A Sparkle of Book Review: The Magic Poof

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book for my review, all (awesome) opinions are my own :)

The Magic Poof is written by Stephen Hodges and illustrated by T. Kyle Gentry.

Avid readers will tell you how easy it is to gobble up a great book and how hard it is to digest even one line of a not-so-great book.  My little bookworms and I DEVOURED The Magic Poof and we're left anxiously wishing for more. 

Without giving away all the surprises, The Magic Poof is in short about a young girl named Ange-Marie (don't worry, the author playfully teaches you how to pronounce it properly) :) and her adventures with her wonderfully animated ball of fluffy hair: her Poof. 

Her Poof has the ability to not only talk to her but to form itself in a vast range of shapes and sizes.

The theme of this particular adventure is getting ready for picture day. How often have our children, ourselves even, have stressed about the infamous yearly picture day? Perhaps it's through this worry that Ange-Marie's imagination gave life to her Poof? Or is it really alive? To me the best part is not really knowing. It's the unconfirmed mystery of the Poof that makes it so fun. 

Imagination is now being replaced by digital "innovation". 

 I haven't seen my kids enjoy a book as much as this one for a while. A book that is filled with wonder and imagination while teaching acceptance. A book that in essence is just so relatable. As a kid I grew up wishing for a best friend that is smart, belly wrenching funny and fiercely loyal. We are all familiar with having an imaginary friend that is always with us; a constant companion. The Poof is that best friend to Ange-Maria.

When I asked my 9-year-old what he thought of The Magic Poof he said he loved how silly and creative the Poof was. He loved how "super" funny  it was and how "awesome" the shapes it made were and that it seemed like such a great friend. I asked him if his own wavy hair could talk what would it say? To this he looked me straight in the eyes and replied, "Mom, my hair would say to me, 'You're Awesome' Duh"! 

I love how the author chose the Poof as the star character. Perhaps we too should be more like Ange-Marie and embrace our unique features instead of hiding or shying away from them. 

In the words of the author Stephen Hodges, Have a poofy day! 

For a limited time you can get a copy for 25% off the publisher's price at www.TheMagicPoof.com 

Connect with The Magic Poof on Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pages/The-Magic-Poof/100976163429290?id=100976163429290&_rdr

And on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheMagicPoof

Quick Trick-or-Treat Tip for Toddlers

My little one is so excited to go trick-or-treating with his big brother! I love that I'll get to get him dressed up and walk door to door while he excitedly watched his little bucket of candy fill up. This will be his 2nd Halloween and just like last year I will be doing this little candy switcheroo so that he can go out and enjoy the trick-or-treating and actually enjoy eating treats with big brother later. 

I do not give my little one candy but I want him to enjoy treats on Halloween. That's why I came up with the idea of getting tiny zip lock bags, decorating them and then filling them up with healthier alternatives to the candy he accumulates from Halloween. You can draw on them or stick little Halloween themed stickers on it for decoration. I like to make a bunch and fill each with just 3-4 pieces of either lightly sweetened cereal or those wonderful yogurt drops for the little ones. That way he gets to have just as fun as his big brother picking out little bags of "candy" to open and enjoy! 

Here's a quick example of a couple of the little bags that I decorated, sorry they aren't filled up with anything yet, my husband will be grocery shopping after work! Have a great Halloween everyone, please let me know if you try this idea or share any of your tips for taking the little ones trick-or-treating!

A Sparkle of Review: Wayne Goss Makeup Brushes

Scroll down for Updates on 10/6/13

Welcome! I'm brand new to blogging and have tons to learn along the way so I'm pretty sure I'll miss tons of things I should go through etc. I am NOT a professional, these are just my personal opinions and experiences :). Comments and suggestions are welcomed and much appreciated! 

Jenny

Here's my mini review for Wayne Goss Brushes #'s 1,4,6,and 8.

Wayne Goss is an amazing professional makeup artist that is extremely popular on YouTube. His tutorials are fun and fairly easy to follow due to how well he explains how to achieve the look. You can find him on YouTube at http://m.youtube.com/user/gossmakeupartist

Currently the brushes are currently available for purchase exclusively through www.beautylish.com for the US and www.love-makeup.co.uk if you're in the UK. I believe they are currently sold out but you can sign up for their email notification when they are back in stock. 

Brush 01 $45: 

I had high expectations for this foundation brush unfortunately I don't love it. I've tried it with liquid foundation and the finish wasn't as airbrushed as using my other brushes. Also it made my skin have all these tiny dry flaky patches when I usually don't have any. No I wasn't pressing down very hard :). I'll keep trying it with different products and techniques though. Maybe I'm not used to the shorter bristles when I'm used to foundation brushes that have much longer bristles. Will update when I try it out more. However, this brush performed beautifully for me when I used it with a cream bronzer for contour. It placed and blends the color wonderfully.

UPDATE: I followed Wayne's tutorial on how to use Brush 01 at: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BTemUTcM28Q

Even though I don't have any dry patches on my face buffing the foundtion on in a circular motion does cause some fine flaking for some reason. I followed Wayne's advice and applied it in downward strokes all over the face and it did indeed give me a much more flawless application. :)

Brush 04 $28: 

Medium Size Crease Brush, MUST get if you have smaller eyes (like my Asian eyes). Super soft and easy to blend but its the pointy tapered tip that makes it really special. It positions color on the outer corner perfectly and you simply have to drag it out a bit for that perfect smoky effect. 

UPDATE: You can watch the tutorial for Brush 04 at: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Igm414ODks

Brush 06 $25:

I need to learn the technique for using this shape of Blending Brush. I'm usually used to the fluffy domed shaped blending brushes so this fluffy flat shader-ish shape is different for me. It is super soft though so this is absolutely an user error on my part. It just seems to wipe off more than blend. Will update as soon as I figure out how to properly use it.

UPDATE: I am still practicing the correct technique for using this brush, you can watch his tutorial for Brush 06 and learn with me at: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HShMQaTGhX4

Brush 08 $17: 

This is the tiniest push liner brush ever! PERFECT for me since me eyes are smaller, it gets right in the lash line and between the lashes (if you want) with no effort at all. It will make tight lining a breeze as it fits perfectly on the rim this eliminating spreading product onto the lashes and lid. So far I've only used it with eyeshadow so I need to try it with gel liner. 

UPDATE: OH.EM.GEE ladies! I was already blown away at how incredible this brush was but I'm even more impressed after using it with a gel liner. It in amaze-balls!!!!!! For someone that never really mastered the technique of using liquid or gel liners this brush made it a breeze, I had so much control that I had zero problems creating the perfect cat eye. Everyone that enjoys lining their eyes needs this brush! The tutorial for Brush 08 is at: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aM3nFxukpj4

The whole collection consists of 8 brushes. Each are handmade in Japan by Artisans. The handles are sturdy and the bristles are 100% cruelty free natural hairs. 

About Me

Hello! My name is Jenny and I'm a blessed mom of two and lucky enough to be married to my best friend. Since being a stay at home mom after my little one was born I've had time to play around with new products, new makeup, try out new recipes, and even learn about myself. I wanted to create this blog to share some of the little things that makes me happy. I used to feel so plain so average, it took a long time before I realized that "average" is special and we all have a little sparkle. :)

Hope you will enjoy and I look forward to chatting with you all soon!