My Top 10 Beauty Products

Hey there! So today, I thought I would share some of my favorite make-up and beauty products with you. It was kind of hard to narrow it down to a top 10 list, so actually, I decided to focus more on which products I would reccommend to others. The 10 products I list really are some of my most favorites, but they are not necessarily the products I use the most often. Although, if you read through, I think you'll see that I found a way to sort of cheat and add in a few shout-outs to the products I do use on a more regular basis.

These products are not listed in such a way as to reflect a rating, (i.e. #1 is not better than #10, nor is #10 better than #1. Actually, I listed the products in the order that you might actually use them if you were applying your make-up for the day.)


#1. STUDIO SECRETS PROFESSIONAL: MAGIC PERFECTING BASE by L'Oreal Paris

This product is a face primer. It is relatively new. I found a coupon for it and decided to try it out. This is the only face primer I have ever used so I can't compare it to any others, but after using this product I would definately recommend using a face primer. This is a beautiful product that you apply after your moisturizer, but before your concealer and foundation. It smoothes out your skin making it feel silky and soft, and it helps your make-up last hours longer than it normally would. Also, I have rather oily skin and I live in a desert where normally I sweat and my make-up doesn't last, but I find that when I use this product, my oily skin and the heat and sweat have less of a wearing effect on my make-up.


#2 URBAN DECAY SHADOW PRIMER POTION


This product is an eye primer. Use it before applying eye makeup. I absolutely recommend this product! This is one of my most favorite makeup products ever because it consistantly lives up to its reputation. This product will make your eyeshadow look vibrant and beautifull ALL DAY! It helps eyeshadow to stay in place, it prevents creasing, flaking and smudging. Seriously, when you use this product, you can put your eyeshadow on and feel confident all day that your shadow will still look amazing even 10 hours after you put it on.


#3 Kabuki brush

Please please please don't tell me that you still apply your loose powder with a pouf! If you are not using a kabuki brush to apply your loose foundation powder, you are completely missing out! These brushes are made with short handles and have a large plume of super-soft bristles that apply the powder more evenly over your face. The best way to use a kabuki brush is to tap some powder into the lid of your powder container, swirl the kabuki brush into the powder, tap off the extra, then apply the powder to your face using circular motions.


#4 Double-ended Smudging/Feathering brush

This is a brush in my collection that I love. You don't necessarily have to buy a double sided brush like this one, but I'm glad this is a two-in-one brush so that I can get away with talking about them both at once. This brush is extremely usefull when applying eyeshadow. I use the smaller end to apply make-up to the crease of my eye. It packs the shadow on thick for a bold look. If I want a softer look, after I apply the shadow with the small end, I use the larger end to soften the look by lightly smudging the shadow from the outside corner toward the inside corner. This is a valuable tool to have if you are a fan of smokey eyes. I also like to use the larger end as a blending tool to soften the contrast between the color in the crease of my eye and the highlight color just under the brows.


#5 ALMAY Trio's

This is more of a general recommendation than a specific recommendation. I think every girl should have a shadow compact with colors pre-determined to bring out her features. You don't have to buy one from Almay, other brands make similar shadow compacts. The reason I recommend these is for convenience. I love to go all out with my makeup everyday, but sometimes, you wake up late. At some point in your life (maybe more often than not) you will be in a hurry. These shadow compacts are life savers in those situations. Sometimes I have very little time to do my makeup, so I'll use the time I have to apply moisturizer and foundation and then I'll grab my Almay trio compact, throw it in my bag, and head out the door. The shadow can be easily applied in 2 minutes (you can find that time in the car, or on the bus.) They are also good to have because they are made to compliment your natural features and not your outfits, so you can make them work no matter what clothes you have on.


#6 L'Oreal Paris - High Intensity Pigments (HiP) Eyeshadow Duo's


If you want bold color, but don't want to pay department store prices, then I definately recommend this line of eyeshadows. They cost between $6 and $8 depending on where you shop. Each container has two complimentary colors. The containers also have mirrors and two applicators included. (I wouldn't recommend using these applicators on a regular basis, but I'm glad they are included. There have been a few times that I would forget to put my makeup brushes in my bag before leaving the house. Those little applicators save the day in those situations.)


#7 120 Color Eyeshadow Palette (from Ebay)

Can you really say no to 120 colors?! These palettes are available on Ebay from many different suppliers. The majority of them ship from China and you usually only have to pay the cost of shipping. I got mine for $14. My sister envied this product when I got it, so I ordered one for her birthday from a different seller and hers came all broken. It wasn't packaged as well as mine had been, so I would be very careful about who you order from. I bought mine from the ebay seller "eachdesk". Although, you can order this palette from www.buyincoins.com for about $15 (free shipping) and their products come well packaged. The shadows themselves are actually very good quality. The colors are bold and pretty, they have a very good color pay-off. I use this palette constantly. This is a very good product if you want lots of color options with good quality for a low price.


#8 Gel Eyeliner

I only recently started using gel eyeliners and I absolutely love them! They stay put, they don't smear or smudge and they don't irritate my eyes. I normally use liquid eyeliner, and still do most of the time because it's faster, but the liquid liner gets into my eyes and sometimes it irritates my contact lenses. I love that the gel liner stays on my lids and doesn't get into my eyes. I use the gel liners for bold looks and for doing winged eyeline designs and cat eye's. I personally don't use gel liners on the lower lids or waterline, although I know that some women do and they haven't had a problem doing that. I personally wouldn't recommend it, but I don't know that it is unhealthy, so you might try it. Some gel liners are sold with an applicator brush, many are sold alone, without a brush. There are two brush styles you can use to apply a gel liner, a regular eye-liner brush, nearly every makeup line has one available. You can also use a small angle brush, which is what I prefer to use. I think the angle brush gives me a better advantage when making the winged design. I personally buy very small angle brushes from art supply stores because they are cheaper than makeup brushes but they are made the same way and work just as well.


#9 Red Lipstick

Every woman should know how to rock the red lipstick look. This is definately not something for everyday (unless you are a dancer maybe), but I would recommend that every woman have a red lipstick that suits her. It took me a long time to find a red lipstick that would look truely red on me and that would last. I am sort of cheating here, because I have to use two products to achieve the perfect look. I use a lip liner from Rimmel London's EXAGGERATE line. The one I use is #024 RED DIVA, I use this lip liner to line my lips and fill them in completely. Then I apply a lipstick from Max Factor, it is #40 Ms. Right Now. Together, these two work perfectly for me. It is a good idea to use a lip liner all over your lips before applying a lipstick, because the lip liner lasts longer, so even if the lipstick fades, the liner will still be there. Even more so, I absolutely recommend Rimmel London's EXAGGERATE line of Full Color Lip Liners, because they provide excellent color pay-off and they last forever! Seriously, when I use this red liner, I pretty much have red lips for at least two days. It really lasts.


#10 Pink Sugar Perfume - Available at Sephora

Looking for a unique, bold and playful scent? Pink Sugar is consistantly one of Sephora's most popular items. I first bought this perfume in 2003 because it smelled absolutely delicious and I haven't been able to give it up since then. (I've been through three bottles of it in the past 7 years). This is a strong perfume that I would recommend only wearing when you "go out". Although, I have been known to wear it to work or school. Anytime you wear this perfume, someone is bound to ask "Do you smell cookies?" It really does smell delicious. However, if this scent is too much for you, I would also recommend a perfume called Be Delicious from DKNY, it is a sort of fruity scent that really is beautiful. My bottle is nearly empty and I will definately be buying more when it runs out. If a flowery scent is more your thing, I suggest Princess by Vera Wang. The large bottle of this perfume costs $75, but it is absolutely worth it. I've been through two bottles of it in 4 years. It is one of my most favorites.


Finally we are done! I know this was a long blog. Hey, just be glad I didn't start talking about mascara! I could write a whole blog on that topic alone. I do hope you enjoyed it though and that you found some helpful tips. Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or comments, well that's what the comment section is for! :-) I enjoy reading your feedback. Also, what are your favorite beauty products? Do you have any beauty secrets to share? Let us know in the comments! Until next time, goodbye.

Nerdfighter Nail Art

So, maybe I should have included this story in my blog about VidCon, but I actually forgot about it until I was re-reading my blog and realized that I didn't talk about the nail art that I did for VidCon.

I didn't really do anything special on my own nails for VidCon, but my friend Edi (theoriginaledi) came to visit me in Las Vegas a couple of days before VidCon so that I could paint her nails with a special design just for VidCon.

This is what we did:




It's kind of hard to see here, but it says "NERD FITR" on her nails!

I was excited that the John and Hank faces turned out so well. The best part is that during VidCon, Edi was able to show both John and Hank her nails. I wasn't there when Edi showed Hank, but I was there to show John. It was on Friday during VidCon, Edi and I were both hanging out near the DFTBA Records merch booth (I spent a lot of time at that booth, it was a good place to hang out because everyone stopped by there several times a day!) Anyway, John came to the booth and it just occured to me that Edi was standing right there too. I tapped John on the shoulder and said, "Hey John, can I show you something?" He was just like "Sure, what's up?" and I told Edi to come over, and we got to show him. He thought they were cool.

On Saturday during VidCon, I painted Edi's nails again. This time we painted her nails in honor of our friend Doctor Noise. We painted her nails in a sort of lavender with black letters that read "DCTR NOISE" with a spider design between the two 'words'. It was pretty awesome, but unfortunately we do not have a picture of that design. Oh well.

Anyway, that's all I have to share with you today. I plan to keep blogging regularly, maybe not everyday, but this blog will not fade into obscurity, so feel free to ask me questions that you'd like me to answer in future blogs or whatever. Goodbye 'till next time. :-)

My VidCon Experience

Hey there! So you might know that I was blogging everyday until VidCon. VidCon officially started on July 9, 2010. I had to leave off blogging a few days early because my computer got a virus and I couldn't do anything with it. Luckily, my friend Bill (Dr.Noise), who went to VidCon with me, is amazing at fixing computers and he fixed mine for me.

So, anyway. VidCon has come and gone and I've been home for nearly a week now. I wanted to write this blog sooner. I intended to blog during VidCon actually, but I was too busy during the conference and my head has been so full of awesomeness ever since I got home and also, trying to deal with a bit of PVCD, I just wasn't able to write anything until today.

I've tried writing this blog twice today. I think giving a detailed recap would be boring, so I am only going to discuss some highlights. VidCon officially lasted three days, but my friends and I arrived at the hotel on Thursday, the day before the conference was offically set to begin, so my story starts there.

Thursday
I got to the hotel with my friends Bill and Bobby (TheMeFund) almost exactly at 5:00pm. The awesomeness began immediately. We checked into the hotel and decided to go get some food. Going down the elevator, we ran into our friends Molly (sweetafton23) and Chris (ckwright) who were hanging out with Alex Day (nerimon) and some other British friends whose names I seem to have forgotten. They were going up, we were going down, but Molly and Chris said they would join us for food. So we waited in the lobby and ran into Tom Milsom (hexachordal). Molly and Chris came back down to join us and Tom ran off, but told us to wait, and a few minutes later he came back with John Green. I had to mention this because I thought it was adorable. When Tom came back he said "I brought you a John." We chatted for a bit, but then John had to go back to whatever it was he had been doing and the rest of us set out for food. Tom went with us, and I personally am so glad that he did. It was the most time I got to spend with him during the conference and he was just a sweet and awesome guy to hang out with. I just wanted to hug him for not being a jerk. :-)

After dinner we went back to the hotel and got in the registration line to pick up our badges and tote-bags, but someone pulled a fire alarm and we all had to move upstairs. It was irritating to lose our place in line, but it ended up being pretty awesome because EVERYONE was in the lobby. All of a sudden I was surrounded by familiar faces; Mickeleh, Karen Kavett, Todd Williams, Caitlin Sky, Kristina Horner, Luke Conard, Johnny Durnham, Craig (WheezyWaiter) and even Mystery Guitar Man. Oh, and I met Steve (footynutguy)! After a while we got the word that the fire alarm had been dealt with and it was okay to go about our regular business. Todd said he had to get things set up at the DFTBA Records merch booth and said he needed help. Chris and I both followed him and offered to help. My memory fails me at how it happened, but I remember that Molly and John (Johnzsinferno) were there helping us too. Somewhere in here was the first time I saw Hank since I got to the hotel and he was just walking around. I remember thinking "He should be in disguise! People are going to maul him!" He seemed to be alright, but busy. Anyway, I spent an hour or so helping out at the DFTBA Records merch booth, which was fun. It was definately a good place to be at the moment, because EVERYONE kept stopping by. John came over several times and Charlie McDonnell, Alex Day, Tom Milsom and Johnny Durnham were hanging out quite a bit too. At some point, Todd and Caitlin had to leave to go pick up some posters and Chris and I were left alone to guard the merch and then Chris left me too and I stayed to hold down the fort!

Eventually people came back and I got to go meet up with the rest of my friends (ie. the Classy Ladies!) We went up to our hotel rooms and just hung out until it was time to sleep.

Fiday (Day 1 of VidCon)
Friday was my busiest day during VidCon, I volunteered a bit, and ran into a ton of friends. I went to panels and meet and greats, and watched the main-stage shows. As far as this blog goes, I just want to talk about the evening. I have two absolute favorite moments from VidCon and my first favorite moment occured during the 'concert' on the first night. Michael Aranda was onstage. He started up some music and then Charlie McDonnell and Alex Day stepped up to sing Exterminate, Regenerate. I didn't know I was going to be so excited about that particular performance until it was actually happening and I realized how freaking excited I was to be watching those three guys onstage and to be in a room full of people who were all singing along to a song about Dr. Who! It was awesome.
After the concert there was a dance, but I found myself going to a party at the X-Bar in the lobby of the hotel with Bill, Craig (WheezyWaiter), Martha (martha_s) and Morgan (flawedartist) instead. There were several familiar faces hanging out at that party. I chatted with Mickeleh, Travis (sivartis) and his fabulous boyfriend, Rob, also, my friend Michael Midnight was there and we had a chat too. P.S. I can now officially say that WheezyWaiter bought me a drink! Thanks Craig!

Saturday (VidCon Day 2)
Ewww... Saturday was a rough day. See, I never ate dinner on Friday, and then I had several drinks at that party on Friday night. So, of course, I woke up late with a hangover on Saturday. I didn't get out of the hotel room until nearly 12pm. I was dehydrated and tired most of the day. I really don't remember much of what I did during the earlier part of that day. I do remember that I went to a panel to see Molly, Hank and Julia Nunes talk about songwriting. The conversation they had just before the panel began was brilliant! Hank shared a nightmare he had that there was an earthquake and everyone at VidCon died. This led to a conversation about what would be written on a vloggers tombstone. We came up with some fun quotes; "Hank has unsubscribed from life" and the best one: "the body is in the dooblydoo".
Again, the evening was more eventful and noteworthy. My favorite bit at the concert was watching a live performance of the Double Rainbow song. After the concert, I skipped out ont the dance again and instead I hung out in the karaoke room for a bit. Later in the night I got some pizza with my friends Bill, MK and Will (actually there were two Will's). Will (Redd) introduced us to Tab, a diet soda that tastes like bubbles! Haha. Tab has a very unique taste that seems to disappear as soon as you taste it, so all I could say is that it tasted like bubbles. :-)

Sunday (VidCon Day 3)
Sunday was a good day. First, there was the brunch. I got to hang with my Classy Lady friends + John (johnzsinferno) and his awesome mom. After the brunch, everyone went to the 'big tent' to watch the final match of the world cup. This was my second most favorite moment of VidCon. Sitting in that room watching that game, surrounded by at least 400 nerdfighters, most of whom I know by name, it was just an amazing, incredible feeling. Not to mention, it was made even better because Tom Milsom and John Green were commenting during the breaks. It was just amazing to share that time with so many friends.



After the game, many of us convened in a smaller room to listen to Bill sing some songs before Hank hosted a live game of Truth or Fail. I always enjoy watching Bill perform. (That is how we became friends in the first place! Two years ago, we met because I was a fan of his band.) So that was fun. Then it was time to play Truth or Fail! Everyone in the room had to stand up and then Hank gave us our two choices. Everyone had to move to one side of the room or the other, depending on which 'Fact' we chose. Everyone who 'Failed' had to move to the back of the room before the next set of 'Facts'. We played two games and OMG!!!!!! I WON THE SECOND GAME!!!!!!!! It was amazing because there were prizes! That's how I won my new Flip camera with this fancy VidCon logo!



It is so much more satisfying to win a game of Truth or Fail when you are playing against a room full of people and you actually get something tangible as a reward! So much more fun than simply tweeting "Hey I got 5/5 on the new Truth or Fail!"

After Truth or Fail, it was time for Calvinball, hosted by my friends Molly and Chris. If you have no idea what Calvinball is, please educate yourself here. It just tickles me to remember that this actually happened. I love my friends for having the most awesome ideas, and speaking of friends with awesome ideas, we come to my final VidCon memory. During Calvinball my friend Bobby came over with Tom Milsom and Andrew Slack (from the HP Alliance) and they said they wanted to make a video to remind people to vote for the HP Alliance to win some much needed $$$. They said they needed a big crowd of people, so we opened the doors to Calvinball and everyone came out to help with the video. They recorded the video in one take and it turned out amazing. The HP Alliance went on to win the contest they were in, thanks to everyone who voted! It's an incredible feeling to be even a tiny part of something that is changing the world.



And that's it. It was time for us to leave the hotel after we helped film the video. The Classy Ladies stayed in LA for a couple of extra days. We went to Disneyland and had a blast, but VidCon was over. It is over. I can not wait for the next one. It was an amazing time. It's hard to deal with the reality now, waking up in my own bed, knowing that when I step out of my room I won't happen to run into Charlie McDonnell, there is no hope of sharing an elevator with WheezyWaiter, Hank Green is not sleeping just down the hallway from me. That was VidCon, but now I'm back to everyday life. There is definately a feeling that something needs to be done to make everyday feel more like a day at VidCon. I miss everyone's faces. Anyway, I'll just say goodby now or I'll keep rambling. Goodbye.



Have any questions about VidCon or anything else? Leave 'em in the comments.

International Flights

*Day 27* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

Just a quick blog today. I'm on my way to work and I am soo busy. Just a couple of days ago my friend Helen flew to Oregon from her home in England so she wrote her blog about her experience on the plane. This blog is simply a response to her blog.

I've travelled to Japan, so I have also had an experience with international flights. I had to take three planes and then drive for 3 hours to get to where I was going. It was a really long trip. I first flew from my home city, Las Vegas, Nevada to San Fransisco, CA. Then from there I flew to Nagoya, Japan. I changed planes again in Nagoya and flew from there to Fukuoka, Japan. (Nagoya and Fukuoka are on two different islands, but I forget the the names of the individual islands.) I met up with my brother and sister-in-law in Fukuoka and from there we drove to there home in Saesebo.

I never had any problems with customs, but I did have a problem changing flights in Nagoya. First, my flight from Nagoya to Fukuoka was being delayed by two hours. This worried me because my brother was waiting for me in Fukuoka and I had no way of calling him to tell him that I would be late. Also, I was sad, because I was so tired and hungry, but even though I had already changed my money, I didn't know how the money worked in Japan and I was afraid to buy anything. I admit, I was a bit scared because I didn't speak or read any Japanese and I being tired really didn't make me feel adventurous. Anyway, for my connecting flight, I was given a ticket that said Gate 7. So I went to Gate 7 and waited out the two hours, however, when I tried to board at Gate 7, the computer wouldn't allow me to board. Eventually, we figured out that I was supposed to be at Gate 5, which had already been boarding for half an hour and was about to leave! I almost missed the flight! Although, it didn't make much sense, the planes at Gate 5 and Gate 7 were both going to the same place! I honestly don't remember how I finally came to understand that they wanted me to board the plane at Gate 5 because I don't remember that anyone spoke english. I remember them writing things on my ticket in kanji, which I didn't understand at all. Somehow though, it all worked out.

As far as complaints about in-flight entertainment and such. Oh man was I mad! On the plan from California to Japan, I happened to have the one seat in the plane with a video monitor that was broken, so I couldn't watch movies or watch the flight progression or anything. I had a cd player with me, but what really got me through that flight was an in-flight radio station that was playing Disney music. They weren't just playing music from the movie soundtracks, they were also playing the background music that is played at the Disneyland theme park and some of the music from the rides. I had a gameboy with me which I could watch movies on (yes, they did make a few movies that were playable on the gameboy- I still have the Shrek movie for the gameboy) so I wasn't completely without entertainment, but still, when you pay for something, you expect to get what you pay for, and I didn't.

Alright, I'd love to say more, but I have to go to work soon. Only a few days left till VidCon! I am so excited! Have any topics you'd like me to write about before VidCon? Let me know in the comments and I'll respond. Goodbye till tomorrow. :-)

Today Is Our Independence Day!

*Day 26* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com


"Let England know our willingness,/For that our work is good,/ We hope to plant a nation/ Where none before hath stood." ~Newes From Virginia 1610

"One cannot be an American by going about saying one is an American. It is necessary to feel America, like America, love America and then work." ~ Georgia O'Keefe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is the American Independence Day! I feel compelled to write a patriotic blog today, so this is what you get.

Today we celebrate our Independence from England. It is a day where we remember the men who fought so fiercly for our freedom. We remember the men who founded our country and the values that drove them to seek Independence. We celebrate it on July 4, because it was on July 4, 1776 that our Continental Congress adopted The Declaration of Independence. (Even though we did not actually gain true freedom until much later.)

I'm half tempted to go into a history lesson about the writing of The Declaration of Independence, but I won't. All that I will say, is if you do not know much about the history, there is a brilliantly hilarious and truely entertaining musical called "1776" that tells the story of the The Declaration of Independence. You must watch it some time.

Today I really just want to talk about what I think it means to be American. I included the quote at the top from Georgia O'Keefe because it rather eloquently conveys they way I feel. America is a nation where anyone, no matter how lowly of a person you are, anyone can aspire to be whoever, or whatever they want to be, but you have to be willing to work your way up. I was born and raised in America and I feel that I have been ingrained with that feeling that I can do anything I want to do, so long as I put forth the effort. No one is going to hand me my dreams, I have to work for them on my own. I think people who immigrate to America also come here understanding that America will give them the opportunity to live a better life, but we expect them to work for it.

I admit that Americans often give off the idea that we are lazy and accustomed to luxury, but at our heart, we are a nation of people who are willing to work to earn our keep. I think, we all fall victim to the desire to get something for nothing. Who doesn't want an easy life? But, when the luxury fades and so do the opportunities for people to work hard, then our nation shows it's true colors. Especially now, our entire country has been suffering from an economic recession. My own sister has been out of a job for almost two years. Our opportunities are disappearing, and that is freaking us out. For over two hundred years, our country has stood on the principal belief that everyone is entitled to the pursuit of happiness. We've all been taught that if we work hard, we can have whatever life we want, but now, there is no work. The only avenue to happiness that we know of is disappearing. It is a sad time.

But Americans also know how to hope. We battled for our independence from England, we struggled through a bitter civil war, and we suffered through the Great Depression and we still made it through. You don't have to look far to find the spirit of hope in America. Listen to the lyrics of our National anthem, and you will see, the spirit of America is hope. It is not defiance, or pride. It is hope, that we will survive through the battle. We will, because that is the spirit of America.

"O! say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

I have one last quote to share with you and then I will say goodbye. I think the quote is a good testament to our past, and a good warning for the future. We should not forget it.

"Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity and hardihood - the things that made America. The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, saftey first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life." ~Theodore Roosevelt (the 26th president of the United States)

Thanks for reading. Have a happy Independence Day! Be safe, and goodbye 'till tomorrow. :-)

Nail Art

*Day 25* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

Today I'll talk about nail art. I have been doing nail art for almost a whole year now. I have done a total of 44 different designs on myself. (This is not counting times when I just paint my nails one solid color.)

Here are some of my favorites designs that I have done.


These were my nails for last Halloween. I got this design from a nail tutorial on youtube, I would link it here, but the video is no longer available.



These were my nails at Christmas. This turned out so pretty I think. I got this design from a nail tutorial video, Snowflake Nail Tutorial. In the video, she uses a brush to make the snowflakes, but I used a white nail art pen, it was much easier and faster that way.



This was another desing I copied from a nail tutorial, although I tweeked it a bit also. (I usually do my nails a little bit different from the tutorials.) Mardis Gras Nail Tutorial



I love Alice In Wonderland. This design was from a nail tutorial. Alice Nails

-Yes, I've gotten a lot of design ideas from nail tutorials. I'm not ashamed of this. I had no idea what I was doing at first. I had to start somewhere. The more designs I do though, the better I get and it's easier now to look at someone elses design and add my own twist to it. I've also come up with several designs of my own. Let's keep going.


Obviously, Hello Kitty. The pink and purple polka dots was my idea. I watched several Hello Kitty nail tutorials before I tried this design, just to get the idea of how to create the Hello Kitty face with nail polish. I used fine-tip nail art pens.


This one was pretty much my own design. I was going to the NASCAR races with my friends and I felt like doing something fun with my nails to show my racing spirit. So I just painted the nails black and the tips white. I used a fine tip nail art pen to make the checker pattern.



This was another desing I took from a nail tutorial. Purple Rock Star Nails I really like this design a lot. I want to do it again with a blue base.



This is another Alice In Wonderland inspired nail design. This was my own design. I made a nail tutorial for this design. Alice In Wonderland Nail tutorial



Another design taken from a nail tutorial. Stitched Heart Nail Tutorial. I really like this design a lot. It was one of my absolute favorites.



Spider-Man nails! I did these on my own. I'd been wanting to do super-hero inspired nail designs for awhile, and one night I just decided to give Spider Man a try. I used the cover of the third movie as inspiration. You can't really tell from the picture, but I used three colors of red to make a gradient from dark red to a light orange-red at the top of the nail. I sponged on black polish at the tips. These nails were incredibly detailed, but they were way easier to do than I thought they would be. I think, of all the designs I have done on my own, I am the most proud of this one.

If you want to give nail art a try, here is some advice.
-Don't skip out on base coat and top coat. Always use a base coat to prevent your nails from turning yellow. Using a top coat helps the desing to last longer and dry faster.

-Invest in fine-tip nail art pens. My favorite brand is sold at Sally Beauty Supply stores. They are actually cheaper than the Sally Hansen pens that are easier to find, but I wouldn't recommend them anyway because they tend to be watery and the paint chips off, even if you use a top coat. Also, check out www.miginailart.com they have a really great product.

-Just go for it! Don't be afraid to make mistakes (you will make mistakes). Usually, you are the only one who notices the mistakes. Have fun and be creative. If you get nail polish all over your fingers, then paint your nails at night, in the morning the extra paint will wash off in the shower.

That's all I have for you today. If you have any questions about nail art, or any blog topics you'd like me to discuss, then leave it in the comments. Otherwise, goodby 'till tomorrow. :-)

Once Upon A Time, Heather Dreamed of Hollywood

*Day 24* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

Did you know that before I went to school for geology, I dreamed of being an actress? You probably didn't. Most people who know me now, don't know that I was a theatre student for most of my life.

Well, I was! Starting in the fourth grade, I started going to magnet schools (specialized public schools that students had to audition for to be accepted). I chose to go to school for theatre and I was accepted into the program. Between 4th grade and 8th grade I performed in several plays and one-acts. When I got into high school, I still went to a theatre school, but I changed my focus from acting to technical theatre. I auditioned for a couple of plays in high school, but I never made it in. Instead, I made costumes for nearly every play that my school produced while I was in high school.

Of all the plays I performed in, there are only three roles I want to tell you about. In the fourth grade, my class performed a Shakespeare play called 'The Comedy of Errors'. The basic plot of the play is that there is a set of twins each named Antipholus who were separated when they were young. Also, both of the Antipholus characters has a servant named Dromio, the servants are also twins, separated at the same time as their masters. Well, the Anitpholus of Syracus is in Ephesus, looking for his lost brother. In fact that is where his brother actually lives, and the whole comedy begins when the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus sees the Antipholus of Syracus in town and drags him home, thinking it is her husband. In the actual script the Dromio characters are played by men, but to be fair, my teacher chose to have girls play the Dromio characters. I played the part of Dromio of Ephasus. I actually don't have any pictures from this play, or I would show you.

In the fifth grade our class performed Romeo & Juliet and I had the honor of playing the part of Juliet. That was a lot of fun. I loved the dress I got to wear for this role and I had so much fun pretending to die. I do have pictures somewhere, but they are lost at the moment.

In the 8th grade we were performing 'The Emporers' New Clothes'. During auditions for this play, I had only read about half of the script and I decided to audition for the role of Patches. I just really wanted to be in the play and Patches seamed to be a fun and over-looked character. I didn't think that many other people would want to audition for that role, so I auditioned for the part and I got it. Once I got the part, I finished reading the script only to find that Patches gets crowned as King at the end of the play! Ha! So that turned out to be a really fun role to play. Especially because I was the only character that was 'allowed' to laugh at the character of the King when he walked out on the stage wearing only his underwear! I think this was probably my favorite role I ever performed. It was the most fun.

Another tid-bit worth mentioning from my acting days is that I got to be an extra in a movie when I was in the Fifth grade. The movie was called 'For Which He Stands'. You can google it. It turned out to be a rather dull movie, but I was in it! I got paid $120 I think for being in that movie. It was the first paycheck I ever got and I was only 11 years old. (I still have the paycheck stub, but it is in a photo album in the bottom of a chest somewhere in my garage, so I'm sorry, I am not going to go dig it out to scan it and show you.)

Like I said before, by the time I got to high school, I changed my focus to the technical side of theatre. I got to help make costumes for a lot of plays, but I think the best time I had was working on a musical called Honk! It was essentially a play about the ugly duckling story, but working on the costume crew for that play was the best. All of the characters were animals, but we didn't dress them in cat, duck, goose, frog, or swan costumes. We dressed them in clothes that 'suggested' the animal that they were, and their movements and dialouge conveyed the rest. It was an amazing show to watch. Anyway, it was a lot of fun for a long time because we performed it early in the school year, but we were told that the school would be taking that play to the Thespian Festival in Licoln, Nebraska during the summer. So when school was over in June, we resumed rehearsals, we spruced up all the costumes and the sets. We ran the show again for one week before going to the festival, and then we packed it all up and went to Nebraska. Going to the Thespian Festival was an amazing event all in itself. What an amazing time. We saw 2-3 major stage productions every day and there were one-acts and monolouges to go watch nearly all day if we wanted and all kinds of workshops. There were dances at night after the plays and the final night, we were all required to dress in formal attire. There were students at the festival from a Japanese school and those girls came to the final performance dressed in elegant kimonos. They were so beautiful. *Sigh* I miss being a theatre student a lot sometimes. Anyway... that's my story for today.


Here's some pictures from plays that I helped make costumes for in high school.

Honk! The frogs teach Ugly a lesson about love.


Honk! Prepare for takeoff! The geese lead the way.


Caucasian Chalk Circle


Hello Dolly!


Les Miserables

Ok, okay. Goodbye 'till tomorrow.

VidCon: What's the big deal anyway?! (um... Classy Ladies!)

*Day 23* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

This blog is a response to 3 people all at once. My friend Blake asked me to tell the story of how I met/found the people that I am going to see at VidCon and why is the whole trip to VidCon worth it to me. Also, in the past few days my friend Mary Kate posted a vlog (watch it here) discussing this same topic and my friend Helen posted a blog in response to Mary Kate's video. (Helen's blog) Mary Kate, Helen, and I all met eachother in person for the first time last year at the Northwest Youtube Gathering in Portland, Oregon, so check out their posts if you want, their stories kind of tie into mine.

To tell the story of how I met/found the people that I will be seeing at VidCon, we have to go back to the summer of 2008. That was the summer I met Bill Martin, you might know him as Dr. Noise, but when I met him, I only knew him as Bill Martin: the lead singer of Hang 'Em High. I was a fan of his band and would go to nearly all of their shows. I always went alone because I didn't have any friends at the time. (2008 was a bad year for me and I had a falling out with all of my friends in February of that year.) Anyway, being alone wasn't so bad because Bill and his bandmates were always really friendly to me. Whenever I would go to their shows they would hang out with me and we became friends.

In October of 2008, John Green was on a book tour for Paper Towns. Bill had recently just finished "The Tetris Piece" video and was planning to go to see John Green in Santa Monica, CA with his bandmates, but none of his bandmates were able to go. Three days before the Santa Monica event, Bill asked me if I would go with him to a "gathering". At first, I couldn't go either (I was starting a second job that day), but I took a chance and asked my boss if I could possibly start at a later day and he said sure. So, the day before going to California Bill explained to me about the vlogbrothers, I didn't have much time to watch their videos, so I found a playlist of the "top 20 vlogbrothers videos". I watched those and that was all the knowledge I had of the vlogbrothers or of nerdfighteria when I went to meet John Green for the first time.

Anyway, I am really really glad that Bill took me with him that day. We met a lot of awesome people that day, at least some of them are still my friends today; Amber (theamberyone), Karissa (imgonnabeatree), Chris (ckwright), Gen (justGen), and Elayna (akalaynee) (and three of those are Classy Ladies! More about Classy Ladies in a bit.)


Me, Bill and Karissa! Candid photo taken by Elayna at the Paper Towns book signing


I think I sort of started watching the vlogbrothers regularly after that, but I still didn't really get into the whole youtube community until later. In March of 2009 Monica (shortMonica) from the shortsisters756 came out west. She, Bill and Todd (Toddly00) hosted a mini youtube/nerdfighter gathering at Huntington Beach. That was the day I really got to know Chris (ckwright), Gen (justGen) and Elayna (akalaynee) better and we met some new friends too; Amy (amyhirschman), Najela, Amanda, and Lauren are the ones I remember most. I finally joined Twitter after the March gathering and that's when I started subscribing to other nerdfighters on youtube.



the Huntington beach gathering

The last major event I have to talk about is the Northwest Youtube Gathering that was in June of last year. Bill had decided to go, but he wanted to drive there and he wanted a few people to go with him to help pay for gas. I said I would go. Bill's roommate, Andy, was supposed to go with us, and Bill's girlfriend was comeing too. As the time got closer though, Andy couldn't or didn't want to go and so Chris (ckwright) offered to join the ride at the last minute. Honestly, I really didn't know what to expect from this gathering at all. I didn't really know who was going to be there, I was just excited to be traveling with my friends. (I kind of love road trips).

Anyway, when we got there, we met up with all of the people from vlogtag [Helen (helenzebcharles), James (aslanenlisted), Bobby (themefund), Adam (adamthealien), Leslie (foundhergrail), and Mary Kate (timelord_mk)] plus a few other lovely people, a couple of whom I'd already met, like: Amber (theamberyone), Karissa (imgonnabeatree) and Trevor, and Molly (molly23). Collectively, these are the "classy ladies". These are the people that Bill, Sammi, Chris and I stayed with while we were in Portland and this is the group of people that I would consider to be my closest friends. These are the people that I am most excited to see again at VidCon. I have seen Molly, Chris and Amber many times since the NWYTG, and Adam came to visit me and Bill in Las Vegas last October, but the rest I have not seen since that weekend in Portland. This is why I am so excited for VidCon. (Not to mention, Bill has since moved away from Las Vegas and I haven't seen him in 4 months.)


the classy ladies at NWYTG 2009

There are so many other people that I met at the NWYTG and at subsequent events and even just online that I am excited to see at VidCon. Going to VidCon is not only worth it, it is absolutely important to me to go because of all of the people who will be there. To me, youtube and nerdfighteria is not a community of strangers, it is a community of friends and friends I haven't met yet. These gatherings are where I grow and strengthen my friendships and make new ones.


Hank Green's impromtu nerdfighter gathering in Las Vegas, NV - November 1, 2009



Hank Green's "This Machine Pwns Noobs" tour. Los Angelas, Ca -November 14, 2009


Nerdfighters at the Los Angelas Times Festival of Books/ Will Grayson, Will Grayson book tour with John Green and David Levithan. Los Angelas, CA - April 25, 2010


*Only 6 blogs left till VidCon! If you have any topics you want me to discuss or questions you want me to answer, leave a comment. Goodbye till tomorrow. :-)