Review of Maybelline Colorblur cream matte pencil and smudger

Hey tenacious cookies!

Well it's a Sunday night and I decided I would write this review really quick. So, I'm a sucker for new lip products, especially cheap drug store products that claim to provide hours of color. Naturally, this product was something I certainly wanted to test.

So, my local Walmart didn't seem to have a wide range of colors. At first I thought it was just my store, but when I looked at the product online later on I realized the color range just isn't that wide. There really isn't a nude color, which is disappointing. As a pale individual that likes to go for a natural makeup look, bold lipstick just isn't my thing. I ended up choosing the shade 50 called "I like to mauve it." Mauve is a color I particularly like, so I was deeply confused by the very pink tube. I assumed the color would be much more brown than the tube. I was wrong. I feel like the name is a bit deceiving considering the color.

Initial Thoughts: this product seems a lot like any ordinary lip stain and balm duo. However, I like the lip pencil a bit better than the usual lip stain. I think the color is pretty deep and rich for a drugstore brand. I also enjoyed the smudger, I think it really helped prevent feathering. Unfortunately, the color is not mauve. I would say it is more of a dusty rose color. The only other negative thing is my lips feel a little stiff, like the product dried them out. I'm a sufferer of chronic chapped lips, so a lot of lip products do this anyway. Here is a picture of me right after applying the product.

Thoughts After 4 hours: Well, this product has not come off too much, but I haven't eaten or drank anything. The color isn't quite as vibrant, which I actually prefer, but again bright lip color is not my thing.

Final Verdict: After eating and drinking I can confidently say that this product definitely requires touch ups throughout the day. I know for some people that's no big deal, but I hate having to touch up my makeup during the day, especially after I eat. I do think it's a better product than the usual lip stain in that the color is much better. Overall, I'm not certain if this is a product I will be reaching for all that often. Maybe if I layered a lip gloss over it or something else my lips wouldn't feel so dry after application.

If anyone else has tried these products let me know!

Thoughts on Taylor Swift's Clean Speech

Hey tenacious cookies. So, it's a Saturday night and I stumbled onto this amazing short speech by T-swizzle, which can be viewed here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZFEOuhiilo

Honestly, I've been feeling a little down lately. Sometimes life just takes its toll on us and gets us down for a little bit. After hearing this speech though, I felt a bit better. I just wanted to tell you guys my thoughts about it, and why I think everyone should listen to it.

Lately, damaged has been quite a buzz word. By damaged I mean a person who has experienced something or made a mistake that left them forever changed in a negative manner. Women especially will describe themselves as damaged. I know it's a common word I used to describe myself after my first breakup. I told everyone that I was damaged, that I would never be the same, that my heart had turned cold and would never thaw. Even to this day, a few years later, I'm still not the same person I was. But, the thing is, as Taylor Swift said, we're not damaged, we're wiser because of our hardships and mistakes. That really resonated with me and changed the way I thought about the differences between who I am now and who I used to be. Instead of thinking I'm damaged I thought to myself maybe I was just too naive in the first place, and now I'm a wiser person. 

Additionally, she briefly touches on the idea that sometimes just getting out of bed and doing what needs to be done is good enough, even if it's not perfectly executed. I think everyone has days when they would rather lay in bed or sit around in their pajamas then go to school, to work, to face a boyfriend/friend, and we should mentally reward ourselves just for getting on with things.

Most importantly, Taylor Swift reminds us that we shouldn't compare ourselves to other people, because our perspective from the outside is skewed. Everyone has doubts, negative experiences, and insecurities, but we hide them very well with fake smiles, selfies for instagram, hundreds of friends on Facebook we never actually talk to in real life, etc. So, when you compare yourself to someone else you're judging your insecurities against the image they're projecting. That's not a fair comparison.

So Taylor Swift is a queen and such an amazing role model for everyone.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!!

Why I'm a Feminist

Heyyyyy tenacious cookies! It's another beautiful day. Today I want to talk about why I am a feminist and what that means. Bear with me, this it an out of the ordinary post for me but I've been wanting to write about this for such a long time!

First of all lets start off with what feminism is: the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. It is essentially the belief that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of their gender.

Here's what feminism IS NOT: the belief that women are superior to men and therefore men should be hated.

So why is there so much confusion? It's because there are so many misconceptions about feminists and what they believe in. There are women out there who hate men, and they're called misandrists. I don't hate any man I meet or consider him an oppressor. I don't blame men in the present for the oppression of women in the past. I also don't think every man is a rapist. I think that rape is a big problem, and as a society we should focus as much on teaching men not to rape as we do teaching girls how to protect themselves. Moreover, some men see feminist women as hypocrites because we claim we want to be treated equally but then we ask men to treat us like princesses. Those aren't true feminists. If a guy takes me out to the movies, I won't yell at him if he wants to open to door for me or wants to pay for everything. But on the next date I expect to do those things. I expect to give the same about of love as I am taking. I'm not a princess and I don't need rescuing, but if you take care of me I will take care of you back.

I could go on and on about this, but now I want to explain why I am a feminist. Growing up, I was a major nerd, and in 1st-8th grade it caused me to be picked on A LOT. The geeky boys got left alone, but for a girl to be nerdy was so unheard of. I got spitballs in my hair, sprayed with a water gun, and I was always the weirdo without a partner for the annual group project. My freshman year of high school, when I confided in a friend that I felt left out because all my friends had boyfriends she suggested I "dumbed [myself] down a little bit to be less intimidating to the guys." She told me that guys thought I was attractive until I started talking and they realized I was a total nerd.

Even now, as a college student majoring in microbiology (and hopefully going to graduate school for biomedical engineering) it can be hard. My classes are predominantly male, and I don't feel like I belong, especially since I'm not like the stereotypical female scientist (frumpy looking and socially inept). Most of the males in my class either assume I am stupid or can't even look me in the eye when I speak to them.

Female scientists had always had a tough time, and that hasn't changed. I'm sure most people heard about Thomas Morgan's comment about women at a WOMEN'S CONFERENCE. Talk about the wrong time and place to say:
“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry!” This buzzfeed does a great job of capturing the entire fiasco, and women's social media responses (these women rock btw).

http://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/biohazard-suits-are-nsfw

This is why I am a feminist, it's 2015 and this is still commonplace. It's not okay. The women handled it flawlessly, but comments like that should never be made in the first place. Don't misunderstand me though, feminism is about more than just this issue, but this is the issue that made me passionate about feminism and made it personal for me. 

Anyway, thanks for reading through that entire thing. To all the men and women out there that hate feminism, I <3 you but you have to understand what feminism actually is. I honestly don't believe these issues will be resolved until more people, men especially, support feminism. 

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Wednesday! Halfway done with another week!

Getting Back Into Blogging and School Tips

Hello tenacious cookies!

Let me start off this post with an apology: Though I am not sure if anyone actually reads these posts, I am very sorry I haven't been blogging over the last couple months. Things got so crazy midway through the summer and I just lost track of time. But I am back at college and ready to get back to blogging in what little free time I have right now. I thought a fitting post would be some back to school tips, mainly for college students! Here we goooooo....

1) Time management - I am sure everyone has heard 100000 times that time management is important. Growing up, it really was not. I could put things off until the night before they were due and everything always turned out fine. In college that simply does not fly. Studying for an exam takes weeks of preparation, even if you are naturally intelligent and pick up on things quickly. Get a planner and each day make a list of what you need to get done. Make sure it's realistic though, and make sure you complete everything on it most days so you don't fall behind.

2) The freshman 15 is real - You've been warned lol. My freshman year I only gained 8lbs but it still was bad. My advice to you is to avoid the meal plans and make your own food. I live off of frozen entrees. The reason it is better is because you are able to control exactly what is going into your body.

3) Don't get too caught up in choosing a major - You're going to change it anyway. I've changed mine 3 times already and still don't really know what I want to do with my life. You'll learn what you like through taking different classes and participating in extra curricular activities.

4) Don't feel bad about doing things alone - So many people feel bad about themselves when they are at a restaurant, the student union, riding the bus, etc. alone. That's how you make new friends! Think about it, when you do things in a group and already have a friend there you are probably paying less attention to the strangers around you. Also, beyond freshman year most of your old high school friends will all have different schedules. Your paths will start diverging. It can be hard but it's just how life works. I only kept one friend from high school, and that's a rare thing. The only exception to this is going out at night. Always have a friend with you just in case!

5) Get to know your professors and TAs- This is important to success for many people. Your class could have anywhere from 25 people (like high school) to 900 people (I kid you not..). It can be hard to feel like you belong when you're just your student ID number to a professor. If you are able to form some kind of bond with them it can make you a more successful student. Also, if you plan to go to graduate school you'll need letters of recommendation from professors.

6) Don't worry if you don't connect with your roommates - If you were randomly assigned to live with people don't worry if you guys don't become BFFs or things are slightly awkward. Just make sure you guys agree on things like when to go to bed, how clean things should be, if it's okay to have boys over, etc.

7) It takes time to learn to live on your own - Laundry, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, taking care of yourself when you're sick, it's probably a new thing when you're a freshman. Learning these things make us adults-in-training. It's hard and super overwhelming at first, but you'll catch on eventually. Just be patient with yourself and don't be afraid to ask for help.

8) You don't have to rush to make friends - for colleges that aren't part of the southern US you probably don't have a clue what I am talking about. But here in the south Greek life is a big deal. Colleges have 10 or so Pan-Hellenic sororities, and rush is a week long event where you visit all the different sororities and they decide if they want to offer you a bid to join. For some girls it is amazing and they find their "sisters", but for others it is utterly disappointing. And that's okay. Just know that if you don't get a bid there are so many other places to make friends. It's not the end of the world if you aren't "Greek."

9) Don't buy your books right away or ever at the campus bookstore - You want to wait until the first week of class to buy a book because your professor may tell you it's not necessary, or give you the link to the ebook for free. The bookstore is also a rip off always. Amazon prime lets you rent books for a semester (and gives you free 2-day shipping). Moreover, a lot of colleges have a group on social media where students sell and buy books off of each other.

10) Go to lots of events on campus - this is a good way to make friends but also learn about the community you are a part of. Go to any event that sounds even remotely interesting to you, you never know who you could meet.

Hope everyone is enjoying the new school year! All aboard the struggle bus!