totally useless beauty

One of the more beautiful, if not pointless, trends this fall is sassy colored gloves. They are pointless for me living in Florida (my hands invariably stay comfortably warm all year long, all on their own), but I keep seeing gloves that really impress me.

The trend first hit me when I was reading the latest (& last) Jane. A section called "New Hires" (pg 138) shows us cool clothes to wear to the office. Though I don't know if any of these outfits would actually work in a professional setting, the styling was great.





The two brands featured in this spread are LaCrasia & Carolina Amato (found at eLuxry). They are pricey, at an average of $100. I'm sure there are cheaper ones out there, but I can't find comparable ones right now. (Maybe Target will come through for me once they get more winter gear in stores).

But the gloves are beautiful, right? They really work with this whole look, which I might try to emulate. I call it the bag-lady-meets-preppy-corporate-broad. Love it.

makeup boredom & the curse of the palette

Today Sephora's catalog came in the mail. Everyone knows catalogs are more fun to look through than websites! Sephora always has interesting new looks to inspire my makeup. The problem: I almost never stray from my current routines: neutral shimmery eyeshadow, subtle black liner, lots of mascara (I have shorty lashes), and a glossy lip. For a change, I usually add a bold color eyeshadow (fushia, emerald, purple), and I usually switch it up between bronzer or blush. But that is it.
I have experimented with the smokey eye, the cat eye, and red lips but I always chicken out when it comes to wearing them outside the house.



This fall, I'm challenging myself to wear this look, and one other new look. Since red lips are so blah on me, I think I'll go for gold- benefit's 24k lipstick.
Maybe it's because it's named "sexy gold" but I'm totally sold on this. I think it will go nicely with a dark smokey eye.

Another makeup vow is not to fall victim to the curse of the palette...you know what I'm talking about...those dang makeup palettes that are so cute, you buy them, and then end up using about 1/3 of it and throwing out the rest because now it's too old. Almost every season I give into temptation for one of these.


I can never seem to make every single color in the palette work. Take that DuWop Brown Eyes Palette, which I bough last fall. I pretty much only use the black liner and the lightest shade. It is better to buy eye singles or duos that you know you'll wear. The palettes might be cute and enticing, but they aren't super economical. And since I'm such a sucker for cute packaging, I have ventured outside my normal brands to try new eye palettes. I have found some great brands: beside my standbys of Clinique and Nars, I have discovered that Lorac and Benefit are great eyeshadows that don't crease or fade. So the moral today? Try new things, experiment, but don't buy makeup in bulk!

semi-beauty review: enviga

I am a big fan of all things caffeinated. I love energy drinks and I'd be guzzling sugarfree red bulls every day if the darn things weren't $2 each. So naturally I was excited by the debut of Enviga, a sparkling green tea energy drink. It has all sorts of healthy vitamins, but it also claims to burn calories. Sounds perfect, especially since it is only about $1.29 where I used to buy it.

It really does taste good. It comes in plain green tea, peach green tea, and berry green tea. They are all delicious, but I love berry the most. That's where the love ends. I am no rookie to consuming large amounts of caffeine in a short time period (um hello college life?) but this stuff made me downright jittery. And not in a good way...I mean stomachache, restlessness, gross feeling. And it happened every one of the, oh, 10 times I tried this drink.

Then there is the fine print about "calorie burning" aspect. If you read closely, you will see that it takes 3 cans of the stuff to burn an extra 60-100 calories in a day. Um, wow. If I was going to drink 3 cans of this stuff in one day, you'd better believe I'd be burning calories from all the shaking. How about this? How about take a 10 minute walk, burn at least 60 calories, and save 5 bucks. It does taste pretty good, but I will be sticking with good old Arizona when I want green tea.

Vedict:

crocs: the anti-fashion

As I await the arrival of all the September magazines, I have to spend my time lamenting the existence of the most horrible invention to hit fashion: crocs. I guess that's what I get for working in a store on Disney property, but it's all I see, all day long. Ok tourists, so I know that these plastic clogs are comfortable and freakishly light. Still, please refrain from wearing them. Especially tie-dyed, bright colored, or the lame ones with the mickey mouse-shaped holes instead of the regular circle holes. They are unbearably ugly.

Ok, I can stand them on little babies (like cute Violet Affleck). But on anyone else? Please find something else. Pretend we live in a world, say, like 2004, when crocs didn't exist (what a glorious, innocent time). Somehow, you still went on vacation and survived. And please please tell me what is the point of wearing crocs WITH socks?!? I can't believe how often I see this. Just take that step and wear a real life shoe if you insist on wearing socks, you freakshows.

Unfortunately, I have happened upon a new level of ugly: Jibbitz. What are jibbitz, you ask? Well, most sane people have probably never heard of them. They happen to be an invention for the croc-wearing demographic. But since I am immersed in this bizarre culture on a daily basis, I am in the know people! These are jibbitz:
AHH MY EYES. And you wouldn't believe how many people take these completely seriously. Grown women are decked out with mickeys, nemo's, jack sparrows, tiggers... I learned what these were when a distressed little roly poly girl ran up to me in the shop and exclaimed "Have you theen my JIBBITHZ??!?!" So I had to help her search for a daisy & ladybug. Croc lovers are taking over.

Exhibit A:

(AN ALL CROCS WEDDING)

OH THE HUMANITY

i am pale.

And I hate it! I know it's not en vogue to be tan anymore, but I just can't help hating my pasty white skin. Ok, so I have never truly been pasty (my dad's mom is from El Salvador and he is quite dark), but I am the palest that I have ever been. High school and college for me meant track/lifeguarding/cross country/camp counselor, plus a little beach/surfing, so I was always out in the sun. A couple years ago, I had 4 freckle/spot thingies removed by my dermatologist. Nothing serious, but I can no longer go tanning with a clear conscience.

I know there are so many good self-tanners, and I have had success with a few of them. I am simply too lazy to keep it up for the long term. I may have to make an exception to keep my legs non-fluorescent. I have been staying away from my dark/light contrast clothing that shows my legs...it is just too harsh! I have to leave behind my black-wash denim crops and my dark leather sandals (has anyone else noticed the horror of pale toes? so gross).

In other news, I have yet another promising job interview tomorrow. With my recent luck I am expecting the worse. But I did pick up a cute Isaac Mizrahi (for Target, duh) blouse to wear. I hope it goes well, because if I get the job I'm going on a Zara spree. I went in there yesterday and fell in love with approx. 100 pieces.

yes, this post is random and noncohesive, but I figured I should try to write something. Hopefully life becomes more interesting so I can pass it on.

xx