Spring Fashion Tips for the Non-Girly

I've always loved the "toughness" of fall fashion and it's my favorite season to shop & dress. So when spring comes around I find myself groaning at all the pastels and florals on the rack. These are some tips I use, and hopefully you find helpful, to toughen up that spring wardrobe.

Tip 1: Take advantage of floral prints by wearing them on jeans. Jeans are going to be less girly by nature so this floral look isn't as cutesy if the pattern were on a dress or skirt. I got this pair of jeggings from Asos, similar here.

Tip 2: Pair a spring pattern with combat boots. In this picture I embodied said tip and the prior tip in one outfit but you could also pair combat boots with a dress or skirt. Boots are by Ecote, similar here.

Tip 3: Pair a bomber/biker jacket with it. This tulip shaped, floral dress is as girly as they come, but I like to put a black bomber jacket over it to help toughen up the look. You can find a similar jacket here or here.

Tip 4: Don't want to wear florals or pastels at all? Simply trade in some darker hued pieces of your wardrobe that still carry the heaviness of winter for nude colors. I bought these nude flats to swap out with my (many pairs of) black shoes for a lighter, spring look.

Hope this helps all you tough gals have an easier transition to Spring!

Michelle

Twenty Something Woes/Quarter Life Crisis

Source: Theactivetimes.com 

I remember, as a kid/teenager, hearing adults say on multiple occasions that they hated their twenties. And they would go on to say their thirties and forties have or had been the best years of their lives. I always scoffed at this; how are your twenties not grand? I imagined a life where possibility knew no bounds, where you still have your youth but live for the first time truly as an adult.

The "quarter life crisis" is something that I have seen get a lot of recognition recently. And while it kind of makes me roll my eyes, I get it. Possibility may know no bounds but your finances do. If you're like me you might feel stuck doing something you don't love out of necessity. Money doesn't define happiness but I feel stuck in a daily grind lifestyle where I don't get to do the things I love like travel, shop, ride horses, etc. because I cannot afford to. Any extra cash goes into that "6 month income" backup fund. And really, how many of us have 6 months of their income in savings? As soon as I make a dent toward that direction I have to spend some of it on, well, unforeseen expenses.

I don't want, and I'm not trying, to dwell on the have nots. I do have a job that allows me to afford a home and my car and other basic needs. But I still want to feel the hope, freedom and youth of being in my twenties and I feel like I've been losing that. I want to settle down but I don't want to settle. I want to travel but I want to save. I want a stable job but I want to do something I'm passionate about (enter this blog, which I created as an outlet for myself to escape monotony and delve more into my wants, if you will).

So are our twenties just another awkward phase? Do adult youth and hardship go hand in hand? Does it get better when you get married or have money or are you still perpetually looking for more? I have been engaged but didn't go through with it because of that restless feeling in me to keep going, keep searching. Which I am doing, and through the struggles I know I've become more independent and stronger than I'd imagined I could be. I hope if you feel any of these feelings you also keep exploring and eventually find some peace.

Michelle

Hooded Eye Tips

Hooded eyes, a blessing or curse? On the one hand, people often compliment my "bedroom eyes". And on the other hand, if I'm not conscious about opening my eyes wider I tend to look high in photographs.

But for me the biggest downside is eyeliner transfer. If you have hooded eyes you know what's up. You applied your eyeliner in the morning and it looked fab, but you use the restroom midday and have black smudges all over your brow bone. So the last time I went to Ulta I was on a mission to buy an eyeliner that promised wonderful, no transfer, no smudge results. Enter ...

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

The Pros:
-This stuff does not move once dry, and dry time is under a minute.
-The black is really BLACK and gives you a very sultry look
-It has a precision tip that makes application easy

The Cons:
-It applies a little thin for my taste, so I have to apply a layer, let it dry, apply again, etc. until I get the desired line thickness I like.
-I don't know how waterproof it is, it does come off in the shower so don't expect to wear this in the water and have it stay looking flawless

Overall this is the best eyeliner I've found so far for hooded eyes. I'm not constantly checking the mirror anymore to see where on my face the eyeliner may have gone!

Some other tips for eyeliner transfer:

-Use an eye shadow primer (even if you don't plan to use eye shadow) on your lids and brow bone
-Additionally, apply your foundation or concealer over the primer
-Carry Q-tips! They are great erasers should your eyeliner continue to leave black transfer smudges

I hope you found this helpful!

Michelle

This is a non-sponsored post and all products shown were bought by me

50% Off Asos Picks

In case you hadn't heard, Asos is having an up to 50% off sale. These are in my shopping cart




Heeled Sandals

Leather Skirt

 

Foil Print Dress



Chain Neck Crop Top

 

 

Michelle

Spring Cleaning Series, Day One: The Bathroom

This is a series I'm going to be doing over the course of spring, a way of keeping myself accountable on my path to an organized life and sharing some tips and tricks with you guys!

By rule of thumb I consider myself pretty good at keeping a bathroom clean. But organized & de-cluttered, not so much. Enter a little spring cleaning ambition and the following rules ...

1. Create a place for cosmetics: I hate having products on the counter but I realized there were some things I just needed easier access to and a catch all for the counter top seemed like the logical way to go. It creates much needed storage space while still looking neat and organized. It's also nice to have a place for your makeup brushes so they aren't getting messy and ruined by being mixed with your other products.

Then the area inside my drawer was a disaster; I could never find what I needed without wasting time rummaging around, spilling or breaking other products in the process. So I bought two acrylic storage pieces and now all of my cosmetics that get used regularly are visible and separated by type. Any other products I own but use rarely are tucked away in a cosmetic bag out of sight and are no longer in the way. I also encourage you to throw out some of your makeup. If it's old or you haven't used it in a year, toss it. I got all three of these acrylic storage baskets from Target.

2. Go Through Your Medicine Cabinet: Does showing my medicine cabinet to the world make me brave? Maybe not since this is the after photo. I bet you have at least five things in yours that you can throw away right now. Some probably don't even make sense. For example I had LASIK eye surgery over a year ago and still had bottles and bottles of contact solution and old, dried out lenses. So go, now! Get rid of the old/nasty/space wasting junk in your medicine cabinet.

3. Only keep products in your shower that are used at least weekly: Shown above is what I was able to minimize my shower products to. It's very refreshing to get in the shower and not be overwhelmed by stacks of shampoos, soaps, face washes etc. that you don't use. Keep anything you don't need weekly in storage under the sink, so it's there to grab when you need it but it's not cluttering your shower space. I also like to use a suction basket to keep all my products off the shower floor.

4. Consider hanging storage: And finally, this last step is optional but I highly recommend. I keep lotions, fragrance beads, and a hand towel on this shelf and towel rack. Any product you want to keep out but not cluttering your counter space can be kept on a hanging shelf like this.

I hope you found part one of my spring cleaning series useful! I'm not sure what part of my home will be tackled next but stay tuned.

Michelle