Luv Lush

I am sitting in my bed, post shower, eating lucky charms (main staple of my diet), and remembering this thing called "blog" that I have neglected. Sorry y'all.

I think that this will be a "review" blog. Vanessa always does Lush review blogs, and since I too enjoy Lush products, and just picked up some new ones, I figured it's time to put in my two cents.

First, Honey I Washed the Kids soap.

Vanessa sent me a slice of this soap for me to try, since even though I worked at Lush for about 2 months, I never owned or personally used any of their soaps. This is one of the most popular soaps for the company, because it smells so good. It smells like creamy honey, but not in an overwhelming way. It has real honeycomb on top, and contains aloe in the formula, which soothes skin. It makes my showers delicious. I love it.

Now, on to my MOST FAVORITE LUSH PRODUCT: Solid Shampoo.

I typically use the Squeaky Green shampoo bar, although I've tried Ultimate Shine and Seanick and love both of them as well.

The amazing part about solid shampoo is that it lasts for at least 3 months. At $9.95 per bar, that is an amazing value. For me, it typically lasts for 4 1/2 months, which is even better. Personally, a shampoo with lots of lathery bubbles is a must (I like to know what parts of my hair have shampoo or not, otherwise I miss a spot in my mass of crazy hair). This shampoo delivers. With one light pass of the bar around my hair, the shampoo lathers and spreads. A little goes a long way! This is an amazing concept for someone with thick hair like me, I typically use a 50 cent piece size of liquid shampoo in order to cleanse my entire head of hair.

Lastly, this thing delivers. It cleans my hair so well, which is great for me, since my hair gets dirty and greasy so easily. I need to wash my hair every day (that whole "every other day" thing is a no no). With other shampoos, I usually have a greasy streak of hair near my face at the end of the day. With Squeaky Green I still have clean hair by bedtime! I love this product and will never use another shampoo.

Lastly, I recently purchased some of Lush's solid conditioner, Jungle.

I figured that since I am enchanted by their solid shampoo, that I would equally love their solid conditioner. I must say that I've only used it 4 times, but I am feeling pretty positive about the effects. I break off a small piece, mush it around in my palm until it melts, lather it up and apply. My hair doesn't get the same "slick" feeling that other conditioners create, which kind of confuses me. I kind of like that slick feeling, because I know what parts of my hair have conditioner and what parts don't. That will just take some getting used to. Other than that, my hair does seem moisturized and shiny afterward! This product uses tons of olive oil and avocado, which are super nourishing and moisturizing. I love the smell as well, which kind of just smells like olive oil...very jungle-y indeed.

Thank you Lush cosmetics for your vegetarian shower delights. You make my world a better place.

Cloudy Day

I decided that today I would accomplish these things:

Clean a shared space.
Clean a personal space.
Do something for a friend.
Do something for myself.
Do something for school.


Updates to come...

Dolphins/Documentaries.

I really enjoy using my blog as a platform to share issues that I am interested in, not just design that I am attracted to.

Ever since watching the 2010 Academy Awards, I have been interested in watching the documentary The Cove. I love documentaries. Anything that enlightens me to a new issue or viewpoint is something I'd consider viewing, or reading. The Cove discusses the slaughter of dolphins in a small community in Japan. Many Americans and animal rights activists are outraged at the concept of killing massive numbers of dolphins for human consumption. Within this cove, so many dolphins are killed at once, that the entire cove of ocean turns blood red.

At face value, this concept is horrific. How could a community so willingly and repeatedly kill such innocent (and smart) animals, in such a gruesome way, let alone eat them afterward? To Americans, and most westerners, this is disgusting. Although I still haven't seen it, many people applaud the movie for raising awareness for the issue, and for being a well-produced documentary in general.

A couple of my friends saw the movie, highly enjoyed it, and quickly declared how "The Japanese are shady. They're just shady."

Excuse me? Hang on. This is when I stopped to reconsider my position on the support of this film. Any film that debates an issue, but portrays an entire nation as "shady" cannot be good. Now, I'm the type of person that genuinely and truly delights in stereotypes. I think they are (in general), fun, accurate descriptions of race, culture, and gender. Yes, there is room to be offended, but stereotypes develop for a reason, and they have truth to them. I'm Mexican, and personally can relate and make fun of Mexican stereotypes, simply because they are often true. It's not a big deal, embrace it. But I digress. The stereotype promoted in this film is not positive, if it convinces mass amounts of people that an entire nation supports the practices of one small town.

I'm not going to get into the debate about the ethics of dolphin hunting, because so many people already have, and have done so more eloquently than I ever could. But what inspired me to put in my own two cents was this post from AllLookSame.com. Please go read it before (or after) forming an opinion on The Cove and the views that it promotes.

My final thought is this: who is to judge what is culturally acceptable and unacceptable to eat? I think, (with the exception of human flesh) there is no "true" culinary standard that the entire world has to abide by. Because an individual's culture deems it "okay" for dogs to be pets, doesn't mean that a different nation shouldn't be able to consume them. What if that second nation typically regards chickens as suitable pets (an animal that Americans consume by the millions)? There is no limit to a human's affection, these pets could be just as dear to them as our puppies and kittens are to us.

Ok. Anyway. Go read that blog post from AllLookSame. It's great.

Smoosh.

This post will have nothing to do with art, or with my current state of mind, or with the fact that I am still deathly sick and miserable. This post is simply a mish-mash of several fun links and things I have been stumbling upon throughout my internet travels. The internet is such an amazing place!

My Modern Met raises the question, "What did childhood feel like?" They compiled 25 beautiful photographs which I think capture the many different feelings of being a kid.

 Photo credit: comik book guy


Postsecret is featuring some compelling Mother's Day secrets for this week's post. Here is one I like:

Buzzfeed shares a sweater that makes me wish that I was a 9 year old boy. (P.S. Buzzfeed is a dangerous website. Dangerous as in, it is so easy to waste time on that site.)

Last, watch this fantastic video, of the University of Oregon's male a capella ensemble performing "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. It really is worth it.

sickly choices

I feel sick today. So far I have skipped two classes today (even though one involves a free field trip to the Asian Art museum to view Ukiyo-e. Dang it). I may skip my third class. I don't know. It would involve me missing valuable oil painting time but I am a fragile being, and don't like to over-work myself. (By the way, yes, I am oil painting, and yes, I am starting to make peace with it! Yay!)

So here are my choices: slowly tidy up my room, even though my body aches and my tummy is upset?

Or, listen to KEXP while resting underneath my snuggie?

P.S. I just realized that I'm going to be missing Hokusai. HOKUSAI. F BOMB.

I will literally be missing In the well of the wave of Kanagawa. I am upset.

sketch & craft.

I just came across a really simple DIY craft, while browsing my facebook newsfeed. Thank you, Forever 21 for posting such fun links. (I just became a "fan" of them, oh wait, I mean, I "like" them now, and they tend to post really interesting articles about fashion).

Studded Espadrilles

Photo and craft credit to Citizette.com

I love DIY projects. I could really see myself doing this with Espadrilles, because for one, they are cheap shoes, and two, they get dirty really easily. Dirty, pastel canvas just tends to look awful on my feet (but edgy on others' feet, somehow). Also, studs are really inexpensive.

Secondly, Tiana just showed me a sketchblog with some amazing illustrations! The artist is named Andrea Joseph, and she also has an etsy where she sells prints of her work. Check these out:

She also draws in moleskein notebooks frequently. In addition, she invented these small books called Molezines, which she also sells on her etsy site. They are small enough to fit into the inside pocket of your own personal moleskein, so you can carry along some art with you.