Hello Beauties.

It's been way too long since my last post.  I hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving.  With the Christmas holiday season rapidly sneaking up on us, I was finding myself needing some fashion inspiration.

I was at the grocery store (of all places haha.) and saw they had the cherries and blackberries next to each other.  I thought this was such a cute color combo...I wondered if it would work together...

I didn't think this odd color combination would work well with larger pieces such as shirts, pants, etc.  Personally, I like wearing more plain clothes and adding punches of color here and there.  I've put together a couple of pieces you can use to accessorize with to transform winter fashion "blahs" into a polished look.

Plum Scarf and Cherry-Red Shoes

Use these to dress up jeans and a long-sleeve white t-shirt.  Or you can wear the scarf over a brown or black coat and wear the shoes with skinny jeans.  Whatever way you choose, you'll turn heads in this bright, yet subtle combination.

Scarf: $14.99 at Target

Red Patent Shoes: About $12 at Target (in stores)


For Your Nails

I know in the picture "carry on" looks a little brown, but together, these two colors are to die for!
You can do the dark shade on your hands and have red toes or the other way around.  They look amazing together and I've gotten so many compliments.  This combo would be fantastic to wear to a holiday party.  You can have the red peeking through your little black shoes or the dark purple popping through gold glitter heels.

Hope this gives you some inspiration to help you out of your almost-end-of-fall fashion funk.  Stay gorgeous and be kind to others.

xoxo.
Laura

Randoms:

-We have a flippin' ant farm making themselves right at home in our kitchen.  Just bought some bait to get rid of these little suckers.  So annoying!

-I've found my new favorite candle scent.  It's Holiday Time's "Hot Apple Cider" from Walmart just $5 and it smells sooo yummy!

-I put my my Christmas tree!!  It's small, but just the right size for our little apartment.

Here is am icy blue smokey eye look that I created for winter.  It's very wearable during the day and it can also work for a night out!  Hope you enjoy!  :)

List of Products Used:

BASE:
Urban Decay - Primer Potion - $18
"Naked" from Urban Decay's Naked Pallet - $49 (any nude color eyeshadow will work as your base)

DARK LINER:
Eyes Lips Face - Studio Cream Liner in "Midnight" - $3
Eyes Lips Face - Essential Liquid Eyeliner in "Black" - $1

LINER IN THE WATERLINE:
Milani Liquif'eye in Black - $7.99

ACCENT SHADOW (in the crease):
Wet n' Wild Trio - "I Got Good Jeans" (the darkest blue) - $2.99

HIGHLIGHT (on eyelid and corner):
Wet n' Wild Trio - "Walking on Eggshells" (the lightest shade) - $2.99

MASCARA:
Physicians Formula Organic Wear in "Blackest Black" - $10.49

Best of luck re-creating the look.  Let me know if you guys would want to see a video tutorial as well!  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxo. Laura

Hey All!

So over the years, I've figured out that this is my favorite time of year.  It's after Halloween, the weather is starting to get even more of a nip, it's right before the craziness of the holidays and the CMA awards are on!  :)

Everytime the CMA's are on (or any country music for that matter), it really makes me think.  The music and the performers pull me back from my busy life and brings me back to my roots and reminds me of who I am and who I was raised to be.

Country music is like a big hug from your grandma mixed the feeling of a post-supper food coma all topped off in gravy. :)  It's also is music for when you've had a break up & want to kill your ex.  It's music for when you're getting ready for a girls night out.  It's the voice of loved ones who have gone to be with the angles.

I am a transplant from the state of Kansas to California.  I love both places, but I will never be anything other than a midwestern girl.  Everything from the food I eat to how I view life is all tattooed on my heart forever. 

I guess what this random post is that no matter what you have been through or where you are from...that's what makes you beautiful.  Alluring.  Gorgeous.  Whether your experiences have been good or bad, embrace them.  I mean you've made it this far right??  :)  A happy girl is one who is comfortable with herself and embraces who she is inside and out.  Love yourself, be kind to others and the rest will come naturally.  

Like my Grandmother always tells me "everything in life in moderation and balance"

Lots of Love to my Readers.

xoxo.  Laura

"...Be a best friend, tell the truth, overuse I love you.  Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense.  Never let your prayin' knees get lazy.  And love like crazy!!"

-Lee Bryce "Love Like Crazy"

Hello Beauties!

I was wandering around Sally's Beauty Supply earlier today and as I was deciphering whether or not to buy a Hair One sample, the nail polish section caught my eye.  (surprise, surprise!)

I was browsing through the China Glaze section.  I've always been a huge Essie fan, but the China Glaze colors were just calling to me!  I've heard other people rave about this line, so I thought I'd give it a try myself.  They're a couple bucks cheaper than Essie and I've heard great things about them.  And, I mean, for $6.99/bottle ($5.99 for Sally's club members!) why not try one??!!

I was mainly looking for a new color that would transition nicely from autumn to winter and that I could wear throughout the holidays.  There were reds, eh...nudes, done it, pinks...did that last year.  Geez, I was getting discouraged.  I was perusing through all the gorgeous shades, but this one in particular caught my eye.

This is "Black Diamond" from China Glaze's Winter 2007 Ski Collection.  Even though it's 4 years old, I feel like it is the PERFECT shade to bring back for this season.  It's so versatile!  I can wear this to the family Thanksgiving supper, but I feel like it's dressy enough for a night out on New Year's Eve.

It's a gorgeous cool gunmetal color with a tad bit of a navy undertone along with little specks of silver shimmer.  It doesn't have that much shimmer that it's annoying, but just enough to give it a little bit of shine.  In the photo above, that's two coats taken with my iPhone camera.

The packaging, specifically the handle, reminds me of the OPI polishes.  The formula is very smooth, goes on opaque with two thin coats.  Then I topped it off with Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri Top coat to prevent chips.  I'm not sure about how long this formula wears, since it's my first China Glaze purchase.

I hope the formula holds up.  It might be a new favorite nail polish line!  :)

YouTube HOW TO: 

Get a Professional-Looking Manicure at Home

Happy November Everybody!!

Thanks for stopping by...I invite you to check out my YouTube, Twitter & Facebook!

xoxo. Laura

Randoms:

*I hate spring cleaning.  I like to "nest" more in the fall right before winter.  My closet is now the way I want it...nice and clean!

*Sunday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week.  Football, coupons, coffee with the boyfriend and shopping day (sometimes a big breakfast is in there somewhere).

*Excited about Thanksgiving!  I love holidays where you eat lots with family.

*I ate an entire snickers candy bar before lunch and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it!

If your hair is anything like mine...It's unmanageable to the max!  If I don't do anything to it, it's wavy, frizzy, thick, kinky and even straight in some places...what the HECK!?  It's like a cross between Taylor Swift and a beach bum maybe?  I have no idea.  Don't get me wrong...If I want it to behave, it will.  My hair can hold almost any type of style.  It just takes soooo much work, product and heat to get it to be where I want it.  After lot's of one on one fights with my hair, I came up with some ways to make hair like ours behave (well at least a little bit!) while spending minimal time on it  ;)

Find a natural shampoo & conditioner 

Gorgeous hair starts with a good base.  The sulfates found in shampoos strip hair of its natural oils/moisture, therefore, making it frizzy.  And the silicones that conditioners have, stay on the hair and result in buildup.  A brand I really like is from the Treseme Naturals line (the moisture kind).  It's affordable and accessible.  And best of all, they WORK.  My hair has never been this clean and shiny before!  :)

Minimize Heat

As difficult as this may seem...the heat only does more damage than good.  I will usually shower at night, blow dry my bangs so they don't dry too crazy and go to bed with my hair damp (not wet!).  In the morning I will flat iron large sections of my hair just to tame down volume and kinks...but don't straighten to get it perfectly straight.  It's going to give you a messy look.  Then when you achieve your desired volume you want, take a curling iron and wrap random sections around the barrel to give you that sexy, beachy look.  

**Don't forget that heat protectant!!  :)

Don't Wash Everyday

Hair will look its best the second day.  That's when the natural oils and moisture come back after washing and gives hair that sexy bedhed look.  Plus the next day styling isn't going to take that long.  Just use a curling iron in the morning for touch ups and you're good to go! :)

Serum is Your Best Friend

Use about a dime-sized amount (depending on your hair's thickness) for those pesky fly-aways.  Keep a small bottle in your purse, backpack or gym bag for touch ups on the go.  One of my all-time favs is the Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum.

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Best of luck to you and your hair!  :)  I'm planning on making a YouTube video about this post.  So subscribe and stay tuned!!

Happy Hair Taming!

xo.  Laura