Eye Brightening Favorites:

How's the new year going so far? I'm still wishing we were on holiday break. I spent a good chunk of my time visiting relatives, touching base with friends in town, and probably too much time indulging in Champagne. ‘Tis the season right? The best part about the holiday weekend had to be my social media detox and sleeping in almost every single day.

Now that I’m back and feeling focused it’s time to start making moves. Usually, I mention my resolutions at the start of the year but I’ll share that a little later after thinking it through. I will, however, give you a peep of what’s going to be on there -  sleep more.

Last month, I was seriously lacking on the sleep, which comes with the territory of blogging and being a social media manager. And that lack of sleep definitely showed in my dark under-eye circles. Not a good look when out at events or early morning meetings.

To look more fresh-eyed on little sleep, I use a couple of things: VII Code under-eye patches, eye cream, white eyeliner and concealer. It seriously makes a difference even when I slept three hours.

In full disclosure, I did receive the product for free from VII Code, but being the skincare junkie that I am – I actually have scoped this out (& bought) on Amazon. It’s that good you guys. Indulge if you can.

When it comes to under-eye patches, there are quite a few on the market, but right now I love VII Code’s. Compared to other eye patches on the market this is more of an 8-hour overnight eye mask. VII Code recommends leaving the eye mask on for the 8-hours so your skin can help absorb the ecological plant oxygen extracts (which is an all natural herbal formula). Each eye patch comes equipped all the essential vitamins, antioxidants, proteins, peptides and essential fatty acids.

After prepping your skin for the night (see how I prep mine here) apply the patches on with the gel side on your skin. There’s no label but apply the thicker side on the outside of my eyes and the thinner side towards my inner eye/nose, as shown in the photo below.

Upon waking up, I remove the patches and my eyes look revitalized and de-puffed from the get-go. VII Code recommends using them 2-3x a week, but I’ve been using them once 1x a week for that fresh-faced look. During NYFW I may go up to 2-3x a week.

Generally, after using these patches I don’t need much additional help in the eye area but for those incredibly early mornings I dab on eye cream (loving this K-Beauty find right now), apply white eyeliner to the inside of my lower lash line, and gently pat on concealer (highly recommend this one from NARS) with my BeautyBlender.

For those of you looking to expand your eye care, VII Code is offering $5 off a three-box set with code RCS5-3HEX9L-Z9DYAM. The three-box set is a great starting point for those looking into a deep eye treatment.

Are there any new beauty or skincare habits you’ll be getting into this year?

Photos by Victor Cerejo.

Feastin' with Naureen from Kitchen3N.com!

Hello, The Style Boro readers! My name is Naureen Akhter, owner of Kitchen3N.com I am a blast from your lovely host's past: Aileen and I went to junior high together where our shenanigans ranged from prank calling boys we had crushes on (Allan are you out there? Are you reading this? In case you are, Aileen Olmedo of class 701 officially had a crush on you.), to attempting to perform Wiccan rituals in our friend's home, to having my first sexual encounter at her home (her dog humped my leg!). So when I invited her over for breakfast, I thought, what's something unique and delicious (and photogenic!) I can entertain her with?

Turkish breakfast wins every time. Traditional Turkish breakfast spreads typically include cheese, olives, tomato, cucumbers, eggs, bread and Turkish sausage known as soujuk. The contrasting colors of the tomato, cucumber and olives always wows. The salty cheese and spicy sausage pair well with soft scrambled eggs. Bonus points for fresh squeezed orange juice or apple tea! Breakfast was the last meal I had with my husband during my babymoon to Turkey and one that will stay with me forever. 

Homemade granola and banana bread are not traditional, but they are in our house. Nothing perfumes the house like the smell of coconut toasting up in the oven or banana getting cozy with butter and sugar. 

So try your hand at this spread next time you're entertaining folks for breakfast (think: New Year's Day morning for a fun change up). The best part is - most of these things require little effort beyond buying the ingredients: the tomatoes and cucumbers you just slice and arrange. The sausage you prepare similar to bacon (slice and bake at 350 degrees on a rack over a sheet pan for 15-20 minutes). The bread, warm up in the oven on a sheet pan once the sausage is done. For the eggs, you can slice all the veggies beforehand, and scramble up right before your guests come.

Recipe for Menemen (Turkish Scrambled Eggs) 

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 scallions thinly sliced
• 1 long green pepper (I used the Basque Fryer, but feel free to use a deseeded jalapeno), sliced thin
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Directions
Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add scallions, tomato, pepper and cook 4-5 minutes, until soft. Add cayenne, paprika and salt and cook for until tomatoes break down and onions get super soft, another 2-3 minutes.

While the veggies cook, crack eggs into a bowl. Season with a bit of salt and pepper and whisk with a fork. Whisk well - until the eggs look like a uniform yellow mixture. Pour into skillet and lower the heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggs just start to set. Turn off the heat and add the parsley. Give it a final stir and serve with warm bread. 

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You guys, brunch with Naureen was so delicious and my hunger for more Mediterranean adventures has increased ten-fold.

For more scrumptious recipes head over to Naureen's blog (www.kitchen3n.com), Instagram (@kitchen3n), or if you're in NYC learn about her custom cake creations here.

Holiday Prep with Crest!

Ahh, the week before Christmas when everyone (me included) is trying to do a million things all at once. Should I even mention that 2016 is only a few weeks away? Yea.. let's not even go there haha.

It kind of makes me wish I was still an impatient kid wondering when the heck Santa was going to arrive. Sure the days were long but at least, I wasn't running around with my head cut off.

Without fail, the holidays for me always turn into a mad dash to finish last-minute projects (all the coffee please!) while finishing up all my Christmas shopping. Needless to say, every minute counts.

Oh, and the holiday parties. So. Many. Parties.

There are the get-togethers with the "in-laws", dinners with my fam, a few office parties, and then the fun boozy nights with amazing friends (these always turn into amazing nights). With enough invites to take me through the rest of a year with a gnarly hangover each day.

But just because my days are a little bit jam-packed doesn't mean I won't treat myself during the madness. It's important to keep myself sane, you know?

One thing I really have been wanting to do is get my teeth whiten & straighten. It might be a little too late for braces, but I can whiten my teeth and undo the damage my caffeine addiction has done.

Whitening my teeth with Crest Whitestrips is pretty affordable and something I do before big events (read: all of December). It's super easy to use the strips, not messy at all, and can be worn while on the go. You can even drink water while they're on. For me personally, I love whitening my teeth and having the bright smile and bold lip. In fact, a bold lip is all I can do sometimes when so busy in terms of makeup.

For those of you that have sensitive teeth - these have not caused me any discomfort in the slightest and my teeth are super sensitive. Also, it only takes one hour of wear to get rid of years of coffee and red wine.

Right now, Walmart is having a BOGO event for a limited time on these Crest Whitestrips which is awesome since I can give a box to my boyfriend. It's a pretty awesome deal since a box of Whitestrips can go for $57+ and these are coming out to $39.97.

Well now that my smile is covered all I have to do is make it through the season in one-piece (and get that Christmas list completed ASAP).

Dress: Gentle Fawn  Vest: Zara (similar)  Boots: Zara (similar)  Necklace: Custom (make your own here)  Backpack: Tumi  Lipstick: Plush via NYX Cosmetics

What are a few ways you prep for the holiday parties this season? Have you ever tried Crest Whitestrips before? I've been loving them since my High School days :).

Today's post has been sponsored by Walmart. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible!