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 23: Should I Get a Haircut?

I'm getting seriously desperate for blog topics these days...can you tell?

Anyways, I've been thinking about this for the past like...month. Well, not like nonstop or anything, but I've been toying with the idea of cutting my hair before student teaching starts to make it more manageable. Here's what my hot mess hair looks like right now:

It looks like I'm contorting my body
but I swear its just the way the photo is cropped

Raggedy, frizzy, and...kind of giant. Especially when I let it air dry. The length has gotten a little out of control for me...but I've been enjoying having longer hair. I feel like there are more styling options and I can kind of do whatever I want to do to it without worrying if it's too short.

The only problem is that whatever I do with it, it's going to take a long time with the length of hair I have and the amount. I just don't have the kind of hair that dries neatly and looks tidy without any effort. In fact...when I do put effort into making my hair look neat and tidy, it usually ends up looking puffy and raggedy by the end of the day.

This is what I was thinking of in terms of length:

This is a style I've obviously had before (...that is me...with my hair) and it's not too drastic in the amount of length taken off. It doesn't take a crazy amount of time to straighten this length of hair, and it requires less time washing and less product. Plus I think it's a flattering length on me. I had always figured I would eventually go for this length as my permanent adulthood hairstyle...just because it's not trying to be trendy, and it's not so fussy in its' length. And before you roll your eyes, YES I think about what my permanent adulthood hairstyle will be, didn't you read my post about how I overplan???

Anyways the main thing I'm worried about getting my hair cut is the cost $$$. I am a little on the broke side at the moment...and I know that a haircut from the place that I like will cost me somewhere around sixty dollars. And okay, yes, I should probably just suck it up and go somewhere more affordable because they will probably do just as good of a job. But I don't want to do that. I'm a little high maintenance. THERE, I SAID IT. Plus, I'm pretty pleased with the way long hair looks on me at the moment. I'm maybe not thrilled about the way my long hair likes to style itself--if you can call "seizing up into a frizzy orb around my head" styling--but it took me a pretty long time to grow it out like this. I'm a little attached.

So I don't know, the jury is still out. I might decide to get it cut halfway through student teaching...or maybe not at all. Basically I spent an entire entry trying to make a decision but reaching no conclusion. Thanks for tuning in, join me tomorrow for another riveting text post about things that are not very interesting!

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.