Top 5 neutral pink lips

If there was one color lip I had to pick to wear for the rest of my life it would be a neutral pink. Not to say I don't enjoy a nice coral or vampy lip depending on the season, but a nice soft pink is my go-to lip.  Over the years I have accumulated quite a few pinks in the search for the perfect shade, which can vary based on the time of the year. I do believe that after all this time and collecting that I have finally narrowed it down to my top five! These are defiantly all in my purse or my car at any given time, and are used on a daily basis.

 With all this being said, I obviously have not tried every lipstick/lip-gloss/lip-stain out there to say that these are the best ones period. Also, these might not always be the best pick for others because of everyone's varying skin tones. These are just the best of the plethora that I've tried. The ones I choose vary as my go-to depending on the season, my current skin tone, and my look of the day. 

So to start, I have swatched these five shade on my arm, both on bare skin in my current winter shade of NW15, and also with some of my summer foundation. This foundation is Urban Decay's naked skin in 7, which is about a NW35. 

 Without flash

With flash

From left to right: Maybelline's Color Sensational Lipcolor in born with it ($7.49), Too Faced's La Crème Color Drenched Lip Cream in spice spice baby ($22), Clinique's chubby stick in mighty mimosa ($17), NYX's butter gloss in crème brulee ($4.99), and Maybelline's color elixir lip color in petal plush ($8.99)

 No lip products (no flash)

No lip products (flash)

So to start off here's what my lips look like with no product on them at all. On one half of my mouth I put the naked skin foundation in 7 on, an on the other half is nothing. For all of these shades I used no lip liner.

Born with it (no flash)

 Born with it (flash)

The first shade, born with it, I use almost all year, but mostly in spring and summer or with a more put together face. This shade is very forgiving, like all of these shades, however I still usually use a mirror when applying. There is a little bit of microscopic glitter for some shine, but is not very noticeable at all in either appearance or texture.

Spice spice baby (no flash)

 Spice spice baby (flash)

For the second shade, spice spice baby, I prefer for more of a winter fall pink. This particular lipstick in this shade is used and recommended by many youtube beauty bloggers, and it's no surprise why. Initially I was a little apprehensive to buy this because of the price tag. I found this at my local military base for $18.70 and would defiantly repurchase it at it's normal retail price. Too faced over all as a brand continues to impress me with everything I've ever tried from them, and this is no exception. It's super moisturizing with still a ton of pigment; it really just feels great. Because of the high pigmentation in this I still usually use a mirror when applying however.  

 Mighty mimosa (no flash)

Might mimosa (flash)

Clinique was one of the first mid to high end products I was introduced to and was actually what I used on my wedding day, with this chubby stick in grape. When I initially started using this I was still in the military and wanted makeup that still had a very natural look to it and was easy to apply anywhere. This definitely hit the mark.  It was first introduced to me by the clinique consultant, because I really only wore chapstick before using this. This definitely has the feel of chapstick, and I tend to use is for the moisturizer as much as I do for the color of it. This is sheer but still buildable with one of the best pink shades that I can use all year round. Also, because of the sheerness of it I tend to never use a mirror when applying it, which is definitely a bonus to me when I'm on the go for school in the morning. Again, the price is a little higher, but since I bought this on a military base it was $14.45. And again, I would still buy this at it's normal price.

 crème brulee (no flash)

crème brulee (flash)

NYX has got to be one of my favorite drugstore makeup of all time. Super affordable but still has amazing quality and a giant selection to boot. While they have a few lipsticks that are my all time favorites for fall, they aren't really pinks, so they didn't make this list. This is another lip product that I've seen mentioned by a lot of beauty gurus as well, and again its not hard to see why. With almost a barbie-esque shade this is great for spring and summer with almost any look and again is pretty sheer so can be applied without a mirror. My only complaint is that it does have a little bit of a sticky texture and might get your hair stuck to our lips on a windy day.

petal plush (no flash)

petal plush  (flash)

Last but not least is again another Maybelline product. Maybelline has some of my favorite pink lip products overall, but sadly most of the others have been discontinued. :( I didn't think It'd be fair to recommend products you wouldn't be able to get, so again I didn't include them. For petal plush, I mainly use this only in summer. This, like crème brulee, is a lip gloss. And like crème brulee there is a little bit of stickiness to it, however not as much, which isn't ideal for a windy day. There is also some glitter to this product, which is definitely much more noticeable than in the born with it, but it still does not cause much of a problem. 

So there's my list! Let me know what your favorite neutral pink lips are in the comments, and if this helped you at all!

Copycat B-dubs

Now that I'm in college and not in a career supplying me with disposable income I tend to cook at home much more often than eating out. It’s cheaper and most of the time you can make the exact same food without most of the wait. This recipe is defiantly proof of this. My husband can defiantly be a picky eater and has no problem complaining about food (especially if it’s a vegan recipe) but while he is an avid buffalo wild wings eater he loves eating these at home. I originally got this recipe through pinterest under this link:

 http://www.blendtec.com/blog/buffalo-wild-wings-copycat-recipes/

Out of all the flavor options at b-dubs honey BBQ and Asian zing are the most loved in my household. If you see another flavor under that original post that you prefer I defiantly recommend trying it. I have tried a few others under that post and I have never been disappointed. I did differentiate a little from the original recipes for these two flavors, but only because I didn’t have the exact same ingredients. There is little to no noticeable difference.

This BBQ sauce defiantly has a little bit of kick to it so if you’re not a fan of spicy food I would suggest omitting the cayenne powder.

Honey BBQ ingredients:

1 cup ketchup

1/3 cup white vinegar

¼ cup honey

¼ cup molasses

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp paprika

¼ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp cayenne powder

1 tsp of liquid smoke-for the liquid smoke I highly recommend using hickory. I’ve tried other flavors and this is defiantly my favorite. Also if you want to add a little extra I wouldn’t judge you…I most definitely did

If you’ve never had Asian zing before it’s only fair to warn you that it a little bit more on the spicy end of the flavor chart. If you aren’t a spice fan I would recommend not trying this sauce all together.

Asian zing ingredients:

2 tsp corn starch

4 tsp rice wine

½ cup corn syrup

1/3 cup sugar

¼ cup sriracha

1 tbsp soy sauce

¼ tsp ginger powder

¼ tsp salt

And of course the last ingredient needed is chicken wings! My husband as well as my brother-in-law and sister-in-law that live with us all prefer boneless so I just grab a bag of Tyson's frozen chicken tenders. They're super convenient, have the perfect amount of chicken to feed the three people they're going to feed, and I like to think it's a lot healthier to bake these in the oven than frying them like you might with homemade wings. If you prefer your own home made wings or even if you want to try some kid sized chicken nuggets the principle is still the same. For me I microwave some veggie-chicken nuggets or slice up a veggie-chicken patty and always love the results. Just Bake (or fry) as you normally would.

While your chicken is cooking combine all the ingredients to either recipe in one pot and cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. 

With the asian zing sauce you're definitely going to want to wisk it for the first few minutes as it cooks or else the cornstarch will just clump up and you'll end up with a thin lumpy sauce...and no one wants that..Once your sauce is done cooking (about the time that your chicken will be done) allow both to cool slightly. This will help the sauce thicken a little more and stick better to the chicken. After about 5 minutes pour the sauce into some sort of tupperware container and put a few pieces of chicken in. 

Then put a lid on it and shake! Only put in a few pieces at a time so they have ample room to move around and get completely coated. If your sauce hasn't cooled enough pressure will build up in the container and you need to be really careful opening it or else you'll get sauce splattered all over you.

 Enjoy! :-)