Tag Archives: meh

Sep19

My Mary Kay Experience

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My Mary Kay Experience

Hello, hello my darlings! The last time I was at Elysian Nails getting a fill, I entered a raffle for a free Mary Kay facial and ten dollar gift card and, surprisingly, my name was called! I legit never win anything, so I was pretty excited and had the woman who was running the contest and in the Mary Kay business come to my apartment for some pampering.

Now, this might sound rude but ninety-nine percent of the time, I find the whole self directed sales thing incredibly annoying, for lack of a better word. I can’t stand getting messages from girls I went to high school with and were probably mean to me pushing their It Works, Scentsy, or Arbonne products. So, silly me for being under the impression that this experience with Mary Kay was going to be any different.

Using the products was fine but they weren’t that great and they were way too expensive for my TJMaxx skin care taste. I just couldn’t get into the whole showmanship of it all. It turned into a forty-five minute session of why Mary Kay is the jam, why their products are the jam, and how life changing being in the company is. And, maybe that’s true for some people, but I was not interested in it let alone the pressure I was put on to purchase the products I was trying.

I worked retail for five years and there is definitely a right and a wrong way to push product and these self directed saleswomen are just plain pushy. Am I happy that this lady came to my apartment? I guess. Was it a waste of time on one of my evenings off? Most definitely. *massive eyeroll*

How do you feel about self directed sales? Are there any businesses like that that you purchase from? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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Jul30

Groovy Movies: The Lion King Edition

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Groovy Movies: The Lion King Edition

Hey hey! This has truly been the summer of Disney movies with Aladdin, Toy Story 4, and The Lion King being released in theaters. One of my clients has a particular fondness for Disney movies, so taking her to see the new Lion King was an absolute must. Now, you all know that I am a scary movie girl through and through with some suspense, thriller, and comedy peppered in for good measure. So, of course, I didn’t enjoy this film as much as your average bear. But, it still had its moments so take a look at the trailer and let’s discuss:

^^^ And, as always, I have no rights to this video.

I can’t exactly say that I had a strong Disney childhood, because I honestly barely remember any of the movies. As the baby of the family, my older siblings weren’t interested in watching the classic Disney flicks by the time I was old enough to enjoy and comprehend them. So, although I know the basics about The Lion King, it is definitely not one that I can recall in detail.

I feel like this was an advantage for me to go into this movie not really knowing much about it, because I didn’t have any expectations based on the cartoon. Overall, I can’t say that I loved The Lion King, by any means. But, it was a pleasant enough flick to sit through.

The Lion King really did boast an all star cast including James Earl Jones, Donald Glover, and BEYONCE for crying out loud. And, they were alright. But Seth Rogan as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon took the cake. Rogan and Eichner were freaking hilarious and I found myself laughing out loud in all of their scenes. They had great chemistry with each other, the singing wasn’t bad, and they were the only characters in the live action movie that I could actually envision saying their lines.

And, that, brings me to my main qualms about The Lion King. Rogan and Eichner embodied their characters perfectly and somehow managed to sound like how a warthog and meercat might if they had human voices. But, all of the other characters felt so disjointed from their voices and the songs that they were singing. It almost made it feel like a documentary with Beyonce just happening to do the music for it.

I also was a bit disappointed with how the scenes with Scar and the hyenas played out. From what I do remember of the cartoon Lion King, Scar was a major A-HOLE. Like, he was this sneering, rotten villain who killed his own brother. In the live action version, Scar just appeared bored and the hyenas were really annoying. I didn’t get this sense of looming darkness that I remember Scar having and that made Mufasa’s death be kind of like an “oh” moment, instead of bringing me to tears – which I totally thought it would.

Was this movie worth seeing in theaters? For die hard Disney fans, yes. For anyone else, use your discretion. As your average person going in to this movie expecting nothing, I’ll give it an average rating of six out of ten stars. I think that it was a difficult task to create a live action version of singing animals and this one missed the mark for me.

How did you feel about the new Lion King? Which Disney movie are you hoping they remake next? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: Heroic Hollywood

Jul27

AmorePacific Treatment Enzyme Peel Cleansing Powder Review

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AmorePacific Treatment Enzyme Peel Cleansing Powder Review

Greetings! During my last Sephora haul, one of the two free samples I chose with my order was the AmorePacific Treatment Enzyme Peel Cleansing Powder. Woo, that is a mouthful! I tested this product out a few days ago and I’m not sure how to feel about it. Of course, it’s always nice to try something new. But, just one tester sample isn’t exactly enough to give you a full idea of how the product works. We’ll get into that further in a sec but, first, take a look at some pics:

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My impression from reading the reviews for the peel on Sephora’s website is that it is viewed as a miracle product by its users. The reviews boasted of how well it exfoliates and that after using it, their skin was perfect. But, I have a hard time seeing how that was possible during my tester run with the powder to foam product.

After adding a few drops of water to the powder seen above, any attempt at “lathering” it onto my skin was in vain because it dried almost instantly. While some reviewers said that the peel tightened their pores, my skin was only left feeling dry and dehydrated. The name of this AmorePacific peel is all very confusing because the reviewers claim that it’s an exfoliater and not a peel. Meanwhile, I didn’t think it was much of anything!

If you have the option to sample this product with your online Sephora purchase, I wouldn’t recommend it. This exfoliater/peel/whatever it is is something that needs to be used several times before you can form an opinion on it and the amount that I was given really wasn’t enough to do anything for me. And, maybe this product is a holy grail one – but, I just wasn’t seeing it.

Has anyone used the AmorePacific peel before? What were your thoughts on it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul25

Lil Red’s Book Club: In A Dark, Dark Wood Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: In A Dark, Dark Wood Edition

Hiii everyone! Today, we are going to be discussing Ruth Ware’s debut novel entitled In A Dark, Dark Wood. Miss Reese Witherspoon actually just bought the rights to this book to be made into a movie so be on the lookout for a Gone Girl-esque, twist and turny murder mystery flick on the horizon. And, *without spoilers* let’s discuss:

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In A Dark, Dark Wood tells the back and forth tale of an adorably British term “hen do” AKA bachelorette party gone horribly wrong. Our story is told from the point of view of Leonora, Lee, Nora, or Leo depending on who she’s talking to and saying she’s not the most reliable narrator is an understatement. Especially considering that she found herself waking up in a hospital after a murder that she can’t quite remember the details to.

The hen do gathering is for Leonora’s high school best friend, Clare, but – the trick is that she hasn’t spoken to her in ten years. So why did she receive an email from Clare’s extremely passionate bridesmaid, Flo, in the first place? Reluctant at best to go, Leonora and another high school friend, Nina, make a pact to go together but leave if they see fit.

Surrounded by strangers at the bachelorette bash in a house made of all glass in the middle of the forest, Leonora finds herself trapped for a long weekend. Tensions build, secrets are spilled, and someone gets shot with a gun that was supposed to be filled with blanks. And, the question now is, whodoneit?

This is actually my second time reading In A Dark, Dark Wood because my mom thought it might be something that I would like. By the time I was about twenty pages in, I had realized that I read it before so that kind of shows you how memorable the book was to me, despite it’s grand reveal at the end.

Was this book entertaining? Quite. Was it just like Every. Other. Gone. Girl. Style. Book.? Abso-freaking-lutely. I won’t say I hated it, because that’s not true. I wouldn’t have reread it if I didn’t. However, it wasn’t the best thing that I’ve ever read and none of the characters were particularly likeable, which made it hard to get really into it.

Overall, I’d give this book a 5.5 out of ten. It was readable and a nice page turner to spend an afternoon with. But, I think you will find the superficial characters over the top and the narrator to be a bit of a bore. Read it, maybe. Or, better yet, just wait for the movie to come out, instead.

Has anyone else read In A Dark, Dark Wood? What were your thoughts on it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul24

Jouer Lip Creme Liquid Lipstick Swatch In Rose Gold

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Jouer Lip Creme Liquid Lipstick Swatch In Rose Gold

Hi! Today, we are going to take a look at the swatch for Jouer’s Lip Creme Liquid Lipstick in Rose Gold. I have not tried this product on yet and, frankly, I am a bit nervous to because the reviews for it on Sephora’s website were abysmal at best. However, I think that the color is gorgeous and I’m hoping that I won’t hate it as much as everyone else does when I get around to using it, lol. Take a look:

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The main complaint with this lippie among the reviews is that it is dry as the Sahara Desert and, even just from having it on my hand, I agree. It dried in the ten seconds it took me to take the pictures and it was about a bitch to take off. I had to scrub fairly roughly with water and then micellar water to get it completely removed. So, imagine having to do that on the sensitive skin on your lips. No thanks.

It’s too bad, because I like the color a lot and it’s disappointing to get something that might suck. But, at the end of the day, I got the sample size FO FREE so it’s not like any harm was done. I just wish those product reviews were up before I chose this as a freebie!

Has anyone tried this lippie by Jouer before? What are your thoughts on it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul23

Clinique Almost Lipstick Swatch In Black Honey

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Clinique Almost Lipstick Swatch In Black Honey

Helloooo everyone and welcome to a new post where we will be swatching Clinique’s “Almost Lipstick” in Black Honey. I got this lippie FO FREE with my Beauty Insider points from Sephora and I like it well enough but I do feel like the name is super misleading. My dumbass, who didn’t read what the product was like, assumed that it would be more of a cream based lippie judging by the pictures. However, it feels and looks very glossy. Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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So, I guess the buzz on this product is that it fuses with your natural lip color to create a shade that is unique just for you. Did I really notice anything that special about it? No. But, that’s not to say that I didn’t like the color because I did. I was surprised at how light such a dark shade appeared on me and I thought the glossy, plum shade looked nice.

Do I think that a large sized tube of the Almost Lipstick is worth twenty dollars for what’s basically a lip gloss? Not at all and if I didn’t get it for free with my points, I would never consider purchasing it. I’m a little disappointed with this product. I don’t know what I was expecting but it definitely wasn’t the results I had. Maybe I just feel that way a bit more because I normally really like all of the Clinique goodies that I have tried so this one feels very lackluster.

But, in conclusion, save your money for something more worth it because a tinted lip balm is not worth twenty dolla holla. #notimpressed

What are your thoughts on the Clinique Almost Lipstick? What is your favorite Clinique product? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun29

Dear Evan Hansen Review

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Dear Evan Hansen Review

Howdy! This past weekend, I enjoyed an outing with an old theater friend, Sabrina, to see Dear Evan Hansen at Playhouse Square in Cleveland. Despite both of us not loving the musical, it was still a fun day filled with good food, drinks, and wonderful company. I was so happy when Sabrina invited me to see the show because our schedules never work well with each other so it was really nice to make up for lost time. As we are both theater nerds, we were able to have a great discussion about the show afterwards so here is what we thought as well as a brief synopsis (Without giving too much away!)

So, what you need to know about Dear Evan Hansen is the following: A troubled teen who is an outsider at school has homework from his therapist where he has to write letters to himself explaining why it’s going to be a great day. As Evan is printing his “homework” out in the library, an even more troubled teen named Conner snatches the letter and confiscates it after seeing his sister’s name in it. She just so happens to be the object of Evan’s affection but doesn’t know he exists.

A few days later, Conner commits suicide and the letter that Evan wrote is found in his pocket. A web of lies then begins because Conner’s parents obviously want to know who Evan is and he begins to spin a tale of how him and Conner were best friends. This quickly raises his popularity at school with the offset of The Conner Project and, suddenly, Evan exists because of his fake friendship with the kid who just died.

Okay, so the story line isn’t bad, but the writing and staging left a lot to be desired as well as lackluster performances from the cast as a whole. It was interesting to see the phenomenon of everyone instantly becoming “best friends” with someone who just passed. However, the main culprit of this was a girl named Alana and she was SO. FUCKING. ANNOYING. Omg, the scenes with her were just unbearable and I couldn’t stand it.

Another character who really didn’t do it for me was Evan’s mom. It was very tough to invoke sympathy for the mother of a struggling teen when she was so unlikable and all of her slow ballad songs felt lame and drawn out. Honestly, I didn’t feel any type of way about any of the characters because it just felt like they were there saying their lines and singing their songs and then the applause happened and it was on to the next scene. The play felt very disjointed and the flow was off.

A lot of this disconnect felt due to a poor choice in staging. It went from social media news feeds plastered all over moving walls and banners to a tiny room on a rotating circle in a matter of minutes. This felt very high school theater for a Broadway level show and didn’t create any visual interest on stage.

The quality of the script and songs just weren’t that good, either. A powerful message of looking out for the mental health of our teens was overshadowed by plot points that weren’t fully realized and writing that was subpar, at best. I understand that this show got a lot of hype but, frankly, I don’t understand why because I left the theater feeling very unsatisfied with the finale and the plot holes that never got filled.

I never say no to a night at the theater but, I think I could have passed on this one. I would rate Dear Evan Hansen with a five out of ten stars and I can’t say that I would recommend going to see it. If you’re into sappy teen musicals, though, I say go for it!

What were your thoughts on Dear Evan Hansen? What is your favorite musical? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: TrustArts