New Style Series Coming!

As anyone around me knows, I love finding and sharing a great bargain. When it comes to beauty and fashion related purchases I especially love using products and styling outfits whenever I’ve found a jaw dropping ‘design deal’ that looks like I paid more, when really I paid less….waaaaaay less! My fellow beauty bargain fashionistas will know that when shopping on a budget it’s the thrill of the hunt through discount stores, and the clearance racks of designer department stores that makes the job of stealing high priced style truly an adventure!

Below you’ll find pictures of several clothing/accessory items I picked up during several shopping trips at the mall during the month of July. Virtually all of the items were either sale, clearance, or just reasonably priced. Because I am a huge advocate of beauty on a budget, I wanted to not only show you pictures of items I picked up during shopping hauls, but go one step further in showing how easily and effortless it is to style these items to achieve trendy, chic looks. Over the next several weeks as I incorporate these items into my existing wardrobe, I’ll show how I styled the item(s) using the blogpost title, “How I styled it” to give you an idea of how these items can be styled according to occasion, season, body type, and personal style preference. So, if you’re curious about how to recreate fashion trends, need some style inspiration, or slightly curious about how to find and style ‘looks for less’ items stay tuned!

(purchased at H&M, $7.00)

(purchased at Wet Seal, $4.99 buy one get one free)

(purchased at Forever21, $ 4.99)

(purchased at Charolette Rouse $0.99)

(purchased at H&M $10.00)

(purchased at Forever 21, $5.99)

(purchased at Forever21, $1.50)

Summer Book Review: "Pro Makeup: Salon secrets of the professionals" by Kit Spencer

To be sure, my number one reference for all things beauty and make-up are the numerous and talented beauty gurus on YouTube, followed by a number of fashion blogs like dulcecandy.com, carahamelie.com, and fashionbombdaily.com. Although I’ve learned a lot from these sites, I’ve been curious to consult a publication from a professionally trained point of view, and “Pro Makeup: Salon secrets of the professionals” caught my eye.

As a reference guide, one of the features of the book I found especially useful were the detailed photography and annotations which gave thorough review of equipment, product placement, and technique. Because makeup application is “hands-on” I liked that the author didn’t overwhelm you with paragraph after paragraph of sophisticated industry lingo, but opted to use the layout of every page with clear step-by-step visual organizers.

The book is a total of 246 pages divided into 4 chapters. Preferencing the three chapters on “Essential Techniques”, “Developing Looks”, and “Applying Makeup to others” is a guide to skin care and facial features which offers generic product suggestions and régimes for all skin types and tones. If your someone like me who just had a general understanding of skin care basics, this section is very thorough, but again, reader friendly in conveying helpful information.

The following chapter reviews essential techniques for equipment (such as brushes and curlers), foundation, concealer, powder, contouring and highlighting, blush, lips, and eye shadows. This section was my favorite part of the book because the author provides tons of ‘pro-tips’ for common and unique application glitches to help create flawless, featuring enhancing looks. The third chapter on “Developing Looks” gives very simple, natural, everyday looks for all skin tones but were illustrated on models that appeared to be at least 30 years and older; a feature I found a bit odd. A special feature of this chapter is that there is a section for developing bridal looks too. The final section of the book provides helpful suggestions for applying makeup to others using costume paints to create theatric looks ranging from animal designs to period looks.

I would recommend this book for someone looking to apply makeup to others, such as aspiring makeup artists. But, for more individualized makeup looks I would recommend a more specific book that caters to specific skin tones and styles. However, I would definitely purchase this book as a makeup reference to have on-hand. The limitations of this book are that the looks are extremely basic, feature older models, and don’t experiment with color or transitional looks. And while there are variations of looks depending on age/skin tone, noticeably absent are more trendy/glamorous guides which could’ve added to my repertoire of looks. Overall, I give “Pro Makeup” 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

 

The Haul of them All!

While I enjoy the adventure of shopping just as much as the next girl, I am unashamedly a budget fashionista! Virtually all the contents of my closet are purchased on clearance, at discount/thrift clothing stores, or at yard sales, yet my style is just as trendy and chic as department store looks! Today I had a shopping escapade that rivaled some of my best discount shopping deals and I just have to share. Here’s how it happened:

(look at all those orange "markdown" stickers, love it!)

I had just finished my third consecutive day of working on my research paper at the library and was walking out to my car when I initially thought of perusing the nearby shopping center merely to “window shop” for items that I might pick closer to the end of the summer season. I especially wanted to browse in “Rugged Warehouse” a discount name brand clothing store that I can typically find items for my smaller frame and cutesy shoes for my narrow feet. As I meandered through the racks of summer fashion on my way to the clearance section, one of the store associates called out, “Ya’ll know everything on clearance is an extra 50% off today and tomorrow!” Already on my arm was a gray Mossimo brand cotton/rayon blend top for 3.00 I wanted to purchase, which with the new discount would be 1.50? WHAT? In less than 8 minutes I had acquired 5 more shirts ranging in price from $1.50 to .50 for a long sleeved top! Afterwards, it was on to the shoe and jean sections were I lucked out on finding the last item(s) of each in my size!

I was able purchase 6 solid color WetSeal/Target brand short sleeve shirts, 1 pair of athletic shorts, 1 pair of skinny leg Forever 21 brand stonewash jeans, and 2 pairs of dress flats for a whopping total of $10.50! I left the store feeling like I stole something! My price per item averaged out to one dollar per item which included dress shoes and jeans! All of the items were great basics I can easily integrate into my existing wardrobe and can be worn over several seasons. This shopping haul was amazing to say the least. You know how advertisements swing jargon around like, “prices so low you won’t believe its real”-yup, this was definitely it!