Hi Everyone!

Hey All! :) I hope you all are enjoying your week so far. I know going back to work/school after a great 3 day weekend can be hard.

My past few months have been as busy as ever! Even a trip to the hospital for SophieBear (She had Bronchiolitis & RSV) so we've been extremely busy over here..

also I've now got less than 30 days until I'm finished with my 100k Challenge on BodyBuilding.com. I know I have not posted any recent pictures of my body and some people have been asking, but I will leave that to the end of the challenge and also post that on my personal weightloss journey blog here: www.fitmomxtine.com

for extra added motivation, I have joined/made my own dietbet as mentioned in previous post which you are more than welcome to join! www.DietBet.com/BeautyAndTheBrute 

I'm trying to get back into blogging/vlogging because I really do miss it! I will start slow of course as I have so many projects I'm working on right now.. 

I have a LOT of product review for you all.. both beauty and fitness.. the fitness portion I will share here and on my personal fitness blog (fitmomxtine.blogspot.com)

If you guys didn't know, my Husband Christian is now a Certified Personal Trainer through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine).. I will be following in his footsteps very soon.. and have a LOT of new ideas this year! 

so just wanted to let you all know I'm alive and kicking LOL.. I will have a beauty review up soon (as that's the easiest for me to do lol)

Catch me here:
Twitter: 
@BeautyAndBrute // @FitMomXtine

Instagram:
@BeautyAndBrute
@FitMomXtine

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/beautyandthebrute
www.facebook.com/fitmomxtine

My personal weightloss/fitness blog:
www.fitmomxtine.com

Email:
Khristine@BeautyAndTheBrute.com
OR
FitMomXtine@gmail.com

Catch Xtian Here:
Twitter:
@ChrisTalactac

Instagram:
@ChristianTalactac

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/christiantalactacfitness

Email:
Chris@BeautyAndTheBrute.com
ChristianTalactac@gmail.com

Just a quick update! :D black friday, Sophie bear..

Hi Everyone! I can't believe November came and went.. just like most of this year!

Tomorrow is the last day to vote for Xtian, so please do if you haven't already! (you can vote everyday) Here is the LINK:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2013-bodyspace-spokesmodel-search-voting.html#data

Like previous post, been super busy with School, Kids, Work and just life! trying to find time for myself has been hard, but been managing to go to the gym at least 2-3 times a week when I can.

I'm not going to lie, I Slipped from my strict diet after the Elite Ambition transformation challenge.. and After Thankgiving - that didn't help either.. can you believe I gained 10lbs! LOL.. so It's time to get back on track before Xmas comes! so I'm going to be back on my healthy eating regimen.. I'm tired of eating like crap these past couple months and it really shows in the gym (and of course physically) I mean i'm still a size 3, but i've gained the weight mostly in my abdominal area..

On a brighter note, Sophia Turned 8 months on November 16th.. and she's just a joy to have around! Her big sisters love her to pieces and love her company as we all do.

Also before I forget, I quickly wanted to mention I'm going to be selling Authentic MAC Makeup at discounted prices! I have just a few Holiday Sets left.. so if you're interested, please e-mail me! (BeautyAndTheBrute@gmail.com - for pricing and information) 

I have just a couple of these left & am offering other bundles too!

As for Black Friday - Did you all order anything? I wasn't going to buy anything (because of being broke, BUT! Thanks to me selling my other items on Poshmark  - I was able to get what I wanted!) 

Check out my PoshMark Closets

www.poshmark.com/closet/xtine <-- clothes="clothes" font="font">

www.poshmark.com/closet/xtine22 <-- font="font" makeup="makeup">

Sedona Lace Vortex Brush Set

it was on sale for like 40 w/ brush belt (retails 70+)

Unfortunately mine is backordered until 1/1/2013 LOL.. it's okay i'll still get it!

Sugar Pill Heart Breaker Palette

Was on sale for 23 - retails for 35

I got some other stuff too from BH Cosmetics.. I'll do a haul video when I receive my items.. as well as Hubby & I got some stuff from BodyBuilding.com (woot woot cute gym clothes for me! lol) and we'll either do a separate video for that or do a fitness faves video together..

I also was going to do a haul video on items I got in the beginning of the month, but I think i'll just add that to the collective Black Friday/Cyber Monday Haul.. yes? no? (comment below!)

Since I posted that picture above on Instagram, people said they wanted to see a Lorac Pro Palette tutorial, so I'm going to be doing that soon! I actually sold my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette and replaced it with this.. and I love, love, LOVE it! 

Please don't forget to subscribe to our YT Channel for our latest and greatest videos :P

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I colored my hair! :)

Hi all! :) It's so gloomy and rainy out today, but I thought that I'd set aside some time to blog about my new 'do.


It's been two months since I did anything to my hair (yes I typically get bored easily with my hair).. and I've been wanting to do this fad for so long - I remember when it first became 'popular' starting with the nails etc and moved on to hair... but of course didn't have the guts to do it..and plus my hair was still a bit short.


So I finally bit the bullet and made an appointment and did it. It was very much needed!


Here's a picture of what my hair was like before:

(tilting my head kind of makes my hair look longer than it is here)

(this was when it was freshly cut before my baby shower in February)

And here is my hair now! (well sneak peek since you can't really see the colors)

But yes - I wanted to do the whole Ombre hair.. I know some people don't like it.. but I do :) 

My phone cut my hair off, but it's actually almost to my bewbs (3 inches from the nippies!!) LoL (don't know how else to explain it haha) 

Whereas before it was a few inches past my shoulders.. My pregnancy + taking prenatal pills has really worked wonders for my hair! it's longer and a lot thicker now! 

My skin however has dried up like crazy :( 

I'm going to "try" to do some videos this week, hopefully you all will be able to see my new hair 'do before I have to wash it and then can't style it like my hairstylist did haha..

Happy Wednesday! Stay tuned - I have some awesome reviews coming this week!

Baby is 1 week old already!

Hi everyone! I seriously cannot believe it's already been a week since I had baby Sophia! She officially turned 1 week old yesterday (Friday).  She has been such a pleasure and my daughters have been enjoying her as much as my husband and I have been.


She wakes up every 2-3 hours to eat (She is breastmilk fed, but I currently am pumping exclusively). She only cries if she is hungry or has a soiled diaper, otherwise she is quite easy to comfort (which is such a blessing since my two daughter were both very hard to take care of when they were this age!) 


some people were asking me to do a 'post pregnancy' video, and i'm definitely thinking of doing one. I'm thinking of doing it when I officially go on maternity leave from school. (yes i'm still in school right now doing work and what not lol) so it starts in April and will probably have time to film then. 

Welcome to the World Baby!

For those wondering what happened to me.. lol - I actually had my baby this past Friday and it was the longest labor ever (well to me lol)..


but we're home and adjusting quite well.. but sorry for my absence, I've added a new bundle of joy to my family and we're all as smitten as can be :)


so if you don't hear from me for awhile, just know i'm busy! (3 kids, school, hubby!) but i'll be updating the blog and doing videos when I can! :)


for now, here are a couple pics.

26 Week Pregnancy Vlog update!

Hi everyone! I know it's been ages since my last pregnancy vlog.. and since i'm on winter vacay and had a few minutes of downtime.. decided to finally film and upload my pregnancy vlog! :)


So for those of you who follow me on twitter, or seen my past few posts.. i mentioned that I was having heart palpitations (not related to exercising).. and i even had an episode of near fainting.. so because of that, my ob/gyn had told me to see my primary care doctor to get a referral to cardiology. So I did, and at the cardiology appointment, they placed a holter/event monitor. just to monitor possible arrythmias (abnormal heart beats) palpitations, whether or not i feel them... it was pretty cool.. of course when I had it on, i only had an episode maybe 3-4 times.. lol.. I only had it on for 2 weeks, but seriously felt like ages..


It was a pain in the butt, because it was a huge like an oldschool pager.. and i had to connect it to my pants.. which by the way, because of the awkward position of my belly, always made it fall out everytime i sat down/stood up.. ugh! lol.. so glad it's over with though.. going to just wait for the results - which i'm pretty sure they'll tell me it's normal.. 


Otherwise - i've still been pretty active at the gym.. My husband took a few videos of me squatting and doing other things.. but of course I forgot to post them (like i usually do).. so hopefully i'll just do a separate video on that.. 


but here's my video! :) 




Old things I craved for:- Red Vines- Hot cheetos- Nestle Crunch chocolate bar- Lays BBQ chips
New things I crave for:- Cinnamon flavored stuff: -- Cinammon toast crunch cereal -- horchata - cinnamon rolls (specifically a place called cinnabon)- orange juice (minute maid only - with some pulp the vitamin D one)- minute maid fruit punch- Lays sour cream and onion chips- Vanilla tootsie rolls!
I know the cravings I have are not healthy - but please keep in mind, i eat these sparingly! if you follow me on twitter, i'm always posting things that I make my husband and myself (like filipino torta, carne asada burritos, buffalo chicken wraps, salads etc).. so please don't think all i do is eat junk, because I dont.. and plus I exercise/lift weights!
besides my heart issues.. i only have been having back pain and sciatic pain.. which if i stand on my right foot in a certain way, or step on it wrong while walking, i get this sharp pain throughout that leg into my hip and it HURTS.. i almost fell at the grocery store cause it was that bad lol.. 
As far as my weight gain, i've gained all in all 20lbs from the beginning of my pregnancy.. which I think isn't so bad.. considering the last trimester is where you'll see the most amount of weight gain.. (yikes!).. 
So i'm going to continue my eating habits, as i've been doing well - only gaining about 1-2 lbs a week.. and then during the last month i'll be gaining the rest of it :D 
I can't believe i have like 13 weeks left (that's if i stay pregnant for the whole 40 weeks).. but i had my two daughters early, so... who knows if this baby will wanna stay in longer or shorter lol.. we'll see! But I will enjoy the rest of my pregnancy despite how big I may get.. because knowing me.. i'm going to miss being pregnant later on! 
Let me know your thoughts about my pregnancy vlogs - should they be once a month, every 2 weeks, weekly? are there specific things you'd like me to talk about, or any questions you may have for me that I could answer? let me know! 
not only for pregnancy stuff, but other things too - let me know your video requests since i'm off school for 2 weeks! 
Thanks for watching my video, don't forget to sub to my channel if you haven't already! <3

The Final Day...

For those of you who have been following My Husband's transformation challenge (progress)... Thank you ALL for the support you've given to us! :)


Today is the LAST and Final day! He's taking his final pictures.. I'm SOOOOO proud of him! I'm going to be posting his before and final after pictures on our NEW blog.. (hope your subscribed!) because you won't want to miss it! 


I'm amazed at the transformation, My husband has always looked amazing, but this transformation... just blows my mind at how much his body has changed (and i didn't know it was possible it could change to this!) So thank you to everyone for the support and kindness of spreading the word! 


Also, I wanted to give a quick shout out to Heather & Candace from Airbrush by Heather! (Please check out this amazing tanning company) I found Heather on Yelp.com trying to find somewhere for My Husband to get a spray tan (if you're not versed in the fitness world, it really is a must to show more definition to your muscles).. anywho - Heather is AMAZING! this was My husband's first time getting a spray tan, he was super skeptical (didn't want to be orange).. and so, after reading the many reviews on yelp.com, we decided to go with Airbrush By Heather because of the many 5 star ratings she received. 


When I called her, she was super friendly and answered all my questions. The day of our appointment, she met us outside, and I swear it was like meeting up with an old friend. She was a sweetheart and made us both feel very comfortable. My Husband & I are overall impressed with the tan and I cannot express to you how amazing the customer service is! He went on Wednesday and because he is so active (working out/showering etc) the tan faded (ever so slightly) but he needed a touch up before his big shoot, well - I called Heather and she was so kind and went out of her way to squeeze us in last minute :) 


That's where Candace came to play - She was just as amazing as Heather! And it was awesome because Candace was into fitness and had previously competed before, so she knew what My Husband was looking for with his Tan. She answered all of our questions and made us super comfortable. I totally recommend this company to you if you're looking for an amazing tan that's natural looking. I will tell you, I'm so jealous of my husband - his new tan makes me look like death LOL.. not to mention, I wanted to lick the tan off my husband because he smelled like freaking chocolate chip cookies after his tan haha :) 

But I guess you guys will have to be subscribed to our new blog to see his results! :) 

My Review was on the front page of Beautylish.com

just noticed that my review was on the front page of beautylish.com! :) okay i KNOW it's not a big deal lol - but i always get excited when i see things like that!  see if you can spot my little avatar..


and if you aren't following me on beautylish, please do so www.beautylish.com/myfitbeauty

What Motivates me to stay/get Fit

I know that some of you that follow my blog, have seen my posts in the past of my husband's workout videos.. but I really am so proud of him! He truly does inspire me and a lot of others to stay fit.


He recently joined an online body transformation competition and i wanted to share with all of you his progress so far.


the picture on the left was taken on 08/28/2011 and the picture on the right was taken little less than a month later at 09/21/2011. you can see how he has leaned out and is totally getting shredded :)

One of our two squat racks in our garage. :) we recently just moved 

both of them together on the other side. :) picture to come soon.

Yes that is my Mitsubishi Lancer Evolotion X :P

If you guys didn't know - my husband was the main reason why I started working out back in January 2010. I had always complained that I was fat, I hated my clothes because they didn't fit.. but yet I never wanted to do anything about my weight. I was your typical average person that wanted the easy way out (ie: diet pills, starvation diets).. but My husband truly was the one who opened my eyes! 


Just to give you a little background on My AWESOME husband. he had dislocated his ankle in 2008 and it was so bad it did not heal properly as the ortho doc expected it (because of how he dislocated it the Doc said).. He had a really long recovery process after the dislocation.. he was in a cast and was STILL going to the gym everyday.. 


Not only that - but he had to have micro-fracture surgery (meaning they had to break the bone to fix it) because like mentioned his ankle did not heal the way the orthopedic surgeon/MD had expected it. Even after he had surgery he was up a few days after at the gym! Talk about Dedication.. if you want to know - My Husband is the total definition of it :)


He has been doing this for 5 years and i'm so proud of his progress. Although I did lose 21 lbs after my second daughter - I was real proud of myself because My Husband and my kids always supported me. Although I am pregnant now and not so flattering looking, my husband has supported my decision to stay active and still work out. so if you want to know why i'm dedicated - it's because My Husband. My True inspiration! :)


Another inspiration of mine is My Cousin Hazel :) She's had 3 babies and she Looks AMAZING. 

She started her journey July 7, 2010 (her before picture)

And this picture was afterwards:

Pic on left taken: 02/20/2011

Pic on right taken: 03/15/2011

I just hate that she lives all the way in Germany! I know if she lived closer, we'd be tearing it up at the gym! She just recently got into CrossFit and been really enjoying seeing her do the same things I do (squats, deadlifts etc).. she's a true inspiration to me because now that i'll have 3 babies - I KNOW i can get back to pre-pregnancy size in no time. :)

And I know you've probably seen these already, but these are the only videos I have of me working out.. i hope to have many more soon though :) Me doing Squats and Rack pulls below:

This was in April 2011 - I was 122lbs
I am squatting 135lbs. 

Also 135lb rackpulls. 

What inspires you? :)

Random Blogging :: What I've been up to..

Hello All! I know it's been ages and ages since my last post - but from my previous post you'll know why i've been so extremely busy. I started school (I'm going to a school, a bridge program LVN - BSN) on August 29th and it's been really crazy! I knew it was quite an accelerated program, but I wasn't expecting it to be SO fast. we literally cover 5 chapters in one day and have a test every week in each of my classes. I have 3 and omg they are just so mentally draining. 


So the reason why I have not been able to blog is because of my school and also both my kiddies have started school as well! My oldest daughter is in Kindergarten and my youngest is in Preschool. so it's been a busy house and of course My husband has been working very hard :)


I'm very glad though that I did decide to go back to school - it's a small sacrifice for a lifetime of better for my family and myself. My expected graduation date would be June 2014, but considering I'm going to have my baby in March of 2012 - i might/might not take a little break (a month or even a few weeks) depending on how i'm doing in school and my recovery etc.


I have my upcoming prenatal appointment in about a week to see how baby is doing :) i know i'm only barely about to be 12 weeks, but i already have a small belly. but i'll show you guys when i'm about 15-16 weeks. 


I'm really hoping to have some more content on here soon - but i honestly don't know if i'll ever have time consistently lol. well after every semester i have a break so maybe then i'll be more active! but as for now i'll just post my random bloggings here and there and hope that you'll all still be interested to read them! :)


hope you all have a great weekend!

IMATS 2011 Pasadena Experience/Haul

IMATS :: June 2011 

So this year was my first time ever going to IMATS! I was supposed to go last year, but Karen couldn't make it, and I didn't feel like going all by myself lol so I skipped out.. 

this year we were both determined to go no matter what - I thought it was going to be a total bust because I heard the news on twitter that they actually sold out tickets on saturday.. so i was like darn :( .. but then someone told me they had released extra tickets - so you bet your bottom i jumped on their site and purchased our tickets!

I'm so glad that I was able to go! I honestly did not know what to expect since this was my first time. I read a lot of tweets about - omg what to wear blah blah.. but seriously .. that place was WAY to crowded and hot.. i did not feel like getting too dressed up because i knew I was going to be on my feet most of the day.. and get really sweaty lol.. So I dressed comfortably and with clothes I didn't mind getting sweaty in or accidentally getting makeup on (from all the swatching etc).. 

It did help that I looked at a few websites with tips for first timers going to IMATS..and I think that really did help (although i wish i did it way earlier than the night before IMATS).. 

I looked on the website to see which vendors were going to be there, read reviews on the latest products to see if there was anything i needed. I knew that most vendors had special discounts for those attending IMATS.. and the discounts were like 30-40% off retail price - which was awesome for me!

I made a small list, had a budget and stuck by it.. and I met a lot of awesome people and had an awesome time! :) so here's what I got and i'll share some pictures below of the people i got to see! :)

Karen & I first stopped by the Sigma booth.. I was actually suprised because they weren't selling anything.. just had the some of their popular products on display.. and then you could choose from a travel E25 brush or a sample of their eyeshadows from their newest palettes.. i have way too many travel size E25 brush so i of course got the eyeshadow..

 Look it's Mz_Karen :P 

love these brushes - i own a purple set!

<3 the Dry'N Shape system!

And this is the sample that I received from their booth:

(they have 3 new eyeshadow palettes and in this sample is an eyeshadow from each palette)

And Here are some other pictures that I managed to take (I know not that many :( )

it just opened! still empty! 

Heard the eyelashes were $1.00 last year - they were $2.00each or

3 pairs for $5.00.. wanted to try them out! :D

Guess who I spotted! Elessa from Pursebuzz.com

and Koren from Enkoremakeup.com was there! SUPER NICE!

Koren, Me & Elessa <3 they are so sweet!

Pursebuzz class for Crown Brush 101

Randomness

Lol Karen and zombie

Lol me and monster dude

Me, TheMakeupSnob & Nymphette

(they were SUPER nice!) 

Me & Christina of Beautylish.com

she was getting her makeup done (airbrushed) love the eyeshadow!

cool :D

close up

it was so crazy packed in there! random characters walking around :p

So I didn't take that many pictures.. i really kind of wanted to purchase what I needed.. and by the end 

Karen and I were SUPER tired! luckily on my way out - i was able to meet...

RissRose, Me & JLovesMac1

(Marissa, Me & Jarmaine)

They are awesome <3

Me & Judy! 

She is the SWEETEST person i've ever met!

Wish I could have hung out with you longer! <3

I did run into a few other beauty bloggers, but didn't get to take pictures with them.. but I had an awesome experience. I think for next year - I will purchase tickets as soon as they go on sale - look way ahead of time which vendors will be there, what products are hot and worth waiting in line for etc.. and then spend time looking for my friends/other beauty bloggers and make sure I take pictures! lol

anywho - here are some pictures of what I purchased/received from IMATS! I'll try to do a video on this as well soon! :)

 Lash adhesive - these were $1.00 each (single use)

wanted to try out some Miss Adoro lashes it was

3 pairs for $5.00

My First OCC Liptar in Plum & tinted moisturizer in Y2 

Liptar $10.00 

TM - $20.00 

I actually was on the hunt for a great powder foundation

and the demo the lady did on me was amazing

made me fall in love with this! have been using it and been loving it!

I think it was on sale (retails for $49.50)

I believe I purchased this for $35.00

Stopped by the Crown Brush booth for these brushes :)

First time purchasing from Model in a Bottle

this set was $35.00 (she threw in an extra make-up remover)

i've been using it so far and LOVING it!

these were the samples that I received. yes that is a boob lol

it's a stress reliever thingie.. from a plastic surgery company/vendor that 

was there giving away boobies LOL.. anywho, got a lipgloss from Napoleon Perdis

Some stuff from Senna Cosmetics and the Sigma eyeshadows as mentioned previously.. 

That pretty much completes my haul for IMATS.. I did have a great time! funny thing was - I did not vlog the whole time I was in there.. it wasn't till afterwards when we were leaving did I vlog lol.. 

We went home shortly after, and I actually had filmed a haul video and my experience.. but of course it had to record with no freaking sound.. so i had to re-record all over again.. but i ran out of time cause we had to do errands.. so as of yet I have been unable to do a video.. so i'll make one later one - it's easier for me to blog than to record and then edit a video.. 

but hope you enjoyed this blog! :) if you went to IMATS what did you purchase?