects, but I just don't. With that being said, I am super proud of myself to share with you this next project that I kind of created almost, all on my own. So this isn't so much a pinterest review as it is me showing off mah skillz.

Before Canden was born I was looking for inspiration for how to decorate his room. I found these adorable letters on Pinterest and followed the link to the Etsy site. I had to have them. They were too precious to pass up.

Etsy

Yeah! Super cute! Until I saw the price....$12 a letter....with 6 letters....comes to $72, not including shipping. Well, looks like I'm not buying those. I just couldn't justify paying that much for letters. So I started thinking. I loved the look and idea of the letters, but how can I do it myself?

Modge Podge. The correct answer to just about everything. Here's what I came up with step by step to create my own -

First, I made a Hobby Lobby Trip. I purchased these:

• Scrapbook Paper - 6 sheets, all different designs to mimic the picture above. 
• Modge Podge 
  
• 6 Paper Mache Alphabet Letters (spelling Canden obviously) 
  

My first step in all this was painting the paper mache letters a dark brown. You of course can choose whatever color you would like to match your color theme.

After I painted the letters and let them dry, I took the modge podge and put a layer on the front facing part of the letter (aka just the front side of the letter). I then stuck the whole piece of scrapbook paper of my choosing, onto the front. I allowed the modge podge to dry. Then, I took an exacto knife and cut the paper along the edge of the letter so that the paper was now only covering the front.

I then covered the sides and front of the letter with more modge podge to insure that there was a seal on the paper so it won't detach from the letter. It also gave a nice glossy finish which I wanted. (You can buy different kinds of modge podge based on the finsih you would like - ie, glossy, matte, sparkly etc.)

For the last step, I took some brown ribbon that I had in the house and created hangers by hot gluing them to the backs of the letters. I measured out the distance from the top of the letter to where the push pin that would go into the wall would be to insure even lengths. Your ribbon length will be different for each letter though do to the different letter shape and where you glue them. Don't worry. The only consistency that matters is between the top of the letter and where the push pin goes.

When you are finished, this is what your result should be!

What do you think? I think I spent around $20 bucks for the materials...if that! I already had the brown ribbon and brown paint hanging around so I didn't have to purchase those (also, already had a glue gun, glue, and push pins). Even if you had to buy all those supplies, you would still be saving money compared to the $12 a letter plus shipping if your child has a longer name.

This project was mostly time consuming - waiting for paint to dry/waiting for modge podge to dry. But overall this was super simple to do and hey, I can say I made that :)

Please let me know what you think! I hope you find this helpful and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

L'ORÉAL Infallible Silkissime Eyeliner Review

I've been on the search for a new, fantastic, black pencil liner. I was tempted to go with an old stand by (the Urban Decay 24/4 glide on pencil), but honestly, I didn't want to pay that much.

I can't even tell you what drew me in to the L'Oreal Infallible Silkissime Liner at the drug store. I saw it, I bought it. Eh. What do you do?

Here is what it looks like before I give my review -

Before I review any product, I like to use it no less than 10 times. I feel like by the tenth use, I have a handle on getting to know the product and how I use it. So lets get to it.

This liner is extremely rich, soft, and glides on beautifully. You really don't have to apply much pressure to the liner as it comes off so easily onto the lid. It's smudge-able if you take a smudger brush or Q-tip to it before it completely dries. Once it dries, its much harder to smudge. Which is why I can't understand why halfway through the day, the liner is traveling all over my eyelids. I hate raccoon eyes, and this liner makes me look like I've cried at some point during the day. I've tried using primers before application as well as setting it with some black or dark shadow. Nope. Still moves. I might also add that people who have particularly oily skin might see that their makeup is more apt to moving than others however, I have normal/combination skin for the most part. I can't imagine what this liner would do on someone whose eyelids become more oily than mine.

This was such a big disappointment. Especially since I was so excited when I first applied it and saw how rich in color it was. It's beautiful when it first goes on, but it's all day performance is WAY under par. I won't be purchasing this again.

I am interested if anyone else has had any experience with this liner - I would love to hear your input!

Creamy Spinach Tomato Tortellini

Another day, another Pinterest recipe find.

Find the original post HERE

This pin originated from this site which like it has some other scrumptious recipes as well.
Honestly, this might be the shortest recipe blog ever. Here's the deal - It's easy, and it's delicious. 'Nuff said. If there was one thing that I would change, it would be that I would add a hair more spinach. We are a spinach loving family; even the 13 month old.
It came out looking EXACTLY like the picture above. Ugh, one of my pet peeves is making something that it looks nothing like the original picture.

We served this wonderful pasta dish with a spinach salad (shouldn't be a surprise there) and corn muffins. Yeah, corn muffins don't really scream Italy to us either. But hey, we were in the mood for some, and that's all that matters! :)

Do yourself a favor and make this recipe.

Follow me on Pinterest for more awesome finds!

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Self Tanner Review

Let me just start off by saying that I haven't been a big self-tanner user. Quite frankly, the chance of ending up streaky just scares me away from it.

About 2 years ago I worked at an Estee Lauder counter as a makeup artist. Time after time I saw customers come in asking for a decent self-tanner. Now, I could very well (and did) regurgitate the information that Estee Lauder provided about the product, but that's never been good enough for me. In order for me to feel as though I was giving the best information possible, I felt like I need to try the product to know.

So I sucked it up, put on my brave face and purchased the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Revelation Tinted Self-Tanning Gelee for Body. Whew! That's a mouth-full!

I read the instructions fully and was quite nervous that I was going to somehow mess this up and look like a freak. But, I just went for it. I rubbed, and rubbed, and rubbed to try and make sure there were not streaks or discoloration. Luckily, it seems that I did okay! I checked over my legs in some natural sunlight on the front and back and everything looked fairly even. The instructions say not to wear any clothing on the area applied for 15-20 to allow it to dry. It felt dry to the touch, but I see why they suggest that. I found the littlest area that could use some more blending about 10 minutes after application. I started to rub with my fingers and it still blended quite nicely. So, even though it feels dry, it's not quite set up yet.

After one application I saw dramatically different, and very flattering results. It definitely has a strong, tanning lotion odor, but I don't mind it. I could see that it might be off putting to some however. It made my legs look more tan and left a beautiful, bronze-y finish that left them glistening in a way that made them look very moisturized. After that, I wanted to go darker (addicted!!) I added another application to my legs later that week and also began to apply some to my chest, upper back and upper arms (where I'm freakishly pale). It was so flattering. I couldn't believe that this product made me a lover of self-tanner. So much healthier than real tanning! And so incredibly easy!

Highly recommend :)

Vinyl Wall Decor in the Nursery

Back with another Pinterest decor find!

Lately it seems like vinyl lettering and designs are the "in" thing. My house isn't the exception. I found a cute vinyl tree and owl to put in my sons room before we was born. It really is the central point of his entire owl theme. We absolutely love it.

Putting it up was mostly time consuming. The directions suggested that we "wash" the wall first. I skipped this step. Anytime I've ever attempted to wipe down a wall, it always left behind little fuzzies from whatever I used. Yep, skipped it.  Each leaf has to be stuck onto the wall individually. It really wasn't so bad. Here's a few pictures of the process. Please note, I was VERY pregnant at this point.

We ended up having to cut the bottom of the tree trunk off in order to make it work for the space that we were going to put it on the wall. It was a full length tree, down to the trunk, but with our wainscoting, it just wouldn't have worked.

After a couple hours (and a couple swear words), we were finished!

Looks cute eh? Now that it's been on there for a year, I can tell you that this vinyl decal has really held up nicely. There has been a little bit of peeling on a couple of the leaves, but not nearly enough for anyone to walk in and really notice. I notice, because I'm a freak. Honestly, the peeling was most likely due to the fact that my wall wasn't perfectly clean to start out with - remember how I was supposed to give it a wipe? Yeah. Regardless, we love this!

Check out this and other decor pins on my Pinterest page.

For a link to this exact product, click here for Leen The Graphics Queen Etsy shop.

Happy Tuesday!

Mongolian Beef with Broccoli

So excited to make this tonight - it will only be the second time I've ever made it!

Courtesy of Cravings of a Lunatic Blog - link below

I am not much of a chef as you will probably soon learn throughout my posts. Cooking is super hard for me. My husband however, rocks my socks. Seriously, how can anyone be so naturally awesome at cooking?! Anyway, I am trying to get better at it. Most of my inspiration for recipes comes from Pinterest. Shocking. I know.

Anyway, I found this pin which is originally from the blog Cravings of a Lunatic. There are a couple things I changed to the recipe - Firstly, the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Quite frankly I didn't have it, and didn't feel like running out to get it..so I just kinda, ya know, left it out. Secondly, I didn't have Canadian Beef. Like the sesame oil, I didn't plan on running out and getting that either. For convenience sake, I bought steak tenderloin strips, cut it into bite size pieces, and boom. Delicious. I'm sure that someone who has a keen taste or is super familiar with this recipe would notice the lack of sesame oil, to me and my family however, it tasted better than the locally acclaimed Chinese restaurant in town. I don't think we missed it too much.

I have more great Pinterest recipes. Be sure to follow me!

DIY Crib Protector Review

As I was strolling Pinterest one day I came across this pin:

At first I thought, "Oh what a cute way to decorate a crib!" As a new mom I was/am still quite stupid naive to all the wonderful and not so wonderful things you discover your children will do. This projects purpose is to help eliminate a teething baby from leaving this:

This is not my son's crib, just an example.

When I first saw this pin, Canden wasn't teething too seriously yet, so there were no battle marks on his crib yet. I kept my eye on his crib because this won't just be Canden's crib, it will belong to future babes too. Not only that, I like to sell just about everything we don't use anymore, so I know that years down the line, I will hope to resell this crib. 

Sure enough, I spotted one morning a couple small gouges along the railing of his crib. I immediately thought of the above pin and was determined to fashion my own guard against the teeth. 

Now, I did some research as well. I know that you can buy some similar, pre-made cloth protector that range in price from anywhere between $25 to upwards of $100. The problem that I saw however is that it cost $25 for a protector to just cover the front (for example). I needed to cover at least three sides of the crib. I could buy 2 pack protectors for the sides as well, but, why bother when I can make my own for all three sides under $20. Regardless, there is another kind of protector out there as well. It is a hard plastic cover that (here) fits on top of the rail. The price isn't too shabby either - only $12.99. After reading some reviews of that product and similar ones, I saw that a common complaint was that they have a strong chemical, plastic-y smell. Besides, they don't look as pretty as the pin above.

So, it was settled then. I was doing this project.

All in all it was pretty darn easy to do. I measured the length of all the sides I would be covering and added 2 inches to allow for any unexpected bumps along the way. As far as measuring the width, I used the most scientific way I knew how to measure: I "wung" it. Ok, so really I did SORT of measure. I measured from the top of the rail down to wear the fabric would have a tie, then added 2 inches to allow for enough fabric to tie with.

With a little help from my husband who is far better with a pair of scissors than I am, we cut the pieces of fabric into the length of strips we needed for each rail. Then, we laid the fabric on top of the rail and again, we "wung" it. Sooooo helpful of me to fully explain, I know. But really, it's not complicated. I cut two strips, tied it off at the end of one of the rails, then cut and tied as I went until I reached the end of the rail. I tucked the loose pieces underneath last. This is the final result --

I think it turned out quite well! Since we used fleece, after we did all the cutting and tying to make sure it fit okay, we ran the fabric through the drier to get rid of any fuzzy shreads that came off in the process. Then we retied it to the crib and it's been there ever since. I think that the fabric adds a nice, warm and cozy feeling to the crib as opposed to that hard plastic alternative.

So far, it seems we haven't had any more issues with teething on the crib. I would definitely recommend to other mommies to take the time to do this little project. You can customize the look anyway you want to by going and picking out your fabric (fleece is what was recommended for this) and matching it to the overall theme of your nursery.

Please make sure to follow me on Pinterest to see all the things I am loving and trying! Have a great Monday!

Happy Easter!

Canden's first official Easter basket was a hit!

Meet My Little!

This wouldn't be a blog about mommy-hood if I didn't have a post of my main man. Please meet Canden, aka: Little Nugget.

Let's Talk Foundation Brushes....

Ok, since this is my first brush post, allow me to make it be known that although I am a Sigma Beauty Affiliate, and the majority (not all) the makeup brushes I use are Sigma, doesn't mean that I speak volumes for every single one of their brushes. In all honesty, there are some that I am definitely not fond of. However, I would have never become an affiliate if I didn't think that their brushes rock overall...I mean, why would I want to promote something I didn't like? Also note, that when it comes to actual foundation brushes, I haven't used any other brand besides Sigma in, um, YEARS. So to give you a review on a different brand would be irrelevant. What I am going to review here is review which Sigma foundation brushes I have found to be the best, and which ones are frankly coming up short.

With that aside, let's get to the brushes.

The very first foundation brush that I tried from Sigma Beauty came in the Basic Face Kit (here). Here is a picture of the kit:

I was a rookie years ago and only thought that there was one kind of foundation brush. Yeah, naive. Anyway, so the kit includes this F60 foundation brush - the only and only foundation brush that I thought existed. It is pictured above on the far right. I had no idea what that F50 brush (second from left) was for (we will get to that in a second). So, overall as a foundation brush, yeah the F60 rocks. It makes foundation easy to blend and apply evenly. Grade A in functionality for sure! But then, I made the discovery of what it was like to use that silly looking F50 brush.

Ok, if you are new to brushes, you might have the same reaction I did when I saw the F50. How in the world is that supposed to give me even coverage? I mean, when you look straight down onto the brush, its not like all the bristles are tightly compacted. I automatically assumed that the brush was going to eat a large amount of product and be wasteful. But, I figured I would give it a try. Without doing any research on how to use it (yeah, dumb), I dabbed some foundation on the apples of my cheeks, chin, forehead and a little on my nose and began stippling the brush into the product and distributing it throughout my face. After I spread the product by stippling I began to use circular motions to blend it out. Oh, Em, Gee. It was the most amazing finish I have ever had. Ever. And it was way easier to use than I thought it was going to be. From that moment on, I didn't use the F60 brush for foundation EVER again. So yes, the brush did a great job. But I found one MAJOR downfall that has actually left me no longer using it as a foundation brush. The bristles fall out super easily. I've gone through three of these F50's in just a little over a years time and I wouldn't say that I am particularly hard on these brushes during use or cleaning. Sigma Beauty has been pretty amazing however in that when I told them my brushes fell apart, each time they sent me a new one, FREE OF CHARGE. Even though they did such a wonderfully nice thing for me, it does get rather old always having to replace a brush - and I almost felt as though it was like I was taking advantage of the company. I didn't like that feeling.

So, I was on the hunt for a foundation brush again that could give me the kind of finish that the F50 did, without being so delicate. And, I found it! I purchased the F80 Kabuki Brush from the Sigmax Collection.

I love this brush. Enough said. It gives me the same airbrushed, flawless finish as the F50, yet it is leaps and bounds better in terms of durability. My only regret would be buying this brush individually as opposed to buy the whole kit pictured above. I'm the other brushes in the kit are just as amazing. 

All in all, here is how I use my F60 and F50 brushes now that I use the F80 solely for foundation. The F60 is now my undereye concealer brush. I currently use Maybelline Instant Age Rewind in the Brightener shade. I will apply it with the applicator from the product and then use the F60 to evenly blend. It seems to work pretty well for this. Now, that darn F50 that falls apart. I'm currently using it to apply my bronzer. Yeah, weird right? Anyway, it seems to do a decent job on applying it actually. I'm sure that it will eventually fall apart like the other F50's I've used, but for the time being, it's working. I am definitely a use-it-until-it-falls-apart-or-is-no-longer-functional kind of girl. 

I hope that this review is helpful for you to find a great foundation brush. Please excuse that my blog is currently undergoing a major revision. I took down all of my old posts for updating and housekeeping. Don't worry, I have many plans for future posts and how to update old posts. Updated posts will be labeled as such in the title, and I already have one I posted yesterday on my Coastal Scents collection. More posts to come very soon! 

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful Easter! I would love to hear from you!

Updating Knobs Throughout The Home

So, when we moved into our house 2 1/2 years ago, I hardly noticed, or even cared that every knob and hinge thoughout the home was BRIGHT. BRASS. GOLD. Over time, I just felt like I was being blinded by the blazing sun of 1990's home decor.

Time for a change.

Honestly, I didn't think updating every knob and hinge throughout our three story (yes, counting the basement) home was going to happen anytime soon. I mean, it's quite the pricey endeavor to buy all those brand new! A new front door knob system that I was eyeballing at Menards was about $70...not with hinges. Ouch. It was always something I had in my mind to do in the future, but just, let the dream go a bit.

A few weeks later I found this on Pinterest:

"Paint all the shiny brass knobs with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed bronze spray. EASY WAY TO UPDATE YOUR HOME!"

What?! You mean I can paint those?! It's genius, yet so obvious to where I'm surprised that myself, or my super handy husband didn't think of this simple solution. And now, the project was on!

Here is what we bought:

The Rust-Oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze was the exact suggestion, even down to color, that was on Pinterest. We ended up going through about 2 cans of that Rust-Oleum Primer, and about 3 cans for the paint.

This was definitely a bigger project than I had anticipated. Every knob and hinge set had to be labeled so that they would go back on the doors correctly. My husband pointed out that even though the doors and hinges appear to be the same, it's a bad idea to mix them up as they might not go back together as smoothly. Who knew? Glad he was here for that tid bit of information because I would have just taken all the knobs and hinges off of one floor, paint them all, and attempt to put them all back on. Most likely would have ended in disaster. And trust me, I did mix up a couple hinges....IT MATTERS. So, if you are going to do this project, make sure your organized with keeping everything in order and numbered!

The actual painting of the knobs was the biggest pain in my ass most difficult part. We wanted to be able to spray the whole knob at once, as opposed to spray one side, then turn it over and spray the other side; risking, scuffs and paint lines. So propping those bad boys up was a challenge - a rod of sorts (notice my technical door knob vocabulary is weak), sticks out the bottom of the knob, making it so you can just sit it face up and paint. If you've ever taken a knob off of a door, you know what I mean hopefully. And really, that was probably the worst part of it, but once we got a system down of propping them up on a long screw that was attached to a board, we were doing okay.

It took a couple weeks to complete this project. Mostly because we only really worked on this on the weekends, plus chasing a baby and other things. But here are a couple pictures of our knobs and hinges after we completed the whole house.

Please ignore how badly this door needs painted....

We think it turned out great!

If there is one thing that I am worried about however is that the paint does actually scratch off if given enough resistance. Luckily, we've had our knobs and hinges painted for over a month now and even with a little munchkin and frequent travel through doors, we haven't seen much issue yet. Honestly, I think that what would scratch the paint off would be more of a freak encounter than anything. For example, the scratches we've seen so far was a result of not having some sort of bumper system that kept a door from opening into a banister. What can you expect though in that situation right?

In the end, totally work the work to save all that money!!! We MAYBE spent $20 on the paint and primer. If you remember how much I was almost willing to spend on JUST the door knob to the front door, you can see how worth it all the work really is.

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Have a great weekend!!