BB Cream


This BB Cream is a literal lifesaver.

It smooths the complexion, adjusts to any skin tone, and adds just a hint of color. Mostly, I wear it under my foundation. But on days I don’t have the time and/or energy to apply a full face of makeup, I use my fingertips to quickly blend this into my skin, and wha-laa, I look like my skin is naturally pretty, haha. And, the price is a steal. You can pick it up at any drugstore, or get at Ulta and use one of their coupons to get it for even less.


XOXO,

Erika

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Foundation

Foundation is one of those things that I’m constantly on the lookout for something better (aren’t we all on the quest for flawless skin?). I’ve been wearing IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ for at least six months, and so far, I have little inclination to search for another. It hits on all of my major requirements: SPF, long-wearing, and natural (while providing lots of breathable coverage). I like this one because it really covers pores and redness without settling into my fine lines (whyyy can’t I be young forever?). It’s priced along the lines of most department store foundations, but I think it lasts a little longer, especially if you apply with a wet beauty blending sponge (which I do). I also wear it over this Loreal BB cream. It definitely requires a setting powder, as it feels a little tacky if you don’t, but I wear that anyway so it doesn’t bother me at all. Click on the link below to shop.


XOXO,

Erika

 

 

 

 

 

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Big Little Lies


 

“Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal…

A murder…a tragic accident…or just parents behaving badly?  

What’s indisputable is that someone is dead. But who did what?

Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

 

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

If you are a fan of intrigue, subtle, and not-so-subtle hilarity, and just the right amount of serendipity, this book will not only speak to you, it will create an addiction that will keep you up at night, determined to find out what stunning revelation awaits you. The narrating voice of Madeline is genius in its execution and her coined phrase “Oh, calamity” becomes an exclamation point ending many a turbulent scene. What could easily become an annoying catchphrase, manages to make an already endearing character even more so.

BIG LITTLE LIES tackles huge societal issues, yet still manages to serve them to readers with surprising delicacy topped with an interesting drizzle of honey. Consider moving this to the top of your reading queue, and perhaps even abandoning your current read to delve into this one as soon as possible. BIG LITTLE LIES is the dessert of your reading menu, but trust me when I say you’ll want to eat it first.

XOXO,

Erika

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Crimes Against a Book Club

“Best friends Annie and Sarah need cash—fast. Sarah, a beautiful, successful lawyer, wants nothing more than to have a baby. But balancing IVF treatments with a grueling eighty-hour workweek is no walk in the park. Meanwhile, Annie, a Harvard-grad chemist recently transplanted to Southern California, is cutting coupons to afford her young autistic son’s expensive therapy. Desperate, the two friends come up with a brilliant plan: they’ll combine Sarah’s looks and Annie’s brains to sell a “luxury” antiaging face cream to the wealthy, fading beauties in Annie’s La Jolla book club. The scheme seems innocent enough, until Annie decides to add a special—and oh-so-illegal—ingredient that could bring their whole operation crashing to the ground.

If you’re in need of a good laugh, then CRIMES AGAINST A BOOK CLUB is your answer. A light read with lots of wit and charm, you’ll find yourself following eagerly along as the protagonists tackle real life problems with a creative and comical solution. Enjoyable and unconventional, CRIMES AGAINST A BOOK CLUB earns 3.5 stars. This is a fun read to pass an uneventful afternoon, but I knocked a star off for the absurdity of the storyline. While hilarious, I had a hard time seeing this play out in real life. I’d recommend downloading to your kindle or reading app for the next rainy day or long plane ride.

 

XOXO,

Erika

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When Breath Becomes Air

“At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir. Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.”

An emotional memoir of a young neurosurgeon’s battle with advanced lung cancer; this novel is an intricate view into life, death, and the grey area in between told by someone experiencing them all. The reader is taken along on a poignant journey that, in time, we all must face. WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR is raw, poetic and full of thoughtprovoking insights, such as: “There is perhaps only one thing to say to this infant, who is all future, overlapping briefly with me, whose life, barring the improbable, is all but past.”

WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR earns 5 out of 5 stars for it’s beautiful and profound impact on the reader. Tissues are a requirement, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing the force of this emotional testimony. Better yet, read it, and tell the author’s wife how thoroughly you enjoyed doing so on April 25th 2017. Details are listed below.

 

“Nothing is ours except time” – Seneca

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