Christmas Decorations

I finally made it to Ikea to buy Christmas decorations! We didn't bring any of our old stuff with us when we moved so I bought some things. The house isn't done yet, and we don't have a tree yet but it's getting there.
Tinsel on the railing [hung ornaments from it]


Filled a large vase with tree ornaments for the coffee table


It lights up!


And two smaller vases for the dining room table (which usually has a white tablecloth)


I also bought pink wrapping paper! I've decided that everything I give this year is going to be wrapped in pink.

The more I have been using Diorshow Iconic, the more I like it. It is the best mascara I personally have ever tried, although I am still looking for something better.

Have to get ready for work now.
XOXO

Busy Weekend

I was in Germany Friday and Saturday for work. It was fun, but frustrating at times. I got back Saturday night and was supposed to go to a birthday party but was disinvited because of a crazy girlfriend. Oh well. Today was a horse show at our country club, and my stepdad sponsored it so we went there and had lunch and stuff. Then my mom, sister, and I left but my stepdad had to stay since he was presenting prizes. We went back there for dinner.
I don't have to work tomorrow, so I think I'm going to drop off my resume at a restaurant, which I meant to do on Friday although my printer wasn't working and I couldn't print it off, and ran out of time before I had to leave for Germany. Then maybe I'll look around for Christmas stuff for the house. Maybe some gifts, who knows. I have an outfit in my head that I really want to try tomorrow, I'll post pictures if it ends up being cute. I'm ordering the white Michael Kors watch and two pairs of thigh high boots in a few days, and having them sent to my friend who lives in NYC but is coming here to visit me for Christmas break. Hope everyone's weekends went well.
XOXO

Stuff I like today:
-Food
-CHRISTMAS
-Work

Stuff I dislike today:
-Thunderstorms [scary :(]

Diorshow Iconic

So I bought Diorshow Iconic mascara today. I have heard a lot of different things about it; some people say it is clumpy and doesn't do anything, others swear by it. I do like it, although I was hoping for something a little more dramatic. I think the next one I try will be Imju Fiberwig although I'm not sure where to buy it; we don't have Sephora here. I suppose I could try to have it shipped over from Sephora in France. Anyways, the Diorshow came in a really nice case with a lipstick. It cost 29 euro (with my fidelity card to a department store here).
The case looks like this (black zip around):




So you can see the wand


On my lashes (I took ALL other eye makeup off)


The lip colour is nice.
Here is me wearing only the lipcolour and the mascara.

It's a really nice rosy-berry sort of shade.

I also got some perfume samples-Lancome Tresor and Lancome Hypnose Senses. Samples are nice because they're so small you can slide one into your makeup bag. I don't really love either but out of the two I like Tresor better. Hypnose is something I would imagine an older woman wearing, and is described as "an initial burst of radiance, spiced with pink pepper. The sensuality of osmanthus, a flower with a scent of apricot. The thrilling exhilaration of patchouli." I don't know anything about patchouli being thrilling or exhilarating, but I definitely did smell the apricot. As for the Tresor, "Love is a treasure. The radiant Otto rose blends into soft peach harmony and sensual sandalwood." I suppose that's a pretty accurate description but I just don't really like either.
What mascara do you use?
Ciao

Stuff I like today
-SUN
-Makeup

Stuff I dislike today
-Smelly perfume

New Hair

Hi Everyone,

I just got back from Paris tonight, I had a great time. I'm leaving to Germany for two days on Friday but I'm going to try to put up a longer post and hopefully the tutorial before then.

I got a hair cut (and my roots touched up) last Thursday before I left. It feels sooo short to me! It was to about mid back before, she cut off probably about 3 inches but I had to for the sake of my hair's health.


The only thing I don't really like is that some of the edges on the left side are really blunt, and the layers make it a little poofy so I have to straighten those ends a little in addition to blow drying.

Looks like you can see Mr Panda in the background!

I think tomorrow I might go and pick up a few things to start decorating the house for Christmas...some poinsettias maybe?

A demain.
XOXO

Stuff I like today:
-Paris/boyfriend
-Montmartre
-Old European churches/cathedrals in general....they are awe inspiring

Stuff I dislike today:
-Traffic
-Waiting

Armistice Day

Today is Armistice Day and so everything is closed and I don't have to work so I made cookies.
We were missing a lot of things though so I made a lot of substitutions, but they turned out fine, if a little too sweet.
The recipe can be found here, at MarthaStewart.com
Changing the ingredients to metric measurements would have been a bit difficult if I hadn't brought my American measuring cups with me! I doubled the recipe so that I could bring some to my grandparents when I have lunch with them tomorrow/boyfriend when I leave to Paris tomorrow night. I'm going to estimate that the doubled recipe is going to make about 35-40 cookies (some are still baking). I've found that 17 minutes is better than 15. These are very good and quite easy to make!

Cut up pieces of milk chocolate:


Batter:


On the sheet (you have to space them really far apart because they spread out a lot)


Baking:


First batch out of the oven:



I am loving the gray nails trend.
I usually have mine painted French because they match everything (and I do them myself so they don't look like trash) but I really should branch out my nail polish collection.


I made a makeup tutorial yesterday but it won't upload onto YouTube :(
So, I'll have it up as soon as I get that working.

XOXO

Stuff I like today:
-Cookies
-Chocolate
-PJs
-Being lazy

Stuff I dislike today:
-Youtube

Day of Rest

Hello my lovelies,

Today I finally put most of my summer clothes in the basement. I assembled this cloth closet thing last night and it was terrible to put together and seemed pretty flimsy but it didn't collapse or anything when I hung my clothes up. I'm not sure where it's from, my mom just came home with it. Then I arranged my real closet by colour.


I put a lot of stuff on each hanger, and my flip flops (yes, I do wear them sometimes in the summer) in the bottom. It gets to cold in the winter here for me to even consider wearing something like white linen pants. Plus I need more room in my closet.

I love this watch. I want it. I NEED it. I think I'm going to order it because-yay!-Saks' ships to Europe. It's 157 ish Euro....I think around $225.

I keep envisioning it with a black outfit, definitely with a black blazer with strong shoulders.


I've been feeling really inspired by peacocks lately.
Look how beautiful they are.


So perfect.

Also, I love this dress from Urban Outfitters. It is $58.00


I am going to a 'Rockstar' themed soiree on (I think) Tuesday, so I've definitely been thinking about the outfit for that. I wish I had more studded things.
I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on the 30th...admittedly feeling pretty nervous about this. I'm a huge baby and really not very good at dealing with things that hurt at all.
I think I am going to buy a really nice camera eventually. Christmas maybe??

XOXO

Stuff I like today:
-PEACOCKS
-Saks
-Shopstyle
-Pink

Stuff I dislike today:
-Photobucket (keeps making my Firefox crash...what photo hosting program do you use?)
-My camera

Lazy Saturdays

Helloooo,

Today I bought housewarming gifts for my boyfriend and his roommate. He lives in Paris, I am going to visit him next Thursday for a few days.
For my boyfriend, I bought him a picture frame like this:
I'll probably put one photo of us in it, but leave the rest blank. It's a little hard to tell what is what, but it's basically a black modern frame and those cardboard pieces are where the pictures go.



For his roommate, who is a girl (I've never met her before, she was on vacation the last time I was there), I bought this candle set:


And then some cute rose shaped tea lights in case she liked those better.
I'm not sure how I feel about the rose shaped ones though, I just took one out of the box and they have a funny smell....kind of like an old lady flowery smell. So who knows.
I'll probably pick them both up something from my stepdad's kitchen store later this week.

About an hour ago I set up another closet in the garage for my summer clothes...I'm running out of room in my closet/drawers so hopefully this will free up a bit of space. It was the worst thing to put together EVER though, and doesn't seem very sturdy but I'll take a picture of it when I put my clothes in it.

As promised, here is a review of a gift bag of Clinique stuff I got last time I bought skin products. A word of warning....I am not a very good photographer and do not have a great camera, for future reference. Tonight's photos were especially bad since the lighting in my room sucks right now.

The set came in a cute pink zip up thing that is clutch sized, I will probably use this for a night out sometime.


It contains Deep Comfort Body Butter, Youth Surge Cream, Take the Day Off Eye makeup remover, Blushwear Cream Stick in Shy Blush, and Full Potential Lips in Sugar Plump.

First, the Youth Surge:

I don't love it. This is probably because this product isn't really meant for me (it's an age decelerator), I'll probably give it to my mom. It has SPF 15, which is always good, but it just seems to make my face a little oily. It has no scent, and a nice, thick texture.

Blushwear:

Swatched:

Here's the thing about blush. I don't really wear it because my face has a tendancy to get red. It is a really nice colour though, and I have used it as a lip colour a few times.

Take the Day Off Makeup Remover:

This is nice but I always prefer towelettes for makeup removing. If I was wearing a lot of eye makeup after a night out, I might use this and a towelette. Slight alcohol-y smell.

Deep Comfort Body Butter:

This has a really nice buttery, rich texture. It is a great moisturizer BUT I like my lotions to smell good and this is fragrance free. So great if you're allergic to fragrance, not great if you addicted to things that smell good.

Full Potential Lips Gloss in Sugar Plump:

I LOVE this. I think it's a new shade or something because I haven't seen the Sugar Plump shade around, wasn't on Sephora. It is a very versatile, neutral shade. I don't wear a lot of lip colour but I will definitely be using this a lot, especially on days when I have a pretty subtle eye. It looked good on my mom, my sister, and I. Also, I attached it to my key chain so I can take it everwhere!


Bottom line: gift sets are always nice because I love discovering new products. But there was only one thing in here that I was like OMG LOVE about, and that was the lip gloss. The body butter and makeup remover I will probably use ever so often, the other things are going to my mom. Next time I'm wearing the lip gloss, I'll take a picture.

Hope everyone is having a fun weekend.
XOXO

Stuff I like today:
-Blogspot's autosave feature...my Firefox crashed while I was in the middle of writing
-Shopping for house stuff
-White orchids

Stuff I dislike today:
-Candles that look cute in the box and then you open the box and they smell like an old fussy lady
-Rain

First Post-My Skincare Routine

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, so I'm going to make it about something basic...skin care.
I had been using Mario Bedusco products for a while. They are nice because they are completely organic and chemical free but my skin started being difficult, sensitive, and breaking out a lot. I have switched to Clinique, my skin has cleared up really well. I use these products:

First, you need to remove your makeup because the Liquid Facial Soap is not a makeup remover. I like Neutrogena Makeup-Remover Towelettes...you don't have to rinse them, they smell nice, and they are great for removing makeup-it comes off so easily! They cost about $7.00 at most drug stores, although price varies.


Clinique 3-Step System (I am a 2 in the Clarifying Lotion). I bought mine in a set for $37.00; Sephora has a cheaper, smaller introductory set for $15.00 if you are interested in trying it but don't want to spend much money. Step 1: Liquid Facial Soap Mild. Step 2: Swipe the Clarifying Lotion on your face with a cotton round/ball. It may tingle a little. Step 3: Apply lotion.


Instead of using the dramatically different lotion, I use this oil free one, and then on days when my skin feels particularly dry, I use the dramatically different lotion. The oil free moisturizer is $16.50, comes in a 1.7oz tube.


After the lotion, I apply the Acne Solutions Post Blemish Formula, $13.50. I'm actually not sure how I feel about this yet. It's supposed to help redness/scarring/hyperpigmentation go away...my skin takes a really long time to heal. I can't really tell if it has made a difference or if it is just the overall change in my skin regimen.




I do all of these steps twice daily.

Once a week on Sundays, I use the 7 Day Scrub Cream Rinse-Off Formula, $18.00, before I go to bed. Then I apply the Dramatically Different lotion, as it tends to make my skin dry. I received two samples of the 7 Day, I really like it and will probably buy it when the samples are gone.
All of the Clinique products are hypo allergenic and 100% Fragrance Free, although the Clarifying Lotion does smell strongly of alcohol.
Thanks for reading, I think I will do a review on some free Clinique products I got last time I bought skin stuff.
XOXO,
Amber


Stuff I like today:
-The smell of Neutrogena towelettes
-My face feeling clean
-Cat sleeping by me

Stuff I dislike today:
-Cat licking my face when I'm trying to sleep, or any time for that matter
-Breaking out