LUSTING AFTER...NO.3

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair / Kiehls Creme de Corps Soy Milk & Honey Body Butter / Dior Creme de Rose Lip Balm / Kiehls Creamy Avocado Eye Treatment / Philosophy Toast of the Town Set

I don't know who I think I am lusting after some of these rather luxurious products but in a perfect world I'd have all these in my bathroom right now just waiting to be slathered on every night! I'm slowly trying to get into properly caring for my skin so I would eventually love to try out some of these products that I've heard others rave so highly about.

ANTHROPOLOGIE DECKED THE HALLS

[Above are just a few sneaky shots I took of the front section of the store]

Anthropologie at any time of the year is a sight to see but this is especially so at Christmas time. Having never been interested in the style of the clothing, they definitely capture my attention with their home decor, furnishings and accessories. At the moment it's one of my favorite places to go to for holiday gifts and Christmas decorations. Worldly charm, eclectic, a taste of antique and chic is how I would best describe their aesthetic. From the second you walk in you feel the inviting ambiance which encourages you to stay a while. Whether I walk out with a bag in hand or not, just wandering through the unique decorated spaces of the store is always an inspired experience!

MY 21st BIRTHDAY

Usually I am not one of those poeple who counts down the days for my birthday or announces it to those around me, and dare I admit that I actually dread getting birthday calls, someone tell me I'm not the only one? I'm just one of those people who prefers to blend into the crowd rather then be the center of attention. But this year 21 was clearly a big one! which needed to be welcomed in and counted down weeks before.

Since I do have a twin brother all the details from which cake to order, which restaurant to go to and all that has to be agreed upon by both. Normally it takes many conversations to decide on all that since we do have very different tastes. Fortunately my brother is also very laid back and is simple as can be. He could care less about all those finer details. So knowing how much I obsess over all those details, he said that I can choose everything and his only request was that he have his favorite meal at a Asian bistro for lunch. So that is where we started our day. While my younger brothers were at school and my dad at work, my mom took us for a nice lunch. She also made arrangements to pick up the cake after, so we drove to the bakery and while we were there we each choose a small pastry to enjoy. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting ready and changing outfits for the evening.

For dinner everyone met at one of our favorite tex-mex restaurant. Next, we drove home and took loads of pictures, watched birthday videos that my dad had chosen for us to watch, opened gifts and cards, got sung to and ate some cake. For the rest of the evening my brother and I spent it surrounded by our favorite people enjoying the night.

It was a bit of a struggle to wake up so early the next morning but we eventually got up, packed and got in the car for a girls only trip to Dallas for the weekend. More on that in a later post! Overall I had an amazing 21st Birthday and I have to say it feels pretty good to finally be 21. It's also kinda scary though since all those huge life moments apparently happen in your 20s, exciting times ahead!! Now one promise I want to make to myself is that from this moment on, I will use day and night creams, eye creams, and serums or something of that sort every night and day. No excuses. I'm telling myself right now! I better stick to it, cause I know I don't want to regret that in a few years. 

OPI ROYAL RAJAH RUBY

O.P.I Royal Rajah Ruby

I bought this color last year and ended up not liking it on my nails, so I tossed it to the bottom of my nail polish box and there it has stayed unused since last fall. Sunday night though I dug into the bottom of my box and spotted it. I thought might as well give it another go cause I mean, why the heck not. So as I applied it, I thought mehh, flat, boring, dull. It still wasn't doing it for me. But then, then! I applied my sally hansen mega shine top coat and that made all the difference. It added the boost of shine and dimension that it needed. All throughout the day I found myself staring at my nails and we all know when that happens, you know you have a great one on your hands!

I typically don't wear reds, burgundy's or berry colored polishes just because I don't think they look that flattering on me. This one though is dark, deep and vampy, yet it still manages to allow enough of the red tones to show through that it isn't one of those 'almost black' colors. If your considering this, just keep in mind that it can pull slightly brown which may put some off to it. I definitely know this is a color I'll be re-applying well into the holidays and winter. Glad I gave this another chance, it's a real gem! (Ha! see what I did there! Ruby? Gem?..No? okay. I'll leave now.)

LUSTING AFTER... NO.2

ByCorpus Moto Jacket / Sam Edelman Boots / Necklace / Sparkle & Fade Sweater / Earrings 

My 21st birthday is quickly approaching and now only 5 days away! My parents have been asking me what I want and as usual I haven't given them an idea. For a 21st I feel the nicest thing would be to receive something timeless and classic. I don't know, I want to be able to have something when I'm 30 and still be able to say I got it for my 21st, Ya know? So with that in mind I've spent more than a couple of hours going store to store, web page to web page trying to find something to put on my birthday wishlist. I now have a couple of items in mind that aren't on this lust list but I'm still not 100%.

This morning I ended up on the Urban Outfitters website after receiving an email from them and I found a few items that I would love to see in my closet one day. In all honesty, I'll probably end up with cash and a card and do the shopping myself. Fun times! Who knows maybe I'll end up getting at least one of the items shown here, or maybe not. Anyway, can't say it hasn't been fun searching!

CHANEL MADEMOISELLE 05 LIPSTICK

Chanel Rouge Coco Mademoiselle 05 Lipstick ($32.50)

The rest of my make up: Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation 5.0 / Mac Studio Sculpt Concealer NC35 / Too Faced Shadow Insurance / Sleek Au Natural Palette (second row 1st & 2nd shadows) Dior Amber Diamond / Mac Blacktrack / Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara / Mac Blushbaby Blush

MAKE UP FOREVER N28

I'm wearing purple lipstick!!! Well...kinda. Make Up Forever's Rouge Artist Natural N28 lipstick ($19) is a wearable version of a purple lip. Strangely from the bullet it looks exactly like Barney's color but on the lips it translates as a purple but with the right amount of pink thrown into the mix. The only problem I'm having with this lipstick is that I don't have a blush to compliment the color. I guess that's when blushes like Nars Douceur come in! Other then that the texture is smooth, thin, comfortable and glossier then most. Pretty reminiscent to the luster formula by Mac. As far as lasting power it's pretty standard, nothing extraordinary. Overall I enjoy wearing this lipstick enough that I would consider looking into more shades from the line.