Five Faves and a Flop: July

Listening to Ingrid Michaelson "Are We There Yet?" and the rain outside.
Craving almonds and dried cranberries. Look at me. Being so healthy.

    So initially, this blog wasn't meant to be much about style, make-up, etc. Admittedly, when I started this blog, I didn't wear a lot of make-up. Concealer, powder, mascara. Eyeliner if I was feeling fancy. But last year when I moved out, and didn't have cable, I got into following a lot of people on YouTube, many of them being beauty vloggers. Make-up suddenly seemed more accessible and fun, and I developed a bit more in terms of my own personal style. So like it or not, these things are likely to stick around.* Also, I am aware that July is not yet over, but I already have things to write about!
    On that explanatory note, here are my Five Faves and a Flop





Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquers
(aka Apocalips) in Celestial, Big Bang, and Luna

Being the YouTube junkie that I am, I'd heard quite the buzz surrounding these products for absolutely months from countless beauty vloggers... from the U.K. They came out in the U.K. at the beginning of the year and took a full six months to make it across the pond. Which, personally, drove me nuts. Everyone was obsessing over these things and I couldn't get my little paws on them. I saw Celestial on Fleur, and right away I knew I would love that one. Then of course, I saw Zoe wearing Big Bang and about lost my marbles it was so adorable. So, after raving upon the purchase of Celestial, my mom went out and bought one for herself (I cannot for the life of me remember which one) and Big Bang for me. Then I went a little mental and bought two more - Luna, and Nude Eclipse. I swear I don't have a problem. (Forewarning, if I've convinced you to go get one, they're only available in Walgreens at the moment. Very reasonably priced too, only about $5!)






American Eagle Corset Skater Dress

I desperately wish I had a photo of this dress on. It is so cute I can't even handle it. And it has this adorable big bow in the back with a keyhole detail. (I couldn't find a photo of the back as it's no longer in stores.) I nabbed this little number just before the Fourth to pair with - you guessed it - bright red Rimmel lip lacquer. And red undies that no one else could see, but they just made me feel more patriotic, you know? I have a deep and abiding love for American Eagle and aerie, but everything is just so expensive.  I've taken to waiting until things go on clearance, then waiting for the clearance to go on sale. By way of these methods, this dress (originally $50) was reduced to $40, then $20! That's the way to go, yo!



Mossimo and Co. Braided Rose Gold Sandals

I didn't expect these to be anything special, really. I simply needed sandals because I typically wear mine until they're falling apart. I grabbed them because they're simple and felt comfortable on, and I felt like rose gold hadn't really made a big appearance yet, so they were a little different. But they just go with everything! I've been wearing them non-stop - even more than my rope gladiator sandals from two years ago that I had been obsessed with. I also happened to be wearing them the night Coco proposed, so there's a pleasant memory associated with them as well.






Perfect Scents an Impression of
Marc Jacobs Daisy

Alright, now I feel a little guilty posting this one, but it was just such a good deal, and I really do love it. CVS has released a bunch of "impressions" of high-end perfumes, like Clinique Happy, and Viva la Juicy, and (as you can see) Marc Jacobs Daisy. They're under three ounces (read: perfect for travel), cheap ($10), and accessible (read: I hate going to the mall for stuff, please don't make me go). Now, one of the companies got a little angry and filed a law suit about it. I don't know how everything panned out, but I now feel slightly guilty about my purchase. I know the scents aren't precisely exact, but they're close enough. I have to say, though, that I love the Daisy "Impression."



PaperMate Inkjoy Pens

I've been writing a lot recently. Physically writing, working on yet another revision of one of my novels. Who knows if it will come to anything, I'm just happy I'm writing again. Those of you who know me personally know my scary obsession with office supplies. I love paper, notebooks, pencils, staplers, and especially pens. I like actually watching the ink being soaked in by the paper when I write. Writing at the most basic level. I'm weird, and I'm not sorry. These pens have been awesome. I won't go into the details for risk of further distancing the few readers I have, but yeah. I like these pens, y'all.
And... The Flop. Wah-wahh...





Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquer
 in Nude Eclipse

It's really not the actual product that I dislike here. Honestly, it's just the color. And part of it I blame (in jest) on Zoe. You see, she has this beautiful porcelain complexion that almost any color compliments. She wore Nude Eclipse in one of her videos and it looked so chic and gorgeous. I thought, "I should like to look chic and gorgeous..." So I bought Nude Eclipse when I bought Luna. I am not porcelain. I am also not tan. I am a confusing and lonely somewhere in between with my weird yellowy undertones that wreak havoc with potential lipstick loves. Most unfortunately, Nude Eclipse on me is flesh. My flesh. When I wear this color, I have no lips. I have skin. It's just depressingly unattractive. I don't blame Rimmel, I don't really blame Zoe. I have no one to blame so it's just sad.

What have been your favorites this month?

 *N.B. I have not had anyone complain. But should anyone be thinking about doing so, I won't listen. 'Kaythanksbye.

LifeScouts: Parade!

Listening to Coco's Big Bang Theory over Skype
Looking forward to seeing him tomorrow!

    This seemed like the most logical LifeScouts post to do next, considering part of the story was told in the last one. I've actually been in three parades, though. One was the homecoming parade for my high school, which was the band's first real rehearsal marching together for the first time. The next was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, which despite being really neat, and something cool I can tell people I was involved in, was one of the most miserable experiences in my life. I did see the Cheetah Girls (for those of you who even know who that is) on their float right in front of us, and that was cool, being fourteen and a Disney freak. The third was the Christmas parade in Atlanta, which was neat being back in my own state in a parade that was televised and important. But still cold and miserable. I know I must sound like an absolute spoiled brat - "I've been in three parades and I'm still complaining about it all!" - but it was a lot of hard work up to that point, a lot of stress and yelling and injuries, and then we were all awake at three a.m., in the sleet and frigid puddles (our shoes were not water proof, or cold-proof), walking for blocks and blocks and blocks. In my opinion, it wasn't entirely worth it.

LifeScouts

Listening to Bust a Move by Young MC on repeat (because I want to drive myself insane. No, I'm going to use it for a school project so I have to keep listening to it.)
Thinking about how incredibly relieved I am that this stupid summer course is almost over. One day left, guys. One. Day.
    So, I don't know if any of you frequent YouTube like I do ("frequent" here means "visit every twelve and a half minutes"), but there's a dude called Nerimon whose real name is Alex Day who's pretty cool. And he makes entertaining videos. He also started this thing called LifeScouts. Which is also pretty cool. Just kidding, it's actually pretty awesome.
    The concept is that you're sharing stories and experiences with people by reblogging these little badges and describing how you "earned" them. You can also buy physical badges, but as I don't wear pin badges or have much use for them, I prefer the rebloggable badges. Plus, I realized something. I'm horrible about starting things and not sticking with them. And I love to write and really need to keep myself doing it, so I thought what better way to keep blogging than to tell you (the general public of the internet) a story every time I can't think of something to write?
    So here's the first one:

Empire State Building!

    My freshman year in high school, I joined the color guard in the band. Now the band at my high school was pretty intense. They were third in the nation my sophomore year at Grand Nationals. That being said, they run the program like the military. They have multiple week long rehearsals in the middle of the summer in the middle of the day, outdoors, where kids were dropping like flies. Oddly I didn't pass out until I quit color guard, but that's not important. The band was selected to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is in New York City, of course. We all got to go see multiple landmarks, the Empire State Building being one of them, where the most memorable fact that I learned was not the number of floors, or how long it took to build, but that if you throw a penny off the top and it hits a person in the head on the ground, it will kill them. Then the next day, I woke up at three a.m. to trudge through ice and snow with a giant freezing cold metal pole, get trampled by a fat trumpeter, and fall on some spectators during our big performance. But I still caught my flag from the toss after I got up!