Happy #thinkingoutloud Thursday! No idea what I’m going on about? Click here!
1. Okay. So you know how I said that I finally picked up some fun falsies to play around with? Well get this… I went to go put them on this past weekend only to find out that the lash glue I grabbed has formaldehyde in it. Uhm… what? Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not overly keen on the idea of putting that stuff so close to my eyeballs ? I did a little bit of research and found out that formaldehyde is actually a pretty common ingredient in most lash glues, so either I find one of the rare ones that doesn’t have it or I keep going natural because, yeah… it skeeves me out.
2. And I know that might sound a little strange coming from a self-professed beauty & makeup addict, but I do try to be a little more conscious of what I put on my body… even if it is still a work in progress. I figure we devote so much attention to what we put in our bodies, that we’d kind of be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn’t pay attention to what we put on them as well. I mean, we read food labels all the time, so why not read the ones on beauty products too? If you’re looking to clean up your beauty closet as well, there are some pretty great resources out there when it comes to ingredients to watch out for, and if that seems a little overwhelming, you can always start by trying to avoid the Dirty Dozen.
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3. So I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this already, but I picked up a new iMac for work about a month ago since my old one just hit the 8-year mark and was laggy AF, and the two of us have been going through a bit of an adjustment phase. I think my eyeballs finally got use to the fact that it’s basically like sitting 2 feet away from a small TV (my last one was 21″ and I went with the 27″ this time around), but I have to turn the brightness way down otherwise I feel like my retinas are about to burst into flame. It’s not an issue for things like browsing the net or writing, BUT I always, always forget that it’s turned down so low, which comes back to bite me in the a** when I’m trying to edit recipe photos. I’m pretty sure I’ve had to go back and re-edit each shoot I did this year because I thought the pictures were darker than they actually were ? I think I need to write myself a Post-It note saying: “TURN THE BRIGHTNESS UP!!” or something…
4. And yes, I do the majority of my editing in iPhoto. I’ll hit up Photoshop occasionally if I had an exponentially bad shoot and just can’t get the pictures to look the way I want them to, but I’m a sucker for the simplicity of iPhoto. That being said, there are definitely times where I feel like it can be a little too simple, which is why improving my Photoshop skills is on the [never-ending] to-do list.
5. Also on the to-do list? Adding metric conversions to my recipes for all my international readers and/or anyone who bakes using a food scale…
I’ve been doing it for all the recipes that I’ve put up since the beginning of 2016, buuuuuuut that still leaves close to 200 older recipes to go through and convert. Kill me now. Or bring massive amounts of coffee. And chocolate.
6. Speaking of chocolate, would you judge me if I admitted to eating a chunky monkey breakfast bake alongside a chocolate smoothie for lunch pretty much every day this week? Because I have. I blame it on the joys of being a woman.
7. It’s not the size of the carrot that matters but the motion in the… yeaaaah I have no idea where I’m going with that one.
8. Also… thank you high res camera for making my hands look like they’re 80 years old ? Apparently I need to up my moisturizing game.
9. And because I couldn’t not include this picture after coming across it on my phone, here’s Ky giving me her best puppy dog eyes on one of our more recent walks…
10. Happy Thursday, friendly faces!! I brought back #10 just for all you odd number haters ?
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I have my iMac turned Waaaaaaaaaay down because it hurts my eyes. But my 8 year old Macbook is turned all the way up.
It was the same way for me! My old one never seemed bright enough, but this one? Eeesh. It’s like they put a nuclear reactor in there or something.
Ha I tried taking a picture of my hand/arm with a bracelet on today and I was like oh lord no. My hands were not doing it for me today.
Lol! I actually have to really pay attention to how much of my hands I show because of my eczema. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve wanted to include them in a recipe shot only to be like “yeaaaaah no… no one is going to want to eat that after seeing your hands.” 😆 I need a hand model or something.
I really need to do a better job of cleaning up my makeup. My personal care products like shampoo/soap/deodorant are clean, but not my makeup.
I just find the non-toxic stuff doesn’t work as well.
I need to make that chunky monkey breakfast bowl. I specifically went out and bought coconut flour last week JUST so I can make more of your recipes.
I’m in the same boat — it’s easier with body/hair stuff, but a lot harder when it comes to makeup. And coconut flour is seriously a life changer. Mug cakes are everything.
All the chocolate is never a bad thing. Especially when you’re a girl 😛 Also your dog is so adorable. Gah I just want every dog in the world. I’m a crazy dog lady already.
After seeing Fitz hanging out on your table, I’d say you have the “crazy dog” part covered 😉
You are literally a saint for going back through and updating all of those recipes. I probably just would’ve done my most popular and then from here on out added it in. Kudos to you for being a rockstar blogger – not that I didn’t already know you were 😉
And thise chemicals in make-up seriously freak me out – especially the falsies! My sissy wears those for her dance comps….that seriously is scary!
Is it weird that I actually kind of enjoy it? 😆 It’s one of those mindless tasks that takes a lot of time but actually ends up being a little relaxing. In smaller doses.
I have the exact same problem when I edit photos! I forget to turn the brightness up, and then my photos turn out way too bright. Oops.
I’m going to try the Post-It note. Hopefully it’ll help!
Awwww look at those puppy eyes! That is the perfect picture!
Wow never thought about the chemicals in make up! So important to be aware of.
It is! Especially when a lot of the chemicals can actually mess with our hormones. It’s kind of scary what they consider “safe.”
Just LOLed at #7! Your puppy is so stinkin’ cute…that face!!
I’m pretty sure the original one involved boats and oceans, but I had no idea how to translate it over to carrots 😆
Your puppy is the cutest!!!! That face! <3
I know! So dangerous with that look.
The ingredients are one of the big reasons why I’m very basic when it comes to make-up. I’d rather take my lipstick without crushed up insects for bright colour, too. Granted, more and more companies are making an effort to provide “better” cosmetics so there’s hope. Or maybe it means I should start saving in preparation for bec0ming a make-up addict, too?!
Oh the joy of being a woman. That’s what I blame those ~ 1.5-2 weeks of even more intense chocolate cravings [and at that consumption] per month on.
Having done the conversion myself when trying your recipes these past years I want to both say thank you as measuring in cups or vegetable sizes rather than grams occasionally still confuses me. And: whew! I wish I could offer you my help in converting as I can see -how- much work still will be.
The funny thing is that I almost ALWAYS go by weight and use a scale when I’m baking because it’s so much more accurate, but I never thought to include the metric conversions because I didn’t think most people used a kitchen scale. Lesson learned.
i dont blame you for eating that amazing looking breakfast every day this week, but maybe a banana/chocolate intervention needs to be in the works 🙂 Ky is the poster dog for puppy dog eyes, that picture is adorable!
*looks at feet* I know. I should start seeing other foods 😥
My hands look old on camera, too. Winter does that to them anyway, but they look so much worse in pictures! And your puppy is adorable!! Totally miss mine ❤️
I was like “I should have put some moisturizer on before taking that picture.” And then I thought about redoing it but… it’s a carrot.
Might not help anyway. I just noticed the same thing recently even though I apply cream at least twice a day all winter. One day I did it 5 times and my poor hands still looked dry. To make it even worse, when my hands are so dry, my phone really struggles to recognise my fingerprints. It’s starting to get on my nerves.
Have you tried using any oils? I’ve found coconut oil to be pretty helpful, and I came across some research recently suggesting that hemp oil was supposed to be a miracle worker for any type of dermatitis.
Unfortunately chemicals are very common in every day products. They are used in processing almost everything. Formaldehyde is a fairly common organic chemical, so I’m not really surprised it’s in glue!
I just got a new iMac too! We bought one over Christmas, I went with the 21 inch. I haven’t been able to figure out how trier picture win iPhoto?? Lol. I must not be looking at t hard enough… I use Lightroom now anyway which is wonderful!
I know 🙁 They’re hard to avoid, and I think the idea of going 100% chemical free is a little idealistic. But I try to cut back when I can! And I wanted to help you with iPhoto, but I’m going to assume this is an autocorrect typo because I can’t figure out what it means — “I haven’t been able to figure out how trier picture win iPhoto” 😆
I knew I was tired this morning, but wow, lol. I can’t figure out how to edit pictures in iPhoto!
Haha! Gotta love autocorrect 😉 And have you gone into the edit function and then “adjust”? That’s mostly what I use to play around with the brightness, contrast, and saturation.
Totally not judging you for chunky monkey bake and chocolate for lunch… I actually got to have one of your delicious mug cakes for lunch this week. 😀
The middle of the day definitely calls for something doughy 🙂 And chocolatey!
Your photos always looks so great, happy to know you’re only using iphoto. That’s what I use and since I’m not a food blogger or anything never felt I needed to invest in photoshop.
It’s definitely a lot more time consuming. Have you ever used PicMonkey? You can do some pretty great things with that one too!
oh my – I want your puppy!! Seriously so adorable! And I always love your photos. I’m working on my photo game now that I have a new DSLR camera to play with!
Thank you, Mar! I think you’re doing a great job by just having your camera on hand all the time and taking shots throughout the day! It’s all about practice 😀
That’s why I only wear 100% Pure make-up and use all-natural beauty products! My skin is crazy sensitive and reacts to everything that isn’t made from just plants.
OMG that breakfast bake… NOM!
I have the same problem with sensitive skin! Could you recommend some good brands that you like? It’s always tricky to find natural products that do a similar job to their chemically-laden counterparts.
100% Pure is a brand 🙂 I buy it online and they’re at retailers around the U.S.! I love all their stuff!
Oh! Derp. Thanks, girl! I’ll definitely look into it 🙂
My first time linking up with this and hopefully not my last! Those chocolate cookies look delicious – I am going to track down the original recipe here and make them this weekend!!!
Thanks for linking up this week, Heather! Hope you’re having a great Thursday 😀
I wouldn’t want to put that close to my eyes either and that makes me so mad that companies can get away with that stuff. In every industry they bank on the consumers not being educated or caring enough to check. Subject change before I get mad. That’s so nice of you to add the weight to each recipe, but what an undertaking! You’re a better woman than I, good luck!
I KNOW! I know. And what bugs me the most is that SO many of these ingredients are actually illegal in other places of the world (Europe, for example), but not here. Like… what?!
I always turn the brightness up on my pictures too. It’s made a big difference.
The tried to convenience me to wear fake lashes every day at my old job– I basically just added more mascara and ignored them. I love fake lashes for a special occasion, but that glue is some powerful stuff!
I’m starting to think so as well. I do love the way they look, but it’s definitely scary when you think about those kind of chemicals going THAT close to your peepers.
I don’t blame you with all the chocolate, it makes everything better!
Never a truer statement 😀
That’s pretty sketchy about the lash glue! For once I am thankful that I am totally useless with falsies. Have you tried glasses designed to block blue light out? I have a pair for my work desk (double monitor situation with a ton of florescent light) and they have spared me so many headaches!
Also, your dog is perfect. What a doll!
I haven’t for brightness, but I heard they were pretty great for using late at night so the light from the computer doesn’t disrupt your sleep cycle.
The cutest carrot I’ve ever seen! Uh yeah, going through and editing old recipes sounds…no fun. Your pup is adorbsss
Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t actually -that- bad because of how mindlessly easy it is? Kind of relaxing… in a strange way 😆
Yes, yes, yes to metric conversion! I always wait it! There were situations then I waste a lot of food trying make recipes from my favorite bloggers (not you, but from other)
Have you tried out any of the online conversion sites, Marina? There are some pretty great ones out there that will convert all sorts of ingredients into metric weights.
I’m tempted to come to Cananda just to play with your pup. He’s so adorable!!
That’s too bad about the formaldehyde eyelash dilemma! Do they smell bad? I remember that all the things we dissected in biology came in that stuff!
Lolol! That’s actually the first thing that came to my mind too — pickled animal parts in my bio classes. And I have no idea about the smell… I threw it out without opening it.
I simply ignore all the things I’m supposed to go back and do for old recipes (alt tags, long pins, recategorize, etc). There’s never enough time and if I think about it, I’ll go crazy.
I need to send you a picture of my most recent carrot purchase. It’s not right, in a good way. It’s also kind of taunting for a girl on “pelvic rest.” Maybe I should borrow yours.
And on that note…. have a lovely day.
Lolol! Pelvic rest? Is that what they’re calling it these days? Oi. I’ll try to remember about the carrot.
Depending on the type of recipe (especially for baking), I usually include the metric because weighing is more accurate anyway. Because I’m such a big baker and so precise in my measurements. Not.
It’s funny because I actually predominantly use a scale when I bake, but I never bothered putting the weights in because I figured most people didn’t have a kitchen scale. Lesson learned.
That’s interesting about the makeup. Thank you for sharing!
I can’t imagine updating all of those old posts but good luck with it. It will definitely be beneficial to your readers.
Thanks Hollie. It’s one of those menial things that I don’t mind doing just because of how easy it is, but yeah… just takes a lot of time.
Anytime I have to go and update all my recipes I want to die. It’s so time consuming. I’ve often thought there needs to be a customizable plugin that you can run to make them. But yeah for chocolate!
I definitely know what you mean. You use a plugin for your recipes, right? I really like EasyRecipe… but yeah. It won’t do conversions for me 😡
Oh man, the thought of converting measurements for old recipes sounds extremely painful! Really anything that means I have to edit old posts is pretty painful actually! And yuck to formaldehyde, I’m with you on that – not worth it!
Is it crazy that I actually find it a bit relaxing? In one of those mindless, don’t-really-have-to-think-about-it ways.
Of course, you gotta remember screens vary widely anyway!
And hey, my post tomorrow is about ingredients to avoid in makeup; great minds think alike!
Oh that’s so great! Gotta get the word out there, because it’s crazy how much those things can affect our health without us even realizing it.
On my office computer and laptop I have turned down the brightness for the exact same reason. And every time I edit a phote and then send it to my phone for Instagram it looks way too bright and flashy. It also messes with the perception of color, especially red. I hate when I forget that!
The carrot looks like the perfect nose for a little snowman 🙂
Do you want to build a snowman? 😉
Your pup is too cute!! Those eyes.. also ew to formaldehyde. I don’t blame tou fir not wanting that on you!! Gross. I think it’s crazy how much random hidden stuff us in things like nakeup. I’ve been making an effort to have less chemicals and odd ingredients and more natural replacements in mt house this year, and I keep being shocked by the crazy ingredients!
I know! And it’s tough, too, because there’s no denying that some of the chemically-laden stuff works really well and it’s hard to find replacements. But it becomes easier once you start thinking about what it’s actually doing to your health… Eep.
Re No.4. Can I just say your food photographs are fab, fab and fab! 🙂
If you using iPhoto makes your food photographs look like they do, then I am jealous!
I’m two years into lightroom and photoshop and I’m still doing tutorials to get me used to making the best from them! I’m getting there, but man it’s taking tons of time!!
Ugh I know! I used to do more Photoshop waaaaaay back in the day, but this was a long time before I started food blogging and I’ve forgotten how to do basically everything 😡
Oh my gosh, now that I think about it that makes complete sense… And makes me realise how much of a job converting all of your recipes to metric realise is!! Thanks for clarifying for the maths challenged (i.e me!)