Where Have I Been & What Have I Been Up To??

The last time I posted on here was last year in September. A lot has happened since then, so let me update you in what has been happening in my life.

In December my family & I went on vacation to California. We did a lot of stuff...we went to beaches, Medieval Times, The Grove & a 3 day park hopper for Disneyland & California Adventures. It was an amazing vacation, we planned it so I could be at Disneyland for my birthday. 

After our vacation, I got really sick. As I have mentioned before, I have Lupus and I thought I was just having a Lupus flare up. After getting a bunch of blood work done, my doctor tells me I have Hashimoto Disease...basically, my thyroid has decided to just stop working. I have to take medication for my thyroid and I have to avoid gluten. I used to think that the pain I had from having Lupus was bad...I was wrong. It's been a tough few months and I am still trying to learn how to live with Hashimoto & Lupus. 

I've been able to do a lot of filming but the editing took a back seat, I was just in too much pain. I am now working on editing all those videos and hopefully get on a schedule. 

On a plus side...I got a new desk! It's amazing, I love it! I'll post some pictures soon, I'm still trying to get it all organized. 

I'm also thinking about doing a video on my current health status and just talk about my experience with Lupus & Hashimoto. I want to do this in hope of reaching out to other people who live with the same diseases.

Now on to the best news so far...

I have a new nephew! 

My first nephew is now 19 and has a baby brother. 

My baby nephew is just too darn flipping adorable. My family & I will be going to Arizona in a month to go meet him. My brother moved to Arizona to be with his girlfriend. I won't lie, I was hoping he was going to be a girl, but I love him so much. I can still buy him cute Disney outfits, they just won't be Disney Princess'. LOL

I am going to end here. Hopefully I can get on a schedule for my blog too.

Love Always, 

Jesselle

Hello Lovelies!

Is anyone still coming here? Hello? Anyone out there?

I know I have been neglecting this blog of mine and I hate that I have done so. I have been slightly busy over on the YouTube, but my summer has been CRAZY!
Back in April, I had surgery to correct my deviated septum and 3 weeks later was my nephews graduation. It was calm for a few weeks, my family and I were planning out our family vacation while also getting ready for my nephew's surgery to correct his misaligned jaw. His recovery time turned out to be 2 months of liquid foods, our vacation to California was going to be 6 weeks after his surgery. That meant that my nephew was not going to be able to enjoy In 'n' Out or Disneyland treats! We ended up pushing our vacation all the way back to December, after having to pay a hefty $2000 fee with the airlines. :(
We thought the 2 surgeries was all for the summer...NOPE! My dog had a growth on her side and the vet wanted it removed immediately. After the surgery he examined it and believed it was a hemangiopericytoma tumor. After looking it up and discovering that this is a tumor that always returns in the same spot for dogs, I was depressed. I cried for days, and was worried that if and when it returned, I was going to have to make the hard decision of putting my dog to sleep. A week later Rini, had a follow up to have her stitches removed and for the results of the tumor from the lab...IT WASN'T CANCER!!!! Yep, no cancer...it was an infected fat ball of some sort...GROSS! haha I was over the moon happy that my baby girl was okay.

Three surgeries one summer...YIKES!

Oh, we're not done yet! There weren't anymore surgeries...Thank God...but my Dad thought he was having a heart attack when his right hand started swelling up. He thought it was his arthritis, and the constant pain was going to make him have a massive heart attack. Well, it wasn't his arthritis, he got a flipping STAPH INFECTION!!! And yes, he was on the verge of a heart attack! Oy Vey!

It was a hellish summer...until...

Well, I fell in love! No it's not a summer romance either, it's the real deal! I'm on cloud 9 all the time. Love songs are on repeat every day and my man is on my mind 24/7. I am not going to go into details at the moment over everything. We don't currently live in the same city, much less state. :( He's working on changing that though. :)

We're coming to the end of summer now and I am not sad to see it go. I have spent my fair share of time in the hospital and not on the beach. I got slightly tanned but had to fake bake it most of the summer, haha.

My nephew just started University this past week and well, what can I say. He was the typical new freshman on campus, lol.

I am counting down the days till my family and I leave for California in December. I will vlog a good amount of our vacation and post a few blogs as I did the last time.

I am going to try and put a little more love into this blog. I just haven't really had the time to work on my YouTube channel and be there for my family, much less pay attention to my blog.

I am actually going to do a review blog on the Kat Von D concealer...AMAZING STUFF! I am hooked and never want to run out.

I am out of things to write about...for now anyway. Does that mean that's the end of this blog? I suppose so.


Till next time...

Love Always,
Jesselle

Butter London Review

I recently received 2 nail polishes from Butter London. A brand that I am very much in love with & plan to buy more of their shades in the very near future.

Their polishes are very easy to apply, the colors are very bright, crisp and flawless, did I mention they dry fast too? 

The 2 polishes they sent me are Sunbaker & Scoundrel.

I will be doing a Vlog on these polishes. For now, here are some pictures!

DISCLAIMER:

All thoughts or feelings expressed about this brand are all my own!

I am not being paid or sponsored to write this blog. 

This is a brand that I have fallen in love with after buying some of their products with my own money.

Love Always,

Jesselle  

I Had Surgery!

On Wednesday April 24th I checked into the hospital for surgery. I was born with a deviated septum that kept getting worse in the past few years due to my Lupus. I had even developed an ulcer on the septum in my left nostril. The ulcer was something that baffled my doctor, he'd never seen a nasal ulcer brought on by lupus. For about 5 yrs the ulcer grew larger and was on the verge of breaking through the septum to the other side. There was no more waiting around to see what happens. He said the deviation was causing the ulcer to grow larger and had to be fixed.
So back to Wednesday 24th! I woke up at 5am and was at the hospital at 6am checking in. Around 8am they called me in and hooked me up to an IV.




I thought that I was close to being taken in for surgery. I was hooked up the IV and in a hospital gown...boy was I wrong! My doctor does all his surgeries on Wednesdays. Since he's an ear, nose & throat Dr. he gets a lot of tonsillectomies and does all those first. He has all his patients arrive at the same time and organizes them that morning. After he finished all the tonsillectomies, about 10 total, I was next. My surgery was supposed to take about 40 minutes but because of the ulcer it took over an hour. My doctor was able to completely repair my deviated septum & was able to repair the ulcer completely!!! I don't know how he fixed the ulcer, but I swear he's got magical hands!
I've never had a good reaction to anesthesia, I always come out of it crying hysterically. I always remember the crying but never the funny conversations. Apparently I went to Disneyland where I was all the Princesses & my nephew was all the Knights, lmao! 😳 My parents also said I kept pointing to the nurses and telling them they were pretty.
They kept me for a long time in post surgery recovery because my blood pressure was real high. They had to give me a concoction of pain reliever & an anti anxiety shot into my IV to calm me down. I don't remember much after that shot other than I felt really good, lol.
Healing instructions are as follows:
-Rinse nostrils with ocean water saline nasal spray.
-Replace drip pads as often as needed.
-Don't bend over.
-Don't pick up anything over 5lbs.
-No solid foods for 2 weeks.
-Sleep in an upright position.
They prescribed me Vicodin for the pain and an anti nausea medication.
My whole body is in extreme pain and my face is very swollen.




Photo was taken right after I was released from the hospital. The gauze is my drip pad.



The next few weeks will be very crazy and painful. I may or may not blog the healing process.


Love Always, Jesselle

MAC Cosmetics Baking Beauties Spring/Summer 2013 Collection

I am looking forward to this collection. 

I know I won't be purchasing everything but there are some items that I really do want.

This collection will include...

Lipstick $15.00

Lavender Whip

Pure Decoration

Devil's Food

Raspberry Swirl

Mineralize Tinted Lip Balm $19.50

Sweet Tooth

Baking Beauty

Glace'

Cheery Cheery

MAC Haute & Naughty Lash Mascara $20.00

Pearlmatte Face Powder $29.00

In For A Treat

Pink Buttercream

Pro Long Wear Paint Pot $18.50

Eclair

Dangerous Cuvee

Fancy Frosting

Mooncake

Let's Skate

Glitter $21.00

Pink

Reflects Transparent Teal

Lustre Drops $21.00

Pink Rebel

Nail Polish $16.00

Confectionary

Bleu Velvet

Pistachio Creme

Brushes

129SE Powder/Blush $35

252SE Large Shader $31.00

I am definitely buying both face powders, the lustre drops, some of the lip balms and maybe 2 of the lipsticks.

Let me know in the comments below what you want from this collection. 

My Completed Tattoo

Hey everyone...

I know I was supposed to do a part 2 of the healing process for the olive branch on my tattoo, but things have been so hectic lately that I just didn't have time. So I got the olive branch on my tattoo done and the healing process was much faster by about 2 days. I am in love with my tattoo so much! It's just so amazing. Pain level was much higher, It was about a 4 since it was right on bone. 

Now for some pictures!

This picture was taken right after the tattoo was completed.

Please forgive the lighting on this. I took this picture earlier today, this is my tattoo all healed up and beautiful.

As I said earlier, I have been super busy lately. I've been working on some videos for my YouTube channel. I am super happy that I am getting more subscribers. It means the world to me!!!

I am going to be doing a nail polish collection series. I have to break it down into color groups since I have quite a few. I will be posting pictures on here as well of my collection with swatches of the colors.

Please keep an eye out for that in the very near future.

Love Always,

Jesselle <3

1st Tattoo...Day 6

Yesterday was day 6 and I completely forgot to post this, so here it is. Haha




There was a lot of peeling yesterday, I've now noticed spots that will definitely need touch ups.
The spots I've noticed that need touch ups are the heart, the chest outline, the top wing, and one of the tail feathers.








These are all small things that I've noticed because I'm constantly inspecting it, lol. But it's my tattoo, it cost me $100 to have done, I want it to be perfect!
While I'm having the touch ups and olive branch done, I'm going to ask for some white highlights to brighten it up a little.
I'm excited to finish up this tattoo. Today is Day 7 and there is a lot less peeling, almost zero peeling. There are a couple patches, but that's about it. A week from today I may go and have it finished.
If there's any big remarkable change in the tattoo between today and the touch up date I'll blog about it, otherwise the next tattoo update will be when it's finished.
Love Always, Jesselle

1st Tattoo...Day 5

So today is day 5 and I'm dealing with a very itchy tattoo, lol. I'm also freaking out over it. I'll glacé at it and see spots where it looks really light and thin, then I look again and notice its just shedding skin making it look that way. Haha
I'm still in love with it though & in 2 weeks I'll be back in the chair having the olive branch attached and maybe a touch up on parts.
I missed Day 4 because there really wasn't any difference from Day 3.
Here are some pictures of what it looks like now, excuse the lighting, my main lighting failed (bulbs went out).




I'm pretty sure that the heart will need a touch up. As will some lines here & there.




In this pic you can see some skin lifting. These pictures do no justice to all the flaking that's going on, haha.

Love Always, Jesselle

Kat Von D Foundation Review

I recently purchased the Kat Von D foundation at my local Sephora. I was more than excited to try this out after reading several positive reviews about this foundation and its amazing coverage.




The container is beautifully designed and has an easy, mess free dispenser.




My skin type is mostly dry but I do have bouts of oily spots now and then with a slight break outs.
With that said, I purchased the foundation in the shade Medium 54. The one below it was too light and the one above it was too dark. In the store this shade seemed perfect!
I applied the foundation 2 different ways. On one side of my face I used my fingers as I do with my normal Makeup Forever Foundation. On the other side I used a flat top foundation brush.
There was no difference in appearance between the two different applications.
(Ignore the messy hair & odd ball smile, it was very late at night. LOL)




The foundation was much too light for my skin and it was extremely noticeable.
Although it does have amazing coverage as far as dark circles are concerned, it also has a tendency in accentuating pores & wrinkles/lines.




Dark circles covered with only using the foundation.




Foundation makes lines & pores noticeable.




Makes wrinkles look deeper than what they really are.




And makes blemishes look dry and crusty.
Automatically I felt my skin tight and very dry. It even made my skin a little itchy. After I was done with any pictures I wanted to take I went to go remove the makeup. I used my MAC cleanse off, 2 MAC makeup remover wipes, yes, I did say 2. After that I used my Clairsonic brush and philosophy cleanser to wash my face, somehow, I still had foundation on my face. This stuff was unpleasant to remove.
The following morning I woke up with fresh acne on my chin, nose area & forehead.
I returned that day!
I'm not saying this foundation is horrible, but it sure wasn't for me.
Love Always, Jesselle

1st Tattoo...Day 3

Today was day 3 of my tattoo healing. Still no pain, but I do have a lot of itching. I washed it twice today and applied Aquaphor after each washing.
The scab on the eye came off and no ink came out of the actual tattoo.
I have noticed a blurry spot on the "belly" area of my dove. I'm not sure if this will go away or if I might have to go in for a touch up. I read online that its likely that my tattoo artist went in a little deeper into the tissue and that's why the ink has spread out under my skin. I'm really hoping it goes away with time.
Here's a pic of the blurry spot, sorry for the picture being blurry as well, I didn't have very good lighting.




The itching is a lot better now than it was earlier in the day and the tattoo is still healing very nicely.




Love Always, Jesselle