Summer Heat

It's summer time and the temperature has been hot, hot, hot and very humid. I dunno what it is about getting older that makes high summer temperatures unbearable. I literally have days when I wish the wind would pick up, the rain would pour and the leaves would start falling off the trees.

Yeah, so I'm a baby. Just another person complaining about the weather, Waaah this winter is too cold and snowy, boohoo this summer is too hot and humid. Yeah I am one of those people, but you wouldn't know it. I don't go ranting to just anybody, except of course when the heat is horrible while at work. There is nothing worse then working uncomfortably. Go home feeling dirty and gross, face melted, pit marks, hair frizzy. Aacck!

 

Hot and humid in a ballet class, totally different story. I love to sweat in class. Love it! But what I hate about sweating in ballet class is the stench. Not just from other people, but from myself. I am an antiperspirant whore. ( I just found this amazing Yves Rocher antiperspirant the other day and I am in LOVE with it ) I do not go easy on that stuff, trust me.

Finding that "flawless" Foundation with problematic skin

I know this is not a typically ballet related post, but I felt the need to write my very first makeup review.


I've tried hundreds of different kinds of foundations. Cheap makeup and expensive makeup, mineral makeup, mouse, compacts,  name brands, no name brands.. the list is endless, and I never truly loved any of them. They all had their share of cons that made me search endlessly for the next "perfect foundation"

I have troublesome skin. I need a good medium coverage makeup that will cover my acne scars and redness as well as last through the day on my very oily, with dry patches skin.

My oily T-Zone is so bad that my makeup will melt without fail anywhere from 2-4hrs. Actually if it lasts 4 hours I consider myself extremely lucky. If I have to work a full 8 hour shift, I usually spend my lunch time washing my face and reapplying my foundation, mascara and powder all over again. Huge pain in the ass.

Well a few months ago I stumbled across a drug store foundation called Rimmel 28hr Long Lasting Finish.

 

I have a love-hate relationship with this foundation. I've gone through about 11 tubes of this stuff cause I keep coming back to it. It is super cheap (less than $10.00) and very easy to apply. Literally fool proof, and blends perfectly. I wear shade Ivory and although I find it just a tiny bit dark on my pale neck, it seems to work well enough on my face. It has a medium-full coverage and hides redness really well.

What I really hate about this makeup though is that even though the finish is nice it would never last. My pores would begin to show as the oil would started to build up and then it would cause my makeup to start separating. It didn't matter what powder I set it with - matte powders would look caked and dry, other powders felt heavy, or didn't seem to work at all. Primers were a battle all on its own, and I shuffled through numerous primers all guaranteed to help makeup last, reduce shine, moisturize, reduce pores.. on and on...

I continued to keep looking for foundations, but would still come back to this Rimmel foundation every so often when I was in a rush ( I could apply this foundation in the dark and it would still look perfectly blended ) Most of the time I would wear it to ballet class so I wouldn't sweat off my more expensive MAC, Estee Lauder or other brand name foundation I was cycling though at the time. It was perfect if I was in a rush, or just going to run around doing errands.

It always got the job done, but was never my "go to" foundation. I wanted "flawless" skin and would look at the people around me wondering what was their secret... what makeup was giving them oil free, even skin tone and why couldn't I find mine.

Until..... I was reading through some makeup review forums and came across a thread about a somewhat new drugstore makeup that had come out called Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Foundation.

 

Finding the right shade was a nightmare. I ended up buying 3 different shades. 

1) Ivory - too light and too pink for my already pink skin tone

2) Buff  - just the right amount of yellow tones

3) Natural Beige - too pink

I really wanted this foundation to work, I loved the matte finish it gave once it set on the skin, but the coverage was way too sheer, and the amount of building up I needed for full coverage looked terrible.

I was disappointed with another $30.00 wasted on makeup that I wasn't able to use. 

I don't know how it happened or what even gave me the idea, but one day I decided to combine my easy to blend, full coverage, but melt-able Rimmel foundation with Revlon's matte finish feel, and VIOLA! I found the magic secret!

I'm almost afraid to say or it for fear of jinxing it some how, but I think I finally found MY "perfect flawless foundation"

I apply my Rimmel underneath as a base, cover up what and where I need it. Then I go over my oily T-Zone with the Revlon makeup and it a perfect combination. Just yesterday I was jumping up and down when I hit the 7.5hr mark and my makeup was STILL SET! It's a freaking miracle!

I can now actually trust my makeup to survive a full day. No more rushing to the bathroom at lunch to wash and re-apply. All I have to do, is apply a bit more powder to my T-zone at about the 4hr mark and I'm good to go. No more hideous meltdown. It's a dream come true! (fingers crossed)

Still Alive and dancing

Phew! Where the heck have I been??! Amiright? Heh, whaaa it's only been like 3... maybe 4 months. you hardly missed me! Awwww... you did?!?! Liar.

Anyways, I finally... finally finally... got my baby back. I have an amazing 13lb or so desktop replacement laptop (why? Whynot?!) and anyways it had caught a pretty bad cold.. so it was out of commission.

Yes, I KNOW there are other computers in the world.. but between my precious laptop unusable I had to pull out my very slow old man ACER, that takes about a year to even start up... so anything like posting would just be a huge pain in the rear, that I just wanted to avoid.

So I'm back! Whats new with me...  you maybe wondering? Well not much. Still dancing twice a week, once in awhile 3 classes if I am lucky, and doing pointe classes 2x a week. I am still wearing the same old pointe shoes I had (even though I wanna buy new ones so bad - how fun is pointe shoe shopping?) well, that and I talked to my teacher about ripping out the shank when these pointes die and wearing them in class for strength building. BUT.. I am...still...waiting...for..them..to...die. Sigh.

I had to buy a new pair of slippers. My favorite Bloch Canvas worn so much through the big toe.. I tried to switch feet to even out the holes. That lasted for a little while. Not long enough. I'll have to take a picture of them later on. I still hang on to them, I just <3 em that much.

(these are very similar to my old used and abused ones)

The store I went to didn't have much that I liked. They didn't have those exact Bloch ones, I tried on several others, leather and canvas, but I think I was still grieving and nothing seemed good enough.

I settled instead for the cheapest ones.

 

(Just like these ones - see how shallow they are??? I don't think mine are as baggy though)

UGH! They are not my favorite. The only pro they have is that supposedly you can get away with not sewing on elastics if you want to. I've been wearing them and so far the pleated toes holds up well enough, but the shallow heel on my right foot forces me to tug it up every so often in class. I will probably get around to sewing on the "not needed - but came with the shoes anyways - elastics" ......Maybe.

You're either a jumper or a turner...

You know how they say in ballet... "you're either a jumper or a turner, but not both.." Well what about neither?

I love pirouettes, LOVE THEM. And, even though they can be a huge pain in the ass, that feeling when you successfully land a complete 360 AND still manage to hold yourself up for just a couple seconds before you fall is amazing! Of course this only happens when you're alone in your kitchen.....never in class where someone might actually see it.

My teacher is great at correcting and describes the concepts behind using proper placement, as well as, how to use certain muscles to achieve whatever result very  well.....

Back to Class Ache

First class after the long and lazy holiday break was a mess. I was soooo dead by the end of class. During the middle of barre I was so fatigued I started to doubt I would even make it, hell after we did our warm-ups I was already bent over my wobbly legs moaning from the pain of my weak and unresponsive muscles.

 My mind wouldn't work either and remembering combinations was a joke. I think the only thing I was able to do "somewhat well" was my very first pirouette.. but I only managed to squeeze out one of those properly. The rest were all over the place with backwards arms pulled in too close or placed too high.  Blergh!

Thankfully, I wasn't the only one in class that was really suffering and the teacher decided to go easy on us. <3

I guess a holiday full of nothing but candies, cakes, holiday feasts and bottles of wine with little to no physical activity other than walking from car to couch will do that to ya. Hmmmmmm.....

Well it's another new year and I'm excited to get back into the routine of ballet classes and muscles stiffness!

a good look in the mirror....

 What I've noticed....when reflecting upon myself is...

 

.... I am in desperate need of .. a tummy small enough to fit into those amazing romantic tutu's hanging on the wall...

----Must focus on developing  a stronger right side... I've sadly discovered that not only is my right leg seriously  "hyper-extended" to a bad degree and "MUST BE WORKED ON ALWAYS!"....I've also discovered I have the fear. Yay! My weaker side holds me back. because I don't trust it to support me in all my movements....When it comes to pointe work.... I am afraid of my right side... that it won't support me... it wont hold up... and I may get injured....

 It seems I tend to "favor" this side in a bad way and this creates bad habits..and horrible muscle memory I must fight constantly (even outside of class - Yes.. it IS that bad. )

..That I've always had a problem with port-de-bras.. and I think I finally realize why..... I can't seem to allow myself  to be "BIG" or take up alot of space.. to be "loud and proud and in yo FACE! " doesn not come easily to me... so the large expression-able arms in port-de-bras.. are an enormous struggle! Why can't I "just take up space" and be comfortable?


If you could be truly honest with yourself ( and yes sometimes the truth hurts.... What would you admit you need to improve? )

Bury me in pointe shoes

I was chattering along the other day, feeling quite hyper after downing a huge cafe mocha with whip cream, topped with chocolate and cinnamon sprinkles...( YUM! ) when Mr. STB and I got onto the subject of our favorite comfy clothes......somewhere in the middle of our sugar and caffeine high I believe I formally requested that when " it's my time," I'd like to be buried in my warmest comfy socks, (did I mention how much I am obsessed with thick wooly socks?? ) also wearing my white and pink fluffy hat  (complete with bunny nose and ears ) and of course... my pretty pointe shoes on my feet.

The conversation wasn't the slightest morbid, in fact it was quite the giggle fest.

Alright, rabbit hat.. maybe not the best choice, it'll probably just clash with my outfit (and would look just silly in the summer time ) but you can never go wrong with a good pair of shoes...amiright?

But, hey, why stop there.......

Ha, ha and you were starting to think I was strange...?