Trademark Violation or No?

Hey guys! I just wanted to get your input on something. So as you all know I have another personal blog which is ProjectHealthyBride.blogspot.com. I was contacted by the founder of thehealthybride.com (didn't even know it existed) and was asked to change my domain name because I was in violation of their trademark. She also said that having the word "project" in my title wasn't a good enough difference and that I was still in violation.

Here's what really grinds my gears here. First of all, she said, "my hopes are that we can get this resolved without getting lawyers involved." Is it THAT serious? I think it was an intimidation factor. My site begins with "project" and ends with "blogspot.com." Therefore, BLOGGER (Google) owns it, not me. I think I may contact Blogger and see what they say. It would be like Delta Dental suing Delta Airlines. Also, the exercisetv I use is on Exercisetv.tv and there is also an Exercisetv.com. Why can't we coexist?

The person who hates confrontation in me is telling me to just change it. But the fighter in me wants to get my research together and fight for my domain name. I make NO PROFIT off of my PERSONAL blog and I think I should be able to keep it. Did this person buy up the rights to MY domain name? I don't think so. Mine isn't a .COM and I don't think her arguement has any merit. What do you think?

EDIT: My freaking awesome fiance came up with the most GENIUS name ever! You can now find me at ProjectHealthierBride.blogspot.com! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Thank you guys for getting all fired up for me but I think we won in the end! SCORE!

Celebrating my 200+ Followers!

Thank you to all my followers! I've reached 200! YAY! When I first started this blog back in December, I never thought that I'd come in contact with such great people. You all have been so nice and receptive to what I have on this site and I'd like to show my thanks by doing a giveaway. I've learned a lot from you all and I hope you've been able to learn a lil somthin' somthin' from me. We all share a common interest and it's great to hear from you all!

Here's the loot:

-MAC Skinsheen Leg Spray in DARK or DEEP DARK (winner picks)

*this product is amazing!

-Two pairs of Red Cherry Lashes

-One Pair of NYX lashes

-Revlon Nails (not pictured)

-A few of my fave drugstore products (not pictured)

So last night when I took this picture of the stuff, I thought,"This just will not do! I have to give a lucky reader MORE stuff!" So I will be adding things as time goes by. Here are the rules:

-You MUST be a follower of BOTH of my blogs :)

-Contest ends on Sunday, August 2nd at midnight PST

-This is open to the US only

-You must leave a comment on this post with your email address and tell me what you idea of BEAUTY is. Dig deep people!

The reader who gives the best insight on what beauty is to them will received the coveted pacakge! GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Tip of the Day:

Have a stubborn zit that won't leave you alone? Put some Neosporin on it at night and that guy will be gone by the next day! The antibiotic agent in this powerful ointment kills the ickyness from your pimple and shrinks it in size. Since the ointment is oil based, it isn't good to use this product for more than a week because it can clog your pores. When applyed to a fresh zit, it can prevent scarring and help minimalize reddness. The active ingrediants in Neosporin are bacitracin, neomcyin, and polymixin-B, as well as zince, all of which are powerfil antibiotics are far more effective than benzoly peroxide. Another plus is that the oil base won't dry your skin up like other topical acne treatments. So if you have a stubborn zit, try it out!

200 Followers! Giveaway Alert!

I've reached 200 followers this past weekend and what better way to celebrate my triumph than a giveaway! I'm so excited and dropped the ball when I reached my 100 follower mark, so this one will be BIGGER and BETTER! I haven't figured out what I will give away yet, but you can rest you pretty little head because it will be put together asap and posted right away! Stay tuned my friends!

Green=Money!

TGIF! Whoo hoo! We've made it through another week and I'm so thankful to be blessed with good jobs, an amazing family, and a man that has been there for me through thick and thin. Everytime another week goes by, I think about how quickly time passes. We often dread Mondays, but when I think about the weekend ahead of me, it makes the week that much more bearable.

I wanted to share the look I wore to my first day back at MAC. It was the start of the anniversary sale and I wanted to do something super dramatic with color and this is what I came up with. My inspiration was a mod-like eye but instead of using the usual black and white, I used MAC's Humid e/s packed on top of MAC's Minted eye kohl. On the lid I have MAC's Fresh Green Mix mineralize e/s over Shimmermint shadestick. MAC's Texture e/s is in the crease and Ricepaper finishes this eye off in the highlight. I used MAC's eye pencil in Pale Yellow in the waterline (PRO store only). It's very similar to Fascinating eye kohl but the yellow in the PRO color gets rid of any red in the eye. I wore two pairs of Red Cherry lashes (stacked on top of each other) with dark Duo.

On my cheeks I have on MAC's Sunbasque blush with a little bit of Warm Flush mineralize power on the highlights of my cheeks. I believe it was Pink Lemonade l/g on my lips...I forgot :)

The shadestick started to crease on me and I forgot why I didn't use them. I didn't get many good shots of this makeup at all so sorry if these pics aren't too great.

I started to work at MAC again as a means of making extra money when my freelancing slowed down. I'm calling it my "wedding fund." I had a lot of fun being with all my old co-workers and meeting the new ones. Everyone is always sooooo nice to me when I come in and it was like riding a bike...I remember why I love what I do everytime someone gets out of my chair feeling like a million bucks. I also remember why I prefer freelancing as well :)

Oh ya, and if you haven't done so already..follow me here too! LINK: Project Healthy Bride There's fun stuff goin' on over there too!

Revlon Runway Collection

I know you've probably seen these all over the beauty blogger scene but I had the opporunity to try the Revlon nail tips myself. I was sent 7 different styles and I must admit, they were super cute. There was a lot of glitz and glitter on many of the styles and there were a few to choose from. It's a terrific alternative to going to a nail salon and getting those damaging acrylics. They often file your nail down so that it is brittle and after you take them off, your nails aren't as strong as they once were. I actually stopped getting acrylics done when I got pregnant because I couldn't see myself changing diapers and all that jazz with nails. It also didn't help that my nails grew like crazy and that I would've needed to get fills like every week and a half.

These are very inexpensive and you have your pick of designs. The little package comes with everything you need: nails in different sizes, a manicure stick, glue, and a mini nail file.

Pros:

-The shape and length of the nail was very flattering.

-They have so many designs to choose from.

-Good alternative to going to the salon and paying salon price.

-Easy to put on.

Cons:

-It may be difficult for some to find the correct sizing for your nails. I had issues fitting a nail to my thumb. I could've filed the sides down to fit but it was a lot of work.

-They curve like crazy so you really have to push down on the glue. If they had a "flat" version of these I think it would help. Not everyone has a curve to their nailbed!

-The glue was so-so.

-AIR BUBBLE city! I tried so many things: letting the glue dry a bit before putting the nail on top, covering the whole nail with a thin layer of glue, applying from the bottom-up..NOTHING prevents air bubbles.

-Getting a little glue on your cuticles dries them out like no other!

-Removal was really hard. I soaked my nails in acetone for like 20 minutes and I still had a few problems getting them off.

Would I buy these?

-Probably not. But then again, I'm biased as I don't get my nails done EVER so the length was a bit hard to work with IMO. I type on a PC and iPhone all day so I like to keep my stuff short and natural. Maybe for the wedding though :)

Eye Shadows on Asian Eyes

Good morning everyone! This past Saturday launched the infamous Anniversary Sale at Nordies and I was summoned to help out. I'm picking up a few weekend shifts at my old counter and so far it's been great to be back doing what I love. Although retail cosmetics can be stressful and crazy at times, I love to be around other artists that I can vibe off of and that I missed like crazy.

One of my regular clients Wendy, had a semi-formal event to go to so she came in so I could do her makeup before she left. The last time I did her makeup, we went darker on the lid and did a beautiful smokey eye. This time around, I decided to go lighter on her eyes and keep it fresh and neutral. I used one of the new mineralize quad shadows (forgot the name); the highlight color in the quad looked a lot like MAC's Nylon e/s.

A good trick to use on asian lids is to concentrate the lightest color on the lid. Light colors make the lid stand out, and the darker the shadow, the more that feature is retracted. I used a #217 to really create the crease by blending the darker shadow a bit higher than Wendy's natural hood of her lid. Finished her off with #7 lashes (beautiful on her!) and she was ready to party!

She is also wearing MAC's Cubic blush and Eclectic Edge l/g. The foundation she is wearing is MAC's Mineralize Satinfinish in NC42 and MAC's MSF in Med Dark.

I love how summery and bronzey she looks!

Beat the Heat with these tips!

Hey everyone! So the heat is on and instead of your beauty regimen suffering, there are a few things you can do to get around them.

1) Is your face slick and you have no oil-blotting film?
-Toilet seat covers in public restrooms absorb oils from the face like oil- blotting films so pat away!

2) Have smelly underarms?
-Use your face wash under your arms. The salicylic acid in the cleanser kills odor causing bacteria.

3) Do your underarms sweat profusely?
-I had this problem a while back as well (during my pregnancy) and something that worked for me was Certain Dry. It's a roll-on anti perspirant that shrinks your sweat glands. Put it on at night before bed, and viola! No more sweat stains.

4) Is your eyeliner smearing?
-Set it with a powder shadow in the same shade. It will set the liner and lasts longer.

Remember to stay hydrated and wear your sunscreen beauties! The fiance came back from jet skiing last night and he looked like a friggen beet. No bueno. I sprayed MAC's Fix+ all over his body! He was like, "AAhhhhh!"

Follow my other blog if you please..

Good morning all! This isn't beauty related but I just wanted to share another aspect of my life. I thought that I was getting a bit too personal on here at times so if you want to, you can see what other shinanigans I'm up to over here Project Healthy Bride.

You can read through my journey with weight loss, planning a wedding, and my search for the perfect dress. I know some of you are big on health and fitness and we can support each other on the way.

Check it out!

Platinum For Prom

This is a look I did a while ago for a school dance. She was wearing a navy blue dress and didn't want to match it so we opted to use silvers and browns. MAC's Platinum pigment is one of my all time favorites. It's like liquid metal on the lid. It's fabulous! I used MAC's Texture in the crease and Embark in the outer corner. As a contrast, we used Brule in the highlight. She came in with MAC's #4 lashes, but I talked her into using MAC's #34 lashes. Her eye shape can totally pull off the more dramatic lash and she was very happy with the results. She is wearing MAC's Sunbasque blush on her cheeks and has Baby Sparks dazzleglass on her lips.



On another note, I started a second blog. Project Healthy Bride is the new blog and I plan on sharing my wedding plans, my quest for weight loss, as well as my cooking adventures. What I'm really looking for is support, as sometimes I feel as if I'm doing this alone. I know many of you out there are on the same page as me as far as getting into shape goes. Read it and follow if you are interested. I promise you won't be bored.

Sultry Smokey Browns

Happy monday my blogger beauties! I hope you all are having a good day so far. This weekend wasn't too exciting. Saturday was a relaxing day of lounging around with the baby and fiance until we got ready to go to a BBQ for a friend later that night. On Sunday, we sent the baby to Grandma's so we could get some deep cleaning done! It feels soooo good to finally have a clean home. The baby is in this weird phase where he only wants ME! I can't get anything done because he's so clingy. It's bittersweet actually.

Anywho, I wanted to share the look I did for the party. I used my beloved OCC loose colour all over the lid in Glisten. I LOVE the loose colours! I really need to pick up more. I also utilized my forgotten MAC's Smoke Signals palette (the brown one) and used MAC's Texture in my crease with MAC's Showstopper in my outer lid. I LOVE doing this look because of the angle in the outer corners. It makes the eyes look elongated and sexy.

I finished off the look with a little Gingerly on the cheeks and Belightful on the cheekbones. On my lips I'm wearing Soar l/l, Fabby l/s, and LoveKnot l/g.

I hope you all have a great week! As for me, the wedding plans continue!

Teal and Brown Look

This is a look I did for my future sis-in-law, Nichole.  She was going to a wedding and was wearing a teal dress.  She wanted to incorporate teal a bit so I used MAC's Parrot e/s on the center of the lid with Ricepaper in the inner corner.  I used MAC's Bamboo e/s in the crease and darkened the outer corners with MAC's Charcoal Brown.  Then, with MAC's #224 brush, I took Club e/s and swept it all over the lid to mute out the teal a bit.  I love how the colors all ended up since Club e/s is the perfect blue-brown.  We kept everything else relatively soft so that the emphasis would stay on the eyes.  

She is also wearing MAC's Sincere blush and MAC's Babysparks dazzleglass.  I wanted her foundation to stay put because she was going to celebrate her fourth of July after the wedding so I used my handy dandy graftobian foundations on her.

Until next time my loves!

Edgy Glamour Makeup

Happy monday! Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend. I just wanted to share a look I did about a week ago. Its an edgier take on neutral glamour makeup with a cut crease. This is my younger cousin Angelika and she was on her way to a semi-formal party. She wanted something with neutrals but in a bold way.

Products used:

-Graftobian Foundation

-MAC select moisturecover concealer

-MAC Gingerly blush

-MAC Charcoal Brown e/s (crease)

-MAC Ricepaper e/s (lid/highlight)

-MAC Chicory l/l

-MAC Ramblin Rose l/s

-MAC Bark e/s (brows)

-MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

-Red Cherry lashes

I just realized that the glue is totally visible on the eye on the right. She was rushing out and we couldn't wait for it to dry before we took the pic! LOL. Whoops!