Fi-bros for life Limited Ellegee and Digital Nails Collab box

Hey everyone! Here I am with a box openeing. This is the Fi-bros for Life Limited Edition Collaboration box featuring special polishes by Ellegee and Digital Nails. It was putnout for fibromyalgia awareness day, and when it was announced I literally started to cry. I was diagnosed in 2009 with fibromyalgia and I have only been getting worse. Polish and make up are kind of my little pick me up on days where I can only where pajamas. So I just had to buy it. I just got my box in the mail today, I have been very excitedly stalking the mailman for this one.

The polishes that come inside are Chronic Badass by Ellegee and Whack with Poo Brain by Digial Nails. Ellegee also included some adorable bow nail charms and a thing of smarties. Digital Nails sent along toe seperators and a musache hair tie. So cute!

Chronic Badass is a glitter polish with black, purple, and magenta glitters, purple and silver butterflies,  and what looks like holo stars.
It's a lot of my favourite thing all packed into one polish. Its name symbolized the chronic nature of fibromyalgia and how tough we fibromites are battling it. Butterflies are the symbol of hooe for a cure, and purple is the colour chosen to reprisent the illness.

Whack with Poo Brain is a purple crelly with small dark purple shiny glitter, small black and white matte glitter, some slightly larger matte white squares and larger matte circles in light pink, black and white. There may be something I am missing too, there is a lot in there and it looks great!
Digital Nails called it Whack with Poo Brain based on an Adventure Time episode and her own experiences with fibromyalgia. She describes what is usually called fibro fog as whack with poo brain. I can totally relate! My fog gets so bad some times that I feel like I have poo brain too.

This is just my box opening post, I will be back with swatches and formula reviews later on. For now, check out the photos! It's dark and rainy today so they are not super great photos.

Trying to Catch up part 1

So I have had a lot going on. I have a lot of things that I need to post about and review, many colours to  make swatch posts about, and so many other things to catch up on. I am not being a lazy blogger, I promise!

It all really started with losing my bunny Hiro in March that I had for 7 years. She and I were bonded like someone would be bonded to a service animal. She practically was a service animal for me, anytime I was sick or very sad she would be right there with me. She knew when I would get migraines before I got them and would lick my forehead. So losing her was super hard on me. It was hard on my fiance too, and hard on our remaining bunny Mitzi. Hiro and Mitzi didn't get along great when they were loose in the house, but when they were in their enclosures they would groom each other through the bar openings and sit near each other. Hiro died of cancer and she was about 8 years old, which is about how long her breed lives. 8-10 years they say for a mini-rex, so we knew we didn't have much longer with her, but it was still a shock. The night before she was happy and playing and energetic, just as she always was. I woke up about 4 hours later to use the restroom, and went to check on the rabbits, as I usually do when I wake up in the night. It was her night to free range, so usually she would run up and get pets and I would go back to bed. This time she didn't, and I had a hard time finding her in the apartment. When i did find her she was laying on the floor breathing hard and seeming sick. Later that day we took her to the vet and had to put her down, so that she wouldn't be suffering. I know it was the right choice and I don't regret it. If we got the treatment for her she wouldn't get to be the happy and playful bunny she always was. At the vet's office she used her last bits of energy to cuddle with me and let me know it was ok and that she was ready.

We got her cremated and planted some flowers in her memory.

I know that she wouldn't want me to be sad, but I am still really sad over losing her. But I am also so happy to have met her.

Our furry friends don't live long enough it seems, but our time with them is so special. Do you have any pets or special memories with animals? Please share in the comments! I love to hear about it!

Trying to Catch Up, part 2

Part 2! Yeah, I didn't want to leave a huge wall of text, so here is part 2!

I have a lot of products that need to be talked about. Since my surgery and coming off my birth control pill my hormones have been all loopy which means acne. I know, yuck. I never really had break outs as a teen, so it's really surprising for me. So, I have been a little stressed over that. But I bought some great products that have been clearing it up really well! Which I plan to talk about soon. Adult acne is no fun, since when you are an adult you have to worry about wrinkles too.

Earlier this month a friend asked if we were ready to take in another bunny, because she knew one that needed a new home because the owners didn't have time for it. She would have taken her in, but she has 8 already and is fostering one more. So we met the bunny and she was just a sweetheart. Her and Mitzi got along really well on their first meeting and we said that we would take her. The owners were trying really hard to re-home her I guess and offered her to another person who also had a lot of rabbits, and probably wouldn't have time. Her name was Sophia.
We met with the owners, and they asked us all the questions, and seemed reluctant in there desire to give her up. We didn't know at the time they had been trying to give the rabbit to other people so ambitiously. My friend had been taking care of her for 2 weeks while they were on vacation, and they had taken her to the vet before they left. The vet signed her off in good health, but they declined any blood testing or anything. It's wise to get your rabbits levels checked 1-2 times a year to make sure their kidney levels and everything are good. They said she had a bladder infection, which was treated within the 2 weeks my friend had her. They agreed to let us take her home after deciding we would take good care and keep her healthy. They gave us a huge bag of hay for her, and some vitamins.
We had her home, and she was a little stressed at first about the move, but settled in really well. Her first week went great. She would sit with me on the couch and cuddle and just be adorable. Then that Sunday we brough her to Hoppy Hour, which is a weekly event for people to bring their rabbits to socialize and play with other rabbits, and her former owners came to visit. That day Sophie seemed a little lethargic, and tired. We figured it was because she was playing all morning and now it was her nap time, see rabbits have active times and nonactive times so they tend to just sleep in little windows of a couple hours through out the whole 24 period. After everyone had gone we stayed and she got a nail trim and they noticed she was dehydrated. We syringe fed her some water, and she perked up a little and seemed great. So after we got home I made sure to check on her and get water into her every couple hours.
The next day, was Monday. I woke up in the morning, after my fiance had left for work, to check on her and give her some more water. She seemed tired and out of it again, and when I picked her up she had a really bad case of diarrhea which can be deadly to rabbits. I cleaned her up, gave her some water and texted my fiance. We got her an appointment right after he got home from work. My vet is one of those super vets who can take a look at the animal and know if they are sick. She told us she was dehydrated and anemic, and we did blood tests to make sure. Her red blood cell count was 12%, and the normal is 40%. She also found a tumor and ultra sounded it. Sophie had cancer. We were told she was 2 maybe 3 years old. The vet looked at her teeth and told us she is probably closer to 6. We took her home, and had a lot to think about.
At this point we had to spend some of our rent on getting her checked out, but we felt it was justified. We called our friend and told her. We called the former owners and told them. They wanted to take her back, and would pick her up after they got off work. We explained that she needed to be syringe fed water and food every couple of hours, so they declined taking her. But they wanted to help with the vet bills.
Tuesday came around and she was worse. So much more dehydrated and lethargic. She started to refuse the syringes of water. The original owners called and decided that it was the stress of moving that made her sick, so they wanted to bring her old cage over. We said ok because at that point we knew she didn't have long and we wanted her to just have a peaceful passing. After a few hours of refusing the water she started to have tics, and we made an appointment to put her down. I was just holding her at then, crying because I was so sad that she had a hard life. Mitzi came up to me to say goodbye to Sophie. It was not long after that she passed. Right in my arms. We informed the former owners that they didn't have to come, and that we would take her to be cremated. They were 100% ok with this, but weren't sure if they wanted some of ashes or not. They wanted to help pay the costs of cremation.
It took us a few days before we could call them again. Sophie passing the way she did hit us really hard because it was so close to Hiro's passing. It's still hard, seeing I am typing this post up on the Saturday after she passed. When we did get a hold of them again their whole attitude was changed. They told us that it was our fault she died because we wouldn't bring her back to them. That she "died of a broken heart" and that we had no right to be upset because we only had her a short time. Since we took her and it was our fault they weren't going to help pay anything. I was livid. Not over the money, I don't care about that. We can make it back easy. I was upset because of the woman blaming us, and telling us we can't be upset. It was so hurtful. That call was on Thursday. It's now Saturday.

I drew a portrait of Sophie, remember her by. I am also selling prints of it to help us catch up on our bills that we missed due to her care. I miss her a lot, even if it was a short time. I loved her a lot even though it was a short time. She touched the hearts of many people in our rabbit community as well.

So now, it's just catching up on my life after grieving and while grieving.

This is the portrait I made. It captures her personality so much. She was sweet and happy. She would fluff up her ears when she was excited (she was a lop).

If you would like to purchase a print of her portrait you can do so here: http://seraphimfeathers.storenvy.com/products/7156538-sophia-5x7-print

Color Me Monthly: May

My May Color Me Monthly came in today! I saw a picture online that I thought was a spoiler, and it was a terrible looking green. I think it was just in bad lighting because this polish is gorgeous!

It's a lively minty blue green shimmer. Super on trend for the colour right now, it's in the range of what I was expecting to get. The shimmer is strong in a clear/silver.

This polish reminds me of robins eggs and having tea in the garden. It's very May, and mother's day with out being pink. Such a wonderful addition to my collection.

Color Me Monthly is a subscribtion based nail polish service. They send you one polish every month chosen by their curators from the best of the best of the season's on trend colours. It's $7 each month, or $75 for 1 year. You can sign up to get CMM at http://colormemonthly.com/product-category/nail-polish-subscriptions/

Mani Monday

I had a busy week, so I missed last week's Mani Monday. The first one is from last week. Its Julep Flora and Kayla.

The second is this week's mani is a lot of fun for me. It mixes up different finishes and colours. Main colour is Julep Aphroditie and accent is China Glaze Teal the Tides Turn.

Easter Mani

No Mani Monday because I did my Easter mani late Monday and it took forever. I was gonna do acrylics but instead to save time I just used regular glue ons. But it still took a long time. Labour of love I guess. I added all the bunnies in deco pic because it's fun.
Colours
Color Me Monthly Chiffon for April
Color Club Nail Art Polishes

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Potato Flat Bread

My first attempt at flat bread was good, but not great. This one is a lot better. It's softer and very delicious. I really like this new recipe. It's a modified version of this recipe. Very modified. I pretty much just used that one as a place to start, like inspiration.

What you need
1 1/4 c gluten free flour mix (I used one from trader joes)
1 1/4 c potato flakes (the instant kind, if you want the bread o have a flavour use the flavoured ones!)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tbl baking powder
1 tbl lemon juice
1 egg
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1 c hot water

Mix all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add egg and carefully mix in other wet ingredients. You should have a medium firm dough, if it's too dry add a bit more water and if it is too wet add a bit more potato flakes.
Form dough into balls and roll flat or press with hands. I pinched mine from the center outward. Get them to about 1/8 inch thin, they will rise a little because of the baking powder and lemon juice, but not a lot. You could also make them thicker and cut them like pita bread when done.
Cook each side in a frying pan or on griddle for about 45-60 seconds or until golden brown.

Depending on how thick and how big you make them you should end up with about 8-10 of these.

I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich with one yesterday and it was super delicious.

Mani Monday

I had a a few manis to post before I went on my break, and did a few while I was on break. So here they are all are in one post, newest to oldest.

A short break

I am going to be taking a short break from my blog. My 8 year old pet bunny died of cancer today. We didn't know she had it until it was too late and she had to be put to rest. I miss her a lot, but I am glad she doesn't have to suffer.

There is a picture of her, just 6 days ago, beimg the happy wonderful girl she always was.

Julep Maven Jule Box- Free Welcome Box

So I saw the Facebook ad and that my friends had liked and taken the Maven quiz, so I said why not. I took the quiz and got "Bombshell". I didn't like the look of the bombshell box, so I just left it at that. Then someone commented that I choose my box in a different style. Ok, it's a free box, I can cancel if I don't like it. I picked the "It Girl" box, it had 3 polishes and I really liked 2 of the colours and could live with the 3rd. Paying $3.99 for shipping wasn't a big deal when you get 3 $15 polishes for free. The box took about 4 days to arrive from order to ship, which was really nice. It came Priority USPS. I guess their usual shipping method is DHL, but you get free shipping as a Maven, but more on that later.

Opening up the box I found all this stuff. A little "It Girl" description packet, a coupon code and a Julep Flier. The top of the box has a sticker that says Maven, but it's Silver on White so it did not even photograph well.

The polishes come packed together in a white box, and are protected in shipping by all this paper. They also sent along these buffing blocks. I love these things so I thought it was a pretty cool freebie, even if it is super cheap. My rabbits will enjoy playing with the paper.

The polishes also come in their own boxes. This one is called Bunny, and it is a white with small flecks of gold glitter.

This one is called Libby and it's a teal creme polish. It's my favourite of the set.

Lastly is Elle, which I didn't like at first but it has really grown on me. It's a deep redish purple colour with shimmer.

Here are all of them swatched on my nails. Excuse my cuticles, were a mess at the time I took this.

All the polishes went on nice and opaque. It took 2 coats for each one, which is pretty standard, I used to primarily use OPI and I would say this is very comparable to that. I was able to wear this manicure for 4 days without it chipping, which is very good if you ask me. I didn't use a top or base coat either. So it has good staying power.

Over all I am really happy with my intro box to Julep Maven. Since these photos I have actually made 3 other orders to Julep, and it's not even been a month. I went a little overboard, but I have to rebuild my polish collection! Expect more product reviews from them soon!

Want to try Julep Maven for free yourself? Clickhere and use code FREEBOX to get started!

St. Patty's Day Nails

Happy St. Patty's day! Since I dont think I own and green clothing anymore I did my nails up in a festive way. I keep calling them super party nails, but I won't be doing any partying this holiday. What did you do for St. Patrick's day? Did you have a special nail or make up theme?

Poloshes used:
Green- Julep Libby
White- Julep Bunny
Glitter- e.l.f Chic Confetti

A Simple Pin-up look and a simple review

My fiance and I went out to the mall to look at what Sephora had for the Pantone Colour of the Year Collection. They had some pretty things, but I didn't buy because it was all animal tested since Sephora's in house brand is not cruelty free. They had a display with colours by other brands that matched the radiant orchid colour, but it was slim pickin's. I went to Macy's and bought a swim bottom instead so I could use my new YWCA membership to it's fullest. (Due to my disability the pool is currently the easiest thing for me to do to get exercise, which is nice because I love swimming.)

Here is my look for the day, featuring e.l.f. products!

The main products used to get this look are all by e.l.f! I used their Gel Eye Liner (it comes with a tiny angle brush), which I plan to give a full review of soon. We just have too see how long it keeps. Their Essential Lip Stain in Berry Blush and their Essential Hypershine Lipgloss in Vixen which came with the free Mardi Gras set from my order. I also used their Studio Hi Definition power and their Make Up Setting Spray and that kept my foundation in place and my shine away all day!

It was a fun and easy look, and it was my first time using a gel liner. I had fallen for liquid liners in the marker like tubes so I just never tried one. Well, I needed $35 to get free shipping from e.l.f. so I figured why not get it. It went on smoothly and it stayed put all day. Full review soon.

Here is the review

This is e.l.f.'s Studio Daily Brush Cleaner. It's an antibacterial brush cleaner that you use everyday on your brushes to keep them clean, help them last longer and your skin healthy! As you should know your brushes and make up are prone to gathering bacterial from your skin and having it breed there. This can get unsanitary after a while. This cleaner not only kills that bacterial it also removes make up from the brushes so that you can switch colours if you need to. I just sprayed it on and whipped it on a tissue to get the make up out. It also smells really good. As soon as I took the cap off the lovely smell came out. If your brushes are really full of product it might be time for a good shampoo though!

At only $3 e.l.f.'s Studio Daily Brush Cleaner is a great way to extend the life of your brushes and help keep things a little more sanitary.

Help stop cosmetic animal testing!

Help pass a bill that would stop animal testing of cosmetics in the United States. A similar bill was passed last year in the European Union banning the testing and sale of all cosmetics tested on animals. By going to the following link below and sending the letter to your congress person and calling them you will be making a difference in the fight for animal rights. Help be the voice they don't have.

https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=6433&=web_shadow#.UyE4XL0o5Dt

Beauty mail!

Today was beauty mail day. I got my e.l.f. order in which I ordered $35 worth of products to get free shipping and got a huge free gift. It's a lot of stuff, so I will have a lot of things to review for upcoming entries. That and I get to rejuvenate my make up stash after throwing a lot of things out. It's a huge step in my transition to cruelty free.

Next is my order from Julep which I used a a 50% off coupon I got in my first maven box.

So here is my haul from today's mail, and I've got more Julep om the way!

Dairy-Free Gluten Free Flat Bread version 1.0

I was to tired to post this yesterday after being busy with cooking and having a doctor's appointment, so here it is now. For my health reasons I have to eat gluten free and dairy free. I am intolerant to gluten, not allergic, so I am found cheating on this the most, but I really shouldn't eat it. As for dairy I am allergic to the casein found in it, which is a protein. Unfortunately they don't make casein free products like the do with lactose. Lactose free supposedly contains more casein as well. I can't even tolerate goat dairy products. It's really hard because I used to really love cheese, but having my health improve is a lot better than cheese tastes. And Trader Joe's Soy Creamy "ice cream" is so much better than dairy ice cream.

Anyway, this post is about bread! If you've ever tried a gluten free diet or known someone who is gluten free you may know that the bread ranges from totally weird, but edible to kitchen sponge. And it's expensive. And well, I like my bread. I am a peanut butter toast for breakfast kind of girl. Well, one day while browsing tumblr I came across a blog called No More Ramen and there was a recipe for pan fried flat bread. I figured I could make that gluten free, so I looked up more elaborate recipes and compiled one myself.

**Warning, this recipe still need a little tweaking, mine came out quite dense, but still good.** I will post an update when I figure out how much baking powder to add.

2 cups gluten free flour mix (I used trader joes!)

1 cup almond meal (this is for texture mostly, if you are allergic you can just add more flour)

2 eggs

1 cup soy milk

1 1/4 tea spoon xanthan gum

1 3/4 cup water

1 tea spoon salt

Mix all your powder ingredients in one bowl and all your liquids in another. Make an indent in the middle of the powder and pour the liquid into it. Mix until doughy. If it's crumbly you can add more water. When it's mixed well form into balls and flatten. Whatever size you want the bread to be. Then fry with a tiny bit of olive oil in a pan on medium heat about 15-25 seconds depending on thickness. When you go to flip it the bottom should feel firm, and be a little bit browned.

Like I said above this recipe makes them a little dense, but it's still really good. Maybe try for a thinner bread. As you can see in the photo mine are pretty thick. They are great with peanut butter!

Radiant Orchid Inspired Look

I did a simple fun look to go out and get Chiplotle today with my fiance. It was supposedly free Chipotle, but the little advert that has been circling Facebook turned out to be a fake. So we paid for it, because you don't just pass up Chipotle.

I used an eye shadow that matches 2014's Pantone Colour of the Year pretty well. It is in my e.l.f. Beauty Black Book Night Edition eyeshadow pallet that I picked  up a little after Christmas. It looks a little washed out in the photos unfortunately. I am really loving the colour Radiant Orchid for this year, so I want to make sure to try and collect lots of things in this colour.

My unkempt dyejob is a little orchid coloured too.

Oh, and I randomly found a book just tossed in the snow on my way to the light rail. It's about Timbuku. It's a nice, brand new book so it seemed like a shame to just let it get ruined and wet so I brought it home.

The products I used are:

e.l.f. eyeshadow for the orchid and white colours and black liner

tarte lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1- mascara

false bottom lashes from ebay

keihl's bb cream (keihl's themselves are cruelty free, but they are owned by l'oreal, who is not.)

too faced primed and pourless skin smoothing face primer

sephora mineral founation (NOT CRUETY FREE, I am currently looking for a replacement!)

 I am really loving the colour Radiant Orchid for this year, so I want to make sure to try and collect lots of things in this colour. What are your thoughts on the radiant orchid pantone colour of the year? Do you have a colour that is special to your heart this year?

First Product Review! Starrydance Cosmetics on Etsy

Hi everyone! Here it is, my first review for you. It's from an indie maker who sells on Etsy called Starrydance Cosmetics, made by fantasy artist Gwynn Farrington. Currently she is making lip balms, themed with My Little Pony or other characters, and solid perfumes in the same vein.

This time I ordered some lip balms. They are cruelty free and contain natural ingredients. Her ingredients are listed on her selling pages for each product. Sorry, vegans, they do contain beeswax, so this one might not be for you. She makes all of these herself, including the artwork in the labels.

I ordered 3 lip balms, 2 are MLP themed despite my not being a MLP fan. But the flavours sounded too good to pass up and at the 3 for $10 deal I was sold. https://www.etsy.com/listing/172690236/shea-butter-lip-balms-3-for-10-pick-your?ref=related-0
I ordered:
Rarity- which is a black berry pomegranate flavour
Pinky Pie- which is a strawberry swirl flavour
Lucky Cat- which is a natural vanilla flavour

I placed my order on March first, she shipped them by the 3rd and they arrived today March 8th. I think the shipping on her end was nice and quick, but USPS left something to be desired (again).

Her packaging on the other hand left nothing to be desired. It was like opening a present. I could have just gifted it to someone right out of the envelope, and I didn't even have to pay extra for this. It was so cute.

 It arrived to my home in a bright purple bubble mailer, and inside that was a box in an organza bag. I could already see the cuteness flowing out of it.

Inside that bag was a smaller bag that contained some cute gifts. The labels and the notes on the box added a nice touch, to help remind which things you ordered. Opening the box I could already smell the goodness that was inside. I was very excited to open up the balms and try them out.

Here is the order, out of the box. You can see the lip balms with the original artwork, and the professional looking plastic covering the whole tube. The kind that seals it all up for sanitary purposes. She included a free dragon sticker, a cute unicorn phone charm (how did she know I love purple?!) and her wonderful business card, which to me doubles as a piece of art.

On to the balms themselves! The go on like butter. They just melt and absorb into my skin. I even tested them on my dry cuticles. The oils used to add scent/flavour to them doesn't leave burning or itching on cracked skin, even my super sensitive skin, which is a big deal! I will be buying these again for sure.

The tubes were full to the top, maybe about 3mm over so I didn't have to wind them up any. There are no colourants added so they are a milky white in colour. The scent is phenomenal. Seriously, it makes you want to just take a bite out of them. Unfortunately it doesn't have much of a flavour to go with that scent. I was hoping it would, but it's also good to keep me from licking my lips.

So, I recommend Starrydance Cosmetics lipbalms if you are looking for a small batch all natural indie balm that feels great on. Especially if you like MLP and other cute things. I for one will be buying from her again.

Buy Starrydance Cosmetics here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Starrydance

Do you know of a natural cosmetics maker that would want to be reviewed in a blog? Email me at seraphimfeathers@gmail.com

First Post!

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog! As the title suggests this will be about my beautiful life. I will be reviewing products and sharing photos of my various adventures here. Reviews will include make up, skincare, nail care, fashion, art and art supplies. I will also be sharing my favourite artists and blogs with you as well as my own creations. So keep your eyes peeled for the next post, I have a lot to share, and a lot of new things to review!