Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The clock in the kitchen says 2:55

it was a bit windy, isn't my hair great? ;)
{Dress: gap, Top: Marshals, Tights: hue, Boots: Marshals, Belt: my moms?}
Hello All!
Just another outfit of the day.  It was a lovely spring-ish day in the middle of winter, and I don't mind a bit.  Hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Lillian

{listening to this}

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Quick Announcement! Win Makeup!

Hey, everyone, Emilyann here!

As you may remember, last fall I entered a makeup competition and asked all of you ladies to vote for me.  I won second place thanks to all of you, as well as my amazing friends and family.  This year, the same company, 2nd Love Cosmetics, is doing another makeup competition, this time for Spring!  Since I entered last season, I won't be entering this time around, but I thought I should get the word out to all of you in case any of you are looking to enhance your makeup collection.

Ps Spot my picture up there? :D

The grand prize for this contest is makeup that has been estimated to be worth $140.  There is also a second prize estimated at $100 worth of makeup.  All you have to do to enter is send in your information here as well as a clear picture of your makeup look, and they'll take care of the rest until voting time.

You will be notified via their Facebook page when the pictures are up and running.  At this point, you need to get others to vote for your picture by "liking" it and sharing it with their friends.  At the end of the contest, the person with the most "likes" wins!  *If one of you ladies enter the competition, comment below and let us know, and we'll be sure to both vote for you, and place a notice in our blog that one of our readers is running, and the rest of you should go vote.*

The contest is now open and ready for registration!  Have at it girlies!

xx,
Emilyann

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

We are headed North

Hello lovely people! It's Lillian.  Today I'll be sharing an outfit with you. 
It was one of those days where I actually slept well, and when my alarm clock went off, I really didn't want to get out of my bed.  When I was pondering what to wear, I had a bit of a dilemma.  I wanted to wear jeans, because jeans are comfy, but I didn't want to just wear jeans and a t-shirt because that's boring.  I kind of wanted to wear a dress, but I didn't want to wear tights, and I just always like layers. 
So as you can see, I just decided to wear it all.  Jeans, shirt, dress, cardigan, and boots.  It was a wonderful glasses-no-makeup-quiet-moments-laughter-taking-pictures-of-nothing kind of day.


What sort of outfit are you most comfortable in?

Happy Tuesday!

{lillian}
listening to this yet again.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Because Spring Is Coming...

Winter's almost over (hopefully) but the trends are here to stay!  Perhaps we should put away the darker nail polish colors, and the tights and the blazers, but I'm not quite ready yet, and I doubt all of you are either!  Here are some ways to work winter's trends into your spring outfits.

The left is the winter outfit and the spring is the right in all pictures below.
Also, all outfits were created by me on Polyvore.

Trend #1 - Mixing Metals


This trend was pretty popular on the runway as well as in the real world.  Golds and silvers don't work together?  That's crazy!  They look spectacular together and I'm glad the fashion world finally acknowledged it.  String some bright colored shorts and ribborns around the look.  Make sure to balance out the heaviness of the jewelry with the lightness of the fabric.




Trend #2 - The Trenchcoat

By taking off the sleeves of the trench coats and adding some bright accessories, and giving it an overall more relaxed feel, you can easily take the trenchcoat trend into spring with you.



Trend #3 - Tights and Boots

Tights are almost always practical.  Just change to brightly colored tights to transition them into the spring time! Use boots to give a more earthy effect.



Winter is definitely my favorite fashion month, and I'm not ready to say goodbye to it quite yet, so I'm loving these transitions.  What is your favorite season fashion wise?

xx,
Emilyann

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Choose my color! ***Poll now closed***

Hey everyone, it's Caroline again!

I've gotten quite bored of my hair color.  At this point it's just a very dark brown with brassy undertones.

Because I'm indecisive, I can't think of what color I should get next!  So I'm enlisting the help of all of you (dressing room door girls included)!

I've made a poll to give you some idea of what I would generally go for.  Choose one and vote, and I'll do my hair in the highest voted color.  I thought this would be a fun way to make the decision and involve our readers, since we love you all so much!

I don't want anything crazy.  I've done ombre before (where the hair is darker at the top and fades to slightly lighter at the bottom) and it's gorgeous, and I'd consider it again.  I've done highlights, and I've done slightly lighter browns.  If you go to my info page up above, there's a link at the bottom to all of my posts.  You can look at pictures I've posted of me to get an idea of what would be best for my skin and coloring, etc.

Now, here we go!  I trust you guys, and I'm excited to see what the results are!  Once I dye it, I'll let you know and probably do a tutorial, since I prefer to dye my hair at home.

Pick from the pictures below that correspond to a poll number, and vote away!

**Disclaimer:  Just because I post a picture of a certain celebrity/model doesn't mean I necessarily endorse that person, I just dig their color.**


((Color ONE))
via



((Color TWO))
mine would be slightly darker and less bleachy/yellow.
via
((Color THREE))

via


Choose away, my friends!  I love all three colors, so I'm up for any of them.

Poll closes at 11 AM EST on Thursday.  :)


***POLL NOW CLOSED***

Thanks for your votes! Results in a while. :)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Winter Skin

Sup?  It's Caroline!  

Where I live, it's ridiculously cold.  I'm visiting Georgia at the moment, and it's much milder, but there's still heat in the house that can really take a toll on the skin.

In the summertime, I'm pretty lax about my skin.  I generally just wash it at night, slap on some light moisturizer, and go to bed.  But in the winter, my skin goes nuts!  My forehead gets insanely oily, but from my temples down, I'm dry as a bone.  

I've only just figured out how to take care of my skin in the winter, and I'm happy to say that I'm completely blemish free and my skin is smooth and moisturized.  I sort of want to sing a song about how I feel about that but I won't.

When I flew over here to Georgia, the plane dried me out.  I kept using my same cleanser and moisturizer, and within two days my face was red, itching, burning, and it looked like I'd been slapped.  I immediately ran to Walgreens to get some new stuff, and it worked like a charm.  

If you have sensitive skin, I would avoid using what caused my irritation.  I was using the Velocity cleanser and moisturizer from Mary Kay.  It may not do the same to everyone, but fair warning!  The day I stopped using it, my skin felt so much better.

Here's my new routine!

((Step One))  --  Clear

via


     I use cheap-o face wipes from the drugstore to remove my makeup.  If I have any stubborn eye makeup, I pour a touch of makeup remover onto the wipe.  This saves more product than putting it on a dry cotton pad, because the wetness of the wipe doesn't allow the wipe to soak up all the liquid.  The only wipes I wouldn't recommend are the Neutrogena and the Yes to Cucumbers ones.  I've tried a ton of wipes, and these always burn the skin around my eyes.

((Step Two))  -- Purify



     Next, I wash my face with a gentle cleanser.  Aveeno and Burt's Bees are the most gentle, I've found.  Right now I'm using the Burt's Bees Sensitive Facial Cleanser  and it's a holy grail product for me.  It makes my skin ridiculously soft, and it doesn't make my skin tight, dry, or irritated.  I use lukewarm water, because hot water dries out your skin and makes it more prone to irritation, and overly cold water is uncomfortable and makes my skin feel tight.

((Step Three))  -- Tone

via

     I use a toner from a drugstore (Hema) in Belgium, so I can't really recommend it to you.  But purchase one that's meant for dry, sensitive skin, even if you don't necessarily have sensitive skin.  Toners can be harsh, and using something like Sea Breeze can really kill your skin and sting.  I put mine in a spray bottle, spritz it on my face, and then wipe my skin with a cotton pad.  This is my favorite part, because I'm weird.  I like to look at the cotton afterward and see all the makeup that toner picks up from what the wipes and cleanser left behind.  You'd be surprised!  This also helps tighten your pores and even out your skin.

((Step Four))  --Moisturize




     For my moisturizer, I use Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisture Infusion.  What a name, eh?  I sometimes use this in the morning, too, because it's really thick, which I need.  This smells amazing, and it really makes my skin feel supple.  It takes a while to blend it in, but a little goes a long way and it's another holy grail product.  



And then we're done!  I know that this is more than a lot of people do, and for some reason, this often offends people.  Look, you don't have to do all this exactly how I do it!  You do what works for you.  But I can't stand having blemishes and dry patches when I know there's something I can do about it.  

I have a "no excuses" philosophy about my face.  If you use soap and water to wash your face every night, you can't allow yourself to be frustrated that you have blemishes.  It means that it's time for a change!  

If you have really, really bad skin, ask your folks for a visit to the dermatologist.  In this day and age, there's always something you can do.  There's hope for your skin!

If you have any other questions about different products or methods, ask away!

You can change your skin.  It takes some work, but what good thing doesn't?

-Caroline