#j.lynne

[paranormalrealism]

INTERVIEW

J Lynne

Orville: How long have you been writing?

J Lynne: I’ve been writing since a child. My earliest memory is writing a play with a classmate in the fourth grade. The play was about a couple of kids who wanted to investigate a haunted mansion with flickering lights.

 Orville: What got you interested in writing?

J Lynne: Writing was a great outlet for me growing up. I could work out my emotions and I felt safe using that medium.

 Orville: How many books do you have published?

J Lynne: I have three short stories and one novella published. My novella is the only book that is available in paperback. I did start a story on Kindle Vella.

 Orville: Are your books self-published or traditionally published?

J Lynne: I self-published my books.

 Orville: Where can the reader find your books?

J Lynne: My books are available on Amazon. My Amazon author page is http://amazon.com/author/j_lynne

 Orville: Are you a plotter or pantser?

J Lynne: I lean toward being a plotter, but I’ve never plotted out the entire story before writing it. I will outline a chapter to help guide me, but then I allow the characters to take me where they need to be. And they don’t always like to follow my outline.

 Orville: What genre do you write?

J Lynne: Horror is my preferred genre, along with paranormal and dark fantasy.

 Orville: What are your book titles?

J Lynne: Everlasting Apple

Taken

Project Dodge

Breathe (Kindle Vella)

Lurking

 Orville: Is your work on Kindle Unlimited?

J Lynne: Yes, it is.

 Orville: What are you currently working on (and when will it be available)?

J Lynne: I’m working on a novella that explores the idea of getting everything you want with a simple wish. It starts with an offhand comment that was uttered in anger. Something that she never would’ve said had she known it would come true. I don’t have an exact release date, but it will be available in 2023. After, I want to get back to writing my Kindle Vella story Breathe. I love spirits and ghosts and that story has plenty.

[itisnotachoice-itisacurse]

Why do we hold our breath for the very person who took our breath away in the first place?

[itisnotachoice-itisacurse]

"The Leash"

Another day.

Another lie.

Another life.

---

Why?

Why can't I just move past it?

Why can't I just stop feeling so numb?

---

I am confused.

But I don't care enough to find myself.

I deserve to be lost inside this greedy darkness.

---

I walk through the day

trying to let each little dig

slip through the cuts of my tattered heart unseen.

---

Instead, they constantly

reach back out and yank me back.

It's like I live on a leash.

---

The Leash.

Let me tell you about The Leash

that binds me to a deadly owner.

---

My owner is filled with many things,

Death. Pain. Guilt. Regret. Memory.

It refuses to let me walk free.

---

Instead, every day I think the gate has been left open,

I find it slammed in my face ten times harder

than the last time I attempted an escape.

---

Why won't you let me leave?

You're tightening the rope around my neck,

I can't breathe when you pull on The Leash.

---

Just let me go!

Let me live life

the way a girl my age should.

---

Or maybe this IS how girls my age live life.

Maybe we all just camouflage our leashes

in a mad attempt to hide our imprisoned minds.

---

My thoughts fight to escape.

My throat fights just to breathe.

My body throws itself blindly into your blockade.

---

The Leash is slowly and painfully

sucking the precious oxygen

from my withering body.

---

I don't know how much longer I'll make it.

I tell myself "just breathe one more breath, now repeat.."

But my breathes have become ragged and shaky.

---

Your iron grip hurts.

Please stop.

Please just loosen it a notch!

---

I promise I won't run if you do.

Honestly, I wouldn't even know where to run.

Besides, I've become too weak to barely even walk.

---

You selfish son of a bitch.

You've stolen over four years of my life,

why won't you allow me just one day of peace?

---

Fuck it.

You win.

I lose.

---

Such is the game of life.

The Leash always wins-at least mine feels like it has.

So, what's your Leash?

---

-j.lynne

[itisnotachoice-itisacurse]

"Beauty in the Blade"

My body conveys a message of hope and happiness.

I am like a fountain of boundless energy and laughter.

All around me, people smile-they revel in the joy that I am happy.

Yet I am far from happy.

My smile is a facade-fragile glass.

It hides the absolute black hole of desperation I struggle to control.

---

Each day is a challenge and yet, you would never know.

Each day, I rise to the task of leading teams.

Each day, I get out of bed and live.

---

But throw a stone at my body and my delicate wall will shatter.

Behind this wall lies a dark, desolate forest of emotions.

No one has dared venture past the forest front.

No, not even I dare.

---

I am sick.

I am filled with anguish.

Guilt.

Selfishness.

Tears.

Pain.

Hate.

Malice.

Weakness.

Emptiness.

I am meaningless.

---

I hate life when I should be loving it.

What am I to live for?

What can I look forward to?

But my own guilt gets the better of me.

Before I can suck my own bitter spirit away, I quickly swallow it back down.

---

I say I feel empty.

That life offers me no true feelings of meaning.

Instead, I thrive off thrills and dares.

The intense rush of blood and energy that cloaks my head.

The high in which I feel I call the shots.

But what control?

I have no control.

I am nothing.

And nothing cannot have control.

-j.lynne

[itisnotachoice-itisacurse]

"Just Breathe"

"Just breathe" he says.

Like it's the easiest thing in the world.

But it's really so much more complicated.

"Just breathe" he says.

It all sounds so simple.

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

"Just breathe" he says.

But how can I breathe when the weight of my madness is crushing me?

And maybe I don't care enough to fight back.

"Just breathe" he says.

No. Swallow me as I am.

Let me fall into this dark abyss life has created for me.

"Just breathe" he says.

"Why should I?" I say.

"What is the point?"

"Just breathe" he says.

Again, I question why.

Sure, every life has a point, but maybe I am the exception.

"Just breathe" he says.

Maybe I never had a point to begin with.

Therefore, just breathing is pointless.

"Just breathe" he says.

"Breathe for me." I beg.

"I'm just too tired to breathe anymore."

"Just breathe" he says.

I'm trying.

But it just doesn't seem to be working.

"I love you. That's why you should just breathe."

-j.lynne

[itisnotachoice-itisacurse]

"It is not a choice, it is a curse."

[ohacne]

J.Lynne Cosmetics Priming Powder

Product: J.Lynne Cosmetics Priming Powder Price: USD 15.00 @ J.Lynne Cosmetics for a 30g jar. (Can sometimes be cheaper during their sales.) Review:

This priming powder can also be used as a setting powder – I personally almost always use it as a setting powder instead of a priming powder (since I have BB creams as a primer anyway). I have tested this powder as a primer also though, so I’ll comment on my opinions of both in this review. You can purchase this powder in three different shades: Porcelain/Fair, Peach, and Ivory/Light. I use it in ‘Peach‘, which is a neutral shade that is meant to help balance color for all skintones.

This powder comes in a 30g sifter jar that is relatively easy to use. I would be careful when you first buy the product though because it can be very easy for product to leak out of the top of the sifter when it is filled with product. J.Lynne has recently started releasing their 30g+ jars with lock-sifter tops – I haven’t seen or tried it yet but I’m sure it’ll make it less messy!

Ingredients: Kaolin (CI 77004), Calcium Carbonate (CI 77220), Zinc Oxide (CI 77947), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499). May Contain Ultramarines (CI 77007).

I apply this product with a kabuki brush when I use it as a priming powder and I apply it with a powder brush when I use it as a setting/finishing powder. It’s applied as usual with mineral foundation – simple swish, tap and buff. The ‘Peach’ priming powder applies translucently so it doesn’t help give any coverage or color-correction. You must be sure to blend so you don’t end up with random splotches of white powder on your face. Make sure you get the crevices around your nose, unless you want to look like a cocaine addict.

This product contains kaolin, which is a soft white clay that can help draw out excess dirt and oil from our pores. This can be both a good and a bad thing – I’m not sure I understand the logic behind this yet but their website claims that the powder helps reduce oil by drawing out the oil from your skin. Now, you would think your skin would look oilier if excess oil is being drawn out and not washed away right? So there’s a little contradiction there.

I’ve noticed that when I use this powder as a setting powder, on top of the rest of my bb cream or liquid foundation, my skin is more likely to become oily within the hour – so I will absolutely need to blot. After blotting the first time however, the oil control lasts maybe 3 hours before I blot again. When I use this as a priming powder though, I find that my skin doesn’t get as oily as fast – perhaps because the mattifying bb creams or foundation on top of it prevents it from drawing out too much oil? Who knows but in conclusion, my skin is oilier when I use it as a setting powder versus when I use it as a priming powder.

I’m not a huge fan of this powder though, even if I have used it along with my J.lynne mineral foundation for almost two years. I’d love to find a better finishing powder to try out.

Initial Rating: 3/5

[ohacne]

J.Lynne Cosmetics Mineral Foundation

Product: J.Lynne Cosmetics Mineral Foundation Price: USD 12.00-18.00 @ J.Lynne Cosmetics (Normally $18 but they usually have sales that reduce it to about $12 for a 30 gram jar.) Review:

So, I realize that it’s been about two years since my “initial review” of the J.Lynne Mineral Foundation. I’ve already stated that I use the shade Medium Warm 3.4 in the winter and sometimes will mix in Tan Warm 4.4 in the summer if I actually end up tanning. I’m aware that it says “Medium Tan” on the images below…but I really meant “Tan Warm”. Clearly, labeling images from memory doesn’t work so well for me. Har har.

Given that I’ve been using this foundation for two years now – it’s safe to say that I’m very pleased with how it has performed. I generally use this mineral foundation on top of my BB cream to help color correct (since most BB creams are slightly pale on me) and to provide a little bit of extra coverage. For a mineral foundation, I would still agree that this would provide medium to full coverage.

NOTE: I have tried mixing this mineral foundation with my Olay moisturizer to make a mineral-liquid foundation and have also applied this mineral foundation wet by spritzing water onto my stippling brush before. Applying this mineral foundation wet will provide you with the highest coverage. Applying it mixed with a moisturizer will decrease the amount of coverage you get. Both did not go very well – these methods played a part in my previous cystic acne outbreak in November 2010.

This foundation gives a semi-matte finish when used in combination with my Missha Perfect Cover BB cream in #23. I have actually never used just the mineral foundation alone because my skin has never been smooth enough for it. The times where I testedjust the mineral foundation, I found that it didn’t do a great job with my uneven skin. I have too many enlarged pores, icepick and hypertrophic scarring from my severe acne for mineral makeup alone to cover. I’ve found that no foundation (mineral or liquid) will be able to fully cover everything.

However, I choose to stick with mineral foundation because it is the first type of foundation that I have ever used. Mineral foundation is better for acne-prone skin because it allows your skin to breathe and contains the least ingredients. The ingredients that it does contain is all natural so there is minimal chances for irritation.

Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Zinc Oxide (CI 77947), Mica (CI 77019), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499). May Contain Ultramarines (CI 77007)

This mineral foundation has great staying power – I would say that it doesn’t oxidize or “melt off” for up to 6-8 hours, and even if there is some “fading off” by the end of the day it isn’t anything crazy – there is still some coverage available. The one bad thing about this is that it can be pretty drying, if you have dry skin to begin with. For those of us with oilier skin, mineral foundation is great because it ends up giving you a healthy glow once it mixes with the natural oils on your skin. This “dryness” factor is an issue for me in the winter though, since dry and chill air makes me flake like crazy if my skin isn’t properly moisturized and hydrated before application.

One last thing: Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are both primary ingredients for this mineral foundation. This is great because it means it naturally provides a light layer ofsun protection as well. I would suggest using a sunscreen or some other form of sunscreen underneath though – I wouldn’t rely on this foundation alone to protect my skin from UV rays!

They’ve recently started to sell a larger full-size (50g jars!) now – I am definitely purchasing it in the near future.

Initial Rating: 5/5