Cocoa & Coffee Mask

So I live on Long Island currently, and where I live has hard water. This means that it makes your skin abnormally dry. I usually have pretty dry skin, so when I moved here for the summer, it got even worse. 

I work as a TV/movie extra, so I can't have dry skin because it will look horrible on camera. Not only do I lotion my face about a thousand times a day (tip: an easy way to know how much you should lotion your face-- lotion your face every time you get hungry) I've been using different kinds of DIY face masks. 

I have a shoot tomorrow, so I did this one tonight for about a half an hour, rinsed my face and then lotioned it. My skin feels great! I'm excited because my face will be nice and moisturized for tomorrow's shoot.  

I found this one online when I looked for masks for dry skin. It's suppose to use coffee grounds, but instead I used the Frank original body scrub which has amazing ingredients that help targets a number of skin conditions! I like it because it helps reduce the look of cellulite, eczema and stretch marks all of which I personally have.  

Mix: 

2 tbs coffee grounds

2 tbs cocoa powder

3tbs milk

1 tbs honey

It makes quite a bit so I've been able to use it a couple times, and I love it! My face is so smooth now, I can't even believe it. 

I'm always skeptical about beauty practices until I do them for myself to see how they work, and this one I definitely recommend!

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This is where I got the recipe for the mask, all rights reserved to original author. 

I only made the recipe better 😏

Waist Trainers: Use it or Lose it?

I recently got a waist trainer. I've seen them all over Instagram, and I'm sure you have too. Everyone seems to use them, including the notorious Kardashian clan. This is where they initially gained traction from. But are their claims legit, or just another bogus celebrity endorsement? 

I'm taking the time to help you figure this out before you spend your hard earned money on one. 

First, here's my before picture:

I've read that results come anywhere from overnight (which, let's be real, doesn't sound entirely realistic) to about a month. I'm assuming it's going to take closer to a month because you're basically reforming your body which can take a while.  

I got mine about a week ago and have been wearing it ever since. The optimal wearing time for the trainer is about 4-8 hours a day. I've personally been choosing to wear it around 7-8 hours, if I can. 

After wearing it for about a week, I do notice some slight changes, but nothing too major. When I start to notice more and more of a difference, I will update you with pictures.  So far, so good. The first time I put it on, I could barely make it to the widest clips, but I've been about to take it in to the smallest clips recently.

Unfortunately, since I didn't get a brand name one, the quality of the trainer has been lessened. This specific one has been ripping and some of the steel bars pop out, but it's an easy fix I can deal with for now. 

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Fair warning: I did not use a name brand waist trainer, I simply got a cute one (see picture) off eBay to test it out and see if it was worth spending the money on the real deal. It contains steel bones/bars just like the ones celebrities use.  

The Thief

Imagine- You get to your guy's car after a nice date at your favorite restaurant. He has a weird look on his face, but unlocks the door as if nothing is wrong. 

You get in the car- Where is my backpack? Where are my things? What's going on? 

"Oh my god" he finally says. You look back, the rear driver window is all over the seat, shattered. 

Is this really happening? You both pause, both in pure and utter shock. 

Then it finally hits you. You've been robbed, violated. Someone was in your car. What did I do to deserve this? 

My things, my whole life. My backpack was stolen. In it was my clothes, my laptop, my keys, my IDs, my makeup. Almost $2,000 of practically brand new things, everything I needed for my spring break this week. 

I scream. I'm crying, literally laying on the pavement wailing like I just watched someone die. My body is numb. 

Then, as I'm thinking about this things in my backpack, I realize my most prized possession is in there. A stuffed animal that I literally slept with every night since I was 5 and that my mom had before me. I scream as loud as I could from my sadness and pain. My heart sinks so low. She was something so irreplaceable I feel like I could just lay there and die from a broken heart. 

My life is gone. 

The cops come and give us a case number. There's nothing they can really do then or at all. Plus, car robberies are practically last on the list of priority crimes because they happen so very often. 

What has to happen next is the hardest-

Acceptance. You have to accept the reality of the situation; I am never going to be getting my things back. I can't do anything about it. No one saw it and there was practically no cameras. 

Nothing in life lasts forever. Sometimes it takes a traumatic experience to fully realize the impermanence of things. No matter how careful you can be, nasty people can always come along and throw a random "shit grenade" into your life. This grenade can be thrown at anyone, anything, and at anytime. The grenade is inescapable. You have to accept the ramifications of someone else's selfish actions and deal with it. It makes you realize how awful the world can be. 

On a somewhat brighter side, it makes you realize that material things aren't what matters in life. I'm alive and my date is alive. In the current day and age, only material things matter. A tragic situation and make you take a step back and understand that there are truly more things in life than materialistic things. (Almost) Everything can be replaced. 

Yes, losing something sentimental is so awful and makes you feel like your life is over. My heart was, and forever will be, broken and hurt. However, maybe your thing will serve a greater purpose in someone else's life. I hope my stuffed animal finds a good home in a little kid somewhere. Even if it is the thief's child. Lovey served me 15 years of love and comfort, I hope she can continue this with another child that needs her. 

Never get so attached to a material that you feel like you'd die without it. Accept and realize life and the world's impermanence. 

And think- Life always gets better. 

I hope my thief gets what he deserves. 

Holton Rower

 Okay, so I go on Facebook everyday, several times a day, like most people. Most things I see on my Facebook are from very progressive political pages that I follow. Sometimes, I'll see random posts from my friends, and sometimes, I'll see posts like this one that straight up just make me mad. 

I go to an art school, so I'm very sensitive to the arts. Art is a huge part of everyone's lives, and usually they don't even realize how prevalent it is. 

One of my Facebook friends, who is actually trying to be somewhat famous of whom I refuse to name because I will not give him publicity, made a comment about a video. This guy is trying to be a music artist, so I find it incredibly ignorant for him to make this comment. 

The video is here. 

It's an incredibly mesmerizing video that I actually love to watch over and over again.  David Kaufman made this video about artist Holton Rower who specializes in this kind of art. He's an incredible artist and his works are truly beautiful. People need to be more open minded and accepting of other's work, talent and skills. 

Would my Facebook "friend" like that comment about his music? No. Don't make rude comments about other people's art. To be fair: the video on Facebook was only from about :35 seconds to 1:40, so he may have not realized it's actual art still. This comment just made me angry because just because Rower's art doesn't make sense to him, doesn't mean it won't make sense to anyone else. 

End rant.

Do you think I'm too harsh on this guy? Or do you agree with what he's saying?

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

So, last night my good friend Alyssa (who has an amazing website that sells amazing clothes that's called Thrift Whore) went to a play at our school's Preforming Arts Center, and let me tell you- it was so amazing. It started with a chorus of the cast beautifully singing, then they start walking around the stage, pick up wooden cane-like sticks and BANG. 

Out of nowhere they banged them against the ground so loud! It scared the shit out of me, but in a good way! Lol. They did what looked like a "Stomp" number mixed with amazing singing. The script itself sounded like the original Shakespeare script, it had all the "doth" ""thou" and stuff like that. The script was hard to follow for the most part, but the amazing acting totally made up for it. Their acting was the only way I really knew what was going on. 

The acting was done by our BFA Senior Acting Group, and it totally shows. They were so into their characters, I almost believed they were the actual characters. They were running on and off stage, jumping around, kneeling on the floor. It was amazing. One of the best plays I've ever seen and it wasn't even a Broadway! The monologues were so gorgeously done, so emotional and so moving. I wish it could have been video taped so everyone could see it. 

Kiss me, I'm not Irish!

I went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade today in New York City! It was so much fun. I forgot how awful but how much I love the bagpipes. Lol. We then went to Dallas BBQ in Times Square and it was amazing. I highly recommend that. Decent prices, bangin' food.

I also love my makeup that I did for St. Patty(: