Les Pin-Ups are theBalm!

Feast your eyes on these very special ladies:

Now, their only job is to entice you to buy their fabulous eyeshadows. That's not discounting the guy I saw staring at the display in Sephora; I'm sure he's quite tempted to bring these babies home.
Yes, I am referring to the eyeshadows! Silly, get your mind out of the gutter!
But, I digress.
Marissa and Jordana Shipman, along with the rest of the cast over at theBalm, have done it again. These little shimmer pots are phenomenal in every little detail; the packaging is retro-cutesy, the names are hilarious, and the product is amazing-as-in-crazy-good!
So the other details: they come in a pack of 4 pots; each for one of the girls 'cause they all have to have a signature shade. The pots are clear plastic, so you can always see the gorgeous shimmer (not that it helps when studying for exams - hehe...).
Another reason they are so special? Fine: the name "Overshadow" not only implies the incredible-ness of the shadow, but also an alternative way to just wearing it alone. These shadows are designed to be layered ontop of your base shadow, and even eachother. While playing around with them this afternoon, I discovered that the shimmering gold colour goes really well over the champagne pink shade; We'll get to that in a minute.

From right to left, top to bottom:

 No money, no honey; If you;re rich I'm single;

You buy, I'll Fly, and Work Is Overrated

theBalm has become one of my all-time favorite makeup brands [along with the fabulous BareMinerals, Sonia Kashuk, Pixi, and Sephora brand] for two reasons. ONE: all of their products are crafted to be environmentally safe, made of mostly natural materials AND animal-testing FREE (so I can steer clear of the wackadoos at my school who always ask people like me "you're wearing stuff tested on rabbits?" with a simple, "no I'm not."). TWO: the product pay-off is amazing as well. Everything has a barely-there feel, goes and comes off easily, and stays on forever. I mean, you can never get rid of glitter, but this stuff lasts all day; even through my dance-team practices which are two hours ontop of a 7 1/2 hour school day.
Now the totally fun stuff: The COLOURS
"No Money, No Honey" is a fabulous gold shade, its' lid graced by the blonde. It's a light tint and adds just a bit of sophistication to even the dullest of looks (like it makes boring pale pinks and browns look Oscar-worthy).
"If You're Rich, I'm Single" is indeed a rich colour, even alone. It's a medium mauve with slivery-pewter flecks that give it that extra wow-factor. It's the perfect Chicago-style It Girl shade.
"You Buy, I'll Fly" is a pop of copper that most have dreamed of acheiving. It's bright, bold, and beautiful, but can look messy and unattractive if applied with a heavy-hand. HUGE colour pay-off, I swear!
"Work Is Overrated"- my all time name, partially because of the name; The sitting-pretty auburn doll is about to have her way with a pretty champagne pink sparkle. Honestly, it's the cutest, most effortlessly pretty & flirty colour. I will always think I'm smooth as silk in this.

theBalm's products span from eyeshadows to skin-care and everything in between. From my knowledge, it can be found in Sephora, Ulta, and I've even snagged a blush and a lipstain set from T.J. Maxx. Can't seem to find it, then get on to their website: www.thebalm.com (hey, it even rhymes!)
That's all for me on this lazy Sunday! Happy Experimenting everyone!

Carie Lea
p.s. cross your fingers- I might update before December!

My Fascination with Amy Winehouse

Amy by waytoFall (deviantart)

Every since the news broke about Amy Winehouse's death, every gossip blog, news network, magazine, everyone has given their two cents about the artist. Well, here's mine.

Amy Winehouse was extraordinary. She was the singer with that boozey, passionate voice that made jazz great. Amy had talent, style, and was beyond gorgeous; even with the slightly ridiculous, enlarged eyeliner wing.

Amy knew who she was and who she wanted to become. She was the retro bad-ass beauty that could turn out incredible music and look wicked while doing it. Now, anybody born in the last 16 years has obviously heard their share of Winehouse stories. Her wild partying was to be reckoned with. Of course, that's were most people's 2 pennies went: to her recklessness.

Honestly, when all is said and done, I can't totally blame her. I get that she went overboard a bit. The lifestyle of those in the fast-lane is something I can only imagine, if aspire to. If I was in the shoes of someone like Adele or Gwenyth Paltrow, I'm damned sure that I would want a drink at some point. I'm sure even Oprah has downed a shot on a particularly hard "Favorite Things" episode. Snobbish people tend to stick to the opinion of "I could do better".

Well, could you?



Her partying and addictions are not the point of this entry, please understand that much. The point of this was her talent.

Amy's talent was something of Brittney Spears and Bruno Mars' wildest fantasies. She had a voice well beyond her years, and her lyrics spoke of a depth most modern music can't ever seem to reach. Her album, Back to Black, was nominated for 5 Emmy's; all of which, Amy won.

People have singled out Amy's hit, Rehab, as a cry for help. I beg to differ. I believe the song was less about Amy's choice to abandon/refuse help, but about choices in general; the way a choice can effect a life. Amy was reflecting on her choices, but not entirely bringing the spotlight to her less-than-brilliant ones. Amy defined an era where music still meant something to those that were creating it. When Amy felt something, we all felt something; whether it was a smirk, a grimace, or a little tug at the old heart-strings

Escapades aside, I've wanted to be Amy. I have dreamt about being the girl that everybody likes and respects, but can hold her own and be strong in the arena of life. Obviously, Amy may have taken to much and I feel that society is partly to blame, for alot of celebrity has-beens and mis-haps.

We gave Amy alot of un-needed attention for over-doing it and making a fool of herself. I'm almost positive that she wasn't proud of it and didn't mean to go that far! To her, it must have been like that crazy child-hood dream we have when your at school, but you didn't put on your pants that morning. Then, a picture of you in your lucky space-teddy undies (don't laugh!) appears in the school paper the following day. It's one of those "oh God, why me?" moments.

So, as I listen to my worn-out copy of Back to Black, and look at the picture of her above, I wonder what she was thinking there. Was she excited for something? Scared or angry? Maybe she was filled with pride, but was modestly trying not to reveal it?

I also wonder what was going through Amy's mind on her last day. She couldn't have known that was it! There is just this aching thought in the back of my mind, the pounding urge to know what was going through her mind, what she did, what music she listened to, on her last day.

All that is left to say, as Valerie flows through the speakers, is that it's making me smile a little bit more. This song was supremely her; Amy Winehouse is written in neon lights all over it! Bruno Mars and his lighters can go off into their corner, because his cover can't hold a flame to Amy.

Let's just leave it at Miss Amy Winehouse will never be replaced and the music business will be doing 360's in it's grave at a million miles an hour trying to find the next Amy.

I believe it will be hard to recover the era of Black.

Until next time, all!

Carie Lea

listen to Amy's song Valerie here

listen to Amy's song Rehab here