My Top 5 Spring Fashion Essentials

Hi Friends,

I'm back with another fashion post, and this one if part a spring collaboration with my friends from the Geeks and Beauties Community.  So for other great top 5 lists please scroll to the bottom of the post!

My Top 5 Spring Fashion Essentials

#1 - Pastels

A classic springtime favorite pastels can work for anyone.  If you're not a fan of the traditional Easter inspired hues you can always try grayed down versions like old rose, sage green, dusty blue, and mushroom.  Personally my favorites are mint and lavender, but I've also been playing the trends and adding touches of this year's Pantone colors - Serenity (pale blue) and Rose Quartz (soft pink).  Here's a peek at some of the pastels I'm using in my wardrobe:

Sweater - Torrid, Dress - ModCloth, Leggings - LuLaRoe

#2 - Great Jackets

A good jacket keeps you warm through the last hints of winter, a great can also be styled for spring just as beautifully as it might November.  My military style jacket pairs pinks with with olive for the right combination that works for both spring and fall looks.  A light denim jacket does this well too, though I don't own one yet.  And for colder days a soft white coat flatters most anything you pair it with, but keeps you from looking too drab with colorful skirt peeping out!  Additionally a soft flannel shirt can layer like a cardigan with a touch more interest thanks to the plaid print.

White Coat - Target, Military Jacket - Maurice's, Plaid Shirt - Old Navy

#3 - Ballet Flats

As the weather warms these become a staple for their versatility.  A more comfortable pair with insoles can get you through a whole day on your feet, the floral ones certainly did for me back when I was working at Anthropologie!

Blue Shoes - Payless, Floral Shoes - Payless, Mint Shoes - Forever 21

#4 - Soft Florals

Speaking of florals what spring closet is complete without a bit?  Light or dark they can set a cheerful tone, or make a solid colored outfit perk up fast!  Florals paired with text can set a nice modern tone as well.  Floral shoes can soften a more somber outfit.  Or you can wear the floral with pastel for an ultra feminine look.

Skirt - Torrid, Sandals - ModCloth, Tee - Switchfoot

#5 - Pops of Bright Accent Colors

Finally, sometimes between all the gentle colors I want to add something bold to the mix!  Bright purple nails with lavender or mint work great.  Or let a bright floral print paired with all pale or dark colors shine.  Jewelry, bags and shoes can all let bold colors in to keep a more approachable feel at work too.  (See the cobalt blue flats pictured above!)  Dark floral prints often have a more edgy feeling as it is, and the brighter the colors paired with the dark color the more they'll pop.  Bright solids can also work wonders with pale or dark shades in the same color family for a monochrome style.

Nail Polish - Julep in Sherri, Leggings - LuLaRoe, Top - Torrid

I hope you've enjoyed my spring looks, and if you have more fun ideas for how I could work with these items let me know in the comments below!  Thanks for reading.

My Friend's Top 5 Spring Essentials

Starting off with a bit more about clothes there's Sadie By Design's Top 5 Spring Cosplay Essentials.

Next up is this fun video by Dusty Sabot!

Sasha Kron of Fizzyfreeze shows us her Spring Essentials on Instagram!

Zainey Laney bridges the gender gap with essentials for men and women in this video.

Bethany Summers shares her beauty picks with us on Instagram as well.

Zombiieeninjja Beauty gives us a look at her hair essentials in the above video.

Jessica Forbes shows us some of her beauty favorites in this video as well.

A few more friends will be added too, so be on the lookout as I add their work to this post as the week goes on!

If you're a blogger or vlogger and would like to learn more about the great support offered through the Geeks and Beauties Community please click here for more information.  We create collaborations monthly and we'd love to have you join us!  Thanks for reading.

Cooler Coverings - Fall Fashions

Hello Friends!

This week has continued to be yet another crazy one.  I've been to doctor's visits and getting things done with Bryan while he's around.  And hopefully I'll be able to schedule a follow up for some of the tests next week too.  In any case I've been having trouble with my keyboard that's led me to several house of troubleshooting and very complicated systems of trying to work around it as I've written posts and anything else typed online.  I finally found that a separate keyboard fixes the problem, even though it's super awkward since I don't own a Mac keyboard.  My computer is apparently warped enough that the keyboard is having severe problems, and the trackpad is starting to as well.  At this point my laptop is over 6 years old, so it's done well to get this far, but another fix is probably too costly since it's almost to the point of being outdated technology.  (I had to stop updating my OS a couple years ago since if I moved to the next version I wouldn't be able to use Photoshop.  Of course now it's harder to do all the beautiful things I'd like to do with the tools I can find for Photoshop because they're all meant to use with newer editions, and I'm still running Creative Suite 3.)  But on to more fun subjects.

Poshmark

On another note I am loving selling on Poshmark!  I started selling most of my clothes that didn't make the cut for my capsules there.  I haven't even finished listing everything yet and have already had 7 sales totaling around $90.  If you haven't tried it yet go for it, and have a $10 off coupon on me by using my code to sign up - PYIHF at www.Poshmark.com and then just download the app.  You can buy on the site using any device, but selling and the $10 for signing up is only available by downloading the app.

Fall Fashions

Transitioning to Cooler Coverings

Fall is here in full force and North Carolina is finally nice and cool most days.  I woke up this past Sunday morning to frost covered grass and chickadees pecking at our backyard feeder.  I'm finally having to break out my jacket a couple times a week and we tested out our new home's heater too.  In terms of fashions I'm experimenting more to make the summery portions of my fall capsule wardrobe keep me warmer.  Here are some examples:

With this outfit I decided it was time to start pairing some of my fun tees with skirts.  this outfit is comprised of my Switchfoot shirt, bag from Target, skirt from Torrid, leggings from Target, and boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.

 

For Halloween I wore this Doctor Who, 9th doctor inspired outfit.  Dress from Her Universe, bag from Amazon◊, leggings from ModCloth◊, boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.

I'm really excited to get to reading our picks from Fight or Flight's Halloween sale.  And Miles Morales Spiderman is a new one for me, which so far I'm enjoying a lot!

I know I don't show my makeup looks often, because I don't wear as much.  But I have fun playing around with it and a couple weeks ago I donned a bit to go on a double date night with Bryan's parents.  I used Boe eyeshadow in Fun House, Face Stolkholm's Jeanann eyeliner, Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara, and Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Venizia.

This date night outfit is the Paige dress from Cherry Velvet, leggings from Target, and boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.

Another thing I've been experimenting with is styling my dresses.  In this shot I paired my LuLaRoe "Nicole" dress (I'm hosting a LuLaRoe online party for the next 24 hours if any of you readers want to catch a sale with me! You can find it on Facebook here.) with my sweater from Target, plus leggings from Target, and flats from Payless/American Eagle.

I also threw in some Julep nail polish by using the color "Darby" with this outfit, well technically I'd been wearing it for 6 days before this picture was taken.  It just lasts so well!  As always you can try a free box from my affiliates at Julep by checking them out here:

I've been breaking out my jacket from Maurice's, and wore it with a top from Old Navy, skinny jeans from Torrid, and flats from Torrid.

And finally my last outfit I'll be sharing from my fall capsule includes the jacket from Maurice's, top from Target, zip ankle jeans from Torrid, and flats from Torrid.

This fall capsule has gone well, better than I thought it would when I was panicking that first week about how to style things.  Now I'm thinking ahead to winter and the next capsule.  However I'm going to be doing a mini capsule for December as I adjust when my seasons change.  I've found that grouping the months of October-December would have been a better choice with less need for both summer and winter items.  So next year my capsules will run from January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December.  I'll tall you more about what I'm planning for December in my next fashion post around December 4th.  I'll be taking a break from writing next Friday for the holiday and so I can focus on filling orders from my Etsy art shop at http://LydiasDesigns.etsy.com where you can find art like that in this picture below:

I'll see you all Monday!

Love,
Lydia

October Outfits & Julep Unboxing

Hi friends,

I'm excited to share my latest Julep subscription box with you all, plus some recent outfits.

Julep

Julep is my favorite subscription box and nail polish brand.  They also make some great makeup, though in this box I just ordered nail items.  The beauty of this box is you can either choose between 6 curated boxes and upgrades or pay $5 more to create your own boxes.  To me it's worth it to create my own boxes.  You typically get 3 items, and then can get additional add on items, with a free item if you've added on 3.  It comes out to about $5 per item if you go for the box with add ons.  You can also skip you box as often as you need to, which is great if you want the fun of a box on a budget.  Julep typically comes out with 8-12 new nail colors each month, so there's always something fresh.  And I find most polishes last 5 days without chipping, and 7-8 if you use their base and top coat.  So here's my October box:

It had several other colors I'd ordered for the giveaway, plus a little bag of candy corn.  It came with this instructional card.  It makes me wish I'd ordered one of the eyeshadows!  Maybe next time I get a box I will, though I'm skipping November's.

These colors are wonderful, and I've done some tests to give you all an idea of just what they look like.  I realized after the fact that I'd ended up with some fantastic Halloween themed shades!  From the top down there's Darby - huntsman green with microglitter shimmer, Jocelyn (new)- a cranberry shimmer with holographic microglitter, Nicola (new)- a transparent peach glitter that glows in the dark (works great!), Sherri (new)- a bright purple stardust finish (stardust finish is slightly more matte with lots of texture, and no need for a top coat), and Arielle, a smoked fig (dark muted purple) cream.

I tested the colors on a paper towel and also the mini plastic bag so you could see what concentrations look like and what the finish looks like as well.  On my nail you see Arielle, which I used as the darkest shade in an ombre look pictured further down.

I also tried adding a stripe of Nicola over all the colors,  it doesn't change their colors much at all, though it makes the stardust finish more shiny.

Here's a peek at that ombre look too:

I used Arielle as the darkest shade, then Nedra, Alexa, Elisa, and Joanna.

You can get a FREE welcome box with the brand new Metallic colors and eyeliner seen below by clicking the on the image and using the code MADLOVE.


And if that's not enough you can also get in an entry to my giveaway for these lovely colors and holographic decals seen below by midnight tonight!

Lydia, Lee, Florence, and Sandi!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now for the Outfits!

Top - Forever 21, Necklace - Phoebe Marie via Etsy, Bag - available here at Amazon◊, Jeans - Torrid, Flats - Torrid

Dress - LuLaRoe, Necklace - Marsha Elliott Designs via The Blue Ridge Parkway Craft Center, Leggings - Target, Boots - Trendsetter/Hushpuppies

This outfit is a deviation from my capsule wardrobe, but I was so excited about the new dress from LuLaRoe that I had to post it!  I've recently been introduced to LuLaRoe through my friend Nicole, they're pretty much all American made clothing that's super comfy.  Their collection ranges from casual to business casual in mostly soft cotton materials.  Their designs stay consistent from season to season, but the fabric patterns change regularly and are made in small quantities.  I got this dress plus a top, which will be in my winter capsule wardrobe.

Thanks all this time, but I'll see you all next week!

Love,
Lydia

Unboxing Fun

Hi everyone,

So today I'm going to do a bit of a beauty post.  I love the concept of getting curated boxes in the mail, and I've tried a bunch of different ones over the last two years.  I've done art supplies, snack, and some of my favorites are beauty boxes.  I really enjoy these kinds of boxes because for beauty items Bryan gets bored if he goes shopping with me, and I don't really want to drag him out to specialty stores like Ulta, Sephora, and the like to make it even worse.  Additionally I'm not always sure what to try, so trying a bunch of smaller samples can be great for someone like me since I don't usually wear a lot of makeup in the first place.

It's not because I don't enjoy wearing makeup, but mostly because I'm really pale so foundation and concealer are near impossible to find.  I once tried to get makeup from MAC, but everything they made was just a shade or two too dark and probably oxidized on my skin before I left the mall.  Not that I even knew it could oxidize, I thought it was just different in the sunlight than under artificial lights, and maybe I was right.  It's been to long to know for sure.  Plus my skin is rather sensitive, so that's another thing to work around.  But with beauty boxes most of the items are less skin focused other than general skin care.

Without further ado let's get on with the unboxing!

The first box I want to share with you all is this month's Glossybox.  The advantages of Glossybox are getting 5 (usually full size, if not travel size) items each month for $21.  I find they're usually very good about picking things I would enjoy, and the more I fill out surveys the better my boxes are!  Their products are also premium quality, mostly items that are found in specialty beauty stores, with some exceptions.

This lovely box comes packed inside a more sturdy shipping box.

Inside there's a product explanation and use sheet, and sometimes a coupon or other fun item of some sort.

In this box I received Emite blush in shade 108 (it came damaged, so I contacted Glossybox and they gave me my choice of a new item, pictured later below, since they had run out of the blush.  I was actually happier about this because the blush was too dark for my skin anyway, which was a first for Glossybox items.), 12 Benefits Love At First Lather Shampoo, Biossanse Revitalizer serum, Nails Inc Uptown Nail Polish, and Julep's Luxe Up Your Lips in Sheer Pink.  Here's what the information card was like folded open:

It has a ton of great info, I love how detailed it is and often refer back to it if I'm unsure of anything.

I was excited to get this because I really love lip products, and Julep makes very good ones, which you'll see more of later.

And this is the item I chose to replace the Emite blush, Nexxus Color Assure Shampoo.  This is actually a size larger than what I'll be getting, but I received one a few months back and realized how well it worked on my brightly dyed hair and made the switch.  I was using Herbal Essences Color Me Happy, which smells great, but doesn't work half as well as this!  If you use more temporary colored dyes in bright shades like me I highly recommend it!  This full size bottle can be found for about $14 at Kroger or other grocery stores (they recently had an online coupon for $3 off) or on Amazon too◊.  If you like the sounds of Glossbox I feel it's definitely worth a try.  If you do join I'd love it if you could use this link to tell them I sent you!

Next up is the Julep Maven Program's Jule Box

This is how it comes in the mail, a bit simpler than some boxes, but packed quite safely.  It's my favorite beauty box for several reasons. 1 you can skip a month anytime you want, for as many month as you want.  It's perfect for someone on a budget.  2. There are two box options, one gets you the monthly curated selections for your chosen profile for $20, which sometimes allows you to select a color for certain items like lip or eye color.  Or you can pay $5 more and get to choose from about 100 different options for your box contents, usually ending up with 3 items, plus any add ons you might choose at a discounted price.  3. They specialize in nail polish!  I may not be super when it comes to makeup, but with my nails I really try to be on point and keep them beautiful.  So this is the perfect box for me!  But if you only want a little nail polish that's ok too, they usually have boxes with both things and at least one with just makeup too!

When you open up the box it's got recyclable paper packing material inside, your items, plus a monthly card highlighting the items and sometimes a technique related to some of them, and sometimes an additional goodie or coupon.  In this box I got a Plush Pout lip crayon in Magenta Plum Creme, and 3 nail polishes, one of which was an add on item.

It looks pretty dark, and I was a little scared it wouldn't suit me when I pulled it out, but as you can see below it's a great color for me!

This month's card has a couple lip techniques plus how to get the dewy look.  And yes, feel free to use that code if you're already a Julep member, but if you're not keep scrolling down because there's a better deal for new members below.

Here are the three nail polishes.  Julep names their polish colors after women, so these colors are Ellis, Delores, and Lydia!  They're really beautiful shades with Eliis being a soft pinkish lavender with silver undertones from the holographic qualities.  It doesn't come off like glitter polish does, but is much easier to remove, which I love!  Delores is also a holographic with a purple and silver finish.  And finally Lydia (yay after 2 years they finally made my name a color!) is a pyrite metallic that shifts between old gold, olive, and brass tones and has a stardust finish.  Julep's stardust finishes are highly textured, with a little less shine, but a bit more glitter mixed in.  They dry really well and there's an example below too.

Here we have Delores on my toenails.

And on my hands I've got Glam Roc a purple black stardust finish, to give you some idea of the level of shine it gets.

  
And here you can see swatches of each color, Delores, Ellis, and Lydia.  Their polishes are free of the 5 big toxic components that have been traditionally used in nail polishes.  And the quality of their polish is amazing.  Without a top or bast coat they last about 3-4 days without chipping, and with the base and top coasts I usually go a week without chipping.  If you use this affiliate link you can get a great deal on your first box◊!  And after that you can skip as many months as you want, though if you do buy anything they do pass a $15 credit on to me, and you can get the same for referring your friend, who can also get free boxes.  There is really nothing to lose in trying this box out, which makes me love it more.  And no, I don't get paid to say anything about the content of this post, just normal customer rewards programs, which you all can take or leave as you wish.

And for those of you who aren't as interested in this type of post, don't worry, I plan to only do one per month of this sort, and I'll be rotating through some other boxes, so perhaps another one may suit your interests better!  Next month I'll show you the goodies I get in my trial of Japan Crate, a box with over a pound of Japanese snacks.  I'll see you all Wednesday for a new book review and more.

Love,
Lydia