XOXO

Lately, I have been obsessed with lipstick! I think it adds the extra 'umph' to outfits! 

Today I wore: Artistry 'French Beige'

I absolutely love it! It is a wee bit darker than my lip color and it just evens the shade of my lips. 

I absolutely love Artistry lipsticks, they are great quality and last a long time! I probably own around 10 different shades. 

Sheer Jacket:  My mom's old night robe    Orange Coral Shirt: H&M 

Belt: JCPenny    Necklace: Forever 21 (it has a pearl design on it but I flipped it because I preferred a solid leaf look.)

Tips for applying lipstick:

1. Get a toothbrush damp (not a rough brush something softer) and rub on lips to take off dead skin
2. Dab on a primer -- I have been using a sample size of La Base by Lancome, and it is great! (also great for eyes)
3. Apply a chap stick, this keeps your lips from getting dry and your lipstick from getting flaky (I just use whatever chap stick there is around me at the moment)
4. Use a color that matches your skin, I will do a post on how to figure out your shades later!
5. Sometimes my lipsticks are very 'wet' I guess one could say, so they leave marks every wear! I don't want my lips to be my 'signature' on every glass I ever sip out of so I use a invisible powder. It is a white powder that I dab on with a foundation pad and it helps set the color on my lips and gives it a more matte look.It also prevents from those horrid moments when your lipstick decides that it would rather be on your teeth than your lips.  I use HD Finishing Powder; a little goes a long way. 
6. After this, don't forget to pack  your lip balm, lipstick, and powder with you for reapplication :) 
7. Smile big and proud!

Let me know how you like to wear your lips! :)

Christmas Eve Vintage

So today I finally got use of one of my Goodwill find

s of last year. It is this old 'victorian-age' looking blouse, I fell in love with it but could never quite figure out how to wear it!

Problemo Solved!

Vintage Blouse - thrifted Vintage Aqua Skirt - thrifted (hemmed shorter and waist brought in)

Belt - also thrifted and used here as well.

As excited as I was that I finally found use of my blouse, and that I got to wear my newly hemmed skirt, today I am more thrilled about my accessories!

Earrings - Antique Shop (the aqua blue matched my skirt perfectly!) Wedges - Love Culture

Head Piece - broken necklace (conveniently fit my cranium)

-x-x-x-x-

Merry Christmas Eve! Don't forget to leave cookies out for Santa!

Found Zara!

So, I have been a little under the weather lately so I have been spending my time doing crafts and sewing.

(I sewed a skirt today that will make its way into one of my outfits in the next week.)

But until then, I wanted to share a cool find that I came across in one of our local thrift stores.

The vest is Zara, and the skirt is.. well the brand of that was unimportant to me at the time.

If they had fit me I would have purchased this outfit and worn it on the spot with some great brown wedges.

{ These shoes can be found here, here and here }

But the skirt (that I would have worn as a dress, belted) did not fit around my rib cage

and the vest was too large to handle on me. *tear*

I still somewhat regret not buying it just because it was a great find; when I go back next week if it's there I will probably get it.

The weather outside is frightful! {But your outfits don't need to be}

A friend of mine who is studying at University of Idaho sent me little packaged complaints on how cold she was -- considering we are both California girls, we are not used to such frigid temperatures. I thought I would share how to stylishly pack on the bulky sweaters and not look like a pile of lumpy blankets!

I love the idea of belting some of the clothes together!

It's like "Oh, thats where my figure went!"

{My favorite part about this is 1. you can totally find a sweater like this at your local thrift store for 6 dollars and the fact that whoever this girl is, is using 2 scarves! Double the neck heat? Count me in!}

This may not look warm, but it could definitely withstand some Santa Ana Winds and around 50 degree's.

{Whenever I feel like wearing a sweater dress, or a normal dress in the winter, I always layer my leggings/tights. It makes them more opaque and keeps your legs nice and toasty! I learned about this tip at The Glamouri ((aka my blog crush right now))}

Now the reason I put this picture of a dress is because I personally live in Los Angeles, where it is cold-ish but not freezing. I pull this trick all the time; Maxi Dresses. they are not just a summer staple, but are a sneaky way of staying warm on a night out on the town! perhaps a date ;) I always wear leggings underneath because no one can see them! (and they keep you warm.) Also with a thick mid-thigh length sweater you can call it a night and go outside without a shiver in sight.

(Its almost Christmas time--excuse my need to rhyme every now and then.)

--x--

So today in Cali it was a brisk 65 degree's so I opted for a dress/sweater combo!

{Sweater Dress: H&M Clearance Rack, Leather Clutch, Shoes, and Belt: Thrifted, Jacket: My moms (I think from Nordstrom)}

I also layered my tights (aka: two pairs of brown tights) so my legs were nice and toasty!

PS: Sorry for low photo quality -- Its from my macbook photobooth because my camera was dead and no one was around to take a picture of me!