It's Courtnie's Life! 10/20

Another personal blog today, y'all! Bare face now because I needed to wash all the Panera off of me. We got home around 5:15. I've just been doing some stuff around the house, trying to find some motivation to do the things I don't want to do, i.e the dishes and homework.

So this is what was for dinner. Parfait from work and some challah bread. I stuffed my chipmunk cheeks, nom nom nom. 

I picked out  my interview outfit for tomorrow. Nothing crazy, since it isn't a very formal job. Cross your fingers for me, y'all! I really want this one. Interview is tomorrow at 1! I'm not very nervous right now, I don't know. I don't know what they are going to ask, hopefully it all works out. This would be a great resume builder. 

Tommy is all bundled up playing his game and listening to some of his favorite YouTubers. This is basically what we do when we want to be together, but be alone. I sit in the spare bedroom and do my thing and he sits in the living room and does his thing. Please excuse the mess. I have not had the motivation to do any cleaning whatsoever this past week.

  Speaking of cleaning, would someone kindly come do all these dishes. Ridiculous. 

So, now I am just listening to Pandora and going to be continuing to fold laundry once this post goes up. Yay, adult life. 

That's all I really have for today. I didn't want to leave y'all high and dry two days in a row, but it's just too late to start anything. I'll have some more juicy stuff for y'all tomorrow, I promise. 

Xoxo, Courtnie

DIY dry shampoo

I don't know about y'all, but store bought dry shampoos just don't seem to work for me. Maybe I am just applying them the wrong way or maybe my hair is just weird. I don't know, but it is frustrating! I have also tried using baby powder, but it really doesn't do much either. Sometimes I think I am expecting too much from my dry shampoos, but then I see things like this and I think "What the heck?! Why doesn't my hair do that?" Today is a new day though, and I am going to try yet another DIY dry shampoo from my DIY Beauty Pinterest board. This one is not a powder like most DIY dry shampoos are, so just be conscious of that if you are going to try this out yourself.

Alrighty, so all you need for this is:
1) A spray bottle. You could definitely use a smaller one if you can find one. This is the only one I could find at Walmart.
2) 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
3) 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol
4) 4 tablespoons of water
*I also added a couple drops of peppermint oil because the mixture smelled like alcohol and I didn't want people to think I had been drinking all day. This is totally optional though.

So, all you is mix all the ingredients together. I quadrupled the recipe because I had the room for it. I mixed it all in a measuring cup because you are going to have to pour it in the bottle and I don't have a funnel. 

This is what it is going to look like once it is all mixed together. 

The cornstarch does settle to the bottom if you let it set for a little while. I just shook the bottle and it all mixed together again.

For this you have to spritz your hair with this stuff until damp, run your fingers through your hair to distribute, and then blow dry it dry. This is a bit of a pain, especially when compared to regular dry shampoos. However, since none of those work for me, this is a last resort. Plus, it is better than trying to take a shower and then blow drying completely soaked hair. 

So I repeated the spritz and blow dry three times, and this stuff worked fairly well. I didn't do it on super greasy hair, only 2nd day hair. I mean, dry shampoo is not supposed to be replacing shower time, so I didn't really want to try it on 3 or 4 day hair. Gross. Plus, my hair gets really greasy really quickly because I touch it all the time. 

So, that's it y'all! Finally, a kind of dry shampoo that works for me. And it was super cheap: a win win situation for me, y'all!

Courtnie's World...

... I'm editing videos right now, woo!!

... Working at 5, boo

... I got an invitation for an interview for a job that I really, really want!!! YAY!!

Xoxo, Courtnie

Just a little note from me to you.

Hey, y'all, I hope you are having a wonderful day. This post is going to just be a little message chat from me to you. I know I promised a post every day, and I am going to try to keep up with that, but I cannot promise that it will all be beauty related. In order to post every day, some may have to be vlogs or personal updates. If y'all would rather me just post 5 days a week with all beauty posts, just let me know. If I don't hear anything, I'm just going to throw in these notes every once in a while. Between work, school, and taking care of Tommy and myself, sometimes spending 3 or more hours a day on this blog just doesn't seem possible. I don't want to burn myself out on this, turn it into a chore. I want to always enjoy this thing that we created, so I am going to slow down while I am ahead.

Alright! I'm going off my soap box now. I will probably start doing more videos for you guys because I feel like it is more enjoyable for you guys and I can stay more focused on editing a video than a blog post. I do all my editing over the weekend at my parent's house. They have a mac, so I can use imovie. I have tried other movie editors, but I really haven't found anything I have enjoyed. If you all have any suggestions, I will take them!

Next week starts the 10 day countdown to Halloween! I cannot wait to start doing tutorials for costumes. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, I mean come on! Free candy, dressing up, being with family and friends, fall weather, what's not to love!

I've really been craving chocolate cake. I'm trying to be good so I can lose some weight. I have gained 60 pounds since high school, which is ridiculous. I will get back down to pre-college weight by the time I graduate with my bachelors. Let's do this!

I'm going to end this blog here, but I promise I will be doing a lot more videos: tutorials, vlogs, reviews, etc. I won't completely stop doing regular posts, but like I said, videos are probably better for us all.

Courtnie's World...
... This whole post was a Courtnie's World, ha.
... Back on the work grind tomorrow
... I've lost all motivation as far as school work

Xoxo, Courtnie

Mascara Reviews

Hey, y'all! I wanted to do a little mascara review today because I think mascara is one of the most important parts of any makeup routine. I would go as far as to say that mascara is my most essential part of my makeup routine, since my skin is fairly decent. This may not be the case for everyone, but if I only had time to apply one product, it would have to be mascara. So, without further ado, a review of a few mascaras of mine.

This is the E.l.f. Lengthening and Defining Mascara. I believe this one is only a dollar, but I could be mistaken. I got this in my Disney Palettes. For a extremely cheap drugstore mascara, this is pretty good stuff. It has the classic spiral brush head, which I usually don't like, but the formula is pretty good. It can sometimes get clumpy, but that is an easy fix with an eyebrow/eyelash comb. If you are just starting out with makeup, this is a good starter. 4/10

This is the Covergirl professional three in one mascara. The brush is a classic spiral, but it is curved. I feel like you can get more lashes with the curved applicator. Again, spiral brushes are not my favorite, so this is not a mascara I typically reach for. To me, this is more of a volumizing than a lengthening mascara. This is a fairly decent mascara, it seems that many people enjoy this mascara, it's just not my favorite. 6/10

This is the L'Oreal Voluminous False Lashes Mascara. I abhor this mascara. Can you see all the clumps and product on that brush? You cannot even see the applicator (And I took this from the best-looking side). This is such a wet mascara and it gets everywhere. Maybe I got a dud because there are lots of reviews raving about this product. I would tell you about the brush, but I really cannot even tell what it's like under that thick layer of product. I'm really upset that I spent money on this. 1/10

This is my favorite mascara in my collection right now. My favorite applicators are the ones with rubber bristles. I feel like the formula is a perfect balance of wet and dry. I actually think this mascara is the best when it is about half used up, it doesn't put too much product on the brush. The product says lashblast volume, but it gives a fair amount of length too. 8.5/10 

This is the lashblast length, the sister mascara to lashblast mascara. As you can see, this one also has the rubber bristles like the other lashblast mascara. This brush is fairly long, so it really gets those baby lashes in your inner corner. This mascara lengthens to the max! In fact, since it doesn't add much volume, your lashes end up looking kind of spidery. I like to combine this mascara with a volumizing mascara and BAM! your eyelashes are awesome! 7.5/10

Last, but not least, the Great Lash waterproof mascara. I feel like every woman has owned this mascara at one point in their life. The packaging is green and pink and the tube is kind of small. Everyone probably has this because it has been around forever and is sold at any drugstore I have ever been to. I feel like this is the run of the mill mascara, nothing horrible, but nothing special. Again, it has the spiral applicator, so I don't really feel like it gets every lash. It also can get clumpy really quickly. Like I said, this mascara is kind of a "meh", for me. 5/10.

That's all I'm doing for today. I am thinking about taking this posting every day to only posting 5 days a week. I am starting to feel a little burnt out, y'all, and I don't want this blog to become a chore. I don't know, we'll see. I guess just let me know if you really want something going up every single day. 

Courtnie's World...

... I ripped a brand new pair of jeans at Walmart because some lady refused to move and ran into me with her cart. Ugh, I wish we had more grocery stores around here. I hate Walmart sometimes

... I got a bunch of supplies for DIY stuff and Halloween, so be prepared. 

... I'm applying for a writing fellowship on campus tomorrow, so wish me luck, y'all!!

Xoxo, Courtnie

How to: Winged Eyeliner

Hey, y'all! Today is going to be a pretty simple post. I just wanted to show you guy show I do my winged eyeliner, a look that I do almost daily. I feel like winged eyeliner makes it look like you tried a lot harder on your makeup and it only takes a couple of extra seconds. Just so y'all know, I did this after I already put the rest of my face on.

My favorite eyeliner for this is Waterproof Eyeliner Pen from E.L.F. I really like this one because it is a liquid liner in the form of a felt tipped pen. Y'all know how challenged I am when it comes to liquid liner, so this is wonderful. I know there are other liners out there like this, but I'm poor and this is what I have. 

I start out by pulling my eyelid out. I do this because I have really fatty lids and I don't want my eyeliner to smear all over the place. You may not need to do this, but I don't think it could hurt either. 

 

I line my eyes, starting out with a very thin line and build from there. You can always add more, but it is really difficult to take away. I usually thicken the line the closer I get to the outer corner. 

I then draw a line "extending" from my lower lash line to the end of my eyebrows. It will look weird, but just go with me on this one, y'all! 

Then, connect the line you just created and the end of the line on your top lid. There is going to be naked skin between these two lines. Fret not, y'all, we're gonna take care of that. Just make sure that the outline is the length and thickness that you are going after.

When the outline is good to go, just color it in. This is where the felt-tip pen comes in handy. It's like coloring with a tiny marker. Super easy! So yeah, this is what it will look like when you are done:

See, it looks weird when you look down, but when look up, you're good to go. That's all that matters right? I mean, unless you are looking down all day, then maybe not. Anyway! That's it, easy peasy, especially once you start doing it on the daily. I hope this was helpful to y'all. 

Courtnie's World...

... I really need to catch up on some homework

... Nerd Alert: I was reading a book about Sylvia Plath right before this because she is one of my favorite poets. 

... To all the ladies reading this, y'all need to go here  and educate yourselves. Self-examinations are important. My momma is a survivor, so this stuff is important to me. It only takes a few minutes and it can catch it earlier. 

Xoxo, Courtnie

DIY sugar scrub

So, this post is just another easy beauty DIY. This is a super easy, super cheap, sugar scrub. I made this for my momma for Mother's Day. It makes a ton and lasts forever. This is all you need:
1.Dawn Ultra Hand Renewal with Olay Beauty Dishwashing liquid ( I used the lavender kind, but the Pomegranate is good too. Momma just likes purple more than pink.)
2. Sugar
3. A Mason Jar

You probably already have sugar, mason jars are less than a dollar and the soap is only a couple bucks, so this is wonderfully cheap. To make the sugar scrub all you do is combine about 2/3 parts sugar and 1/3 parts soap in a mason jar. That is an estimate. I usually do it in layers, putting in a little of each at a time and stirring every other layer. This makes it a lot easier to mix and makes the constancy much more even.
That is it!! Seriously, 3 "ingredients", and it takes maybe 5 minutes to make from start to finish. I think this is God's gift to every woman who ever wanted to exfoliate her hands. I think this sugar scrub is just as good as any of the other hand exfoliaters  and you know exactly what's in it. This stuff makes great a great gift, can be put in spa baskets, you can sell it, you can make just a little bit when you need a little somethin' for your dry hands this winter, anything! I cannot express to y'all how much I love this stuff. Do yourself a favor and make some.

Courtnie's World...
... I'm back in Richmond, woot!
... It's fall break, so no school 'til Wednesday.
... My little sister, Kennedy, bought these for me! Isn't she wonderful?

Xoxo, Courtnie

Boyfriend does my makeup!

Hey, y'all! I did another tag for today, but this one is a little different. First of all, a video!! My first one, might I add, so be kind. Secondly, Tommy makes his first appearance! We had a pretty good time doing this and I hope y'all enjoy.





Courtnie's World...
... I'm going to visit my best friend, Morgan, and her sweet son, Charles, today.
... I have to close tonight, which is why the post is going up so early
... I'm wearing my breakfast club tee-shirt today!

Xoxo, Courtnie