vera! vera! vera! by MAC

Quick, before these beauties fly away…



MAC’s back with another inspired limited edition launch – Vera. This collection is based on the work of fabric and textile designer Vera Neumann. The American artist (who died at 86 in 1993) was known for brightly coloredlinens and scarves which were all signed “Vera” and featured her signature ladybug. Marilyn Monroe was said to be a fan; I think I would have been too.

But I’m going to keep the pontificating to a minimum and let the pics speak for themselves.



There’s that signature ladybug, debossed in a Pearlmatte Face Powders. That’s Sunday Afternoon, three shades of cool pinks (and a thin silver overspray accent) that when applied are a silvery pink. Adorable design, sweet color.



The stunner above is Butterfly Party, one of three Crushed Metallic Pigment Sets. And this 4 piece set has my head spinning with love. I mean, look at these colors!





Moss Garden is silvery slate green, with a chunky, glittery consistency.



Rain Drop is a bright teal with a hint of a golden sheen.



Desert Cloud is a beautiful metallic violet that has an electric sort of shimmer in the same shade. Really, it looks like it’s lit up! It’s on the glittery side too.



The namesake, Butterfly Party, is a red based purple with a lavender shimmer.

Now, I’d be lying if I said the Crushed Pigments were a breeze to apply. But I do think they’re worth the work. They have a chunky texture (like crushed gemstones) and a slightly wet feeling to them, which makes them less messy than loose pigments.

But they need to be either pressed into the skin or broken up first to apply. A simple swipe with a brush isn’t going to cut it. I actually like to break them up on the back of my hand with a brush and apply them from there. And you know, fingers also work pretty good with these.



The other pigment set i got a look at is Aloha, a coppery bunch that the warm-toned gang are going to love. This set has a noticeably finer consistency, as opposed to Butterfly Party.



Shifting Sands is a metallic nude pink.



Aloha is brown with a peachy hue to it. My notes say “buttery brown, yum!” Guess I liked it (or I was hungry).



Campfire is a copper with really beautiful dense pigment.



Lantern Light is all kinds of fabulous. In the pot it looks dark coppery orange, but when you put it on it’s this gorgeous golden peach. I was mesmerized by it!



I got to take a look at one of the two Nail Lacquers; Play Day. It’s a creamy apricot shade (MAC calls it milky coral, but this didn’t read as coral to me). It took three coats for me to get rid of most of the streaks, and they were still even there a bit.

Fashion Fanatic & On a Holiday

I’ve always been a Plushglass fan. I love their tingle. I dig the odd scent they have that I can’t quite place (they don’t smell like lipglass). So I’m always up for a new one. That’s On a Holiday on the left. Check out that iridescent violet micro glitter! It’s a bright-ish medium pink that applies sheer, but that glitter catches the light in really fun ways.

I also got a look at Fashion Fanatic, a light milky pink with silvery white shimmer.

from top: Lord It Up, Undercurrent, Black Swan

And boy, do I love me some Pearlglide Intense Liners! Buttery soft, they glide on like a dream and stay on until you take them off. It’s no coincidence that I already own two in this launch (Black Line and Undercurrent). They’ve got great pigment and are loaded with a pearl finish.

Lord It Up is a medium brown with gold pearl. It’s really similar to Teddy (which I go through like candy). Teddy has more of a bronze sheen though, and this is gold. Undercurrent is an intense teal with gold pearl. Black Swan is a deep charcoal with silvery charcoal pearl.

I love it ! Plus i mean i'm VERA the makeup is VERA perfect !

#doomsday are you ready ?

where’s your survival emergency kit? do you even have one? do you think you’re ready an emergency? i know i’m not!

& unfortunately, none of us really know when disaster is going to strike! i don’t know about you, but i want to be prepared… you know what they say “better safe than sorry.”

i found an interesting article about  “the power of 3.” basically it’s an emergency preparedness plan that focuses on the first 3 minutes, the first 3 hours, the first 3 days, the first 3 months, and even the first year after a disaster.

basically, it’s a baby steps approach to emergency preparedness. perfect for someone like me!

so, if you aren’t fully prepared for an emergency, i encourage you gather your own supplies, & together we can become “ready.” survival emergency kit {the first 3 hours}

* battery operated or solar powered am/fm emergency radio (with extra batteries)

* first-aid kit with adequate supplies, medications & personal need for each family member

* gas, water & electronic meter shut-off tools (secured to meters if possible)

* search & rescue equipment, such as: leveraging tools, rope, face masks, lantern/ flash light, loud whistle, duct tape, fire extinguisher

* “GO” binder (or small expandable file) that contains names, addresses, phone numbers & map for local/ out-of-state contacts & rendezvous locations. you should also include important document for each family member, such as: general family information (social security cards, passports, birth certificates, insurance cards, or proof of insurance, all insurance policy numbers, bank account numbers & vehicle ID numbers), spare keys, etc.

see… what did i tell you? pretty painless eh? you probably have most of these supplies already laying around your house. all you had to do, was gather them all together, so when an emergency strikes, you don’t have to go searching for them. now, when disaster strikes, you’ll be prepared for those first 3 minutes & the first 3 hours.

if you have ALLERGIES read this. seriously.

For those of you who dread seeing those first spring blooms because of seasonal allergies, there may be some relief in sight local honey. Local honey is believed to prevent the symptoms of seasonal allergies, also known as hay fever. Drinking local honey may work much like an allergy shot in that it exposes you to small amounts of allergens to help your body build immunity to the allergens. When bees pollinate to make honey, they bring back allergens from the flowers, trees, and other plants. This leaves small traces of those allergens in their honey. Just like the doctor gives you small amounts of allergens when he or she gives you an allergy shot.

It is best to find raw honey that is as close to home as possible because it is far more likely to contain the same allergens that you are exposed to on a daily basis. You should also start drinking the honey in very small doses, just in case of an allergic reaction to the pollen that is in the raw honey. Gradually work your way up to about two teaspoons a day. This regimen should begin several months before the onset of allergy season. The honey should be raw, unpasteurized, and unheated for best results.

There are many other health benefits to drinking raw honey. It has been proven that raw honey has many antibiotic properties. For years, people have consumed it for nausea and gastritis. It is also known to prevent the formation of ulcers, and certain kinds of cancer. So, as you can see, trying raw local honey to treat your allergies certainly would not hurt, in fact, it could help you with a number of other ailments. The best part, there are virtually no side effects, unless you are allergic.

To find the most local honey, you may contact a local bee keeper or go to the next farmers market. Try to get the local honey that is closest to home. Immunizing yourself to allergens that you are never exposed to carries no benefits. It is also recommended that you don’t plant any plants that you know you are allergic to. To build immunity, you must be exposed in small doses. Large doses of allergens will only increase your likelihood of developing worse allergies to them. 

Here is a list of local beekeepers http://www.njbeekeepers.org/BeeProducts.htm ! 

a midget ninja aka MINJA

Look, it's a phobia, alright? It's not like I'm being racist -- midgets aren't a race! And I'm not prejudiced -- I don't think that we're inherently BETTER than midgets, I'm just SHIT FUCKING SCARED of them! I was attacked by them scared the SHIT out of me. It's just that they're so small and stuff, and I'm pretty sure that they're kind of hateful (I mean, seriously, wouldn't YOU be, if you were a midget?), and my REAL fear is that I won't see one coming and he'll pull a shiv and stick me and steal my money. Yes, I FEAR MIDGETS! 

Now look, before I get flamed by the Midget Anti-Defamation League or the Friends of Dwarfs Society (and yes, I do realize that there's a difference between the two), I have to say that this is a LEGITIMATE MENTAL CONDITION. It's called (believe it or not) Lollypopguildophobia, or, more scientifically, Achondroplasiaphobia. Yes, I have achondrowhateverthefuckophobia.

Fucking midgets.

But hey, according to phobia-fear-release.com, a super-highly-advanced-ultimate-scientific website: "Midgets are dwarf people who have a sort of deformed stature and they look unusual and at times even frightening. Thus, when they stand before you, they make you feel awkward and at times uncomfortable – this is what this phobia all about is.

Symptoms:

Lollypopguildophobia/Achondroplasiaphobia is accompanied by several symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, feeling of sickness, vigorous palpitation of the heart, a fear that you may become mad or lose control, a sort of inability to utter words or think clearly. Other symptoms are occasional shaking, mouth becoming dry, lack of breath, a full blown anxiety attack and extreme perspiration.

Do not ever think that you are the only one having this phobia. Over 200,000 Americans suffer from this condition. There are lots of unspoken sufferers who know that they are afraid of the dwarfs but they do not want to confess their "condition"

So there you go. The word of SCIENTISTS. EXPERTS. And I agree with all the faulty findings and terrible grammar, except that I here confess my condition, because I no longer want to be a silent sufferer. I am tired of my extreme perspiration and fear that I might become mad when I think of midgets! Oh thank god, I feel so much better.

Thanks for listening.

the big mother f*cker welfare rant.

This one is going to be a doozy, so please read the entire post before writing me a 10 page comment about your life story and how much of an asshole I am. If you still wish to write me a 10 page comment on how society forced you to get knocked up while on welfare, then I’ll give you a story how society FORCED ME to use rough 2-ply toilet paper to wipe my ass instead of the good soft stuff.

Oh, and for the record, “welfare” here means full blown don’t-have-to-work-all-inclusive aid. I’m not going to pick apart food-stamps but not free-housing or check, etc. I say government ticket, I mean the entire government ticket.

This is how I see the welfare system working:

Girl “falls in love” at the ripe age of 16, and through the magic of laziness, hormones, stupidity, and complete irresponsibility allows herself to get pregnant by some loser. The loser, taking parenting advice from rap stars and TV idols, leaves that bitch and moves on (“hey, don’t hate the playa, hate the game”). The mother, now single and with child, goes on the system to get assistance until she can finish school and get a job. At which point she gets off of the system and pulls herself up by her bootstraps and becomes a model mother and a productive member of society.

That above I have no problem paying for. Hell, believe it or not, that’s what the system was intended for! However this is what mostly will happen:

Girl above, when her child is 2 years old, finds another douchebag reject and through the magic of not-fucking-learning-the-first-time gets pregnant AGAIN. Repeat about 4 more times. Kids run out of control and tear my shelves apart, and she bitches at me because the Septra suspension for kid #5 is grape flavored and not cherry.

Let it be known herein and throughout the tubes of the Internet. If you are already on welfare, and you get pregnant again (ie: you already are established on the system and you spread your legs and accept seed again), you are the most irresponsible, stupid, waste of human skin on the planet. You are nothing more than a receptacle for some dude to keep his sausage warm and serve no use to us other than to leech away our money like a tick on the ass-end of society. Go and make porn flicks because your only mental and physical skill in life involves your mouth and between your legs.

It blows my mind how absolutely stupid someone can be to be on welfare (you know, implied that you cannot take care of yourself so the state has to take care of you) and bring another child into this world. Getting pregnant once is a freebie in my book, shit happens (though barely now that Plan-B is OTC). The second time however is 100% you’re-a-fucking-moron. The third one on is what-the-fuck-were-you-thinking (oh, you werent). Birth control is FREE! It just takes a bit of effort (ie: getting off of your ass) to get! Have they gotten the memo that welfare is not intended for living off of for your entire life? Did it ever occur to them that if the welfare system suddenly says “Uh, no more money for checks, so sorry!” they are completely and utterly fucked? Ugh, so retarded and so stupid.

Lets compare 2 irresponsible acts:
Spending your check on spinning rims instead of job-interview clothes: IRRESPONSIBLE
Bringing another human-being into this world when you are 100% reliant on the state to wipe your ass currently: REALLY-FUCKING-IRRESPONSIBLE

Usually if you cannot afford something; car, boat, whatever; it gets repo’d. YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH A CHILD! Pregnancy isn’t some magical unknown event that just “happens”. Its as preventable as avoiding getting your car stolen by LOCKING IT, or avoiding wrecking your car by NOT RUNNING INTO WALLS. Which means that the only way these career welfare mothers are getting pregnant is out of sheer laziness and stupidity. Surprise surprise! Close your legs until you can afford to open them!

My solution, and one offered by other readers on here, is every 3 months, when you get your welfare paperwork reevaluated, you get a shot of Depot Provera. I don’t give a rats ass about side-effects, these people are already on the downward slide, so we’re doing damage control now. You want your check, you get your depot shot. You don’t want your birth control shot? Then I guess you get no check! The state pays for your life, the state gets to make the rules. In “real life” if my boss asks me to clean the toilets, then I clean the toilets. Know why? Because my job pays for my life, so my job gets to make the rules. I realize that the “job” part is a foreign concept, but just trust me on this one.

I know I’m going to get at least one comment by some idiot saying that “reproduction is a right”. Well, to them I say “Leave your gated community in your $60k SUV once in a while and open your fucking eyes. If they have a right to reproduce like fucking rabbits, then I have a right to not pay a fucking dime towards the product of their irresponsibility.” Seriously! Fuck and reproduce all you want, but don’t come to Uncle Sam asking for a double fist of government cheese.

So, I challenge you all to give me ONE DECENT point that refutes my belief that the woman who is on welfare and gets pregnant yet again is the most irresponsible person on the planet.