Its how I usually always answer my phone (unless I'm job interviewing then I have to knock it off for a while). I think I picked it up from My Fair Lady or Mary Poppins...or maybe it was both. Both involve characters that are Cockney English accented and just fun memorable characters. I just always adored the greeting and started using it when answering the phone roughly 7 or 8 years ago and made a habit of it. Now it’s in me videos too. (Maybe that’s also where I picked up the whole me instead of my thing).

What are ya a stalker? I'm just going to narrow it down to So-Cal.

You can probably find a reasonably priced one on Amazon just search Plano 9606.

I dunno how good I'd be at convincing mom's or dad's I can't even convince my own grandma that what I'm doing is okay. I suggest that they read the information I wrote under the video info section of my "My Makeup Collection/Haul and Storage" video, or the more recent updated video, which answers a lot of common questions people ask about why people would want to collect makeup and why its okay.

My collection videos are not bragging videos – they’re REQUESTED videos. MANY of my subscribers and friends from flickr wanted to see what I was storing my makeup in. I know some people think haul videos are a form of bragging but when you are on someone else’s makeup channel where they show, review and work with makeup, you shouldn’t be so surprised if they show what they’re working with. If I had a mechanic channel and showed my garage, where I kept my tools, nobody would complain that it was bragging.

I don't mind answering a few questions about my husband as long as they don't get too personal.

-Are you married?
Yes, I am married, his name is Richard/Dickie. He's in all my J's Travels videos and a few others. He's an Engineer.

-What does your husband think of your makeup?
He's okay with it. For one thing he's spent just as much, if not more, on his own hobbies over the years than I have on all my makeup ever. I also haven’t spent as much as it seems. And he can't complain about me wearing makeup because for the first three years of our relationship I helped him shave, dye, and hair-spray his big colorful Mohawk (usually pink). In fact he says my makeup makes him want to start wearing a Mohawk again so we can do crazy over the top stuff together.

-Where is your husband when you're filming?
He's either chilling on his computer in the bedroom, juggling on the front lawn, or out n' about somewhere: work, errands, with friends etc.

-How long have you and your husband been together?
Since December of 2004.

If any viewer is so young that my language is too offensive for their innocent ears than they're probably too young to be using makeup anyway! You must understand that my channel is meant for me to enjoy myself, it’s my hobby. I want to be honest and candid with my viewers or I won’t do videos. I don’t want to be fake or pretend to speak or act in a way that I would not in real life. I want to speak into my camera as I would speak if I were talking to a friend sitting across the table from me. There are several very important things you have to understand:

1. My channel is NOT the Disney channel. I am not children’s entertainment. NOWHERE do I claim to be children’s entertainment. I am a grown woman on my own channel, in my own home, speaking my mind and doing a hobby I enjoy. If you want children’s entertainment try Nickelodeon.
2. It is actually against YouTube terms of service for ANYONE under the age of 13 to be on YouTube – either making videos or having an account to watch videos. Don’t believe me? See this official YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI2tmiKdPnU
3. I don’t have anything against kids liking makeup in principle but makeup is generally considered a grown-up/mature activity and that’s mostly what my channel is about. Any kid too young to hear a bad word is too young to wear makeup.
4. Your child isn’t hearing their first cuss word from me – I promise you. Unless your kid lives in a plastic bubble. But if your kid is watching YouTube I guarantee you they’ve already been exposed to far worse language than they’ll ever hear from me and not just from YouTube. Children in grade school cuss these days, and every grade that comes after. Yes, I’ve heard them. And I have friends who are teachers – and they’ve heard it too. If your child has ever listened to music or turned on a TV – I guarantee you – they’ve heard cussing. There’s ton’s of cussing in day-time TV. If they’ve ever walked out in a public place – they’ve heard cussing. Its everywhere in our society, it’s ubiquitous. They’ve either already heard it before or they’ll hear plenty of it eventually anyway. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t like for children to be exposed to cussing, and I don’t want to hear kids cussing, if I go to a place where there are kids I watch my language. But if your kids come to me, on my channel, they risk hearing language because my channel is my space. I sympathize with parents wanting to protect their kids, but if you want to protect your child from negative influences you’re going to have to screen EVERYTHING they come in contact with before they do. It’s a very tough job being a parent, but asking me to change my ways, or who I am, to make your life easier in this uphill battle is NOT the way.
5. Grown ups have a right to say whatever they want – its called free speech – and where I come from in America it’s very important. Of course I also believe in having good manners which is why I usually don’t direct cussing to any one person or to any group of people because it’d be very impolite (well at least not in my videos I’m sure I’ve called people ass holes for nearly killing me on the freeway more than a few times). If I drop the rare occasional bad word it’s usually to describe my opinion on an object or experience. I believe it was Oliver Wendell Holmes who said: "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." I try to apply this philosophy in how I act to others - sadly they don’t always apply it to me.
6. I don’t even cuss all that much, or all that badly. I think I’ve said “shit” just a couple times and some of the more minor words. I never cuss a lot and in MOST of my videos I never cuss at all. I mean really my language is VERY mild compared to some of the other people you can find on YouTube. Shanedawsontv and other huge YouTubers cuss tons in their videos and talk about all kinds of mature matter that children shouldn’t hear and they pull in way more views than me. I’m the least of your worries.
7. I was an English major in college and I know about language and how it evolves and where words come from and cuss words are nothing more than words that a puritanical society long ago decided were inappropriate, and the idea has just lingered on. Shit is no worse than poop. It's just that society has decided that some words are inappropriate, but has no good reason of explaining why shit should be a worse word than poop, except that that’s just the way it’s always been, at least as far back as Chaucer’s time. Words only have the power that we give them and language evolves all the time. I don’t believe in such a thing as a “bad” word. Words are just verbal symbols people use to communicate ideas.

Since I was 18. I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup when I was younger than that. Though I was naughty and wore some when my mom wasn’t looking once in a while.

I personally think that 16 is a good age. I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup until I turned 18 because my mom was very strict (though I snuck some behind her back once in a while). I always notice that girls younger than 16 don't usually wear makeup too well or it just looks very wrong on faces that are still look too child-like. I’d of loved to have been able to start at 16. I wasn’t in a hurry to grow up and besides, while I was in Jr. High I was such a pizza face, makeup would have only aggravated the problem. My grandmother (mom’s mom) was 14 when she started wearing makeup. If a girl wants to wear makeup and she’s under 16 I highly recommend that they ask for help and instruction on application, or look it up online because some girls just try it without knowing what they’re doing, or assume they know, and the results are…well…terrible. Dark and heavy makeup also tends to look bad on girls that are too young, or at least girls who don’t have a more mature looking face to pull the look off with. If you’re very young and just starting to get into makeup; I would suggest starting simple by wearing things that are light and natural and than wait until you get older, or your face matures more, to try the more dramatic looks. Dark and heavy just always seems to look better on a more mature woman than a teenager. Frankly before I was 16 I was too busy trying to enjoy the last of my childhood to be in a hurry to grow up and frankly I think there’s plenty of time for makeup when you’re older. Its fun to play with – I know I played when I could. But don’t forget to enjoy your youth because you won’t get it back!

I didn’t really start wearing makeup myself until I turned 18, because I actually wasn’t allowed to wear makeup before that (though I did occasionally sneak some behind my moms back because I was naughty). My mother was very strict. Which is odd because her mum, me grandma wore makeup at 14.

Use Tea Tree Oil Soap. You can order it online or get some at your local Trader Joe's market. Probably other places too. Tea Tree Oil soap removes stain left by any makeup, even hair dye. Its gentle and works perfectly.

No. This is just a hobby. My true calling in life is to write and that is what I intend to spend my life perusing for a career. Professional cosmetology just doesn’t really interest me.

Whole face + crazy eyes is 30-40 min, but i love every second of it. Its my morning "Me" time!

Yes I did. You wanna make my day punk?

No, I am neither of those. I would not consider myself to be of any "classification" of person. I am just myself.

Why do we need so many clothes hanging in our closets, we only have one body don't we? The answer is SELECTION! People sometimes like having a selection. Of course I can't wear it all at once. Do you listen to all your CDs at once? No, but I bet you like having a lot to choose from. It's the same with makeup. The more you have to choose from the more creative and original you can be.

You know its very unfair. People who collect makeup are villianised for their hobby. If I collected stamps, DVDs, art, clothes or video games, people would be much less likely to criticize me for those interests but for some reason there's something inherently wrong with someone wanting to collect and spend money on makeup. As if collecting makeup automatically means you're vain, greedy, or have some sort of an insecurity problem. Nobody ever believes that it just makes one happy. What's wrong with enjoying something that just makes you happy? I collect makeup because I like having just one more (of my many ways) to creatively express myself. I look forward to trying something new every morning. It's the little things that make life special and fun and so what's so wrong with enjoying makeup if it makes you happy. I'm not hurting anyone, or myself, but still makeup enthusiasts are treated as though they should be ashamed.

Lets get one thing straight I don't wear makeup for ANYONE but me. I don't wear makeup to rope myself a man, I already have one. I don't wear it because I need it. I wear it because I LIKE it and it makes me happy. I don't wear it to look natural, natural BORES me. I like bright and crazy because that's just my style. If you don't like bright and you wouldn't be caught dead wearing it that's fine, to each their own, but this is what I like and I'm not hurting anyone and I am quite aware of how it looks, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Not that much actually. First of all, I didn’t collect it all in one day. I’ve gathered it bit by bit over time. 9 out of 10 times I only buy something when it’s on sale. I’m a proud cheapskate. I only buy something retail when its limited edition or prone to selling out fast and I’m paranoid that if I wait it’ll be gone. I’m usually pretty patient though. If you sign up for newsletters to lots of makeup sites you get notified of sales or coupon codes (I get a lot of newsletters from makeup sites). I buy most off the internet or on ebay to get the best deals and I’m a total bargain hunter. Sometimes my grandma will get me some for Christmas or birthday (she’s not too creative otherwise) but most I pay for myself. I have a job and after I pay all my bills and expenses if I have any money left over I “might” get something new but since I’ve graduated I’ve considerably slowed down on makeup collecting because I have other more important financial responsibilities to take care of first. No matter what hobby in life you want to invest your money in - you should always invest responsibly. Also, I don’t know an exact dollar amount because I haven’t exactly kept track for all these years. You probably pay way more into your cell phone bill in just one month than what I would spend on makeup over a 4-5 month period. And I like and use my makeup more than my phone. Just work hard, save your money and keep an eye open for sales.

Eyeshadow has a pretty long shelf life compared to most makeup. If it discolors or smells funny then its obviously bad but if not it's okay. And I've never gotten sick from my older shadow before so maybe I have tough skin or maybe people are more germaphobic than they need to be. Liquid/moist type makeup can go bad after a year or two and should be changed periodically but powder based makeup lasts quite a while so I'm not worried about it and I'll gladly take my risks.

Glitter when used by itself is NOT BLENDABLE - it’s not a powder or mineral its fricken glitter! You can put glitter next to other colors of glitter but it is not really a bendable medium so if you see harsh lines they were intentional I usually try to just shape it and see what I get, but I was always happy with the end product, and besides when using glitter, it’s not like you're not WAY over the top already to begin with anyway. Now there is a trick you can do to make the glitter “seem” like it’s been well blended and that’s to wear eyeshadow underneath the glitter and blend the shadow like you normally would than when you sick the glitter on top of the shadow it will seem like its well blended but its just the shadow showing through the glitter.

I get tons of questions about my hair it seems to be a never ending mystery to most of the world. I don't know why it's just long hair there isn't that much to it - except how much length there is. But these are all questions I get a lot from both online and offline.

-How long did it take you to grow your hair?
I've had long hair my whole life. I have never had a significant hair cut. I was born with almost an inch of thick fuzzy brown hair all over my head. Mom & Dad never gave me a significant hair cut while it was growing out. By 2 it was bra strap length (I wasn't wearing a bra, that's the length it's called on adults but you get what i mean), by 3 it was at my waist & by kindergarten it was down to my lower back. Through middle school and high school it was tailbone length & after 18 it was down to my thighs. I trim 2” every 6 months to remove split ends and keep it healthy.

-Is it hard to take care of or live with?
Nope quite easy, see my video on how I take care of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu7u37BlTdU

-Will you grow your hair longer?
I would if I could but it seems to have reached its terminal length. Some people can grow hair to the floor and beyond but other people can't grow their hair past a certain point and that is determined by their genetics. Both my mother and father had/have long hair and they both had/have a terminal length.

-Would you ever cut your hair for locks of love or any other hair charities?
No. Man-made wigs look just as well (or better than) the human hair wigs, and are cheaper to make and more sanitary, someday hopefully when I am more fortunate in life and have more money I'll gladly donate wigs (though money does more good I think) to cancer patients but not my hair because if I didn’t have it I'd want it. Plus locks of love is a horrible scam. If you want to donate your hair just don't give it to them. Read these articles to see why.
http://verybigblog.com/2006/04/24/locks-of-love-is-a-scam/
http://badhairday.typepad.com/bad_hair_day/2006/07/locks_of_love_i.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/fashion/06locks.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1189688589-tkg5awRMcBm627D1VsotpQ
http://hannah.tedpearson.com/?p=322
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=21;t=001082;p=0
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/34753/locks_of_love.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2080445/what_you_should_know_before_donating.html?cat=48
http://www.ripoffreport.com/nonprofit-organizations/locks-of-love/locks-of-love-ripoff-dishones-dfx75.htm
http://www.paganspace.net/forum/topics/the-hairy-truth-about-locks-of
And on and on and on - a million articles about why NOT to give to that organization. I frankly think giving money to children's hospitals or charities so families can afford to pay for their children's treatments does a far greater good than a bit of hair ever could. Donate blood, donate time, donate money if you really want to help those less fortunate.

-Why don't you want to cut your hair?
I've had it my whole life - and I don't want to cut it because
1. I happen to love it the way it is and always have and always will.
2. Everybody else loves it - my friends, my family (with the exception of 1 family member), my boyfriend, and even random strangers - of course the opinion that matters the most is my own because it's my hair and my head and I'm the one living with it.
3. Its very easy to take care of
4. It's super inexpensive to take care of. I don't use expensive hair tools. I don't pay for salons or stylists or expensive products. Just shampoo and conditioner and inexpensive shampoo and conditioner at that.
5. More people compliment my hair in one day than most short-haired women get in a lifetime (and that's not even counting online compliments).
6. You can do a lot with long hair styling-wise (lol well I "can" but I usually don't because I'm lazy).
7. Hundreds (maybe thousands of people by now) have come up to me and said "promise me you wont cut your hair" so I guess I got a lot of promises to keep - so I will.

-Why do you have such long hair?
This isn’t quite the same question as “why won’t you cut it.” The answer is simple – I like it. Why wear bright eyeshadow? Why listen to Heavy Metal? Why do you like fantasy? Why is pink your favorite color? Why do anything that I do? Because I like it – not a lot of mystery to it – I just know what I like.

-Will you do another hair brushing video - slower/sexier/naked?
NO! My channel is not here to support the hair fetish demographic. If you wanna watch my videos (for whatever weird reason) fine, but I'm not catering specifically to fetish people - sorry.

-What brand hair brush do you use, and where can I get one?
Mine is a "Goody" brand brush. I've had it a loooooooong time maybe since before Jr. High (wow damn I guess its a very durable brush it never looses bristles). I think I got it at a Target or K-mart, but seeing as it's been with me so long I can't be sure. I went to their site www.goody.com and they still sell brushes but I didn't see mine specifically. Mine is a bristle brush its better for volumizing straight or thin hair. Any bristle such as a boar bristle should be of equal effect.

-What hair products do you use?
Dollar store shampoo and conditioner (suave, white rain or vo5) and a regular bristle brush. Yep that's all!

-How often do you brush your hair? Do you brush 100 strokes a day?
I give it one quick brush in the morning before I wash it (washing tangled hair = disaster). I give it one thorough brushing after it dries and then some time during the day I'll give it one more quick brushing incase it gets untidy. That's about it. As for 100 strokes a day hell if I know. I don't count. That'd be way too tedious for me. I like to think about other things while doing my hair, I'm not that focused on it.

-Why wont you do a tutorial about your hair?
Because there is NOTHING to do a tutorial about. I wash it, I brush it. That's it! You don't need a tutorial showing you how to do that. NO, I will not wash it for you to see. That's unnecessary. And as for brushing I already made a video showing my morning hair brushing routine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ8hoYC-J7M
And no, I will not make MORE videos showing me brushing my hair because ONE is enough!
I have done one hair style tutorial because that's about ALL I can do. I don't do much with my hair style-wise (I get more compliments just leaving it down and natural anyway), so there isn't much I know how to do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi1VdqpDqxk

-Will you (or why won't you) do more hair videos? Brushing, flipping, washing, dunking, trimming, etc...
Alright you guys lets get one thing straight right here and NOW! My channel does not exist to support the hair fetisher demographic PERIOD! If you guys want to watch my videos, FINE. I don't mind. If you want to enjoy them for whatever pleasures they offer you FINE! If you want to subscribe in hopes of me posting more hair-related videos FINE! But please understand I am NOT going to cater to your fetishes. That is NOT the point of my channel. I am NOT here to provide sexual thrills for men. If I show my hair at all it is to provide actual information, about myself, grooming tips, or other such USEFUL information involving hair care or style. I am not going to show myself, washing, dunking, trimming, flipping, twisting, playing or doing other such stupid things with my hair just to get your jollys off! Sorry wrong channel!!! You can enjoy my videos that are there for what they are, but I will not take requests that I deem of a sexual nature. And no I will not make more videos showing me brushing my hair. I have made one (to depict how long my morning hair routine is) and ONE is enough. Do not ask me for more.

-How long is your hair?
As of 8/4/10 it was 37” but then as soon as I was done measuring it I had my Bi-annual 2” trim and busted myself down to 35”.

The measurement was taken with a tape-measure starting at where my hair parts at the top and spanning to the very ends. If this isn’t how you measure your hair or how “experts” measure their hair – oh well! I only measured to answer this question which people kept asking and I did it to the best of my ability. I’m not trying to get any world records and I don’t want the world’s longest hair. If you won’t consider my measurement accurate enough then at least consider it a good estimate. The measurement I took on 8/4/10 was actually the first time in my life I have ever even bothered to measure my hair, because before people started asking I never even cared.

-What hair dye do you use?
3 or 4 times a year (or whenever I feel like it) I'll dye just the front parts of my hair pink using Manic Panic Hot Hot Pink. I like it because it's not that harsh of a dye, it'll show up over my hairs natural color AND I know for a fact it will 100% wash out after time.

-Why wont you dye all of your hair?
Because it would take 10 jars of dye 4 extra pairs of hands and a professional clean up crew. Just doing the front parts is already way more effort than I like so I don't get in the mood to do it too often.

-Why don't you dye your hair "insert color here"?
I like my natural color just fine. I use Pink if I want to play with something unnatural. Any other unnatural colors won't show up in my hair unless I bleach it and bleach is permanent so that is not an option.

-Why wont you cut layers into it?
Layers are a fad and I don't happen to like the way they look. I don't think my hair would look better with layers. I get a lot of people literally angry with me because I wont conform to modern hair trends and do what all the fashion magazines say is popular. They tell me my hair is boring. What's boring to me is having the same hair everyone else has because it's "in style." Someone with hair 37" long isn't something you see every day so its far from boring as far as I'm concerned. If you want layers - get them for your hair. I like mine the way it is, and I'm the one who has to live with it and I'd rather do my own thing and be happy than do what everyone else is doing.

-Why don't you want bangs?
I had them up until I was in the 2nd grade and I fricken hated them. I hated how they constantly needed to be trimmed and how unless I fussed with styling them they hung there like a limp curtain - no thanks. Been there. Done that. I asked my mom to let them grow and I've never looked back since.

-Is your hair heavy?
Generally no. Most of the time I don’t even notice it. The only time my hair ever feels heavy is if it’s wet, or if I were to change the part in my hair - when the weight isn’t evenly distributed it can feel too heavy on one side.

-Does your hair cause you to have headaches?
Nope.

-Why don't you part your hair differently?
I like my hair parted in the middle. I know a lot of people have a hard time accepting that. You’d be AMAZED how many people don’t want to accept that, but it is quite true – I like my hair parted in the middle. I tried parting it more to one side when I was younger and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way it looked or the way it felt. Believe it or not parting my hair in any other way than the natural part down the middle is quite painful. Your hair grows in certain natural directions on your head and for me forcing my hair to part in ways that it wouldn’t naturally part causes the follicles on my scalp to hurt. Not to mention my hair – when parted down the middle – doesn’t feel heavy to me. I’m quite comfortable with it. But if I force the majority of my hair onto one side of my head then yes, I can feel it being heavy, and it is a little on the uncomfortable side – probably because the weight isn’t being evenly distributed.

-Does your hair feel too hot in the summer?
Nope, and I’ve lived in Southern California my whole life. I do notice that I feel colder if its winter and I wear my hair up in a bun though. I’m more used to warmth than cold but that just comes with being a Californian I think.

-Do you hate short hair?
I'd hate it if it were on me. I don't have the face for it and I love my long hair. But contrary to what a lot of people think I don't hate short hair or different hair types or hair styles on other people. I have friends with hair of all lengths, colors and types and on them I really like their looks. Just because I wouldn't wear something for myself doesn't mean I dislike it in general. Everyone has to do what works best for them, or what makes them happy and if you like straightened hair, permed hair, layered, asymmetrical cut, fairy tale ends, blunt cuts, bangs, no bangs, long, short and everything in between, then by all means rock that shit!

-Why didn't your parents cut your hair when you were growing up?
Well my mom desperately wanted long hair ever since she was a little girl but grandma kept whacking it all off so finally mom won out in high school and grew her hair long - and she loved it - but then after high school she cut her hair into a bob and positively hated it and really missed her long hair. Eventually she grew it back. It was lower back length for the rest of her days (she's since passed on). But when she had me she didn't want to do to me what grandma did to her so she let my hair grow (with the exception of cutting bangs for me - which I hated).

My dad had similar parental issues. Grandpa was a military man and all his boys had to have crew cuts and my dad grew up when the Beatles were getting big and he so desperately wanted a "mop top" but grandpa wouldn't have it. Finally around high school grandpa loosened up and let dad grow a bit of hair. Not too much, maybe a few inches, but that's a lot compared to a military crew cut. He was really enjoying it up until he joined the navy. Bzzzt there goes all the hair! As soon as he got out of the Navy he started growing it long. He has waist length hair now. He wishes he could get it longer, but it's at a terminal length, and he loves it. I think it's cool that he has long hair and does his own thing (I think my dad looks like a medieval wizard - and that's awesome by the way LOL). Naturally when I came along my dad was all for letting my hair grow. He's always been of the opinion that women look better with some hair (which is probably why he liked mom so much).

I guess I'm very lucky that I had two parents that supported me growing my hair and I'm very thankful to the both of them for that.

-Will you curl your hair?
Nope. Curling my hair would require 1 of 3 possible methods.

Dry curling: where you put your hair in curlers after washing it and when they dry they hold a curl. But dry curling doesn’t work on me for more than an hour or two because my hair is so long, and so heavy, the very weight of my hair flattens the curls out. Not to mention I wash my hair in the morning and dry curling is something you have to do at night. I couldn’t sleep comfortably with curlers in my hair. I live with my boyfriend and I don’t think he’d find “curler head’ very attractive either lol.

A Curling iron: Any product that uses heat – at all – is completely out of the question. Nothing damages hair worse than heat. I know they sell products to help protect your hair from heat, but the heat can still do damage through even the best of products and I don’t feel like damaging my hair permanently for a temporary look – no thanks.

A Perm: Believe it or not; when I was in the 5th grade my mom took me to a salon where they gave me a spiral perm. The stylist found it quite cumbersome trying to perm hair that was as long as mine and warned my mom for hair my length it might take a lot of work to take care of it after the perm – and she wasn’t kidding. I positively HATED that perm. I had actually wanted curly hair before I got it, because I have always believed curly hair to be exceptionally beautiful (I still believe this actually), but it just wasn’t meant for me. I like hair I can just brush quick and go and curly hair takes a lot more time and completely different brushing and combing methods than what I’m used to. My best friend has hip length super thick and super curly hair and I don’t know how she manages it and keeps it so beautiful, but for me curly hair was the worst thing I had ever done to myself. I have no desire to repeat the experience.

-Do you flat iron your hair?
Nope. It’s naturally straight this way. I have had some people tell me I should flat iron it anyway - - - why? I mean really, I don’t get why I would want hair flatter than it already is. I think girls these days are really enslaved by the flat iron and I blame modern trends and fashion magazines. Apparently if you don’t have hair as thin and straight as a sheet of paper you’ve sinned against fashion – fashion can take a hike.

-You should cut your hair just to thin it out because it’s too thick.
I know that’s a statement and not a question, but I get it enough to where I think it needs to be addressed. I LOVE how thick my hair is. I don’t see why in the world I would ever want thin scraggly hair. Long hair also tends to look much better if it’s kind of thick. Super long hair that is as thin as a pencil when put into a braid or pony tail just isn’t my thing. When I see thick hair I think healthy. Thin hair doesn’t necessarily mean unhealthy some people just have hair that is of a very fine texture, and even though it’s not very thick their hair is always the softest of the soft. My hair is of a medium texture and so it naturally tends to be a bit thicker – that’s just the way nature made it and I don’t see the point in trying to change that – especially when it would look bad for my hair type. I think the people who tell me my hair is too thick are also the same people obsessed with having the flattest flat ironed hair possible. That’s kind of sad because I think if people have naturally thick, wavy or curly hair they should embrace it and wear it the way it is. Thick, wavy and curly hair is very beautiful and I think it’s kind of sad that modern fashion tells girls they should hide or destroy it all with a flat iron. I can’t wait for the flat iron fad to go away.

-Can I touch it?
No creeper. Seriously I’ve had strangers touch my hair before and it is NOT cool. That is a major violation of someone’s personal space. I don’t mind if friends, family and loved ones touch it because I’m comfortable with them – but strangers – absolutely not.

-Do you use coconut oil?
I’ve tried it a couple times but it didn’t seem to do anything for my hair – and I hate hate hate the way oil (good or bad) feels in my hair. Yuck.

-How often do you wash your hair?
Every day. I have a super super oily scalp. And yes I have tried washing it less because supposedly over-washing can cause more oil production – it didn’t work. I tried washing it every other day, every two days for weeks on end to see if it would change or get better – it didn’t. Some people, believe it or not, really can produce just that much oil. I also tried using oil in my hair (like coconut oil) because I heard that helps – it didn’t. My hair just has to be washed every day that’s all there is to it. To combat all the washing I just make sure to let the conditioner soak in for the duration of my whole shower and my hair doesn’t really feel or sound dry at all.

-How much shampoo and conditioner do you use?
If you mean – in one washing – then I use a palm full of shampoo and a palm full of conditioner.

If you mean – how long does it take me to go through a bottle of shampoo or conditioner – I go through about a whole bottle of both in a month’s time - which isn’t much of a hardship because I use very cheap shampoos and conditioners: Sauve, Vo5, White Rain etc.

-Does your hair take a long time to wash?
Nope. I shower every morning no matter what so while I’m in there I just whip in a little shampoo and conditioner at the start of my shower and rinse it all out at the end. Probably takes me no more than 3-4 minutes tops. Most of my shower time doesn’t even involve my hair.

-How long does it take for your hair to dry?
If you saw my hair care video you know I air dry because blow dryers are damaging. My hair takes about 1-2 hours to dry depending on the weather. I happen to live in a very warm and dry climate so I think that helps a lot because I’ve had people who live in cooler or more humid climates tell me it takes their hair 6-8 hours to air dry. Another thing that might help is that I wear my hair up in a towel for 5-10 minutes and that absorbs a lot of the excess water. Then when I take the towel down I rub my hair all over with the towel between my hands to help get even more excess moisture off and that also helps separate the strands. Hair that gets into the “wet hair dreadlocks” takes longer to dry because when the strands are all bunched together the air can’t reach the individual hair strands as easily.

-What’s your hair washing routine like?
I wake up and the fist thing I do is brush my hair (1-2 minutes) with a soft bristle brush. I don’t use combs. This removes any knots I might have acquired in the middle of the night (I don’t have much of an issue with knots) then I jump straight in the shower. The first thing I do in the shower is work in some shampoo but just from the neck up because that’s where all the oil production is. Then I let the shampoo run down the length of my hair. Then I ring out the length and put conditioner into the length of my hair – only from the shoulders down because with my oily scalp I don’t need conditioner anywhere but the length. Then I proceed with the rest of my shower while the conditioner and shampoo have time to soak into my hair. After I’m done with all the rest of my shower routine I just rinse out the shampoo and conditioner. Of my whole 10-15 minute shower only 3-4 minutes of it actually involves doing anything with my hair. I take long showers because they’re relaxing mostly so I hate to rush. I thoroughly wring out my hair then I get out of the shower and I wrap my hair up in a towel (turban style) for about 5-10 minutes while I do my skin care routine and get dressed. The towel absorbs the majority of the excess moisture. When I take off the towel I rub my hair all over with the towel to separate all the strands and pick up any other excess moisture. Then my hair just air dries while I do the rest of my morning routine: eat, coffee, email, makeup, get my stuff ready for the day etc. The very very last thing I do before I walk out the door is brush my hair (2-3 minutes) that way my hair will have had the most air dry time possible. If it’s still a little on the damp side (in the colder months of winter it may take a little longer than normal to dry) then I just do a very light gentle top layer brushing and wait until I get to my destination to give it a more deep and thorough brushing. A soft bristle brush is VERY gentle on the hair so I can brush rather quickly without doing damage. So all in all my hair takes about 7-10 minutes out of my entire morning including brushing, washing and drying. Most people with shorter hair take waaaaay longer on their hair in a day and most people don’t even wash it every day like I do. So you see long hair really isn’t hard to take care and is quite quick and easy to take care of if you know how. If I wanted to put my hair in a braid maybe add 5 minutes to that estimate, if a bun add 15 (I’m slow at buns). Mostly I just leave my hair down. It doesn’t bother me to have it down. I might give it one or two mid-day brushings to keep it tidy and at night I throw it over the back of my pillow where it does a good job of staying out of my way and manages to have an easy time of avoiding knots – I know this seems like a lot of explaining for doing so little but for some reason people have a hard time believing how easy and quick it really is.

-What's buildup?
It’s when your hair won’t come clean because you've literally built up soap residue in your hair from using one kind of shampoo too much.

-Aren’t you supposed to cut your hair every 6-12 weeks?
The reason most people have to trim their hair every 6-12 weeks is because most people these days use things like blow dryers, flat irons, curling irons, or they brush or comb their hair while wet (very damaging), or use harsh dyes, bleach and take regular trips to salons where stylists torture their client’s hair with harsh chemicals. If you don't do any of that stuff - then you don't have to trim more than 2 or 3 times a year. And the people who say 6-12 weeks are usually the people working in the salons. Of course they’ll tell you to come back every 6-12 weeks because 1. That’s more money more often for them and 2. They’re the one’s probably causing most of the damage that’s being done to your hair.

I never use ANY heat tools on my hair, no bleach, no chemicals, no products other than shampoo and conditioner, I never brush or comb it when wet and I always let it air dry. I occasionally will use a mild dye to color just the very front of my hair pink but that’s about it. Because I don’t punish my hair my hair stays quite healthy and I only really start needing a trim after about 6 or 7 months. When that time comes I only trim 2” which removes any split or dry ends and helps the hair look more full and even and healthy.

-How do you use the toilet with hair that long??
This question is pretty much always of a facetious nature. I mean seriously - You can’t figure out that you just MOVE IT? Surely you can figure that much out? If the concept of moving something out of the way is really too much for you to grasp; you must have an awful lot of shit in your pants.

Watch this video and you'll know why! --> I Love My Eyebrows!

Sorry revealing that information = stranger danger

I'm sorry but I just don't like talking religion, philosophy or politics with people I don't know very well from the internet. So you will not be getting an answer with these types of questions.

Sorry I already gave away all that stuff to the first person who asked me. It helped me to make space in my box. And at the moment I don't have anything I'm interested in letting go of. These days if I do get tired of something I give my friends and family first dibs.

I recently graduated from California State Polytechnic University. AKA CSU Pomona AKA Cal Poly Pomona. GO BRONCOS!!! Well not really I hate sports lol

I have a BA in English Lit and I also have 4 AA's in English, Liberal Arts, Business & Business Management.

I use a Canon PowerShot SD790IS 10mpx because it’s easy to get the videos from it to my computer. When I take still pictures I set the settings to Tungsten for indoor light and use a wall mirror to make sure I get my eye pictures in frame. When I film I don't use a tripod. I film at my desk so it actually sets on top of my stationary box at a perfect height and I have a small mirror mounted behind it so I can make sure to stay in frame (its not a flip screen camera so I have to use the ol' mirror trick quite a lot when filming or taking pictures of myself).

Originally I used Windows Movie Maker but after May 2010 I started using Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0.

Ben Nye and Make Up For Ever

In general I don't have any specific favorite my makeup is from all different brands because not every brand does every product perfectly.

Mac is okay. I am not one of these people with some misguided venomous loyalty because they stepped out of the rite aid and Mac was the first thing they tried and just stopped there because they figured it couldn’t get any better. Nope sorry I've tried a LOT of different things and Mac is not the best makeup brand around. They're just average quality in my opinion. There are many companies that make makeup just as good, if not better, and less expensive. Mac is a label - it's a name brand. Now I wont say I hate them they have good stuff too I use their Oil Control Lotion, Green Gel Cleanser, Prep n' Prime SPF 50, Studio Fix Foundation + Powder, Cream Color base, a few shadows, but the thing I like best from them is their liners. Their gel liners are okay but their pencil liners I can say are still the best I've ever tried. But that doesn’t mean I won’t try any other pencil liners from other brands. I'm very open to the possibility that someone might offer me a better product and if they do bye-bye Mac liners. If Mac is the only thing in the world to you - than you haven't experienced much in the world.

Eyeliner is my method of choice. I have a lot of gel liner and pencil liner in many colors and I find it makes the best sticky base for glitter. Just apply it to the whole lid &/or under eye. The glitter will stay put all day with no creasing as long as you use an eyeshadow primer. Since glitter has some transparency to it its best to use a liner that is somewhat similar in color, than just put your glitter on top. For example blue gel liner with blue glitter. Green eye liner pencil with green glitter. The shades don’t have to match exactly; it’s just to help with the transparency of the glitter. There are a lot of other things that work too, kryolan or mehron aqua activated paints, liquid liners, cream eyeshadows. Some people say use Vaseline or just water but those don’t seem to have good staying power.

Um...no.

I enjoy makeup art but I am in no way a professional. The only equipment I have is what I use for myself. I’ve only ever done makeup on one other person than myself – one of my best friends – and that’s because I was comfortable with my friend.

As of now there aren’t any other animes that have inspired me the way Sailor Moon has. Ever since I was younger something about the colors and characters was so artistically beautiful to me.

It's hard to think of all the animes I like off the top of my head but I'll give it a try: Escaflowne, Inuyasha, Azumanga Daio, Chobits, Record of Lodoss War, Battle Angel Alita, Akira, Earth Girl Arjuna, Gundam Wing, Cowboy Bebop, FLCL um...yeah there's a lot more I just hardly draw them all to mind lol.

Ben Nye. I also like the horror special effects of Tom Savini. Other than that just friends and pictures I randomly stumble on or things I see every day while out and about that have color or shape that spark my inspiration.

I always use a primer for my eyeshadow. I use Too Faced Shadow Insurance. It costs about $17 but lasts over a year, even if you use it every day (and I almost do!). You can get it from www.toofaced.com, Sephora, Ulta, Nordstroms and I'm sure a few other places as well. I like it better than Urban Decay Primer Potion because it seems to last a bit longer, I use much less product, and the packaging makes it easy for me to get ALL of my product out. Where as with Urban Decay you have to saw the bottles open to get the last 30% of your product out. TFSI comes in a convenient tube!

When it comes to haters on my channel or videos the policy is 1 strike and you’re out! Trolls, bullies, haters, or people who express extreme negativity will have their comment promptly deleted and they will be permanently blocked. If you have a negative comment such as “I hate this” or “I don’t like that,” I probably won’t block you but your comment will be deleted because I don’t need your negativity. If you have nothing nice to say please just don’t say anything or just don’t watch my videos. You have a right to your opinions of course, but it doesn’t mean I and others have to hear it. I force no one to watch my videos or to subscribe, so you have every freedom to leave and not watch if my media bothers you. Now as I said extreme negativity will be blocked. Saying; “I don’t like this video,” isn’t extreme enough to block someone in my opinion but if someone says; “This video fucking sucks,” than I would probably consider that to be negativity to the extreme and then I probably will block you. Also fair warning I know the difference between constructive criticism and an insult and sadly most people who go around saying that they are just giving constructive criticism don’t know that difference and frequently over-step the line. Before you offer said criticism please ask yourself first: “If I walked up to a complete stranger on the street and said this to their face would they slap me?” If the answer is yes, than your “so-called” constructive criticism will probably not be appreciated and I probably will lend up deleting it, and maybe blocking you depending on just how far over the line you go. Please consider that fair, honest criticism, where you aren’t just trying to just “take someone down a peg” usually is the sort of thing that is best expressed between people who are very close on a personal level. If a friend offers you a constructive criticism you know they love you and aren’t trying to hurt you, in fact you probably went to them for said opinion. But if a stranger criticizes you, you have no way of telling if they are being helpful or hurtful and ask yourself honestly: “If I criticize someone I don’t really know, and who doesn’t know me, do I really want to help them out of the kindness of my heart, or am I just expressing something I don’t like for the sake of saying it?” Criticism just for the sake of saying it is never kind and never helpful. Also understand that others can actually be happy the way they are. If you change every time someone says something they don’t like about you, you’d never be yourself. People should only change themselves after personal reflection and soul searching, not because others say so.

These are my thoughts and opinions on hatred and hurtfulness not just on youtube and for myself but for the whole internet and everyone in it. I express this here so that you better understand my thoughts and feelings concerning what people express to me and others. If I act on your opinions, be they positive or negative, it will be along this frame of mind. If I delete or block you; it is because I believe based on my principles that you have yet to grow as a thinking, understanding, and humane person - and perhaps I fear you never will. I act upon protecting myself, my channel, my videos, my friends, and my subscribers. Hatred is not tolerated.

When I started collecting makeup I really didn't have a lot but when I wanted to increase my collection I wanted a lot for my money, but I also wanted stuff that was very good in quality. The very first thing I bought was the beauties factory (bf-beauty.com) 120 color eyeshadow palette. Seen here http://www.bf-beauty.com/en/category/46_47/index_home.html color version #1 is only 25 dollars and their shipping is super cheap (a little slow though it takes 2-3 weeks) but well worth the wait. I love my 120 the quality is just as good as mac, sometimes better depending on the shadow. That site also sells good brushes for cheap as well. I started there and then I started buying sample sizes in other shadows because for me as a collector I like variety over quantity. I'd probably never use up a full size shadow anyway. Here is my video on sample size eyeshadows if you look in the video information there is a very long list of links to sites that sell sample sizes of shadow that are very good in quality and very cheap in price http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wSDCYTmZws Almost all the mineral shadows you see in my most recent collection video are sample sizes, and as you can see there's plenty enough there. For good brands that have good quality and are inexpensive I'd recommend any of the bf-beauty palettes, elf cosmetics, nyx cosmetics, and pure luxe cosmetics. And if you need to save as much money as possible my last video on the samples is part 15 in a long series on how to save money on makeup. There are a lot of good tips and ideas there for saving money and increasing your collection at the same time. I hope this helps.

Yes, the pictures I used on my channel page were taken by a professional photographer named Willow, who is also a dear friend of mine. If you are in the LA area and need an excellent photographer please check out her MySpace page for pricing or to set up an appointment.
http://www.myspace.com/willowconcepts

At the moment I have not had anything published. Until my work is officially published I cannot allow anyone to read it. Even my boyfriend is not allowed to read my work because it is very sacred to me and I guard it very close to my heart. I am doing my best to find an agent to represent my work and if I am someday lucky enough to be published I might let people know if they are interested.

Well that depends on what you mean.

If you mean: do I like making art with makeup? Then yes. Some friends refer to me as “the makeup artist” because they know it’s a hobby I enjoy and I get very creative with it but they know it’s just a hobby and it’s an easy label for them to use to describe my interest.

If you mean: do I do makeup professionally or take it very seriously? Then no. Makeup for me is a very fun hobby and a great way to express myself but it’s not my life. I have no desire to become a professional or make a living off makeup artistry. I’ve only ever done makeup on one other person than myself – one of my best friends – and that’s because I was comfortable with my friend. I don’t think I’d be very comfortable doing makeup on people I didn’t really know.

Well as far as nationality goes I’m an America. As far as heritage goes from my mothers side I have English, German and Portuguese and on my fathers side I believe there’s some Irish and then I have family (the namesakes of my last name actually) that have been in the United States since before the revolutionary war. Your average American mutt I guess.

You see I joined youtube on July 31st of 2006 and back then when you set up an account profile you could categorize your channel by its content type. Some of the categories were Comedy, Director, Musician, Guru and a few other categories that I can't remember. The 1st 2 videos I uploaded back in 2006 were comedies so I chose to categorize my channel under "Comedy", but when I started making makeup videos, first for friends and then for my own amusement, I figured I should change my channel category (Categories on youtube help people search for content by type so it's important to try and classify your content appropriately). I changed my channel to "Guru" back in late 2008 because a Guru channel (by youtube's terms at the time) was any channel dedicated to teaching people how to do things - something informative, instructional or educational and not just for makeup but for any videos that primarily teach people something. I wasn't making comedy videos anymore I was showing people stuff with makeup so it seemed logical that I should list my channel under the Guru category.

Roughly around early 2009 I'd say, or at least that's when I really started to notice it, people in makeup communities both on and off youtube started to refer to anyone who does any sort of makeup, fashion or beauty videos on youtube as "Makeup Gurus" or "Gurus" for short. This probably stemmed from the fact that the channel category used to be prominently displayed somewhere under the channel owners username on their main channel page and whenever you went to browse videos by categories if you look under the youtube category for Guru, makeup guru’s account for 90+% of the entire youtube Guru category. "Guru" went from being a youtube category synonymous with being generally informative or instructional to being a label more synonymous with the makeup community. Funny how that is.

Am I, or do I consider myself, a guru?

Well in the classical youtube category sense, yes. The purpose of most of my videos is to offer information or instruction to anyone who may be interested. If you mean am I a guru in the makeup community sense - I honestly don't know, and I'm kinda leaning toward no because I don't take makeup that seriously. It's always been a fun hobby for me and always will be. I'm not a professional makeup artist and have no desire to be one. I like helping people, answering questions, and showing people stuff, but I make no pretense to being some sort of all knowing expert. Far from it. I don't know everything, I don't have all the answers, there are probably better methods than the ones I use, there are tons of people out there WAY more skilled and talented than myself, and I'm sure there are times when I could be completely wrong about things. I'm still learning new things about makeup myself all the time - often from my own subscribers. Now I'm not here to say who does and does not deserve "guru" expert status. That's not my place to say. I can only speak for myself. Am I a "guru"? No, I'm just a makeup lover having fun.

ROLE MODEL? What the hell are you talking about? I’m some chick playing with fiesta colored makeup in my living room in front of a camera. How the hell is that a role model for anybody?

There are doctors and nurses out there right now saving lives. There are scientists finding cures for diseases. There are soldiers, police officers, and firemen, fighting and dying. There are Nobel Peace Prize winners. There are teachers inspiring and educating the youth for tomorrow. There are loving friends, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers. There are activists laying their lives down for their beliefs. And you or your kids are looking to someone LIKE ME to be a role model??? I play with makeup!!! NOBODY playing with makeup on youtube is worth being a role model. And I’m not saying there aren’t some great youtubers out there and I’m not saying they don’t have some interesting things to say or things to teach. But if you’re going to model your life and get inspired by someone you can do a WHOLE lot better than what youtube has to offer. There are better people in this world to look up to than people who mess around with their video cameras and post it online. Even “real” celebrities aren’t good enough to be role models and people who post videos on youtube are a major step down even from that.

I should never have to be anyone’s role model, nor would I want to be.

I am incredibly honored and flattered that you’d want to give me anything. And please don’t think that I don’t appreciate that. It really is a very sweet gesture. But, I don’t feel right taking things from people unless I know them really well on a personal level. I’d feel awkward and obligated to return the favor which I may not always be able to do. If you really want to do something nice for me I ask that instead of sending presents please just make a charitable donations to one of these organizations that could put the money to better use.

childrenofthenight.org
Children of the Night helps give wayward children adequate shelter, medical and psychological care. These are children who run away from abusive homes and lend up on the streets, falling into prostitution and die young of diseases, drugs and suicide.

www.ronniejamesdio.com
The Ronnie James Dio Stand up and Shout Cancer fund is a charity where 100% of the proceeds go to cancer awareness and education programs. Most people die from cancer because they just don’t know what watch out for. Ronnie James Dio (my all time favorite artist) passed away from stomach cancer, which could have been prevented if it had been found in its early stages. This charity was founded by his lovely wife Wendy. The best way to fight cancer is to find it early and knowledge is the key.

www.aspca.org
This charity excepts donations which are used to give abandoned animals the food, shelter and medical care they need and most importantly the opportunity to be adopted into a safe loving home.

www.haveaheartcharity.org
In America not all families can afford to give their children the medical care they need even if that child suffers from cancer. This charity raises funds to help families pay for the medical treatments of a child suffering from cancer.

A gift to any one of these charities will warm my heart and make me far happier than any lipstick or eyeshadow gift ever could.

I do have a policy about not meeting up with people that I don't know from the internet. It's nothing personal I apply this to everyone. Usually if I want to meet someone in person who I met from the internet I need to spend a lot of time getting to know them first on a personal level.

So far I’ve only been given this opportunity once (Manic Panic sent me some makeup to try). Before I agreed to accept the products I told them that I had to give an “HONEST” review. That I would list pros as well as cons and that I would give all the products a rating on a scale of 1-10 (which I always do for anything I review). They kindly agreed to my terms and I thoroughly tested the products and made the review seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8288dUSCYo
If I liked it I said so, and if I didn’t I said I didn’t. If any future companies wish to send me stuff they must all agree to the same terms: I must be able to test the products, I must be honest with my opinions, I must list pros and cons, and I must be able to give it a rating (I never recommend anything that is less than a 7). If any company doesn’t want to agree to those terms then I won’t accept their products. If something is bad or mediocre – I’ll say so. If it’s good and I love it – I’ll say so.

I will NEVER accept monetary compensation in exchange for ANY of my reviews. I personally have a hard time believing a company would pay someone to hear that person say any bad things about their product and if there’s something wrong with a product, or I don’t like it, I must be free to say exactly what I think about it, and so I stand firm on my principle to not take money in exchange for a review. I don’t believe in things like sponsored videos, links, tweets, posts or reviews. If a company offers a commission or a rewards program of some kind for when vlogers/blogers send business their way - then the vlogers/blogers should let their viewers/readers know about it.

And I don’t review products that I wouldn’t really use (like fake tanning products, flat irons etc), only things that I can give a genuine opinion on.

According to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) if someone receives products for free, or promise of future products for free, or any monetary compensation of any kind they MUST disclose to their viewers (or readers if it’s a blog) that they are being sponsored or compensated. But, if a person is reviewing a product that they have bought and paid for with their own money they are not required to disclose anything because there is nothing to disclose. I know a lot of people hear FTC and are confused or frightened but it’s simply a law that requires people to be up front and honest about where their opinions are coming from and so I consider the FTC disclaimer to be a good thing. My FTC disclaimer will always be located in the video information box of any video I upload for any product reviewed. Even if I technically don’t have to disclose anything because I buy the product myself and have nothing to disclose I will still state that the product is paid for by me to avoid confusion for you guys. (The FTC updated their guidelines I believe around January 2010).

J is my nickname. The internet can be a dangerous place sometimes so for my own safety I keep my real full name to myself.

Nope.

I’m not a vegan so I don’t use vegan products but I do prefer to choose things that are cruelty free whenever possible. But to be honest I don’t always have that kind of information at my fingertips when I’m making a purchase and so I often buy things and find out later that they were subject to animal testing. Once that’s happened I’m not going to throw my product out – what’s done is done. Sometimes I know a company does do animal testing but will buy a product anyway if it’s something exclusive or unique to that company and I know I can’t get something equal or better in quality or color elsewhere. That doesn’t happen too often but sometimes it does happen and I make no claims to being perfect. So generally speaking - I prefer to be cruelty free with my products – but it doesn’t always happen. I’m not inclined to go all to pieces if I make a mistake when it comes to this matter. I just do my best whenever I can. It takes quite a lot of research and conscious effort to maintain a vegan or cruelty free lifestyle and it’s quite an uphill battle considering that animal testing is not exclusive to cosmetics. It’s also prevalent in hygiene, medicine and many other facets of our life we may not even suspect. It’s a shame that things are this way but I am always grateful to see that more and more cosmetic companies are making a good effort to avoid animal testing.


One day for curiosity’s sake I made a scale for myself and my friends to see “How Vegan or Cruelty Free are you” on this scale I’d say I’m about 65-75% Cruelty Free.


How Vegan/Cruelty Free are you?
100% Vegan/Cruelty Free. I don’t buy anything unless I’ve done my research and know for an absolute fact that my products are vegan and/or cruelty free. If someone gives me a product that isn’t V/CF I will not even touch it.
90% V/CF. I don’t buy anything unless I’ve done my research and know for an absolute fact that my products are V/CF – BUT if someone gives me a product that isn’t V/CF I might keep or use it just so I don’t hurt that person’s feelings. But I would never use “my own” money to support companies that are not V/CF.
80% V/CF. I try to avoid using products that aren’t V/CF whenever possible. But sometimes I don’t know if a product is or isn’t V/CF and buy it anyway. If I find out later that it is not V/CF then I know to never buy from that company again.
70% V/CF. I try to avoiding products that aren’t V/CF whenever possible. But sometimes I don’t know if a product is or isn’t V/CF and buy it anyway. If I find out later that a product is not V/CF and I cannot find a product of similar or equal quality, color, or price from a company that is V/CF, than admittedly I might buy from that company again – but if I can find a V/CF dupe I’d gladly make the switch.
60% V/CF. I like when I see companies that try to be V/CF and I’d prefer to give them my money than some other company that isn’t V/CF, but admittedly I do give my money to companies that aren’t always V/CF if I like their stuff well enough. I like the “idea” of V/CF but it’s not something I feel passionately enough about to make radical changes to my shopping behavior. I generally mean well but my purchases don’t always reflect my principles.
50% V/CF. I am indifferent about whether or not my products are V/CF.
40% V/CF: I often buy products that are not cruelty free because I feel what’s done is done.
30% V/CF: I wouldn’t hurt an animal myself but if companies want to test their products on animals I’m okay with it because it’s for my safety and it’s not like I’m the one having to perform the tests. My concept of animal testing is: “out of sight out of mind” or “for the greater good.”
20% V/CF: I hate V/CF products because I don’t trust something that hasn’t been thoroughly tested on an animal first or I believe V/CF products are lacking in quality.
10% V/CF: I refuse to buy something that has not thoroughly gone through animal testing. My comfort, safety and convenience are worth far more to me than some animal’s life or if it suffers.
0% V/CF: I bite heads off chickens and wear their blood as war paint.