Liebster Award!

I was just awarded the Liebster Award by none other than the fabulous Dar from Tales of an Unlikely Mother, which originated over at the lovely (and fun) Life in Pint-Sized Form.

The rules are that I tell you all 11 things about me, and deem someone worthy to have the award passed to.

1. I'm finally coming into myself as an adult.  I no longer feel like I'm a teenager playing grownup; rather, I feel like a grown up who occasionally wishes I could go back to being a teen.
2. My children are raised in a village.  We home share with my parents, my two siblings, a non-blood roommate, and my niece part-time.  My house is never quiet, and I don't know what I'll do when the day comes that I finally buy my own place.  I'll miss the noise.
3. I loathe doing dishes.  Doing dishes and floors.  I'll scrub the nastiest toilet, but please, don't make me mop or do dishes.
4. I've been known to not only talk in my sleep, but sing as well.
5.  My number of close friends can be counted on one hand.
6. At least one of those fingers is someone I've never met "in real life."
7. I have always been a computer geek. From bulletin boards to IRC back in the day, with dialup and the local freenet, to my current cable connection and blogger.  I don't think I could live without my computer.
8. I have never shoplifted anything.  Not even gum or candy as a kid.
9. No matter how bad the crisis, how devastating the loss, you put me with a horse and I'll be able to breathe.
10. My children literally saved my life.  I used to say I refused to live to see 30.  I'll be there in a few short months and plan to keep on kicking.
11. I don't like wearing a bra.

I'm choosing to pass this award over to KB at Wanderlust. Her life is tumultuous and would break a lesser being, but she manages to bend without snapping, and still find the beauty.  Why don't you go give her a read?

Soul Ravens

I have a little bit of an obsession with one of MSC's newer colors, Raven Feathers.  It's a dark, sultry, delightful color.  I can't get enough of it.  I also can't wear it quite as dark as I'd like to, because I don't do nights out to wear nighttime looks.  SO, I keep playing with it for day wear, and keep being tickled by the results.

Here's a look with Soul Dust, Pew Pew Pow, and of course, Raven Feathers.  Oh, Beauty School Dropout makes an appearance for highlight, too!

So, I picked up this E.L.F. brush set for $0.88, and decided that this look was going to feature these brushes.  Out of the package I was impressed - little shedding, tight ferrules, nice balance in the hand.  More thoughts on them after I use them.

Random Estee Lauder pallette for my brows, NYX white shadow base, MSC Soul Dust, Pew Pew Pow, Beauty School Dropout, Raven Feathers, Awesome Sauce, and Optimus Primer, Sephora Hot Hues liner pencil in sparkly black, and WnW MegaPLUMP mascara.

E.L.F. Studio Professional small smudge brush, crease brush, C shadow brush, Sephora crease brush, pencil brush, flat concealer brush, brow/lash tool.

BIG GLASS OF ICE WATER.  Seriously, this is one of the best kept beauty secrets- keep your skin hydrated by staying hydrated. 

Use that concealer brush with a dot of Awesome Sauce in the NYX primer to make it ALL TEH STICKY! 

Over your primer, that is.

Blend a bit with fingertips.

Pat on the Soul Dust to the inner corners, going up into the crease.

Now pat on your Pew Pew Pow, out to the barest part of your outer lid, taking it up to the crease and meeting it at where the Soul Dust left off.

Finish off the outer V's of your lid with Raven Feathers, and bring that up above the crease just a little.

Apply Beauty School Dropout above the Raven Feathers.  Blend everything gently with fingertips.

Do your brows, line your lower lash line, and add some mascara.

Voila!

I have to say, I'm impressed with the E.L.F. brushes.  They picked up pigment well, were supple to use, and seem to be well constructed.  Not a bad investment for $0.88 if I do say so myself.

Stay Madd, darlings!

Inspired by Treasure Planet

I LOVE the movie "Treasure Planet."  It's one of the most underrated Disney movies around.

It comes as no surprise, then, that I decided to do a look inspired by it whilst my daughter had it on TV.

Here's the still that served as my muse:

Are those colors not stunning? Absolutely lovely.

Now.  You know the drill.  Gather your products and equipment!

L to R: VERY large fluffy shadow brush, crease brush, medium fluffy shadow brush, medium dense shadow brush, medium pencil brush, concealer/shadow base brush.

WnW MegaPlump mascara, Sephora sparkly black liner, NYX shadow base in white, MSC Awesome Sauce, Optimus Primer, and Greased Lightening, Kablammy, Unbirthday Star, Bang Bang, Pool of Tears, Disco Biscuit, and T-Birds.

Ignore my ungroomed eyebrow.  Apply in this order: Optimus Primer, NYX Shadow base, and just the teensiest smudge of Awesome Sauce.  Allow the Awesome Sauce to dry until tacky, and then re-blend with the shadow base (using a clean finger) if needed.

Line your lower lash line.

Apply Greased Lightening to your duct with the medium fluffy brush.  Then, inner to outer, apply T-Birds, Pool of Tears, and Disco Biscuit using the firm shadow brush.  Don't worry about the fallout yet, or how even you get it.

Blend GENTLY with the XL fluffy brush.

Time to cut your crease, but double it!  Cut first with Kablammy using the crease brush, and then on top of that with Bang Bang using the pencil brush.

Apply Unbirthday Star above your crease using the firm shadow brush.  Blend down from Unbirthday Star to your blues using the XL fluffy brush.

Clean up your fallout, apply mascara.

Ta Daaa!!!!! A gorgeous, bold look inspired by one of the best Disney movies around.

Stay Madd, darlings!

Laptop repair!

Check out Go Green Computing, LLC in Gainesville, FL.  They don't just do repair, they do procurement as well.  Right now they're running a $10 off special!  Tell them Jackie sent you, or that you saw their ad on Accidentally Mommy!

Pink Pixies

Assemble your tools! MSC Pink Ladies, Pixie, Greased Lightening, and Beauty School Dropout.  UDPP, NYX Shadow base in white, WnW mascara, generic mahogany brown liner, Sephora Lash Primer.

Nakey eye!

 Eye with UDPP and NYX

 Line your lower lash line with the mahogany brown.

 Using an angled shadow brush, pick up some Pink Ladies.

 Apply to inner half of lid.

 Pick up some Pixie with an XL pencil brush.

 Fill in crease and outer half of lid.  Blend gently with finger.

 Using a fluffy shadow brush, pick up some Beauty School Dropout.

 Apply lightly with a very, very gentle sweeping motion over entire eye, including over Pixie and Pink Ladies.

 With a stiff liner brush, pick up some Greased Lightening.

 Set the mahogany liner with Greased Lightening, and line the upper outer half of your eye with it, as well.

 Upper lid - zoom in and check out the pearly glitteryness that Beauty School Dropout creates.

Lower lash line

 Add some lash primer...

And some mascara...

Et Voila!  Stay Madd, darlings!

Courage under fire.

And oh, the fire I'm sure there will be.  I want to rant here, a moment, about something near and dear to me.

"Medwives" versus "Midwives."

Now, before I get started, I want to acknowledge that there are exceptions to both sides, and more than one or two.  I have met lay midwives that have attended more births than two OB's combined, who are very knowledgeable than said OB's.  I have met nurse midwives who couldn't figure out which end the baby was supposed to emerge from.

THAT SAID:

I firmly believe that nurse midwives are the way to go.

I believe in home birth.  I believe in taking back your birth.  But I'm also a realist.  I KNOW that things go terribly wrong.  I know that in those moments, the difference between the education a CNM has versus that which a CPM has can mean life or death for one or both patients, mother and/or child.

"But Mama Jackie, you wanted to be a midwife.  How can you say such things?" That's just it.  I never wanted to be just a lay midwife.  I wanted to be a CNM, with my ARNP, practicing in a high-risk HOSPITAL environment.  I wanted to work cohesively with an OB who was similarly minded, with the ideal of giving a high-risk mother the option to have a more personalized, transparent experience.

Now, don't throw Ina May Gaskin in here.  Yes, she's a lay midwife, but she's attended over a thousand births, and not only has she worked within the medical community, she has developed a model for resolving shoulder dystocia during vaginal birth that is taught to every OB practicing.  She is an exception, and there are very few lay midwives that even pale in comparison, let alone come near her wealth of knowledge.

Let's look at a situation close to home here, and the comparison between how a CNM would be able to handle it and how a LPM would be able to handle it.

Post-partum hemorrhage.  Without going into textbook citations, the steps for management are as follows: External massage, internal massage, administration of antihemorrhagics, fluids, transfusion.  A CNM would  be licensed to have those antihemorrhagics on hand.  Those include Oxytocin/Pitocin and Tranexamic Acid.

PPH can become fatal in as little as five minutes.  In this situation, the attending practitioner must be well-trained in such a trauma situation and be able to assess and act quickly.  A LPM would not have received the clinical experience to efficiently deal with such a complication.  The insertion of an IV alone by a LPM, if they did happen to have those drugs on hand, could take up to five minutes alone as they receive little to no training in venipuncture in most cases.

Think, mamas.  Think about the pro's and con's, and remember that not all midwives are created equal.  Is it worth the life of you or your babe?

Robotic Waffle Ravens

I bet ya'll thought I forgot to do makeup, didn't you

I didn't.  I simply ran into about five months collective worth of technical difficulties that prevented me from sharing my pretties with you.

I'm happy to say, though, that I'm back with a vengeance.

Assemble thine tools!

Here we have UDPP depotted, NYX Eyeshadow Primer in White, MSC Raven Feathers, Blueberry Waffle, Birf'day Suit (did NOT end up being used,) and Mr. Roboto.  Also pictured is Wet 'n Wild MegaPlump mascara, Rimmel London kohl eyeliner in black, and Sephora mascara primer.  Assorted brushes, as well.

Start out with your UDPP and your NYX.  Not too opaque, this is a day look.

Pat the Blueberry Waffle using a fluffy angled brush all along your eye lid.

Using a pointed/domed crease brush, apply the Raven Feathers to the outer corner and up into the crease of your eyes.

Going from the ducts to your brow, use Mr. Roboto.  Also use Mr. Roboto to blend out the Raven Feathers into the Blueberry Waffle.

Apply your eyeliner in a tight line under your lower lashes.

Now go ahead and use your mascara primer.  I'm finding that despite being initially goopy, I really really like Sephora's.  Once it's dry, use a lash comb for definition.

Then go ahead and apply your mascara.  The mascara I used today was NOT waterproof, but I've noticed that with the mascara primer, it tends to be more water resistent.

Et voila! You have a lovely daytime look with a little bit of sultry on those beautiful peepers of yours.  Looks great with and without glasses!

Until next time, stay Madd, darlings!