Friday, October 8, 2010

Well, well, well



I haven't blogged in ages. Working two jobs right now, so my real life has kinda consumed my time.(plus, I forgot I even still had this thing, not gonna lie lol)
Just wanted to post my pride and joy- My MJ/J5/Jackson record collection- thus far. I have a long way to go, but I'm not shy to say I still feel quite accomplished.



I have all Off The Wall/Thriller singles and almost all the singles from Bad. You might remember the post I made(located just a few scrolls down) of my first 4 LPs. In contrast to that, this collection has grown quite fast in such a short amount of time. It took A LOT of butthurt and technique on ebay to bid and win them, but it was most certainly worth it.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Makeup Review Time!



This past weekend I splurged a bit on makeup(as oppose to records, for a change) and decided to explore other products I've never tried before. Fortunately, they were good investments and I've decided to share my trials with them.


One thing I've been itching to try-out for some time is Chanel's Le Vernis Nail Colour. I usually buy my nail polish really cheap, which unsurprisingly doesn't last me very long. If there's one thing I cannot stand- it's nail polish flakily chipping. I won't lie, I set my expectations for Chanel's polish inexplicably high. At the Chanel makeup counter, I had asked the makeup consultant if the nail polish was any good. To which she amusingly replied, "... Oh!Well...it'sChanel. I mean the reason why it's so expensive is because they use only the finest ingredients to make it." Essentially what she meant was: "Oh! Well... I've never used this product before to give you an honest personal opinion. I need to make my sales, so let me just bullshit through this answer."
Despite her response I went ahead and bought it anyways. I went for an old classic red shade in Dragon 475. The first time I applied it, it went on so smooth and thick- I didn't even think to add on a second coat. Consequently, this later resulted in it chipping away literally two days later. I tried again, this time adding a second coat and it lasted a long time. Given, I have a job that requires a lot of manual-hand labor. So to me, that was an impressively long time.

The result: A thick, smooth, and rich color that won't fade or chip away. For $23- that's a pretty good deal.





I'm not really fond of facial makeup, unless it's moisturizer. I don't really use primers are anything of the sort, but I decided I'd give it a try once I stumbled upon this item at VS. I think it's ideal for people who have both oily or dry(even in between) skin. It apparently contains a silicone substance that surprisingly doesn't make the product feel too heavy on your skin. And yes, it makes your makeup last all day. The bonus is that it has SPF 20.

The result: A smooth and strong settle that doesn't allow your face to over-shine and withholds your facial make up all day. $14





Now, this particular item i have been longing to own since they first announced it's development. I love Gaga more than a baby otter in Gucci booties. And I've had a strong love affair with MAC since I was 13 years old. So the two coming together to form a product was only meant to fulfill my wettest dreams. However when it was first released, I wasn't able to purchase it on an account of I was poor. Let me just say, My love for Gaga+MAC, does no= love for this lipstick. I don't hate it, but I don't want to date it and declare my love for it. It's one of those shades youcan only wear for a particular occasion. It's a brilliant shade of frosty neon pink with the lovely formula that makes me love MAC lipsticks. I usually only break out the lipstick when I'm edging for a 60s mod makeup look. I will say that blending this color with MAC's Mystic actually produces a lovely shade that you can wear every day.

The result: A vibrant pink shade that's ideal for a night out. And with every cent earned from the purchase going to MAC AIDS Fund to support the fight against HIV/AIDS, $14 is a win-win steal.


Mascara is something I've shared my... feelings about previously. I'm always on that search for the perfect mascara. And while this one isn't quite "it", it's very near to being perfect. I bought it on a whim at Sephora. The bottle caught my eye, as did the name. I really kinda love this mascara for two reasons: The brush is something the Greek Goddesses invented, and IT DOES NOT CLUMP. If you're looking for a formula to amp up the volume and give a full look- this is perfect. However, if you are looking for the ladder as well as lengthening... well you're better off not getting this. Seeing as I wear faux lashes anyhow, that ladder aspect didn't bother all that much.

The result: I was able to purchase it for $16, but apparently it usually runs for about $20. For the amount it does, it's really up to you if you're willing to dish out 20 bucks for it.



Like I said before, I don't really like using facial makeup, but the increasing discoloring under my eyes has moved me to start using concealer. Since my discoloring is of a warmer tone, I wanted to buy something that could counter-act the color. I desperately searched Sephora for a cool tone concealer(i.e. blue under-shade). Smashbox was the only brand that had a wide variety in cooler tones. The thing i like about it is that every time I apply it, it doesn't feel like I'm caking on makeup. It's very lightweight and still manages to accomplish enough coverage. Though, it also goes- the more you keep applying, the heavier the wear. That just eventually makes you end up looking like you've worn your sunglasses all day with a result of uneven color. So take it easy with application. A few dabs doe the job just fine.

The result: Lightweight coverage that doesn't run or wear-off.$18


And yes, finally I have biased-ly saved the best for last. Nude lipstick is a tricky thing. Get something that's too nude for your skin tone and you end up looking like a corpse. Lorac's Nude Scene lipstick not only goes on with a creamy-effect. It has the most lovely matte look finish that really seals the color. It doesn't chap the lips after hours of wear. It LASTS for about 6 hrs.(it lasts me an entire work shift) And it has an SPF of 15. I don't mean to shove a product down your throat, but- BUY THIS LIPSTICK!

The result: A creamy application that secures a rich color and lasts for hours. Won't chap your lips and protect them with an SPF 15. $22

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Get this off my chest

I just want to discuss an article I read on popeater.com(Article is here: http://www.popeater.com/2010/06/21/michael-jackson-kids/) that deeply angered me. I usually try to steer clear of articles in the media that have to do with Michael Jackson's kids, for fear of reading something inevitably untrue and disrespectful. However I curiously clicked a link to an article talking about "how the children are coping" since MJ's death. The article was bland on the subject until it got to this paragraph:

"Katherine's house was the only time they ever got any normality in their lives. With bedtime rules, regular school tutors and being taught to say 'please' and 'thank you.' In contrast, when the children were with Michael, they could stay up as late as they wanted, regularly skipped school and were forced to wear those silly masks to protect their identity. Finally, a year after his death, his children are thriving in a safe environment with lots of rules."

*sigh*
I don't even know where to begin with this. First of all, I love how they make it sound as if Michael was a dead-beat dad who never taught his children rules or manners. It's a well known fact from people who've worked with MJ in studio or in his home that he made sure his kids were always polite and never bratty or unappreciative. For instance, there was a story about a about an engineer who worked on Michael's invincible album. He said one time they were laying down a track and Prince accidentally dropped popcorn he was eating all over the studio floor. Just as the guy was about to bend down to pick up after Prince, Michael stopped him and said, "No, he's my kid- I'll pick it up." And Michael got down on his hands and knees and picked up the mess.
"Forced to wear those silly masks to protect their identity. Finally a year after his death, his children are thriving in a safe enviroment with lots of rules."
Right. His children don't have to wear those "silly" masks anymore that containted their identity to actually ENABLE them to go out with friends whenever they pleased and be somewhat inconspicuous. Now that their identity is known, they can't even go to karate class without being snapped by lurking paps. They sure do live a much more normal and safe life now. Speaking of normal though, these children have lost the only parental figure that they've ever known- their father. The author of this article is a douche bag in the highest form. Way to kick Michael down so close to Father's Day, you jack hole.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Look what the postman brought me today

Back in early April I bought a copy of Dangerous on vinyl off of ebay. It was from an international seller so I knew recieving would take some time. I communicated with the seller about shipping and everything. Things seemed to be going smoothly. Flash forward last week. I was on ebay, browsing through vinyls as I always do when I get my pay check, and I decided to check the profile of the seller of the Dangerous vinyl. Low-and-behold, his ebay account was deleted. Immediately red alarms went off for me. It had been over a month and I already paid this guy in full, and suddenly he was no longer an ebay memeber. I immediately texted my friend whom I share all things about ebay, vinyls, and MJ. Shortly after that I opened a case on the item(ebay's answer to a legal system via the internet). A couple of hours later I got an email from the seller saying his store would never steal 40 bucks from someone and he had to delete the account because it was hacked. I will not lie, I was extremely wary of this excuse, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. As well as the fact that I really really wanted this vinyl. It's extrodinarily hard to find at such a low cost. Heck, it's extrodinarily hard to find AT ALL. Through the seller's soothing words of "Please be patient. After all this is shipping from Italy and you are all the way in Texas. Let me know when you recieve the item," I began to waiting process all over again.
Today, as I was watching television in the living room, the door bell rung briskly. I got up and saw it was the mail man- and he was holding a big, flat square box. At first I thought it was some other vinyls I ordered recently. As I opened the package, the contents of the box took me by surprise. Hallelujah praise the LAWD. I finally have my Dangerous 2X LP on vinyl.




Another addiition to my growing MJ vinyl collection.



I recently ordered Got To Be There and The Jacksons' Destiny. I still have HIStory(extremely rare to find), Blood On The Dancefloor(also rare), and Invincible. Then I can work backwards from there and get all his solo stuff back when he was at Motown, and the few J5 and Jackson albums I still need for my collection.

And just because I LOVE this singles cover.
Dirty Diana 12"

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I love you Trip Fontaine

I cannot deny my love for an attractive young svelte man dressed in 70s garb- It's a weakness, really. Of course, my only chance of witnessing such a sight is through archive photographs or a Sofia Coppola film. However, yesterday at work, I was working the fitting rooms when I saw a young couple. The girl hesitantly walked up to me with her clothes and I gave her a number and fitting room. She was dressed like a Joan Baez/Cher love child. I turned around to see the young man accompaning her. He was a tall, lanky, and pasty boy. His hair was mousy, curly and unruly. He was wearing tan leather pointed boots, a straight-leg pair of jeans that stopped below the waist. And the best part of his ensemble- a mustard, brown, and beige multi-patterened long-sleeved collared button up that just oozed the 70s from it's perfectly wrinkle-free cuffs. As I was marveling at his outfit, the guy(who was about 5'8) walked past me into the fitting room and leaned across an adjacent wall, hands in pockets, waiting for his, I'm assuming, "girlfriend". I tried not to make it obvious that I was worshipping his homage to David Cassidy. Tediously hanging clothes up and pretending I didn't notice him. Just then, a girl who was occupying the fitting room diagonal from the guy's spot on the wall walked out of her fitting room and stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him. She earnestly said, "You know, you shouldn't be standing there. Girls are changing and getting naked in here," and walked away. The guy awkwardly retorted, "Yeah I guess I shouldn't be." and sached down the row of the fitting rooms, hands still in his pocket. Now, in my mind, at that moment I was thinking 'This bitch! No you didn't just tell him that. etc, etc.' I couldn't help but feel bad for him, but to be completely fair, guys aren't allowed in the fitting rooms past a certain proximity. I couldn't gut up the might to tell him that before cause, frankly, I was too busy awing at him and I overall just hate telling anyone "no".
So the "inconspicous" staring kept on for the remainder of the time he was there. I caught him glancing at me every once in-a-while as well. He and the girl finally left and I was left with a 70s feva i could only sustain once I got home and put on my Jacksons' Destiny album.


Thursday, April 29, 2010

So, I'm sure you might remember a blog post I made a while back about Zac Posen's line for Target. It was released this past Sunday and I inevitably made my way to my local Target to check it out.

Oh my LAWD...

As I walked into Target I headed straight for the Junior's section. Right away the site of the racks and displays for the line came into view. I got so excited and immediately hit the first rack that was closest to me. I was quite impressed at first and saw something I already wanted to purchase in that instance. Then as I walked further into the section I realized- there wasn't much of the line there.

Now I should add, I did get there a bit late, around 6-ish, due to work. It did cross my mind that perhaps there wasn't much because I had gotten there so late and most of it might have sold in the first few hours of it's release. But as i looked around I noticed that there were only three racks dedicated to the line. No way were those three racks capable of holding ALL of the collection. As I went to try on the piece I liked I asked one of the employees in the fitting room why there was so little. She simply said that they got two huge racks of the collection and that was it. Now there was a gorgeous yellow coat with black vertical and horiztonal stripes that was in the collection(I believe it's the first piece I reviewed in that blog post) that I was so dead set on purchasing. Alas, it wasn't there either. I asked the employee if they had recieved that particular piece and she said she didn't recall seeing it.

So I only walked away with one piece from the collection. It shall suffice, but I truly desired that yellow coat.

This is the dress I got.


It's chic and the cut is gawwgeous.

Long Time, No Blog


My, oh my, it's been ages। I actually almost forgot I had this blog. Much has changed in my life since I last updated. First of all, I started an MJ LJ community(that may be why I have lost track of this blog), I got a really great job at a nice retail store, and I got a puppy.

A beagle mix named Tallulah




And apparently blogspot has trastically changed too. lol
I've also collected many more vinyls for my collection which I will make a blog about later.
I suppose that's all I have to say for now. I definitely need to keep updating this thing.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Make up review

Mascara, oh what would I be without you? I'd be a plain, boring, undefined brown-eyed freak without your luscious definition to my pathetic eye lashes. Since I was about 11 I've been wearing it, and I've tried just about all of them. From cheap drug store brands, to Chanel, to Dior, and MAC. People always comment about my lashes(which mind your are usually laced with faux ones on top). The most common question besides, "Are those you're real lashes?!" is "What mascara do you put on them?"
You see, mascara isn't just a black or white, good or bad type of deal. Many brands have a whole array of mascaras that are for multiple functions. It truly all depends on what you prefer. Do you want long sleek lashes? Perhaps thick volumized lashes is what rives your jive? Regardless, it's always a quest to find that one mascara that will never fail you.

Here are some brands I've tried in the past. Some were sufficient and others were a big let down.


Diorshow
Runs about $24.00
I bought this with hope that it would enhance my lashes to a glamorous and luscious length. However, that it did not. It in fact gave me the opposite of their so called "diorshow" effect. My lashes looked dull and ordinary even after applying it multiple times. If subtle lashes is what you want, then I'd suggest it. Although you could find the same thing much cheaper at the drug store.


Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effect Faux CILS
$30.00
The sales associate who sold this to me couldn't stop raving about it, but it wasn't that factor that persuaded me to buy it. As someone who's worked in retail, I know a when sales person won't stop gushing over a product, it's more than likely not as good as they make it out to be. I was mostly drawn to the fact that the bottle was so nice and sleak and the sent of the mascara was not strong at all. It had a very nice, almost sun-bathing lotion scent to it(which it in fact did have SPF protection). The first few weeks it worked wonders. I only had to apply it once or twice and BAM- I had a pretty close imitation to a faux lash effect.
Pretty soon the brush began to warp though, and that made it absolutely useless.



Chanel Inimitable Multi-Dimensional mascara
$30.00
This was given to me ask a gift. I had never any prior interest in it before that. It didn't do much except make my lashes very soft and non-clumpy.



MAC Fibre Rich Lash
$13.00
I used this mascara for quite a long time. It really lasted and didn't clump even when it started to dry out. Gave my lashes a thick and long effect. Probably one of the best I've ever used. It's only flaw I'd say, is that when it got in my eye on a few occasions, it truly burned like Satan's fist.



Clinique High Impact
$14.00
Fairly good mascara if you want long and full lashes.



Maybelline The Colossal
$5.99
This lasts an extraordinarily long time. It surprisingly never clumps and lengthens pretty well.



Rimmel London The Max Volume Flash
$5.04(at Target, I think)
This is the one I'm currently using. I actually need to buy another one though. For the first few times I used it, the brush worked wonders, but now- it's completely fallen apart. The brush is still sufficient. It's just not that full-bristled brush it once was.

Sundays always seem like the most draggy and mundane days of the week. I always tend to wake up and break my usual rituals on Sunday mornings. I never feel as if anything special will occur on this particular day of the week.
For today, my "enticing" evening will be spent in my pj's with a big bowl of popcorn, lounging out watching the BAFTAs.



Saturday, February 20, 2010

Quick Note Of The Day

Now, I know I've said some harsh things about Purple Rain before in the past(the film, definitely not the album, which I love). If I could, I'd take all of that criticism back, because honestly- Purple Rain is one of those films you gotta just enjoy for what it is. Upon a second viewing of it, I made this realization. I will say however that the three best things about the film are:

1. the soundtrack

2. Prince on his bike

3. Prince



So once again, let me just apologize to his purple majesty for my quick judgement on his film. Purple Rain has my deepest reverence as of now.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

One thing I truly love about Target, besides they're indescribably chic and reasonably priced home living items, is that they have partnerships with many fashion designers for their GO international line. Although, I don't believe they refer to it as the "GO International" line anymore, but simply "[insert designer name} for Target". They've had many great and some not so great lines over the years. A few memorable lines for me: Proenza Schouler, Erin Fetherston, Luella Bartley, Thakoon, Jovovich Hawke.
New lines that they'll be releasing this Spring will be helmed by famous French haute couture designer Jean Paul Gaultier and New York based designer Zac Posen. JPG's line will be released March 7th, and Zac Posen's April 25th. Both look books for the lines have been released. But for this post, I'll only discuss Zac's and make a separate post for JPG's line.
Here are some looks that caught my attention from Zac's line:


I'll start off with one of my favorite pieces. I don't why I find this garment so endearing, but I do. Perhaps it's the the canary hue complimented by the geo cut. I'm willing to bet it's the late 50s/60s motif that gets me though.






One of the cohesive themes in the line are floral pastel patterns, and black gold metallics. It's most definitely a refreshing and bold take on the usual Spring trend.





UGH-my gawwwwd, that ruffled red dress- I just die for. It's such a perfect shade of red and the bust/waist have such a feminine structure.




Ain't nothin like a sophisticatedly cut dress pant. FYI, the pant in both pics is the same.

The overall look is very young and chic. Contrary to Posen's Spring Resort '10 collection. Which is understandable, since the targeted group for these lines are teens and young adults. However Posen does play up some similar colors and structures in both collections. Reasonably priced as most Target lines. Although that opinion may be subject to change. There have been times that garments have been priced well and the garment's wear did not deliver. Like the Rodarte collection, which had many signature Rodarte designs, except the material was quite frail and uncomfortable. I might as well have been wrapped in a potato sack with the same bodust and design as the clothes. I truly do hope this line delivers as it seems to in these pics.


For the complete line lookbook and prices:
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/43056356.html?view=6828832228
Today, as many of you know, is Lent. As someone who doesn't avidly practice the Catholic religion, but whose family does, I often get caught up in the rituals done during this holiday. However, McDonald's luring advertisements for their Filet-o-fish sandwiches, which at this time of year are much cheaper, deeply influence my eating habits. So I essentially "pretend" that I am going with the orthodox flow as an excuse to eat these tempting bait-in-a-bun.



After devouring my sandwich, I got the tempting curiosity to check the nutritional facts on them. It surely does not take a dietitian to know that anything from McDonalds is unlawfully bad for your health, but I thought- hey, it's one little sandwich with cheese in it. I suppose I should mention that I cannot eat anything that is high in protein or sodium.
What I uncovered from my findings:



HOLY HIGH SODIUM AND PROTEIN BATMAN!
Never again. Never again....

Oh hello

My first entry on this thing. Do mind the rubbish I'm writing right now. I'm testing the waters.


Let the blogging commence!