#hellogorgeousxxoo

a few weeks ago gianni, lexi, and kayla came over and let me take their pictures, here are some of my favorites. 

1/640, F4.5, +0.7, 52mm

1/250, F4.5, +1, 60mm

1/160, F4.5, +1.3, 60mm

1/640, F4.5, +1.3, 40mm

1/320, F4.5, +1, 40mm

1/320, F4.5, +1.3, 40mm 

xxoo,

hello lovelies! today we’re going to talk about the awesomeness of John Green. He is my favorite author (and one of my favorite humans in general) for a number of reasons. First, and most obvious, he writes AMAZING novels. He sure knows how to play with your emotions and has a way with words that make a lot of his writing very relatable. And as much as I love my sleep, John Green books are some of those that I’d stayed up late into the night to finish. Many of which are now becoming movies! Because of these books one might call him a celebrity of sorts. Another thing I love about John Green is his involvement with nerdfighters. Many authors, in my opinion, are quite distant; however, John personally runs and is always active on his tumblr, twitter, instagram, and onyoutube. He shares his YouTube channel with his brother Hank, and pretty much just talks about whatever is on his mind. Especially we see in these videos, John is not afraid to be himself! 

Which is another fabulous thing! He’s incredible genuine and truly loves his reader and cares about important issues in this world. Recently he traveled with Bill Gates to Ethiopia to help out there. He also started the Project4Awesome which gives nerdfighters a chance to support a charity they love. On the subject of YouTube he also began VidCon, a popular YouTube conference. He’s also quite intelligent and, again with Hank, runs CrashCourse which provides educational videos that are helpful in a variety of classes. I highly suggest you check these out, along with his books, VlogBrothers channel, social media, etc. etc. 

DFTBA, 

Emma

hi lovelies! today we're going to talk all about skin care! gianni touched on this a little last week, but we're going to go a little more in depth today! having healthy skin is super important and here are my basics, tips. routine, and products!

know your skin type

before you start picking out products and coming up a routine, you should know your skin type. there are four main skin types; combination, dry, oily, and normal. you will also have either sensitive or non-sensitive skin. webMD provides great descriptions of these if you're not sure what type you are. my skin type is sensitive combination, so thats keep this in mind when considering my favorite products.

favorite products and routine

clean

one thing you should never do is go to sleep with makeup on your face, this can be irritating for your skin and cause blemishes. i find makeup wipes to be the easiest way to get my makeup off each night. i've previously used the neutrogena ones and liked them, however when these we out of stock i picked up the walmart brand ones; equate beauty night-time soothing makeup remover towelettes. i was surprised to find that i liked these better- they are not as irritating to my eyes and they have a lavender smell specific to calm you at night time. they do an equal job at removing the makeup. 

wash

i wash my face twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. i've been loving the neutrogena oil-free pink grapefruit acne wash, it smells delicious and does a wonderful job of cleansing your face. when you wet your hands to start use warm water to open up your pores, and then rinse with cold water to close them.  even if your skin is dry or normal, still wash daily, however find either a basic or moisturizing formula.  

exfoliate

exfoliating helps to get rid of oil, dirt, dead skin cells, etc. which is something i do about twice a week. make sure not to over scrub; your face should end up feeling healthy and fresh, not red and burning, to do this rub gently in a circular motion. my favorite exfoliant is the st. ives fresh skin apricot scrub.

moisturize

moisturizing is yet another essential step to having great skin. it leaves your skin feeling soft and healthy. i've had troubles with moisturizers in the past actually causing me to breakout, which is why i love the simple replenishing rich moisturizer. it is designed specifically for sensitive skin and leaves your skin replenished and hydrated, not oily. even if you don't have dry skin you can still benefit for a moisturizer if you find one thats right for you. 

clear

if you have problems with blemishes, i'd recommend the neutrogena acne stress control triple-action toner. i use this every night and apply it to my face using a cotton ball.  this targets both existing spots and prevents further breakouts. while being slightly irritating to my eyes, this product is cooling and soothing to my skin.

protect

we don't think about it a lot, but sunscreen is very important to healthy skin, and we really should be sunscreening daily. check out thomas leveritt's video called how the sun sees you, showing people what uv rays are doing to their skin and the importance of sunscreen. on a daily basis i use a foundation that has sunscreen in it, but if i'm going to be out all day my pale complexion needs a little more than spf 18. i've personally always hated sunscreen because it made my skin shiny and feel oily, that is until i found the ultra-sheer dry touch broad spectrum sunscreen by neutrogena.  when layering sunscreen and makeup yous should sunscreen first, wait 10-15 minutes, and then do your normal makeup. note that the spf you're getting is the highest you've put on; not the outer layer or the two added. for example my sunscreen is spf 70 and my foundation is spf 18, so i'm getting spf 70. 

other tips and tricks

don't touch your face as much.your hands have oils and dirt on them that can cause breakouts on your face.

go makeup-free every once in a while. makeup, especially synthetic makeup, isn't the best for your skin, let it breathe! it's also important to be confident enough to not depend on makeup to make you feel fabulous!

use a green tinted concealer. if you have a special occasion and want your skin to be looking great, cover up any red spots with green- the opposite colors will neutralize each other! make sure to still use a foundation over it, unless you're going for an elphaba look. :)

sorry if this is a little long! see you next monday! most importantly be confident no matter what your skin looks like! stay radiant, sunshines!

xxoo,

happy tuesday everyone!

If you haven't heard, Fallout Boy released a new single last week! It's called Centuries and you should really check it out!

The original is here: x

My favorite version, the layered one, is here: x

The 3D is here: x

The 10% faster version is here: x

I love it very much and when you listen to it you feel super empowered!

Other stuff in music news:

Did anyone notice the random U2 album on their iTunes?

I did, and it's kind of annoying...and a bit scary. Could this be the future of online music? Where an artist releases an album and instead of giving you a choice of buying or not, they just sell it to iTunes and give it to you for free? Will our playlists be clouded with unwanted (and sometimes crappy) music?

As much of a first world problem that this is, it's still a problem. This could be the beginning of an era where a company (like iTunes) gets to dictate what you listen to. If you don't have anything else to listen to and iTunes gives you a free album, you're just going to listen to that. In a way, it's censorship. They are picking what you can and can't hear by supplying you with a more accessible media that they want you to listen to, rather than one that you have to buy and they don't endorse as much. Even though now it's just one harmless U2 album, in the future they could start adding podcasts or tv episodes of shows. Our entire lives are affected by what we listen to, watch, and read, and by making certain media more accessible, iTunes could potentially change our lives and views of everything. 

Automatic downloads and free iTunes gifts can be a good thing (because it's free!) but it could potentially lead to changes in people's opinions.

-Gianni

So I'm not sure if this counts as a DIY but here is something fun to make that will brighten up your morning!

I was tired of having my make-up brushes in a boring container so I designed my own!

I bought a glass zipper bag and I filled it with some Rainbow Crystal Soil that I found online.

I have found that I get the best results from using just enough water to cover the little beads. The beads are reusable (they shrink back down to their original size and then you can use them again) and they come in a variety of colors! 

So I was thinking about what I wanted to post on media and I decided on reviewing a book I had to read for school. I know, boring right? WRONG! I actually really enjoyed reading Life of Pi. Which is weird because I typically don’t really like required reading O_o Anyways, Life of Pi is so inspirational. It makes me want to travel the world by boat! Jk, I get sea sick….. But back to topic at hand…. The main character in Yann Martel’s novel, Pi, is one of the most interesting main character’s I have read about. Martel’s story is so descriptive that it almost makes you feel like you are with Pi on his amazing journey. Although this is an adventure that I would be okay with missing out on… The end has a twist that you will never see coming! At least I didn’t see it coming…. Overall, Yann does a great job with his novel. I would recommend this book to anyone! (I did actually read the book, I didn’t just see the movie like some people)