Officially Addicted

It's lipstick. Or is it gloss? Maybe lip balm mixed in with both?

Who knows. Who cares? I don't.

I'm obsessed.

Dior Addict Lipstick is basically my new holy grail of lip products. And this is from a girl who does not like lipstick. I'll wear it occasionally, and I love grabbing up limited edition shades like Lancome's Chris & Tell and using them for special occasions. But honestly? I'm just more of a sheer lip gloss girl. I much prefer to have dramatic eye makeup to bright lips (though the occasional rep lip is definitely necessary).

I was browsing through Sephora with a friend the other day and came upon an entire display of these Dior pink lipsticks. Baby pink/peach is my go-to color for...well, basically everything. I just think it's super flattering on everyone.

I grabbed a few different ones, tested them on my hand, and quickly found myself infatuated with number 249 - Diorissime. It's a sheer soft pink/coral with enough pigment to give you a good dose of color, but not enough to be completely opaque. It's lovely and moisturizing and glossy all without being sticky.

Raise your hand if you hate getting your hair stuck in your lip gloss! RIGHT HERE! I DO!

Dior Addict has been reformulated with 25% less wax and I believe it uses a type of gel product to give it that amazing light-reflecting quality. So less waxy and not sticky at all? Basically...it's made of AWESOME.

Also, let's take a quick look at the Dior Addict Be Iconic campaign for this lipstick. It features Kate Moss... probably my least favorite model on the planet.

I don't dig the heroin chic thing. I don't understand the obsession. I don't even consider her particularly pretty. Also, I think her sense of "style" is questionable at best.

This lipstick makes me forget all that because I think she looks amazing in this campaign. Also, I'm not exactly sure if this is the Diorissime on her, but when I put it on it looks extremely similar, so I'm going to guess that it's the same color if not a very similar one. Either way... That's actually what your lips look like with this stuff.

It. Is. Awesome.

Go try it! Right now!

And just for kicks, here are some of the other ads from this campaign - all are equally beautiful. Guess that goes to show what a phenomenal photographer/talented stylist/fabulous makeup artist can do for a person.

Beautiful, right? Must give credit where credit is due. Maybe there's something to this Kate Moss thing after all.

Then again... Maybe not.

[photo credit: biteki.com, dioraddict.com

P.S. Here are some more gorgeous images from this campaign. I don't know about you, but I want every single thing from all of these photos.

Kora to the Rescue

To say that my face is acne prone is basically the understatement of the century. I could look at myself wrong in the mirror and a breakout will magically appear in mere seconds. Seriously. I wish I was exaggerating.

To top it off, I'm a compulsive picker... I'll scratch and pick and prod and do all sorts of incredibly stupid things that result in angry red marks all over my face.

I've struggled with this for YEARS and I have tried everything to fix it. From prescriptions to basic Neutrogena acne products and higher end brands from Sephora to the dreaded ProActiv... None of it did anything except piss off my skin even more.

The amount of time, effort, and money I've put into this in hopes of having clear skin is truly mind-blowing. It also brings a tear to my eye to think of how many eyeshadows, lip glosses, pairs of shoes, or purses I could've been purchasing instead.

But I think maybe...just maybe... I've found something that resembles a solution.



Kora Organics is the all natural skincare line by Victoria's Secret model, Miranda Kerr. I'm not typically a fan of celebrity lines of... well, anything. I hate celebrity perfumes. Most of their clothing lines are absurd. And I especially hate when people just slap their names on something and call it their own.

That doesn't appear to be the case here. Miranda herself seems to be pretty active in the Kora community - posting her own blogs and sharing personal stories and photos. She also seems to follow the organic lifestyle herself, which is nice to see - not the organic part, just the part where she practices what she preaches, you know?

And let's face it, she's cute as a damn button. That certainly helps.

So anyway, back to the products. I decided that it might be a good idea to stop making my skin angry with all kinds of acids and harsh chemicals. I figured organic products might be a good way to go. I was also so frustrated and desperate for a solution that I was willing to try anything. Including a line available only in Australia (the shipping is a BITCH) that was not even remotely cheap and could possibly be a complete failure.

Even so... Couldn't be any worse than the disaster that was ProActiv, right? Of course, right.

So, I read some reviews online and finally hightailed it off to the Kora website where I found that they recommend certain product bundles for various skin types (find yours here). I chose the Oily/Combination products, which include the Foaming Cleanser, Energising (love the non-American spelling!) Citrus Mist, and Purifying Day & Night Cream.

I. Love. Them. All.

The Foaming Cleanser is super gentle, does not contain any soap, but does have aloe vera, green tea, and sandalwood - it takes off all my makeup and doesn't leave my skin feeling stripped of all moisture.

The Energising Citrus Mist is a super refreshing toner. It's ingredients include organic blossom, bergamot, aloe vera, sandalwood, lavender, and noni extract. I don't know about how "energising" it actually is, but I find that it feels great.

The Purifying Day & Night Cream smells lovely and is light as a feather. With grapefruit, mandarin, and green tea extracts it definitely helps control oil without giving you that leather-face look. It also includes vitamins A, C, and E as well as extracts of organic licorice and noni. The only thing I would change would be to add an SPF to this baby, but since it's both a day and night cream, I understand why they didn't.

So basically... This stuff is amazing. My skin is happy, you guys. Actually happy. It's not bright red or broken out or anything. I'm almost scared to jinx it, but I legitimately couldn't be happier.

I've reordered these products three times so far, and have added a few other products to the bunch.

The first is the Luxurious Rosehip Oil which is basically...an all purpose bottle of AWESOMENESS. It's describes as a treatment oil, but I use it every few days as an extra little dose of moisture, or on especially dry spots, or anything else that feels like it could benefit from a little extra love. It contains noni extract, organic rosehip, jasmine, rose and pomegranate oils. Awesomeness, I tell you.

I've also tried the Exfoliating Cream and I really like that it's super gentle, just like all the other products. It a blend of organic oat flour and bamboo. It's not gritty enough to be harsh on your skin, but it's good enough to feel like it's actually working. I definitely feel like my skin is softer and smoother after using this product.

All in all, I've never been happier with a skin care line. Ever. I don't know that my skin is glowing quite yet, but it's pretty clear aside from the rare break out that only appears during a certain time of the month  (I suppose I can't blame evil hormonal zits on skin care, can I?). It's less oily than it used to be and it just feels great. I can't complain at all. Not about any of it. So I'm just going to keep right on buying and hoping and praying that it becomes available in the US so I can stop paying absurd amounts for shipping.

[photo credits: koraorganics.com]

Nutty Over Brazil Nut

I have to admit something right now...

I'm a cheater.

There. I said it.

I can't stay in a monogamous relationship with a lotion or cream to save my life. I can hardly even get through half a tube or bottle before I've grown tired of a scent or found something new to grab my attention. From St. Ives to L'Occitane or Fresh or Nivea. Nothing gets used all the way.

Nothing. Ever.

Except... this morning I noticed something as I slathered myself in a layer of my latest obsession.

I'm running suspiciously low and can even kind of see a little bit of the bottom of the tub of this stuff:

You guys... this is a huge breakthrough for me.

I also cannot rave enough about this product. And this is coming from someone who NEVER gets excited about cream.

Brazil Nut Body Butter from The Body Shop is ah-MAZE-ing.

I've used other body butters before and never really found anything to rave about, but suddenly my elbows are smooth, the bottoms of my heels have stopped cracking, and I legitimately cannot get enough of this scent.

It's nutty and vaguely coco-buttery with a hint of sweetness... I'm not even sure if that's an accurate description, but I'm pretty obsessed with it. The scent is definitely not overbearing like you get with certain body butters (I'm lookin' at you Sweet Lemon & Coconut) and the texture is perfect. Not to greasy or too difficult to rub in. It just melts into my skin and leaves me in a happy haze of nutty goodness.

I've heard rumors that they are discontinuing this product, though, which would be terrible. I'm going to have to show up at the store and buy out the entire stock so that I never run out. That's not completely over-dramatic, is it? Nah. I didn't think so.

[photo credit: thebodyshop.com]

Crazy Colors Reign Supreme at the Teen Choice Awards

So, the Teen Choice Awards were last night...

Yeah, I'm officially inching toward my late twenties and I still pay attention to the Teen Choice Awards. So what?

Don't judge me.

It's only okay when I judge everyone else! Well, okay, not really. But I do find it entertaining to judge celebrity fashion... mostly because with the amount of money and access to stylists they have so many of them still show up looking like hot messes. It legitimately boggles my mind.

Like... How do you look in the mirror wearing this:

And think, "Damn. I look goooooooooooooood!"

Please note the matching yellow mani-pedi Tyra got for the occasion. Yikes.

Apparently the crazy was making the rounds among the TCA attendees, cause our dear Fergie showed up lookin' like a bumble bee at a 4th of July celebration:

 

Also, since when did the 90's bleached blonde + an inch of black roots thing come back into style? Her hair looks damaged and fried and it does nothing but age her.

Know what must be pretty great, though?

Being young, gorgeous, and rich on a red blue carpet with your BFF! But, for the love of God, can somebody please tell me why there is so much extra fabric on these dresses?? I mean, clearly they were on par with whole yellow-theme of the night... But seriously. 

The sash on Selena Gomez's Erin Featherson dress is not only impractical, it just looks kinda like it was supposed to be a sash, but she forgot to tie it around her waist, no? It's also blocking the view of her adorable Brian Atwood Betsy sandals.

Way too cute to block.

And Demi Lovato's BCBG Maz Azria Lace Over Mullet dress could be really cute and fun. I suppose. If there wasn't a TAIL on it. I mean, the word "mullet" is in the name! It's not a good look for hair, so why would you put it on a dress??

I've got to hand it to her on the shoes, though.

Looks like they're custom Christian Louboutin Jenny Knotted Platform Pumps to match her dress. Basically, they're fabulous. Bonus points for those.

So, it's no secret that I'm kind of in love with Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family. It's a guilty pleasure freakin' awesome show and I basically live for slightly insane styling that happens on it. So, the Pretty Little Liar who's sanity I question the most (Aria ~ he might not be your teacher anymore but that does NOT make it legal) AKA Lucy Hale showed up in a surprisingly fun Cengiz Abazoglu Sequin Cutout dress.

And then she turned around... and this happened:

Yep. We are dangerously close to seeing ass crack.

Mildly disturbing.

Luckily for us, there were a few more angelic figures at the show to tame things down a little bit.

Rachel Bilson, I love you. Do you ever not look adorable?

Perfect hair, understated makeup, super cute Chloe Resort dress (it's actually mint green, but it's kind of hard to tell in the photos), and awesome Brian Atwood studded shoes (I can't even stand booties pretty much...ever. But I LOVE these).

I just love it all.

Can I just be you? Just for one day? Cause that would be cool. Let's arrange it, 'kay? Or, if not... Can we be friends? That would be seriously cool, too.

Hmmm. Dear Taylor Swift... Normally I think you do award shows pretty well. I'm not sure sure about this one...

Kind of awkwardly tight around the bust... Marilyn-Monroe-esque full circle...

Seems a little bit like a Vegas showgirl in a White Wedding spectacular, doesn't it? Not sure I can approve of this Rafael Cennamo dress.

I can, however, approve of the super sparkly Ranjana Khan diamond-encrusted belt.

Also, really cute Fendi bow pumps. How do I get my hands on either of these?

Oh, right. Become a multi-platinum singer/darling of America.

I'm on it.

No worries, Taylor. I love you anyway. My friend and I even saw you in concert and loved every second. Except the part where we were surrounded by thirteen year old girls and their moms. That was a little sad.

Moving on.

The awards were hosted by Kaley Cuoco. Who showed up in a lamp shade. Or bed ruffle. Maybe something in between.

Yeah... I don't really get it.

She had me from the waste up though. I think the top of the dress, as well as her hair and makeup look fantastic.

I love the undone beachy waves and the smudgy eye-makeup that makes her eyes practically glow. The pop of pink in the lip color is super fun and flattering on her.

I really do just wish her dress wasn't made of those silly layers.

Okay, I have one more outfit I need to point out from last night.

Everyone's favorite Upper East Sider, Ms. Serena Van Der Woodsen herself in Gucci Resort:

Uhm... It's orange. And leather. It's ORANGE LEATHER. And kind if ill-fitting? Girl has got a body that is literally to-die-for and this somehow... hugs it the wrong way? Maybe? I don't know. But I can't stand it.

And that is not me being jealous over the fact that she's dating Leonardo DiCaprio. I don't even care about that.

Just because I've shared a deep, meaningful connection with him ever since I first saw that floppy blonde hair and adorable grin on Growing Pains doesn't mean anything.

There is no bitterness.

I'm serious.

Okay. Whatever. Maybe a little bitterness.

But back to Blake Lively. You are a stunning girl. You're so much better than this.

P.S. Great jewelry and hair, as always.

P.P.S. Say hi to Leo for me, 'kay? Thanks!

[photo credits: justjared.buzznet.com, coolspotters.com]

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm a firm  believer in not waiting for people to gift you the stuff you want.

Sometimes you just need to treat yourself, right? Of course, right.

So in honor of my birthday today, I did a little splurging and bought the Chanel nail polish (Peridot) that I've been drooling over AND one of the other limited edition shades -  Graphite.

I basically couldn't be happier about it! Peridot is just as beautiful in person as it was online and though I haven't yet tried the Graphite, I have no doubts I'll be just as thrilled.

I also decided it was time to expand my sunglasses collection. Not that I need new ones... The 6548456 pairs I already have are more than adequate to match any possible outfit/occasion/etc. But I wanted them... So off to the Sunglass Hut I went.

And home I came with these babies:

RB2132 New Wayfarer

A tortoise frame with brown lenses makes this iconic Wayfarer style even more adorable than the standard black frame/black lens version.

Also, I wholeheartedly SWEAR that this guy...

...had absolutely NOTHING to do with my decision to buy these particular glasses. No, seriously. He didn't.

Moving on.

I've also never had sunglasses with brown lenses before and as it turns out there is this magical sepia effect that happens the moment you slip them over your eyes that just makes me smile. Everything looks sunny and golden and maybe even  a little bit hazy - kind of the way those old photos from the 70s look in your parent's photo albums. Seriously... It's like looking at the world through Instagram. I highly recommend it.

Then everything in your life will look like this:

Yep, that's me and one of my dearest friends, Amanda, lookin' all soft and glowy. Don't you want your world to look like that? Trust me, you totally do.

So that is my food for thought for the day... Enjoy yourself. Pamper yourself in any way you can - it doesn't have to be with gifts. Just take a moment to remember that you're pretty awesome and you deserve it. 

Okay, enough being sappy. More product reviews to come soon! Hope everyone has an amazing day. If you feel like it, let me know how you celebrate your special days!
 
[photo credits: sunglasshut.com, shefinds.com]

Peridot: Better as a nail polish than a jewel?

I want this. I need this. Oh baby, oh baby.



It's one of the latest limited edition shades from Chanel - Peridot.

Seriously though. I am in dire need of this nail polish. I don't even really like green, but I find myself completely enchanted by this shade.

Look how awesome it looks on the lovely Christine from Temptalia:

















Peridot is my birthstone. That should count for something, right?

[photo credits: norstrom.com, temptalia.com]

Dior Show Me More

I've been in a serious foundation funk lately.

Everything I try is too greasy, too pigmented, too sheer, too this or too that. I've tried products from the drugstore as well as higher end brands. I've tried using primers with moisturizer underneath and without. Nothing helps. It's incredibly frustrating.

I think the problem is my ridiculously oily skin. It seems like no matter what I use, I end up looking like a greasemonkey about an hour after getting to work in the morning. I'm tired of caking powder on all day long to fix it.

Anyone got any suggestions? I could really use them.

In the mean time... I headed to the mall this past weekend to see if I could try one of the Laura Mercier foundations as I've heard good things about them and that's enough to entice me to at least take a look.

Alas, the sales rep for LM was off that day (Seriously? You don't have any backups? You just leave the counter empty for the day? Whatevs.) and the friendly woman from the Dior counter saw me staring longingly at the products and decided to see if she could help. Now, I'm fully aware the reps work on commission and are supposed to be that nice to you, but she was a total sweetheart and went above and beyond my expectations.

She gave me a full face of makeup and didn't push any of the products on me, even when I made her reapply stuff or switch products halfway through my face. Her patience was rewarded and I bought three products anyway.

 Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Hydrating Makeup SPF 10

So far so good... I love the coverage and it feels light as air on my skin. It hasn't made me breakout so far, but I definitely still find myself kind of greasy. Overall, I like this product, but I'm still looking for something to control the oil a little bit more.

Natural Glow Sculpting Powder SPF 10 (in The Passion)

 

Love this stuff. LOVE it. It's three shades of makeup that you can use separately as a regular face powder, a bronzer, and a highlighter, or swirl it all together for an all-over glow. Seriously. Love.

Design 5-Color Designer All-in-One Artistry Palette (in Amber Design)

This is another product I love. I've purchased Dior shadows before. I think they're very well pigmented and high quality, but I've usually gotten fun palettes in blues and purples and colors that I just do not use on a regular basis. This is the first time I got a much more versatile shade and I couldn't be happier. The color can be applied lightly for just a light wash of shimmer and glow or you can load it up for a truly saturated and easily blended makeup look. I love that it comes with a coordinated cream eye liner and enough colors that you don't need any other products except for mascara - perfect for traveling!

All in all, I'm pretty excited about my new venture into Dior products. Have you found any great ones that I absolutely need to try? Let me know!

Photo Credits: sephora.com, dior.com