How To Make A Diamond or When Life Feels Too Hard...

Life is hard from the moment you are born and for some people life was even hard inside the womb. Life doesn't let up on us either. You deal with maybe an unkind sibling that tries to take you out before you even walk. Then learning to walk is filled with falling down and getting hurt, and so goes life. But before you think I'm just going to swirl you into negative-ville, I'm not, well, not before a few other relatable reminders of possible hardships.
Things you may be having a hard time with:
Relationships
Money
Job
Career
Stress
Being Overwhelmed
Sickness or Health
Family Illness
Bullying
Feeling Hopeless
And I could keep writing, but I'm sure there were at least one or two things we can all relate to there.

Now let's pause and learn...
HOW TO MAKE A DIAMOND
Scientists have guessed that the recipe to form a diamond, might go as follows:
Bury Carbon Dioxide about 100 feet below the Earth's surface.
Heat your oven up to 725 to 2,200 degrees fahrenheit depending on how you like your diamonds
Place under 434,113 to 725,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.
Quickly race to cool at the surface of the Earth.
Boom. Diamonds from the Oven.

Carbon is transformed, not from a perfect life protecting it's precious carbon-ness, but by heat and pressure, and lots of it. Not just a little warmth and a little uncomfy squishing, but extraordinary heat and tremendous pressure.
Some days we feel like we can't go on, some days we feel like there's too much pressure on us from things in life or people. But I want you to know that life is making you into a beautiful diamond, some awful people we encounter are making us sparkle more by learning to deal with them and all their awful ways they might treat us and hurt us. The fire and heat of some situations are making us shine, because we got through it. And when you do so without letting yourself become bitter and angry, that's when you shine, baby shine!

I doesn't matter if relationships, money, job, people at school or work or even your family are bringing the pressure or bringing the heat....
you know that you are becoming a sparkly diamond. And don't you worry say, but I can't handle anymore. It's the enduring of the challenges, it's the overcoming, it's the surviving with a smile, it's the strength that comes from still loving and caring about others while you walk through hardships that add to your priceless shine!

You are not just charcoal that handled stress well...you are a precious human being that is handling all the troubles that life dishes out to us incredibly well. It's the hard times in my life that have broken my heart to just the right place that my heart can comfort others who've been through what I have and it's grown my heart o have so much understanding of other people's hurting and pain. This world needs more people that have understanding and that care and help lift others up when they are going through a hard time. Let's all look for the pressure that others are under and since we are more than carbon, we have precious souls and hearts, and we can use the love and encouragement from others when we go through hard times to help bring that diamond sparkly to their eyes and smile.

Go out all you precious diamonds and shine through all your pressure, grow even sparklier through each hard moment and person you encounter and know I'm proud of you for all the pressure and stress and hardships you've been through to become even sparklier and priceless!

Giant hugs, your friend, Kandee

PS. For all my Kandee Fam that follows me everywhere, or if you've just joined the Kandee Family, we welcome you and I've been missing on youtube for a bit, but I will have an update video soon. I have been dealing with some "diamond making pressure" ha ha ha and I'll have new extra sparkly videos soon, here's my last if you missed it:

If you want to join the Kandee Family everywhere, I'm kandeejohnson on snapchat at click any of these to follow me everywhere else:
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Come See The New Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette

The NEWEST Naked Palette to Urban Decay's growing family of NAKED palettes is the...

(naked drum roll please)

NAKED SMOKY 

Hold onto your non-naked selves, because I'm gonna, swatch, review and then tell you all about what I think about this palette and how I wore it and compare it to the other Naked palettes in a video below.

 Here's what NAKED SMOKEY look like under her hood.

12 shades, 4 mattes colors, 4 soft lustre sheens and 4 more shimmery (not glittery - hooray!)

 I painted them on my arm (AKA swatched them) for you in more shady lighting (ABOVE) and in normal daylight (BELOW) and.....

In even brighter lighting BELOW...

THE LOW DOWN ON THE NAKED SMOKY:
It come out, for sale: July 8th
COST: $54 (which is a great deal for 12 eyeshadows when they normally sell for like $18-20 a piece

WHAT I THINK:
I like this NAKED SMOKY palette, the best out of all the other Naked palettes they've created. It has a great balance of mattes, shimmers, a broader range of colors, and no glittery shadows (which I love, but not in a nude color palette- shimmer yes, glitter, not as much).
If I could only use one Urban Decay Naked palette this would be the one I'd choose.
This was the Smoky eye look I created using the Naked Smoky:

And come watch my video review right here baybeh-beybeh:



Huge hugs, that are not Naked, fully clothed hugs, ha ha ha from your virtual best buddy, Kandee

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5 Ways To Stop Jealousy & Start Being A Success

It doesn't take much to feel the jealousy starting to grow in us as we just look at instagram, facebook or twitter, the lands where everyone posts the best their lives have to offer. It seems like everyone just bought a fancy car, eats the best meals, has the perfect house, vacations everyday, goes to the best parties, and spends all their money on new clothes.

Symptoms of Jealousy: feeling like a failure, angry, wondering why nothing good like that happens to you, wondering why good things are happening to THEM, feeling hopeless, did I already mention angry? Oh yes I did.

Here's 5 ways to help stop jealousy in it's tracks:

1. SUCCESS HAS NO TIME FOR JEALOUSY:
Successful people are too busy working hard on their dreams and goals to focus on what others are doing. If you have too much time to see what others are doing, you are not spending enough time going after your own goals and dreams! You be working so hard on them you don't have time to see what everyone else is doing.

2. SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ARE HAPPY FOR OTHERS:
Truly successful people are happy for others when they do well. Successful people enjoy their success and want others to reach success too. They cheer people on and look at what others are doing as inspiration and possibility, not with anger or secretly wishing they will fail.
Oh yes, there are some insecure-successful people like this, that are full of pride and only want to be at the top alone. But again, I said "truly successful people" and that means people that are a success as great human beings and at their goals.

3. GREAT THINGS ARE REQUIRED TO BE GREAT:
The first things you need to know to be great, is you have to change your thinking. Learn to let other people's success inspire you. Every time you start to feel jealous, just remember: I'm changing my thinking. I'm going to be glad for others doing well and I'm going to let them inspire me! If they can do this or that, so can I!

4. MAKE A DREAM BOARD:
Make a dream board of the things you want: the car you want, the house you want, vacations you want to go on, shoes you want, dreams you want to reach, a studio, space or office you want to have even the body you want to have. When you have your own dreams to focus on, you get less bothered by others, then you just think: "That's great they bought 8 new Range Rovers, have a closet full of Yves Saint Laurent, my closet is going to be way more amazing than that and I want a different dream car!"

5. FLIP & FUEL
Flip the jealousy into fuel for you to go after your dreams even harder. Hustle harder, dream bigger, focus more. You can't run a race and win if you're looking sideways at what everyone else is doing.

Dream bigger + work harder + start being happier for others = RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Huge hugs and I hope that makes your heart feel a little more armed for the day and for life! Your virtual bff, Kandee

To see a video I made about how frustrating Instagram, Facebook and Everything Social Media Can Be, watch this:


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7 of the Coolest Pool-floatables You Need!

All of my dreams will have come true (pool wise) when I get a pool, and when said dream pool is filled with all of these food floaties or should I say, foodie floaties? I stinkin' love all of these! And they are pretty much all of my favorite food. In high school, my lunch consisted of 2 things, either DOMINO'S PIZZA (which my school served daily) or a PRETZEL (with strawberry yogurt).

And that to my love of all things cupcake, donut and ice cream and these are all the things my sweet tooth and tastebuds desire.

And as hunter of all bargains and sweets, I'll put links for where to get these if you NEED them asap!

#1. I love rainbow sprinkled donuts more than Homer Simpson. This donut floatie is a summer must to take with you to every pool party!

A steal at $14.99 from Future Memories

#2. The Ice Cream Sandwich Floatie - this is one of my favorite things to get from the ice cream truck in summer! And it's 6 feet long!

$35.95 from stupid.com

#3 Pizza Slice Floaties - there are no limit to the amount of friends and family that I want to buy this for as a present!
Pizza Slice Option 1- Full of toppings this baby is $49.98 from HearthSong (it was sold out everywhere!) A full grown man, can lounge on this guy:

 Pepperoni Pizza Slice Option 2 -OG Pepperoni Only Slice. This is your classic pepperoni floatie. And at $26.99, it's almost the same price as a real pizza, get it from TOYSPLASH here:

 #4. Pretzel Floatie - you know there's not an Auntie Anne's or Wetzel's Pretzel I can't walk by without treating my tastebuds to one, now I can have a pool full of pretzie's! $19.90 from Swimline:

#5. INFLATABLE CUPCAKES - Nothing says, "I'm a fun person" like having inflatable cupcakes sprinkled about! Get it, sprinkled about. That's one for the pun club. It say you can get a 3 piece set from Oriental Trading Here, for $13.99: 

#6. Ice Cream Cone Floaties - You scream, i scream, we all scream for ice cream cone inflatables! Yes, I want my "future pool" littered with ice cream cones. 

 Soft Serve Ice Cream Cones - Say you want the more swirly ice cream, these cuties are 36 inches tall and are only $1.95 from Amazon!!:

#7 Inflatable Hot Dogs - if sweets are your thing, or your looking for a lively game for your next BBQ/Pool Party. You can get these GIANT HOT DOG FLOATIES, that you sit on, then you attempt to knock your "hot dog riding" opponent off, bapping them with your inflatable condiment bottle. If this isn't a good time, I don't know what it. For $26.99, ToySplash is serving up this good time:

Which one is your favorite?!?

I mean, how fun does this pool look?

Feel free to share this with all your friends that need to see these for Summer!

For something else to brighten your day, come see my Ellie, who turns out to be a natural born-performer, sing her mix of Let It Go and Do You Want to Build A Snowman, mashed together:

And if you've missed my Kandeeland vlog channel, come see a peek into my daily life here:

Huge and Happy Friday from your virtual BFF, Kandee, that yes, has written my first blog post back in almost 6 months, did you guys miss this or me here?!?
Heart you guys!

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Best Nutella Hot Chocolate Recipe

This might be the most dangerously, amazingly delicious recipe you will want to save, share and make every single day of your life. 

I consider myself a master Hot Chocolate maker, so I knew there was a way if I added Nutella to the mix, I might have a new HOT CHOCOLATE masterpiece. You will wow, impress, and blow people's minds with the recipe. Consider yourself warned, this is dangerously addictive.

(video instruction yours truly below)

NUTELLA HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPE

COOK TIME: 

(3 minutes or more if you're gonna make the whipped cream too, which you need to do)

2 CUPS MILK

1/2 CUP HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM

1/2 CUP NUTELLA

1/4 CUP CHOCOLATE CHIPS

(my personal favorite are the Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips)

1 Tablespoon VANILLA EXTRACT 

DASH OF SALT

In medium sauce pan, on medium heat, add milk, cream, nutella and chocolate chips and mix together with a wisk until smooth. Turn stove to low and add vanilla and salt, mix and it's ready to serve.

HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING :

(this is so stinkin' good)

1 CUP HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM (that's very cold)

1/2 CUP POWDERED SUGAR

DASH Of VANILLA EXTRACT

In a bowl, add whipping cream and vanilla and 1/4 cup powdered sugar. 

KEY TIP: I like to pop the whipping cream in the freezer for a 5-10 minutes to get it really cold, it helps make it whippier, faster!

You can mix with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes or so, but I like to get an extra calorie burn, and not have to clean my mixer, and I misx it by hand for a few minutes!

After it's been mixed, then I'll add the rest of the powdered sugar, and whip

Then fill your favorite mug with the ladles full of the Nutella Hot Chocolate (AKA the best thing you've ever had) and then add some dollops of whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate chips on top...and prepare your tastebuds!

Come see HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD'S BEST NUTELLA HOT CHOCOLATE EVAARRRR:



Huge hugs and mugs of the best hot chocolate ever, your virtual BFF, Kandee

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Behind The Scenes At The Blue Eyed Shoot

Yes, that's yours truly, under that wig and behind those blue contacts! It still looks weird to me looking at it right now!
I just had to show you a peek from the shoot I did in San Francisco for a costume video for my youtube...so come on an adventure of potshot proportions, just like if you were with me....

STUDIO LOCATION:  The Light Grid in a cool part of the city called, Dog Patch

I love rooms with more windows than walls, a lil exposed brick is always just right...

and I'm a lover of bright, light swirling all around...

Wardrobe racks of wonder:

Poppin' contacts...so weird to see my eyes like this:

My tools of the trade (aka make-up table set up): I've got my Ben Nye palettes and RCMA VK foundation palettes, my essentials and so many brushes:

So many me's without make-up on....

Presenting, Wonder Woman (AKA Linda Carter) ....on the monitor (you'll have to wait for the video to see the real deal, Woman Woman make-up, but it's gonna be so fun!!!

Here's me in me action....."cue Kandee and her tough pose" ha ha ha:

I just can't believe how weird it is to see the difference that some hair and eye color makes....

My juice on the table, and also an empty cup of some iced coffee drink, which when they asked what I wanted, I always reply: "anything that takes like melted coffee ice cream"

And then post-shoot, I tripped in a hole in the sidewalk and totally had the most embarrassing fall walking to Buca Di Beppo for fruity drinks, baked ziti and...

 a humongous thank you to the manager who watches my videos and gave us these desserts, and all the awesome wait staff...you know we loved them!!!

And then it took me forever to try to take my contacts out, which I've never done myself. But I did it! Drive for hours to get back home...and I can't wait for you to see this video and the other one we filmed too! Stay tuned!

If you missed my latest video, come have a good time at how "amped" I am, and the amount of spitting that takes place, I hope you have a fun time watching it:



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THE NEW URBAN DECAY VICE PALETTE looks like this:

Dun Dun Dun...

May I present the brand new, almost out Urban Decay Vice Palette 3

(AND SCROLL ON DOWN, BECAUSE I'M  GOING TO BE GIVING A PALETTE AWAY TOO!)

Comes with a Vice 3 bag and a dual sided shadow and crease brush.

And before I show you all the swatches, I'll show the look I did with the greens, blues and the pale shimmery colors...

Here's all the 20, brand new shades....aren't they beautiful.

So let the swatching begin....

There's a nice mix of mattes and shimmers.

First row of swatches...get ready for beautiful shades:

Row 2, the blues and greens with a little gold...

I even used the top pink shade here on my lips!

I love the rich colors. That none of the shades are glittery. That you have so many options to mix color combos!
This baby will cost $60, which might sound like a lot, but you are getting 20 shades, that's $3 per shade, which is such a great deal for UD!

Once I swatched these I liked this palette even more!

You can get it at URBANDECAY.COM

And I'm gonna be giving one away too!

It's an INSTAGRAM giveaway so follow me @kandeejohnson

WAYS TO WIN:

1. Make sure and follow @kandeejohnson and @urbandecaycosmetics. 
2. Like/repost  this picture:
   
   using #colorunleashed and @urbandecaycosmetics and @kandeejohnson
3. Only one entry per person 
4. Contest ends 9/14 at 11:59PM
5. Make sure your account is public! 
6. Winner will be chosen at random via random.org and I'll announce it on instagram on Monday!

Let me know in the comments below if you want a video review of this too?!

I'm headed to San Fransisco tonight to go to RE:Make if anyone wants to go, I'll be doing a live make-up transformation and speaking tomorrow! CLICK HERE For INFO

Huge hugs from your girl, Kandee

Watch my latest youtube video here: