February Glam Bag is Unzipped

February Glam Bag

2018

     This month's bag is all about "sexy," and I don't mean the pouty lip, skin tight clothes, buxom female, or ripped guy. Nope this is the new sexy which essentially means being comfortable in your own skin. This month's products are about subtle beauty and the natural look. From the bronzer to the bag it's pretty in pink, and from the lace to the lashes it gives it just the right touch.

     Speaking of bronzer...we have Luna by Luna. A pressed powder in golden bronze to give a sun kissed look during the last weeks of winter.

     To combat the cold of the winter months is Bye Bye Under Eye in Medium Tan by IT Cosmetics. This is great for those  late or sleepless nights. A little dap will do ya to help hide the wrinkles or as I like to call them, creases (where did those come from?!?) all day long. Also good for a redness around your nose as the ingredients will help soothe dry irritated skin and for lips before applying lipstick to help prevent feathering.

     So now that lips are prepped thank to IT we move on to this month's liquid lipstick by OFRA in a pretty berry shade created just for us Ipsters. Said to last all day long with a promise to keep your lips feeling moisturized. 

     Next is the PUR Fully Charged mascara that is as magnetic as your personality. Included in this month's rundown is a step by step for how to achieve the falsie look without the glue.  Check out those steps at the bottom of the page.

     Last item in my bag is my favorite! I love the skin care that I am sent each and every month and I am sure that this one will not disappoint. Purlisse Blue Lotus Seed Mud Mask & Exfoliant. The instructions say to start with clean skin, apply and let sit for 15 minutes, take a few #maskselfies (maybe if someone pays me to) and then rinse with cold water.

That's it for this month but check out my YouTube channel for the follow up videoblog and maybe even a #maskselfie. Be sure to subscribe to my blog for the latest in this and that!

Hugs!

Tracy

How to Use It

How to Make Your Lashes Look Like Falsies

Turn up the drama, minus the glue.

1. Curl your lashes.

2. Sweep on a coat of lash primer, focusing most of it on the tips.

3. When applying mascara, wiggle the wand back and forth at the base of your lashes.

4. Then, swipe through from the roots to the tips. Repeat until your lashes look falsie-fierce, but wait about 30

seconds between coats to help bulk things up.  

    

Catering Cozys Courtesy of NetGalley and

S'more Murders by Maya Corrigan (A Five-Ingredient Mystery)

Cozys and catering, cozys and chocolate, cozys and characters! This book was S'more much fun that I can't wait to read the next installment! I for one LOVE a good meal and when it is incorporated into a murder mystery dinner party it is even BETTER! Unless of course the host of the party dies....That is not how the game usually goes and this one is a little tricky but Val Deniston is ready to take on this Titanic mystery. So many guilty parties to choose from but which one fired the fatal shot and why? A young widow, the ex wife and former stepson, and new neighbors, What is the connection and how does the host's obsession with all things Titanic play a part in this catered playacting party. They didn't even get to finish the main course let alone dessert and these were exquisitely created meals from the original Titanic dinner menu. Val, her friend and expert S'more maker Bethany, and Val's Granddad this mystery is sure to be unraveled faster than an iceberg can melt.  Best of all each of the featured recipes only requires 5 ingredients to create a YUMMY meal.

Murder on the Rocks by Shawn Reilly Simmons



Penelope Sutherland and her best friend and actress, Alena start this adventure off with a nice brunch with tennis pro Nadia, that ends in chaos as Russian street punks terrorize the local bistro. No apparent reason involved

Death on the Menu (Key West Food Critic Mysteries)

by Lucy Burdette

 

Location, location, location....oh and food!  What more could this book have to make it an excellent read? It's tropical, it's fun, it's filled with flavorful Cuban recipes, it's Key West. Of course it is also filled with murder shrouded in a mystery with an international flair. Cuba and Key West. Hayley Snow, food critic and catering assistant is very excited to be helping her Mom's fledgling business play host to the Cuban delegation at President Harry S. Truman's Little White House. Although tension is in the air so is the excitement of this brave new venture until murder and theft take place. The priceless Nobel prize medal awarded to Key West's own Ernest Hemingway for his Old Man and the Sea which was on loan from Cuba goes missing and the suspected thief is found dead. Names need to be cleared, a national treasure found and a murderer caught all while serving the equivalent of a state dinner and maintaining international relations. Hayley has her job cut out for her as she creates wonderful Cuban dishes (recipes in the back of the book), critiques local eateries (great sandwiches) and helps her family and friends to solve the crime.  Loved this book and can't wait to give the series to my Mom (an alumni of Key West high class of 1965) as a Christmas gift. An excellent read even though it does have some poly-sci undertones regarding the plight of the Cubans under Castro's regime.

Halloween 2017 Inspired Cozy Mysteries courtesy of NetGalley

 I decided that for October I would focus on Halloween-ish cozy mysteries for the month.  Here are my reviews of my 3 NetGalley picks.

The Skeleton Paints a Picture by Leigh Perry
Some people have a proverbial skeleton in their closet, but adjunct Professor Georgia Thackery has a literal skeleton.  Which seems very appropriate for a literary professor whose best friend and sometimes sleuthing  partner is Sid the skeleton.  I loved this dip into the fantastic!  Being an adjunct means that Georgia goes where there is work and this time she finds herself at an art school that has decided to beef up its literary department. Apparently the school admin should have considered beefing up security because not only is original artwork being stolen from the students and resold as snazzy t-shirts on the net, another adjunct lit professor is murdered while investigating the problem and Georgia and Sid are the ones who find her. It could be anyone, from the art students to the faculty even that pesky co-worker who won't take no for a dating answer.  Sid holds it together (with sheer will power, he doesn't have any muscles and such) and helps Georgia to paint the picture and solve the crimes.



Grave Errors by Carol Perry
This was my second Lee Barrett book and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one.  Lee lives in Salem, Massachusetts, THE Salem, Massachusetts and teaches TV production in a small local school; and this time the story takes place right before Halloween.   It's not what you think, Lee isn't a witch but she does have an ability.  She can get psychic visions whenever she looks into a reflective surface.  From the mirror in her room to the gigantic shiny Buster Brown shoe behind her work desk.  These visions are usually brought on by murder and mayhem.  This time it's the sibling of a student who traveled all the way from the wilds of Alaska to find out what happened to her sister.  If that wasn't spooky enough, the class decides that it would be fun to promote El Dia de los Muertos aka the Day of the Dead as a class project which means visiting a graveyard...several times. In the midst of all this Lee will try to help her police officer boyfriend to get to the bottom of the girls death that was ruled a suicide, but was it?


A Catered Costume Party by Iris Crawford
This is the first cozy mystery I have read that started with a narrated murder. Darrius Witherspoon takes us step by step through the demise of his wife only to be found dead at his own Halloween soiree catered by our sister heroines; Bernie and Libbie Simmons.  No strangers to suspense and the occasional dead body, these ladies get busy snooping out clues while doing their best to whip up tasty treats and stay out of jail.  The local law enforcement does not appreciate their "meddling." To add to the macabre of this story is the mysterious Berkshire Arms apartment co-op where the  place overseen by it's own murder of crows.  The police say it's suicide but the girls were left instructions and promise of payment from Witherspoon just in case. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and character development was spot on.  I will take a look at the previous installments although this story did just fine as a stand alone and can't wait to try out the recipes.

Crafting Murder Triple Review

This is three reviews in one since I read two of the books back to back with the 3rd being an early release courtesy of  Kensington Books and NetGalley.com


Death Among the Doilies
Meet Cora Chevalier and her friend/business partner Jane Starr.  Crafter/blogger extraordinaire and now craft retreat guru.  Cora and Jane have relocated from the city to the quiet mountain town of Indigo Gap, North Carolina to turn a historic house into a crafters retreat inn.  The first retreat is always the most challenging from the guests to the guest teachers and it doesn't help when the local librarian turns up dead and Jane's fingerprints are found at the scene. It was the small town feel that lured the ladies to Indigo Gap but that same small town is full of whispers and locals who want justice served and an outsider is always the first to be blamed.  Cora needs to organize more than just scrapbooking if she is to save the fledgling business and her best friend. Included with the stories are crafting tips.

No Charm Intended
Having learned many lessons from their first retreat, the crafty ladies are back to work with clay and a new batch of retreat guests.  Having become friendlier with the townsfolk, Jane often uses Gracie Wyke, local nanny/law student to watch over her daughter while working a retreat class.  Gracie's boyfriend Paul shows up on their doorstep distraught over the disappearance of Gracie who seems to have disappeared down the yellow brick road and is no longer in Indigo Gap.  Paul insists that Gracie would never run off and leave him even though the authorities insist there are not clues. It's up to Cora to balance it all while keeping her anxiety at a low and her energy up high as she charms her way through this latest mystery.


Macramé Murder
Mollie Cox Bryan does not disappoint.  This third installment takes the crafters to a retreat away from home and to the coast.  Who ever said that a bad day at the beach is better than a good day at home would usually be right.  After all, Cora is getting a chance to spend quality time with Adrian, her new boyfriend.  At least until he is put under house arrest for being the number one suspect in the murder of a well to do mermaid folklore writing islander who not only is found dead on her wedding night but is also an old flame of Adrian's.  Cora must quell her fears and handle her anxiety attacks while still being the excellent blog teacher she is known to be while getting to the bottom of this fishy situation at the Big Island Craft Retreat filled with mermaids, murder, and macramé.

Move Over Uber, Here Comes Lime Bike

 I've noticed this Lime Bike around the office over the last few weeks and was intrigued. Why would someone just leave a bike unattended and not in a bike rack.  As you can see it is essentially in the middle of Halifax Mall hanging out.
Lime Bike is the new way to get around in the urban sprawl, which is going to be quicker than by foot or with the traffic crawl.
These bikes can be found in only three states and I am pleasantly surprised that North Carolina is one of them.  This reminds me of the Zipp Car idea, use an app take a drive, pay for service.  The Lime Bike is the same way, use the app, take a ride, pay for service.  The bike has a special locking mechanism that will become freed up when using the app and a QR code reader.  Becoming increasingly popular on college campuses, I can only deduce that this was at State and the biker made their way to the downtown area.  The website states that the first ride is free so perhaps instead of a lunch time run, I'll try the Lime Bike on these rolling hills and go for a spin.

Dead and Ganache

It is time to head into fall with tasty treats and excellent reads.  The next two months picks will be Halloween related but I just can't start until October so this month I will end with a chocolate book after all isn't Halloween about sweet treats.




Chocolate, who wouldn't like a story about chocolate?  Added bonus we get to learn a bit more about Harvard aka, Hayden's voice crush financial advisor who faces his fear of flying to be by her side (and she didn't even ask him to).  The muscle of the story, Danny is laid up from eye surgery so we have a flip flop of roles.  Hayden Mundy Moore, chocolate whisper, is in a small French village to wish her mentor Philippe Vetault happy retirement when he is brutally murdered with a chocolate chipping tool that apparently no true chocolatier would ever use.  So many possible culprits there is the Mentor's latest protégé to a French pop star's video crew to the rival company that is marrying into the Vetault family and even his own wife and her lover, not to mention the usual town suspects.  Another great book with great recipes and I LOVE that Travis made a visceral appearance and hope to see him just as involved in future installments!

Coke Zero or Coke Zero Sugar

Who can resist those cute little aluminum cans that various Coke products can be found in these days.  I certainly could not when I saw the new Coke Zero Calorie.  I tend to stay away from artificially sweetened beverages since starting the Bulletproof Diet way of life this past January.  According to the nutritional information (sounds like a misnomer right) both products have the exact same ingredients.  So then they should taste the same, right?  However I realize that if you add a little more of something and a little less of something else it will change the flavor of what you are concocting. My guess is that the true ingredients are proprietary so we will never really know what gives Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, or Coke Zero Sugar the flavors that they are infused with.  For my part after trying the new improved Coke Zero Sugar, it tastes like they upped the clove flavor a tad and there isn't the after taste quite as much as with a Diet Coke but all in all my taste buds detected very little in the way of a NEW and IMPROVED flavor.  Both products are/were sweetened with Aspartame and not sugar so they are/were both zero sugar either way.  My  house is more of a stevia group these days and we try to stay away from the lure of sugar sweet syrup disguised as thirst quenching beverages.