Cover Girl Smoky Shadow Blast Review

A while back ago I had a coupon for Cover Girl cosmetics, I decided to buy two of the Smoky Shadow Blast cream sticks. I got one in Bronze Fire and one in Purple Plum. This product has a rounded end for all over the lid color and a slanted end for crease color. I was so excited to try this product, being a fan of stick shadows and thinking the cream eye shadow would be easier to apply and on the stick the colors looked really pretty.

However, I was very disappointed after I tried these on. I can honestly say that this is by far the worst make up product that I have ever bought. EVER. I hate it. I would not recommend it, it was a waste of money. The Smoky Shadow Blast has very little pigment and it is almost impossible to build up color. If you do attempt to build up color, the color that you just applied will smear and fade off. This product also does not last long at all: an hour tops, seriously. It also creases and fades almost immediately and ends up making your eyelids look very greasy. Another thing I noticed is that after a while the slanted tip will round out and you won't be able to create a precise crease color. In my opinion, this is a very low quality product. I tried this product multiple times with and without eye primer and the results were always the same... awful.

Cover Girl Smoky Shadow Blast: F-

What's in my bag

I love "What's in my bag" videos and posts. I watch them so often it's almost as if I can tell when stuff is strategically placed for the video: stuffed animals, kittens, lamps. There's nothing more to say on that so... on with the post! Lately I have been using the same four cross body bags: two are from Forever 21, one is from Claire's and one is from Francesca's Boutique. I think cross body bags are perfect for me, they're so easy to carry around, they're cute, light and small. You wouldn't believe how many things I chose based on the light/small factor: my laptop, phone, tablet, bags, wallet. I hate carrying and lugging around big bags, I used to in high school and collected a few over sized bags that I don't really use for every day wear anymore.

I probably carry around the same things, or a variety of, every day in my bag. I broke it down for you guys.

 My beauty essentials: My lips always have to be moisturized so I carry around a lip balm and lipstick but usually I'll take a Baby Lips tinted lip balm. Two in one! Who could ask for anything better? During the hotter days I make sure that my lip balms have some SPF in them. I never know what my hair will do so I carry a hair tie, bobby pins and compact mirror/brush. In the winter especially I always carry a mini lotion. Be Enchanted from Bath & Body Works smells so soft and pretty. In the summer I replace the lotion with sun screen or tinted moisturizer with SPF. I recently bought The Rocket Mascara and may I say that synthetic bristles are the way to go, no clumping.

My everyday essentials: I bought this cute floral and metallic wallet from Urban Outfitters for only five bucks on sale, score! It's big enough that I can carry whatever cards, coupons, etc that I need and small enough that it takes up little space in my bag. I also always carry around gum and hand sanitizer to stay fresh and clean. I wear contacts and on long days my eyes get dry so I take eye drops. I'm not sure why my keys or a pad aren't in this picture but every girl needs those two items.

My tech essentials: My tablet is so small and handy for taking notes in class or just reading on the quad, it literally saves me from boredom  I always bring my phone everywhere and my charger. I have to have a pair of headphones where ever I go or I feel like I'll go crazy. These are the Aviators by Skull Candy and the sound quality is amazing.

DIY Carrie Bradshaw Bag

Do you have a plain or boring bag that you have considered tossing out or just haven't worn lately? Then you've come to the right place. Recently I have been watching The Carrie Diaries which is the prequel to Sex and the City. The Carrie Diaries follows seventeen year old Carrie Bradshaw in 1984 after the loss of her mother and her journeys through Manhattan and her life in Connecticut. There is a scene in the first episode where Carrie's younger sister Dorrit ruins her mother's purse with nail polish after stealing it from Carrie. Carrie decides to make the bag her own and not let a little nail polish ruin it.

I thought this was a fun and super cute way to spice up a plain black purse. I ended up going to Francesca's Boutique and I picked up their Alexandria Compass Bag for $44. I would not recommend purchasing or using an expensive purse (unless you don't mind) because you will be flicking nail polish on it and it might not turn out how you want. For my bag I chose the colors white, red, neon green, rose, pastel lavender, pastel pink and pastel green: you can pick whatever colors you want for your bag. I taped the sides of the bag as well as the clasp in the front with masking tape to protect it from the polish. Before I flicked any nail polish on it I practiced on a black paper bag.

I really like my finished product. I think this is a really fun and easy DIY and it will give you a fun, colorful bag. If you noticed, I did not sign my name on it. I practiced and practiced but it's harder than it looks, for me at least, so I just went with a rose heart.

Forever 21 Eyelash Curler Review

About three months ago I purchased an eyelash curler at Forever 21 through their Love & Beauty line. I thought the eyelash curler was very cute with its rhinestones and teal color and for $3.80 I figured, why not?  It was thin, teal and had rhinestones along the curler. I didn't have one and I thought they all worked the same. Boy was I wrong.

This eyelash curler is very flimsy, loose and poorly made. It is not very wide or curved so it will not be suitable for all eye shapes, it definitely wasn't for mine. The eyelash curler kept pulling and pinching me and instead of curling my eyelashes upward and curved, it made them into an odd and clumped L shape. For a while I was thinking that I just did not know how to curl my own eyelashes. Well today I bought an eyelash curler at Target from the line ELF for only a dollar and the difference was immense. The ELF eyelash curler is sturdy, larger and very curved. When I used it, it curled my eyelashes perfectly without pinching, clumping or that awful L shape. Since the ELF eyelash curler was sturdier and bigger, it helped me grasp my eyelashes without pulling or pinching, it also comes with an extra padding for when you need to change the bottom pad of your curler.

Love & Beauty Eyelash Curler: D-

DIY Denim and Lace

This weekend I took a trip to a thrift store (Salvation Army) to buy a bunch of mom jeans to turn into personalized high waist shorts. I ended up finding three pairs of jeans, a new over sized sweater and three denim jackets for twenty bucks. After wards I went to Joann's, Michael's and Hobby Lobby (they are all right next to each other where I live). I decided to personalize one of the denim jackets I bought and this is what I came up with.

What you'll need:

1.     Denim Jacket: Sleeveless 

2.     Fabric Glue: make sure it's fabric glue or the material won't hold.

3.     Brads: I got the brads shaped like gold stars.

4.     Scissors

5.     Tweezers

6.     Lace: I cut the lace off of an old skirt of mine.

7.     Paint brush

8.     An hour of your time

I started off by washing and drying the jacket. I then cut the sleeves off of the denim jacket; I cut along the thread so it was neat and without distress. I used my tweezers to slightly pull at the hem of the jacket to create a more distressed look. My jacket had open folds so I had an advantage of using those to position my lace. If your denim jacket is thick enough, you may be able to create your own open folds along the front of your jacket. Using my lace, I cut it into long rectangles and folded it in half and measured along the folds. I cut the excess and glued along the inner edges of the folds and placed the lace inside and glued the outer edges of the folds and pressed it down on top of the lace. Lastly, I stuck my brads along the top of both the front and back boarders and one on each edge of the collar and viola! I'm done.

Is Seventeen Magazine objectifying girls?

Seventeen has been a very influential magazine for young women for years (since 1944), so why is it that it only talks about guys, getting a nice butt and not having frizzy hair? Oh, and what not to eat. Seventeen reinforces the idea of independence, self sufficiency and girl power. This puts a real strain on me, growing up girls shouldn't think that their value is measured by how many guys they can get, their kissing techniques and how great their bangs look. I would rather see more important issues that girls today face, such as; abuse, eating disorders, sexuality  addiction, bullying and mental health. I would rather see Seventeen tell a girl not to do drugs because it is hazardous to her health rather than because it will make her teeth yellow or give her acne. Seventeen used to really hit those issues... but now it's all about making your legs look longer and how to make your eyes pop. What happen to the section about girls' lives? Making it seem that a girl's biggest problem is being "fat" and "ugly" just puts the worth of women a little lower. And guess what? That's not cool. Young women do way more than twirl their hair and find fun new ways to kiss boys. I even noticed that their are no hair tips if you have short hair and very few make up tips for varying skin complexions. Seventeen caters to young, preppy, happy, go lucky, skinny, easy-to-fix, middle class Caucasian girls. What about the rest of the population? The girls that don't have long, easy to manage hair or the girls who suffer real day to day problems that can not be fixed in the span of a glossy page.

So, have we really moved past the skirt-only wearing forties? Or are we right where we started, measuring a girl by how pretty she is and how hot her boyfriend is. Thoughts?

Barbie Syndrome

Barbie was the overall independent girl. She was a doctor, engineer, astronaut, lawyer, mom, vet, pilot, etc, etc, etc. She made all of these accomplishments in heels, a tight outfit, perfectly done make up and put together hair. So what's not to love? I mean, growing up I had 100+ Barbies, they were the only toy I really ever played with and I still love Barbie.

However, you can also see that Barbie has gotten significantly skinnier throughout the years. Compare one of your mom's old Barbies' to one your kid sister has; not that Barbie has ever had a proportionate body. According to recent studies, if Barbie were a real woman she would be around 5' 9'', her measurements would be around 39'' bust/18'' waist/ 33'' hips, would wear size 3 shoes, weigh around 110 pounds and have a BMI of around 16. Barbie would fit into the standards of an anorexic, she most likely would not get her period or have kids and would not be able to stand because of her disproportionate body. Mattle has had many controversies with Barbie. Teen Talk Barbie was said to be unique in phrases, no two would say the same thing.... except for "Math class is hard!" This upset many people and the phrase was removed. Many Middle Eastern countries have banned Barbie and made alternate dolls. 1965's Slumber Party Barbie came with a weight scale set at 110 pounds and with a book titled "How to Lose Weight". The only thing written in the book was "Don't eat." Growing up, many little girls and boys admire Barbie and look up to her; because they're young and think that is what a real woman looks like: everlasting smile, thin, no flaws, a vast variety of clothes and opportunities  Some girls look up to Barbie so much that they end up getting Barbie Syndrome (yes, it exists) where they try to emulate her physical appearance. This can range from hair and make up to plastic surgery. I am not opposed to physical alterations of any kind, to each his own, however Barbie is a very unrealistic ideal to obtain. So unrealistic that it is nearly impossible.