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Monday, December 30, 2013

Sabrosa Barbosa Food Cart

The food carts at 10th & Alder are getting a little more varied. A few places have gone out of business and new genres of food are taking their place. 

The new kid on the block is Sabrosa Barbosa. Everything at the cart is gluten free, and they even offer vegan and vegetarian versions. 




When I saw their shiny red new food cart I knew I had to give them a try. I cam back the next day and their A-board sign definitely helped draw my attention in.



I think their tip jar, while witty and comical, is a little dumb though


Now, on to the important part - the food!


In the 24 hours between when I took a photo of the outside of the cart, and came back to try out their food, their prices increased by .50 cents. Not a huge deal, but I was pretty stoked on a $5.00 lunch option. 

I went for the Chicken Mole over Spanish Rice. ($5.50) 


It looks unexceptional, but it was actually very, very good. The chicken mole is INCREDIBLY spicy - but also incredibly delicious. I love spicy foods, but had to take breaks while eating this. The chicken mole was set atop a very small layer of rice, which was nice and meant that the bowl was mostly meat. 

I'll definitely be returning to try the quesadillas and Pork Green Chile. 

If you'd like to check out Sabrosa Barbosa for yourself, their cart is located at the food cart pod at 10th Avenue and Alder Street in Portland, facing Alder street, directly across from City Target. 


Sabrosa Barbosa on Urbanspoon

Sunday, December 29, 2013

December 2013 Ipsy Glam Bag Review

After continually being disappointed with Birchbox, I cancelled and signed up for Ipsy. I am SUPER pleased with my very first Ipsy Glam Bag. 


Every month the Ipsy Glam Bag arrives in an Ipsy makeup bag - this is GREAT for me, as I tend to destroy makeup bags in record time. Now I'll  be able to swap them out as needed. I really liked the makeup bag this month - and it's lined in red, very pretty!

Value $27.00
Mirabella Eye Blender eye shadow brush (FULL SIZE!). WOW this brush is great. I've never bought a blender brush, the ones I have are from smaller travel size brush sets, it's nice to have a full sized blender now. The brush has a stainless steel handle and it's a great weight when in your hand. 

Value $2.98
Salon Perfect Perfectly Natural lashes #53 (FULL SIZE!). Salon Perfect brand is apparently exclusive to Wal-Mart. These lashes actually look really nice and I'm surprised that they are so inexpensive. 

Value $7.20 /  $3.99
Pop Beauty Bright Up Your Life eye shadow trio in "Smokin Hot" - This is the teaser version of the 10 pan Bright Up Your Life palette - but good news for me, these are the colors from the 10 pan palette that I liked the most! 

J Cat Beauty Big Lip Pencil in Red Rose (FULL SIZE!). It seems to be a cross between a lipstick and a lip liner. I don't wear lipstick, ever - and red is WAY out of my comfort zone (I wore red lipstick to my company's Gatsby themed Holiday party this year and felt totally out of place - and found it really difficult to keep it on all night). I have a friend who looks amazing in red lipstick, so I'll be gifting this to her. 

Value $16.00
Be a Bombshell the One Stick in Sunset (FULL SIZE!). So this, as the name suggests, is a 3-in-1 product (blush, shadow, lip). I would look like death warmed over with this color on my eyelids, but I'll definitely be tossing it in my purse to use when I need a little color on the go. 

Final verdict? Ipsy Glam Bag is a HUGE hit! I paid $10 for my Glam Bag and it had a total value of $57.17 (not counting the makeup bag, that I would easily have paid $5 for). My January bag can't get here soon enough. 

If you'd like to sign up for Ipsy, you can do so through my link here

Saturday, December 21, 2013

December 2013 Blush Mystery Beauty Box Review


Whew - it's been such a busy month I never thought I was going to have a moment to sit down and write this review!

This months Mystery Beauty Box was curated by Lisa Hoffman of Lisa Hoffman Beauty. Lisa Hoffman Beauty seems to focus mainly on "Fragrance Jewelry", necklaces, bracelets and earrings that you insert "fragrance beads" into to release scent throughout the day. She doesn't offer any actual "beauty" products, just fragrance and bath and body. This definitely explains the lack of beauty products in this months box. 

Value $30.00
Lisa Hoffman Beauty Madagascar Orchid Moisturizing Body Cleanse (FULL SIZE!) - I thought that Madagascar Orchid would smell exotic and amazing, I was disappointed - it smells like sunscreen. I'll definitely give this a try once I'm out of my current body wash, I hope that when used the smell is a little more orchid rather than Coppertone. 

Value $0.37 / $6.30
DHC Mild Lotion sample - Interesting, I have received this as a sample before and always thought it was a moisturizer because it is called mild "lotion". This time I looked it up on the DHC website (www.DHCcare.com) and it is actually a "revitalizing tonic to help your moisturizer go the extra mile in keeping your skin freshly hydrated. It’s alcohol-free for gentleness, and blended with soothing cucumber juice to keep things cool.". I'm kind of excited to try this now BEFORE my moisturizer, it gets great reviews.

DHC Wrinkle Essence samples (x3) - This Wrinkle Essence is so expensive that each of the .06oz packets have a value of $2.10. It's definitely the kind of product that I would need to really test out before purchasing, so I appreciate that they included three packets. I kind of hope I hate it, because at $47.00 for just over a half an ounce it is very, very spendy. 

Value $9.00
Sultra 14 inch clip in hair extension in Lapis Blue - So normally I would have opened my box, seen something like this, and laughed, because I am not the type to have bright blue streaks in my hair. But it just so happens that the day after I received my box I was planning on wearing a black sweater with a bright blue detail on the back, so I clipped this sucker into my hair, curled it with my hair, and wore it instead of jewelry. It was great quality (held up to being curled with a flat iron on high heat). 

Value $10.00 / $10.83
NYX Cosmetics Love in Paris palette in Madelines and Macaroons (FULL SIZE!). Meh.. I don't wear neutrals, they make me look ill. This will get gifted to one of the ladies at work. 

NeoStrata Exfoliating Wash - I feel like I get some form of face wash in every Beauty Box. Maybe I don't use enough product when I wash my face, because I have a zillion I've yet to try (I use one up completely before moving on the the next). This one gets great reviews, so once I get around to trying it I'm sure it will be a hit. 

Value $6.32 / $1.90
Neova Make-up remover Face + Eyes - I kind of hate that this product is oil-free, I LOVE using cleansing oils for removing makeup. I'll give it a try though because I do like that it claims to "dissolve all traces of even the longest-wearing makeup". I have a couple of waterproof mascaras that seem impossible to remove. 

Eminence Organic Skin Care Stone Crop Body Lotion - Eminence products are made in Hungary and are all organic. This claims to be a lightening body lotion for sensitive skin. I find the smell to be overwhelming and the lotion to be sticky (and I actually feel drier after applying). I'll throw this into my desk at work in case I'm ever desperate, but it is not something I would purchase.

Value $15.13 / $15.88
Murad Advanced Active Radiance Serum - This is $89 an ounce for the full size version so I appreciate the generous sample. I never seem to see a difference when a products touts itself as improving "brightness", so I'll be interested to see if this pricey serum gives me some results. 

REN Clean Skincare Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream - This moisturizer is formulated to leave sensitive skin optimally hydrated, calmed, soothed, protected and looking beautiful. I can't wait to try it. 

Value $15.00
Nailtiques Avocado Foot Creme (FULL SIZE!). I've received some form of foot cream every month for the last three months in beauty boxes, so it will be a while before I give this a try. It gets great reviews, and the packaging is lovely (I really like the frosted glass jar and brushed nickle lid). 

If you're thinking about signing up for the Blush Beauty Box but are still on the fence and would like a $10.00 coupon off of a recurring subscription box (boxes are $35 for a one time order, or $24 with a recurring subscription - you can cancel at any time) - shoot me an email at kathryna at gmail.com and I'll send you a coupon code.

This month's box contained a value of $120.73, almost five times what I paid for it - so I'm pleased. I'm curious to see what January's box will bring.