So, I'm sure by now you guys are totally over me starting posts out this way but...
I'm so sorry I've been away for so long!
I think this is the longest we've been separated and I just couldn't take it any longer.
To continue with the theme of begging for forgiveness let me take a moment to explain my absence in the best way I can...which is probably still not very good but anyway...
Aside from the usual business that is school and work I've been faced with a bit of a creative dilemma.
If you remember a few posts back I announced that I had started a new YouTube channel to supplement content alongside this blog, well after posting my first video and filming a couple others I fell into a creative slump of sorts.
I was so excited to start making videos and building up this blog that it was taking a lot of time away from school so I redirected my focus toward my studies...then I sorta lost sight of what I was doing creatively, I guess. Anyway, long story short I'm done with school for a while so I'm back on board completely and ready to start posting again.
So keep an eye out for my next post which should be coming up sooner than you think. ;)
What a nice way to start off the week...I found this earlier today on Tumblr and sort of ran with it, which brings me to today's post.
When I think of productive Sundays I think of doing things that get me ready for the coming week. To most that might mean starting the two term papers I have due next week or preparing for my Senior presentation but no...what that really means is doing the laundry I've neglected, clearing out my makeup bag, and ultimately...
cleaning my makeup brushes!
Now, while taking on this task I started to notice that I've developed quite a nice technique so I thought I'd share it with you all!
Yay for clean makeup brushes! Yay!
This may seem like the most simplest thing in the world but honestly, if you're doing it right, it can take a little effort so I've actually developed a routine for cleaning my brushes in between cleaning but for now here's the deep clean.
Start out my gathering all of your brushes!
As you can see, they definitely needed a cleaning. Please excuse that rather nasty looking Beauty Blender, we're about to fix that situation.
Now, gather the rest of your supplies!
I use a small bowl (or mug, in this case) filled about a third of the way full with warm water, some baby shampoo from the Dollar Tree, a wash cloth, and napkins.
Now comes the messy part but to help the time go by faster I usually check out some of my favorite YouTube channels for their latest videos while cleaning my brushes.
(I watched Tanya Burr's Nicole Scherzinger makeup tutorial and March favorites videos this time around)
I start out with the smallest brushes first mostly because they don't really hold all that much makeup.
After mixing a little baby shampoo into the water, I dip a brush in the water and swirl it around a little.
Then, I take the brush and wipe it in a circular motion on a napkin (I usually save the wash cloth for the bigger brushes) until all of the makeup comes off and the brush looks clean.
For bigger brushes or ones with a lot of makeup like my foundation brushes, I tend to use the Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner first by spraying it directly onto the brush then swirling the brush around on a napkin or cloth. If it's a brush I haven't used a whole lot, like the pink powder brush, then that's usually all the cleaning it needs but for more heavily used brushes I need to repeat the steps I used for the smaller brushes.
My foundation brush and my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush required a little more care as they both had liquid makeup throughout the bristles, meaning I had to repeat steps a few times.
My Beauty Blender comes with its own cleaner but to be perfectly honest I don't really like the way it smells so I usually just end up running it through some water with baby shampoo and rinsing it until the water runs clear
Finally, once all of the brushes are done I give them a good rinse making sure all the makeup is off and squeeze out any excess water. Then I grab a towel, roll up one end, place it on a table (or my bed), then prop all of my brushes up against the rolled up end so that the bristles are facing down onto the towel.
This allows the brushes to dry without getting water down into the glued part that holds the bristles and handle together ensuring that your brushes will last longer.
No, that's not some sort of pink latte that's actually the dirty brush water after everything was done. I think that means I might wear too much pink blush. haha
I hope you all enjoyed this look into my clean brush routine. I'm all set to start this week off fully prepared...I'm about to get started on those papers too, I promise!
Leave a comment below letting me know if you found any of this helpful and also if you have any tips or tricks of your own.
Hey guys! I've got some very exciting news to share with you today that will hopefully also explain my short leave of absence (even though y'all are probably used to it by now, sorry bout that!)...
I've started a YouTube channel!!!
YAAAASSSSS!!!
Let me just start out by saying that YouTube is one of the most exciting/scariest ventures I've ever started...like ever! First of all, filming yourself doing anything is a little nerve racking. Filming yourself in a quiet dorm room where you just know your hallmates are listening to you talk to yourself is a whole other level.
But...I'm a huge fan of all things YouTube and probably watch more videos than actual tv and Netflix combined, which is really saying something. Honestly, I've wanted to do this for a really long time and even made a failed attempt at a first video back in February...which was taken down due to a glitch.
Thanks to Dani being the great friend that she is I don't think I managed to embarrass myself too badly on that one as she so kindly pointed out the glitch...which went on for like 10 minutes, not pretty.
I was inspired by another Dani...daniaustin2 to be exact...and her YouTube channel when she posted the TMI Tag video. At the end of her video she tagged those watching to do the same thing and film their own video. It looked like so much fun that I did just that.
Now, mind you its not the best quality in the world as I did just film it on my computer but to be perfectly honest I'm pretty proud of it. It took some guts...especially seeing as I may or may not sing an excerpt of a Taylor Swift song somewhere along the line. eeeep!
But I figured I would let you all know that it's out there on the world wide web if you wanna take a look...so go watch me talk about what love really is, yeap...there's some deep points right out of the gate but then there's Troyler and 5 Seconds of Summer all over the place too!
Also, I've got a lot of ideas for future videos (including one that might go up as soon as tomorrow!) but if you have any suggestions they will be greatly appreciated and you can leave your thoughts below or on the video itself which is right here:
So, things are gonna be a little different than usual with this post but I wanted to share something that is very close to my heart and of dire importance.
I've recently had a wonderful organization brought to my attention once again by the ever fabulous
Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.
To me, The Trevor Project is so much more than that, its a lifeline...literally.
The Trevor Project offers various programs ranging from the Trevor Lifeline (a 24/7 crisis and suicide prevention line) to TrevorSpace (a social media community for LGBTQ youth, their friends, and allies).
Something that you might not know about me is that I'm a huge supporter of not only gay rights but human rights and as a human being, I feel physically ill at the thought of someone being so distraught that they feel ending their own life is the only way out.
No one should ever feel that way, no matter their sexual orientation.
The Trevor Project has offered help to some of my closest friends in the past and for that I am eternally grateful. So, as a way of showing my appreciation and support I joined Tyler Oakley in his birthday fundraiser on prizeo.com/tyler
So far, Tyler has managed to surpass his goal of $150,000 almost 3 times over but you know what they say...go big or go home!
Tyler has set yet another goal of $500,000 to support The Trevor Project in their life saving endeavors.
Now that might seem like an impossible amount but here's the deal. at last check the amount raised was at $475,717!!!
That's a little less than $25,000 away from the ultimate goal. An amount that is actually less than what was raised last year for Tyler's birthday. We've done it once before, I think it's more than possible to think we can do it again.
Now, Tyler, being the kind-hearted and fun-loving YouTuber we all know him to be, has offered a selection of prizes for each donation made ranging from a postcard, an exclusive t-shirt for a donation of $50, all the way up to a signed poster and photo with each donation garnering a different number of entries for a chance to win a trip to LA to meet Tyler himself.
That's all amazing and incredibly generous, and believe me I'm sure I'm going to love my t-shirt, but the true importance of donating to such a cause is the fact that each dollar raised goes toward saving a life
Think about it...if you slacked off the Starbucks for a day and turned that into a $10 donation The Trevor Project might get to keep their lifeline open a little bit longer, enough time to save a kid that's struggling.
That's a life saved because of you!
I don't care where you stand on the issue (well, I do care but...) a life saved is always a good thing in my book.
So what are you waiting for, people! Head over to Prizeo right now, donate what you can and spend the rest of the day with a smile on your face because you just helped save lives!!!
The Trevor Project offers life-saving, life-affirming programs and services to LGBTQ youth that create safe, accepting and inclusive environments over the phone, online and through text.
Trevor Lifeline - National 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention lifeline for LGBTQ youth (ages 13-24), available at 1-866-488-7386
TrevorChat - A free, confidential, secure instant messaging service that provides live help.
TrevorText- A free, confidential, secure service in which LGBTQ young people can text a trained Trevor counselor for support and crisis intervention.
UPDATE: Guys, we did it!!! As of a few minutes ago, thanks to Tyler's famous 1-minute donations, $502,067 has been raised to support The Trevor Project! That's over half a million dollars! This is incredible and if you donated I want to personally thank you from the bottom of my heart...you never know, one of those lives saved by The Trevor Project might just be someone you know and love. Thank you all and thank you, Tyler Oakley! Continue being awesome, you lovely people! xo Merisa
My name is Merisa and I am addicted to beauty and fashion blogs!
When I say I'm addicted I wish I was kidding, I'm always reading up on posts on Bloglovin in between classes and literally can't go a day without checking out my favorite videos from the beauty girls on YouTube. Now that all that is out in the open, I feel like the only way to move forward is to share my blogspiration with you! By blogspiration I mean the blogs that have inspired me to start this little page.
To start things off, here is one of my absolute favorite favorites and probably the first beauty blogger I ever stumbled upon.
I first found Tanya on YouTube and fell in love with her fabulous makeup tutorials not to mention her adorable British accent! I've been following Tanya for a while now, so long that it feels like she's an extension of my circle of friends all the way in England. If you're into really easy and fun makeup tutorials I highly recommend Tanya's YouTube channel, she even does tons of collabs with her YouTube friends like Zoella and Joe Sugg as well as her adorably charming fiancé, Jim Chapman (his sisters run Pixiwoo and created the Real Techniques makeup brushes I love so)!
I also follow Tanya's blog on Bloglovin. She recently went to Dubai (so jealous!) and she's posted all kinds of cute photos so that we all can live vicariously through her. She also posts more in depth beauty posts like her recent look at the best winter lip colors. I love how Tanya's blog and channel give a little peek into her life and I hope my blog gives off that vibe a little too!
My next blogspiration beauty is the sassy and fabulous SarahBelle93x!
This girl inspires me because she's just like me! A twenty-something Kentucky college girl majoring in political science but decided against law school so that she could follow bigger dreams? Hmmm, sounds very familiar if you ask me.
I love Sarah Belle because she has shown me that what I'm trying to do is totally possible for a girl like me and for that she really is a true inspiration. I also love how sassy and fun she is, she's not afraid to laugh at herself and she makes her viewers feel like her best friends!
Now for the ultimate blogspiration, step in to the big leagues, girls, it's Courtney Kerr!!!
I have adored Courtney ever since she graced my television screen on Most Eligible Dallas, one of my many Bravo obsessions. Well, after the show ended I was feeling a bit of a Kerr sized void in my life so I went out searching for (aka: I googled her!). That's when I discovered What Courtney Wore, the array of fashion, fashion, and more fashion that only a Southern belle as fabulous as Courtney can provide.
Now she's back on Bravo's spin-off show, Courtney Loves Dallas and I just can't get enough! I highly suggest you check it out on Bravo Thursday nights at 10pm! It's well worth it, Most Eligible Dallas cutie Matt Nordgren makes an appearance, even though he's fallen in the Dumb Boys category for breaking Courtney's heart he's still nice to look at.
I hope this has given you a little insight into my blogging inspiration!
This is going to be a super quick post because today is the true definition of Madness Monday and I am super behind on homework (I have two reviews to write for Comparative Government AND a research paper for World Mythology, which is about Harry Potter so at least I have that to look forward to!) but I'm also super behind on blog stuff and don't want to neglect my fellow Monogrammed Magnolias!
So here it is folks, a super quick run-down of my favorite and most used apps on my phone! Woo!
I hope you enjoy!
This is my home screen which is filled with my most used apps and my Lilly print background, that I adore!
I am Instagram obsessed! As you'll see in the next screen shot, I post a lot of pictures and love photo editing apps too! (A Beautiful Mess is amazing for fun stickers and borders!) Feel free to go creep! Haha
Next up I have Twitter, which I use more like a news app. Like seriously, if something happens at my school 99% of the time I'm going to find out about it on Twitter. It's good to stay in the know.
I love my avi and background! Don't be freaked out too much my the name @prissasizzle, I've had it since high school (my friend came up with it) and I seriously just can't come up with anything as creative. But you should totally follow me, it's hard telling what kind of craziness is going to come to my kind and end up on twitter! Haha! Plus, it's a great way to keep up with the blog too!
I'm absolutely addicted to Tumblr, my best friend and I can literally monitor each other's moods by the amount of stuff we tumble! (angelintheoutfield.tumblr.com if you wanna check it out!)
Now, I know I've already said it like a billion times about my other apps but I am seriously obsessed with addicted to Pinterest!
I am always on Pinterest, in case you couldn't tell by almost 6,000 pins! Eek! That's a lot! It is seriously the best place to find anything and everything! Check it out if you're not already addicted like me.
Next is the Bloglovin' app which you should totally follow Monogrammed Magnolias on! You can read a little bit more about it in our previous Bloglovin' post.
Also, the Blogger app, which I'm typing this on right now actually. It is super handy for random uploads on the go. I also have the YouTube app which is how I keep up to date on all my favorite British YouTubers and Beauty Gurus! I'm addicted to Itunes Radio, as you can see I don't have Pandora listed on my home screen anymore, that's because the Music app has taken it's place. Sorry Pandora!
I'm a self-proclaimed Sephora addict, if you couldn't already tell by following this blog and seeing the many products I accumulate from them. The iphone app is super great because it lures me into shopping on the go or even in between classes. Way to go, Sephora! This next app, Silk, is actually one I downloaded after receiving a coupon to get it free from the Sephora app (see, always helpful!). It is so relaxing and reminds me of those scrolling, spinny things I had when I was little (sorry, I have no clue what it was called) that let you make pictures using spinning stencils.
Here's an example:
You can change the color and shape you make so when I'm having a super stressful moment I just pull out my phone and draw a few doodles. It works too!
The Weather Channel app is sorta obvious, I hope. I use Newsstand to read my issues of British Cosmopolitan, which I am also obsessed with.
Then I have two very special apps: Glo Bible and Elevation Church! I love these so much because they are so perfect for a girl-on-the-go like myself. When I'm in a particularly stressful or challenging moment I can pull up a sermon from Elevation Church and get a little more control and peace over myself then I can use Glo Bible to look up verses and reflect on the sermon I just listened to. A super amazing set of apps and I highly recommend them!
To finish off the set I have Student TA and Event Book which are really great apps to keep all of my school, work, extracurriculars, and even blog activities organized. They both sync with the Calendar app to keep everything together.
I hope you've enjoyed that look into my Iphone and all of my favorite apps! This post actually wasn't as quick as I thought it would be so I'm off to finish my paper on the Perils of Presidentialism versus the Parliamentary System! The struggles of a Political Science major.
xo
aFm
So, thanks to the lovely Sarah Belle and her May Favorites video over on youtube.com/sarahbelle93x (you should really check her out if you haven't already, seriously open another tab...it's worth it!) I was introduced to a little site known as littleblackbag.com. After hearing Sarah explain the concept of the site, seeing showing off her fun goodies from them, and the offer of a free gift link (check out the May Favorites video to get the link) I was hooked and had to check out the site for myself.
Upon signing up you're asked to take a quick & simple style quiz, which was actually pretty fun if I do say so myself. From there you'll be stylistically (did I make up a new word?) matched up with a gallery of products from handbags to cosmetics and everything in between, even shoes and sunglasses! I don't think I got to pick my free gift but to start your little black bag experience you pick one key piece to put in your bag and that item is matched up with 2-3 other items that are picked by the stylists and placed into your bag at a discounted bundled price. However, since I was getting a free gift via Sarah's link they kinda made it seem like I was just getting two bonus gifts in my bundle. Well, anyway, once you get the stylist picked bundle in your bag you're able to see the mystery gifts and choose to either go ahead and ship your items or, and here's the fun part, trade your items with other site members for something that's more to your liking!
My key gift was a First Aid Beauty Repair Eye Cream that I wanted to try out because I'd seen the brand on Sephora and have been looking for something to ease the rough patches I get around my eyes from my allergies. My bonus gifts turned out to be a really antiquey gold looking eye shadow from Pixi that I was really excited about when I saw it in the gallery and a kinda gross looking brown shade from the same brand. I was totally prepared to keep the first two and trade the brown shadow but it seemed like no one wanted it, I couldn't really blame them the picture made it look quite unattractive for an eyeshadow. However, I got tons of offers to trade my gold shadow and my eye cream. All of which I denied (sorry!) even when it came down to a dangly seahorse ring that was super cute, but come on when am I going to sport a seahorse dangling from my finger?
I ended up just letting the trading period slip by without actually trading anything but I must say the experience was quite fun and I enjoyed seeing what the stylists picked for a few different members and trying to barter away my murky brown shadow.
Once my items shipped I was asked if I wanted to become a VIP Member of the site for $9.95 a month and I figured I pay that much for my Birchbox subscription that I'm not too happy with at the moment (more to come on that subject) so I thought I'd give it a try. After setting up my subscription I was given a new gallery tailored to me personally based on my answers from the style quiz and they were pretty spot on.
I wanted to buy everything I saw (I've circled some of my favorites) and the discounted prices and promise of mystery bundled deals didn't help.
I ended up falling for this navy patent leather tote
and even really adored this polka dotted number for some odd reason
It was like half off retail and had two other items in the bundle at that price so I was very tempted but decided that I should probably get through my first Little black Bag experience before I started another.
Then this came in the mail
How precious, "every girl needs a little black bag." They definitely get an A for packaging, the products were even wrapped up in black tissue paper. However, that's about the highlight of the experience. Yes, that's right folks, the Little Black Bag ending up being a Little Black Bomb from the moment I tore open that tissue paper and discovered this...
Yes, glitter gals, that is a cracked eye cream! Gasp! Now, I understand the rough journey that is the postal route of such a tiny package but this little bottle was double bubble wrapped! I repeat, double bubble wrapped! There's no way this little guy could have received such a battle wound while incased in the wonder that is bubble wrap. No friends, this was a pre-transit attack and with the accompaniment of a few other scars I noticed from the labels of the products and a chipped eyeshadow I came to the conclusion that these "free gifts" might very well be damaged or returned goods and I don't know whether to be appalled or remain appreciative. Eh, they all still worked so we'll go with the latter.
Now on to the eyeshadows, turns out I was wrong about them and shouldn't have judged them from what now appears to be poor quality photography.
I was right about the gold being antiquey as it's even in its name, "Antique Gold" even though the actual color was completely off and I was surprisingly wrong about the "Bronze Beam" that has nothing murky brown about it. However, while that's great and all these are absolutely terrible shadows. They are so dusty and lack luster that I'm glad I didn't pay for them! Infact, I had more shadow dust on my cheekbones after applying these shades that I wished I hadn't already applied highlighter/bronzed because once I brushed it away the remains on my cheeks was a bit of an overload.
Overall, I wasn't happy with the products. The eye cream is really thick and creamy which is what I look for in an eye cream but I really don't feel like it's doing much other than making my eyelids a little shiny and the shadows were definitely not worth it which was rather disappointing.
I do, however, really like the site and think that if you play around with it enough you might be able to score some really great deals. I'm still thinking about snatching up that navy tote.
If you decide you wanna give it a go and see for yourself you can get started by clicking this link
I'm a little late but I couldn't help but feature some of my absolute favorite things from the month of May 2013. First of all, at the risk of sounding cliché, holy crap I can't believe it's already June! That means half of the year is almost over! Ridiculous.
Anywho, lets get started.
--Tanya Burr on YouTube--
While I love this British beauty's beauty blog, tanyaburr.co.uk, I adore her make-up tutorials and daily vlogs on YouTube. She's so cheery and fun and bright that you can't help but thrive off her energy and personality. Watching one of her videos can seriously change my mood as well as my beauty routine. I also love her daily vlogs and snippets of how cutesy and lovey she is with her fiancé/fellow YouTuber Jim. She id absolutely precious and I recommend her channel 100%.
So don't forget to check her out at youtube.com/tanyaburr and youtube.com/tanyasvlogs.
--Essie Nail Polish--
I am a die hard Essie fan and self proclaimed nail polish addict so when. I come across a new Essie color I will most likely buy it but what is unusual about the colors I've loved in May is that they break completely away from my comfort zone.
My favorites have been two colors far from the light pinks and deep reds I've come to know and love over the years. I have fallen so hard for both the shades that whenever they are on my tips I can't help but smile and find myself taking better care of my nails because of it ( I even accidentally grew out my nails a bit in May while wearing Play Date but then Finals Week blew that all to hell.) I highly, highly recommend both shades as fun summer hues!
--My Tervis Tumblers--
Tervis has been a staple in my family for years but I never really appreciated them until I got my own set while on vacation with my friends. My Little got me a huge tumbler for my birthday but I had mainly stuck with my smaller cups for travel and long nights in the library but now that I've started my summer job back and have been packing my lunch to work I've brought out the big guns and they have saved the day. My drinks (and ice) stay cold throughout the day and in this massive heat wave that alone is a lifesaver so I'm definitely listing my Tervis tumblers as a Mat favorite. You can pick up your own at tervis.com!
--DVD Box Sets--
Okay this one is kinda lame but throughout May I was in the process of moving a lot, from dorm room to house to apartment, it was just a lot so I haven't had cable as of late which has resulted in me breakin out the old DVDs and I've been having a blast.
I've watched a heck of a lot of Sex & the City and still begged Carrie to say yes when Aidan proposed, I've freaked out over the craziness that is Brothers & Sisters, and I've went gaga over Tom Welling as a young Clark Kent in Smallville. Yes, I'm all over the board on this one but watching these beloved shows over again have made me relive some pretty fun moments in my own life while I was at it.
Last but not least...
--Maybelline Color Whisper--
This is a fun find I just happened to stumble upon while helping Little find a Taylor Swift-esque red lipstick. They are cute, fun, easy lip colors that are gel like so they're somewhere between a lipstick and a lip gloss.
They offer a variety of super wearable colors; I have a nude, a bright pink, and a corally orange all in my bag right now so I can mix it up day or night. I think I'm going to try out a red and a plum color the next time I'm out, they're that good.
Hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my favorites from the past month! I would love to hear some of yours so be sure to comment.
