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I've gotten behind because of schoolwork, but prepare yourselves for a comeback...
Peace and love,
Emmy

Identity Crisis!

New York City, the fashion capital of the world. The kind of place where you have to make even your comfiest outfits cute or you feel self-conscious. Whether your style is chic and fashion-forward or relaxed and edgy, New York City seems to have a whole lot of people who seem to have the same unique vision that you do. Even living in a small town I noticed this becoming a problem: no matter how different your “you” style was, you would see other individuals who looked as if they were going for the exact same vibe. My question is this: how do we remain a one-of-a-kind when everything different about us is becoming mainstream?

                I don’t know about you guys, but I always considered my personality and my interests as slightly quirky. I tend to be a combo of hipster, nerdy and fashionista. It works somehow, I swear. Anyway, I enjoy videogames, both old and under-appreciated music, records, Disney and superheroes (I tend to be more of a Marvel girl as well). On top of this, I somehow also tend to enjoy the more mainstream girly things, including makeup, fashion and the classic Audrey Hepurn. These have obviously been interests that have developed throughout my entire life. Do any of these things sound familiar? It seems like all of these special topics that I thought made my interests unique have become mainstream in every way possible. In other words, what I’m finding now is that a huge challenge is facing all of us: being different is now considered generic. I’m therefore finding it even more difficult to attempt to be original, seeing as the majority of my interests have become mainstream phenomena. Everything we thought we knew about “hipster style,” “boho,” “superhero nerds” and “cute girls who secretly like videogames” is disappearing into mainstream concepts.

                So here’s an even bigger question: what do we do now? After a long and thorough thought process before posting this article, I finally came to a concrete conclusion: Screw it! If everything we do in an attempt to be different is getting classified as mainstream, then who cares about labels? I say dress how you want, be interested in what you want, do what every person should be aiming to do with their style. This way, whatever makes you the happiest and brings you the most joy is going to become your “style.” I’m pretty sure that’s how most types of styles were created in the first place! Instead of trying to fit into an existing type of style or a combo of different styles in an attempt to avoid being mainstream, just take all of your favorite things and combine them to make your own style, a new style. And if anyone calls you mainstream for what you enjoy, then who cares? If it’s a part of your style, then there’s a reason why you love it.

Peace and love,
Emmy

Finding a Foundation: The Struggle

Heyyyy all you people!

                I know it’s been a while (againnnnn), but I’ve had some personal crap going on, blah, blah, blah. Anywho, I’ve recently been on the hunt for a new foundation because somehow my skin ALWAYS manages to look both shiny AND cakey. I know: wtf, right? I don’t have too much acne, just minimal breakouts and light scars from the past. However, I do have some red splotches and unevenness, so I do need decent coverage. The issue with this is that it seems like if I use anything with ANY coverage, even BB cream, I look cakey and somewhat mannequin-esque. No one wants that. I also tend to have trouble with coloring in foundations because I have intensely pink undertones in my skin. If I match it, I walk around looking like Miss Piggy, but if I counter it, it’s back to mannequin city. My skin is slightly oily as well. (I’m just saying all of this so that if one of my many issues is something that connects to you, we can endure this stuff together!) Sooo, within the past few weeks, I’ve purchased two raved about products, one of which sucked for me and the other that was amazing! Here were my results!

MAC Face and Body Foundation: I’ve heard nothing but great things about this foundation, so I purchased it without any hesitation at my local Macy’s. They matched me wonderfully (C2, I believe). I applied it and noticed that when I put it onto the back of my hand, it seemed extremely runny, but I also knew it was a lighter coverage foundation, so I didn’t think anything of it. I applied it with my Sephora airbrush finish liquid foundation brush. The brush did absorb a lot of the product, causing me to use a little more than I expected. Anyway, I blended the crap out of it onto my skin, as a girl should, and it looked great! I put on concealer and finished my eye makeup and when I went back to put on my powder, my skin was the oiliest I’ve ever seen it! I had to blot my skin and layer on the powder before leaving my house, which slightly defeats the purpose. They say if you have just a little bit of an oily issue, this product will still be good for you- that’s a lie! I am here to debunk that rumor for all you unknowing victims out there, much like myself. I know it’s supposed to have a “dewy” finish, but for me it really did look more like a “torrential downpour” finish. In the future, I might use super minimal moisturizer beforehand instead of my usual amount, try a different primer, or blot before applying the foundation to see what happens and what I can do to make it a little better. Anyway, that was my experience with Face and Body.

Urban Decay NAKED: I’ve been wearing this foundation everyday for about two weeks now and I absolutely LOVE it! First of all, it’s pretty reasonably priced at $32 for a rather large bottle. I only have to use one pump of product for my entire face AND it stays on amazingly with just primer—you don’t even have to powder it! (It’s actually recommended that you don’t!) I’ve been applying it with a medium-sized stipling brush and I can honestly say that it’s the best foundation I’ve ever used. I selected the color 4.5, which is just ever so slightly dark for me, so I highly recommend seeking help when choosing your color. The color shown on the bottles as well as on the matching chart are nowhere near the actual colors of the products, so you really do have to try them on when you’re serious about purchasing. This foundation makes all the difference because you don’t even feel like you have makeup on, yet it makes your skin look flawless in a natural (not too dewy) finish.

                I am really interested in your opinions! Tell me how your experiences with these foundations compare, or tell me your favorite foundation. I’m always looking for drug store products as well, seeing as that’s what I usually buy, so please share! Can’t wait to hear from you guys!

Apples and Oranges

Hello again!

                If there are any of you that don’t read my personal blog, although you totally should (shameless plug), there’s something you should know before I proceed: I want to be an actress. Not very practical, but it’s what I love and am going to school for, and it’s what sparked this post in the first place. With that being said, everyone knows how cut-throat the acting business is and how greatly your looks play into your success. Without going too far into the depths of my confidence issues, I have always wondered whether I was pretty enough to be a professional actress or if people would just laugh at me for thinking people would actually want to look at me in  T.V show or movie. Naturally, I then began comparing myself to celebrities that are gorgeous and have obviously been extremely successful in the business (as many of us tend to do). Suddenly, an idea hit me: why? Why do all girls want to be beautiful like celebrities? Why is this our goal and how did we start comparing ourselves to women who we have never even met?

                What do we do to look more like these females that we idolize? We go on insane diet or exercise programs, we change our makeup and our hair, our clothes, and it consumes use to the point that we eventually crave their lifestyle and everything that they have. And of course, we become depressed when we see that we can never have any of it. As a part of my recent realization, I asked “why” once more because, as we tend to forget, they’re just people like you and me.

                Another thing that we tend to forget about celebrities is what their money and connections yield for them: such as personal trainers, stylists and photoshop, just to name a few. All of this is to ensure that everything that we see is flawless, which we then mistake as always being real. They’re not actually “perfect” people, so why strive to be just like another person that is merely our equal? Celebrities get famous for being unique or special in some way, which tells us that we should be embracing our own quirks instead of trying to capture and repeat someone else’s!

                In short, why compare yourself to another person when you’re completely different? It will only cause discouragement and disappointment for basically no reason whatsoever. What I suggest is to turn our obsessions that we are constantly comparing ourselves to into inspirations by embracing the aspects that we can learn from them to improve our lives in some way. For instance, I LOVE Audrey Hepburn, but instead of focusing on how skinny she is and how I will never be able to achieve that look, I can watch how natural and believable her acting is and use it to help me grow. You can do this with music, dancing, modeling- learn from these people without constantly comparing your appearance to theirs. This mindset is difficult at first because of today’s media, but it feels so good and rewarding once you get the hang of it! Comment about some of your icons and how you learned from them!

Peace and love!

Emmy  

More Like "Abercrombie and Bitch!"

Hello all,

                I have a whole list of things that I’ve been wanting to write about and just have not gotten around to it, so just bear with me, because a few of my topics are going to backtrack a little bit…like this one! This is a very sensitive topic, so I would value anything any of you beautiful people have to say about it.

                One topic in the media that actually got a genuinely real reaction from me was the whole “Abercrombie and Fitch” situation. You know, the one in which the president of the company (or something like that) essentially said that he didn’t want larger people wearing their clothes because he doesn’t want “those types of people” representing their brand? I have only one thing to say to this….are you freaking joking??? Talk about isolating clientele!

                First of all, this is really concerning to me because in today’s society, young teenagers don’t need to be pressured about their bodies any more than they already are by the media. And who are basically the only people you know that buy and wear Abercrombie and Fitch clothing? Middle and high schoolers. It just so happens that this is also when body image issues arise and are the most intense! Trying to shop at a store so you can fit in at school and then being told that they don’t have your size because they don’t want larger people representing their brand would be absolutely devastating to a 13 or 14 year old. In addition, they only sell XL sizes in men’s shirts (for more muscular men), but they don’t carry any at all for women. One word: sexist. And we all know how small those clothes run. If anything, they’re just cutting down the number of customers that could purchase their clothing. How much sense does that make?

                Let’s also keep in mind that all of this bullcrap is on top of them only hiring the equivalent of super models to work in their stores. Trust me, I get it. Your looks are almost always a part of your job, or at least to a certain point. I don’t know about you, but the only thing that it does for me is make me feel like shit whenever I go in there! And not in a “I want to buy your clothes so I can look more like her” kind of way. I know they’re not the only store that does this, but it’s why I choose not to even go into Hollister or Gilly Hicks either.

                My main question is: Since when can a store tell us, paying customers, whether or not we can wear their clothing based on our body type? What does it say about our country that, knowing this, people still shop there and their stores are thriving? It saddens me that a store’s “image” can dictate which customers are good enough to purchase their products. Please let me know of your opinions about this. Being a somewhat larger girl all my life, I know I feel personally offended by this on so many levels. Anyway, feel free to talk to me!

Is Less Really More?- The True Makeup Story

Hey everyone!

                I know it’s been a while- I've been on a crazy summer job search for the last few weeks (which I will talk about later), but I've also been spending tons of time with my best friends who are all home from college, too. Seeing as most of them are females and absolutely all of them are stunningly beautiful (I’m not even exaggerating- every. Single. One), I've been thinking a lot about the topic of makeup and I was really interested in what you guys had to say. Makeup: is less really more?

                For years, I've been going back and forth in my daily makeup routine between rocking the “naturally beautiful” look, and just going with what I've always done without concern about it being obvious that I’m wearing makeup. Believe me, there is a HUGE difference between the two. I usually wake up one day and realize that I am not one of those girls that can pull off the “hardly there” makeup look and go back to my old layering on eyeliner days.

                However, the conflict comes into play when I see my friends (as I said, completely beautiful) that either have no makeup on or extremely minimal makeup and, of course, look great and still get attention. To be perfectly honest, when I don’t have eyeliner on, I feel like I look like a turd, but on the other hand, it really doesn't look natural at all and makes it very obvious that you have makeup on. I feel like other girls who are big on makeup must feel this way about certain products as well.

                Now, the conflict intensifies even further when male opinions come into play. Men always seem to say that they prefer women who are naturally beautiful or who don’t need to wear a lot of makeup to look good. For those of us who aren't naturally all that gorgeous, this makes us automatically resort to the phrase “forever alone” and gives us the urge to purchase at least two cats in a single pet store visit. But, let us remember the most popular ideal women in men’s eyes: Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox, and even Marilyn Monroe. Yes, they are also pursued for their bodies, but are these women considered “natural?” Not at all. Well, not to us ladies, anyway, who know that they have professional makeup artists, stylists and hair stylists that use an endless supply of products on the every time they leave the house. And then there’s also the fact that if you’re in any kind of semi-serious relationship, the person you’re with is going to see you makeup-less at some point anyway! Do you really want them to be shocked? That sounds too awkward to even imagine. I would really love to hear any of your opinions on this issue, seeing as I keep flopping back and forth on mine! Thanks!

Peace and love, 

Emmy

Daily Makeup Routine!

Hi everyone!

                This is just my step by step, daily makeup routine that I do for basic, not-so-special occasions. I do wear makeup every time I go out, simply because I’m not naturally gorgeous, like some girls are lucky enough to be and it always seems like the times that you don’t wear makeup are the times when you see the most people you know, right ? However, I don’t wear too much makeup, I would say I wear less than others. (aka-just enough to fool people, haha). Just to let you guys know, I’m not listing brands of products, so if you want to know specifically about the name of the product, just ask! Anyway, here we go:

1.)    PREP:    I prep my face by washing with acne wash, putting on repairing lotion and then, very lightly moisturizing my skin. TIP: Make sure your face is completely clean so that you’re not layering on top of dirt and old makeup that will get locked into your pores. (Yucky).

2.)    PRIME: Since I have sensitive skin, it’s usually pretty irritated, so I use color correcting primer all over my face and slightly down onto my neck. You can use pore minimizing, regular, or whatever face primer will make your skin as perfect as possible! I then use eyeshadow primer on my eyelid to prevent creasing. TIP: Make sure to bring primer all the way up under the brow bone so that the highlight will last all day, too.

3.)    Skin: To make the look more natural, I mix BB cream and foundation on the back of my hand to use as my foundation. It makes for a less heavy look on the skin, while still giving a great amount of coverage. After mixing, I put the mixture in different places all over my face, then blend it in with a stippling brush. Make sure to work it into the skin, so it doesn't have an artificial look to it. TIP: Blend makeup slightly onto your neck and ears: nothing ruins a pretty, natural look like a big orange line where your makeup ends!

4.)    Concealing: Using a cream concealer (they seem to stay the best), I dab as much concealer as I need on any blemishes or red spots I have. I even cover up some old acne scars. TIP: Once they’re completely covered, only blend out the edges of the concealed areas. Why undo the covering you just did and have to add ten more layers? That just makes the skin look cakey.

5.)    Eyes: I use a liquid concealer that’s slightly lighter than my skin tone to cover under eye circles, so it both conceals and highlights at the same time. TIP: When applying under eye concealer, apply in vertical strips under the eyes, then blend. If you roll right over the under eye circles, the concealer settles into wrinkles that you didn't even think you had and won’t budge, no matter how much you blend….I speak from experience.

Take that same lighter concealer and apply it all over the eyelid and under the brow bone. Blend out both areas. TIP: Blend eyelid concealer a little past your crease to open and brighten your eye even more. (PS- I do this instead of eyeshadow because it looks more natural, but also brightens and emphasizes the eye area).

6.)    Eyeliner: For liner, I take a black kohl liner and just densely pack it into the lash line ONLY, so technically not fully lining the upper lid. It doesn't have to be perfect or straight. TIP: Keep liner as close to the lash line as humanly possible to make your lashes look fuller and to look more natural than a thick, black line across your lid. (No one was born like that!)

I take a dark brown matte eyeshadow on an angled eyeliner brush and use it to blend out the black liner that you just put on the lash line. TIP: For a natural look, keep it relatively close to the lash line for a softer eyeliner look, but if you want something smokey or sexy, blend it out as you want for more drama: you can even use the liner brush and brown eyeshadow to define the lower lash line! Last, I just line my bottom waterline with nude eyeliner to cancel out any redness in my eyes.

7.)    Lashes:  Curl your lashes to open up your eyes more, and apply your favorite mascara. TIP: For natural, pick a more natural-looking mascara or for a dramatic look, you can use false lashes or your most intense or noticeable mascara! Coat bottom lashes softly as well!

8.)    Finishing Up: Add a tiny bit of natural pink blush to the apples of your cheeks, just to warm up your face a little bit. I also just quickly run some clear brow gel through my eyebrows to keep them in place. TIP: For an instant eye lift, brush eyebrows up instead of to the sides. Finally, dust some translucent powder all over your face, or just in the oily spots to look less cakey. People with dry skin should use as little as possible, but still do this step to make your makeup last all day. TIP: Using a looser brush instead of a denser one makes the finish less powdery as well. Add a natural colored lip balm, gloss or lipstick and you’re all set!

I know this seems like a lot of steps, but it really only ends up taking me about ten minutes, once you get the hang of it. I hope you enjoyed this sort of tutorial/ makeup guide thing! Feel free to give me some feedback or future writing suggestions! I look forward to hearing your ideas!:) 

"Chillify" Your Style!

Hey y’all,

                As you can see from my many different blogs, I’m trying to blog about all of my loves in life (fashion being one of them), so this is actually my very first post on this blog! Yay! I haven’t exactly “beautified” this blog yet, so please disregard the blah-ness for the time being!

                Okay, so in my personal blog I have recently (meaning today) announced that I will be going to an Acting school in NYC in the fall (yay again!), which will be such a huge lifestyle change. So, while we’re making such huge changes, I've started altering my personal style a little bit. I've always had a “cute and preppy” kind of look going on, but I've been drawn to more hipster and grungy things lately. As a result, I've developed a few ideas if you’re trying to “chillify” (new word) your style.

1       

           1)    I've started wearing a lot of bracelets on one arm that I never take off, so I know that every single day,  I have at least one small touch of my new style that’s sort of funky and different. I have rubber bracelets with bands’ names on them (a little old school), some rope bracelets that were popular a little while ago, and some surfer-looking beaded bracelets. Get creative: if you enjoy being girly, do a pink and purple combo or find a way to incorporate some bows. It’s just a way to make your style a little more “you”!

2    

         2)    Go a little lighter on the makeup. The hipster style really is about a carefree vibe, so do BB cream or tinted moisturizer and a little bit of concealer instead of caked on liquid foundation. This cuts down getting ready time in the morning too! I also used to do full eyeshadow every day with top and bottom eyeliner and mascara, but now I just do top cream liner and mascara. But again, personalize it to how YOU want to look. Make your makeup your signature!

3      3)    Make your hair look effortless. This is where I struggle because I have stick straight hair, so I usually have to curl my hair and then brush it out a bit to make it look “effortless.” Very contradictory. However, if you’re lucky enough to have some type of texture to begin with, enhance it! Spraying some wave enhancing spray before blow drying and making sure your part isn't a perfect line should do the trick. Try loose, slightly messier styles, like braids and twists, instead of anything too severe and slick.

     Just remember that you’re going for a naturally beautiful, relaxed, not-trying-too-hard look. Keep an eye out for pieces that scream “chill” and try not to let anything look overdone. I hope this helps!

        

    Please give me feedback or ideas that you would like me to blog about next, as well as any personal questions you have!

Peace and love,

Emmy