Testing 2

 

TESTING

The Rose and the Beast: Bones

Here's the next Installment from The Rose and the Beast. I decided to do Bones, since it was a bit shorter than the other stories and I've been pretty busy lately.

Beauty Tips Compilation

This is an old set of beauty tips that I got from a dead website years ago. Some of them are pretty useful and I thought it would be fun to post!😄:

Beauty tips part 1:

1. Coat your eyelashes with Vaseline before you go to bed. It will help them grow longer and thicker.

2. Use hand cream that contains 'glycerin' that will help moisturize your hands more than anything.

3. To dry nail polish off quicker, run your nails through cold water.

4. Wash your face with warm water first (open's pores) then with cold water (close's pores). 5. Dab your concealer instead of rubbing it on your face.

Beauty tips part 2:

1. Make a hair mask with olive oil, egg whites and honey to help seal split ends. Use every 3rd day.

2. Get at least 8 hours of sleep, obviously and try to take your showers in the morning, it wakes you up more!

3. For under eye circles, make chamomile tea and put the cooled tea bags on your eyes for 15 minutes. Circles = Gone. 4. Put baby powder on red blemishes, it helps the redness go down. 

5. For shiny legs, put a bit of baby oil on a cotton ball and wipe your legs with it. Pat them with a clean cotton ball so your legs don't look greasy. 

Beauty tips part 3:

1. Put ice on your pimple, it will make it go down.

2. When you get a cist, those hard pimples under your skin, put a hot cloth on it to bring it to it's head.

3. Crush aspirin and add a bit of water to put on your pimple, it helps a lot! Trust me. 

4. To whiten teeth make a paste from a strawberry and a tablespoon of baking soda. Put on a tooth brush and brush your teeth. Afterwards, brush your teeth with toothpaste. 

5. Moroccan oil works wonders for your hair.

Beauty tips part 4:

1. To make homeade porestrips, mix an egg white in a bowl and apply to parts of your face (usually the T zone needs attention) and put one ply tissue over top the egg whites on your face. Leave on for about 30 minutes or until dry then peel off. If you use 2 ply tissue, you'll have to wait longer.

2. To get rid of product build up in your hair, wash your hair with a baking soda and water paste. Make sure not to use this more than once every 2 or 3 weeks because it will dry out your hair.

3. Instead of shaving with fancy shaving creams, use a deep conditioner, it works just as well, if not better then shaving creams and leaves your legs extra moisturized.  4. Instead of waxing or shaving your stache, use moustache bleach. It bleaches your 'facial' hair into an almost invisible color and you won’t get the unattractive stubble you would when hair is growing back. Make sure not to use more than once every 2 weeks, because it can dry your skin out. 

5. To get flat hair, make sure you get a trim regularly to get rid of split ends. Also after taking a shower wear a hat to flatten your hair out and take it off when it's partially dry. Or just pat your wet hair to your head with a towel. Products that will give you flat and smooth hair are Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum and/or Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Daily Treatment.

Beauty tips part 5:

1. For extra white and healthy teeth brush them 3 times a day. Brush them after you wake up/before breakfast to get rid of all the overnight bacteria. Then after breakfast for good breath and no food stuck in your teeth for school (also use mouth wash) and before you go to bed (use mouth wash too). I recommend Crest toothpaste and mouth wash because it's the only brand that contains beads that dissolve in your mouth to help brush your teeth.

2. For girls, wear a bit of shimmer on your knees to attract attention to your legs when you're wearing shorts or skirts. Don't wear glitter though.

3. To make breasts look larger, apply bronzer on your chest.

4. Apply your bronzer from your temples to your chin in downward motions forming a c shape. This is where the light would naturally hit and applying it in that way creates pretty angles on your face.

5. To avoid getting acne scars, if you pop your pimples, immediately stop when you see blood. If you do, you won't get a scar or that big of one.

Beauty tips part 6:

1. To remove body hair without shaving, wax. Yes, I know it hurts, but it hurts to be beautiful. However, your hair grows back thinner and slower with each 'waxing session'. I recommend Nair roll-on wax, it works well and it's cheap. Laser hair removal treatments are also out there, but they tend to be pricey. This is almost like shaving, but you can use Veet too. It's a lotion that burns your hair off, but it still grows back pretty fast.

2. I know I already told you guys about Moroccan oil, but I didn't explain what it does. It makes your hair soft and silky, protecting it from damage without making your hair greasy.

3. To get rid of those little bumps on your face, tan it out. Sun helps to get rid of that and it can also help for any other kind of acne like back acne. Just don't forget to wear sunscreen.

4. A great place to tan is your roof. You get the sun evenly on your body and it feels much more relaxing to be up there with a breeze. Remember, when it comes to tanning, it's not the heat, but the rays. 

5. To get a flat belly, drink lots of water, cut down on sugar and incorporate runs in your weekly routine, especially with the nice weather. Also, the app Workout Trainer is amazing and addictive. You have hundreds of workouts to choose from with specific body parts too.

Beauty tips part 7:

1. To get a clean tongue, either use a tongue cleaner, tooth brush or tea spoon to scrape your tongue to get all the white coating off. Rinse with water.

2. To get smooth hands, as I said before, moisturize them with hand cream that contains glycerin.

3. To get glowing skin do these things : clean your hands before cleansing your face, cleanse your face properly, keep makeup at a minimum, apply sunscreen, chapstick and lip balm, wash your face after waking up and before going to bed, steam your pores open about once a week, exercise, use a weekly moisturizing mask, drink 6-8 glasses of water a day, have a healthy diet, don't pick at pimples, keep your hands off your face as much as possible, keep stress at a minimum, use a nutritive skin care product to feed the skin during the night, get plenty of sleep, apply a moisturizer after cleansing your face and always remember, if you do breakout frequently, there's no need to worry, just pretend they're not there, because pimples are just a part of growing up!

4. For your hair to grow longer faster, massage your scalp with your fingers for a minute each day to get the blood flow to your scalp or lay upside down for a minute to do the same thing. Plus, here are some tips : eat a balanced diet, eat enough iron and zinc, don't cut fat out of your diet, make sure you meet your recommended daily intake of Vitamin C, E and A, reduce emotional and physical stress levels, limit damaging hair styling treatments, take vitamin B supplement, try using horse shampoo from Maine and Tail but it's made for humans and make sure to get enough of protein intake. 5. To get rid of calluses, follow these 6 simple steps: a) Buy or get pumice stone. b) Soak your feet. c) Take the pumice stone and scrub your calluses with it. d) Use lotion once you've scrubbed the calluses away. e) Buy a calluses remover, options includes electric callus removers or lotions. f) Take baths regularly.

Beauty tips part 8:

1. To get a bigger butt, eat chicken, it contains some stuff that adds fat to only your butt. I went on a chicken diet, where I ate a lot of chicken and in a month, my butt grew a whole underwear size. It works, I know from experience.

2. To get rid of appearance of scars, buy some Vitamin E capsules. Break open a capsule and rub Vitamin E on existing scars daily. Rubbing on Vitamin E helps to smooth and straighten out collagen, which is a structural protein found in scar tissue. The Vitamin E within the capsule helps to keep the skin soft and moisturized.

3. To stop thighs from jiggling is almost impossible. For everyone that asked for losing leg muscle, you can't really. The thighs are the place where most fat cells are stored, along with the hips and the gut. It's muscle, just like your biceps, I don't know why you would want to lose muscle. Now with the tip to help jiggling thighs, try running, it tones your legs and makes your thighs less jiggly.

4. To prevent razor burn, make sure your razor isn't dull and don't shave without any gel/conditioner/soap, make sure to always apply something to shave on. If you do get razor burn, rubbing either deodorant (only works on certain skin types) or Vaseline will help make it go away faster. Also, after you're done shaving, splash the area with cold water to close the pores.

5. To help get rid of dark knees fast, use body scrub in the shower and wash them with a bit more force. When you get out of the shower, apply Johnson's baby oil gel to damp skin. You can also mix your lotion with the baby oil gel so that your kin isn't too greasy.

Beauty tips part 9:

1. Everybody wants to know how to get bigger boobs. You kinda can't :( I know. Try massaging them a lot to get the blood flow running there and also make sure to wear the correct bra size, it will prevent sagging. Get measured at LaSenza. But I heard that pregnancy pills work to make your boobs slightly bigger. To make them appear bigger, wear some bronzer on your chest. That's all I can help you with. Sorry!  2. To bring out your eye color, wear makeup that compliments your eyes. There is this wonderful eye shadow trio from Allmay. It offers a set of trios for every eye color and the combination really brings out your eyes. They also offer suggestions regarding the color or eyeliner and mascara that you should wear dependent upon your eye color. Keep your eyes big and open too!

3. To get soft hair, give yourself a hot oil massage treatment. Look up which oil(s) suits your hair type. Egg yolks are also a precious remedy when it comes to soft hair. Mix two egg yolks with a cup of water, to this mixture add a tablespoon of olive oil. Massage this mixture on our hair and leave it on covered with a shower cap for 15 minutes. Rinse using lukewarm water.

4. To get rid of frizzy hair, try to wash your hair as less as you can, use a serum after you get out of the shower, avoid using hot water when you shower (it can dry hair and cause frizz), try to use warm, or better, cold water to wash your hair, use a moisturizing conditioner and shampoo. Dryness is a major cause of frizz. Cut down on heat products. I know it's hard, but look on the bright side- there's a lot of cute wavy hairstyles you can experiment with! To add, I used to have pretty long hair,(it was below my boobs, so that’s what I mean by long) but I straightened it every other day (whenever I washed my hair) and it got really frizzy, dry and damaged. I had to completely chop my hair off so that's it's barely shoulder length and it was soft and silky, however, it was short so it was POOFY! So, I went to my 'best-friend' and straightened my hair again every other day, then soon enough it was very damaged again. I got really annoyed with the dryness in my hair so I stopped straightening it and it's so much better (after 4 weeks with the occasional straightening), the frizz is not all gone (it can't all go away, because it's 'dead' and you can't revive anything dead) but my hair is much smoother and less dry. Yea, I know you didn't ask for my life story just beauty tips, but I wanted to assure you guys that even though it's pretty, damaging your hair, makes it look ugly in the long run after using styling product for long. 

5. Let's make this short! For a slimmer stomach, drink plenty of water, have many fruits and veggies each day and try to sweat every day, so do some kind of physical activity, run for example! If you want to stay at home in the a-c, and you don't do sports, download the app Workout Trainer, it's amazing! It has plenty of workouts for each body part and you also have cross fit, cardio, yoga, stretching, running and rock-climbing to add!

Beauty tips part 10:

1. To obtain beachy waves, use or make a salt spray. Take a spray bottle and fill it with water, then add a couple of teaspoons of sea salt. The more sea salt, the more textured your results. Add Moroccan oil or conditioner to help prevent the drying effects of the salt. Spray on damp hair.. Just don't use every day, as the salt can dry out your hair.

2. To get rid of cold sore, cover them with a protective petroleum based product. This will speed healing and help protect it from secondary infection with bacteria. Reach for aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen. Cold sores can be quite painful. Over-the- counter painkillers can help. Avoid salty or acidic foods. Foods such as potato chips or citrus fruits can further irritate cold sores and add to the pain. Protect your lips from the sun. Applying sunscreen to your lips may help prevent sun-induced recurrences of cold sores. Look for a sunscreen designed especially for the lips that has an SPF of 15 or higher. Or, choose a lipstick/lipbalm that contains an SPF. 3. Make a mixture out of beeswax, olive oil and your favorite perfume to make a cream perfume that you can apply to neck, chest, wrists and even the tips of your hair. 4. To smell good everywhere, apply a lotion or moisturizer with a scent after you shower to your body. The warm water from your shower opens your pores so the lotion can sink in better and stay for a longer time. Make sure you're almost completely dry before you apply though.

5. To get softer lips, make sure to drink lots of water, exfoliate your lips once a week with sugar or a tooth brush (read how to online if you don't already know), don't use chapstick brand lip balm, never let your lips go naked and apply Vaseline before bed. In a week or so, you will get softer, more kissable lips.

Beauty tips part 11:

1. To get rid of dandruff, make sure to towel off the excess water and let your hair dry naturally after a shower. Brush your roots with a soft natural bristle brush. Firmly brush your hair from scalp outwards. This will distribute the oil along the hair shaft keeping it shiny and healthy; rather than remaining on the scalp where it is a good medium for the yeast to multiply.

2. To get clear skin, take fish oil capsules twice daily and take vitamins. In just a couple of days my skin got drastically clearer.

3. Instead of using bobby pins, use bun clips/pins, you can get them anywhere. Bobby pins flatten your hair whereas these special pins don't.

4. To clear your skin and to get softer hair, make sure you eat a healthy balanced diet. I started to do that, and I feel good inside and out! Cut your junk food consumption to one or two sweets a day, drink lots of water and try whole wheat pasta, it's better for you and I think it tastes even better than regular pasta. Eat buckwheat, it might not taste good at first, but you get used to it and you'll start to like it. It's really good for you, obviously! ;)

5. Instead of drinking cow milk (regular milk) ask your parents to buy almond milk. It doesn't contain cow hormones (yes regular milk does still have cow hormones even though it's pasteurized) which can cause you to breakout. I find it to taste better than regular milk, it comes in vanilla and chocolate. You can also make your own almond milk.

Beauty tips part 12: This one will be or how to help prevent breakouts for trips on the plane because summer break is coming and many of us are travelling somewhere.

1. Don't wear any makeup while on a flight. It can dry your face up. Who cares what you look like on the plane?

2. Make sure to moisturize your skin with a face serum. Since the air in the plane is very dry, it tries to find the tiniest bit of water, and takes it from your face! Put on two coats of a good moisturizer and you'll be good for the next 12 hours.

3. On top of your serum, apply sunscreen. On the plane you are closest to the harmful UV rays even though you're not directly exposed to them. Apply SPF minimum 15 to face and neck.

4. Moisturize your WHOLE skin before a flight, legs, arms, back, everything. On the flight, you might also want to apply bring moisturizers as hands and legs usually go dry instantly.

5. Forget lipsticks and lips glosses and go for a moisturizing lip balm. In the air, your lips can get very dried and cracked. 

6. During the plane, make sure to keep hydrated and drink plenty of water.

7. The night before your trip, try sleeping with a humidifier to get moisture in your skin. 8. At night, when the lights go off, you might want to relax and put on a sheet mask (the less messier ones) on. Once you take it off, it feels like heaven and you just made a mini spa... in the air! (Opt for moisturizing masks).

9. To relax, spritz some smelly mist (lavender for example), close your eyes and breathe in the nice smell.

10. After the flight, don't put makeup on right away since your face hasn't been washed in quite a while. To look fresher, just put on some lip color, sunglasses and do your hair up.

11. Once you get at your hotel or home, exfoliate your skin to take off all the gunk from the flight and take a nice long shower.

12. Don't forget, during the flight; try to keep your hands away from your face because they are dirty.

Beauty tips part 13: To get rid of under eye circles do the following:

1. This one is obvious; get your beauty sleep!

2. Make sure to eat healthy.

3. Slice thick cucumber slices and apply to closed eyes for about 10-15 minutes daily. You can also do the same thing with cooled tea bags (caffeinated) or ice cubes with a soft cloth wrapped around. Use for the same amount of time you would cucumber slices.

4. Apply an eye cream containing vitamin K and retinol. Dark circles may be caused by a deficiency of vitamin K.

5. Use an under-eye cream. Use a concealer that will camouflage the dark under-eye circles. It's important to use a concealer that matches your undertone (namely, yellow and peach (for bluish circles). After applying the concealer, set it with a light dusting of translucent powder.

Beauty tips part 15:

To lighten freckles:

1. Apply lemon juice using a cotton ball.

2. You can do the same thing with onions, just they smell.

3. Grate some cucumber and squeeze it into extract/juice and apply to skin. Works best with 1 tbsp of honey and 1 tbs of lemon.

4. Increase your vitamin C intake.

5. Natural Parsley juice mixed with equal amount of lemon and orange juice will help.

6. Apply papaya juice onto freckles with a cotton balls. Plus, it helps clear blemishes. 7. Wash your face with sour milk.

8. Apply vitamin E onto freckles, it's the gentlest way. It might take a little bit more time, but it won't dry your face.

Beauty tips part 16:

1. To get rid of stretch marks, scars, uneven skin tone, ageing skin and overly damaged skin, apply cocoa butter formula with vitamin E. 2. To make eyelashes longer wash a mascara brush from an old bottle. Once clean, apply baby powder to the brush. Put on lashes. Then put Vaseline on lashes with the same brush (make sure it's washed). This method will take about 5 weeks.

3. Another way to make eyelashes longer, apply lip balm on them before bed and in the morning. It will make them curlier and longer over time. Try using a non-fragrance one and one that moisturizes very well.

4. Coconut oil is great for getting soft and smooth hair, just apply a bean sized portion to your hair before bed and shampoo in the morning.. Egg masks are also very moisturizing and a good conditioner.

5. For it is very easy to gain weight, however it is also easy to lose it. Calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and try to follow it For a week calculate how much calories you consume and burn while doing anything. Consuming 250 calories more each day, in about 2 weeks you will gain a pound. Make sure to consume and burn only the calories you need. Try these healthy alternatives that can help you lose some weight. Instead of having an afternoon coke, drink a glass of water. (Calories saved: 97). Instead of eating an Egg McMuffin, have a small whole wheat bagel with 1 Tbsp of peanut butter (calories saved: 185). Instead of Using your break eating sweets, walk up and down a flight of stairs for 10 minutes (calories burned: 100). Instead of hitting the snooze button. wake up 10 minutes early and go for a brisk walk (calories burned: 100). Instead of watching TV after school/work, do 10 minutes of yoga (calories burned: 50). After a week with healthy alternatives, you will be feeling better; inside and out!

Beauty tips part 17:

1. To kiss 'well' if you want, make sure your lips are always soft (apply lip balm every day) and also lick your lips a tad before the kiss. Dry lips don't move very well, but you still don't want to be a slobby bulldog.

2. Do something with your hands, put them around his neck or play with his hair. Don't just leave your arms limp by your side. 

3. Don't go in with an open mouth, ready for the nastiest kiss ever (unless you're with your partner for a long time or something of that sort). Slowly lean in with closed/puckered lips and don't forget to tilt your head! You don't want to be banging into each other with your noses!

4. This one is mostly for the ladies. If you really want to kiss him and he isn't getting the memo, hint it. To hint that you want to kiss him, look at him in the eyes, bite your lip and slowly look down to his lips. Look back up into his eyes after about 3-5 seconds. This should make him understand what you want. 

5. As you all know, I'm in Serbia now and boy can I tell you one thing; my skin is getting a lot better. My blemishes are going away and my skin is so much smoother. The trick, don't wear any makeup. Seriously, I've been walking around Serbia with no makeup, no concealer, foundation, mascara, nothing for just a week and I feel and see a difference. I also started using this cream called Narcis, try getting it. It's made about 50 years ago, but it's so much better than all the new crap. You can use it everywhere: face, chest, back etc. It moisturizes and diminishes the size and redness literally over-night. I don't think you will be able to find it 100%, but if I could I'd bring it to all of you guys. :D 6. Nothing's worse than being on your period on a long ride and feeling icky and gross. Actually, nothing is worse than being on your period. I started bringing baby wipes everywhere I go now. When I change my pad, I wipe with the pre-moistened clothes and you feel 100 times better. It's like a mini shower.

Beauty tips part 18 1/2:

1. To get rid of facial hair, you can try waxing, threading or hair removals creams. I don't suggest the hair removal creams because after a while, it becomes like shaving and you don't want to end up like your dad... Don't forget bleaching is always an option, but if you have a tanner skin tone, the golden like hairs will look awful.

2. If you can't brush your teeth after a meal, chewing sugar-free gum can help prevent cavities. The chewing action triggers saliva flow in the mouth. Saliva has the ability to neutralize acids produced by bacteria in the mouth following a meal. While chewing gum isn’t recommended as an alternative to a proper hygiene routine of brushing and flossing, it can be beneficial when you're on the go.

3. For a safe, natural way to deflate eye puffiness, try potatoes. The vegetable has a soothing effect on swollen skin tissues. Cut two slices from a freshly washed and peeled raw potato. Lie down, placing the slices on your eyes. Ten minutes later, remove the potato pieces and rinse the eye area with lukewarm water.

4. Desperate for highlights, but can’t get to your hair salon? Relax and turn the kettle on – literally. The cup of tea you’re brewing will lighten your locks. Chamomile tea and fresh lemon juice is a permanent hair lightener. Wash your hair and use chamomile tea mixed with lemon juice as a rinse instead of conditioner. Then sit in the sun to let your hair dry. It will give you natural highlights. It doesn’t fade and will stay until it grows out.

5. Here are some tips for combatting oily skin and to help get your shine in control. Wash your face with a mild cleanser and warm water daily. Washing too often or too vigorously may actually make your acne and oily skin worse. Exfoliate once or twice a week (depending on skin type) with an exfoliant. To keep your skin less oily and clean from acne, wear as little cosmetics as possible. Oil-free, water-based moisturizers and makeup should be used. Choose products that are "non-comedogenic" (this will help reduce the number of blackheads and whiteheads). Remove your cosmetics every night with mild soap or a gentle cleanser and water. A flesh-tinted acne lotion can safely hide blemishes. Loose powder in combination with an oil-free foundation is also good for cover-up. Avoid: excessive makeup wear and comedogenic/oil-based products. Look for: vitamin A or tretinoin prescription products, which decrease oil production. Over- the-counter products to try: salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and products containing glycolic acid.

Beauty tips part 19: These are for different cuts, styles and tips for different face shapes.

~ For heart shaped faces, your pointy chin tends to be the focal point of your face. Draw attention to your eyes and cheekbones instead with side-swept bangs, brow-grazing fringe, a strong part and hair that falls at or below your jawline. Short hair tends to look great on heart-shaped faces, especially the pixie hairstyle. Keep top layers soft and long. Long hair? Go for long layers that graze your cheek bones. Avoid: short, blunt-cut bangs and harsh, choppy layers. Celebs that share your face shape: Katie Holmes, Jennifer Lopez, Rachel Bilson, Reese Witherspoon, Ziyi Zhang

~ If you have a square face, consider yourself lucky. Some of the most famous faces in the past and today have a strong, angular jawlines and I read once a famous photographer claim that square faces photograph the best. Women with strong angular features tend to age well. If you have a square face, you may want to play down your strong, angular jaw. Texture, in the form of curls or choppy ends, does this brilliantly. You can also get away with short, spiky cuts and long, sleek styles with layers that start at the jawline and continue downward. Avoid: one-length bob hairstyles (especially chin-length) and blunt bangs. These will only highlight your angular features rather than downplay them. Celebs who share your face shape: Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore, Angelina Jolie, Isabella Rossellini and Rosario Dawson.

~ Round face tend to be soft with non-angular features and full cheeks. You may find you have more of a round face when you carry extra weight, but keep in mind many classic round-faced women are super thin and still have non-angular features. Typically, if you have a round face, you want to make your face appear longer and leaner and less round. To do this, create less volume around the face. Try cuts that fall just below the chin like the long bob hairstyle. Soft, graduated layers like the ones found in this shoulder-length are a great bet because they make your face appear slimmer and tend to remove bulk and weight from the sides. Consider wispy and tapered ends like Rhianna's bob hairstyle. The wisps de-emphasize the roundness of your face. Bang hairstyles are flattering, but keep them long or side-swept. Avoid: one-length, blunt cuts such as the classic bob hairstyle if you have short hair. Curly, short hair is also a no-no. Grow your curls out to shoulder-length or beyond or flat iron them. Celebs that share your face shape: Fergie, Kate Bosworth, Oprah Winfrey, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

~ If you have a diamond face if you are widest at your cheekbones, and your jawline and forehead are the same length (but still narrower than your cheeks). The hairstyles that look great on you look great on square face shapes. ~ Styles that work best on long shaped faces: brow-skimming bangs. Chin-length bobs are also ideal because they create the illusion of width. Gwyneth Paltrow's long bob is very flattering on a long face. Just make sure your stylist cuts the hair a bit shorter in the back so it doesn't look boring. Curls and waves work well because they add width to the face. Be careful with long hair: Hair that is too long like Megan Fox's can drag down the face. Long layers work best with pieces hitting at the nose, the chin and the collarbone. Consider a v-shaped style where the length is mainly in the back, while the sides and front of your hair appear shorter. Also consider adding wave or curls to the hair. Avoid: the extremes. Don't go longer than the collarbone and avoid a skull-capping pixie cut, like these pixie hairstyles. Celebs that share your face shape: Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashlee Simpson, Liv Tyler, Giselle Bundchen. Must have products for long shaped faces: a great volumizer.

~ And finally, the oval face shape. Stop for a second and congratulate yourself. You've landed the most versatile face shape. You can wear almost any hairstyle. Just be careful, with a bad haircut, your face can start to look long. The oval face is the most versatile shape. You can pull off almost any look: short or long, straight or wavy or even one of the funkier, edgier hairstyles. To find your most flattering style, consider your best feature and highlight it with your hair cut. If you have gorgeous bone structure, consider an angular bob that shows off your chin. Great eyes? Blunt or side-swept bangs are a great bet. Styles that are flattering and stylish: sophisticated bobs, bangs, long, beachy waves (think California surfer girl). Avoid: short layers that add height on top of your head. Aside from being dated, short layers can make your face appear long. If your hair is thick or curly, avoid a blunt cut. You'll look like a pyramid. If you have curly hair, short hair is generally a no-no. Try shoulder-length or longer to weigh down curls. Celebs that share your face shape: Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba and Jada Pinkett Smith. Must-have product for an oval shaped face, a great curling iron and a flat iron to create waves and straighten your sleek locks.

Beauty tips part 20:

1. After a meal, swish you mouth with water. This will get all the junk out of your teeth until your enamel hardness again. Don’t brush your teeth RIGHT after you eat, because your enamel is still soft and brushing it can damage it. Wait about 30 minutes after eating before brushing (if you are at home of course).

2. Instead of chewing gum, try mint leaves. Even if your gum is sugar-free, it's still not the best way to clean your teeth and freshen breath. Chewing natural peppermint, spearmint or any mint you like will help you have fresh breath far longer than gum. Be sure not to leave any mint leaves in your teeth though 

3. Okay... there's no way to make your lips fuller without botox and surgery, but there is a way to make them look bigger and fuller. Take a natural colored lip liner -try to find one that doesn't stand out too much. Draw it around your lips like your normally would and then put on a lip gloss also with a light, natural color. (light brown, etc.) This will create such a big change to your lips and face. I know that's not what you wanted, but there isn’t any way to make them bigger naturally, like boobs. Personally, I think that you're all beautiful no matter what size you’re whatever you want larger is! 4. To treat razor bumps you need to stop shaving for a while to let your skin heal. Oops, I forgot to mention that Aloe Vera and tea tree oil speed up the healing process. To prevent them however is a different process. Make sure to exfoliate your legs once a week. Try one that contains salicylic acid. NEVER shave with just water. PLEASE. Always apply conditioner or shaving lotion before. I got this razor that works so well, I've never experienced a closer shave. Plus, it comes with a shaving soap around it so you just need to splash your legs with water and wet the razor. It's an Intuition razor, you can get different scents that help different things. Mine is a nourishing one that smells like pomegranate, yum.

5. When sitting down, don't sit criss cross apple sauce. Instead sit in the 'lady like' position, you know, one leg slightly bent and the other one slightly bent on top of it. Sitting in the cross-legged way cuts off your circulation and makes you get blue-green spider veins down your leg when you get older.

Beauty tips part 21:

1. Truly green eyes are only found in 2 percent of the population, so be happy of your rare eye color! To bring out green eyes, choose at least two complementary eye-shadow colors. Purple and brown are two colors that work well together and bring out green eyes. Match any additional color to the two primary colors. Then, apply the lighter shade to the entire eyelid as a base from the lashes to the brow. Apply the darker color to the crease just above the eye. Blend the two colors using a soft makeup brush. Apply one shade of eyeliner to the upper eyelid. Follow the form of the eye with the eyeliner along the upper and lower lid. Keep the liner as close to the lashes as possible. Choose dark-brown mascara with green eyes. Apply the mascara wand to the upper and lower lashes. Use a lash brush to remove any excess mascara and separate lashes. Choose an outfit with dark brown, purple or red accents. Wear clothing that coordinates with the colors of your makeup. Wear clothes you feel comfortable in and exude a bright confidence to match your bright green eyes!

2. To bring out hazel eyes, make sure to stay away from blue in eye shadows and your wardrobe. Pick neutral tones of eye shadow, such as, browns and deep greens. Purples, pinks and rose colors are also good choices for hazel eyes. Steer clear of colors that are too vibrant. Try a red lipstick, which can make hazel eyes sparkle. Try a red lip gloss for a sheerer look. Since its summer, maybe you could experiment with some red highlights in your hair. Wear purple clothes and think about adding some golds, browns, tans and any shade of green. 3. To bring out brown eyes is not difficult at all! The easiest way to bring brown eyes is to lighten your hair. If you have brown eyes, you may want to consider highlights, or heck, going completely blond! The contrast is very striking. Just make sure that you lighten your eyebrows (professionally of course) so that you don't end up with a fake look. This approach also works best on people with a light skin tone. The color you choose to wear can also bring out brown eyes. The colors that bring out brown eyes the best are light colors that complement the color of your eyes, such as yellows, golds and beige's. The makeup you wear makes a big difference. Shades that are known for bringing out brown eyes are purples and greens. However, you can bring out your brown eyes with just about any color--as long as it's light! People with darker skin tones can have great success by applying eye shadow that is bright, as well. Don't be afraid to try an exciting shade like hot pink! Eyes of any color can be brought out more by curling your eyelashes to open up the eye, and then applying mascara and eyeliner. If you want your eyes to be brought out, apply the eyeliner on the outside of your eye ONLY, and don't go all the way around.

4. To bring out blue eyes, wear eye makeup that brings out blue eyes. Eye shadow in shades of orange, such as peach, coral and copper all complement your eye color and make the blue shade stand out more. Wear colors that coordinate with your hair, makeup and clothes. For example; if you have brown hair, wear an orange-brown copper eye shadow with a brown shirt. Because the colors you're wearing match, this makes your eyes, which contrast, stand out. Apply a thin layer of liquid eye liner along the top of your eyelid. Smudge the line slightly with your fingertip. This technique helps accentuate your eyes, which makes the color stand out.

5. Getting away from the eyes category, I'll tell you guys a quick oral hygiene tip. Always gargle water, after brushing your teeth and after meals. It cleans the back of your tongue and helps eliminate bad breath.

Beauty tips part 22:

1. Don't let nails go. Not into manicures and pedicures? No worries. Just make sure to keep nails clean and the same length. If you do want to paint them, don't keep the polish on until half of it's chipped away. Also, there's nothing worse than too-long toenails. Keep nails clipped between pedicures too. People tend to judge others by the care they put into their hands and feet. 2. Shave legs at the end of the shower. Cut down on nicks and cuts by making shaving the very last step in your shower or bathing ritual.

3. What feature do people comment on most? Play it up.. If you're told you have Angelina Jolie lips, make sure to wear gloss and play with bold lipstick colors. If it's your eye color people love, find eye shadow colors that complement them and make sure to wear mascara. Also, know what color shirts look best on you and go shopping. 4. Less is more. Ever notice how some of your friends look best with no makeup at all? No matter your age, too much makeup makes you look worse. If you wear foundation, powder, blush, liner, mascara, eye shadow, lip liner and gloss on an everyday basis, then you're overdoing it. Tone it down: All you really need is great mascara, concealer for blemishes and gloss. If you want, add a pop of blush in winter.

5. Remember: Beauty is mostly internal. Think about a girl you know who's overweight yet all the guys love her. Why? Because she's confident. If you aren't wearing makeup and your toes haven't been repainted in weeks, if you're happy and smiling you will still be 10 times prettier than the mopey cheerleader sitting next to you in class.

Beauty tips part 23:

 1. Shave your pits from down to up. It's the same thing as your legs - you're shaving the hairs from the opposite direction of their growth and therefore you'll get a much closer shave.

2. Skip the foundation. If you have acne the first thing you want to do is slather on the thick foundation. Don't. Not only will it cover up your natural beauty, but foundation on a teenager looks anything but natural. Instead, cover up blemishes with concealer, then follow with a powder or tinted moisturizer. Tinted moisturizers tend to be lighter than heavy foundations.

3. Play up your lips or your eyes, never both. If you are wearing heavy eye makeup, go for nude lips with just a bit of gloss. Prefer the drama of dark lipstick? Keep face light (stay away from heavy blush) and wear only mascara on your eyes and a light eye shadow. Don't heavily line your eyes. Play up both and you'll look like a clown.

4. Vaseline is your best friend. Vaseline is a great, cheap eye makeup remover. It's also great for fixing chapped, scaly lips. Slather on a bunch of Vaseline, and then use a toothbrush to massage lips. Wipe the excess off on a tissue. Your lips will be smooth and soft.

5. Never ever skip sunscreen. The first beauty product you should apply every day is sunscreen, even if it's cloudy or rainy outside. Why? Good habits start young and if you use sunscreen now, you'll have gorgeous skin when you're 50, 60, 70. Remember, the sun's UV rays can penetrate clouds and car windows.

The Rose and The Beast: Glass

Sorry for the long hiatus on the TRaTB stories, I've been a bit busy with life and school and stuff! Anyways, here's the next story in the series, Glass, which is based on Cinderella:

-Glass-

By Francesca Lia Block

She did not mind her days alone, away from the eyes outside. It was better this way, her secret stories hidden so no one could touch them, take them. Her sisters listened, rapt, but did not try to take. They cared more for the eyes and ears; they seemed to want to collect these like charms to wear around their necks, their eyes and ears and the mouths whispering- beautiful, beautiful, why did it matter she wondered. She was free still, like a child, the way it is before you are seen and then after that you can never remember who you are unless someone else shows it to you. She had the stories she gave her sisters that made them love her. Or need her, at least.

And she had the tasks. She loved to plant the beds with lilies and wisteria, camellias and gardenias, until her hands were caked with earth. To arrange the flowers in the vase like dancing sisters. To make the salmon in pomegranate sauce; the salads of spinach, red onion, pine nuts, oranges, and avocados; the golden vanilla cream custards; the breads and piecrusts that powdered her with flour. She loved, even, to dust the things, to feel them in her hand, imagining their history. The glass music box that perhaps a boy had once given to his grandparents- the first present he had ever chosen, making them close their eyes, watching them standing there, before him, suddenly looking so small with their eyelids closed and their hands held out until they heard the tinkle of their first dance. The glass goblet with the roses and grape clusters one could feel with their fingertips like Braille that perhaps a man had given to his wife because she was losing her sight and he was afraid to give her more books of poetry. The candlesticks like crystal balls, many-faceted; though the girl could not read her own future in them perhaps if she looked closely enough she could see the young bride tearing away the tissue and holding them up to the light to see herself being imagined by this girl now. This girl, now, who did not mind polishing the wooden floors or scrubbing out the pots until her sisters could see their reflections, or cleaning between the tiles and lighting the candles, running the water and scattering the petals and powders in the bath so that her sisters could lie in the tub where she would tell them stories. Always she would tell them stories; they returned at night and sat before their mirrors, let her rub their feet with almond oil, soothe them with her words and in this way she felt loved.

But the woman came to her then. The woman with hair of red like roses, hair of white like snowfall. She was young and old. She was blind and could see everything. She spoke in whispers, but her voice carried across the mountain ranges like sleeping giants, the cities lit like fairies and the ocean-undulating mermaids. She laughed at her own sorrow and wept pearls at weddings. He fingers were branches and her eyes were little blue planets. She said, you cannot hide forever, though you may try. I’ve seen you in my kitchen, in the garden. I’ve seen the things you have sewn-curtains of dawn, twilight blankets and dresses for the sisters like a garden of stars. I have heard the stories you tell. You are the one who transforms, who creates. You can go out into the world and show others. They will feel less alone because of you, they will feel understood, unburdened by you, awakened by you, free of guilt and shame and sorrow. But to share with them you must wear shoes you must go out you must not hide you must dance and it will be harder you must face jealousy and sometimes rage and desire and love which can hurt most of all because of what can then be taken away, So make that astral dress to fit your own body this time. And here are glass shoes made from your words, the stories you have told like a blower with her torch forming the thinnest, most translucent sheets of light out of what was once sand. But be careful; sand is already broken but glass breaks. The shoes are for dancing not for running away.

So she washed off the dust and ash and flour and went to the dance where sure enough everyone whirled around her, entranced by the stories in which they recognized themselves, but in the stories they were also more than themselves and it always felt at the end fulfilled not meaningless and empty like life can sometimes feel. She knew they all loved her with her stories because they became her and she became them.

He came to her across the marble floor, past the tall windows glowing like candles, the balconies overlooking the reflecting pools full of swans, the stone statues of goddesses and beds of heady roses- had she made all of this, like a story? He had dense curls and soft full lips and bright eyes like a woodland beast and a body of lithe muscle and mostly she could see he was gentle, he was gentle like a boy though he could lift her in his hands. He held her and she felt his hard chest and stomach and hipbones and she felt his strong heart beating like the sound of all the stories she could ever hope to tell. Maybe she had not created him, maybe she was his creation and all she dreamed, his dream. Or maybe they had made each other. Yes

Beloved. One. He planted in her a seed of a white flower with a dizzy scent; in the night garden the oranges hung like fat moonstruck jewels and the jasmine bloomed as she spun and spun. Now she had everything and the sisters eyes her jealously, secretly, in their mirrors until the glass cracked, clutched little bags she had made for them until the crystal beads scattered and broke-they had stories too, they’d like to tell. They’d like to make someone cry and swoon and spin with love for what they made. Who was she to take this away from them? How dare she wear the glass shoes? They could see what was wrong with her. She wasn’t perfect, she wasn't so beautiful. Her skin was blemished and her body was too thin, or not thin enough, and she wasn’t perfectly symmetrical and her hair was thin and brittle and why was he looking at the like that? It was just that she knew how to make things. Or not even that- just rearrange, imitate.

She felt their envy and this broke her. The story ended, she couldn’t tell the rest, they'd hate her, she had to stop it, she wasn't any good shut up you bad bad girl ugly and you don't deserve any of this and so the spell was broken and she ran home through a tangle of words where the letters jumbled and made no sense and meant nothing, and the words were ugly and she was not to be heard or seen, she was blemished and too fat, too thin, not smart, too smart, not a storyteller, not a creator, not beautiful, not a woman, not not not. All the things that girls feel they are not when they fear that if they become, if they are, they will no longer be loved by the sisters whose hearts they have not meant to break. And besides, if the sisters are gone and only the beloved remains with his dense curls and his lips, how safe are you then? You have to have hm or you will die if the sisters are gone with their listening ears and their feet to rub and their bodies to dress and their shared loneliness.

She lost one of the glass slippers- shine, fire, bright of her making like a dropped word lost, like a word, the missing word to make her story right again, to make it complete.

It doesn't matter, she tells herself, shredding up the dress she made. It doesn't matter, I am safe. Alone and safe. The sisters don't hate me, hear me, no one can break me by leaving by taking way his seed, the promise of the jasmine blossom in the garden.

Still he came to find her even without her enchantments, her stories, her dress, her shoe. He had the shoe, he’d found it when he followed her. It was so fragile he didn’t breathe.

She made him want to cry when he walked up the path through the ferns and doves and lilies and saw her covered with earth and dust and ash. Only her eyes shone out. Revealing, not reflecting. Windows. Her feet were bare. He wanted her to tell him the rest of the story. He felt bereft without it, without her. There were only these women with mirror eyes strutting across marble floors, tossing their manes, revealing their breasts, untouchable, only these tantalizing empty glass boxes full of dancing lights he could not hold, only these icy cubicles, parched yards, hard loneliness.

When the sisters saw him kneeling before her holding the one shoe, not breathing, trying not to crush anything, saw how he looked at her, how he needed her, they knew that if they tried to take this from her they would, never know, have nothing left, they would starve, they would break, they would never wake up.

The fairy who was not old, not young, who was red roses, white snowfall, who was blind and saw everything, who sent stories resounding through the universe said, You must reach inside yourselves where I live like a story, not old, not young, laughing at my own sorrow, weeping pearls at weddings, wielding a torch to melt sand into something clear and bright.

FLB Book Quotes

I felt a lot like a girl in a tower or one who slept in a briar-covered castle or a glass box. My skin was always clammy and my hair was tangled. I slept and slept on soft pillows, seeing almost no one. But if I was the spellbound princess I was also the witch who had put myself in that place of icy isolation. One thing I was not, though: the faithful prince with the sword and the kiss, the rescuer.

I thought of Jeni's room with the roses and books everywhere, the mix of flower fairies and rock stars. We gave each other pedicures and listened to music and giggled late into the night. We were girls but becoming something else.

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Bear brought him into the kitchen where Fox, Tiger, and Buck were eating their lunch of vegetable stew and rice, baked apples and blueberry gingerbread.

Bear and Ram built her a room among the trees overlooking the sea. Tiger built her a music-box cradle that rocked and played melodies. Buck sewed tiny lace dresses and made her tiny boots like the ones he and his brothers wore. They cooked for her- the finest, the healthiest foods, most of which they grew themselves, and she was always surrounded by the flowers Lynx picked from their garden, the candles Fox dipped in the cellar, and the melon-scented soaps that Otter made in his workroom.

When the gardener came they let him go to her alone. They sat downstairs in the dim- just a single candle- working on the gifts they would give to her only if she woke. These gifts she would take into the world- dresses of silk, necklaces of glass beads and shells, glass candlesticks and champagne glasses and tiny glass animals, candles and incense and bath salts and soaps and quilts and coverlets and a miniature house with a real garden and tiny fountains that she could keep at her bedside.

She was no longer a slow dreamer watching the flowers grow. She was a warrior now. Warriors need something to fight for, though, besides their lives, because otherwise their lives will not be worth it.

She woke the next night. The woman was sitting at her bedside with a silver tray. She had made a meal of jasmine rice, coconut milk, fresh mint, and chiles. There were tall glasses of mineral water with slices of lime like green moons rising above clear bubbling pools. There was a glass bowl full of gardenias.

Rev found, strangely, that she was hungry. She ate the sweet and spicy, creamy minty rice and drank the fizzing lime-stung mineral water. She breathed the gardenias. She watched the woman's eyes. They were like the eyes of old-time movie stars, always lambent, making the celluloid look slicked with water, lit with candles.

I thought he had taken my soul, said Rev.

I thought he took mine, too. But no one can. It's just been sleeping.

Rose Red's voice evokes volcanoes, salt spray, cool tunnels of air, hot plains, redolence, blossoms. Rose White listens and smiles. Yes- worlds, waters, rocks, stars, color so much color. She can see it all when Rose Red speaks.

The air had that grilled smell, meat and gasoline, that it gets in Los Angeles when the temperature soars.

I was always hungry for food- blueberry pancakes and root beer floats and pizza gluey with cheese- I thought about it all the time. And other things. I'd sig around dreaming that the boys I saw at shows or at work- the boys with silver earrings and big boots- would tell me I was beautiful, take me home and feed me Thai food or omelets and undress me and make love to me all night with the palm trees whispering windsongs about a tortured, gleaming city and the moonlight like flame melting our candle bodies.

She sat on a cushion in front of a low table that was spread with foods she had never seen or even heard of before. There were translucent sweet red and green fruits shaped like hearts, bright gold roasted-tasting grains shaped like stars, huge ruffley purple vegetables and small satiny blue ones.

All that winter I painted him with his eyes like moons or his head crowned in stars or a frozen city melting in his hands. I had some ideas of how I was going to paint him riding on the back of a reindeer, eating snowflakes, holding a swan. He wrote songs about a girl who was a storm, a fire, a mirror. My hair grew out and I started wearing sparkling light-colored soft soft things I'd found in thrift shops. I had a fake fur coat and a pastel sequin shirt and rhinestones. We got the flu and ate rice balls and miso soup in the bathtub. I gave him vitamin C and echinacea. He felt better. We went to the mirror and he always made sure to find me right after he sang and hold me so no one would try to touch him.

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She is his unprecedented blossom, his chocolate-cherry-swirl birthday cake, ultimately his angel.

The house had to be assessed. My mother went around throwing out all the chemicals that might have toxic properties and putting crystals everywhere- in teacups and cereal bowls, in the bathtub, all over the windowsills and altars. First, she soaked the crystals in salt water in the sun to purify them. The house was a mess of rainbows. The crystals reminded me of tiny cities with cathedrals and towels. Sometimes I took the smaller ones and sucked on them like rock candy but they had a slightly bitter flavor. Then, guilty, I put them in a glass of salt water on the windowsill to make them pure again.

The water was so cold. And the waves were stronger than they seemed. Right away I knew it was too much. Part of me reached up like a hand trying to grasp for air but part of me sank in so easily like a fist, plunging deep deep in, flooded with sea until it was inside of me- a lover, in my lungs and in my heart and I was no longer the daughter of a dying man and an angel who could not save him but the daughter of the water.

The jade-green hotel where they lived looked like a fairy-tale palace. Eva sat by the pool talking to the palm trees. She told them stories of eastern trees that changed colors and lost leaves, and heard palm tales of kissing movie stars and drowning children. Eva believed the place was enchanted, not realizing she was the enchantment. She picked oranges and avocados when she was hungry and she floated in the water all day until her ivory skin turned to gold and her hair grew even longer, down to her knees, and people staying at the hotel would stop speaking or choke on their drinks when they saw her floating or perched in a fruit tree with hibiscus flowers in her hair and powder-blue or pale-yellow parakeets on her shoulders. A famous movie director spotted her weaving a nest out of twigs, branches, feathers and dried flowers; she planned to put it up in a tree so she could sleep closer to the moon on the warm nights when the pool glowed like a blue ghost. He was sure she was some kind of supernatural creature and that if he could capture her on film, he would change the history of cinema. However, she wasn't interested in becoming a film star, afraid that it would take her away from her parents and corrupt her healing powers, so she pretended to be deaf and mute when he was around. Eventually he gave up and she was left alone to swim, build her nest and care for her parents. She learned to cook at that time, experimenting first with mud-and-jacaranda blossom stew for her bisque dolls who ate it voraciously and began to develop and uncanny human glow in their blue glass eyes, and eventually gathering tips and recipes from the people at the hotel. An Indian businessman taught her about curries, the aphrodisiac properties of certain spices and how to make a mango-yogurt concoction that was refreshing on the most burning days when the palm trees seemed about ready to ignite from the Santa Ana winds sizzling through their fronds. A couple who had come from China to open a restaurant, familiarized her with dishes employing healing roots. And a handsome Italian with fistfuls of black curls, dangerous cheekbones and hopes of becoming a matinee idol gave her his mother's secret recipe for risotto that shone in the dark. At the hotel Eva also learned secrets of a southern Californian garden from a three-foot-tall gardener who had played a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz and who knew how to breed impossibly green and silver hydrangeas, about the poisonous and thoroughly Los Angelean beauty of belladonna and oleander, and the arias that roses enjoyed hearing. The plants immediately took to Eva and the garden at the hotel began to grow so profusely that the head gardener had to hire three more men to keep it from overgrowing the building.

One day, sitting at the soda fountain in the hotel cafeteria, Eva saw a man with shining shrunken eyes and beautiful hands watching her over his cup of coffee and sketching strange sad-eyed creatures on his napkin. He was much older than she and never spoke to her, but she knew that he was in love with her and that one day they would meet again and become as inseparable as identical twins who looked nothing alike and had been born many years apart.

So the boy began a desperate search for a woman with flowers growing out of her head, birds on her shoulders and the ability to mend broken hearts with her creations. There was no sign of her for years. Then he realized that he wouldn't find her in Manhattan, a city of dark stone and soot and noise and burning cold winters where nature had to be imported and relegated to certain areas like a caged animal. He imagined she was living in a sun-blossomed paradise, a city of magicians, movie queens, love-struck clowns. So he took the empty box of paints his mother had given him and the wedding dress wrapped in pale blue tissue paper and left the brownstone apartment, where he lived in a perpetual silence with his aunt and uncle, and went to Los Angeles to find her. Sitting at a soda fountain in a hotel restaurant, he was shocked to see beside him a little girl with satined skin and a white dove perched on her garlands of rose-colored hair. She was sipping a root beer float in a state of bliss. He heard the fizz of soda and cream, smelled the caramel dark; her hair was waves of petals, her hands were carved ivory amulets, tiny enough that he could have worn them around his neck. He said a prayer to a God he had ceased to believe in. He vowed to wait for her, to never let himself love anyone else. But one day she was not at the counter sipping her float. She and the enchantment had gone from the hotel.

She was standing amongst the monsters and casting an eerie light onto the bleak canvases. In that light the monsters appeared to be transforming. They seemed to be getting smaller and weaker. Their mouths closed and their hands dropped sheepishly to their sides. No one wanted to purchase these watered-down versions of Caliban's earlier work.  They left the gallery in droves until the only person left was a woman who resembled Nefertiti with blushing hair. Caliban approached her and said, "What have you done to the monsters?" The woman smiled and it was like a temple full of candles, like a garden full of white flowers, like the spread of wings. At that moment Caliban knew that she was the little girl at the soda fountain in the jade-green hotel and that from them on he would never paint or love anyone else.

If Death is your lover, you don't have to be afraid that he will ever leave you.

"He abandoned his religion for you. You became his religion."

I sat at a tiny desk cataloguing and filing papers for the owner, Iris herself, a petit eighty-year-old actress who liked to waltz down her staircase dressed in her finery from half a century ago. She entertained me with monologues from Shakespeare and stories about the gallery's glory days. The gentle horror movie actors, ballet gods with feet like hooves, and bohemian queens in long velvet scarves who were her favorite clients.

We went out on the third of July. I wore a cream-colored silk 1920s dress that I had gotten for a few bucks at a flea market. I didn't care if it was haunted.

Then sometimes he would speak of how she would get better, how they would swim with dolphins, dance under stars and how she would wear glass slippers and be worshiped on a stage made of moonlight.

Valentine drank martinis like her father. She told me he had been an animator. He had created a character named Teenie Martini, a miniature girl who appeared on the rim of this guy's glass whenever he drank too much.

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I go into the kitchen and put some plums and a slice of buttered, home-baked bread onto a blue-and-white plate from Holland. I fill a glass with water and squeeze some lemon in. I put everything on the tray with the real butterflies pressed under glass.

The clown is a tiny man in whiteface who sits on the boardwalk painting people. He asks me, "What do you dream about?" and I tell him about the parrots and the poison flowers and the gold. So he paints delicately while I speak, tracing the brush like a tongue over my forehead and cheeks and eyelids. He paints me my dreams but I can't see them. I feel my dreams being licked onto my face with paint. Then he holds up the mirror. I see feathers and blossoms- scarlet highlighted with gold.

The clown paints Claudia's dreams on her face. He paints crescent moons and pomegranates and crosses. He paints her pale blue and silver.

My mother has two silk roses in her cabinet. Nijinsky wore them when he danced in The Specter of the Rose. My mother used to take one out and let me hold it. It looked and felt like a real rose but it smelled like old closets, old silk. We have a photograph of Nijinsky as the Specter. His eyes are closed and his eyelids and lips look like petals. Sometimes, I would find my mother holding the rose or the photograph and crying.

We decide to have a Midsummer Night's Dream full-moon party. My mother brings out all her white tulle and we hang it in the trees. We cut out paper stars and glue blue and pink glitter onto them and scatter them in the tulle canopies among white Christmas lights. We buy watermelons, pineapples, cantaloupes, honeydew, strawberries and cut them up and put them on platters and my mother makes her punch. It is a citrus-greenish-yellow color and it smokes. We call it the witch brew and everyone is drinking and dancing around in their white shirts and dresses and lace and masks and glittery scarves.

Perdita is wearing antique lace, and feathers in her hair. She is wearing strands of beads, a plastic necklace filled with green glow-in-the-dark liquid and a glass bird ring. She is dancing by herself and when she sees me, she comes and takes my hand.

We dance together, seining our hands and our skirts like wings. Perdita looks like she is floating because her dress is so long and white and her legs are so delicate and seem almost boneless the way she drifts back and forth to the music. She holds up her arms and I swing her around.

I feel like when I was little before I was afraid all the time. Dancing and swirling the silk of my skirt. Perdita has stars pasted on her face. They catch the light. I am six and a half with her, loving my body because it can dance, because it is my body, for a moment not knowing what it is like not to love my body. I am also her mother. I am aware of a weightlessness beneath my belly but I don't hate it. I imagine Perdita is my child, that I dress her in lacs and scarves and flower wreaths and we go out and dance in the park, play Goddess and Egypt, that I show her paintings and we draw with colored chalk on the sidewalk, that I read her fairy tales and feed her fruit and bread and milk.

I lift her up; she has a tiny paper parasol in her hair and lipstick smeared on her mouth but it looks like smudges of watermelon candy.

My mother comes up to my room with a tray of strawberries and plain yogurt, a piece of fresh-baked bread spread with honey. She puts the tray with real butterflies pressed under glass onto my bed.

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My tree, the one that I had strung with gold fairy lights, the one that shaded parties made for teddy bears and dolls, the tree in whose pink-blossomed branches Dad had built a wooden platform house with a rope ladder. That was where I went to read art history books and mythology, and to escape the world that I only now wanted to save.

I forget that I am alone here in this house, with the sea roiling squid-ink purple-black, dark like a witch's brew, just outside my window, where once there existed the rest of my city, now lost as far as I can see.

My room has a large bed on a platform of polished quartz. The floor is inlaid with an image of a rose. Inside the rose is an eye.

On a quartz table is a bowl of water, a pile of linens, a vase of the purple-black roses, and a platter of fruit. Dresses hand from protruding crystals of green, black, and punk tourmaline that grow from the quartz wall. The dresses are all of a similar style-long, narrow, cut in the bias, and made of silk or satin charmeuse like the finest slips. Some have tulle at the hem or lace inserts. They are in a variety of colors- ivory, gold, silver, dusky rose, peach, apricot, saffron, sunlit-leaf-green, a celestialous blue. Some, like the blue one, are covered in crystal beading resembling a starry sky.

But no, he was going to be strong. He was going to change things for himself and for his beloved when he finally found her. He was going to learn to use magic and change the world.

He sighs. "When I was very young my sister, Xandra, drew an image of us. I meditated on that image and I began to see you in my mind. I saw you alone in a room, reading, always reading, looking at paintings, studying the world around you. Your vision was so precious to you; I saw that. Someone who perceives, understands, and values beauty the way you do should never be robbed of even a shadow of her sight."

These words awaken a small sob in my chest. He goes on. "I felt your loneliness as a girl, the unrequited love for your best friend. You were so beautiful to me, so vulnerable, and, even though you didn't know it yet, so strong and I knew you must be mine. I have looked for you ever since."

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If Los Angeles is a woman reclining billboard model with collagen-puffed lips and silicon-inflated breasts, a woman in a magenta convertible with heart-shaped sunglasses and cotton candy hair; if Los Angeles is this woman, then the San Fernando Valley is her teeny-bopper sister. The teenybopper sister snaps big stretchy pink bubbles over her tongue and checks her lip gloss in the mirror, causing Sis to scream. Teeny plays the radio too loud and bites her nails, wondering if the glitter polish will poison her. She puts her bare feet up on the dash to admire her tan legs and the blond hair that is so pale and soft she doesn't have to shave. She wears a Val Surf T-shirt and boys' boxer shorts and she has a boy's phone number scrawled on her hand. Part of her wants to spit on it and rub it off, and part of her wishes it was written in huge numbers across her belly, his name in gang letters, like a tattoo. The citrus fruits bouncing off the sidewalk remind her of boys; the burning oil and chlorine, the gold light smoldering on the windy leaves. Boys are shooting baskets on the tarry playground and she thinks she can smell them on the air.

If Los Angeles is a woman reclining billboard model and the the San Fernando Valley is her teenybopper sister, then New York is their cousin. Her hair is dyed autumn red or aubergine or Egyptian henna, depending on her mood. her skin is as pale as frost and she wears beautiful Jil Sander suits and Prada pumps on which she walks faster than a speeding tact (when it is caught in rush hour, that is). Her lips are some unlikely shade of copper or violet, courtesy of her local MAC drag queen makeup consultant. She is always carrying bags of clothes, bouquets of roses, take-out Chinese containers, or bagels. Museum tags fill her pockets and purses, along with perfume samples and invitations to art gallery openings. When she is walking to work, to ward of bums and psychos, her face resembles the Statue of Liberty, but at home in her candlelit, dove-colored apartment, the stony look fades away and she smiles like the sterling roses she has bought for herself to make up for the fact that she is single and her feet are sore.