1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and the Same!

Well, errr, same family!

For a heart-wrenching few seconds, I thought I had misplaced my beloved Revlon Soft Rose. In desperation, I looted my makeup drawer and found it lying in a corner, unscathed. Thankfully. I breathed a big sigh of relief. After rescuing my Soft Rose from that miserable little corner, I pulled out a lip gloss that I thought looked quite similar to the lipstick: Korres Natural Purple. And then I pulled out another one that looked similar and then another and then another...until I had 5 things in my hands and 5 swatches on my arm.

The theme turned out to be deep, plum/purple shades. It's funny though, because Soft Rose is well, a rose. But one shade let to another and it turned into a bunch of purples and plums. But I must say that there really isn't much actual purple going on in this group. However, the overall feel of the shades is very autumn-esque...and aren't plummy purples the quintessential fall color? I guess I gathered a little welcoming committee for the fall season, huh?

• Rimmel London Blush in Plum: An oldie but a goodie. This tiny little blush is quite lovely for the price I paid (under $1 since it was being discontinued). It's pigmented but just a little bit on the chalky side. The color is kind of this dirty plum but at the same time, it's also kind of a hybrid rosy color. It's almost like a slightly darker version of the popular Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed. Plum is probably my favorite fall blush color.
• Revlon Colorbust Lipstick in Soft Rose: This is my one of my most loved lipsticks ever. It's the perfect mid-tone lip color, not a pink or nude and not a red either. Soft Rose is, like its name suggests, a muted rose with a lovely cream finish. It's not very glossy or shiny, which I love because I can pat the color down to make it a stain. It's one of those no-brainer shades that I pop on as I rush out the door to school, and it adds such a nice, natural flush of color to my lips.
• L'Oreal HiP Jelly Balm in Succulent: It seems that L'Oreal's HiP line is basically non-existent nowadays. I remember that it was such a hit a couple years back, but now I hear next to nothing about it. They still have those awesome color liners, though, right? It's a shame because they had some pretty good products. Succulent is this grape jelly (how aptly named) color that sheers out to be a nice pink. The texture and feel of this is very reminiscent of the The Body Shop Born Lippy Lip Balms, but with a less overpowering scent.
• Korres Cherry Lipgloss in Natural Purple: When I pulled this out of the drawer, I thought that this was the lip gloss version of Soft Rose. But it really isn't. Natural Purple is more neutral/brown while Soft Rose leans slightly more pink/red. There's also this milky-looking factor to the gloss that the lipstick lacks. They're kind of close, though!
• Lancome Color Fever Plumper in Downtown Pink: I'm not sure why I picked this out to add to the group, the color doesn't really match all the others, but it sure is a really pretty autumn lip color. Downtown Pink is a deep magenta with a very fine golden sheen. The consistency is rather thick and very pigmented so it's almost like a liquid lipstick. I don't always like the tingly feeling that plumpers give your lips, but this one actually feels pretty comfortable.

Sorry about all the babbling, here are some swatches!

1.) Succulent, 2.) Plum, 3.) Soft Rose, 4.) Natural Purple, 5.) Downtown Pink.

Are you enjoying the cooler weather like me? I know I'll be giving my Soft Rose some more love this fall/winter season, but what are your favorite fall lip and cheek colors? Do you have any makeup twins?

Five Things

It's been a while since I last posted a 'Five Things' post, huh? Lately there have been a lot of things making me smile and that I've been enjoying on those dreary school days, which is great! So without further ado, here are five things that have been keeping me running.

{Filling up my empties bag.}

{A spunky little addition to my miniature figurines collection.}

{Using a museum ticket as my bookmark for Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.}

{Receiving souvenirs from Hawaii and San Francisco -- been wearing the bracelet non-stop.}

{Getting blinded by my own nails.}

Well, that ends my post here today. Crime and Punishment is such a heart-wrenching book. It makes me want to scratch my face off...in a good way. It's so ajslsjdkslkkjs;;skk -- I can't explain it. Anyway, I hope your weekend has been going swellingly! What's been making you smile lately? :)

Bye Bye Brights

With the first official day of fall quickly approaching, it's time to say goodbye to those bright lip colors we sported over the summer. It's time to say goodbye to the bright-colored shorts I lived in outside in the sun. As I start packing away my summer clothes, I discover that I'll be "packing away" my bright lip colors as well. I'll probably be leaving these untouched in my makeup drawer for the fall and winter. And so, I thought I'd give them a go one last time before stowing them away in the back of my other lippies.

The line-up.

As I picked them out, I realized that most of my bright lip products were from Revlon. Save for one lipgloss from Korres, all the lippies are from Revlon. I guess the reasoning here is that I shouldn't spend too much money on something I won't wear super often. It's nice to have some adventurous options that I didn't need to shell out too much for. And well, Revlon probably has the best selection of lip products at the drugstore.

1. Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Strawberry: This is probably my favorite bright lip gloss in my collection. It's a bright pinky red with such pretty silver glitters. The texture is great and the color really packs a punch.
2. Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Pink Pop: This is another great bright lip color. It's a creamy, cool-toned pink and it's basically almost fluorescent!
3. Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti: A nice, flat-out orange. This is the only orange lipstick that actually kind of works for me. I talked about it more here.
4. Korres Cherry Lip Gloss in Fuschia: This is more so red than fuchsia. It has pretty multi-colored shimmers, but a not-so-pretty cherry scent.
5. Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Coral Reef: Theeeeeeeeeee perfect coral peach color! This is absolutely beautiful on the lips.

I wanted to swatch these colors on the lips too, but didn't want to take so many pictures of essentially the same thing, so I decided to be a little creative and swatch all 5 colors...at once! Left to right it goes: Fuchsia, Coral Reef, Strawberry, Tutti Frutti, and Pink Pop. You can really see the beauty of Strawberry and Coral Reef here. I felt so "high fashion" the 10 minutes I had these crazy lips on.

It's times like this I wish I had a lip brush.

Doesn't this look like it would be in a magazine or something (not to toot my own horn)?

Speaking of bright colors, they remind me of a little watercolor quote thingamabobber I painted a few weeks ago. It's a quote from one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. I gifted it to my best friend (whom I got to like Haruki Murakami as well). Drawing cursive in bubble letters is really fun, but kind of tedious.

So, are you going to be stowing away your bright lippies this fall and winter? Or are you gonna wear them anyway? I'm so ready to break out the roses and reds and plums (I already am)! I hope this post "brightened" up your day if even a little, and have a great rest of the week!

Drugstore Thrills

After a long week of school, I didn't feel like going out with my friends so I headed home to be a (blogging) hermit. But first, I stopped by CVS to get some new makeup wipes. And well, I ended up spending a little bit of time there.

Some lighter reading material for the weekend.

This might just be me, but buying beauty products at the drugstore always gives me so much joy. Even more so than buying a fancy, high end makeup item. Is it a "simple pleasure"? I wouldn't necessarily call it that. But I guess I can say that there are a lot of reasons as to why I find so much pleasure in shopping there. 

Garnier Refreshing Remover Cleansing Towelettes.

I can browse at ease without a sales associate "helping me". It's convenient and relatively inexpensive (though they're not as cheap of a thrill nowadays, but let's save that topic for a rainy day). Seemingly endless aisles and rows are filled with product after product. There's a lot to choose from. And once you have the selected few held triumphantly in your hands, you cannot wait to pop open the seals at home and try them out.

Top: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Pink Truffle, Bottom: Spoiled Nail Polish in Jewelry Heist

Yes, this must be it. It's the thrill of discovering a lovely little gem in a sea of so many unknowns. It's something you just can't experience at Sephora or a department store. You can't try it out and move on if it doesn't suit your fancy. You either buy it or put it back on the rack, never to know how it would have looked like on you. Yes, you could have gotten a nice Dior lipstick in exchange for all these things, but you just couldn't have gotten this kind of feeling. It's the epitome of a pleasant surprise (as are the facts on Snapple bottle caps).

Do you feel the same way about shopping for beauty products at the drugstore? I feel like I've rambled on too much about it, but well something about it just makes me really happy. The drugstore makes me feel very...druggy, eh? Can't wait to test these things out and tell you what I think! Hehe, have a great weekend! :)

Fall into Autumn

Your cheeks turn red from the crisp, cold air. You start bundling up in a nice chunky scarf. You lose the summer dresses and break out the warm pea coat. You chuckle a little the first day you're able to see your own breath. You are delighted by all the warm colors invading the trees. You see more and more leaves piling up on the ground with each passing day. Before you know it, you've fallen into the loveliest season of the year: autumn.

With September having finally arrived, the end of summer and the shuffling in of autumn is nigh. Autumn in New England has always been so magical. Whether it is going apple-picking or simply taking a walk in the park, the season brings a calm beauty to our surroundings that I just can't describe. The foliage is absolutely beautiful and the air so crisp. 

When I first got my DSLR last year in November, I was so giddy in testing out the settings and getting to know this baby that I went out a lot to take pictures throughout the city. I took these pictures just a week before the trees lost all their leaves. After half an hour or so, my fingers were basically all frozen but I still kept on snapping away.

The squirrel was so chubby and ready to hibernate.

And so, to welcome the incoming autumn, I pulled some makeup products from my collection that reminded me of the warm autumn leaves and the overall essence of the season. It made me think of cozy browns and taupes as well as deep plums and reds.

• L'Oreal HiP Shadow Stick in Meticulous (2): I can imagine a nice argyle sweater with this pale taupe, almost barley-like color.
• Revlon Beyond Natural Eye Pencil in Brown (1): This is the perfect warm red-brown, like rich, warm caramel. The pencil itself is nice and creamy.
• MAC Eyeshadow in Evening Aura (7): The pale, yellow-orange hue that leaves turn into in the beginning of the season is exemplified in this eyeshadow.
• Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad in Coffee Bean (8): The consumption of hot coffee marks the beginning of the cooler months, and what better to represent that than this quad of cozy neutrals so aptly named?
• MAC Eyeshadow in Satin Taupe (3): I have a thin, knitted beanie in this cult-favorite taupe from MAC. It's perfect for those cold, but not too cold days, not to mention beanies are so cute.
• Maybelline Expertwear Eyeshadow in Urban Brown (6): This is such a rich, teddy bear brown color, and I think autumn truly is the season of rich colors.
• Lancome Color Design Eyeshadow in Brown Mist (4): A cool brown with a forest green shimmer, I liken this to the exposed branches and tree trunks during the later half of the season.
• Maybelline Expertwear Eyeshadow in Cinnamon Spice (5): This is probably my quintessential fall eyeshadow color. Not only is the name of the color oh-so appropriate, the color itself reminds me of spiced cider, Thanksgiving, and of course, cinnamon/pumpkin spice lattes.

My favorite type of foliage is when the leaves turn a deep, vibrant, gorgeous red. It's breathtaking. The red is such a contrast against the usually cloudless, pale blue sky and against the other foliage. I likened this color to lip and cheek products.

• Cover Girl Outlast Lip Stain in Plum Pout (11): More than anything, this is a deep red rather than a plum. Freshly applied, the color is so deep and pigmented, but after a while it leaves the perfect berry stain that I associate with autumn.
• Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Soft Rose (12): This is a lovely muted rose that is just perfect for this season -- definitely my staple autumn lip.
• NARS Lipstick in Flamenco (13): Vibrant red lips are always popular, but this one allows you the option of building up the color or leaving it sheer.
• Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment (14): The cold weather can take a toll on your lips, so this is great to keep them moisturized. It has a very pleasant lemon scent.
• Rimmel Blush in Plum (10): I wish I had a deeper plum blush, but this will do for now. It is a muted dusty plum color that provides the right amount of flush to the cheeks.
• L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Smoldering Plum (9): You know I love this already, but basically this is the deep purple/plum color of the season. 
• Jack Black Lip Balm in Lemon & Chamomile (15): Another lemon scent, eh? Well this one reminds me of yummy lemon honey tea...which is perfect to warm yourself up in cold weather!

So, are you guys looking forward to the cooler weather of autumn as much as I am? And to those of you in the southern hemisphere, it's going to be spring and summer soon, I think? I've always wondered, what's it like to have Christmas during the summer? Ah, but I can't wait for the colder months, mmmm...

Mochachino

Today was my first day as a senior back in school. I found out my class schedule and I'm content with almost all of them. The combination of classes I'm taking this year is rather unique/different so I'm separated from all of my good friends, but I guess it's time to make new friends! I'm already imagining all the work I'll be doing this year and it's a little scary, but I can see the light after the tunnel!

I put together a nice outfit for my first day, but it was so disgustingly humid that once I got home I had to change clothes. So sadly, there are no pictures of my first day outfit, but I wore a cobalt blue floral lace skirt with a white v-neck on top (if anyone is interested heh). I also dozed off for 2 hours when I got home...

But anyway, the subject of today's post is a nail polish. I've been getting into nail polish recently, and so I wanted to paint my nails a nice color for my first day back. I ran into CVS yesterday and chose the one that stood out the most to me. I chose an Essie nail polish in Mochachino. I had always liked taupe polishes, and this one in particular had a pretty silver shimmer running through it, so this was the one. It also had such a cute name.

Mochachino reminds me of the color of hot chocolate or a warm brown-gray sweater. It's an understated color with just the slightest amount of pizzazz. It contrasted really well with my blue skirt. The nail polish applied smooth and opaque in two coats on top of base coat, and I think it's the perfect transitional color for fall and winter.

Here's a look at this hunk of a textbook. Weighing in at almost 10 pounds (yes indeed I weighed it), I have to say, my Art History textbook is probably the biggest textbook I've ever had. Lugging it home was quite a workout. I do hope that I'll love it, though, I'm really excited for the class. 

I hope your week has been going well! I cannot wait for the weekend (already), so I can sleep in. Do you have any cool "first day" traditions? :)

Lake Todd Photo Diary

This past weekend, my family and I rented a little lake cabin up in New Hampshire for a couple days. It was a nice little getaway for us all  before this eventful upcoming year (me applying to colleges and my brother graduating from college). There was no internet, TV or cell phone coverage, so it was literally 2 days in nature, away from the rest of the world. We barbecued and fished and rowed around the lake. Oh my, the lake was absolutely beautiful and the air was so fresh and clean. I didn't want to leave at all. But of course, c'est la vie. I'll let pictures do the rest of the talking.

It was such a lovely weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I would definitely recommend any of you to take a little getaway once in a while, away from technology and society. Just you, your family, your loved ones, and nature.