Saturday, May 25, 2013

Unbreakable Lotus (Inspirational Sunday)

Last Sunday I told you how I created my inspirational pictures and the tools I used to create them but this week is the actual start of my weekly posts.  This is one was inspired by a Facebook group called The Swamp Family, a fan group for well known you-tuber grav3yardgirl. This group has people from all over the world and is a combination of chatting/sharing information or ideas and an amazing support system for when members need support. People who are complete strangers to each are so supportive of one another, talking them down ledges (sometimes literally) and getting life advice. Granted I could post this on the group but I wanted to go more in depth with this little tribute/piece of advice.


This a song lyrics from Christina Aguilera's Lotus Intro and when I listened to the song it really resonated with me. For me it represents how far I have come in my life and breaking my past issues and hurt. Like a lot of swamp family members I was bullied and it went on for a brutal three years until I finally told my parents I wanted to change schools.  They knew about the bullying and tried to help, which unfortunately made it worse and the teachers never seemed to do anything about except one. The school was small, one class per grade and I would say about 85% of my class constantly bullied me. What was even more confusing at times they would act like my friends but then next day would go back to tormenting me. Thankfully cyber bullying was a thing of the future back then. I remember at the age of ten just being so emotionally depressed, terrified go to school, no self esteem or confidence, and quite withdrawn from everyday life. When one of my classmates who was one of my biggest tormentors spit in my food (I didn't find out till later in the day), that was the final straw for me. To this day I still remember my sixth grade teacher, finally being the one to get upset since she had been witnessing the class sneakily attack me over the school year. Thank you Mrs. Schultz, even though I was not in the room when she gave a huge lecture to the class, which resulted in the girl only getting a three day suspension. I left that hellish place and never looked back.

Over the years after I was still emotionally scared from the experience, having high anxiety, really bad self esteem, hating myself and was very negative. But finally when I started college I somehow found my old self I was before the trauma. My program was based with a lot of oral presentations which terrified me but slower my confidence built up and my classmates were everything my grade school ones had not been. Supportive, caring, fun and almost like a small family, which over two years helped bring a lot of the real me back. Even if the last year at my current job, ironically talking over the phone has boosted my confidence and I have met amazing and supportive people who I love having in my life. Also I decided holding a grudge was not something I wanted anymore. I let go of the past and forgave those who made me go through hell but also made me who I am today. In the past I didn't believe in God because of all that I had been through, today I have a much better view and relationship with him/her which has helped get through some rough times. 

A decade after I have finally healed a lot of emotional wounds and scars myself, it has just taken time but also a hell of a lot of strength and tears. I want to tell my fellow swamp family it does get better, just give time and be willing face your fears and pain. I know a lot of the people have had it worse than I have but this my advice to you to breakthrough what is holding you back in life and causing you pain. Everyone is different I was lucky enough to not have to do it medication and a little bit of therapy from my college guidance counsellor. But some of you made need more help and may not have the strength to get through it yourself, there were times when I didn't think it did. It will be worth it though when we can all be the unbreakable lotus we want to be.

Lots of Love,

Carly Pearl

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Beauty Haul (Walmart/Shoppers)

In the last few months I have become obsessed with YouTube beauty and fashion videos and it has inspired me to try out applying makeup more often. I needed to pick up some products that had gone bad after having them for years. Also I had a bunch of coupons for products I love, so I had to go buy them of course! I have already tried some of the products but the ones I have tried I highly recommend.



Most of the products I bought were from Wal-Mart since they have the best prices on pretty much everything. I only went to Shoppers because I had a coupon for 2 for 1 on Revlon nail polishes and one for if you spent $15 on hair products you got 3,500 optimum points.

Eyes

I have not honestly bought or owned any eye shadow since middle school ( I never really wore makeup in high school) but I saw this pretty pallet's and wanted to try them out. I went for these two specially because they have the guide/directions. Petal Pusher from Wet & Wild just called out me, with it's purple/pink scheme and it has a guide on the back of which colours to combine. Purple is my absolute favourite colour so this will be fun to play with. The NYC pallet was a bit harder to choose but ultimately I choose the one for brown eyes. For those of you who don't I have hazel eyes and the green  and blue selections did not appeal to me. This one has more neutral colours but I have heard that NYC isn't the greatest quality for eye shadows.  The Maybeline master duo eyeliner is something I had seen recommendations from many beauty gurus and I have never tried a liquid eyeliner. The one product I have used the the L'oreal Shocking extensions mascara, recommended my Tiffany from MakeupByTiffanyD. This the best mascara I have tried and yes, I have tried quite a few. The brush is smaller and has shorter bristles but it gives your lashes an even coat and almost no clumps. Way better than any high end mascara, hands down. 

Face



No product placement or sponsor, Covergirl has just been a product I had bought in the past and was the products I needed to replace. The pressed powder is basically the same one I have been using for the past couple years but I did decide to go with a concealer stick instead of a typical one with a brush. I decided to try out their liquid foundation but then realized I don't have any brushes. Not sure if I am brave enough to try appyling with my fingers. Should be interesting...

Nails


Of course I had to buy some nail polish, what kind of question is that? Shopper's sends me coupons based on what the buying history is and one of them was a two for one for Revlon nail polish. I got there and they were also on sale, so all the better. I got Vintage Rose (dark light pink) and Cherry (dark red with purple mixed in) and while they have beautiful colours, I will say even with base and top coat the polish chips easily. Then I got an Essie nail polish in Madison Ave-hue from Wal-mart since it's about four dollars cheaper than Shopper's. It's a mix baby and hot pink with some shimmer in it and I can't wait to try it out!

Grooming

Anyone knows with razors when you need a new it is cheaper just to buy a new one, rather than purchase replacement blades. I prefer Venus razors especially with the moisture strips because they are a softer shave and with five blades you get a really good shave. The next product I highly recommend since I noticed a difference within a day. As I said, had a coupon for shopper's points if you spent $15 on hair care. I didn't really need anything but decided to try out the CHI Keratin Mist. I do heat style my hair a decent amount and along with dying it over the years it has some damage. I sprayed this in my hair as a de-tangler after getting out of the shower and the next morning my hair felt a lot softer and more revived. It is a bit more on the pricey side for a leave-in conditioner type product but worth it.

I can't wait to try out these new products and I will definitely give updates on my impressions of them. If not on the blog then you can check out and follow me on my other social media listed below

Lot's of  love,

Carly Pearl


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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Inspirational Sundays

Everyone knows those pinterest boards with all those inspirational quotes and really pretty pictures behind them, that we all repin. Recently I have been creating my own pin worthy pictures and use a lot of them as daily motivation by making them my phone background.

The options for creating your own inspirational photos/collages are endless but I will say there are some that are better than others. The main app I use would be Over, that I found from watching SarahBelle93x's What's on My I-phone video. This app lets you add text to any photo from your photo library, you can create layers of text if you want to have longer quotes and you want them to be sized for your phone. I have just the basic version  which has so many colours and a good range of fonts. You can also change the size, opacity and alignment of the font as well. This app is $1.99 in the app store.




Picfx is a filter app which I use after I create a picture on Over if I want to add to make it a little more hipster (Just kidding! Sort of...). There are so many different categories of of filters in the app (at least 10 or more), although I do stick with a select few. The vintage and light filter categories are my favourites, the light one has a filter with hearts. This app is also $1.99 in the app store.



The next app I haven't used a lot but  it's kind of a fun one, since you get to play around with it.  Bokehul is a pretty basic app, you just select a shape, then the colour and just tap where you want to place the icons. You can choose a circle, star, heart and octagon shape. This app is 99 cents in the app store.




I know all the apps I have talked about have been one's you have to pay, so I thought I would include a couple free ones. I used InstaFrame (left) and InstaCollage (right) a lot before I discovered all the other apps but I think InstaFrame is a little more fun. Insta Collage does have more spaces for pictures to go in but the more you have the pictures get smaller. Both are free in the app store.



And of course I have to mention Instagram (welldressedgypsy), where you can find me posting a lot more than the blog. I do want to post an Inspirational Sunday picture every Sunday, whether or not I have made the picture or not. If you follow Sprinkle of Glitter's blog she does a post every Monday called Motivational Monday with a motivational quote and how it applies her life. I absolutely love her and her YouTube channels (Sprinkle of Glitter and Sprinkle of Chatter), so go check her out! I'll leave with a few other inspirational quote creations made by yours truly.



With Love,

Carly Pearl

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