claire.she.goes

Category: and now for something completely superficial

  • Get a grip. Or not.

    Get a grip. Or not.

    This afternoon when I saw Blavity’s latest newsletter, this story caught my eye.

    Apparently Beyoncé had a post-Grammys party. Harry Styles was there. He put his feet up on a table, and some folks thought it was disrespectful…?

    Never mind the reactions in the newsletter. I’m just focused on the image that sparked ire.

    Can we all take a breath? (And if you look closely, his foot isn’t actually on the table.) Now, I get feeling like you relate to your favourite public figure. But here’s something I’ve learned through observation and self-reflection: Making assumptions about celebrities and their colleagues’ behaviour doesn’t bring you closer to them. Even if you do have good intentions.

    Not that that’s an actual motivating factor for everyone. But sometimes, on a psychological level, I wonder what is. 

    I realize that paragraph might seem rude. That’s not my intention. Rather, I’m hoping to inspire a bit of introspection. (And I totally get the desire to defend Bey against the perceived evils of this world! But what happened here seemed pretty benign.)

    ‘Cause you know what I see when I saw Harry’s foot? Half of a pair of Adidas shoes. And Adidas produces Bey’s Ivy Park.

    Exhale, everyone. EXhale. 

    Photo by Grailify on Unsplash.

  • The Bachelor

    Let me give a moment to something I love to hate. Reality TV. That branch of media that reminds me of a regrettable friendship. So many of us have them. You know…The person we thought we could hang out with, but wound up running from…Sort of like a misogynist who finds himself trapped in a Women’s Studies class?

    http://youtu.be/u3cUSEN0RPM

    Take The Bachelor. Please. Deep down I despise the show, yet remain fascinated by it. If you’re looking for a fresh take on an old guilty pleasure, you might want to check out these resources.

    1. This post by Stephanie Simons made spending time on The Bachelor sound every bit as exciting as I thought it would be. The show’s producers love to depict Bachelor alums as happy people who miss their sisters-in-charms. However Ms. Simons’ account blows that belief out of the water.

    2. If you’ve watched The Bachelor for a while, you might already know about Reality Steve. I don’t know who leaks information to him–whether they’re cast or crew members. Still, he’s a spoiler source with a fairly decent record–right down to who the Bachelor picks in each season’s final episodes.

    3. You may or may not know that Jason and Molly Mesnick have a podcast. I’ve only listened to an episode or two of This Is Reality and it’s actually been interesting. It’s one thing to think you’re manipulated from start to finish when you watch The Bachelor. It’s quite another to have that thought confirmed by people who have actually been on it.

    (Here’s a fun fact I learned from the Mesnicks: Imagine the amount of time that the Bachelor(ette) spends with their potential mate(s) on the show, then divide that by…Any number you like. I was shocked by the (guesstimated) figure that Jason mentioned. Indeed, it’s probably worse than viewers have thought. The rare, genuine relationships that are formed in spite of the producers’ machinations are a fluke. As a kid I spent more time with my teachers in a week of school than these people do during 7 weeks of filming.)

    A system that’s doomed to fail isn’t a system. It’s sloppy. Luckily for you and me Sadly, the Bachelor’s producers seem to know that they’ve created one of the most delectable piles of muck in the universe. It’s hard to believe that they would ever think of cleaning it up.

  • Nice list.

    I can’t help wondering if I could make a better one. Subtle sexiness is definitely a thing.

  • Nudes you can use.

    I don’t always have easy access to a mall with a MAC counter. Places like Walmart are closer.

    Hence, earlier this summer, this video from African Export saved me.

    For some reason, I couldn’t find the mauve or red shades that she mentioned. But if you’re a medium-brown toned black woman looking for a neutral lipstick, she used a couple of great options.

    Here are my current loves:
    nudelipsticks
    Yes, I know that in this photo they look very similar. But when you see them in real life, they’re just different enough to be two distinct colors. 

    On the left: Revlon 671 – Mink. This shade is an absolute nude match for me.

    On the right: Revlon 135 – Chocolate Velvet. A slightly stronger brown. When I have it on it’s more obvious that I’m wearing lipstick. Still, it’s a great neutral shade.

    In the past I’ve stuck with bolder browns that say HERE ARE MY LIPS. These two colors are a pleasant alternative.

  • MAC Attack: “The More You Know” Edition

    In 2013, I intend to have a new life. One phase of my plan involves going back to school.

    I’ll discuss what I am going to study down the road once I’ve been accepted.

    In the meantime, I’m in the process of trying to take better care of myself. I have been considering my appearance. Somehow I’ve started working on a skincare routine. And of all the things in the world, the other day I decided that I should know how to put on a decent “face”. Beyond the odd venture into cosmetics, I’ve gotten the idea that I ought to make a consistent effort.

    Christmas cards and gifts be damned.* Somehow, the other day, I set aside some money to hook myself up.

    For foundation, my drug of choice is MAC.

    Their products may be expensive, but there’s a method to my madness…

    Whenever I try drugstore makeup I end up disappointed. Certain lines attempt to incorporate darker shades into their repertoire. Yet I think they do an awful job. And honestly? Brown #1 and Brown #2 are often either too light or too dark for my complexion.

    Interestingly enough, this lack of variety isn’t a secret. I nearly high-fived a salesperson the other day when she recognized that one type of foundation, “…made [my] skin look ashy.”

    But I digress…

    MAC matches me almost perfectly.

    And if, like me, you’ve got a casual relationship with makeup, you might want to pay attention to the useful part of this post:

    MAC’s Studio Fix shades are numbered. However between their liquids and powders, their numbers do not match.

    Let’s look at a picture, shall we?:

    macattack

    On the left is a bottle of Studio Fix Fluid. The shade is NW 43.

    The other night I was looking at MAC’s web site. I wanted to replace my bottle. (Although it doesn’t look like it, it’s empty.) However, I had decided to return to my first love–Studio Fix Powder.

    I almost purchased it. Yet something inside told me to check it out in person.

    The next morning my mother went on a shopping trip. I joined her.

    Here’s where things got interesting.

    I made a beeline for the MAC counter at The Bay. (If you haven’t been to a MAC kiosk, they have testers available for all of their products.)

    Immediately I rifled through the Studio Fix compacts. I grabbed one marked NW 43 and asked for a mini-sponge and mirror.

    The second after I started blotting my skin, I was confused. That’s when the salesgirl schooled me in The Ways of The MAC.

    “Powder shades are darker than [their] liquid [counterparts].”

    At that point, she sprang into action.

    The shade you see above on the right is C8.

    Which leaves me with some questions.

    I don’t know what MAC’s logic is. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have their product codes correspond across the board?

    And if the powder and liquid are different shades, shouldn’t they have different numbers?

    Perhaps MAC has some sort of master plan. But I fail to see it.

    And now, pardon me. I have to go practice doing my eyeshadow… 😉

    *The other day at the mall I thought about how selfish/broke/introverted I am. I try to remember to give to others. Yet as soon as I get some money, my first thought is about how I can use it to get something that I think I need.

  • YES!!! Game of Thrones – Season 3

    Are you ready?

    I’m hyped and I haven’t even seen Season 2.

  • Christmas comes but TWICE a year.

    So the other night I was looking at an episode of Castle. I couldn’t help notice that it ended with what sounded like a…William Shatner song.

    Dork that I am, I ran to iTunes. Little did I know the REAL treat that awaited me. Check out the screen shot:



    There’s something about good old-fashioned, bad-ass rock ‘n roll.

    I don’t care how broke I am. I don’t care if I have to purchase their work track by track, month by month, ’til I’m 50. Just knowing that AC/DC’s work is now available for download is enough to make me smile.

  • “Tim-O-thee?” / “PRE-sent.”

    As a substitute teacher, the one thing I hate is messing up students’ names. But man…This video turns the mispronunciation game on its head.

    There’s a bit of NSFW language here folks…Still…Enjoy!!

  • “Pew, pew, pew!!”

    I still haven’t seen The Avengers. But this video makes me wish I had.

  • Kids these days…

    Today I sat in on a class of Grade 9s. They were hyper, but lovely. Check out the response after I tried to tell a student that something he’d said was false…

    Student A: That’s not a lie, that’s a fib.

    Me: Actually, they’re both together, under [gesturing] a big umbrella called Dishonesty.

    Student B: I have that umbrella. At my house…

    Is it any wonder why I can’t keep a straight face?