Light The Strobe Lighting

In today's beauty world the YouTube vloggers have made it a snap for us to up our makeup game. Applying your makeup daily has suddenly entered into an unprecedented realm of technique. Contouring is the one that comes to mind, and the art of applying dark creams and powders to the hollows of your face to produce face slimming, face shaping effects can result in giving the average person an incredibly sculpted look. Truth be told, contouring does take a bit of skill and a bit of product to get the right result which can sometimes means it's not for everyone.

Rest assured there's a new makeup trend that is taking the beauty industry by storm and it's easier than you think. Strobing, is "the new black" in makeup application and it gives you the same sort of sculpted look as contouring, but in a much softer and dewy-er way. 

Strobing is all about the highlighter-which means that it's main component is focused on ONE product which you probably already own already!

What is Strobing? It's all about light-think soft and bright. It's about applying highlighter-light and only light-to the parts of your face that the sun would normally illuminate. The look is a fresh faced, dewy result that says healthy in a "I just had an amazing facial" kind of way. It's similar to highlighting but there's a bit more to it than simple highlighting. The best part is anyone can get the look if you follow these easy steps:

Start with a moisturizer. Add a gorgeous luminizer like Kevyn Aucoin's  The Celestial Skin Liquid Lighting to your foundation.This should be the base to give your face that gorgeous dewy look. Avoid anything with a matte finish unless you are very oily. Then apply a highlighter to the areas of you face where sunlight would kiss; the tops of the cheek bones, temples, down the bridge of the nose, the brow bone and the forehead. If you have an oily skin, you may want to use a light hand, so as to not leave the skin looking greasy and shiny.

Cream highlighters like Smashbox's L.A. Light's Lip and Cheek Color Stick in Hollywood & Highlight or Kevyn Aucoin's The Creamy Glow Duo #4  work best to melt into your skin and create a dewy, strobing sensation! Champagne shades of highlighter are great for all skin tones, but if you are super fair, opt for a whiter, silvery looking highlighter like Hollywood & Highlight.

Jump start you summer with the hottest new makeup trend  that's sure to leave you selfie ready! Of course you will want the whole world to see your bright, lit from within glow that is gorgeous and easy. Then you will want to turn up the disco music and strobe lights so you can dance the night away!

The Pack Mentality

Those five men look like movie stars-don't they?
That's because they are. And it happened in the most incredible way. But that's only part of the story.

These brothers-6 in total (and 1 sister)-grew up in in a 16th floor Manhattan public housing apartment which served for 14 years as a prison for the family. Confined to the cramped apartment under their bizarre father's rule, the family of nine spent most of their lives with no contact with the outside world. The father forbade them to ever leave the apartment and held the only key to the front door. The children were home schooled by their mother, and taught never to communicate with strangers. Their only contact with real world were on necessary, supervised appointments or controlled outings to New York tourist destinations. The children were told to never cut their hair and that the outside world had "bad people in it".

The one privilege the boys father did allow was movies. And they indulged in many movies as their personal form of escape from the hell that they knew as their life. Middle brother Mukunda, was the prop master and he would make items from their favorite movies from things he had lying about the house. The boys would reenact scenes from the movies as a way to feel normal and feel free. Then in January 2010, Mukunda, then 15, decided he needed to escape and see life outside his prison walls.

Little did Mukunda know that that escape-he wore a mask he had made to resemble Mike Meyers from the Halloween movies so that he would not be recognized outside by his father-would change all of their lives for ever. Once outside, Mukunda didn't know his address so he kept the apartment building in his site as he visited a bank and a supermarket. People were afraid so he was soon stopped by police. When questioned Makunda says,

“They started asking, ‘Do you live here? Where are you from?’ And I was always taught to never interact with any people, so I didn’t say anything, you know. I didn’t give them any information on me,” Mukunda recalled.

He was placed on a psychiatric hold and sent to Bellevue Hospital for a week stay, which he loved. It was his first interaction with other people outside his family. When he returned home, his father was no longer in control. The boys then started going out together and on a chance meeting they met film maker Crystal Moselle, who they bonded with over their love of movies. Moselle ended up filming the boys for 5 years and the result is her documentary file "The Wolfpack", in theaters now. The film has bee critically acclaimed and won a Grand Jury prize at  this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Purely coincidence that one of the first people the boys meet is a film maker? I think not. These boys have a whole lot of catching up to do and they are doing it in grand style. Hollywood has come knocking and they ironically were, "ready for their closeup". But at an incredible price.

Father's Day Friday!

Top Ten Things You'll Never Hear a Dad Say

10. Well, how 'bout that?... I'm lost! Looks like we'll have to stop and ask for directions. 

9. You know Pumpkin, now that you're thirteen, you'll be ready for unchaperoned car dates. Won't that be fun? 

8. I noticed that all your friends have a certain "up yours" attitude ... I like that. 

7. Here's a credit card and the keys to my new car -- GO CRAZY. 

6. What do you mean you wanna play football? Figure skating not good enough for you, son? 

5. Your Mother and I are going away for the weekend ... you might want to consider throwing a party.

4. Well, I don't know what's wrong with your car. Probably one of those doo-hickey thingies -- you know -- that makes it run or something. Just have it towed to a mechanic and pay whatever he asks. 

3. No son of mine is going to live under this roof without an earring -- now quit your belly-aching, and let's go to the mall. 

2. Whaddya wanna go and get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend. 

1. Father's Day? aahh -- don't worry about that -- it's no big deal. 

http://www.ahajokes.com/par025.html

Happy Weekend bloggers! And a very happy Father's Day to you and yours from Candy's Daily Dandy!

Big City Momma!

Today's moms are an incredible hybrid of sorts. Made up of one third Super Woman, one third Bat Girl and one third Wonder Woman, super heroes, if you ask me moms are busy super humans. So it's no wonder that moms, after doing everything they need to for everyone else barely have a moment for themselves. And I'm sorry to tell you ladies-it's beginning to show. But fear not-I may have just come up with a solution!

Busy moms everywhere, take notice!

I'm giving my expert beauty advice to moms on the Big City Mom's blog, click HERE. 

And trust me when I tell you-it gets better. And just when you think you got this mom thing down,  you are left missing them when they grow up and fly the nest. So enjoy it while you still can, but make sure you take a little time for yourself along the way.

On The Street Where You Live

My brother told me a few Sunday's ago, while we were all together for dinner, that the beloved house that we grew up in was for sale. 

Really, I thought. I had always fantasized about buying it back. 

He then showed us the listing on line. It was with much joy that we (thanks to technology) looked through the photos online of our childhood home. I could hardly believe my eyes..not much had changed since the 37 years ago that we moved out. I noticed the kitchen floor was the same tile floor my mom had installed in the 70's. The bathrooms looked to be the same bathroom we used as kids and the finished basement, where we had a bumper pool table and the neighborhood's first video games hadn't changed at all. Such happy memories growing up in that beloved house. 

For two weeks I couldn't get my house out of my head. Not to far from where I live now, I had often driven by the home and pointed it out to my children and my husband. Each time I watched and wondered why it had fallen into disrepair. I often said I would have given anything to get back inside and see it. Now was my chance and I knew that I probably wouldn't have this opportunity again. I watched the listing waiting for an open house opportunity and yesterday I had my chance!

I took my mom and we toured the house I grew up in. She was delighted to see the deep red, kitchen tile she installed still in pretty good shape. I was so taken by the closet doors, still slatted and with the same door handles that I grew up with. What wasn't so great about that was that the closets inside were still the same wooden dowels that we had hung our clothes many years before. They looked old because they were. Even the kitchen pantry, where I used to scour for goodies and treats, was the same four shelved wooden closet. It had stood the test of time, but because of that it was obviously time for change. 

The bathroom by the back door was the same! I swear my mom installed that Dixie cup dispenser when we were kids...and there it was. We wondered if going back into the house after all those years would be emotional, but it wasn't for either of us. It was great, really! And it felt so good to be able to remember good memories we shared inside the house. Truth is, it felt just like home-even with someone else's belongings everywhere. Even the realtor walked around with us as we toured the house, listening to us comment on everything. She later told us that we had made her day as it was obvious to her how much we loved living in that house.

I took a selfie in almost every room of the house and there I am inside my old room. I stood at the point where I used to sit and play records and dolls and I swear I could have stayed there all day-just happy to be inside. I took pictures for my brothers and sisters too, and I sent this picture to my brother of me outside the closet he used to lock me in-then take off and leave me there-when we played hide and go seek. Again-they were the same wooden shelves I had squeezed into when I was a kid. 

We left no stone unturned and we even toured the garage. 

My eyes spied this on the garage window.

That was my dad's security company that he owned when we lived there!! Mom was tickled to see it was still there. 

Standing there on the driveway where I learned to ride a two wheeler and skinned many a knee, it was obvious that even though we didn't live there any longer, we were still very much a part of that beautiful home and its legacy. If the old saying is true, that life takes you to unexpected places but love brings you home, then I have come full circle and truly come home. 

Will we buy it back? Who knows? We talked about it and we agreed that it seemed like after we left,  the people that lived in it stopped taking care of it, never truly loving it the way we did. We are intrigued to say the least, but we all agree-it needs a lot of love and some serious TLC.

Need+ Want+ Value+ Emotion= Happy Shopper Squared!

As a shopper and retailer, I am constantly looking into new ways to motivate and understand the reasons that shoppers shop. What brings you to a store? What causes you to purchase and what makes you go weak in the knees-thereby igniting your emotional response to an item you want to buy?

Need is truly personal-if you need something, that sends you out on a mission-ie; the need for something. While you are there or on your way to your need based destination, what causes you to stop and look? Is it a sale sign? Is it a gorgeous feature of a product? Or is it a retail store that literally pops and causes you to inquire within?

Want is another thing entirely. I, for example, could be shopping for something I need and suddenly I am distracted by something I want. That's when the emotion part of the equation comes into play and I usually figure how to justify want over need. Do I really need another something or other? But I really want it! The answer to that, if you are me is YES!

Next up is value. Value and affordability sort of go hand in hand, so if I score a great item on sale, I am happy that I have acquired the item at a great value. Who wouldn't be? But items that are not on the 'great value' spectrum but score high on the want spectrum make a shopper stop and think before they buy. We reason and justify an expensive purchase which makes us evaluate the quality of the item, an important factor too. Value can make or break a purchase decision.

Last is the most influential of all variables in the equation. EMOTION! Shoppers are nothing if not influenced by emotion. Like the $1600.00 Valentino boots I saw on line. Lord knows I don't need them but I want them! The value is there in the quality and feature of the boots, yet the price makes me hesitate to click the BUY button. But it's the emotion that keeps me thinking about them-so much so that I haven't been able to clear that window on my computer. I keep going to that window on my iPad to look at them every few days, hoping I can x-out of it and go on without them...but I can't. My emotional attachment to boots- that aren't even mine- keep me coming back for more.

These are just a few observations on how I shop. Now I want to know how you shop?

So let's do this, I'm going to put up a poll on the side bar with some answers to see what your shopping habits really are! Take the poll and give me your opinion. You will really be helping me out and doing a bit of community service at the same time.

And if I've ignited a fire within the shopper in you, feel free to visit www.candybarcosmetics.com. 

Shawshanked!

I, like so many others are fascinated by the recent prison break in upstate New York.
Quick recap: 2 inmates serving life sentences escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate, New York. "Little Siberia", as the facility is dubbed, is a well known prison that hardened criminals go to serve out their sentences. The inmates hatched an elaborate plan that looks like it came right out of the script to a movie: The Shawshank Redemption.

The lengths by which these two inmates went to plan and secretly execute their escape has prison officials and New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo baffled.

"The complexity of the escape has astonished prison experts and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who toured the inmates' escape route.

"It was really unbelievable," Cuomo said. "If it was a movie plot, you would say that it was overdone."

He said the inmates cut through a cell wall that included steel a quarter-inch thick, maneuvered across a catwalk, shimmied down six stories to a tunnel of pipes, followed that tunnel, broke through a double-brick wall, cut into a 24-inch steam pipe, shimmied their way through the steam pipe, cut another hole so they could get out of the pipe, and finally surfaced through a manhole."

It's becoming evident that the two inmates had inside help. Inmates David Sweat 34 and Richard Matt, 48, both convicted murderers, used power tools to drill through concrete and metal pipes to escape without a trace, now 3 days and counting. The inmates, not discovered missing until 5:30 AM the morning after the break, had crucial time to get a head start on authorities. But the question remains as to where they got the valuable power tools and why weren't they heard drilling and cutting? A female prison employee is currently being question in the investigation. The woman, a prison tailor, who insiders say knows the inmate "very well". And if they had help on the inside my guess is that they have help on the outside too so the chances of them finding the inmates dwindle with each passing day.

Since this is my new fascination I had a thought-
I think we-society-should be focused on plastering their pictures all over the media. We should be talking about it on TV, radio and print all day long. So much so that it's a topic on the mind and lips of every walking, breathing American.

I would think our time would be better spent discussing these 'on the loose' criminals as much as let's say...topics that get intense media scrutiny like deflated footballs?

Just a thought.

I Hate It When That Happens

Fred rushes in and announces loudly, 'I tell you, women drivers are a hazard to traffic.  Driving to work this morning on the freeway, I looked over to my left and there was this woman in a Jaguar doing at least 70 mph with her face up next to her rear view mirror putting on her mascara.

I looked away for a couple seconds and then the next thing I knew was she was careering all over my lane.

It scared me so badly that I dropped my electric shaver into my coffee, and it spilled all over my mobile phone.

Change Is In The Air

Ever get a feeling that change is coming? This feeling feels like the opportunity for a big change and suddenly you are on the verge of something different? Different and good or different and bad?That's the Yin and Yang of life. For me- it's here and now and I feel it rising like the tide. I need to be smart. I need to be really smart and research the hell out of the options. Something tells me this may just be what I need-like that something I have been praying for, asking for during sleepless nights.

Change is good and it comes in all shapes and sizes.

Caitlyn Jenner-"I'm free" are the words she used to launch her new life change. It's a big one too-a "watershed moment", both historic and important for people like her-life altering because life, as she knew it, will never be the same.

David Letterman-His "Late Show" life has come to an end. Change for him was self imposed because "not everything good lasts forever". His change is here and now.

Birth/Death-The beginning of a new life is by far the greatest gift of all-the Yin. Death, by contrast can be earth shattering-the Yang.

Divorce/Marriage-The breaking up of a marriage can be a devastating change, but can ultimately bring both a good or bad change to those who experience it. So can the beginning of a marriage. The creation of a shared life and family is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself-and your mate. As someone who has experienced divorce, I never thought, while I was going through it, that it was good. I often cursed the heartache and pain I went through and wondered what I had done to deserve it. But I know now that it was a blessing.

Change can be challenging and difficult but it can also be liberating. Change takes attention and perseverance and ultimately, whatever the change that takes place, you pray for the knowledge that it was somehow meant to be.

Whatever the change in the air for me at this time-I am ready. I have been waiting for this opportunity my whole life.