Wednesday, January 29, 2014

One of My Favourites

As you probably guessed from the title, this outfit is one of my favourites! I put it together back when I was in grade 12, and I still love it today!

Shirt: Garage
Cardigan: Aeropostale
Jeans: American Eagle
Necklace: gift



Since high school, I've swapped the medium blue jean for a darker, sleeker wash, and changed up my jewellery- sometimes I wear pearls, sometimes I wear something more interesting like this much worn music necklace I got from a friend a year ago. I wear the blouse tucked in, and I have a sturdy medium sized brown belt that I purchased in the fall. I also love the letting the floral pattern peek out from the sleeves of the cardigan (you know me and my florals)! Hope this outfit inspires you! :)

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Makeup Update

Recently I've been cleaning up my makeup collection and adding some new things, so I thought I'd share some of the new products I either purchased or received for Christmas. Also, two weeks ago some of my relatives came over for a post-Christmas get together and my cousin brought some makeup that she didn't use anymore and thought I would like.

Maybelline Expertwear Eye Shadow in Designer Chocolates
Maybelline Expertwear Eye Shadow in Charcoal Smokes
I've been meaning to get more of these eye shadows because there's so many combinations and different looks to create! My makeup has taken a really basic and boring routine over the past few months, so I'm excited to try out new looks with these!
 Loreal Infinite Wear Eye Shadow Quad in Enchanted Bouquet
Marcelle Wet & Dry Eye Shadow Duo in Cosmos
Again, some more eye shadow from my cousin. If I don't have a lot of time in the morning I usually just swipe on some pink eye shadow and mascara. I've tried out both of these already and the pigmentation isn't bad; though I'm going to start using eye shadow primer more often now (see below for my take on that!).



                                                                      

Liplicious Plump Glass (by Bath & Body Works)

My aunt always gets me lip gloss with her gift and every year I love it! This time it's a little different because it gives your lips more fullness (I put it on and my lips started tingling hehe). Also it smells like vanilla, a scent that I love!

Benefit Primping with the Stars All-Time Greatest "Fake-Its" Kit
1. Stay Don't Stray Eye Shadow Primer
2. the Pore-fessional pro balm to minimize pores
3. Some kind of a gorgeous foundation faker
4. bene-tint
5. girl meets pearl liquid pearl for face
6. they're real! mascara
So far I've only tried the eye shadow primer and my only comment is why have I not tried this before??? It makes my eye shadow appear more vibrant and it stays that way throughout the day! Love it! I've heard good things about all the other products as well, so I am excited to try them out!

 Clinique High Impact Mascara
I got this as a sample with a skin care set I got for Christmas and I think it is the best mascara I have ever tried! I have to admit, I've always thought why bother with high end mascaras when they have to be thrown out after six months, right? But this mascara has me hooked. Don't get me wrong, I still love the Maybelline Great Lash Mascara or the Covergirl Lashblast Volume Mascara, but there's definitely a difference between those and this Clinique one, the most noticeable being I don't have to use as much mascara to get evenly coated, long lashes. Also it doesn't clump, which is always a plus!

NYC IndividualEyes 938 Union Square Created for Brown Eyes
I bought this eye shadow quad on a whim one day after work, and I am very pleased with it so far! It comes with a primer (my new favourite product!) and an illuminator on the side, and then four different eye shadows. There are instructions on how to create the look using all the colours, which is always handy. I especially like how the main brown shade (second from the bottom) is matte, and the others have some shimmer.




Revlon Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon
Over the summer I bought my first Revlon Lip Butter in the shade Juicy Papaya (a coral-y orange colour) and since then I've been wanting another. I like coloured lip balms because I'm not a huge fan of lipstick, yet I'm starting to move away from lip gloss, so this is the perfect in between! This particular shade is a red with pink undertones, and it is pretty pigmented so you don't need a lot. It also goes on really smoothly, which I guess is why it's called a lip "butter!"





Sunday, January 19, 2014

Outfits of the Week #2

This past week was a little bit warmer, so I can show you my all-time go-to outfit of skinny jeans, a basic t-shirt, and a cardigan. This coming week is going to be much colder though, so I'll be breaking out my warm sweaters and fleece-lined leggings once again.
I only have a few outfits (my best ones of the week, haha) because this post would be a lot longer if I had photos from every day.



T-shirt: Target
Cardigan: Urban Behaviour
Tank top: Urban Behaviour
Jeans: American Eagle
Necklace: Garage

This is as basic as my outfit gets. When I have no idea whatsoever what to wear, I can always revert back to the jeans-tee-cardigan uniform. I have way too many plain t-shirts and cardigans to count, so the options are endless!

I also added this really pretty jewelled necklace to complete the outfit. I've been into necklaces lately, short, long, gold, silver, you name it. I remember buying this necklace ages ago- it came with another strand that had a key on it, and I didn't like that so I used tiny pliers to remove it (random side note...).







Top: Eddie Bauer (recent!)
Tank top: Garage
Jeans: American Eagle
Bracelet: gift

My next outfit isn't much different; I just substituted the cardigan for a long sleeved top. I got this top for Christmas and I absolutely love it- it's a waffle knit, so it's warmer than a regular shirt.
I got a close-up of the lace detailing on the top because it's so pretty! I love lace, as you probably already know. I usually find that thermal tops can look a little pyjama-y, but the lace definitely moves this top out of that zone!

Top: Eclipse (recent!)
Tank Top: Urban Behaviour
Jeans: Tommy Hilfiger
Bracelet: Forever 21 (recent!)

This next outfit is a little bit different than what I would normally wear, but my New Year's Resolutions included wanting to wear more patterns, so that's where this top comes in! I also like to dress up more than usual when I go to teach flute. I'm not a big fan of stripes, but the diagonal ones on this top are much more flattering than plain horizontal.

I have to do a little rant about these jeans though. I thought they were pretty nice the first few times I wore them (I got them in the summer), but now I find them really baggy, but still hard to take off (skinny jeans problems right here...). And then I looked at the tag- they are 99% cotton. So my advice: always buy jeans with a bit of spandex- it makes a difference!

And once again, I had to make the outfit girly with pearls. I was surprised at the quality of this bracelet, considering it was $6.50- it came in a set with two others.

So those are some of the outfits I wore this week! I have so many more ideas for posts, so until my next one, stay stylish!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Outfits of the Week, New Year's Resolutions, and Pinterest

This post just explains a multitude of things, I don't really know how to describe it! :P

First of all, I am now on Pinterest! I have no idea how exactly it works, but I'm pinning things and creating different boards-
http://www.pinterest.com/maria0157/

Next, my New Year's Resolutions. I found a sort of template I guess you could call it, on Lauren Conrad's website: http://laurenconrad.com/blog/post/2014-my-new-years-resolutions-lauren-conrad-goals
A bad habit I'm going to break: putting myself down over everything
A destination I'd like to visit: New York
I'm going to work harder at: being positive
A project I'd like to finish: knitting (well, I'd have to start that project first...)
A class I'd like to take: some sort of fitness class with a lot of cardio would be fun
I'd like to spend more time doing: my blog, playing my flute
A food I want to eat more of: any ideas????
I want to wear more: patterns
I think the hardest thing for me will be to stop putting myself down over things; I tend to do that the most with school and when I teach flute. But it's a new year,so hopefully I will figure out how to make the best of everything :)

Here is my first try at photographing some of my outfits. This past week was really cold, so I had to dress in layers and wear some of my new sweaters to keep warm. Also, the fleece-lined leggings that I recently purchased were such a good buy! They work really well under jeans for an extra layer of warmth. I got mine from Fairweather, but I'm pretty sure stores like Urban Behaviour or Urban Planet would have them as well.















Sweater: Eclipse
Jeans: American Eagle
Necklace: Forever 21
I don't know how long I've had that necklace, but I've never really put an effort into styling it. I had seen a lot of outfits that featured a chunky sweater with a statement necklace, so I was excited to try it out and I was pleased with the outcome :)















Olive shirt: American Eagle
Plaid shirt: Urban Planet
Tank top: Forever 21
Jeans: Tommy Hilfiger
Necklace: Forever 21 (recent!)
This outfit definitely shows how I like to layer. I don't wear plaid that often, but when I do I like to dress it casually, unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up, with some jeans and a long necklace. I call this outfit my "street style look." :P If only it was warm enough to wear a leather jacket on top!

Until my next post, stay stylish!