Blog Every Day in May - Day 5

Hello!

It's Day 5 of the blog every day in May challenges I'm doing and I'm still managing to write other posts!  Yea! 

Let's dive in shall we?

 The prompt - Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member.

This is hard...I have lots of bloggers I follow and comment back and forth regularly with, but I don't know any of them that well. I wish we lived closer!  They are all smart, unique, wonderful gals.  But do I love them, sorry no.  I don't have any real life friends (I move too much, please refer to the Day 1  post) and I don't have a close relationship with my family.  So you know who I love? ME!  I think that having a good relationship with yourself is important too.  I know Me, and I know a lot of people who can't say that because they are so caught up in other people's lives.  So I'm glad I'm my best friend.  But if you live in the Chicago area and want to go on a girl "friend" date, please let me know...  :)

On to the challenge from Rosalilium.com



What do you do to stay fit or be a healthy individual?

OH god.  I am the worst right now.  I am straight up lazy and eat badly.  But... I am going to making big changes each month and I think that's why I'm being a pig-monster right now.  I really want to get rid of my car and live truly urban.  I can walk almost everywhere I need to go, and if not there's the bus and train.  When ever the weather has permitted I already take the "far" bus and walk further home.  I don't even drive my car now except for on Tuesday's when I run errands because I feel like I have to, and it's not good for it to just sit in the garage.  I also am trying to cut out processed foods (this is hard) I try to eat natural oatmeal or grains for breakfast and apple at lunch and then dinner becomes a cluster because I eat something bad.  But the point is I'm trying.  I also am trying to cut down on the candy.  I eat a LOT of candy (not like chocolates, but like Swedish fish and red vines and sour strips) I literally have candy all over the house and crave it all the time.  That needs to stop.  I also need to get my butt on my elliptical machine Everyday, because we all know the benefits of aerobic exercise and why do I have the thing taking up space in my house if I'm not going to use it?  Sooo I'm a work in progress.  :)

Hope you all are having a safe Cinco de Mayo!

Jasmine

Sunday Social - 4 things

Hello:

It's Sunday and time for Sunday Social!


I feel like I've been talking A LOT about myself since I started the Blog Everyday in May challenge, but here's some more for you!  (I have a review of a product tomorrow - I promised it wouldn't turn into a non-beauty blog!)

Here's some questions with 4 answers!

4 favorite things to do on a weekend
As I've mentioned I don't work a traditional work week so my weekend is Tues and Wednesday. So that means everything is open and quiet!
1) I love to sleep in!
2) I like to run all my errands in fell swoop (2 hours and DONE)
3) Read for like 4 hours uninterrupted
4) Make a special dinner on Tues night

4 things you would do with $100,000
1) Pay off any debt
2) Take a trip to the UK
3) Buy a new laptop
4) Buy a 6 month well-coaching plan at the Galter Life Center

4 favorite books you’ve ever read
1) Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean Auel
2) Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
3) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
4) Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx - Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

4 favorite snack foods
1) Chips and Pico De Gallo
2) Candy
3) Cheese and Crackers
4) Chex Mix
(All those begin with C is that weird?)

4 things that you must do daily
1) Besides basic hygiene - all my skincare stuff and applying sunscreen
2) Read whatever book I'm reading
3) Give my cat some snuggles
4) Give my BF some snuggles and talk

Any book suggestions for me?  Or snacks that don't begin with C?

Jasmine

Seriously Skincare Saturday - Layers of Skin & the evils of sunburn

Hello!

It's time for Seriously Skincare Saturday!  I need to make a banner or something!  I also have noted as of late I use way too many exclamation marks in my blogging and commenting - but I guess I want to convey excitement or importance and it's hard in written form sometimes.

Also it is important to note that I am not a dermatologist, doctor of any kind, or health professional. I'm just a self educated consumer and skin care consultant with my own opinions - feel free to research on your own or disagree with me (but I warn you I am rarely wrong ;)

Anywhoo onto the 3 layers of skin (picture from depositphotos.com)

 
The Epidermis - the part with the star and the label 4 layers, that's the part you usually "see".  If you have ever "rug burned" your self then your into the pink part of the epidermis, that's why it's mildly bloody.

The Dermis - here's the part we really want to keep healthy.  It's where the collagen and elastin are hopefully all linked together like in the picture above.  Each little cell hopefully has "normal" amounts of melanin (the stuff that "colors" your skin) and hopefully you have enough lipids (fats) peptides (proteins) and hydration for all the cells so they can make it up to the Epidermis (what you end up seeing as your skin) without problem.  The hair roots are also here, nerves, sweat glands and sebaceous (oil) glands as well. 

The Subcutaneous - you don't want to get down here!  It's where the Veins (or Arteries depending on where you are) feeding your skin are.  There is also a lot of FAT.  And after you break through subcutaneous your into your muscle so that's why there are 3 levels of BURN!

1st degree burn - Epidermis
2nd degree burn - down to the Dermis - not good
3rd degree burn - ouch ouch ouch down to Subcutaneous - not good at all

I am going to harp on this repeatedly - tanning beds use mostly UVA rays which are the ones able to penetrate the DERMIS.  UVB can usually only damage the Epidermis.  Why people lay in a machine that pushes UVA rays into an unprotected body (and when you burn your getting a 2nd degree burn) is beyond me.


The above picture is from SkinCheck.org which I highly suggest checking out they have wonderful information on moles and skin cancer.

The Dermis is the key to skincare, what comes "up" from there is what you will see (what you see when you look at your face right now (epidermis) can be sloughed off  - you need to take care of it and that starts with Sunscreen!!!  You need a tablespoon to protect your face.  Do you use a tablespoon of your daily moisturizer with SPF.  I don't, that's a lot!  So I supplement with ACTUAL sunscreen - there are plenty these days for the face and please don't forget the rest of your body!

Do NOT rely on the SPF in your makeup - it's not enough.  And you know your makeup brakes down during the day from sweat and oil (that's why most of us wear primers!) so obviously the SPF is being broken down as well.  And as many of you know wearing moisturizer with SPF 15 + sunscreen SPF 30 + foundation with SPF 15 does NOT =SPF 60.  It just equals the highest SPF you put on (the sunscreen at 30) and maybe buys you a little more time.  2 hours is the max amount of time in sunlight before SPF breaks down, but as I said sweat, oil and water on the face can make that happen quicker so just be aware.

I'm going to stop here and we will pick up next Saturday with skin types, then move to anti-aging the week after. 

Thanks for reading!

Jasmine

Blog Every Day in May - day 4

Hello:

It's day four of Blog Every Day in May! 


Today's prompt - Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it.

"Be the Change you want to see in the World." - Ghandi 
I love this quote because it just rings true.  If we all just stopped talking the talk and just acted the way we should, the world would change.  It takes each and every one of us actively doing something (even small things) to bring about change.  So I try to be the kind od person I want to see in this world (but I have by no means perfected it!)

And from Rosalilium.com-



Share the blog love! Tell us about five blogs you love and why?

I actually answered this question not to long ago - but I'll restate my answers:

I love Christine @ Little Red Bow -> She and I have very similar skin tones and cosmetic leanings, but she's much younger and hipper!  Her blog inspires me to try so many colors (I got Tarte Amozianian Clay blush in Tipsy because of her review) She picked out my favorite concealer and I love reading everything she posts.

Beauty Redefined by Pang -> Ok first of all she takes AMAZING pictures and constantly inspires me to do better.  Then the reviews are so well thought out and tested that you know if it's a hit or miss no need to check it out if you can't get to the store!  She has so many nail polish and eyeliner reviews it's like a library of inspiration!  And she is very creative with her cosmetic looks!

Martha @ QuickCheap & Pretty -> She inspires me to try my hand at fashion blogging, make sure I am conscious of cruelty free and vegan friendly brands and she loves to read as much as I do!   I also am inspired by the tone of her vlogs - she makes it very conversational and educational.

Mandy @ Prettymaking - does the most beautiful eye looks and swatches!  She inspired me to start a blog and is my go to for buying indie!

Ronnie @ Bows & Curtseys - was one of the first blogs I ever read and her color work is mind-blowing!  I could look at her eye makeup looks for days.

There are so many more blogs I could mention but I these are all different in their own way while all be being Amazing Beauty Blogs so I wanted to keep them together.

Another day done!
Any blogs I should know about?  Lately my feed has been slow - not many people are posting :(

Jasmine

Blog Every Day in May - Day 3

Hello, Hello!

Today is day 3 of the Blog every Day in May Challenge(s) I'm doing!  Here are today's fun topics!


Things that make you uncomfortable!

Oh my word, this is a good one!  There are so many random things but here's just a few:

• If there's a few empty seats don't sit in the one RIGHT next to me
• Personal space, I need like a good 2 feet
• If people touch me and I don't know them, even people I do know, I'm not real touchy feely.
• People talking about money in social situations especially if they are talking about having no money - I'm like "um what do you want me to do?"
• Going to an event if I don't know the dress code! 

I know I'm going to see other people's answers for this one and be like "Ohh yes, yes! That too!" :)

Onto the prompt from Rosalilium.com

Tell us about your typical day: (they suggest pictures, so I'll have some on Instagram today!  You can follow me @ xjasminemariex

Ok - I get up around 9:18 (rough I know.) Also weird number because I refuse to set my alarm for an "normal" time.
Quick bath, fix hair, lotions and potions on, dressed in all black, grab purse out the door by 9:48.
On bus and Train doing make-up (yea, I'm that girl), or reading, or playing Candy Crush.
Arrive Downtown about 10:45
Check financials from yesterday, check on stock levels, check in with store team (I'm a "vendor" while in their store) Then start talking to clients that come in. 
Skincare
Skincare
Chat with other cosmetic consultants if they're "in house" that day about what's new in the world
Skincare
"You put WHAT on your face?"
Cosmetic consult
Quick, like 15 minute Lunch
Skincare
"Your face is dry because your using a cleanser meant for a 15 year old boy, and then a salicylic acid toner and no moisturizer" (this I keep in my head)
Cosmetic consult
Skincare
Leave the store around 5:30 pm and try not to go to Ulta, or Sephora or Macy's or DSW which are all within a BLOCK of where I usually work. Get back on train and think about why it always smells so strongly of urine (bleckkkkk...)
Read blogs and comment while on train (so that's why my spelling sucks, or why my sentences are weird because the darn auto correct takes over.)
Home by about 7pm, Wash face and remove all makeup and lotion and potion up for the evening. Then I have to take off all my work clothes immediately (they have touched the EL and are gross) and put on fresh "house" clothes.  I do this even when I just run errands, I can't wear something I wore "outside" inside.  It bothers me. And I KNOW I am not the only one that does this! 
Drink a Diet Coke on ice and have a light snack
Take my "pre-bedtime" nap
9:30pm wake up, do any chores I need to do, read, write blog post for the next day or take pictures, do any skincare things that are that "day's" (Glycolic peel - Sunday night, Facial hair removal - Tuesday night, Deep condition hair - Wednesday night).  I also talk to my boyfriend for a bit during this time, we are really independent.  We both are always working on something and try to spend "quality time" together on days off - on "work" nights it's very quiet around our house.
Midnight - put on hand cream, nighttime lip treatment & read for a bit and then ZZZZZZ.

So not exciting - which shall be revealed in pictures today! 

Any funny quirks about your day?  Who else is an "inside" clothes person?

Jasmine

Inner Beauty Friday - Book Club!

Hello!

Once again it is Friday and time for Book Club - so I am linking up with Heather from Blonde...Undercover Blonde



I read two books this week and they both were filled with Interesting bits of American history.
The first was "The Obituary Writer" by Ann Hood

Here is the synopsis from Goodreads.com: "On the day John F. Kennedy is inaugurated, Claire, a young wife and mother obsessed with the glamour of Jackie, struggles over the decision of whether to stay in a loveless but secure marriage or to follow the man she loves and whose baby she may be carrying. Decades earlier, in 1919, Vivien Lowe, an obituary writer, is searching for her lover who disappeared in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. By telling the stories of the dead, Vivien not only helps others cope with their grief but also begins to understand the devastation of her own terrible loss. The surprising connection between these two women will change Claire s life in unexpected and extraordinary ways."

My thoughts - It's pretty predictable but I really enjoyed the descriptions of daily life in the 60's and then San Francisco in the early 1900's.  I didn't realize that the influenza epidemic and the great San Francisco earthquake took place so close together.  It was a pretty quick read and a good book if you don't want to think to hard, but don't want to go as "light" as chick lit :)

The second book was "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane"  by Katherine Howe.

Here is the description from Goodreads.com: "Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.
As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined."

My thoughts: The way the book starts you think it's going to be a little more "academic" than it turns out to be.  Unfortunately, the story is stretched beyond the breaking point into silliness.  For a Harvard PhD candidate she's really unobservant.  And though the author writes at the end how she researched the 1690's its like she didn't even live in the 1990's because her descriptions of the time seem a little off.  It's still an interesting take on the Salem witch trials and what "witchcraft" was to the Puritan mind. 

Once again I want to remind you I am a total book snob and I have read A LOT of books so I don't swoon over every book I read.  The best books I have read in the last 2 years have been, Gone Girl, The Hunger Games, and The Gargoyle.  I think mostly because they are REALLY unique premises. 

Until next week!
Jasmine

Blog Everyday in May - Day 2

Hello!

It's time for more weird ramblings!  Once again here's the sites I'm linking up with:



Ok - for the story of my life the blog challenge the prompt is "Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like."

Oh goodness my first instinct is to talk about something beauty related - but I'm trying to branch out.  So I know a lot about home improvement, I can install my own lighting fixtures, install cabinets and countertops, do sheet rock all that business.  I have my own tool box and am a master at assembling IKEA furniture.  I think it would be awesome to flip houses - I think I would be really good at that.

Alright... on to #BEDM challenge: "What is your favorite thing about Spring? What plans do you have to enjoy it?"

My favorite thing is the weather, because I really dislike hot weather but enjoy it being sunny and 65 degrees.  I love opening the windows letting the air in and doing a good spring clean.  I want to have a big garage sale this month and get rid of a lot of STUFF I have - then I can have a lovely summer :)

So what are YOU good at?


Jasmine

Blog Everyday in May X 2

Hello!

This month I decided to join 2 blog everyday link ups!!  Feel free to join in late if you want - I think it's a great way to let you get to know me better so I can keep this blog interesting!  I promise there will still be plenty of beauty posts! 

So here are the 2 challenges I am doing:

The first challenge is 5 lines - #BEDM:

1) I am currently watching season 7 of the Amazing Race while typing this - Amber and Rob from Survivor are on it and they are NOT nice (I only watched one season of survivor - the first one).
2) My boyfriend bought me a night blooming Jasmine plant today - and now I need to figure out how to keep a plant native to the West Indies alive in IL :)
3) I cannot find the new Maybelline Color Tatoos anywhere or the LE Wet n' Wild palettes if you live in the Chicago area and know where they might be - let me know!
4) Today is my Sunday (I have Tuesday and Wednesday's off) so I need to do my Glycolic peel (gotta be ready to "face" my "Monday").
5) I really need to get a haircut and I think I'm going to bring back the bangs (I'm also considering red -again).

So that's not really introducing myself - but rather letting you know I have scattered thoughts.  Here's a picture of me at New Year's 2 years ago - it's the closest "likeness" of me I have gotten.  I feel like a lot of pictures don't look like "me" to me.  And it also shows off some of my makeup "skillz" ;)

And for the other challenge (found @ storyofmylifetheblog.blogspot.com)- Story of my life in 250 words (WHOA!) ok here goes:

I was born in Minneapolis, MN when my parents were 19.  We didn’t have much money when I was growing up so my parents instilled in me a crazy hard work ethic.  We lived in MN until I was 15 (and along the way my parents had 2 of my brothers whom I am 6 and 11 years older than).  Then in the middle of my sophomore year of high school we moved to a small town outside of Chicago.  I went to college at Loyola University of Chicago and Majored in Anthropology (and college was not fun, there’s wasn’t  much to do but study – trust me fake i.d.’s only work in college towns not Chicago and there were no sororities or fraternities, and it’s an academically competitive school). I also did a year at the Univ of Montana doing archaeology field work.  After school I moved to Seattle for 6 years and worked as an interior lighting designer and make-up artist (weird combo and really using that $100k I paid for school). Then when I was 23 my parents had my youngest brother (whoa..).  Moved back to Illinois to be closer to family, started doing kitchen design work for Menard’s (home improvement store) ended up becoming one of their 4 corporate trainers and did that for 5 years.  Still doing makeup for people and adding to my massive makeup “collection”.  I left my corporate job (Loved it, but I worked like 70 hours a week). Came back to Chicago and did consulting work (cosmetics), now I work for a very large company doing skincare consultations. 

Well that was 266 words - but I moved a lot :) 

And this is just day 1!

Jasmine