TGIF: Love Your Skin {Salicylic Acid Mask}

Hello world! It has been quite some time since I post and as you can see we have a new fresh look! It is a chilly but gorgeous spring day here in NYC and I’m so excited for warmer days to come. I have been so busy with work and life that I was having trouble finding inspiration for the blog, but here I am, ready for you! I will be posting more often from now on, I promise. Ok, now let’s get this thing going…

If any of you know me at all you know that I’m the biggest product whore. I LOVE products! I’m always looking for the newest thing to try whether it be makeup or skin care and I can never get enough. If you ever get to peek into my “beauty drawer” you will see that I have a serious problem. Like, I don’t allow myself go into Sephora kind of problem. LOL! I have tried it all, but if theres something I love more is experimenting with do it yourself home recipes. Fridays are love your skin days here at { Monkey } and I will be sharing with you my latest obsessions and/or DIY recipes. Yay!

When reading ELLE this past week I stumbled upon a comment by a dermatologist on an easy way to make your own Salicylic Acid Mask so I had to try it! It’s very simple and if you look online you will find many variations on how to make this mask. This is how I made mine and found my skin to be smooth and radiant after using it.

Salicylic Acid Mask:

• 3 uncoated aspirin tablets
• a few pumps of Cetaphil cleanser

Crush the aspirin tablets with a grinder or using the back of a spoon and mix in the cleanser until it forms a paste. You can let it sit for a little bit in order for the aspirin to dissolve a little but the consistency will be like that of a scrub. Layer over your skin and leave on for about 10-15 minutes but no longer than that. Rinse with warm water while gently scrubbing your face with the aspirin grains. Pat dry and finish with your favorite moisturizer.

 

For a more moisturizing mask:

• 3 uncoated aspirin tablets
• Dollop of honey
• 1 tbsp plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt)

Mix the honey and yogurt into a bowl. Grind or crush the aspirin tablets into a powder using the back of a spoon or with a grinder. Mix the aspirin into the yogurt & honey mixture until it forms a thick cream that can adhere to your skin (it should be about the consistency of a cold cream). Apply to face and leave on for about 10-20 minutes. Rinse off and pat dry.

Since salicylic acid is mostly used to clear skin and clear out pimples I don’t recommend using this mask more than once a week unless you have acne prone skin. I’m no dermatologist and the truth is using a lot of it can dry out your skin but you can enjoy the benefits of clear radiant skin when used sparingly if you have normal skin.

I do warn, if you are allergic to aspirin, or if you are pregnant or nursing, please do not try this recipe!! 

Have a great weekend lovelies and check back soon for more!

Xx

Ombre is Calling

The last time I got my hair done professionally was…. Christmas… ha! I’ve been refusing to pay for my locks only because there are more important things that my money needs to go to. Many, many things like rent, bills, student loans… money for leisurely activities like going out and drinking. Therefore hair has not been a priority for this whole year but now it has gotten to the point where my messy tresses and roots are screaming for some much needed TLC. Not to mention how my split ends don’t let me sleep at night. They give me nightmares.

My beautifying hair day is on Tuesday and I cannot wait!!! Über excited. Even though I haven’t done anything exciting with my head of hair I’ve been wanting to get it colored in a special way, I want it dip-dyed! Ombre hair has been calling my name for a while now and I think it’s time to do it already. I Googled ombre hair a while back and had saved a couple of images I liked. I especially love Sarah Jessica Parker’s hair  here. I want exactly that.

I’m bringing this to my hairdresser.

Or…. I could Gaga the shit out of it…

I would too. Don’t dare me!

Happy almost Friday!

Xx

Oysters and Oysters and Beer. Oh my!

This is embarrassing how late I’m posting this but whatever! Lol.

Two Saturdays ago my lovely girls and I went down to Stone street for the annual Oyster Fest. I always worked when it happened so I was really excited to go this year. Yay for me! If you have never been to this part of town make it a must. It’s a tiny cobble stone street down in the Financial District lined with great bars and restaurants. A great place to go when the weather is warm since the best seats are out on the street. Very relaxing and so much fun to go with people you love.

Enjoying pulled pork sandwiches!

Oyster Fest has a much different dynamic. The tiny street is lined with tarps offering amazing goodies and not to mention the crowd of people boozing and binging. Music is blasting and the energy is fun. Needless to say, we had a blast!

I was so excited to go that I packed my good camera for what I thought would be a fun shoot. I took photos for about an hour feeling great and happy that I was getting good shots of the food and my friends. After this hour I decided to review them. Did I mention how excited I was? So, I turn on my camera only to find out that I had been taking ZERO photos… Zilch! Yeah…. I didn’t have my memory card in. FAIL! So all these pics are curtesy of my friend Nicole…. which I instagrammed (made up word?). I complained about it for about 10 minutes… Then I got over it.

Bottom line: we had fun. I <3 oysters 4 evah!

Happy Friday my friends.

Xx

Yummies

As you all know, the east coast was attacked by a hurricane this past weekend. All of New York City stopped on Saturday as the MTA took precautionary actions and shut down all public transportation at noon. It was a total inconvenience because everyone was confined to their neighborhoods and apartments. I mean, I wasn’t cabbing it anywhere! I save my cab rides for late night transportation.

So with all this time and nowhere to go what else is there to do…? ….Cook and EAT!! Lots and lots of food to eat… I think everyone gained the Irene 15. My brother and I made some very delicious meals all weekend but the most exciting one of them all were my Cookies & Cream cupcakes! That’s right! They’re uh-mazing. I recommend.

Recipe from 500 Cupcakes

I absolutely love this recipe but usually make half of it. I don’t want to end up eating them all!

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for the cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 cups self rising flour (Presto)

1 tsp. baking powder

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

10 crushed Oreo cookies

 

for the frosting

3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

pinch of salt

10 chopped Oreo cookies

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare the cupcake pans with aluminum or paper cups. With an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and eggs until combined then add the remaining ingredients, except the cookies, and beat until smooth and pale, about 2 minutes. Stir in the Oreos.

 

Spoon the batter into the cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove pans from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a wire rack.

 

For the frosting, beat the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and butter with and electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Fold in the chopped cookies leaving some aside to top the cupcakes with. Serve and eat!

 

Makes 1 1/2 dozen.

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It’s almost the weekend and it looks like it’s gonna be good. Enjoy it!

Xx

 

Brooklyn Flea

Hello lovelies! Since everyone on the East coast is stuck at home while we bear this crazy storm, I thought what a great opportunity it was to post my flea market adventures from last week. Yay!

Last Saturday my girlfriends and I decided it would be a great day to go to the Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Green. I had never been to this part of the borough and I have to say that I loved it. The area is adorable with plenty of cute places to grab a drink or bite not to mention how beautiful the houses and brownstones are! They have this elegant air about them, blocks covered in trees and buildings with ivy… My kind of place. It was a gorgeous summer day that made for a pleasant walk to the market and more than made up for the annoying weekend commute (thanks MTA!). Let’s just say it took all of us away too long to make it there… just sayin’.

The minute we enter the market we all spot the same thing: ice cream cart! Naturally, we go straight to the line, which was long by the way. Blue Marble Ice Cream had an amazing assortment of flavors: coffee, dulce de leche, and blueberry (say what!?). Soooo delicious! A good start I would say.

Here are some of the little things that caught my attention…

  

  

I was loving on all the furniture.

<3

I really wanted this… lol

  

Who doesn’t want a dinosaur necklace? I don’t. But I do want a squirrel mug, with the rhino plate.

I really fell in love with so many pieces of furniture that it’s not even funny. Walking around the market made me feel as though I needed to have a house to decorate. Well that, and also the fact that two of my boyfriend’s friends just bought a house. Seeing them fixing it up and making it their own has me thinking of how I would want my home to look like. I think a well rounded mix of modern and cozy country home is where I’d take it. Clean and fresh with a punch of contemporary…. Look at this amazing piece… I. Want.

Spectacles!

Tie clips for the fashionable man

 

Maria’s wooden tape measure treasure.

Even though I saw many things I wanted (that’s odd), I’m broke so, I knew I was going for the sake of window shopping. But my friend Maria saw something she had to get! It was the little nerd inside her saying she had to buy it. What is it? Well, it’s an old school wooden measuring tape. She explained that engineers back in the day didn’t have the fancy ones they use now. It looks pretty awesome. I thought it made a great giraffe. Wall art!

Besides the obvious things you find at the flea market: antiques, clothing, accessories, junk; there was an incredible assortment of yummy goodies. The girls got some delicious homemade pop from the guys at Brooklyn Soda Works while I went for the ice cold bubble tea! Not to mention the other good stuff that was around: lobster rolls, pulled pork sandwiches, asia dogs, tacos, grilled corn, porchetta, and much, much more. I didnt get to try any of it but everything looked and smelled amazing. It’s a definite must-go if you want to do something different on the weekends.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post! Now I must go and start moving things out of my window’s way before the hurricane arrives… you know… just in case something flies straight into it shattering into a million pieces while water uncontrollably gushes in. I live right in front of the water ya know! Lol… Safety first people!

Be safe, happy Saturday!

Xx

TGIF!!

Thank God its Friday people!

Even though I’m working on Sunday, I am still very excited that I’m not tomorrow (woo!) and that I get to have a little adventure with my girlfriends at the Brooklyn Flea. This promises to be fun: food shopping, walking in the sun (or clouds, who cares its summer!). Needless to say I’m excited. Pictures soon to follow.

Speaking of food, if you live in New York you should take advantage of restaurant week. Many places have extended their Prix fix menus until September 5th! Click here to see a full list of participating venues and to make reservations. Last night a good friend of mine and I had a wonderful dinner at David Burke’s Fishtail in the Upper East Side. The food was aaaaammmaaaaziiing and they gave us a cute little parting gift!

It’s a doughnut peach! Lol

I had the Ahi tuna appetizer which was marinated in a spicy ginger soy sauce. For the main course I went with the scallops. They sat grilled to perfection on top of a spring onion puree… one bite and it melted in my mouth! ….For dessert I had the Peaches & Cream: a little tower composed of a half peach topped with mascarpone cream and finished with a refreshing raspberry sorbet. I couldn’t have asked for a better summer meal. Yum!!!

As the summer starts winding down I’m trying to make the most of what’s left. What will you be doing this weekend?

 

Happy adventures!

Xx