I received the Dean's List Voxbox! Voxboxes are boxes full of different products given to you by Influenster with the cooperation of various companies. Influenster is a website were you have the ability to easily find reviews and write your own on various products, connect with others, and receive opportunities to get free products to review and talk about with your peers.

I received the Dean's List Voxbox and these are it's contents;

Airhead Bites

These are so good ~I've almost eaten them all now-just a short while after opening the Voxbox. 
They taste just like normal airheads. They only difference is that they're bite size, round and have a "hard" candy shell. I "" hard because it's only hard in the sense that it's more solid than they rest- think of the candy shelling on Skittles or M&Ms. They're just as chewy though!

Pilot Pen

I received to Pilot Frixion Ball Clicker pens. They write so pretty. I had a small doodle showing it off on my Instgram but it doesn't nearly do it enough justice. They're also erase-able!

So I'm kind of weird because I've always been super picky about the pens I write with -it's an artist thing?-. I love when they write smoothly and prettily, and these do! Bonus is the eraser is really good too!

Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes - Sultry

I received these Lashes.  Now there's different styles of Looks So Natural Lashes, I received them in Sultry. They're less full than other lashes I own but not in a bad way! The idea is to look super natural and they do. They're even tapers to go from shorter on the inside to longer on the outside just like natural lashes. And they branch out ever so slightly in different directions, once again, like natural lashes. The strip the lashes are attached to is fairly thin as well, and clear, helping to give them an even more natural look. These lashes will help add slight volume and fullness to your natural lashes, as well as length ~ all while keeping it looking natural, like they're actually your real lashes.

Platex Sports Fresh Balance Tampons

These are meant for people who are active often, so they'd be especially good for girls who play sports! They come with a plastic applicator and are apparently lightly scented and have an odor shield. Now these aren't necessarily my thing but I'm sure it's good for anyone who prefers this style of lady items.

Softlips Cube

This has to be the most favorite product I received. Most lipbalms and chapsticks I've purchased all say they do this and that and they do do what they say but it's never anything super noticeably different from one another. 

This one is so different though! I felt an instant difference -not exaggerating. It's so hydrating and instantly moisturizing. Plus is smells amazing! I got it in the scent Vanilla Bean and not only does is smell like Vanilla Bean but it tastes like it too, how crazy (mostly, because I've never been a fan on when lip products where flavored and this one I don't believe is necessarily meant to be-but even so, it's not bad or weird smelling nor tasting). Think Starbuck's Vanilla Bean drink-I forget what kind of drink it is, but the one without coffee. 

Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous Foundation
It's oil free and matches my skin tone. It has more of a warm undertone too it but blends really well so I find that the pink-y tone to it goes away once I blend it onto my skin more-which is great since I'm a cool tone.  It feels really light weight and seems to cover fairly well.

Sinful Colors; No Text Red

It's a pretty shade of red. Looks a bit magenta-y or has a magenta tone to it with a thin layer, but with two coats comes out a vibrant red. Dries quickly to and it non-sticky and easy to apply. No only is the nail polish great but the campaign is stands for is amazing. No Text Red is a part of a campaign to raise awareness of safe driving, specifically, not texting while driving. You're suppose to paint your thumbnails red to partake in the awareness. Right now my middle finger is the red one but I'll switch it up later. Remember don't text and drive and drive safely!

Everything in the box I love and am very satisfied/happy with :) Can wait to use these products more!

~Positive outcomes only! :)

Not sure why, but I decided to make a blog post on my photographer situation. Nothing special or anything but I figured "hey maybe this'll give people some ideas on how to go about getting photos of their own cosplay (or whatever)!" 

There's a couple different ways shoots can happen. You can be paid to do the shoot or pay someone to shoot it. I guess it depends on who contacts who. There's also one where it's free on both ends; the photographer takes photos therefore gaining more experience and shots for their gallery and you get photos of your cosplay ~there's an actual word for this but I forget.

Most people seem to try out different photographers and usually settle with one or two or something ~do your research, don't go alone and check references. Personally, I'm not exactly sure on how these things work out, who pays who or if it's a swap/free thing.  I don't work with "actual" photographers, so none of these things ever come up. 

How do you go about shooting cosplays if you don't work with photographers? 
I don't work with "actual" photographers. I just have friends take the photos! And no I don't mean, photographers who are friends or vise versa. I literally just mean I ask someone "hey will you basically be my tripod and help me take photos of my cosplay". So usually and most recently, I just ask my boyfriend. 
I don't call them "actual" photographers because they aren't. None of them have had an interest in photography really or are pursuing it as any type of career, the most experience they've had before is a photography class to fill an elective spot back in high school, they haven't done any photoshoot type things before this and I don't even think they own a camera ~we use my equipment for shoots. Honestly, I'm not really sure they even slightly enjoy shooting my cosplays, but they're super nice and helpful so they don't mind :) .

So how do I get at least decent quality photos with people who don't know much about photography? 
1. It'll be up to you to do your research! If your friend isn't interested the slightest in photography, then they'll probably look to you as to what they should be doing. So it'll be up to you to learn something about photography. 
     -Figure out angles. Find what angles look best and flatter both you                and the costume. 
     -Poses. It won't work like a professional shoot, they wont be 
     instructing you on what to do and where to look, in fact they'll                        probably be asking you where they should stand! So research your              character and look up what poses fit them. 
     -Instruct! As I was saying, your friends my be asking you where they        should stand. So give them these instructions. Everyone's different                though so some may go off and do their own thing, but if there are                specific photos you would like at certain angles, tell them "hey also                get some shots of this ___". 
     -Take many photos! Ask your friends to snap a few photos of them              same shot. This way when going through them you have a few options        to choose from in case you blink in one, or don't like your expression            in another, or they shot was a little blurry. 
     -Take your time. Mention to your friend, especially if working a                    camera isn't their thing, that they may wanna just hold the camera              still a few seconds before and after taking a photo and take slight                  pauses in between each snap of the camera. This is especially good              advice if your equipment & setup isn't super amazing! It sucks to                  have a pose or photo you really like be unusable because it's too                    blurry. So don't try to rush through it.
    -Work as a team. Especially if both of you know very little and are                 new to photography. Work as a team, give each other input and                     advice and help set each other up I guess. Share ideas for poses and           angles.
2. Have a good camera. Something other than your phone! If this is something you're really interested in then invest in a fancier camera. I use a Canon Rebel T3 ~which was "top of the line" at the time I bought it, just under the Canon Rebel T3i. I've also recently invested in lighting and backdrop setups -they're in the mail!- and will be getting a around 5-foot tripod. Now this is mostly for YouTube purposes but I'll be using it for other small "shoots" as well.
3. Good lighting! I try to shoot in the morning and/or mid-day and outside. Natural lighting is great and makes photos look so much better. Shoot on bright and sunny days. If you're shooting inside try and get as much natural lighting into the room as possible -if you have lighting equipment that works too. Note: Pay attention to shadows and the shadows of the photographer! Try not to have the sun directly behind you as well because that may throw off the lighting and shadow your face.

What about editing?
I edit all my photos. At the end of the "shoot" I just pack up my camera and stuff and later on, at home, upload them all to my computer and start going through them. This may be the tricky part about just having friends take photos. It means you'll have to learn how to edit, and if you're not super computer-savvy it may be a problem.  Keep in mind photos don't NEED to be edited. It's all personal preference. I like to edit mine just because I feel like it helps give it a nice finished look. 

What do you do when editing?
I mostly just mess with the lighting, contrast, hue and saturation. I'll also clear up blemishes and if need be change my eye color. I recently learned (and am still working on better it) glowing effects. I'll black out the background sometimes as well or shadow it over. I'll also blur the background if I feel it pulls too much focus away from the subject. I'm also working on swapping out the background (I still need a lot of work on this but there's been some photos I'm really happy with the result) and fire-y smoke effects. I use Photoshop Elements 8 by the way.
For background swapping I'll use either photos I've taken or search for stock-photos (giving credit to the creator and letting them know-or follow whatever their guidelines for use were- whenever used).
I've learned most of these from friends who were good with Photoshop (they draw a lot) or from tutorials online (YouTube is a great place to look!). 

Why don't you search for local photographers?
There's a few reasons.
1. I'm incredibly weary of online people. So I'd only be willing to work with someone if they already had some sort of gallery and references to look through and contact. Of course I'd bring one or two people to come with me -so they'd need to be okay with that because I won't go alone- and I'd only really want to go if it was either at an actual business place (like how some photographers have a studio) or public (outdoors someplace like a park/forest-y area or beach or whatever's fitting -probably prefer this). 
2. Playing into the weariness, social anxiety. It already takes me a LONG time to get into the zone and comfortable taking photos with just friends -my boyfriend even- that working with professionals would end in chaos -,- . In other-words, I'd be really awkward, tense, and uncomfortable working with people I barely know. Now I have done a spontaneous shoot at a convention before, so it's not like I'm never up for it -I prefer not to let anxieties stop me from living & will just bare through it xD. I guess it just makes it harder for me to actually just say "sure I'd totally love to shoot with you!"  
3. Control. Control issues? Insecurities? It's just weird and out of my comfort zone to not be in control of the poses or angles or shooting, nor the photo choices and editing. If I'm being honest here, I already have an extreme distaste for my appearance, so it'd be really hard to just trust someone else to take and choose photos in which I'd actually feel I looked okay.
4. Money & Travel. I don't have the money to pay for photoshoots, and I'm not really looking into doing so any time soon. I'd much rather put my money towards bettering my cosplays and have photos taken for free by super awesome friends! And anything that requires much traveling would be difficult-once again gas fair, and I don't have a vehicle. It's not 100% out of the question though, if a really good opportunity ever presented itself then maybe. 

Well I hope this may have helped some of you looking to shoot some of your cosplays (or even if you're trying to get into modeling or whatever). I'm sure if you ask nicely friends would be willing to help you out and if neither of you know much about photography well then hopefully I gave you some helpful tips or ways to find more helpful tips (seriously, YouTube and Google will lead you to tutorials and forums-so helpful!). Practice makes perfect! So as you get more experience with it your photos will improve (you may even want to revisit some old cosplay and reshoot). Good luck :)

~Positive outcomes only! :)

My boyfriend took his computer to get looked at here today. The guy was super nice and helpful. 

They charged I believe it was $40 to look at and $60 if they have to open it up (the price lowers if you get it repaired at the same time or something like that I believe). My boyfriend only had $25 in his bank account though at the moment (because we're broke college students ;-; and the only income he has is a lawn mowing job ~but doesn't pay a whole lot). The guy was super nice and like here let me see it before we left and even opened it up and stuff to look at (had to take out the keyboard to fix the problem~). So when we asked what we owed him he was like nah you're good, gave us business cards and said just share us with your friends. So that's what I'm doing! xD 

Disclaimer: obviously I can't promise the same will happen for you, nor do I feel that you should attempt to. They need to make money and a living too. So if you do need your computer fixed though and you're in the area I feel it's a good place to go to! I like supporting smaller & local businesses as well, especially ones with super nice employees. Yeah it's a bit expensive to get it looked at but at least they know what they're doing and can get the job done right (~my boyfriend's parents had gone there in the past to get stuff fixed so that's why we were referred to it). 

The guy also reminded me of Tony Stark, xD. 

~Positive outcomes only!

Red Striped Shirt - Ross
$7-$10ish
Normal quality. Fitted scoop neck t-shirt. I plan to cut this and crop it. 

There's nothing really special to say about it. I've just been wanting some cropped fitted-tees and couldn't really find any that I liked so I decided to pick up a few cheap shirts and make my own!

Love White Striped Shirt - Ross
$7-$10ish
Normal quality. Fitted scoop neck t-shirt. Plan to crop it and remove the bow.

There's nothing really special to say about it. I've just been wanting some cropped fitted-tees and couldn't really find any that I liked so I decided to pick up a few cheap shirts and make my own!

Biker Faux Leather Jacket - Target
$40
Absolutely in love with this jacket. Now it just needs to be cold enough. Has a fake grey hoodie attached underneath. It reminds me of the character Marty Perkins from the TV series Hellcats. 

Heelless Shoes - eBay 
$35
Can be a bit tricky to walk on, but I personally, quickly got the hang of it. Love the style and look of these. Wouldn't recommend it for an all day thing ~but I'm wearing them to a con someday soo.... Suede fabric so I'd avoid water or buy water-proof spray meant for suede. Great quality by the way and the seller was so easy and helpful to work with. They were super nice over the phone as well. I've never had a seller call and get everything fixed so immediately. I'll be looking for shoes from them from now on! I believe they run true to size (USA sizes that is). 

Black Bed Sheet Set - Ann's Linen & Things (I think)
$10
Normal quality. Were super cheap and on sale. The store overall is quite expensive though. But I feel like all linen specific stores are. 

Paris Cafe Curtains - Ann's Linens & Things (I think)
$16
I found this to be kind of expensive, especially since the previous curtains I had up I just went ahead and made so it was super cheap. But I just love this design so it's worth it. Normal quality. 

Say Yes To Grapefruit Makeup Wipes - Walmart
$5-$6ish 
My favorite brand of facial cleansing products. I always buy their makeup whips. Yeah it's quite expensive. $5 or $6 for only 25 towelettes, but I feel it's worth it. It removes all the makeup so well and quickly, plus it usually has bonus properties aimed at specific skin problems and I find that it works.

Calvin Klein Jeans - Costco
$19.99 each
They kind of remind me of jeggings but thicker. I actually really like them. They're comfortable to wear, like most leggings are, but still on the thicker side, so they feel sturdy like denim jeans. 

High-Waisted Jeans - Ross
$8-$10ish
Fits fairly true to size. Still wanting a solid denim colored high-waisted jean but this will definitely due. Normal quality. Is pretty comfortable to wear as well.

Acid Washed Jeans - Ross
$7-$8ish
Fits true to size. Pretty comfortable to wear. Normal quality and so far so good. They're holding up amazingly for how much I've already worn them. 

Hair Extensions- eBay/MiniHouse8888
$75
The same extensions I always buy. Would like it if they were a bit thicker. But either buying a second pack or a whole weft (which is actually cheaper or same price I believe) and cutting my own and sewing on the clips myself would work to make them thicker! Clips are still a bit uncomfortable every once in a while but nothing real bothering. I'll even sleep in them sometime. Great quality. Must be taken care of as normal with repairing, conditioning and oil treatments. Held up bleaching super well, as well! Took the bleach quickly and didn't break or become damaged. Holds up to heat well too. Favorite seller. Buying from their eBay site allowed me to get faster shipping. Arrived in a few days since they shipped it from a USA warehouse. 

Batman Shirt - Walmart
$10
Normal quality. Cute design. 
I love most super heroes and while Batman isn't my FAVORITE favorite, still like him. I mostly went for this shirt because it was just so cutely doodled on ~so I couldn't resist.