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!

get fancy

oh my goodness. hey so guess what...turns out being back in portland and working at camp is precisely 29348234 more time-consuming than being in a doctoral program. every time i think i have something to write about, i either don't like it, or don't have time to actually write it. but it's time to make sure you know i'm still alive.

so putting flowers in your hair is nothing new. it's often times more romantic in theory than in practice. there's nothing more elegant and feminine than putting a fresh, beautiful flower in your hair. long or short, no matter the color, it works. but it's also extremely short-lived when your beautiful fresh flower wilts into an oozing brown mess. before about a week ago, though, i was opposed to the alternative: fabric flowers. i've been seeing them everywhere lately, though, so i'm starting to come around. etsy is a great place to search for a hair flower that fits your style. i like this one:

available here

i'm in love with this one and sad that it's not available anymore: 

formerly from jcrew

however, the other i bought this one on supersale from jcrew. somehow a picture doesn't exist on the internet, so i had to quickly take one myself:

 

i love this one because it's a brooch, a hair thing, AND (though you can't *really* tell from the picture), it's neon orange. 

lastly, a few months ago i made a flower brooch that i plan to start wearing as a hair flower. it was super easy - i took a length of thick ribbon and randomly folded it in on itself a bunch of times, pinching the folds together. i then randomly sewed the bottom a bunch of times so that it stayed in the shape i wanted. i then cut a few inches of pearl bead string, folded it in half, and sewed it into the middle. it looks like this:

  

i've seen tiny hair flowers to borderline fascinators...it seems like this accessory is experiencing a revival. fancy, fun, and perfect for summer!

bisoux!

(p.s. sorry the formatting is off on this. blogger is not cooperating and i'm way too tired to work any longer on trying to fix it....maybe i'll do better next time. or maybe blogger will. either way.)

bits and tids

i had big plans to write an entry this week on reusable fruit bags, but decided i'd like to make some of my own before i write that post. instead, i'll leave you with a few tidbits:

first of all, the new album by death cab comes out tomorrow. thanks to a friend here at school, i got an early start on it and i have to say, it's gorgeous. it makes me want to close my eyes and just let the music fill my room. npr is doing a first listen today/tomorrow...check it out.

secondly, in anticipation of summer, i'm considering getting this hip pack* for work at camp:

thoughts? can i pull off a hip pack? can anyone pull off a hip pack? or should we just let this trend die once and for all? 

third, and last, i read on NYT today that espadrilles are the sandal of the summer (yeah, this is what i spend my 20 articles a month on). okay - but wait - i feel like espadrilles were the sandal of last summer. and two summers ago. someone somewhere is really indignant about making espadrilles catch on, and by gum, they will keep saying they're the sandal of the summer until they actually are. 

alright, well here are two pairs that i would wear:

From nordstroms.com

from target.com

okay, wait, i lied. that wasn't the last thing. this is:

my friend posted this video a few days ago and i love it. it re-inspired my scarf wearing, for sure! 

a bientot!

*new marketing: it's not a fanny pack. it's a hip pack. get it? because it's hip. and it goes on your hip. not your fanny. 

haylie's summer dreams

 kayaking and camping. 

 picnics and learning to can. 

 ginger beer and oh my, this strawberry cake.

fireflies and beach days.

cheers, loves, and happy summer. let the wild rumpus start.

stamp attack

welcome to our very second craft entry! i promised this entry in my very second post, when i said that i really love rubber stamps and embossing (giving stamped images texture and shine).

well.

here we go.
this is my stamping workspace. i made it just now out of a part of my floor. it has everything i need: a hard surface (book from the library i should be reading for my dissertation), a nearby electrical outlet (for the embosser), and my materials!

let's talk for a minute about the materials. first, we have an embossing wand: 

this embossing wand was a gift from my friend kristen, but you can get them at paper source. it's like a hair dryer in that it gets really hot except it doesn't blow air very hard so your embossing powder won't go flying everywhere. 

next, we have embossing powder: 

also from paper source, this is what goes on top of the ink to make the stamp look, well, embossed. you can get it in lots of colors, including translucent, so the color you'll get from the embossing is just the color of your ink pad. my embossing powder is a nice, bright white. i only have this one, but next i want to get a blue sparkly one. 

and of course, you have to have stamp pads: 

and stamps!

i've really wanted to get into stamping for a long time, but the stamps were always prohibitively expensive. i started getting them as gifts (the sprig, bunny, and elephant are from my friend chris, the dragonfly is from kristen, the heart ring is from renee, and the ant is from my old boss) and then i started finding the sale bin (the bird one i got for a dollar! put a bird on it!) and growing my collection that way. the last stamp is clearly the most amazing stamp ever made; kristen had it made for me in madagascar. it's my seal of approval. 

okay! so what do you DO with these things? i like to make stationary with my stamps. first, you stamp the image on a piece of paper (an envelope, in this case):

then, you cover it in embossing powder (really quick, so the powder sticks to the ink before it dries):

covered! 

 shake the excess powder back into the tub. that stuff is like gold.

then, wave your magic embossing wand over the image for 5-7 seconds. you'll see the image start to raise and become shiny. 

tada!! i tried to capture the texture in the picture. i hope you can tell. it feels really cool. 

 and it's that easy! let's look at all the things i made in 10 minutes.

and there you go! so fun. happy stamping!

the queen of prints

boujour, amours!

today i'd like to chat about a lovely local (to portland) designer, rebecca pearcy. as the founder and president of queen bee creations, rebecca's faux leather bags are super popular in the city of roses. i personally preferred bags from the now-defunct skull cat design* but, her's are lovely, and you can't seem to throw a stone in portland without hitting someone who has one (not that you would want to).

but now, rebecca is rolling out a new line of textiles that are TDF (to die for!). i'm obsessed. right now, she's doing simple totes and tea towels. i really want this one:

photo courtesy of queenbee-creations.com

BUT more than i want a cute little bee who loves portland, just like me, i want this:

photo courtesy of queenbee-creations.com

could it be anymore perfect?? it's yellow AND it has ginkgo leaves, which you know i love, if you've read our extensive side-bar biographies. it's a little steep for a grad student budget, but not unmanageable. also, my birthday's coming up...!

perhaps even more exciting, rebecca is considering selling the fabrics (which she prints herself) so that people can make their own beautiful things with these prints. i'm already making a list of the things i'd want to create...

if you want to see more, (like a really adorable scissor print, and a put-a-bird-on-it print) go here!
if you want to read the oregonlive article about rebecca pearcy (and peruse the photo gallery, which i highly recommend), go forth. pay special attention to the scissor pillows. i love those.

i really want to go to her studio when i get back to oregon next month. expect a follow-up entry when i do!

bisoux!

*i have to show off the skullcat bag i have because i love it and it cost me a whole day's paycheck but it was worth it. aren't you just a little bit jealous?