New Mac Shade?

Today I decided to go to the Mac store because I was curiosity to see if I was the same shade that I was years ago when I first got into wearing makeup. The last time I purchased anything from Mac was over 5yrs ago. Mainly because I was a broke college student and it just didn't feel right paying about 30 dollars here and there on something that wasn't a necessity. Back then, I was a shade NW50. To my surprised, the Mac consultant matched me at NW44. Although I do believe the that the shade I had before was extremely wrong now, I'm not sure that I believe that this is the correct shade now. However, it does look great, if must say so myself.

The pictures was taking earlier today. No foundation, just basic neutral eye, eyeliner, mascara and some blush. I decided to throw in an out of the day as well.

*Nail color is Sinful Color's Boogie Nights. I love this color!

Both pictures above: Studio Fix Fluid in NW44, Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Dark Deep, same neutral eye, eyeliner, mascara and no blush. Both pictures was taken about 6 hours later. No oil control primer was used so some areas of my faces was shiny.

*Please excuse the poor quality in the pictures, I took these with my phone.

Sadly I forgot to take a picture in natural light. I ended up just getting the MSF in Dark Deep. I will be going to another Mac store to get a second opinion for foundation color.

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to make a quick post to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hope you have a wonderful and safe time with loved one and friends.

Oily Skin

Since I have been back in Cali, I have noticed a lot of changes in my face. Lately despite of the cooler weather, my face has increasingly became oily. This is something I didn't really have to deal with while I was in school back in Tallahassee, so its strange that I am now.

Today I picked up two products that I will be trying out to control my oily skin. One is the Boots Expert Shine Control Lotion (4.99 at Target) and the No.7 Shine Free Primer (9.99 at Target). I got the primer because I can't wear any type of makeup without my face becoming extremely shiny within just a few hours of wearing it.

I will give my honest review on them both after a week or two of use.

Change begins now not later.

Why is it that when a new year on the horizon, people start to figure out what they want to improve on about themselves, but doesn't put it in affect until the new year has started? Why wait until few weeks to put the change in motion when tomorrow is not promised? We don't know when our timing on this earth is over so why put it off?

With that in mind, I have started to improve on my fitness health. Thankfully my mom is subscribed to Women Health Magazine so I was able to pull some excrise routines from them until I am able to find a gym. I found myself looking forward to the excrises the first few days but as the week went on, I start to really slack on doing them. Since I will be taking a class or two at a local community college, I thought I should look into their gym. I figured it would help me to commit sticking with the excerising more instead of doing them in the comfort of my home where lazines can kick in.

Haul #1

With the holiday season on its arrival, many stores has a lot of items that we loved, buy one and get the other 50% off. I took this as an opportunity to (try) stock up on some makeup items that I have been eying. I have purchasing some other items that is not pictures but ended up returning them because there color was off or i just didn't like it. Or course I had to pick up some hair things. Nothing of the items was on sale and the Aphogee gloss was on clearance.

Fitness Goal.

According to my BMI, I am underweight for my height (100lbs). To be consider at a healthy weight, I should be between 110-139. My idea weight is between 115-120. My goal is to maintain an average weight of 120. My body shape is consider healthy with room to stretch.

BMI and Body Shape
My BMI is 18.3 and my body shape (waist to height ratio) is .044

RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate)
My RMR is about 1389. This is the amount of calories that my body burns on a daily bases.

My goal is to gain at least 2 pounds a day. In order to do that, I need to increase the amount of calories that I intake.

Exercise
Focus on exercises that would increase muscle mass and maintain a healthy heart, such as resistance training. Keep running or jogging at a minimum to ensure weight retention. My personalize heart rate zones is between 0-137 (bpm) beats per 1 minute. This ensures weight management and endurance building.

Things to keep in mind when exercising
1. Do not over-exert myself. I should be able to maintain a short conversation without being out of breath.
2. Resistance, strength-building, and weight-bearing activities. At least two days a week, incorporate strength training into my routine. Training such as, weight lifting. Although this burns calories, it increases muscle strength and endurance. Aim for 6-8 strength training exercise with 8-12 repetitions per exercise.
3. Stretching/balance exercises. Stretching and balancing exercise improve flexibility, balance and posture.

My weight story.

My weight has always been something I struggled with. From as far back and I can remember, I have always been petite and skinny. I think for the most part its because of my genetics and because I was a preemie at birth. When my mom was growing up, she was tall and skinny.

Throughout middle and high school, my weight was always a constant 98lbs no matter how much I ate. By the time I graduated high school, I weighted 100lbs even. I have always been pretty activity throughout those years; I loved playing flag football, running, skating and riding my bike.

Although my weight was never really a major issue with me, it was always in the back of my mind. It didn't hit me until I was a freshman in college. I saw so many beautiful ladies on campus that seemed pleased and happy with their weight. They were of all sizes, some were petite but thick, tall and at a healthy weight, and the guys loved it. When I looked in the mirror, I felt like I didn't compare. I felt like like no matter how much I ate, the weight wouldn't stay. Instead of gaining the "freshman 15" I lost weight! I despised it. I wanted to be like everyone else. I wanted my clothes to fit instead of them wearing me.

It wasn't until my sophomore year in college that I started to gain weight. I had managed to put on 20lbs and I loved it! Everything fit just right and I felt great. Unfortunately, the weight didn't stay and I ended up losing all the weight that I had gained. Three years later, I haven't gained the weight back. Today my weight goes up and down but no where near where I want to be.

Giving thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving! Sometimes in the midst of all the hype of preparing the feast and shopping, we forget what the true meaning of the season. Remember we all have something to be thankful for. Hope this day brings you lots of love from family and friends. Be safe and enjoy :).

Its me again.

It seem like no matter how far I stray away from blogging, I find myself right back at it again. I'm not much of a "blogger" nor a writer but I enjoy taking my thoughts and running away with it on paper, literary. I admit that sometimes I forget to make sure my grammar usage is correct, and at times, I tend to write other words in place of the actually word that I had intended to use, or even yet, skip some all together. However nothing beats letting your thoughts flow without second guessing yourself...

Anywho, this blog is about the things that I find enjoyable and that I love. It will also be used as a personal reference for my natural hair and weight gaining journey (more on that soon). You may find some fashion and beauty tidbits here every now and then; as well as some photography that I have taken.