Phillip Lim 3.1 for Target

     The start of school has got us hectic and it really didn't help that the Phillip Lim 3.1 for Target was expected to sell out almost overnight. I have never really cared all that much for any of the Target designer collabs before (save the Neiman Marcus which was way too pricey), but I've been in the market for a new bag to take to work as well as a new over-the-shoulder mini-bag to replace my super ratty Forever 21 bag that I've been fighting to keep pretty for, say, 4 years now. Trust me, nothing at that store is made to last more than a season.
     I digress, here are the bags I ended up with from that collection (I'm not including links, as they're sold out online. You can still go on Target.com and use the locator tool to see if any are near you.)

This bag is everything. My one qualm is that I wish it had more pockets but (let's be honest) that would just allow me to cram more (objectively) needless junk in there. The inside is wide enough to hold my laptop, a notebook, an umbrella, a small cosmetic bag (which is filled with tide pens and lip gloss), and my wallet. For the price, this bag is right on.

Side note: I'm dying for the Kate Spade Beau Bag  (with calf hair!!) but it will have to wait until I make approximately $1m.

 

I also snagged this little guy. I love the shape of the previous bag and this is like its sleek little brother. It's actually a good size for a mini-bag but unfortunately it's not small enough to take to a Packers game according to NFL Bag Regulations 2013. (I am probably the only one having this very specific problem- ha!)

This is simulteneously the crown jewel and the black sheep of my purchases. I  live for chunky sweaters (and of course the hidden sparkle sold me!) but the slight hi-lo hem is a little weird on me, so I have to tuck in a corner of it to make it seem longer than it is.

P.S. If anyone finds this in cream near them, I am still looking for it!

 

 

 Anyways, Happy Fall and all that!

xo- L

Face by Chanel

Welcome to our first joint post (:

Via a Skype conversation recently, I took blame for Lauren's expensive makeup taste. And really, its all my fault. I love a Dior gloss and a NARS blush like no other. And I have passed these shimmering and colorful obsessions onto Lauren's bank account. 

Point being: we just can't help ourselves in terms of cosmetics. (Read: or sweet potato pancakes, leather handbags, hair spray, or brocade skirts.) 

And my last credit card beneficiary is Chanel. And Lauren's too for that matter, though, more on that later. 

I have foundation complex. I have exclusively used Bare Minerals foundations for the past 7 years. With a MAC try out here and there for good measure. I have combination, highly highly acne prone skin. And a fear of making my skin angry. 

While I find myself being skilled at the art of concealing, I still struggle to try new products that mean I have to employ this skill even more so. 

You may have noticed a small bottle of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in my last Chanel post. It was a sample, out of fear I waited several weeks before using it. I then used it for several days straight with a dirty brush and even ran with it on. That , my friends, is fear conquering foundation testing. 

And with my skin being no worse than usual, I bought it. And the Soleil de Tan creme bronzer, and a powder compact.

See?

The powder is in Clair and the foundation is in Beige Rose 12, if you're curious. 

My foundation philosophy is this, wear as little foundation as possible, and conceal the problem areas separately. I hate a cake face with a passion. And its happened to me, and I make a conscious effort to prevent it now. 

Vitalumiere Aqua is pretty, soft skin in a bottle. It looks like skin. Its light coverage, Im just telling  you now. If looking like a Madame Tussaud's creation is your jam, this foundation is not for you. Also, if you aren't willing to shake the bottle vigorously for 5 minutes straight, skip this one. You must, if you don't its a waste of a trés cher foundation. I apply with a stippling brush. I also use it with my fingers as under eye concealer, I don't really have dark circles. 

On the bronzer- you can create one of two looks with this baby. Added sunkissed glow to a natural tan, or natural warm sculpting to a fair visage. If you're tan looking for a contour, take a pass. Its beautiful, Im applying with my hands at the moment, waiting on a synthetic blush brush. And for all that is the $50 price tag on this bronzer, do not do not use a natural fiber brush use on top of powder. You'll ruin it and hate the outcome. Just trust me. 

The powder is a basic powder in fancy packaging. I was going with a theme here, remember its my first real liquid foundation adventure, Im feeling excited. This is pretty average for powder, not special, probably wont repurchase unless the packaging calls to me again.

All of these things are on my face right now, plus a little NARS Sex Appeal, and it looks like natural and pretty skin, which is really what I'm after. 

Even more wonderful, is how great the Creme Compact Vitalumiere Aqua looks on Lauren.

Take it away!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think Rachel pretty much covered all the bases! I haven't tried the liquid, but I love the ease of the compact.  One suggestion is to use a foundation brush for your full face in the morning and the sponge included for touch ups only. The sponge tends to soak up a lot of foundation. This is a product you don't want to waste!

Also, a note on a new addition to my beauty routine. I've been using Caudile Beauty Elixir before my moisturizer and it is a TOTAL dream multitasker. It's a toner, pore minimizer, and all around glowy skin giver. A little pricey, but the tiny bottle is worth the $20 or so. 

Here are before and after pictures of my skin during my first Vitalumiere Aqua trial. 

                       Before                                                                       After

As you can see, it masked the redness in my cheeks and dark spots on my chin while still allowing my skin to show through. Totally in love! (I am pictured above in 40 beige, but I usually warm it with Nars Laguna) 

FOTD

I don't know about you, but when I purchase new makeup, I often have a tendency to forget about older products. Its a problem, I know.

Today, I attempted to rectify that problem by mixing little old with a little new.

Face:

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua

Bare Minerals Original in Golden Fair

Bare Minerals Faux Tan

NARS Blush in Orgasm

MAC Eyeshadow in Wedge (Brows)

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Mirifique

MAC Pigments in Naked, Chocolate Brown, Gold Mode, and Dark Soul

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

L'Oreal Volume Collagen Mascara

Lips: 

MAC Lip Pencil in Subculture

Dior Ultra Addict Gloss in #257

How do you keep from forgetting about old products?

-Rachel

A Stone Fruit Soiree

Summer is such a lovely time. Can you believe it's almost over? In honor of balmy nights, good friends, and belly laughs, here's a great recipe using the summers greatest gift- freestone peaches! Whether you get them from your local farmers market (my favorite!), a road side fruit stand, or the grocery look for peaches that are a deep yellow and give a bit when you press their skin. May all your summer adventures turn out, well, peachy!

Sauteed Brown Sugar Peaches (With Ice Cream!)

• 4 peaches: washed, pitted, and cut into slices
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark, but light will do!)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

After prepping your peaches, place them in a bowl and squeeze the juice of half a lemon in and toss them around a bit. Place a large pan on the stove over medium heat and place the butter in the pan. After the butter has melted, pour in the brown sugar and the vanilla and stir until combined with the butter. Then, place the peach slices in the pan and toss them around with the sauce, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until peaches are tender and sauce is a thick, but pourable consistency. Serve warm over vanilla ice cream (Talenti vanilla bean gelato is my favorite!) and enjoy! XO- L

Channeling Chanel

Hello there!

I did a little shopping today, as per usual. I bought a new handbag (more on that later) and did a little pass by the Chanel counter.

I have been eyeing the Illusion D'Ombres Longwear Luminous Eyeshadows for a while. They have incredible reviews for their pigmentation and staying power. Which I can vouch for, given the amount of time and makeup remover it took to get the swatch off my hand. I purchased the black shade, Mirifique #85. Its a deep black with visible silver glitter. Its gorgeous.

I also was swatch convinced into a Stylo Eyeshadow in Moon River #07. This is a metallic taupe shade with plenty of sparkle. Taupe is a go to shade for me. Its simple and easy to pair. Bright pink blush, a nude lip, a berry glossy stain, etc. Taupe always works.

You can also see a tiny bottle there. It contains a Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation sample. The manager was kind enough to match me and provide a sample. I have extremely breakout prone skin and didn't want to make the full sized purchase if it was bad for my skin type. So, expect a review! 

-Rachel

First Impressions: L'Oréal Lineur Intense

I'm an eyeliner person. Always have been. Its the first bit of makeup I purchased. And I'm a hard sell at that.

Im a Fluidline fan, I own them in an array of colors and am pleased with them. That being said, sometimes needing a brush isn't  all that convenient, and if your brush isn't clean-well you're in for a half hour eyeliner application. 

I know there are a lot of great high end liquid eyeliners on the market, but I prefer gel and its not worth the money to me unless I can fall in love with it, which hasn't  happened yet.

So, I thought I'd try and review this little eyeliner. This particular one is a liquid formula with a felt tip pen.

The formula is a touch watery to be honest. This is both good and bad. Its bad because until it dries, smearing is a definite  possibility. But- if you made a mistake it is easy to fix.

Its intense, but not overwhelmingly so. It has a very slight sheen even once its dry. It,however, is not layer-able, if you're someone who goes over a line several times to build or smooth. It removes itself with that method, and is certainly not a product for you.

As far as the brush is concerned, a sharp point is easy to create, as shown. The line is not ultra thin, but fairly thin with the ability  to be thick if so desired. Its a touch too long and not as thin as I would maybe like, but workable for sure.

This liner is not waterproof. At all. A drop of water on a Q-tip took it off in one swipe. This is good or bad, depending on your preference. 

Keep in mind, This is a first impression, it may wear very impressively, I will test it out and see.

Also, I am wearing no mascara in the picture to show the true color intensity.

What are your top eyeliners?

-Rachel

Face of the Day

Hi there!

Quick little face of the day for you. Ive been keeping my eyeshadow really low on the lid lately, which is new for me. Not sure how I feel about it, but it doesn't make for very good pictures.  Either way, here you go!

Also, my brows don't look that scraggly in person. Promise.

Face:

Bare Minerals Original in Golden Fair

Bare Minerals Faux Tan

NARS Sex Appeal

MAC Wedge Eyeshadow (Brows)

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay Eyeshadows in Virgin, Smog, Darkhorse

MAC Ether Mineralized Eyeshadow (LE)

Stila Eyeshadow in Kitten

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

L'Oreal Volume Collagen Mascara in Blackest Black

Lips:

MAC Lipliner in Subculture

MAC Lipstick in Brave

Looking back, I would have worn a different lipstick, but I wanted to wear Brave seeing as its new to my collection!

-Rachel

I interrupt the fireworks to bring you....

a blog.

Also, happy 4th everyone!! Given it poured rain all day long until now, I've been sitting in my PJs scrounging Pinterest and watching The West Wing. Or at least the rain is my excuse for doing that all day long. 

Regardless, I found a blog. And I love it. And her. And she's from Nashville. We wear the same sizes. Oh, and she's just downright fabulous. 

So, I need to share it with you. By all means, please check out Happily Grey and read to your fashion blog loving heart's delight. You won't be disappointed, promise!

Now back to the sparklers.

-Rachel

New Additions: The Lip Products

Whelp. The black packaging and silver writing drew me in. I know I'm not the only one...yes? Yes.

If its any consolation, I only bought a few items, and they're all useful, neutral, everyday type products.

The problem...they're all lip products, which I already have too many of.

On to the goods:

Whirl Lip Pencil: I'd describe this as a tan for your lips, basically a much darker natural tone. Raising the color saturation. Its true to its description as a dirty rose.

Spice Lip Pencil: This is the more warmed toned of the three, but not overwhelmingly so. Its called a pink cinnamon by MAC, which I'd agree with, but I'd say it favors the cinnamon description.

Subculture Lip Pencil: MAC calls it an underground pink. Anyone want to guess at what underground means in this instance? I'm at a loss. This, for me, is a cooler medium pink that works well alone or with any marginally pinky lipstick.

Brave Lipstick: A pink beige that is a "my lips but better" plus a sheen shade. This is a satin finish lipstick. Easy wear, hard to mess up. Flattering in the simplest of ways. 

In order: Whirl, Spice, Subculture, Brave

Note: Brave is slightly more beige in person, flash can be tricky. 

XOXO

-Rachel

Recipe Revision Round 2

Sorry to say I took no photos. I tend to eat things before I remember to take pictures. Its a personal flaw- lets just say I'm working on it, mmk?

At any rate- I have recipes for you!
To start, I got inspired by a recipe on The Hungry Mouse where she put whiskey, cranberries, and butter all over ribs. I mean. Come on. I had to recreate it.
But then the butcher had no ribs. Its summer, cranberries are no where to be found. And cranberry preserves are invisible. So, I improvised.
In the preserves section I found apple butter, which- apples and pork are fab together even if I'm not much of a pork person myself. And I figured whiskey couldn't hurt in this instance.
Without further ado,  here is my recipe for Apple Butter Whiskey Pork Loin.

Subtle and Sparkly

Is it even possible to combine the two?

I'd say so.

Nude, pale shades of sparkles are subtle and still unique all at the same time. 

Here are my nails of the day:

And here are the polishes I used:

Essie All In One

Essie Sugar Daddy

Essie Set in Stone

Nicole by OPI A Gold Winter's Night

- Rachel

Face of the Day

Just a quick little FOTD. Going out to lunch with a friend and keeping it pretty neutral.

Bare Minerals Original in Golden Fair

Bare Minerals Bronzer in Faux Tan

NARS Blush in Sex Appeal

MAC Eyeshadow in Wedge (Brows)

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Virgin

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Buck

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Darkhorse

MAC Pigment in Naked

Guerlain Maxi Lash Mascara in Black

MAC Lipliner in Whirl

Dior Ultra Addict Gloss in #227

Have a lovely day!

-Rachel

Guerlain Maxi Lash

Before I get in bed, I thought id do a quick little review of this mascara. So, a little hurried iPhone post this will be.

I always pick mascara samples when I place an order with Sephora. I never feel as though high end mascaras live up to the hype or are worth the cost. So, I pick the samples to see if I can be proved wrong. Ive tried Lancôme, Estee Lauder, MAC, Tarte, etc. I have purchased full sized high end mascaras based purely on hype before. Bad decisions.  Ive tried the famed Diorshow, which I thought was a pretty lackluster and kind of worthless mascara. So, keep that in mind.

My favorite drugstore mascaras have narrowed themselves to Loreal varieties. I prefer a deeply black mascara with significant volume and reasonable lengthening abilities. Curl is not a requirement for me.

When I received the Maxi Lash sample, I was expecting a completely average mascara. I was dead wrong and now feel compelled to purchase a $30 full size version. Its that good. (The packaging just so happens to be drool worthy...) Below are some photos I took to show the effects. This is one, I repeat, ONE light coat. Thats all. (I have no mascara on my bottom lashes and no eyeliner or eyeshadow on.)

The Lip Products

I always see "What's in my bag?" or "What's in my purse?" videos on YouTube and thought I'd do a little spin off as I cleaned through my makeup. The photos below represent my lip product collection after I threw away a number of old, unused products.

Side note: Most of my makeup purchases began back when MAC products like 3D glosses, which will be pictured, came out. And I stopped purchasing by collection soon after the Moonbathe collection came out, which is still one my my favorite packaging styles to date. That being said, a lot of my MAC products were limited edition. That isn't as prevalent in my lip products, but if I continue this series there will be largely non purchasable products.

That was an incredibly long side note....!

On to the makeup, I tried to organize by type but then realized I left out a NARS lip gloss/stain, so it got stuck in the last photo.

Recipe Revision

When I am looking for a dinner idea, I often stumble upon fabulous recipes, with fabulous ingredients that I hardly ever have use for and therefore never have on hand. With that in mind, almost every recipe I see, requires a little change up to fit my pantry and limit my grocery list.(Warning, this is going to be a long post!)I've also recently fallen in love (Read: become obsessed with...) a blogger by the pseudonym of The Hungry Mouse. Her name is Jessie Cross and she writes all about food, with helpful step by step photos, her love of meat, and her sidekicks aka dogs. She is extremely knowledgeable about all things edible, leading her to be published in many magazines as well as in her very own cookbook, Slushed! 
My favorite feature on her blog is a protein drop down menu, pick your choice and all recipes are categorized accordingly. Extremely helpful when you only have a pork loin on hand.
Without further ado, here are my recent remakes of her recipes!

Addict, Literally

I headed out for a makeup shopping adventure today- looking for a gift for a friend. (If you're curious, I purchases Chanel Glossimer in #156 Pampille for her.)

For myself, my shopping adventure lasted long after I left the mall. All summer I've had a list of cosmetics I intended to purchase. Needless to say, the list is empty now- although that includes a few things I saw in person and decided against. My purchases included:

(Image via Nordstrom.com)

The Home. T

No, that period is not a grammar mistake.
It's actually in reference to a company called The Home. T
They make and sell t-shirts with images of your home state with the word "home." written inside.

I came across the t-shirt on another blogger and loved it, so of course I turned to Google to find out where she got it. And this is what I found:

Tennessee Home. T ($25, http://www.thehomet.com/)

How cute, right?

The Cut-Throat World of Internships

     The "I'm graduating in a year" panic has officially begun. It makes me feel like a crazy person. I think about my future about every third breath I take- it's exhausting! I am in the public relations field and I know from all of my professors that the most valuable thing I can do during my college career is INTERN INTERN INTERN. I hear this from everyone, but no one seems to have sound advice about how to nab one. In case you're going through the same torture as I am, here are some tips I've found work for me!

Hello, risotto.

Im an Italian food addict, and I could live on rice and chicken, so as Im sure you can imagine, risotto is dream food for me.
I just recently began making it myself, and thought id share its simple deliciousness with you.

You can put just about anything in risotto, but this is the recipe for the risotto I made last night.
Grilled Chicken and Pea Risotto
You will need:
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups Arborio rice
1 3/4 cup white wine (not cooking wine!)
4 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
1 tablespoon butter
1- 1 1/2 cups peas (cooked)
2 cooked chicken breasts or 1-2 cups shredded chicken

Invisalign Update

Those, well. Are my teeth, obviously.

I thought I was due for an Invisalign update post. Not that I have a comparison picture up for you here, but I thought a photo might be helpful. I am on tray 17 out of 30, for top and bottom of my original trays- I have no idea if I will have refinements yet, fingers crossed for no. And I have a total of 8 attachments, 6 top/2 bottom. I also have a power ridge on my left central incisor.

If you can't tell, I'm wearing my Invisalign in the photo. The terrible quality is attributed to the front camera  with low lighting on an iPhone, sorry about that. In  my opinion, they're much more obvious in photos, especially close up than they are in real life. Lighting causes increased shadows and shine.

Can you pass up a sale?

I know I can't.

Its unfortunate really- for my credit card at least. But, J. Crew had a sale. Again. And I succumbed to the % off sign. Again.
But all and all, I'm pleased with my purchases- and they let me have my student discount on top of the sale- which they normally don't do. Success all around.

Shall we check out the goods? Indeed.

My first purchase, Lauren would be proud of- a chambray shirt. I've been toying with the idea of purchasing one for a very long time. I am very anti jean/chambray combo- but considering I own 18 pairs of jeans (excessive, I'm aware), Its hard to come up with other options. I had to considered my current wardrobe before spend $80 on a shirt I wasn't positive I would get much wear out of. Now, I know I could have purchased a cheaper version, but I own more Forever 21 clothes than I should already, and quality is so much more important in the long run. In fact, I'm cleaning out my closet at school and home over spring break and removing all cheap and hardly worn clothes- more on that later though.
I justified the purchase a few ways-Patterned or colorful shorts do the trick, and there are always riding pants- part satin-y gorgeous, part fab texture stretch-, my fave skinny high waisted chinos, and colorful pants make a statement without excess. Leggings and yoga pants are the relaxed way to style. Even over flowy spring dresses and flouncy skirts- chambray works for effortless cover.

Days 3 & 4

Woah! Day three was really easy (I muched on whatever snacks I had leftover from the first few days), but day four is HARD. I haven't had a headache yet today, so that's progress, but my roommates made brownies! Oh no! I knew I was going to need some serious willpower because they smelled so...goood...! Luckily, I have made it through unscathed and made some cool new snack revelations on the way.

First of all, did you know how good local honey is for you?! It helps with a slew of health problems (and its super sweet- with only natural sugars!) To capitalize on the bottle I have, I made some honey-lemon tea and it got rid of my sweet tooth (and hopefully my sore throat) lickety split!

Another thing I was craving was peanut butter something awful. I felt like pregnant Claire from LOST when she's telling Charlie she'd do anything for peanut butter. Fortunately, I don't have to make do with an imaginary jar, I can go to the store and buy all natural peanut butter sweetened with agave nectar (that stuff is really starting to become my friend).

In any case, if you're trying this I hope you are prevailing! Good luck (and don't feel bad if, on day 4, you need to eat a whole spoon of honey)!

xoxo, Lauren

Day #2 Without Sugar

This may be just a coincidence, but I feel like I'm already seeing the effects that processed sugar has had on me. First and foremost, I am spending more time in the kitchen, but thankfully some time up front gives me a lot of snack options that I know are OK. Secondly, I had a headache at the beginning of the day (I ate an apple, chewed some sugar-free gum and it went way). Thirdly, I can see my energy level changing. For example, it's almost 4 PM. I've usually already had an afternoon crash in energy which I used to attribute to lack of caffiene or whatever else. I am blogging and making homemade cheez-its (!!!) while my roomate is snoozing on the couch! I feel like I have a ton of energy. On that note, here are a few more snacks I have tried (and really liked!)

First of all, my roomate (the one who is sleeping on the couch!) had an ice cream craving, so I went to the store with her to get supplies for cheez-its and (hopefully) find some ice cream with no unnatural sweeteners. I was in luck! I found "So Delicious" Coconut Milk Ice Cream in Toasted Almond Chip. It is seriously better than regular ice cream and all the sweetness comes from organic coconut milk. In any case, here is something to tide you over if you're feeling munchy. It's nice because it's super customizable and can be as healthy as you want using substitutions!

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

I don't think it's really a secret that I love food. I love trying everything, but I've never really thought about what was going in my body until recently when I stumbled on a blog about sugar free eating. Sugar free? That's nuts! I love to bake! And sugar is in everything. I do mean everything: from crackers to vegetable soup to oatmeal (this surprised me the most). While reading I came upon a common theme on a few sugar-free blogs: they all challenged their readers to go a period of time (a week in most cases, but sometimes more) without processed sugar. I think that's a great idea and I'm going to go for it!

It's day one and I seriously CANNOT believe how much sugar permeates everything I have in the pantry. However, with the resources I found on these blogs for recipes and what to look for on labels that is just sugar cleverly disguised, I feel confident. I'll share my first few recipes with you so you can go along as well! It will take longer, but make sure you check the labels as you shop. Naturally derived sugar from plants is fine, but anything else is cheating (I learned this the hard way.)

Slowly, slowly springing.

We've been on a winter hiatus because winter is generally a dull time and we were very busy baking, spending time with our families, and getting back into gear with school. But let's get on with better things than winter (baking, new collections, sunshine- you get the idea!)

Can we seriously just die together over J. Crew's new Spring collection?! It came into stores Thursday and I've already dog eared my Style Guide to death and bought a thing or two! Unfortunately, this winter, J. Crew was not really pushing the envelope as much as they usually do which resulted in many staples in some (semi) new colors, but a total lack of inspiration.

While this was good for my wallet and closet (let's be honest, it has been overflowing for months), I am glad to see them back in the swing of things! From the neon-pastel cashmere (you can really never have too much) to taking the Liberty floral colabbo up a notch to making tweeds a total Spring staple-- LOVE is in the air! Here are the pieces I'm stoked about.

Boy Shirt in Mint Strawberry Tartan