Beauty Products

I have this new concept of buying beauty products. I am sort of tired of going into an cosmetic/drug store and being stared down by the wall of beauty products of all different kinds of beauty products of all different brands. Thank you, Capitalism. This new concept is to find out the best beauty gurus of the internet. Such as: Kandee Johnson and Michelle Phan are my two favorite gurus. They go through a list of their favorite beauty products while showing the viewer an already-done look. They never fail to impress. Also, it it is not the internet-make-up gurus showing me the way to the yellow brick road to guru it is Amazon and the buyers reviews. I have came to the conclusion that beauty products are expensive, and it's best to look at the reviews before he or she buys. I don't know how many times I have been fooled by how cool the advertising of the product looks then spend 5-12$ only to be disappointed. I have also came to the conclusion, I might as well spend the extra dollars on good enough quality to save me from spending a little less on not so good enough quality. Even though, I try to preach the cheap-lifestyle..beauty products should not be considered the cheap way to go. It's your skin, you should love it enough to spend just a bit more than usual. Anyway, here are the amazing beauty products I have bought this past week that I am absolutely in love with:

LIPS

DuWop's LIP VENOM

I first heard of Lip Venom in the Sephora book I have purchased. It intrigued my interest as it claims to be a "lip plumper". It has got very good reviews for what it is. The only downfall, is the size! I spent 15.80$ on this and didn't suspect it to be so small! I am so afraid to loose this little gem! For as much as it is worth, it's worth the money I believe. Not only does it give the lips a nice gloss but it stays on for a very long time! The way the lip plumping works is it brings blood circulation to the surface where the lips feel a bit hot and tingly. It's a nice sensation, I believe. I enjoy this product and I believe I will purchase again. I sort of see results, but it could be just my mind playing tricks on me.

KORRES LIP BUTTER: MANGO

JUST LOOK AT THE COLOR ON THIS BABY! Too bad that the color does not tint the lips this color. However, it takes away the chapped lips in seconds and keeps them moisturized for a long time. The taste is enjoyable as well, which it really does taste like you are eating a Mango. I approve of this product as well. $10 at Amazon.com

EYES AND FACE

MARK: GET A TINT

This product was reviewed on the Doctor Oz's show (which, I'll admit. I am in love with Doctor Oz). Get a tint is moisturizing for the face, sunscreen included, and gives the face a nice healthy tint. It goes on smooth, and once rubbed in nicely it's like it's not even on! My mother is an Avon representative and mark is through Avon, so I got this for free and I absolutely am addicted to this stuff. 

MAC: PEARL

This product has been talked highly about through the make-up gurus. They use it for an highlighter to sweep across the cheekbones and at the height of the eyebrows. After all the positive feedback from this project, I just had to try it out for myself. I have to agree that all a person needs is a swipe of this and some mascara and they are ready to impress! Mac's products are bit expensive for me (since, I am a frugal), 14$. However, this is when the common sense that it's okay to spend just a bit more for much better quality. I also approve. 

Style Crisis.

In the process of understanding your fashion-identity is to understand what he or she likes on their feet. What style (wedge, heel, flat), what color, what prints? My favorite brand is Jeffrey Campbell. Ever since I got a pair of his Litas for Christmas, I found myself scrutinizing shoes more. The ones at F21 are very cute, but very cheap quality (which disappoints me). Also, JC has this beautiful design to him that nobody can say no to. But, JC is only for an occasion when income tax or Christmas rolls around. Other than those two occasions, it's cheap mall shoes in the mall or the hidden treasures at the Thrift stores for my poor feet. Also, separating needs from wants is another story. 98% of my buying are all wants, hardly ever needs unless it's food, vitamins, or beauty products (beauty products are a must- unless you are flawless and always will be flawless). Other than that 2 percent it's me lathering my body up with clothing. Despite clothing, shoes is the main point of this blog post. My favorite shoe store is MakeMeChic which is a online shoe/clothing store. The quality is okay. Nothing amazing. But, I figure if my feet hurt I can just line the shoes with foot pads for comfort. As for the design of the shoe, some of them are interesting, different, and fun! I picked out:

They are bright, bold, and gonna be excellent addition to my summer/spring wardrobe. I'm thinking this summer I am gonna try to understand me and my style before I understand the trend-lifestyle choice of wardrobe when I can actually have a break from studying Fashion. Sometimes, when studying Fashion you can get quite warped up in the fashion trends that can instantly change your style. It's a quite sad thing, because your style represent and screams YOU. My style is something that I do not want to loose, or in fact the essence of me. 

The best part about these beauties, both of these shoes came to 57.35$ which is excellent for two pairs of shoes and that is why I like MakeMeChic and can not wait for these to come in the mail along with my other purchases!

Bright Meets The Doc

And this, boys and girls is the story of Spring 11. If it isn't all about brights it's about bringing out the fringe and burlap to feel like you are in another sitcom of That 70's Show. I want to try to love it, but really it looks like I am seeing a more modern version of what I would believe Vogue would look like in the 60's-70's. Perhaps, it will have to grow on me! However, what I love and will always love are these brights. Just a pop of color to a dull outfit can bring someone's interest to his or her outfit! It's like opening a grapefruit. It has a dull shell but once you crack that baby open a beautiful bright pink screams at you to throw some sugar on that baby. 

After my horrible day at work at the coffee shop, I came home to read the current issue of NYLON. NYLON is one of my favorite fashion magazines. It has beautifully written editorials and isn't crowded with over 100 pages of ads. Then, I come across the editorial called Bloc Party which is all hyped for spring with the bright colors of oranges, bright reds, yellows, and the cool colors of blues and greens. The fit of the clothes are pretty loose as they flow instead of being super tight (I guess that's a relieve for some of us...phew). Except, there is two outfits in a total of seven. The one is dress by Prozena Shouler and the other is the one that got my attention. I shall tell this one in detail. This lady has a beautiful sea-green-blue dress by Burberry Prorsum, royal-purple leggings by American Appearl, yellow-green slim belt at the waist by Gap, she carries an neon-green purse to the left by Furla and then what caught my eyes was she wearing the ultra-famous yellow-green neon Doc Martens. This outfit is superb and it makes me want to cry because I can never afford a pair of Doc Martens. Doc Martens is like adding the cherry to any outfit, ever. It brings such a toughness to the outfit (even if the outfit is quite subtle). Doc Marten created the idea of his line of shoes when he was in the Army while working as a doctor. I believe it is amazing how he can take such a tough looking boot and glam it up and this is what this shoe does to this outfit.

I must say almost everyone I watch in the world of Fashion at least has a pair of these beauties. I, of course, make 7.90 an hour and cannot buy a pair for myself to enjoy. But, lets engulf ourselves in some beautiful pictures of inspiration to let me gobble up the one of the deadly sins: envy:

So, this envy got to me and I thought to myself how can I fix this problem? I looked into my closet and saw my 13 year old self look back at me. A pair of Anarchy boots that I got at Hot Topic when I was going through my "goth" (if you want to label it) stage. Then, I broke open my collection of paints and went to town:

Before

Yeah, who needs some docs when they can finger paint on and recycle old clothes!? It's not as cool as the one in the magazine (Model on the right). However, it's something for now! And it works and didn't cost me a thing. In my eyes, it's all a win-win situation! 

Adventure-Picture Post

Toronto has all the things I want that I can't have in Buffalo such as:

-Bubble tea where ever you go

-H&M that has 3 floors. 

-American Apparel

-Cute Boutiques

-Zara

-Big Advertisements 

-And the closest feel to a city like NYC

I wear my sunglasses in the bath tub with a bottle of vodka

(Tom Ford Campaign SS/2011)

The adventure to Toronto was an adventure of being investigated by the border patrol, and also the re-connection I had with the sunglasses I lost in the New England ocean last summer. Nothing ever fitted my perfect face as much as those aviators did. Aldo's sunglasses were cheap and the colors of the rims and lenses was a summer tones of a mix of pink and orange. I think I was just in love with how cheap they were (10$) and how well they looked. I always had a problem deciphering what type of glasses suit my face better. I was told every one has different face shapes such as heart, diamond, triangle and etc. I figured it would be the best for me to know the difference. So, I suppose I made myself a little chart to remember:

   FACE SHAPES + BEST CHOICE SUNGLASSES

It's an interesting fact to know and understand the different types of face shapes, since it feels like every face blends in with each other after awhile of looking at them all. After awhile though, the name/description of the face really connects with the characteristics that come with the name. All in all, it eventually makes sense. 

Once, you found your match the world of sunglasses are open for you to consume! Here are some of the Spring/Summer 2011 glasses trends:

• Aviators 

• Vintage Cat-Eye

• 60's Inspired Glasses (Think BRIGHT color, square, and BIG round frames!)

Now correlate your face shape with the spring/summer 2011 trend (that's if you are interested in the trend anyway). That is the hardest part is to know what the trends are, accept the trends, then try to find a way for the trend to suit you. However, being trendy is not the key here. It's the understanding of where the fashion industry is going and if you enjoy the trend embrace! Embrace! Embrace! I however, enjoy my aviators... As summer approaches, I plan to have a collection of all types of sunglasses and I will keep you updated on my collection!

Sheer Fashion Trendspiration

The element of sheer in a fabric could be an easy to work with- that's if it is style well. I always feel intimidating by sheer. I envy the beautiful girls who can pull it off. I always think what would go with the see-through shirt and what color bra should I wear underneath? I  am not that risky to be the one who wears nothing underneath. But, the photos I have seen of the daring girls are dark and mysterious, yet fun. It's a nice fashion, but not a fashion a person could wear outside without getting some stares and harassment. That is why it is kept for photo shoots. However, there is a way to tackle the sheer fashion trend without the harassment. I collected some photos in which I admired and grew inspiration from.

Fendi brought sheer to the runway last year for Spring (I know by now, some people would take sheer as last year trend), but I believe it has such an innocence that anyone could want. It's a bit touch of lingerie but with a twist of modern casual with the pale hues of green and blues. 

Here are other pictures of the sheer fashion I found on Weheartit.com:

Sheer can be found in plenty of garnments and styled a thousand different ways. A fashionista can look either casual or a touch of rock and roll by adding sheer to their wardrobe. The inspiration of sheer for me actually came from the recent issue of Nylon. Leighton Meester is on the cover:

I adore how they used the "spring pop of color" trend with the sheer by adding a brightly yellow-green bra. This is where I thought this would be perfect by adding a pop of color in a subtle way. Therefore, in order to achieve this outfit a sheer shirt must be present in the wardrobe. I wasn't going to spend 50+ for a sheer shirt therefore, the thrift store always has any trend an consumer can ever want. I found two sheer shirts that I fell in love with:

(Left: Lace by New York and Company. Originally 35, and got it for 3$ Right: Sheer (can't tell because of the heavy print) Leopard print also for 3$)

I can't wait to use them! I have been under the spell of a the work-weekend (since I work on the weekends plus tomorrow since it's a holiday) and it's been all work uniform then PJs. Nothing special. However, the spell is over tomorrow! Then Toronto here I come! Hopefully I can get some pictures in! 

Street Walkers Muse

Carine Roitfeld, Paris Vogues Editor-In-Chief says it right "The future is the internet". Fashion is instantly turning into an internet society as bloggers from all over the world open their wardrobe's doors to show their creativity spill out on their bodies. This quite scares me a bit (as it should scare anyone else), because if you cannot make a statement on the internet then how are you ever going to make a statement walking into the fashion industry? I suppose it's all based on luck and high hopes. However, the beauty of the internet showcasing inspiration of outfit ideas the other beauty is instantly being notified about what people were wearing on the streets of New York during Fashion Week (oh, how much I wish I could ever in my wildest dreams attend)! JakandJill photographer of Tommy Ton (slideshow can be seen at style.com) snapped beautiful photos of these trend-setters that I must share:

I love the pops of color everywhere. It seems like we haven't seen such neon colors since the 80's! The mix of neutrals and pops of colors really creates a nice canvas of style! Maxi's and (what I like to call) detective hats are in full swing as well. The Maxi's go along with the 70's trend that could be either a hit or just a terrible miss. The 70's is tricky to pull off, and the girl really needs the face/slender body to go full-steam 70's.   I could never pull it off, therefore I can only muse.