Blog Every Day in January Day 28-Building a Makeup Collection

I posted another video today on Sisters, Not Twins!

Despite the ridiculous diagram I drew on my mirrored closet doors, I'm actually pretty excited about this video because it's something that I've been wanting to do since Melissa and I started talking about having a beauty channel. The execution of this video was maybe not my best...but I think that the actual information I gave was pretty good.

Here is a photo of a paper version of the diagram that I drew:

Keeping in mind the fact that everyone has different needs and not all products are for everyone, here are the products that I suggested for each of these categories (minus Phase 3):

Melanie’s blog post about this video:

Photo of diagram:

Melanie’s product suggestions for each category (click show more):

Foundation:

Drugstore-Revlon Photo Ready Foundation ($10-$13)

High End-MAKE UP FOR EVER Mat Velvet + ($36 at Sephora)

BB Cream/CC Cream/Tinted Moisturizer:

Drugstore-Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream ($10-$12)

High End-Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream ($39 at Sephora)

Concealer:

Drugstore-L'Oreal True Match Crayon Concealer

High End-Benefit Boi-ing ($32 at Sephora)

Eyeliner (Pencil):

Drugstore: CoverGirl Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner ($3-$6)

High End: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencil ($19 at Sephora)

Eyeliner (Liquid):

Drugstore: L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Eyeliner ($8-$10)

High End: TARTE MultiplEYE Lash Enhancing Liquid Liner ($22 at Sephora)

Mascara:

Drugstore: Maybelline Volum' Express The Falsies ($5-$8)

High End: Benefit BADgal Lash Mascara ($19 at Sephora)

Tinted Lip Balm:

Drugstore: Burts Bees Tinted Lip Balm ($5-$7)

High End: Sugar Lip Treatment ($22.50 at Sephora)

Brushes:

Don’t even

Eyeshadow Palette:

Drugstore-e.l.f. Everyday Eyeshadow Set ($10 on Target.com)

High End-The Naked Palette 1, 2, or 3 ($52)

Eye Primer:

Drugstore-L'Oreal Magic De-Crease Eyelid Primer ($8-$10)

High End-Urban Decay Primer Potion ($20 at Sephora)

Bronzer:

Drugstore-e.l.f Studio Bronzer ($3)

High End-NARS Bronzing Powder ($38)

Blush:

Drugstore-e.l.f. Studio Blush ($3)

High End-NARS Blush ($30)

Lip Products:

Drugstore: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain ($5-$7)

High End: MAC Tinted Lipglass ($15)

Blog Every Day in January Day 14: Getting Stuff Done

I had an amazingly productive day today! I went to visit the high school where I'm student teaching to have a meeting with my cooperating teacher, and I started the day off on a really positive note and I think I rode that wave all day long. And I have some things to show for it, too!

1.) I uploaded a new video onto the Sisters, Not Twins YouTube channel. I'm working on trying to make these videos a little more concise, and I think part of that process will be more planning ahead. I always get a little anxious as I watch the number next to the little thumbs up on Facebook, and the viewcount on the video page. But I've actually been enjoying the video-making aspect of this, and I like to see how many of my friends come out of the woodwork and tell me that they've been watching!




2.) I tackled another recipe! I tried the chicken and dumplings recipe that I mentioned in my post from last week, and it was SO SO SO good. The texture was very stew-like and hearty, and even though it was SUPER filling I still went back for seconds. And I shared with friends, because the recipe made a MASSIVE pot of soup. The only thing I changed was that I cut up some carrots, onions, and celery and sautéed them in the butter before adding the chicken broth. I think next time I'll season it a little more heavily, since there was so much flour in the recipe that it wound up being a little bland.

SO MUCH SOUP 

Dumplings are the key to a girls' heart

3.) It took some time, but I finally got to the bottom of a long list of emails I've been avoiding responding to. Well, the list never really started out that long, but as I crossed items off more items would pop up. As of right now, there are NO MORE ITEMS.

4) Speaking of emails I had been avoiding, I also emailed my nutritionist. #babysteps

PROOF THAT I DID IT

Aaaand as per usual, I have written this entry at the very end of the day. Did I already use the hashtag #babysteps? It still applies.

Blog Every Day in January Day 6: Moving Forward--New Vlog Channel!

So despite yesterday's emo-style entry, the world didn't crumble around me and I didn't die under the weight of all my insecurities. I was in the midst of working on a project that I'm going to share with you today, and my fears took over and manifested themselves as negativity towards all aspects of my life. Winter break is so long, and I often lose perspective when I have so much free time. During the school year when I'm busy, I don't get as much time to think about how nervous I am about putting myself out there. I mean...I do think about it, but I don't spend like ALL DAY thinking about it. So I'm pushing back negative thoughts, and moving forward.

Anyways, onto the new project!

MY SISTER AND I STARTED A BEAUTY VLOG!





We've been talking about doing this for like...months, and it's something we're both really excited about. We finally just bit the bullet and did it!!

I've been really nervous about starting this channel for a whole variety of reasons. First of all, I'm always cautious about what I put out via social media due to the profession I have chosen to pursue. Being a teacher is tough, because you have to filter how much of your personal life you share, and as technology and social media develop, it gets harder and harder to maintain that filter. You could easily google my name and find this blog, and as this channel grows, there will be more and more stuff of me on the internet that I don't necessarily want to share with the (hypothetical) students that I'm trying to teach music to (hopefully). How does this affect my ability to represent myself as an authority figure? Can I expect this to affect my chances with gaining employment? I just like to be extra cautious, especially because everyone I've ever talked to in the education world likes to remind me how important it is to be professional in the classroom and on the internet.

I've also been really nervous about what other people would think of me for doing this channel, and treating myself as an authority towards all things beauty related. Which I am not. On one side of this fear, there are people out there that are frequently more put together than me and/or know more about makeup than I do. Are they judging me, or waiting for me to mess up? On the other side, I know there are people out there that probably think that this is a stupid topic to contribute to. Will they start to think that I'm superficial and vain?

NOT TO MENTION the fact that I'm so scared that this channel just won't take off, and I'll be creating all this content and putting in all of this hard work for approximately four viewers. That is probably my biggest fear, and it extends to this blog and all other aspects of my life. What is the point of creating content, and writing blog posts, and singing songs, if no one is there to consume them?


I've spent enough time with these fears and insecurities to know that the solution is to do these things for me, to make myself happy. And I really am a firm believer that in order to make others happy you have to be happy yourself. So I'm going to keep posting, and keep vlogging, and keep doing whatever else I'm doing. Even if none of this is ever seen, I know I'll feel really good about the fact that I wanted to do something, and I did it. That's really hard! A lot of people stop at the wanting part, but I managed to take it to the doing part. And I'm proud of myself. So yeah, maybe beauty vlogs aren't for everyone, and maybe these entries are only read by like six people. But I wanted to do them, and I did them, and I'm a better person for it.

September in October: THE MAGIC OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RENAISSANCE FAIRE

Back in September I went to Lancaster with my sister and her husband and some of our friends, and we all went to my favorite fall activity...

THE PENNSYLVANIA RENAISSANCE FAIRE!!

I did a lil' vlog about it, so y'all enjoy:



We went during the Celtic Fling weekend, so there were lots of men in kilts and tons of plaid, and we also watched some very underwhelming highland games. I didn't manage to get that on camera, but I'm sure you can use your imagination...

SELFIES FOR DAYS

Overall I would give this outing 4.5 turkey legs. It would have received the full 5 if not for the rain.

Last Vlog Tuesday: Summer Favorites

School just started up, and my free time is running a little low so my last vlog for the month of August is short and sweet.

Here's the blog post about July Favorites that I was referencing in the video.

Like I said in the video, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue vlogging regularly...but I'm not going to stop vlogging forever or anything. I think if things start to wind down, or get REALLY interesting then I will start back up again.

Cooking With Melanie: Soufflé Edition

I would consider myself a pretty adventurous cook. Like...I'm no master chef, but I'm definitely not afraid to try things. And when I am afraid to try things, I usually go ahead and do them anyways just to prove myself wrong. Sometimes it goes well...and sometimes it backfires.

I've had a couple of things on my kitchen try-it list, and making a soufflé was one of them. Last week I decided that I would record myself attempting to make a most-impressive soufflé. I got all excited, and went out and bought an overpriced soufflé dish (...which I used and returned DON'T JUDGE ME).

I even put it in my calendar as "Soufflé Day"

Look at that cocky little drawing. OH, SO NOW YOU'RE A CHEF AND AN ARTIST??  NICE TRY, MELANIE.

WELL SOMETIMES YOU SHOULDN'T GET TOO EXCITED ABOUT THINGS, BECAUSE THEN YOU MIGHT GET A LITTLE SLOPPY.

You might notice that for about two-thirds of the video, I prance around the kitchen like some Ina Garten wannabe, because I'm TOO DANG CONFIDENT IN THE KITCHEN. Like honestly, Melanie. Try some humility.

Well..it didn't fully rise, but at least it didn't collapse on itself.

Anyways, the soufflé actually turned out to be prrretty delicious. I used Ina Garten's Spinach and Cheddar Soufflé recipe , because I saw her make it on TV and told myself that it looked easy (WTF MELANIE). If I had kept the soufflé dish, I definitely would have made it again. And I still want to try and make a dessert soufflé one day...preferably one that rises. But I'll consider this one crossed off the list for now, until I can get my hands on a soufflé dish that doesn't cost a small fortune.

Vlog Tuesday: Room tour!

Okay okay yes, this is a little late, but the video took forever to load on Youtube!  Besides, I changed the timestamp to make it look like I posted this on a Tuesday.  So I didn't really miss my deadline.


As promised, I did a room tour as my vlog for today!



It's a little on the long side (16 minutes...yikes!!), but if you don't feel like sitting through the whole thing you can definitely feel free to skip around.  I got a little carried away talking about EACH AND EVERY PART OF THE ROOM in detail.  So maybe you'll appreciate it...or maybe you will hate it.  WHATEVER I DIDN'T DO IT FOR YOU.

Sorry.

Also try not to get motion sickness from my shaky-hand-Cloverfield-style camerawork.  I think that's why I had so much trouble getting the picture to focus.  Laaame.

For those of you who don't have time to watch the video, here is a panoramic photo of the finished room!

I finally mastered the panoramic feature on my phone's camera.

The reason why I decided to redo this room was because I am planning (*crosses fingers*) to move back home and find a job in the South Jersey area after graduation.  I feel like I'm taking a big risk by putting so many eggs in one basket (I mean...not ALL of the eggs), but this is where I feel at home...so this is the plan for now.  Who knows how I'll feel in a year, though.  Maybe I'll feel compelled to move far from home...or maybe my job search will just take me there whether I want it to or not.  I know that I can't really guarantee that I'll end up working/living in this area, but this room (along with the other benefits of living at home) are definitely incentive to try and stay.  I have a feeling that this upcoming year of blogging will be documenting some big life changes and some tough decisions.  With the completion of my room, I feel like summer is ending...and winter is coming*.  Yeah, I went there.


*I've been watching Game of Thrones a lot.  I'm halfway through the second season and it's only been a week. DON'T JUDGE ME.

Vlog Tuesday: SISTER TAG

So Tuesdays are now vlog-days!!  Well..they are vlog-days when I post vlogs.  We'll see how long this lasts.

Today's vlog is a tag I did with my sister.  It's a two-parter and you can find the first part at her blog!

I'd like to point out that Melissa's hair is sleek and shiny and mine is in a frizzy fly-away bun because she went to a GLAMOROUS VIDEO-SHOOT WHILE I WAS SLAVING AWAY AT HOME, SANDING A CHAIR.  USIN' UP ALL MY ELBOW GREASE.  That's also why I'm wearing a tie-dye shirt and gym shorts.  Don't judge me.  I'M A HUMAN BEING.





It's a pretty long video, but IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT BECAUSE WE ARE HILARIOUS.  LOVE US.  LOVE USSSSS.

I'm gonna give you same disclaimer that Melissa gave, which is that the volume is a little soft at times and then it gets REALLY LOUD.  So if you're using headphones, maybe have a finger on the volume controls.

Enjoy!



Melissa's blog: teambrinn.blogspot.com

VEDA? Uhhh no.

Yeah yeah yeah.  I know I said I wasn't going to post today because I'm taking a break, but I couldn't resist.

Anyways, exciting stuff!  Follow my sister's blog teambrinn.blogspot.com!  You won't regret itttttt.

Blog Every Day in July: Day 27, Something Different

I know I'm kind of late with this one, but I stayed up to finish editing the video to make the deadline.

You may need to turn the volume up for this one or use headphones.

I'm still not sure if vlogging is a thing I could ever do for real, but it was cool giving it a shot!  I'll have a regular text post tomorrow.  Don't get so used to seeing my face.