Reviewing Younique Moodstruck Epic Mascara

Moodstruck Epic mascara review.

What is a mature woman who has never worn full make-up on a regular basis doing reviewing make-up? I have found a mascara that I'm super excited about, that's why. I splurged on Younique's Moodstruck Epic Mascara and like it so much that it will be my daily "eyes".  If you like to have good lashes, I think you'll like this mascara too.

Moodstruck Epic Mascara by Younique

I LOVE this stuff. I rarely wear make-up with the exception of mascara. Mascara is a necessity. I try really hard to never leave the house without mascara. I even wear mascara when camping at The Shack.

My eyelashes are puny and nearly invisible. But I hate spending money, so I nearly always buy the cheap stuff in the health and beauty aisle at Target or Walmart. Occasionally, I have purchased more expensive brands - but they flaked, smeared, or ran. So I stuck with the popular but cheap brand.

Last week I splurged and bought Moodstruck Epic Mascara and WOW!  My lashes suddenly looked like those ladies at work who have really good lashes. I thought they all went to the salon to have such great lashes but with Moodstruck Epic my lashes are now pretty great too. My lashes were suddenly long and thick; with individual lashes visible. My lashes were visible! 

What I like about this mascara is:

• The brush actually brushes my lashes. I can feel it "combing" them. Not just passing across them.
• It coats the lashes separately. 
• The mascara hasn't smudged or ran all over my face yet. 
• It takes no more time or work to apply than my cheap mascara
• The difference in quality was noticeable immediately
• It is very thick, but not clumpy.
• It is more expensive (I don't like spending extra money) but I realized that I was spending money on mascara that really wasn't doing much at all - in the long run, this brand may not be much more expensive after all.

Here is my attempt to show you the vast difference in my lashes with no mascara, my box store mascara, and my amazing lashes with the Moodstruck Epic mascara.

Before: my puny, almost invisible eyelashes

side by side comparison: LEFT -popular box store mascara - RIGHT - Moodstruck Epic

If you are only looking for information about the mascara, you can skip straight to shop for the mascara here. 

note: I hate photo comparisons that are "staged" or use different lighting to make the product look better.  I did my best to use the same angle, distance, and lighting to give a real comparison. But as a person who doesn't take selfies, this was the closest I could get. And yes, I really did apply the mascara on the left. The way I normally do. And the way that I had mistakenly thought helped my eyes look better. 

More About Younique

I want to tell you a bit about the company. I am a supporter of women and their home businesses. I'm on a tight budget so I can't always support these businesses as much as I would like. But in this instance, the company, my presenter, and the product make it worth the extra couple of bucks.

Younique is a direct sales beauty product company. Their statement on their About Us page is:

Younique's mission is to uplift, empower, validate, and ultimately build self-esteem in women around the world through high-quality products that encourage both inner and outer beauty and spiritual enlightenment while also providing opportunities for personal growth and financial reward 

Women become presenters and show the items they use and love. If  you are my age, you can think Tupperware parties - except with Younique the home parties happen only if you want it to. Most of the sales are "virtual parties" or individual orders (like mine).

Also, unlike home parties from days gone by, customers are able to order online just like they order any other product that is offered online. No commitment to having a party, no high-pressure sales, no having to clean up and plan to have guests (unless you want to - but I don't have the desire to "entertain").  

Currently Liz, my presenter, is taking a break from active sales because family life has become so busy. But you can place orders directly from Younique. Or an internet search will help you find a presenter and Younique make-up tutorials that meet your individual needs. 

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Landscaping Solution for Areas Where the Grass Won't Grow

Our Front Yard Fix - My DIY Stepping Stone Solution

When You Want to Keep Your Trees but Can't Keep the Lawn

If you don't have to, don't cut down the trees.

Let me start by saying that I'm not a gardening expert. 

However, I did manage to pull off this DIY. Review the photos featured here to get a good look at the results.

Over 20 years ago we moved into our home in a new tree-less development. Other than the one tree the city provided, the yard was simply grass and a builder's walkway.

Landscaping was a must for us so we got busy planting trees and had a lovely interlocking walkway put in around the home.

My husband picked a tree he liked, a Birch Tree, and I picked a tree I liked, a Blue Spruce. We had both planted in the front yard with the birch tree surrounded by a small island featuring easy to care for Juniper. 

We put Boxwoods along the walkway, cedar trees on each side of the garage doors and a Bristol

A Close Up of Part of the

Front Yard

Ruby Weigela by the porch. On the other side of the driveway we had an English Oak Tree planted, which today, is magnificent.

For the back yard we planted about 50 cedar trees around the fence. You can see pictures of the backyard here with some gardening tips here.

In those early years, the trees were essentially our height or lower so keeping the lawn green and healthy was never an issue, until the trees became very large and as you can well imagine the little bit of exposed lawn in the front yard turned into a disaster.

One Day, I Decided that Was IT! No More

LOL I'm not exaggerating. One day about ten years ago I arrived home from work and solicited the help of my sons to do some Diy landscaping. Off we went to the local Home Depot to purchase the stepping stones you see in the photos. 

I chose bigger irregular stepping stones for most of the what was left of the lawn area, and smaller ones to go in front of the island. 

Not wanting the dirt to show between the stepping stones and not wanting to wait for planted ground cover to grow, I choose small red gardening rocks to fill in the cracks.

The only thing I forgot to do was to line the area with a protection barrier fabric to prevent the weeds from growing through the stones. But that's ok, I just dig out the weeds between the stones from time to time. It's good exercise, in fact I just did it again the other day.

A Closer Look - DIY Stepping Stone Fix

Also, to finish the look I put red cedar wood chips around the bushes and along the walkway. 

Was This a Hard DIY?

No. Since the lawn was mostly gone, there wasn't much digging to do to get the yard ready to receive the stepping stones. We poured the small red colored rock between the stones. Oh, and my sons did the heavy lifting.

Had I Ever Done This Type of Work Before?

No. I was totally inexperienced. The only advantage I may have had was that in my real estate years I had seen a great deal of property, and thus had a lot of visual assistance stored in the back of my mind.

What Tips Would You Give?

The most important aspect, at least for me, was to look carefully at the yard to roughly determine the

A Section of the Backyard Along the Fence where

the Grass doesn't Grow - These stepping stones are NOT
positioned close together on purpose!

size of the stepping stones needed and then do a bit of math to establish how many stones to buy.

It's easier to be as exact as you can than to continuously go back to the store to get additional stepping stones. However, I didn't get it right the first time either; I ended up at the store twice.

Also, install enough stepping stones. In other words, don't try to save money by spacing them too far apart so you won't need as many.

The closer together they are, the better the finished product will look. Plus, having them closer together means fewer red colored rocks.

What Did this Project Cost You?

Ok.... Remember this was done around 2008. My estimated price for the work I personally did was about $1000(ish) Canadian. Of course that doesn't include the trees or the professionally installed walkways. That money includes the stepping stones, cedar red chips, and red colored rocks. No labour costs, as of course, it was a DIY.

Don't be afraid to try this, it's a lot easier than it looks. I am not an expert and managed, so I'm sure you could as well. The photos really don't do this DIY justice :)

This is a recent photo (2018) - Stepping Stones still Holding Up Nicely, 10 Years Later

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Reviewing Ways to Earn Money That Aren't Your Average 9 to 5 Job

Image by Lou16

The internet has made the world seem smaller, it has also opened up opportunities for many people to embrace the idea of a side hustle or to even take the place of a more conventional day job.

Let's review a few ways that you can earn money that aren't talked about by your careers adviser in school. The wonderful contributors on this website have embraced several different ways of earning money and if you have similar talents then you may wish to embrace some of their methods.

So what ideas shall we discuss? Writing, photography, craft, recommendations, graphic design and even singing to cats!

You have probably heard the saying that if you do something you love you'll never work a day in your life. My late (offline) boss used to love this saying and he lived it too as he was at the office every day until his final two weeks (a month shy of his 90th birthday), he was even still studying a few months earlier! A few people who's articles you may have enjoyed on this site also seem to have taken these words to heart such as Mbg Photo & Wednesday Elf ...

Photography, Graphic Designs & Art

Mbg photo loves both photography and lighthouses so how to combine two loves and earn money at the same time? You sell your photographs of lighthouses on different products that people can purchase online. This is done with the aid of a number of print on demand sites, a popular one of these sites is Zazzle and you can see some wonderful lighthouses at Mgb Photo's Zazzle store - Lighthouse Gifts and Photos.

Zazzle is a great site to upload your own photography on, but you don't have to stop there.  Other popular ways to earn with Zazzle include typographical designs, in fact I had two very popular t-shirt designs that were just word based!  If you have a graphic design background or are an artist you could do well on this site.

Crocheting and Other Crafts

Wednesday Elf enjoys crocheting and she can utilize her talents by selling some of her amazing crocheted plush animals (and other goodies) in her very own Etsy store - Coastal Crochet Crafts.  There are a number of different crafts that you can make and put for sale on Etsy.  So if you enjoy crochet, knitting, jewelry making or even creating butterfly wings for costumes then you can sell your goods on Etsy.

Writing

When it comes to writing there are several different ways to earn money - writing a blog about things you love, reviewing products or even writing a book!   Sylvestermouse loves Christmas and plans for it throughout the year which is why she runs a couple of different sites around the holidays including Christmas Time Treasures.

BarbRad (like many of us) is a self-confessed bookworm and amongst her many book related blogs she reviews books at Bookworm Buffet (an awesome name for a book review site in my opinion!).

Anyone can set up their own website these days whether it's on the blogger platform, wordpress or even a site like weebly.   If that idea is too daunting for you then you could start writing on content sites such as hubpages or wizzley - earning money on these sites takes a while, but it's a good place to ease into the world of online writing.

Writing a book has become a lot easier with the internet because you can publish ebooks yourself.  It takes a lot more discipline to write a book in my opinion though.  One of our wonderful contributors has done this, however, with not just one, but two books - Bev Owen's cozy mysteries can be brought through Amazon.

Uber, Airbnb & Airtasker

Other ways of making money include the ride sharing economy such as Uber - simply use your car (provided it meets the requirements), download the app and you can choose your own hours for making money as a driver.  I know people who do this as a full time income as well as people who do it around other jobs.

Airbnb is a very popular way to cash in on extra room at home that can also lead you to meeting a variety of people.  Friends of ours do very well with this source of income which enables one of them to stay home and look after the children full time.

Airtasker is one way to earn money that I haven't used and nor do I know anyone who has.  I have heard interesting things about it though and it certainly seems like an interesting way to offer up any skills you have to earn money.  I was watching a segment on our local news program where they interviewed the head of airtasker in Australia and he said that the most unusual way someone had made money in the past year was by singing to a pet cat for an hour a day!

Recommendations

Recommending things is a great way to earn money and this can be done in a number of different ways.   One way is to write reviews (as we mentioned under writing) and in this way we can earn advertising income on a blog or we can earn via affiliate marketing.

With affiliate marketing we get a commission on any sales we make when we recommend things so you could look at one of Treasures by Brenda's sites which is called Movie Treasures by Brenda.  This site reviews movies and if you click on the movie and purchase it Brenda can receive a commision.  

Recommendations are very powerful you've only got to see how many Facebook recommendations you see in a day.  People just can't seem to resist giving recommendations (usually for free).  You don't have to write an article or blog post to earn money with recommendations you could try social marketing (previously called network marketing).

I actually belong to a social marketing company called Arbonne and basically I love the products so recommend them to people and then they buy them through me and I make a commission.  If they start recommending them to other people then I let them know that they could become a consultant themselves and make the commission for themselves instead of sending me clients!

The company I work for provide us with a website so the business can be wholly conducted online, but face to face recommendations works really well and I would recommend a combination of the two to be really successful.

There are a number of social marketing companies around, but my (albeit biased) opinion is that Arbonne is the best so if you are interested in finding out more please send me a message via my Facebook business page or via instagram.

Even More Ways to Make Money

Other ideas for making money is by offering to be a social media manager for small local businesses, setting up and/or looking after websites for local businesses.

Then of course there's always going back to basics and offering handyman services, shopping services, dog walking services.

The list really is endless, whether it's a local task or a global task there really seems as though there's nothing you can't make money from if you think outside of the office cubicle!

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Ant-Man and The Wasp Movie Review

Ant-man and The Wasp - The Official Movie Special Hardcover Book

Background for the Plot of Ant-Man and The Wasp 

Once again, Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Michael Douglas (Dr. Hank Pym),  and Evangeline Lilly (The Wasp / Dr. Pym's daughter), join together in battle.  However, this time it is against a very unexpected, mysterious foe, while also having to elude the FBI.

Ant-Man and The Wasp picks up the story two years after the Marvel movie, Ant-Man, with Scott Lang under house arrest.  He was found guilty of violations of the world peace treaty for his actions in the movie Captain America, Civil War.  Dr Pym and his daughter, Hope, have been in hiding for 2 years thanks to Scott.  Because he used the Ant-Man suit when he helped Captain America, they were now wanted by the FBI.  

Dr. Pym and Hope are pretty angry with Scott.  They had realized that since Ant-Man had survived and returned from the Quantum Realm (in the Ant-Man movie), that Hope's mother, who was believed to have died there, could possibly have survived too, and they wanted to rescue her.  Because they lost their home, their lab, and had to go into hiding, their rescue mission was on hold until they could recreate their lab.

The Plot of Ant-Man and The Wasp
(Spoiler Alert - Ghost Identity Revealed - Another Surprise Break from the original Marvel comics)

 Ant-Man and the Wasp - Pre-order DVD
(Plus Bonus Content)Check PriceI don't really like spoilers, but this one is imperative in order to explain the plot of Ant-Man and The Wasp.  However, I will not go further than needed to give you a basic plot outline.

When Scott experienced a mind-meld with Janet van Dyne, Hope's mother, he immediately called Dr. Pym, even though that was a violation of his house arrest terms.   Scott had no way of knowing that Dr. Pym had just opened access to the Quantum Realm again, but Dr. Pym knew as soon as he heard from Scott, that they unfortunately needed him.  Apparently, Janet was able to communicate with them through Scott.

Unbeknownst to Dr. Pym, a previous colleague, Elihas Starr, continued working on a tunnel to the Quantum Realm on his own after he was fired by Dr. Pym for stealing.  When his tunnel blew up, Starr and his wife were both killed, but their child was alive, yet changed forever.  Now an adult, she needed access to the Quantum Realm or she would die.  As the Ghost, she was determined to steal Pym's lab and tunnel to the Quantum Realm.

Ant-Man and The Wasp are required to fight Ghost in order to save Janet van Dyne.

You may think you know what will happen by what I have written, but once again, you are in for a shock.  Remember, all of the Marvel movies have tie-ins with each others plot. 

By the way, gotta love those ants!!!

---

Check Out More Movie Reviews at
ReviewThisMovies.com

MORE MARVEL MOVIE REVIEWS

Ant-Man Movie Review

Dr. Pym (Ant-Man suit inventor) & his daughter, Hope, train Scott Lang to work with ants and to become Ant-Man in preparation to "defeat" Darren Cross and his Yellowjacket invention.

Avengers: Infinity War Movie Review

Marvel fans love Avengers: Infinity War!  All of our favorite Avengers, plus the Guardians of the Galaxy join the battle to save the world from evil domination and genocide by Thanos. Expect some very shocking and even upsetting deaths in this movie. Real Mavel fans will need Kleenex!

Doctor Strange Movie Review

The movie Doctor Strange is based on the Marvel comics character. A fabulous fantasy fiction movie that is quite accurate with the depiction.

Guardians of the Galaxy I & II Movies Reviewed

Guardians of the Galaxy is a truly fabulous Marvel movie that I would recommend for anyone! The movie is a mix of sci-fi, great animation, engaging stories, & witty dialog.

 Ant-Man and The Wasp Movie Review Written by:

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Review of Small Town Fun in Conneaut Ohio

Conneaut West Breakwater Lighthouse

On our latest roadtrip we were traveling up highway 90 on our way from St. Louis, Missouri to Manchester, New Hampshire.  We have traveled that way several times as our son lives in NH.  I have noticed signs for the town of Conneaut, Ohio but never have stopped in the past.  This time I was needing a respite from the drive so we decided to stop for the afternoon.  I knew it was a small town so I was pleasantly surprised with all there was to see.  Here is a review of the sights we saw in Conneaut.

Lighthouse in Bay

In the photo at the top of this post you will see the unique lighthouse I photographed in Conneaut.  The walk out to the lighthouse was quite a hike, so instead I got out my tripod and long lens to photograph the lighthouse.

History

Conneaut is located on Lake Erie in the Northeast corner of Ohio.  As the town grew in the 19th century it became a point for shipping grain, whiskey and forest products.  In 1835 a lighthouse was built to facilitate ships coming into and out of the harbor.  Various improvements and changes were made to the lighthouse over the years.  In 1920 the old lighthouse was removed and the modern cement light we see today was built.  This light called the Conneaut West Breakwater Lighthouse, can be seen for 17 miles into Lake Erie.

Fun Watching Eagles

While I was photographing the lighthouse my husband got into a conversation with a local resident who was out on the harbor enjoying the beautiful day.  She saw my camera with my long lens (600mm) and told him about a place on the other end of the harbor where there was an eagles nest in an old tree.  We went over to that area and had a wonderful afternoon watching the eagles.  There were several juvenile eagles along with the adults.  In the third photo below, I captured an adult eagle pulling a fish from the water.

Covered Bridge

The map of Conneaut that I picked up showed a trail of covered bridges.  There were four in the area and we took a drive and found one that I stopped to photograph. The covered bridge that I photographed is called State Road bridge and it spans the Conneaut creek.  This bridge is 157 feet long and is a single span Town Truss bridge according to the sign on the bridge.  It was built in 1983.

Zazzle Products from my Photos

Fun in Conneaut Ohio Poster
by lighthouseenthusiast

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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