Monday, April 27, 2015

How To Take Care Of Your Jeans

I don’t buy denim jeans too often. But when I do, it must be the best pair.  Paying for the best jeans is easy, looking for the best pair takes hours or worst, days. That’s why it’s perfectly reasonable to take good care of your pairs and keep them in good shape.  I’m not a denim jeans guru since I don’t wear them much but I must say I’ve learned a thing or two from my relationships with denim clothing.

I prefer Cheap Monday jeans or Levis high waisted pants. I own a few pairs of high waist jeans and the most difficult part is to preserve them – to maintain their original fit and color.

Denim

(Warning: If you’re a woman, let me warn you that this next tip might be too disgusting for you)

Wash your jeans only once or twice a month.  Yes, I know, it might sound too unhygienic especially for girls, but it’s okay you’ll get over it.  If you wash them too often, expect the colors to fade.  Another advantage of washing it once or thrice a month is that the denim eventually adopts the shape of your body- that’s why I buy skinny jeans that are tighter.

Tip:

If you really want to wash your denim because you’re easily bothered by the thought of having bacteria on your jeans and you try to be hygienic as possible, here’s a piece of advice:  FREEZE YOUR JEANS. Brush your jeans off, place them in plastic bags and toss them in the freezer. Yes, it won’t take the stain out but it’s one way to kill the bacteria and keep your denim intact.

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I was born in a third world country, normally we use the stain brush to take the dirt off. We don’t have laundry machines everywhere, yes that’s a fact. But we have lots of laundry shops destined to destroy your jeans. If possible, try hand washing.

Mild hand washing is highly recommended.  As I’ve read in some articles, it’s also helpful to add some vinegar to cold water when you hand wash your jeans. Trust Science. Machine wash is too risky for your denim, unless you want to minimize your garment’s life span.

Whether your jeans are acid washed, stonewashed, low rise, mid rise, raw or indigo, their lifespan depends on how well you care for them.  Be a darling.

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Recommendation

If you like high waisted skinny jeans, you can check Topshop’s Joni Jeans for £36.00 (or 2800php) (ripped skinny jeans are also available) or Levis’ High Rise skinny jeans for women in stores. You can get them for $88.00 (or 2400php).  They’re super stretchy and comfortable.

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Source (from my main blog):

How To Take Care Of Your Jeans

Sunday, April 26, 2015

5 Basic Things To Know About Sadako

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We know her as the creepy Japanese girl with very long black hair covering her face. She likes to crawl out of the TV screen and scare the hell out of you. She doesn’t talk, she just makes a creepy sound as she crawls. Interestingly, she sounds like a Predator. Scary enough to make you scream. And she’s really flexible. She deserves to be on horror movie shirts, after all she’s an amazing yet mysterious movie and book character.

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I’m scared of old fashioned looking girls, they’re beautiful though. One of the creepiest characters of all the horror movies I’ve watched is the mysterious mother of Parker Crane in the movie “Insidious 2“. She was elegant wearing her white vintage dress, pin up girl hairstyle and matted red lipstick. She was classy and pretty alright, but the moment she appeared on screen with her fingers on her red lips, I totally freaked out. Creepy. And Sadako’s wearing a white dress, she doesn’t look classy though.

Here are some basic facts about Sadako:

1. Her full name is Sadako Yamamura

Sada means chaste and ko means child

2. She has psychic powers

She is capable of projecting images from one’s mind using the nearest reflective surface as her medium. In the movie The Ring, she used her power of nensha to put a curse against a videotape that would kill whoever dared to watch it unless shown to another person within a a specific time frame. Nensha is also called projected thermography, psychic photography or nengraphy

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3. She’s a hermaphrodite

She has testicular feminization syndrome,  now called as androgen insensitivity syndrome which is a rare genetic disorder. Physically, she appears as a natural woman. However, internally she has no uterus, fallopian tubes or even ovaries. She is sterile and can’t have children.

4. She’s a rape victim

She was raped by a doctor named Nagao Jotaro when she was visiting her father at the hospital. She was killed and thrown in the well. No wonder she has a very vengeful soul. I’m glad those rape victims in India don’t have psychic powers like Sadako. Or else, they might create “The Ring Virus” and kill every man who attempts to sexually abuse them.

5. Sadako has a twin

She split into two identical twins: the good Sadako and the vengeful Sadako.

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It is claimed that most Sadako movies differ from books. But one thing is consistent: her hair, her white dress, her famous crawl and her “cursed videotape”.

The Ring (2002) on IMDb




Source: 5 Basic Things To Know About Sadako

Visit my main blog: http://www.thesoberblogger.com/

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Benefit Benetint Lip and Cheek Tint Review

I’m afraid I can’t be a regular MAC user any longer. I don’t have any complaints about my MAC lipsticks though. I’d highly recommend and consider MAC as a good lipstick brand. They’re highly pigmented and they don’t come off easily. Plus they have all the lovely shades in the world. But I might stop using my lipsticks one of these days. I’m obsessed with lip tints lately and my loyalty towards MAC lip products might end sooner.

I like my lips to look simple and natural that’s why I opt to use a natural looking lipstick whenever I attend events. This is my very slight lame excuse because I can’t pull off red lipstick. So I go for tints and lip balms – they’re easier to use and you can put too much drama on your eyes without looking like a drag queen. I like anything matte. But red matte lipsticks are just too hard to pull off.

Korean lip tints are becoming popular nowadays. It’s already a common knowledge that most Koreans are into cosmetics, not to mention plastic surgeries. Etude, Skin Food and other Korean beauty shops became popular and so are lip tints. I browsed some online reviews related to lip and cheek tint and found interesting reviews about Benefit Benetint. I must admit, reviews are very powerful and convincing. A stranger in the internet can convince you to buy organic products and make you believe they’re actually organic by just reading organic skin care product reviews.

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www.thesoberblogger.com

Benefit Rose-Tinted Lip and Cheek Stain

To compare Benetint against Etude lip tint or Body Shop tint stain is totally an understatement. Benefit Lip and Cheek Tint is a red lip tint that’s very mild yet it has high pigment lip color. It looks like red water and smells really nice. Its nail polish style applicator makes it easier to use especially for beginners.

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 Easy to use applicator

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Rose tinted



For the lips:

Apply on your lips. You can sweep it for a couple of times and blend. Let it dry. If you prefer it to be really reddish, you can apply your favorite lipstick to enhance its color. Some Benefit Lip Tint review sites recommend BeneBalm to match with your Benetint.

Lip Tint

What I like about the product

What I really like about my Benetint is that it’s long lasting. I’ve been looking for lip stains that last for a long time and good thing I found Benetint. So far, it’s one of the best benefit products I’ve purchased, next to my Benefit High Beam.

What I dislike about the product

It tends to be too dry and too uneven if not blended properly. Some beauty product reviews dislike its mildness.

For the cheeks:

Use your pointer and middle finger to evenly blend on the apple of your cheeks. Gently blend it in a circular motion.

Tip: Using the brush applicator, make small dots on your face to blend evenly.

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What I like about the product

It gives a natural blush. I’ve tried Etude Dear Darling lip and cheek tint on my cheeks and disappointingly it comes off easily. The gorgeous flush is just too impossible not to be noticed. Hands down.

What I don’t like about the product

One of the major problems with lip and cheek stains if you have breakouts or pimples is that it fails to give an even flush. It creates dark dots if you have pimples on your cheeks, causing more breakouts.

Overall Rating

★★★★

I’m satisfied with my Benetint. It’s easy to use and perfect for those women are always on the go. It’s not too pricey but the quality is far too different from other cheap makeup brands. This rose tinted lip and cheek stain is one of the best in the market so yes, I’d recommend the product to my friends. You can also try Benefit Posietint and ChaCha Tint if you love to try other Benefit tints. I suggest that you buy online since some online product sites offer discounted Benefit cosmetics. I bought mine from Instagram, it’s way cheaper than buying in malls or other cosmetic stores.


From my blog:

The Sober Blogger

Benefit Benetint Lip and Cheek Tint Review

Monday, April 20, 2015

Coachella: Music and Fashion

How do you usually spend your weekends? Well, the usual. You read a good A.M. Homes book or maybe do some DIY stuff and watch The Walking Dead episodes for the 5th time because you have to wait like forever for the next season. Or do the laundry and just be a slob for two days. OR YOU CAN GO TO COACHELLA.

Labelled as “anti-Woodstock” due to the organizers’ desire to book acts based on artistry than radio popularity, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival’s main purpose is to recreate European style music festivals with small crowds. So you can imagine the whole scenario – fully booked Coachella hotels, Coachella tickets for sale and some real good music. As of today, it’s considered as one of the most famous and largest music festivals in the United States. I must say, these organizers are filthy rich.

Coachella Festival is originally about music. Or perhaps about fashion too. Throughout the years, Coachella fashion style revolves around denim shorts, mom jeans, high waisted shorts, fringes and boots. And don’t forget the messy hair look and fishtails, and hippie hair accessories. Some go for the gypsy look while others relive the 90s fashion trend. Indeed, the fashion industry is alive in the desert. No more boring weekends.

So how do you keep up with Coachella festival? Pretend that you’re somewhere in California, all packed up and ready for the festival. Imagine that sunset and that Coachella feeling that lingers in you as you go home.

So here’s how I managed to overcome my extreme jealous tendencies:

Test 1

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Cherry red Dr. Martens shoes

American Eagle Outfitters high waisted shorts


Dior sunglasses

I’m a fan of 90s fashion style, especially street fashion. I’ve had several attempts to revive Alicia Silverstone’s looks in some of her old movies. Tattered denim shorts, comfy shirts or crop tops and boots – my most vivid memory of her. Not such a bad outfit for the Coachella event since some concert goers might wear something denim like mom jeans or anything stonewashed or faded. And don’t forget how hot it is in California.

Test 2

Korean long dress

Sanuk flip flops

I got this dress from a thrift store. I love the color combination of this dress, never mind the print though. I’m to sure what I’m aiming for in this outfit. But this year’s Coachella festival is all about maxi skirts too.

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Forever 21 top

Zara palazzo pants

Sanuk flip flops

Wide leg palazzo pants are just too comfortable for me. Coachella concert goers also go for a bohemian hippie look. I paired this bohemian gypsy patterned palazzo pants with a fit top and it contrasts my wide leg pants. As expected, women fashion is always complex.

Coachella is indeed about music and fashion. After all fashion is art.


Source (from my main blog)

Coachella: Music and Fashion

Monday, April 13, 2015

From Metal to ElectroPop

When a woman is bored, she either go shop or listen to music online. I say listen to music, then go shopping.


There are three things that come to my mind each time I hear the word metal- heavy (the normal LSD inspired term way back when LSD was the thing), lullaby (because I tend to sleep when I hear loud screams and heavy riffs when I’m on my bed) and love (because it’s marked as counterculture and I believe that one of the primary aims of metal is to seek their own reality, to create reality by starting to create what is unreal).


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Metal, in its sweetest form, is love. It’s an obsession to destroy and recreate reality. It’s an obsession that motivates another obsession. And while metal is a misunderstood genre- mostly by the conservative society who believes that metal is influenced by a satanic force, that those who love the genre are automatically considered satanic, metal as a genre continues to survive.


Here’s another subgenre that makes me think of clouds- shoegaze. While shoegaze band members tend to look down on their shoes while performing in their detached state of mind, thus shoegazing, I am thinking of clouds. I’m enjoying the fact that each morning, I’m shoegazing with Swervedriver, My Bloody Valentine and other shoegaze bands. Thanks to Youtube, I can watch music videos online. And thanks to the Internet, I don’t need to buy songs from Itunes music store, I can enjoy free music online.


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And while metal and shoegaze alter my subconscious mind, I am currently in a quest to understand electro pop. Electro pop is another genre which ignites a little curiosity in me. It’s a pop culture genre yet slowly I connect myself to pop culture, to understand pop culture in its beautiful form. And here’s the time when I listen to Rendezvous.


Let me tell you about the Rendezvous Band. Rendezvous is basically an electro pop influenced band which struggles to introduce a new impression on the world of music. Listen to Rendezvous and you’ll surely feel a different kind of music, soothing and definitely calming. The band features Itai Simon and Hagai Izenberg as the two members who are able to mix their craft together. There are actually tow best words to describe their music- experimental and instrumental. The word Rendezvous is defined as a meeting planned at a certain time and place. Perhaps each member has its own desire to create perfect music, experimenting on different forms and then end up with a beautiful piece. Listen to Rendezvous and feel the music. Another reason to listen to Rendezvous especially if you’re a fan of Depeche Mode, is that they collaborated with the producer Dave Bascombe who was also the mixer and producer of the popular band.


While electro pop is definitely a different thing compared to metal, every genre struggles to CREATE, RECREATE and CREATE again.


http://www.rendezvousmusic.co.uk/


 


https://youtu.be/Dc5iz8p8E5Q



From Metal to ElectroPop

religious discrimination you're ugly

religious science fiction by ~jaykers113


Racial discrimination is no longer discussed today. I must say Martin Luther King did well- no more lynching no more white robes no more hatred among races.


Racism might be just another violent human reaction that is no longer considered visible- no Ku Klux Klan and black Americans struggle to become presidents, thus people think it’s safe to assume that racial discrimination is another thing of the past. But what we do not know is that there is another form of discrimination far more dangerous and sensitive- and that is religious discrimination.


Religion is a sensitive topic and people are too sensitive not to think about it. We only think, but we do no speak about it. We refuse to speak about religious beliefs because we are not comfortable sharing our religion among people with different religious influence. And so, I want to acknowledge the character of Khan in the movie My Name is Khan, a man with strong Muslim faith who made the world realize that terrorism isn’t always defined by religion. Terrorists are not Christians. Terrorists are not Buddhists. Terrorists are not Muslims. Terrorists are human beings. Human beings have the ability to choose and understand the consequences of our actions. Before we were introduced to religion we were introduced to choices and consequences. Crusades and wars in the past were influenced by the thought of achieving power, money and resources. And it’s just so sick to realize that religions are being considered by some as the reason of all the negativity in the world such as racism, hatred and wars. What we fail to realize is that religion is man made, only guided by the power of the divine.  And we go back to the original sinners, the gods living here in the city of man- humans.


Religious discrimination is ugly. Forget that love of freedom to hate and discriminate. Let’s go grab some yogurt and change the world.



religious discrimination you"re ugly

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Cannibal Ferox | Acid Washed | Docs

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Grasses make me feel sleepy.  No, Sheldon Cooper, grasses make me feel sleepy, not your fabric conditioner or your soft kitty song.

Acid Washed Skirt

This is a soft denim acid washed skirt  that I bought from a thrift store.  Acid washed skirts became popular in the late 1980s.  Acid washing is similar to bleaching – breaking the fiber of the material creating white streaks.

The term “acid-washed” is actually a misnomer since no acid is used during the process. Due to the revival of 1980s and 1990s fashion style, today’s women street fashion include tattered jeans and acid washed pairs of denim. You can check cool DIY bleached and tattered jeans on Pinterest.

Dr Martens

Not of a fan of skinheads or punk culture but it feels so good to wear them now without being labeled.  Today it’s becoming mainstream. Wearing a pair of docs became too mainstream when Miley Cyrus wore hers in her controversial “Wrecking Ball” video.  You murdered music, now you murdered Dr Martens.

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Cannibal Ferox

Considered as one of the most violent films in the 1980s, Cannibal Ferox was banned in 31 countries for explicitly showing animal  torture and slaughter with disturbing violent images. The film is another video showing cannibalism and filmmakers’ attempts to introduce torture films to the general audience.  I hate violence, I love the shirt though. Bought this awesome shirt from SplatterClothing Choppingmall.  Hopefully, they’ll have BTK shirts soon.

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Source (from my main blog)

Cannibal Ferox | Acid Washed | Docs