♡ What I've Been Listening To ♡

Hi, guys! Here's just a list and description of some artists and/or songs I've been loving lately!

Charli XCX//Nuclear Seasons

Charli's very Marina and the Diamonds-ish, sound wise. I saw her perform this song live this past spring and I'm addicted. Along with this song, check out You (Ha Ha Ha) by her!

Ariana Grande//The Way and Emotions

This song's been everywhere on the radio and I've loved it since I heard the leaked version on tumblr. Ariana has a similar voice/sound to Mariah Carey and this is just a happy, "pretty" song to listen to.

As for "Emotions",  Ariana did a cover on the song originally by Mariah. I personally like the cover better, and Ariana's voice is just beautiful in this song.

Paramore//Now

I've been a fan of Paramore since "Misery Business" released and I bought this entire album immediately when I could. I particularly like "Now" and Hayley Williams is definitely one of my favorite singers to listen to.

Lana Del Rey//Young and Beautiful

I think this song is just perfect. Lana's voice is completely unique, beautiful, and even a little haunting. I meant to listen to this song when it first released but the first time I heard it was when I was watching The Great Gatsby, which this song is basically the theme song to. It's incredibly romantic, but might not suit everybody's taste. I love it though!

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment or suggest ideas for posts you'd like to see from me!

XO, Blue

♡ My Experience with Barbizon Modeling and Talent Agency ♡

So a few weeks ago, I received a call from a random number, but I picked up because the call came from my state. It was the assistant of a talent scout from Barbizon wanting to arrange a meeting and interview with me. At the time, I knew nothing about them and only saw them advertised in the back of Seventeen magazines.

I was extremely confused because I'd never applied to the agency or had any sort of contact with them before, but the girl had told me that somebody had personally recommended me to them and given my phone number. They didn't know who had called for me because he or she didn't give their name, but apparently they thought I was worthy to try to be apart of the agency.

My mom arranged a time to meet with her at a Holiday Inn 45 minutes away from where I live. She said the interview would only take about half an hour where she would just take the time to get to know me/assess my personality and looks. 

I thought we'd go in, talk with the assistant, then leave. But when I went, I sat through a meeting consisting of a roomful of other guys/girls for over an hour and listened to a speaker tell us about Barbizon and the different brands we would have the opportunity to work for, if we were selected to be in the agency. 

There were 3 groups of potentials, myself being in the 2nd group I believe, and only 15 people would be selected to move onto training and then become a part of the agency full time. 

There were 3 talent scouts doing the interviews, and since they were about half an hour long with a roomful of other people, you can imagine it took quite awhile to get to everybody. I had to wait a considerable time, but my interview was very short and to the point. I was asked about my grades in school, extracurriculars, hobbies, talents, interests, and of course, my info about height, weight, and so on. The scout was immediately attracted to my hair, it being 2 feet long, and said if I was chosen to go into training, I could have a future career in hair modeling and hair shows. She also asked me to walk down the room and back to see how I walk, and also concluded I had potential in runway, modeling, and possible acting opportunities. 

She said she would call my mom the very next day telling her whether I was selected or not, and told us the fees for training if I did get a yes. It ended up being $2100, and that made us skeptical about the whole thing. After my mom and I left, we decided that even if I got a yes, we would pass because I couldn't see myself being in the agency for over a year. The training lasts 6 months, so after I graduated from that, it would be the start of my senior year in high school. I would do and look for work during that year, but I wouldn't want to do it while in college. It's strenuous enough attending university, so I didn't want to add a modeling/acting career to that as well. I wouldn't have the time or energy to devote to constantly looking for bookings and work. 

I actually ended up getting selected as one of the 15, and after listening to the scout talk about everything again, my mom did a 180 and changed her mind. She wanted me to do it, was completely willing to pay for it, and thought it'd be a good opportunity. She checked with the scout about my college concerns, and she said that they book a lot of work in the city where I plan to attend school. At that point, I didn't care anymore about it and told my mom that if my dad said it was alright to do it, I would, but if he wasn't, oh well. He said no, because he thought the whole thing was a huge scam. and after I thought about it, so did I. Ford Modeling Agency, for instance, has walk in assessments and will take you on as a model for FREE if they think you're qualified. 

So in the end, I'm glad I decided not to go through with it/my dad decided against it. I would like to model at least once in my lifetime, but if I do, I won't need to pay for a thing.

I don't recommend that anybody try to be a part of this agency. If you really want to model, look for agencies like Ford who do open casting calls and will sign you for free!

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment or suggest any ideas for posts you'd like to see from me!

XO, Blue

♡ Life Update ♡

Hi guys, sorry I haven't updated in a little while, I've been busy!

I've been a little unsure of what else to post, but now I have some new things to show and talk about soon!
Expect a:

• What's In My Makeup Bag post
• Bedroom and Clothing Haul
• Makeup Haul
• My Experience with Barbizon Modeling and Talent Agency post
• small What To Listen To post about music I've been loving

Anyway, on to updates:

So recently, I made my own banking account and ordered a debit card. Those take typically a week, give or take a few days, to arrive and mine didn't show for over 2 weeks. I had to deal with canceling the first card (it might've gotten stolen or lost, I don't know what happened to it) and order another one. Nothing major, but once I get it, I'll be ordering some new clothes and things for my room!

I'm going to Mexico! I'm spending a week in Cancun with family, so expect way too many selfies and beach pictures.

I passed on an opportunity to model and act for Barbizon. Expect a separate post on this within the day or next few days!

I've decided to change up my hair color a little! It's been the same ombre style since 2011 with touch ups here and there, but color wise, nothing's changed. I'm still going to keep the ombre, it being my favorite hair style i've ever had, but I'll be switching the shade!

That's about it for updates, thanks so much for reading! Feel free to comment or give me any requests for posts you'd like to see!

XO, Blue

♡ Tips For Beautiful, Healthy Hair ♡

Back when I still had a facebook,  I would always get asked what I do to my hair/how I keep it so healthy looking. So I figured I'd make a full, in-depth post about it, and include some tips!

This is a no-brainer: stop using heating tools so much. I know it can be hard, especially when you love the way your hair looks curled or like keeping it sleek and straight, but this is one of the most important things you can do for your hair, cut back or even stop using them altogether. It may seem as though parting or cutting back on hair straighteners and curlers are impossible, but you're just dependent on them! Natural hair isn't so bad! Go some days with your natural hair pulled back in a ponytail or up in a bun, rather than use heat tools everyday. You get new hairstyles and healthier hair, it's a win/win!

Even with blow drying, you shouldn't be blow drying your hair unless absolutely necessary, like if you need to be somewhere within the hour and you can't leave the house with your hair wet/damp. There is no reason for you to blow dry your hair otherwise. Let it air dry! You'll notice a difference in your hair's condition after a few showers!

When showering, keep the water warm or on the cooler side. I know that hot showers feel amazing, but hot water is damaging to hair; it strips oils from it and dries it out. I recommend rinsing your hair with warm water with a shot of cold water for a few seconds to make hair shiny!

In my opinion, all girls need a good hair oil to put on their ends while their hair is damp. They give your ends, the driest part of the hair, extra moisture and improve its condition. I personally have been using Moroccan Oil for years and I will never be able to go without it ever again. It's on the pricey side, but I think it's worth it! A little goes a long way and it makes your hair incredibly soft. It smells amazing too!

There's been a myth going around that Pantene and other brands, like Herbal Essences and Tresemme, are horrible for your hair. And I used to believe it and steer my family and friends away from those brands, but now I've come to a conclusion: everybody's hair is different. Different products work for different people. I know friends who use Pantene and have gorgeous, healthy hair, while others who've tried it, like myself, didn't like the results as much. I believe that you should use the shampoos and conditioners that work for YOU and pay no attention to the people and supposed critics who try to tell you using something is wrong. If it works for you and doesn't damage your hair, keep on using it!

Here's what I personally do to my hair: I wash it every other or every 2 days with Redken's "All Soft" formula shampoo and conditioner, but I plan on switching to their "Diamond Oil" one soon because I like that one better! I use more expensive shampoos and conditioners because they have the best formulas for hair (Redken and etc. have different formulas for different hair types) that keep my hair looking its best! I let my hair air dry, rub 5 pumps of Moroccan Oil into my ends, and that's it! I don't use any heat tools whatsoever. I used to use them every day for 3 and a half years and I wouldn't be able to leave my house until it was done. I've gone without them for a little over half a year, and it's the best decision I've ever made for my hair. I recommend it to everybody!

Some simple tips:

• Use elastics with no metal on it! Those silver parts on elastics tend to snag the hair and cause breakage on the hair around the elastic. I recommend twisty-ties!
• Use a comb to brush through hair after showers, NEVER a full brush. Combs are gentler, while brushes stretch and break hair while wet!
• Prepare for the weather: if it's really sunny outside, put on some extra oil in your hair to protect it and keep it moisturized because too much sun exposure makes hair brittle!
• Take Biotin supplements, it promotes good hair health and in some cases, makes hair grow!
• Trim your split ends, NOT to make your hair grow faster (myth), but to prevent the split from traveling up the shaft!
• Use a boar-bristle brush for brushing dry hair; they don't pull or tug on tangles, and it's pain-free brushing! I use a Mason Pearson, but there are many cheaper ones out in the market.

Thanks so much for reading! If you have any comments or want me to review or discuss a certain topic, comment below!

XO, Blue

♡ Summer Makeup/Body Care Essentials ♡

Makeup:

Makeup Setting Spray
Obviously, makeup doesn't hold up well in the heat, so these sprays will prevent it from "melting" off of your face! These are both from Urban Decay; the left controls the oils on your face so that sweating and oily skin won't be as much of a problem anymore! The right simply keeps your makeup in place for long period of time. The "All Nighter" is my favorite, and it does actually work!

Packed Powder

These are better than loose translucent powder in the summer because they're not as messy (no one wants to deal with loose, easily spilled powder in public places!) and they're perfect for touch ups on the go! If your makeup/foundation is starting to budge, you can just pull this out for a quick fix! The picture on the left being a setting powder, the right is a powder foundation! Many girls don't want to deal with liquid foundation in the heat, so they turn to powder foundations because it's easier and more comfortable in warm weather!

Lip Balm

It's a no-brainer that the sun = chapped lips, so lip balm is an absolute essential! And of course, there are products such as the Revlon Lip Butters and Maybelline Color Whispers that are lip balms and a lip color in one!

Body Products:

Body Mist/Fragrance
Most perfumes are too heavy for the summer, so body mists like this one are perfect because they're light, easily portable, and smell amazing for summer! I have this mist, and I love it!

Spray Sunscreen
I prefer spray sunscreens to lotions because it's less time-consuming to apply! And I would recommend wet skin/waterproof formulas so that it won't easily fade from sweat!

Moisturizer
Nobody wants patchy, peeling skin, so moisturizer is a must. This one from The Body Shop has aloe to soothe your skin from being outside in the sun all day, and it has SPF 15!

Thankyou so much for reading! If you would like me to review or feature anything or a topic, please feel free to let me know in the comments!

XO, Blue

♡ Mini Collective Haul ♡

Hi, dolls! Sorry I haven't posted in a long time. I haven't felt inspired to post anything, but now I'm coming back to this blog and I'm going to try to post daily or at least multiple times a week!

With my own paychecks, I bought the clothes/necklace, and the body products. The rest was gifted to me!

(Starting with the clothes left to right as shown above)
Nasty Gal "Modern Romance" Top

Here's me wearing the top!

I LOVE this top! For a few weeks, I wasn't sure whether or not I really wanted to buy this, but I'm really glad I did. It's made of a thin, chiffon-y material and the color's actually a light blush not white like the picture. But I love it just the same! I think it's very versatile, which is a main reason why I bought it. I want to be able to wear this gorgeous piece during any season! The material is light enough that you can wear it in the spring and summer, but since it's long sleeve, you can incorporate it into fall/winter too! Unfortunately, NG doesn't sell this anymore.

Nasty Gal "Look Out" Tank

I bought this to be a staple piece during the summer! I don't have many simple tanks that I can wear often in warmer weather (I have alot of "busy" pieces that I can't wear often because of repeat-offending!) So when I saw this, I thought it'd be perfect! It's in a gorgeous color and it's super light! This top also has a really cute open back:

I loved the opening in the back and thought it was the perfect excuse to layer a pretty bandeau underneath! And as you can see from the above picture, the top is super long, so you have the choice of wearing it long or tucking it in like the first picture!

Nasty Gal "Tiered Crochet Shorts"

Here's me wearing the shorts!

I'm absolutely in love with these shorts. I had been on the hunt for the perfect pair of cream lace shorts and none of them really jammed my jams (shout out to Mitchell Davis!) until I saw these. These are high-waisted and have a stretchy waist. They're really comfortable, enough to sleep in! I actually sleep in these all the time because they're so comfy. Out of the 4 NG items I bought, this is my favorite piece!

Brandy Melville "I Love You To The Moon And Back" Muscle Tee

Lately I've been loving muscle tees, so I bought this one from Brandy cause it's plain (staple) and I thought the phrase on it was really cute! It's made out of a thin cotton material and when I say thin, I mean thin. The ends of the shirt curl up because of how thin it is! But I don't mind it, since it's for the summer. It keeps me feeling cooler in hot weather and it looks super cute paired with just simple jean shorts!

Nasty Gal "Muscle Beach Crop Tee"

I bought this plain black one as another summer staple item. I thought this would be on the looser/baggier side and would be made with a cotton material, so I bought a size smaller than I typically would with tops like these. I was wrong on both accounts: since I assumed it to be baggy and bought a smaller size, this top it tighter on me than I would like and the material isn't cotton, it's a slippery Rayon. After checking the site again, it did say what the material was and that could've given me a bigger clue as to what size to get, but I usually don't check that information and ended up getting something completely different than what I wanted/expected. I still like the top, I'll just have to style it differently! I'm going to Cancun this July, so I can wear it as a cover-up top. And I can wear this with "scuba" skirts and tight, high-waisted skirts!

Brandy Melville "Copper Wrapped White Crystal Necklace"

I bought this because I've always wanted a long necklace with a crystal on the end like this one! I've always thought they were gorgeous and simple enough to wear with anything, so I decided to just buy one! The chain is super thin, which I love because thin necklace chains are my favorite, but it's also the downside to this necklace. It's easily breakable! So I really have to be cautious when wearing this; but that isn't a problem because I'm typically careful with my jewelry!

Now on to the body/misc. products!

(Starting left to right)

Gum: My mom got me this gum at an Asian grocery store; I used to chew this gum ALL the time as a child, so whenever I have it again, I feel like a little girl again. The flavors are orange, strawberry, melon, and grape, and there's two of each (as you can see, i've eaten one side of the pack already)!

Victoria's Secret PINK "Sun Kissed" Body Spray: I originally use Viktor and Rolf's "Flowerbomb" perfume and I absitively-posilutely love it, but it's too strong of a scent for summer, so I decided to buy a body mist I could carry around/wear all the time that is appropriate for this season. I love coconut/vanilla/beachy smells, so I wanted that sort of scent. I popped into my VS just to browse after I got off of work last week and I found this! The bottle describes the scent as "coconut water and sunny vanilla" so I thought this was perfect for me! The only downside is that the scent doesn't last too long and if I wanted to really smell it on me, I would have to put my nose to my skin. But I don't have an issue with re-spraying, so I'm happy with this!

Bath and Body Works "Malibu Heat" Body Wash: Going again with what I said about wanting an appropriate scent for summer, I picked this body wash because it has the perfect scents! I originally went in to buy "Aruba Coconut" because I use that line's lotion and I LOVE it, but after smelling this wash, I went with this one instead! The bottle describes the scent as "a fresh blend of juicy pineapple, California orange and creamy coconut milk". It sounds so good it makes me want to eat it! I've used this about twice, and I have no complaints!

Dove "Go Sleeveless" Deodorant: This product is pretty straight-forward and boring. I never need to wear deodorant, but I bought this for when I know I'll be outside for long periods of time (I go to a lot of outdoor music festivals in the summer). I got it in the scent "shea butter"!

Maybelline's "The Rocket" Mascara

I usually only use high-end brands of makeup, but lately, I've been trying tons of drugstore mascaras because I get through them quickly, the high-end brands I use aren't available in my town, and it's too tiring to keep traveling to different cities and ordering for it. I've been hearing many good reviews about this mascara from friends and youtube, so I decided to give this a go! I haven't tried it out yet, but I'm excited to see how it works on me! If you'd like for me to post a full review on this, comment below and let me know! 

Forever 21 Cosmetics Bag

I bought this for two reasons: I needed a new bag to keep my skin-care, etc. products in whenever I travel, and because of MissGlamorazzi on youtube! I wouldn't have ever known about this bag if MG didn't include it in one of her haul videos. I thought it was sososo cute, so I had to buy it. And I carry a lot of products when I travel, and this fits everything in, including my massive hairbrush! I love this bag and now I want to travel everywhere so I can bring it along!

Sorry about the huge post! Since I haven't done one in a long while, I wanted to come back with a bang, haha! If you don't like long posts like this, please let me know in the comments. If there's any type of product/topic you'd like me to cover, let me know, again, in the comments! 

PLEASE don't be shy to leave comments, I would really appreciate it if you left some! 

Thanks for reading!

XO, Blue

♡ Product Review: Clinique Skincare ♡

This was my first time using a full set of Clinique skincare products, so I thought I might as well make a review on my experience!

But first, mini story time: Earlier this year, my skin started acting up and breaking out more frequently than it ever had. I'd never had "bad" skin before, so it was extremely concerning for me. I started using Proactive's products, but even that didn't clear me up. I always knew that Clinique was revered for its skin care line, so I decided to give them a go to see if their products would improve my skin.

I went to my nearest Clinique counter, and these are the products that were recommended to me by a professional:

(left to right: Acne Solutions cleanser, clarifying lotion toner for oily/combination skin, moisturizing gel lotion for oily/combination skin, Acne Solutions acne healing gel)

Acne Solutions cleanser: very foamy and watery; gentle
clarifying lotion toner: drying, has a very strong smell, skin/pore tightening
moisturizing gel lotion: watery, mostly moisturizing, slightly drying
Acne Solutions acne healing gel: very drying, makes skin flake, stops blemishes from worsening, recommended to use on worst acne, use sparingly

I had also picked up a pamphlet at the counter and I read on it that skin could possibly become worse before improving because of the shift/lifting of bacteria and impurities from the skin. I didn't think anything of it because no product had ever worsened my skin.
However, that's exactly what happened to me. My skin became 10x worse than it was to start with. So of course, I panicked. But remembering what the pamphlet said, I chose to stick with my new regimen to see if my skin would improve after being in the "worse" stage.

I've been using these products for exactly a week now, and my skin has improved slightly since becoming worse, but enough for me to have hope to continue with my routine. I'll update this post in about another week or so to tell whether or not my skin has changed for the better or worse.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions for future blog posts/reviews!
XO, Blue
(3.24.13)

A week and a half later, here are my results:
My skin honestly hasn't improved. After being in the "worse" stage, it basically went back to how it was before I started using the products. I even stopped using the moisturizer because it ended up drying my skin out and making it flaky (weird for a moisturizer, right?).
So in all, I'm not impressed with Clinique's skincare line. I know it's worked amazingly well for others, but just not for me. Hopefully I find products that work on my skin, soon!

Again, thanks for reading!
XO, Blue
(4.2.13)