First day with Hoop (with Video)

This is a test, of sharing a video from YouTube.

UPDATE!


Progress with Hoop is going WELL!
I learnt the BOOMERANG it is like putting English on a Cue Ball. One spins the hoop backwards while sliding and rolling it forwards. Neat trick.

My Makeup Collection

This is my current makeup collection. I love makeup as an accessible artistic expression. As you can see its all affordable brands, mostly Elf, Nyx, Wet n' Wild, and few Jordana and Maybelline items. I tried to organize the photo into a face, eyes, and lips areas.

Let's start with the base face (skin) makeup. I have pretty good skin, so I skip primer. The one primer I did try just felt gross, and added nothing to my look. The silver canister is Skin79's Super+ BB cream. I used to use Vip-Gold, and this seems to be the replacement. Its has SPF and skin-whitening properties, which I love. It only comes in one shade though, a sort off pale-cool-pinkish-grey. I like it cause it hides and corrects my tan in the Summer.

For a finishing powder I use Elf's HD powder in "Sheer". I find it works perfectly with the BB cream. I only wish it covered my tan a bit more, and had some SPF of its own. The two-smaller powders, Nyx HD finishing powder in "Banana" and Elf's HD under-eye powder, I use to set my under-eye concealer. I do not always wear under-eye concealer but when I do I'll will grab one of these. They are equally good, but the Nyx powder is pressed and travels much better. The Elf tube is their Shadow Lock in "Sheer" its an excellent inexpensive lid primer. I use it even on mascara only days. Lastly, the Nyx tube is HD photogenic concealer in "Light," which i use as my universal concealer, under-eyes and spots. It is a pale-cool shade.

Below we have blushes and a contour powder. The two palettes are Elf. The silver compact is Jordana, and the black compact is LA Colors.

The Elf palettes are a god-send for any pale, cool-toned person. These are my goto blush and contour, the contour palette even includes a subtle bronzer. I do not use the yellowish highlight shade in the contour palette however, I have 3 favourite highlighters I love coming up next.

Here they are: Elf's baked highlighter in "Moonlight Pearls", Nyx's I love you so Mochi in "Arcade Glam", and Wet n' Wild's hello halo in "Halographic." I use them all, I would have a hard time picking favourites from this group, but my everyday goto has to be the I love you so Mochi "yellow" toned highlighter. I am a bit of a highlighter junkie on days I am not going pale Goth. It makes the face so much more 3D.

Now, onto the eye-makeup. I warn you all I have too much eye-makeup for my own good. Let's start with the Nyx Jumbos collection since they are such a Youtube favourite.

Left to right is: Black Bean, French Fries, Yogurt, Oyster, Cottage Cheese, and Milk. I have mixed reviews of these. Black Bean smudges badly on me, so I just never use it. I have had no success with it on the upper lid or water-line. French Fries I love, I wear this with some black eye-liner over it as a complete look. Perfectly Goth, yet perfectly everyday. Yogurt is darker than I expected. I bought it for my water-line but just have not tried it out yet. Oyster would probably look gorgeous on darker-skin, but on my pale-cool skin it just vanishes, on the water-line, but it makes a nice sticky base for a smokey purple eye. OMG Cottage Cheese has to be my favourite, I wear this on the water-line often, and use it to highlight the inner-corners of my eyes. Lastly Milk, I use this on my water-line when I do not want shimmer. Overall these are a great product. Fun to collect.

Now onto the eye/guy liner. My collection is pretty small, but I have tried a lot of inexpensive eye/guy liners in the past and these are my best ones, or just the ones I have at the moment.

First off on the left is Maybelline's liquid liner in "Onyx." I received this as a gift from a friend. It is not bad. The felt-tip "brush" is way more precise than the old-cheap included brushes. It dries to a nice matte finish but could be blacker. Next is Elf's creme eye/guy liner in "Black." Its not bad, but cremes/gels take practice to develop skill, "Do not be frustrated!" I've had this one past the expiration date so I need to throw it away.

Then the Wet n' Wild pencils, these are only $0.99 where I am, and the dark ones are not bad at all. I use the black almost daily. The olive for special looks. The white however is too stiff to use on the water line. Its an interesting look to use it on the lid however. The last three, on the right, are a Nyx wonder pencil in "Light," which is not bad for they water-line. A Jordana auto-liner in "Black" and a Maybelline auto-liner in "Black". The Maybelline liner is far better then the Jordana: blacker, and more smudge resistant. Next, lashes and brows...

On the left is Kiss lash glue, so far I find it the best lash glue. BUT be careful where you buy it. In the US is should be less than $4.50. I have seen it for prices as high as $11.00. Kmart is the best $2.99 last time I checked. I did not photo my lashes as I cannot get the hang of applying them. Practice makes perfect, but my patience is wore-out, and I have plenty of lashes even for stage.

Mascaras first in the black tube is Nyx Worth the Hype mascara.I have not opened this yet. I received it as a free-gift with a purchase. Its has cute packaging. In the middle, the pink and green is Maybelline's Great Lash Waterproof in "Very Black." I use this often and have used it for years. You have to be speedy and add coats BEFORE the previous coat dries. It adds length without much volume, which is good for a natural look. The third mascara is Elf's 3-in-1 mascara. I recently got this and am loving it. Its a tubing mascara and does not budge til you wash it off. What I like best is with my "split-shift work schedule" it holds up to a nap. Everybody needs naps.

At the bottom of the photo we have, Elf's brow gel in "Clear." This is a must for my brows. It cements them in place nicely and washes off very easily. I just wish it came in a bigger tube. I am forever ordering this product.

Onto the eye-shadow, I'll try to keep comments brief. First my Elf eye-shadows. My favourite is the "Everyday Smokey" palette. You can do anything with this from a natural look to a full-on smoked out eye.

Next, all other eye-shadow brands, my favourites out of this collection are: Wet n' Wild's "Petal Pusher" (I love a purple sparkly and smoked out eye.),  Nyx's "Dank" and "Kush" I use these for an "I dream of Jeanie" look, with white at the outer corner of the eye.

Finally my lippies. Here are my lipsticks, lip creams and lip glosses. I do not have much of an opinion about lip stick. I buy anything $1.00 to $3.00 and have never had a failure. The brands I have been using are: Wet n' Wild, Jordana, and LA Colors. No complaints about any of them. Then pictured is also 3 NYX round lip sticks in Circe, Elektra, and Paris. I hate to admit I have not tried these yet, the plastic wrapper is still on them.

Then on the side is my lip glosses. My favourites are any LA Colors gloss, so worth the price, and Elf's lip lacquer. I only have "Burgandy" and "Clear" but its a non-sticky, highly pigmented gloss for only $2.00!

Lastly, I promise, is lip pencil and lip care. All my lip pencils presently are NYX. I use them all either to line the lips, or under clear gloss. They are creamy and long wearing.

The two lip balms are Chapstick "mix-stixs" and Bagder's lip balm in Madagascar Vanilla. I adore the Bagder lip balm, its all organic and very effective. At the bottom of the photo is Elf's lip exfoliator in "Coconut." I use this once a week. It taste delicious.

Please feel free to comment, share your opinions, ask questions.

Jjinpang Mandu

Rhythmic Gymnastics Hoop NEW HAUL!

I just received a new Ventureli Hoop. In my excitement, I forgot to order the Hoop Tape! Here is a photo of it unpacked. I was so puzzled when a Lowe's (it is a Hardware Store) box showed up at my door.

When I first opened it I could not believe my eyes. MY OWN FIG APPROVED HOOP. I am hoping some apparatus handling will help me loose weight without putting too much stress on my feet.

Instantly I picked up the hoop and started doing rotations around my hands and arms. Each side, left and right, over head. a few small tosses. It was like I was made to do this.

Right now I am super-fat, but strong. A medication I am on is causing the weight problem. So I am working on my excersize and diet, but the medication has to go. The weight gain just is not worth it.

My First NYX Haul

I got a bunch of new makeup recently.  Elf, Nyx, and Wallgreen's. I am really happy with the Elf and Nyx, but Walgreens was a bit of a dud. I only got 3 items there, two Covergirl eyeshadow quads, and lash glue. I was shocked to find the last glue was 3 times the cost of Kmart, so I won't be getting that at Walgreen's anymore.

The Nyx order is fresh on my mind, it just arrived a few days ago via UPS. Inside the box was well packed with protective bubble wrap and Nyx-logo tissue paper. The makeup inside was in an adorable drawstring lace bag. I got 5 pencil, two powder, and one cream product. The cream product was Nyx HD concealer in "light". I bought this for spot concealing, but have been using it under my eyes. I have never used an under eye concealer before and I am super happy with this one. I just wish the tube was bigger.

I have not tried all my pencils yet, but the two I have are the Slim Lip Pencil in "Rose" and Wonder Pencil in "light". The lip pencil in "Rose" matches my natural colour well and is great for under lip gloss. It's super creamy for a pencil and made in Germany. The Wonder Pencil is also super creamy. I have been using it to line my water line. It is a nice alternative to white.

I also got the HD mini powder in "Banana" Definitely a 5 star item.  I've been using this to set the under eye concealer, it does a good job with no creasing, and even though I am very cool-toned it looks good. Final item is the "I love you so Mochi" highlight pallatte. Its a huge splurge for me to spend on one item, but the price per gram of product is on target. I got the cool-toned highlighter in "Arcade Glam". My favourite so far is the blueish-toned one, which gives a nice glow on my pale skin.

To wrap things up the package also came with a sheet of stickers! I'm very happy overall with no complaints.

Rythmic Gymnastics A New Begining

Recently I bought an rythmic gymnastics ball and rope off amazon.com. I am old, 42, but I wanted to improve my hand-eye-body coordination in an artistic and fun way.

I used a lot of YouTube tutorials, but especially these;

https://youtu.be/Zbvtg8t2ERY

https://youtu.be/5zEJ_7-DpBU

https://youtu.be/4ZeMJ3Klfz4

I've only been doing this a couple of weeks, but I cannot believe how much my ball handling skills have improved. And I have grown in flexibility like I never thought I could.

It goes to show you can do anything, just start with the basics and practice every day.

Jjinpang Mandu 

Suave Haul

Left to Right: Bodywash "Ocean Breeze," Bodywash "Milk & Honey," Bodywash "Verbana." Shampoo and Conditioner "Sun-ripened Strawberry"

I have allergies, so I really like Suave. Much of their product line is hypo-allergenic and full of natural ingredients. It is also very affordable and available at many drug and discount stores.

Ocean Breeze Bodywash is mild fresh, and tropical in a clean and invigorating way.

Milk & Honey Bodywash is my favourite Bodywash by Suave. It is very moisturising and has a silky feel. The soothing scent is of wild honey.

Verbana Bodywash is a creamy, relaxing potion with the scent of almonds. It goes on silky smooth in the shower.

Sun-ripened Strawberry Shampoo and Conditioner are my favourite hair products. The scent is light and fresh and of natural strawberries. The conditioner is very moisturizing and the shampoo does not strip the hair but leaves it feeling clean.

Overall I'd call this a successful, inexpensive haul from Suave. I'd definitely buy all these products again.

E.l.f. Haul

OK, so I had a $10.00 USD gift certificate to Target. There is only so much one can do with $10.00. I decided to splurge a bit on E.l.f. make-up and brushes.

First off I needed eye primer, and the $1.00 Sheer eye primer does the job. I have been performing with a dance troupe lately, and this was simply a necessity.

Next up I got the $2.00 E.l.f. blush, in blushing. It is a nice cool pink, with some shimmer. I only have three lipsticks, and this seems to look good with all of them.

The concealer brush I picked up was only a dollar, and made from natural fibers. Which I prefer. It is not the same as the tannish-yellow concealer brushes from E.l.f.years back. It might be good for concealer, as well as detailed eye shadow work.

The Bronzing and Total Face brushes were $2.00 each. They are no longer made from natural fibers, but vegan synthetic fiber. The old Total Face brush was really one of my favourites, so I hope this new one works for light dusting of powder.

The Bronzing brush I got for blush. It looks reasonable to do the job.