Sunday 29 July 2012

Weekend Wishlist: Black Leather Jacket


Lately, in a pathetic attempt to avoid studying for my board exam, I've become a pro online window shopper. Which, naturally, leads to me creating Pinterest boards such as "Shopping Spree" and "Dream Closet"....but if I haaaaaad to pick just a few items off the list, these are the ones I'd go with this weekend:



1) Isn't this Warehouse Soft Pocket Leather jacket AMAZING?!! I've been searching for an affordable black leather jacket with a beautiful waterfall or asymmetric hem for MONTHS now and this is basically my holy grail.

2) I'm also lusting over these awesome Rag & Bone Harrow Booties. I can only seem to find them in stock in black...but they're crazy good and I can basically imagine wearing them with my entire wardrobe.

3) I'm usually one to stick to a really neutral color palette for my basics (and I personally count a good leather work bag as a basic) buuuut I'd make an exception in this case.  This bag alone is why I curse having a winter birthday....there's no way to sucker someone else into getting this for me! :( This Jade Green Twist Lock Holdall Bag is from a really cute shop I just discovered, Chicwish.

4) I'm really digging stripes this summer and I'd love to add this Black/White Stripe Belted Pencil Skirt from Windsor to my closet. Only $23!

5) I think this Swan Cloud Skirt from Chicwish is a little crazy, but in the best possible way.  They show it with a chambray/denim shirt, but I think it'd be fun with concert tees or a slouchy grey tank too.

6) Speaking of crazy, these It's a Colorful Life pants from Modcloth are basically the definition of crazy-pants. I'd break allll of my normal fashion rules for these pants if not for the fact that all the reviews make them sound super tiny :(

7) Last but certainly not least, I've been lusting over black liquid/wet look/faux leather/whatever you call them leggings for eeeeeeevvvvver. These Black Liquid Leggings from Windsor seem to be the darling of fashion blogs, but I'm wondering if they would fit my badonk well enough? The model seems pretty tiny.....anyone? Or anyone had luck with other liquid leggings for the not-size-zero body?

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Urban Outfitters Pin to Win contest moodboard

So Urban Outfitters is doing a fun Pinterest challenge right now where you pin your favorite home items from UO to a board and they pick a winner! I was browsing their inventory and was surprised to find so many items I liked.  Unlike a lot of stores, it seemed that you could put together a room or home entirely from UO and it wouldn't look like it all came from the same big-box store.  So I decided to make a couple moodboards!

My inspiration for this home came from these fun anatomical posters.  Being that my real life takes place in a hospital (I'm a genetic counselor), I was inspired to create a Lady Scientist Lair.

I love how it looks like the skeletons are checking each other and the 'carpe fucking diem' poster out....like, look at me and my bad self, oh and all my guts and flowers and birds and muscles. Dyyyyaaaaamn.


I love the horoscope hand for taking off your jewelry at night.  The headboard is soooo prettty!

Lady Scientist enjoys collecting science-inspired memorabilia for her home (us science types always bring our work home with us, it's an illness). So here we've got this fun test tube vase set and a movie projection screen that gets put away when not in use to reveal this fun pull-down world map!

Other items that could've made it into these boards if I had the talent/time to do so:

This pendant is $64 worth of fabulousness, and I want it.

Lady Scientist ain't afraid to mix her metals, so she'd Represent with her initial (or mine, in this case...)

I've been eyeballing this adorable director's table for literally years with no good place to put it. One day it (or the cheaper versions at Target or  Bed Bath and Beyond) will be mine!

Did you know that Urban has a vintage section? That's where I found this Vintage Time Card Rack, which Lady Scientist would use to display the postcards she's picked up on each trip she takes (I'm stealing this idea....)



(Ok I'm tired of linking stuff up.  Sources can all be found at my Urban Outfitters Pinterest board)


I want this terrarium bad....


 But not as bad as I want THIS guy!
He's a Hippo. Holding Toothpaste. I find him hilarious and may or may not be purchasing him in the very near future.

How about you guys? Spotted any great finds at Urban Outfitters recently?



Friday 20 July 2012

Exciting news! Exciting purchases! Why I'm poor!

Hello friends, How are you this lovely Friday? I left work early to work from home and am playing hooky posting right now, shhhhhhh :) Thanks to those of you that offered opinions on my narcissistic post regarding my haircut...I did end up chopping it and am still figuring out how to style it, I'll maybe post a pic soon :)

The big news of this week is my first big-girl purchase:

The Chloe sofa by Macys, which I've been eyeing up for over a year, has always alluded me because I can't force myself/could never afford the $800 price tag. Lucky for me, this little lady showed up on Salt Lake's local classifieds!

So now I'm the proud owner of this beaut:


Only $300 and she's practically new! So excited :)

One surprise I had was that the 'granite' color shown online is much more brown than it appears on the site. I brought the cushion home to compare it to the current nasty brown futon action currently holding fort where my prettiness will go...


But I still like it! I've been madly planning the rest of the room design because, oh yeah, did I tell my other exciting news? I'm moving in with the love o' my life!

The not-so-exciting-yet-terribly-exciting news?

THIS: 


...is what I'm dealing with. The bf's home just so happened to recently suffer flood damage from a backed-up graywater pipe....so we're taking advantage of his home insurance to upgrade the lower level of the house (doing lots of DIY projects to stretch out the insurance money, and I get to play decorator! :)


The above image was actually taken months ago...we've come a LONG way since then, so my apologies for not posting updates! The good news is that you'll get more instant gratification via before/during/after shots this way, rather than the tortuously slow process I've been enduring lately :)


Oh and here's what the bedroom situation used to look like....


It's still a major work in progress, but I can't wait to show you what it looks like now!

Thursday 12 July 2012

It's been a MINUTE!

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase "it's been a minute" when referencing something they haven't seen/done in a while? Absolutely doesn't make sense.  "It's been forever," yes. "minute," no. 60 seconds is not a long time in my book. Unless you're running a 400 meter dash.  in which case, friend, you better find a new sport.

ANYWAY, my apologies for neglecting you, my personal life has been crazy busy, blah blah blah. On to the good stuff!

Since starting my new job I've realized that the old 'roll into (work, school, dates) with wet hair and a layer of mascara' thing won't cut it anymore.  I'm a really low-mantainence person (get ready in 35 minutes including shower and picking out an outfit), so I've been on the hunt for products that get the job done quick and easy.  I thought I'd review some of my favorites!

(Note: super ghetto pictures to follow. I'm on my lunch break and only have a cell phone...)

First up, Cover Girl Natureluxe Gloss Balms. These are amazing.  As someone slowing creeping into the lipstick world, I love these because they impart more color than a chapstick or gloss, but don't have that thick lipstick-y feeling or taste. Just the right amount of color, and I find them very moisturizing.

These are not mine--I couldn't get a product picture?!

The downside is that, as a balm and not a lipstick or stain, you have to reapply more frequently than other products. But I don't mind since, like I said, I use it kind of like a chapstick. I have two: peony and pinot. Pinot is a gorgeous deep red/dark berry color, and Peony, although it looks bright, intimidating red in the tube, looks more like a brighter red berry (blue undertones), which I actually love.

If you're not the type to want to reapply, here's my other favorite product for your perusal: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain. It's a stain, with a balm! Duh. I love these because the color really does last forever and the balm is nice, although it wears off right away.



These are the product images...I don't think the colors are very accurately depicted, so here's my ghetto shot from my desk:

Top to bottom: Revlon Honey, Revlon Smitten, Covergirl Pinot, Covergirl Peony


The Honey is marketed as a "my lips but better' color, which I don't really agree with.  And now I come to the downside of the product: at first Honey is a MLBB color (if your skin tans easily--for my pale, pink-toned skin it was a little too mauve/brown at first). Then, once the balm wears off, it turns into a really very pretty pink color, which is noticeable not subtle. It's still really pretty, so it's not a problem for me as long as that's what color I planned to wear.  If you're looking for a natural color, this isn't it.  As for the Smitten color, it's BRight! Bright pink.  Starts as a lovely berry color, then once the balm wears off it's a fuschia (how the eff do you spell fuisha?!) more or less. So the downside of these sticks is that the balm color is different from the stain color--stain is still pretty, just something to be aware of.  I look forward to them expanding their color selection, too.

(Tip I just discovered that everyone probably already knows: Rite Aid and CVS both have 100% guaranteed returns on makeup. So I've been bringing things home to try and if they're hideous/I will never ever wear them I return them and try another.)

Next up, mascara.  I've never really understood the hullabaloo over different types of mascara. They all seem to work the same for me. I like Almay products, so when I ran out of my regular kind (the One Coat Nourishing type), I just grabbed the first Almay mascara I found, which was this:


And HOLY LORD now I get it.  Almay Get Up and Grow is amaaazing, makes my lashes look thicker and longer.  At the end of the day it does smudge a little, but all my mascaras do so I don't care.

And last but not least, with the crazy-hot weather assaulting Salt Lake City lately, my hair has gotten sooooo dry!

I did a little internet digging for hair help, and discovered this gem:


I found it in the 'ethnic hair' section of my local Rite Aid, and was initially worried that it wouldn't be good for my non-African hair (sorry if that's really naive--I didn't know!), but after reading a few reviews I gave it a whirl.  I put it on the ends of my hair and immediately noticed a difference.  The next morning after my shower I put a little pool in my palm and ran it through my damp hair then styled as usual.  It was a bit softer, but not crazily so.  Then last night I put it in my dry hair (I put too much in, made it look oily which if used properly it shouldn't), and this morning after my shower I didn't put any in (because I was worried that the greasy look would come back) and holy goodness my hair has never been so soft. Seriously. Wonder drug, and only $8!

My last trick has been using this:

My Supercuts stylist (who I go to for just trims--I have a fantastic girl, Alison at Bladeworks, when I'm getting an actual hairstyle rather than a trim) recommended biotin or prenatals for hair growth and strength. Since my hair's been growing soooooo slowwwwwwly I gave it a whirl.  I'm not sure if it's working--I started using the argan oil a few days after I started taking biotin and noticed more of a difference after the oil--but maybe it's the magical combo of both that's doing me good?


Anyway, these are things I've used and loved.  What are your favorite products? Are you a low-mantainence person (read: somewhat lazy about makeup routine and sleeps in till the last possible minute) too, or are you one of those people I strive to be who are fantastic at making lots of makeup look completely natural (and HOW do you DO it?!?!)


OH and your input plllleeeeease! 2 Augusts ago I did this to myself:

Chopped off basically all my hair so I could donate it and subsequently had personal image issues for a good two months (sad but true--although I met my now-boyfriend the day I chopped it off, so it couldn't have been as awful as I felt it looked ;). I've been growing it out ever since and have finally reached this status:

(why yes, yes I did take this in the bathroom at work.  Funny you should ask.  What's that you say? Did I feel like a big creeper and do I now feel extremely narcissistic for posting this? Right again! Is it a terrible photo that probably should never reach the internets? Yesssssss)

So Here's the deal.  I am TIRED of trying to grow this shiz out. Then I (and everyone else and their mother) saw this on Pinterest the other day....and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it. Haircut today at five.  So I need YOU, lovely readers, to tell me if you think it's a good idea!


Your thoughts?!?!