Becoming a New Yorker

Friends, family, and even strangers have all been asking me how I like New York. For those of you that don't know, I have been living in New York this semester to do an internship with Dateline--which by the way has been literally amazing. But living in New York has not been all it's cracked up to be.

To make it all work I've been staying with a family in the Bronx. This family has 5 kids and it takes me about an hour and 15 minutes to get to work each day. So what time is the alarm set for with a commute time like that? Bright and early at 4 a.m. And no this place that I am staying is not the "W" and I am most certainly not living on Park Avenue though I dream about it sometimes.

Where I live is smelly and stinky and loud. (By the way if you don't like complaining you may not like this blog very much...or if you're a New York fan.) Though the place I live is less than pretty the people really seem to like it there. But I have grown attached to my commute buddies (who are really not my friends but just people I think are my friends in my head--I've never actually talked to them.) But we take the same bus and get on the same subway at the same time everyday. So that's pretty cool.

But what's not cool is leaving work to hop on a "packed like sardines" subway with some smelly people (not everyone is smelly) and New Yorkers have no manners when it comes to music. Has it ever occurred to anyone that not everyone wants to hear your music? Apparently not.

But New York has this spirit about it that is simply amazing and unlike any other place in the world (and I've traveled a lot). The opportunity and determination that lives in this place is infectious and I am so glad I got to spend time here.

But honestly...I still don't know why Jenny from the Block keeps singing about the "south, south Bronx". As a resident it's not that great--just saying.

My Skin Care Routine

So for those of you that do not know me I have always had a difficult time managing my skin. I also come from a family with bad skin so I know exactly where it comes from. Sometimes it is not that you are not drinking enough water or washing your face enough--lots of times it is genetic. So as I have gotten older and have expanded my knowledge of different skin care products I have gotten into a routine that seems to work for me right now. I have realized that I have sensitive skin and what I would call combination skin--like most people. Also, all the products that I use can be found in the drug store so they are not too pricey. As a college student living in New York I need good products for an even better price.

So my go to cleanser is by Cetaphil. It is made specifically for sensitive skin so it does not dry my skin out. You can get this product at almost any drug store for about $6. Most places even offer the off-brand which is just as good and a little cheaper. I use this product morning and night just to get excess makeup off and to just cleanse my skin before bed.

Also everyone needs a good spot treatment (especially me since I still do get some breakouts). I have been using Clean & Clear´s persa-gel spot treatment for months now and it has really worked for me. Now you will notice on the packaging that this specific spot treatment contains 10% benzoyl peroxide and is labeled maximum strength. Heed the packaging warning! This product can be pretty strong and can dry out your skin if you put it all over, so it is best to focus on the problem or potential problem areas. I have just started using this products off-brand version and have been equally as happy with it.

Now whether you wear makeup daily or go tend to go more natural everyone needs a toner! You will be surprised what you see on the cotton ball even after you wash your face--a toner really helps get deep within the skin to cleanse it out. Now there are so many toners on the market that may work really well but I am a loyal witch hazel user. I got it while I was in Jacksonville at a Publix for $1. IT has lasted me about 6 months and I totally love it and my skin care routine would not be the same without it. You should use this after cleansing.

Now after all that toning and cleansing and spot treatments--you need some moisturizer. As a girl that loves being in the sun I know that I have to put on a moisturizer that has some SPF in it to keep my skin looking good. For the past few months I have been using Cetaphil´s Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 15 every morning. It is about $12 at any drug store. I have seen it all over Youtube beauty vloggers pages. But honestly as of late I have not been so impressed with it. I find that as I try to rub it into my skin it gathers into little balls of product. Now it may just been that I need a new one but I am planning on trying Garnier´s Moisture Rescue soon.
 
Now the last thing that I use about twice a week I got as a gift but is one of the most expensive products on this list. For days that I need a really thorough cleanse I use my Clarisonic Mia 2. The one I have is orange is costs about $120. I do not use it everyday because it is a little too aggressive for daily use and may tend to dry out your skin. You can also switch out the brush heads and use it to exfoliate your body.

Now the last bit of advice I will give you about keeping acne under control and what I think has been really working for me is vitamins. Right now I am taking a one a day women´s vitamin that I got at target for about $10 and some small biotin pills that I also got at Target that is supposed to help with your skin and hair. I have started taking them at night after dinner so that they do not make me nauseous.

If you have any skin tips please comment them below. I love to learn about new organic ways to keep my skin fresh and blemish free!

¨The Awkward Art of the Job Interview¨

We have all had to do them but they probably have not been stellar. I´m talking about interviews. If you want to get a job they are unavoidable. Now as I have gotten older and the caliber of jobs that I am applying for has gone up I see that charm is not the only thing you need to land a great job. It has become a combination of charm, looks, knowledge, and the way in which you communicate your ideas. But some people say a bad interview may not be entirely your fault. The National Public Radio podcast called ¨Money Talking¨ addresses some of the errors interviewers make in a series called ¨The Awkward Art of the Job Interview¨.

If you have 10 minutes during your Monday morning commute it is really interesting. They talk about how interviewers sometimes just do not ask the right questions. Or that interviewers try to ask questions that are too ¨clever¨--in turn making the interviewee feel like they have to come up with a ¨clever¨ answer which may come off as cheesy sometimes. Or sometimes interviewers say they cannot find anybody suitable for the job but sometimes it may be that they are just looking in the wrong places. Sometimes the perfect person for the job is right under their noses. They suggest interviewers ask their current employees about some of the best people they have worked with in the company and start to interview those suggested people.

So this is a great 10 minute podcast for anybody interviewing soon (me!) or someone looking to hire. It rally puts both sides into perspective and adds some clarity to interviewing--which can sometimes be a tricky thing since everyone seems to do it differently and think they have the key to it. Hope you enjoy!
 

Were the internet laws in Owen Labrie´s case misconstrued?

This week we are talking brains because this topic something I have not been able to get out of my head. This week I helped Dateline on a story about Owen Labrie and it really made me think about some interesting points about internet law and made me reflect on what I am doing on that internet that may seem innocent could actually get me in trouble.

Now for those of you that may not know, Owen Labrie is accused of raping a 15-year-old at his elite school called St. Paul´s. There are a lot of details that go into this story but one of the main points was that the victim insists it was not consensual but admits that she ¨froze up¨ when the time came to say no. This was all started by a tradition at the school called the Senior Salute that basically meant that older guys tried to ¨hook up"with younger students.

On Thursday Labrie was found not guilty of the main charge of rape but was found guilty of soliciting a minor online and endangering a minor--which also requires registering as a sexual offender FOREVER. Now despite whether I think Labrie is guilty or not one of the uncertainties comes with the soliciting a minor online charge. Many people believe this law was misused.

That means that this law is intended for people who are tricking minors online in that they are saying they are someone that they are not.  Now it does not seem that that is what Labrie was doing. In fact, the two already knew each other in real life and it seems he did not have any intention of tricking her at all. But this is just some food for thought on this case. Just like many women I heard the word ¨rape¨ in the case and was on the defensive because of course it is wrong. But once I begin to look at the facts and details of the case it really makes me question a lot of things. Feel free to leave a comment on your opinion on this case!

Here is some light reading if you want more on the case: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/28/experts-weigh-labrie-verdict/rZ36LlTyJPo6LHKMIptdaM/story.html

Week 9 Lab Project 1: Data Mapping

Dateline Debut

Well this really has nothing to do with brains, beauty, or bods but it is pretty cool. This week I made my Dateline Debut. Now you may have to get out your magnifying glass to see me but believe me I am there! For those of you who do not know I am in New York City this semester doing an internship with the murder mystery show Dateline. It has been such a great experience and this is the first time I have been on a big shoot with the show. Host Lester Holt was even there. Of course there were tons of on-lookers and some could not help but gawk at the camera. So they asked another intern and I to sit on a bench behind the host and play tourists. I am there on the right looking at something.

But it was one of the coolest experiences of my career so far. You can not see very well but the shoot was in the middle of Times Square. We started setting up at 2 in the afternoon, getting the lightning and and angles just right. Then around 7 that night Lester Holt walked on the set and he and the producer started working together to get everything just right.
For weeks we have been working on a story about Johnny Hincapie, exploring the possibility that he may NOT have been one of the several responsible for the attack and murder of an Ohio family on the 7th Avenue platform. The story is great and really worth watching. It is not on the Dateline website yet but here it is. I really suggest you watch it and leave me some comments on what you thought about it. I will put up the link to the official Dateline story as soon as it comes up. And when you watch it just know I am there in the right hand corner and got to experience a big production with an amazing company!

The Infamous Winged Liner Solved

It's taken awhile but I'm finally making good on my promise to you in my post about the "Infamous Winged Liner". I gave you some tips and tricks (even though I'm still struggling with it myself) and promised you a picture of my own winged liner attempt. So here it is:



As you can see this time I chose to go with a nice, thin liner. But honestly I've seen lots of techniques in many Youtube videos for this but they always end up saying sometimes you just get lucky. And that's exactly what happened to me this time. I got eye liner lucky and I'm not mad about it! As always (because I'm not as good yet) I line the lid of my eyes with just a regular black eyeliner pencil then just use my liquid eye liner pen to wing out the edge. Like I said before, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Next time maybe I'll try this really thick look. It's almost Cleopatra-like. This seems to definitely be the look you get when you use gel liner.

 

 But I have been trying many different brands and types of eyeliner on my quest to find my perfect one. The one I seem to like the most right now for a thin liner is L'oreal's Infallible Blackbuster liquid eye liner pen. I love that it has almost a sharpie thick end and is pretty hard to take off (so Lord forbid, you won't cry it off). This liquid liner goes on really smoothly and if I ever make a mistake a wet q-tip will do. Or you can even just go back and adjust it since this liner just goes on so smooth and precise.

 

Now I've used Mac's liner before and you can see that the tip of this one is just way more skinny. For someone not as experienced as me, that just makes it really hard to control. That just basically means you have to really know what you're doing or get it right the first time because it is hard to adjust and correct with this thin brush. Also this liner dried up on me quickly. I had it closed for about a month and when I went to go back to use it it was already dried up. So maybe if liner is your specialty this will be perfect for you. But I have not given up on the gel liner and brush. I am still practicing. Hopefully when I get good enough I can take another picture once I've mastered it and post it on here for you guys. Hopefully by then I'll have some tips and tricks of my own to share for mastering that gel liner. Until then just know I understand the eye liner struggle. Because this couldn't be more true...

 

Faux Bangs

Thought about spicing up your hair look but don´t want to make the permanent commitment of cutting your hair?? My thoughts exactly. So I dove in and started doing some hair research. Now I´ve never used extensions but I am really thinking that faux bangs are the way to go to add a subtle difference in your hairstyle from day to day. I´ve seen some examples of it and it seems with the right color you can´t even tell it´s not your real hair. It seems easy enough to add with hair down or even a romantic curly ponytail could do the trick.
 
 If you´re not sure how to apply them here are some instruction from a professional:
 Now as far as a good brand to use, I watched the video below and they seem to look the most real. The brand is Bellami and the clip in bangs cost $54.99. Bellami has 13 color matches, so pick one out and sport your new look for Fall!

Waist Trainer Talks

Okay, so we have covered beauty and brains. All that is left is bods. And I am here to present a burning question this week about a trending ¨bod¨ topic. Two words. Waist Trainers. Are they safe? Do they work? And what have people been saying about them?

Well I think if you look anywhere on social media you´ll see that waist trainers are all the rage right now with celebrities trying to really accentuate that curvy shape. Stars from the Kardashian´s to Amber Rose have been trying out this body trend and they all swear by it. There are three different types: latex, steel bone, and sport.


Waist Training Kardashians by Life and Style Mag is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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But the real burning question is, Is it safe? According to the research that I have done the steel bone one is the most risky of them all. If you see them you will recognize them from Victorian times. The safety hazard with the steal bone waist trainers is that they can literally compact your insides--which is what leads to some people passing out if they cannot get enough air in. But the latex and sport waist trainers seem to be safe in moderation. Of course they do not work to their full effect without exercise and clean eating.

So now that I have done my research instead of just jumping on the trend wagon I think I will try the sports waist trainer just to handle some of those problems areas. If I notice a difference I will make a post with a before and after picture.

"When I was Puerto Rican" Is a Must Read

When I was Puerto Rican by Kasandra Ortiz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Now this blog is called "Brains, Beauty, and Bods". We covered the "beauty" last week (by the way winged liner picture to come), now this week it's all about using our noggins. And what better way to do that then to dive into a great book.

This book especially hits home for me as a Puerto Rican woman with my mother having been born in the Bronx and being raised in Puerto Rico. Kind of the opposite of what happens in this book. The book is a coming-of-age story about the author, Esmeralda Santiago's life. As a girl she is born and raised in the "campo" (countryside) of Puerto Rico with her mom, dad, and 8 siblings. But just as she enters her teen years her mom leaves her dad and they moved to Brooklyn, New York. She talks about the differences between the two places and how that move had changed her forever. “For me, the person I was becoming when we left was erased, and another one was created.” 

Just like my mom, Esmeralda has to learn English and is both intrigued and scared of the big city when she moves. Violence was a new thing for her considering she came from a very small town. Then obviously eventually after a tough upbringing growing up poor in New York, she learns English and becomes a writer.

To me this book is a type of gumbo of all the people in my family's stories. They tell me about moving, learning English, and how still everything is so different to them. As a kid I would spend summers in Puerto Rico with my grandfather and I could see why they were so shell shocked. But at the end of the day the American way of life was MY way of life and they had just learned it and embraced it.

This book also really resonates with me on a different level. It's now 2015 and for Hispanics racism is nearly obsolete (doesn't mean it doesn't happen sometimes). But that doesn't mean that sometimes we don't feel different. In the book Santiago describes things using the fruits of the island and the salsa music that seems to run through our veins. I think about those things sometimes and they don't really resonate with others who may not be Hispanic because they don't relate. Even now in the United States there are many Hispanic children that don't speak Spanish and don't relate to the island the way that I do because they've never experienced it for themselves. So it becomes hard to live everyday life and incorporate both cultures.

But this book has really opened my eyes. Honestly it proved to me that I was just as Puerto Rican as anyone born on the island. I speak Spanish, I love Spanish food, and salsa definitely runs through my veins. But the best part is is that I also speak English, and love burgers, and can appreciate English music. No one ever said I have to choose.

But you should CHOOSE to read this book (even if you are not Hispanic). Just the way Santiago tells her story is enthralling and the descriptions she makes will forever stay with me. It's a page turner all the way just about someone's life. It's the story that has been lived by so many people but it allows you to walk in her shoes and understand what it means to be uprooted. But it also gives readers a clear understanding of what the American dream is to others. It was a great read and I highly suggest it!

The Infamous Winged Liner

So if you know anything about makeup, you know about the infamous winged liner. So pretty, and so ¨easy-looking¨...but not always so ¨easy¨. I (like I know many others out there) struggle with getting a perfect winged liner. But you know what they say, practice makes perfect. So i turned to my favorite beauty blogger Desi Perkins for all my liner knowledge. And what I came away with is that there´s no one product or method that makes a winged liner perfect. It is just a matter of trying different things out and finding out what you like. And this video happens to be the one that I am using to practice. The video is of good quality and Desi Perkins is so entertaining you are bound to love it!


Now if you are looking for some more winged liner inspiration or more diverse looks Desi Perkins has a lot of pins on Pinterest. It is chocked-full of good stuff. It´s my secret makeup inspiration go-to.

Haven´t had enough Desi? Be sure to follow her Twitter page!

Winged liner is sharp OKURRRRR http://t.co/qPfhNESI3G

— Desi Perkins (@DesiPerkins) August 25, 2015

And stay tuned because I am going to try this look and give myself a chance to master this winged liner. :)