Why I Choose Naked Over Packaging, by Cookie

Hey There Beauties....it has been a good while since we had a lash talk, and today, as I was packing up a sweet pair of Sparrow Lashes, I noticed a prior conversation from the week was surprisingly still echoing in my brain. It was focused around expanding my beloved lash business and adding more packaging to make it look more "professional," and maybe more appealing to some at first glance.

Yeah, I can see why; ...what packaging?? HAHA! I've realized that as much as I love to create, I also love to, and strive to, have a business that uses recycled and sometimes reclaimed packaging. "Upcycled" is another word. "Re-Loved" is my favourite. I have a enticing desire to make these one of a kind lashes for people who pour their hearts out on stage in performances, entertain crowds of people in dance and circus shows, even clown for kids in them! But what I don't want is to create more packaging and garbage for people to deal with when they receive my product in the mail. I've been very inspired by Hoop Revolution's Eco Hoop, and they're story and approach to creating their product in a world of excessive plastic production. I got to test their eco hoop recently, ( and it totally rocked,) and I loved hooping in the middle of something created  with so much care for the planet.
So, this is a personal choice for me as an artist, and for my customers sake, also. I keep seeing more and more videos online about garbage in the ocean and how it is inside many sea birds and animals. I've heard by some people in business that it is a "necessary evil for launching a product."
Well, I'm choosing to do it differently...

......and I hope no one minds! I do have cardboard boxes that function as an excellent way to store your lashes so you can wear them over and over again, (and you can order one on my etsy page and I'll totally dress it up for you with my own artwork and silly tape scraps, and then your lash box will be one of a kind, too!!) but otherwise, I'm holding back on the big fancy packaging of my product. Not only does it help the environment but it also saves big money on shipping! I can fit a pair of lashes, sometimes two, into a regular business envelope and send it to you as a letter! And...At some point when you've been lashed multiple times you will need a box, Darling, and I plan to make them from re-Loved materials, too, (look for them on my etsy!) as much I can, and offer those alternatives to you, my precious customers.....I love you as much as I love the Earth!

Here are some recent designs, inspired by Dragonflies and Spring time! 

And, of course, with wedding season right around the corner, Bridal Lashes have begun!

Have a wonderful day and thank you for your comments and Love on Facebook! 

xoxo
Cookie

www.etsy.com/shop/LashesfortheMasses 

Jenny Hill, Imagination, Hoop Dance and Feather Lashes!

The latest lovely lady getting lashed at Lashes for the Masses is the fabulous Jenny Hill... "The eclectic professional life of Jennifer Hill: published poet and essayist, memoirist, arts educator, hoop instructor, and performer." from her blog, Acts of Jennius.  Eclectic is kind of an understatement, as you will see...

Cookie: "Tell us about Jenny Hill, the child performer...what was your dream/secret passion in life at age 7?"

Jenny Hill: "I had many dreams and secret (and not-so-secret) passions when I was seven. I still do! When I was seven, I thought I could cure cancer. I didn’t have any idea how, but I kept a notebook about it. My room was my sanctuary space for testing out ideas. I sang into my tape recorder, danced to the crackly songs that came out of a radio that once belonged to my grandfather, and transformed my room into a beauty salon/restaurant/television show (I was the host, of course). I wrote stories in my closet, and spent a lot of time outdoors poking sticks into streams and bouncing on fallen trees. I never hula hooped as a kid (that I remember), but I did do an interpretive dance to the 70s song “Dreamweaver.” I’d like to revisit now as an adult. That might be my next video. Beware."

Cookie: "Yes! We have seen some of your very intriguing videos, and please do let us know when a modern "Dreamweaver" interpretation is ready for the world to see! I'll be the first to watch! Tell us how the hoola hoop found you, and where did that lead you next??"

Jenny Hill: "My big sister introduced me to the hoop about four years ago, when I got married. She brought a hoop making kit with her from Tokyo, and we decorated hoops and took them out into my backyard to play. I couldn’t do it at first, but when Kristen told me to close my eyes, I started to get the hang of it. Where did that lead me next? Whoa! I discovered that my body wasn’t merely a vehicle to move my brain around. I had a body that could do things that were bordering on elegant, complex, mysterious, sensual, and ridiculous. My body wanted to speak! All those years that I said, “I can’t dance,” were erased by the hoop. My sister gave me a huge gift the day she shared her love of hooping with me."

Cookie: "I see grace, fitness, beauty, and some seriously mad hoop skills happening, (and fire hooping, too!!) all the while staying focused on your writing. This is an incredible combination of talents! You are currently teaching poetry to children! What are children teaching you in your work with them?"

Jenny Hill: "Children have no filters. They say what is on their minds, they are genuine, they are brave, funny, and imaginative. They remind me every time I am with them that I was once a kid, and can remain one, if I stay genuine, brave, funny, and continue to use my imagination."

Jenny with her daughter, Helen

Cookie: "It is truly amazing to read about your projects with kids, and all the creative ways you come up with to show them the fascinating world of the imagination! Now back to your life as a performer.....What are your favourite occasions to wear your lashes and how do they tie into your life as an artist and performer?"

Jenny Hill: "I think what you love becomes your life, so everything I love (writing, performing, hooping, making art, teaching children, helping people write their memoirs) is connected. I wear my lashes as often as I can. For burlesque they are expected, for some photo shoots, for hoop performances. I think my favorite places to wear my lashes are for events with kids because of what they say. “How come your eyelashes are all different colors like that?” That gives me the opportunity to reply with something like, “Gee, I don’t know. I guess they just grew that way.” Kids notice and appreciate the little things, and I like to encourage wonder. I have decided after answering this question that I will wear my lashes to the next poetry reading I give. People don’t expect rainbow lashes on a poet. Maybe they should."

Jenny's cat, Stevie, performing in his favourite boa!

I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more from Jenny Hill in the near future, as she has been teaching burlesque hoop dance in Canada! For now, thanks for joining us, and have a wonderful New Year and remember to lash and be lashed with those you Love! 

                                                    

                                                                         xoxo Cookie

www.actsofjennius.com

www.facebook.com/ActsOfJenniusHoopiness

www.etsy.com/shop/LashesfortheMasses

Good afternoon! I was lucky enough to get a video interview from some lash enthusiasts/experts in Invermere, BC, just over the mountain pass from my homeland in the heart of the West Kootenays, Kaslo, BC! They're a wild bunch, known to go ice climbing in their spare time, all night dancing, and frolicking with their hoola hoops at a variety of events and festivals where supreme music is playing.

Keep a glass of water nearby to resuscitate in case you faint....there is beauty in this video, so...you've been warned!

Thank you, Leah Shoemaker, for making this completely fabulous interview into video for us! And of course, thank you, Kaleigh, for your partipipaction in being beautiful!

Storm Crow Biker Beauty

I had a pretty fabulous time last weekend in another adorable and historic Kootenay town, Ymir, BC at their new Tiny Lights Music Festival teaching hoop dance and lashing a few locals. This beautiful bird named Janet flew into my booth, and she had the most wonderful teal streaked short cropped hair and was donning black leather knee-high biker boots. She chose these Storm Crow feather eyelashes to go with her night time attire, with the teal feathers picking up the colour in her hair.



GoRgEoUs!!! It is such a special thing to get to meet people this way; this woman was a stunner and was so interesting to talk to she inspired me to start interviewing people in their lashes!
I've got something fun for Sci-Fi Monday..something new in the world of feather eyelashes! Something truly alien, or avatar....have an glamorous weekend, wherever you may be!
www.etsy.com/shop/LashesfortheMasses
Come and play with Lashes for the Masses on Facebook!

Lashing Derby Girls

Some of my friends that play derby started requesting lashes for their games...another way for me to keep loving derby and being there in spirit! This photo is of a gnarly player I have yet to see on the track, Pamdemic #911 from the Bavarian Barbarians of Kimberley, BC, part of the East Kootenay Roller Derby League. My lashes are over the mountain range in downtown Invermere, BC at the Black Star Studio
, a wonderful gallery owned by her sister!



So, some of you might know me as Jen; just regular Jen Cookson. More of you probably refer to me as "Cookie," aka Cookie Hoops, my hoop name. There are a number of things the hoop world and, interestingly, the derby world, have in common.
One of them is the names. You have to have a name to represents who you are, and it can be anything, as long as no one else is using that name. Both the hoopers and the derby world have a "name registry" to prevent the duplicating of names.
When I went out for derby practice last year to try it out, I thought I'd be on a team for sure. Turns out a few health issues made that dream die an early death. At first I was a sad flower.... However, getting back into my roller skates reaffirmed how much I loved it, and Roller Hoop was born. I had my first Roller Hoop performance for a half time show at the very first derby scrimmage in Kaslo this Spring! Uber exciting!! The Sugar Skull costume came out again...it is awesome to skate in. It was hand painted by local painter and tattoo artist, Avrell Fox. I think I need one of her hand painted helmets, too!


Photo credit: Eye of the Mind Photography

A quote from Pandemic's sister, "every derby girl should have them!" .....I could lash derby girls from now until eternity! Yes, it's true! I love them all! See you at the games!


Photo credit: Eye Of the Mind Photography

Peacock Lashes...the Only Way to Fly

Here is a great example of my peacock feather lashes on my adorable friend on the left, from my last Halloween disco party. These lashes are extremely long, and can be a little tricky to wear. Always time the glue on your lashes for a least a minute or longer, and with these babies you really have to be patient...and then you will get beautiful results! Please click on the photos to make them bigger...



After you've worn the peacock lashes a number of times, the very ends of the feathers where they're really thin might get a bit worse for wear, and this is when you TRIM them, graduating the length and making a curve, and they will look new again and keep lasting for many more wears!

That's me on the right, being a Sugar Skull, wearing another set of extremely long feather lashes that are mixed brown and white. I made my Koo-Koo Banana Red Rose hair clip and the mini-hat on my friend is by the Fairies Pyjamas

You don't have to wait until Halloween to wear your lashes, though! It is festival season and time to rock out on our feather lashes..oh yes, indeed! :O)
Please visit my etsy store www.etsy.com/shop/CookieHoops

Eyelash Porn...it's Sci-Fi Monday!

Happy Monday! Today's eyelash episode is reminiscent of woodland fairies or Ewok villages. These lashes have UV highlights and have a soft, animal look. I have to admit that after seeing Star Wars in the 1970's, my imagination was altered forever!




May your day be filled with sci-fi woodland fantasies as well! :O)