Vans + ASPCA

When Ralph Lauren partnered with the ASPCA in 2013 to create the "Dog Walk" campaign with special accessories designed for our 4-legged friends, I was instantly ecstatic about the partnership. Having grown up with a love of Ralph Lauren (thank you mom) and an extreme love of furry children (also thank you mom), it has always made me happy to see big name brands show their softer side and give back, as well as bring light to important organizations.

That's why when I was taking a quick morning break from being productive earlier, I decided to stumble around on the internet and look at cute animal videos. In the process, I stumbled across an amazing collaboration I hadn't heard about before: Vans + the ASPCA. This new collaboration that just launched brings some great duds to the public for a great cause with everything in the collection retailing for under $70. There's clothing, accessories, and of course, shoes. Below are my favorite pieces from the collection.

Vans + ASPCA

Kids Classic Slip-on: $40.00

Cat Collage Tee: $30.00

Beach Girl Trucker Hat: $24.00

Backpack: $40.00

Ipsy Bag March 2015

Hey lovelies, here's my Ipsy unbagging for March! I hope you lovelies enjoy! <.3

Aesthetica Contour Kit Review

One night over a month ago I was browsing Groupon (as usual) and came across the Aesthetica Cosmetics Contour Kit for $19.99. Being someone who has only ever highlighted with cream products and never contoured period, I instantly got curious for an entire kit being sold at that price. Aesthetica Cosmetics is cruelty-free, and this product is vegan and formulated without talc or parabens, so that got me even more interested. It normally retails for $60 on their website, so Groupon's price is an exceptionally great deal. Even with my discount at Sephora, I knew I wouldn't be able to get a price this good on a big-brand product, so I decided to try this one out. You can buy the kit by itself for $19.99 or the kit with a contour brush for $24.99. I chose the kit with the contour brush.

Aesthetica Cosmetics Contour Kit: $19.99

The 6 products that come in the kit are pressed powder, and you get; highlighters, bronzers and contour. Contouring has always been around in the makeup industry, but it seems lately every company big and small has been putting out their version of the "best contour and highlight" products. Having only ever used cream highlighting products before, I wanted to try this out just to see the difference between the two types of products. I was not disappointed.

I don't use bronzer, ever, so for me the 2 shades of bronzer in the kit were immediately put in my eyeshadow palette for future use. The thing I like about this kit so much is that there are little slots next to each pan so you can pop them out and put them into a Z palette if you're traveling. The kit itself is actually really small and can easily fit into an average size purse. It was also surprisingly light and the packaging felt sturdy. It had a nice big mirror on the inside and it came with instructions on how to highlight and contour for different face types, which I found very helpful.

The brush that came with it is awesome. It was very easy to contour with and great to clean. Brush and packaging aside, I really love the product: the powder felt high-quality and blended beautifully. It didn't go on patchy at all. In the middle of the upper row there's a yellow-er shade that I used under my eyes to set my under-eye concealer, and then next to it are highlighters. The one to the left is a non-sparkly highlighter, and the one to the right is a sparkly one. I tried all three in the upper row and I'm officially hooked.

On the bottom row, the one in the middle is the contour. The ones to the left and right are the bronzers (due to the warmer undertones), but the contour is perfect. I thought it worked beautifully with my skin tone. I think this kit is meant for light - medium skin tones due to the shades of highlighters and contour.

I heard through the grapevine that this kit was a knock-off of the Anastasia Beverly Hills palette, and so I pulled up some pictures for comparison:

To the left is Aesthetica, and to the right is Anastasia. They are pretty much identical, however, Anastasia's kit retails for $40, whereas Aesthetica's is on Groupon for $20 right now. My recommendation? I've never tried the Anastasia kit, but this is a great-quality product and it's at half of the price of the big brand. If you're looking for an affordable contour kit that's great quality, I would go with the Aesthetica kit <.3

Zoolander + Paris Fashion Week

When I was middle school my mother and I decided one boring night to go to the movie theater to find a movie to pass the time with. That was all we had to do for fun in the small town aside from shop at JCPenney's or go get some Dunkin Donuts (There was one every 4 miles, literally)

As we walked towards the theater, my mother saw a poster for a new movie that had just come out called "Zoolander" and she dragged me in to go see it with her. At first I was apprehensive because quite honestly, it looked boring, but I quickly realized about 15 minutes into the movie that it was going to be AMAZING. Zoolander is one of our favorite movies still to this day, and last night I saw a post on Instagram of what looked to be Zoolander & Hansel walking down the runway.

Turns out, the boys are back at it again to make a Zoolander 2 which will be coming out next year. To announce it and promote it, Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson walked in the Maison Valentino show at Paris Fashion Week.

 They also did an amazing backstage getting-ready video with Anna Wintour that made me laugh uncontrollably. 

Are you excited for Zoolander 2?

Tattoo Goo Review

I've been getting tattoos since I first turned 18. I'm now 26, and I love every tattoo that's on my body. Each piece is it's own, a part of my skin, a story, a moment, and something I will love and never regret until the day I die. When I first started getting tattooed, I was recommended A&D ointment to use after cleaning my tattoos. I put it on faithfully each morning & night and my tattoos all turned out beautifully. However, about 3 years ago I read an article talking about how ointments are actually bad for tattoos because they don't allow them to breathe while healing. I thought it was strange that mine turned out so beautifully while using an ointment, but I decided to follow the advice and next time I got a tattoo, I would use an intense lotion instead. 

Flash forward to 3 weeks ago when my friend calls me up and says "They're having $20 tattoos at a place in town! You need to come with me and get one!". Having not gotten a tattoo in over 4 years, I was more than happy to go get one at an affordable price. I got an adorable little fishing cork because in truth, I actually really enjoy fishing. I just prefer fishing on a lake where there are trees and mountains vs. in the swamps and bayous. (I'm amazing at catching trees)

(Please excuse my scabs - the mosquitoes ate me alive right after getting my tattoo)

After I got my tattoo, I realized that I had given away my A&D ointment about 2 years ago to a friend who needed it and I had never replaced it. So, at 10pm at night I ran to Walmart and noticed a product that I had never seen before - a Tattoo Goo Kit. I had never heard of Tattoo Goo before, but it was only $15 for 4 full-sized products (And the packaging had Tye-dye on it + they're cruelty-free), so I decided to try it. I had also gotten my tragus re-pierced that same night, so I used the deep cleansing soap that came in my kit for my piercing too. 

This kit comes with:

- 1 Color Guard tattoo protection 30 SPF stick .45oz

- 1 Deep Cleansing Soap 2oz

-1 Tattoo Aftercare Lotion 2oz

- 1 Tattoo Goo original good .75oz

The ONLY bad thing about this kit is that the cleanser is very strong. I have very dry skin already, and as you can see from the picture above there's a bit of dry skin on the tattoo even though it's completely healed. All of the products are amazing, but even with constant application of the lotion, I experienced a great deal of dryness with my tattoo. I now use the tin of original tattoo goo since it's very thick and hydrating.

If you are someone that has or is easily prone to extremely dry skin, it would probably be better to use a very mild antibacterial soap. With every other tattoo I had I used a mild antibacterial soap and I didn't experience this much dryness, but we were out of mild soap at home and the kit came with it so I thought I would give it a shot. However, the cleanser is out of this world for healing a piercing. The first time I got my tragus pierced, it took a long time to heal. My piercing healed twice as fast this time, and I'm pretty sure it had to do with the cleanser.

 The After Care Lotion is fantastic. I would use that everywhere on my body, not only on my tattoos. It doesn't have a weird smell, it leaves your skin feeling soft and it's really affordable. It also comes in a handy little bottle that's really convenient to carry with you. I kept it with me for throughout the day and it didn't add any bulk to my purse. I would reach for this over Lubriderm 100%. The original Tattoo Goo in the tin is meant for intense moisture during healing and after. It looks like a green lip balm and has a very lovely, organic smell like an apothecary and it makes me want to tend a garden. I absolutely love it. It smells lovely in the tin and then the second you put it on the skin the smell disappears. This product felt a little intense to use while my tattoo was still fresh, so I waited about 2 weeks before switching from the lotion to the tin. I'm going to continue to use this from now on if my tattoos ever feel or look a little dry.

Lastly, but never least, the Color Guard Stick is out of this world. When I wear dresses or skirts or heels, I want to keep something with me to protect my tattoos from the sun, but I really can't stand traditional sunscreen. It's messy, it has a strong smell, and my hands and tats are greasy after application preventing me from touching anything. However, the Color Guard Stick is an easy, fast and non-messy application to any tattoo I want to protect from the sun. I keep it in my purse with me and rub it on whenever I might be going out in the sun. My hands and body don't get greasy, I can touch my clothing or purse without worry of leaving a sunscreen stain, and it's much faster to apply than rubbing in traditional sunscreen.

My verdict? Worth every penny. This will last you for dozens of tattoos, easily, and it's so affordable and sold through an easily accessible place: Walmart.

Organization Take #2

Since last week's video was so horrible, I decided to re-record with much better audio for your listening and viewing pleasure. I hope you lovelies enjoy!

Richards Homewares Personal MDF Organizer

Fashion Week Street Style

For every fashion week I get really excited, but not just because of the runway. What the designers send down the runway is usually amazing and makes me wish I had a bottomless bank account, but the part I really love is the street style shots that surface from each week. To me, the street style aspect of any event is really where the true style is at, because you see real people styling high-end and low-end in a completely fresh and innovative way. It really helps get my creative juices flowing as to how to style in conjunction with the latest trends, while still being able to add my own spin.

I'm still trying to determine who was my favorite designer from this round of shows, but I have sorted through all the street style pictures from each fashion week that I could get my hands on, and below are my absolute favorites.<.3