In New GoldieBlox Ad, Little Girls Smash The Idea That 'Beauty Is Perfection'

GoldieBlox, the toy company on a mission to get girls building is kicking off the holiday season with a new powerful commercial.

As AdWeek points out, the ad mirrors Apple's "1984" spot, but instead of featuring a group of men listening to "Big Brother," the GoldieBlox video gives us girls draped in fur, and glitter with little heels, while "Big Sister" tells them, "You are beauty, and beauty is perfection" -- and they each pick up an equally cookie cutter fashion doll.

In true GoldieBlox fashion, the girls break free from their assembly line and start to smash the dolls surrounding them, revealing the new GoldieBlox action figure. "Girls’ feet are made for high-tops, not high heels...," GoldieBlox explains on its website. "It's time for change."

Earlier similar ads by the company have gone viral. In July 2013, girls revamped the famous Queen song, singing "More than a princess, we are the champions," while they raided the aisles of a toy store. Four months later, an ad (that the company was later in hot water for) featured girls singing a charged version of the Beastie Boys song "Girls." Goldie even landed a 30-second spot during this year's Super Bowl.

Will the latest video achieve the same level of fame? The message is certainly worth getting out in the world, widely: "Let's work together to get girls building the futures they deserve," the company says in its press release. "Our girls are so much more than pretty faces."

Colbie Caillat Is Tired of Being Photoshopped: Here's What She Did About It

Photo: Courtesy of Republic Records

Grammy Award-winning, singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat returns with a brand new EP, Gypsy Heart and a powerful new music video in which she makes a powerful statement about unfair beauty ideals by shunning hair and make-up. Here, we talk to Caillat about the man (yup!) who inspired the song, the impact of Photoshop, and why all women hate the way they look in photographs:

How did the idea for your brand new single and video, “Try,” come about?

I went into the recording studio with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and I told him that I was getting a lot of pressure to be someone I’m not, both musically and image-wise. Although I don’t want to do it, I’m just going to make these people happy. He started laughing, and said, we’re not going to do that. That’s not you, and that’s ridiculous of them to ask. That right there gave me the creative freedom. He said, “Let’s write about exactly what they’re asking you to do—to change yourself." We started checking off all these things that all of us girls do everyday to get ready to go out. I told him that before coming to the studio I wanted to look pretty so I had my nails done, I made sure I had the best outfit on, I had my hair and makeup artist come over and make me look all polished. And the thing is that I like myself when I’m not that way, but I feel like other people might not like me that way. And I know that most women go through that. When you have blemishes on your skin, gain weight, or my friend has crooked teeth, or my mom’s roots are going gray. And everyone is trying to hide their faults from each other when we all have it. So Babyface inspired me to write this and it’s all from a personal experience.

Photo: Courtesy of Republic Records

It’s funny because one would think that these messages are coming from a man to make a woman look a certain way. But here’s a man encouraging you to write about it.

I know, and a very powerful man at that. It’s so true that you can go so far down the rabbit hole of altering yourself to where you’re not happy anymore. And Kenny gave me that freedom and it’s really helped me with the direction of this album. I don’t have Photoshop on my album cover. At the video shoots, I’m doing less hair and makeup. For the “Try” video I didn’t prep or starve myself and over-exercise. And then I didn’t get my nails done, I didn’t get my hair done. I didn’t get a facial. I didn’t have a stylist.

Related: "I Woke Up Like This" Is the Biggest Myth of All

It really does take a lot.

I still love getting all dolled up. And then most of my days I love walking around with no makeup, my hair dried straight from the shower, in workout clothes or pajamas.

What is the hardest part about being a female in today’s society?

Trying to live up to other people’s expectations. When we do get dolled up, we get more compliments. It’s just what happens. When you have a cute outfit on and your makeup looks amazing, the first thing people comment on is your image. When you don’t wear makeup, you hear things like, “Oh wow, you look tired or you’re so brave for not wearing makeup!"

Photo: Courtesy of Republic Records

It’s very easy to get caught up in what’s considered the norm. But I think it all begins with our parents. Was there a lesson that you learned as a kid that you still use today?

My parents are total hippies. My mom never wears makeup and she hates getting her hair done—exactly like the song. She doesn’t think you have to try for anyone. She thinks you should be yourself. My grandma, too—they’re so natural, and everything they put into their body is clean and they just live a clean life. And growing up with a mom who never pressured me into looking a certain way was really great because it embedded that it’s okay walking around with no makeup on most of my days. It’s more for the public appearances as an artist that I feel like I have to be polished, and now I’m excited to stop that and just kind of go as I naturally am more often.

Related: Sutton Foster on Going Makeup Free on Broadway

Do you feel responsible as an artist? Do think about the message the music videos, album covers, and magazine spreads send to fans?

There’s major responsibility. When I see gorgeous models and singers and they look perfect on their album covers, it makes me want to look like that, too, and it makes me feel like if I don’t Photoshop my skin on my album cover, I’m the one who’s going to look a little off and everyone else is going to look perfect. And that’s what everyone is used to seeing. They’re used to seeing people on the album covers completely Photoshopped. On one of my album covers, my arm was shaved down and it made me look very skinny. I think that gives a false reality. When I did the lyric video for “Try,” and I asked some of my celebrity friends if they would send a picture of themselves, you have no idea how difficult it was. Some of them said no, some of them said they’ll send me a picture in a couple of days because they have a pimple on their chin, and they didn’t want it showing in the picture. And I was like, no, no, no! That’s good! Let’s let all of our fans know that we get them too, because otherwise they’re just think that they’re the only ones who get acne. We all get it, so let’s just kind of laugh about it together. And then some of the girls still wore makeup in the pictures because they felt like they needed to at least look–I don’t know, in their eyes, decent or something when they still look beautiful. It was so hard for them to show any degree of realness.

Related: The Pimple That Changed My Life: A Case for Going Makeup Free

Photo: Courtesy of Republic Records

I think that once a person gets used to something, it’s hard to change your habits. In the video you took your hair tracks out, you took all the makeup off–did you feel naked? And how did the other women in the music video feel?

We shot the video in reverse, we started bare, and by the end we finished with the full hair and makeup, and then reversed the film for the finished product. All of the women were amazing. My favorite was the woman who has no hair. I first saw her completely bald, no makeup, with a huge smile, she was just so happy and confident. She was so beautiful to me. And then we kept getting more hair and makeup on, and the next scene I saw where she’s in full make-up and wig, I was like, Who is this woman? She was not the same person. She still looked beautiful but it wasn’t the same beauty that I saw when she was liberated, showing who she really was. When I shot the first scene with no hair and makeup on in front of an HD camera in my face, flashed with bright lights, everyone was watching. I thought, “Oh my god, I bet they’re all looking at my blemishes, thinking that I should cover them up, or that I should put some volume in my hair." But it also felt really cool to be on camera with zero on, like literally nothing on. And then when it got to the full hair and makeup, I actually felt gross. I was just so caked on.

High Tech Fashion - Tech Couture at its Finest

B.I.G. Tip of the Day!

Use flatware trays vertically as jewelry organizers wood or plastic works!

These Dreamy Photos Answer The Question: 'What Would I Have Looked Like In Another Decade?'

From the scrunchies and jean jackets that dominated the 1980s to the plaid shirts and heavy boots that defined 1990s grunge, everyone has their favorite teenage fashion trend. But what would we have worn if we were flower children of the 1970s or flappers of the 1920s? Ohio State University student Annalisa Hartlaub was able to paint a picture by depicting each decade's quintessential mainstream and counterculture looks. Using herself as a model and tinting each picture to realistically reflect the technology of the decade, Hartlaub's "Counter // Culture" photo project catalogs nearly 100 years of fashion history from 1920 through today.

The sixteen-year-old artist created the collection primarily for her photography class, but Hartlaub has always had a love of the alternative. "I've always been fascinated, and a bit infatuated, with counterculture and how it shapes society and mainstream culture as well. So I decided to mix that interest with my love of fashion, makeup, and photography to create something," Hartlaub told The Huffington Post.

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

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How To Repurpose Dresser Drawers For Under Bed Storage

http://homestead-and-survival.com/repurpose-dresser-drawers-for-under-bed-storage/

Need some more storage space to store clothes, blankets, toys, craft supplies? Here's a tutorial that shows you how to easily repurpose old dresser drawers to be rollout under-the-bed storage.

Beyond the Gears: The Steampunk Movement

Steampunk Mixed Media Journal Cover Tutorial

Great Idea! Turn an old dresser into an entertainment center.

More great ideas at http://homestead-and-survival.com/

41 Creative DIY Hacks To Improve Your Home

http://homestead-and-survival.com/41-creative-diy-hacks-to-improve-your-home/

Get inspired with these 41 incredibly creative ways to make your house a home and create a beautiful space for you and your family to enjoy.

Interior Designer Bedroom Decorating Traditional Style

Interior Design: Traditional Home for Todays Modern Family

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Home Interior Design Ideas

If you like the idea of coming up with your own home Interior design, you are not alone. Lots of folks these days are planning out and then executing their own interior designs. But how do you come up with great home interior design ideas? Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Even though you may get some great home interior design ideas from these television shows, ask yourself whether or not they will fit well in your particular home. Just because they look great on television in someone else's home does not mean that it will fit in well in your home. So try to visualize the whole project from beginning to end in your house. And plan, plan, plan. By taking extra precaution in the planning stages, you can ensure a more problem free application.

If you begin right away to assemble this archive of home interior design ideas, it won't take long for you to have a really sizable reference guide to help you come up with almost any idea that you could ever need.

So as you can see, gathering information and ideas from several different sources and compiling them all together in an easily researched form can be one of the best ways for you to get great home interior design ideas quickly and easily.

Secret water Wall trick... You have to see this!

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Gemstone Walls "Before and After Transformations"

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Home Interior Design Ideas

Elegant Furniture

Gilding a console table

Vasari Plaster & Stucco - Artistic Techniques

Venetian plaster-Marmorino Tintoretto

Private residence Italian plaster with gold leaf motif

Firenzecolor Venetian Plaster-Giudecca Crackle

Vasari Plaster & Stucco - Veneziano Application

Classical Venetian Plaster Application

Vella Venetian Plaster, Polishing and Final Results

Black and Gold Faux Marble

Jeff Pollastro Paints Imitation Wood

Easy 2-Step Faux Wood

Making a steel door look like wood

Models For Charity

50 Creative Ways to Repurpose, Reuse and Upcycle Old Things

If you’re like me, you probably have a lot of old stuff just lying around your house. It’s not doing anything but taking up space, but you’re either too busy (or lazy), sentimental or just have more important things to deal with. Well if you’re looking for a little inspiration or a new DIY project, here are 50 creative ways to repurpose, reues and upcycle old things.

There’s a pretty broad range in this list but hopefully a handful jump out and spark an idea for you and your home!