Body Positivity, Acceptance and Self Expression

Everyone has issues accepting themselves. It's part of the grand scheme of growing up. Coming from a woman who has always been larger than the norm and on the different side, I know all too well the struggle of body acceptance and expression within society and myself.

I don't normally take time to write my opinions on situations like this anymore, mostly because I haven't felt the need to. I have, as it seems, found a good medium for myself in accepting the way I look and who I am with my interests and personality. However, there have been certain instances of posts I've read on other blogs that have led me to think on the issue of body positivity, acceptance and expression once again.

Throughout finding my own acceptance, I've used a lot of sources of outside support; sites like tumblr, blogger, and plus size magazines. Not to mention the large amount of women representing the thicker girls in great ways and promoting self love, as we all should, like Tess Munster. The internet is a great place to find support but unfortunately, it's also a great place to have that support torn down.

Which brings me to why I feel like blabbing about an issue that get's talked about by much more important people than myself. How my opinion may not matter, I feel like it's something that I want to get off my chest.

Recently a blog that I have followed for a while made a post regarding insensitive tattoos and cultural expression being made as a fashion statement. It was very short and worded in a way that made it seem insensitive in itself.

"Culturally insensitive tattoos? Native American headdresses on skulls on a white person!
Culturally inappropriate things on your body? Bindis on white people! Dreads on white people!
Things that do not belong to us. Things that should not be on our bodies"

While I understood the general idea of where the poster was coming from, it still didn't entirely make sense of the goal they were trying to attempt, other than to possible offend or gain more followers. I explained my opinion on those single issues on my tumblr which you can read as follows:

"I get people flagging other people for insensitivity for other cultures and or personal interests. I get that and I’m not saying a person has a right to just ignore something if they feel like it is offending to them and or their culture. However, sometimes when you point out something that you may find insensitive might be not known as to the person who is creating it as insensitive. Everyone reacts to things differently and everyone feels differently about certain things. Some people are a little more naive and possibly even ignorant than others in the way they may express themselves or act, in which I’m not saying you should take those people with kinder reactions to the way they’ve made you feel, but I think maybe before jumping the gun and going full force into telling someone ‘Hey, you’ve greatly offended me’ maybe assess the situation. Because there are instances where maybe an individual may be influenced by a variety of cultures or social groups, everyone comes from a variety of dynamics and it’s not really fair to just simply judge someone’s story from the front cover of how they look. It’s not really fair to simplify someone down to white, black, native american, etc because in today’s world people grow up in so many different settings, experience so many different things while they grow up that make them who they are. I’m not telling anyone to accept something as well, acceptable if they really feel it’s not, I just wish people might keep in mind that we have many levels, people from all different cultures and backgrounds. 

I also don’t think it’s fair to delegate what a person get’s tattooed on their body. For one, it is their body, a permanent mark and once again, you may not know a persons full cultural or just personal background from physical characteristics. A tattoo isn’t just a ‘fashion statement’, ill admit to some people it is, even like a novelty, but for a lot of individuals, it is art. And getting tattoos of culturally based icons, such as gods and goddesses, may not be for a fashion reason. I personally find a lot of images very beautiful, in an art form, I appreciate the way an image looks and the beauty of that is something that I want to add to my body because it is stunning. It’s not to make some sort of statement or to mock somebody. I personally wouldn’t get a tattoo of something just to make a statement or without having a connection to it in some form, whether that be through cultural connections or personal connections. A person with a tattoo dealing with a particular culture may think the culture is beautiful, the artwork and general look of the culture is beautiful and they want to include that as a permanent piece of themselves. It may also be connected to someone they personally have in their life, you don’t really know unless you know that person personally. I don’t really think that’s mocking to me. But, I guess that may just be me. 

Also, I’m going to just say, that hairstyles are not delegated by a certain culture, definitely not in today’s world. You can’t tell someone how to and how not to wear their hair because it is ‘not part of their cultural background’ I understand where people come from on this issue, and like I said, I’m not telling anyone how they should react if they feel like they are personally offended or their culture is getting offended, I’m not justifying anyone’s ignorance either because it does happen where it can go a too far and become offending. You just have to realize that some individuals may not just be doing it for ‘fashion’ or to ‘look cool’ they may actually appreciate the culture, the beauty of it, they may have a connection to that you don’t see past what your eyes are physically seeing. 

The post that kind of fueled me to write this out came from a blog that I usually enjoy seeing posts from, which if anyone is actually reading this, you may know what I’m talking about. It just kind of bothers me to see a post that otherwise kind of effects the main purpose of itself being diminished. It’s always upsetting seeing a blog that is suppose to promote self love and acceptance, kind of drive an offending context into the mix.
How disappointing."
 

I'm not writing this to rant on those specific issues again. I'm wanting to focus on the main way the post made me feel. Coming from a blog that I otherwise admired as being a great place for women to share posts promoting themselves and their positivity to bring other positivity, For me it seemed to really diminish the main goal of itself in one simple wording. Because when you think about it, taking out the cultural them of it, you're delegating a persons choice of appearance. On this post it was stated that white people shouldn't wear dreads because dreads did not originate from white culture. Just reading over that a thought came to my mind; if a white person can't wear dreads because it didn't originate from their culture, then should a black person not wear their natural hair? Should anyone with tattoos or piercings in general not explore that expression because it may not have originated from their culture?  As I stated in my first expression in reaction to that post, everyone comes from various cultural backgrounds in today's society and a lot of physical forms of adaptation on our western culture have been adapted from other cultures.  Also, it's really not far to look at a person's physical being and assume that they belong to this and that because honestly, out society if very diverse and you can't actually make the assumption of what full nationality, cultural identity or religious believes an individual may have from physical appearance alone.

But to stray away from the religious and cultural part of it, I just want to talk about body acceptance and self expression. Both of these issues are important to me. As stated, coming from myself as being a plus size female and having dealt with people who otherwise found me inappropriate because of my size, I get the hard reality of it and how hard it can be at times to feel alright in your skin.  I still have bad days, everyone of every size does and it's important to know you're not by yourself. Using resources, positive resources such as support groups which could be friends, websites or even magazines and books relating to acceptance, can be a large help but when it comes down to it, you need to find acceptance within yourself and not through other people. Use powerful individuals sharing the positive message as your anchor, so you can take the time to find that right current to love yourself.

With body positivity inside yourself will come body acceptance and self love. Once you find your self love, don't let anyone strip that from you, express yourself in what makes you feel like you. Self expression is something very valued to me because self expression can completely change who you are. No matter what might be said, you chose how you want to look; whether you want your ears stretched, your body pierced, tattoos of 13 on your face, your hair bright pink or lime green, your tongue split; if that's what makes you feel like you, than you do it with no fucks given to a single soul. Nobody has a right to tell you how to look, nobody. Your body is yours to express yourself with and that can be with body modification, accessories and clothing.

I will wear what I like and what makes me feel good. I will cut and color my hair however I want to. I will pierced and decorate my body as I please. You be your own person and rock it with confidence and you will look good. Anyone else who has any option to tell you how to dress, how to wear your hair, what to do with your body can go back and sit behind their office desk and gripe about the bad weather while you make your impact.

Be confident and don't let a single person, a group of people or a blog tell you how to be you.

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My Everyday Makeup Items and Routine

Hello!

Here's a post showing all the makeup items I use everyday and how exactly I use them! Most of the products I use daily are affordable and can be bought at drugstores, walmart, target, etc.


Product With General Pricing

• Maybelline Dream Pure BB Skim Clearing Perfector $7
• Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent $4
• Hard Candy Baked Blush in Living Doll $7
• Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sunshine $4
• Rimmel Glam Eyes Eyeliner in Black $6
• Wet N Wild Eyebrow in Ash Brown $4
• Elf Eyebrow Treat & Tame in Ash $3
• L'Oreal Paris Miss Manga Eyes Mascara in Black $7
• Eos Lip Balm $3

Those are the general prices for what the products cost. Maybelline, Rimme, Hard Candy, L'Oreal and Eos are products that my local walmart carry. My local CVS and Rite Aid also carry Rimmel and Maybelline. The only place I have been able to get the Wet N Wild Eyebrow kit is at a drugstore called Drug Emporium, I have yet to find it elsewhere. Also, the Elf Eyebrow Treat & Tame has been hard for me to find again. Most of these items you can also order online. 

As far as the shelf live for these items go, it's perfect for me. I don't usually have to buy any products for a couple months and this is with me applying makeup everyday. The eyebrow kit and treatment both last me a suuuuuper long time. I'm actually about out of my treat & tame so I'm in a rush to find it. I will advise that the eyebrow kit isn't line your typical pencil that you fill in your brows with, it's actually a powder kit that comes with a small angled brush which is my favorite thing to use to shape my brows and fill them in. The treat & tame is also a dual product; one end is a brush on color. If you're like me and have very light eyebrows, this is awesome after using the powder to define your brows. The brush on color actually goes on your hair folicals which makes your eyebrows look so much more natural because you're not seeing just a bland block of color on your brows, it actually appears like your eyebrow hair is the same color. The other end of the treat & tame is a gel, which is used to set the hairs in place. This is honestly my two favorite brow products I have EVER used. 

My makeup routine is pretty basic and I may eventually make a tutorial to show the actual process for how I apply it, but for now here is the basic run down of how I use the above products. 

1. Apply Maybelline Dream Pure BB: I only press out about a half quarter size of the product. If my skin is having a breakout or is having an unusually red tone to it, I may need to use more or use a green primer to counter act the redness. PS Hard Candy has a really nice primer for this. I apply all over my face, blend downward into neck and chin line, as well as slightly into hair line. I apply with my finger tips, CLEAN hands for anyone who does this. I don't like to use a foundation brush because the outcome is not smooth. Another option for a smooth texture would be to use an application sponge. 
   
2. Apply Rimmel Powder with a large, round powder brush. You want to pat/brush the powder on, do not brush or run across the skin. This technique will help set your liquid foundation. I find it also helpful to let my liquid foundation sit on my skin for about a minute before applying a powder to finish. This allows time for the liquid to actually become blended into your skin before the powder is applied to finish setting it. For a more luminous look, you could also go over your initial setting powder with Elf studio high definition powder. This is a white powder that gives you a glowy sort of look; whenever I do use it I typical just apply to my checks, chin and forehead, basically following the line you would for a highlighter. 
   
3. After your base makeup is all set, it's time to use the Rimmel Bronzer. Now, I don't use this bronzer as an actual all over my face bronzer. This is because I'm very fair skinned. I don't typically get a lot of color in the spring and summer months, nor do I tan at all, so to use bronzer on myself doesn't really fit my skin tone much. I may use a little on my cheeks in the heat of the summer. I use this product as a contouring tool only. To apply, I use a small angled foundation brush. I apply just a small amount at a time, starting from the area where my face and top of my ear connect and brushing down at an angle just below the most prominent part of cheek. A good way to do this is to suck in your cheeks, aka make a fish face and run the brush along the cave in part. I just apply a little at a time as to not over do it and I usually make it a tad bit darker where my ear and face connect and blend into my hair line for a more natural contour. After that, if needed, I will take my pressed powder and brush to go in and blend if there are any harsh lines. 
   
4. Next is the Hard Candy Baked Blush in Living Doll. Simply apply this above the area where your just countered and blend out to the cheek area an appropriate for your cheeks. I use a medium sized foundation brush to apply. I usually apply above the contour area, covering my cheeks lightly and then reapply if I want it darker. I really love this blush, especially in the summer time because the baked aspect of it makes it go well with the bronze contour and on the few times where I do add more contour or am apply to bronze more, it gives a very pretty summer glow. I will say though that sometimes you need to reapply to get it to be noticeable
   
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5. After the general face makeup is complete, I move on to my eyebrows, starting with the Wet N Wild eyebrow kit. Before apply any of the makeup, I groom my brows with an application brush, just to knock off any foundation that may have gotten stuck to the hair follicles, Once that is done, I take the angled brush and using the darker color of the kit, lightly line my brows. I start with the outer line of my brows to get the basic shape and then I go back to fill them in, making them darker at the outer corner and going lighter on the inner ends to give a more natural look. After that, I take the colored end of the treat & tame and go over my brows lightly. You do not want to roughly brush down on your brows because this will mess up the color filling you just did with the kit. Brush over lightly to apply the liquid color onto just the follicles. Once that is complete, use the gel end to sit and tame any loose brows to give the browns a finished look. When I plan on doing a more intense look with my eye makeup that may require the use of eye primer, I usually apply this before even doing my eyebrows, as not to get any primer on the brows after finishing them. 
   
   
6. Next is the application of the eye makeup starting with the Rimmel Eyeliner, Prior to starting to line my eyes, I usually put on a very nude eyeshadow. Something that is skin tone and has a very light sparkle to it. Any skin toned eyeshadow will do. I then apply my eyeliner. The liquid Rimmel eyeliner line is one of my favorites, also covergirl has a very nice set. I start at the inner corner of my eyelids and work to the outer corner, then I start forming my wing, which I will do a tutorial for eventually. To draw a perfect wing, my technique is to draw a slightly angled up line from the outer corner of my eye, making the length a little short. Once that is done, I finish drawing the eyeliner from the top of the eyelid, down and following the shape I want down  to meet the end of the line I draw from the outer corner of my eye. Sounds confusing, I know, but it's really super easy. Once both eyes are done, I usually take a minute to make sure the wings are as even as possible. 
   
7. After the eyeliner application, I usually curl my lashes then apply the Manga Eyes Mascara. On occassion, I will line my lower eyes with a light brown eyeshadow using an angle brush, lining out up under the wing a little bit. If I choose to do that, I will before applying my mascara. Same goes for it I decided to deepen the crease of my upper lid. To curl my lashes, I use a simply lash curler that you can get anywhere, I actually bought mine from a dollar store. I really like the Manga Eyes Mascara, it extends my lashes well. However, after more than one application it can get clumped up very easily, so that is one downfall of it. A good alternative mascara I've used is from the NYX cosmetic line. 
   
8. Last step is to apply Eos chapstick. The kind I use comes in the egg shape and I don't typically use a certain flavor/type, any of them that are clear works well. I occasionally will use a light pink gloss or dap a little light pink lipstick before applying the chapstick to add more natural color. 
   

That's about the extent of my every day makeup application! Here's a selfie to show off the general finished product! 

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Paper Flower Projects

Hey there! Just wanted to share some pictures of a few other craft projects I've been doing lately. I'm planning on eventually posting a DIY on how to make the paper flowers shown in the images below. I've been making them for a while and now I'm just trying out their flexibility with different types of accessory crafting.

PS: I'm also planning on, well hoping really, on starting to sell some of my creations. For these particular images shown, the flowers for hair accessories will range in sizes and I'm working on trying different coloring techniques to offer more variety. As for the plugs shown, I'm still trying different methods and do not have the supplies to make those for order yet BUT you can still inquire with me via email if interested in possibly purchasing. I am considering selling the ones in that exact image, since they are too small for me now. 

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OOTD: Michael's Counter Part

To confess, I'm not actually wearing this ootd. It's Sunday, I'm lazy and I'm not going anywhere. But Where this blog is new, I wanted to make some new posts and so I wanted to post one of my favorite ootds! I haven't been able to actually wear this anywhere yet because the weather where I'm located has been back and forth like crazy; mostly mountains of snow and ice, which high rise skirts totally do not work with.

• Friday the 13th top; features Michael with his trusty blade, the back is actually a vertical cut out to show some skin. From Hottopic, $13.
• Skater Skirt from forever21, $12
• Shoes are tan bootie wedges, $10 [on sale!] 

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DIY Flower Glasses!

This is a super easy DIY project for the flower glasses trend.

Thing you'll need:

• A pair of sunglasses! That's a little obvious. I didn't go out and buy a pair, but I'm sure you could find a basic pair of sunglasses for cheap anywhere like walmart or target. I happened to have a pair of old Hello Kitty sunglasses that I stopped wearing due to a bow on one of the lenses falling off. 
• Glue gun
• Craft flowers

A little note; The craft flowers I used actually had little sticky pads on the back of them for application. These were pretty handy when it came to me figuring out the placement of the flowers I wanted because I could stick them on a section of the sun glasses, see how it looked and then peel it back off. However, for permanent attachment I wouldn't rely on just the adhesive pad. A few of the pads did start to fall off a little bit, which was easily fixed with the glue gun. 

First step is to figure out the placement of the flowers on your glasses. Depending on your flower size, colors and type, you may want to play around with placement and even try the glasses on if possible before gluing items down permanently. I had two different shades of pink flowers for mine and decided to do an alternating pattern. 

Second step; Glue your flowers down! Once you make your decisions on how you want your glasses to look, attach all your flowers. You could also put the flowers all the way around the lenses if you'd like. I personally just chose the top because I didn't have enough of the flowers to go all the way around and I was afraid the bottom flowers may touch and irritate my cheeks. You could also add other goodies to your frames; some cabochons would be cute or even some beaded string to add a different touch and make your glasses completely unique. There's really no end to the personalization you could do with this project, as long as you like the way it looks and it's comfortable to wear. 

Third and final step is to wear them! Just make sure all your flowers and possibly any other decoration is glued in place nice and firm! 

My finished pair

I really liked making these because it was legit too simple. This actual DIY didn't cost me anything since I had the glasses lying around the flowers came from a box of older craft items from my mother. Over all though the cost shouldn't be substantial but that also all depends on the extent of your decoration. I know stores, also mentioned above, like walmart and target have cheap plain sunglasses that you can use. I think walmart actually carries a variety of colors, in both fashion clear glasses and sunglasses. The stick on paper flowers I used seem to vary in price but per local craft stores, don't go over $5, most seem in range of $3 for a single pack. 

Overall, I liked this because I was able to use items that I already had to make something I had been wanting to try for a while. A super quick and fun DIY project! 

Hope you enjoy! c: 

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New Blog!

Hello hello!

After debating on the idea of trying out blogger again, I finally caved. Only difference is I'm gearing this blog with more variety of what I want; art, makeup, fashion, most importantly cool fashion finds and plus size girl support. I'm super excited to start blogging again! As usual though, I'm taking an excessively long time getting my template set up...

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