Vegan Japanese Curry Rice

Hi guys! Sorry this isn't a beauty-related post, but I'm just so pleased with myself... one of my favorite things to eat when I lived in Japan was Japanese-style curry rice.  I went vegan shortly after returning to the U.S., so I haven't had one of my favorite foods of all time for 6 years because I was too lazy/intimidated to make a Japanese curry rice recipe from scratch (most people make it with store-bought sauce mix which isn't vegan).  However, after my most recent company BBQ where I was tortured into smelling my coworker's delicious curry rice while pregnant, I decided enough was enough and I had to give a vegan version a go.  My first attempt wasn't perfect, but it taught me some minor tweaks to make this delicious meal available to me again!

Best served over real Japanese glutinous rice <3

My first attempt, leftovers, shown with instant brown rice... not as good as the Japanese rice, if you can get it!

Vegan Japanese Curry (feeds 4)

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 sliced onion

3 Boca Original Vegan Burgers micro-waved and diced (or cook Chik’n patties, slice into strips, and place on top like katsukare)

1 lb. diced potatoes (about 8 small-to-medium Yukon gold potatoes)

2 diced carrots

1 minced clove of garlic

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 tbsp Earth Balance Margarine

¼ cup of flour

3 tbsp S&B Curry Powder

(I read in several other from-scratch recipes that any other curry powder won't do... look to an Asian/Japanese grocery near you for the best price, or find easily on Amazon.com)

3 cups water

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Seasoning Mix

2 cups or 1 can of vegetable broth

1 tsp. of Better than Bouillon – Vegetable (or vegan vegetable bouillon cube, if you can find them)

2 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp A-1 Steak Sauce

1 tsp instant coffee

1-2 tsp sugar (depends how sweet you like your Japanese-style curry rice)

 

How to:

1)      Pre-mix the Seasoning Mix ingredients and set aside.

2)      Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in your pan.  Stir-fry onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, then add garlic and ginger until they are browned (not burnt) and there is no liquid.

3)      Turn heat to low and add the flour, followed by the margarine.

4)      Add the curry powder and mix well. Let cook until fragrant.

5)      Add a cup of the water to dissolve the paste.  Then add the remaining water and the Seasoning Mix.

6)      Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7)      Heat the other 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan.  Stir-fry the potato and carrot, adding salt and pepper to taste, until the potatoes are translucent.

8)      Add the contents of the frying pan (and Boca Burger pieces, if using) to the Roux mixture that has been simmering, and bring to a light boil for 15-20 minutes.

It's a...

Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop

Ooooh... Fyrinnae!

This isn't really a complete look (no eyeliner, some fallout, barely any mascara), but I just got my Fyrinnae order in the mail today, plopped some on just for fun, and these shadows are just... gorgeous! 

Used:
ELF Mineral Eye Primer
Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Fyrinnae Electro-koi (inner 1/2 of lid)
Sugarpill Asylum (outer 1/2 of lid and upper crease)
Fyrinnae Velvet Vampire (inner crease and lower lashline)
Fyrinnae Mephisto (outer crease)
Wet n Wild Megavolume Mascara (yellow tube)

I tried to find some good light, but - alas!- there was none to be found.  Sorry for this low picture quality.

We Have A Winner!

Hi guys!  A big Thank You to all of you for your great comments and reading my little bloggie.  I drew the winner yesterday for my 200 Followers/1-Year Blogiversary Giveaway of the four Coastal Scents 88 palettes and

schwabj

is the Winner! You win the internets <3
I sent you an e-mail to the address given in your blog, so please respond within a couple of days so I can get your prize sent out to you.

Thanks again to everyone, xoxo!
<3
Sarah S.

Bubble Gum Swirl

I didn't really start out with the bubble gum ice cream pop in mind as inspiration, but as I just grabbed up my loose eyeshadow colors by whatever struck me this bubble gum ice cream pop look just came together... it's even got frosty "freezer burn" on the inner half of my lid and lower lashline :-P

Like this...

Source: http://sneakertalk.yuku.com/topic/298720/-s--Ice-Cream-truck---really-need---s----cone-

Or this "Froze Toes" XD

Source: http://things-we-heart.blogspot.com/2010/01/yummies-ice-cream-truck-ice-cream-truck.html

I've got such a craving for one of those pops now! Did you ever get the bubblegum flavor from the ice cream truck?  I loved how I could eat the frozen bubblegum with nobody warning me it'd stay in my stomach for seven years ^.^//

Products Used:
E.L.F. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer
Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
Fyrinnae Calavera Cupcakes (inner eyelid)
Sugarpill Loose Shadow in Birthday Girl (outer eyelid)
Victorian Disco Rowena (crease and outer corner) (FYI this company is having problems filling orders and I don't recommend shopping with them at this time)
Wet n Wild Coloricon Shimmer Liner in Silver (lower lashline)
Physicians Formula Automatic Eyeliner Trio for Brown Eyes (black liner, waterlines)
Wet n Wild Mega Liner Liquid Eyeliner in Indigo Blue (upper lashline)
Wet n Wild Mega Volume Mascara (yellow tube)

I've found my HG Eye Cream - Boscia Enlivening Amino AG Eye Treatment

Look at me, blogging again so soon!  Maybe it's just a good blogging time of year ;)
I wanted to share with you the eye cream I've thoroughly tested for about 6 weeks now... I'm certain it is my HG and I don't want to be without it!
It's the (vegan, of course) Boscia Enlivening Amino AG Eye Treatment, $38.  It's not the cheapest cream on the block, but it's also far from the most expensive eye cream I've ever used.  Last summer I quite liked the cooling feeling of Dior Hydralife Sorbet Eye Creme and repurchased it, but it really wasn't doing anything for my eyes besides feeling cool and moisturizing slightly.  As soon as the colder weather hit, it almost seemed drying, in fact.  I tried a few other eye creams since then, and the best results I got from any were a very temporary reduction in fine lines around my eyes (29 here, starting to see those!).  Most times the fine lines reappeared within a few hours, and of course were completely present if I didn't happen to apply those creams that day.

What was the problem? I'm extremely prone to milia (little white pimple-looking spots around the eyes caused by trapped dead skin and oils.  Often these are caused by lotions/eye creams that are too rich for the eye area they've been applied to). 
So, all the eye creams I tried were light gels, or geared towards a younger eye with thin/light lotion textures.  Unfortunately, these creams really weren't moisturizing enough for my eye area, but I wanted to stay away from the heavily-scented, super-thick textured eye creams most older ladies use.  I'd rather have a little bit of fine lines than icky-looking milia, thanks!

I got a sample of the Boscia Enlivening Amino AG Eye Treatment earlier this year, gave it a try for a few days and thought it was pretty nice.  It does have a floral scent that is a little strong for my taste but it fades really quickly to nothing.  I didn't see an immediate reduction in my fine lines from the sample packet alone, but since it is vegan I thought I ought to give the full size a shot.  I gave up on the Dr. Hauschka I was using (which is okay, but didn't do anything for my fine lines that didn't wash off) and started using the Boscia eye treatment in early June, and in a matter of a few weeks my lines were gone and were staying away.  To be honest, I doubt this effect is permanent, but it's basically the most I've ever seen an eye treatment do (and I've used loads of different ones over the past couple of years).

I'll admit the Boscia cream does nothing for my dark circles, but I honestly don't believe any eye cream would be able to do anything for dark circles - how could they? It's not darker skin, it's thinner skin.  I don't think anything you put on your skin will make it thicker and with more concentrated melanin (skin pigment).

The gel-cream hybrid texture is really smoothing (almost feels like a silicone primer, but I'm not sure if it has silicones or not), slightly soothing but not overly cooling in that menthol-shock sort of way, thick enough to feel it when you've just put it on (but your skin actually absorbs it), and thin enough to spread around super easily. 

Plus, it comes in a pump!  Much more hygienic than so many eye creams that come in jars.

To sum it up really basically, this is the best eye cream I've ever tried, vegan or not.  The texture is perfect, the level of moisturization is perfect for me (oily skin, but drier eye area), and the results (early fine lines - gone!) last longer than a few days.  I love it and I have to restrain myself from buying more backups than I can use before it expires XD

<3 Sarah S.

Makeup Collection and Storage (vegan)

Hey there, beauties! I thought maybe you guys would like to know exactly what on earth could be left of my collection after my massive clearout (sent to the incomparable Aly of Wonderland Beauty.  She does very handy reviews, guys; go check her out!).  To be honest, there were loads of other stuff in my collection that I gave to my mother, sister, sister-in-law, and cousin as well.  I guess you could say I'm now a *reformed* cosmetics hoarder
 ;-)  I was partly inspired to do this by the Urban Decay issue (since resolved - and I kept a lot of my vegan Urban Decay stuff), Vivianna's streamlined collection, and simply noticing how much mileage I could get out of using just my vegan products.  I rarely use up anything makeup-wise, so this clearout made that a possibility at last.  I still have some well-known vegan products on my wishlist - more OCC Lip Tars and OCC Concealer, for example!  Also, I did not photograph my little saved stash of vegan goodies (which include Lime Crime palettes and eyeliners and backup vegan mascaras by Wet n Wild and E.L.F.).  The following is just the stuff I've currently dipped into that resides in or on my vanity.

Left side of vanity: Caboodles acrylic organizer, Real Techniques brush holder, Anna Sui brush cup, and Eco Tools by Alicia Silverstone brush cup.  This isn't all my brushes because some of them are laid out to dry after a wash.  Most of my brushes are E.L.F. Studio, Eco Tools, Tokidoki for Sephora, Too Faced, and Real Techniques.  They are all synthetic!  I also have a beauty blender there.

My vanity mirror can be flipped up and down.  When the mirror is out, you can see inside the center console.  Here I have vegan (but not cruelty-free any longer/purchased prior to announcement of selling in China) MAC eyeshadows, Sugarpill loose shadows, a Z palette filled with depotted Urban Decay palette shadows (all vegan shades) and E.L.F. Studio Blushes, and an acrylic lipstick holder I got off amazon.com that holds Wet n Wild MegaLast lipsticks, vegan MAC Lipstick shades (only Mattes: Ruby Woo, Please Me, and Russian Red), Alicia Silverstone for Juice Beauty vegan lipstick, and vegan Lime Crime lipsticks.  I also have a non-vegan MAC lipglass in Nico which I found miraculously at the CCO in Florida this past February - I am keeping that for nostalgic reasons because I wore this on my lips to my prom in 2001 (dates me).

A small Z palette containing MAC Melba (vegan ingredients but not cruelty-free), and five more shades of depotted Urban Decay vegan shadows.

Right side of vanity: Two Muji 5-drawer Acrylic storage units - so worth it!  I'm sure I'll keep these forever, they are so handy. On top there is an Anna Sui black acrylic box that matches the brush cup I have.  I got both of them at iMomoko.com last summer.  They were also pricey but I'm sure I'll keep them forever.  I've got another small acrylic holder inside there because I just don't have enough stuff to require it separately right now.  Inside there is the Fyrinnae Velvet Gel Silica Primer I'm testing, Stila Oil-free foundation in Shade C (a little short on coverage for my skin right now, but an ok foundation overall), Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer, and a deluxe sample of Boscia BB cream (I still really like this stuff, one year later!).  Next to that are some MAC things for Back-2-MAC, and I plan to trade them for another vegan-ingredients Matte lipstick: Lady Danger!

Top Drawer of the Muji stack: Neutral Eyes drawer.  I've got my beloved Milani Brow Fix Kit, Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, E.L.F. Eyelid Primer; Fyrinnae, Victorian Disco, Wet n Wild, and Too Faced eyeshadows all in vegan shades.

Second drawer down in the Muji stack: Colorful shadows drawer.  Same brands as above plus E.L.F. (don't bother, these are often rubbish and fade crazy quickly) and Sugarpill.

Third drawer down: Vegan liners from Wet n Wild (their shimmer liners and some of their liquid liners), Stila (their waterproof felt-tip pen liners and smudgesticks), Physicians Formula (automatic pencil liners), and Urban Decay (I kept only the vegan shades of 24/7 pencils).

Fourth drawer down: Cheekies.  Sleek blushes are supposedly all vegan, so I'm psyched to have kept my blush by 3s in Lace and Pumpkin, and singles in Flamingo and Scandalous.  Anybody super nice from the UK want to send me more Sleek blushes? ;-) I have a mini of vegan Wet n Wild Mellow Wine and full-size vegan Heather Silk, a couple of Fyrinnae cheek highlighters (don't care for them, btw), the Sleek Face Contour Kit in Light (awesome), and E.L.F. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal (which I happened to like better than any of my Benefit highlighters, surprisingly).

Fifth drawer: E.L.F. Mineral Foundation in Light and Mineral Booster, Too Faced Amazing Face Powder Foundation, Too Faced Chocolate Soleil and Milk Chocolate Soleil, and the E.L.F. Golden Bronzer (I consider it passable as a dupe for Dior Amber Diamond, which I gave away with no regrets to Aly).

Sixth Drawer: Lip Glosses! Lime Crime glosses and OCC Lip Tars in Grandma, NSFW, Melange, and Memento.  An E.L.F. gloss kit, a couple of Fyrinnae glosses I haven't used yet, and Wet n Wild glosses.  I also have a couple of OCC Lip brushes and a deluxe sample-sized Too Faced Perfect Lips Pencil.

The remaining drawers are full of sharpeners, Face Atelier Foundation samples I haven't colormatched yet, unopened glosses, a Wet n Wild LE bronzer I think is vegan, and more brushes.
I separated them by contour/highlight brushes, stippling/blush brushes, and foundation brushes.

Not pictured: My daily tinted moisturizer, eye cream, concealer, lip balms, and other items I store in my bathroom.  These are not numerous, but I use them every time I do a FOTD and nobody needs to see the state of my bathroom right now XD so I thought it wasn't necessary to include them in this post.

Disclaimer: These products are all vegan enough for *me*.  I am not an authority on what is vegan and if you are a strict vegan please double-check your products' ingredients. I do apologize if I have incorrectly labled some products as vegan when they are in fact not.  This is all just to the best of my knowledge!
I found a source that I personally trust for even more mainstream beauty products that are vegan:
Beth Br00tality.  Check out her list - you may be surprised what products you already use that are totally bunny-friendly!

Also, I don't think I need the "I'm not bragging" disclaimer because I'm a grown-ass woman with a career and expendable income, and I earned it :-P

So, what do you guys think? Is my collection lacking anything?