My Favorite Lip Colors

Recently I posted an Instagram picture of one of my fall lip glosses and someone commented asking me to post my favorites.. so here I am!

I personally look best in Fall colors, so as you can see, I have a number of fall lip colors (where in the spring and summer I only have two!)

Also, you'll notice I don't spend a lot of money on lipsticks and lip glosses and usually just pick them up at Target. The truth is I'm not a huge lipstick/lip gloss person.. usually I go without but will put something on before a meeting.

Burt's Bees Red Dahlia Tinted Lip Balm

This lip balm adds just a hint of color and feels just like a regular lip balm (it's really moisturizing). A great "every day" staple. I especially like putting this on if I don't have much make up on, because it's pretty sheer and natural looking. 

Sonia Kashuk Hydrating Lip Balm in Plum 07

Honest, I don't know if they still make this. I bought it from Target last year (I think) and it's one of my favorites. It's very conditioning and the color is a perfect, true plum (but not too dark).

Cover Girl Lipslicks in Hipster

I have loved Cover Girl Lipslicks since high school! They are super cheap and are just plain great. This looks more like a lipstick (especially because it has some shimmer), but feels more like a lip balm. 

L'Oreal Colour Riche LeGloss in 163 Plum Rush

I just recently purchased this one and I had high hopes for it. I was hoping for a sheer plum color, but it looks a little more red than plum. BUT it's still a great color and a little more "fun" than the others. (I do have to note, these LeGloss lip glosses are my FAVORITE lip glosses out there.. the color Watermelon Crush is my go-to summer color)

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Sugar Plum

This is another recent purchase. I'm a big fan of these lip butters. They are soft and last a long time. This is a good color, but again I would have liked it to be a bit more "plum". But it is very pretty and somewhat dark. 

Tarte LipSurgence in Envy

This is the most expensive one of the lot (I think I got it at Sephora). It's the darkest of the bunch, and since it's a lip stain it lasts a LONG time! Great for going out at night. I really love the color and how matte it is, but it does get dry after a while.

And it's it! Please do add your favorite plum or fall colors if you have one!  :)

Curly Hair In The South

If you don't have curly hair and live in the south, then this post may be somewhat boring and unhelpful for you. But I thought I'd do it to help any girls out there in my situation.

I have super thick, stubborn curly hair.. it's something I've dealt with my entire life. Sure, I'd LOVE to have Anne Hathaway's gorgeous silky brown hair, but once I heard a mom tell her kids who were whining: "You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit". It's stuck with me and I love it.

Anyway, when I lived in California, the weather was SO dry and it was great for my hair. I was able to have my hair cut short and wore it down everyday. I even was able to have side swept bangs!

Me in California in 2009

But even though my hair was awesome, my skin was miserable.. there would be nights I couldn't sleep because my skin was so dry it was painful... even with a humidifier.

Here in Charlotte it's HUMID. I grew up in Dallas, so it's more familiar to me than the dry weather in CA.. but it's pretty terrible for my hair (but amazing for my skin).

Anyway, what started me on this tangent is that I finally found a good mix of hair products for this crazy humid weather in the South.

First I mix these two products together. I use a ton of Moroccan oil because I need it.





I've found this combination works really well.. the gel "freezes" the curls and the oil makes them soft.

Then, I use this mousse:



And if needed, I use this (not every day though):



This combination really works well in the summer humidity. This week I had a friend of mine take my picture outside for a "head shot" and this combo saved my hair from looking crazy:



And an outtake where you can see my hair better:



I won't lie to you though.... I still wear my hair up in the summer 99% of the time - but that's because wearing super thick, curly hair down is like wearing a wool scarf around your neck in 110 degree heat!

EDIT - I forgot to mention I buy all the above products at Target. I know there are TONS of "high end" products that would be wonderful and magic for my hair, but I can't stomach spending $40 on a small bottle that I will just use up in 3 weeks (my hair requires a large amount of product because it's so insanely thick). All the items I mentioned are around $5 or less. So I guess you could say it's for the "thrift" curly haired girl in the South ;)

A Wintery Tip

This post is short and sweet, but if you have dry, itchy, wintery skin like me, you'll thank me. Actually, you'll thank this product:



You know when you've towel dried but your skin is still wet? That's when you put this stuff on.. and the scent is so fresh and pretty. And it makes your skin feel like it's 90 degrees and humid outside!

And for my curly friends - I put it in my hair, too.

Guess what we're doing tomorrow? PAINTING OUR BEDROOM! It will be great and brutal at the same time. I'll definitely need a bath, some exfoliating (to get paint off) and some of this oil after the experience. Probably a stiff drink, too!

Have a great weekend!

Natural Instincts

Wednesday night I was walking the aisles of Target and decided on a whim to dye my hair a couple shades darker. I am really happy how it turned out! I decided to go with a semi-permanent hair color. I recommend it to any girls out there with natural brown hair who wants to take it down a couple notches.

Color: Ebony Mocha

A new look for a new year!

Flat Iron

I got my new flat iron, and overall I'm happy with the products I purchased! Friday night I was anxious to use it, so I took a shower, blew dry my hair and then flat ironed it.

It didn't turn out as great as when my hair stylist does it (obviously), but I was happy with the process and products. The brush made things go by pretty fast, it really gripped my crazy hair. I was able to get my hair dry in about 20-30 minutes and my hair flattened in about 20 minutes. YES people that is how long it takes my hair to get straight! Early January I'm going to get my hair relaxed, so it should speed up the process.

My only disappointment is that my hair will never look authentically straight, but what can I say. I was born with curly hair!

Here is a picture I snapped on Saturday:


Although it takes a while to do, it's so so easy after that initial long process and it's still good to go today (Monday)!

Let me know if you guys have any questions about the products or process!

update!

Nabbed a great flat iron, brush and dry shampoo (thanks to everyone's recs!) on folica.com. They are having a $20 off $100 sale right now and it ends tomorrow. So if you're like me and in need of new hair stuff, head on over.

This is my little "Merry Christmas to me" type of present.

I plan on straightening my hair for Christmas, so I'll be sure to post how it goes with my new stuff.






Thanks again!

new years resolutations

Yes, I'm starting already. It's almost mid-December anyway!

My first New Years Resolution is to start blowing out my hair straight semi-regularly. I must write out the many reasons so I can remember while I am sweating and my arms hurt:

- My hair is in a horrible in-between stage right now. I'm growing it out again. I always do this cycle.. grow out, cut short, grow out, cut short.

- Once it's actually straight it's easier to maintain. My curly hair never gets oily (one of the perks!) so I can go for days without washing it.

- I personally think straight hair just looks better.

{engagement shot, circa 2007}

- It's starting to get too cold in the morning to air dry my hair.

I can prob keep up this resolution till the summer when it gets too hot to blow dry.

Anyone have any great go-to straight hair products? What about dry shampoo? I've always wanted to try that stuff... I really need a new flat iron, too. Ugh so much work, we'll see how long this lasts.

the lips

Sure, these clothes are great, but out of my price range. However, it's the lips I can't stop staring at.

Are these not the best fall/winter lip colors ever?







It makes me want to go to the Chanel makeup counter and spend a good fortune... something tells me these colors aren't in the Loreal aisle.

"I'm Grace Kelly"

I'm quite ashamed to say both the husband and I love to watch Gossip Girl. I have a girl crush on Blaire Waldorf, and the husband idolizes Chuck Bass.

While I try to keep our love of trashy younger-than-us-demographic television under wraps, I just had to share Blaire's outfit from last night. She looked so beautiful.


The ruffles! The plunging neckline.

But what caught my eye was her amazing hair & make-up. If I was getting married in 2009, I'd bring this picture straight to my stylist for inspiration.



In fact, I'm going to try to pull off Blaire's look for our Christmas card picture..

Channeling my Inner Jessica

Inspired by Jessica Schroeder, I decided to show What I Wore yesterday! (Mainly to show you my cute new 'do though!)


I looove my new Oxford - it's a size Small from the Men's department of Old Navy! $18 plus 20% off during their Best Friends Forever sale this past weekend. I will never buy oxfords in woman's sizes again, this one fits so much better.

I'm ashamed that I wore skinny jeans, I purchased them to only wear under my tall equestrian boots but find myself wearing them with wedges too. They kind of make my junk-in-the-trunk look good ;)

Can I just say - I LOVE my new haircut. I feel like a newer, hipper, more sophisticated version of my old self! I woke up this morning and it still looked just as good as it did yesterday after a night of sleep. Let me tell you - that is SO rare for curly hair.

The hair: curly!

I love it curly too!! Yessssss. Score!

It's still semi-wet, but I had to share:



I'll post a pic of it this afternoon when fully dry and more full.

Update: When the husband saw this picture, this was his response:

Matt: haha, the lazy eye never fails

me: shut up

Matt: love ya!

Some things only a husband can love - like his wife's inevitable lazy eye in pictures.

Here it is!

I love it! Straight that is... I'm nervous to see it curly; I hope it's equally as cute. But at least now it's easier to straighten!!




Can you see the bangs?? They'll be actual bangs when curly :)

I am very busy today with work - check back for my Wedding Week post later!

Fate!

I believe in fate on a day like today. I have a hair cut appointment tonight after work, and I've had a certain style in my head but can't express what it is. I just know it's shorter with sort-of bangs (because really, a curly haired girl cannot have full on bangs).

Well today is my lucky day. I clicked on sfgirlbybay during my daily blog roll, and there she was!! With the perfect hair! So tonight, I'm bringing these pictures to my stylist, and short hair & bangs - here I come!







(I'm going to ask my stylist to blow dry my hair straight tonight, so I'll post pics of it straight first, then curly!)

I'm having a good hair day.

I just had to share! This morning I used Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle - the Deeep version and I love how it makes my hair feel! My hair is super curly and coarse- but it makes it so soft. It's budget-friendly and works great.


And being the dork that I am- here is a pic of my good hair day (which are few and far between):

As you can see I DON'T wear makeup to work lol and I hate taking pictures - so I do silly faces.

And while I had my Apple Photo Booth open, here are some more silly pictures:

Crazy Thermo-filter


Ohhhhhhh scary!!

Work was slow today. haha