A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 7-5-13

Today wasn’t a super exciting day from a reader’s standpoint.  I’m still trying to recover from that last week or two.  I just can’t seem to get enough sleep no matter what I do.  I’m waking up over and over and over again for whatever reasons and just feel like I need to sleep for a few days straight.  I did still work during the day as I always do, but there were many things I should have done that I just couldn’t find the energy to tackle.  What I DID do though was bury myself in Fall 2013 fashion trends.  The August magazines are out and you can refresh your memory online regarding the runway shows.  I feel like the fashion world needs a good strict talking to.  It is more of the same old same old.  I’m starved for something that is actually new and inventive that changes fashion forever.  I feel like we haven’t had a look that defines a generation since grunge.  20 boring years is not great.  Anyhow, if you want a sneak peek into what will be hot for fall I can sum it up for you like this… denim on denim (again), we have downgraded from “Oxblood” to “Wine”, more graphic prints, winter white, statement jewelry, deep greens like olive, hunter, and moss, deeper satiny jewel tones, boots and hats (as always), and of course layers, layers, and more layers.  Super exciting stuff if you are under the age of 15 maybe?  A game of “these are my friends Pete and Repeat” if you aren’t.    I suppose I will keep my hopes up for Spring 2014 which will show itself in just a few weeks.

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 7-3-13, 7-4-13, & 7-5-13

Where have I been lately?  Well, I have been missing.  Hehe.  Actually I have been super duper busy but unfortunately busy means away from my laptop.  As much as I have missed you guys I can assure you that my laptop did not miss me one bit the last few days.  I work the poor thing to death!  Soooo let’s see if I can get us all up to date.

My Tuesday started off with an important call with an important person.  It is all top secret though so that doesn’t really help you out in the catch up department. 

I did have a video go live which I will link here.  It is my most recent Makeup Maven collaboration revealing all of the top secret information we are allowed to reveal.

I also had to take care of all last minute order action early since tomorrow will be a busy day.

Wednesday I got to play the part of fill–in babysitter which is like my favorite job in the whole world.  In this particular case not only did I manage to squeeze in time at the pool and a junk food err… I mean fast food lunch, but I was the one who was drug around by a 5 year old to a beauty supply store and 5 more stores in the mall than I intended to visit.  (We were supposed to be there just to visit the pet store and give the animals some much needed attention.)  She managed to get some nail polish, an eyeshadow, and a sparkly ring out of me.  What can I say?  She is a pretty good salesperson.

My 4^th of July was really a non-beauty day.  I walked in the parade (in the drizzly rain.)  Then we had a cookout with family (inside due to the drizzly rain.)  Then I had a baseball game to go to (also in the drizzly rain with post game fireworks postponed.)  There is nothing quite like a pair of clean dry pajama pants after a day of humidity and all around mildly damp clothing and hair to make you say ahhhhhhhhhhh.

So that is the abbreviated version of where I have been.   Now tell me… where have YOU been for the past 3 days?  I’d like to know.

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 7-1-13

Today I was up really early.  I was having trouble sleeping anyway, but I still crawled out of bed by 6am.  The last week ended up being much busier than I had anticipated which means a video that I meant to film days ago was put off until this very moment.  Not only do I need to film it, but I have to get it edited, uploaded, and it is supposed to go live today at noon.  This is a collaboration video I am doing with my regional co-Mavens giving away all of our secrets.  Once my video was uploading I needed to get on the ball and take some photos of my 4^th of July nail art and get a collage made and uploaded to share with my Mavens.  I created a few collages before I ended up with one I was happy with.  I will show you the nail art now.

The products I used include: Nailwear Pro+ in Blue Water Lilies and French Tip White, Glitter Nail Enamel in Sparkling Red, and Speed Dry+ 30 in Clear over the top.

Maybe I should show you the other collages and see if you think I chose the best one.

I guess I just decided simple was better and went ran with it.  What do you think?  Which do you like the best?

So once everything was done and my video was loaded I shared my link with my co-Mavens only to find out that I was more on top of the situation than I realized and ultimately we ended up postponing the video launch until tomorrow.  Hehe!   Isn’t that how it always goes?  I guess I could have slept in a little later, but at least it is done. 

Then at one point another of the Mavens requested a tutorial on how to re-create the nail art I had done.  I decided just to film a quickie impromptu video explaining how I did it since the 4^th is almost here so there would be time for anyone who watched to get any last minute supplies they might need for it.  I was actually very flattered she asked and wished I could have done a full-on demonstration tutorial but my week is so packed I just didn’t think I could pull it off in time.  I’m always flattered when someone compliments me on my nail art because I always feel that my nails (or I guess I should say my attempts at nail art specifically) end up looking a bit sloppy when I do them myself.  That is partly because I can’t draw a straight line to save my life and partly because I’m guilty of not properly cleaning the edges when I’m done.  I also am not obsessive about keeping my nails all the same length because then they would always be short.  There is always one that gets used to pry something open at some point and eventually breaks off.  If I cut the rest down to match it every time it happens I would never have long nails.  I happen to like mine a bit longer, so there you have it.  I have a few good excuses regarding the not cleaning the edges thing though.  First is that because I can’t draw a straight line, generally when I try and clean around the edges I manage to screw up the polish on the nails that I intended not to touch.  Second is because too much nail polish remover is a bit harsh for my skin.  Third is because generally after one or two showers I find that the messy edges just peel away on their own anyhow and so it allows for some laziness on my part.  In my own defense, I have found that manicurists have found my nails a bit hard to keep tidy too I think because they are curved in a way that makes troughs along the sides between the nail and my skin quite deep.  They either have a lot of nail that is left bare along the sides or they get the polish down in there but have a hard time cleaning around the edges afterwards.  That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 06-29-13 & 06-30-13

Well my Saturday was busy but actually a little slow in comparison to how most of my days go.  My week has caught up to me though and I am feeling the fatigue.  I think you will be able to sense it in my writing.  Today I had of course some photo posting to do for the challenge I have going on with my Mavens.  Here are the products I featured: Glazewear lip gloss in Cherry Liqueur on the top lip and Glazewear lip gloss in Crimson on the bottom lip and here is how it ended up.

My Saturday video also went live which means more self-promotion.  I’ll link it here so you can take a peek.

I’m starting a new challenge for the month of July with my Mavens which means that before we tell them what the challenge is we tease them over and over again to get them excited and wanting to know what we have up our sleeve.  Those teasers take a lot of time and follow-up!  Speaking of follow-up...

 Have I ever mentioned that I get right around 5000 emails everyday?  Probably not.  Do you know how much time goes into staying on top of that many emails?  Well, it’s a lot.

Then I had to get out of the house because the fall makeup lines are out and fall clothes are cropping up and so I stopped at CVS, Ulta, and Target to see what’s new.  Then add in bagging up customer orders and wrapping gifts before bed and it was around 12:00am when I was able to take a breath.

My Sunday started at 6:00am and included church, a lunch gathering with customers, a birthday party at a museum, a trip to the store for 4^th of July supplies, a stop at the bookstore so I could quickly upload the new Maven challenge for the month of July, hitting the gas station (can I just say that the price of gas is so ridiculous that it should include some type of spa-like experience) and then finally sitting down to watch an episode of Real Housewives while painting my nails for a patriotic challenge from Avon which is due tomorrow before collapsing.

*Insert collapse here*

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 06-28-13

My lack of sleep has finally caught up to me and I slept in later than I really intended to.  By later I mean after 7am.  Because it was so late I debated and debated and debated about whether to film or not since the humidity was already kicking in.  I didn’t think I was going to even though I have a video that has to go up Monday, but then once I got out of the shower I realized I have to get entirely ready anyway because I still have to post for the #AvonColorLottery regardless.  At that point I was pretty much determined that I was going to go ahead and film.  My two lottery items for the day are Glimmersticks Chromes in Midnight Flash and Glazewear lip gloss in Mauve Movement.  I got myself all prettied up and started to gather together items I needed to film with and then came to a screeching halt realizing that I had just put on the wrong products if I was going to film.  Ugh!  I needed to be wearing a different top secret item which I will be telling you about soon enough.  So much for filming today.  I also spent a little time bagging up orders that I needed ready for this evening before heading out to the bank.  Mentioning this makes me realize that I completely neglected to tell you yesterday about my order arriving!  It is amazing the things I forget when I’m all over the place sometimes.  Generally the first thing I do when I get my boxes is rip them open to find the new catalogues.  I immediately want to know what new products I will be selling in a month and which products are going on clearance in the next campaign.  Speaking of new books… where in the world did I lay those?  I need more time to go through them because it never really was able to happen.  I was just too busy.

Because the lottery is coming to a close on Sunday I needed to come up with a new challenge for Avon’s Makeup Mavens for the month of July.  I had already discussed the basics of the idea with the Maven who has been helping me with these challenges, but we still needed to nail down the details so a lot of conversation and internet searches went into finalizing those details.  The new challenge is also top secret until Sunday, but I’m sure you will be hearing about it as well sooner rather than later.  In between messages about the new challenge were last minute emails and messages about the 4^th of July parade.  Sometimes I am amazed that I manage to ever make sense when I’m literally typing with one hand and texting with the other.

Most of my morning was consumed with uploading and all of the other details related to my video that goes live Saturday which I will link here.  I also of course had to edit the photo that will be used as the thumbnail.  Speaking of photos, I also had to snap and edit the photos for today’s lottery post so I will show you that picture here also.

My afternoon was so hectic that I literally can’t really remember much of the details.  What I do remember is that I had to be at the bookstore by 6:00 to meet with some of my reading friends (because I really do love to read and talk about reading and just being around books in general) and it took at least 30 minutes of being there before I could relax and stop thinking about all of the things I need to do and stop feeling like I was still multitasking and just enjoy my time there.  I did have some work to do while I was there too but I was able to eventually slow my mind down and stay in the moment.  From there I was off to the dollar store to grab some gift bags and to check out the mainstream makeup that has made its way there which today included Milani, N.Y.C., E.L.F., and Maybelline.  Then come texts about the fireworks display I’m supposed to go to and then I’m not going to and then I’m going to and then we don’t know if we are going to etc. and the realization that I’m hungry and have only eaten an apple, two bites of peanut butter, and a granola bar today.  Well, food is going to have to wait until tomorrow because the decision has been made at the very last minute, and I’m now headed over to catch the fireworks.  Tomorrow will be another day.

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 4^th 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.

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 6-26-13

This morning I woke up just a little after 4:00am.  I had to get up super early because I needed to re-shoot a video I had originally made about 2 weeks ago.  I live in Ohio which is probably one of the most uncomfortable states to live in during the summertime.  It is so humid here that 80 degrees to us feels like 130 degrees in another state.  You can’t truly imagine what 90 or 100 degrees here feels like unless you have experienced it for yourself.  Well, maybe if you can imagine what it would feel like to be trapped in a hot tub or sauna unable to ever get out then you might be able to at least begin to understand it.  Anyhow, when I filmed the video the first time it was morning and  the moisture in the air was beading up on my skin like I was standing in the shower filming.  So this morning I tried to beat the worst of the moisture by being ready before the sun came up and filming just as the light started up over the horizon.  It was still so humid that by the end of the 15 minutes it took to film my hair was already limp and starting to stick to my forehead.  Oh well.  I tried.  That’s the thing about someone obsessed with beauty and fashion.  We will go to great lengths to share information with others who are equally obsessed.  Only another person who enjoys it as much as I do can understand where I’m coming from.  Anyway, in a few days that video will be edited and ready to view and when that happens I will post the link here.  I can already tell you I still won’t be happy with it because there is nothing worse than watching an hour and a half of time spent getting ready melting away before your very eyes and knowing that there is nothing you can do to change it for a few more months.  Now don’t get me wrong… summer is still my favorite time of year, but when it comes to my appearance summer in Ohio certainly does not do me any favors.

I should probably also mention that part of getting ready included injecting two different products into my daily routine.  As you may or may not know, I am Avon’s Northeast Regional Makeup Maven contest winner and an Avon Color Brand Ambassador.  For the month of June I enlisted the help of one of the Division winners and created an #AvonColorLottery which was designed to challenge them to try new things in more ways than one every day for the entire month.  This week I am using this platform to show them how trying two new and randomly selected products in their daily routine could be a way to push their own boundaries.  The products randomly chosen and used today were the Glimmersticks eye liner in Cosmic Brown and the Glazewear lip gloss in Clear.  I snapped a few photos of the products on my face, took some time to create a photo collage and loaded it to share.  I may as well show you also.

Up next are suggestions via email for possible revisions of my bio that is going up somewhere (I don’t exactly know where) soon.  There is nothing more odd than writing and reading about yourself in the third person.

Checked the mail.  Looks like tomorrow I will be trying Origins GinZing Energy-boosting moisturizer for the first time.  I’m always interested in good paraben free products so we will see how it goes.

One of the downsides of being a beauty and fashion fanatic is that many of the daily duties in the incessant need to stay on top of the most up to date trends require you to remain relatively sedentary and glued to social media.  In order to try and avoid the beauty blogger spread (like how I did that?  I changed the word secretary to beauty blogger… oh nevermind) I try to work on a few sit down activities in a row and then take a break to do something that gets my heartbeat and my breathing pumping full force.  The irony in this is that you have to forgo any sort of real fashion for workout clothes (at least I’m not in my pajamas) and the hair that you spent time doing goes up and the makeup you are wearing gets worn off and you really can’t be seen in public today or no one will take you seriously when you say you are working in the beauty industry because you look a mess.  This is also the one job where there is no real professional name that describes what you do and when you use the term “beauty blogger” in an attempt to wrap up the multiple jobs you actually do with a nice little bow trying to explain it because we don’t yet have an appropriate term for self-employed vlogger/sales person/public persona/motivational speaker/stylist/personal shopper/writer/recruiter/advertiser/brand/critic/amateur filmmaker/photographer/actor/script writer/entrepreneur/etc., not only do people’s heads tip to the side in confusion like a dog who has just heard a curiously high pitched noise, but your high IQ and triple major and years of management and work history basically get flushed down the toilet because all they understand is “Oh… she likes lipstick… isn’t that cute.”  Surprisingly enough a beauty girl will often be found doing something like spending two hours of her evening on a marketing webinar call.    In fact, that is exactly what I did from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.  It’s not all lipstick.  Luckily I find marketing interesting as well.

My next required sitting down activity involves writing a blog post on my Avon website.  I often forget to update this blog I think mainly because it has limitations and absolutely no bells and whistles to speak of.  I have taken measures to change my negligent behavior by writing it down in my standard to-do list and am making a conscious effort to stop forgetting.  I will link it here if you are interested in taking a peek.  (You will notice that links here will always show up in another color so anytime you see that color it’s a good idea to click there and see what you might have otherwise missed.)  I will give you a hint about today’s blog topic.  It has to do with the first revolution in the way mascara is applied in AT LEAST 50 years.

Before I can go to bed I have to edit today's video.  This one is on products I have completely used up and whether I would repurchase them again or not.  Who isn’t curious about what might be in someone else’s trash?

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A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 5-25-13, 5-26-13, & 5-27-13

My Saturday morning started off with one of those dreams where you are trying to accomplish something but get absolutely nowhere with one interruption after another.  Have you ever had one of those dreams?  For most people it is a dream where they are trying to escape some impending doom or complete a task that in real life they are stressed about and in the dream they absolutely must get done like homework, or a test, or a project for work, or some other similarly sometimes overwhelming task.  Not for me.  I’m a beauty girl!  In my dream I was supposed to be leaving the location to go to some sort of event and needed to put my makeup on and everything imaginable was keeping me from being able to make it happen.  There was an attractive man that kept dropping in that required my attention (I blame that on reading a historical novel late Friday night with scenes of a dinner party where the hostess was required to entertain her guests in the overtly historically polite way you only read about in historical novels), children that needed to be supervised (who of course did not belong to me but due to a lack of parental supervision somehow managed to repeatedly enter the location that was supposed to be my home chasing each other like a bunch of rapscallions), and quite a few other occurrences that I began to forget as soon as I woke up as you often do when you wake up from a dream.  There was even a shooting of the gang related type that happened outside a bedroom window/balcony that apparently was mine and a visit from a snarling werewolf if you can believe that.  Only a beauty girl dreams about putting on makeup in such an exciting manner as this!

The first thing I did was pull out the Grosgrain Wrap Watch. 

I have it in red but you can also order it in either red or blue here.  I also remembered that I DO actually have a brow product I could pull out which is the Revlon ColorStay Brow Enhancer in #002 Light Brown/Champagne.   

My work day included a video and some blogging and photo taking as it often does along with my normal interaction with customers and the process of suggesting products.  In the evening I made a trip to CVS to check out the 50-75% off sale to keep up with which products are likely being discontinued.  Then I went past Ulta just to see if there was anything new.  There wasn’t although I was sad to see that there was only one more NYX Be Free color palette left.  It’s a really nice palette which I’d love to have, but just would not buy for myself mainly because palettes by nature are generally on the higher end of a line regardless of what brand it is and the restrictions I put on buying for myself don’t allow for that type of treat even if it is only $20.  Just seeing that I am one palette away from never being able to have it makes me a little sad. 

Since it is the holiday weekend I decided that I wouldn’t focus on anymore work that night (yeah right) and sat down to watch the movie The Man.  I followed that up with some work around the house.  So exciting!  Not!

Sunday morning I did a bit more reading.  I did a bunch of household chores.  I added the Advanced Techniques 360 Nourish Moroccan Argan Oil Leave-in Treatment to my morning hair care routine.  (LOVING it!)  Pulled out my Mark. Eye Shadow brush.  (You can buy both of those here.)  I also dug out my Hard Candy Blush Crush baked Blush in #127 Honeymoon.  Ran back to CVS to see what else they had marked down that they hadn't tagged yet the day before.  More chores.  I also finished my Bath & Body Works Leaves mini candle.  Another exciting day.  I know!

Monday morning I put on my red white and blue since it was Memorial Day.  LOVE my troops!  I pulled out my Rare Pearls perfume and my Palladio Waterproof Retractable Lip Liner in Raspberry and completed an obligation to create a look using a Cosmic product, snapped some pics, and loaded it all to social media. You can see it here.

Cosmic eyeshadow in purple haze on the lid and along the lower lash line, Cosmic eyeshadow in celestial taupe in the crease, Glimmersticks Cosmic eye liner in Purple Haze smudged along the lower lashes and dramatically winged out on top.

Order these products here.

 I ran by Barnes & Noble.  Had lunch out with family.  Worked for a few hours.  Watched The Real Housewives of Orange County.  Started my normal evening routine of editing and journaling and got myself back on track with my normal nighttime routine of skincare and a second shower.  I also finished my Anew Clinical Absolute Even Multi-Tone Skin Corrector in the process.  All in all not your typical holiday vacation but exactly the kind of relaxing weekend a beauty girl enjoys.

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 5-24-13

This morning started around 1:15am when my normal tossing and turning began.  Once I knew for sure that I was not falling back to sleep any time soon I decided to utilize my on demand cable services to catch up on the three episodes of Chelsea Lately that I had missed this week from falling asleep too early.  Hours later and well into my morning news cast I did finally fall back to sleep, but was up and in the shower by 8:30.  I had the intentions of filming a video on products I had tried recently that I did not like, but my lack of sleep and the return of colder weather is catching up to me.  I decided today was a day to dress warm and comfortable (aka a fashion felony) and threw on a pair of mom jeans that belonged to my Aunt who passed away three years ago from breast cancer (Clothing has its sentimental moments for me.  I’m known to hang onto clothing items from family members that have passed.  I can sometimes be found wearing a flannel shirt that belonged to my grandfather or jewelry that was my grandmothers, etc.) and a 2007 sweatshirt from one of my favorite car shows I go to every year.  I also let my hair air dry because I am trying to be nicer to it these days.  Needless to say, no one who saw me today would take me seriously if I told them I live and breathe beauty and fashion. 

Today was a lot of picture taking for me which I don’t particularly enjoy.  It might be my least favorite part of blogging.  I generally snap pictures on my old school flip phone (which doesn’t even have a flash as I’m sure you can tell) because I can’t be bothered buying batteries for my camera all the time and it doesn’t take very good close up photos anyhow.  I also can’t be bothered sweating over lighting and layouts and staging the perfect photo.  Well, I could be if I could afford the proper equipment, but for now I’ll just do what I can with what I’ve got.  I probably need to start dating some guy who fancies himself a semi-professional photographer, so if you know of any you’d like to recommend submit your suggestions here.  Hehe.   I also had to touch up the polish on one of my nails because I used it as a tool yesterday to pry open difficult to open packaging a few times.  My nails usually end up collateral damage when my tomboy side shows itself.  I’m just thrilled they are finally recovering after my recent trips to NYC.  I don’t know what it is about plane rides, but my nails become instantly brittle and unrecognizable.  Most people worry about how their skin will hold up.  I have to worry about the tragedy that will befall my nails instead.

Today my new campaign starts so while I did still spend time doing some product research I also used social media to start recommending a few of my favorite products this campaign.  Here is one of those products.  

Beaded Escape Toe Loop Sandals

If you are interested they can be purchased at http://showard.avonrepresentative.com/

Even though I’m not dressed up I still tend to wear some sort of jewelry and today's feature product are these rings called the Loving Stackable Ring Set which can also be purchased on sale at http://showard.avonrepresentative.com/.

And since I don’t for some reason tend to ever buy brow products which should have been the next addition to my style changes for the next two weeks I pulled out a L’Oreal Visible Lift Color Lift blush in Rose Gold Lift instead.  

After checking into a few orders that were placed on my website, I spent some time jotting down addresses of those customers in order to send out little thank you gifts.  Fast forward to major social media interaction with my fellow Makeup Maven winners and some secret planning for a few fun challenges coming up. 

Then starts my normal nightly routine of listening to sitcom reruns while editing videos and finishing up my journal entries.  I was also pleasantly surprised with some catching up style electronic chitchat thanks to a friend contacting me that I haven't talked to in a while.  Tonight was more normal for me and I even stayed up to watch the late showing of E! News.  Tomorrow is a new beauty day.  You just never know what a new day might bring.

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 5-23-13

Even though for a short time my night included dreams about The Hobbit (see yesterday's journal entry for this to make sense) my days usually start like this… If I fell asleep at a more normal time than usual I probably will wake up somewhere between 1 and 2am and the process of tossing and turning begins.  The good news is that at 4am the morning news comes on and I can start watching that.  Then at 6am Looney Tunes comes on.  The good one.  Not the new version.  There is something about cartoons being on that makes me able to fall back to sleep.  I have no idea what it is, but if I’m still awake at 7 like I was today I can flip it to Animaniacs turn the volume down and pick up a book.  This morning I read chapter 16 of Midnight Pleasures by Eloisa James.  Normally if I can just get an hour or two of sleep in between the hours of 7 and 9am I feel more alive than usual, but this morning it wasn’t happening so I just got up.

This morning I needed the caffeine so after brushing my teeth, throwing my hair up in a ponytail, and tossing on some random comfortable clothes I grabbed an ice cold Coke and got to work.  Work for me every other Thursday tends to be a bit slow.  It is the day after my orders go in, but a day before I can start working on future orders online.  Generally on this day I spend my time doing research or out in the stores.  Today was a no energy kind of day so research won out and I spent my morning looking into new products and trends online.  Lunch was a bit of leftover pizza which included sausage as a topping, so I will be itching like crazy about 2 days from now.  At some point I snapped a few product photos related to the day's journal entry and finished writing, editing, and posting it. My day didn’t actually get interesting until a bit later in the afternoon when it was finally time to get ready to go see my niece’s preschool spring performance.

Now, for most of the world none of this will sound interesting, but for a beauty girl we get excited about some of the smallest everyday things.  My first exciting moment was when the conditioner bottle hit that just empty enough point where it becomes easier to use if you leave it stored upside down rather than right side up.  It is the conditioner version of hitting pan I suppose.  Hitting pan means you have used a product up to the point that it isn’t gone, but suddenly becomes excitingly obvious that you have made real progress at using it up.  This seems like a silly thing to get excited about, but for a beauty girl it is a low scale adrenaline rush.  That realization that soon you will get to buy something new and that you are at the same time really enjoying and using up the products that you already have.  So I had my conditioner moment AND my bar of soap is down to a sliver about the size of your thumb from the joint to the tip.  More anticipation of a new fresh product.  EXACTLY what I need on a day when my energy tank is empty.

The rest of my routine was pretty… well… routine.  Until the moment when I pulled out the first two products I get to incorporate into my style for the next two weeks.  The first is an eye liner.  An Avon Glimmersticks eye liner to be exact in in the color Saturn Grey.  These are retractable liners that leave an easy smooth line of color.  Click here to check out the line and see other color options.

I decided it made sense to follow the liner up with a different mascara so I pulled out a sample of the Smashbox Hyperlash Mascara.  The brush of the mascara is interesting.  It is a plastic applicator with a single row of longer bristles which can be seen here along the top and shorter bristles everywhere else.

  I used the longer bristles to separate the lashes and comb out the clumps.

When you are a beauty girl the next thing you do right after getting ready for the day is film a video, so of course that was what I did next.  When that video goes live I will insert it’s link here.  Then because I always keep something in my handbag for her to discover I tossed in an Avon Naturals Kids Silly Spiced Apple body wash & bubble bath which was limited edition for the holidays.  

This might seem like an odd choice for a 4 year old to get excited about, but she is an unusually appreciative child who loves to get a new dress or skirt more than anything else in life.  She is already quite the little Fashionista and loves her beauty products too.

To say my niece’s program was the cutest thing ever would be an understatement.  There is just nothing like a bunch of small children many of whom still pronounce their R’s like a W belting out songs at the top of their little lungs.  Of course we had to follow that up with some celebratory ice cream.  I still was home by 8 and sat down to begin editing the video, finishing up the journal entry for the day, and just trying to wind down as I do each night in hopes that tonight will be the night I get a normal amount of sleep.  While I worked I listened to my typical routine of two episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond and two episodes of The Nanny before I again fell asleep unusually early for me.  Check back tomorrow to see what a new beauty day brings.

A Day In The Beauty Life - Journal Entry 5-22-13

My life in the beauty world tends to have beauty and fashion activities sprinkled throughout it and today my beauty day went a little bit like this…  First I painted my nails with two coats of Avon’s Nailwear Pro Nail Enamel in Jade.  

I had been leaving them clean since the weather was getting a bit warmer.  Usually in the summer I paint my toenails and let my fingernails breathe, but the next week is only supposed to be in the upper 60’s lower 70’s which means my toes will stay covered, so I decided I may as well add some color back to the nails.  I was going to add a clear coat over the top later in the evening but fell asleep before that ever happened as we beauty girls sometimes do.  Sleep didn’t happen before I got in E! News,  two episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, and two episodes of The Nanny though!  Don’t you just love reruns?  I did miss Chelsea Lately however.  Just couldn’t hold out long enough.

Prior to sleep but after polish it was time to dig out the products I will be featuring over the next two weeks.  As you know I sell Avon and a new catalogue comes out every two weeks, so prior to each catalogue launch I scour them to decide what product I want to feature each day during those two weeks.  Here is a sneak peek into the products you will see me sporting and talking about during this time.

Of course for every Avon item I feature I also feature at least one non-Avon product, but you will have to stay tuned to my social media sites to find out what those products will be.

On a non-makeup note: I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  Thank you Redbox for the free stream!  I actually quite liked it which was surprising to me.  It wasn’t what I expected which might have made me like it more than I would have if my expectations had been spot on ahead of time.  Does that make any sense?  I wasn’t expecting to like it.  I had expectations of how it was made which had they been true would have ensured my not liking it.  It did not fit those preconceived notions which made me end up liking it after all.  If I had known ahead of time how it ACTUALLY was made I might not have liked it quite as much as I did, but would have still probably liked it to some extent.  Ultimately the pleasantly surprised aspect of my liking it probably made me like it more than I would have in the previous sentence’s explanation of possible outcomes.  And now that you are thoroughly confused I will see you in the next A Day In The Beauty Life journal entry.