I hate that it seems like most fruit drinks, and even some juices, contain artificial sweeteners. I bought a jug of a V8 Peach Mango drink, didn't think to check the ingredients (though I usually do) because I figured a V8 drink would be "safe." First sip instantly made me want to gag. It has sucralose in it. While sucralose isn't nearly as bad as aspartame, it's still a pretty nasty sweetener in my book. I still remember sitting in the doctor's office when they first thought my grandmother had dementia and the doctor asking her if she used artificial sweeteners (she did!) because it was being linked to causing dementia. And my guitar teacher would talk about how he never touched anything with "no sugar" because it usually contained aspartame. I guess it's a good thing that I have a natural gag reflex whenever I taste it. Why can't they use something more natural, like honey, if they don't want to use straight up sugar?

For future reference, an experiment I want to try-

Negаtive Energy Wаter Trаp


2 tаblespооns white vinegаr2 teаspооns grаnulаted sаlt16 оz filtered wаter


Directiоns:


Get а cleаr glаss аnd аdd аll оf the ingredients аnd mix well fоr 60 secоnds. Pоsitiоn the glаss in а plаce yоu spend а lоt оf time аnd leаve it there fоr 1 cоmplete dаy. Check tо see if the sаlt is rising, оnce it stоps it hаs cаptured аll оf the negаtive energy аnd yоu cаn cleаnse аnоther аreа оf the hоuse.

Walgreens Haul

Recently Wet n Wild released its new Spring collection: Goth-O-Graphic. Let's be real though, the name is stupid! The colors are quite opposite of the mainstream perspective of the goth culture. Although I guess one could argue it's representative of the pastel goth scene...but anywho. And it is neither holographic, minus accents on the packaging.

After seeing the reviews and a few early swatches, I knew I wanted the Megalast Liquid Catsuit Eyeshadows in Goth Tears and Mystic Dreamer. Although based off of pictures (and once I saw them in real life) they're kind of reminiscent of the Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow liquid eyeshadow in Sea Siren and Sunset Cove that I own. However, I can say that they are not dupes. Or at least judging from the packaging... Perhaps I should actually swatch and compare for myself, but I'll do that later and hopefully report back...especially if anyone it actually out there reading this and wants to know! ;)

Originally I didn't care for the highlighters because I have a gold one (which the MegaGlo Loose Highlighting Powder in Moon Tears reminded me of), and a few duochrome highlighters that looked similar to the two Mega Glo Highlighting Powders: Purple Ashes and White Raven. I thought I wanted the MegaLast Liquid Catsuit Metallic Lipstick in Wicked Pink, but the consensus seems to be that it's super sheer. I think they're intended to be more of a lip topper, which I like if they have a certain pizzazz, but these seem to be lackluster. 

I thought the White Raven highlighter was a white that flashes blue. But then while I was browsing *coughlurkingcough* the MakeupAlley message boards (love love LOVE!), a lot of people were recommending to get White Raven because it's kind of more unique and it flashes purple in pink as well. SOLD! 

Again, I haven't swatched anything yet...but soon! In the meantime, here's a couple of shots trying to capture the prettiness of the goods!

Yep, WnW is definitely one of my favorite drugstore brands of makeup!

Beading Loom Bracelet

Some interesting beaded cuff bracelets popped up on my Pinterest feed last week. Long story short, I wound up on Youtube watching videos about bead looming. I've had a couple of bead looms over the years since I was a child. I remember being so confused by the included instructions as a child that I just used the beads and thread that came with the kit and occasionally would string some beads whenever I felt in the mood. I became inspired again, years ago, and happened to stumble upon a child's plastic loom kit for a discounted price. I THOUGHT I had it all figured out. But for some reason some of the beads would dangle loosely away from the warp threads. I decided to stick with off-loom bead-weaving. Peyote has been my primary go to, especially since the free-form possibilities are endless!

While watching the videos, I realized that I had been bead weaving on the loom all WRONG! Smart little me thought "It's a bead loom, I'm bead weaving, therefore I must literally weave the beads through the warp threads." I mean, that's what you do when you weave on a loom in general, amirite? Then I'd take the needle and go back through the opposite way, alternating whether I did it from the top side of the beads or bottom side, each row. Turns out, you don't literally weave at all! You line the beads up on the underside of the loom, and then pass the needle back through on the upper side! *head->desk*

Anywho, here's my attempt at using the bead loom with the correct technique! Woo!

Btw, I used crochet thread as the warp threads and plain ole sewing thread for the weft. I've actually been using cheap sewing thread a lot in my bead projects over the past several years and haven't experienced any quality problems yet...

Just finished weaving the end threads and then glued up the threaded weaving to secure if for the finishing touches. Scotch tape is my bff when creating tension on this thing, which is why I moved the scraps to the base, lulz.

Finished the bracelet with ribbon clasp and lobster claw clasp.

I wish the camera could pick up all the real life sparkle of this beauty!

Stay tuned for more DIY projects, y'all!

Here are some more coffee filter paper flowers. For more details about these and techniques used, see the previous post.

5 layers of filters:

6 layers of filters

Basically, the more layers you use for the simple,no-frills flowers, the fluffier the result. they all end up being about the same size space-wise. For what I'm going to use them for, really 5 layers (I need the play around with just 4 layers soon) is all I need. But if I was to use these for something fancier (say if this was for a wedding- like a bouquet, table centerpiece, or a heavily photoed backdrop then I'd opted for the fuller layers).

This flower I folded 4 layers together in half, then in half again, then half once more, and cut out 3 petals. I thread a wire (with the tip coiled) through the inner center, and stacked the filters on one-by-one as with all the previous flowers.

Two petals (or heart shaped petals), I folded 4 layers in half, then half again, and once more in half. Then I cut out a upper heart shape to create a double petal.

DIY Coffee Filter Flowers Part 1

I'm in the process of making a BUNCH of flowers for a diy project that I'm going to be sharing on here once I'm finished. But in the mean time, I've been giving coffee filter flowers a go. I guess this is more for my reference, so that later on I can look back and see which style I like best and how I created that specific one without having to just guess.

First up is a 8 layer filter flower that's uncut. All I did was glue 8 filters together, one by one, placing a dot of glue in the center of the filter and stacking them as I go. Once it's all dry, I began with the center filter and scrunched it up. Then I scrunched up each filter, one by one, going down the stack. I'm thinking about using a little bit of wire, and wrapping it around the outer middle, to completely secure and hold the shape. 

Next is the 32 petal flower. I folded 4 coffee filters together in half, and then half again. I drew 8 long,thin petals and then tediously cut around them (which resulted in a lot of imperfections but whatev...). 

Two different sets of 4 filters after the petals have been cut

I took a piece of wire and curled one end into a loop. I thread the wire through the middle of the 4 filters, one at a time, and then wrapped the long end of the wire around the outer bottom/center of the flower to create this little number!

Ulta Haul

It's been 57 years since I last posted on here! Yikes!

For now I'm going to bypass all the blabber about what's been going on in my life and focus on the pretties that I've recently purchased. First off, I loooooove makeup soooo much even though i don't wear it on the regular. Me employeed = lazy slob. I used to do my eye makeup and wear all my pretty lippies when I'd go out and run errands but nowadays, I only do it for the Youtubez. I don't like the rut but I find myself so exhausted from work that I don't even bother doing anything I enjoy anymore. Blah.

But onward to happier things. I still buy makeup as if my life depends on it for survival (which funnily enough, you'll see a very special survival kit below, hehe).

Don't be surprised if I do a heck of a lot of backtracking on previous hauls or products that I've purchased. I love talking about the things I buy...because they make me so freakin' happy (is my life pathetic or what?)!

Ulta Haulage!

About 2ish Mondays ago, I dropped into my local Ulta after work because they had sent me one of those amazing 20% off most everything codes. It's smart on Ulta's part because those are the times I actually splurge.  I won't go into my whole story about Too Faced Unicorn Tears lipstick right now (although I have a couple of videos on my Youtube channel about it #shamelessplug http://www.youtube.com/user/anashvillegirl ). But Too faced finally released the Melted Latex version of Unicorn Tears, which I was almost deadset on buying, but became hesitant. I saw some Youtube videos about it which kinda put me off of wanting it immediately. But then soon after it was released, Too faced released this magical Unicorn Survival kit that had mini versions of the Unicorn Tears lipstick, Melted Latex, AND a limited edition highlighter, and finally a little holographic makeup bag. Bam! I was sold instantly! One problem...it was already sold out! Therefore I was bummed out! But then Ulta sent out an email soon after THAT teasing that the kit was going to be released in stores. I kept stalking Ulta's site, checking to see when my location would get the kit in stock. Finally it was in stock and I was able to get my hands on it, plus a couple of other things that I'd been wanting!

Too Faced Unicorn Survival Kit

 

Ulta Rainbow Highlighter

Next is the Ulta Rainbow Highlighter. I kinda want to roast this little diva because she's been such a snotty pain for me to get! But she's sooo magical and pretty! What's the issue? I first ordered her during a previous 20% off code deal (did an online order because I knew I'd get free shipping and be able to get things that weren't in stock at my location). This is how she arrived...

BROKEN!!!!! It's like she was left broken by some good-for-nothing, worthless man! I was going to try to exchange her at my location but by this time she was out of stock. She was also out of stock online too! I saw that another location (which was built on the grounds of one of the previous Sears I had worked at...) had her in stock. I made the dreaded trip out there only to hunt around and find one hidden among other Ulta products. The hidden one was also BROKEN!!! I asked about it at the register and was told that they too were out of stock (although they weren't aware of the broken one I found and didn't seem to care). Their solution was that I could exchange it for the new Maybelline one (which is sooo NOT the same)... *blinks* I knew that I could return it for a refund but then I'd lose out on the sale price (assuming I could find it in stock again soon). I took Shattered Misery back home and waited another week, stalking Ulta's in stock finder tool thingy. Then I gave in and contacted them about the issue since I've found out that they usually send a replacement out in these instances. I sent them a detailed message about what I already mentioned, and how I just wanted the highlighter and not a refund. I didn't receive a response back directly from Ulta but a few days later I did receive an email from the USPS with a return label attached. No specifics about anything other than I saw Ulta as the recipient address, so I gathered that they wanted me to send the damaged highlighter back to them and surely they'll send me a replacement. Off it goes, time goes by, but no word from Ulta. About 2 weeks later a refund from Ulta pops up in my bank account. :/ Welp, at least I got my money back...

Weeks go by and the 20% off comes back around. I go into my location to get the Unicorn kit and boom! Find TWO Rainbow Highlighters. However, one was marked as a tester. I was very hesitant because this one looked like it was about to break. The orange looks like it is slightly separating from the yellow but it's not quite. I figured if it does start breaking, I can catch it in time before it gets too bad, and use the method from a previous post to fix it. But I'm so happy that I got it because it is AMAZING!!!

Tony Moly Changing U Magic Foot Peeling Shoes

I don't have much to say about this...yet! I read that this is supposed to be a cheaper dupe of Baby Feet (or is it Baby Foot?), which is an insane foot peel that makes your feet magically baby soft and causing them to shed like a snake. It takes about 2 weeks to get the full results. I don't know when exactly I'm going to try it but hopefully soon.

And finally, my most recent Amazon haul arrived today!

I could truly and easily go into a whole rant about Amazon and their shipping claims + neglect of non-Prime members but it's already 1:30 am and frankly I don't feel like typing much more for now. Although I'm ecstatic to have the new Hanson Christmas album, Finally It's Christmas! I also got the Anthem cd and my other Boo's (Gavin DeGraw) greatest hits cd Finest Hour. Fantastic music to heal my soul! <3