Simply Beautiful

Hello, darlings! I figured it was time to make good on my promise to post again, so here I am posting the very next day. I know, I'm proud of myself too!

It feels like a good time to rave about the absolute best beauty purchases I've made lately. Usually I just wash my face with Burt's Bees orange essence facial cleanser, throw on some generic drug store concealer, and call it a day, but there are two new additions to my beauty routine that are so wonderful I feel that it's my duty to share. They'll change your life - err, well, at the very least they'll change your beauty regimen - I promise. Lucky you!

Okay, first thing's first. Has anyone else tried H&M's new lip balm? It is glorious!

I usually wear plain old chapstick, because while lip gloss is more fun, I can't help but associate slickly shimmering lips with my painful middle school years. H&M's lip balm finds a perfect marriage between balm and gloss. It adds a bit of shimmer, but not too much, and it soaks into your lips just enough that you don't feel like your hair's going to stick to your mouth all day. Plus, despite the fact that it's labelled as vanilla-flavored, it pretty much just smells like warm, faint beeswax. Mmm. Doesn't taste bad, either, which is always a plus. And my perpetually chapped lips have never felt so smooth.

Moving on:

A long time ago I wrote that I was not a huge perfume fan. It seemed to me an invasion of other people's noses, one that they may not actually enjoy. However, this was before I stumbled upon The Scent That No One Could Possibly Hate. That's right - such a thing does in fact exist. And it's called Vanille Eau de Toilette by L'Aromarine.

I stumbled upon the cute French vintage-style bottle at Anthropologie the other day, and a little voice inside encouraged me to try spritzing a bit on my wrists. I sniffed hesitantly, then enthusiastically. This was it! The cheap perfume I had been looking for since I realized Serendipitous by Serendipity 3 and Pilar & Lucy's The Exact Friction of Stars were out of my price range. It smells like vanilla - warm, sugary vanilla. It's subtle enough that you could almost convince someone you weren't even wearing perfume, just lotion maybe, but strong enough that it doesn't wear away completely within a few hours. Plus, when the initial sugary scent fades, you're left with a quintessentially vanilla smell (kind of like slightly sweeter vanilla extract) that feels a bit richer and deeper than before. Mmm. It's my new favorite, especially at under $20 a pop.

My next step is to check out the rest of L'Aromarine's scents. The packaging is just too pretty to pass up! See for yourself.

Alright, folks. Have a great 4th of July! I'm off to Montreal for the weekend!

Finishing Touches

Sooooooo. . . New York Fashion Week. . .

So far, no particular collection has completely caught my eye (I'm waiting for Anna Sui, my usual favorite), but the makeup at Diesel Black Gold and the headdresses at Diane Von Furstenberg were beyond stunning.

At Diesel Black Gold, makeup artist Val Garland explained the look. "It's very young. It's all about the eyebrow. There's a nod to Alice Cooper. It's all about magenta and peacock blue eyebrows."

I've always loved that scary circus clown pointed-line-through-the-eye thing, but the colored eyebrows take it above and beyond. I've never seen that before, and I think it looks fabulous. Very cool, very playful, very party-all-night. Love.

On a very different end of the spectrum, Diane von Furstenberg's models sported the most gorgeous fairytale headdresses.

I love that these are floral without being at all "flower girl." The addition of the leaves, the feathers, and the strands of ribbons look like they should belong in A Midsummer Night's Dream, or perhaps in Neverland. Very unexpected, I think, from the woman who brought us bright wrap dresses in a myriad of graphic prints. I wonder if this new softness is just another short exploration into a part of Diane's large range, or perhaps a facet of her personality she has finally seen fit to share with us. Either way, I'm blown away.

Photos courtesy of Style.com and Fashionweekdaily.com, as well as the good cobrasnake man.

The Adventures of Jake: Shower Dilemma

I don't know how many of you know this (some of you might remember our twin photo shoot), but I have a twin brother. His name is Jake, and he's pretty awesome, at least most of the time. In the spirit of copying Winona (because let's face it; who doesn't want to copy Winona), I've asked him to do a guest post on my blog. Enjoy! And comment lots; it's his first ever blog post and I want it to be a good experience! He insists that this post is a piece of crap (it's not), so let's prove him otherwise!

Hi. My name is Jake, and I am Kori’s twin brother. Kori has been asking me to do a guest post on her blog for a bajillion years, and I’ve finally decided to come around and join the oh-so-wonderful blogging community. Before I begin, however, I think it is important to provide you guys with a warning. Unfortunately, I am saddened to admit that I do not have the same artistic talent that Kori has; I know very little about fashion. Occasionally I get it into my head that yes, maybe I really am fashionable, but Kori is always quick to put me in my place – for example, when she alerted me to the fact that the grey sweatpants-grey sweatshirt combo is actually a fashion don’t (despite the parallel in color). To put it succinctly, if it were not for Kori’s constant fashion advice, I would probably look like a crazy who belongs on the classic MTV hit, “Next.” (My sincere apologies to any fans). [Note from Kori: Ahem, Jake likes this show.]

So if fashion isn’t my thing, then why am I writing on The Fashion-y Blog? Well, for a graduation gift, I received a very fancy bottle of shower gel from L’Occitane. I have to admit, when I first received the gift I was a little disappointed – I didn’t even know what shower gel was. I’ve always been a soap and water kind of guy (call me traditional), so this whole “shower gel” technology was understandably a bit intimidating. I examined the golden brown bottle and took a sniff of the yellow-y, gel-like solution inside. It smelled fresh, organic, natural. . . one might say it was designed for those of pure and unadulterated masculinity (i.e. yours truly). As I peered questioningly at the gleaming bottle of goo, it occurred to me in a moment of brilliance that “shower gel” was most likely another, hipper way of saying shampoo. After all, what other kind of liquidy substance did one use in the shower? My limited experience told me that this bottle could only be meant for use on my head. Satisfied with my logic, I hopped into the shower, prepared to give my hair the wash of a lifetime. I squeezed some of the thick liquid into my hands, and attempted to turn the gel into a rich lather. However, when the gel refused to foam into a consistency I was used to, I realized that shower gel was not the hair product I had thought it to be; the great mystery lived on. I felt as if the world was collapsing before my very eyes, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Okay, that was a slight exaggeration, but the point remains the same – I was very disappointed. My logical reasoning hadn't worked. I rinsed the suds from my hair and decided to save the logic for math class.

Ultimately, I was left with no choice but to ask Kori, my kind and loving sister, what the true meaning of “shower gel” really was. As one might expect, her initial response was to laugh her ass off while I stood there feeling like a complete awko. However, after a wonderful five minutes of humiliation, she explained to me that shower gel, contrary to common thought (yes, I am making myself feel better by calling it common) is simply a kind of luxurious soap alternative.

In conclusion, I think I’ll leave fashion and all fashion-related topics in the capable hands of my sister. I’ll give you an update on the L’Occitane shower gel once I have a chance to use it correctly, but for now, it’s a wrap.

Okay, grasshoppers, I hope you enjoyed Jake's post! I feel like I should let you know that I really love how the shower gel smells - sort of a spicy, cedar-y smell. I actually tried it out once (okay, twice - sorry Jake), and while it's definitely a male fragrance, a girl could easily pull it off. Outside of the shower, the scent fades until you can only get a faint whiff of something fresh, casual, and classy. Delish!

Whimsically Jelly Pong Pong

Jelly Pong Pong has been on my radar for a long time. As beauty lines go, it has such a great whimsical quality. I'm not very into beauty products, so unless I'm buying something boring yet necessary (like concealer), a product has to be really special for me to bother springing for it.

Enter Jelly Pong Pong.

With products ranging from popsicle-shaped soaps to shoe-printed lip and eye kits to eyeshadow in the form of pearls, this is no ordinary beauty line.

A while ago, I bought Venus Magical Pearls from the Fabled Dreams and Beautiful Things collection. To get one color of eye shadow, you sweep your finger accross the surface of a pearl. To get another color, you crush the pearl and use the powder inside. It's an innovative, fantastical (is that a word?) makeup, and I feel special every time I use it. The box it comes in is beautiful too, and it's enscribed with a poem:

She rises from the sea, foams of bubbles at her feet

And floats towards the sands ; And breathes a breath so sweet,

Her dress of pure incandescence, glows of blue and pearl

She lays siege to my heart, here this woman-girl

She is radiant, fearless, luminous

I am silent with awe, I am breathless

For she is Venus in all her glory

A beautiful goddess, a goddess immortal

My magnificent deity

Pretty, huh? After my experience with the pearls, I've been dying to try some more Jelly Pong Pong products!

By the way, if you plan to purchase some for yourself, don't order them through the Jelly Pong Pong website unless you live in Asia. I accidentally ordered from them once, only to recieve an email from one of their employees warning me of the astronomical shipping costs from Malaysia. Try ASOS instead.

A New Kind of Manicure?

What do you think of this model's nails from the January issue of Glamour?

I'm rather inclined to like it. I think this kind of manicure would only work with a very clean, polished look, as seen in the editorial, because otherwise it would look messy/overly busy. Still, I'm not sure I'm going to be trying it out anytime soon; my nail polish skills leave something to be desired.

Would you rock the look?

Thanksgiving

I'm so psyched for Thanksgiving tomorrow! I often forget to think about the actual point of the holiday (giving thanks) because I'm busy concentrating on all that amazing food. Not this year, though. This year I'm stepping it up. I'm going to concentrate on being thankful for my body, because I think it's a healthy thing to do. C'mon - give thanks with me!

Let's show our bodies how thankful we are for them. They may not be perfect in every way, but they're keeping us alive, right? They help us to run and think and eat cupcakes. They help us to go shopping and party all night. And regardless of imperfections, they somehow manage to make that perfect dress look might hot. So how do we show our thanks to our bodies? By making them even more healthy and beautiful, of course! Let's get started! Here are some ways to thank your body:

♥ Olive oil is amazing. Rubbing it on your face (or the rest of your body, for that matter), letting it sit for a moment, and then washing it off makes for amazing results. I have started to treat my face regularly with olive oil, and it has made my skin clear, soft, and glowy. Also, it somehow caused my pores to shrink! It's a little counter-intuitive to rub oil on your skin, especially if your skin is already oily, but I'm telling you- it works! If you could use some exfoliation, mix a bit of sugar into the oil before you use it.

♥ Take flax seed oil pills 2-3 times a day. You can pick them up at health food stores or supermarkets like Whole Foods, and believe me, your body will consider itself thanked. The Omega-3 contained in the pills is amazingly good for you. Also, the pills do wonders for dry winter skin. Last winter, my eyes and skin were tight and itchy. I asked my (hollistic) doctor about it, and he suggested that I take flax seed oil pills. Within three days, my skin and eyes were back to normal.

♥ Glamour.com is running some great health and beauty programs. There is a 30-Day Makeover program full of healthy tips for learning to "look and feel great in just one month." There's also Body by Glamour, which generates customized workouts and eating plans. I haven't tested it, but it might be worth a try.

♥ Recognize your favorite features and learn to dress them.

♥ Lip exercises for firmer, plumper lips? Hmm....

♥ Learn about the vitamins your skin craves.

♥ Meditate.

♥ Give yourself a manicure.

♥ Learn and practice EFT.

♥ Learn how to accept your "flaws."

Of course all this is too much to do all at once, and of course exercise and good eating habits are the best way to boost your health/beauty. But bring on Thanksgiving - I'm ready to give thanks!

Also, remember: "Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful" - Sophia Loren

Some Beauty Reviews

Believe it or not, it's time for some makeup reviews! Ta-dah! I don't wear much makeup, but I've accumulated a few new items, so I figured I'd let you know what I thought of them. On a strictly non-expert basis, might I add.

Okay, first up is Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Organza Pink:

I picked up this gloss at Bloomingdales during Teen Vogue's Fashion U because I was trying to find something to spend my $20 Bloomies gift card on. I'm not much of a lip gloss girl, so I didn't expect to like this. I usually wear tinted lip balms in matte or slightly shimmery red or berry shades. I skeptically picked out this gloss at the sales assistant's suggestion, but I was sure I would hate the shimmery pink, glossy shade. I was wrong. It's very subtle, fresh, and flattering. It's not sticky or goopy like some glosses are, and it has just the right amount of shine. Plus, it's in such a pretty container! Love it!

Okay, now for some mascara reviews. I am so not a mascara girl, just to warn you. I have been blessed with naturally long, dark, and curly lashes, so I've never before bothered with mascara. However, when I recieved Maybelline XXL Curl Power Volume + Length Microfiber Mascara in my Teen Vogue's Fashion U goody bag, I finally had a chance to try out mascara.

I am not a fan of this mascara. I'm aware that I did a really bad job applying it, but it made my eyelashes what Cher from Clueless would have called a total "Monet."

From far away, they looked okay, dark and super-long (long enough to touch my eyebrows):

Up close, on the other hand, you could tell that the mascara came out goopy and lumpy, and that it clumped on my lashes and made them stiff:

I recieved a second mascara in a gift sent to me from Coutorture and Sephora. This mascara was Sephora Volume Mascara. Unlike the Maybelline mascara, I liked this a lot. It made my lashes darker and more noticeable, but not wildly so. It came out smoothly, was easy to apply, and didn't clump or stiffen my lashes:

Aaah, much better! I liked this one a lot, although it might not be worth using for me, since my lashes don't look all that different from usual when covered in subtle mascara.

Lastly, I wanted to review Tommy Girl 10 perfume, even though it's not technically makeup, because I recieved it in my Teen Vogue goody bag and liked it very much:

To me it smells very clean and fresh. It's not too strong or too weak, and it seems very down-to-earth. I think it's one of those scents that would be hard to hate. I'm not so good at picking out specific notes or anything, but The Scented Salamander did a wonderful review.

Boots Botanics Hair Minimizing Lotion

Has anyone heard of something like this before? I was looking up the Boots moisturizer I got at Target today to see if there were any reviews of it when I came across this Boots Botanics Hair Minimizing Lotion. Supposedly it "not only softens your skin but also softens hairs, making hair feel softer, finer and less noticeable," with the result being that "you don't need to shave as often." Legitimate product that will save you time and razor nicks, or total bullshit? It seems unlikely that it could actually make body hair less noticeable, but not impossible.

So what do you think? Is it a waste of money, or a little-known gem? Has anyone tried it? I'm intrigued...

Beautiful Fashion

Fashion is a powerful thing. Sometimes I will stumble across an item of clothing or a runway shot that I can't get out of my head. Sometimes it's something I'm dying to wear, sometimes it is so ingenius I can't stop marveling, and sometimes it's just plain beautiful. I love couture shows, because even though most of the clothing isn't wearable, I appreciate the over-the-top-ness, the bizarre-ness, and the general splendor. I'm one of those girls who always appreciates art museums, but tends to get bored after an hour. This is why clothing appeals to me; Unlike sculptures and paintings, it moves. It can be worn different ways. It looks totally different, depending on the styling. It possesses the same evocative power as other mediums of art, yet it is so much more alive. Case in point - the above photograph featuring a dress by Thai designer Tipayaphong Poosanaphong. The dress isn't something anyone would wear in real life (well, except for maybe Bjork), but its so incredibly beautiful. Part of this is the combination of the flower on top of the model's head and the smoke on the runway, but part of this is the dress itself. It looks like the dress of some goddess clothed in butterflies and dewdrops and cobwebs. If you stop to think about it, the garment is kind of silly, but the overall effect is breathtaking. The model wouldn't look out of place in the Amazon, or maybe in Neverland. A fantasy dress for sure.

I Occasionally Post About Beauty

I'm not someone who has been blessed with great skin. It's prone to pimples, and alternates between being overly dry and disgustingly oily. Not ideal, to say the least.

People are usually surprised to hear me say that I have bad skin, because (and I am NOT bragging here, I'm just telling the truth) I tend to get a lot of compliments on it. I attribute this almost completely to one itty-bitty tube of face wash, Burt's Bees Orange Essence Facial Cleanser.

I think the reason the cleanser works so well for me is that it's totally unlike any cleanser I've ever used. It's very oily feeling (but in a good way), doesn't foam, and just doesn't feel like a soap at all. And it always seems extremely luxurious to me, because it smells exactly like fresh oranges. Yummm. You'd think that an oily facial cleanser would be a nightmare for anyone pimple-prone, but on the contrary, it has cleared my face up considerably. I've been using it for a few years (If something works, I stick with it), and my skin is almost always glowy and smooth. Dryness and pimples are a thing of the past!

In other words, I strongly reccomend picking up a tube of this next time you're at Bath & Body Works.

While you're there, I'd reccomend the Burt's Bees Citrus Scrub, which I like to use twice a week, as well as the Beeswax Lipbalm, which I've pretty much sworn by since I was 12 years old. It's all tingly and minty and delicious!