Hello and welcome to this week's edition of Encom with the slide. I'm Christopher Ernest, you're in the post. Encom supplies for the rest of the Library of Commission's weekly event that we can do every Wednesday at 10am central time. And it's just a collection of different activities and topics and you can think of them as giving you interest to the rest of the Library community. They are free, as I said, every week, every Wednesday morning, and they are recorded so if you do not get a little attended or live session, you can always watch a recording of anything that we're doing. And then a picture of different kinds of presentations, Q&A sessions, book reviews, web tours, little mini-train sessions, anything that might be of interest to you. Today, what we're doing is, as I said, on the 1st of November 2009, a lantern in your hand. So I'll just actually turn it over to you guys and you can introduce yourself if I can go over it again. Thank you very much, Christopher. We'll just go around and introduce ourselves and then we'll start talking a little bit about a lantern in your hand. We hope this will be a dialogue so if any of you have any ideas, thoughts, suggestions, questions, please text chat them in, type them in the text box or use your microphones to just pipe right in. We're open to whatever thoughts or ideas you may have or questions. I'm Mary Jo Ryan. I'm with the Nebraska Library Commission and I'm the communications coordinator and I've had the privilege of working with the lantern in our hand and the folks from the Best Reader Aldrich Foundation to get this 1Block 1 Nebraska selection up and running. So, Teresa. Hi, I'm Teresa Lawrence and I am the executive director of the Best Reader Aldrich Foundation and I'm glad to be here today and we're very excited to have been chosen for the 2009 book selection. I'm Dr. Rod Wagner with the Library Commission and also the Nebraska Center for the Book, one of the other key organizations involved in the program. And maybe what we'll do to begin with is talk a little bit about how the 1Block 1 Nebraska phenomena developed and a little bit about how this book was chosen. So, why have you been involved with it from the very beginning, haven't you? And you have, too. I think I have, too. Well, it helped me to remember, but back in 2005, or maybe even a little bit before, I'm not sure, it was the Catholic Foundation that chose to have a statewide book discussion as part of their 50-year anniversary of the Foundation. Yeah. And they selected Willa Kapther's book, My Antenna. They also started out a number of state organizations to help promote, help participate in the 1Block program. And I think there was such great interest and success that people started asking, well, that was fun. We did it! And we have had an annual statewide book discussion each year since then. The following year, the Southeast Library system stepped up and contributed, and they did some very good work in coordinating the book discussion program back here. That was One False Move? One False Move, Alex Kaba's book. And then the Mari Sandos Heritage Society offered to sponsor the discussion program the following year. And they chose Mari Sandos. Sandos' book, Crazy Horse, for that year. And just recently, this past year, Bill Kleffcourt's book Restoring the Bird Child was the book for statewide discussion. We've handled the arrangements and program a bit differently each year. The program has evolved nicely. We've continued to have great interest in the 1Block program. And we were delighted that the process this past year resulted in selecting a lantern in her hand for this year. And we've been very pleased with the enthusiasm and health and support of the Aldrich Foundation. Yeah, and if you're interested in a little more information about how all of this came about, how the 1Book, 1Nebraska activities evolved with the Nebraska Center for the Book. It's called the Nebraska Center for the Book News. I think I've got a link to that right there. And that link goes straight to the article written by our colleague, Lisa Kelly, who did a little research into how these 1Book phenomenas... It's really been a wonderful reading promotion, don't you think, Rod? I mean, libraries have really stepped up and enjoyed doing this from everything I've heard and from the evaluation. We've had great response from Nebraska libraries, from book groups, from really... Bookstores? Yeah. So any organization that has a connection with a book discussion activity has been great. So maybe we could talk a little bit about this particular book. And as great appeal, many people have told me that they read it when they were youngsters in middle school, in high school, and that the book had a tremendous impact on them. I mean, even some people have talked about having the book read to them by a family member or a teacher who has such a great appeal to Nebraskans for a book discussion. Yeah. It's definitely the book that... When people think about Aldrich, it's the first book that they think of. It's traditionally, if anybody's read one book, it's this one. And it's a good place to start. And we hope, of course, people will continue to read the others. But I don't know. I think a lot of the reason that it's so popular can be lantern in your hand. And that is listed in the front of the novel, if any of you have that. At least in more modern versions. I'm not sure if it's in the older versions or not. But it was written by Aldrich. And she explains in the introduction why she wrote the book and the reasoning. And it was really a personal thing for her. And it really shows as you read the story. It's based a lot on her mother's experiences as Raska as a youngster. But her mother did come to Blackhawk County in Iowa. And one of the things that she talks about, and I'll just read a little section. Bessa was just very fond of her mother. And she wrote, when she was in her 80s, she once related some pioneer experiences about the snow sifting through the chinks of the cabin and making grotesque figures on the bed quilt. And Bessa says, in a moment of sympathy, she remarked that we daughters were sorry that her life had been hard.  Of course there were. But it was really an adventure. And it was not everybody was all doom and gloom about all the hardships. They, you know, listed them and they triumphed over them. And you get a lot of that in the story. And I think it's even now today that we can get a lot from that. That, you know, things are tough, but you get past them and you're better for it. Yeah, I think that's a very universal theme. And it's something that even young people can kind of relate to. Even though they may not have the hardships and the problems that are described in the book, they've got their own problems. And they can see that if somebody can overcome this, then they can overcome theirs. I think it's a great book for discussion groups. I think that libraries are going to find it to be really useful. There's also a ton of history. Alders was very diligent about making sure her historical facts were correct. And so all the things that happened, you know, two people in Nebraska in those days are chronicled in this book. The grasshopper plagues, there's drought, there's dust storms, there's blizzards. So you get a lot of the history and a lot of the real-life Nebraska events along with it, even a fictional story. So things we've heard about in myth, the myth of our pioneer history, they're actually the true events are listed as they happened in this book. When she got ready to write the story, she was on a radio program and she asked people if you've got news clippings, diaries, stories, just any memories of your families from these days of pioneers. Would you please, yes, they would send them to her. And she got just tons and tons of books or tons and tons of boxes of stuff and she spent about 14 months organizing all of that. So it's bits and pieces of real people's stories that she accumulated into this fictional story. So that's kind of a twist on things too, that it's real people's stories. It all happens to one person in the book. Oh, that is just so cool. That is really neat that she did that. What would be the equivalent of that today? I suppose it would be like putting out on your Facebook account that you're looking for people's stories. People are so willing to tell their stories.  I mean, people just tell the most personal kinds of things about their lives and their stories. And here in a case like Best Reader Aldrich's research, sharing these very personal experiences for her book. It's pretty cool. And sharing the history of, I think by the time she was writing this, this would have been like the people's grandparents or parents that had experiences. So people wanted their families' history to be told and they shared that with her. Yeah, that's another thing we don't often think about. I mean, we think about this as happening obviously in the past. This story happened in the past, but it was a past to her too. It wasn't her history. It was for more the era of her grandparents and her mom. Yeah. So that's another thing I think it's kind of important to remember here, I'm holding this up. I don't think anybody can see it. You can see the book cover. The book cover shows that it is the One Book, One Nebraska selection. So we're pretty thrilled with that, that that new printing came out just in time for people to get the One Book, One Nebraska selection seal on it. You can also see on the slide that we have at the Best Reader Aldrich Foundation website, bestreaderaldrich.org, slash one underscore book.html. That's the website for that, the One Book, One Nebraska for this year. So if you want to, you can go to that and you can find all kinds of resources. I guess that'd be great. Just go to bestreaderaldrich.org and at first, so that people can see what it looks like. Woo! We're in all kinds of places here. I don't know if you can all see this, but we're traveling.  So if you click on the homepage, that's what you'll get on the homepage. And so if you don't put the slashes and stuff in there like I never do and I'm looking for something, on the homepage, you can just click on that green box and that will get you right to the page with all the information. Perfect. And all the links are there on the bottom. Well, let's talk a little bit about what the resources are here on this webpage for libraries or others that are trying to do schools, book discussions. It could be Boy Scout troop book discussions. I don't know exactly where the discussions happen. A lot of times that they happen in the libraries, the public libraries, but I think they're happening all over the date. Book clubs, whatever. We have a press kit. So let's go there. And also if you have any questions or suggestions as we're talking, please just pipe up. The press kit was produced by one of our partners, which is the University of Nebraska Press, and I guess I should not be missing mentioning our partners. This of course is sponsored through the Nebraska Center for the Book. But we also have support and sponsorship from the Nebraska Humanities Council, the Nebraska Library Association, of course the Nebraska Library Commission, and the University of Nebraska Press, but especially of course the Best Reader Aldrich Foundation. They are the sponsors. They are the ones that are organizing so many wonderful activities that we'll talk about in a while. And they have been really helpful in developing this. Again, the press kit was developed by the Press, the University of Nebraska Press, and we have in the press kit a book description, a bio of the author, some reviews, discussion questions, and other information. Now the discussion questions, if we kind of zip down to those, I think those are really useful for book discussion groups. And I always encourage people when I hear about they're going to do a book discussion, be sure and take a look at these discussion questions because I think they can be most helpful. And then if we go back to the page. Thank you. There's also a place here for libraries when you're going to order to get a discount from the press. This takes you straight to the press and it tells you you can get 25% off when you've ordered three or more copies of the land on your hand. And you have to do it through this page because you have to use that discount code. So that's another good support that the press is giving us. And we're going to put up the proclamation very soon. We had a wonderful time at the proclamation ceremony in Elmwood. The lieutenant governor came and presented the proclamation. We had a representative from the legislature, Senator Dave Pankinen. We had fabulous representation from the Center for the Book Board and the Aldridge Foundation. The Library Foundation in Elmwood and the Elmwood Public Library staff. But we also had people from the public who just love this book and love Best Read Your All, which just showed up. The place was packed. It was very fun. Very cookies too. And I guess I should also mention that people were there from the Nebraska Library Association as well. And these are links to the association, the main website. But then if you go up to the top, it says Book Club Kit. And then the Book Club Kit, there's just a little information about how to set up the local activities. Obviously, you can just have a book discussion and it doesn't take any organization except getting people together and making sure they have the book ahead of time so they can read it. But there's also other things we can do. We have an opportunity to have Carol Miles Peterson, who is Beth Streeter Aldrich's biographer, give a program in your community. And if you go to this link here that's on this page, it'll take you to the Humanities Council where they describe what her program is and also, there it is right there, Beth Streeter Aldrich's Biography by Carol Miles Peterson. If you submit a form to the Humanities Council, you can request funding so that you can pay for Carol Miles Peterson's expenses. And if you go back to the previous page, I think it should have a link to where you go to, yeah, apply for a grant from the Nebraska Humanities Council to finance your event. And that's right there.  Very simple form. Requesting funding to have Carol Miles Peterson come and do a program for you. Exactly, yes. You've got to be an elementary, middle or high school, college or university, youth organization, but also public libraries. So if you go through, this is a good way to get the funding to have that kind of a program as well as a book discussion. So you can build a whole series of activities. You can have the book discussion. You can have the program. You can have the art contest by the kids in the school of what the prairie might look like, that she lived on, whatever. Also, we'd like to mention again that we would like to encourage people to borrow our books on kids. We actually ran out of books. We didn't have enough books in our kids because they were going so fast. And so we worked with the press to get more books. So we now have more books. So if you were unable to get the kit for when you needed it, or if you were unable to get as many books in the kit as you wanted, contact us again. This is the library commission contact page for getting the book club kits from us. We have more books now. And so do the systems. The regional library systems also have some kits. And we've sent them more books. So actually, this is a lot of kits, not just a lantern in her hand as Chris is showing you here. So you can keep your book club going. There it is right there. So indeed, we do encourage you to call again, especially if you were unable to schedule it for when you wanted because we do have more books, both at the library commission and at the system office. Then I think, let's see if there's anything we haven't talked about here. Did you want to mention the video at this point? Oh, thank you, Teresa. Yes, there's a wonderful video of Carol Miles Peterson and she opens it and she closes it. And then it's narrated by Laura Black that does a lot for the Nebraska Public Radio that's in public television. So she does a great job and there's about a 20 minute version that's a biography and then there's a longer 40 minute version also under the same tape. It's got a little more of Elmwood history and a little more of the time period that Aldrich was in Elmwood. So depending on what your interests are, you can use either or both of those. And you have permission to show this in the library. So here's the cool thing. Now you're up to four programs. You've got a whole series of programs. In that video and history, we've got several copies of that here at the library commission that you can check out or reserve if you'd like to reserve it for a future event. And there it is. Did you hear Chris just say that? She said here it is right here the contact information. Our 800 number, if you're in Lincoln our 471 number and if you want to email ready at nlc.state.ne.us So that's a good way to do it. Another thing we wanted to mention is that we do have digital resources now on Nebraska memories from the collection at the Best Reader Aldrich Foundation House. And what kind of things are out there? I know there's some pages from her original manuscript. It's very cool. To get started, we just put things that were related to a lantern in her hand specifically or to Aldrich's history that kind of led her to write the lantern in her hand. There should be a picture of the lantern itself on there. A lot of people are interested in this quote from that day. You could almost do with these pictures getting people to use these pictures you could almost do a portfolio like the little display. And that third item there is the original manuscript of the lantern in her hand that we have at the Aldrich Museum and she even scans a couple of the pages in there. So you can see the little corrections that she made as she was going along or maybe she liked a different word or she really phrased something which is really cool. Oh man, you just don't get to see this kind of original author work up close in person. So the first few pages of the book are in there. That's very cool. And you can see how in school these kinds of resources might be useful to kids. You know, maybe they wanted to a PowerPoint about a lantern in her hand and they could use some of these images to create a student PowerPoint. Yeah, that's cool. The lantern that inspired it all is actually a not an terrible lantern than the lanterns that we think of. Mrs. Aldrich's mother carried that from her native home in Scotland and it came to the states with them and then across the Midwest to Iowa. See, this is so great because if kids are reading this book, for example, they are going to have in their minds an entirely different picture of what this is about and then they see this and it changes everything. Which they're thinking into an older time, a different time. And all of these items that are on here are on display at the even the Bestreader Aldrich House or the Aldrich Museum. So one other thing you can add to your plans for the year is a tour. We do do group tours and we welcome school groups and adult groups and everything in between. Yes, in fact people may not know this, but Elmwood has really two sites. They have the house that the family lived in. At the library and museum. And the museums where we keep the smaller things that need to be in glass cases like the manuscript and the smaller lots of correspondence and letters and that's her writing desk. It's up on the screen now. And it's at the Aldrich House the actual desk that she used. Wow.  We'll have a hands on sort of museum. That's her real typewriter. Not actually. But it's like the one she would use. You can imagine what it was. So you could sit there and pretend that you're actually going to type a novel just as good as hers. Museum hours would be the same as the library hours I assume. Well actually the museum at the library is only used when we take a tour down there. You don't just go to the library and go to the museum. So it's typically it's best to come to the house during our regular hours which are on our website two to five on the weekends this time in year and then we can take you down to the museum. But if say a school group wants to come you'll make a special appointment. Yeah we will schedule group tours at any time and typically then we will start the museum and we'll show the video 20 minute video to get people acquainted with her and then we'll move over to the house after that. Sounds great. And then just to kind of go through some of the other things that are in the book club quickly because obviously you can go through this yourself but you can download posters and the press kit. The posters are great because they've got a little room on them so you can put your own information about your book discussion. Here we go. Now I've seen people just take a magic marker and put it to come to the bottom I think there's a little space down there and just put the time of the book discussion and the place of the book discussion right on the side there with a magic marker. It makes it easy. It's a simple way to do it. I think probably one of this is pretty much just links that you can explore on your own. I wanted to mention a couple of things Teresa because you've got some activities coming up and if you want to make a field trip these things that are coming up sound like they'd be a lot of fun. Yeah and if you would click on the news and events that should take you to our event stage. The birthday celebration that's finished. The next thing we have coming up there is the spring banquet and that's open to the public and the photographer is going to be our speaker. She's been a really good friend to our foundation and has really, just by having a biography of Aldrich out there has really been helpful. So she's going to speak about the story behind Elantra in her hand and we also host a short story contest every year and the deadline was the 17th of February for this year's contest and those winners will be honored at the banquet. There is a link on our website to the short story contest rules so that we will be holding another contest this year. There's middle school, high school and adult categories and we encourage anybody interested to enter and we would sure appreciate any promotion that our libraries can help us with. So we will honor those winners at the banquet also and all the information there are RSV peening. The summer family event when we do have a date on that now it's going to be August 15th and that is being organized mostly by our Elmwood Public Library and right now they're looking at having a daylong celebration with old fashioned games and activities, sack races, horseshoes that kind of thing. It's not fully settled but it's going to be the 15th of August and then Journey into Christmas is our big event for the year typically and we have some great local families and groups and clubs that will come and decorate the Aldrich House. So every room has a tree, every room is completely decorated and we do guided tours and serve refreshments so if you have never been that's a good time to visit because it's just a really festive atmosphere and definitely our biggest event of the year. Rod and I, we visited the house but not during the Christmas time. And if you've been at a different time it's another world at Christmas time so it's definitely worth visiting again. I bet the decorations are fabulous. They're just gorgeous. They're too creative some people. The houses got kind of an arts and crafts style to it and fabulous windows. I mean if you like older houses and you like to see what they were like you can actually see what the old closets were like it's never been modernized so you can really see old closets with windows in the closets because they didn't have lights in the closets. The home was built in 1922 and the Aldrich family did have it built so it was their vision, their dream they were the first people to live in it and it's been well cared for ever since so it does look a lot like it did when they were there. The kitchen was modernized that looked like in the 70s but man you go upstairs and it's just like you're stepping back in time. All the old lights, all the old push button light switches and everything. The other thing I wanted to mention that isn't on the events list yet but we'll be getting that up there is that we are on November 14th 2009 we're having the Nebraska Book Festival in conjunction with the Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting and at that festival in the afternoon we'll be having a statewide Lantern Interhan discussion session and it'll be fun for everybody's invited you can come and read the book before November 14th and we'll all be discussing that book and I think it'll be very interesting because I think it'll be mostly adults but young people are welcome too to see what the reaction to the book is from a large sort of diverse group of people so that's another thing that is not up there yet but will be because that's just being planned. It is a book that is suitable for kids anybody who's upper elementary at least I think would be a fine book for them to get started on it's not just for grownups. Actually it's a terrific book to read aloud I can't tell you the number of teachers that have told me in the classroom it was sort of like a treat when the day's work was accomplished they would have 15-20 minutes of reading and they read this book to the classroom and you could hear a pin drop because they just were absorbed in it. Does anybody have any questions about the opportunities for programming around this?  Can you turn it Vanessa? Can you turn your speakers up? Sometimes on the speaker there's a little knob that gets turned down or muted. Sometimes there's a mute on the speakers. All are waiting to see. Does anybody have any questions? Questions, comments, suggestions about what you're thinking of doing at your libraries maybe? You can use your microphone if you have one hold down the control key and keep holding it while you're talking or go ahead and type into the text chat. Well this is Laura England over at Keen Memorial. Hello I'm just kind of thinking we might try and do the foundation banquet as a kickoff to our stuff and then do the discussion and things like that through May. That might be interesting to put together with some of our city group or city organizations to put together a bus or something. We make sure we have plenty of seating. We do have it at the Elmwood School so there's lots of room to finagle some chairs and tables but that would be a good problem to have. It would definitely be from you. I have to find out if they'll let me do it first but I will sure let you know. I think it'd be a great field trip and by then we'll have better weather and we'll have good food. Lips to God's ears Mary Jo. Where is Elmwood's located, Laura? It has his acts asking. Can you give her directions? Okay, Laura. Okay. Is that closer to Omaha or Lincoln's? My geography. Well, okay. From Lincoln it's a very easy trip where you just go right down on Highway 34 which is O Street from the east edge of Lincoln it's only about 18 miles and then you turn and go two miles north. From Omaha you can either come out on the interstate and exit at the Mahoney State Park exit and then there are paved roads that will take you across the country to get to Elmwood or you can come right out Highway 50 to Highway 1 so from Omaha it's only about a 40 minute trip so we're pretty close to either one of those and yeah there are driving directions on our website there. Is there a map further down? You go down. Oh, a map quest. Okay, sure. I get it. And if you would want to email me and I'd be happy to send you specific directions too. This takes me my brain a little while to figure it out. Yeah. It's very easy. It's a short drive from Lincoln. It's a pretty drive too. You'll enjoy it. Claudette's asking about, or she's mentioning that the local reading council may want to work with this. We think that's great. That is a fabulous idea. I didn't even think about sending the information to the reading council so we do appreciate it if you can share that information. Other ideas? One of the pages that was up earlier in being mentioned to the blog post about the program. And I noticed there was a statement there about encouraging people to use that as a vehicle to offer comments about programming activities. Thank you, Rod. I'm so glad you thought of that. If we go to the library commission blog post and I think didn't we find it by searching we search best through Duraldrich or do we just go right there? Okay. That's for your wanting people to offer comments about Yes. Yes, that would just be wonderful. Because this way we will get feedback for evaluation purposes but also all of you that go into the blog can see what other people are doing and get their ideas and then we're not reinventing the wheel if we can use each other's ideas. So you can go down a little bit, Christie, you can see right there anybody can post a comment with your name and your email address and just put in there what your thoughts are, what your ideas are what your needs are, anything you need help with. And we'll keep an eye on that and it'll be a sharing view. This post is originally posted up in November so in order to find it you can do it anywhere on the blog. You can just do a search for Aldrich or Lantern, any one of those will come up and just search for it and then you'll get a specific post. And if you go back to our front page Christie, we can show where the, not the main page the front page of our website. Over the page. Yeah, sorry. Now you can see at the bottom where's the blog. You click there and up comes the search box search on Lantern or Best Street of Aldrich and the post comes up. And also what will be up here in the future will be this podcast. If you talk to anybody who was unable to attend this, they can listen to it on this podcast. And throughout the year I mean yeah we'll stay in touch with each other on this. Any other thoughts? I would like to mention too that if anybody would like to receive notifications about things that are going on with the Aldrich Foundation especially this year but in the future there are a couple of ways there on the page on the website page there's a contact us that will email me and just let me know you'd like to be put on our email reminder list and then if there's news coming up or something that I think people should be notified or reminded about I will send an email or if you'd like to join and become a member then of course we send out a couple of newsletters every year which with a lot of the news and updates but the simplest way to do that would be just to email me under the contact page and let me know what you need and what you're thinking and we're happy to help. Great. Well I think if there are other questions please or suggestions or ideas please just type it right up if not I think I'd like to ask Theresa if she might be willing to read a little bit from the book or from any section. Well just to get ready for this I did look through the book and find one of my favorite passages and I mentioned there's a lot of references to different natural events and different plants and everything that's natural but there's also she talks about some more intangible things which really is what captures my imagination there's a lot of talk about grief and death and joy and one of the things one of my favorite passages is here it's if you've got the book it's starting with page 35 and Abby is Abby Deal is the main character she is a young girl at this time and they've just recently I think they're in Iowa at the time they haven't come to Nebraska yet as Abby had now passed her 14th birthday on an April afternoon with the river high and clouds of snow still at the roots of trees she went into the timber to look for anemones and Dutchman's breeches for dog tooth violets and the first signs of Mayflower buds coming out on her own particular grassy knoll in the clearing to look in one of those moments of desire to let out her feelings in song to the squirrels she may have seemed an ordinary girl clothed in the green checked gingham dress with reddish brown curls twisted up into a snood but the squirrels were not seeing correctly for Abby knew that she had a dark velvet dress that swept around her feet a string of pearls on her neck and in her hand a hat with a sleeping plume she was holding it carefully at her side with her long slender fingers that tapered at the ends at the top of the knoll she turned a sea of white faces looked up at her to the casual observer it might have seemed a mass of wild plum blossoms even before she sang the audience applauded vociferously and a few people stood up an onlooker who was not magic-eyed might have thought that the wind merely blew the blossoms Abby bowed, smiled and waited for her accompaniment to begin she fingered her pearls and smiled at the girl at the reed organ all at once she realized that the girl at the organ was a talented orphan whom she had been befriending and made her feel happy, lighthearted she threw back her head and began singing and then there's quote from the song The Lady of the Lea which is a recurring theme in the book and that's if you notice on the Nebraska Memories site there's sheet music for that so that's my favorite that is so great I love it, I think that gives you a real feel she had a lot of imagination and a lot of whimsy and a lot of wonder in her and she brought it out in ways like that and it's a perfect section for this time of the year where we could all go outside and see if there are any snow drops or violets or anything peeking out you can imagine how great it would feel to see some alright are they actually blooming or are they just the green pieces I'm telling you there is hope out there it's almost here today it's pretty cold in Lincoln well thank you all for being with us and please if you have any questions we're gonna be here for a little while or speak in the microphone and it's just been a pleasure thank you so much Teresa for joining us here today thank you for having us it's been terrific so anybody else any thoughts any ideas if you think of it later put it on the blog that'd be great we'd love to have that kind of communication any other thoughts for the good of the group oh thank you Claudette thanks for joining us Claudette and Paul now we're getting applause oh that's for Teresa's reading that was fun anything else I think we're good to go thank contact information on the last screen so if you need us for anything you can get us this is all the powerpoint that was emailed and we'll be on our slide share account as well thanks very much alright thank you that will wrap up today's end compass slide then we'll be back again next week Wednesday 10am central time on Gold in Nebraska and cheers local information health resources yes we have somebody coming from the medical center and she's going to talk about all the resources they have I think they've got displays that you can put up in the library I know they've got a telephone hotline that your customers can use when they need health information and just a whole lot of other stuff so that'll be a real interesting session


Felly nifer y cydnod yw, yn cyflawnio'r cwestiynau cyflawniol yn cydwnidol. Mae'r cwestiynau yn cyflawniol i gael y cwestiynau cwysbysgol 5 a 7 wedi'i gweld gofyn i chi ddim yn cael ei cwestiynau ei gyda'i cwestiynau. Rwy'n cael ei cychwyn nhw i ddim yn cyflawniol i gael eu cyflawniol, ac mae'n ganddill i ddweud ei cwestiynau cwestiynau ar gyfer ei cwestiynau, a yw er mewn gwneud weedsem Perthyn Ryfwyr. 1. Richard Leonard Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I remind members of my convenership of the RMT parliamentary group to ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that rail travel is safe? Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop. Passenger and staff safety is paramount, is enforced by British Transport Police, who work in partnership with ScotRail, Network Rail and the passenger stakeholders to ensure that all passengers have safe and comfortable journeys. An example of that is its partnership with the ScotRail travel safe team, which has seen a reduction in antisocial behaviour on Scotland's rail network. ScotRail advises that its travel safe team has now grown from 8 to 24 travel safe officers following the success of the team. ScotRail and British Transport Police have a range of measures in place on trains and in stations, with the aim to provide confidence among the travelling public and rail staff that the railway is safe and secure for all. Richard Leonard I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer. In 2016, ScotRail and the RMT reached an agreement that on routes like Barhead and East Kilbride services would be guaranteed a conductor on every new electrified train, guaranteed that the conductor will retain their full safety competency, including rules, track safety, evacuation and dispatch, and that trains operating those services will not run without a competent conductor on board. ScotRail, in public ownership, with the Government as the sole shareholder, is proposing to rip this agreement up, denying equal access to those services for passengers with disabilities and jeopardising safety for all. Those are not operational matters, they are equality matters, they are safety matters. Will the cabinet secretary intervene? The member may not be aware, but there have been developments in the last 24 hours on that particular issue. I do not think that it is for me to express what they are. That will be for the employer and for the trade union. The Scottish Government continues to specify a requirement that all ScotRail services should have a second staff member on board to assist passengers, and I will continue to underline that. As regards to the references to 2016, I think that that may be something that will be subject to those discussions that are on-going and which I would encourage continue to take place. There are a number of supplementaries, I want to get them all in, but they will need to be brief as all the responses first collect students. Safety of the railway remains a reserved matter, but the Government has fully funded Network Rail Scotland in line with the ORR's recommendations. Does the cabinet secretary therefore share my view that Labour should not be undermining our rail sector and the societal and environmental benefits that it offers by inferring that it is unsafe? Clearly rail safety is reserved to the UK Government and the ORR. We are fully funding the recommendations with an increase of £450 million in cash terms for that aspect. We are leading the way in terms of a joined-up railway. That has been evidenced by the fact that the UK Department for Transport has head-hunted Scotland's railway managing director to help them to catch up. It is important that we have full devolution of rail powers to Scotland to be able to truly deliver a railway that benefits Scotland. Anyone with a genuine interest in that should get behind those calls whatever the result of the next UK general election. Surely if there are developments on this issue, the cabinet secretary should be telling us what they are. After all, she is the cabinet secretary for transport. Will he please the RMT? It is with respect to the RMT that are not relaying what they told me this morning. I had a meeting with the rail unions and I understand that there may be movement on the issue. Currently, we have the successful operation, as there has been for some considerable time, on the electric railways in terms of ScotRail drivers supported by ticket examiners. That has been happening for some time on many rail routes. The issue between the employer and the trade union is for them to determine. I do not think that it would be appropriate, but I have just met and heard news this morning. I think that it is for them that the RMT discloses. It is with respect to them that I am not making any further comment. Does the cabinet secretary be aware that the five-circle, for example, tends to get trains that others get passed on to them? Is there a replacement train programme in place for areas such as Fife, such as the high-speed trains? The rail fleet replacement is a priority for the Scottish Government. Clearly, the more that we electrify, the more trains that can support the current five system. I am also very conscious of the need to develop the decarbonised five route. In the meantime, maintenance is really important. The increase of 20 to 40 engineers has been helping the network generally, but Fife in particular. The member is probably more interested in the longer term, and I will keep him appraised of that. To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on what it will make a decision on the continued ban on the consumption of alcohol at all times on trains. In light of ScotRail's confirmation and evidence to the Net Zero Energy and Transport Committee that the consultation findings have been passed to Transport Scotland? The Scottish Government is aware that a wide range of views is held by passengers, ScotRail staff and other interested parties about alcohol ban on ScotRail trains. ScotRail routinely asks passengers questions about a variety of topics related to the customer experience. Those are not, however, formal consultations, but rather short duration online surveys. The findings from ScotRail's passenger survey on alcohol ban are being considered as part of a much wider and more robust work that has been undertaken to reduce unacceptable anti-social behaviours on our public transport. The Parliament will be informed in the most appropriate way once the decision on the future of the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains has been taken. Fyglas Lomstone Fyglas Lomstone, I know, differ, dither and delay from this devolved Government. The temporary ban came into force in November 2020. We were told to wait for Jenny Goldruth's national conversation on rail, but that was binned and then we had ScotRail's survey on passengers. That was completed. This is dragging on far too long, so can the Scottish Government just please make a decision one way or the other? Cabinet Secretary. We are making a decision by not changing it currently, but I would say to the member genuinely that there are strong and differing views on this issue either way and indeed within this chamber. I think that it is right that we consider those and not least the issue of safety and perceived safety of women and girls. A lot of the issues on alcohol are not about consumption on the train, but about the condition of people coming on to the train prior to entry into the station. I do think that if we are to change the situation of alcohol on trains, we would also have to consider whether it would be the same, as was previously the case, or whether we would change that. That is about as open as I can be. I know that he is impatient. He wants his drink on the train back to Aberdeen, I suspect, but what I am saying is that I genuinely want to have this in a very open way, and there are big differences in opinion as to whether we should do that and strongly held views as to whether we should do this or not. That is exactly what I am wrestling with. A brief supplementary or play with a brief response. Just to say that it is surely the priority here must be for users to feel safe when using trains, particularly women and girls who feel particularly unsafe in atmospheres where there is antisocial behaviour that is accompanied by alcohol consumption. Can I ask the cabinet secretary whether the ban on alcohol has led to decreased incidents of antisocial behaviour on ScotRail services? That is a brief example of what I was saying. I think that there are different views and also within parties and within this chamber. I might reflect that the pattern of antisocial behaviour, however, has made identifying quantifiable evidence challenging, and that is what we are wrestling with in terms of identifying the robust evidence base on this. The safety of women is paramount, but I also know that the unions have different views and would like to see the ban lifted. That is not an easy decision, but we want to do it in the robust and most open way possible. To ask the Scottish Government how many citizens, including residents of Cunningham South constituency, have accessed free public transport through the national concessionary scheme in the past year. As of 29 February 2024, there were 2,327,913 national concessionary travel scheme car holders who made 177,291,227 journeys during the period from 1 March 2023 to 29 February 2024. The data is not broken down at a constituency area, as cars are issued by local authorities. However, I am pleased to confirm that there are 69,057 car holders in North Ayrshire Council who made a total of 4,764,887 journeys during this period. In the one year evaluation of the young person scheme, one local authority commented, the impact has been really positive with families getting out and about together, parents not having to worry about paying for bus fares, being able to take part in more events with not having to worry about how to get there. Does the minister agree with me that this is just one of the many advantages of the scheme to young people, their families and our wider communities, particularly in the current cost of living crisis? Absolutely, and I would add to that that families can save £3,000 for each child who makes full use of the free bus travel. The one year evaluation scheme found that those savings have allowed young people and their families to spend money on essential household costs, leisure activities and, for some children, the scheme has removed the barrier to joining classmates on school trips. It also makes it easier for grandparents and grandchildren to travel together and facilitate intergenerational outings. If you add to that, you will be able to jump on a bus to go and visit family, whether it is to go and see Gran and Grandad, your cousins or your favourite auntie or uncle. There is also a young constituent in my constituency that has been told about who has taken a job in Edinburgh purely because of the bus pass, and there are a whole host of other benefits that the scheme is delivering. To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to support the reversal of the reported reduction of bus services in Dumfries and Galloway. It is always disappointing to hear of any potential bus service reductions, particularly in the more rural areas, where often those services offer the only public transport connections to healthcare or employment. I am very well aware of that. The Scottish Government has allocated almost £430 million in 2024 and 2025 to support bus, and I am committed with bus operators and local authorities to continue to look at ways of improving services to ensure that everyone has access to public transport. However, the majority of the services in Scotland operate in a deregulated market. As such, withdrawal of services is on commercial routes as a matter for private operators. However, any changes must be consistent with the processes that are enforced by the traffic commissioner. Under the Transport Act 1985, local authorities have a duty to identify where there is a social need for particular bus services and subsidise them at their discretion. Services across the region have been in decline for more than a decade and so have local government budgets, but an independent report to this month's meeting of the South West Scotland Transport Partnership warns that it is going to get worse. The fragile position of the bus industry in Dumfries and Galloway is acute, the report says. Resilience is at a historic low, the risk of further degradation is significant, any withdrawal of service capacity would have a major impact, the report goes on to say. Does the minister accept that the current model of bus service delivery in rural regions such as Dumfries and Galloway is absolutely broken, and we need to see a significant increase in the provision of publicly-owned, publicly-run services in the region before we lose even more services? I agree that we absolutely need those rural services, but we have already plowed in over £430 million being allocated to bus services and concessionary fares in 24 and 25. It is providing more than 2 million people in Scotland with access to free bus travel. With more than 3 million journeys a week, those schemes are helping people all across Scotland to cut costs for essential everyday leisure and travel, making sustainable travel a more attractive option, but I understand and I fully take on the point that we want to do more. Bus network in Dumfries and Galloway is in a fragile position due to rising costs and weak demand compared to urban areas. Many rely on public transport, particularly the elderly and disabled. The Scottish Government only provides west strands with £259,000 revenue funding, which is the same as 12 years ago. Can I ask the minister if he believes that this is acceptable in terms of tackling climate change, but also in relation to addressing accessibility issues for our elderly and disabled, or is this just another example of his Government failing to address the needs of the south of Scotland? I am not quite sure of the system that he is talking about, and I apologise for that. I do not have that answer right now, but I am not sure that that is actually the fund that you are talking about, the national bus system. If I can get any further details on that, I will come back to the member. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the decision by Strathclyde Passengers Partnership for Transport to take forward plans to franchise bus services. We have delivered all the powers within the Transport Scotland Act 2019, which enables each local transport authority to determine the options available to them and to improve bus provision in their area. While some may opt for a franchising approach, others may choose to progress with a partnership or to run their own services. In the case of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, I welcome their decision to explore all available bus powers, including franchising, as part of their Strathclyde regional bus strategy. I understand that implementing a franchise system could potentially incur costs running into several tens of millions of pounds. If funding is available for this investment, has the Scottish Government considered deploying it now in advance of the roll-out of any franchise system to enable SPT to support the expansion of bus routes that are currently deemed to be uneconomic, which are critical lifelines for communities in my constituency? The member is well aware that funding that is allocated through the general revenue grant can be used to support bus services. It is the responsibility of each local transport authority to include SPT to allocate its total financial resources, including support for bus services, based on the local needs and priorities. It has first fulfilled its statutory obligations, and it is ultimately for local elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to improve the bus services for communities in their area. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport's recommendations for the future delivery of the regional bus network. As I have previously said, it is for each local transport authority to determine which of the powers available to them should be used to improve the services in their area. I understand that SPT has completed an options development and appraisal stage for the regional bus strategy, which considers a range of the bus powers, including local authority-run services, bus services improvement partnerships and bus franchising, and they intend to commence a six-week public consultation on their recommendations next month. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of the consultation, and Transport Scotland will continue to engage with all the stakeholders to improve bus services right across Scotland. SPT has decided to go ahead, if it can, with the franchising system, but they reckon that that will take between five and seven years and will cost between £45 and £85 million per annum. There is a little point in doing that work, I suspect, if they are not going to get the money. Does the minister think that the money should come entirely from the local councils, or would any of it come from the Scottish Government? We would encourage all local transport authorities to explore all the options available to them to improve bus services in their area. I understand that SPT is at an early stage in the development of the regional bus strategy, which is looking at a range of options for improving services. As that develops, it will require more detailed appraisals to determine which of the various options to progress with. A climate of increase in financial pressure is important that the business case for improving bus services is made robustly and an evidence-based way to support future decision-making on funding. SPT's ambitious proposal to introduce a bus franchise for Greater Glasgow is a welcome milestone, but SPT may establish a bus service improvement partnership with private operators in the interim, a move that risks sidetracking and delaying efforts to introduce that regional bus franchise. The Scottish Government has cut SPT's capital budget for next year to zero. Will the Scottish Government review that ridiculous position and provide SPT with the capital that it needs, perhaps via the Glasgow City Region Deal, to deliver a bus franchise at speed and bypass an interim besip with private operators? Those might well be the views of the member, but I would go back to the point that it is up to the local authority to make their decisions on how they are going to progress. Thank you. This week, the C60 bus service connecting Calendr to Calendr will be completely withdrawn, leaving many people abandoned, including in my own community of Lochernhead. Stirling Council tends to retender the service, but predictably no private operator has come forward with an acceptable bid. What practical support is available to rural councils, and indeed the national park, to take charge of bus services through franchising or even running their own services? Some of those services, of course, will be able to link in to the services that SPT will be running to the west. It is not strictly to do with SPT, but minister, if you could respond as relevantly as you can. We have provided local transport authorities with a range of tools to improve bus services. I know that the member is aware that we have launched the community bus fund last year to support local authorities in exploring those powers, as well as improving access to bus services. Ten projects have been taken forward in 2023-24, pending compliance with fair work first requirements. They include projects to review local bus networks, to develop local transport bus strategies and, by making use of those powers, local transport authorities working with stakeholders can improve local services over the longer term, making them more available, accessible and affordable. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had regarding the proposed reinstatement of a direct ferry link between Rosyth and Zebrugge. I want to assure the member of the Scottish Government's continuing commitment to improve our transport and trade links to the continent, which has even more resonance after the UK Government's damaging exit from the EU. I have personally engaged with interested parties, although I think that the destination will have changed if the member is aware. Transport Scotland officials continue to communicate regularly with potential operators and Scotland's main ports. I also met Lord Davis of Gower, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport in London on 5 February and discussed the issue. I subsequently received disappointing written confirmation from Lord Davis that the UK Government is not in a position to financially support a new service from Rosyth, highlighting the risk of potential legal action should other operators consider such support to be subsidy. Due to subsidy control restrictions, any service is required to operate on a commercial basis. I hope that prospective commercial operators are able to commit to operating a successful and profitable service. However, that is ultimately a decision for the operators. I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer. Indeed, the updated route under consideration is to Dunkirk. I welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has been engaging in recent discussions with its agencies and the UK Government. I note the point about subsidy, but given the importance that a direct and vital trade link between Scotland and Europe would present, I wonder what other activity the Scottish Government could engage in to help to get that over the line. As I said in my first answer, UK subsidy control rules significantly restrict any support that the Scottish Government would be able to provide. However, I and my officials in Transport Scotland continue to engage with prospective operators. The Scottish National Investment Bank could be another route to supporting new services, and Visit Scotland has well-established marketing opportunities to attract more tourism to Scotland. We have spoken with the Scottish National Investment Bank and Visit Scotland about the potential opportunities, and we have flagged those with potential operators. I would reiterate that there is a political will to support a commercially viable service, but, of course, with significant budget pressures, we have to be cognisant of the subsidy issues and the prospect of potential legal action if additional funding was provided. It makes it more important that any solution is led by the commercial ferry sector. To ask the Scottish Government when it last engaged with commercial bus operators, such as stagecoach, regarding bus provision in areas such as Bampshire and Bucking Coast. The Scottish Government meets regularly with commercial bus operators to discuss a wide range of issues that impact the sector, and the last meeting with officials took place on 12 March. Although I have not yet had the opportunity to meet with stagecoach directly since my minister's appointment, I look forward to doing so in due course. The majority of bus service in Scotland operates in a deregulated market, however. I am committed in conjunction with bus operators and local authorities to continue to look at ways of improving the services to ensure that everyone has accessible public transport with which to provide vital connections. I thank the minister for that answer. I recently conducted a survey within my constituency that received an overwhelming 1,144 responses. Almost 90 per cent of respondents feel that bus services in the area have deteriorated when the past year and more than four in five rely on those services to commute to work or school and attend vital NHS appointments. Can I ask the minister what he is doing to encourage companies such as stagecoach to improve their services for constituents? I very much recognise the importance of local bus services to communities and ensure that the long-term sustainability of those vital local routes is a collaborative endeavour. To that end, I encourage the members to continue to work with bus operators in the area to promote the use of services and to help to maintain and grow the patronage that is needed to underpin the stability and longevity of those transport links. The member may be aware that we have worked with operators and relevant parties through the bus task force to try to address the issues that bus industry has as a whole has been facing. A report that we published shortly will include the best practice guide for community engagement. I thank the minister for providing a brief supplementary Liam Kerr. Very grateful. A major issue in north-east bus provision is abuse and violence against drivers and passengers. Following the tragic death of Keith Rawlinson in Elgin, Unite published a 15-point blueprint to improve safety, including a specific offence to commit a crime against transport workers. Has the minister read that blueprint? If so, which of the 15 particularly interests him and what is his view on the proposed legislation? What I can tell the member is that the cabinet secretary has actually written to meet them and that process is under way. Thank you minister. That concludes portfolio questions. There will be a brief pause before we move to the next item of business to allow front-bench use to change.


Oh, okay guys today. I'm updating you slash speed reviewing 38 makeup items that I've recently tested you guys know I take these videos very very seriously Everything that I test I keep it in a drawer and then I periodically come back and I update you on how the products have been working for me This is a big one 38 items. I'm actually kind of breaking this up into two parts So what I mean by that? I mean this is a whole video I'm gonna have another speed reviews video up next week or so because I could have very well put 60 items in this video, but I decided I'd rather just do two videos close together So that we can make the most of face-watching and all that because I I only have one face for examples I mean, I've just been testing so many products lately So there will be another speed reviews very very soon, but let's get into these guys I have a mixture of a giant Sephora haul. I did a month or so ago I have some Jones road beauty products that I'm updating you on House labs is another big hitter in this video. So let's get into it I'm trying not to talk too much, but look at me continuing to talk. Okay. Let's start off with face primers So I have two the first one is from Mayron. This is the hydro prep hydrating hyaluronic serum This is very kindly sent to me from Camerani cosmetics. I do like this, but it's just not my favorite primer It's not as hydrating as I need it to be what I like about this is how lightweight it feels and it definitely does hydrate the face But for me, it just doesn't give me enough every time I use it my skin feels nicer Yeah, there's other products that I would reach for over this I feel like this is a good product for oily skin Like this is the kind of product that I would put in up my makeup kit for somebody who needs a little bit of hydration But I can tell that they're oily. This is what uses for but it's not really for me now I'm really excited. I waited to update you guys on this Because in my initial thoughts on this they have changed. This is why I love the speed reviews and makeup updates This is the Natasha Denona hydrogen skin glass. So the first time that I tried it, I was unsure But I was like I like it, but I don't know that it's all that I'm here to update you that now that I've used it More I actually really really like this. It gives a very pretty metallic finish on the skin Which looks really flattering underneath makeup and I also find the consistency of this to be more hydrating than ever I feel like the more often that I use this every day the better and more hydrated my skin becomes it really does feel like a Skincare infused product. So I've been thoroughly enjoying this for my dry skin I've been enjoying the gleam that it gives underneath it even looks good underneath a product like a skin tint or something Very sheer to give that extra glowiness. So I've been enjoying this. Do I think it's worth the money still I don't know that it's worth the money, but I can tell you I've been enjoying having it in my collection So yeah, this has been very positive for me. Okay. I have my first Jones road beauty product I've done a full video on these but I just want to update you now that I'm using them even more I mean, I've used these a ton just because there's something about this line that I keep wanting to play with So this is a what the foundation I've officially decided. I am not a fan of this more so for the application of it It is so messy in the container that she put this in and the product separates There's oil sitting on top in literally only two days. So yes, you have to mix it and yes She does say that you have to mix it, but that's the point I don't like mixing it as far as how it looks on the skin. I think it's very very nice. Obviously, it is a very light coverage It's great for mature skin. That's very subtle evening But it just makes the skin in my opinion look glowier and more alive However, it makes my face really sticky my hair sticks to it I'm like suffering right now because I have it all over my face I look really sweaty living in a humid climate with this It does not go with my current environment around me. So personally for me. This does not work. I don't like it It's not worth the fuss. It's not worth my hair sticking to it. I'm just not that into it I also have this concealer from Jones Road. This is the face pencil. I have mine in the shade number seven I do really like this product So I like this more so though for no makeup makeup days when I apply too much of this on the under eyes It makes my under eyes look really dry and cakey However for no makeup makeup days if I literally just put it on the inner corner and blend it out with my finger It looks really great and very natural just to kind of blur the blue and purple underneath the eyes So it's great for no makeup makeup, but don't apply this in excess on the under eyes I do also like this for spot concealing as well as I've been using it to clean up under the brows So overall I do really like this But in terms of if I'm wearing a full face of makeup I want a full coverage concealer under the eyes I can't use this because too much of this is not a good thing This is really only for days that I'm not wearing much makeup and I just want to brighten the under eyes a little bit So yep, that's what I found with this But I do like it and I'm very happy that I have it except from say we have the new Hydra beam concealer I do not like this concealer So this is supposed to be very very hydrating which is very exciting who doesn't love a good hydrating under eye concealer But the finish of this is so glowy and so hydrating that actually I find it to be very unflattering for my under eye Number one, I find that it kind of sits on top of the skin It doesn't really blend in or looks seamless with the skin and the finish of it because it is so glowy and hydrating it Actually emphasizes the dry patches and the fine line under my eyes It just doesn't look natural on the skin at all even though it gives a light coverage It doesn't give much coverage but because of the way that it sits on the skin It looks really unnatural and unflattering and I thought that this would be good for like a no makeup makeup day because it is a lighter Coverage, but because the finish of this is so glowy. There's a huge contrast between the skin And my under eyes you can literally see the glow. It's not a good concealer today I used it kind of all over my face in a larger format than I normally would because I was wearing just the Jones Foundation and I wanted a little bit more coverage for this video and that kind of helped because we spread The finish of it a little bit more throughout the face so it looks a little bit more intentional But yeah, if I use this under the eyes, it's just a weird look it emphasizes drying this not a fan of it personally Okay, let's get into powders. I have two face powders. So the first one is from Rafa. This is a weird one This is the skin finish water-based powder. I know Becca had one There's another brand that I cannot quite remember. It's an older brand But anyways, it's not the first powder of this nature to come out It basically it's a very finely milled powder and it feels wet when you put it on the skin I like this powder. It's not my favorite powder. I don't find it to be the most smoothing I don't find it to be the most blurring, but I think it does a good job I've been enjoying my time with this. I think it's a little too lightweight for my preference on the under eyes I like a powder with a little bit more oomph to it on the under eyes because I feel like that blurs the under eyes more But in terms of setting the face, I've been liking it. It feels really weird and cooling on the face But I think this is a solid solid powder. It's not the top of my list. It's not an all-time favorite But I like this powder and I mean it's a little gimmicky with the cooling aspect to it But I like that the other powder that I have that so many of you requested I reviewed is from Westman Atelier This is the vital press skincare powder I got mine in the shade pink bubble because I don't have a pink powder like this So I think this is a little overrated and overpriced. I don't dislike this powder I think it's a pretty powder when I use it. I like it But it doesn't give me what I want it to give me for the price point I did the refi on this side of my face the Westman Atelier on this side of my face two very different price points The refi side looks better. Why I do like this is more so for the color But I don't think I'm gonna go out and use this as the only setting powder for my whole makeup look I'm gonna use a setting powder that I like the finish of a little better And then I would use this to almost brighten the face and kind of color correct in that way It's a pretty powder. It does smooth out the skin, but there are better and where I'm more so coming from is From the price point. It's a nice powder. I like it. It's like $75 So I just I can't it's not worth it in my opinion next up we have the Lys cream bronzer stick. I have mine in the shade motivate. This isn't the perfect color for me I think I would have preferred to go a little deeper, but I've still been making this work This is an extremely emollient cream bronzer. It applies very evenly. It's quite pigmented So be careful if I got a darker shade, I would imagine I'd have to be very very careful, but it's almost Too emollient. I just feel like it melts at the touch of the skin and then also in terms of the design I feel like I am always kind of nicking the product and it's making a mess because you literally have to kind of Make sure it fits perfectly so that you don't hit the product. So anyways, it's it's too creamy for me It's too emollient. It's too messy to use but in terms of application and how it looks It is a very very pretty bronzer, but it's a it's a high maintenance product in my opinion next up I have a powder bronzer from house labs. This is the power sculpt velvet bronzer I have mine in the shade light level three. I like this bronzer, but it's been a roller coaster Experience with this sometimes I really like it sometimes I find that it looks a little patchy on the skin It's very weird the way that I find this best applies is from a swiping motion as opposed to pressing when I press the bronzer in I find that my bronze looks patchy when I get it on the side of the brush and I literally swipe it on That's how I get the most even application gets stuck on some parts of the face I feel like if you don't apply it right so I don't think a powder bronzer should have a learning curve So that's kind of where I'm like, uh, I mean I like it now that I know how to apply it I like the color. I think it looks really pretty and smooth on this skin. It's just a powder bronzer I shouldn't have had to mess around with it to learn how I like to apply it the best So it's nice, but there's better bronzers out there getting into cream blushes The first one I'm excited to update you guys on this one This is the Jones road miracle balm and I got mine in the shade dusty rose and in my original review I was totally using this wrong Apparently to get to the color because I was like, this is a clear bomb. You have to break through so I did that I still don't love this if I'm being honest. Yes, I get a little bit more color now from it I don't know if it's just a shade, but I don't like this color I feel like it has a metallic finish to it, which I don't think is very pretty and it's still quite sheer Honestly, I don't like the way it looks on my lips. So I'm partially Attributing that to I just don't like the finish of this the color that I picked out But I also feel like it feels heavy on my skin So if I use this as a blush, especially if I put down the what the foundation first Oh, my skin feels really heavy with this and it doesn't even give that much color given how heavy it feels And again, it gives that balmy sticky feel to the cheek. Yeah, I'm just not a big fan of this product I don't really like the consistency of it and this particular color. I'm also not too big of a fan of so yeah Unfortunately, this one didn't work out for me either way now What I do like a little bit more, but it's still not perfect from Jones Road is the lip and cheek stick I have mine in the shade mauve rose again This is a lip and cheek product that I don't like the look of it on my lips Which is a turnoff to me But it gives a little bit more color than the miracle balm I would say so I like it a little bit more But it still doesn't give me what I prefer in a cream blush I'm picky I guess this is better for no makeup makeup days when you don't have as much coverage on But if you're wearing a base product that contains coverage the coverage literally eats this color alive And you're not going to see it So if you're wearing this in the Jones Road Beauty aesthetic of the no makeup makeup look I think you will like this, but I still prefer my blush sticks to have a wee bit more color The next product that I have is from YSL. This is from their new light This is actually the first product that I've purchased from this line This is the lip and cheek balmy tint in the shade new peach And I've heard a couple of you tell me that I should get a darker color that those are better because this gives me nothing This is essentially like a clear balm with a very very very subtle hint of tint It's unflattering on the lips feels a little Vaseline to me and on the cheeks again just like the Jones Road If you have something with coverage on the coverage is going to eat this product alive It's not a bad product if you don't have much of a base product on it's okay But still I feel like I need to apply a ton of it to get the color to even show up It's just not worth the price points. I'm not a big fan of this powder blushes So the first one that I have is from rms. This is the redimension hydra powder blush I believe these are quite popular. I have mine in the shade maidens blush. I really really like it I have it on this cheek right now. I think it's very very pretty. It's a touch more Metallic than I prefer a good affordable dupes for this is the all may healthy hue blushes I did a whole youtube short on it the all may is a bit better because it's a touch less metallic than this So I actually prefer the all may but this is still a really nice product. I can see why it's very popular It's just if I were to tweak it a little bit. It's a bit heavy on the metallic finish But gorgeous blush nonetheless and then as you know Pat McGrath came out with the divine blush duos. I picked up all but one shade So I'm here to update you. I mean if you watch my videos You already know there's two colors in particular that I am reaching for the first one is venusian sunrise I feel like this particular one is a little bit more of a unique shade There's like purple in there and a brighter pink It's just very pretty for cool tones and then paradise glow is the perfect sun burnt sun kissed kind of blush So I find myself reaching for those two. I think those are the most unique colors in the lineup as well Today, I'm wearing divine rose two because I haven't used that one in a while So overall I have a very positive opinion on these. I think they're long lasting They're easy to apply but a con to these is I feel like it's hard to just get into one color They are a duo but no matter what brush I use I always find myself just getting frustrated and mixing the two together because the corner of my brush always gets into the color That I wasn't really interested in so even though it's a blush duo I find that I'm just mixing both so I'm paying extra for one shade anyways, but the quality is really really nice I'm just struggling to actually utilize it as a duo Also in that collection came the divine glow highlights So this is a formula that already existed but she launched two new shades Luna or lure is great for very very fair people because this is the first time she's come out with a highlighter That would work for somebody that's quite on the pale side. I bought it to review. It's it's not my color It's very white on me and then golden moonlight. It's a little bit more appropriate for me It's still a bit bright for my preferences So I bought those for review purposes the quality of them is really great But they aren't highlight colors that I personally prefer. They're a bit too bright for me We also have from house labs the bio radiant gel powder highlights I picked up two shades when I originally bought these at launch time because they were so pretty I couldn't decide I picked up sunstone and peach quartz. I'm actually wearing peach quartz on this side of my face I think this and another product which I will talk about at the end of this video are my favorite items from house labs This is actually a highlight that kind of stands out on the market and what is also being sold at Sephora Which I think is a big deal. They're very smooth on the skin. They do have a more blending metallic finish But they apply seamlessly You can't tell exactly where I applied the highlight to start because of how well they blend in They also have some really beautiful shades in the range Very very unique very smooth to apply mess free gives a really pretty look to the skin I definitely recommend these from this launch probably my favorite item and then color pop a while back They came out with the winnie the poo collection and so I got sent the highlights There was a third super shock cheek highlight, but it was way too deep for my skin tone But I've been using these two a lot So I thought I'd give these a moment of love both are very very beautiful Now you have to be careful with the super shock cheeks because if you over apply them They can look patchy on the skin But if you just get a little bit on a damp sponge and push it into the skin There really is not a more natural look like you can see the big difference right now between the house labs And the color pop the color pop I feel like looks so seamless in the skin and a little bit more natural These are very very beautiful highlights a very easy application This is not a new formula So I'm not going to talk about these too much, but I've been enjoying these very like golden colors Face is done. Let's move on to the eyes. We're going to start off with eyebrows So first I have this guy from jones road. This is the brow pencil. It's a decent pencil It is a chunk, you know, it's a chunk little pencil. I love how short and stout it is So I use it on this brow. It's really great for a quick fill in It's not as precise as I normally prefer So this isn't something that I'm reaching for all the time, but for days where I don't care about the precision of my eyebrows Or getting them perfect. I just want to run a little bit of color through them A lot of times I'll do that and then I'll put on a really nice brow gel to shape But I'll just use this to fill in so I do really like this This is for those of you that are blessed with great eyebrows to begin with and you don't need To like draw in every single hair. So I do really enjoy this But it's definitely not going to be for everybody the other eyebrow product that I have is from rare beauty So I did a big rare beauty review video. So this is one of the items I picked up for that that I didn't have yet This is the shape and fill duo. I have mine in the shade light brown I love this. I think this is a great little product It's super neat because you can pull it out the brush applicator and normally I'm not a fan of the brush applicator So this one is actually very very good whenever I use this product I just use the applicator that it comes with so I'm getting the most out of it There's one shade that's a little bit more pomadey and then one shade that's a little bit more powdery I just kind of mix the both together and I mean, I love the look of a powder brow So every time I wear this I love the way my brow looks. It's a really really solid product feels quite, um, sturdy So it's really good for travel. It doesn't take up too much space. I highly recommend this And then I have a brow gel and this is one of my new all time favorite brow gels This is from Too Faced. This is the fluff and hold laminating brow wax Every time I use this, I simply love the way my brows look I mean it gives that fluffier look but you can still get a lot of control with it It's something that I found out that I didn't know if you pull the cap off you actually have a brush underneath I love this product before I even knew there was this feature and now I love it even more So I will run the product through my eyebrows, which they already look great But then for extra longevity and hold I will use the brush to kind of Shape and press the hairs down where I want them to go. It's a nice long lasting brow gel I love the way that it lays and separates my hair down and it's not like too heavy or thick like glue So it still it's great for every day one of my new favorite products and I can't believe it's from Too Faced I have these guys from house labs. These are the high power pigment paints This is kind of a big deal in the launch in the marketing They're okay. These aren't the type of product that I'm normally going to reach for so I'm not a fan I think if you're into really artistic makeup graphic liner graphic makeup All of that you will enjoy these products But in terms of if you're an everyday person like me and you want an everyday look for further matt I think they're very easy to blend but you want to work on one eye first Blend it out and then go to the other eye because they dry really really fast The good thing is they last a long time.  I don't know these are really great now the metallic ones I'm not as big of a fan of I feel like they look chunky on the eyelid and crackly They don't feel crackly, but they look that way on the eyelid at least if you're going to put them all over the eyelid It's different, you know If you take an eyeliner brush and you want a line of metallic but in terms of spreading it out all over the lid I'm not as big of a fan. So these are just products that I'm really not going to reach for I prefer to just use a powder eyeshadow palette. They work, but I don't love them. I also have this set from color pop I talked about this on my favorites. It's so good. This is the thanks a bunch super shock shadow trio I almost put this like in my giveaway pile But one day I decided to use it and I'm obsessed with the colors that these come with I mean a super shock shadow is not a new product at all. These have been around for years. They're great. They're beautiful The shades in here are so metallic and pretty. They have been perfect for summer one and done shadows If I just want a pretty gleam on the lid something to look pretty when the sun comes down I love the shades in here and you know the quality of the super shocks are great Next I have the sparkle wash from jones road. This is really really nice in terms of longevity. It's going to stay all day It's not going to budge. It's not my favorite look for a glitter shadow I find the glitters in here to be a bit too big for my preference And it's hard to get an even wash all over the lid I feel like you almost need to have a base underneath the base eyeshadow And then go in with your fingers and kind of spread it around in that case. This looks beautiful But if I have a bare lid and I want to sparkle wash and I put this all over my lid It looks really uneven and I don't like that look so I like this product I think it's very nice longevity is great But I'm a little bit picky with how I apply it also from jones road beauty I have the justice sec eyeshadow in the shade pewter. I do not like this product Unfortunately, it did not work out for me. It looks very pretty. It's very jones road esque in that It just gives a nice subtle wash fill it. I think it's very pretty but it creases like a mofo you guys I do not struggle with longevity and eye shadows. I do not have an oily eyelid However, my creases they just separate right away with this product on top of it So I don't like that product eyeliners. I have quite a few the first one is from rare beauty This is the perfect strokes matte liquid eyeliner. It's nice The felt tip is a bit thick for my preference. I don't know. I feel like I don't have enough precision But in terms of the product, it's really nice easy to apply it lasts a long time other than the application I think everything about it is a very good eyeliner and even though I think the felt tip is a bit thick I still have a good time applying it. So this is a nice liquid liner, but I would choose others over this one I'm going to breeze through the jones road the best pencil because I've talked about this so much But I just wanted to put it in this round up. I find in the shade brown the best pencil Honestly, one of the best pencil eyeliners out on the market. It lasts a long time. It's so easy to apply It's as easy as an eyeshadow to apply. Serious. It is a perfect like powdery pencil They also have the wane gauze the eye cool pencil in the shade granite This is his newest shade that came out with his most recent collection. So first of all, I love this for the color I do not have a color that is this granite shade in my collection and it's quite easy to apply It's more cream based I would say compared to the jones road beauty, but it lasts a really long time And I've always really liked his eyeliners and again really excited about the color for this one And then the last two eyeliners are from the color pop star wars collection that came out a couple months ago These are the graphic ink liners. There's two shades. They have glitters to them I do not like these they're a bit watery and they separate So it takes a few coats to get the kind of finish that you would prefer and also it burns my eyes So that right there is kind of a big no-no. So Yeah, it's a pass for me on these I have two falsies that i'm going to talk about. So if you think my lashes look a little funky or off It's because they are so these eyelashes from milani in this style flora had so much potential They're so pretty and wispy, but it's the band itself that I really struggle with it Fitting on my eyelid. It just wants to kind of pop up and the way that they sit on the lashes They never can fully morph together with your natural lashes. There always is a separation It's just not a good look. It looks okay from afar But if you don't have either dark eyeshadow on or a lot of liner, you'll see the edges popping You'll see the separation. I don't recommend those another lashes I've tried recently that I don't recommend are the lily lashes every day foaming in every day miami I was really excited about these because I love miami lashes though They are a bit too much for my small eyes I was hoping that these would be like miami but better for smaller eyes But the truth is the band on these are way too big and then the lashes are way too small It's just on flattering you can see the band popping up So I still have a few lashes to try from this line, but this one is really bad Both of these lashes after this video. I'm throwing away that should say a lot Okay, are we ready to move on to the lips? So the first one that I have is a lip balm This is from a meal cordon and it's the classic lip balm the meal cordon lip balms are so beautiful So luxurious but very very pricey. So while I do like the quality of this It's a bit of an overpriced lip balm I feel bad saying that because they are a smaller company and the product that they have is great But these are a luxury lip balm So it's up to you to decide if that's worth it. They also are very sensitive So if you have a hot house, these will melt, you know temperature sensitive I guess is the word that I was looking for a second your warmth of your finger touches these is like turn to liquid But they're so hydrating and so luxurious and so nice feeling but they're an expensive lip balm So I'll leave it at that I also never got the chance to update you guys on the color pop star wars lipsticks So I love the lipsticks from color pop I feel like they don't come out with enough in their collections because it's one of their best lip products Now i'm not going to lie to you guys there are two dark colors and a light color in this collection I Never wore the dark colors. I'm just not wearing them this time of year But the shade dark lord is a dreamy peachy shade I haven't mixed with another lip color right now, but I do have it on I think the color pop lipsticks themselves are such a great affordable lipstick You can't tell that they're only a few bucks the packaging of these are really cute So I haven't reached for the darker colors. They just haven't been in my color palette this time of year Maybe more so in winter. We'll talk again But for now, I've only been wearing one color but you can trust that the formula is good And if you like star wars, maybe this is a good match for you I've only tested one color so far But it's been hard for me to pinpoint my thoughts on the Maybelline super safe vinyl inks I've been keeping this in my purse. I think this particular color is very beautiful. This is a shade cheeky But this formula isn't all that I would still prefer to go for my super safe matte inks over these These don't really dry down so they don't have that super stay formula that they claim to have here It's a pretty color. It's comfortable. I can't quite put a finger on how I would describe it It's not quite a cream. It's not quite a liquid lipstick. It just kind of sits on the lips It's not my favorite lip formula from Maybelline. It's not a bad lip formula But I just don't really get the point So a few weeks ago color pub came out with the apricot me knot collection and they came out with at least Four is what I kept of the fresh kiss lip creams. I've been really enjoying these colors for the summer They are a true cream formula So they never fully dry down, but they have more of a matte finish I am currently wearing the shade freshest mixed with that star wars lip color, but oh my gosh, these are such pretty Summer colors. They don't have the longest wear So you do need to keep these in the purse to reapply, but they're very very pretty. They're a nice formula I would suggest pairing these with a lip liner though because they're not going to hold themselves on the lip line But they're very pretty colors. I like this formula house labs. I ended up picking up one of the lip crayons in the shade mauve matte. I really like this. This is a nice matte thin Lipstick very lightweight very easy to apply the specific color. I chose great for every day It's a little too creamy and so for that reason I do prefer to wear this with a lip liner to kind of guide the outer shape of my lips But in terms of just throwing this on this is really great This is a very nice purse lipstick because you don't really need to look when you put it on It has kind of a blurring property. It's a very very nice solid lip product We have this guy from jones road. This is the lip tint and pretty This is I would say probably one of my favorite products from jones road besides the eyeliner pencil This I actually prefer to use on my cheeks over her actual cheek products So first of all on the lips, this is very pretty You can get a sheer coverage over the lips to just kind of add a nice tint But you can build it up to get quite a bright color with this It also blends out very beautifully on the cheek. So if you just boop boop and blend it out You have the perfect monochromatic look in my opinion I'd rather use this as a cheek color is better than the lip and cheek stick in my opinion So this is one of the most versatile products in the jones road line And I think it's really really beautiful. I highly recommend this and then I talked about these are my favorites So I'm just going to go through these very quickly the house lapse phd hybrid lip oil in the shade tint This is really pretty it leaves a nice kind of stain to the lip very comfortable lightweight for every day Super solid lip oil. I've been loving this keeping it in my purse Just using it as I walk by I'll like grab it off my desk and put it on my lips very nice Also been loving the fenty skin cherry treat conditioning lip oil This has such a delicious scent to it and it really does hydrate the lips Like I do feel like conditioning my lips. It's so good now This I would say is a little bit thicker and more sticky than the house labs So this is more so like for no makeup makeup where it's this because it leaves a slight tint behind I'm more likely to wear this on days that I want a little bit of color to my face It's a little bit more intentional, but they're both very very nice lip oils And I like them for different purposes in different situations. All right guys. There we have it Those are all 38 of the products that I have to talk about today again. Keep an eye out I should have another speed reviews coming up next week I will have all of the products that I talked about down below in case you're interested in purchasing And yeah, thank you guys so much for liking this video and being subscribed to my channel And I'll catch you guys in the next one. I guess have a good one You