Music Monday #2

I haven't posted another music Monday because I usually end up listening to the same music after a while. I still listen to the same artists from my last MM, but today I thought I'd share some of the bands/groups I've been into these past couple of months.

I've been on a 90's pop kick lately, boy bands mainly. I'll either have N*SYNC or Backstreet Boys station on Pandora. It really brings back memories of being a kid and pretending to be in the Spice Girls group with my girl cousins. I think I always wanted to be Ginger Spice, haha!! I'll share some of the tracks I've been liking lately. I feel like I'm the only dork who still listens to 90's boy band music.

While we're still on the 90's, I've been listening to Placebo a lot lately. I love their music, Brian Molko has a very unique voice. They're more on the "Alternative" sound, I don't really like putting labels on music.

I've also been listening to Melanie Martinez. I first listened her her a few months ago, I liked her sound. She also has a unique voice. I watched some YouTube videos not too long ago where she was on The Voice. Her performances and covers were pretty awesome, I hope we get to see more of her.

That's all I have for my Music Monday. My music choices change from time to time, it really depends on my moods. What are you music favorites?

Until next time,
Mayra :]

Play! by Sephora June

Hello everyone! 

Last month I finally made it off the waiting list for the Play by Sephora subscription box. I've seen reviews and IG posts about the box and it seemed like a fun service. I was subscribed to Ipsy for a few months, I didn't like it at all. I only ended up liking like 2 items out of about 6 months worth of stuff. I was a bit skeptical about signing up for the Sephora box, but at least this box would actually contain "high end" samples.

I really liked last month's box! It included a drawstring bag, along with two lip products, three face masks, a hair mask, and of course the perfume samples. I fell in love with the hair mask, it's by the brand Briogeo. My hair felt so soft for days!! The Origins charcoal mask was amazing to try out, I'm definitely going to get it on my next Sephora visit. As far as the lip products go, I haven't tried the mini Bite lipstick. It's in the shade Kimichi, I've heard good things about the Bite lipsticks. I also got a Tarte Tartiest lip liner, it's a really pretty "my lips but better" shade. 

This month's box has some pretty neat samples. We'll get the perfume sample out of the way, Florence by TOCCA. I can't tell right off the bat that I won't be using it. The smell reminds me of older teachers, too mean?

The next sample I got is the BareMinerals BareSkin Sheer Sun. I'm not a big fan of BareMinerals, but this little guy seems like it would give me a nice, glowy bronzed look.

While we're on the topic of sun, the box also included a mini Tarte Tarteguard 30. I don't have a sunscreen, so I'm curious to see how this works. And it also has SPF 30, so that'll be good for the scorching sunny days we'll have here in Texas.

I also got a mini They're Real! mascara from Benefit. I've tried this mascara before and I really like it. It doesn't hold my curl as great as RollerLash, but it does make them look nice and voluminous.

I just realized this box has quite a bit of samples, haha. I have the Becca Backlight Priming Filter, it got it in a set I got not too long ago. I haven't tried it but I've heard good things. So now I have two of them, in case I like it.

And the final item I got is the Bumble and Bumble 'Don't blow it' hair styler. I've never tried anything from this brand, but I'll try it. I don't really do much to my hair, so I wouldn't really know how to use it.

That's all from my Sephora box. So far I think I'll enjoy using these mini products. I believe the theme for this box was Minimalist, I don't have the booklet on me. I'll let you know what I liked using from this month's box on my nextra months post.

Let me know if you liked anything from this month's box, or if you are subscribed as well.

Until next time,
Mayra :]

An Update and Some Facts

So it's been a few months since I've made a post. I was just crazy busy at work with taking on the role as teacher, I hardly had time to do anything. Especially in May, the end of year madness is very real. But these past few months have been so much fun, I got a taste of what it's like to teach a class of 24 little kindergartners. I'm very sad that it ended but very happy to have had that experience. So now that I'm off for the Summer, I have more time to blog and be as lazy as I want. 

I debated on what to post today, but I think I'll share 25 facts with you. So you can get to know me a little bit.

1. I just celebrated my 29th birthday back in May.

2. I have 8 tattoos, I have a few more that I want to get.

3. I have 7/16 size gauges.

4. I think I was part sloth or cat in another lifetime because I can sleep for hours and I just enjoy naps.

5. I love to cook. My dad was a chef for over 20 years and he's taught me so many things, so I love experimenting with food.

6. Me and my brother are much closer now than we were when he was younger. He's 11 years younger than me, but we get along great now.

7. I've never broken a bone nor been hospitalized. *knocks on wood*

8. I love going to concerts! We recently saw The Neighborhood and Florence + The Machine last month, they were awesome!

9. I love driving. The traffic sucks here in Dallas now, but I do enjoy driving around and running errands.

10. We've never kept a pet for more than a few months. Our last dog Billy escaped from our backyard only after a couple months of getting him, I really miss him. 

11. I don't really have friends, aside from Ramon (he's stuck with me). I have only a few number of people I trust, even then its enough to count on one hand.  

12. I procrastinate wayyy to much, it really should have been my middle name.

13. I don't officially have a middle name, but my parents would have named me Mayra Alexandra. They still call me "Ale" from time to time. And when I was younger, if I got in trouble I'd hear the full name. 

14. I taught myself how to play the acoustic guitar, I'm not very good at it. But I really want to learn how to play the bass.

15, As you know I have an obsession with Star Wars and makeup.

16. I met Conan O'Brien :]

17. I cry way too much now than I ever have when I was younger. Movies, TV shows, commercials, anything makes me cry now. 

18. I hate onions and bananas with a passion, I gag at the smell and sight of it. *blegh*

19. I really love the feeling of taking of my bra and flinging it across the room :D

20. I hate my arms.

21. I love to sing, even though I'm no good. I will sing to the top of my lungs when I'm driving.

22. I played the clarinet in elementary school.

23. I went to 7 different schools during my school life.

24. I used to be extremely shy. It wasn't until I started working with kids that I started being more outgoing and silly.

25. With that being said, I am extremely silly. I am constantly acting a fool and joking around.

There's obviously more to me but I just thought I'd share some random facts. If you'd like to leave me some randomness about yourself, feel free. I'd like to get to know the people who read my blog. I hope you all have a nice weekend. 

Until next time, 

Mayra

:]

January/February Favorites

Hello again everyone, two posts in one evening Mayra? :D

I know I've been MIA with my blogs but I've been SUPER busy and tired. So many good things have happened so far this year. Great changes happened with me at my job, I'm so excited to go to work everyday now. My little Kindergarten friends have grown and learned so much. Things with my car have been settled and I'm so happy to have it back and looking brand new. In case you missed it, my previous post is all about the drama with my car. And things with me and Ramon have been pretty good as well, I'm excited for this month because we're going away on vacation for Spring Break and we'll be celebrating our 3rd year together. 

It's been a pretty good two months for makeup, LOTS of new purchases and experimentation. So lets get started with my January & February favorites. 

Let's start with my favorite skin care favorite. Last week I repurchased this Dickinson's Original Witch Hazel for the third time. It's a great toner for oily skin, it helps with my pores and it doesn't dry my face out. The smell takes a bit to get used to but it's not very overpowering. I love to use this toner after I wash my face and before putting on moisturizer. I'm thinking about posting a more in depth look into my skin care routine, is that something you'd like to see?

In January I bought the Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin concealer in the color Ivory. I was looking for a concealer for those days I didn't want to wear foundation. It's a great color match and it brightens up my under-eye area nicely, I think I like this one better than the Instant Age Rewind one. I just set it with a powder and it stays on all day, I haven't noticed it creasing on me so that's a plus.

In January I also I purchased Benefit's Dallas Blush and I am seriously loving it! This was definitely a "YouTube made me buy it" thing, and I'm happy I did. It actually looks kind of similar to the MAC Prism blush, but this one has more of a plum undertone rather than pink. I haven't tried this as a contour yet, still need too figure out how that works. *I know the picture is shitty, I took it last month in hopes of posting this in the beginning of Feb.*

Moving to eyes, I had to include this even though its a more recent purchase. I bought the Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons palette. Noveau Cheap posted about Beauty Brands friends & family sale and I immediately went on the site only to see that it was sold out!! So I ran, well drove, to the Beauty Brands store in Addison and I got the last one!!  Aside from my KVD Shade&Light palette, this has become a big favorite for me. I've been using this for the past week, I love this shade range. And of course it's adorable packaging and delicious smell, these shades are so soft and so easy to blend. 

My last favorite is a beauty tool, I wont insert a picture because it is currently dirty but its the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. I just love how well it blends and just gives a natural finish to my foundation/concealer, I think I may even like this better than my Beauty Blender! Aside from last month, I've been using this sponge every day this week. The flat surface makes it so easy for me to blend my concealer under my eyes.

I also have some non-beauty favorites I want to share with you all, from wine to Netflix shows these are just some things I've been enjoying.

I've really been getting into red wines last month, I recently visited Total Wine and I was in love with the store. I wanted to buy so much but I limited myself to a couple of bottles, thanks to Ramon. I tried a few red wines for the first time, like Shiraz, Merlot and a few red blends. The San Antonio Cardinale Red Blend became my favorite wine, its a smooth sweet red wine. Another yummy red wine is the Rivata Casa Rossa, it's a yummy sparkling wine, almost like a red sparkling moscato.  

For Netflix shows I've been catching up on New Girl and I binged watched Fuller House. I actually loved it, despite the negative reviews it got. It's just like a more modern Full House, so I'm not sure what people are complaining about. It's just as cheesy and has the same adult humor, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. 

And my last non-beauty favorites are the newest additions to my Tsum Tsum collection. Last month I treated myself to some Star Wars Tsum Tsums, I now own a StormTrooper, Chewie, R2D2, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker Tsums. Sadly the collection is sold out online and I wasn't able to get C3PO, Wicket or Boba Fett :( I don't think you can get these online, unless you want to spend a ridiculous amount on eBay.

That's all for my January/February favorites! What were some of your favorites for the months of January & February? If you'd like a review on anything I've mentioned in my posts, feel free to let me know. I would like to review more things for you all, so I'm pretty open to trying new beauty products.

I hope you all have a great March!
Until next time,
Mayra
:]

My First [hopefully only] Car Accident

*update: it's March and I meat to post this last month, ooops!*

Hello all!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, a few weeks back, I got into my first wreck back in August. It's been an emotional roller coaster but its FINALLY all done!  I'm in no way trying to sound like a victim or ask for pity, I just want to share my experience with you all. There are somethings I wish I could've done different, so if anyone is reading this maybe you'll get a bit of help in case something like this happens to you. *knocks on wood*

Things happen in life that you have no control of. Whether you're a great driver or not, accidents can happen but they can easily be prevented. I've always been a cautious driver, I'm not going to lie but just like any other human I have my moments of road rage, speeding. I really never thought I could get in a car accident, as cautious as I am. 

Back in August, it was the second day of school, I was pumped to get another year started. I was on my way to work that morning, I reached the stop sign that merges into a main street and I made my complete stop. I was about to go when I saw a school bus pass by, of course I couldn't go because incoming traffic have the right of way. In that second that the bus passes in front of me, a truck rear ends me, hard. It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened. I froze in anger, but the driver signaled me to pull forward since we were blocking the cars. I pulled forward, phone camera in hand just in case he decides to be stupid and take off. Luckily he pulled up right behind my car. Not only that, a cop pulls up right next to us. Thank goodness because I don't know what I would've done without him. Of course being the girl I am, I start crying. I was scared, I'd never been through anything like that before. He was a very nice policeman, he took down both of our info and checked on me a few times; he even followed me half-way home. He did tell me that it was that man's fault, he even told me his insurance company was shitty. I did take pictures of both of our cars. But I did make one mistake here, I should've taken the man's insurance info right then and there. I know everything happened so fast and I was in shock, but its very important to take the other person's information. [lesson learned] While his truck was scratch free, my little hatchback was fucked. The hatch door was pushed in, my back bumper was partially fallen. My heart broke, this is my first car. If only this idiot would've been paying attention, none of this would've happened.

When I got home I ran straight into Ramon's arms, I was torn to pieces. Seeing my car like that, feeling all these feelings, and experiencing physical pain were just too much. Good thing I told Ramon not to come over to where it happened, he was ready to kick some ass. I called my insurance company and filed the claim. This would've been where I should've called his insurance company and filed a claim with them instead, but luckily all his info was in the police report. My insurance company is just as shitty as the guy who hit me, they took forever to get back at me with updates, it would be weeks before I would hear anything. I had to constantly keep calling and leaving voicemails, and it was a nightmare driving my car... I was stuck driving my car for months with an annoying beeping every second because the door sensor was reading that the door was open. Driving and looking back at my rear-view mirror hoping that the bumper doesn't fall off.  Can you imagine driving in that?

I waited for about three months until I finally heard back from . They decided that they were going to take care of the damages and bill the man's insurance company, but they wouldn't provide a rental car for me. I would have to file a claim against his insurance for my rental, injuries, and loss of wages. 

As far as injuries, I was okay. I did have a neck strain and lower back pain for weeks, it was horrible. I don't have a specific doctor I go to, which was so hard for me to find someone to see me for the pain. No one wants to deal with accident victims and all the insurance paper work they have to deal with. So I just went to a Care Now clinic, where my medical insurance didn't cover my whole visit. I did have to pay out of pocket but I saved my receipts to send to his insurance. 

So I filed a claim with his insurance, and that was another few months of waiting as well. The cop was right, they are shitty!! They are like that person who says they're going to call you back and they never do. I had to request on three different occasions to change my adjuster because those bitches wont call back. It wasn't until I finally talked to the manager that things were starting to finally happen. What they decided to do was provide a rental car for me as long as I pick one of their body shops to repair my car, as well as provide me with a check covering bodily injuries and stuff. At this point I really didn't have any other choice, I picked one of their shops and went ahead to proceed to getting the rental car. Having the rental was another stress, my insurance doesn't cover rentals so I had to pay for Enterprise's insurance. $12 a day! There was a stupid miscommunication with the shop and the rental department of the insurance company, that they told me my car was ready when it really wasn't. I had already turned in the rental, only for the the shop to tell me that they were waiting on a part and it was going to take a few more days. I was pissed! Luckily Ramon would be off the next two days that we could do without the rental. It took the shop another week and a half to make the finishes on my car and get it back to me.

I picked up my car this past Friday, a weight felt like it had been lifted off of me the moment I saw it. They did a good job and they apologized for taking so long to fix it, so I'll give them that. This feeling of relief and sadness filled me as I was driving home in it. All that stress, all that drama gone. I hope to never feel that ever again, I don't wish that kind of stress on anyone.  I learned a lot from this experience. Heaven forbid that this happens again, but now I know what I'd do differently. Thankfully I'm okay and this is all settled. I'm very thankful to have had the Ramon's support though all of it, he was my rock. I don't know how I would've dealt with everything if he hadn't been there for me. I'm pretty sure it was just as stressful for him as it was for me, but I'm very grateful to have had him by side. 

Hopefully none of you have to deal with anything like this, but if life happens to you, now you have some insight on what to do and what to possibly expect. If you have any questions on anything like this or if you'd like advice, feel free to ask me. Now that this is done with, I have more time to blog :]

Allergies, Concerts, and Cars! Oh my!

Hello all!

I'm sorry for not keeping up with my blog lately. So many things have been happening in my life and allergies have been kicking my ass for the past three weeks.

I think I may have had a sinus infection but I'm no doctor. The weather here in Texas has been very Spring-like, so everyone has been getting colds, allergies, and all that goodness. Allergies are not atteactive! So I haven't really been wearing too much makeup, watery eyes don't help face stuff stay in place. But I do have some January favorites coming up within the next two days for you. I can't believe it's February!!

On the 17th, Ramon and I went to go see Tool! We were lucky enough to get seats within the first few minutes they went on sale, they sold out that same morning. I have never seen them before and they were unbelievable, it was such a great show. They sound awesome love and the visuals they had in the background were very trippy, in a good way. Our seats were on toward the back/top of the venue but we were dead center, we could see everything.

I've also been getting lots of much needed good news from work. I'm taking over my Kindergarten class!! Yay! The teacher I worked with resigned so I'm stepping up for the rest of the year. I couldn't be more excited, I'm going to whip those little ones into shape for first grade.

Also back in August I got into my first wreck, I was rear-ended on my way to work. Second day of school if I may add. I won't go into detail right now, I want to share my experience in amother blog post. But things are FINALLY coming to an end with it, and I'm getting my car back soon from the body shop and I get a nice pretty little penny back for injuries and such, don't worry I didn't get hurt badly.

So January was a pretty good month for me, despite being sick for the last 2/3 weeks. I can't wait to see what February brings me, hopefully more good things. I hope you all had a good January as well, let me know what good things happened for you. And I hope you have a good month as well.

Until next time
Mayra
:]

Lush Light Pink Color Supplement Review

I don't really wear foundation too much. Luckily my skin has alway been pretty clear, I'll get the occasional hormonal blemishes, but other than that my skin is pretty clear. If I wear foundation, it's usually a light application to even out redness.

Lately I've been using the Lush Light Pink color supplement, I recently got it about a week ago. I really love this as a foundation, I usually use the Tarte Amazonian Clay powder foundation or Too Faced Born This Way, but this Light Pink is awesome. I'm surprised I don't see much on it on YouTube or social media.

There's not a whole lot of shade variety, I believe there are five shades and it's vegan. Jackie Oates (for paler tones), light pink, light yellow, dark pink, and dark yellow.
It's not full coverage, but it's build-able to medium coverage. First I make sure my face is washed, toned, and moisturized; I use Vanishing Cream as my everyday moisturizer. To apply I use a damp beauty blender or I just use my fingers, of course with clean hands. It does leave the skin a bit dewy, so I just set it with the Emotional Brilliance translucent powder for a more matte look and I apply the rest of my makeup. I am an oily girl, but I don't find myself blotting as much with this foundation as I have with Born This Way.

Overall, it has become my favorite foundation, it's very natural looking and lightweight. They are 17.95 for .6 ounceds, so it is pricey but I believe it's worth it. Especially since I don't need a whole lot of coverage, and it's pretty natural too. The people at Lush were pretty helpful helping me find the right shade. So hopefully they can help you all out. Everyone has different skin, so maybe it won't work for others as they do for some. Let me know if you decide to give it a try.

I hope you all are having a good weekend!
Until next time,
Mayra
:]

NEW Wet N Wild ColorIcon Blush & Gel Polish review

As everyone knows, Wet n Wild released new products this month. Some items from this collection include brushes, contour palettes, gel nail polishes, and some blushes. I've been hunting for the brushes since the end of December, some of their things were released early. I'm still going to look around for the brushes, but in the meantime I'll share some of the things I got. As a disclaimer, what I got was gifted to me by my boyfriend. I'm not being paid to talk about these products, and these are my own opinions.

All but one of the blushes are reformulated and come in new packaging, which includes a cruelty free logo on the package. As far as I know WNW has always been cruelty free, so now that they've added the bunny on their products it probably makes the Cruelty Free community pretty excited.

The shades I got were Mellow Wine and Rose Champagne, these shades are nice and very wearable. I was going to swatch them but my lighting doesn't do them justice.

I already own Mellow Wine in the old packaging, you cant tell that I've used it because its soooo pigmented. Just lightly tap your brush in there and you're good. I really don't notice much of a difference between the old and new formula. Maybe the only difference I see is that the new formula is warmer in color.

I was skeptical about getting Rose Champagne because its so light, but I actually really like how it gives me more of a nude flush to my cheeks. I couldn't get a good swatch, it was too light and blended with my skin tone.

Ramon also bought me two of the 1 Step Wonder Gel polishes, I got the shades All That Jazzy! and Crime of Passion. I believe there are 18 shades total, and I saw CVS has three exclusive colors.

All That Jazzy!

All That Jazzy! is more of a gold-ish, champagne color, I'm so horrible at describing shades. I like it but I feel like it's more of a top coat, I tried wearing it alone but I wasn't feeling it. I layered it over a nude shade and I looked a bit better.

Crime of Passion

Crime of Passion is just your basic red, I love red nail polish so I was immediately drawn to this one. It's a pretty okay formula, they last a few days so nothing too miraculous.

Those are all the products I got for now. I'm definitely going to get the brushes and I want to try the Max Fanatic Cat Eye Mascara. If I knew the first thing about contour I'd definitely want to try the palettes, but for now I'll stick to what I got. What new products did you all get?

Until next time,
Mayra
:]

Back to Adulting

Happy new year everyone! I hope the holidays were good to you all and if you had vacation time, I hope you enjoyed it.

I had a great Winter Break, I'm soooo not ready to go back to work tomorrow. Even though the kids don't return until Wednesday, I'm really not looking forward to going back, it's been a rough school year for me. I enjoyed my break too much. Most of it was spent being lazy with Ramon, but it was nice. We got to spend lots of time together, we already do (because we practically live together), but it was just nice not having to wake up wake up/sleep early. It was nice just having some down time with him and having days off together, and annoying him is fun too. I didn't really get to do much, just some much needed laundry and catching up on Gilmore Girls and re-watching The Office thanks to Netflix. It was just perfect. Now to countdown to Spring Break, then Summer, too much?

I just wanted to post something short before its time to go back to adulting tomorrow. I'll just leave you with some SnapChat pictures I took during the past two weeks.

I hope you all have a good week!
Until next time,
Mayra
:]