Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! It is time for favorites!

March & April 2018 Favorites!

Favorite Cosplay: Rarity from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic! First is my favorite moments of Omni Fandom Expo from this year! I always start off any favorites when there is a convention involved in the two months that they are based on! First is my five cosplay to do this one and that is Rarity from My Little Pony! I picked up a tulle dress from Hot Topic and one of them happened to be Flutter Shy while the other being Rarity! I was surprised that so many recognized my costume even though I did get mixed up as Twilight Sparkle, which I wanted her dress but that wasn’t in my size. I also thought I was getting Apple Jack except that order got cancelled which it said my size was in stock but then it wasn’t. Anyways, I did get the wig and the unicorn horn that was on clearance at Hot Topic’s website and it worked out! I did forget my bronzer except my makeup looked fine to people, I wore the Pur My Little Pony Movie pallet which is based on the newer ponies while Colour Pop did their stuff based on the classic ones. I used the shades in Rarity and Generosity alongside Mythical Dreams from Wet N Wild’s Unicorn Glow set, the Infinite Star eyeliner from NYX alongside Pure Society from NYX, Unicorn Heart from Makeup Revolution and Pearlescent Pink from Wet N Wild! I also wore my unicorn earrings from Etsy. I was happy that people loved my cosplay and I do have to fix one of the ears on the horn headband because I had to do that with the horn which it looks like its ripping. I am definitely going to do this costume again because of how many compliments I got as her!

Favorite Find in the Vendor’s Room: Pink Ranger Lunch Box! Something that I found in the vendor’s room that I never would think to find and that is my Pink Ranger lunch box from Mighty Morphen Power Rangers! I wished I had this when I was young since that is how I got into Power Rangers like any kid! Trust me I wanted to see the movie when I was a kid in the theaters. I would so take this with me with my food during Ranger Stop if we do press this year because I would be having fun if someone catches me with this. Plus, the price was hard to give it up for because it was only $5 when something like this would be around $14 at Hot Topic. Knowing Gondras would probably guilt trip if I didn’t buy it either because you can’t find this as much as you could back in the 1990s!

Best Interview: With Derek Steven Prince! Reason why is that not only we had an hour but I feel like this has been one of my best interviews I’ve done. I was able to learn a lot about a voice actor and even was surprised that his first role was on Power Rangers, hey Ranger Stop, get him! Get him! Even with the actor who played Divatox, you could have so much fun! Also, you get pretty good advice on top of it if you want to get into voice acting. I did mention in the Paul St. Peter panel post that every actor has different advice to get into the voice acting business and this will be a nice learning experience from our interview with him.

Most Favorite Moment: Being Brought Up Front by No Ordinary Balloon Man at His Panel! I had to mention this because it was the most touching moment of all time. I will never forget this and having my badge on my wall was one reason why I have it there and that was when I brought up by Bruce during his Twisting up the Odds panel. I did help him with re-creating a penguin he made for a kid that had the same disability as him and also blind and it shows that I was seen as an inspiration to him and everyone else in the room because I’ve overcame a lot of obstacles like he has in life except it was with blindness and that was even harder. All thanks to this moment, I did write an article for the Braille Monitor which is NFB’s newsletter that comes out every month. I’m a member and also a board member for the Central Florida Chapter and one thing is to be a self-advocate and my representation of the blindness community at these conventions doing press is one of those things. I can’t wait to see if my article about this moment ends up in May’s newsletter. In the meantime, this is still my favorite moment!

Favorite Event: This Year’s Script Reading! This year’s script reading was one of the most entertaining since there were a lot more guests to play with and more scripts to have. It was entertaining to see everyone read the two Guardians 2 scripts even with the part where Groot had to bring back Yandu’s fin and you had Derek doing his VImpmon voice for Yandu which kind of matches and Josh as Rocket Raccoon. Even though Josh as the typical Jewish mom for the Fifth Element was awesome too! I did almost yell out, “Think of your character from Mad Bull 34!” For doing Rocket or was it something else. Why? In that anime, he did have a New York accent and I would say watch Bennet the Sage’s Anime Abandoned episode for the clip.

Makeup!

Brush Set: The Unicorn Brushes from Black Beauty! First is a brush set and I loved the brushes that Hot Topic’s Black Heart Beauty brand came out with because they are nice and soft! You get four and they include a contour brush, a blush brush, an all-over eye shadow brush, and a liner brush! All of them perform beautifully but I think the eye shadow brush should’ve been made with more bristles because I felt like it was a bit flimsy when it applied eye shadow. To me the other brushes were very well made and performed awesome!

New Shadow Pallet: Urban Decay Petite Heat! I know I won’t shut up about the Naked Heat and now it’s the Petite Heat! I was on the fence of getting this since it included matte shades that weren’t in the Naked Heat and one shade that should’ve been in the original and that is the orange shade in this one. Yeah, there is the terra cotta shade in the original but would have a better balance with the orange and I can see why I can pair this one with the original and it worked out!

Favorite Re-Discovered Item: NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams! Well, I finally got these again since NYX did send me the email about items that will be gone once sold out and I got a set of the Soft Matte Lip Creams. It’s been forever since I had these in my lip drawer and never re-purchased over time. I always loved Milan and want to get that again since it looked so good on me and I noticed they released more shades even San Juan since I’m Puerto Rican I may need to get that one too and the color even sounds pretty. These are five re-discovery.

New Skin Care: Clearasil Acne Protection Face Wash and Stubborn Acne Pads! Recently, I switched my face wash and facial cleaning pads to the Clearasil brand because I was running low and was in Target with my dad and tried to find my Stridex ones since I was getting my five Hydro Touch primer and Target is the only other store besides CVS that carries NYX. So, since they didn’t have Stridex, I decided to check out Clearasil and remembered how this brand has been around since my middle school days and fell in love with the facial wash sample I got and tried to get my mom to buy me that specific one and she wouldn’t listen to me! She always pushed using soap as my face wash and it made my skin dry over time. Then I remembered it was either my brother or my nephew leaving a container of the facial pads and loved those, they were the ones that exfoliate only not the ones I got and used Stridex afterwards. I noticed my face was not recovering over time as much as I hoped and when my dad read out Acne Protection and Prevention on the face wash that got me interested because there are times where I do get my zits show up and then what got me sold to have Clearasil for real was the facial pads which read, “Gets rid of stubborn acne!” Yes, they were $8 each but they always say pay a little more for skin care because you have one skin so take care of it. I’m not talking about going Sunday Riley prices but these two things so far do work. Starting to at least because the little pads are exfoliating my face which you have a rough side and a smooth side and I first exfoliate and then use the smooth side to calm everything down and I feel like the little bumps that don’t want to leave are starting to come up and reduce a little, it will take time which all skin care does for most people and I will update in due time to see if it’s still working. I do love the clean smell that both give off! Oh right, the face wash, it’s not so harsh like the Clean & Clear, it’s just a creamy wash and it also smells nice! Let’s see how well it goes!

Book: The Ballad of Huck & Miguel! Next is five book and I give it to The Ballad of Huck & Miguel because it was a modern twist to the classic by Mark Twain and when I sent Tim DeRoche the review he was surprised I never read the classic but this gives you a newer idea of that tale. I loved it and didn’t want to close Kindle at all while reading this.

Songs: It’s that time again! Time for my favorite songs!

1. “I Want It That Way” by. Backstreet Boys! First song on my top five is from my pop roots and that is “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. I was a fan when I was younger and since I had them in my head for the longest time it was time to give them another listen. It felt good to listen to their music again because it brought me back so many memories and I did go to see them when they toured with the Black & Blue album which was the last album before they went on hiatus. I did hear how Kevin left the band which I remembered hearing one of their latest songs on I Heart and it’s not bad but this song has brought so many memories and I’m able to sing along with to this day. Nineteen years I can still sing it!
2. “Crossing Fields” cover by. Jonathan Young! Next is another cover I love by Jonathan Young and that is the cover of the first theme song from Sword Art Online. I loved this song when I first saw SAO when it was just subbed and when I heard the English translated cover I was happy. At first I heard a girl do it, not sure who it was but it sounded good until I heard Jonathan Young’s version and loved it even more! I did get it on ITunes for my phone playlist.
3. “Re: Re:” by. Asian Kung Fu Generation! Yay! I’m back to my Japanese music roots since I rarely mention any artists from Japan on these lists. I think it’s because there haven’t been many new songs coming out and Gendou hasn’t been updating as much. There is one song I was happy about that was used for the anime Erased and that’s “Re: Re:” by Asian Kung Fu Generation. I remembered first hearing this song back in 2006 on their Solfa album and wondered what it was called for the longest time until we saw the anime Erased in the viewing rooms at Omni 2016. When Gondras told me the title, it did make sense that it got its title since it’s like a response to love in time since in the translated versions we tend to hear starts with “I’ve waited for you! I’ve waited for you!” And makes sense for the anime due to the time travel that takes place. This is an amazing song and glad that they did a re-recording for the 2016 version of the album and knowing that I will be getting it onto my phone at some point.
4. “History Maker” from Yuri!! On Ice! Knowing that Vivi is reading this and might get it in her head. So, I’ve been getting “History Maker” in my head ever since I started watching Yuri!!! On Ice with the girls on our Galantine’s Date and I do sing along with it time to time too when I ever listen to Nate Wants to Battle’s version and Pellock’s version, which I prefer his version more due to how pretty it sounds with the guitars and the rest of the instrumentation. The reason why I also love this song is that it does have a great message along with it because since I’ve been working on my Grad application I have been having this song in my head due to how I want to follow my dream of becoming an A. T. Specialist and I do agree with the lyric, “We are born to make history!” Because we are the only ones to make history happen not anyone else when it comes to what we want to do and that’s how I felt when I re-wrote my essay which I need to Spell Check it and the song was also in my head even at the point where I mentioned that I felt regret for not going and finishing the original Minor I wanted to do. If you have the time, I would suggest the full version of this song and give it a good listen to on repeat, it’s a really good song!
5. “A Rose for Epona” by. Iluvuti! Finally, I’m listening to this song because it’s always in my head as of late! I heard of this band while watching a Pastel Goth tutorial which had no voice over to it but let the music play. They’re pretty much Celtic Metal kind of like how I put seven dust under Southern Metal, Iluvuti is Celtic Metal and they do it so well too! This is the prettiest song for a metal song and sometimes makes me think of Fairy Tail since they do River Dance music mixed with metal in that series and same with Seven Deadly Sins. I did have another song from these guys in mind but this song seems to stick with me! Maybe that other one will be on the next list, you will never know!
Well, that is it for this list. I know it wasn’t much because I was really wearing the same kind of cosmetics to my customer service training courses and hardly any room to try new things. Hoping I will have new favorites in the next two months. What is next? Will be reviewing a new app I have been trying out by Microsoft! So, stay tuned!