[Review] DHC Lip Cream

I am a lip balm hoarder. It started in elementary school with Lip Smackers (remember those?) and escalated from there. I've already done a post about my balm obsession, I just didn't have this beauty to add to it at the time.

I am obsessed with this product. I think it's the end all of lip balms, I use so much of it I need to take stock in DHC.

I briefly mentioned it in my DHC haul post, now I want to focus just on this lip cream.

The packaging and design is very simple. I think that the tube is slightly thinner than your average lipstick, and the product itself definitely is. I like that it's a light color and easy to find in my purse.



As you can see, the lip cream itself is a slightly yellow color. That color is only on the product, it doesn't do make your lips that color! It goes on completely transparent and leaves a lovely sheen. It is chock full of vitamin E and olive oil that really nourishes your lips. According to DHC, it also fights signs of aging! Bonus!

This is what I've used since I got it a few weeks ago. It doesn't take me long to power through a tube. It may be a little sad how fast I go through it, but my lips look fabulous. 

In almost every picture I take, I'm wearing this stuff. 

I never brush my hair out, birds need a nest to hang out. Because I look fucking cool!

A photo posted by Vonnie (@petitefeet79) on Feb 25, 2015 at 2:23pm PST

Keep in mind, that has been on my lips a few hours at that point. Still pouty, perfect, and moisturized.

To get your own tube, go to dhccare.com  and pick up your own tube for $8. There is a deal where you can get two for $13.50, a stellar deal.

Thank you for reading my review!

xx Vonnie

Spanish Moss Makes Me Happy

I love Spanish Moss. It's one of the things that I will always relate to the South, where I live. I have a giant oak tree on my porch, and that oak tree reaches out over to the tree in the next yard. Both are covered in moss. It makes me feel at peace for some odd reason.

The neighbors probably think it's an eyesore, but I don't care. I love my moss. 

Eyeliner Comparisions

Last night I was organizing my makeup drawer and realized I have more eyeliner than I probably need. Then I got the bright idea to do some comparisons!

This is my little collection. Just like when I shared my polish collection, I realized I've got some eyeliners missing, particularly my favorite Cover Girl liquid.

All of these liners came from Sally Beauty Supply except for the Wet n Wild. Click on the links to each color to be taken to the site where you can purchase it.

From left to right: Femme Couture Eye Drama Glitter Pencil in Purple ($3.99), Femme Couture Eye Drama Liquid Eyeliner in Wicked and then Purple Potion ($6.99), and finally Palladio Herbal Eyeliner Pencil in Black ($3.29). Palladio also makes an AMAZING rice powder that I use for a setting powder.

I was honestly disappointed with those glitter liners. I expected a better coverage than what was offered. If you layer it over another liner the result is much better, but still leaves much to be desired. For the price I expected some disco ball eyes. 

Each of these liners is very easy to get off with makeup remover. I used my DHC Deep Cleansing Oil to remove it and the only thing that was left behind was the glitter. 

These are all of my Wet N Wild liners. The Coloricon is a great pencil that you can use for both brows and eyes. It goes on extremely well and lasts if you use a good eyeshadow powder to set it. 

The next is their H2O Proof is boss. It goes on well and dries fast. I did both a thin and thick line to show the versatility of the product. 

I can tell you that it takes a lot of effort to get the H20 liquid off. I used the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil again and I had to scrub hard to get it, and it still didn't get every little bit off. That dark little smudge that's left on my hand? It's still there even after a shower and washing my hands a few times today. That liner is a powerhouse product. 

What I've learned from this?

Never let anyone make fun of you for using Wet n Wild products because they are cheap and in drugstores. Their quality has improved vastly over the years and it shows in that eyeliner! Wet n Wild isn't just for teenagers learning to use makeup for the first time anymore!

My eyes are my favorite feature, so I love to collect eyeliner and play up my eyes as much as possible.

What are your favorite liners?

xx Vonnie

Nail of the Moment

Nails for today is China Glaze Howl You Doin', jacked cuticles and all. They look like crud today!

I don't think this is available anymore since it was from their Halloween collection in 2013, but you might be able to find it on Ebay!

I love my darker shades, and this one is even more loved because it's got glitter! I'm such a glitter queen. I'd be covered in it if I wouldn't shed glitter everywhere. 

To show off, I'm holding onto my favorite DHC Lip Cream. All of the pics I tried to take with the bottle were so awkward! I need a third hand. *nods*

Have a great night, loves!

Nail Polish Collection

I'm still really sick, but I wanted to share my nail polishes because I'm a total polish freak. This collection is much smaller than it used to be. On almost every occasion my mother buys me a ton of different color collections and I've given most of them to my sister. I've got two nieces who are just like their auntie and love doing their nails in wild colors. When they come over it's the one thing that they always want to do. 

I actually think that some of my polishes are missing, which is no bueno. 

This is what's left in one of my old purses. I pulled out all of the nail accessories since I'm not featuring those. 

China Glaze is my ultimate favorite as far as nail polish brands go. We have a Sally Beauty Supply not very far from my house, which is where I buy almost all of my polish. 

Here are the colors from left to right.  

Top  Row: Below Deck, Foie Gras, Agro, Riveting, Harvest Moon, Hook and Line

Bottom Row: Love Marilyn, Make A Spectacle, Electrify, Smoke and Ashes, Ghoulish Glow, Howl You Doin', Dress Me Up

Almost all of those I got when the first Hunger Games movie came out and China Glaze released a collection based on each district. Luckily, I got most of clearance. Score!

This is my Hard Candy, what I have left, and the few OPI that I still have. 

I used to use Hard Candy in the 90's, when it wasn't something you could just go to Walmart and buy, and this does not compare to the quality that it once was. I honestly don't like it all that much, except the glitter. 

The OPI is a mini trio from the Skyfall collection that I snagged at my hairdresser's shop. I use the red the most. 

This is just my little miscellaneous stuff. The three Kiss products I only really use the base coat and top coat since they are strengthening. I have weak nails thanks to shoddy genetics. It works like magic!

The nude L'oreal color is from their nudes collection. I got the Doutzen color because it's one of the best nudes that I've yet found for my skin color. 

That Sinful Colors purple is amazing, though when you put it on it looks like it has more blue hues. I expected something totally royal purple. It reminds me of grapes!

I love my Princess Bubblegum polish! I got that in a two set, the other was Finn and it was blue. I gave that to a friend of mine. It comes out so much brighter than it looks in the bottle. Very Barbie pink. 

Last is a simple black from LA Colors that I swiped at a dollar store. 

As I write this, I definitely know I've got missing colors, since my favorite China Blue is missing. There is an elderly Chinese gentleman in the flea market here that sells polish and other beauty products for under $5. I love going to see him when I'm able to travel. 

So that's my small collection! 

What are your favorite nail colors to use? Let me know in the comments below! I love hearing from you!

(I don't know why, but recently I haven't been able to reply to comments. I'm working on a way to fix that since I miss talking to everyone! Trust, I'm not ignoring you, I'm just having some technical difficulties <3

Vonnie

Honey For Your Mug

No, not for your tea mug!

For your face!

So many people forget that honey has amazing antiseptic properties, and has been used for thousands of years for healing wounds. The pharm companies have even caught onto it and are producing specialized honey wraps and wound dressings. When my mother was in the hospital last they gave us some dressings for when she got home and it did a wonderful job at healing the wounds on her feet.

This stuff is the bomb dot com!

At least once a week, I like to do a quick honey mask using ingredients that you can find right in your own kitchen and medicine cabinet. Sometimes, if I need a little exfoliation and want some anti inflammatory properties, I will throw in some crushed up aspirin. Next week I will do that and show you how I do it!

All you need is a jar of honey. Since I don't have my usual on hand, I used plain Publix brand honey. 

As you can see, it's just regular clover honey, nothing special. I generally use it in my tea, too!

There is one thing that I need to say that is extremely important. 

Look at the ingredients and make sure that it is just plain honey. There are a lot of things out there that are marketed as "honey", even bottled in cute little bears, but when you look at the ingredients it is really just sugar with honey flavoring. That is bad, bad, bad! It does not have the same goodness that real honey offers.

If you can use organic, that is even better. 

Last night I decided to do a quick mask because I've got some breakouts coming on thanks to mother nature letting me know "congratulations, you made it another month without getting pregnant!". Such a sense of humor mother nature has. 

All I did was slather a thin layer to dry skin. 

Sticky icky icky!

You can't see, but I was a sticky mess. Be careful not to get it in your hair!

What you don't see is my mother standing behind me cracking jokes about washing it all off because I will get carried off by ants in the middle of the night if I don't! Mom always thinks she has joke ^_^

You can let the mask set on as long as you want, it won't hurt a thing. I like to let it go for ten minutes.

Take this ten minutes to check your email, sweep the floor, whatever. I took the dogs out. 

Waiting on the porch for Autumn to do her biz.

After you've left it on for however long you desire, wash off with lukewarm water, never hot. It's not good for your skin!

Honey washes off surprisingly easily. Make sure you get it all off and then follow with your usual nightly routine. Mine is washing with my DHC Mild Soap and following it with my DHC Moisture Fruit gel cream. 

Clean happy face!

You aren't going to see results right away if you have breakouts, but I did notice a slight difference in the blackheads in my nose and in my pores, which were slightly smaller than when I started. 

Please let me know if you try this, and what your results are!

What are your favorite at home DIY beauty treatments? 

What The Butternut?

I am usually pretty hard to piss off, but right now I am beyond pissed and flat out irate. Here are some illustrations of how that could possibly look.

This is pissed off. 

This is irate. 

Someone keeps reporting my photos on photobucket as offensive.

First it was my chicken noodle soup. Then I assumed it was some vegan with a chip on their shoulder and a nasty attitude that didn't want to even see animal product. I unhid it and blew a raspberry in that person's general direction.

This time it was a picture of my DHC Deep Cleansing Oil. That one I flat out don't get. Maybe the bottle was phallic in their eyes? Maybe they are a hardcore fan of regular soap and water and want all other alternatives banned? Maybe they just don't wash period?

I don't flippin know.

Joke is on you - that account is just a halfway between my phone and my computer since I don't want to hook up my iPhone to my PC (I'd feel blasphemous - I'm an Apple girl all the way and using this thing is bad enough). None of the pictures on my blog are hosted there. Complain all you want because it's not going to take any images down.

I have one message for the person being such a dick thinking they are being funny: 

Physical Therapy Report 1

Today I had my first physical therapy appointment, and it went very well. My doctor, Muhammad, took me through some exercises and guaranteed I'd feel better after just one treatment.

I can say that I do! I was a little wobbly after he took my head and pretty much rolled it around and shook it a little to get my ear crystals back into place, but I feel better overall.

Now I'm not allowed to lay down until 9PM so I don't undo all of the work he has done.

I also learned one of my visual issues: too many things moving around me all at once.

My sister and I were going to get lunch, which is maybe two miles down the road from the physical therapy building. I ALMOST made it. We were going through heavy traffic and I started to get really dizzy and nauseous so she had to bring me home.

It hit me when we were on one of the side roads away from all of the traffic - I felt completely fine. Once that excessive visual stimuli was removed I was okay again.

It was the absolute strangest thing!

She dropped me off at home and then went to pick up lunch for us, so I took that time to call my grandmother and we had a nice long talk. I think it's important to call her and keep a close relationship with her. She's 93 years old. I don't like to think that we won't have much time with her left as I don't like to even really think about my own mortality, but that is the reality of things.

There are so many things I can still learn from my grandmother. I call her almost every day just to see how she has been that day. We haven't always had this relationship and now that we are on very good terms I want to keep it that way. I'm finally making her proud by going into nursing like she's always wanted. She's always said I could be a lawyer because I could argue down a wall!

Now I'm going to spend the rest of my day curled up with my heater. It's so cold here in South Florida right now! When I woke up it was 32F. Tomorrow is supposed to be colder. Ick, ick, ick! I'm a tropical baby, this does not suit me!

For all of my readers who celebrate, Happy Year of the Sheep! May this new year bring you much luck and prosperity!

Illness Diagnosis and Healing

I finally got a diagnosis for my illness!

After almost six months of nausea and dizziness on a daily basis, it was determined that my inner ear was the source of all of this foolishness.

The doctor is telling me all of this and I'm confused as hell, because I seriously had no idea that my inner ear could cause all of those problems that I've been having, the constant nausea and dizziness, general gastrointestinal issues, headaches from all hell, blood pressure drops.... The list feels never ending.

It still baffles me that all of those symptoms that were all over the place, that countless doctors have seen and couldn't figure out one doctor figured out after a few tests and feeling all over my face. He also noticed that my TMJ had gotten worse and gave me some recommendations on how to manage that. One of those recommendations is getting dental implants where I had some teeth pulled before I was able to afford root canals. At this point it's still out of the question since most dental implants cost at the lowest around $2000. That's just not feasible right now after all of the money I've sunk into other medical testing.

Now I've been put on a regimen of vitamins that are formulated for ringing in the ears and after only a few days of taking them I can already feel a difference. It's a bit much as far as dosage, two tablets three times a day, but they work and I can't believe it.

I've also been given Valium. Yes, it is for anxiety, but in lower doses it helps with balance. As the doctor put it, it calms that nerve between my ear and my brain that has been causing my issues with balance and nausea. He said I can take one or two of them at 2mg a piece, but one puts me to sleep! I have taken to taking halves when I need them. I'm sure I'll have to take a full one when I have to travel places.

He also gave me a muscle relaxer for night to help manage my TMJ. I've had muscle relaxers before. My primary care phys has given them to me on several occasions when I've hurt myself, and the doc in the ER has given them to me before, but they were the same weaker meds that my regular doc gave me. We have a major pill problem where I live, so I can see why he gave me something that was a tad weak. This stuff my ENT gave me is nothing to mess with. I took my first dose on Monday night and it messed me up so bad. It said half an hour before bed, but I figured it was going to be just like the other stuff I've had and took it an hour or so before bed and planned to still work on blog posts.

Big Mistake.

It was a horrible experience. After half an hour it had me so limp I couldn't even text my boyfriend. Thank God for speak to text. When he got home from work he had to help me to the bathroom because I couldn't walk. I don't remember much from that night.

Tomorrow I start physical therapy. I'm not sure what sort of physical therapy there can be for my ears. I'll find out then, I suppose!

[Review] DHC Deep Cleansing Oil

One of my favorite products ever is DHC's Deep Cleansing Oil. It is an amazing multitasker. 

I will admit, I was afraid at first to use an oil cleanser on my skin. My skin is combination. That said, my oily bits are mostly on my forehead and some parts on my cheeks and the sides of my nose. 

I asked myself is an oil really going to make a difference? 

I thought back to something my aunt taught me. She is a huge believer in homeopathic remedies and taught me a lot. 

In homeopathy, like cures like. 

Taking that idea, what a better way to solve an oil problem on your face than use an actual oil? 

This is the bottle of the cleansing oil. Looks kinda like olive oil, right? 

It's really easy to use. With dry hands and face, massage the oil into your skin. 

For a deeper clean, sometimes I let it sit for around ten minutes. It leaves my face tingling!

I generally use only around two pumps of oil when I cleanse. The picture below gives you an idea of how much that is, maybe a tablespoon of oil max. A little goes a very long way. 

Once you have it on, you're going to look like a greasy mess!

While I'm waiting, I will get the rest of my face routine together, or straighten up the bathroom since I hate an untidy bathroom ^_^

Hot Greasy Mess!

And after you wash it off, great skin appears!

I always use a luke warm water to wash my face, never hot. It feels really good, but doesn't do lovely things for your skin!

I also imagined, since it's an oil, that it would be a little difficult to get off. That is the farthest from the truth. As you start to wash it off it turns to a milky white and comes off of your face with great ease. 

Hot mess gone, hot mama left behind!

The only thing that bothers me at all about this oil is the smell. It has a very strange smell to me. It isn't quite chemical, it's just not scented to smell like flowers or fruit. I assume that the smell is the scent of the various oils used to make this cleanser. 

I think my favorite thing about this cleanser is it kills my blackheads. I have a problem with blackheads on my nose and my chin and with twice daily use it has wiped them out. 

You can also use this oil as a makeup remover. I love that it multitasks like a beast. 

It leaves your skin feeling soft and moisturized. 

You can use it as a standalone product, but I recommend using it as the very beginning of a skin regimen. I follow the oil cleanser with the DHC Mild soap to get anything that the oil cleanser may have left behind, followed by my DHC Moisture Fruit Gel Cream as a moisturizer. 

The last thing I need is a toner! Then my regimen will be complete!

Overall:

I say this cleanser is a toot. 

It gets the job done and makes my skin feel nice, and it also removes makeup. 

It is a little pricey at $28.00 USD for 6.7 oz but I think it's worth it to have beautiful healthy skin. 

You can get this product, and many more olive oil based products, at DHC's website.

DHC is one of Japan's leaders in skincare and only offer very high quality products. 

You only get one body, take care of the one you have!

Inspirations: Velvet Goldmine

One of my biggest inspirations to get into makeup and fashion was the movie Velvet Goldmine, and the general glam rock of the day. After seeing that movie I was all about the glitter makeup, platform shoes, extravagant long scarves, wild coats. I did a lot of my shopping in thrift stores and actually wore some of the pieces of the day. 

While I never went as bold with the colors as this old ad, I definitely pulled inspiration from things like this.

In my teenage years, David Bowie was it for me. His fashion really inspired my look at the time. 

Now we have some images from the movie, Velvet Goldmine. 

This shot of Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Kurt Wilde (Ewan McGregor) has always been close to my heart. I loved the metallics, and Brian's eyebrows that were on point!

The curves of your lips rewrite history.

This one I haven't seen until recently. I loved the top hat and cravat, went around quoting lines from the movie. 

I also took a lot of inspiration from Brian's wife Mandy, played by Toni Collette. She was really something else in this movie. I wanted to raid her closets so bad!

This is my favorite look of hers. I actually went out and found a wig that looked almost just like that and wore it so much. I lent it to a friend to use in a drag beauty contest and never got it back :( I think he kept it because he felt it was lucky - he didn't have a wig ten minutes before the show went on so I lent him mine and he won!

For those of you who haven't seen this movie, this is the trailer. 

This movie influenced me more than I can express. I loved the colors, the music, the hair. 

I will never forget the impact that it had on me during my teenage years. It will always be in my top ten favorite movies. 

Do you have any movies that influenced you? Tell me in the comment section below!

I Have A Diagnosis!

If you've been a reader of my blog for a while, then you will know I've been quite ill.

Today I had my followup appointment with my ENT to discuss the results from Friday's test, and it turns out that all of my problems stemmed from my left inner ear being weaker than my right, and severe TMJ.

Unfortunately there is no magic pill or surgery that can easily fix this, just physical therapy and letting my ear begin to heal on its own.

I now have even more pills added to my nightly rounds.

I am just so happy to finally have a doctor say to me "yes, we know what is wrong, and we know how to fix it"! It has been so frustrating that no one knew what to do with me other than run more tests than I could afford!

Now I just wait for the physical therapy office to call me for my consultation. I am ready to start getting better.

Vonnie Cooks Chicken Noodle Soup!

Since we are in the middle of a very mild winter here in Florida, I don't get many chances to cook a lot of my real winter favorites, like heavy soups and stews. It's been colder in the last few days than it has been in well over a year so I decided tonight deserved some yummy and hearty chicken noodle soup with veggies.

What you'll need:

• chicken breast
• chicken bouillon cubes or granules
• egg noodles
• veggies of choice (fresh or tinned)
• large stock pot

First thing's first, fill your stock pot with 10 cups (about two and a third liters) of water. Then dissolve your granules or cubes in that water. My brand called for one teaspoon per cup of water, so I put in ten. 

Put the pot over a medium high heat to bring to a boil. 

While that is happening, you have time to work on your chicken!

I had a very large package of chicken breasts, way too many for one dish, so I pulled out what I needed and the rest went into the freezer. 

I took a little extra time to get most of the fat off of the chicken. I hate meat with fat! I also seasoned it with pepper and garlic on both sides. No salt, because the bouillon has a lot of sodium and I didn't want to overpower the flavor of the chicken with salt. 

Bye bye! See you next week!

Once you've prepped your chicken, into the pot it goes!

I like to boil my chicken for about an hour. That gives it enough time to cook through and come back out of the pot super moist and juicy in the middle. It also makes it easier to pull apart so you can put it back into the pot!

One hour later

It looks very yellow from the bouillon! It's also piping hot! After you've taken out your chicken turn the heat down a bit and let it simmer while you pick apart the chicken. I do this all by hand, and it takes about twenty minutes. 

Ta da! One plate of shredded chicken. 

Now that you've done that, it's time to add your noodles!

I just used simple yolk free egg noodles from the Dollar Tree for this recipe because that is what my boyfriend likes. You can use any type of noodle you wish, just mind the cooking time. Some noodles take longer than others to soften to perfection. For soups, you aren't supposed to boil these for any longer than six minutes. 

After the noodles have been boiling for about three minutes, I add the chicken back in. I also added another two cups of water to add more broth - a lot had boiled out. 

Just for fun, and more nutrition, we decided to add in green beans and carrots tonight. 

After this, all you have to do is let everything heat back up and it's ready to serve!

I added a bit more pepper for some more heat to fight the cold, but you can season it to your own personal tastes ^_^

Altogether, this took roughly two hours to make, with lots of down time when the chicken was boiling. I managed to fold laundry while I was waiting!

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my little lesson on home made chicken noodle soup. Let me know if you try it!

RuSical Acts

I've been doing a lot of cleaning today. It feels refreshing! This morning my tulip plant had three more blooms on it. I can't believe it! Here's to hoping I don't kill it. I so do not have a green thumb. 

Today, to get me amped for the new season of RuPaul's Drag Race, which starts March 2nd at 9EST on Logo, I'm going through videos of the final music video challenge! 

Each season the final contestants get to star in a music video for one of RuPaul's songs. It's a lot of pressure, isn't it! Each season the queens have turned it out!

Season 1

Covergirl featuring Nina Flowers, BeBe Zahara Benet and Rebecca Glasscock

Season 2

Jealous of my Boogie featuring Raven, Jujubee, and Tyra Sanchez

Season 3

Champion featuring Raja, Manila Luzon, and Alexis Mateo

Season 4

Glamazon featuring Phi Phi O'Hara, Sharon Needles, and Chad Michaels

Season 5

The Beginning featuring Jinkx Monsoon, Alaska, and Roxxxy Andrews

Season 6

Sissy that Walk featuring Courtney Act, Adore Delano, Bianca DelRio and Darienne Lake

This stuff is my power music! If I ever feel bad about myself, I put on a little RuPaul and I'm happy again in no time. 

Don't forget to tune in with me on March 2nd at 9PM EST on Logo to check out RuPaul's Drag Race season 7! I'm so excited!

[REVIEW] DHC Moisture Fruit Gel Cream

Recently I went on a little DHC splurge. I have tried all of the products before, except for the Moisture Fruit Gel Cream. I received samples of it already and made them stretch as long as I could. Then my boyfriend ordered me a full size tub!

What attracted me to this cream is it is made of fruit extracts and amino-acids. It's also quick absorbing, something that I try to look for in almost any lotion or cream. There's nothing like slathering on lotion and being a slippery mess, eh? 

First off, the packaging is super cute. 

Box Top

Box side w/description

If you can't read the image, this is what the box says:

"Lock in moisture with this fast-absorbing gel cream that supports your natural barrier with botanical extracts and an amino acid-based emollient. Extracts from four fruits and one fruit leaf condition for a soft and supple complexion."

Ingredients

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the jar is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. I do like that it's small enough to fit into my makeup bag so I can take it on the go. It's roughly the same size as my night time eye cream tub.

The cute theme was continued on the tub with the lace. I think that is one of the other things that attracted me to this product, as silly as that sounds!

 When you open the cream, there is a tiny plastic press over the top, but when I took of the lid this time the little plastic piece got stuck in the lid. As you can see it's got a nice and creamy texture, a little thick but not so much that it feels heavy on your face. 

 One of the things that first struck me was how good this cream smells. It smells of grapefruit, very light and crisp! 

It goes on very smoothly. You don't need much of this product to do the job at all. 

This is a moisturizer that can be used day or night, and it would be perfect under makeup. 

Of course, with every DHC order you get samples! I only requested the two bars of soap, BB Cream, and After Bath Hair Treatment, but they also sent me a Scalp Care shampoo and conditioner! Score!

This lotion is a total toot. 

It moisturizes without making you feel greasy, it smells nice, and the tub is very convenient for travel. 

Thank you for reading my review, and I hope that you will give DHC products a try! You can find this Moisture Fruit line and much more at DHC Skincare.