Much happier than I look
The other day I went thrift shopping looking for a jumpsuit. So of course I come out with four. My favorite is this floral number, which has definitely become my favorite outfit of the spring. It’s the perfect thing for Sunday afternoons and mint whiskey lemonades. This photo came out super washed out, but I sort of like the strangeness of it.
My last jumpsuit was as 70s as possible, but this one is definitely a baby of the 80s. Read on to see details.
Bright colors make me smile.
There’s a terrible untruth being spread around on the internet: that people with blue eyes shouldn’t wear blue eyeshadow or liner. I think this in part comes as a resistance to the classic “blue eyes” eyeshadow palette like this one from Physician’s Formula. It’s a standard formula: silver, powder blue, grey, navy, bronze, and black. Powder blue is a hard shade to pull off, which is compounded by its association with 80s tacky makeup. Perhaps I’ll do a powder blue eyeshadow tutorial soon – that would be a real challenge!
But there’s a shade of blue that looks good on every eye color, and it happens to be my very favorite color: aqua blue! It’s such a bright, intense shade; I think it works best as an subtle accent (well, as subtle as aqua blue can be!) that still lets your natural beauty shine through.
Atop Bernal Hill
This weekend I painted possibly my favorite-ever manicure! It’s in close competition with my New Years glitter half moon manicure. But unlike that one, this requires pretty much no skills at all! Just a wide selection of polish and a willingness to screw and unscrew a lot of caps. It was a gorgeous San Francisco spring day, almost 80 degrees, sunny, with a light wind. Spring and fall weather is usually a lot better than the foggy summers, so I wanted to celebrate it with a fun manicure.
Doing my best Veronica Lake
Do you ever have the urge to do something drastic with your hair? After a breakup, or once you read an article like this on short hair? I get that temptation pretty often, but I’m also trying to grow my hair out. I would hate to the ruin progress I’ve made over the last year, but sometimes you need a noticeable change.
Here’s a quick solution: change your part to the other side. If you’re like me and always always part your hair on one side, it might be a little tricky to coax it over. What I did was stagger the change – first I parted my hair in the middle, and then switched it to the right on the next day. I love feeling just a little bit different, while still maintaining the length I’ve been working on.
And in case anyone is curious, that lipstick I’m wearing is Maybelline Vivids in Electric Orange. It’s a true orange, but shows up a bit coral on my pink-ish lips. New favorite!
My first Coachella!
I returned earlier this week from my very first Coachella. While I’ve been to some other music festivals (Sasquatch, Outside Lands, Treasure Island), I wasn’t quite prepared for the scope and extreme weather of Coachella. It was amazing being able to wear a t-shirt and shorts at night, but the tradeoff was 100+ degree weather and hot, dry wind.
Because I was camping, I decided against any traditional makeup – no foundation, mascara, eyeshadow, lip color, etc. This was not the norm, but it was nice being able to reapply sunscreen without worrying about messing up my face. Here’s what I was glad I brought, and what I wished I had with me:
Quite the combination.
I love purple smokey eyes, and I think it’s one of the easier bright shades to pull off. Brown eyes, blue eyes, and especially green eyes look fantastic with the accent of purple. Therefore I wouldn’t classify it as a color challenge on its own, but paired with an orange lip – that is a true color challenge!
Usually when I wear purple smokey eyes I’ll pair it with cool-toned, blue-based pinks. That’s the obvious, and always beautiful pairing. But what happens when you pair it with a warm-toned lip? Then it’s magical. Pairing warm and cool tones is the new thing, didn’t you know?
Strawberry chapstick and Fresh lip treatment … don’t die on me yet!
This might seem obvious to some of you, but I had a breakthrough realization yesterday. Two lip balms I’ve been loving – Fresh sugar lip treatment and strawberry Chapstick – are almost totally used up. I sadly looked toward the trash can, and realized there was plenty useable product left, even though it dips below the plastic lip. I reached for my (almost never used) lip brush, and I love it! Lip brushes give you amazing precision, and you waste a lot less product.
If you think it’s too high maintenance to use a lip brush for chapstick, you’re right, but you’re also wrong. I wouldn’t pack my long-handled Sephora Pro lip brush in my clutch, but Obessive Compulsive Cosmetic’s pint-sized lip brushes that come along with their awesome Lip Tars are the perfect size.
After my trip to the Burberry counter.
Last Christmas, I was given a very generous gift from my aunt and uncle – a $50 gift certificate to Nordstrom. That wouldn’t cover much in the way of clothes there, but it does match the price of most super high end foundations. I’ve decided to use this opportunity to test out all the foundations I’ve been curious about, and trust me, that’s a long list. I’ve always heard that foundation is where you should really spend your money, but I haven’t followed it in practice.
I love rose gold and silver together
My order of three nail polishes from Zoya has arrived, and I’m so happy with them so far. I usually go for the cheapest nail polish possible, but when I saw their crazy “3 nail polishes free (just pay S&H)” deal, I had to take advantage of it.
One shade I’ve been eyeing for a long time is Faye, which Zoya describes as “a bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with bright gold sparkle.” I’d call it a rose gold, which shifts between gold and pink in the sunlight. Check out some swatches here.
I wore the shade on its own for a few days, but when I noticed some tip wear, I wanted to extend the look. An easy solution? Adding a contrasting french tip. I love the look of mixed metals, so I decided to choose an opaque silver.
Pink smokey eyes – not as hard to pull off as you’d think.
One thing I love about makeup is how colorful it can make me. There’s a time and a place for natural, subdued makeup (most days), but there’s also a time for fun, ridiculous looks like the one above. I decided to start a new series, Color Challenge, to force myself into using some of the wilder colors in my palettes.
First up is a pink smokey eye, which is much easier to pull off than it sounds. I’ve read over and over that women should avoid pink eyeshadow, because it can make it look as if you have conjunctivitis. It’s definitely a high-risk, high-reward look. Execution is everything.
