They're Real!

The mascara I'm choosing to review today is They're Real! by Benefit. I absolutely love this mascara. Unlike drug store mascaras, it makes your eyelashes look fantastic. I'm fortunate enough to have been blessed with naturally long eyelashes, but this mascara makes my lashes even longer! Its volumes, curls and lengthens your lashes and makes them look amazing. I love the product because it doesn't clump like most drug store mascaras and keeps them looking perfect, like fake eyelashes. The mascara comes in black or brown, I prefer black, however, it is all about personal preference. Overall this product is amazing for anyone. It will really plump up your eyelashes and make them look fantastic. It can be purchased at Shoppers Drug mart in the beauty section, or any relater that sells Benefit. And it only costs about 18$, I know, more expensive than most mascaras. But, it lasts long and is seriously worth the extra few bucks. 

A Miracle?

We always hear about these so called miracle diets that "make you loose 10 pounds in a week!" But as we all know, these diets never work. These diets work temporarily and yes, you may get the satisfaction of loosing all that weight. However, in a few weeks, you're mostly likely to gain all the weight back. Thats because these miracle diets do not teach you a proper healthy lifestyle. They temporarily show you a way of eating that will make you loose the extra weight. However most of the eating habits these diets promote cannot be kept permanently. What I don't understand is that pretty much everyone knows these diets are bogus. Yet, a lot of people still take part in them. Why? Why is that? Its because people want an easily solution to loosing weight. When, really, it would be much better if people learned how to eat healthy and exercise. Even though it may take longer to loose the weight, learning a healthy lifestyle will give them longterm benefits. If people learn the right way to eat and get into a routine of exercising, they will be much happier. People won't experience that temporary euphoria from losing weight and then have the sadness once they gain it back. If people learn and develop a healthy lifestyle they will be happy all the time as supposed to having fluctuating emotions. I know its hard to eat healthy and get to the gym, I am a victim of this. However, you just need to push yourself. Think of how you will feel after you loose the weight. Think of the pay off. Find the drive to get healthy and use it to lose it. Enough of these so called miracle diets, get healthy and you will be happy with the results. Not just temporarily, but forever. 

Evolution of Smooth

EOS products are some of the most up and coming products today. I'm sure a lot of you have seen girls walking around applying something to their lips from a little colourful ball. Well this is probably the best lip balm I have ever used! This lips balms are from the brand EOS or Evolution of Smooth and they are absolutely amazing! There are 7 different flavours for this fantastic product. The dark pink is summer fruit, the light pink is strawberry sorbet, the purple is passion fruit, the light blue/green is sweet mint, the more lime green one is honeysuckle honey dew, the yellow is lemon drop and lastly the orange is medicated tangerine. My favourite is the summer fruit, but I seriously love them all. The lip balm is 95% organic and 100% natural because of this the product has no petroleum. I love the fact that it is an all natural product because so many products for yours lips are putting very harsh chemicals into your body. The lip balm is filled with antioxidant-rich vitamin E, soothing Shea butter and jojoba oil. Not only is being natural making it an even better product, the results are what make this lip balm a winner for me. This lip balm is the perfect consistency, it doesn't leave white residue in the corners of your month like a lot of lip balms. It also doesn't collect in the cracks of your lips, it creates a smooth look for yours lips and also heals your lips at the same time. Overall, every single one of the EOS lip balms are fantastic. The only reason I can pick one over the other is based on the flavour! I seriously recommend every single one of the flavours to everyone. I have tried Burt's Bees, Blistex, Nivea, every lip balm in the book and EOS tops them all. 

Plus Sized?

We see these women everyday, in advertisements, on TV, walking down runways, advertising the clothing that are considered fashionable in today's society. However, these women who are walking down the runways telling us what we should be wearing, and what we should look like wearing these clothes, are far from the look of the average North American woman. The average North American woman is a size 8 and about 5'5. These numbers are very different from the numbers you need to be to be a model. However, they are close to the size of a plus size model. Now, I'm about a size 6 (depending on the store) and I'm 5'4, I know I'm not skinny, but I seriously do not consider my self plus-sized! However, in the fashion industry today, the size of plus size models are actually close to the size of the average North American woman. This is not right! The women who are advertising the fashionable clothing for woman to wear, are not showing how the average woman is going to look in these clothes. The fact that the fashion industry is making women from size 6-14 plus size models is just not right considering these sizes aren't even plus sized sizes! Even this must make plus sized women feel bad. Having woman much smaller than them advertising the clothing they are supposed to be wearing. There is a serious issue with the way models are casted. I'm not saying there aren't any women out there who look like the regular models today, however, there are a lot out there who look very different. I believe fashion designers should use models who demonstrate sizes 2-14 because those are the "normal" or average sizes. And plus sized models should be sizes 16 and higher. This way, the fashion industry is going to be correctly showing the how people will look in the clothing. Therefore the issues in the industry will be resolved and the correct demographic will be shown for the particular clothing being advertised. 

** The woman in the picture is Robyn Lawley, a plus sized model**

Tattle Tale

The next item I am going to review for my blog is my Benefit Cream Eyeshadow. All of Benefit's cream eyeshadow brands are amazing, the colour pigments are fantastic and the colour sticks to your lid very well without have to use primer. However, my favourite thing about the cream eyeshadow is that the colours are all neutral enough for them to be used everyday, but then if need be they can be used, along with other colours, to create a more intense look for if you are going out. As I said, I love all the colours, I haven't tried all of them, however I have tried enough to know that the quality of the shadow is the same for all the colours. Even though all of the colours are fantastic. My absolute favourite colour from this line of cream eyeshadow is Tattle Tale. Tattle Tale is a gold colour eyeshadow that I use every single day, and have been using every single day since grade 9. The colour is subtle enough to use for everyday wear however, I can blend it with darker colours to create a more intense look. As I said, I have been using this product since grade 9, almost 4 years, and I have not gotten sick of it. That says something for me because I like to change up all of the other make-up products I use regularly. Once I found Tattle Tale, I fell in love with it. It is a small container making it portable, but it lasts for months! It is also relatively inexpensive (about $18) making it so worth while to purchase. I love gold eyeshadow on any eye colour because it really brightens the whole eye. With the quality of this product and the colour I seriously suggest it for anyone. Of course, if you don't like gold any of the Benefit cream eyeshadows are fantastic everybody. If you like a subtle look or a more intense look this product is perfect for you. 

Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover

This article is probably going to seem a bit more like a rant than an article because this is an issue that I have dealt with all throughout my life. I guess you could say I look pretty "normal." First of all, I don't see myself as normal, I'm actually a pretty strange person, but that is not whats important. I don't have any outrageous piercings, my hair is a normal colour and my face I think is pretty typical. Big eyes, small nose, average sized lips. I also dress pretty "normally" so people would assume that I don't usually get judged by outside sources. However, I feel like "normal" people get judged pretty harshly. The people in the world who consider themselves not normal always see themselves as being judged by the "normal" people. In my own opinion, I love when people don't stick to the status quo, it proves originality and independence. However, they are not getting judged as harshly as they believe. At least by myself and the other "normal" people I hang out with. What I find unfair, is that I get judged by these people who are "different" because I'm "normal." I don't dress the way I do in order to fit in, its because I like the clothes. I can help that what I like just so happens to fit into the status quo. I'm sure there are some girls that do just try and fit in, however I don't appreciate getting judged because I am "normal." I don't judge anyone because they are "different," I admire them. I wish that "normal" people got the same treatment. Yes I wear makeup and dress in Urban Outfitters but that doesn't mean I'm a bad person. Its just what I like. And if I can admire you because of being yourself, why can I not be admired for being myself because myself is considered by society as "normal." As I said before, I find myself to be a bit of an oddball. And people would not know that until they took the opportunity to talk to me. This opportunity is passed up so often because people automatically assume the kind of person I am because I seem "normal." I know that people who are "different" face these problems too, but I don't think anyone thinks about how the so-called "normal" people face the same problems. All I ask of people is to give me a chance. Don't automatically assume who I am because of the way I look and dress. I guess all I'm asking of people, towards "different" and "normal" people, is to not judge a book by it's cover. Also, don't forget that the people who seem to be "normal" may really not be, and don't judge them harshly based on the fact that they are, in your eyes, considered "normal."

Sweet on Paris

The next product I am going to review is from Bath and Body Works. It is the body wash and body lotion "Sweet on Paris." I absolutely love this product. The scents in the product is juicy blackberry, lemon meringue and creamy vanilla. I know this probably sounds like a strange combination, however it is to die for. It reminds me of really delicious desserts and I love having that vanilla scent in the fall and winter time because I think it goes well. One of the things that I really like about the body wash is that it is a gel, however when you scrub it, it becomes foamy and still cleans very well. The body wash is also moisturising so if your in a rush your skin wont become dry and the scent will stick to you. If you have time to use the body lotion, I seriously recommend it. A little goes a long way with the lotion so it doesn't run out very quickly and it moisturises very well with a small amount. The moisturiser is also not sticky so you don't have that gross feeling of putting on pants after moisturising. I'm pretty sure most of you know what I'm talking about. Overall this is a fantastic product and I seriously recommend it to everyone. The scent is very calming in a way and is not too overpowering like many products. It is also relatively cheap because Bath and Body Works has so many sales and the bottles last you very long. And as a bonus, Bath and Body Works does not test on animals! So for all you animal lovers out there like me, there is even more incentive to buy this amazing product!

No Need to Be Negative

There is no lying that Hollywood is a harsh world and that it's influence is affecting a lot of people, including the celebrities who's lives revolve around it. Some of the celebrities have some form of eating disorder, or are photo shopped to pieces to try and make themselves seem perfect. All of the celebrities that are super skinny, getting photo shopped and not wearing anything bigger than a size two are the ones that are causing issues in young kids today. I know you all probably think that this is going to be another article on the issues that celebrities and Hollywood causes in teens. However, I'm here to talk to you about the opposite. Of course it's hard for young girls to look at all these super tiny people and think that they are perfect, however, teens just need to know to look up to the right people. There are A LOT of celebrities out there that have a healthy body image. The problem is, young girls today are looking up to the unheathly ones because all they want is to be thin. The celebrities like, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Jennifer Lawerence and Demi Lovato are the ones young girls should be looking up to. These girls are curvy but work out in order to stay fit. This is the kind of body image Hollywood should be portraying, it is the realistic body type of young women. They should be praised for looking like this, instead Hollywood goes around photo shopping these perfectly beautiful girls to make them look thinner. It's strange considering almost everyone I know would pick to have a body like those girls and not like Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen. So why photo shop these gorgeous, healthy girls? I know I may be overgeneralising, however, the healthy body types are the ones young girls need to look up to and see as beautiful.
Young girls today need to learn that it is very hard to look like a lot of the girls in Hollywood because false expectations of beauty have been set. They need to look at the girls who, are still considered beautiful, but also considered healthy. Having this type of person as a role model, I believe, will severely decrease issue in teenagers today. There is no need for girls to be setting negative body images as their goals, when there is perfectly positive body images out there to be seen. They just need to appreciated.

No More Split Ends!

The first product I'm going to review is my Redken Extreme Anit-Snap. Now it doesn't matter who you are, no one wants split ends. No one I have ever heard of has gone out of their way to achieve split ends. Now my hair is pretty damaged, I don't know why, it's not that I style it often. It may have to do with the countless hours I spent in the pool training to be a lifeguard... But either way, I always have split ends. But this product was shown to me by my hairdresser, and I absolutely love it! It's so light and does not leave any residue in your hair. I put it in after everytime I shower when my hair is wet and its so simple. A few pumps, rub it through your ends and you're done. This product is absolutely amazing and my split ends have significantly decreased since I started using it. if you are trying to keep your hair healthy or even grow it out, I seriously recommend this product. As a plus, it detangles your hair so it's easier to brush. Also, it smells really nice; the smell makes me feel like I'm at a spa.It costs about $18 and is totally worth the money! I buy my bottle at Chatters Hair Salon in Trainyards and it lasts me about 4 or 5 months. For a not so expensive product, it lasts very long and works really well.

This is my first product I have ever reviewed, and there is a reason. It is a fantastic product and I suggest it for everyone!  

Who is Holly Norman?

Some of you in the class are some of my really good friends and, i like to think you know me pretty well. However, there is alot of you that don't know me, and probably have false judgements of who I am. Since I'm going to be writing for all of you read until the end of the semester, I figured it would be good for my first entry to clear the air. First of all, I do not want this blog to be referred to as a beauty blog. The reason for this is because I'm going to be talking about different makeup, hair and body products and in no way do I believe that those things make beauty. Cheesy, I know, but it is how I feel. I know making a blog about products may seem superficial to alot of you, but the thing is I don't mean it like that. We were simply asked to write a blog about something that interests us, and these products do. Plus it's pretty easy for me to write about. 

This blog is not only going to be entries based around different products I use; I'm also going to write articles every second week. These articles are going to be opinion pieces on how I feel about the way appearance in portrayed in society today. I guess we could then call this an "appearance" blog! 

I know this post may not have exactally been "about me" exactally, however, I think everything I stated has cleared the air. I hope you are all looking forward to reading my blog as much as I am looking forward to writing it.

See you next time!