Friday, June 28, 2013

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 06-27-13

Again with the waking up early stuff!  A beauty blogger’s work is never done.  There is nothing like heading out at dawn to send bills out from the post office.  This morning I have yet another video to film which means I have to be ready and get it done before the humidity reaches camera damaging levels.  This one is my weekly video called “Ready, Set, Shop!” where I talk about products I have been playing around with during the week with the idea that someone watching might see something they like or might decide against a product based on the feedback I give them.  This week’s video is special because I am featuring a product I have been keeping a secret about since February.  I’d tell you more, but instead I think you should probably just go watch the video here once it goes live on Saturday.

I mentioned yesterday that I was sent a sample of Origins GinZing Energy-boosting moisturizer.  It is described as being “like a shot of espresso for tired skin.”  The benefits listed are that it is “paraben free, revs up radiance, jump-starts hydration levels, and is oil-free.”  Here is what I can tell you about it after one use:  it smells just like a creamsicle or a children’s aspirin, not one paraben stood up and waved at me so I’m assuming it was in fact paraben free, I don’t know that my skin was any more radiant but speaking of radiance it did have that same gel like consistency as Avon’s Elements Skin Revitalize Night Radiance Cream although if I had to guess based on the sample would say it might be just a tad bit thicker, I think most moisturizers help to jump-start hydration levels so that is kind of a no-brainer although I can’t necessarily say it jumped out at me as making my skin feel super hydrated in an unusual way, and yes it did feel like an oil-free formula and went on very nicely melting into the skin with no residue left over.  Is it really energy boosting?  I’m going to say that not a single part of me including my face felt like I had any extra energy today.  I can also say though that when I think of my facial skin having an energy boost uncontrollable facial tics come to mind which is not at all appealing to me, and if I really wanted a shot of espresso for my tired skin I would just rub coffee grounds on my face for the caffeine and exfoliation benefits anyway.  (Yes… I realize that I am taking the name to an extremely literal interpretation, but that is what makes it funny and entertaining to me.)  All in all though it was a nice cream probably best for someone that just needs a little extra moisture in the morning after their shower.  Ultimately I would let the price be the deciding factor on whether it would be my daily moisturizer or not.

Part of the getting ready process today also included two new products that I am wearing specifically for the #AvonColorLottery challenge I initiated this month and includes a Glimmerticks Chromes eye liner in MochaFlash and a Be Blushed cheek color in Crushed Berry

Today involved a lot of photo action.  I took some to use as a thumbnail picture for my video.  I created collages for the #AvonColorLottery (shown here)


and edited one to use as the thumbnail for the video I recorded yesterday which had to be uploaded today.  Can I just tell you how much time it takes to upload a video and make sure that you get all of the details loaded and all of the perfect tags and annotations and in-video programming and monetization etc. etc. etc.?  It takes a LONG time.  Then you still have to actively promote your video in every way possible from here to the moon.  I feel like that is a task that is impossible to ever completely be done with.  There is never not one more place you could go to promote yourself, but alas, I am only one person and can only do so much on my own.  You would think that maybe friends or family could be recruited to help with these sort of things, but the truth is that it is hard enough just getting them to actually watch let alone help promote.  There are some bloggers who have successfully turned those closest to them into their very own promotional team and on the flip side some find that as they become successful some people around them become resentful and stop supporting them all together.  I fall somewhere in the middle experiencing a little bit of both.  It is an awkward thing to try and explain to family and friends that you need them to do certain tasks like it is their job to support you and I have found that I’m not yet at an emotional  place where I feel comfortable doing it to any real extreme.  As for the resentment that some people start to feel, understanding that it has to do completely with them wishing they could do something similar doesn’t make it any less annoying or obvious that you are on your own.  It is always a bit sad when you realize that complete strangers are likely always going to be more supportive than the people around you.  Typically though, if you examine who the people are that make up these strong support structures you will find that they are generally extremely successful in their own right.  It is a perfect example of when you know better you do better and the folks that are successful in their own lives have more skill at helping those around them be successful as well.  I’m just thankful that as I try to maneuver my way and figure things out that generally when I do ask my family to do something to help me they try their best to do it.  As I continue to know better we all will continue to do better.

Today was one of those days where you feel like so many things crop up one right after another that you just can’t keep up.  It is kind of like one of those training programs that the military or police might go through where a mixture of bad guys and good guys pop up from all directions and they just try to get through it without shooting any of the good guys on accident.  By the time it is all said and done you have been going nonstop at an extreme pace but feel like at the end of the day nothing really was finished to completion.  A few of my distractions included some date changes and topic discussions regarding an internet radio show I will be on in the near future, I was asked to round up people to walk in our 4th of July parade in representation of our alumni association and last minute T-shirts are going to be provided which means I have today only to get their commitments and shirt sizes so they can be made in time, a friend’s camera broke and they needed an ear to vent to and ideas on how to possibly fix it which included internet and video searches and lots and lots of texts which was happening at the exact same time as a web program that I was participating in, and to top it all off some videos that were made during my trip to New York have been cropping up unannounced and stumbling across them in various ways which also includes interruptions means I am right back to the promotion portion of the program that I mentioned earlier.  To put it plainly it was a case of “Do NOT pass go and do NOT collect $200.”  Luckily the go straight to jail part was excluded although EVERYONE in my family (and I do mean everyone) has suddenly come down with some sort of flu type illness within the last 4 days and so my chances of really avoiding jail (aka the mystery illness) are not great.  I just pray that my overactive immune system actually kills something bad for me for a change and keep on keepin’ on.

Dang it!  There goes a nail!  L  Can we just pause for a moment to address how annoying it is when your nail gets that tiny little crack on the tip at the side near the nail bed and you may as well just rip it off now because once that happens there is no turning back?  Now I have one hand with one short nail on the middle finger.  So not awesome!

Next up is editing the video I filmed this morning so I can get it loaded for Saturday and once that task is complete even though it is already dark and late I still have to finish typing up… well… this because every day I spend lots of time typing these journal entries up, uploading the entry from the day before including any necessary photos and links and whatever other details necessary to keep you interested and then the self-promotion begins… AGAIN.

Next up… hopefully laundry that does itself.



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