CRAYOLA EXTREME COLORS COLORED PENCILS

While product copy bearing the word “extreme” (i.e. deodorant, cleaning products. leisure activities or chewing gum) make me scoff violently, I was able to overlook its use for those Crayola Extreme Colors Colored Pencils. Because look how cute they are! According to the website:

Coloring has never been this much fun – or this exciting! With Crayola eXtreme Colors Colored Pencils, you get eight ultra-vibrant, super-hot and totally cool colors. Your drawings and pictures will come to life as you express yourself in all-new ways.

And who am I to argue with Crayola marketing copy! Certainly not me. Out of the package, these ultra bright pencil are identical in size and shape to their less vivid colored pencil siblings. The pencils come pre-sharpened, and look quite dashing in their cheap cardboard packaging. Boasting names such as: Lemon Glacier, Absolute Zero and Artic Lime, crayola is not kidding around about this extreme neon thing.

Aesthetically these are certainly darling colored pencils, but that’s pretty much the sole area where the product excels. For starters, I didn’t find the colors to show particularly well on paper. To me they look more pastel than neon, and some of the colors (the orange, pink, red, yellow-orange) were somewhat indistinguishable on the page. None of this would be bothersome if the set of 8 pencils didn’t retail for between $4 – $6 (depending on retailer), which I think is too much money for this little product. This set is not going to replace higher end color pencils, nor is it even going to satisfy people looking for an acrid blast of neon goodness across the page. While these pencils work for my needs, your fun-to-monkeys ratio may vary.

SCENES FROM A BIRTHDAY

Ever since spying Damien Hirst-inspired confection from SFMOMA I knew I had to have my own for my birthday. Since I wasn’t planning a trip to SFMOMA, I commissioned my talented partner to create a similar cake! Well he did a pretty amazing job, wouldn’t you say. Not only was he tireless in his attempts to faithfully recreate the SFMOMA cake, he was also meticulous in its execution. Amazing doesn’t begin to describe my birthday!

via my instagram

More Filthy Farmgirl soaps! Recent additions: Filthy Zombie, Filthy Doctor, Tiger Chai and Filthy Cock. Yeah, those names are totally risque. But there’s nothing tawdry about their cleaning power or scents.

NEON OFFICE SUPPLIES

via Sarah Woodrow

Ever since stumbling across Sarah Woodrow’s desk with its glorious neon painted legs, I’ve been all about that neon-in-the-home-office life. I love the idea of light woods, white and a few zings of neon to keep the space from feeling sterile and blah.

via my Instagram

Neon pink instantly puts me in a good mood. So much so I bought half a dozen rolls of neon pink duct tape. I haven’t decided what the hell I’m gonna do with all that tape, but it sure looks pretty sitting on my white shelf.

From Image Above: Highlighter Pencils – Moleskine | Lime Green Accessory Tray – Poppin. | Pink Adils Table Leg – Ikea | Pink Pen Cup – Poppin. | Dresses I Had and Liked Notebook – Archie Grand | Lime Green Tape Dispenser – Poppin. | Lime Green Stapler – Poppin.

YOU DROPPED A (LIP) BALM ON ME (PART I)

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter (and if you don’t you should) you’re probably well acquainted with my quest for the perfect lip balm and my overall obsession with the product. This post was requested by several people and I finally got around writing it. It’s going to be divided in a couple of parts. The first of which is about those much maligned lip balms in jars, which tends to be my favorite lip balm delivery method.

TOP ROW:

Vaseline Lip Therapy Pink Bubbly – I’ve been trying to get my hands on these overseas only editions of Vaseline. I’m not sure why the brand doesn’t think folks in the US need these cute tins rather than the fugly miniaturized versions of the fugly full sized container, but whatever. Vaseline is not about that glamorous life. It’s just a cheap, hard-working product made with polarizing ingredients by dubious means. That said, its active ingredient does tend to handle whatever chapped, flaky hot mess your lips might be experiencing. For me, the tactile experience of petroleum jelly and its barfy taste is usually why I do not actively seek out Vaseline brand lip products.

MAC Lip Conditioner – I don’t think you can even get the jar version of this product anymore. I guess that lets you know how old mine is! I stumbled upon the never opened jar when I was sorting through my makeup last fall. I am not generally a fan of MAC skincare products or their add on products. There’s nothing particularly wrong with them; I just don’t think they’re worth the money. This particular product is good but not spectacular. I do like the packaging, which I gotta believe was chief among the reasons I paid $15 for a thimble of watered down, nicely scented Vaseline.

Blistex Lip Medex – In college there was a girl who sat in front of me who spent what seemed like an excessive amount of time extracting this tiny blue pot from her back pocket, dabbing her ring finger into the medicinally smell goo and dot dot dotting it on her lips. Three dots for the top lip and four for the bottom. I always wanted to ask but never did, why that was exactly. Anyhoo, I had a coupon, which is often how I find myself open to trying products that don’t have cute packaging or don’t seem very interesting. Now, I fully admit to being a major cheapskate about things, so feel free to judge me because it took a COUPON and ashtray change ($.39 to be exact) to consider giving Blistex its shot. Well, It’s pretty nice. Unlike Carmex, which acts like it’s giving you all this product, but then has a hollowed out bottom, Blistex actually gives you lots of product. More importantly, you don’t really need a lot of it to benefit. Sure there’s the stinging sensation that some might find annoying, but that’s how you know it’s working!

BOTTOM ROW:

Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1 – I tend to be resentful of HG (holy grail) cult beauty products, because I am just a bitter, pathetic hater. I just cannot believe they could possibly be as good as everyone claims and really those people are just kool-aid drinking fools whose fragile egos must be marinated in status products. And then I tried #1 lip balm, which wasn’t that spendy and is actually really nice. It isn’t my favorite, but it’s a very good moisturizing lip product. I like using it to prime my lips because it’s not super shiny. That’s probably chief among the things I like about it. This seems an odd thing to admit (given how much I love lip gloss): I do not like super shiny lip balm. If you want to treat yourself to a lip balm this would a good one to do so. I totally feel glamorous whenever I use it.

C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve – Bath and Bodyworks is forever running a “Buy 2 get 1 free” sale on their lip products, which is how I finally gave rose salve a try. Rose notes remind me too much of goths who used to douse themselves in tea rose body products. I was not prepared for rose salve to become one of my favorite products ever. I use it constantly on my hands, lips and even my face. I love the way it smells: earthy rather than artificial rose scent. And finally there’s a workaround the dreadful “vaseline” smell. And you know I love me some old timey packaging,

Elf Studio Conditioning Lip Balm w/ SPF – So many things working against this product: bulky packaging, chalky looking unflattering colors, a bizarre texture… And yet I’ve included it on the list because it really moisturizes. It took some trial and error before finding the least ugly color (Nice & Natural) and how to get the product to work (you have to really RUB that sonovabitch in), but now that I have it’s one of my can’t be without products. I love how it feels once it is applied properly. Still I would feel weird recommending this to anyone because I can’t imagine most people having the patience to make this product work.

So now it’s your turn…tell me about lip balms in a jar I should try

YELLOW + BLACK + OFFICE SUPPLY GIFT IDEAS

Looking for fun stocking stuffers for that office supply addict in your life? Here’s a round up of gifts that will dazzle both the receiver and your wallet.

PRODUCTS:
Yellow large Poketo TOMORROW PLANNER can be purchased here.

Carmex can be purchased here

Yellow Lamy Safari Ballpoint Pen can be purchased here

The rest of the items (Camera pencil sharpener, Skull coin bank, Mustache erasers, Lighting Bolt USB hub and Dog face stapler) can be purchased here

SO YOU WANNA JOURNAL…

I started journaling in a Little Twin Stars diary when I was 12. I didn’t realize it would eventually lead to a lifelong love affair with writing by hand or cataloging my thoughts on paper. I’ve written previously about the benefits I get from journaling (and you might too). And yeah, all those reasons are valid new hotness. However, based on the number of desperate emails I receive with subject lines written the way Ike Turner talks (IN ALL FUCKING CAPS) asking how to actually sit your ass down and journal day in and day out, I suppose my post wasn’t as comprehensive as I might have hoped.

As a writer, it’s just not that difficult for me to settle down to pen long, stream-of-conscious entries – I hope to Xena are burned to a crisp rather than auctioned off to some pervy old literary collector with a house filled with smelly books and fifteen cats – without much provocation. But I’m fairly certain that’s not the case for most people. Particularly people who don’t consider themselves writers.

There’s certainly a case to be made for not journaling. You don’t actually have to. Your life will work out just fine if you opt to never write a single thing down. Most likely you’ll remember what’s worth remembering and probably not have notebooks filled detailing all the shortcomings of the people you encounter on daily basis or every whiny thought you have. But since you’re reading this post, I’m guessing you actually want to journal so here are my tips for how to do it.

Be fussy about it in the beginning

Whenever I want to develop a new skill or habit, I am incredibly fussy about. I do all kinds of research about products, practitioners and theoretical perspectives. Not only do I get a little background on my budding interest, but it also gets me really excited about doing it. Go out and look at journals, notebooks and sketchbooks. Read reviews of any products that make an impression you. Read about paper, ink and whatever materials you plan to use for your journaling.

Just start writing

Don’t worry about being perfect or ruining your notebooks. Just write or draw or make lists or responses you wished you’d said to the surly Rite-Aid pharmacist. Experiment with different formulas, whether it’s posing a single question and responding or listing 1000 things you love/hate about whatever. Once you get comfortable with the blank page it won’t be as challenging to fill them.

Commit to journaling everday for a month

30 days is long enough to either get into a groove or realize journaling is not for you. It’s only a month.

Put it down when you don’t feel like doing it

My secret for being a voracious journaler is that when I don’t feel like doing it I just don’t. There are days when the thought of journaling feels like an obligation rather than a fun. Giving myself permission to journal only when I feel like it has had the paradoxical effect of making me consistent.

Don’t ever ever ever ever show it to anyone

Seriously DON’T. Even if you’ve written something lovely about them, and especially if you haven’t. Your journal is your own space and keeping that space sacred is imperative. I am not woo woo by any means, but I do believe in the power of writing it down on paper. The source of that power comes in the privacy it affords the journaler. It’s also why I advocate getting a journal/notebook/sketchbook that’s attractive to you, but not necessarily attractive. And for Xena’s sake don’t pull a Harriet the Spy and write, “PRIVATE KEEP OUT!!!” unless you really want someone to read all about how much you want to put laxatives in your coworkers snack cakes.

EVERYDAY I WRITE THE BOOK

One downside of working from home is my style started slip. Wanting to be comfortable always seems to overtake the desire to look fashionable. After all who’s going to see me? The mailman? The person next to me on the treadmill? Chief among my problems is the inability to calibrate my style to a climate with four seasons. I am adept at extremes, but it’s those transitional seasons, oh how they drive me bananas. Fortunately, it turns out it’s possible to be comfortable and stylish and season appropriate. More importantly, it didn’t require much consumption on my part – just shopping my closet and a serious round of decluttering. And if you happened upon me during the day, this is most likely what I’d be wearing/using. Okay, sometimes I switch out sneakers for the boots, a cardigan and tee for the sweater dress and, Xena help me – yoga pants for my daily gym visits.

1. Black Leggings
2. Infinity Scarf
3. Black Cocktail Ring
4. Sweater Dress
5. Archie Grand Notebook
6. Black Lamy Safari Rollerball Pen
7. Essie Devil’s Advocate
8. Nine West Boots
9. Jack Black Lip Balm
10. Mossimo Weekend Bag. Target. No longer available