unique chic

Trends for teens

Make-up: A handful or just a Sprinkle?

Would you Lick it Bite it or Both?

chicUnique

Meet the Group!Daisy Trejo:

Sadie Barron:

Daisy is the fashionista of the group; maybe thats why she is the one giving all the beauty tips in the magazine. “I. Love. Makeup.” she says. And if you saw the make-up stash at her house, you would definitely believe that she is a huge make-up fan. Sometimes, she tries to help cook or bake at home but apparently something always goes wrong. “Lets just leave all of the food stuff to Sadie,” Daisy says. In her free time, she likes to shop, especially for dresses with ruffles. She also LOVES going to parties. Especially Quinceañeras. “I like getting ready for them...” she admits. Speaking of confessions, she also admits to being a textoholic, which is sortof why she got the nickname “Dizzy”. She hopes that you will take time to look at her stories in the magazine and enjoy Unique Chic!

Even though Sadie can play Call of Duty with the guys and loves playing outside, don’t mistake her for something she is not. Sadie will always have that “who doesn’ t love cupcakes” attitude, being the baker of the group. “Even though I cook a lot, there’s so much more that I do” Sadie says. She watches movies nearly everyday, Easy A and Burlesque being her favorite. While watching movies, she loves eating doritos and drinking Dr. Pepper. Lighting up people’s lives, Sadie was given the nickname “Sparky”. Sadie says, “I may come off as shy, but once you get to know me, you’ll be thinking shut up”. She basically wants you to be a Unique Chic and love it! Enjoy reading all the stories in the magazine.

Vandana Dubakula:

The whole Unique Chic group!

“Without me, the group is just aweso,” Vandana says. Yes, this is a How I Met Your Mother refer-ence, which also happens to be her favorite show. In the group, she is mainly the health and life-style person, though she also gives occasional food/fashion tips. You could also say she was a well-rounded person. This year, she maganed to make the LBJ Tennis team, which she loves. Vandana is a big fan of tumblr and eating. “Sometimes when I am stressed, I just like to sit down with a huge brownie and surf tumblr.” she says. The group has given her the nickname “Waka Waka”. “Over the years, I have been given a lot of unusual nicknames.” she claims. Overall, she hopes you enjoy the magazine, because this is the first magazine she even made, and despite some cheesiness, it’s a good read.

Yes this is the whole group together. And we all love each other!

A Letter from The Editors:

♥♥♥ -Vandana Dubakula, Sadie Barron & Daisy Trejo

Dear Reader,Thanks so much for picking up this magazine, we’re sure you won’t regret it. Unique chic is a magazine that has lots of info and tips to help girls look and feel amazing. They get to learn a lot about food, fashion, beauty and health as well as lifestyle. We are proffesionals in our topic and we are here to help you out and teach you everything we know. We spent a lot of time making this magazine and editing it so we hope you enjoy reading it! (:

June 2012 | Unique Chic 5

Contents

A Small Fish IN A Big World!

Page 8

Mom, I’m Pregnant!

Would you Lick It BIte It Or Both?

5 Foods Teens Eat Most

Trends for Teens

The Fashion Paradise

Overcoming Obesity

Page 6

Makeup Do’s and Don’ts

Too Much Makeup: Good or Bad?

Page 12

Page 25

Page 28

Page 16

Page 10

Page 30

Page 22

Are you one of the other 80% of females that wear makeup in the U.S. every year? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. But do ever wonder how much makeup your sup-posed to wear? Do you ever feel like you

have to wear a lot makeup in order to feel beautiful? If you do, then don’t worry. You’re the person that cares about what your putting on your face, and you look more natural than the other girls who wear tons of makeup on their face daily. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved wearing make-up. I didn’t start wearing it daily, though until I start-ed middle school. Throughout these past years I’ve learned a lot about how much makeup to wear. I learned that the less you wear, the better and that wearing too much makeup makes you look a little fake or may give people the impression that your try-ing to hard to fit in. First of all, makeup isn’t considered healthy for your skin. According to Enviroblog, “Cosmetic prod-ucts and ingredients are not subject to FDA premar-ket approval authority, with the exception of color ad-ditives”. This basically means that the FDA doesn’t test the makeup to check if it is safe or not. Also, just because the label in the makeup product says it’s “natural”, it doesn’t mean it’s safe. The ingredients in the “natural” makeup, “can still be biologically active, and thus, have a strong effect on the human body”, say the writers from the Green Living Ideas article. This reminds me that the less amount of makeup I

Makeup; A handful or

just a sprinkle?

The problem of wearing more makeup than you need to

By: Daisy Trejo

6 Unique Chic | June 2012

apply, the less damage I’m causing my skin. Yeah, it’s fine to wear makeup. I wear it every day, but I also make sure what makeup it is and what it con-tains and you should do the same. Before applying or buying makeup, you should check what chemicals are on it and if it’s healthy or not for your skin. A good way to make sure the makeup is healthy, is by checking if it’s approved by the FDA. Another problem faced when wearing makeup, is applying too much. If you use a lot of makeup everyday, you start to rely on it and depend on it to feel confident and people will get used to seeing you with that much makeup on. If one day you oversleep and don’t have time to put on your makeup, not only will you walk out of the door feeling naked, but people will also be able to tell the difference and might think you’re a stranger. Take celebrities, for example. Stars like Hilary Duff, Katy Perry and Emma Watson have makeup profession-als that do their face every day and cover all their im-perfections so that they come out looking flawless on camera and in person. Even though you think their face is just naturally beautiful, there’s always that one day when a star will be photographed without makeup on and that star will look really bare and imperfect. While wearing too much makeup is a problem, there are reasons why girls do it. Most girls probably wear

“Girls should have the same confidence they have without makeup than the confidence they have with makeup.”

This is a picture contrasting a look with a lot of makeup and a look with natural makeup. In the left picture, the girl uses a lot of makeup. In the picture to the right, she uses a more natural look.

Picture by: Daisy Trejo

Picture by: Daisy Trejo

This is a picture of the tons of makeup owned by girls that thik it’s necessary to use this much.


makeup for the same reason I do, wearing makeup makes you feel beautiful. It’s true, most of the girls wear-ing makeup feel more confident with it on. But I don’t think girls should have to wear it in order to feel beau-tiful. Girls should have the same confidence they have without makeup than the confidence they have with makeup. You’re beautiful on your own. Say for example, you wear makeup one day to impress the guy you like, I understand that. We’ve all been there before. According to the Are you addicted to makeup? article from Shine by yahoo, 33% of girls feel their partner wouldn’t of been attracted to them if they didn’t wear makeup. This shows why so many girls struggle to look pretty for their guy. But if the guy really likes you, then you don’t need to even wear makeup at all for him because he likes you just the way you are. Also, if you wear too much makeup, you’re not going to impress any guy. You’re just going to start to look fake to them, like your pretending to be something you’re not because after all, that is what you’re doing. So if you’re one of those girls that puts on tons of makeup on your face daily, learn that there is a simpler way to put on makeup and still look gorgeous. You can do this by bringing out your natural features and compli-ment your face. This makes it look like you’re not even wearing makeup when you really are, so it brings out the

Makeup:Do’s and Dont’s!Find out what looks nice when going to school and

what looks like you’re going to a party instead.By: Daisy Trejo


Do wear light shades of blush that will compli-ment your skin tone and give u a nice look.

Don’t overdue it. After a few stroke, people will be able to tell your wearing blush, you don’t have to exxagerate it to make it noticable.

Do wear a brighter or lighter shade on the center of your lid and the inner corner, this will make you seem more alert and awake.

Don’t wear a bright, sparkly color all over your eyes, this will make it seem like you’re wearing a disco ball. Also, Don’t wear re-ally colorful shade on your eyes, save

that for going to par-ties.

Wearing cream blush also gives you a more natural look.

**

Do wear light shades of lipstick or lipgloss. Light red, pink, brown, and nude colors are best for having a perfect school girl look.

Don’t use dark col-ors. Dark red’s, or glittery

colors are best to avoid.

Face

Eyes

Lips

Also, Do use light and brown shades to make your eyes seem more natural.

S E P H O R A

GGet Colorful Eyes at...

Picture By: TotallyFashion


Jimmy goes to the doctor’s office for his year-ly checkup and fearfully waits for his doctor to return with the results. The doctor enters the room with a disgruntled face. “What’s wrong?” asks Jimmy anxiously. “Your weight

has reached a level where you are considered as obese,” the doctor replies, “You have a high risk of getting type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, high choles-terol, high blood pressure, and even some types of cancer.” These are the risks to a person’s health when diagnosed with severe obesity.

The amount of fast food places that have been established in the world have led to an increased amount of obesity in humans. David Cutler from the Natural Bureau of Economic Research says that the obesity rate has increased considerably in the last 25 years due to the consumption of more calories, especially from the fast growing fast food chains in the US. Janet Currie and her fellow researchers conducted an experiment that suggested the risk of obesity is significantly increased by close proximity to fast food restaurants. According to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, there are approximately 50,000 fast food chains in the US alone, with McDonalds be-ing the largest one. After all, people are usually busy and are looking for a quick and easy meal to get, and fast food is the common solution for this. Not only this, but fast food places offer low prices and service making it the “ideal all-American choice”. (deleted sentence about fast food chains being close to fit-ness centers).

According to the National Health and Examination Survey of 2010, while a third of the American adults are obese, approximately 17% of adolescents between the ages 2-19 also face this problem. In my opinion, I feel that this is largely because fast food places en-courage eating unhealthy foods by putting toys in their meals. The children are then motivated to buy food just to get the toy, and the parents cave in, ordering foods with more calories, fat, sodium and less nutri-tion and vitamins.

With all these statistics showing how many people are obese and how the fast food restaurant are the biggest cause of obesity, I feel that something should be done to deal with this problem. Some solutions in-clude either getting rid of some of the fast food chains, encouraging more people to cook homemade foods, or supporting the city wide physical fitness centers. Of course the first solution is next to impossible to accom-plish. I mean, no one would support the elimination of these fast food chains; people like fast food too much. As for the other option, the reason people even get fast food in the first place is so that they can get a quick and easy meal on the go due to their busy lives. So promoting physical fitness would be the best option to reduce the obesity rates.

Overcoming Obesity

The repulsions behind fast food chains.

By: Vandana Dubakula

to lead healthy and happy lives. •


to lead healthy and happy lives. •

The picture above shows the logos of some of the top selling food chains in the nation.

The managers of the fast food restaurants argue that fast food restaurants are good because they gain a large amount of money by selling their food, thus helping the economy. These people even say that their stores offer more healthy meals in general, such as salads and whole wheat bread, which makes the meals a lot healthier and better for the society. But in my experience, this is not enough because even with the healthy variety of food, people still opt to buy the greasy, unhealthy foods. I feel that there should be some form of promoting the healthy food options rather than just place them on the menu. With this promotion, people would know that there are healthy options available to them.

By the rate at which the percentage of Americans are becoming obese, the world’s leading medical journal, Lance of Great Britain, predicts that half of Americans will be obese by 2030. What is our country going to look like when every other person faces the challenge of over-coming obesity? With a few changes in our country and our lives, Jimmy, along with other struggling Americans, can reduce their obesity and go on to lead healthy and happy lives. •

“The world’s leading medical journal predicts that half of the Americans will be obese by 2030.”

This is a picture of a burger; a popular American favorite, but also very unhealthy.

Picture by: Sadie Barron

Picture by: Daisy TrejoPicture by: See below*

Picture by: Deb Papp

Pictures by: The food companies

The Fashion Paradise

By: Vandana Dubakula

These are the mannequins that are displayed at the enterance of Forever 21.

Picture by: Vandana Dubakula


Through the window of the store, there are two models dressed in the newest spring/summer clothes.

After entering through the glass doors, a clothing paradise awaits with a stock of the latest fashions. Loud music blares from the speakers as a Yeasayer song changes to “Let’s stop calling it love” by MoZella.

Deeper in the store, reside an assortment of appar-els that a group of teenage girls preoccupy. All around the store, an immense variety of clothing peek out from every corner. To the right, the new season col-lections of pleated tops and lace blouses dangle from the hangers. To the left, there hang floral and satin dresses from a long line of clothing racks. Further in the store, arrays of jewelry are displayed, from sweet-heart necklaces to feather earrings. The brightness and the cleanness of the store do not go unnoticed. This paradise is none other than Forever 21. With fashion being so high on a girls’ to-do list, Forever 21 offers affordable yet trendy clothes that capture the attention of teenage girls. Not only does this store offer clothes, but it also has an ample stock of jewelry and shoes. Forever 21 is a well-known clothing store for teens and young adults. Though now it is very popular, it started out as “Fashion 21” and was originally in-tended for middle-aged women. It was in Los Angeles, 1984 that the first store was created, and ever since the store has been increasing its presence through California. Soon, it was contemporary throughout the United States. Presently, there are around 270 stores in the US, and even international stores. The reason for the large expansion of the store may be that teenagers genuinely like it and shop there often. 16-year-old, LASA sophomore Akshara Pillai says that whenever she goes to the mall, she always stops by at forever 21. “Forever 21 reveals the trendy but affordable clothes that we like,” she says. “We wouldn’t even

dare to enter the super expensive stores so Forever 21 brings the clothes to us.” As a sophomore in high school, Akshara is exposed to the different cliques and dealing with the popularity hierarchy. Certain girls feel that shopping at high-priced stores and getting only the brand name dresses are what make people cool and fashionable. “To me, Hollister and Aeropostale are like cliques at school, for the popular, hot, cool people because that’s how they portray models there,” she says, “but Forever 21 is more relaxed and chill.” And maybe that’s the reason the store has become so popular since its origination 28 years ago. Teenag-ers feel that they can shop freely here regardless of their status quo. “I feel like [the store] expresses that the clothes are there for anyone and everyone.” Akshara concludes.There are other teenagers who have the same point of view. LASA Freshman, Tripi Shrivastava reveals that the wide variety of clothing and jewelry is the reason she likes the store so much.

“Forever 21 reveals trendy but affordable clothes

that we like...”



“I think that Forever 21’s clothes sizes are more spread out compared to Hollister and Aeropostale,” she says. “[Aeropostale and Hollister] have very tight clothing made for more skinny people, whereas, For-ever 21 has a bit more range in the clothing sizes.” On the other hand, 19-year-old Michaela Taylin de-fends that teen clothing stores such as Aeropostale, Abercrombie & Fitch, and American Eagle are favorable stores to shop at and many teens, along with people well above their teens years, regularly shop there. “Though the prices may be a little high, the quality of the clothes is guaranteed to be splendid,” Michae-la says. “Sometimes I feel that Forever 21 has cheap clothes that tear easily, but American Eagle has clothes that can last forever. I guess you get what you pay for…so there you go, the high priced stores aren’t so bad.” 15-year-old Sara Theissen is another LASA Fresh-man who occasionally shops at Forever 21. Sara says she gets most of her clothes from Forever 21 or Target. For Sara, the clothes can either be a great hit or a ma-jor no-no. “A lot of clothes I would wear, but a lot of others you wouldn’t catch me dead in, so in that way it’s really a hit-and-miss store for me,” Sara says. “But I do get a lot of my jewelry there!”LASA Sophomore, Vandana Garg adds that there are good and bad qualities to the store. It is particularly

This is a picture of the store when you directly look at it.

the clothing prices that displease her. She feels that compared to other stores that she shops at, Forever 21 has higher priced items. Yet, in spite of the expensive items, she reflects that the store offers trendy clothes and accessories. “I really like the tops and the dresses! They have some cool designs for the tops and really pretty de-signs for the dresses. Oh and the jewelry’s pretty nice too,” she says. The thing she most likes about the store is their collection of various types of clothing. “A lot of it is really nice, and I brought my favorite dress from there. The designs are really elaborate on some of their dresses, and I just think their clothing line is awesome.” Designs are a big part of what makes the clothes at Forever 21 so unique and exclusive. Gwyneth Ramsay, a freshman at LASA, really likes this store because she feels that it has pretty much everything, i.e. dresses, blouses, shoes, jewelry, and even make-up. And she believes that the clothing there is one of a kind and hard to find anywhere else. “If you see someone in there with a shirt you really like, it’s hard to find the exact same one because there are so many clothes there.” Gwyneth says. Gwyneth shops at Forever 21 around once or twice a month. She says she absolutely has to go to Forever 21 every time she goes to the mall. She feels that Forever 21 made a name for itself because of its current styles and never-ending introductions to new trends.

“Forever 21 made a name for itself because of its current styles and never ending introductions to

new trends.”



This is a picture of even more colorful summer clothes displayed in the store to attract girls.

“The biggest trends right now are probably oxfords, stripes, vibrant shorts, lace shirts,” she says. “When-ever there is a new trend going on, I can look into the store and count on finding it somewhere in there.” Many high school teenagers have a similar opinion on Forever 21: that it is an affordable store in which they are able to keep up with any new trends and be-come fashionable. And it is not just the local girls in Austin, but many girls all around the US frequently tweet about the new trends that come out and their favorite accessories offered by the store. “[My] new outfit of the day featuring the most amazing dress from @Forever 21! Must see!!” Tweet-ed Forever 21 twitter follower Shea Marie (peace-loveSHEA). She later even tweeted about the store’s accessories. “At @Forever 21 store in San Fran! Found a clutch that I looove!” It is not just the clothes that are tweet worthy. Some girls also tweet about the cosmetics/nail pol-ishes that they are fond of.

Maria (justmamor), another Forever 21 twitter fol-lower tweeted, “Loving my peachy pink nail polish c/o @Forever 21, especially when paired with a little silver!” The Forever 21 twitter page offers an exalted insight into the upcoming trends by displaying pictures of the latest clothing styles, and the new jewelry stock. Next summer, the store will be surrounded with the new stock of sundresses and summer shorts. Teen-age girls will enter prancing through the door excited to purchase clothes that will define their summer style. Trends come and go but Forever 21 is always stacked up with up-to-date clothes that girls fawn over. “Overall, I shop at Forever 21 because I like to keep up with the latest trends and Forever 21 has them.” Gwyneth concludes. •


Trends for Teens

Photos By: Vandana Dubakula

Lacy Topby: Clara Altfeld

This stylish top goes great with almost anything: pants, shorts, even skirts.

Floral Dressby: Cristal Garcia-lamas

It is good to have a floral dress in your closet because it shows that spring is finally here!

Ripped Jeansby: Betzy Ochoa

Also known as the destressed style, these pants are the new pants trend.

Cardiganby: Courtney Garner

Add this on to a tank top or a speghetti strap top for layers.

High-Waisted Skirtby: Guadalupe Espinosa

This is the new fashionable skirt that is high up on you hips and is often worn with a tank top.

Button-Up Shirtby: Inga Wei

It may seen old fashioned, but fashion has a way of returning and this is a style that is definitely in again.

Cowboy Bootsby: Elena Cole

There boots are great! I mean, what better way to say, “I’m Texan!” than with cowboy boots?

Summer Dressby: Desiree Moreno

Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean you have to wear shorts. Summer dress-es are the perfect way to relax and look good while it’s hot.

Striped Topby: Abby Kappleman

Stripes are the new fashion statement and many girls own some sort of shirted item.

Summer Shortsby: Melissa Porter

Stay cool in the summer while wearing shorts! Though they are simple, sometimes it is best to just be casual and comfortable!

Converseby: Daisy Trejo

Converse are comfortable shoes and a must have for girls everywhere.


Small Fish In a Big Mall

By: Daisy Trejo

When you’re super bored at home and don’t know what to do, here’s something you can do to defeat the boredome.

Picture By: Vandana Dubakula


W Walking into Barton Creek Mall, teens find themselves situated in hundreds of feet covered in shops, wishing for them to enter and ex-plore each and every single one of

them, buying what they encounter with and enjoy. It’s like a colony of houses but the houses have trans-formed into magnificent boutiques. The aroma of the mall is breathtaking as you walk in, with a fresh and clean aroma of almost mint, but there are many de-lightful scents that drag the teens on further. They walk along and find themselves downstairs in the bitter sweet smell of coffee from Starbucks. Along upstairs, they walk into the food court, filled with 24 different choices of res-taurants to enjoy their meal at. The scent of chinese noodles from Pan-da Express, next to it there’s a Villa, along with its italian smell of peppero-ni, followed by mozzarella and orega-no. Back in the first floor, visitors find a Bungee Jump for kids. All these mall comers think “is there are anything you can’t find in this mall?”. Many of the teens are thinking the same thing and for them, this mall is very close to what seems like paradise.

With over 180 stores in the Bar-ton Creek Mall and a movie theatre, it’s no wonder why most teens love spending their time and money here. Not only is it a place to shop, but also a place to eat, watch a movie or just sit and relax, taking the scenery in. Whether you’re alone or with company, you’re sure to have an entertain-ing day. Another reason why the mall is a popular teen hangout place, is because there are so many of them. There are many shopping centers located in Austin such as the Highland Mall, the Lakeline Mall, the domain and many more, so teens always have one located nearest to them. Not only are there many choices of malls to go to, but also they have been always popular teen hangout place.

Even though there are so many shopping centers to choose from, the Barton Creek Mall is the most at-tended one because its known more for its gigantic

size and it’s variety and quantity of stores. The Barton Creek Mall is located in southwest near Westlake at the intersection of MoPac Expressway and loop 360. The Barton Creek Mall first originated one of the malls created by the Simon Malls company and has now risen as a place visited frequently for all people of all ages to go to, mostly teens.

A great example of the fact that teens spend most of their time there is Katia Vazquez, an eighth grader at Webb Middle School. Katia says she “usually goes to the mall at least once a week”. There are tons of other girls like Katia that like going to the mall so

often and spending most of their time there because they never get tired of it. But out of all the places to go to in Austin, why is the Barton Creek Mall such a common place for all teens to go to? “Because there is so much to do,” Katia says, “I can buy shoes, clothes and other stuff I need or want or I can just go to check out cuties”. Maria Palomo, a freshman at LASA High School, agrees with Katia. She says “I love the mall because I get to check out boys and buy stuff and there are so many stores that are located right next to each other”.

Most teens agree that the mall is a great place for you to hangout. Once you step into the mall, however, it’s a whole different story. Each person has their own differents interests and favorite stores. Since, there are so many different places to chose from, there is no favorite place all teens can agree on. “I love going to Footlocker, I go there all the time because I love shoes”, Katia said. Maria, however, says that one of her favorite places to go to located in the Mall is the food court because she needs “to get drinks and food after a workout of shopping”. Yesenia Segura, a sophomore at Mendez High school, said her favorite places to go to were “Forever 21, Hollister and Aber-combie Fitch because they have a lot of pretty clothes and I love buying clothes”. But whether it’s the food court, Forever 21 or the Footlock, every teen has a unique personality and interests as well as a different

“There is so much to do in the mall...you never get bored when you’re there.


favorite place.

No matter where they love going to and shop at, teens still have fun at the mall. However what makes going to the mall more fun is going with company. Ka-tia states this too, she says, “I always go with com-pany, usually I’m with my friends, we go there to hang out when we’re bored”. Cliques always need a place to hangout during the weekends and teens consider the mall to be one of those places. Whenever friends want to meet up, they go to the mall because they know they’re going to have fun no matter what be-cause they are with their friends. Also, whether it’s with family or friends to come along with, teens need company to help them make decisions on what to buy and not to buy. “I always go with company, ei-ther friends or family. When I really want to buy stuff I go with my family, but when I want to go just to chill and check out boys, I go with my friends,” says Maria. Teens need an extra person’s opinion on what looks best on them and what’s worth buying so they always grab someone along and go to their favorite places.

Caption: Penguins are the cutest birds in the world!

But whether teens are with company or not, go-ing to the mall is still something all of them do. This idea of the mall being a popular teen hangout place is not new. In fact it originated a long time ago and is now a way of the American society. Dulce Perez, a housewife and mother of three kids explains this further. Dulce says that when she was in her teen years “the mall was the most popular place for teens to hang out”, and usually she would “just go there to chill and have fun”. This shows that the mall tradition has been kept for decades.

Also, throughout the years, there have been many other factors that have encouraged the idea of the mall being a way of the society nowadays. Commer-cialism spread the idea by inventing games as well as movies. Some of the games include the board game “Mall Madness”, created in 1988 as well as an electronic game called “Mall Mania” that is still played today. In addition, there have also been mov-ies that have helped influence mall culture. Some of these movies include “The American Mall”, which was made in 2008 and “Mall Cop” in the following year of 2009.

All this advertisement has helped spread and con-tinue the idea of the mall as a popular teen hang-out place in the American culture today. With the many different places to choose from at the mall, along with the food and entertainment you can get, it seems like the mall tradition will continue being part of teens’ lifestyle in the future. •

Picture by: Vandana Dubankula

Picture By: LIncoln Adams


Would you Lick It Bite It Or Both?

You can lick some ice cream, bite a

cupcake, or lick and bite at the same time

with both!

A cupcake liner decorated by a customer, me.

By: Sadie Barron

Photo By: Sadie Barron


On every table, there is a large plastic cupcake liner with markers, normal paper cupcake liners, and tape. While at the shop, you can take a marker and design your own cupcake liner then stick it on a wall where ever you’d like.


W alking into a vibrant shop decorated with customer-made cupcake liners and filled with the strong aroma of freshly made cupcakes makes you

feel warm and at home. Sitting down enjoying a delicious Both and hearing an employee say, “Jace you’re going to be so proud of me... because I carried in so many groceries” makes the shop feel even more like home, giving a vibe that everyone is close like a family. This was the vibe owner Jace Robinson had in mind when opening his shop, Lick it Bite it Or Both in early 2010.

“I like working the front , like dealing with the customers. Thats kinda why I opened this place”, Jace says. But before opening the shop, Jace knew he had to serve two popular treats, cupcakes and ice cream. Knowing this, the name had to deal with the treats and be interesting and weird in a place like Austin. Collaborating with friends and family, they decided “lick it” and “bite it” would represent cupcakes and ice cream, while “both” would symbolize their lickable and biteable treat- ice cream with a cupcake on top. This name pulls in the customers, but the product keeps them coming back for more.

Jace said, “I just like the good ol’ fashioned sweet stuff” and that’s the way it’s always been. As a kid, he was constantly in the kitchen baking with his “yaya” (grandma). Giving his creations to friends and family for free, they told him to open a place where others can enjoy the stuff he made since it was so good. They encouraged him to open a place where he can sell his desserts to the world. With this support, Jace began making a business plan.

“I just like good ol’ fashioned sweet stuff”

Starting it all up in 2008, Jace was denied for two small business loans because banks weren’t taking risks in the recession. This was a big setback, but he never walked away and opened his shop in February 2010. Problems for Jace didn’t stop after opening, he also received emails for strangers saying they would never go to his shop or bring their children there simply because of the name. He shook it off for the customers who love their product saying, “Some people were never gonna get it. Even if it were called Jace’s Cupcake and Ice Cream Shop” and “If lick it bite it or both is offensive, how do you even leave your house in Austin, Texas?”.

The negative energy still didn’t bring Jace down. He is proud to say that his shop was one of the 25 most Googled business names in Austin after only one year. “I thought that we would


“I have an instant gratification of having somebody come in and the next three minutes they’re smiling.”

Among other decorations in the shop, they have this plastic taattod arm saying “Addicted to Lick It BIte It or Both”.


be a neighborhood dessert shop, people within a three to five mile radius of the store would know we were here and that would be our clientele”, Jace said, thinking the shop would be as successful as it is now once they were open for 5 years. Using their delivery service for people as far as the Hill Country, Round Rock, Kyle, and Buda proves his thought wrong, they serve people much further than a three to five mile radius and they have achieved success in only two years. Saying, “We’re here today, but will we be here tomorrow?”, Jace is blessed for what he has and still cautious because he doesn’t want to lose it.

Those who know Jace can’t believe he thinks this way because when walking into the bakery, Jace is so bubbly and the shop is vibrant and decorated colorfully by the customers. Almost every inch of the bakery is covered with a cupcake liner, decorated by a different customer and put somewhere they thought was special. This simple activity was created by his friend Kelsey, who thought kids should have something to do while their parents are ordering. Jace enjoys doing this because it’s decorated the shop for him and he can sit at the same table twice and there’s always something new to stare at and read. “We kinda did this mostly did it for the kids, but at the end of the day probably about

90% of these are done by people over the age of 18”, Jace said.

Looking around his shop and seeing the customers makes Jace love coming to work in the morning. Even if his morning had a bad start, the customers make him feel completely different by the end of the day. Working at the shop, Jace loses a lot of sleep and regrets not sleeping all day, every day three years before opening his shop, but the instant gratification he gets from handing someone a cupcake that will make their day, really makes his day.

Although this feeling keeps Jace delighted to come to work, he knows he will eventually lose interest in the shop and leave it to someone who will continue doing what he’s doing. “I don’t know what I’d be doing without this place and I don’t know what I will be doing beyond this place” Jace says, but right now it’s fun and he’ll keep doing it until he can’t anymore, not being able to give up on those regular customers who love to go to his shop.

“I feel like people build memories when they come here”, he said. •

Five Foods Teens Eat the MostBy: Sadie Barron

1. Pizza

2. Hamburgers

Going to fast food restaurants, a hamburger or cheesburger is the first thing most teens are gonna ask for, But, they arent’t gonna get one without that side of fries.

Pizza can be greasy and all, but most teens love it because of the good flavor between the pepperoni, cheese, sauce, and bread.

Photo By: Jasmine

Photo By: Jeremy Noble


3. Chips

Candy is basically a quick snack to keep somehing in your mouth and end boredom while in the middle of class.

4. Candy

5. Soft Drinks

Many teens drink soft drinks because they quench your thirst quickly and have a good taste.

Chips are quick and you can find them anywhere. They are good for end hunger and pleasing the taste buds.

Photo By: Ben Lucier

Photo By: Lindsey Bieda

Photo By: Chris



“ Mom, I’m pregnant” are the first words a teen-age daughter says when she finds out she is pregnant. Next comes, “How could this happen to me? Can you help me get an abortion?” Re-corded by The National Campaign to prevent

Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, this girl is one of the 38.5% of sexually active high school girls (2009). One of the 36,635 pregnant teens (2005), and one of the 14,745 teens who have abortions (2006) in texas. Now of days, teens think its okay to get preg-nant and just blow it off with an abortion because there is no consequence, you can get it at basically any age, and nothing can fully stop you from getting one. This isn’t right at all, because if you had unpro-tected sex you knew that you could get pregnant and still did it, so abortion shouldn’t be as easy as it is for anyone to get just because “they can’t be pregnant”.

So many teenage girls are having abortions be-cause it doesn’t take much to get an abortion in Texas. There are local family planning clinics like Planned Parenthood, follow Texas abortion laws say-ing you are required to have consent by one parent and one parent must know of your decision two days before the procedure; although, you can be excused of the requirements if you have permission from a judge. In order to get an excuse from a judge, you must have a lawyer and convince the judge that at least one of three things are true: that you are ma-turely making the decision, you really don’t want your

Mom, I’m Pregnant!

Teen abortions rates are too high.. Why? The laws

are too easy.

By: Sadie Barron

parents to know, or if the parent were to find out, you could be abused physically, sexually, or emotionally. I feel that the teen abortion laws make it too easy for teens to get abortion because there are many cas-es of girls getting abortions as young as 13. Some had parental approval, but most simply made an appoint-ment. They go in the clinic because it’s the easiest way out, but they never consider or learn about any other op-tions. Cases like these are recorded by the Teen Breaks website. 14 years old, Joy had an abortion and after “got into a really deep depression and started cutting again”. Abortion probably shouldn’t have ever been an option for her because she had already been through a tough condition and going back to it was terrible. If she was asked more information before her abortion, she prob-ably never would have got one and wouldn’t have started cutting herself again.

Since there is also an option of getting a judicial by-pass, the easiest of the requirements is proving that you are maturely making the decision to get an abortion. This is an easy step because if you show up to court dressed nice and classy you have already made an appeal to the judge. An explanation explaining your maturity in the de-cision could be by saying facts that could happen as a


“I got into a really deep depression and started to cut again.”

Finding out you’re pregant can be a good or bad thing. When it’s planned as an adult, perfect. But when it’s unplanned as teen, there’s a world full of disaster.

consequence to having the child and why adoption isn’t right for you. According to The National Abortion Federa-tion, teenage girls who have and keep their children are more likely than others their age to drop out of school, develop health problems, rely on public assistance, and not receive proper prenatal care. By having the child, the girl may be unsupported by her parents, forced out of her parents’ home, and having an unsafe, illegal abortion. This proves to the judge that if you have the baby, you won’t be able to give it the proper care it needs and may end up with health problems, so they might be convinced of this requirement. By knowing the truth about what could happen if you have a baby as a teen, I feel that the teen could easily explain how each consequence would affect them and be bad in their situation.

Having one of the requirements met, the girl will most likely get the judicial bypass and receive an abor-tion without the consent or notification of her parents. This was the easiest process ever for a lifelong decision the girl made. I feel that the process for getting an abor-tion as a teenager should be more difficult than this

because the teen chose to have unprotected sex knowing the consequence of getting pregnant. The girl trying to get an abortion should still need paren-tal consent and notification and all of them should have to meet with a doctor to see if the girl has the right mental health to handle it, learn about other options, and talk about the effects from having the abortion. In the process for getting an abortion as a teen, I also think having to meet at least one of the requirements for a judicial bypass should go away. The judge should at least visit to home the home to see if it’s unsafe or if telling the parents would be a terrible idea and at least two of the requirements should have to be met and the girl should have a legitimate reason for needing the abortion. •

By: David Verdugo

Picture By: Restaurant Reviews

Torchies Tacos

Try These Delights!Picture By: Restaurant Reviews

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