E.L.F. Review

Eyes lips face, otherwise known as e.l.f.
These cosmetics can be found online or at target and are quite cheap compared to most other cosmetics. I've tried a few and have decided to share my results.

Mineral Powder Foundation: $5 light coverage, fine for a good skin day but if you're feeling broken out then go with a mousse foundation or physicians' formula mineral powder foundation.

Therapeutic Conditioning Lip Balm: $1 I used the orange creme and it smells wonderful. However, it does not contain SPF.

Waterproof Eyeliner Pen: $1 I ordered plum and it was dry when I received it, I shook it and stored it upside down but nothing helped. Once I decided to try wetting the tip it worked fine. Not sure if this is a fluke, other online reviews seemed to be fine.

Brightening Eyeliner: $1 Wonderful, I bought the black and it works as well as Kohl's Flirt! $12 eyeliner (which I love). It's soft so it doesn't pull and glides on easily with lots of color. Each pencil comes with a new sharpener.

Mineral Face Primer: $6 Works as well as Victoria's Secret's $18 primer. However, it does not contain SPF. I'm saving it for winter and still plan to purchase the VS version.

Zit Zapper: $1 Contains Salicylic Acid, Witch Hazel, Tea Tree Oil, and Camphor. Tingles and seems to help clear up pimples. However, it is not very effective on popped pimples, use as they appear.

Clairifying Pressed Powder: $1 Seems to cover more than the powder foundation but is also much darker. I ordered in Ivory and plan to only use during the summer because it is darker. Covers shine wonderfully though.

Brightening Eye Color: $1 Nice colors, glides on easily but not the best I've ever used.

Mineral Eyeshadow: $3 Awesome! I use one of their $1 brushes to apply (which are also wonderful) and it stays on without creasing all day, even in the hot summer months.

Overall, I recommend checking out the elf website, the first logo picture should be linked to it.
Feel free to ask question or leave your own feedback :)

Sugary Sweetness

I look forward to the day that artificial sweeteners are found to cause health problems and are no longer used (mostly the no longer used part). The reason for this is quite selfish: I can't stand Diet.

Today I visited Walmart where I saw some very interesting soda flavors, Cherry Limeade, Blueberry Lemonade...yumm. I got 4 bottles and excitedly took a sip of the Cherry Limeade only to be immediately disgusted with the result. One look at the ingredients found the culprit: aspartame. Yuck. The bottles said nothing about sweeteners, Splenda, Diet....just a big pretty picture of cherries and limes :) However, all I tasted was the sweetener; and my taste-buds were less than thrilled.

I enjoy sugar and I enjoy corn syrup but I just cannot bring myself to consume artificial sweeteners. Perhaps if my taste-buds would pay less attention I would have a more enjoyable experience but, for now, I'll continue to steer clear of the Diet aisle and enjoy the sugary sweetness.

I have returned

I seem to have neglected my blog for a few months but I'm baaaack! :)

In my absence I have launched a jewelry brand primarily through etsy called ArtemisSchenck. It's been fun finding new patterns and coming up with original designs. I had my first sale on eBay a few days ago and have thus far received positive reviews on my designs. My new favorite stores have become JoAnn, A.C. Moore, and Michael's...I frequent them often.

In other news:

Prince William and Kate Middleton have tied the knot, yay (she's gorgeous!!!!)

Osama bin Laden is dead, yay

Azerbaijan won Eurovision but Lipstick by Jedward was much more catchy :P They even have more ridiculous hair than Twilight

and aloe works great for treating match burns: always move fingers quickly when lighting matches

Enjoy the wedding photo and the musicvideo until next time :)

Dracula

I have always had a fascination with vampires thoug I'm not sure why. I remember dreaming about Dracula's castle in 2nd grade but I don't think I had read any vampire-related books or seen any vampire-related movies. I don't know how I was introduced to them.

Until recently I hadn't really watched vampire movies or read vampire books, I liked to search for myths from different cultures telling about vampires. I researched Dracula and discovered that he is descended from Prince Vlad Tepes 'Draculea', a 15th century super-bad guy (whether you were enemy or family).

I would like to point out that yet another super-bad guy has stupid looking facial hair...

If you're interested Vlad please see the link above, it's back to vampires for me :)

Vampires, as most mysterious beings, have many different explanations, characteristics, weaknesses, etc. depending upon whom you consult. In my mind they are the perfect predator, strong and fast yet seductive. They can frighten their prey or seduce it to its own demise. Yes, they are evil, but the very coolest sort of evil.

Vampires should be the epitome of grace and hotness.

I have begun reading Dracula (free download from Borders for ereaders :D hooray free books!) and, thus far, my picture has mostly been true. However, it does bother me that in mysterious- creature- type stories those who suspect the 'monster' constantly allude to it without just telling everyone else what they saw.

Communication: lack of it will get you killed by funky monster things.
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Rings of Uranus

Due to a lack of topic ideas, I turned to a random topic generator (which turned out to be quite entertaining, I suggest you try it)

The topic: Rings of Uranus
It's been a while since I've had an astronomy class, and I've had many more classes since then, so I'm going to consult wikipedia and see what I find.....

The rings were discovered in 1977 although possibly even in the 1700s. I find this to be just incredible, Uranus is soooooo very far away and yet we know that it has rings! It's amazing!
Uranus is 2.57 BILLION km from the Earth, at its closest; yet we know that it has 13 rings and what the thickness and width is of each ring. Flabbergasting.

Considered to be young by astronomical standards, the rings of Uranus are about 600 million years old. Talk about hard to comprehend, 600 million years! Wanna feel young again? Study astronomy.

PSU Snow Day: Highly Unlikely

The last time Penn State University Park had a snow day was.... February 14th, 2007...before that.... February 17, 2003.

My conclusion: Penn State is kickass.

Students often want a snowday, they're quite a lot of fun, but it's kind of nice to brag about still going to classes during the Snowpocalypse of 2010. Everyone else closed around the region but University Park remained open. There's even a facebook group dedicated to the hardiness of PSU: If the world ends in 2012, Penn State University Park will still be open. It is annoying to walk to class in x feet of snow or on solid ice but it also makes us much more awesome than other schools, other campuses even. We're kickass enough, and possibly foolish enough, to keep on going no matter what the weather.

Apparently Hitler felt the need to chime in on the issue: check out the Youtube video

Ultimate Snowplow Smackdown: State College, PA

Funny and Fabulous: Nanny Fein

Around 11:30pm I like to turn on Nick @Nite to see The Nanny. Nanny Fein is fabulous, seriously fabulous. She's fabulous ----------------->
(and that picture doesn't even do her justice)

She's funny, endearing, entertaining, and fashionable (but in a crazy way).
The crazy part is that The Nanny ran from 1993-1999 yet still appears nightly on Nick... Hasn't gotten old, although the obviously dated parts are hilarious.


Her Yetta is just as fabulous and funny, although quite a bit older.....
If you haven't seen this large-haired show full of fabulously quirky ladies definitely check it out..... Now back to the show :)

Box of chocolates

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get"

That may have been true at one point in time but it no longer seems to be. Life remains the same but the box of chocolates has changed. they are now often labeled quite clearly on the top of each little truffle. Are you looking for a caramel? top right. Craving a coconut custard? lower left beside the chocolate mousse truffle.

The mystery has been removed from the box of chocolates...which I find to be a good thing, it helps me avoid the coconut. If you want the mystery to remain simply remove the transparent labeling thinger....voila! mystery is back.

We need something new for life comparison.... I'll have to get back to you on this one

Thundersnow and Minions

The thundersnow continues....

What to do when the snowy storm is raging outside? Watch a movie! Tonight we chose Despicable Me, if you haven't already seen it I highly recommend it. This is the third time I've seen it and it's adorable/ hilarious every single time.

Especially the minions ---->
I want one :)

Now back to listening to the thundersnow!

Forecast: Snowy in PA

South-central Pennsylvania is supposed to get snow. It should start around 3am and again at 8am according to my brother. It should start around 10am according to another friend. Yet another source claims that there is a 100% chance of precipitation (which would mean that it's currently precipitating). I've heard anywhere from slushy mix to 8 inches of snow.

What will likely happen? Enough snow for kids to look out their window and expect school to be canceled, enough snow for parents to grumble about cleaning off their cars. Enough snow to be fun and a nuisance while not being enough to shut down the state.

The place to be if you want to keep on living when it snows is State College, PA. Last year's 'Snowpocalypse'/ 'snowmaggedon' had little to no effect. I was told that the amount of snow received was totally normal for Happy Valley. At 2am I was hoping that classes would be canceled and we could have that elusive snow day....then I heard the scraping and looked outside. Snow plow...at 2am....it didn't go away when I yelled at it. Classes continued the same as they always did, by morning the roads and sidewalks were mostly clear although we had received about 2 inches overnight. I've heard that Penn State: University Park has heated sidewalks and I believe it, they were totally clear, not just pushed to the side.

If you're looking for a snow day, stay away from State College....but when the world ends in 2012...University Park will be open for classes.

Football!!

I enjoy football season. There are only a few teams I actually root for (2), and they hate each other, but that's perfectly fine with me.

The wonderful thing about football is that it's an excuse to eat: chips, wings, soda (or beer), all sorts of awesome things. It's quite amazing that so many people enjoy watching a bunch of grown men (often quite large men) fight each other over an inflated 'pigskin'.

Maybe it's because it's awesome :)

Possibly the best thing about the Superbowl is the commercials. There are all sorts and anyone who wants to take part in conversations the next day will watch. Otherwise you'll be totally in the dark about 'that bear in the hat' or 'the aliens drinking cola'.

You never know what crazy things the companies will come up with to advertise their products but one thing is for sure: it'll be entertaining.

Muscles and Spears

Last night I watched 300 for the second time (I saw it in theaters back in 2007). It was just as kickass as I remember it. Bunches of scantily clad guys, all of them with eight-packs, running around Greece with spears and swords....yay :) I'm not a fan of Leonidas' beard but those abs make up for it.

The movie may be based on a comic book but parts of the story are true. There were 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian Empire under Xerxes I. There were also a couple hundred other Greeks, but 300 Spartans makes a better movie.
Leonidas did have to deal with five Ephors, Spartan elders, but they were elected annually and likely not as disease-ridden as depicted in the movie.




My reaction to Xerxes I the first time I saw it in theaters was priceless. I must have blinked and missed the initial full-body shot, I only remember seeing the closeup. "That chick looks like a dude" was my reaction....until they panned out. "Oops, maybe that dude looks like a chick". What is extremely impressive, however, is the transformation undergone by the actor.This is Rodrigo Santoro, the guy who plays Xerxes I.

This is Xerxes I in 300. He's quite fabulous.


Apparently Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took issue with this movie. I suspect that he wishes he could look that fabulous, or that he started running out of things to complain about. After all, he has a reputation to uphold.

The Beginning

It has recently come to my attention that someone has attempted to change the zodiac. I have news: I'm a Scorpio, end of story. (And, by the way, Pluto is still a planet.)

Welcome to my new blog where I shall discuss whatever I happen to feel like discussing. Thus is the beauty of the internet :)