I have some new people on here, so to recap to you what Top 5 is, it's everything I'm enjoying at the moment. It can be items, places, anything really!
1) Somebody Else music video by The 1975. (This number is kind of late, bear with me). The band, The 1975, are incredibly nice people (trust me) and they put on the heck of a show (I've seen them live twice). When the lead singer, Matty Healy, was performing at the most recent concert of theirs I attended, I couldn't help but stare up at him like a God. I was also 3rd row, so I literally had to stare up....Now, their music videos are always entertaining to watch. Their newest one, Somebody Else, is taken off their newest album. At first when I saw it was 8 minutes I was like "nahhh. Too long to watch." WHAT WAS I THINKING!??! I LOVE THIS BAND. So I finally watched it and it was GOOD. As it was going on, I was entertained, and then at the end of it, I audibly said: "Ohhhhh!" There is simple plot twist at the end that I honestly wasn't expecting. I love videos that tell a story. And this one hits it on the head with everything I enjoy.
2) Clock and Candle soaps. If you follow me on social media, you probably have seen me promoting them but I assure you that I am not being sponsored by them. I just think they're great (even if I have known one of the owners since middle school). It's a team of 2 hardworking people who hand make Disney inspired soaps. Even if you're not a huge Disney fan (AKA me), the smell of the soaps are enough to keep me buying more. I also am in love with the different designs that they create in the soaps. They're unique and cute. I have already bought a holiday gift for a family member from them and I assure you that I will by more. Clockandcandleco.com
3) Cedarburg's Wine and Harvest Festival. I understand that everyone can't make it to Wisconsin to attend this festival every September, but those that do, it's great, huh??! To give a simple low-down on it, you walk down streets and streets where booths of crafts, food and drink are surrounding you. There are booths of everything, really: handmade jewelry, shirts, outdoor and home decor, vintage items, baby merchandise, felt crafts, American girl outfits, kettle corn, blonde root beer stations, and lots of lots of food and alcohol booths. I actually got something called 'mule' for the first time, which was a drink that consisted of pinto grigio, apple, cranberry, and ginger beer. It was good but they didn't juice the cranberry's and I am NOT a fan of seeds in my drinks...anyway, I bought a beautiful handmade wire ring, sassy socks, kettle corn, and a big geode from the Gem Shop they have there. I DO have to warn people, there are thousands upon THOUSANDS of people who attend the two days and I know a lot of people who have panic attacks in groups of people. I would not advise this festival for people who are not good with crowds. But if you're fine in crowds, you should definitely attend this fest at least once (and it's only 30 minutes outside of Milwaukee!)
4) Portable chargers. This one is something that is really old but I'm suddenly obsessed with. I got a portable charger as a gift from my mom and I never opened it because I dismissed it as something that "probably wouldn't work very well." I FINALLY opened it since I was going on a road trip, put batteries in it, charged it up, and plugged it into my iPod. It immediately started charging my iPod and I was in awe. I thought it was the coolest thing and I'm not quite sure why. But now I bring my portable charger everywhere. It came in handy at a concert recently too. If you don't have one and you're going somewhere where there is no charge outlet, I suggest a cool as heck portable charger.
5) Teen Wolf. This TV series started in 2011 on MTV and I'm pretty late in the game but I recently found an actor named Daniel Sharman who I was instantly in love with. I then searched what shows he was in and lo and behold Teen Wolf was his claim to fame. I started the series from the beginning and now I'm on season 3 and can't stop. I do feel like the show is already dragging on a bit, but as long as Daniel is in it for now (he's only in 30 episodes), I'm content. The final season of Teen Wolf is coming up or maybe it already aired a bit, I'm not sure. But what I AM sure of, is that it starts off really cheesy but it gets better. I swear. (P.s. Daniel plays Isaac, the guy on the far left)
I believe I've been following Lulu on Tumblr for a little less than a year. I remember following her through a mutual person that we both followed. In that time span, I followed her on Twitter and Instgram and have seen her get into a cooler than cool beauty program, help at a fashion show, and now, living the life every cool girl would die to have. And she deserves it all. I haven't talked to her personally too much, but even sitting on the sidelines in America, I knew she was something special. I was beyond honored when she agreed to do this short little interview. I mean, I was so honored I put it as my Facebook status. I hope you all enjoy this wonderful lady named Lulu:
1) What is your job title at The Book Agency and what do you do?
"Lou Teasdale's assistant"
2) What are your favorite parts of your job?
"Playing with the endless makeup 😛💄"
3) I know you moved to London recently. Was it scary? Or was it more thrilling?
"Both. but mostly I was buzzing. Everyone is working and hustling in London it just motivated you every day."
4) Did you ever think that you'd be inspiring others and chasing your dreams like you are now?
"lol what no way! I don't even think I do that at allll. But that makes me happy :) "
5) What point in your life did you know what you wanted to do? Did you ever have periods where you questioned it?
"hmmm I mean even when I was little i wanted to be a hairdresser so I've always known i wanted something within the industry. I also think I'm kind of psychic so I figured things would work out some way some how 💭💭💭 I think I question if I'm good enough more than I question if this is the career I want. I'm 100% certain that it is!"
6) What advice would you give to young girls and guys who want to get into the beauty industry?
"Start ! Even if you think you're being not cool and too eager or keen chasing jobs or posting too many MOTD pics on insty you really will get further, get better, and make connections. Which is deffo cool."
Okay, now some fun questions!
What songs or bands do you love?
"I've been listening to Young Thug on my commute to work but my go to albums Nirvana's Bleach and my fave band is the Strokes."
What's your go-to movie?
"I rewatch 10 things I hate about you all the time but the movie thirteen is also a fave."
I've never been to England. Is Nando's really THAT good?
"I'm a vegetarian! So it's not that good to meee 🐥🐥"
What inspires you?
"My little brother is my inspo he's my fave he's always showing me new music new artists and doing coool shit- we FaceTime every day!"
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Thank you to Lulu and taking time out of her day to give an interview to an unknown blog. It means the world.
1) Mavis Slade's "How I Edit My Instagram Pictures". Now, I've interviewed Mavis before, but I swear I'm not playing favorites! I just love her videos. My recent favorite video of hers has been the one where she shows how she edits her pictures with VSCO Cam (an editing app). I'm obsessed with the internet and all things tech, so this video was right up my ally. I instantly downloaded VSCO Cam and started playing around. I used VSCO in some of my recent Instagram pictures and they look SO nice.
2) Maybelline Falsies Push Up Drama mascara. I'm not one to deal with tons of makeup (because I'm so bad at it) and I will probably never buy expensive makeup that everyone uses. But when I saw that one of my style idols, Lou Teasdale, was promoting this mascara, I admit, I was affected by her advertising. I bought it right away (but so did many other people! I swear it wasn't just me who was duped by advertising!!!) Here to find out, I love it! I got the waterproof one because my eyes water a lot. I use it for special occasions and it looks GREAT. Not flaky like I've experienced with other mascaras (cough, cough, AVON....). Plus, one time, I didn't wash my eyes off and it stayed for 3 days straight, so the staying power is amazing. I highly recommend this mascara if you need a good waterproof!
3) wRoNg by Zayn. I hate that I'm putting this on here. I am NOT Zayn's #1 fan. Maybe not even a fan, if I'm honest. I'm very mad at the whole One Direction thing because he left right before he was suppose to be at my concert. I'm still very much against him. BUT I cannot deny that some of his new songs are jams. Such as this one. That's all I'm going to give him.
4) Mexican Coke. This one is weird, I'll admit. But I used to see them at the store all the time until one day I bought one. I mean, I honestly bought one the first time because it looked pretty...BUT IT TURNS OUT THEY ARE SO GOOD. They're made with real sugar and I don't know how it works, but it tastes so much better than regular American Coke. It's 99 cents for a bottle at my local grocery store and I just recently bought 4. I only bought 4 though because I couldn't carry any more...
The other day my friend asked me about how I make my tea and I thought, "HEY! If he was interested in how I home make tea, maybe other people will be interested it too!" And it's super easy!
So here's a post with tips on how to roast your own tea!
***DISCLAIMER: I roast my tea because I feel it gives more flavor and as my friend quoted: "it doesn't taste like grass water when it's roasted." It will be crumbly. You can probably make it less crumbly by putting it on the oven about 5 minutes less than I do.***
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1) I get my tea leaves from a plant nursery, plant them in pots at home, then they grow bigger! I get lemon balm, lavender, and mint. Those are my go-to tea plants. For this post, I'm going to stick with mint leaves (but my signature tea is lavender and mint mixed together. IT'S SO GOOD. Even my family thinks so!)
2) After your satisfied with the amount of leaves that have grown, pick a bunch of mint. And I do mean a bunch. They shrink up in the oven so you'll need a lot of leaves.
3) Bring them inside and wash them in a strainer. Rinsing them with water is what I do. You can also fill a bowl with water and swirl the leaves around to wash them.
4) Preheat your oven to 200 degrees at this point
5) Next, bring out your baking pants (I just use cookie sheets because it doesn't matter what pans, honestly). Now, MAKE SURE YOU RIP THE MINT LEAVES IN HALF!!!! THAT'S WHAT BRINGS OUT THE FLAVOR!!! You can even smell it stronger when you rip it. So, rip the leaves in half and place them down on the cookie sheets, spread out. They can still be wet, that's perfectly fine.
6) Place them in the oven for 15 minutes. Then, wait for 15 minutes. Obviously ;)
7) Take them out of the oven when it beeps. It will look like crispy, illegal contraband. Like, a lot, honestly. BUT THAT MEANS IT'S DONE!
8) Wait to it cools down, then what I do is put the crispy leaves in a bag, then crunch them. Don't crunch them down to a pulp, but crunch them just enough.
9) What you can do next is dump the roasted leaves in a empty tea bag, seal it, then use it. Or if you read my disclaimer, you can roast for about 8 minutes instead, which doesn't make them as crispy, and you can put them on a strainer most likely (I've never tried a strainer).
**My tea bag is a coffee filter which is stapled shut because I'm really cheap. But it works! Also, with roasted tea, you need to let it seep in your mug a little bit longer. It won't be crazy strong, but it's still so tasty!**
Let me know on my Facebook page if you enjoyed this! I love making my DIY tea so I really liked this post! :)
I've known Robyn since we were both 5 years old. She's always led an interesting life and I decided to ask her if I could interview her on her life journey at the moment!!
What is your specific job title and what do you do?
"My job title is North Pacific Groundfish Observer. Basically I live and work on Pollock trawlers (boats using a large net to catch fish) in Alaska's Bering Sea. I'm generally out of Dutch Harbor (where deadliest catch is filmed and yes I've met some of them.) Whenever they pull up the net I take a few random samples and identify, count and weigh all fish in my samples. I also take biological data from a sub sample such as sex/length information and otoliths (ear bones used to age the fish). All of this data is used to determine how healthy the fish stocks are and help them to figure out how much quota fishermen can be given next season to keep from over fishing. I am also responsible for making sure that all rules are followed by the fishermen"
(Robyn on the top of ballyhoo mountain on the island of Unalaska near Dutch Harbor (we just call it Dutch) )
Did you ever think that you would end up working on a boat in Alaska, in the middle of the sea?
"Since I was young I have always loved the ocean, and I caught the boating bug in high school when I was certain that I would go to a maritime academy to be a boat captain. I even applied and got in, but I'm too interested in biology to give it up. To answer your question, I've always known that I want to work on a boat collecting data as my career, but no I never really thought that I would be in the Alaskan wilderness of the sea. I heard about this program about 6 months before I graduated and was automatically intrigued so I did get a little time to get used to the idea... not that getting used to it made me prepared in any way haha!"
What are the positive and/or fun parts of your job?
"I love boat life. I love living in close quarters with the crew because you can't help but become close. I love standing on the bow watching whales and just the rise and fall of the sea. I love that most people in the world will never get to experience what I experienced out there. It's also a lot of fun because some of my best friends are fellow observers and while I'm the only observer on my own vessel, whenever we're in town there is a good chance that you can hang out with your friends. And while it's hard work there is also a lot of down time so that's a plus too!"
(Hiking around dutch on bunker hill in the summer)
Are there parts of your job that you wish weren't apart of it?
"There are definitely downsides to the job. There's a reason it pays well and that's because it isn't glamorous and not many people are willing to do it. They take safety very seriously, however it is still not enjoyable to walk around, work or even sleep on a boat taking on massive waves for 20 hours. I've never been seasick but I do go into a kind of coma that's hard to get out of. I am also often covered in fish guts and once got a wad of scales stuck in my eye for 30 minutes. All clothing smells like fish or the processing plant. The worst part of the job in my opinion is watching offloads. Work isn't done when you get to town I have to watch half of a 13-17 hour offload (2 hrs on and 2 off) which consists of me sitting on a trash can pretty much outside watching fish go by on a conveyor belt. Smelly, tiring and tedious to say the least."
I've heard Alaska's scenery is beautiful. Where you ever in awe about all the nature that surrounded you?
"Alaska is amazing. Even the small islands that I was out of had some amazing sights. There was one walk/hike that wasn't too challenging that we did quite a bit that has some amazing views and I climbed a pretty intense mountain called Ballyhoo which stole my breath. Super challenging but so worth it. Also one day we were steaming back into Dutch from fishing and I happened to be chatting with the captain in the wheelhouse and got an amazing view of the mountains as I came in. It's so beautiful that it's hard to explain it, even with pictures."
(Robyn's first ever boat, the Gun-Mar. She was on this the summer of 2015)
It's pretty cold in Alaska. What was your typical day to day outfit?
"True, it is quite cold in Alaska, but not so bad as everyone thinks, at least where I was. I was there August - mid October and then mid January through mid March. Since the islands I was out of were pretty far south on the Aleutian island chain and surrounded by water it is much milder weather than northern and inland Alaska. Having said that the wind is brutal. Because it's a physical job with lots of fish smell involved we don't really wear anything that we want to wear in the real world afterwards. It's a lot of flannels, sweatshirts and yoga or sweatpants. If going outside in winter I would wear 2-3 layers on top with a fleece-lined coat to top it off. Also fleece-lined leggings with some other pants, boots, a hat and fleece-lined gloves. In case you haven't guessed, fleece-lined is the name of the game. Ooh and wool socks are a must too"
What do you do on your days off, since you're pretty isolated?
"On the types of boats I was on (Pollock trawlers) there is a surprising number of days that we get on land. In general we are out for 2-3 days and on land for 2 days. Yes it is quite isolated. To give you a little background on just how much I'll tell you a bit about the islands I was out of. Dutch Harbor is the largest port for fishing in all of Alaska. Most of the people who work and live there are in the fishing industry but there is a small town and a Safeway grocery store, school, airport for 20 passenger planes and a hospital and stuff like that. Akutan has a population of less than 60 people. The only way to get there is by boat or helicopter. There is the fish processing plant and that's about it. Now onto what we do on land! In Dutch we go hiking or if someone has a car we go driving, but honestly most of the time if we aren't offloading, we are at the bar. There are 2 main ones within walking distance of the harbor (dangerous) but if any other observers are in town that's where we meet up. Dutch has civilized bars but Akutan had one called the Roadhouse with only canned light beer that they ran out if quite often haha! Akutan also has a gym that we would play in or hang out in the park with the stray dogs."
Since your done (for now) with Alaska's journey, do you think you'll ever go back to the boat life?
(Eagles eagles everywhere. This one is munching on some Pollock from our net!)
"I'm planning on going back to Alaska in the fall, but yes I will definitely always be in the boat life. It's what I enjoy and where I belong! I was actually offered a job today as a crew member and marine biology educator on a tall ship (large masts and sails like a pirate ship) out of new jersey for the summer!! But ultimately I would like to do research cruises a few times a year working on someone's research or.possibly my own one day so yes I'll be back on a boat quite soon!"
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I want to thank Robyn for letting me interview her!!
1) Love Me So by Stereo Kicks. SO Stereo Kicks are a 8 piece boy band that was put together on the TV show, X Factor UK, which I watch religiously. I vividly remember Stereo Kicks and loved them but didn't like how there were 8 of them. The judges wanted to "try something different", so they put them all together as a boy band. If I recall correctly, they didn't make it to the end or anything. But in June 2015, they put out a song called Love Me So, which I just recently came across, instantly loved, and can't stop playing. Less than a year after their formation, they broke up as a band because apparently they couldn't get a record deal (plus they had some scandals...) I'm oddly devastated since they only put out one song. I guess an 8 piece boy band is too much boy band.
2) BBC Radio 1 'School Run.' So School Run is on YouTube and it's where 3 kids get a rid home from school (or to school) from a celebrity (this takes place in the UK, by the way). The kids ask the celebrity questions and they talk to them and it's an all around good time. There are only a couple of them, but the celebrities that have done the school run are Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Matty from The 1975, and 2 members of The Vamps. I think Matty's was my favorite because he raps R. Kelly's "Ignition." Although, Nick Jonas singing Camp Rock in his school run is a close second favorite.
3) Raw sunflower seeds. I admit that at first I hated these things. They're just sunflower kernels, unsalted, and thrown in a bag. Now, I can't stop eating them. I bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill raw seeds for $4 (WHY DID I SPEND THAT MUCH!!???!) and I eat them at night to curb my craving for other food. I keep them on my desk next to my laptop, so now whenever I go on my laptop, no matter what time of day, I eat a handful. I really want to home make granola one day and I think these seeds would go perfect in granola. AND THEY'RE HEALTHY!!!
4) No7 Beautiful Skin purifying mask for normal/oily. My mom gave me a bunch of face masks because she's not using them anymore and this face mask was interesting. You have to rub it in your face and it heats up (you can definitely feel the heat) then leave it on for 2 minutes. Like all face masks, it's suppose to "draw out the impurities." I followed the directions, then rinsed it off. And MAN, was my skin soft! A lot of face masks don't make my skin soft because I have rougher skin, but this stuff really worked! I also had 2 pimples about to show on my face and by the morning, they were gone?!?! I have never had a face mask actually work like that before. I admit, I don't know how much this stuff costs, but it's worth it!!!
I would like to change it up a bit and tell you one thing I DON'T like this week:
5) Relvon Luxurious Colorsilk Buttercream hair dye. So, I went to Walmart in search of brown-black hair dye and I didn't want it to cost much because I'm broke. I found this Revlon brand surprisingly for $4-$5 per box! It was permanent hair dye and everything! I was so excited. I got home, dyed my hair with the formula, and here to find out, I should stick to more expensive hair dye. This stuff is pure crap. It didn't even dye parts of my hair, which were left spotty and my old color was a faded blue/gray and with this Revlon stuff, it turned half my head a sickly green. Now, at first is was perfect and I loved the color and was so confident in it that I overlooked the spottiness at first. Then when I washed it over time, it turned more and more green. I was embarrassed to be seen in public a little bit. I redyed it again with the same brand and color (because I had bought 2) and the roots were STILL not the color that it was suppose to be. Now my roots have a red-ish tint that I DON'T WANT! So I advise everyone NOT TO BUY THIS HAIR COLOR WHATSOEVER!!
I have a (semi) history with a small online clothing company called Jawbreaking. In 2014, I saw a band member where a shirt that I immediately fell in love with. I asked about it on Twitter and my friend, along with Jawbreaking, responded.
I bought 2 shirts, the lips one and another one that Zayn Malik wore years ago (he didn't wear the actual shirt, just the design!!!)
The Zayn one, even though it was an XL, was very tight so I never actually got around to wearing it. It's one of those shirts that are most likely in junior sizes, even though it's for 'women'. It's just sitting in my closet, somewhere.
Fast forward to March 2016 and I still loved Jawbreaking. They had a really cute design that said "boy bands ruined my life" that I loved but didn't have money at the time and they're the type of company that sells things but rarely get them back once they sold out of them. Which is a shame because I'd love to buy that shirt now that I have money.
Then, Jawbreaking suddenly had a "mystery grab bag" sale that I saw where they give you 4 shirts for $25. I was all in. All in all, I spent $32 for 4 shirts. Which is TOTALLY not bad.
So I waited for my shirts. And waited. And waited. AND WAITED. It said on my receipt email to wait at least 5-10 days for grab bag items, since they have been swamped with orders, which was fine, I was in no rush.
10 days past with no shipping email conformation. 15, then 20 days past and I finally decided to email them to make sure I was still getting my package. They emailed me back very promptly and friendly to say that they were still swamped with grab bags and they'll send it out in a week.
A week passed, no email. Finally, after 2 months of no shipping email, I emailed once more, and I gave them an ultimatum: please send out my items by this week, or give me a refund.
They once again responded in a very nice manner, apologizing, and even gave me a $15 gift card to their store (which they don't have anything less than $15, so you're still going to be paying them SOMETHING.) They also said to expect a shipping email by the end of the day and they're going to ship it via 2 day shipping to say sorry.
I thought the gift card was very nice of them and I bought something right away. But alas, no email by the end of the day for my grab bag. The next day comes around, and it's now May, and I FINALLY GET MY SHIPPING CONFORMATION EMAIL!!! It was like winning a prize.
I ordered a bracelet that said "internet princess" on it (because honestly, that's me) with my gift card and the next day, I got a shipping conformation email for that too.
I got the bracelet in the mail before my grab bag (which by the way, turned my skin green. I'm not terribly mad, but isn't there something you can do to coat it to make it not turn green....?) but I was terribly confused? I keep checking the tracking code for my grab bag and for 8 days, my grab bag has been in "pre-shipment". They haven't even really shipped it yet. I'm planning on giving it two weeks, then emailing them about it again. While writing this, it's STILL IN 'PRE-SHIPPMENT'.
One thing is for sure, I will not be ordering from the company again until something changes. I hate making posts like this, because I want everything to be happy, and I DID really appreciate the person I talked to via email, but I don't want other people to go through what I did. It's such a hassle and honestly, a little bit of a headache.
Great products, nice people, but a less than satisfied customer.
Bleach London is a salon that specializes in funky hair dye colors, to put it frankly.
They were unattainable to me because all their branches were in England until they opened one in California recently. I was ecstatic. I mean, it was still unattainable, but it’s LESS unattainable now!
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I came across a girl named Kira on Instagram (Her pictures are so great) one day and loved the pictures she was taking of her hair and other people’s hair so I followed her. I then realized (after some time), that I also follow her on Tumblr. AND THAT SHE WORKS AT A BLEACH LONDON IN ENGLAND!! I decided to pull myself together and ask her if I could interview her for this blog.
AND SHE SAID YES! I was ecstatic. So here are my questions and here are Kira’s beyond wonderful answers:
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1. When did you know you wanted to become a hairdresser?
"I always wanted to be a hairdresser when I was younger, but once I turned 12, I realized I couldn’t even tie my own hair up into a ponytail, so that kinda put me down a bit. So I jumped around with a few ideas, all work that involved being around other people, like a teacher and stuff, but i started doing my own hair on the side. I really liked the brand and idea behind Bleach, so it wasn’t until I was actually working for them that I figured that’s something I wanted to do for the rest of my life."
2. What was the best part of working with Bleach?
"I guess it was working with such an amazingly talented and creative team who loved exploring the fashion world and their own abilities every single day. Everybody in the team is creative and has got their own style, which makes every day fun. They are all very helpful in making you better if you, yourself, are focused on getting better at what you do. Everybody is helping everybody. It’s a nice place!"
3. What was the hardest part of working with Bleach?
"For me personally, it would have to be the fact that I just moved overseas, which means English isn’t my first language, but also the physical exhaustion from working in a salon which I hadn’t tried before. The language barrier can sometimes still create problems for me, although it becomes easier with time. And with the physical work you have to do in salon; you are always on your feet, long hours, but also you are interacting with a lot of different people on a day to day basis, not only with stylists but also with clients. It is a tough job and you are often dead on your feet by the end of a day in the salon but there’s nothing better than knowing and seeing how happy the clients are with their new hair."
4. What are your favorite Bleach products?
"I like the colors a lot. They are easy to work with and they’re brilliant when used the right way. Also I absolutely cannot live without the dry shampoo. I have been looking for the perfect dry shampoo for ages, and this is the only one I absolutely love. The smell is good and my hair does exactly what I want it to. I also have it in my bag."
5. What colours do clients ask for the most and what is your favorite color on you?
"The demand on colors differ from time to time. It changes with the fashion world. When Kylie Jenner went and got her dusty blue hair, the blue colors were requested more, but a soft pink is always fun and looks amazing, so it’s a color we do quite a lot.
As for myself, I like the colder tones as warmer tones clash with my skin. I like purple the best, but blue is also very high up on the list. They’re difficult colors to use, but I like them a lot and couldn’t imagine going for warmer tones unless it is to neutralize unwanted colors coming through."
6. What are your favorite hair products?
"I’ve got quite a few when I think about it actually.
I like the elasticizer by Philip Kingsley as a treatment, and then I use the heavier reincarnation mask from Bleach as a conditioner after my shampoos.
I like the damage defense spray by Philip Kingsley to help untangle my hair. It also works as a heat protector, which is really important!
For styling; as i said earlier, the Bleach dry shampoo is definitely a must have. I have just tried the miracle ends by Fudge and was really impressed with how well it helped my frizzy ends.(Side note by Megan: Miracle Ends by Fudge is one my favorite products for my ends. You can’t get it in America anymore, but I got it when it WAS in America. Fudge is my absolute favorite)and I use a lot of hairspray as well. I have been using the same one for about 7 years because it helped me through a lot of difficult (and questionable) hairstyles through the ages haha. I use Polywore by Schwartzkopf stronghold 3."
7. Was it difficult coming from a different country to London and what motivated you?
"Moving to London had been a plan for me for more than 5 years so I had heard a lot of stories before I moved, but everything really depends on you as a person and what expectations you have. I moved with no big plans except for the fact that I wanted to live in London for a year and I think that really helped me look at things in a positive light.
London is big and exciting but it can also seem very claustrophobic at times which has been difficult for me as I am from a much smaller city.
I love London though, and it still makes me happy seeing all these things and places everyday and I am definitely planning on coming back as soon as I can because it is the place to be if you want to do grungy, underground fashion.
What really motivated me was getting a job at Bleach and being surrounded by these talented people. If I hadn’t worked there i would still be unsure of my future."
————- (This interview first took place in November of 2015!!)
I want to thank Kira for being so caring and answering my questions! All pictures here are respectfully from her Instagram.
Follow Kira on Instagram: @KiraHellsten
and Tumblr: @Bleachinme
I used to have something on my college blog called "Top 5 of Life" where I would post the top 5 things I'm into at the moment. It was something very fun to write for me (I have no idea if people actually liked to read, but I didn't care because it was fun.) SO I decided to start it on this blog! 'Top 5' can include everything like the things I'm eating a lot of all the way to what music I'm listening to. There's no limit on Top 5! So here's my top 5 of life at the moment!
1) Lemon water. I've recently decide to cleanse my body and that means tons of lemon water. I squeeze the lemon juice into a water bottle, drain it of the lemon pulp (I hate pulp of all kinds), pour it back into the bottle then I'm ready to go! It makes you pee a lot obviously, but I already lost a pound of water weight after one day. I also REALLY like hot lemon water. I drink that in the morning and it's oddly so much better than cold lemon water?
2) Janie's Got a Gun by Aerosmith. This song is from 1989 but I can't stop listening to it. I was listening to it at home one time, I had to leave, and when I was coming home in my car, it started playing on the radio. I had already arrived home when it started playing so I sat in my car listening to it. It's just one of those songs that get me addicted to it after all these years.
3) Work from Home by Fifth Harmony. Yes, another song. But it's honestly so catchy that I can't help but dance to it. I'm currently sitting on my couch listening to it and I'm dancing while sitting. I've never been a Fifth Harmony fan, but I've also never hated them. I admit that I have the song "Bo$$" by them on my iPod. And honestly, I think Work from Home will end up on my iPod too. I also LOVE Ty Dolla $ign and he sings in the song too, so it's an all around banger.
4) My new brown hair. This sounds a bit egotistical, but it looks really good on me so I'm not concerned with HOW it sounds. I decided to dye it the same color as this famous band member's girlfriend. Not because I'm jealous of her (I'm not a petty 13 year old who wants to be in her place and say nasty things to her because of it) but because I love her. I've never wanted to look like someone before, so it was strange for me when my brain was like "LOOK LIKE HER. SHE'S SO PRETTY. GET HER HAIR COLOR." So I went to the store, bought "black-brown" dye and dyed my hair. I honestly feel oddly confident in it, even though it's nothing like the purple I used to dye my hair. It's my favorite thing about myself at the moment.
5) The 'After' book series. Now, I own all 5 of these books and have read them before but I'm REALLY into them again for some reason. This book started out as a fanfiction of Harry Styles (which I have confessed I am a big fan of) and the audience reaction to this fanfiction was so great that it got turned into a book series. They're even making a movie out of it (it's still in the casting process right now). As for the age group that would enjoy this book, I would say 20 year olds and above. I mean, it's about a girl in college, but it has it's "Fifty Shades of Grey" moments that I don't think younger people would enjoy reading. But hey! You could always skip those parts! A lot of people give this series a lot of grief because of it's violent elements (there is a lot of fighting) but they don't realize that it's a BOOK. A work of FICTION. It is not REAL. All in all, this series, despite the backlash, is one of my favorites. I wish I could meet the author, Anna Todd, one day.
I hope you enjoyed my top 5! I love writing this, so there will probably be more in the upcoming posts!
The word "bookstagrammer" isn't in the dictionary.
It's not even in Urban dictionary.
There was a funny debate on Twitter on whether the word has 2 or 1 'm's.
But thanks to a very talented lady, Megan H, I can't stop saying the word "bookstagrammer".
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I met Megan a couple years ago through a movie we both liked, although I've only met her in person once (thank god for the internet!) and ever since then, I've followed her through her adventure of bringing reading to a bigger platform: social media.
Megan very kindly agreed let me interview her on what the word "bookstagram" means, her positive attitude towards books, and escaping from reality.
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When did your love of books start to bloom?
"Well, I've always really loved to read and I think one of the reasons for that is because my mom always read to me as a child. But I didn't really start to become an obsessive reader until after I read The Septimus Heap series in fifth grade! That series was basically my Harry Potter, and really made me appreciate literature more."
What are your favorite genres?
"I really enjoy reading any Young Adult (and some New Adult) fiction. But I especially love reading thrillers, and romance books! When reading, I love to be kept on the edge of my seat and hooked to every page!"
Do you currently have a favorite book?
"My favorite book (or in this case, series) is probably the Mara Dyer books! The plot line is very creepy and the romance is amazing! Noah Shaw is for sure my fictional boyfriend ;) "
A lot of people find reading to be an escape from reality for a bit. Do you feel this way ever?
"Escaping is one of my biggest reason for loving to read so much. I've always been a big dreamer, and every time I open a book I get to enter into a whole different world than the one I live in! I also tend to be a bit of an awkward person, and through reading I'm able to become someone else for a while and live their adventure. One of my favorite quotes is "A reader lives a thousand lives" because through reading, I can live as many adventures as I want to."
You call yourself a "bookstagrammer". What does that entail?
"A Bookstagrammer is basically a person who has a passion for reading, and shares that passion through Instagram! The bookstagram community is fairly new, but consists of thousands of people who all get to together to share creative photos of books! There are so many talented people on bookstagram, and I'm amazed by some of the pictures they take!"
Your Instagram is booming! It's so gorgeous, too. What is your favorite part of having platform that reaches out to other people who also love books?
"Thank you so much! I love being able to use Instagram to get in touch with other readers like me. I'm from a small town, and it's hard to find people who are as passionate about books as I am! I think it's so important to make sure people feel that reading is a good thing, and not something to be ashamed of. Being a "book nerd" has been seen as a negative thing for so long, and I want people to know that it's perfectly okay to love to read! The book community is so supportive and uplifting of each other, it's hard to see it and not want to read just to be a part of the community!"
Did you ever think your love of books would bring you to have a website or an up and coming Instagram?
"To be honest, I never thought it would grow to the magnitude it has already. Reading is simply something I enjoy and have fun with! Being able to find a way to share that passion and get it out into the world is extremely rewarding. I don't have as many followers as some do yet, but I'm blown away by all the support I have gotten in the past four months and all the followers that I have gained already! When I first started, I never would have expected to get this far with my bookstagram account."
What's your advice to people who want to be a bookstagrammer like you?
My first advice to anyone who wants to start a bookstagram is to simply have fun with it! Don't compare your pictures to everyone else, because one of the most important things to bookstagram is to be unique. By being unique, you stand out against all the others out there! Find your own little niche, and work with it. You don't need to own an expensive camera (in fact I actually use my iPhone over my DSLR to take pictures) or put money into an editing software. Anyone can easily create a bookstagram simply by setting down a book, and opening the camera on your phone. Be warned: being a bookstgrammer means you will often find yourself carrying a book everywhere you go to take cool pictures with it haha!
Your personality is so positive towards books. Have you ever received or bought a book that you didn't like?
"Hahaha I do mostly say positive things about the books I read! But, believe it or not, there are actually a lot of books I have bought and received that I haven't enjoyed. I tend to not post books I completely despise on my Instagram to talk bad about them, because I just don't want any negativity on my account! But when I do give reviews, I'm as honest as possible. I'll never lie about loving a book I actually hate, and I actually find flaws in many books that I love! But I wholeheartedly disagree with just bashing a book in a review. I try to point out both the good aspects, and the bad aspects of the book!"
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I just want to thank Megan for being great and letting me interview her! All the photos are taken by her and from her super cool bookstagram!
YouTube is one media platform I didn’t have to explain to my mother.
Because she already knew of YouTube.
I’ve tried vlogging (video-blogging) before, after requests from friends that I should start because of my humor. I just was terrible at it. I have a weird, funky voice and I don’t have the normal look of a YouTuber, nor do I have a good video camera.
That was one thing I didn’t mind giving up, because I knew it wasn’t my calling.
But that doesn’t mean that I stopped WATCHING YouTubers.
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I encountered a YouTuber named Mavis Slade on Twitter. I remember someone (I don’t remember who) retweeting her on Twitter and I liked the tweet, so I checked out her page.
She had a link to a YouTube video she posted and I started watching it.
I instantly followed her on Twitter and she followed me back.
Her first video in her well known video series, called ‘Directioner Problems’, has over 225,000 views.
Now about a year later after I found her on Twitter, I’m honored to call her my friend.
She was kind enough to let me interview her via the web about her life and her YouTube career.
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1) Which type of videos do your subscribers like the most?
"I recently asked my subscribers what they liked the most and it was hair and makeup. Not gonna lie, I’m kinda shit at both of them but I fake it and I think that’s why people like them because we are kind of faking it together."
2) What got you into YouTube? Was it a certain channel?
"I always watched YouTube but it wasn’t really a channel. I was just like “I’m bored, I’m going to college, this could be fun.” It also really kept my parents and family in the know of what was happening with my life."
3) Do you ever read your comments? (I know some YouTubers don’t)
"Yes, every single one (even the nice spam) and reply to every comment. Comments good or bad are there to see what your audience wants. Plus I love talking to everyone on the comments section haha!"
4) How do you plan for your videos?
"I always have a notebook on me where I write ideas every time I have them but unless it’s a super important one, I just wing it. My letter to Zayn was written and edited like 5 times before I hit record. And all my Directioner Problems took some planning."
5) What are your favorite videos you’ve ever filmed?
"I loved filming my NYFW one and I love any that really let me be random. Also, the Directioner Problems ones were really fun because I knew I would be able to connect with more people because of them.
My favorite videos I film are usually the ones I know my friends (subscribers) will enjoy and feel like we are just hanging out."
6) My favorite thing about each video is your intro video. Literally my favorite, even though it’s 5 seconds (I timed it). Was there any planning with it or were you just like “I need an intro.”
"Hahahaha I love it too. I actually don’t talk to like half the people that are in it, so I should probably update it but the planning was like “Ok I want this certain sound clip and then I was like what are my top videos and then how can I splice them into 0.2 second clips.” I never felt the need to have an intro but I thought it was fun."
7) What’s it like going to YouTube headquarters?
"It’s super fun. There are so many like-minded people there as you and everyone who works there are genuinely so nice. I’ve met people who really want to see me succeed and it is so refreshing. Plus the cameras and lighting are sick and the wifi is super fast haha"
8) You were chosen to interview designers at NYFW at the YouTube Space. How did it feel to be chosen for that? (It’s one of my fave videos)
"Ahh I’m glad, I worked so hard on it. I applied to it just as a “maybe” and “that would be cool” kind of thing but I when I was chosen I was like “OMG this is a thing.” It was so tiring, I was still in school at the University of Pittsburgh and I had to go to a class at the YouTube Space before NYFW so the weekend before NYFW, I took a 8 hour bus ride for a 2 hour class, then back to school for 3 days and back to NYC for 2 days of filming. I was so tired and I was so out of place, I mean I was a girl who makes videos about her dumb life and One Direction with the Editor of Seventeen and other cool fashion industry people. It was kind of insane but I realized I loved the chaos. So now I am attending online courses on fashion!"
9) What advice can you give kids who want to be YouTubers but don’t know where to start?
"JUST DO IT (Nike please don’t sue haha) but seriously, grab your webcam, phone, camera and just film you being random. I have been at this for 4 years and I am still lost on what I want to film. Start with a tag video, they are so easy but it is a start. Its terrifying to put yourself out there but its so worth. I’ve met amazing people. And YouTube really brought me out of a dark place while I was at school. I found my happy place and myself on the Internet."
Okay beauty questions now: 10) What is your favorite makeup products at the moment?
"I just purchased the Anastasia Brow Wiz pencil and it is BOMB! Also I just bought the Two Faced Candlelight Glow Highlighter and it is every strober’s dream haha. Also Maybelline Miss Manga Rock ALWAYS!!! (Side note from Megan: I use Miss Manga Rock every day. It’s my life line in a mascara.)
11) What’s your favorite hair color you’ve ever had?
"I love my lilac hair, it was my first “crazy” hair color I went and its like my baby, I don’t know. I am thinking about teal next."
12) I know Lou Teasdale is one of your inspirations. Has she changed your beauty routine in anyway? (For me, it’s spider lashes all around, to be honest).
"Oh deffo!! Spider lashes are my life!!! She really showed me that me wanting unnatural hair was okay. I love when my hair is platinum.
Also I always see myself somehow wearing a Modern Lip, so easy and so fun. Not only has my beauty routine but outfits. Like I now live in platforms and trainers. I’m not afraid to rock some looks because of her."
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{{This interview originally took place in October 2015. I just wanted to move it to my new blog because I love it. As always, thank you to Mavis!!!}}
