Lipstick of the Week

Hello hello lovelies!

Going to keep this post short as it’s already 3 A.M. and I’m here getting ready to eat before another long fast.

Speaking of those . . . they are going surprisingly well! Even if it’s the tiniest amount, I find myself exuding a little more patience than usual, a little more empathy and compassion and the hunger pangs aren’t too bad at all. I’m more conscious of my health as well – when I can eat again, I am super conscious to drink tons of water, something I’m not used too. I’ve also been taking vitamins. This month is full of blessings & I can only hope I’ll encounter more . . .

Anywho, I wanted to share my current favorite lipstick with you all! As off season as it is, I’ve been obsessing over purples. After all, orchid is Pantone’s color of the year.  I have several different purples in my lipstick rotations but the one I want to spotlight today is from Wet & Wild’s Fergie Collection. . . “Ferguson Crest Cabernet.”

This is what it looks like on me. . . .

Sorry it’s a little sloppy! Was a quick, on-the-run apply kind of day!

 

And this is my worn out tube, ruined from all the careless times I’ve thrown it in my purse, wallet, and pocket.

This color goes on easily with little smudging, and lasts a decent amount of time. At least 3-4 hours without fading or scratching. It’s a great bold color that pairs well with neutral smoky eyes and a bronze-y face. These lips deserve the spotlight and shouldn’t be taken away with a bold eye/blush look.  But play around with it! It’s a fun color, and you never know how to make the look your very own.

As usual, let me know what you think of the color lovies, and especially if you choose to play with it! Instagram: @shadesofopinion  and/or email at shadesofopinionxo@gmail.com! Until next time, toodles!

Why The Facebook Fast

Hello hello lovelies,

It has been such a long time since we last spoke. . . I know I suck. I apologize. I’ve been going through some things and I just can’t get out of my head long enough to write anymore. It’s really sad honestly, sometimes I feel like I’m the only English major left in the world who almost never tries to write daily, who doesn’t force herself to continue practicing regardless of what I feel. It’s a dumb move though, practice makes perfect and I’m telling myself I can’t write if it’s not perfect. A never ending Mobius strip of a paradox I’ve twisted my brain into believing.

Anywho, today (for 50% of the world) and tomorrow (for the other 50% including me) mark the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. I say both because Muslims clearly tend to hate agreeing on things, or something. I recently made a promise to myself and my friends on Facebook that I will be deactivating my profile for the month. This is a big deal I guess, since I’m clearly addicted and within reason – as a Communication major and intern for a major entertainment news show, social networking is kind of my life.

However, this decision is one that I’ve been letting simmer in the stew that is my thoughts for a long time now, and one I’m super excited about. There are many reasons I’ve been considering this huge step and here are a few:

1) Facebook is a huge distraction

I’ve been trying to write this very post since noon. It’s now 3 p.m. and I’m only halfway done. Know why? That’s right! Facebook. -_- I can easily kill 4 or 5 hours on Facebook, jumping from one post to another – one link to another, a new photo to see, video to watch, oh my god – Beyonce did what now? Oh, that is such a cute dress! That reminds me!! Does Love Culture have a sale now? Oh, she’s reading a new book . . . let me see if I can download it on my new Kindle, oh la la what is THAT.

You get the point. Facebook is one big treasure map of click-baits, and as a result I never get things I want to do, get done.

2) Facebook is pretty mindless

I find myself on the website for hours at a time, and when I’m finally off I don’t remember a single thing I’ve done. What was I even looking at? And when I am on, I tend to ignore my surroundings entirely. I’m the kind of person who loves to look for the tiniest cracks in the smoothest foundations, but give me Facebook and I’m most likely to walk into a wall and miss the giant raccoon rampaging the city.

3) I want to spend more time on things I love

You all know, I haven’t written in ages. As I was searching my computer for the file of HTML codes I use in this blog, I came across many, many poems I’ve started but never finished. I even found a great blog post 75% written, just not coded or posted. I can’t even remember when I started writing them, but I can tell you why I stopped. I looked to Facebook, for validation, got distracted and let it go.

Earlier this week, I interviewed for Sephora. As I got there, I started thinking about if I get to move forward in this interview I’d have to do a demo test. I definitely don’t have the confidence to believe I can walk in and do a perfect look on someone, and with good reason: It’s been SO long since I’ve sat down and practiced doing a full on makeup look. Much less to practice but not even for myself. Most days, I run out the door and manage to throw on some eyeliner during my commutes. I’ve gotten lazy, and my unwillingness has scared me into believing I don’t even like makeup or writing anymore. Too bad, those are the only skills I have now to launch a career in so I better get moving on those.

And the most important reason…

4) Facebook has a terrible impact on my mental health

So I’ve mentioned I spend hours on Facebook. And I’ve mentioned it makes me mindless, and it takes away from me doing things I love . . . but what exactly am I doing on Facebook for hours that it does all that? Stalking people.

Now this is a terribly difficult thing to say but I have a problem I am insanely insecure and Facebook fuels those insecurities – you know how I said I avoided this post for hours thanks to Facebook? I spent those hours reading several of my friend’s blogs and comparing myself to them. “Look at how many views they get, look at how supportive their other friends are, they’re so much more consistent, they know what they’re doing. I’ll never get there, my friends barely care, no one likes my posts, no one cares what I have to say. I shouldn’t even bother.” Over. And over. And over again and again.

And it’s not just about my writing – it’s about my passion for my makeup, my passion for feminism and equality and other political stances I take, and about my connection with God. Sometimes I forget my connection w/ Allah is ALLOWED to be different from others. It’s about my whole life. I spend hours telling myself I’m not good enough because other people are already good at it and I’m not like them. I spend hours feeling unworthy just because I didn’t get a single like or a comment. I let one little sarcastic comment on my statuses ruin my entire days at times. And then the next day? I don’t want to wake up and do it again. I take things personal.

And it has to stop here. This Ramadan, I want to re-train myself to remember that I define my worth, not validation from others. That a 0-1 code doesn’t mean I’m good or not. That someone else’s different success doesn’t take away from mine. And I say re-train myself because I used to know these things, and I want to know them again.

And that is why, along with food I will be fasting from Facebook. This is my new journey. Ramadan is a month of spirituality, empathy and compassion and I can’t truly have any of those things without a solid state of mental health. So here I embark on a new journey . . . a new journey to finding an ideal state of mind, to regaining my confidence, my passions, my will to exist. And I’d love for you to all join in and follow me.

As usual my lovies – any thoughts, advice, stories of your own similar journies? Comment below! Like the post, follow the blog and you can catch me on Instagram @shadesofopinion or email me at shadesofopinionxo@gmail.com and check back tomorrow for a new post on the first fast of Ramadan!

Making Moves

Hello hello!
Once again, I have disappeared for quite a long time! I could sit here and flounder around with excuses but let’s not. That’d be wasting my time and your time and let’s face it: who the hell likes floundering? Actually . . . what even is that? Oh lord, here I go making stuff up and shit.
                           

Oh well. I like it. Floundering.

Anyhoo! Guess who’s back! Back again!

 . . . Did you guess, did you guess?
        That’s right!! Shady’s back.
His new singles are fire. Best rapper alive for sure.

Oh and me! And me! I’m back.

That would have been important to start with. . .

         Right, well I’m back and I’m not promising consistency. I’m sorry I would love to be, but as of right now I have 6 classes I’m struggling to keep up with and not one, not two but 2 and a half jobs I’m working at. One to build my resume and expertise and one for the paper ;-] and the half job because it is for a cause I am truly passionate about. So, yes I’m overwhelmed. I’m driving myself crazy and this semester is all about getting my shit together but I know I GOT This. Expect more posts, expect a closer insight on the journey to success, but don’t expect consistency.

       Speaking of the process to being successful, I have been making moves on one of my greatest passions – the beauty industry. I’ve teamed up with Apathy Slayer Productions to build up my first official makeup portfolio!
So far, we’ve done two shoots in total. The first one turned out absolutely amazing. The second one, we did have some lighting issues and they aren’t really usable but it is okay everyone makes mistakes! That’s just how life goes.

Look at me working diligently!

The Final Look.

You can find the rest of the photos from the full first shoot here.

Toodles my loves! I’d love to hear how you feel about both her hair, and this article so comment below, follow us on instagram @shadesofopinion, or email us at shadesofopinionxo@gmail.com! Farewell & hugs xox

Apathy Slayer Productions was founded by Darryl Legair in 2011. His goal is to capture aspiring artist’s creativejourneys and showcase the idea that success can be achieved from scratch. He hopes his photography and videography will inspire young individuals to start their own processes to creative success.

On Beyonce’s Hair. Kind of.

Hello hello my lovelies!

Once again, my big fashion trend post is put on pause, but this time it is for good reason! I promise, I swear! Plus that post is coming along well, nearly all wrapped up with a big pretty bow! It will have to wait until tomorrow though, because I have some breaking news.

Well, it’s more like a rant. . . but it’s about what is supposedly “breaking news,” so that has to count right? It counts. I say so. And what I say usually goes in my world, which you’ll soon be living in so, get used to it!

Oh goodness, just keeding. How unbelievably pathetically cocky was that? Ew. Never again. . . it still counts though.

Well, back to my breaking news. I was creeping across the internet reading up on all sorts of exciting things, trying to get all edumacated so I can apply that knowledge to my blog when I came across this Guardian article. 

Before we get started on the rant part; disclaimer: I did actually read through the entire article, although it was possibly the most painful struggle in my entire life. Okay? Cool.

WHAT THE EVEN HECK DID I JUST READ?! ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS THE GUARDIAN? PLEASE TELL ME YOU MISTAKENLY THOUGHT IT WAS APRIL FOOLS DAY AND THIS ALL A BIG JOKE.

Okay, calm down So, calm down. Let’s take this from the top.

Seriously, this article is absolutely ridiculous on 5000 different levels, and possibly the most ignorant one out there as well. That is really sad to say. All of media has seemed to be the epitome of ignorance lately, but this article truly takes the cake. There is just so much wrong with this article, I can’t even begin to explain.

Let’s start with the beginning, #1: “Truly, our grandchildren will one day crawl on to our laps and whisper, eyes open wide with elfin amazement: “Was it true you lived through the great Beyoncé haircut, grandmama/papa?” And we will smile down at them, a twinkle in our octogenarian eyes, and say: “Indeed I did, little one. Here, have a Werther’s Original while I tell you all about it.[‘]” (Freeman). Really? It’s that serious? Because, I don’t know about you. . . but I for one would probably slap my child if they ever said that. I mean come on; I want my offspring talking about his/her dreams and aspirations not some celebrity from the past’s haircut. Don’t get me wrong I adore me some Beyoncé. . . but let’s get it straight. She’s human. 20-30 years from now, there will be a new Beyoncé that is not Beyoncé and while I would love for my children to grow up with the music I grew up with, I would still like for them to have normal non-loser-like-obsessive-status lives. I mean why would you NOT find that crazy? Instead of “Oh my god, did you live through 9/11?” it’s “did you live through Beyoncé’s completely normal hair change?!”  Oh. Okay. Glad we all have our priorities straight.

Epitome of Ignorance “wtf is wrong with you lady” #2: “but because this is Beyoncé this is even bigger news. In fact, it might be the biggest news of all time. Suck on THAT, end of the first world war!”(Freeman).Is she serious?! Okay fine, sorry First World War but what about Palestine being acknowledged as a country finally? No, let’s bring it further back. . . what about the end of slavery? What about the dawn of civilization? OH, AND what about gaining Women’s Rights?! I mean, without those neither Beyoncé nor you writing a post would ever exist. Just saying.

Epitome of Ignorance “lord help me now” #3: “again proving Beyoncé’s supernatural skillz,” (Freeman). All I have to say to this one is, thank you for reminding us exactly how educated you are.

And the final Epitome of Ignorance, #4: WHY IS THIS EVEN AN ARTICLE?! LIKE DAMN, SHE JUST WANTED TO CUT HER HAIR, AND SHE DID OKAY? SHE CUT HER HAIR. PEOPLE DO THAT. IT’S NORMAL.

Well, I could rant all day but I’m sure you don’t want to hear that, so toodles my loves! I’d love to hear how you feel about both her hair, and this article so comment below, follow us on instagram @shadesofopinion, or email us at shadesofopinionxo@gmail.com! Farewell & hugs xox

P.S.  – while we’re on the subject, you still hot Beyoncé. You still beyond hot.

P.P.S.  – yes, I am aware the article is intended to be satirical. But unfortunately, I believe 75% of our media-obsessed world truly truly feel this way.

Song on Replay

Hello my lovelies!!

(Does that sound creepy? Feels a little creepy . Like Hello my precious . . . right. blog. Dork moment over.

Anyhoo, it is now 1:30 AM and I am sitting here staring at the half-written blog post on my favorite trend . . . that I started two weeks ago !!! How sad is that?! I don’t know where my inspiration has gone. And I really like this trend a lot a lot a lot too, so I guess there’s something in my feelings I can’t get rid off. . .

But wear not, my lovelies. . . I am staring at with the intention and determination of getting it done. RIGHT. NOW. It’s going to be done. I swear. I promise. I can’t lose hope in myself yet!!! I’m still one week away from that age where it’s not socially acceptable to tell my age!! I have youth! I have to have hope too!

Right. . . anyhoo with every instance of determination. . . there is a soundtrack to it (at least in my case. . . I mean. Why isn’t music your faithful partner anyways? It’s realer than a man. Just keeding. . . kind of.)

Hold on though . . . to me a “soundtrack” is the one song I found 5 minutes before and can’t stop hitting replay on. AND in this case, the song I have on replay is. . . Replay (yes I went there) by Disney & Dancing with the Stars star, Zendaya. She truly is a cutie and damn, she can dance!

SOO. . . while I drive myself mind-numbingly crazy telling myself this next blog post doesn’t have to be perfect and I just need to get it done. . . you should go check it out! Hopefully, in a more saner state of mind than me! I’ll embed the link below =]

(At the risk of being cheesy. . . ) Ta-ta for now my loves!

Saying No to the Suckiness & Robin’s Eggs Nails

Not sorry about the chip! But feel free to skip my two paragraph rant & get right onto creating these beauties! ;]

Hello Hello my lovelies!

Once again, I’ve fallen off of the face of the earth. I manage to leave you all hanging, and I know you all deserve better. I’m sorry, like honestly truly sorry but you know, I’m a bit messy right now…so bear with me please lovelies! I mean we all have our messy crazy moments right? Don’t tell me you’ve never had a psychotic moment where you just want to scream at the world and then hide under a rock. Trust me, you’ll get there…. & if you don’t. Well fine than you lucky monster!! Just keeding, that’s honestly great & I am super happy for you! But if you have had those moments…well than, I’m sure you’ll understand it’s going to be a rocky beginning for us. But if you stick around…you’ll see it’s worth it!! 

So here’s the deal… See now normally I would tell you I suck. But I really got to stop with that…because I say it and then I believe it and then I just want to give up because I’m like damn it no one wants to witness someone who sucks, just being sucky. So NO. SAY NO TO THE SUCKINESS. Repeat after me. YOU ARE AWESOME. I AM AWESOME. WE ARE ALL AWESOME. NO ONE SUCKS (relatively, jk…or am I ;]). YES. OKAY? We got it?! Sweet. Moving on!

A long long time ago, in a land far far away…..well no; in New Jersey, but close enough…. I put the above picture on Instagram (shadesofopinionxo; follow it!) promised a blog post for. Right… well here it is now! 

The beautiful polishes I used!

The look was really simple to create. As always, start with a base coat. A base coat is really important, as it provides a smooth template for the color to go over evenly, and prevents your nails from staining. The one I used came with a small French kit at Sally’s Beauty Supply and it never fails me. Paint your nails with two even coats of a minty blue polish of your choice. I used my favorite one I picked up in Turkey. I took pictures of my Coastal Scents COAT Nail Polish in Lily Pad as a nice, cheap alternative, but I can’t find them for sale anymore =/. 

I tried to be nice & give you options…but that didn’t work out so well =/

The color is pretty popular this season so it shouldn’t be hard to find a dupe! For the gold polka dotted accent nail, I use Sally Hansen’s Complete Manicure in Guilty Pleasure. It’s one of my favorite go-to colors, and the polish is so smooth and easy to apply. I poured some of the blue polish out onto a post-it note & dipped a dull pencil in it to create the polka dots! You can use a sharper pencil as well for smaller dots!!

I hope you enjoyed the simple look, & if you choose to recreate it I’d love to see it!! If not, I still want to hear your thoughts on it! Like it, comment, send me an email, follow me on instagram!! Love you all & until we meet again…xoxo!

A little late but…

here’s an adorable picture of my daddy for Father’s Day!!! This was taken a couple of years ago at a family wedding and  I just absolutely love it! We may not always see eye to eye on things but that’s definitely because we pretty much have the exact same personality….whenever we get in an argument with each other…it’s safe to take cover.

You have no idea how many times I’ve gotten in a fight with him and screamed at my mom about how annoying & rude whatever he’s doing is, to which she’d always laughingly retort “you’re doing the exactly the same thing.” Sigh….but you know what theyyy sayyyy. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em – and there’s no way I could compete with him. =] 

A People’s Princess For Sure

Hello Hello my lovelies!

It has been a while once again, and my summer has begun to become busier than ever! I promise I haven’t forgotten about all of you yet though, and I definitely won’t anytime soon for sure….or ever…i swear. . . i think. … until i die. ….

WELL. I really need work on avoiding all these awkward moments though….
Anyways! A couple of days ago, my friend sent me a link to this nice little article on MSN.<

Did you read it?! Go read it! Go. Go! Catch up.

I read it. I got all excited. I fell in love.

I’m not one to follow on the monarchy, or England or all that. I wouldn’t have even known the Royal Wedding was going on had it not been for my Facebook news feed, and Kate & Pippa Middleton are hardly the focal points on my radar. This article however, really made me rethink those decisions though. I love it! All it took for her was one adorable dress to bridge the large gaping hole between the common and the royal, and instantly make her more relatable and likable.

I don’t even like the dress too much…a little too understated for my taste. But I love the idea that she doesn’t let a price tag influence what she does or doesn’t like.

What do you all think? Are you all as head over heels for her amazingness as I am now? Or do you find it all to be just another staged publicity stunt from the world of over-exposure?  Let me know your thoughts below!!

Toodles! xoxo

Cheetahliciously Professional

Hello Hello my loves!

It is amazingly gorgeous outside and I am stuck indoors helping my mom with her open house event at her new business! She recently just started a school called Mercer Med Tech, and it’s a very affordable place to further your education and help find a job in the lesser known but equally important medical fields such as CNA, Phlebotomy, and EKG. If you’re around the Trenton area drop by 1418 S. Broad St before 6:30 today! We have cookiieeeeesss….;] Just kidding…but we do have brownies! And you might just find your dream career, Who knows?!

Anyways, this day is really important to my mom so I wanted to keep my outfit sort of business casual. I am wearing basic skinny khaki pants I bought from an H&M in Turkey. They are pretty basic but they’re super comfortable and actually have perfect sized pockets..which is really hard to find actually! I am pretty sure they still sell the same ones in any H&M around the world.

On top, I am wearing this super cute drape cheetah print blouse from Wet Seal. It’s a couple of years old so I’m not sure you can find it anymore, but cheetah print tops aren’t so hard to come by these days so I wouldn’t be surprised to find one exactly like it anywhere else! I spiced it up and cinched the billowy fabric in with a simple skinny bright red belt. In my opinion cheetah print has become a neutral, so nearly any neon colored belt would complete the look!

I was running a little late so I skipped out on the jewelry, applied a little bronzer, my favorite red orange lipstick, some mascara and here I am!

So what’d you think?! Would you rock a professional, yet casual and fun outfit like this? Did you hate it? Did you wish you wasted your time watching spongebob instead, even though Spongebob totally sucked? Let me know below!! or on my instagram @shadesofopinonxo! ;] Toodles!! xoxo

Time for a Break!

Hello hello my loves! It has been a while since I last spoke, and if you missed me (which…of course you did ;]), I am truly very sorry.  Have you ever noticed sometimes you’ll just be dawdling along and all of a sudden things go boom, and you get crazy overwhelmed and don’t even know what the word breathing means anymore? Well, that was my finals period.  And the couple of weeks before that…

Ugh. The end of a semester is always the most painful drag. Well, thankfully that is now over. I ended off my semester pretty well, so I’m proud!! and I finally have a full 3 months off to myself! Well, and to Bebe of course… and my family…. And to you guys… but still a break a break! A much needed break!!

So what have I been doing so far you may ask? Well… I’m STILL unpacking. I swear, my closet could be an entire goodwill store…and my makeup cabinets could be considered the poor-man’s Sephora. I am such a hoarde…which is nice!! When you’re not moving -___-.

 

Other than that…I bought this gorgeous “classic edition” copy of the novel Wicked that I cannot pull my head away from! Seriously, it took all of my energy just to turn on my computer to write to you all today….Is that sad? I don’t think so. If you have read the book, what did you think?! Tell me below…without spoilers please!  All I can say is oh poor poor Elphaba. I love Elphaba. And those who haven’t read it yet! Go go go! Get it now! It’s seriously a delicious read. The grammar may seem a little difficult, but it’s well worth it to get through.

Lastly! I promise promise promise I have a couple of great fashion and beauty posts coming for you all by the end of this week! The fashion post will be on male fashion, so guys, get your notepads ready for a schooling!! And ladies, pay attention as well ;-] I’m sure you all have male’s in your lives that could use a fashion blog or too! So stay tuned lovies! I promise this blog is about to get liver than ever this summer.

Toodles! Xoxo

Oh! P.s. – are any of you poetry nerds like me?! I found this on 9gag and it made my day!!! Does anyone else get it?!