30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 30

Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days.

Its a particularly good eyebrow day so I gave you two photos instead of one ( I was examining my nails)  :)

Three good things that have happened in the past 30 days:

• I wrapped my 4th film as the key artist!
• Got serious about working out and shed about ten pounds!
• was able to re-eval my home/work/life balance which resulted in more QT with the fam

Well, to the beat of my own drum I finally made it to the end of the 30 day blog challenge!  I am glad that I participated because it allowed for a lot of reflection and gave me a chance to share more about myself with you guys.  I was challenged indeed but I had fun as well so thanks to Erin over at Scandalous Beauty for putting out the call.  I am glad I was able to inspire some other bloggers to participate!  

I actually just came across another challenge that I am contemplating joining but I will take a break between the two, heck I am still trying to finish the dern YouTube challenge!  If you want to go back in time and see all the posts I did in this challenge just click here.

Thanks for sticking with me through it!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 29

Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing. 

Aside from the exorbitant amount of debt it brings, I could stay in school forever.  

 

Of course I could say I never tire of being a makeup artist, blogger or writer, mother, etc. but I wouldn't be able to wear any of those hats without acquiring the necessary knowledge.  

 

I am an eternal student.  There is a certain rush that comes with the discovery of new information, at least for me.  

 

It is my inner geek spreading her wings so to speak.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 28

Day 28 – Your favorite movie.

For as long as I can remember I have had a love affair with old hollywood.  When Blockbuster was thriving (dont laugh) I would go get my snacks from Giant and a stack of old black and white movies and I would hole up in my room and watch them all day long, sometimes all weekend.  Of course this was before I became a mom and now I would be lucky to get an hour of alone time, forget about a whole day!  This was probably around the time that I was 18 or 19 years old so I find it hard to narrow down to just one favorite movie.  I will instead share a few of my favs and why I love them in no particular order...

Alistair Sim's A Christmas Carol - this movie is one that has a sentimental meaning for me.  Almost every Christmas Eve my maternal grandmother would break out the VHS of this movie for us to watch.  Back then I thought they talked funny but I was still pulled all the way in to the film.  I can appreciate the elaborate dialogue as well as the fanciful costumes.  This movie was recently done as an animated remake with Jim Carrey as the lead and I need to watch it in its entirety because a lot of the elements from the original were there.

Dark Victory - Bette Davis is one of my most fav actresses.  She always played the gutsy, take charge heroine who tolerated no BS...EXCEPT in this film.  Now dont get me wrong, initially she is that quintessential Ms. Davis that we all know but you begin to see her vulnerability as the movie progresses.  She becomes more human.

All About Eve - again Bette Davis but THIS is classic Bette Davis right here.  Hate it or love it she battles all the way to the end even when she is absolutely wrong for her antics. 

Imitation of Life - This image is the one with Lana Turner, there are two versions of this movie and surprisingly I enjoy both, but this one I think may be my fav only by a tiny bit.  I felt the emotion come through much more in this version.

Mahogany - one of my earliest memories of amazing fashion and beauty.  This movie never gets old and each time I am near a tv and its on I am immediately transfixed.

Rear Window - In my eyes Alfred Hitchcock can do no wrong.  Do yourself a favor and watch some of his old movies, especially the black and white ones, they will not disappoint.  You still get elements of old hollywood glam but with clever little inserts of humor and unexpected twists and turns.  His movies for me are the equivalent of a cinematic roller coaster ride that keep me thinking and on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Breakfast at Tiffanys - I mean what can I say that I am sure has already been said about this iconic movie and actress.  I adore Audrey Hepburn and while I havent seen ALL of her movies, I have seen most of them.  It never gets old.

So thats it, hope you enjoyed and better still I hope you, if you havent already, take the time to check out these films.  You will not be disappointed.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 27

Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then? 

late July/early August 2010

November 2010

Late July 2011

Monday August 8, 2011

I weigh a bit less

My hair is much longer

My skin is more clear

I could go on but I wont

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 26

Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.

photo c/o Naima aka FancyLibra27 (check out her blog and YT channel)

Each year our group of friends will take a trip.  In recent years, well really each year, it is hard to get everyone to go at the same time (i.e. in this pic two of the crew are missing).  In this picture we are in Arizona.  Yes it is hot in AZ BUT we had just finished an I dont know how long hot pink jeep ride up the mountains for a tour and it was freezing!  But it was so worth it - do you see that view?  

This was by far one of THE best trips we have ever taken.  We had great waiting to exhale moments and I hope we can come together soon for another trip of that same caliber.

In case you are wondering (L to R - me, Ebbony aka 2d, Attia aka Cookie, Naima (as referenced above) and Keisha aka Kesh)

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 25

Day 25 – What’s in your purse?

An easier question to answer may be what ISN'T in my purse?!  Mind you I slightly tried to clean it out in order to take the pic so it was a lot worse...oy...

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 24

Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.

Ive said it before and i will say it again, family is important to me.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 23

Day 23 – 15 facts about you

1. I am 5 ft 7 in tall, and up until I turned maybe 18 I was considered tall, then all of a sudden I was short...and I found that very odd
2. I am the only girl and the only single out of my siblings...I have two sets of twin brothers
3. Twins run on both sides of my family, maternal and paternal so I was scared I would have twins, but I didnt, yay!  and so far neither have my brothers...again odd...
4. I have 3 tattoos, and I hate all but one of them...stay tuned for the post when I get 2 of them covered...
5. I used to have serious stage fright, and I do still kinda but now I get a rush from the panic, my heart beats really fast, I start to sweat but for some reason I love it!  Catch me doing karaoke and public speaking pretty often
6. I pretty much flunked out of college...the first time.  I did it correctly the second time (Yay FIT!)
7. I have a fear of failure which in turn makes me procrastinate sometimes
8. I have zero patience, once I had kids it went out the window
9. I LOVE to dance, used to do it often, not so much anymore but I really want to do a form of exercise where all you do is the choreography from Beyonce vids the whole time - wouldnt that be fun?  *crickets*
10. I hate driving, anything over an hour and I am done
11. I love to lip sync in the mirror, I think thats why I like karaoke so much
12. I have scoliosis
13. In reference to #12, but I also have a pretty high tolerance for pain
14. in reference to #13, because of that I was able to give birth to my son who was 9lbs and some change with no pain medication...not by choice but I did it
15. I am a loner but love to hang with my girls...oxymoron

You see I fell off again with this challenge, thats because the questions or challenges are getting harder.  This is my feeble attempt at Day 23, but hey at least I got through it.  *whew*

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 22

Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently. A letter to someone who broke my heart.

I will be honest with you all, I could write a really long letter for this but I have already wasted enough time and energy on this/these person/people.  You know how you give of yourself, listen to "friends" moan and groan about things and in the name of friendship you are there?  Saw someone I used to know the other day and it was like I was invisible. 

Its funny when you need an ear, a hello, ANYTHING, people get ghost...

Well like I said I refuse to write a letter... 

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 21

Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy

collage created using Photovisi

My little ones!  :)  I couldn't pick just one image as you can see. 

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 20

Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name

my old logo and site design

When I first started my blog back in January of 2009 (wow!) I went with the name Tried & Truth Beauty.  This post explains why I started the blog and why the name but if you do not feel like reading that right now (I invite you to return to it later) then the quick response is I liked to try products and be real about how I felt about the products.

Fast forward to today, over 2 years later and the blog has had a few facelifts (click here to find out why) and I have had a chance to see what works and what does not. (I need to bring back some of those old topics!)  Most importantly I realized that just doing beauty reviews didn't really work for me, nor did it work for my visitors either.  Some like the reviews, some like the makeup artist info, some like to know whats going on with me, some want to know about my loc journey, etc. etc. etc.

So I changed the name to just Shana Janelle.  Its just me, no fluff, no fan fare.  I will cover a number of things on here, mostly beauty but various things will pop up that I want to share.  Hope this explains it!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 19

Day 19 – Another picture of yourself

celebrating my 18th birthday in Mexico at the Fridays of all places...I was really happy huh?  LOL

yesterday, July 24th, still enjoying my freeforming! (read about it here and here)

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 18

Day 18 – Something you crave a lot

 

Well obviously make up is one thing, more brushes than anything else.  This was my kit from about a year ago.  It has since been even more condensed but you know revamping the kit is a never ending project.

Add to that shoes, seafood, a good glass of wine, oysters on the half shell, peace of mind, a new job...I could go on and on but I wont!  :)

 

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 17

Day 17 – A photo of you and your family

Gotta break this one up a bit until we can get the whole fam in one pic.  

"the sig", kids and I

3 of my brothers (2 sets of twins-1 is taking the pic I think), 2 of my nephews and KO (my son-in the green shirt)

my brothers, son and 1 nephew and mom with me at baby shower (I was pregnant with Sam the girl at the time)

1 set of twin brothers with my dad and I (no my dad and I did not plan the hat thing LOL)

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 16

Day 16 – Your celebrity crush

because he is like a fine wine...

because she can really do no wrong - flawless!



30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 15

Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without

my cracked up iTouch

and my phone

If I leave either at home I get all shook!  :)



30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 14

Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.

Quite frankly, Im not addicted to any of them.  Sure there are some that I watch on a regular basis as I will point out below, but I try not to get too caught up because the day when I miss the show I am blown.  So why cause myself the added stress.  Plus if not for Twitter I probably wouldnt watch TV as much.  That darn Twitter is so entertaining when everyone is watching the same thing...anywho here are some shows that I enjoy watching on a semi-regular basis:
 

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 13

Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?

This is a tough one - previously you could ask me this question and without hesitation I would say:
 

and...



:swoon like I mean really - I am engaged not dead!  :)

 and...

I used to stan EXTRA hard for all of them.  My love for each has not waned.  I still get super excited when I learn of new material from each but in the same way I have changed, they have also.  Still quality music, do not get me wrong, but I think now I am open to more things and not as tormented emotionally, you know like with relationships gone awry, trying to find my purpose, etc. 

For a while there without fail I would go see Bilal and Mint Condition each time they were in town, I mean for YEARS I did that.  I vowed to see Erykah Badu live one day ever since her 1996 debut and I finally got that chance.  Now, I hear they are coming and get excited and say I am going but something comes up and I end up missing out. 

Right now, as with a lot of other people I am loving Adele and Marsha Ambrosius; cant wait for the new Jay Z and Kanye West album, sing along extra loud to Lady Antebellum and am falling in love with Hip Hop all over again by reaquainting myself with rappers from days gone by.

I am sure this will change again so maybe ask me in a few months and I will have a whole new starting line up.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 12

Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in

yeah thats about it cause most certainly I am not going to put EVERYTHING on this blog!  LOL

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 11

Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?

Ok so I am a bit behind in this AND the YouTube Challenge BUT in my defense I am still keeping at it...well ok that isnt much of a defense but its all I got right now!

Coincidentally I JUST did a post about what's in my makeup bag so check that out first because it hasnt changed much...for the most part I only add or remove items if I plan on going somewhere after work or whatever the case may be or if I change my lip.  Other than that, its the same ol, same ol.  Truth be told I only recently started carrying a makeup bag!  Crazy right?  Well thats because my kids like to put stuff in my purse or I have it packed to the brim already with other foolery.  So yeah, anywho here it is in all its glory!

And the contents:

• NYX lipstick - Beige (BLL129) (see me rock it here)
• MAC Snob (worn here and here)
• MAC Up the Amp (worn here)
• MAC Sparkle, Neely, Sparkle, Hocus Pocus and Smoked Ruby (all reviewed here)
• MAC Chestnut liner
• Laura Geller Sugar Free Baked Shadow - Biscotti/Toast - (worn here)
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Super Glossy SPF 15 Lip Shine - Goddess
• e.l.f. Cosmetics Lip Liner & Blending Brush - Natural
• Ruby Kisses Menthol Lip Salvation, Big Lash Mascara and Very Sexy Mascara ( discussed here)
• Maybelline Lash Discovery (reviewed here)
• Wet N Wild Colour Icon Shimmer Eye Pencil - Black Noir (just realized in doing this post that its a shimmer liner)
• CoverGirl Outlast LipStain - #402 (worn and reviewed different shades here)
• CoverGirl Liquiline blast - Purple
• Oral B Satin Floss
• Crest Glide Deep Clean Floss
• Kevyn Aucoin The Precision Sharpener
• 2 nail files
• 1 turquoise stud earring (who knows?)
• 1 silver hoop (dont ask)
• rhinestone bow stud earrings
• 8 silver clips
• 5 large bobby pins
• 1 small hair pin
• 1 black ponytail holder

So there you have it - the good, bad and confusing of my makeup bag.  Have any questions, ask away!