Current brands & products that I am loving so far into 2024.
1. Beekman 1802 is a U.S.A owned and produced skincare company in upstate New York and is produced from their local goat farm and natural resources grown there as well. You can watch the goats on their website, which they have a live cam going at all times. 2. Youth to the People the cleanser is my favorite non-irritating liquid to foam cleanser. 3. Bare Minerals a classic in the beauty community and a long standing brand. Their skinlongevity line and eye cream brightens up and moisturizes the under eyes and eyelids. 4. Skyn Icelandic is vegan and cruelty free skin care products. Resourced and produced in Iceland
0 Comments
Spoilers AheadIt's been almost a month since Sarah Maas third book in the Crescent City series came out and the reviews.. have been mixed. House of Flame & Shadow holds more character POV's than the previous two such as Ithan, Tharion, and Lydia along with our original characters of Bryce & Hunt as we battle intergalactic villain's who are destroying the world Luthunain. Sarah's audience and intense fanbase were either in for a big surprise or let down based of all the concocted theories to fall short of the book. The book alone is very adventurous and attention grabbing itself however, current reviews from her fandom say it felt rushed and Bryce, our main heroine, felt unempathetic to her main love interest Hunt, which is opposite of Sarah's previous series themes. Spoiler: Hunt and Ruhn (Bryce's half-brother) go through immense torture and so far as Ruhn getting his hand chewed off by a fellow captive in the effort to try to escape it and when Bryce comes back to her home-world from the ACOTAR world she isn't understanding to Hunt's hesitancy from his recent trauma of torture and his past of losing everybody he cared about in the last war. Which for Sarah is very different in her writing from what we as her audience are used to from her characters. For example, Throne of Glass, Kingdom of Ash our main heroine Aelin goes through approximately three months of torture and her mate Rowan does everything in his power to make sure when she's rescued she has everything she needs to heal , space, words of encouragement, and if not those just his presence alone in silence. A Court of Thorns & Roses, Feyre and her mate Rhys heal together and she listens to his story and try's to help get him comfortable after years of sexual abuse and family trauma. Bryce... kind of tells Hunt his trauma is unimportant in the grand scheme of things and he better either get over it fast or deal with it latter after they destroy the current villain's.
Another surprise personally to me is that our Bryce didn't persuade our ACOTAR characters to help her in her world's war and kind of double-crossed and spurned them during the crossover chapters then later on in the book asked for an extremely powerful magical item from them to aid her in the battle. It didn't quite make sense to some of her audiences plot wise. My favorite part of this book though was from the point of view of Lydia and Ruhn Danaan and their love story development. It was so wonderful in watching Lydia stand up for the things she loved and how meticulously she kept from being discovered as double agent for the good guys and earning the trust of the villain's. Ruhn coming to his senses and figuring out he loves her and that they're mates (sigh) it's such a good plotline. Spoiler: Also that Lydia and Aelin are like cousins (gasp). All in all the book itself was good but very different and honestly not up to par with Sarah's other series, but always enjoy reading. Due to being engaged and taking pictures of your hand because of a gorgeous ring I've been obsessed with fall nail colors. One company I also am a new client of and will be in future is Nail Inc. they have vegan options and the classic formula but they have truly become my favorite brand.
A woman in Red. Absolutely trending right now is the deep red nail polish (nearly marron) or Lana Del Rey cherry red. And Nail Inc. has a vegan option and regular formula option. The one pictured one the left is Swear By Salutation and the one on the right is Mayfair Made Me Do IT.
Any of these recommendations are sold at any local bookstore or big sellers. But as always #supportsmallbusiness.
Book People: www.bookpeople.com/ First Light Books: www.firstlightaustin.com/ Seven & One Books: www.sevenandonebooks.com/ Alienated Majesty Books: www.alienatedmajestybooks.com/ Welcome to the Fourth Wing. This book is one of the best books I have ever read nothing has ever encompassed me like Rebecca Yarros did with this book. I read it all at once in a seven hour sitting and couldn't put it down. If you are an action fantasy book reader think for the themes of Fourth Wing as Divergent, Hunger Games, Red Queen, and the last seasons of Game of Thrones in the world on How To Train a Dragon. Rebecca's world building fills my brain and I can see exactly what she describes. With the heroine, Violet Sorrengail suddenly pushed by her mother to continue on a family legacy into dragon rider training, which very few survive, she has to use her wit and cunningness to out smart her opponents who physically all out match her.
Using her the scribe training and knowledge from her father, Violet outsmarts most of her opponents with the help of a few allies, she finally makes it to the Threshing to bond with a dragon. During which some of the other rides decide to try to kill a weak dragon, Violet is watched and judged as she defends the little dragon, earning a bond with the second biggest dragon on the continent. The dragon Tairn however is mated to her mortal enemy Xaden's dragon in which if one dies they die. Learning to put their differences aside Violet and Xaden must learn to work together to fight the war and other evils encroaching on their country. Enjoy Reading!!
On Valentines Day, I had the pleasure of going to the Museum of Ice Cream art installation in Austin, TX. It was such an immersive experience and honestly more than I was expecting. You started off by going into a room in which you created an Ice Cream name for yourself, I was Shortcake. Then you enter a diner, all throughout the Museum ice cream is free however the cocktails and other beverages are not.
After having fun and a sugar rush from the animal cracker room you enter a more intimate setting that has three places set and deck of intimate question cards to ask your accompanied friend or significant other. With arches lit with neon of hot pinks, yellows, and oranges, it creates an easy cozy moment amidst the fun. Continuing through the hall, you are over halfway through the experience. You enter the heart of a disco ball. Filled with tiny mirrors and cylinder in the center coming around you'd believe it was just a circular room; then on the other side of the cylinder was a small child like hole that entered into a room with mirrored shape cow spots and a disco ball. After a few mirror selfies you then enter the last room in which you can let your child heart go free. A jungle gym with slides, a hamster wheel, basketballs, three cabanas, and sprinkle shaped ball pit which if you find one of the three golden sprinkles you get a free cocktail at the end. Sadly Leslie and I searched and searched but we weren't as lucky as Charlie with a Wonka bar. However it was so much to end your experience with just being a kid. After this room you are done with all the installations and you come to the museums gift shop and another diner to finish off this wonderful experience.
|
J.O.L.AInstagram: @josephineolee |