confessions of a conceal-a-holic

Garnier / MAC / Clinique / Tarte

It's true, I am a conceal-aholic. When I look into my makeup bag it tells a story of said addiction. For the most part, I feel like I've tried them all, from drugstore to designer. 

That being said I am not into concealers for their blemish covering powers (that should match your face) but instead for the highlighting miracles they can perform over the rest of my face. 

All of my favorite concealers don't actually break the budget, and run roughly in the same price range. The Garnier concealer would be my absolute favorite if it lasted longer, but I feel like it works best when you're in a hurry and not looking for long lasting full coverage. (I have used it with a really sticky primer (benefit's stay don't stray) which made it last significantly longer, but that is almost twice the work of just applying these other concealers. 

What are some of your favorite concealers?

Review: Philosophy's Just Release Me

I have been a devoted Philosophy fan ever since I first tried their face wash purity. I don't know why I never tried their makeup remover before, but I ran out of my cheapo alternative and decided during a sephora haul that I'd give it a shot because ounce wise it was way more than any drugstore brand and costs 18$ for double the amount. 

Anyways, for a makeup remover I just love this stuff. A little bit on a cotton ball and a few swipes later and my eye makeup is melted to smithereens and my skin is clean and ready to wash. 

I feel like finding an eye makeup remover at a medium price point is hard to come by, but Just Release Me is more than a steal of a deal. 

Two Cheese, Bacon, and Broccoli Quiche

I am on a bit of an egg frenzy these days. A major factor in my food choices has to do with the fact that I have farm fresh eggs available everyday due to the fact that my parents raise six chickens.

I have at least 3 unpublished posts that are egg related (things are getting a little ridiculous so I had to only post the very best) and this quiche was one of them.

I was inspired by a recent trip to a bakery in santa cruz that normally offers a seasonal quiche, but we ordered and unfortunately didn't get to have the slice we wanted because they ran out right before us.

I hadn't made a quiche in a few years because one of the first quiches I ever made ended up taking like 6 hours because I was totally unfamiliar with the crust process, but this quiche turned out more than perfect (if I do say so myself) because I ended up using a premade crust (easy to find at any local supermarket -- I went with an organic spelt crust, but you could just as easily grab a normal marie calendars crust too!)

You'll need:

6 eggs
salt & pepper to taste (I usually go with two big sprinkles, but this has bacon which is already salty so feel free to use your own discretion here!)
1 premade frozen pie crust
1 cup fresh broccoli
1/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbsp goat cheese (crumbled)
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup milk
1/2 yellow onion, chopped finely
splash of water

Directions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F. In a pot, add a shallow amount of water and place a steaming basket into the pot, adding trimmed broccoli florets. Cover with a lid and cook until tender, but still crispy (about 5-10 minutes)

2. Cook slices of bacon in a pan until desired crispiness

3. Drizzle splash of olive oil into a pan and  sauteé onion on medium heat in a nonstick pan until slightly caramelized.

4. Crack eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk together adding milk, water, salt and pepper. Add the onion, cheddar cheese, broccoli, bacon into the egg mixture.

5. Pour mixture into the pie crust and then drop crumbled goat cheese sporadically in the mixture and place in the preheated oven.

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes. (The quiche might not *look* perfectly set, but I assure you it will usually be done in 45 minutes)

7. Serve hot, or let cool and serve 30 minutes later. Enjoy for breakfast, lunch or dinner. (Or all three if you're like me!)


I hope you enjoy this little quiche recipe and have fun modifying it to your liking!

Iced Chai Latte

Sorry about my momentary hiatus this week. I wish I had a hectic schedule to complain about but honestly I just wasn't feeling the inspiration. 

Anyways, I'm back (mostly) and I wanted to share one of my favorite summer (actually year round... lezbehonest) treats: Iced Chai Lattes.  Naturally, I started loving these back in highschool (many, many moons ago) from Starbucks, but as I got older my tastebuds changed and the intensity of the sugar in their chai just became unbearable. (I've heard you can order them differently but I do not have the patience for that.) 

I eventually found an adequate replacement that was definitely not too sweet (in fact they make one that  is intentionally "slightly sweet" from this brand Oregon Chai. I originally tried their regular flavor after working at a local cafe that used this for their chai drinks and loved it way more than the Starbucks version, but while I was living in Davis for college I was in a local version of Whole Foods and stumbled upon their slightly sweet version and fell even more in love. 

Needless to say I am a total convert and I don't think that I could ever, ever buy another iced chai from Starbucks again since I've been able to make these at home. I swear if you try it this way you too will be forever converted!

(Also on a random and totally unrelated note, I realize how this is totally free advertising for whatever company that is printed on my pint glass. I am not even remotely affiliated with them and this post has nothing to do with them and appears on my blog purely out of coincidence.)