tote notes

friends, i bring sad tidings. my beloved and incredibly fabulous orange tote bag which i got at my step-brother's wedding has gone the way of all the earth. and since my only remaining powell's bag is stuffed full of rock climbing gear, it's time for a new tote. here are three etsy shops with promising options, all of which are $20 or less:

1. idiopix

i was sold on this shop when i saw the categories by which it was organized: anatomy, asian/orient, floral/birds, sealife/animal. etc. and yes, they make more than just octopi totes. i'm a sucker for the cephalopods. ba-doom ching.

2. squarepaisley design

fact 1: i will be referencing not one, but two different etsy shops with "paisley" in the title. fact 2: these totes are delightful. i particularly like the hedgehog. fact 3. this shop also makes insanely charming (and quite inexpensive) onesies, so friends-with-babies and friends-with-friends-with-babies, take note.

3. paisley magic

mustaches are awesomely silly. peacocks and giraffes are just plain awesome.

4. topshop bonus!

friends, i regret to say that this final tote is no longer in stock. however, i present it to you anyway because it is just that wonderful (and who knows... maybe it'll come back).

cheers, loves. happy toting.

ephemeral bad-assery

hullo loves! i've had this post in my back pocket for a while now, and I'm really excited to share. some of you have probably seen this already, since it's been making the internet rounds, but if you haven't, then you need to. the end.

so i do not have a tattoo. i expect that i will never get a tattoo. while i've seen some i really loved (for example, see maggie gyllenhal in stranger than fiction), i'm just not that interested in something that permanent.

my marriage excluded. obviously.

anyway, even though i'm not interested in a permanent tat (are we still calling them tats? were we ever calling them tats?), i have a deep, nostalgic affection for temporary tattoos; as a kid, nothing in my sweet little wholesome life felt more vaguely illicit. so i was thrilled when i followed a link to tattly, a shop that excusively offers what it has termed "designy temporary tattoos." the best part? they're super cheap, with $5 buying you a set of two delightfully quirky, often colorful, pieces of ephemeral bad-assery. in the words of my dear friend, kathayoon, "let's browse:"

i would put the camera on my shoulder blade.

octopus tramp stamp!

rocket man would go on my shoulder.

kitchen utensils obviously need to go on ankles and feet and other sharpish places.

delightful, yes? and no, by the way: i have not actually bought one of these yet. but when i do, it will probably be this guy, because i like the way it seems both vaguely sleazy and comfortingly bookish.

which one would you wear where?

cheers, loves.

mea culpa

dear amours, 

so, summer happened. and it was insane (due to my crazy job, which unfortunately i can't name because i'm paranoid and i really need them to give me a good recommendation). i hardly ever saw my spouse, or my cat, or anything except windowless rooms, reluctant students, and cranky parents. with a few exceptions, good times were had by none. all of which is just my way of saying that i'm sorry for my ridiculously long absence (although obviously kathayoon took good care of you). but now i'm BACK (from outer space) with lots of good stuff to share including, as my apology to you, a week of posts. a whole week! because i love you. and I'm sorry. so stay tuned, my friends. it's going to be great.

cheers, loves,

haylie

take back the tack

let's take a break from the sample project to talk about another one of my favorite things: tacky clothes.

one of my favorite fashion moves is to take something seemingly tacky and turn it into something surprisingly fun, cute, and classy. bows are a perfect example. bows can be really tacky. for example, my aunt's prom dress:

amazing bow.

but lately i've been seeing a lot of great bows around. these bows are still big, but also really wearable and adorable. let's browse...

there are bows on skirts:

modcloth.com

bows on shoes...

modcloth.com

 bows on onesies (are onesies a thing now?)...

modcloth.com

bows on dresses...

on sale at katespade.com

 bows on purses...

on sale at katespade.com

even bigger-than-usual bows on dress pants

jcrew.com

i found a really cute shirt at gap last week that could have a big bow on the collar (if you tied it that way), but it only came in the exact same color as my skin. bummer.

so in my first installation of our new series*, take back the tack, i challenge you to find bows! reclaim the tacky! bow down to the bow! let me know what you find - the bigger, the better. you can even make some and attach them to your clothes, if you're super crafty.

and my favorite bow so far?

this amazing hot pink tulle hair bow headband, which belongs to my fashionable friend emily. pretty fab, if you ask me.









*hopefully. let's see how long i can keep this up.

this is only a test: part three

so now that you've all taken my advice on eye shadow, let's talk a little bit about skin care.

this story should sound pretty typical: i am obsessed with having perfect skin, or at least with tricking my body into thinking that i should have perfect skin. i was not blessed with great skin and was constantly reminded of this for most of my adult life. i went through a series of drugstore facial cleansers (neutrogena, etc.) before finally settling on a 10% benzoyl peroxide cleanser. the big pro of this wash was that it made my skin relatively blemish-free. the big downside was that it bleached my towels. just in case you're not following, something that bleaches your towels should probably stay away from your face. but nothing else had the same results, so i stuck with it.

in our sample expedition, we happened across the body shop. first of all, the body shop is the best place for samples ever of all time. my bathroom is covered in little tubs with green lids because they love to make you samples of things. on our trip, they made me a samples from a whole skin care regiment: seaweed facial cleanser, seaweed toner, seaweed moisturizer with spf 15, vitamin c boost, seaweed clay mask, vitamin c microderm abrasion, and a tea tree oil blemish fighter.

this may seem like a high-maintenance regiment, but only the first four are to be used on a daily basis.

it's been over a month and i've been using this line every day. to make a long story short, my skin has never looked better! it's just as clear as it was with the benzoyl peroxide, but it's brighter, smoother, and pretty much just better. also the seaweed stuff smells really good and the vitamin c skin booster feels amazing.

i ended up going to body shop and getting the cleanser, toner, and moisturizer. it would normally cost more than the drugstore stuff, however body shop has sales very often, and so i got a buy-two-get-one-free deal and it all together ended up being $21. i'm planning on getting the vitamin c boost and the blemish fade soon.

the moral of this story is that body shop is great. they make you lots of samples, their products are nice, and they are a solid company. big recommend!

until next time...!

this is only a test: part two

finally, a review!

so first of all, the sample project continues to be a huge success. currently, i have 60 product samples taking over my room and bathroom. i've divided them into skin care, lotions, hair products, foundations/tinted moisturizers, primers, eye makeup, perfumes, and miscellaneous (mascaras, blushes, lip color, etc). it's overwhelming kind of.

the first thing i'd like to review is eye makeup!
i've tried a lot of eye things. my favorite eye things include:

urban decay deluxe eyeshadow in freakshow...

image courtesy of amazon.com

i have darker features and i really like this color - it's noticeable, but not insane. i can wear it to work and not feel like, well, a freakshow.

i especially liked this eyeshadow when paired with bare escentuals eye color in true gold:

image courtesy of google

in fact, of the five bare escentuals eye colors i am sampling, i like this one the best. it layers beautifully on top of other eyeshadows. for the record, i also tried queen phyllis, trophy wife, desire, chameleon. all were awesome. but this wins the most.

lastly, the hunt for the elusive eye primer! working outside all day means that my eyeshadow usually disappears by 10 in the AM. i sampled three different eye primers and the winner is...*drumroll*...bare escentuals prime time eyelid primer!

image courtesy of amazon.com

not only does this primer make it so my eyeshadow lasts through camp, it also lasted through a day in chicago humidity and - get this - a 5.5 mile run. that's right. i went running yesterday in 80 degree heat for 5.5 miles and i still had eyeshadow on at the end (with no creasing!). CRAZY.

in the end, i probably won't get the urban decay shadow because it's not a color i can wear all the time. but i am planning on getting the b.e. eye color and definitely the primer. 

next time, i'll talk about my whole new chemical-free skin care regiment. it's really exciting, i promise.

also, a few of our readers started their own sample-sprees so we'll be posting their reviews as they come!

bisoux!

this is only a test: part one

this is the story of an adventure.

a few weeks ago, i ran out of foundation. usually under these circumstances i would go to target and take a gamble on a new product. i have nothing against buying makeup from target, but i feel like i have a difficult skin color to match and so trying to find foundations and powders is a little bit challenging. instead, i decided to go to the mall. but being super indecisive and really cheap, i couldn't commit to anything. my indecision turned out in my benefit, however, and by the end of the trip, i had come away with a small collection of samples:

included in this collection was r&b hair product and flying fox shower gel from lush, a super silky setting powder from sephora, and a mineral veil & powder combo from bare escentuals. 

later on, i was telling MCA reader amanda about this trip and she posed an interesting question: how many free samples could you get from one day at the mall?

this seemed like a challenge that had to be accepted. so today, miss amanda and i went to our local mall with the vision of spending nothing, getting lots, and most importantly, getting the opportunity to try out a lot of products that we'd never tried before. 

our first round was at macy's, where we were super unsuccessful....no samples to be had. a little while later, however, we ended up at the body shop, where the staff was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and nice. we also hit up bare escentuals, sephora, l'occitane, origins, and crabtree & evelyn. at each stop, we added more to our loot, and became increasingly curious about how we would like these products once we used them. in the end, our treasure trove is impressive, exciting, and a bit daunting!

let's review! 

from bare escentuals, we got...

- flawless definition volumizing mascara

- pretty amazing lipcolor

- pure radiance face shimmer

- a 10-day trial of their original foundation with brush

from l'occitane:

- brightening moisturizer mask

- protection lotion

- hydration cream

from nordstroms:

- MAC strobe liquid 

- oh lola! by marc jacobs perfume (came out this morning!)

- clinique cleansers

from body shop: 

- seaweed toner

- seaweed facial cleanser

- vitamin c skin boost

- pink grapefruit body butter

- vitamin c microderm abrasion

- tea tree blemish night fade

- seaweed matte spf moisturizer

- seaweed face mask

from origins: 

- zero oil cleanser

from sephora: 

- bare escentuals eyeshadow in queen phyllis

- stila illuminating tinted moisturizer

- stila one-step correcting primer

from crabtree & evelyn:

- eau de toilette in iris, lily, lavender, and rosewater

- rosewater body lotion

- citron body scrub (x2)

- citron body souffle (x2)

oh my gosh so much.
and so, following the success of this adventure, we are unveiling our multi-part series: this is only a test. in the next few weeks, i'm going to be testing out these products and letting you know which are my favorites. i don't intend on commenting on anything i don't like - everyone has different preferences and i don't want to give anyone a bad name. but do expect a full review of my favorite things!

let the adventure...continue!