By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Anise Halloween Drink

Halloween calls for creative costumes, decorations and fun gatherings. I love to host a good costume party and, of course, I always try to make a drink to suit the occasion. With temperatures dropping, I make sure to have a drink for warming up by the fireplace or out on the porch.

Our traditional liquor in Colombia is Aguardiente, an anise and sugar-based drink with a very unique and strong flavor. Some people drink it straight up, but in many bars and restaurants it is mixed in cocktails and hot drinks. Another typical beverage is the Agua de panela con limon. Panela is the final product of unrefined whole cane sugar. It is used in drinks, desserts, and some abuelas even use it to give their beans a sweet kick. So, I combined panela and anise liquor to make the perfect Halloween-inspired hot beverage. I took some pumpkin-shaped buckets and turned them into my serving cups. For a fancier, autumn presentation, serve the drink in an Irish

In this video blog I'll show all the hot new beauty products I'm loving right now.

By Charleen Gonzalez For Shine Latina

This month I found fabulous products for Latinas, including a flat iron tailored for thick and unruly hair, Eva Longoria's new seductive fragrance, high-quality brushes that are affordable, Halloween-inspired nail polishes, a color-packed eyeshadow palette and super moisturizing lipsticks. Don't miss the video below!

A flat iron made for Latinas
I don't know about you, but my hair reacts to humidity as soon as I walk out the door. In order to combat the elements and put my unruly thick hair into submission, I found Sultra's new The Diva Pressing Iron. This flat iron is designed for frizzy and thick hair, the kind many of us Latinas have to battle against. The plates on this iron are curved and really press down your hair for sleek and straight results that last even in the most humid of climates. The iron has two temperature settings- one for natural hair, another

Brian NavarroBy Caroline Buia

Whether you stop at the pupusería on your way home from the club or scarf a plate of empanadas after a night on the town, after dark is the worst time to eat. If you're risking starvation (or at least a killer hangover), go ahead and indulge your craving. A few words to the wise:

-Fill up on water or caffeine-free tea before so you'll eat less.
-Keep the food portions small
-Eat slowly
-Out with friends? Share your plate so you're only having half the amount of food.

Buen Provecho!
Related: Fall Inspired Cocktails

A Yen For Mexican

NIX:

Burrito

738 cals/86g carbs

Chicken quesadilla
563 cals/37g carbs

SWAP FOR:

Burrito bowl with greens, beans, cheese, chicken and pico de gallo (skip rice) 340cals/30g carbs

Quest For Cuban

NIX:

Ham croquetas
280 cals/30g carbs

Tostones
139 cals/21g carbs

Flan
471 cals/77g carbs

SWAP FOR:

Sopa de pollo
172 cals/14g carbs

Baked sweet potato fries
140 cals/23g carbs

By Ariel Nagi

El Dia de los Muertos has been the party of the year for the indigenous of Mexico for hundreds of years… Ready to try your own modern take on this bizarrely fun tribute fest? Here's what you'll need.

Read More at CosmoForLatinas.com!

Latina Designers We Love

How to Meet Hot Men

Guess the Latina Celeb Wedding Dress

CFL Editors: Why We Love Being Latino

By Ariel Nagi

You don't even have to go to the costume shop for these.

Read More at CosmoForLatinas.com!

Latina Designers We Love

How to Meet Hot Men

Guess the Latina Celeb Wedding Dress

CFL Editors: Why We Love Being Latino

Shine Latina sat down with Colombian mixologist Gabriel Orta to discover the secrets of mixing the perfect cocktail and get the recipe for a luscious pineapple-lime margarita.

Abuela Rigo lived a life full of adventures and hardships. She loved and fought for what she believed in and for those she loved the most. Her stories growing up very rich (and then very poor) in Puerto Rico are the stuff of legends, and I'll try to share them- and her- with you. Welcome to The Abuela Chronicles.

The family had finally moved to their new home in the outskirts of the town of Caguas. The sprawling estate of over 50 acres was precisely what Mamá wanted: sturdy, roomy and just the place they needed to settle into now that Pepe, her husband, didn't need to travel as much to oversee tobacco plantations. Caguas was also the town where both Mamá and Papá were from, so there were plenty of familiar faces to welcome them and their children. To eight year old Rigo, this was the most amazing place she'd ever been to, complete with a brand new puppet theater, a store that sold every kind of luxury item (from canned fruit to Victrolas) and even a park where kids played

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Plantain-Cilantro-Chicken soup

My brother in law, David, went to culinary school about 10 years ago. While my college homework consisted mostly of writing papers and studying for exams, David's included cooking recipes for the entire family. We always managed to find one or two nights during the week to gather around the kitchen to watch him working on recipes for school. One of his famous, signature dishes is a Cilantro and Plantain Chicken soup that the entire family has enjoyed since the moment he first made it. We kept asking him to make the soup and to make enough to last for a few days. Now, more than a decade later, we still make the soup during family gatherings and lunches. The big difference is that while we used to cook and eat whenever we wanted, now we have to consider a new generation. We have kids that range from seven months to five years old running around the house during the day, with parents trying to get them into bed early so they can make it to school