How I Get Messy Hair

Hello! I've been really loving having unruly, messy hair lately. Probably due to the fact that my style is also been changing. I've slowly started to become a bit "edgier" in a sense. I mean, I still love my pastels and my floral collared shirts but I've definitely been reaching for a bit more relaxed and simple things. Anyway! I've been absolutely loving Bumble and Bumble products. In fact, I'm not sure how I'm ever going to look back now that I've tried them. Yes, they are pricey, and yes, the bottles are small. However, I think the end result is worth splurging. I got the City Swept finishing spray quite a while ago as a replacement of the surf spray. I've loved the surf spray for a long time and have been through two bottles and honestly, I think the City Swept gives me a better tousled look. On super fancy days I'll actually use both sprays for added separation. What the City Swept finishing spray does is create a wind-blown, messy, texturized look to the hair. I find that when I first spray it, I look a bit like Hermione in her early years. After it calms down, I have so much more volume and oomf to my hair.

A newer purchase is the Bumble and Bumble Pret-a-Powder. Oh my goodness, I didn't think I would love this as much as I do. I've heard complaints about it being too light for brunettes, but I don't find that to be a problem. I don't use this as a dry shampoo, really. I wash my hair every night (yes I know I'm not supposed to) and so greasy hair isn't TOO big of a problem for me. I do however, use a bit of dry shampoo if I'm going to be out at night. I got this as a volume enhancer. I put some at the roots of my hair and scrunch scrunch scrunch until it's messy enough for me! The powder is super fine so it blends in almost instantly.

Along with waving my hair with my hair straightener, these products are my go to now for whenever I do my hair. I know longer have to put up with having flat hair. I seriously recommend trying out these products if you want to look like you just walked through a windy city! I personally love it!

Watt's Up!? Highlighter Review

Hey! Work as been all consuming lately and on my few days off I've been relaxing and spending time with loved ones. I've gotten quite a bit of new things but the inspiration to blog just hasn't been there. However, a couple days ago I went to Sephora to exchange somethings my mom got me (Tarte Amazonian Clay Powder Foundation and BB cream) and picked up the Benefit Watt's Up highlighter. I've been using a $3 ELF highlighter for a while and have always wanted to try a better one. Watt's Up is a much loved and talked about one, so I finally just tried it. It's a beautiful champagne color and definitely applies better than the ELF one I have. I apply it just on my cheekbone and blend in so I don't look too shiny, but to create a beautiful glow. The packaging is obviously stunning and so creative; classic Benefit. It also comes with a blending sponge which is def going to come in handy. I'll be honest. I do feel silly for spending $30 on a highlighter. Had it not been an exchange from something my mom got me I don't think I would have been able to spend so much. I'm happy with how gorg it looks once it's on but I can't help thinking I would have rather splurged on a new YSL lippy! But it's alright, as a luxury high lighter I feel like this is easily a front runner.

Spring Loves

Hiya! Spring is in full force now and I thought I would share some of my favorite spring items! I really love how beautiful everything looks during spring, and how the weather isn't too hot yet, but spring has never been a season I looked forward to. I just love autumn and winter so much! And summer always meant a break from school. This is kind of my way of getting excited!

First up is a spring song! I've been loving 5 Seconds of Summer's song "She Looks so Perfect". It's just a really fun and upbeat song that I recommend you listen to if you haven't already! I don't know much about them despite seeing them open for One Direction twice, but they seem like fun kids and a lot of people love them! Next is a floral candle. The one pictured is perfect because it comes in a gorgeous mint blue color and has the most adorable mason jar packaging. The scent is sweet pea, which is just perfect and refreshing for this time of year. Of course a pastel nail color is essential for spring. I chose my absolute favorite by Essie called bikini so teeny which is just a perfect perriwinkle blue! A great perfume for spring is Chance by Chanel. It's a very light, floral & fruity scent that is really lovely to wear on warmer days. I think this is a quite popular perfume, and for very good reason! Gorgeous sunnies are a must have, and I picked these Dior cat-eye ones. Although, if I owned any brightly colored sunglasses those would probably be my top pick! This Dior creme de rose lip balm is lovely because of the wonderful consistency, the great smell, and because of how effective it is. The smell alone just oozes spring and bright roses! Next up is the Nyx lipgloss in Beige which is another popular product! Obviously, the color is misnamed because this is anything but beige. It's more of a light nude-y pink that would go with just about everything. It also smells absolutely delicious! In spring, you kind of want to stay away from the darker lip colors (almost impossible for me) and this lipgloss is perfect for that! Lastly, is one of my top essentials, the colorful statement necklace! I got this coral one from Forever21 and I can't get enough of it! I just think something like this is perfect to brighten up your outfit. If i'm wearing a black dress I just throw this on and I feel instantly more vibrant and spring-like!

I hope you enjoyed this post! It took a little time to get up but I've finally finished it! Happy spring!

Polish Focus: Butter London Trout Pout!

Happy Easter, friends! I thought I would pay special attention to my new favorite spring polish, Trout Pout! This is one of my first Butter London polishes and it certainly did not disappoint. The application is lovely; it goes on smoothly and neatly and only needs two coats to look its best! Because Butter London is quite expensive, I waited for Ulta to do a two for one offer. If they ever do another I just might have to try a few more colors because I am def impressed! The Butter London names are also adorable! I imagine this is called Trout Pout because it's a salmon-y color?? At first I was a bit apprehensive about getting this color because I thought it would be similar to Essie's Tart Deco, which I already own. Having so many nail polishes I try and be mindful of not getting dupes of what I already have. However, these two colors are almost nothing alike. Yes, they both are coral shades but Trout Pout has a much more pinky tone to it. I think I might even prefer it to Tart Deco. It's not neon but it's quite bright and lively, perfect for spring and summer months. I can only imagine how gorgeous it would look on toes or even with a tan! So, if you're looking for a fresh spring color with a unique twist then I can't recommend this color more! Enjoy your chocolate bunnies and yummy desserts today! :)

Style Icon: Laura Whitmore !

Hello! Being American, I'm not too familiar with Laura Whitmore, but I know that she's an Irish television presenter. I also know that her style is gorgeous. I stumbled upon a picture of her a while ago, and thinking she was quite beautiful with a great sense of style, I followed her instagram. I just love Laura's clean, classic outfits. She always looks so put together and elegant while maintaining an interesting quality to her looks. While looking through photos I noticed that Laura loves to experiment with color and bold prints, which I admire. So hopefully, if you aren't familiar with Laura this post inspires you to go check her out! I hope to do more of these posts in the future! :)

Review: Healthy Sexy Hair

Hi guys! Quick update- my family had been visiting from the UK for the past few weeks so I haven't really had time to get into blogging. We had a great time, took them around LA and Orange County and we all went to vegas together! It was so lovely to catch up with them! But besides all that, I've been trying not to spend money seeing as I currently do not have a job. It's been kind of hard because I see all these amazing things I want to try and let's be honest, my will power isn't that great. So, I'm just going to have to get a bit more creative with my posts! :)

The product I'm reviewing today is the Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Line. you guys, this stuff works. Oh a whim I decided to try Argan oil and saw that (at the time) this Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Nourishing Styling Treatment (wow what a name) was only 10 dollars at Ulta! It's back to being $21.00, and maybe I should have written this review while it was still on sale :/. But I swear it's worth every penny. I use this every night after I wash my hair and before I blow dry it. It smells wonderful, but not too strongly, and doesn't leave any greasy feelings on the hair. This product promises to moisturize, add smoothness, work as a heat protector, protect against damage, and reduce drying time. I've always been skeptical that hair products don't work, but after using this people were actually telling me how nice my hair was and I definitely noticed a difference myself. Most impressive is probably that it actually DOES reduce drying time. My hair takes forever to dry and this reduced my drying time to around 8 minutes. Yes, I timed it. I bought backup of this stuff and will continue to repurchase.

The other product pictured, the Soy Tri-wheat Leave in Conditioner is also amazing. I went back to Ulta and bought this after the Argan oil. This whole line was on sale for $10.00 at the time, and this product is now $17.00. I use this before the argan oil, and it leaves my hair very easy to comb through before I dry it. The soy and wheat are meant to act as detanglers and the coco is supposed to lock in moisture and repair the hair. I firmly stand by this product as well. This also smells wonderful and doesn't feel like you actually have product in your hair which I love. So, bottom line, if you are looking for a new line to give life back into your hair, this is it. My hair honestly looks and feels healthier and I don't really understand what I was doing by not using any product in my hair, but damaging it with heat every day. I also bought the shampoo and conditioner of this line, and those are also amazing. There's no going back after this! I'm a converted soy/argan oil lover!

Review: Nyx Butter Gloss in Devil's Food Cake !

Sooooo I finally tried a Nyx butter gloss. I'm not sure what I was waiting for. I guess I've never thought to try Nyx products out until I just had the random urge. I got Devil's Food Cake, the darkest color (I think) in the huge color spectrum they offer and it's right up my street! The packaging is lovely, I really like how it's all one solid color. I kind of have an obsession with dark berry shades as I think they look best on me. I've almost used up my YSL volupte shine lipstick and thankfully this color is quite similar to that. This is definitely a gloss finish and is a bit more sticky on the lips than the usual products I go for. I've only worn it a couple of times and one time I feel like it may have dried out my lips...but I'm still not sure it was the gloss' fault that time. The color pay off is great! You can build it up or apply it gently for a not so harsh look. I'm really not a gloss person, but I'm starting to lighten up to them and I think the butter glosses are perfect for that. I'll be trying out more colors from this line for sure! I can't believe how late to the party I am!! Here is a posey selfie of me wearing the gloss ;) :

Review: Revlon Parfumerie Polishes

Hello! Been away from blogging for a bit... mostly because my boyfriend got us Disneyland passes! I'm going later today and went twice last week so I've been all Disney-ed out. I did however, finally try out the Revlon Parfumerie polishes! I went to target to get a mascara and oops came home with these too.

Aren't they just the most adorable things ever?! The packaging alone makes me want to collect all of them! However, the handle is a little hard for me to work with and I'm afraid I'm going to drop it while painting my nails. Other than that, I'd give the packaging 10/10. The scents are very light and in my experience don't last past two days, so if you're in it for the scented polish gimmick I'm not sure it'd be worth it for you to buy it. Upside is that they actually smell great and not like...fragrance mixed with nail polish.

The first color I got is Lavender Soap. It looked the most unique to me and it's honestly not a color I usually go for, as my mom noticed. But I really like it! It's a pearly light lavender color and it truly looks like soap!! The application was a little streaky, but nothing too bad. It's gorgeous when it catches the light. The second color I got is African Tea Rose, and honestly I got this one because so many other bloggers seem to like it! I do like it, but it's definitely a color I wouldn't have gotten if I hadn't been convinced by others! It's not an ugly color by ANY means, I just have so much nail polish that when I do buy some I try to get more unique colors. This is a very wearable dark pink that's also bright at the same time (not sure that makes sense. The more I wear it the more I fall in love with it. It's much more impressive in the sunlight because you can see the little bit of purple tone that's in it. African Tea Rose also applied to my nails like a dream. A great polish if you need something pretty and simple with only a short time to do your nails!

The Body Shop Haul and Review!

So, thanks to a couple sales, I've kind of been Body Shop crazy this past few weeks. This post contains products I bought over two trips to the Body Shop and I am sooo excited about my new stuff! Before this I've never really been too into the Body Shop besides my coconut body butter. I have used each of these products a couple times now so I can give them a good review.

Firstly, is the Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter. This acts as a makeup remover and overall facial cleanser. However, this isn't really a product to use on it's own. It's really good at removing makeup, and although your eye makeup might make you look like a raccoon for a bit I really enjoy using this! It's not as quick or easy as just using a regular makeup remover but I feel like this is a lot more gentle and nourishing. I also love love love the smell! It's fairly light but it's a gorgeous floral scent. Love the packaging too!

These little perfumes are so wonderful. I wrote about the Honeymania one in my last post, but my new Morninga eau du toilette is just as amazing. It's another floral scent, but it's so gorgeous, light, and refreshing. It actually smells like it could be a high end fragrance and I plan on getting more in this scent at the next 40% off sale. The girl in the shop told me that she sprays the two together and it's a dupe for a certain Michael Kors perfume. Sold!

Tea tree! So many people have tried and loved these products and now I am one of them. The oil is a staple product in many beauty enthusiasts collection and for good reason. I apply it to any blemishes and sometimes even overnight, they vanish! The cool and creamy wash is also great. It leaves a cool sensation on my face after I use it (which I love) and feels very moisturizing. These tea tree products have strong scents that I can see causing problems for some but I don't really mind them. I haven't had any major breakouts since using them!

This Vitamin E face mist is soooo great. It smells like fresh roses and is super refreshing. I use it maybe three times a day. It's meant to give you an extra boost of moisture during the day. Perfect for when you start to feel groggy. I bought this because my Caudalie face mist ran out, and I can't seem to live with out them!

I got these products during the 40% off sale and the buy 2 get 2 sale. Really great deals and I look forward to trying out more Body Shop products. I think a new obsession has started!!!!

February Favorites !

Hello! It's been a couple weeks since I've posted :/ . I guess I just didn't have any inspiration! But that's over now, because it's time for February Favorites! I've never actually done one of these before so I'm kind of excited! I didn't spend much in February, and besides a recent SPLURGE I'm not going to spend anything (I hope) in March. So, here are the products I've been looooving!

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse multi purpose oil: Bought this in the City Pharma back when I was in Paris and it's a product that I kind of use off and on. I mainly use it on my hair to add some moisture to dry ends. I've been using this a lot more recently because I've gotten kind of obsessed with keeping my hair nice after I cut a lot of it off! It also smells lovely and you can actually see the shine when you put it on your hair! :)

Bath and Body Works candle: I can't rave enough about his pink lemonade pound cake candle!! It smells so amazing and the mason jar is sooo cute I can't get handle it. For being a tiny candle, it fills up my entire room with fragrance which I absolutely love! Also, how pretty is the packaging!

Essie cocktails and coconuts: I recently reviewed the Essie resort polishes and this one is one of my faves. It's on my nails right now and I think it's a really nice nude for pale girls. This is what I will wear when I get tired of spring pastels and summer brights!

Essie find me an oasis: All time fave of the collection just as I knew it would be! Gorgeous pale, pastel blue that looks really great on. I'm going to be wearing this a lot. :)

Keratin Complex dry shampoo: My mom gave me this to use when I want to touch up my hair before going out at night. It's a golden powder dry shampoo with a little shimmer in. Now, this is meant for blondes, but my mom's hair stylist gave her this to use even though she's a brunette. If you blend it in well, you can't see the gold in the powder so it's really nice. It does a good job of getting rid of the grease in your hair and it smells great too!

Body shop Honeymania perfume: This scent is it for me. I will probably end up with everything in this collection. It's a honey scent (obvs) but with a distinct floral twist to it. PERFECT. Surprisingly, the scent lasts long on me and I can smell it though out the day. The packaging is really cute and I feel like I'll be going through a couple of these. I recently got some other stuff from the Body shop and will be doing a post soon!

Valentine's Day Look: Simply Rosy

Hello Friends! I decided to do a little Valentine's Day look for the special day coming up! I'm not sure what I will be doing on Valentine's... my boyf won't tell me! But I'm exicted anyway :) I created a verrry simple makeup look (annoyingly enough my eyeshadow didn't show up very well on camera :/) to wear on the day! It's a very pink/rosy look that was aided greatly by the lovely Naked 3 palette! Here, enjoy some posey pictures of me.

I didn't buy anything new, just used what I currently have in my makeup bag! My focus was mainly the cheeks and the lips because I wanted to create an almost baby-doll look. Makeup used:

Lips: apocalips/show off in celestial

face: YSL touche eclat foundation, Rimmel stay matte powder

cheeks: MAC fleur powder blusher, ELF highlighter

lashes: Rimmel Scandal eyes retro glam

nails: Essie find me an oasis

eyes: Naked 3 palette, Rimmel Scandal eyes khol liner smudged with MAC twinks eyeshadow

So honestly, not anything crazy different than I would usually do, just featuring far more pink than I would normally wear, seeing as I'm a berry and bronze type of girl ;) Here's a closer look at the colors used from the Naked 3 palette...I used colors from the pinker side of the palette just because they are obviously perfect for a VDay look! Have a sorta awkward picture of me closing my eyes:

I simply covered my whole lid with "burnout" and then gently dusted a little bit of "bust" over that. The darker brown eyeshadow I put over my liner is twinks by MAC, which I wear everyday! There you go! If you're doing something not so fancy for Valentine's Day I think a nice, rosy look like this will be perfect! If you're doing something fancy...by all means go all out! :D

Grabble Loves ASOS!

Hello there! I've recently been informed about a new amazing fashion website called Grabble. I decided to check it out and def liked what I saw! It's basically a place for you to store anything you find on other websites in one neat little place. You put the Grabble button in your bookmark bar, then click it when you are on the page of an item you like, and then it simply saves into your Grabble collection! Don't worry, there's a really easy to understand video on this on their website. The best thing to me about Grabble?? They alert you when your saved items go on sale!! No we don't have to keep checking each individual website we haunt. :) You also get a 10 pound voucher when you sign up!!
Now onto the extra exciting bit... Grabble is hosting a contest with ASOS in which you can win 750 pounds towards the ASOS website. I mean, I can't even imagine winning such a cool prize. All you have to do is go to ASOS and pick out a minimum of six things to go in a Valentine's Day collection! Take a screenshot of your collection, then blog about it!

That's my ASOS Valentine's day collection. If you click the picture it goes to my collection page on Grabble. :) I had a lot of fun looking through all their items and I'm so inspired I'm going to be doing a VDay look quite soon!

Style Icon: Rihanna!!!

In my opinion, Rihanna is probably the most beautiful woman ever. She makes questionable looking outfits look great on her. She carries herself with a sexy confidence that I can only dream of attaining. I've loved her and her music for a long time and have even been lucky enough to see her in concert! Her style is ever changing and she seems to go through a lot of phases (who doesn't?). I love what she wears from her edgy, urban street style to her glamorous, sexy, gowns. Will I ever be able to pull of what she wears? No. Most likely not. Her style doesn't suit my own personal style but I still admire it.

I like how she mixes masculine clothes with her own feminine edge. It's a look that many girls, and even other celebrities often try to imitate. Ri Ri isn't afraid of offending anybody with her outfit choices and is always 100% herself. I could go on all day about her, talk about her different styles for her different music era's...but I think I've gotten my point across. ;)

Essie Resort 2014 Collection

Hi! So it's been about a week since an update but I just found it hard to find inspiration last week, I guess! No excuse! However, I am totally re-inspired by the new mini nail polishes I got yesterday!! When I saw pictures of this collection on instagram I fell completely in love. I'm still not so sure what draws me to these colors so much, but I couldn't resist them when I found the mini versions in Ulta. It's like a little taste of summer in winter!

I feel like these colors work all year round. To me, they are a very creative way of depicting a day at the beach. They aren't the obvious spring/summer colors and I think that's what makes them so great! I did swatch them on my nails, but the lighting was so awful when I took the pictures I decided not the include them. :/ But I will def be putting pictures up on instagram and twitter when I do end up wearing each color! :)

cocktails and coconuts: A light tan color with a little bit of silver shimmer. The sparkle is very subtle, but when it catches the light it is gorgeous! This will look so pretty on tan hands. This polish has my favorite name out of all of them.

under the twilight: This deep, dark plum color is the odd one out but oh my goodness is it pretty. Sometimes you just feel like wearing dark colors in the warmer months and this is perfect. It reminds me of sitting under the stars on a warm evening. So beautiful. It almost looks black when on the nail, but the plum peeks through :).

find me an oasis: My fave of the collection. It's a super light, almost white, chalky blue. It's gorgeous and unique. I can't wait to wear it. It draws attention itself in the greatest way.

resort fling: A peachy coral color with a gel-like finish. Similar to Essie's tart deco, but the consistency is different, it's less bright, and is a more peach with orange notes than tart deco. I feel like you can totally get away with having both colors. This color reminds me of a yummy drink you would sip while at the pool or beach ;)

Also, look how darling the packaging is for these minis! It cost $17 dollars but i consider it worth it since a full size essie is around 9 dollars. I do not regret this impulse buy at all!! :)

My Week in Photos 1

Hello! It's been a pretty great week. Celebrated my mom's birthday, sipped a lovely lychee martini, and ate a lot of good food! Looking forward to the Grammy's tonight :)

Style Icon: Alexa Chung!!

Hello!! I've decided to start a new series in which I gush about a style icon of mine. This week, and first in the series, is none other than Alexa Chung. She's no stranger to receiving love and admiration in the blogger community. I chose her because she is fresh in my mind from looking at dozens of pictures of her when I was contemplating cutting my hair. I've been really really wanting to get her book, but every time I see it i decide against it because it is a little pricey. Maybe one day I will bite the bullet. But for now, I will admire Alexa's effortless cool-girl style through pictures on the internet.

I don't look to Alexa for thinspo or fitspo, but oh my goodness do I admire how she can put together an outfit that seems completely none put together. I picked the three pictures of her above because they sum up what I love about how she dresses. How she can pull of both grungy 90's inspired outfits as well as rock a pretty floral dress. I'm also really jealous of how well she can pull off those dungarees. Overall, I drool when I see her in any outfit she throws together. I've gone through many different styles over the last years, and I think I'm growing out of my pastel baby doll dress phase into something more like how she dresses. It sucks when you have a closet full of clothes that you don't think suit your personal style anymore! But that's just how it is, I guess. Anyway, OBSESSED with miss Alexa Chung lately. Seriously can't get enough. :)

Review: Jo Malone Blackberry and Bay

Jo Malone Blackerry and bay

I can't rave enough about Jo Malone. What a classy, sophisticated, beautiful brand of fragrance. Obsessed. Now, I've been wanting to get my little paws on ANYTHING Jo Malone for quite some time, and finally got a little bottle of one of my favorite scents from them. Blackberry and Bay cologne is unlike anything in my collection of floral and sweet perfumes. This scent is clean, and fruity in an alluring, rather than cutesy, way. Perfect for the colder months in my opinion. The official description on the website is like this:

Childhood memories of blackberry picking...A burst of deep, tart blackberry juice, blending with the freshness of just-gathered bay and brambly woods. Vibrant and verdant.

It's a bit warm smelling when mixed with my body chemisty, not sure that makes sense. I tend to put in on my wrist rather than my neck area just because I feel like it blends in with me better there. It's quite expensive, so I only got the little bottle for now, hopefully my collection will grow (with candles!). I feel these fragrances and packaging designs are timeless and will look beautiful in any perfume/cologne collection.

OOTD: Mmmm Pancakes!!

Hello! I haven't done a blog post like this for a while! My outfit doesn't haven anything to do with pancakes...but I did go to a pancake house yesterday!! It's disgustingly sunny and hot in California this January (which makes me unhappy) so that's why these pictures look like they were taken in summer!

Velvet crop top: Topshop

high waisted shorts: Brandy Melville

rings: Brandy Melville

Layered necklace: Papers and Peonies

Hamsa necklace: Nordstrom

I'm working on getting better OOTD pictures. It's hard when you don't have a tripod set up or anybody to take them for you! Anyway! My boyfriend and I went to the Original Pancake House (not to be confused with IHOP) and oh my goodness is it delicious. He got the cornbeef hash with eggs and I had the dutch baby pancake, which is an oven baked pancake with powder sugar and lemon on. I ate the whole thing and let me tell you, it is massive! It was my meal for the whole day haha!

I'm drooling all over again. Might go snack on his leftovers ;) I leave you with this picture of me and my dog, who is struggling to get away from me. But I swear she loves me.