January 2015 – NO BS GUIDE

Thirty One: January 31, 2015

Looking good is hard and expensive. The amount of money I have spent on make-up I could probably have bought a house by now. But you know I really needed another light pink lipstick. Luckily, there are some brands that help me not to completely break the bank and one of them is e.l.f. If you have never used their products, I pity you and you should buy something now. Their products can be very hit or miss so I decided to show you guys my top 10 cannot live without products from them. Get ready to save some money.

1. Powder Brush $3

This brush is holy grail. It is perfect, chubby, dense and flat topped. I have used this for liquid foundations. This is also great for putting on powders, hence the name, because it is flat and you can pat it on. I really love this brush, they should probably charge $100 for it, because it is so worth it.

2. Studio Flawless Concealer Brush $3

I bought this on a whim, figured I would try something else out. This is the most perfect concealer brush I have ever tried. It is so dense but flexible, it will blend in your concealer perfectly. Also, because it sort of dome shaped there is a bit of a precision aspect so you can more carefully place the concealer on the spots you want to cover. Bye, bye zits.

3. Essential Eye Crease Brush $1

Blending master. This brush is great, blends everything out so nicely. Also, because they are a dollar you can buy 10 and have clean blending brushes on hand at all times. It really helps to give everything that seamless look.

4. Angled Eye Brush $3

This brush makes putting on gel eyeliner a million times easier. The angled shape helps to give you a perfect wing and also allows to you get deep into that inner corner of the eye without getting it all over your face. If you suck at eyeliner, buy this brush and thank me.

5. Eyebrow Spooly Thing $1

For a dollar just get this. Trust me, your brows will thank you. I like brushing my brows with this so much better than other eyebrow brushes because I feel like this really gets the hairs in place. We don’t want anyone sticking out.

6. Stippling Brush $3

Because this brushes’ bristles are lighter and more flexible on top it helps to give an airbrushed effect. I sometimes use this for foundation. But this is also great for any liquid or cream bronzers, blushes and highlighters. It helps to blend it out and make it look FLAWLESS.

7. Eyebrow Kit $3

I only use the wax to fill my brows in because it matches them better. The little brush it gives you is shit, not gonna lie. But the wax stays in my brows all day, and is so pigmented it’s crazy. The powder is too light for me but I use it to contour or as eyeshadow.

8. Essential Liquid Lipstick $1

For a dollar these are great. They are pigmented, not sticky and sort of smell like cupcakes. Just buy one. It’s a fricken dollar. My favorite color is Baby Lips, which is sort of a weird name when you think about it.

9. Mineral Lipstick $5

These too are so pigmented its crazy. They aren’t drying or sticky. The color Party Pink was my go to for about a year. I would suggest these too for more daring colors that maybe you don’t want to invest the big bucks in.

10. High Definition Powder $6

Great dupe for Make Up Forevers High Definition Powder. It is so fine and sets my foundations so nicely.

For the record the combined cost of all these products is $29. To me these are pretty much a steal. So do yourself a favor and buy one of these underpriced products.

January 31, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: VanityTags: beauty, cheap, elf, eyebrows, girls, good quality, inexpensive, lipstick, make-up brushes, make-up holder, powder 2 Comments

Thirty: January 30, 2015

Hi friends. I felt like I haven’t blogged in forever. It’s only been 3 days but it has felt like an eternity. Part of the reason I haven’t posted was because I didn’t have anything eventful to write about. The snowstorm happened, you can read my thoughts on that in the post below. And I went to one day of classes so it was just uneventful. I decided in honor of hitting some big milestones for this blog (744 views, 37 subscribers and this being my 30th post) I would tell you some things about myself. Also, while those numbers are not big and huge, they mean so much to me. When I first started this blog I had literally no idea what I was doing, not that I do now really either, but I am having fun with it and living life. So thanks for all your support and being a pal.

To give you a background story, I am 22 and live in New York. I study Vocal Performance and will graduate with an MM in Voice in May 2016. For undergrad I went to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where I learned a lot about myself. As for my goals and aspirations: I want to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Sydney Opera House and all the big ones! I am a Tri Delta and Sigma Alpha Iota and I really think that those two things shaped me as a person. I have two younger siblings, and I really think my younger brother helped me to become responsible and extremely maternal (he’s 10 years younger than me). I have two dogs a Shih Tzu named Lola who is my pride and joy and a Yorkie named Harley.

Lola, she was a little crazy looking her hair is in her eyes haha.

10942319_10203742537268319_4822640342256861560_n — Harley, chilling in the snow.

I have only had one serious boyfriend. We were together for 4 and a half years and he taught me a lot about myself and relationships. I have been single now for 2 years and it is hell on Earth. Am I really that undateable? –> is that a word?

So to keep this short I will finish this off with 10 facts about myself.

I can speak Italian and some French.
I met all four of my grandparents, and four great-grandparents.
My name is Francesca.
I am ob-freakin-sessed with the colors: aqua and teal.
I have no patience.
My closet is color coordinated.
I have never gotten a ticket. Knock on wood.
Some people say I have the strongest accent in the world, and other people have no clue where I am from.
When I was little you could always find me in a Disney Princess dress.
I am 5’3 most of the time I feel super short.

So I hope this gave you some more insight as to who I am as a person. If you want to keep up with my follow me on Instagram: francescaaaa70. And yeah let me know if you guys like this because I can post more of these. I mean honestly, who doesn’t like to brag about themselves.

January 30, 2015January 30, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: ExtrasTags: about me, being me, Francesca, fun facts, music, opera, who am i 4 Comments

Twenty Nine: January 27, 2015

Blizzard my ass. We were told we could see up to 30 inches and we probably got 18. Still a lot of snow but definitely not the way they made it seem. The meteorologists are liars. Just kidding thanks for all your hard work. I always wonder if the government makes a big deal out of snowstorms so that way people go out and spend a lot of money on food. Speaking of food snow days make me want to eat literally everything in sight. And I eat it all with no remorse because why the fuck not?

Despite the snow falling short a few inches, I haven’t been in a storm this big in quite sometime. I went to college at Carnegie Mellon University and we never got a snow day because they like to torture their students. Kidding, love my alma matter. I woke up this morning at 8 am so excited to look out my window.

I am not exactly sure why I was so excited for this blizzard. Maybe because I knew I would get some extra time off of school. Maybe it was because I ate mashed potatoes, queso, pigs in a blanket, chili, ice cream…don’t judge me. Maybe it was because I went sledding for the first time since I was probably 14. Maybe it was because my brother and I tackled each other in the snow and laughed really hard. If you aren’t getting what I am putting it down snow days are nostalgic. Whenever I was little I would pray for snow days, hoping I would get to play in the snow all day. Like this if you used to put spoons under your pillows for snow. I think today was fun because I got to be a kid again.

We spend too much time thinking about the future. Where we are going, what we are doing, how we are getting there. We forget about the past. We forget what it’s like to be a kid and to have fun. When people ask me what I do for fun, I usually respond with go to the gym? Go to bars? Quite frankly I don’t know what the hell I do for fun. I find that somewhat concerning. But today was fun.

I guess what I am trying to say is, every once in a while it is okay to be a kid. It is okay to have fun. It is okay to be silly. Because whether you are 2 years old or 100 years old you need to enjoy life and have fun. If you got snow just go out there and stand in for five minutes, I promise it will put a smile on your face. Otherwise everyone go do something that reminds you of being a kid! Follow me on Instagram to keep up with my adventures! And if you like my blog, follow me on it, comment your thoughts and like this post if you were in the “blizzard!”

January 27, 2015January 27, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: ExtrasTags: adults, being a kid, blizzard, food, fun, kid, pictures, sledding, snow, snowday Leave a comment

Twenty Eight: January 26, 2015

If you haven’t heard the Northeasten part of the US is currently getting buried by snow. So I used the awful, cold weather as inspiration for a make-up look. I sort of feel like Princess Frostine would wear this make-up from the Candyland game. This is a great look for brown eyes. In this pictures you can really see how the blue, silvery colors brought out the brown in my eyes, making them look much more yellowy than their usual blue-green. WARNING: URBAN DECAY EYESHADOWS HAVE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF FALL OUT. Put your eye make-up on first then do your foundation later so you don’t look like Kesha just threw up on your face.

It just a silvery-blue eye, with pale lips and the face makeup was kept minimal but highlighted.

Everything I used. A good mix of expensive and drugstore — A good mix of expensive and drugstore

Products:

YSL Rouge Volute in Lingerie Pink
L’Oreal True Match Lumi in W5
Urban Decay NYC Palette
Elf Fan Brush
Elf Small Stipple Bursh
Rimmel Perfection Concealer in 230 Fair/Light
Real Techniques Setting Brush
NYX Eyebrow Pencil in E05 Dark Brown (this is too light for me)
NYC Jumbo Pencil in Milk
NYC black eyeliner
Sonia Kashuk double sided brush
Sun beam by Benefit
Covergirl Cheekers in Class Pink
Kiko Eyeliner in 813
NYC Volume by the lash mascara in Black
L’Oreal True Match Concealer stick in medium/deep

Steps:

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk all over the lid and tear duct. This creates a base and helps the colors look brighter.
Taking the color Money apply all over the lid leaving the inner 3rd white.
Taking Uzi apply to inner corner, and part of the eye that was white.
Taking Loaded apply to outer corner and blend into crease.
Using a Kiko eyeliner in a sky blue color I applied that to me water line. Ignore the tie dye mishap above their I was trying something and changed my mind.
I used a black eyeliner and applied it to the top of my lid. Also, I went around my tear duct with to really the line whole eye to give a more almondy shape. Finishing it with an NYC mascara that actually works really great. I cleaned up the eye a bit with a Q-Tip as well.

For the rest of the face I applied a light baby pink blush and highlighter to my cheeks. On my lips is YSL Lingerie Pink. And that is really it! It was pretty easy, and made me feel glam on this drab, cold day. Now it’s time to watch Netflix. Stay warm, safe and make sure you charge your goodies incase the power goes out!

January 26, 2015January 26, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: VanityTags: beauty, blue, cold, drugstore, eyeliner, ice princess, make-up, mascara, silver, snow, sparkly, tiffany blue, urban decay, white, YSL Leave a comment

Twenty Seven: January 24, 2015

As I have mentioned before all my great ideas happen in the shower. I do a lot of thinking in there while I deep condition my hair. When I deep conditioned my hair it said to leave in for 7 minutes and rinse. I looked at my watch 1:36 and waited till 1:43 to rinse. But in those 7 minutes I thought about time. Time is really interesting, and if you have the time (ha ha ha) go to the wikipedia page and just read about it. But then after thinking about time, I thought about timing.

When the first humans started to measure time with the sun or the moon they probably didn’t think we would come up with a complex system for measuring time like we have today. I mean think about it, we divide time into the most precise measurements for races. Milliseconds are what makes someone an Olympic gold meadalist or an Olympic silver medalist. Time is important to us for so many reasons: time is money, time signifies becoming older, time to get a job, time to wake up, time to get married, time, time, time. Every second we look down at these little ticking clocks and let time dictate our lives. And therefore timing is everything.

There have been plenty of people whose lives have become significantly screwed up because of time. You can’t be with the person you love because you two are in two different states. You can’t get the dream you want because your grandpa is sick and you have to stay. You can’t break-up with your boyfriend because you live together, have a dog and you’re pregnant. You can’t leave your husband/wife because you will have no money. The person you like is always in a relationship when you are single, and you are always in a relationship when they are single.

While those are sone dramatic examples, things like that happen all the time and you know it does. People can’t get their timing right. They can’t say what they need to say, do what they need to do and they end up frustrated or annoyed. My point is timing is everything. You can’t sit around and wait, if you want something you need to do it in that moment. Because that moment is never coming back. If you spend your whole life not taking chances because you are scared whether that be to apply for your dream job across the country, talk to the cute guy/girl in the bar, get a divorce, break-up whatever it is you will regret it. These moments don’t come back, they are there in that perfect time and if you don’t act upon them they are gone.

The next time you think you have to do something and you get nervous or scared ask yourself will this perfect moment ever come back? If not, grow a pair of balls and do it. Because you aren’t getting that moment back, ever. No matter how hard you try to recreate it or apply to the job or whatever it is, that moment will never return. You need to be confident and do what you need to do for yourself.

January 24, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: ExtrasTags: alone, breaking-up, clocks, confidence, divorce, jobs, men, relationships, single, time, timing, women Leave a comment

Twenty Six: January 23, 2015

Everyone says it, “oh don’t worry it will happen when you least expect” or “stop looking and it’ll pop right up.” Yes, just like that my perfect man is going to poof out of the air and I will get married. -_- What do you guys think, do you think it just happens or do you think you have to actively seek a relationship?

As I have said before in other posts, finding potential people to go on dates with is now accessible all the time. You create account on an online dating site/tinder and at 3 am you log on and message people. Done. You don’t have to leave your bed or face personal rejection. But at the end of the day are these dating sites considered “actively seeking” or maybe more so “passive browsing?” For the most part when I open my tinder up, I am bored and just feel like browsing. Basically the equivalent of window shopping. I don’t think I am going to find my next boyfriend on there. Likewise I think the guys on there are typically looking for sex or also are just bored. Even sometimes when I am drunk I just like every single person. I regret it when I wake up the next day with 100 matches form guys I don’t like. Maybe I will find someone who is serious, maybe I will eat my words one day and marry a tinder man. But does my thumb swiping left or right fuck with the whole notion of “once you stop looking it will come?” Does the universe consider this actively seeking?

I am curious as to your thoughts on once you stop looking it will come. Is it bullshit? So am I supposed to give up and just cross my fingers and hope for the best? I have no clue, I am pretty sure if I knew I wouldn’t be single. Maybe I will try it, just delete everything and feel liberated from men. Ha.

January 23, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: Adam, BitchingTags: Adam, annoyed, bitching, boyfriend, dating, dating sites, girlfriend, love, men, ranting, single, tinder 5 Comments

Twenty Five: January 22, 2015

I needed something to put above my bed in my apartment. I saw this quote “don’t let anyone dull your sparkle.” And being the cheesy, white girl that I am I was like this is perffff.

I won’t lie this took some serious dedication but I am so happy with how it turned out. If you are incapable of putting on gel eyeliner with an angled brush I will say this may cause you some trouble. Or if you can’t trace things but other than it was fun, just requires some patience.

Supplies. — Supplies, plus a canvas. Mine was 12 x 24.

First things first get yourself a canvas. Decide which way you want it to go hotdog or hamburger way (do you remember this from being a child?) and what you want it to say.
I painted the whole thing black and the sides of the canvas because otherwise it would’ve looked half of an oreo.
I downloaded the fonts from Font Squirrel. The cursivey font is called Sofia and the regular font was called Judson. On Microsoft Word change your paper size to the size of the canvas. So in my case it was 12 x 24. This way you can set up the words and it can be spaced out properly.
Then change your margins back to 8.5 x 11 the size of normal paper, unless you happen to have large pieces of paper laying around and it will line itself up.
When I first spaced it out above you can see some of the words ended up underneath each other and I thought it was easier to have on word per pages.

Flip your words over and I took a white pastel and colored behind the word. This feels like nails on a chalkboard but it’s a necessary evil.
Flip all your words over so the words face you, line them up and tape them on.
Take a pencil and trace over the letters.
Take off all the paper and the tape and you are left with your “stencil.” Just be careful as it is chalk and can be wiped away.
Then begin the treacherous hell of painting the words in. This is awful and you will slightly feel like throwing the canvas, but just keep pushing through.
Once its all done it feels great though. I went back and added a second coat of the white to make it crisper.
Then I decided obviously to make the SPARKLE sparkle! So using glue I painted over the letters. I suggest doing this one letter at a time because glue dries fast.
So then as you can see the letters had some missing spots.
You can go back, paint more glue on and add more sparkle to fill the spots in.
And then BAM sparklessssss.
I felt it still looked empty so I added those “sparkly” little figures to it. Following the same chalk method we used for the letters. And then filled the smaller ones in with white paint.
Then I decided to fill the bigger ones in with white paint.
Finally I added silver sparkles to the sparkly figure things.
The last step is take the Krylon spray and spray it all over the whole thing. It adds a nice shine. I will say although the can says you can use it indoors it really smells so I would suggest you do it outside.

AND that’s it. Super simple, right? 🙂 There were parts that were a pain in the ass but I think it was worth it because I was really happy with how it came out. But I will say one more time IF YOUR WINGED EYELINER ENDS UP ALL OVER YOUR FACE THIS IS NOT THE CRAFT FOR YOU.

I hope you liked it, give it a shot, comment or like this and sparkle on betchesssss.

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: DIYTags: black, canvas, crafts, creative, DIY, font, gold, paint, quote, room decor, silver, sparkle, stencil, white 4 Comments

Twenty Four: January 19, 2015

We live in a sex-symbol driven, beauty obsessed society. Every time I go on Instagram and look at the popular page it’s another picture of a girl half dressed with 90,000 likes. Or a guy with rock hard abs taking a mirror selfie and every girl using him as their man crush Monday. When did we all become so fucking vain?

I love Instagram I’m all for it but let’s not kid ourselves that people get high off of it. There are beautiful men and women with millions of followers for no reason other than that they are gorgeous. Each one being someone’s fitspiration, idol, #goals, MCM, WCW — basically their obsession. I’m not saying I’m perfect there are definitely a few people I follow for the sake of their hotness but this false sense of celebrity in my humble opinion is disgusting.

This false sense of celebrity pisses me off for a lot of reasons.

There are real talented people who no one cares about. Example I looked at a few famous opera singers instagrams they all had less than 20,000 followers. But the girl who posts half naked pics has a million. That shows that we value beauty more than hard work.
People have become obsessed with perfection. It’s only getting worse and quite frankly it’s sad. No one is perfect and we have to stop looking at gorgeous people as Gods.
People validate themselves based on followers and likes. You are no better, cooler, more fun or more anything because you have 500,000 likes on a picture. People feel bad about themselves when they don’t get as many likes or people don’t follow them. And when people get likes and comments they feel better and happier.
“Uglier” people feel bad about themselves. Granted Instagram isn’t the only place that showcases pretty people. But nothing makes me feel worse than when I feel self conscious and I see a girl post a picture in a bikini with fake boobs and a flat tummy.

Our society is rather fucked up because we have placed an emphasis on looks for too long. We need to stop valuing people whose only talent is looking good. There are brilliant photographers, chefs, artists, makeup artists, singers who need exposure. I’m not saying you aren’t entitled to a selfie, or a picture of you in bikini but society as a whole needs to get their heads of out their asses and realize one day we are all going to be wrinkly and old. Looks are temporary but your inner self and character is permanent.

Comment below with your thoughts and like this if you agree with me.

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: Bitching, ExtrasTags: beauty, bitching, celebs, fake celebbs, hot, instagram, obsessed, pretty, ranting, sexy, ugly Leave a comment

Twenty Three: January 16, 2015

Travel chic. When I travel I am so not the girl in 7 inch heels, tight jeans and a tube top. Also, never go behind her in a security line or parents with children, they will take forever. I go more for a comfy chic approach. So I figured I would show you guys an outfit that I wore to the airport. Some people really like to dress up but that life just ain’t for me. I choose comfy over high fashion. Unless someone wants to give me Louboutins.

Traveling is gross and dirty. Unless your hair looks like you just dipped it in a vat of oil or are you going to have sex with your boyfriend/girlfriend the second you hop of the plane skip the shower. Everyone’s gross, dirty head has rested in the same spot as yours and probably more people than you’d like to think have farted where you are sitting. When I travel I feel like everything turns to shit: my eyes get bloodshot, my skin gets weirdly oily and dry and by the end of my plane ride I need a shower.

Super basic outfit. A thin shirt with a tank underneath so that way I don't get hot. Leggings and boots. — Super basic outfit. A thin shirt with a tank underneath so that way I don’t get hot. Leggings and boots.

Big infinity scarves can double as pillows or blankets and they are so warm and cozy.

Leather jacket with sweatshirt material paneling. This is from Athleta and because the whole thing isn't leather it is super comfortable. It also has a hood. — Leather jacket with sweatshirt material paneling. This is from Athleta and because the whole thing isn’t leather it is super comfortable. It also has a hood.

Here is a better, more professional picture of the jacket

Being the lonely, single girl that I am sometimes I just hope my perfect man is going to sit next me. I see him walking down the aisle he looks at the seat next to me, we make eye contact, I get ready to move but then of course he’s two rows behind me. And then I get stuck next to an old lady with too much perfume. But just because you aren’t sitting next to Prince Charming doesn’t mean you can’t put a little effort into yourself. For the love of God stop wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants from your middle school softball team. I hope this outfit gave you an idea on ways to make yourself look presentable while you travel. Safe travels and bon fucking voyage.

January 16, 2015January 16, 2015 by noBSguide Categories: VanityTags: airport, leggings, make-up holder, outfit ideas, scarf, travel 5 Comments

Twenty Two: January 14, 2014

Fuck playing hard to get. I think playing hard to get is completely overrated. If you like someone just tell them. If you want to date them just tell them. If you are in love with them just fricken tell them. Seriously, I hate playing hard to get. I think it is stupid, a waste of time and it doesn’t make you any cooler. I try to be honest with everything I do: if I don’t like someone I tell them, if I like them and I want their babies I tell them, if I hate that hideous outfit you are wearing I am going to tell you.

Playing hard to get isn’t necessarily lying or telling the truth or anything but I just think it perpetuates this awful dating cycle. You go on a date with someone have a great time, you kiss at the end, you go home and then you wait. You don’t want to text him first because then you are a crazy, clingy bitch and he doesn’t want to text you first because what guy actually wants to consider a future with someone. So you had a great date and you never talk again because you both were “playing hard to get.”

There are levels of playing hard to get. I will break it down:

Level 1: You are at a bar and a guy comes up to you, you talk to each other and you don’t answer every single question of his. This is harmless playing hard to get. Also, incase he is a stalker he doesn’t need to know your address and your favorite sex position.

Level 2: You go on date with said guy. He asks you how your relationship with your parents is. Instead of telling him your horrible life story you play it off “family is family we all drive each other nuts.” This is also harmless and if you went on a crazy rant about your crazy family for more than 2 minutes, he will probably think you are equally as crazy. crazy=crazy

Level 3: You go on a few dates in the span of a month but in between those dates you don’t really talk. This starts to make the other person question if you like them, or you are just using them for sex? This is dangerous because this is where feelings can be developed and feelings can be hurt.

Level 4: You went on multiple dates, you are basically dating. BUT he barely answers your texts and you usually have to ask him to make plans first. Things are great when you are together but when he disappears he might as well be a ghost. Also, you want him to meet your family but he’s saying you’ll meet his soon enough. This is very dangerous because 1 of 2 things are bound to happen. 1 you will drive the other person crazy their thoughts will only be consumed of you because they have no clue where you are, what are you doing and when they will see you again. 2 the person you are playing hard to get with will give up and just move onto the next.

As you can see playing hard to get is okay in the beginning but after two dates it’s garbage. Don’t mistake playing hard to get for him/her not liking you. Not liking you is a whole separate blog post but to keep it short, if he never reschedules the date he promised he would move the fuck on.

So I think we should all stop playing hard to get and start playing hard to resist. You tell the other person you missed them, you thought about them, ask how their day was and seem genuinely interested. Don’t worry these new feelings of vulernability and openness won’t hurt your dating and sex life but will enhance it. Comment your thoughts below on playing hard to get, follow me for sassy tips and like if you agree with me!