november favourites

november favourites by blondeblair featuring rimmel

Green coat / Converse , $72 / Bobbi Brown Cosmetics / Rimmel , $14 / Oribe hair care / Clarisonic beauty product, $190 / OPI Holiday 2012 Skyfall Collection You Only Live Twice

Just a little post to touch on what I've fallen head over heels with in the last month.. Many of these are returning to my favourites pile but alas, that's often the way it goes. I've got a post on the Bobbi Brown foundation here but basically it's fabulous coverage in a long lasting, not too heavy foundation. Another I've really learned to love over the last month (truly for the last four or five months I've been using it) is the Clarisonic. I did an initial one month trial judgment post here but was debating whether a follow up would be helpful. I'd love to try some new red lippies but for now I'm sticking with the classic Kate Moss red. Though, does anyone know when her matte collection is coming to the States? Am still ferociously looking for them like a coyote on crack but no such luck yet.. Another fave has been a nice white scarf. It's so easy to throw over any long sleeve shirt, keep warm with and pair with the green coat underneath. Neither of these are my exact ones but they are very similar. I got my white snood thing from American Eagle and my green coat from J. Crew. I love a long sleeve shirt plus white snood plus green coat plus jeans and converse. Relaxed, chic, super comfy and casual. A recently found fave is by Oribe. A more detailed post will be coming up very, very soon but I'll just tell you.... I'm really impressed and loving it. And last but not least, I've been rocking that classic red nail. This time with a bit of shimmer to get in the holiday festive mood. I know I'll have this on my nails for the next couple of weeks... If not for the rest of my life.

What have been your favourites this month? Happy December First... Where does the time go?!

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fall essentials

OPI 'Kenne-bunk-port' (NL N09)

OPI 'Colour So Hot It Berns' (NL Z13)

butter London 'Come To Bed Red'

Essie 'Head Mistress'

MAC 'Lovecrush' Sheertone Shimmer Blusher

NARS 'Douceur'

Rimmel London Kate Lippie (01)

Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream 'Monte Carlo'

In true autumn inspired spirit, I hope to pop in a pumpkin pie soon and pop on some of these deeper, darker reds. This is genuinely a guide for the scarlet lovers amongst us, but these each are wearable one way or another. The nail varnishes are some of the best formulas I have tried and have stellar wear time. MAC's Lovecrush blusher is beautiful on fair skin, such as mine, and brings the most natural flush of colour to your cheeks. NARS Douceur is my go to contour shade (although I'm debating buying a few new ones) and has treated me wonderfully for the last several months I've worn it. It is quite sheer, so it may work best with pale skin. I love the Kate lipstick. It has such great wear time for a drugstore lippie. I wore it in this look and did a review on it here if you want to read more about it. My newest purchase was Nyx's Monte Carlo but I can already tell that it will be one of my favourites into spring. Easy to apply, not too expensive and again, really excellent wear time.

I will be (excitedly) driving down the coast to Portland today and then back up tomorrow to see Ed Sheeran, twice. You heard that right. I'm seeing him twice in one weekend. And the thing is... I've already seen him live once before. Eddiction? (Geez, someone take the Internet away from me...) Hope you all have a stellar weekend, will chat soon!

xx

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Five Favourite Neutrals

The smell of fall is in the air and yet, I don't feel that it is that time of year yet. School has started, I've gotten loads of new clothes and I can't wear any of it... The weather simply doesn't permit. It's rumoured to be 75 for a while here. I can talk your ear off about how excited I am for autumn to be upon us, but (lucky for you) that time hasn't arrived. It's the time in between summer and fall where I am stuck in school for seven hours a day, with dress code limitations and very little appropriate summer wear (i.e. I don't wear skirts to my knee very often and high waisted, short shorts are a staple). Along with the summer feeling gone, so has the nail varnish. My favourite bright pastels are being replaced with darker, more autumn feeling colours. This transition time in between summer and fall is difficult but I find I always reach for these varnishes if no others come to mind. Here are my top five favourite neutrals this year.

1. Love & Beauty's (Forever 21) Taupe

(far left)

This light brown has the smallest hints of shimmer and is very wearable for many skin tones. It elongates the hands in the most elegant of ways. Used on the right nail shape, it can look so simple and elegant. At $2.80 per bottle, it's incredibly cheap although it doesn't apply that way. After two coats, this shade can be easily worn without bumps, knicks, or bubbles.

2. Sephora's Under My Trench Coat

A much darker brown in comparison to Taupe, it has layers of grey and an obviously simple sheen or shimmer to it. Sephora nail polishes are not my favourites in general but this colour is one of my must haves. The application on the nail is very thick and required only one coat minus a base. I have a feeling Sephora has changed their formula in recent years because this bottle is rather old. The colour in the bottle is very different and much lighter when applied.

3. Chanel's Paradoxal

One of the darker neutrals in this post, it stands out for the obvious purple shimmer included. With one coat, the varnish is pretty transparent and definitely requires a second layer to evenly distribute colour. In harsh lighting, the colour appears dark grey with a definite purple under tone to it. In natural lighting, the purple shines much better. Chanel has quite the price tag so I'd suggest trying this on in stores and seeing how you like it. 

4. OPI's You Don't Know Jacques!

A near dupe for Chanel's Paradoxal, I'd say. This colour is exactly what Paradoxal would be without the purple undertone and shimmer. It's quite flat but can create a sophisticated grown up type colour. This muddy grey most likely requires two coats as OPI varnish doesn't have the best distribution.

4. Essie's Eternal Optimist

(far right)

One of my all time favourite nudes, Eternal Optimist is a salmony pink true nude and works very well on Olive skin tones. Some may consider it a "grandma" type colour but it's always been a favourite of mine. It's a safe bet but can warm up skin in the darker, more grey months of winter.

What are your go-to neutral/nudes? Any caught your eye recently? Let me know in the comments below.

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xx
p.s. i have a new camera coming soon, not to worry. The days of crappy iPhone photos will be over soon. I'm sorry we have both have had to suffer for this long.