Feeling floral with Collectif

Do you ever have a brand that you look at wistfully, admire from afar and desperately wish to get your hands on? That was me with Collectif, a British repro brand who one of my favorite bloggers (Miss Amy May, in case you were wondering) showcases on her blog all the time.

After seeing her wear Collectif in several different blog posts, I knew I wanted to place an order, but between the exchange rate and the cross-continental shipping, I kept holding back. Recently, however, they had an additional 30% off their sale items and I knew it was time to bite the bullet and place an order.

And place an order I did — I bought two dresses, a skirt and two tops and it was around 100 USD, which I think is fairly impressive considering what each item retails for full price! I have a cart full of goodies waiting for another discount count so I can order some more, because I’m really very impressed with Collectif so far. Collectif, if you’re reading this… how about that discount code?

So with all that yammering out of the way, let’s get on to the actual outfit, shall we?

The dress you see here is the Saria blossom print swing dress, which features a fairly full skirt that can take a medium-sized petticoat, halter straps that tie behind your neck, a round neckline and a fitted bodice.

The dress doesn’t have pockets (sadly) but other than that, the only thing I dislike is the halter neck straps, because I find those always hurt my neck if I tie them too tight, but if I don’t, the dress falls down constantly. Thankfully, that’s an easy fix since the straps are long enough to convert to shoulder straps.

This dress, despite being black, screams spring to me, so I wanted the photos to convey that. My friend Kiersten, who is an amazingly talented photographer, agreed to take pictures of a couple of different outfits for me and I’m so glad that she did! I’ve managed to do well with my blog photos because most of my friends are good at photography, but this was my first time shooting with a photographer (as much as she will claim that she’s just an amateur) and the pictures are beautiful.

We went to the Port Orleans Riverside hotel at Disney, because it’s a beautiful resort, it’s huge and it has lots of gardens and hidden courtyards that were perfect for shooting these pictures. We found lots of adorable staircases and thus, there are probably too many staircase pictures in this post… I’m not sorry.

To accessorize the dress, I wanted to break out my What Katie Did seamed stockings for authenticity — because, you know, nothing screams vintage like seamed stockings! I also added my white mermaid scale earrings from my dear friend Kate, who makes the most beautiful earrings ever. I’ve mentioned her before in the blog, but I wanted to make sure to get a close up of the earrings this time so you could admire just how beautiful they are! I only have three pairs of earrings from her, but I’m absolutely planning on getting lots more.

I didn’t want a closeup of the gloves because a) there aren’t any details worth shooting up close, b) they’re a little stained and I didn’t clean it, but for what it’s worth, they were a purchase from my dear friend Kelsea of Lotty Dotty Vintage and I wanted to make sure I gave her a shoutout too!

Last, but certainly not least, is this beautiful vintage hat purchased on Etsy. Doesn’t it just scream spring? I’m not sure what decade this is, but if I had to make a totally uneducated guess, I would say 50s or 60s. I was a bit wary of this hat at first because the shape is just so strange to me, since it isn’t perfectly round, but I got over this fear and I absolutely love how it turned out.

Kiersten did an amazing job of making me look good (and I’m sure she had a hell of a time editing the pictures and seeing all the weird faces I make) and I had such a good time shooting with her! You should absolutely check out her Instagram and giving her a follow! She posts a lot of Disney (not that it should be a warning) but you can see how talented she is.

Wow, this post got lengthy really fast. Sorry for all my ramblings, if you made it all the way down here, you’re the best and I appreciate you. Thanks for reading!

 

Dipping my toes in novelty prints with Lindy Bop

Hi everyone! Today’s blog post is a little belated, since it was originally supposed to go up last Sunday, but as you read in Wednesday’s post, I took a little vacation from the blog since I couldn’t find the time or energy to write anything for the blog.

Well, now I’m back! I have coffee, a backlog of photos for weeks worth of beauty posts, and my fingers are ready to do some serious typing.

Up first: this beautiful 40s-inspired dress from Lindy Bop, which I purchased recently and I’m already madly in love with. Lindy Bop had a sale recently and it just so happened that they emailed me right after pay day, so how could I resist? I ended up with five new dresses, including this Bretta dress in the bicycle print.

Out of all the other prints, this one was definitely the least intimidating to me (and I don’t like the color of the polka dot one). I took the dress out for a spin in Tampa a few weekends ago, to do lunch and some shopping with a few friends.

Aren’t we cute? We all seemingly agreed on a pink/red color scheme without even planning it, and as each one of us showed up for lunch, we couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that it looked like we were purposefully color-coordinated!

After lunch, we went out for some ice cream and I couldn’t not take a picture of how pretty our ice cream looked with Lauren’s purse in the background! (My ice cream was forest berries and mango pineapple, in case you’re wondering, and yes, it’s delicious.)

I knew I wanted to get blog photos done, so I grabbed Elizabeth (on the left) and Lauren (who you’ve seen here before!) and we found a pretty spot with nice lighting to take pictures. It was actually a restaurant in the shopping plaza we were in that was unoccupied, so the terrace was perfect for what we wanted!

We stumbled into some Girl Scouts selling cookies on our way to the picture spot, and well, how could I say no to Girl Scout cookies?! I was really excited to try these, since it’s the other baker that I haven’t seen before, whereas the council that the troop I used to lead was a part of used the other baker.

For those of you who can’t understand what I’m going on about — Girl Scout councils choose from one of two different bakers (Little Brownie Bakers or ABC Bakers) and they carry different types of cookies. Here, I have the Savannah Smiles and one of the two variations of the s’mores cookie.

Anyway, back to the fashion part…

This dress features slightly puffy short sleeves, a round neckline with a keyhole cut out, belt loops and a matching sash (not pictured here) and it’s a lightweight chiffon fabric, which is perfect for Florida. It’s a very bright, 40s-inspired dress and I’m anxiously waiting for Lindy Bop to come out with more prints — Lindy Bop, if you’re reading this, please give us more!

Instead of wearing the dress with the sash, I styled it with a vintage navy belt (you’ll see the dress it belongs to soon!) and a vintage navy hat, both purchased at YesterDaze in Tampa. I honestly could have written an entire blog post about that store alone, and I could have (and did) spend hours in there looking at everything.

So that’s it for today’s blog! What have you been up to? Purchased anything exciting recently? I swear, half the reason I buy so much is that getting things in the mail is just so exciting!

Review: ABH Modern Renaissance

Hi everyone! Sorry for the random blog vacation I took, I had a lot going on last last weekend (when I usually write my blog posts) and then on today (Sunday, as I’m writing this), I just couldn’t myself to write the blog post for then… so thus, mini vacation.

Today’s post is one I’m very excited to share with you, because I’ve been lusting after this palette for ages and after seeing a friend sell hers for $33 ish, I had to bite the bullet and get it! (I know I’ve said no more eye shadow for a while… hopefully now I’ll stick to it.)

So yes, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, this post is about the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette! I’m super late to the game here, since everyone and their mother has been talking about it for months now but at least I’m catching up, right?

So let’s get into it! The Modern Renaissance palette has 14 shades, 10 of which are matte and four which are a shimmer/sheen finish. It’s predominantly warm tones, with a lot of pink/red/orange shades but a good amount of neutral and highlight shades.

In a nutshell, it’s my dream palette and I’m so obsessed with it, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love it.

Instead of trying to describe each color, I’m going to go ahead and quote Temptalia’s review of the palette because I’m sure I would start to sound like a broken record after the third color!

• Tempera is a light beige with warm, peachy tones and a satiny sheen.
• Golden Ochre is a muted, medium-dark yellow with strong, olive tones and a mostly matte finish.
• Vermeer is a bright, light peachy with warm undertones and a frosted sheen.
• Buon Fresco is a muted, medium purple-mauve with a matte finish.
• Antique Bronze is a slightly muted, dark brown with warm, reddish undertones and a pearly sheen.
• Love Letter is a muted, dark berry with subtle, cool undertones and a mostly matte finish.
• Cyprus Umber is deep, taupe-brown with subtle, warmer undertones and a matte finish.
• Raw Sienna is a light-medium brown with warm, golden undertones and a matte finish.
• Burnt Orange is a slightly muted, medium orange-brown with warm undertones and a matte finish.
• Primavera is a light-medium peachy-gold with warm undertones and a frosted, lightly metallic finish.
• Red Ochre is a muted, medium-dark reddish-brown with warm undertones and a matte finish.
• Venetian Red is a medium-dark red with subtle, warmer undertones and a mostly matte finish.
• Warm Taupe is a medium, taupe-brown with warm undertones and a matte finish.
• Realgar is a slightly muted, medium-dark orange-brown with warm undertones and a mostly matte finish.

I’ve used the palette a couple and I’ve had somewhat mixed results. The first time I used it, I didn’t put on eyeshadow primer and I just had concealer/powder on my eyelid, and by the end of the day, there was no eye shadow left (which was a bummer, because I liked the look).

The second time, I made sure to use my Urban Decay Primer Potion and it stayed really well! I had a much better experience with it then, which I’m glad about because I was very disheartened the first time. I also used it yesterday, along with the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze and it stayed all night and was basically intact when I came home.

All in all, this is an amazing palette and I’m so glad I bought it. It’s super pigmented, it’s easy to blend and I experience very little fallout when doing my makeup — not to mention it’s got a good mix of mattes to sheens/shimmers. What else could I ask for?!

Review: Wet N Wild Liquid Catsuit Matte Lipstick

When it comes to drugstore brands, Wet N Wild have long been one of my favorite brands out there. I often find myself perusing the aisles of Walgreens in search of my next lipstick or product to try out, and considering my love for their matte tube lipsticks, when they came out with liquid lipsticks, I knew I needed to get my hands on them!

Of course, in trying to pick three colors “I didn’t already have,” I picked three colors I have exact dupes for. The good news is this means I can go through my lipsticks and find some potential dupes these could work for. Would anyone be interested in reading something like that?

The first color we have here is Nice to Fuchsia. Full disclaimer: I haven’t actually worn this one, and I just opened it to take this picture. I didn’t want to wear it in case I wanted to sell/trade this since I know I have at least one or two colors just like it!

Next, we have Berry Recognize. I wore this one to work one day and I was very pleasantly surprised at how good the quality is! It’s very pigmented and you can easily get full opaqueness with just one or two light coats, it fully dries to matte, it barely transfers AND it’s very, very comfortable. It hits all the liquid lipstick checkmarks!

Lastly, we have Give Me Mocha, which is a beautiful dark nude and would look amazing on deeper skin tones! Of course, I already have at least two lipsticks that look exactly like this, but I was very impressed with how it wore.

Overall, I’m really happy with these lipsticks and I’ll definitely be going to look for a few more colors! At this point in my life, I have almost every color of lipsticks I could wear, so I end up with a lot of really similar colors and then I wear the same ones every single week, so I know I need to mix it up. Maybe it’s time to bring back the 30 days of lipstick challenge I did when I first started my blog?

P.S. Sorry these pictures are so bad! I swear they looked better on my camera and to be honest… I’m too lazy to edit them.

Review: Doris pants by Pinup Girl Clothing

Hi everyone! Today’s post is a very exciting one and I’m about to tell you why. I fell in love with a pair of pants not long after I was turned onto Pinup Girl Clothing, because I envisioned myself wearing these pants and turned into Peggy Carter.

I lusted over them from afar, waiting anxiously for them to be restocked in time for the Black Friday sale… just for them to be restocked two days before and sold out promptly.

It seemed like my fate with these pants was doomed, until a beautiful angel alerted me that one of the colors was on sale and with a coupon code, they came out to be less than $60 (which for this brand is pretty amazing) so I didn’t think about it too hard and bought them, despite never even wanting the khaki ones in the first place.

Well… I fell in love again.

This is the story of the Doris pants and our amazing love affair.

These pants, as you can see, are absolutely beautiful and perfect and I couldn’t love them any more on me than I did before seeing them on. After lusting after them and looking enviously at everyone who owned them, they’re finally mine and they very well may be my favorite clothing item… ever.

So of course, I had to go and buy another pair.

After seeing how much I loved the khaki pants, I went and bought the black ones (I even paid full price!!) just so I could get my hands on them and I’m not even sorry.

They’re made out of a pebble crepe fabric, fully lined, with decent sized pockets that fit phones or other small items comfortably. The waistband is elasticized and the back zipper makes the silhouette seamless, and the wide legs and pleats make them feel elegant and timeless.

The lining does make them pretty warm, so I probably won’t be wearing these all year long, but they’re perfect for chilly weather or cold air-conditioned offices.

Now, these pants are very, very long and most people would need to get them hemmed — personally, I won’t be hemming the khaki ones because they fit perfectly when I wear flats, but I’m debating hemming the black ones because they’re longer and I can only wear heels with them currently.

Overall, I couldn’t be happier with my decision. These pants are heavy, luxurious and timeless, and I’m sure they’ll be a stable in my wardrobe for a long time.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought in the comments below.

 

Review: Real Techniques Brush Cleansing Palette

Hi guys! Today’s post is one I’ve been saving for a while, waiting for the right time… or really for a gap in posts that are a little more time sensitive. I got this Real Techniques Brush Cleansing Palette ages ago, and I’ve been saving it for a rainy day, AKA today.

Even though my brushes were very badly in need of a wash, I’m not actually going to photograph me washing every single one of them! (I promise I did wash all of them though.) For this review, I’ll be showing you how the palette works on a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and a BH Cosmetics Complexion Blending Brush.

Up first is the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush, which I use for foundation fairly often (though not as often since I got the RT Miracle Complexion Sponge), so it’s fairly dirty… it also doesn’t help that I don’t remember the last time I washed my brushes. Oops.

The palette came with two samples of the brush cleansing gel and I went through one of them washing all the brushes I use the most, which is actually pretty good! I just put a bit of the gel on the palette, added a little bit of water and swirled the brush around in the palette. I had to do this a few times and rinse the palette out, but it definitely did the trick! As you can see above, the brush is pretty spotless.

For some reason, this brush is consistently my dirtiest brush (I use it for concealer, so it’s also my most used brush). I was able to get most of the product off the brush and what’s left is really just the stained bristles, so all in all, I’d call that a victory.

As for the palette, I would say it’s definitely a good investment! It retails for $14.99 but you can usually get some good deals for it. I think I got mine with a BOGO 50% off at Ulta and that was when I bought the sponge. It’s a decent size (bigger than my hand but not too big) and has a handle on the back that helps grip it while you wash your brushes. It’s super easy to clean when you’re done and you can just lay it out to dry!

Have you tried this cleansing palette before?

Black, or should I say Pink Friday haul

Hi guys! Welcome back to another episode of the “I procrastinate on writing posts and they get published way later than they should” show, with today’s episode being about a Black Friday haul that’s about a month and a half too late. Oops.

Today’s post is the first half of the haul, containing the dresses I bought from Pinup Girl Clothing during their Pink Friday sales. Between the 35% off, the final sale prices and the gift certificate I got from my parents, I couldn’t resist and had to buy quite a few things! This will definitely be my last PUG haul for a while… probably until next Black Friday.

On the Wednesday before Black Friday, PUG had a sale for their final sale items, and I decided not to risk getting waiting for Friday in case my goodies were gone, so  I snatched up this Nancy dress in the grey butterflies print and I. LOVE. IT. The bodice has enough support that I don’t need a bra, the print is subtle but adorable, the grey is classic but there are enough colors in the dress to match with and it is LONG. Most PUG dresses aren’t short by any means, but this is long even for me, and I’m loving it! 10/10, would recommend.

Next on my list of purchases on Wednesday was the Erin swing dress in mint. The color is so bright and absolutely beautiful, and as much as I love it, the belt in mint is too much for me (never mind that I forgot belts on both dresses for the pictures) so I’ll probably be wearing it with a black belt instead. Regardless of that, the dress is beautiful and SO. COMFY. I probably could have sized down, but then the girls would probably be popping out a bit too much… so maybe not.

One of the dresses I was probably most excited for was the Harley dress in black. It wasn’t originally on my wish list for Black Friday, but after trying on a 2X at the PUG pop up shop on Dapper Day, I knew this dress needed to be on my body… and boy, was I right. The fit is beautiful, it’s classic but unique and it is so comfortable. I knew I wanted an LBD from this sale and while I would have loved to get my hands on Havana Nights, they didn’t have my size and this is a very good alternative!

Last but certainly not least (on this half of the haul) is the Harley dress in red. Let me tell you a story: a few months ago, I went to see West Side Story and fell in love with 100% of the dresses in the show. Most of them I recognized (some of them I even owned) but two left me longing for them with the deepest desire… this one, and this dress by The Pretty Dress Company. The red Harley is everything I could have wanted in a red dress and more. It’s stunning, attention-grabbing but still simple enough that I could style it in so many different ways.

And the best part? All of these dresses have pockets! Pockets make the world go ’round.

That’s all for today’s haul, but look out for the second part soon! We had a malfunction with one of the tops, which ripped at the seams in the bust area, so I had to return it and I need to shoot the pictures for that and the rest of the stuff I got (I’ll include some non-Black Friday goodies in there too).

Let me know what you thought and thanks for reading!

All dolled up for Doll Me Up

Merry Christmas everyone! I’m back again with a new fashion post and a very exciting one at that — my first ever order from Doll Me Up!

As soon as I found out that they were having an incredible sale for Black Friday, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to stock up on cropped cardigans, which are an essential for the working pinup girl (especially when your office is as cold as mine is!), so I grabbed four different cardigans, along with four different head scarves, which are a staple for any retro-loving girl.

Cardigan + scarf: Doll Me Up. Top + pants: Pinup Girl Clothing.

I took my lovely friend Paola out to a cute little area nearby where she lives and she was kind enough to take my pictures for me. Of course, our photo shoots are never without a fair share of funny, goofy and downright weird pictures, so I’ll be sharing some of those jewels on here for you guys to enjoy.

Doll Me Up has a variety of colors of the Tootsie Crop Cardigan in sizes from S to 4X and they cost $23.99 each, but I was able to snag them for $16.99 each at the Black Friday sale. I only wish I had bought a couple more!

I’m usually an XL in most repro brands, but in these cardigans, I sized down to a L and they fit perfectly. Seriously. I cannot rave about these cardigans enough. At this point, I have 11 different colors and they’re amazing, because they go well with all of my dresses, skirts and tops and they’re perfect for a chilly office (like mine).

I bought four cardigans and four scarves, so it seemed logical to pair them up to go with the outfit I was wearing (for a different blog post, but you won’t see these pictures again). I got the cardigans in the colors Magenta, Baby Yellow, Teal Blue and Blush respectively (and I have more in navy, white, mustard, burgundy, ice blue, mint and black) and I’m fully considering going back for at least two or three more! I know, I have a problem.

I also purchased their Nifty 50’s hair scarves in the colors Raspberry, Aqua, Sea Blue and Navy Blue — and I want to go back for more! These scarves are $13.99 but I was able to get each one for $5.99 each (which is good, because 14 dollars for a head scarf is a bit much for me — sorry DMU!).

Overall, I’m really happy with my purchases and I feel like a world of outfit opportunities has presented itself to me — and I can’t wait to keep adding to my collection!

Thanks for reading — did you buy anything on Black Friday?

She wants the D(isney brooch): Lola D’s Boutique review

Hi loves! I hope you’re all enjoying my cheesy mug in the featured photo of this post, because it’s a pretty accurate representation of who I am as a person and I feel no shame in sharing (nor should I). Anyway, before I get off track, let’s get into it!

A few months ago, my friends Paola and Kirsten over at The Hepburn Movement wrote a review about these beautiful Disney brooches they had received from Kristen over at Lola D’s Boutique on Etsy and I knew right away I needed one of these beautiful brooches in my life!

Thankfully, Kristen is the absolute sweetest and was kind enough to send me some for me to review on my little blog — the best part is I was so sure I was getting just one, and she surprised me with two brooches AND some adorable hair clips on top of it!

Top/pants: Pinup Girl Clothing. Cardigan: Doll Me Up. Brooch: C/O Lola D’s Boutique.

The brooch I thought I was getting was this mint resin Disneyland brooch, which is pretty common to see within the pinup community amongst Disney fans, but what makes Kristen’s brooches special is that they’re amazing quality for a fraction of the price!

I absolutely love the Disneyland brooch and I can’t wait to wear it to the parks. It’s sturdy, the pin back definitely won’t undo on its own and it’s just absolutely beautiful — you can tell it was made with love.

Top/pants: Pinup Girl Clothing. Cardigan/scarf: Doll Me Up. Brooch: C/O Lola D’s Boutique.

The one she surprised me with was this adorable glitter Minnie carriage brooch, which is very fitting because I have been obsessed with Cinderella lately (how did she know?!) and on top of that, it matches the head scarf I’m wearing in this picture perfectly!

These brooches were a wonderful beginning to what I’m sure will grow to be an extensive brooch collection, and I couldn’t be more thankful to Kristen for being so kind as to send me these beautifully made brooches. Please please please check out her shop and buy all the adorable crafty things!

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you guys on Wednesday!

Review: Wet n Wild Brush Up! Brush Cleansing Cloths

Hi guys! First of all, let me apologize for the extended absence. I was honestly not planning on taking a month off my blog, but I was really sick for over a week and then life just got in the way, so I’m very behind on my posts now! I’m going to do my best to catch up and hopefully get back to writing once a week like I used to.

Today’s post is all about these Wet n Wild brush cleansing cloths, which I saw at Walgreens a few weeks ago for four dollars, if I’m not mistaken. We all know that cleaning our makeup brushes is a pain in the butt, so I’m always on the lookout for a new way to spot clean in between deep cleans and these seemed very interesting — read on for the review!

Here we have the three brushes I tested the wipes on: a Real Techniques expert face brush, a Wet n Wild eyeshadow brush, and a Real Techniques setting brush. As you guys can see, the brushes are fairly dirty from being used several times, so let’s see how well these wipes work!

First up is the Real Techniques expert face brush. This is the brush I use for applying and blending my foundation nine times out of ten, and you can tell by the amount of product on the wipe! This picture, as well as the next two, are post-cleaning pictures.

Up next is the Real Techniques setting brush, which is my preferred highlighter brush. This one is not as dirty as the face brush, but still had a good amount of product on the brush.

Lastly, the Wet n Wild eyeshadow brush. This one is arguably the cleanest one, even though it looks dirtiest in the before picture! The wipes work very well in my opinion, but it’s obviously not good enough to replace deep cleaning your brushes; however, they are great for spot cleaning!

It takes a lot of rubbing and switching from one side of the wipe to the other, but you can clean 1-2 brushes per wipe depending on how big and how dirty they are, and get most of the product off. Overall, I’m very happy with these wipes and would recommend them to someone looking for a way to spot clean their brushes!

Thanks for reading, I will hopefully get back to blogging on a weekly basis from now on!