How to get your hair platinum blonde! (With little to no damage)

Hey guys! So I know usually on my blog, it's really heavy stuff. Well, on a lighter (bwahahaha, see? Lighter! xD No? Oh, right....sorry) note, I've decided to do a sort of tutorial on how I got my hair platinum blonde, minus the youtube video.

First, I'll start off with what I did:
So, naturally, I guess you could call my hair a dark ash blonde. It's long, and really thin. The color, since I was born with this really bold, pinkish gold color, this hair color just didn't suit me. At all. It had no dimension, and so I decided I needed a change. My hair was already dyed a goldy-color, but what I did, was I went to the store and bought the cheapest, lightest hair color I could find.

It turned my hair yellow.
(And I'm talking anime character yellow)

So, Since this was a school weekend, we bought another dye. Did the same thing, it was a little better though. So now that it was lighter, I looked up what the magical thing called toners are! We ended up getting one, and leaving this toner (Wella, T18 I believe) and left it on for ten minutes. It did a lot for my hair actually, and I liked how it looked. It was a sort of pastel color, but I still needed it blonder.

So I did it again. xD

By now, my hair wasn't really hurt. It was holding very well. :3

I ended up doing two different toners within a week, and my hair still wasn't the right color.

So finally, I sucked it up and bleached my hair.

I went the chickening-out route though. I ended up using the Feria "Absolute Platinum" kit, thinking it was some kind of magical way to get around using bleach, but no, haha it's still bleach. xD

So, I bleached it, and it dried my hair out more than I was hoping it would. It lightened like crazy, but now my hair was a dull (uneven) pastel yellow.

So I bleached it again.
And, wait for it!

I bleached it again!
But this time, I ended up using the wella, T18 toner afterwards. It did wonders for my hair color, but the condition wasn't very good.

What I recommend:
Start gradually going lighter with box dyes (they can have peroxide if you prefer the faster results). And by gradually, I mean over a span of a month or two depending on how dark your hair naturally is. Between the dying, I highly highly recommend using a hot oil treatment once a week. The hot oil treatment you can use on your hair can be a mixture of anything. Some people go really crazy with this, but I really just put a few tablespoons of olive oil with a few tablespoons of coconut oil and put it in the microwave for about 15 seconds. After you do that, I literally just spread it all over my head and sleep on it. In the morning, my hair is like silk, it's insane.

You can also use a deep conditioner to keep up with it.
Anyway, so once you've gotten your hair to some sort of blonde, then it's time to bleach it. What you do, is you go to any hair care store and get a tub of violet powder bleach, and a 20 or 30 volume developer to mix it with. This way you can avoid having to bleach more than once due to lack of product. After you bleach it, you need to do either a deep-conditioning or a hot oil treatment to make sure you don't damage it too much. If you're only bleaching once, there should be really no damage, but you're still not gonna want fluffy, lifeless hair.

Now that you've bleached, wait a day or so and use the toner. You can do it immediately afterwards, but I don't recommend it. Your hair will be in no condition to handle that. You can use any toner, but the one I've found works is T18.

Yay! If you follow these steps you should have platinum blonde hair! What you can also do to keep up with it (I haven't really found it works) is buy a purple shampoo and conditioner. They'll be specially made for platinum blondes, so they aren't too hard to find. But just remember to regularly condition your hair, and keep up with hot oil treatments. Your hair should still be in good condition after you do this.


I was going to put a list of the products I've used, but I can't remember any of them. If you have any questions just leave it in the comments. :)

Stay platinum. ;)

-Evie

Inspiration for the day♥

Stay complex♥

Top 10 of the week

Just a couple more months to go.

I'm sorry I've been so busy. I'm trying to keep up with posting, but school has been more than happy to keep us busy, and with the end of the year talent show coming up I'm deciding whether or not I'm going to do it, and if I did, what song I'm going to do. So I've decided to create a simple top-10 list of random crap, starting with the song I'm highly considering doing for my talent show. Enjoy!

10. Stay - Rihanna
This is such a beautiful and meaningful song. It's really raw, and since performing in the school talent show well be my first time ever performing a song live, I figured I wanted it to be sentimental and meaningful. I'm really good at piano, and since this is a piano song I'm strongly considering this. Plus it's in my vocal range, at least for the most part, but please, if you have any requests about a song you think I should do feel free to comment below, it's greatly appreciated.

9. The word "hyperbole"
Hyperbole basically means an exaggeration. I might never use this in a sentence but the word itself is pretty damn entertaining.

8. Witty comebacks
Because sometimes "Your mom" just doesn't cut it. I recommend "you're just mad because your mom has a bigger dick than you do" or "if I wanted to hear a bitch I would've bought a dog"

7. Cherry Airheads
No explanation necessary.

6. The card game "BS"
Because why not?

5. Quote;
 "Nobody said that it would be easy. 
They just promised it would be worth it."

4. Color: Yellow
This has been a very long and heavy week, and the fact that it's Friday is really relieving. Yellow is a light and airy color, which is probably how you should take today.

3. Food; Pizza
Generally pizza is my first choice but it seems especially appealing this week.

2. Emotion; Relief
That's definitely the tone for today, at least. I'm exhausted after this and I think today is a day for recovery and fun. :) Enjoy yourself, splurge, hang out with people. Make today awesome.

1. Random acts of kindness
Being random and putting it to good use for strangers will make you a superhero in disguise.

Have a beautiful week, my friends.♥

~Evie

Letting him go

Advice #10

(This is for you guys out there too)

You know who I'm talking about.

Him.

The one person you know that has the capability to take your breath away just by looking at you.
That grin he has.
That hair you just want to run your fingers through.
Those eyes, my god those eyes.


But here's the thing; he's just your crush.
And that's the hard part.

You have a couple of classes (all of them if you're lucky) with him. And my god they're the best classes of the day.

But you've never been more than friends. And that kills you.

Lately, I've been really crushing on, well...him. 

And we've never really been close, because honestly, he's too good for me. 

He's so gorgeous...he can be a jerk sometimes, but he's so funny. His eyes...

Well, anyway, he's popular. And like Taylor Swift, I'm melting as he walks by to talk to another girl. 

And we've been getting closer, which just absolutely makes my day so much more worth it. Those first two classes I have are with him, and they're the best classes of the day. He makes me want to go to school. 

Well, like I said, we've never really been that close (But closer than a lot of people there. He at least talks to me sometimes, which is actually really good considering he doesn't even talk to half the freshmen) but I've been slowly hoping we'd get closer. But then it dawned on me; what if we don't have any classes together next year?

So, as you can see, I've been getting my hopes up really high. Well, today on facebook, he posted that, "Talking on the phone to *insert pretty girl's name* makes me smile"

And it crushed me.

Why can't I make him smile? 

I've never understood why. And I've been doing all of these things, like getting up early to make myself look extra good, hoping that one day he'll finally notice me.

But he hasn't.

And...he won't.

Which leads me to advice #10; Letting him go.

1. Stop getting your hopes up for this guy. 

He doesn't notice you, and hoping he does every day is just gonna make it crush you even more when he doesn't. This is literally setting yourself up to break. 

2. Stop deeming yourself un-worthy. 

You are worthy. My god, you're so much more worthy of anybody than you could ever think. You are valuable; any guy would be lucky to have you. No, don't give me that. It's true. And I need you to know this. If he isn't going to notice anything you do for him, he isn't worth being around. Like I've said before, if you have to change yourself to be around him, you need to let him go.

3. Be yourself.

Yes, I understand you've been hearing this cheesy-ass saying since your days in pigtails watching Disney channel. But there isn't a better time for you to enforce this than now; just be yourself. Don't go that extra mile for anybody else but you. You're the only person that you need to make happy, so don't spend your days acting like an acceptable human being for the sake of how everybody else is acting. Do what you want, for your sake. If you be yourself, then you'll naturally attract more people. The less you care what others think, the better your life will be. 

4. Don't care what they think of you.

Going with what I said before, the less you care the better your life will be. If you decide to wear a dress for no apparent reason, and other people will judge you for that because it's "weird", do it. If it makes you happy, just do it. Other people are always going to be judgmental a**holes, so the less you care about what the critics say behind you, the more confidence it'll give you to stand up for yourself. If you're doing something to make yourself happy and get through the day, then who are they to say that's wrong?

5. Don't listen to taylor swift.

All of her songs are about breakups. It'll make it a lot worse.

Try to find some music that'll enforce happiness or talk about something positive, rather than hearing "he's the reason for the tear drops on my guitar" because that'll just make it worse.

One more thing before you carry on with your life;

don't compare yourself to the people he does talk to. If you do that, you'll just end up breaking yourself down and faking yourself to please him. As you do that, you lose who you really are, and as a teenager it's already hard enough figuring out who that is. So live for yourself, and put his picture down tonight. Focus on important things that'll actually end up sculpting your life, and give him something to be jealous of. Because while he's breaking hearts with a flip of his hair, you'll be changing the world. And that means something.

Stay yourself♥

~Evie

It's a sad day for the MCRmy.

I just can't see this as the end for them. This will probably just be a long hiatus. 

This won't be the last we see of MCR. 

-Evie

Playground Eyes

 This is a quote that really has me thinking lately. I'm actually really surprised I haven't seen it around more, because it really means a lot to me. And since I couldn't find really anything about how beautifully meaningful it is, I decided to make a tumblr-esque picture about it like most meaningful quotes have, and elaborate a little bit about why it means so much to me. ♥

So, I stumbled upon this quote when I was listening to My Chemical Romance's song S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W, and as I was listening, the term "playground eyes" really caught my eye. Lately I've been kind of revisiting my childhood, revisiting memories of warmer days of innocence. And writing an essay about To Kill a Mockingbird didn't really help either - the whole book seems to be based on childhood nostalgia. So I decided that for this post I was gonna incorporate a list of little things that bring me back to my childhood and remind me of the days I've been missing for so long. So without further nonsense, here's a list of the beautiful things that remind me of my childhood:

1. Listening to a CD you used to hear as a kid

2. Seeing moments happen in slow-motion

3. Playing with your old favorite toys

4. Eating your favorite food as a kid

5. Summer

6. Hearing the flapping of a flag

7. hearing your parents call you for dinner

8. Watching the birds and the butterflies in Spring

9. Roadtrips

10. Staying up late with your friends

11. Ice cream

12. Popsicles

13. going swimming

14. finding that one toy that just made your life better

15. stargazing on summer nights

16. catching fireflies

17. BBQ's

18. Hopscotch

19. Hearing your parents sing 

20. Bubblebaths

21. Scavenger hunts

22. Finishing an amazing book 

23. Buying new clothes

24. Riding bikes

25. Hide-and-seek

26. Going to the arcade

27. Birthday Parties

28. Tire swings

29. Building "forts"

30. Watching cartoons

31. Drinking cocoa after a long cold day

32. The first snow shower of the year

33. Getting presents

34. Play-Doh

35. Baking cookies 

36. Wrapping things in newspaper

37. Making "time capsules"

38. Jumping off swings

39. Vacations to the beach

40. Your first rollercoaster

41. Making sandcastles

42. Hiding things in your yard

43. Easter egg hunts

44. Making your parents breakfast in bed

45. Chasing birds and squirrels and lizards

46. Your first time ice-skating

47. Taking pictures you'll remember forever

48. Going camping

49. Playing in the rain

50. Being free

I really hope you enjoyed my list.

Remember, when you're feeling down, just take a moment to see the world through your playground eyes.♥

~Evie

Quadruple-Whammy of the Year

Hello everybody! I've really missed posting on this blog, even if it's not the most popular thing, it's something I can say I'm proud of--and that feels good. It's therapeutic for me to write out my thoughts like this, without a time limit or a quota to meet. To be able to freely and openly say what comes to mind is something we all need in our lives.

So, it's been a while since I posted. But in that time, I've happily been able to scratch off four resolutions. And even though I know I can't get them all done this year, it feels like such a huge accomplishment to be three months in the year, with 8 of my goals off the list already. And yes--within the last few weeks it went from four to eight, and I'm really excited to share how I can happily say they're off my list.

2-27-13~3-8-13

 Dance in the rain.

2. Get my driver's license

3. Hug my best friend♥

4. Tell dad my dream

5. Save a life

6. Make them remember me.

7. Learn an entire song on piano

8. Learn an entire song on guitar

9. Meet somebody famous

10. Shoot hoops with my friends

11. Have a memorable year

12. Sneak into a movie

13. Decorate my room

14. Wear a shirt that says "Life" and give out lemons on the street

15. Work harder than I ever have 

16. Make a stranger laugh

17. Give a homeless person $20 

18. Be recognized for something I did

19. Stay up all night

20. Write compliments on paper and give them to strangers

21. Hike a mountain and scream at the top of it

22. Believe in myself

23. Get in trouble

24. Pass my permit test 

25. Live

Now, even though these may not be the most significant on the list, they definitely have meaning and a purpose behind completing them--plus, scratching off the easier ones now will make for a very interesting Summer, which I couldn't be looking more forward to. This year has already been life-changing, and I think what kicked that off was the fact that I had music with me to help motivate me. Music is my crutch, and I'd be lost without it, which is why I think numbers 7 and 8 were so important to me. Plus, it helped re-inspire my drive and love for playing these beautiful instruments. 

Now, I guess I could have already scratched off #8 by now, because so far I know four songs on my guitar, but the one I scratched this off for was learning Counting Blue Cars by Dishwalla. (If you haven't heard it, go here naaaoooo >click meee<) This song is originally what I was going to do for my school talent show, but I decided it'd probably be best if I saved it for another time. I ended up not performing, which I'm happy to say I don't regret. 

Number #7 means a lot to me, because after playing piano since I was about 6, I gave up after my teacher moved away about five years ago, even though I've always loved playing. The thing is, when all your mother wants you to do is practice, it becomes a chore rather than your passion, which is one of the reasons I think I decided to stop. Looking back, I completely understand what a difficult time I was going through, and that even though I loved playing, I think it was probably best that I gave it up for a while. And after I heard a cover of Famous Last Words by MCR, I knew I had to begin playing again. 

My mother has moved away by now, and I suppose she took all of the doubt and negativity I had coiled up inside of me for so long with her, unveiling the passion I have for one of my favorite instruments. So with that, I learned not only Famous Last Words, but I covered one of my favorite Evanescence songs too; Lost in Paradise. The next song I can't wait to begin playing is Lights by Ellie Goulding, and who knows where I'll go from there. Maybe I'll make some original stuff, I'm not sure. 

The next one I happily scratched off my list was number 10; Shoot hoops with my friends. 

This might seem like a really lame thing to want to experience, but since I've never had a basketball hoop or an occasion to do this, I felt like it's something that I needed to experience. And even though it wasn't exactly basketball (it was actually volleyball, which I find really fun actually, having never played before), it was still more fun than it probably should have been. But then again; when you're enjoying yourself, there are no limits.

#16 was really monumental for me, because I've never really been the kind of person that randomly makes people laugh. This year is beginning to prove me wrong though, because the more I open my mouth and the more I show people who I am, I'm beginning to find that people might actually enjoy being around me. And don't get me wrong; it's not like I have crowds of people around me or anything, it's really light, but I've been hiding in this sort of...shell, for so long, so convinced that anything I say will probably be thought of as stupid or criticized that I've just wired myself to stop speaking my mind altogether. But on several occasions this year, I have made strangers laugh by actually speaking my mind. And you probably will end up saying things you'll regret, which is why you need to learn to think too. I'm starting to find that "better sorry than safe" might be the quote I need to live by now, because in all honesty, if you say something stupid, who cares? You'll get teased, but you aren't going to get anywhere in life by staying quiet due to fear. You have to speak out and find what works for you in life; for me, it's looking as if it's extremely random crap or just being....me. And this year I'm starting to have more of a sense of who I am than I ever have...and honestly it's kind of scary. Coming out of your comfort zone so quickly is an extremely scary and vulnerable feeling. But it's not only beneficial, but it's necessary. You have to accept in life that you can't be liked by everybody, there are so many people on this planet that it's impossible. But if you just stay true to yourself and overcome that fear of being rejected, you start to find out things you never knew about not only yourself but the world. When you're comfortable in your own skin, the world is your oyster, and you can conquer the entire thing. 

Now if I could just lose my reluctant tendencies I think I'd be a lot better off. But all in good time, I suppose. 

Thank you for reading. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know, and I really hope I've been keeping some people interested or being of some help to at least one of you reading. Because that's really my goal for this blog, I want to help you, because helping strangers is I guess what I happen to be good at. 

Better sorry than safe.♥

~Evie

#14, it's been a special day♥

2-23-13

. Dance in the rain.

2. Get my driver's license

3. Hug my best friend♥

4. Tell dad my dream

5. Save a life

6. Make them remember me.

7. Learn an entire song on piano

8. Learn an entire song on guitar

9. Meet somebody famous

10. Shoot hoops with my friends

11. Have a memorable year

12. Sneak into a movie

13. Decorate my room

14. Wear a shirt that says "Life" and give out lemons on the street

15. Work harder than I ever have 

16. Make a stranger laugh

17. Give a homeless person $20 

18. Be recognized for something I did

19. Stay up all night

20. Write compliments on paper and give them to strangers

21. Hike a mountain and scream at the top of it

22. Believe in myself

23. Get in trouble

24. Pass my permit test 

25. Live

I absolutely love that this is the next one I got to cross off. ♥

So obviously this was an adventure within itself. And surprisingly easy to pull off! (especially if you have a lemon tree...we didn't)

So we got the shirts.

We bought tank tops and iron-on letters, and put "life" on both of them. "Us" being me and my good friend Megan, (the only willing participant)

and we bought lemons. 

Literally we found a place in the mall and gave lemons with a greeting of 

"Hi! How is your day going? Here, have a lemon."

"....why.."

"Because when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!!" 

"oooh...sure!!"

This was an absolutely noteworthy day. I'll never forget it. ♥

Stay willing to live.

-Evie♥

An Anthem for the Lonely

My whole life I've been kind of a rocker, but generally the stuff I listen to is classic rock, nineties rock. The good stuff, and today I had a really hard time choosing between two songs from the same artist, just going to show how incredible this band is. They've been a long time favorite of mine, and below I've arranged a top 5 list for the week, starting with the amazing...

1. Plush-Stone Temple Pilots
This song.
I could go on and on with this song. The intro, the vocals, the lyrics, my god the lyrics...
So lets's start with why I love it so dang much;
The intro is literally my ringtone right now. It's so well put together, and even though the song has so much meaning and depth to it, it's an upbeat and downright great song. This is another one of my all-time favorites. The lyrics are especially meaningful to me, because I can relate to them right now. They take a little bit of analysis if you can't relate to them immediately, but some of the most prominent and exposed lines are the first four of the song;

And I feel, that time's a wasted go
(time is always wasted, no matter what you do with it)
So where're you going to tomorrow?
(So what are you gonna do with your wasted time? There's no point in trying)
And I see that these are lies to come 
(Lies that what you do is worth something are coming) 
But would you even care? 
(referring to somebody who wronged him, asking him/her if they'd even care about what's going on)

Now me especially in the situation (or as I like to say, shituation) I've been in lately really helps me relate to this song. And of course people take lyrics in different ways and kind of morph it to fit into their specific situation, but for me this song is kind of, you could say, an anthem for the lonely. I feel it, Scott.

2. Desert Song-My Chemical Romance
....
This song leaves me speechless. Words can't even express the emotions this song strikes in me.

3. White Collar Lies-Kopek
You may not have heard of this song before, but you can listen to it here. I can assure you they aren't screamo, I don't listen to anything that hardcore. This is a political song mostly, but it's very meaningful to anybody who's lost someone dear in the military. It's just a beautiful and striking song.

4. Sleep Apnea-Chevelle
The way I see it, this is a song about somebody losing their mind from lack of sleep. But again; if it wasn't amazing, it wouldn't be on this list.♥

5. Deep End-School of Fish
This is a band that should've been popular, but in the 2000's when they came out, their lead singer died before they could become more well known. This is a great song, one that I used to listen to to get away from everything. I highly recommend checking them out, and please, at least give these songs a chance if you haven't heard them. Closed-minded people never got anywhere in life.♥

This is surprising, there isn't a single female artist on this list. These are a few select songs that have meant a lot to me lately, but generally I do listen to stuff a lot softer than these songs.
Thank you for reading! If you have any suggestions yourself of a recent favorite song, leave it in the comments.

-Evie♥

#24

So, as you may know I've started a sort of an accomplishment list this year, and I'm not going to limit it to any specific time limit to get it done; but I want to get the majority done this year. And I've accomplished three so far, which I'm actually really happy about. This next one was a huge milestone for me, and this was number 24.

2-12-13

. Dance in the rain.

2. Get my driver's license

3. Hug my best friend♥

4. Tell dad my dream

5. Save a life

6. Make them remember me.

7. Learn an entire song on piano

8. Learn an entire song on guitar

9. Meet somebody famous

10. Shoot hoops with my friends

11. Have a memorable year

12. Sneak into a movie

13. Decorate my room

14. Wear a shirt that says "Life" and give out lemons on the street

15. Work harder than I ever have 

16. Make a stranger laugh

17. Give a homeless person $20 

18. Be recognized for something I did

19. Stay up all night

20. Write compliments on paper and give them to strangers

21. Hike a mountain and scream at the top of it

22. Believe in myself

23. Get in trouble

24. Pass my permit test 

25. Live

So, Monday I was eligible to get my driver's permit. But since I had school and another class, by the time I got there to take the test it was already too late because they didn't accept any more people. 

Really quick I'd like to explain something;

Everybody I know has failed it three times. My dad kept telling me you'll do it first try, you're smarter than they all are, but I've really been questioning myself lately. I've had really low-self confidence because I don't feel worthy. I figured I was no smarter than the next guy, and I've been questioning my place or whether I'm special. So I've had this pressure of passing first-try because my dad and everybody I know kept telling me that there was no doubt about it--I was going to pass first try. 

So of course my thoughts are well what if I don't? Then everybody has a lower expectation of me along with a lowered confidence in me. So we get there on Tuesday and I'm not going to lie--I was freaked out. Normally under pressure is when I do my best, but this time it was a different kind of pressure; a pressure of letting everybody I know down. So of course I'm studying the book the entire time, and after an hour of crap about my social security number, it's my turn to take the test. My dad is done with the DMV and so am I. 

They take my picture before the test (yes, before. why? I have no idea) and I go into the computer room. 

The test seems like it goes forever and I recognize most of the questions. 

After 15 I'm counting down the questions left, just 15 more, and I'm doing really well. 

I come out after only five minutes of testing with a ninety-two percent, having only missed two questions. 

In other words, I passed. 

And not only did I pass, but I passed my first try. 

I have a restored confidence in myself after that. The test was painfully easy, and I'm the only one out of my siblings to do it first try. 

I feel special again.

Never give up. Although this was small, this was the biggest accomplishment of the year so far. 6 months and I'm free and my life can finally begin. ♥

And I can't wait. 

-Evie♥

Beneath the Surface

Advice #9

Beauty. 

How many times have you looked in the mirror, and looking back at the person staring at you, just given up? So used to the let down of seeing somebody you don't truly feel like walk around as the mask you show the world?

Well look beneath that.

I know you've heard this before. We've all heard this before. But I don't know about you, but I've never been called pretty by a three-year old in Wal-Mart. I've always struggled with my image, being the younger sibling of somebody whom I've always seen as the pretty one, because not only was I told that by my mom and everybody around me, but it's what I think too. Not what I thought, but what still, to this day, believe in my heart.

But I know that true beauty isn't what you see at first glance. It never had been, and it never will be.

When you look at somebody, first glance, what do you see? Even if it's only for a split-second, you already have an image of what they look like, an opinion about them. You see their hair, or maybe the way their nose is shaped. But they look away, you look away, and you carry on.
But what you've just done, is taken somebody clean apart, analyzed them, and put them back together. In that split second that you saw them, you've completely judged them. And that's exactly what you've just done. You've judged somebody you know nothing about, except for what you've just seen.

Now I don't care if you're a saint, a priest or a monk. You're judging people constantly, and this is a part of natural human instinct. We judge people; and what it is, is that there's so much mystery around us, so much that we don't know--how the world was made, why we're here, what humans are, how we came here, what created us, or even if we're real-- that we're desperately trying to figure it out. You may be doing it subconsciously, but you're trying to figure out one of the only things you have even a little bit of power over. You're trying to figure that person out by first glance, taking in as much information about them as readily available.

But who are you to judge somebody?
This really struck me when a couple days ago I went out looking terrible. I was sick out of my mind that day, and normally I don't go in public unless I look (at least to my standards) good. I cannot tell you how many people stared at me for that second too long, trying to figure out why I looked that way. I cannot tell you how many people looked at me in disgust for having my hair messed up, sniffling around the store barely able to move because I was in excruciating pain just walking. I was getting medicine, but these people didn't care. They took me apart, judged me, and walked away with a negative opinion about me, right in front of me. Just because I was sick. And you know, half the people that saw me probably didn't even care enough to bother thinking I might have been in some kind of pain. They just judged me by what they saw, which was an unacceptable human being to be seen in public. Nobody cares about your story, all they care about is the benefit they get by seeing somebody pretty.

Now let's be honest - we've all done this, we all do this, and we're all going to do this. But I want you to take a minute and be honest with me. Have you ever seen somebody walking on the sidewalk, who's severely overweight? What did you think about them? Most people would look and say "ew, get a life you pig", but what they don't know is that this person has a severe auto-immune disorder that prohibits them from exercising because most days they're in so much pain they can barely move. For this person, it's miracle that they're even walking, but you, just looking at the surface, all you care about is that they're fat.

So what I want you to do for me, is that when you see somebody, don't just take that first glance and think that's enough. Look at that person. Really look. Watch how they move, look at how they think about things. I want you, no matter who you're looking at, to go below the surface of their face. Look at their features and how they hold themselves. Are they lost? Are they confident? So this way if you judge somebody, you can at least give this person a little effort. You never know what you might find.

A couple people I know always tell me I have horrible taste in men. But what they're looking at, again, is just the surface. They're looking for pure eye-candy. But I'm looking for that person, that when their face is angled just right, they're the most beautiful person in the world. Not when they walk around, but somebody that takes effort to see the beauty in, so that way I never stop looking for it, and I'll never stop finding it.


I really hope this advice will be useful to you. This is one of the biggest ones I stress, because looking at people like I mentioned before like Benedict Cumberbatch and Jared Padalecki, these are people who you have to really look to see how beautiful they are. But once you've paid somebody enough attention to find them in their best moments, I can assure you the world will repay you by giving you the same respect. ♥

And also, don't forget to find this beauty within yourself. I don't care how low your self-esteem is, I can assure you there are 100 things I can find in you that are beautiful, just in the way you handle yourself.

Keep your head held high, stranger.♥

-Evie

A Recent Addiction

So, originally this was going to be about music, but I decided I wanted to do something a little different, given the fact that I was sick the past week and haven't heard any new music that I like. However, I have found a new addiction of mind that I definitely want to share with you. Maybe you've seen it before, maybe this is the first time you've heard of it. But it's seriously amazing, and I definitely recommend it.

So, what is it?

So this, as you may know, is a British crime/drama that is a modern rendition of the famous Sherlock Holmes, and based off of books written by Arthur Conan Doyle, and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I hadn't heard of this until yesterday, but I can already tell you I'm hooked.

What's it about?
(WARNING: There are currently only six episodes out, each averaging one hour, 28 minutes.)

So, as you know, it's a modern rendition of Sherlock Holmes, which at first I wasn't very open to, still getting used to Robert Downey Jr. as the new face of Sherlock. But this series caught my attention immediately, with brilliantly written lines with stories....
but I'll get to that later. ;)

The Ups:

-Writing
The lines, the stories, the details, everything; it's all perfectly written.

-The Crew
You can tell how much effort is put into creating each and ever episode as close to flawless as they can get. The camera work is brilliant, with the lack of awkward angles making watching flow nicely.

-The Cast
Now, I don't know about you, but I wasn't too sure about Cumberbatch as the new face of Sherlock, but he was so quickly intriguing, with his odd facial structure and effortless movements. You can tell he's a very experienced actor and a very assured one. He's comfortable with what he's doing, and he does it flawlessly. His line delivering is mind blowing, getting so in character that I was actually disappointed to find out he wasn't really Skerlock Holmes. His eyes are piercing and mysterious disposition are absolutely perfect for this character, and he brings not only a new life, but a new quality to the character. He very quickly warms up on you, and personally I'm the kind of person that I like to look beneath the surface to find beauty in. So I'm actually finding myself quite attracted to this man, and he hasn't disappointed me yet.
Though I honestly can't see him as anybody other than Sherlock now.
And Watson is another pleasing actor. Portrayed by The Hobbit's Martin Freeman, (not to be confused with Morgan Freeman) it's another brilliantly experienced actor, who brings a strange aura to a military doctor. He's definitely a character I like having around, and the perfect sidekick for none other than Mr. Holmes.

-The Setting
I swear, nothing would be as good without the accents. London was the perfect place to shoot. It's so beautiful there.

-The Detail
I suppose I could have put this under writing, but I decided it was so perfect it needed its own category. The immense detail and the sly jokes are perfect; this is definitely not something you'll want to fall asleep through. You want to catch every line, every word. You never know what might come up.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm sure Sally came round for a nice little chat, and just happened to stay over. And I assume she scrubbed your floors, going by the state of her knees."

The Downs:

-Length
The show's two hours when it airs, so it's like a little movie. It takes somebody with a longer attention span to stay with a show like this for more than a half hour.

-Detail
Again, attention span. There is so much detail crammed into every episode that it takes a sharp, intelligent person (Like you) to keep up and try to solve it. I personally think it's fun, but...

-The Hobbit
Every damn time I see Watson, I can't help but think about the Hobbit. I really wish I hadn't seen it now. It didn't make sense anyway, I've never seen Lord of the Rings before.

-Self-consciousness
You will be self conscious of your IQ for years after seeing how Sherlock works. (unless you can keep up. ;)

-Addiction
If you're up to the challenge of keeping up, then you'll probably get addicted and start fangirling everywhere like I did. You'll find yourself talking like a cocky genius with a British accent (assuming you don't have one already) looking down at everybody around you like you're smarter than they are for hours, perhaps even days after seeing this. Trust me, even writing this I have a bit of cocky "sherlockness" in here. But seriously, Cumberbatch was the perfect choice--I think I'm going to add him to my list of guys I wouldn't mind *coughcough*-ing, which would be

1. Sam Winchester

2. Prince Zuko

3. Nick Jonas

4. Thor (Chris Hemsworth)

(I have strange taste in guys, I know)
--who I've loved ever since I got to 'know' ♥
Aah. Hormones. ♥

Well, anyway, slightly awkward end to this...recommendation/review, but I really hope you'll take this into consideration and take the time to watch Sherlock! Very rarely do I find things I can truly appreciate, and this is definitely one of them. Granted I'm only two episodes in, I'm hooked. It's earned a place next to Supernatural, my all time favorite tv show.

-Evie