Taylor's Favourites: September 2011

Hey y'all,

I can't believe September is almost over or maybe for some of you by the time you read this already over.  I almost finished a month of school for my 2011-2012 year!  I have some beauty favourites to share with you and I used my dad's DSLR camera so the quality is amazing!  The only problem is I didn't use a macro lens and the only way some products would focus was if I held them up, so let's get right into it!

NARS Pro-Prime Pore Refining Primer - Oil Free

I haven't been using primer over the summer so when I got 2 deluxe samples of this primer I didn't use it for a very long time.  Randomly, I reached for it one day and actually really liked the "pore-refining" aspect of this primer.  To me, you could see a difference.  Sephora says its a gel primer but its more a cream gel to me.  Another thing I liked is it controlled shine a bit, since it is oil-free.  It also left my skin soft which is something I didn't expect and of course made my make-up last longer.

Marcelle Velvety Powder Blush in "Dust"

This is my favourite drugstore blush of all time.  Probably in my top 3 favourite blushes I own.  I've been meaning to buy more Marcelle blushes for a long time but I recently started re-using it again and now I will for sure pick up another one next time I go to the drugstore.  These blushes are so smooth and just look so silky on your skin.  They are matte (well this one is) and I think this one would suit any skintone.

MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in "Close For Comfort"

I've been really trying to moisturize my lips yet still have some colour on them during the day and this products achieves both. This specific shade is from the Warm & Cozy collection and I would describe it as a neutral pinky-brown shade perfect for a natural lip.

Korres Lip Butter in "Jasmine"

Pretty much does the exact same thing as a MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner except it's way cheaper.  I really want more of these because the Jasmine one smells really good and I think it gives more moisture than a MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner.  Jasmine's a really pretty sheer neutral pink.

Aerie Kiss Soft Gloss in "Petal"

Unfortunately American Eagle doesn't make these anymore.  This lip gloss was one of the first make-up products I wore.  I actually have 3 extra tubes of these since they're discontinued.  Soft glosses were designed to moisturize your lips while adding a sheer hint of colour.  Aerie has now come out with the Happy Apothecary  Laughing Lips Glaze and from the swatches online, "Juicy Watermelon", seems like the closest one.

bareMinerals i.d. SPF 15 Foundation

This month I've been wearing no foundation or a little bit of foundation.  bareMinerals was my first high end foundation and I've used it for over a year.  I'm in the colour medium-tan!  I really don't know what more I can say about this product... awks... okay then.

Benefit Stay Don't Stray Primer

Okay, yea, I know this was on my Products I Regret Buying post but on that post someone in the comments told me to try to use it as concealer.  Since I started going to school this month, the dark circles were for sure apparent so I tried it out and adored it as a concealer.  I don't like it for priming but I do think it does so a good job concealing.

Nicole By OPI "Too Rich For You"

I've talked about this WAAAYY too much this month but I was so excited to wear it now that dark colours are in again!  This is one of my favourite nail polishes ever and has been on my nails for practically the entire month with Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday on top.  I've been getting so much compliments and it kind if reminds me of a night sky in some ways.

So those are all my favourites for September.  I will be doing some Halloween tutorials for October so please let me know what you would like me to recreate for Halloween because to be honest, I have no idea.  I hope y'all enjoyed this post and let me know what your favourite product was for September!

Monday Questionnaire: September 26, 2011

Hey y'all

So, today Amarixe posted another Monday Questionnaire and it's been a really long time.  I get mine from her so you can imagine my excitement when she finally posted a new one.  So, I'm gonna get started!

1.) Mood:

Excited!  I have no idea why but I am!

2.) What did you eat for breakfast this morning?

I just had tea, I only eat breakfast 3-6 times a week.

3.) Name the closest red object to you.

My red lipstick from Red Earth.

4.) Current nail polish:

Nicole By OPI's Too Rich For You with Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday over it.  I adore this combination a little too much.

5.) If you could have any eye color, what would you choose?

I actually really like having brown eyes, which is kind of weird since so much people with brown eyes would like to change their eye colour but I love them on guys so.... But if I didn't have brown eyes I'd choose green, hazel, bright blue or grey-blue.

6.) Outfit of the day:

Abercrombie & Fitch sweatpants and a striped Abercrombie & Fitch 3/4 length knitted top.  Or my uniform since that's what I wore to school.

7.) What is the best movie you've seen recently?

Abduction.  I am not even kidding when I say I'm obsessed with Taylor Lautner he's just too cute.  I thought he did amazing in the movie but Lily Collins wasn't great in my opinion, I actually hated her character.

8.) Do you like karaoke?

I did when I was little I had like 7 karaoke sets but not anymore.

9.) When putting on pants, do you button and then zip, or zip and then button?

Zip then button!

10.) Weekly goals:

Not get injured anymore at dance, study for my tests and read my English book.

That's it for today, I hope y'all enjoyed this quick and easy post and I will talk to y'all later!  Feel free to answer these questions in the comments or in a blog post, I'll be more that happy to read them.

How I Style: Patterned Tights

Hey y'all

So, I am starting another new series called "How I Style" and it's pretty much a look book of 3-5 outfits based on a certain item, trend or theme.  I'm planning on making these once a month to keep up.  These posts are going to be pretty much all pictures.  I hope y'all enjoy this new series and I am having SOOOOOO much fun creating more fashion blog posts.  I know I haven't been creating a lot of make-up and hair posts lately but I will soon!  Oh, I wasn't wearing shoes because it was 1 AM and I didn't want to wake anyone up but I would pair them with boots or booties.

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Outfit One:

Top: Topshop
Skirt: Talula -- Aritzia
Tights: Forever 21

 --

Outfit Two:

Top: Forever 21
Skirt: Club Monaco
Tights: Forever 21

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Outfit Three:

Lace Tank Top: Abercrombie & Fitch
Crochet Top: Garage
Skirt: Talula -- Aritzia
Tights: Forever 21

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Outfit Four:

Tank Top: Garage
Lace Top: Garage
Skirt: Mink Pink - Aritzia
Belt: Club Monaco
Tights: Forever 21

So that is it for my first ever How I Style!  I really loved doing this kind of post, so let me know what you would like me to style next!  I hope y'all liked this post as much as I did.  That's it for today so I will blog to you really soon, have an amazing day/night!

Outfit Of The Day: September 23, 2011

Hey y'all,

So tonight I'm going out with some friends to the movies to watch ABDUCTION! I thought I would do a quick OOTD just to show you what I'm wearing and so forth.  I really have nothing else to say so I'm gonna get started.

This is my entire outfit.  It's really simple yet cute and comfy!  I don't have any shoes on since I just finished painting my toe nails!

I have a plain white tank top under since the actual top is kind of low cut.  My tank top is from Garage.  My actual top is a navy and white thick-stripped top that is a bit longer.  I got it at American Eagle maybe last year.

I have dark wash super skinny jeans on from Abercrombie & Fitch.  It's a tiny bit distressed which I like.

As for jewellery,  the only thing I have on is my Pandora bracelet which has 3 charms.  I don't know the exact names of these but you can probably find them on Pandora's website.

My nails are painted blue (even though it looks black).  They're painted Nicole By OPI's Too Rich For You with Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday on top.

The shoes I plan on wearing are these Franco Starto flats.  I might end up wearing boots or my Tory Burch Reva Flats, instead.

So that is it for my outfit today I hope y'all enjoyed and I will blog to y'all later.  I have so many ideas in my head so look out for those.  If you have an requests comment, tweet me or e-mail me, I always reply!

Style On A Budget: Lo Bowsworth

Hey y'all,

After my first Style On A Budget, someone sent me a picture of Lo Bowsworth (Lauren Conrad's best friend -- seen on The Hills and Laguna Beach).  This is a fancier outfit but it would be really cute to wear out for dinner or a date of some kind.  I hope y'all enjoy this look for less and I will get on with the post!

This is my inspiration picture.  In the picture Lo is wearing a really pretty pleated white dress, a tan leather jacket, some nude heels and a blue Chanel bag.  The Chanel bag a lone is at least $1500 and not all of us can dish out that much for an outfit so let's take her style and transform it into something more affordable. 

So, this is my take on Lo's cute going out look.  It has the same concept but I made a few minor tweeks and this outfit should be way cheaper than Lo's.  Shall we get more into detail?

The dress is the main component if this outfit.  I know you can't see it in the picture but in the next picture you will.  The top of the dress in pleated and has these little studs all over the top.  The brand is Lucca Couture and I bought it at Urban Outfitters for $40.  I got it in the summer so I am not sure if you can still get it but any little white dress (LWD) is perfect for this outfit or even a creme dress is good.

I didn't have a tan leather jacket, only a black one so I decided to change it up a bit and add a creme coloured cardigan instead.  Be sure the cardigan isn't long though!  My cardigan is from Banana Republic and was about $15.  I'm sure they still have them there.

I was debating whether or not to feature a blue bag of a more Chanel-esque bag and in the end I went with the Chanel-esque bag to give it more of a classy feel but you can choose any bag you would like.  I got my bag at Forever 21 for $22 in early summer so they might not have it.  I found this bag on Aldo if you would like an alternative although it is not too similar it is really cute!

Last but for sure not least are the shoes!  Lo was wearing some nude-ish strappy heels but I decided to make it more comfortable by incorporating an espadrille.  They still have the strappy element but are way more comfortable to walk in while still being cute.  I got mine at Ann Taylor  a few months back so they might still have them.

That is it for today's Style On A Budget!  Let me know which look I should do next.  E-mail me at taylorh009@gmail.com to send me pictures of a certain outfit or leave me a link in the comments below. Thanks so much for reading and have a good night/day wherever you are!

Taylor's favourites: Fall/Winter Nail Polishes of 2011

Hey y'all,

So today I am telling you my favourite fall nail polishes with the exception of Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday which is just an all-time favourite.  If you would like to know more about that nail polish I wrote a whole blog post about it.  Click HERE to read it!  Let's get into my faves!

China Glaze "Sugar Plums"

This colour is a deep red with sparkles which you don't see too often which is why I love this colour.  This was from the Christmas collection last year which explains the silver lid.  It's described as a plum shimmer.

 China Glaze "Jitterbug"

This colour is from the Vintage Vixen collection also from 2010 but I'm not sure if they still sell it.  Anyways Jitterbug is a dark grey (which is in for Fall!) with tiny little silver glitters.  It dries kind of gritty but not as gritty as a glitter polish would.

Orly "Rage"

Orly's Rage is just an outstanding colour.  It is the perfect rose gold and is super flattering for every skin tone.  Metallics especially rose gold have been really raved about lately!   This was from the Foil FX collection but it is still available.

Orly "Luxe"

Luxe is from the same collection, called Foil FX, as Rage.  Luxe is described as a metallic gold with shimmer.  This is one of the best golds I own and I adore how it looks on your nails.  If you want to play it safe with metallics Luxe is the go-to colour.

Sephora By OPI "Rumba Romance"

Rumba Romance is described as (by Sephora) an opaque metallic bronze.  There's no better description of this colour.  It is amazing and is on sale for $5 at Sephora and sephora.com.  Again, it is part of the whole "metallic trend" in Fall.

Sephora By OPI "Sample Sale"

This was from the Christmas collection last year and it is my favourite red.  I feel like the best time to buy red nail polishes are during Christmas.  I would describe it as a ruby red colour.  It kind of reminds me of Dorothy's infamous red shoes!  It has some glitter but it is really easy to apply and take off.

OPI "Black Onyx"

I LOVE black nail polish for all-around but I always wear it during colder months.  I use to use the cheapest ones at the drug store but I have learned that when it comes down to it, OPI's Black Onyx is the best I have tried and I adore it!

OPI "Light My Sapphire"

Light My Sapphire is one of those "almost black but not colours"  I usually hear about those done with purples but this one is a VERY dark blue!  It has some shimmer and just looks gorgeous on.

OPI "We'll Always Have Paris"

This colour is really old but classic.  It was from the Fall 2008 collection called La Collection De France.  It is a creme, vampy dark red colour.  In some lighting it even look purple.  Think of it as the red version of Lincoln Park After Dark.

OPI "Not Like The Movies"

I can't even describe the beauty of this colour.  It looks grey but as you can tell it can look green, purple, yellow, gold even blue.  This was from the Katy Perry collection earlier this year so you might be able to find it still in stores.  I can't wait to paint my nails this!

Rimmel Lasting Pro "Bare Naked"

I found this at Wal-Mart in August for $3 and I bought it on a complete whim but it is safe to say that Bare Naked it my favourite nude so far.  It is opaque (which is really hard to find with nudes) and it just gives an amazing finish.  It also barely chips.

Nicole By OPI "Too Rich For You"

This will always be one of my favourite nail polish colours and I wish I bought 824693824619 back-ups.  This was from the Gossip Girl collection and it is a dark blue - green but more blue for sure.  I am wearing it under Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday and this maybe my favourite nail combination ever.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri "Pronto Purple"

Pronto Purple is a medium-dark purple with some micro lighter purple shimmers within it.  It is the best and cutest purple I own and think it would look great on all skin tones.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure "Black Platinum"

This colour is supposed to resemble Chanel's Black Pearl (I might be wrong on that one).  Nonetheless, it is a beautiful yet simple colour.  It looks like Light My Sapphire but a but darker and more grey-toned. It still has that really dark blue but not black vibe as well.

So that is it for today, I hope you enjoyed today's little post and let me know what your favourite fall/winter nail polishes are.  I'll be back with another blog post before you know it, school and dance have been getting a little crazy but don't worry I'll always be back with y'all.  If you have a question or request leave it in the comments, tweet me @xoTaaaylor or e-mail me at taylorh009@gmail.com  Talk to y'all very very soon.  Byee!