Beauty Tuesday: It's Called A Spoolie- Eye Makeup for Beginners

     In my many years experimenting with makeup, I haven't come close to perfecting eye makeup. Mainly, I have a jagged hand when it comes to eyeliner (thank got for liquid versions). Furthermore, I cannot get my eyes to 'pop' with mascara. On an average weekday, I wear the next best thing to mascara, tinted lash primer. When I go  out, I attempt to 'do it up' with my eyes and make them stand out despite having smaller eyelids. Sometimes I'm lucky, the eyelash curler curls and spoolie brush coats easily. When we throw brows into the mix, my sparse eyebrows may get an even coloring.


via GIPHY
   

    THE CHALLENGE:
 Here is my main problem. The majority of the time, it looks like I have the Minnie Mouse-like three eyelashes. I used to have a hat with Minnie's face where the lashes popped out like the above image. I'm a low maintenance girl when it comes to eye makeup. As long as it looks like I have lashes and they are not the color of my foundation, I let it go. Recently I tried to take it up a level and wear mascara during the day AND night. This was a bold choice because I am always touching my eyes and adjusting my contacts. 

Upping my subtle eye game. (C)PipPepPop

THE RESULTS: 
     Over the course of a week, I attend a concert, a holiday party, a work lunch, a chiropractor appointment (face-down). I also applied my makeup at the gym after working out. I dropped the spoolie wand of my tinted eyelash primer after doing one eye. I rinsed the brush with soap and finished the second eye, then promptly threw out the near-empty bottle because it touched the gym locker room floor and I'm a germaphobe). Overall, the experiment went okay. I wouldn't be able to keep this up on a normal basis, but I like to think I looked a little more awake. I also had to trudge through cleaning my eyelids with 3-4 micellar* water-soaked cotton swabs, after first treating the eye area with a makeup remover wipe. One night, I got so bored/tired of wiping off my eyes that I went to bed with a vague raccoon eye. I also learned a valuable lesson that not all eyeliners (NYX Vinyl Liquid Liner) are created equal when it comes to removing the product.

I'll keep updating my mascara prowess over the next few months. Cheers and may your shimmer eyeshadow not shatter inside its case! (True story)

*Micellar water is 'the bomb.com.' I know this phrase is still relevant because my friend used it the other day. It's a french-inspired product with little balls of cleansing oil suspended in water. You can shake it like a Polaroid picture (or a vinaigrette dressing) to activate it. 

New Year's Resolution: More Yoga in 2017

     The act of practicing yoga is often regarded by some people as transformation experience. I'm no expert, but I try it as best I can. Unlike most other types of fitness classes, a yoga class is more about the journey than the end result. Tonight I had my first class in a few weeks and I got back on the mat.

     I came to yoga with some reservations, but tried to keep an open mind. I wasn't sure if would fit in, or if I could be as flexible as another person in the class. After over a year of back pain that turned out to be really coming from a weak hip, I was up for anything. I had been working with a chiropractor, received hip injections because of a tear in a muscle, and done two separate rounds of physical therapy. I jumped in 4 years ago with some new leggings and a new mat, remembering that at the end of the class there would be a rest period, called Shavasana. I have fallen asleep a few times during this time, and it is glorious.

     I struggled with my first class, dropping from downward dog to plank much slower than other people. It took a few weeks to get the poses down. Over time, I got used to doing a flow. I've been in classes, in the dark, in a bar, outside, and in a sweaty heated room.  Each time, I'm trying to do my best, trying to plank a little straighter or for a few extra minutes. Some days I've got a chance of balancing in some poses, and some days I'm swaying like a palm tree in a hurricane. Yoga, like us as humans, is imperfect. It's always going to give you something back if you give your energy to it.

     Two years ago, I lost my practice after having foot surgery. After living with a burning hot sensation in the ball of my foot for 6 months, I would have done anything to make it stop. My yoga practice was occasionally strained by the pain, as I could not point or flex that foot. I went to yoga classes until a few days before the surgery, promising my two classes I would be back by February. I went to my first few classes still in my boot. It was terrible. I had trouble standing and I could not balance. At all. I kept at it. A few more months taught me how I needed to modify poses with my slightly desensitized foot (blocks are a lifesaver)  and I got back to my old form after several months. It was during that time that the instructor's notes on breathing began to click. I would forget to breathe when I moved from pose to pose and I was losing energy trying not to focus on my pain. It was really that pain that pushed me farther. The more I began to breathe through the challenging poses, the more I appreciated them. In time, I could start to balance. For the record, I am still struggling with breathing through my poses.

     This summer, I again had to pull the ripcord on yoga. Terrible  unprovoked neck pain began, and I paused practicing. After a month of doctor visits and tests, it was decided that I had a slightly herniated disc in my neck. It's only herniated in certain positions, making it all the more difficult to control. My arm became weaker on one side and I couldn't hold poses.  I then began months of physical therapy and could not keep up with yoga. About a month ago, I began taking classes again. I may stay a little longer in my spinal stretches, but I have gotten back to a rhythm.  It is imperfect, but it's my rhythm and I'll stick with it. In some ways, I think yoga has helped me keep going through the tough times. It may be as simple as sitting in a twist and trying alternate nostril breathing, but I try to squeeze something in a little each day.

     After the Shavasana, we wake our bodies up slowly and rise up to a seated position. The instructor thanks everyone for coming and repeats a phrase that means "the light within me respects the light within you." We all acknowledge each other (even in a class of 3) and thank ourselves for devoting the class and the time to ourselves. It's a very peaceful moment and can turn even the toughest class into time well spent. In conclusion, take time to respect yourself in 2017. Follow your bliss, learn a new skill, and devote some time to yourself. Namaste,

She's A Dominatrix Supermodel Beauty Queen

     Just over 16 years ago, boy band O-Town brought out one of their most remembered hits, Liquid Dreams. This song was a bouncing ditty about the "perfect woman," made up of the best physical characteristics (and Halle Berry's personality). At a teenager's listening, it's a catchy pop song. At an adult woman's listening the song is kinda offensive, reducing us down to our physical appearances. The song lyrics follow below. I assembled images from magazines to create this woman, and I am revealing it to the world now. I think all of these parts would make one very odd looking woman. Ideal maybe, but not real. Let's all take 2017 to appreciate our own unique beauty. Let me know what you think of her look...

Posters of (Jennifer) Love surrounding me, lost in the world of fantasy.
Every night she comes to me and gives me all the love I need.
Now this hot girl, she's not your average girl
She's a morpharotic dream from a magazine.
And she's so fine, designed to blow your mind.
She's a dominatrix supermodel beauty queen!

I dream about a girl who's a mix of Destiny's Child,
Just a little touch Madonna's wild style,
With Janet Jackson's smile. Throw in a body like Jennifer's,
You've got the star of my liquid dreams.

Angelina Jolie's lips to kiss in the dark,
Underneath Cindy C's beauty mark.
When it comes to the test, well Tyra's the best.
And Salma Hayek brings the rest.

Now this hot girl, she's not your average girl.
She's a morpharotic dream from a magazine.
And she's so fine, designed to blow your mind.
She's a dominatrix supermodel beauty queen!

I dream about a girl who's a mix of Destiny's Child,
Just a little touch Madonna's wild style,
With Janet Jackson's smile. Throw in a body like Jennifer's,
You've got the star of my liquid dreams.

Looks ain't everything, she's got the sweetest personality,
Like Halle B.
My mama thinks I'm lazy, my friend all think I'm crazy,
But in my mind, I leave the world behind... every night I dream.

Liquid Dreams, my Liquid Dreams
Waterfall and streams, these liquid dreams...

I dream about a girl who's a mix of Destiny's Child,
Just a little touch Madonna's wild style,
With Janet Jackson's smile. Throw in a body like Jennifer's,
You've got the star of my liquid dreams, my liquid dreams.

#NailFail- Don't DIY Fix a Gel Mani

The Claw of Shame (c) PipPepPop

     I got a gel manicure last week for a wedding. It was great! To clarify, it was as great as a gel manicure can be. It lasted about 5 days before the inevitable chipping began. This time, it was my thumbnails. They began losing chunky pieces right at the end of the nails, which is a nice change from the usual way I lose a gel manicure (pieces begin peeling away from the cuticle edge- ouch)! I thought I could solve my nail problem the same way I fixed my toes.  I touched up my big toes with a slim pink line on the edge with a glossy gel-like topcoat to seal in the new paint. Spoiler alert, I could not achieve this lofty beauty goal.

     The gel manicure itself is a fickle beauty routine. It essentially gives you quickly dried nails with a strong topcoat. It lasts more days than a standard manicure and is less mess  than some more invasive nail procedures. The only downsides are the potential skin cancer in your hands from the UV light (I always slather sunscreen on my hands before going to the salon), and the sometime painful process of removing gel from your nails. I've perfected the art of the gel home removal, but sometimes it's more of a science. It depends on the amount of layers the technician has placed of gel and color on you hand, and sometimes pure luck. See below for more details.

My other nail obsession: nail polish stickers (c) PipPepPop

    Back to my story.  I painted a think pink line on my thumbs (see above) and considered letting it dry. But, I worried the new polish would sit on top of the shiny gel layer like goop. I reached for my handy gel-like nail clear coat and swiped away. Here's where things went haywire. The clear coat looked good for a few hours, until it dried and became almost brittle. My shiny thumbs now have cracks in the top coat and my gel mani is officially DOA. They are very scratched and rough to the touch now. With some handy internet research, Allure taught me that a regular polish can be liquid-based for up to 24 hours. If done correctly, a gel-like coating can be applied to a regular manicure, but it's all a game of chance. So, I may have inadvertently made my mani worse by mixing a hard cover with an improperly dried top coat. Alas, I may need a break from gel for a while. I'm sticking to easy-to-remove metallic polishes for the fall.

Cleaning Gel off Your Nails: Step by Step
1. You will need: acetone-based polish remover, cotton swabs, tinfoil, a nail file, a small wood nail poking stick (a dowel with a sharp end) and patience.
3. Roughly scrape the nail file over the top of our nails to begin breaking up the gel.
2. Soak the cotton swabs or cotton circles (my fave) in a few drops of nail polish. They just need to absorb some of the remover or they'll drip.
3. Cut or rip small rectangles of tinfoil for the next step.
4. Wrap the soaked cotton around each nail and set with small foil caps.
     The closer your fingers look like little aliens. the better.
5. Sit for at least 20 minutes. Let the acetone soak. It will get in your nose.
6. Polish will be ready to prod with the wood stick it starts to separate from the nail bed.
7. Hopefully your polish is very loose and comes off clean from the nail with one jab with a wood stick. If not, repeat the process.
8. If you have given up, I found a battery-operated foot pumice can help at getting stubborn bits of gel off your nails.