Confessions of a Cosmetics Junkie :-)

Bad things can happen when you have too much time on your hands. Some people play one too many rounds of Guitar Hero by themselves( guilty of that) or play a ridiculous amount of Angry Birds( that too! :-) ). In the past few months I have also become a little addicted to make-up.

It all really started when I graduated high school and suddenly didn't have to get up at 6:30 in the morning. It's really amazing what happens when you don't have to get up that early. I suddenly found that I actually had time to put in to what make-up I'm putting on my face. It's so much more fun when your not in a rush! I'm not a very artistic person. My drawing ability begins and ends with a stick person. But I've always been pretty good at putting colours together, so applying make-up gives me a chance to use my skills without actually having to draw something first. How cool is that?

But I think I might have a problem because the more I look at magazines and try new looks, the more cosmetics I buy. So I figured I would put this to good use and post a little review or something whenever I get something new.

I actually got quite a few things this week:
1.Hard Candy Walk the Line Liquid Eye Liner in Turqouise

I love this stuff! I'm a little obsessed with liquid eyeliner in the first place so maybe I'm a little biased.:-) It's really easy to put on. I have another liquid liner that is a pain to put on because the brush is so small but this one is really nice. The colour is really great too and makes a really cool cat eye. PLUS it was only $6!





2. Rimmel London Bush in Pink Sugar

This is a really nice colour, but pretty light. Lasts all day, which is always a plus, especially for a blush. I'm not gonna lie- I mostly bought it for the crown logo. I'm a sucker for pretty packaging.

3. Covergirl Blast Flipstick in Cheeky

This was my big splurge ( it was $9.99). You really get two lipsticks, though.  I really like both the colours and how you can mix them up. It also lasted for a really long time, which is awesome. It smells a little strong, but that's about the only downside.

4. NYC Lipstain in Forever Fiesta and Never Ending Nude

I loooooove lipstain! This one is really nice. I really like the forever fiesta colour(fourth from the left). It last FOREVER!

And it doesn't feel sticky like lip gloss. It's even a good price! The only thing is it's a little dried out so I hope it doesn't die.

Well, Hello There!

Hi! Haven't seen you in awhile.Lol. I'm really bored today, so I was flipping through my favourites list and what should I see but the link to this blog, which has been sadly neglected over the last couple of months. I'm under no illusions that  anyone is actually reading this thing, but it's been a shamefully long time since I've written anything so I might get back into the habit of posting random stuff here occasionally.

Hmmmm... what should I ramble about today? I finished reading a biography about the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge yesterday, so now I'm just about DYING to go back to London.(Oh yeah, did I mention I've been to Europe since I wrote last?:-) ) Winter in Canada can be the most dreary thing imaginable.  Anywho the book was really good. Reading something that takes place somewhere you have actually been to is so cool.
Anyway I'll write again when I actually have something to SAY!
Ta for now!

Help, I Need Somebody!

I'm sooooo excited! A few weeks ago, I read awesome book called The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It's was seriously amazing! And guess what? Yesterday I found out it's being made into a movie!

The basic plot is about two black women, Aibileen and Minnie and a young white girl nick named Skeeter. It's 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi and both Abileen and Minnie are servants in white households, raising other people's children and doing their cooking. Skeeter has just graduated from college and has come home to live. Skeeter is getting fed up with life at home. She wants to be a writer but her mother doesn't think writing is an appropriate profession for a well brought up girl.

Skeeter was raised by a black housekeeper named Constantine. Not long ago Constantine disappeared and Skeeter desperately wants to find out about her. So Skeeter talks to Aibileen, who works for her friend Hilly. As she does this she slowly starts to realize what life is like for a black person living in Jackson during the Civil Rights movement.

Skeeter knows she has to do something to help. So she convinces Aibileen to let Skeeter  interview her for a book. Word spreads and eventually Skeeter interviews all of Aibileen's friends who work in white homes, including Minnie. They call the finished book Help.

You might think this story( Civil Rights in the 60's) has been told over and over and over again. And it has. But never like this. Just trust me on this. The Help is incredibly moving. It brings up things I had never thought of before. I never really thought about what it would be like to raise a child, to love them and have them love you. And suddenly they realize your different because of the colour of your skin and suddenly they think less of you. I never thought about how hard it would be to see that child's parents ignore them, to see that child hurting and you can't do anything about because your "just hired help". I can't imagine how awful that would be.

But don't get me wrong, this book isn't all serious. There are some really hilarious parts too. The Help is just an all around great book.

I can't wait to see the movie! It looks great! Take a look at this trailer:

The Help was rejected by 60 different publishing companies before it was finally accepted. Meanwhile, a friend of the author's decided to make it into a screen play. Now the book is a number 1 New York Times bestseller and the screen play is being made into a movie. Thank goodness because this is a really great book!

Jackie O

“Even though people may be well known, they hold in their hearts the emotions of a simple person for the moments that are the most important of those we know on earth: birth, marriage and death.”
                     -Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Ever since I watched The Kennedy's series on the History channel, I wanted to learn more about the Kennedy family. I especially found Jackie Kennedy interesting. So I read a book called America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Sarah Bradford.

To be honest, I didn't like the writing all that much, but I found Jackie's life fascinating.
She was born on July 28 1929. She led an extraordinary life full of extreme joy and extreme grief. Jackie brought something new and glamorous to the White House when her husband, John F. Kennedy, became president on November 8 1960. She even went as far as to start the White House restoration project, forever leaving her mark.

In addition to this Jackie became a fashion icon, inspiring countless magazine articles. Even today her name goes hand in hand with good fashion sense. Pill box hats were her trade mark, as well as her bouffant hairstyle.

Jackie was an extremely complex person, a fact that all those close to her were well aware of. She enjoyed attention, but also highly valued privacy. This made her relationship with the press rocky to say the least. She was a very reserved and well mannered person, which made some people believe that she was snobby but she also had a great sense of humour.

Above all, Jackie was tough. She endured the death of two children; the assassination of her first husband as well as his brother Bobby, who she was very close to;  and a whole string of other tragedies. Not to mention JFK's almost constant affairs and the pressure of being First Lady. And she did all of this with elegance and grace. That's what I must admire about her.

Jackie died before her time, on May 19 1994.

Jackie was loved not as the wife of the president, but as herself.

 

Royal Wedding!!!!!

I have heard a lot of different opinions about last weeks royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Personally, I think it was great! I was one of those who got up at 5'oclock in the morning to watch it all. I even slept in front of the TV. And I stayed there all day long.

A lot of people have been pretty cynical about the whole thing. I've heard a lot of harping about how stupid people think it is. Well, I think that attitude is stupid! How often do we hear about news that is genuinely happy? William and Kate seem very happy and very in love and there is nothing wrong with celebrating it? Any accusations that they don't have a chance after what happened to William's parents are stupid. They are different people under different circumstances.

My favourite part was when Kate was coming down the aisle and Harry turned and whispered "wait until you see her!" to his brother. I also liked the carriage ride to Buckingham Palace.I liked every thing!

Truly a historic and happy day!
         

Happiness IS an Emotion

 The other day me and my family were driving home from Barrie when a really old Rolling Stones song came on. I mean really old, I think it was a cover of an older song form the 50's. (I'm pretty sure it was before the Satisfaction days but don't take my word for it. I'm a Beatles girl :-)  ) So any way me and my mom were rocking out when all of the sudden, out of the blue my brother says something to the effect of " This is stupid. I like music with emotion."

Whhhhhhaaattttt? " What's that supposed to mean? You don't think this song has emotion?" I demanded.

" Uh no. It's just some guy playing a guitar!" replied my brother.
First of all, I'm pretty sure that's what closed minded parents thought about Elvis back in the day, aside from being horrified by his dance moves.

Then my brother asked me what kind of emotion I thought there was in that song. He thinks he's so smart.

" I don't know- jubilation (yes I actually said that- it was an in the moment thing) excitement, freedom, happiness! "  What was his answer?

" Happiness isn't a emotion, it;s a feeling." Which is two different words for the same thing, last time I checked.

But I'm not writing this post to pick on my brother. That's just a bonus :-p This whole thing got me to thinking. A lot of the music we listen to, my brother included, tends to be sad or angry. That goes for other art forms too. People got tired of listening to music that didn't express all the crap that was going on in  the world around them a few decades ago. Which isn't a bad thing but I think that now people might think that happy music- heck happiness in general- is uncool.

But it's not! It's okay to be happy! It's okay to listen to music that just makes you happy, even if it's not protesting world hunger. That doesn't make you blind to what's going on, it just makes you a human being who needs to escape from it for a bit. Who likes to be happy.

HAPPINESS IS AN EMOTION!

The Life of Miss Louisa May Alcott

I stayed up late last night to finish reading Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography by Susan Cheever, so I thought I would let some of my enthusiasm out by writing this post.

In case you were wondering who in the heck Louisa May Alcott is, she wrote the classic novel Little Women and many other novels. I found it very interesting that a lot of the book Little Women ( published in 1868) reads like a autobiography. In many ways the fictional March family is like the real Alcott family. Like the Marchs, the Alcott family consisted of a strong, loving mother four daughters and a father. Louisa's sisters Anna, May and Lizzie became the fictional Meg, Beth and Amy. Much of the plot of Little Women mirrors Alcott's own experince.However there are some major differences .

Susan Cheever brings out the point in her book that many people believe that Alcott is Jo second fictional March sister. However this is not true. While Jo was much loved by her family for her tomboyishness, Alcott was often punished for it. I also found it interesting that the father in Little Women was mostly absent, Alcott's father was often a driving force in the family, dragging them into his harebrained scemes..

What I found most interesting was that Louisa May Alcott was an independant women in a time when this was almost unheard of. She remained single and suppored her family with her writing.

Even though Louisa May Alcott died at age 56 almost 150 years ago, she is remembered through her work.