It’s been awhile, right? There is much to tell and I will post an update very soon on my current state of being. However, for now, I am THRILLED it is Friday, even though there has not been a sunny day in Seattle since November 30th. Let that sink in for a minute…since NOVEMBER.
How about adding a little fun to your Friday? I present Tracee Ellis Ross. I dare you to not fall in love with this woman. She is confident, funny, adventurous, independent, and 100% authentic. Plus, her style is next level. Truly.
She recently posted a video guide to her beauty secrets for Vogue. I appreciate her openness about aging, natural hair, and the beauty that comes from knowing who you are! I think I may be a Tracee Ellis Ross groupie.
Every day makeup in 5 minutes or less. That has been my goal all summer. Simple and clean.
It only takes 5 products:
1. Start with Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer. I have used this for years. I occasionally will try something else and I always find my way back to this trusted staple. It is lightweight with the perfect amount of minimal coverage. I wear the color sand.
2. A new darling in my make up bag is Cloud Paint by Glossier. It is the best cream blush I have ever used. I am now a forever addict. This summer I have been using Dusk. {Watch all the videos to help you pick the best shade.}
3. Play up your natural brows by using Boy Brow also by Glossier. Replace your brow gel with this. The tiny wand allows for great precision and the color is great. I use brown.
4. Lastly curl your lashes, apply primer, and mascara.
That’s it. In the winter I will have to add in concealer for my very dark under eye circles, but hope to keep the rest the same.
Just curious: How many make up products do you use everyday?
Girlfriends share! They share everything from parenting advice to wine. Or maybe the name of their favorite deodorant. More times than not, my favorite things are discovered because a girlfriend gave me the inside track. I thought it would be fun to share in the same way here on the blog. A quick, not fancy post, about one of my favorite things.
First up, Revlon Matte Balm. This drug store beauty purchase is my absolute favorite lip color. I love the matte finish and the color is rich {and it lasts}. I’m super picky when it comes to lip color. I don’t like shiny or sticky gloss. I also hate when a lipstick is overly drying and wears off unevenly. This balm goes on just like your run-of-the- mill lip balm {AKA: ChapStick}. It is moisturizing and leaves your lips super smooth. I have Enchanting {a nude} and Striking {a coral-red}. With 10 colors, everyone can find one they love!
Yep, yep! It’s #TBT, a little throw back Thursday. I am following up on four posts from the past. Often times I write a post and then have more to say about the topic after the fact. Whether it be new information, a total fail, or a shift in thinking.
I included the Limetown podcast in one of my In the Details posts. There are only a few episodes right now {insert sad face emoji}, but holy cow! While it is 100% fiction, it listens as if it is a first person investigative report. The premise is a bit freaky. An entire town’s population disappears under a cloak of mystery. I listened to the second episode right before bed. I will freely admit that I was totally scared and may have woke my husband up when I nearly jumped out of bed. If you are spooked easily, I suggest NOT listening before bed. Episode #3 was just released and I can’t wait. Totally worth a listen!
In this past post, I featured the notes I seem to love in perfume. Upon research, it was evident that I tend to like more masculine scents. Recently I came across a bottle of cologne I bought for my husband years ago. {I actually think he was boyfriend when I gave it to him!} He had it stashed in a drawer, so I decided to start wearing it. This fall I have been layering his cologne with Elizabeth and James//Nirvana Black. I totally suggesting giving yourself a light spray of men’s cologne-I think you may love it!
Ok, so I really wanted these to be perfect. I featured them just last week in my latest In the Details post. We did not love them. However, I am willing to experiment and see if I can make them work. First of all I used a gluten free brownie mix that was slightly smaller than the mix that was called for in the “recipe”. I am thinking that the proportion of mix to pumpkin was off, which messed with the texture. Also, I really wanted the “pumpkin spice” flavor and it was totally lacking. I might try canned pumpkin pie filling or add pumpkin spice. Stay tuned for possibly another follow up…..
When planning to furnish our family room, I became obsessed with bright vintage kilim poufs. Eventually I purchased two new poufs from Anthropologie. Placed in front of our couch instead of a coffee table, they allow for flexible seating for the boys when they are playing video games and are a perfect place to put your feet up when watching a movie. They are not available anymore. I am SO happy I purchased them when I did.
Recently I grew tired of having all my beauty tools and products thrown in a drawer. Even though they were in a travel bag and small trays, I found that items were hard to find and often overlooked. Inspired by this post about cosmetics on display, I decided to do something about it. After covering one end of Target to the other, the idea of using an everyday kitchen item popped in my head. I use a tea cup to store accessories, why not use a drinking glass to display beauty essentials? At first my thought was to just display my brushes, but since the clear glasses were less than $5 -I grabbed two. Now, all of my make up brushes are in one glass and eye essentials {liners, mascara, brow gel, tweezers,} in another. I loved it so much, I picked up one more glass at the thrift store for $.50, which is now home to lip sticks. This inexpensive project somehow makes getting ready more fun and my bathroom counter colorful.
PS// I also replaced all of my makeup brushes! So worth it!
PPS// Oh, the dark walls and hideous bathroom fixture! My life is not perfectly styled.
Women of a certain age must share the news with friends when they find a beauty product that they love. It’s in the contract! Recently I have come across a few items that are great additions to my beauty bag. Want to know what they are?
1. Somme Institute: Transport|2- Soft cotton pads infused with magic. I purchased the jar with a purple dot after a facial and was fairly skeptical. I was proven wrong within 1 week. My skin is brighter, my adult acne is under control { with the use of a prescription antibiotic} and my hyper-pigmentation is much less noticeable. Seriously, they are awesome!!
2. Sephora Express Cleaning Wipes– I purchased this little pack to remove makeup while traveling. I am obviously super lazy because this is how I cleanse my face most nights. I will be buying the larger pack soon. These also work great after a workout if you can’t take a shower or wash your face right away.
3. Cle de Peau Beaute Concealer – Okay, so this concealer was an investment. However, I think it will last a very long time. You don’t need much at all and it covers my dark circles like no other. It blends perfectly and doesn’t settle into the fine lines around my eyes, which is a HUGE plus!
4. Dove: Clinical Protection|Clear Tone – I was in between deodorants, so I gave this one a try. So far it is pretty fantastic. It goes on smooth, with very little residue. It is marketed to also lighten the skin of your underarms, but I haven’t really noticed a difference. Bottom line, it actually works and I don’t have to worry!
I follow a ton of fashion blogs and sites. They all blew up this week with a new ad from Celine. {photo by Juergen Teller}. Joan Didion appears in a campaign for the luxury brand. I am not posting about this because I am super excited about the new line. I don’t own anything from Celine, nor do I foresee myself buying anything in the near future. The price point is beyond my income {of $0}! No. I am posting because I instantly fell in love with the image. Those sunglasses and Joan rocking all that 80 brings! I mean really, it is so refreshing. So I fell down a rabbit hole earlier this week reading everything I could about Joan Didion. She started as staff writer at Vogue in the 60’s and quickly became a published novelist and essay writer. I won’t try and write a biography about her, but it is worth doing a little reading yourself.
I love {L O V E} that she is in this ad campaign. She represents real beauty. She has a lived a life. Full of family, success, and heart ache. She wears 80 proudly. It doesn’t seem like she tries to be anything but herself. She is brilliantly talented and she owns it. That makes her beautiful.
Her nephew, Griffin Dunne, is producing a documentary on her life. The trailer for We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order to Live makes me to want to know more about this strikingly intelligent, brilliant woman.
Oh, and she isn’t a stranger to the camera. Julian Wasser photographed her in 1968 for Time Magazine. She sits in her own Stingray, holding a cigarette, seemingly unaffected that someone is taking her picture. I mean this girl has been cool for a long, long time.
What do you think about this campaign?
I 100% admire everything about Joan Didion. Have you read any of her books? If you have 5 minutes read her essay on self-respect.
Who doesn’t love a throw back Thursday? I thought it might be interesting to put my own spin on #TBT! Often times I write a post and then have more to say about the topic after the fact. Whether it be new information, a total fail, or a shift in thinking. This week I am following up on five posts from the past.
I loved the comments on this post. Encouragement to just go for pastel purple hair made me smile! However, it turns out coloring my dark brunette locks pastel purple would take a good deal labor. First I would need to bleach all the color out of my hair. Only then could a colorist add the purple. Often the color isn’t quite right so the process has to be repeated. It makes more sense for me to have a darker, deep shade of purple. Not sure if I like that look. So for now, my hair will remain brown. Not because I think I am too old for purple locks, but because it just sounds like a ton of time and energy that I would rather spend elsewhere!
When I build a mom uniform, I use items I already own and also include pieces that would be great additions to my closet. These Tommy Hilfiger boots are the perfect example. Oh, those boots! I did in fact order them online, but my spirits were crushed when they arrived. These beauties were built for girls that live in places where it doesn’t actually rain. The top of the boots were so large the Seattle rain would have just poured in -soaking my socks and creating misery. Sadly, they were returned. Girls in California, scoop these up!
Trove, a restaurant which I included in the round up of All Things Seattle, was just voted restaurant of the year by Eater Seattle. Now I MUST make a date to check it out!!
It was a resounding YES! Everyone commented positively about chalkboard walls in the home. What the hell, it’s just paint. Luckily, my sister-in-law has the perfect formula for painting a chalkboard wall. I am going for it! I promise to post once I get this project done.
I may have just found the most perfect plaid shirt for this mom uniform. If you remember this uniform included mixing plaid and animal print. This J.Crew plaid shirt is made from the coziest flannel. It has a longer cut, so it was perfect with my new faux leather leggings. Paired with my Steve Madden slip-on sneakers, it is still a favorite uniform!!
I have a hair appointment today. This week I realized my hair was beyond the point of just having a bad hair day. My go-to-look the past few weeks has been a wide brimmed hat. I’ve decided after quite a few years of fairly long hair, it is time for a change.
Today I am heading in for a cut, but what I really want is pastel purple hair. No, really. Ever since Nicole Ritchie rocked a purple bob in early Spring, I cannot shake this unbelievable desire to have purple hair! I was so damn straight laced in high school and college, I didn’t dare experiment with colored hair. {Note to my 20 year-old self. Loosen up, don’t take everything so seriously, and live a little.} Do I dare go there at forty? Could I say it? Purple hair. Don’t care. Oh, I desperately want to say YES!
Could I, as brunette, even achieve this color? What would it take? I also wonder if my skin tone would look washed out with this color. I wore a platinum wig on Halloween and it looked dreadful. Who can answer these very important questions for me?
What do you think? Purple hair?
Any beauty risks you are thinking about taking? Oh, please share!
Images via my for the love of locks board on Pinterest. Pop on over. Can you guess the cut I am going for today?
I have always thought it would be cool to have a signature scent. Same perfume, everyday. One that is simply-me. However, I have never been able to settle on just one. The thing is, I know when a perfume is right for me or not. {I bet you do too!} So it got me to thinking. What do the perfumes I like have in common?
It all has to do with notes. Notes are descriptors of scents that can be sensed upon application of a perfume. Top notes you smell right away and evaporate quickly, middle notes appear anywhere from two minutes to one hour after application, and base notes evaporate slowly and linger. Together they are the body of your perfume. So, if I can find the notes that I most drawn to, then I can easily choose perfumes that I will love.
I did a little research on four perfumes I have worn over the last couple of years. I am fascinated to find that they each shared a few common notes. I have always described the perfumes I like as masculine and earthy. I think I was correct. The common notes are pepper, violet, bergamot (a small citrus fruit), vanilla, and woods and mosses.
These are the four perfumes and their perfume notes:
My all time favorite is Bottega Veneta. I wonder if it is because it is complex and has many layered notes.
If you are interested in learning more about the notes in the perfumes you love, I highly suggest Fragrantica. Simply type in a perfume and read about the base notes, middle notes, and top notes. It also gives you suggestions of other perfumes you might like. It has a wealth of information! Who knew perfume could be so damn interesting??
