Summer Vibes

I know it's not officially summer yet, but it's been hot as Hades around here in Boca so it's been feeling like summer since March. I recently posted about a few new items I bought, one being this gorgeous white chiffon dress. It finally got here, and I can't wait to wear it for some maternity photos. I do need to take it in a little around the bust since it's one size fits all, but the length fits fine. 

{Lancome all-in-one blush} {White embroidered dress} {Sequin hanger}

Yesterday the girls and I went shopping for some last minute Father's Day gifts and I couldn't resist these adorable Old Navy Sandals for Mariam from Old Navy and cloth napkins from Sur La Table.

{Glittery T-strap sandals} Currently on sale

{Cloth napkins-similar}

Have a great weekend!

Lancôme Blush Subtil Palette Review

Two weeks ago Serena and I ran to the mall one Friday evening for a little one on one daughter/mommy time, and while I wasn't on the hunt for anything in particular, I've been big on adding a little more glow to my every day makeup. I love the beachy bronzy look--though I'm not that great at it. I looked at a few products at Macy's and saw that Lancome was having one of their specials were if you buy $35 worth of product, you get a free tote and free products.

I settled on a contour, blush, highlighter duo and I'm loving it. Normally these type of deals where you get product free, I feel like the colors aren't that great and they don't match my skin tone, but I loved them this time. I have been using all the products and I also really like the night cream.

{Peche Savvy All-in-one contour, blush & highlighter}

I went a little (ok a lot) heavy handed on the definicils mascara (oops) , but here is yesterday's face wearing the pink and gold eye shadow, the kohl black eyeliner, and the contour, blush and highlighter duo. I guess I need to apply more makeup for it to show up better on camera. It feels like a decent amount, but then it's hard to see. It shows up more on my cell phone.

Have a great Wednesday!

Recent purchases

Before we left the resort on Sunday, I stopped in one of their boutique's called "Bella's" because I noticed a royal blue top kept grabbing my attention every time I passed by it. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was absolutely gorgeous and I had to have it. It was also marked down to 75% off. Score! I probably can't wear it till spring when it gets hot again but that's fine by me. I also have to take it in because it's a medium and I wear small or x-small. Once I got home, I also realized that it's from Whitney Port's clothing line Whitney Eve. I loved watching her in The Hills.

I couldn't find this color online, but I did find one in white on Swell.com. Over the weekend I also bought NYX's mineral setting powder and an elf brush. I've only used the setting powder once quickly so far so I can't give a good review on it, but I will be using it again soon and writing up a post about it. 

Have a great Tuesday!

My skincare routine & new foundation review

Aside from the occasional pimple in high school, I've never had an issue with acne. My complexion has always been pretty clear, but I do get pretty oily in my t-zone. I also tend to get a little red in my t-zone. Overall I can't complain too much because I spent pretty much all of my 20's never really washing off my makeup at night and just washing it off in the morning. 

I still do that now, but I don't always wear foundation on a daily basis now that I stay home. For face wash, I like to stick to sensitive products due to my t-zone getting easily red after a wash. I've been really happy with simple brand moisturizing face wash. Right after that I apply Olay sensitive face cream. If I'm going for the full shebang, I first wash my face than use St. Ives even and bright skin scrub, followed by L'Oreal's hydrafresh toner, then apply Olay sensitive face cream and finally Roc retinol eye cream. On a normal day I normally just wash my face, apply the Olay cream and then the eye cream. 

I'm going to back track for a minute here and talk about St. Ives even and bright face scrub. I absolutely love this scrub. It smells great, wakes me up in the morning and my skin just feels so refreshed after I use it. Love, love, love it! I've been using St. Ives since I was in junior high school but I used to use their apricot scrub (remember that one?) they also still make it. This new one is really great though. 

When I got back from Florida in July, I was really tan so my usual foundation was way too light. I decided to get a new one and settled on Cover girl's new ready set gorgeous foundation. For the price point I really like it. The coverage is pretty good and it has a warm look to it. I would say it has more of a pink than a yellow base. I do enjoy this foundation but I don't think it's "oil free" components work that great. I find I get oilier with this foundation more than with my Revlon or MAC foundations. 

Bare face.

After applying Cover girl ready set gorgeous foundation and rest of makeup.

Have a great Thursday!

Makeup Review: NYX Satin Finish Black Liner

If I was stuck on a deserted island, the one product I would want with me would be eyeliner. Forget a hair brush, forget foundation, forget mascara, but give me eyeliner! It's my favorite makeup product to put on and probably because I spend the most time on my eyes. Most days I don't wear foundation but I always have eyeliner on. I consider my eyes one of my best features, so I just like to play them up--and I do that with a pencil eyeliner. 

I'm really no good at eye shadows and I feel because my eyes are on the exotic side that too much eyeshadow or bottom liner is just too much and I feel overdone. However I would love to learn how to blend and maybe change my makeup look a little, but whenever I do try, I always chicken out and end up taking some off before leaving the bathroom.

Last week I ran out of a cheapie eyeliner I had bought from Walgreens, so I loaded up the girls and headed to Target to pick up some things--besides diapers and baby stuff this time. One of the first things I spotted in the makeup section was the NYX brand. At only $4.99 I was intrigued after I swatched it. Let me just say, that I am loving this eyeliner! It goes on super easy and stays put! I haven't had any issues with smudging and it comes off easily with eye makeup remover. 

With just eyeliner

Completed look. I like to add a little bit of black shadow right on top of my eyeliner. It tends to bring my eyes out and will give a fuller lash look. Mascara was added after this and then concealer, L'Oreal lip gloss and NARS blush.

Recent purchases & review

Well I never thought I'd see the day, but shopping for myself is just not the same anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still love shopping or browsing, but a mall experience is just not the same anymore (sad trombone). For one, if I plan on trying anything on, I either have to go alone or make sure that Serena is with me to push one of the strollers. If I go and just take Layla and Mariam, I usually push Layla in her umbrella stroller and I wear Mariam in the Bjorn. This is how we get around anywhere when it's just us three. 

However, I did buy myself two things recently when I popped into Marshall's and Walgreens. I needed some new sunglasses because Layla had broken mine. The brand is Naturalizer.

Since I had already gone through the trouble of getting Layla out of the car in her stroller and had Mariam strapped on, I wasn't about to have gone through all that just for one quick stop, so I headed over next door to Children's Place where I bought Serena some jeans and found this adorable periwinkle skirt for Mariam. It's a 6-9 month so still too big for her, but I couldn't pass it up. It was a clearance item so I couldn't find it on their website anymore.

On a separate day, I bought a black eyeliner pencil from Walgreen's. "Ok, can I just say how freaking hard it is to find a decent waterproof black pencil eyeliner that doesn't smudge?" The first time I tried looking for a replacement, I must have debated for about half an hour and in the end gave up. Ha-ha! This is how serious I take my eyeliner. Really it's my "if I was stuck on a deserted island and I could only choose one makeup product" pick. So in the end, I decided on Rimmel's scandal eyes liner in Kohl. What I love about it is how easily it glides on. It is smooth and creamy like it says, but guess what? This one still smudges! Maybe it's just my eyes, and I'm just doomed to need to touch up some smudging after a few hours. I find that liquid liner doesn't smudge as often, but I'm more of a pencil fan. Another thing I'm not feeling is how black it is. At least they are true to advertising. For the price point of $3.99 though, it's really really good.

Wedding Series: Planning Part 1

The Dress

 

When I started thinking about the perfect wedding dress for me, I knew I wanted something that wasn't too fussy, too sexy, or too plain. I wanted something classic and something graceful. I also wanted it to have a long train. I looked for ideas on the internet and one Saturday headed to the first place I knew nearby--Alfred Angelo. I know, I know...they are pretty common and a chain, but I fell in love with a dress. I put a deposit on it that day without going to any others. The dress was just me.

 

I did make some alterations to it though. I had a seamstress cut a sweetheart neckline and attach hooks on the back so I could pin up the train later. I wish that I hadn't had sew in some cups into the dress. The cups were too thick and it just felt unnatural.

 

 

 

 Here are some other details of the whole ensamble.

 

 

 

Hair & Makeup

 

For my hair I knew that I wanted to wear it half up and half down with some volume up top. I really liked my trial hair, and my wedding hair, but they were both different and I liked the way it looked for my trial best.

 

For makeup, I kept it pretty simple. I wanted to look photo-ready but also wanted to feel like me. I found a local makeup artist who came to my house to do my makeup. This was the trial.

 

 

Looking back there are some changes I would have made, but very few. I loved my wedding and all the planning that went into it. I really couldn't of asked for it to have gone any better...

 

 

 

Tell me, did you like your wedding dress, or do you sometimes wish you would have gone with something different?



Simple blue & a makeup tutorial..

I used to shop at Forever 21 alot. Like most people I loved the trendy outfits for a low price. About a year ago I stopped shopping there. I just can't find anything I like anymore and I have no patience to go through their messy displays. I do still have quite a few items that have lasted me awhile though. 

Take for instance this top. I wore it when I was pregnant with Layla and now I have a chance to wear it again. It's really really comfortable and long enough to cover my belly till the beginning of the third trimester.

(Please excuse the smudgy mirror..)

You like my house slippers? Hee-hee. I can't stand walking around barefoot in the house. My feet get cold and I don't like picking up any small crumbs.

I also wanted to share this daytime makeup tutorial by Jennifer Stano I found on Youtube. She is gorgeous and has a killer wardrobe. You can find her blog here. Occaisonally I try out some makeup tutorials just to change my look up a little but I usually don't have great success. However I was able to follow along easily with this one and I really liked the way it came out.

Let's talk lipstick for a minute shall we?

I don't normally wear lipstick, but I want to start wearing it more often. I usually stick to light baby pink glosses and my go-to one is a soft muave lipgloss from L'Oreal. It's what I wear daily. With lipsticks, there are such pretty pinks, corals, and reds out there that I would love to try.

When I went grocery shopping with the girls last week, I couldn't help wandering over to the cosmetics section and I happened to notice a $2 off coupon for any Revlon cosmetic.

Score! I picked out a pretty lipstick that was already marked down under $6. The color is called "Love that pink"

It's such a pretty shade and unlike some of the others I have, I didn't feel sheepish wearing it.