Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Blushing Bride: Get The Look

all images courtesy of Simply Bloom Photography

Who doesn't want to look like a freaking bride? Any girl with an ounce of honesty, whether she's 6 or 66, wouldn't turn that down. I love how CJ's makeup turned out for her wedding. It you looked up classic bridal beauty this would be the picture next to it. No too much, but just enough. Her eyes are just captivating and everything else has a subtle, flawless radiance.








PRODUCTS


Here's what you need to get her look:

1. Smashbox Photo Finish primer. This primer has a light-reflective property so the flash of a professional camera doesn't skew the undertones of your foundation (aka, no clown face). 


2. Dior Airflash Foundation. It's in an aerosol can, so you get a weightless foundation that's much lighter. It was raining, so I didn't want to worry about the extra moisture from the humidity causing her foundation to run. I set it with a clear, translucent powder afterwards to reduce shine and create a long-lasting finish. 


3. Bobbi Brown Cream Blush. Ironically, cream blushes are great for humid weather because the cream formula dissolves into skin unlike a powder, which just sits on the surface. This Bobbi Brown color is called Pale Pink but I think it has a subtly bright pink undertone. More than anything, it's just the perfect, natural flush. Screams "wedding day." 

4. Dior Bronzer. On your wedding day, or any time you'll be in front of a camera flash, make sure that you use shimmery products sparingly. Lots of bronzers and highlighters have sparkle or shimmer, which will in turn make you look like a glitter bomb fairy. So, opt for matte bronzers and highlighters (here's the highlighter we used). We defined CJ's cheek bones and face by sweeping bronzer in the shape of a 3. Starting at her hairline to her temples, under her cheek bones, and feathering it out under her jawline. 


5. Dior Quad Shadow. We focused on keeping her lid soft. In our trial run, we did a heavy crease with a smokey-eye effect but on the day of, it didn't feel right so we went for a subtle shimmer, using pearls and pale pinks. It's great for brown eyes. We swept the bottom right shadow under her brow bone and around the inside corner of her eye. Then we brushed the center pink color over her entire lid and warmed up her crease with the gold. 

6. Revlon Liquid Liner. My must have drugstore obsession. For a liquid liner, it's fool proof and never bleeds. Great if you tend to be a bit weepy :)


7. Tons of mascara and fake individual fake lashes. I like to layer Maybelline's Volum Express Waterproof mascara with Dior Show. You get the megawatt volume of Dior Show with the protection of a waterproof mascara. Here are my falsies I like. Get them at any drugstore. Always buy the medium length. 






Friday, August 2, 2013

Drink the Haterade: Wedge Sneakers

First of all, it's the weekend! So raise your glass, and cheers to taking a big gulp of ice cold haterade! I opened my inbox this morning and numerous emails from various fashion retailers and website flooded my inbox with the "hottest fall footwear deals." I got so excited thinking I'd see pages filled with color-blocked heels, suede booties, and tailored leather boots. Instead the two styles that were most prevalent were moto boots (not my thing, but I could see it if you had a Stevie Nicks/rocker edge) and-- gasp -- wedge. sneakers. Seriously? There are certain things that only rappers and Real Housewives of New Jersey are allowed to wear.  Wedge sneakers are one of them.  Note: all of the shoes below came from Saks and none cost less than $300. Most were between $500-$800. I just don't get it. I guess I'm officially behind the times.

















Tuesday, July 30, 2013

House Hunters: Athens, Georgia Home

I was browsing Elle Decor's site the other day and absolutely fell in love with this shot below. I'm obsessed with the wall color and love the layering she did with the other pieces. It's Susan Hable's, of Hable Construction fabric, home in Athens, GA. It's the perfect balance of a house being pretty without taking itself too seriously. It's just a feel-good place so I wanted to share. Enjoy!













Monday, July 29, 2013

Best YouTube Beauty Channels

I j'adore me some good YouTube beauty vids. My favorite one of all time is this total fail. Gets me every time. I literally go into the crying/wheezing laugh. Switching gears, I've gotten some of my favorite beauty tips and tricks from watching these clips and I refer to them all the time. Here are my go-to beauty channels.



Melmphs is one of my favorites for drugstore tutorials. Don't get me wrong-- I'm the first to recommend NARS, Chanel, or Laura Mercier but some days a girl just needs an $8 tube of mascara to get the job done. This is the place for that. Plus, she brings some serious Southernness. 



Glam. Central. If you want super hot looks for parties or girls' night out this should be your go-to. She does lots of celeb tutorials but I really love that she can pull of a full face of makeup without it looking overdone. Probably too much for a daytime look, but perfect for evening. 




Lisa Eldridge is a professional makeup artist in the UK and does such amazing, simple looks. Nothing is every overdone but it's always flawless. If you're a less is more kind of girl, this is your channel. Love all of her videos! She knows her stuff. And her accent doesn't hurt either. 



I try not to play favorites, but I can't help but love this one the most! For a number of reasons. First of all, I know Trisha personally and she's just as gorgeous inside as she is out. I love that she does hair and makeup tips. Sometimes I like general beauty channels rather than just makeup. But my favorite is her Real Talk Tuesday video series. She is gets what it means to be beautiful on the inside and express it through makeup. Girl after my own heart. 

Monday, July 1, 2013

Pillow Talk

Friends, you'll have to bear with me. My shopping obsessions and work assignments are now turning into blog posts. Recently, I've been on the hunt for some cute, easy throw pillows for my living room and a house I'm styling. I began combing my go-to big online home/interior sites and the results were so disappointing. Everything was affordable and ugly or cute and expensive (story of my retail existence). I finally landed on the fact that I wanted pillows made in to-the-trade fabric at reasonable prices. Seems impossible. Enter Etsy. Here are my most favorite Etsy pillow finds made from fabrics us normal folks can't get our hands on at prices to die for!

Lee Jofa/Kravet

David Hicks for Lee Jofa Pillow, $50
David Hicks for Lee Jofa Pillow, $125 

Lee Jofa Pillow, $45
Kelly Wearstler for Lee Jofa Pillow, $85

Kelly Wearstler for Lee Jofa Pillow, $150

Lulu DK for Lee Jofa Pillow, $45

Kelly Wearstler for Lee Jofa Pillow, $70

Brunschwig et Fils

B & F Pillow, $80

B & F Lumbar Pillow, $58
B & F Pillow, $100

B & F Lumbar Pillow, $40

F. Schumacher 

Schumacher Pillow, $85

Pair of Schumacher Pillows, $210
Martyn Bullard for Schumacher Pillow, $50

Trina Turk for Schumacher Lattice Bolster Pillow, $70

Quadrille/China Seas

China Seas Pillow, $115

China Seas Pillow, $80
China Seas Pillow, $95
Quadrille Pillow, $95
Alan Campbell Pillow, $95
Quadrille Pillow, $80