A Beauty & Travel Blog
A blog for beauty, travel destinations, travel tips and personal adventures, lifestyle and all roads in between.
Between San Jose and San Francisco, the leafy and quaint Mountain Vew lays tucked away just off US-101 and Central Expressway. It's downtown area, served by a main artery in the form of Castro St., is perfect for a leisurely weekend stroll. I like coming on Sunday, when the Farmers Market is in full swing.
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Just a quick heads up post- if you have an eligible American Express card, one of the Offers right now through July is 2x points on qualifying Amazon purchases. I got the email about it this morning since I have the Everyday Preferred card, and was pleased as punch about it since I buy a lot of books and travel gear on Amazon.
I have the Everyday Preferred card, so I get 3x points on grocery, 2x gas, 1x on everything else but if I make 30 qualifying transactions within a statement period I get 50% bonus on those points. One Mile At a Time has a pretty good write up about it. It's a pretty great way to build up a bank of Amex Membership Points on everyday spend. Adding in this 2x point promotion is really convenient timing as I'm trying to build up my points this year for 2017 travel.
For the record, I'm not sponsored by Amex; I actually really like the card and Amex Membership Points because they have a lot of flexible travel use and will transfer into almost every airline I fly, and transferring points is pretty quick too. The transfer ratio for Virgin America is kind of the pits at 2:1 Amex points to Elevate points, but most of the other transfer rates are 1:1
So if you have an eligible card and are looking to build up more points, check your account and apply it to your card.
I picked this up on a whim at CVS, hearing some good about it. Alas, I think this is more suited for those who already have really good skin and don't need much coverage because it's pretty sheer. I make it work right now by using a lot of concealer where I need to color correct and even things out, but I wish it were just a little more packing in the pigments department.
Read MoreIn the digital age with an app dropping every five minutes, there's a lot to choose from in the travel market. Everyone has a few favorites, be in the app that'll pull up a city map, or order a cab and rate it, and the ever important and occasionally handy translation tool.
For a long time I resisted apps, being a bit semi-Luddite about it. I think one can get along perfectly fine in their travels without relying on them, but I have to admit...they are so handy, when you have the data and Wi-Fi to support using them, of course! It's always a good idea to check the Wi-Fi situation of your destination.
Having now embraced apps more, here are my current favorite ones for travel.
Read MoreIt was halfway through flipping through Porter magazine the other day that I noticed a common thread in all the editorial makeup, even in the fashion ads- the makeup was neutral and minimal. Features were subtly enhanced in a low key, chic way.
Minimal makeup is back for Spring 2016. Think a fresh, skin-like palette, neutral eyes with slight definition, natural looking brows, soft barely there blush and sun-kissed bronzing, and the my-lips-but-better look or soft colored lip colors.
Using few old and new products in my stash, I've created a pretty easy minimal makeup look perfect for everyday wear, school, work, or casually hanging out.
Read MoreDo you like cleansers that work well, smell great or maybe don't smell much at all, and don't burn the ever loving crap out of your eyes?
Then for the love of God, skip the Shea Moisture Peace Rose Oil Complex Sensitive Skin Facial Cleansing Oil.
Read MoreSpring travel season approaches, and London is a great destination to consider. It's shoulder season still for one, meaning it can be a more affordable time of year to visit, and secondly, it's quite a pretty time as well with flowers and trees in bloom. I imagine Kew Gardens is lovely in springtime.
If this grand city is calling to you, you can check out my post covering my London vacation last autumn that includes a bit of an overview, where I stayed and why it was a convenient home base, getting around the city, and places worth visiting.
But let's talk about food.
Read MoreWe all have those days, where we feel like we got up on the wrong side of the bed and nothing is coming together right. It can be little things that just add up and make an otherwise good day go off, like unexpected rain showers or missing your train.
So here's a few ways I can suggest turing one of those crummy days around.
Read MoreIn a sea of contouring and strobing comes a shiny, fruity beacon with pops of color for this summer that could very likely become a top loved palette depending on texture and application. Considering this is Too Faced, I'm very optimistic about these prospects.
While there still isn't a release date yet, the Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette, part of their upcoming Summer 2016 collection, could be the go-to palette for me this summer.
Read MoreDoctor Bronner's can be used as shower gel, bath soak, washing hair and face in a pinch, as laundry soap, etc. etc. It claims to have 18 uses, but as travel goes I care about it as shower gel, face wash, and laundry soap. I have tried it on my hair, without Doctor Bronner's follow up Hair Rinse, and found I didn't like it. But then again, apparently you're supposed to use the slightly acidic hair rinse to counteract the alkali in the soap. Without it, it makes the hair feel a bit dry and off.
Read MoreAfter being really bored with my hair and thinking maybe I'd cut bangs back in, I go and chop half it off instead. Yep.
Read MoreI've decided it's time for my little blog to go out into the world more. :)
It seems like an odd choice visiting Las Vegas if you don't gamble, but there's actually quite a few cool things to do in the sin city that don't require sitting at a poker table.
Read MoreI've recently gotten into cleansing balms, because quite frankly I think they're amazing. A good one removes makeup gently, cleanses, and leaves the skin baby soft. When Sunday Riley launched Blue Moon Tranquility Balm, featuring the blue tansy oil popularly in their night oil Luna, I figured it was a good time to test!
Read MoreAh Edinburgh. You old, green, overtly hilly town. You stole my heart utterly and thoroughly nine years ago during that mad August I spent living in you.
Read MoreSometimes the best laid plans change, and that's never more true than when it comes to traveling. The Amsterdam trip I was planning for May is now postponed tentatively for 2017. It happens, but luckily it's early enough in the year for me to cancel my Cocomama reservation. While I was looking forward to seeing the canals and tulips, I'm repurposing that travel bug energy into trying to work out a mid-June trip to Italy instead. I figure, hey, it's better than being bummed and there's still some time to see if it can happen.
Read MoreThis one isn't about makeup or travel. And a post should have gone up yesterday but some work related things went FUBAR and truthfully I've been out of it a bit this week.
Last Friday I went to sleep reveling in a new David Bowie album. Monday I woke up and saw the news he passed away and I suppose I've been mourning this since then. I've been going through his albums on spotify while at work. I'm up to Outside right now.
Then today, I wake up and check facebook. I see Alan Rickman's photo first before the words but my heart sank because I knew. Trending- Alan Rickman. Alan Rickman Dies, Age 69.
And I just can't. I loved both their bodies of work and I'm thankful that in all the history of humanity I could live in the same time they did, but I cant help thinking this is part of what sucks about growing up- your heroes die.
There are much more eloquent articles out there now about Rickman, so I'll say this much:
Fuck cancer. Fuck it hard.
As someone with dark brunette hair, finding the perfect eyebrow pencil can be Sisyphean to say the least. So many pencils, even listed as dark brown, lean reddish brown and end up looking a bit rubbish on my brows. I've had luck with Tarte Emphas-Eyes and Anastasia Brow Whiz pencils, but they aren't cheap at $19 and $18 respectively.
And then L'Oreal said, "hey, let's dupe that!" Probably.
Read MoreMuch belatedly, considering I was in Paris in October, here is my French pharmacy/City Pharma haul. Given than it's been over two months now, I've had time to test these products pretty thoroughly so consider this a haul and a review after months of trial.
Read MoreNew Year's always seems to bring the idea of "New Year, New You" and resolutions, and while I'll be waist-deep in this concept for work over the next few weeks (yay, content marketing for e-commerce!), instead of making "new me" as a goal for 2016, I've decided to look at it more as me, in-progress, and continue working on existing and newer goals as opposed to the idea I need to become a new person.
Read MoreA beauty, travel and lifestyle blog featuring beauty reviews, travel tips & featured places, destination guides, lifestyle posts and more. Let's explore together!
