Fun Storage Ideas

Since we moved into our new loft, my biggest goal has been to keep everything organized. I have found a couple creative ways to store my jewelry and make-up and wanted to share with you! I plan to share more pictures of our new apartment shortly.

Photo 1.) I wanted a cute glass tray to store my favorite bracelets and watches. I have a pretty jewelry box that was my grandmothers where I store the rest of my jewelry but these are the items that I reach for the most and wanted on my dresser. I got this tray from my local Home Goods.
Photo 2.) This J. Crew necklace is my absolute favorite this month and I don't think you can see it in the picture but my monogram necklace is hanging on this stand too. I love the looks of this stand and also got it from Home Goods. I typically just swap out my favorite necklace of the month to hang on this stand.
Photo 3.) Do you think I have enough necklaces? I have a J. Crew and Baublebar necklace addiction. I got this hanger from The Container Store and even though it is screwed into the wall...I am starting to think I need something more heavy duty! When we moved I couldn't believe how heavy that hanger was with all of the necklaces on them.
Photo 4 and 5.) Because my make-up collection seems to be growing daily, I knew that I needed something pretty large. Hopefully I won't be outgrowing this any time soon! I store my brushes in a large glass cup from Home Goods. Every morning I pick out what products I am going to wear that day and then put them in the Tory Burch case that goes into my purse with me to work.

My Week in Make-Up

I have been having so much fun playing with different make-up looks over the last couple of weeks! I know none of the looks appear drastically different since I try to keep everything pretty toned down for work overall but there are subtle changes.

On the far left I was going for a more brown undertone. The top I was wearing had burgundy stripes so I really felt like the brown tone went well with it. What really topped off this look was my Cover Girl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in shade 270 (Cocoa Twist).

The second look I wanted to go for super neon bright colors to match my bright green top from Forever 21. Obviously you can't see my eye make-up but on my lips I am wearing Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Fig.

In the third look I wanted to go with a really silver eye and nude lip. I used my Naked Palette and the main shade I wanted to pop was Gunmetal which is the most silver/blue shade in the palette.

In the look on the far right I wanted my make-up to be pink overall to go with my cream colored top. I used very pink shades on my eyes from the Lorac Unzipped Palette. My lip gloss is bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie in Heartbreaker.

Sephora & Drugstore Haul

This week I purchased some great make-up products-some from Sephora and a couple drugstore products from Target! I am really excited to share my thoughts with you.

Sephora Products:
Nars Blush/Bronzer Duo--So my main reasoning for purchasing this product was because I went to Sephora and yet again they were out of the Orgasm blush! I mean this stuff is hard to get your hands on and I was too impatient to order online. I did buy the Super Orgasm shade last time I was unable to find it, and I really love that shade! However, after buying this duo, I definitely see why Orgasm was sold out. After just a couple uses I am close to saying this is my all-time favorite blush. The coral color is just perfect for my skin tone has just the right amount of shimmer. I also am really enjoying the Laguna bronzer in the duo. It's a really good matte shade that I have been using to sort of balance out the shimmer in my Sun Bunny. It's a little pricey but it comes with a good amount of both blush and bronzer so I feel like it has ended up being a good deal!
Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Sugar Frost-I won't spend too much time on this one since I have talked about the Amethyst shade previously and how much I love these Caviar Sticks. However, I will say this is the BEST shade! I have been using it almost like a base/primer and have been able to do so many looks using it with the Naked Palette and my Lorac Unzipped Palette. May do a tutorial soon so stay tuned!
Make-Up Forever HD Invisible Cover Foundation-I just recently ran out of my Smashbox HD Foundation and decided to switch it up. I wanted something with a lighter consistency and also felt that I just couldn't find the right shade match with Smashbox. The Make-Up Forever foundation feels great and light on my skin, has excellent coverage and the shade is the perfect match. I use 125 Sand.
Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Fig-I wanted a pretty pink/matte lipstick. Almost all of my lipstick is Nars so I did want to try a new brand. I had heard great things about Bite Beauty and love this shade! It is the perfect natural pink and looks great on its own if you don't want to apply lip gloss over it.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Mushroom-I wanted to get a liner that was another color aside from black. This shade looks great on the waterline and really makes your eyes pop!
Sephora Collection Pro Angled Contour Brush #75-I have a ton of brushes so not like I really needed another one but since I have been focusing more on contouring when I apply my make-up this brush looked like a good one for bronzer. So far I am really enjoying it!

Target Products
Sonia Kashuk Pointed Foundation Brush (#121)-I am LOVING the Sonia Kashuk beauty line for Target. Her line is a little pricier then the typical drug store products but I feel like you really get a great quality for your money. This is the perfect brush for blending my under-eye concealer and I am really pleased with the quality. I may be paying Target another visit soon to get more of her products!
Revlon Brow Fantasy: I am close to giving up on my brows! I have tried so many products and I just cannot get them the right shape. I really like this Revlon product because it is a pencil on one end and a gel on the other. I don't use the pencil as much as I use the gel to get my brows to stay in place after I comb them. I plan to pay the Benefit Brow Bar a visit this weekend so I will definitely blog about that experience soon!
Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Candy Coral-Since I love the Nars Orgasm so much I wanted to try to find a drugstore option that had the same coral tone. I haven't tried this product yet but I will let you know how I like it! The color looks really pretty.
CoverGirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in 270: I really like these Jumbo Gloss Balms! This is the second one I've purchased. This shade is more of a bronzey pink. It's definitely a hard color to describe. It has a brownish hue to it but I really love it because it's such a unique shade.

It's a Lilly Day!

Dress: Lilly Pulitzer (This Print is Sold Out on the Lilly Site, but is available here); Boots: Ralph Lauren; Watch: Kate Spade; Necklace: J. Crew Factory  (40% off!!)

Even though it's pretty chilly out in DC, I was excited to bring some bright, warm colors to the office! Lilly Pulitzer always has a season-end sale and I grabbed this dress on discount and it has been calling me from the closet since. The material is actually fairly heavier than it appears which was a pleasant surprise. I definitely think it's a year-round style and is offered in other colors. Shirt-dresses are a big style trend this year and with Lilly you just can't go wrong.

It looks like 6pm got a new shipment of Lilly products so I would definitely check it out! If you don't know what 6pm is, they have an assortment of designer clothes at discounted prices. I love buying Lilly products from this site!

Sensitive/Dry Skin? Try These!

Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer; Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion; Murad Correcting Moisturizer (Redness Therapy); Juice Beauty Green Apple Moisturizer; Origins VitaZing Energy Boosting Moisturizer; Simple Oil Balancing Cleansing Wipes; Rosebud Perfume Co. Rosebud Salve Lip Balm

During these dry cold months, my skin is screaming for moisture and something soothing! I have to be extremely careful with the products I choose to use because I have eczema. The eczema used to just show up in patches on my arms and legs but this year it has been creating dry patches on my face which has been extremely irritating. I wanted to avoid putting any sort of steroid cream on my face so I searched for other non-prescription alternatives.

I have loved trying these products--some more than others! A couple of these were samples that I received with my Sephora/Ulta purchases and have actually really enjoyed.

The Moisturizers
Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer: Real Simple rated this in one of the top 6 Nourishing Face Creams for dry skin. I tried it and did enjoy it. I felt like it wasn't irritating my skin or clogging my pores in any way. I use Aveeno body lotion so I wasn't afraid to try something else by this brand; however I do feel like the other options did give me better results.
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion: I feel like every girl has a bottle of this! Whether you got it in a sample pack from a department store or whether you heard great things about it, this is a really popular long-standing moisturizer. My mom has used this one for years so I naturally bought it as well. This is the one I have had the longest and will probably be the one I continue to go back to. I think it's great for any other time of year and gives my skin what it needs, but during the winter I needed something more.
Murad Correcting Moisturizer: This has been my most recent moisturizing purchase. I had a sample of it with one of my Ulta purchases and tried it out one night. I felt like the very next day I could see a big difference. What I like about this one is it is meant to correct "redness" which I feel like my face needs from the eczema flair ups. My skin is very discolored when I'm not wearing foundation and I feel like since I started using this product it has definitely evened it out.
Juice Beauty Green Apple Moisturizer: This was also a sample that came with an Ulta Purchase and I have yet to re-purchase the full-sized version. I have not used it enough to be able to talk about it's effectiveness however I can say as someone with very sensitive skin, this product did not irritate and was very soothing.
Origins VitaZing Energy Boosting Moisturizer: This is just a sample size pictured above, however I have used this product before and LOVED it. I can't honestly remember why I stopped using it but when I received this sample in my latest Sephora purchase I was reminded of how much I enjoyed it. I actually really like that it is a little bit tinted because I do feel like it evens out my skin tone when I apply it. I also really like the consistency of it and how soothing it is. I would say this is more of a morning moisturizer while I would probably stick with the Murad for evening. I am definitely going to re-purchase a larger size of this product!

Simple Oil Balancing Cleansing Wipes: Since my eczema has spread to my face, I noticed that the Neutrogena make-up removing wipes and Garnier Wipes (which were my 2 go-to make-up removers) were really drying out my skin more. I'm not sure which ingredient was causing it but I had read around that these were not recommended for people with eczema. I wash my face every morning and night with Neutrogena face wash but there was still eye make-up residue. I received a sample of these Simple Wipes again with an Ulta Purchase and tried them out. They do not irritate my skin at ALL. They are very soothing and not drying. The price is right as well! They're only $5.99 and I think you can buy them at Ulta and most drugstores.

Rosebud Perfume Co. Rosebud Salve: I am loving this lip balm for my dry lips! I apply this in the morning before I put on the rest of my make-up and at night after I shower and before I go to bed. I feel like it has really softened my lips and I don't find myself needing to apply lip balm throughout the day.

Weekend Glam & The BEST Mascara Out There [In My Opinion]

Yesterday I had fun playing with a couple of my new products that came in from Ulta and Sephora over the last week. There are two products in particular that I must RAVE about. I received my first Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Amethyst and I absolutely adore this product. The pigmentation is amazing and it is the perfect eye color. It was a little more purple than I expected but I actually am really loving that aspect. I plan to own every single color! The other product I just can't believe I have lived my life without for this long, is the Too Faced "Better Than Sex" Mascara. We all search high and low for the best mascara product and I am convinced I have found the one for me! I have tried Benefit "They're Real" which everyone seems to rave about, Diorshow, Tarte Amazonion Clay, and a ton of drugstore favorites like L'Oreal Full Definition Voluminous Mascara or Covergirl Lash Blast. I love the applicator of Better Than Sex and love the volume that it gives my lashes. I already have pretty long lashes so this gives them volume without making them look spidery. It is too die for! Not to mention, when I checked out, the cashier at Ulta said that this is the mascara that she recommends to everyone because she thinks it is the best. Must be true!

Other products I am using in this look above:
Primer: Lorac "I'm So Sensitive"
Foundation: Make-Up Forever HD Invisible Cover Foundation in 125
Bronzer: Too Faced Sun Bunny
Blush: Nars in Super Orgasm
Under-Eye Concealer: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraster-Brightener
Eyeliner: Tarte MultiplEYE Lash Enhancing Liquid Liner
Eye Shadow: Aside from the Laura Mercier, I used my Lorac Unzipped Palette
Lip Balm: Dior Addict Lip Glow
Lip Gloss: bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie in Heartbreaker-True Romantic Trend Collection (Limited Time)

French Hen

Sweater: J. Crew Factory (Old, Similar Here); Pants: Loft; Shoes: Tory Burch; Purse: Michael Kors (Old, Similar Here); Necklace: J. Crew (Sold Out, Similar Here); Watch: Kate Spade; Glasses: Dolce & Gabbana

When I saw this sweater at J. Crew during the fall season,I knew I had to have it. Not only did it make me smile but I love a cute cardigan! Most people were obsessing over the one that I linked to with the large graphic of the french hen on the front. This cardigan was a little more me! I like the subtle hen print all over the sweater. I also love pairing it with colorful pants. It's a little hard to tell from the lighting but my pants are a pretty burgundy color. I did link to purchase above! My make-up I stayed very neutral and simple. I never go too crazy with eye make-up when I know I'm going to wear my glasses.

Stay tuned this weekend if you want to see me review more of the make-up products I received this week. I plan on posting my first video this Sunday!

This post is being hosted on the Simply Lulu Style Friday Link Up (Here) and Style Elixir's Fab Favorites Link Up (Here).