The Monthly Review | March

March 31, 2017 in Makeup, Lifestyle, Fragrance, Wedding

March absolutely flew by - all in all it was a good month. I picked out bridesmaids dresses, had a good month at work, and Brett graduated from the Police Academy!

Beauty/Fashion

This was another good month beauty-wise, meaning I spent more than I probably should have on new products. The month started out on a high note with the launch of Glossier's newest product, Cloud Paint* (review). These have been pretty much the only blushes I've used all month - they just look so natural on the skin. I keep thinking I have a definite favorite shade, but it changes every time I put one on - it's very rare that I've found a product where every color is flattering on my skin. I've also been using my custom MAC Palette (review) that my sister made me as an early birthday present nonstop. She filled it with the most perfect shades for me, and it's made me fall back in love with MAC. I've also fallen hard for the Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder, which I reviewed on Wednesday, and the NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer this month - I love the NARS Concealer so much that I bought a second shade to create my perfect shade match.

I've also gotten back into wearing perfume lately - at the beginning of the month I was using a sample of the Elizabeth and James Nirvana Rose. I'm a sucker for anything rose scented, and I love the smoky edge to this one. At the end of the month I finally treated myself to the Byredo Rose of No Man's Land Perfume Oil, and I could probably never wear another perfume again and be happy about it. It's probably the best-smelling perfume I've ever worn. I'm going to try to wrap my head around the scent and put up a more detailed post on it soon.

I actually have a fashion favorite this month, too - I finally ordered myself the Odette Earrings in Silver from Common Muse when I saw they were back in stock, and I couldn't be happier with them. I love everything on Common Muse's site, so I may have just started a dangerous habit. Their classic, minimal pieces really speak to me - I like that they're not overly dainty.

TV/Music/Podcasts

I had been meaning to start watching Grace & Frankie on Netflix for the longest time, and this month I finally did. I instantly fell in love and keep marathoning it on the weekends. It's such a funny and endearing show, and the whole cast is great. I also watched the entire second season of Love in one sitting when it was released this month - for some reason I don't even really like either main character, but I still can't get enough of the show and wish I could have Mickey's entire wardrobe.

Once again, I'm still on my Van Morrison/Simon & Garfunkel/Carole King kick, but with the release of Ed Sheeran's Divide, I've had some new stuff to listen to. I love pretty much every song on it, but I actually think Nancy Mulligan might be my favorite.

I got back into podcasts this month - the three I've been rotating between have been Fat Mascara, You Must Remember This, and My Dad Wrote a Porno. Fat Mascara was great this month especially because they had Emily Weiss, CEO and Founder of Glossier, on as their interviewee - it was definitely my favorite episode so far. You Must Remember This has been super interesting this month too, as the "Dead Blondes" series continues. There were three episodes dedicated to Marilyn Monroe, and as someone who has only seen two of her films, it was really fascinating to learn more about her life. And of course, my favorite thing to listen to on my way home from a long day at work is My Dad Wrote a Porno. It's a guy whose father has written a self-published erotic novel, and he and two of his friends get together every week to read a chapter. It's absolutely hilarious, and I'm sure people driving by me think I'm a maniac laughing in my car.

Other Highlights

One last physical object that's been a real treat to use this month has been my new camera! I upgraded from my five-year-old Canon Powershot to a Canon Rebel T5i - my first DSLR! It's been so much fun taking photos and learning all the settings, and I can already tell an improvement in my photos. The kit lens it came with has been great, but I also got myself a 50mm lens that I love using - I used the kit lens for the flatlay at the top of this post, but the other photos within the post were taken with the 50mm.

Onto actual life highlights, I mentioned I picked out my bridesmaids dresses this month! My sister had a big fashion show trying on dress after dress until we settled on two she loved - one had a little bit of sparkle, so we decided that she would wear that one as my Maid of Honor, and then my other three bridesmaids would wear the other dress we loved. The other big thing this month was that Brett finally graduated from the Police Academy, and at the top of his class! I don't think I've ever felt more proud and happy for him. He starts his first official day on the job today!

I hope everyone had a great March and an even better April! What were the highlights of your month?

January Favorites

January 30, 2016 in Makeup, Skincare, Fragrance

January has been a wild month full of change for me. I started a new job where I actually get to use the chemistry degree I worked so hard for, but as the company is about an hour and a half away from where I lived with my parents, I moved out for the first time and into an apartment with my boyfriend. I haven't had much time for beauty in all the craziness of packing up my life and relocating, but I managed to still find a few standouts for the month.

The thing I'm most excited about is the lipstick I made at the Bite Beauty Lip Lab (I wrote a post about my whole experience here). It's obviously the perfect shade in my opinion, because I picked it out. It's the ultimate dusty rose shade for my complexion - since my skin has so much pink in it, most dusty rose shades just look brown. But this has the perfect amount of pink in it for me. I had it made in the Luminous Creme formula which is absolutely gorgeous as well. For more details on what shades were mixed to make this color, check out the post about my trip to the Lip Lab.

Another makeup bit I fell head over heels for this month is the Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara. I had previously thought that I would never again buy a high end mascara, but here we are. After watching many, many Allana Davison videos and swooning over how pretty her eyelashes always looked, I took the plunge and ordered a tube when I got a Sephora giftcard for Christmas. I'm absolutely hooked - it fans out my lashes and makes them look so much fuller and thicker. And, as a plus, it lasts all day without smudging on me, despite it not being waterproof.

The last piece of makeup I've been loving this month is the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light. If I did a December Favorites post, this would have shown up there. But two months in, and I'm still in love. I never used powder before this, but it really helps my makeup last a bit longer without mattifying my skin. It keeps the skin looking so radiant, which is always what I go for, and the subtle yellow shade helps to counteract the redness I've been getting in my cheeks.

For skincare I've been all about the newly-released Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser - I've only been using this for a couple weeks, but it's already earned its place in a favorites roundup. This is seriously the best face wash I've ever used - never before has my skin felt so clean without a trace of tightness. And now that I don't wear waterproof mascara, it easily takes all my makeup off at night.

My last beauty favorite of the month has been the Narciso Rodriguez For Her Eau de Parfum. I pretty much begged and not-so-subtly hinted to my boyfriend to get me a bottle of this for Christmas. The bottle itself is beautiful, and it's got the most lovely scent - notes of musk, iris powder, rose petals, and benzoin balm. It smells floral, but in a totally different way than other floral perfumes I own (I'm sorry I can't describe it any better). It lasts such a long time on me, too.

What were your favorites this month?

Spring Fragrances

May 14, 2015 in Fragrance

For a long time I was really intrigued by the idea of a “signature scent,” and I had found it in the original Stella Eau de Parfum by Stella McCartney. But as we move into warmer weather, I was finding that it was a bit too warm for me to spritz on during hot sunny days. So I dropped the idea of only wearing one scent all year round and took off for Sephora.

The first one I was drawn to was, of course, the newly-released Stella Eau de Toilette. It smells almost identical to the Stella EDP on me, but it doesn’t have those warm notes. Instead it’s floral yet fresh and perfect for spring and summer - the top notes of mandarin and frozen lemon really make this rose-y scent crisp and light. It lasts a couple hours on me before I feel like I can’t smell it at all anymore. I was spritzing this every day nonstop until the Philosophy Fresh Cream fragrance fell into my clutches (aka I smelled it when I bought the Stella, couldn’t get it out of my mind for 3 days, and finally ordered it). The Fresh Cream scent isn’t something I thought I would like - I usually go for more floral scents (hence my fragrance wardrobe of Stella, Chloe, and Marc Jacobs Daisy) than sugary sweet ones. Usually vanilla fragrances are too warm or synthetic-smelling for me, but this one is absolutely perfect. It smells like vanilla for sure, but just pure, fresh vanilla if that makes sense. Think of eating a vanilla sundae (complete with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles, of course) outside on a sunny spring day, and you’ll have this scent. This one lasts almost all day on me - one spritz and I’m still catching whiffs any time my wrist happens to be anywhere near my nose by the time I’m ready to head home from work. Out of these two new additions I’m definitely more a fan of the Philosophy Fresh Cream (as I’m sure you can tell from this rave), but once the excitement about it dies down a little I’m sure the Stella EDT will find its way back into the rotation. The way I see it, I now have a new spring scent for any occasion: when I’m feeling something floral, I’ll reach for Stella, and when I want something sweet, I’ll look no further than the Fresh Cream.

Have you tried either of these fragrances?