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Light it up blue 2–cruelty free

paintitblue

For today’s light it up blue segment.

bluenailsApril4

I’ve officially run out of blue nail polish choices now, but I hope to remedy that this weekend. For years I’ve loved funky nail colors—honey, I was painting my nails black back when it wasn’t chic to do so, because it wasn’t chic. Remember when Lita Ford was doing it?

Yeah. That far back.

That the fashion designers latched on to it burns my britches. (It was my little goth girl color first. Give it back!! hehe)

I’ve moved on to testing the look of other colors, white, meh. I’m okay with white. But I love dark so I use a lot of deep blackish blues and dark greens these days—and my dear favorite deep purples. *Cue Smoke on the Water* hehe The stormier the shade the better.

Now, here’s the hard part. I ran across this article last night and it said that there are three nasty ingredients some add to nail polish—DBP, Toulene and Formaldehyde. (You know, the stuff morticians embalm bodies with?) Well, these three ingredients were banned for nail polish production in 2006. Because they are toxic to humans.

Whoa. Being a nail chewer, and more importantly, having lost many family members the last few years to cancer, this gave me extreme pause. I went through my collection of polishes (I’m a polish nerd, I admit it). I had to get a magnifying glass out to read some of the lists (yeah, remember that line up there that ends “back when Lita Ford was big”? I’m officially old). Turned out, all but seven of my current collection had these pesky chemicals.

To add insult to injury a few of my favorites are bound to companies that test on animals.

Yes, I did. How did I not know this all these years?

Luckily, the company I’ve always looked to for my funky colors Wet N Wild, dumped that toxic soup and they’re animal friendly (with a name like Wet N Wild I’d be disappointed if they did any less.) and they’re readily available at the grocery store I shop at.

Point two, convenience is everything! So, hopefully I’ll find a pretty couple blues to replace the two I just had to dump. I may even look into some over at Etsy but that’ll depend on ye ole credit card. (eep!) I’ve found roughly seven other Name companies  that meet both these cruelty-free, chemical free criteria, and lots of ones on Etsy that claim the same.

(FYI just assume all my book heroines know this—especially my witches Caitlin, Beryl, Sealya, and Heather—and that they just forgot to tell Mommy, the Writer).

My jury’s out on one company I love but I don’t have any blues by them. I’m still looking into the question do they/don’t they test on animals. I hope not, but I don’t know.

In the meantime, while I figure all this out, go check out Tammy’s Light it up Blue posts. She’s hosting a giveaway, ladies. Have a happy blue day.

The Liebster blog award.

Tricia at Authors to Watch gave me an award and plumb got too busy to post it…

liebster-award+blog

“Liebster” is a German word for favorite, and the Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers deserving wider recognition, and who have less than 200 followers. The purpose of the Liebster Blog Award is to spread the word about these folks and their fine work.

Thanks for your patience, Tricia, and go check out her nice site.
atw
So without further ado, here are the rules for participation on the Liebster Blog Award:

  1. Tell 11 things about yourself.
  2. Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
  3. Nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
  4. Post 11 questions for those who will be nominated by you.
  5. Get in contact with those 11 bloggers in order to inform them that you nominated them.
Here are 11 things about myself
1. I garden when weather allows. But you knew that.
2. My ears are double pierced but I don’t wear even one pair of earrings often let alone two.
3. I always wanted to learn to deep sea dive (should’ve given dad the diver)
4. My dad was a diver and I can’t hesitate to pick up diver figurines because of it.
5. I played guitar and flute at one time.
6. I’ve made some demos (god-awful some of them. hehe)
7. I like to bake, but hate doing dishes.
8. Despite the above, I am *not* a domestic goddess (no, really. I’m not)
9. I don’t do bucket lists, just sayin’ ;)
10. I can’t drive a stick shift.
11. I’ve tried ice skating… ;) It didn’t go well.
Eleven questions. Oh, help. I don’t know?
1. Why did you start blogging?
As an experiment really. A friend of mine had an online blog at Livejournal back then and I thought it might make a good way to organize my thoughts.
2. What is your favorite genre to read?
Anything really but I’m partial to fantasy and science fiction
3. What fictional character do you most wish were real?
Elric of Melniboné, of course. Or Collan Rosvenir. ;) from Melanie Rawn’s Exiles series.
4. Describe your dream office for writing.
I dunno. Nice sized desk to fit my computer, and all my reference books. A shelf nearby for the books that won’t fit on the desk, and a comfy chair, good light and a good selection of music. :)
5. Name one thing you couldn’t live without.
Books!
6. If you could only keep one book, what would it be?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible! But if you twisted my arm…um, Sailor on the Seas of Fate.
7. If you could magically transport yourself into any book, which one would you choose,
and what character would you be?
Elric’s series. Any are good. I’d probably want to be Myshella, if not Moonglum (but that would require a sex change. Not going there…)
8. Do you have any phobias?
Yes, but that’s TMI so I’m not sharing. ;)
9. What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who sing songs without knowing the lyrics. *ducks*
10. Describe yourself in five words.
Writer, wife, scholar, artist, Seeker.
11. Who is your favorite well-known author and your favorite rising star author?
Ooh, well? First of all my favorite author is not all that well-known. I mean he’s been around since the 60s but he’s still mostly an underground star. Of course longtime readers know who I mean: Michael Moorcock. Favorite rising star author? I have several actually: Marsha A. Moore,  Jolene Dawe and S. G. Rogers. :)
1. What inspired your latest book? (or, for the non-writers, what inspires you?)
2. Favorite color?
3: Favorite band?
4: Do you have another talent other than writing?
5: Do you have a bucket list?
6: What’s on it?
7: What’s your favorite time of day to read?
8: What drives you up the wall?
9: Which do you prefer, leather jackets, denim jackets or good ole homespun?
10: Angels, gods, or wizards?
11:  Do you really judge a cover  by its book? ;)
Nominating bloggers, just a few:
Kourtney of the Multi-faceted Experience, because I’ve enjoyed her blog

Indie Spotlight

 I’m featured today over at Indie Spotlight. :) If you have a chance do stop by!

http://www.theindiespotlight.com/?p=12335

Thanks, Greg, for hosting me! :)

A Quiz: Will you like traditional or self-published books?

From Kate Polcani’s site:

A Quiz: Will you like traditional or self-published books?.

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