Shimmer and Shine

Eye Makeup, January 1950
Photo by Gordon Parks & Herbert Gehr from LIFE Photo Archive

As promised, the winner for this giveaway is.... Kristin!  Congratulations!!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful V day full of love with not only their partners, but also their friends and family. As we say in Spanish, this day is about "amor y amistad" - love and friendship.

I mentioned in my last post that I would be posting a product review for Madison Street Beauty and here it is.

Also, one lucky winner will get their very own mineral eyeshadow from Madison Street Beauty - the same shade that I'm reviewing here: 100% Vegan Mineral Eyeshadow in Champagne

It's hard to photograph how much this shadow shimmers

I have been using this eyeshadow for a few months now.  I have always loved mineral eyeshadows because they seem to give very nice, even coverage without losing their color throughout the day or night and they don't bunch up in the crease of your eyelid.  This champagne eyeshadow is perfect to use alone, underneath or on top of another color.  It is very shimmery, light and easy to apply.  The color is a subtle transparent gold, but it will change depending on if you use it on its own and what color skin tone you have.  You can use various types of brushes, but I like to apply it first with a flat, round brush and then at the very end apply another dusting of it with a blender brush.  I highly recommend that you use moisturizer or an eyeshadow primer or base before you put any shadow on your lids.  This will help with coverage and lasting power.  For even more shine, you can take a little bit of the eyeshadow and mix it with a tiny bit of water.  Then apply it over your lid and you will notice that it is even more shimmery.  I also have a couple of other shades of eyeshadow from Madison, but I use this shade the most because of its versatility.  These shadows are also great because they are natural, hypoallergenic, safe for sensitive skin, chemical free and not animal tested.  Two thumbs up, 5 stars and sign me up for a lifetime supply!!

I'm wearing it here with no other makeup or eyeshadow

Winners will be picked at random, and entries are valid only for United States residents. The deadline for this giveaway is February 10th, 2012 at 11:59pm (PST). Winner will be announced right here on this post on February 14th. Good luck everyone!!

First Giveaway of 2012

2012 is still fresh and new, so why not give away a few new fresh and new reads (none have been published, yet).  These are all young adult fiction, but believe me, us adults can enjoy them too, and of course my fellow YA or teen librarians will know where I'm coming from with this.  The advance reader copies include Curveball: The year I lost my grip by Jordan Sonnenblick (pub. March 2012), If Only by Carole Geithner (pub. March 2012), Above by Leah Bobet (pub. April 2012), and The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman (pub. April 2012).

Black and White Feather Hair Clip from The Obscure Bunny $28

Also, I'm doing a bit of promoting of my new re-vamped hair accessory shop.  I had a really great photo shoot this past weekend too for it, so please let me know what you think of the photographs (courtesy of my very talented cousins and sis).  Leave a comment on this post with your favorite new photography from The Obscure Bunny on Etsy (a link to the item).  Anyone that does will get an extra entry into the giveaway.

See the complete entry details below and good luck to everyone!! As a bonus, Madison Street Beauty has kindly shared a 50% off coupon for everyone to use off their first purchase. You'll read more about this fantastic Etsy shop next week when I post a product review of their shimmer mineral eyeshadow (and another giveaway!!).  So make sure to check out their shop and like them on Facebook. To receive 50% off your first purchase use the code: TY5BAR

Fill out the entry form here to enter, and if you are so inclined:

• show some blog love and follow me 
• "like" The Nostalgic Librarian on Facebook 
• "like" The Obscure Bunny on Facebook 
• "like" Madison Street Beauty on Facebook
• tweet the following "RT @msbibliotecaria is hosting a #teenbook #giveaway on nostalgiclibrarian.blogspot.com Please RT!", or 
• mention this giveaway on your own blog
• leave a comment below with the link that shows your favorite photograph from my shop The Obscure Bunny

Congrats to Yvonne & Sharon for winning this first giveaway of 2012!! I hope to post another one very soon.  Thanks everyone!

My Look Back: 1959

College boys in phone booth, 1959
Photo from LIFE Photo Archive

It's a new year and hopefully you haven't done anything as crazy as these college dudes did in 1959 as part of your new year's resolutions (or as part of any resolutions for that matter).  1959 was the end of an era you could say, one that led to the sexual revolution that started in the 60's and segued into free love, war, disco fever, and eventually crazy 80's metal band hair (or something like that).  Here's a look back at the last year of the wonderful 1950's.

• Fidel Castro assumed power of Cuba on February 16th
• Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states of the United States of America
• Cost of a first class stamp was .04 cents
• Mattel launched the Barbie doll
• The Grammy Awards were founded
• Popular singers of the day included Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and Connie Francis
• Bonanza was the first weekly television show to be broadcast in color
• Xerox introduced the first commercial copy machine
• Sade, Jason Alexander, John McEnroe, Morrissey, Tom Arnold, Kevin Spacey and Rosanna Arquette were born
• Popular movies included Some Like it Hot, North by Northwest, Ben-Hur, and Room at the Top
• The Etch A Sketch was invented
• The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series against the Chicago White Sox after having just moved from Brooklyn in 1958. The White Sox would not see a World Series again until 2005 and it had been 40 years since they had been in the World Series when they lost to the Dodgers in 1959

Read a Book, Sip a Cocktail No. 13

Photo from Goodreads.com

So to start off the new year I'm going with one of my all time favorite books, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.  Her life was not exactly picture perfect, but I loved The Bell Jar because I think that anyone who has ever felt depressed or alienated can relate to the character of Esther Greenwood, and that was what really touched me about the book - the flaws of life.  Those times when you do feel like you are under a glass dome of a bell jar and you feel alone, on display, and ultimately removed from the world and from yourself.  I know, I know, not exactly the stuff of happy dreams, but still a fantastic piece of literature.  After all, in order to appreciate the good, we must appreciate the bad.  For the cocktail pairing I decided to do a bit of a Manhattan with a sweeter touch.  The book is set in New York, so of course I had to do an homage to that city that never sleeps.  A "real" Manhattan typically uses whiskey, sweet vermouth and angostura bitters.  I made mine with Southern Comfort, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.  I really liked the balance of the sweetness with the bitter and I decided to serve it on the rocks after giving it a shake (most of the time Manhattans are served sans ice like martinis).  What's great about this classic cocktail is the variations that are possible, like the dry Manhattan popularized by the Rat Pack which uses dry vermouth, or the Ruby Manhattan which uses port, or even the Metropolitan which uses a 3 to 1 ratio of brandy or cognac to sweet vermouth.  Hopefully everyone's year is starting off with more sweet than bitter. Cheers!

Manhattan Skyline
1 1/2 oz. Southern Comfort
1 oz. Sweet vermouth
Dash of orange bitters

How to: In a cocktail shaker mix ice, Southern Comfort, sweet vermouth and orange bitters. Shake for at least 20 seconds. Serve in a rocks glass with ice.  I didn't garnish mine, but you can garnish with a maraschino cherry or an orange rind.

Happy New Year!! Now I just need to take down my Christmas tree.