Interview with Charlie Cooper from Birchbox

For my seminar class one part of our final is to interview someone in the field you would like to soon join who works outside of the university. It took me awhile to figure out who I wanted to interview because I wasn't very familiar with many graphic designers. About a week after being assigned the project I received my birchbox in the mail, and thats when I got the idea of interviewing a graphic designer from birchbox! I emailed birchbox's customer support asking if I could have an email of one of their graphic designers, they kindly responded and said that they weren't allowed to hand their emails out which I completely understood. They told me to check out linkedin to look at some of their employees pages. The first name I saw on the linkedin page was Charlie Cooper, I saw that her title changed from graphic designer to graphic designer and creative producer. I knew she was going to be the right person to interview. After doing some research I was able to email her. It was extremely kind of her to respond as quickly as she did because I emailed her right after hurricane Sandy hit the east coast and so I knew birchbox was probably going through a lot. After reading some of her responses I was inspired by her drive. I was hoping it would do the same to my followers so I hope that you guys will be as inspired as I was. I am only going to use a few of the question from the interview questions.

Would you share with me what were some of your initial experiences with art?

I was always creative as a kid. I had a wild imagination and my first connection with "art" was probably disney movies. When I was 8 years old, I told everyone I was gong to be an animator for disney. It wasn't until I was older that I started to discover what real art was.

When did you decide to be an artist, and how did you know?

My path in art was a bit odd. I went to a private school with a very small budget allotted for the art department. My art education was very minimal. When I was 13 I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer and that i had to go to FIT to make that happen. At 17 I worked for Steve Madden and discovered that there was something called Visual Merchandising. I went to FIT for Display and Exhibition Design and from there I stumbled into Graphic Design. Because of this, I have no drawing abilities (which luckily has not hindered me haha). I never took traditional drawing or painting classes, my passion for art always came from a more product driven direction. 

What was the most important thing you learned in school?

Honestly school taught me a lot of technical things but I learned more outside of school. I took two years off between FIT and Parsons to figure out what I wanted. When I was at FIT I just wanted to get through my program, I didn't understand what was really important. When I got to Parsons I knew exactly what I wanted or at least I thought I did. I wanted to work for a magazine, that was my whole focus during college. I made sure I took the appropriate internships, and built relationships w/ my professors that would last after I graduated. The most important part of college is networking.

Do you have mentors or other working artists who influence you today?

I work with some amazing people. If you take a look at our site, we recently launched two new projects, our holiday tab and our home tab. I am really proud of these projects because we all inspired each other and were able to come together to make something really amazing. When you work at a startup you often do not have the resources that you would normally have at a big company and every day i am amazed by what we are able to accomplish.

I also keep in touch with one of the girls I interned for at Seventeen magazine, and some of the interns that worked there. They helped review my resume and portfolio after I had graduated and gave me great insight into what people look for when I was hunting for a job.

Were there any gatekeepers in the art world for you, people who either let you

in or barred the way as you were coming through?

In my last semester of school I went to something called Advertising Week here in NYC. It's kind've like Fashion Week but for the advertising world. During one of the panels Robin Domeniconi the SVP for Elle magazine (her name used to be at the very top of the credits in Elle) gave a very compelling talk about the future of digital vs. print in todays world. After the panel I built up as much courage as I could find to go speak to her. I didn't know what to say but I knew I had to say something. i introduced my self and Robin was so impressed that I had the guts to come up and introduce my self, she invited me to come meet with her at Elle. She introduced me to a lot of people and made me realize that I could be her some day if I tried really hard. It was a very "magical" moment for me (as cheesy as that may sound).

Is there any professional organization that you joined that you found particularly

helpful to your career?

I never joined anything specific but i loved hunting for jobs on mediabistro.com and i also utlized ed2012.com during college.

What are you own criteria for success as an artist?

Never stop learning. I am always trying to make my self better and explore new areas in design. When you stop challenging your self, that is when you will go stale and no longer have forward momentum. 

What advice would you give someone who wanted to be an artist today, as

opposed to when you started?

I only started 2 years ago but my advice is do not limit your self. I was determined to work at a magazine but that is not where I found success. Keep your options open, be willing to explore the newest things in the industry. And never under estimate the age old technique of networking, the people you meet in the industry can be so valuable to your future.

[picture of charlie via birchbox]

Hello December

i'm so in love with everything about the month december. not is it only my birthday month but i get a break from school which is very necessary at this moment. next week is basically my finals week, since i'm an art major everything is due a week before finals week so teachers can grade our work and give it back. i have spent the past 2 days non-stop working on painting and such. I just need to get past this week and then i will be going up to iup to visit my friends for my 21st birthday weekend! seeing that it is the first of december means the abc 25 days of christmas starts and tonight they had elf on! one of my favorite movies so i was able to be in christmas spirit while working on my project. another thing i'm excited for this month is obviously christmas, not just for the presents, but my cousin who lives in germany will be spending christmas with us which also means all of the family will be spending christmas with us. speaking of christmas i have been trying to create my christmas list but i have been having a horrible time looking at things online, i don't seem to be finding anything i want! i'm in the need for oversized sweaters, cardigans, and scarves. hopefully i get something along those lines, but i'm still excited to be with my friends and family so so so soon. so to you december, i welcome you with open arms.

November Birchbox - Giving

I have been so busy lately with school and finals I have barely been able to update. I got this months birchbox a little late because of hurricane sandy, but like the says is better late than never. It actually came to my apartment around the 21st while i was away on break so when i came back i had a goodie waiting for me! this months birchbox theme was giving thanks, which was appropriate for this month. as always I watched the sneak peak of the box on youtube and nothing really stood out to me that i must have, i was really interested in the mox lip butter and the stila liquid luminizer (neither was in my box but no biggy). either way when i got my box i was excited to see what i got. this months box weight .5720 and contained

• curly hair solutions curl keeper
• j.r. watkins hand and cuticle salve
• modelco shine ultra lip gloss
• sumita contrast eye pencil
• chuao chocolatier honeycomb chocopod (lifestyle extra)

instead of a little tissue packet it came with a purple gift container that you can reuse for a friend! I loved on that back that you could check off because… “you’re the cats pajamas” it also came with a holiday gift guide book, i’m loving these books the box come with they are always so cute and festive. also came with a chromaticgalllerie $15 off coupon for me and a friend. other than that i wasn’t ecstatic about the products but i didnt hate them, which is always a good thing. the curly hair solution is alright, i’m pretty sure i got something like this before. i don’t like to use a lot of products in my hair so i’m not sure if i will use this or not. the hand and cuticle salve is actually something i will use, despite the horrible smell of lavender (really hate that scent). the modelco lip gloss is something i will actually use as well, its a pretty color for the holidays and i love that the packaging come with a little mirror. now for the sumita contrast eye pencil, its green… like a neon green. i will probably never use it. i don’t see a use for it at any time… i wish it came in either black or brown because i totally needed a new eye liner. the life style extra was cute, i was interested in other flavors but mine was alright. i like honey but it was in dark chocolate and i’m not a huge fan of chocolate in the first place but i really could see people liking these. overall this box wasn’t bad. i’m going to stick with birchbox, i really just love getting little packages in the mail each month i dont think i can really give it up. still waiting on that beauty blender though haha! 

if you want to get a birchbox of your own click the link here. it will help you skip the waiting list!

ULTA Haul

[polish color left to right: golden eye, the spy who loved me, the world is not enough, live and let die]

I went to ulta the other day with the intentions of buying this mini skyfall collection from opi. I have seen a couple people with this mini collection and once i saw what colors were in it i knew i had to get it asap. the mini collection has almost every color i wanted from the whole collection. the main colors i wanted from the collection was the world is not enough, on her majesties secret service, live and let die, and golden eye. this mini collection had 3 out of the 4 colors i wanted, i was just going to get on her majesties secret service in a full size... well they didn't have that color. but i know i will be going back to ulta soon and check to see if they have that color back in stock.

[polish color left to right: who's the boss, bobbing for baubles]

while browsing the rest of the nail polish section i checked out their essie section and saw they had essies bobbing for baubles! i have pinned this color on pinterest multiple times and knew i needed it. also i found the other color whos the boss just sitting within the essie winter collection, i have also pinned this color multiple times! when looking for this color in almost every store and they never had it so i googled it and it was from the wedding collection that wasnt in stores anymore! i think my ulta just stuck every extra nail polish from the back in the nail section so people would hopefully buy it on black friday because i have never seen that many nail polishes on display there in my life. but it worked and they had the 2 colors i have been looking for for a long time! i realized i left ulta with all nail polishes, i used to never wear nail polishes but i think i'm becoming a nail polish-aholic. its getting dangerous. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful to have such amazing followers. I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving filled with friends, family, and lots of food! 

Essie Winter Collection

[polish color from left to right: butler please, beyond cozy, where’s my chauffeur]

i went to target in the city the other weekend and finally saw the essie winter collection. the collection hasnt made it to my target yet and these were my favorite of the collection. the glitter color, beyond cozy, has been on my nails since i bought this color. i use it as my “accent” nail. and seriously obsessed with it, its not a silver and its not a gold its in-between! i feel like i’m going to need to pick up another bottle because i feel like i will for sure be finishing this bottle of polish! 

i feel like i have been going nail polish happy lately because i just went to ulta and bough the small pack of the 007 opi collection and then two more polishes from essie, which i will probably haul soon.

Hidden Cage-Back

[charlotte russe cage-back chiffon blouse, under armour cold gear frosty compression tights, olsenboye rovee tall boots, urban outfitters tiny peace sign necklace]

I went shopping the other day with my mom at the outlets and found some awesome clothes. of course since my birthday and christmas is coming so soon she said i'm not allowed to have the clothes until they are given as a gift. but i just couldn't help myself and had to sneak this jade/teal colored shirt for the day, just look at the back how could you not want to wear this asap! see through chiffon shirts like this are definitely my favorite shirts to wear, they are all i wore over the summer. i'm glad i was able to find a long sleeve chiffon shirt. i went for an understated look today because during cold day i like to be comfortable so a simple necklace and small earrings is all i need.

A Little Birthday Wish List

my 21st birthday is in 19 days and 10 hours but who's counting? of course friends and family have been asking me what i want for my birthday, even though i know most of my present will be alcohol. when asked i really have no idea what i want so last when i did some late night online window shopping, these were some of the goodies that caught my eye

1. urban renewal vintage french combat jacket: the whole military jacket is coming in style and i just love the military green color, i also really need a new jacket
2. cooperative boucle eternity scarf: i am really into infinity scarfs lately and i am in some desperate need of new scarfs for the winter season
3. sigma f82 round kabuki & e25 blending brush: i have had my eyes on the f82 for awhile and i have a mini e25 but would love more
4. marc by marc jacobs enamel logo disc earrings: always had my eyes on these, they are so classic looking. also love marc jacobs
5. wacom bamboo splash tablet: i want one of these that i can use in photoshop and in my graphics class next semester 
6. knitted stud rib cardigan: anything with studs is kind of a must for me
7. purity face cleanser: i am running low on this stuff, i love using this face cleanser when i use my clarisonic 

Happy Halloween

wishing you all a fun and safe halloween! what were you for halloween?

picture screen capped from treated

October Birchbox - Transformation

i have had this post saved in my drafts for weeks now because i really just wont want to post this because i am so upset. first i heard this month as 2 different box’s you could choose from, one was a transformation box and the other was a teamed up box with goop. I obviously wanted the goop box so i waited and waited for my email asking me what box i wanted. i got no such email, so around the first week of october i emailed them and asked why i didnt get this email and that i would like the goop box. their response? i unsubscribed to their emails blah blah blah. yes i unsubscribed from the emails where they are trying to get me to shop in the store every single day and saying they had a new product in the store, those get annoying and flood my email every day. emails that have to do with the box should be separate and everyone should get those whether they have unsubscribed or not. needless to say i didnt get the goop box. i get my email that my box has shipped and there was no tracking number. finally get my box and the theme was transformation, the card says they ”picked samples that you can use to shake up your routine” i was unsure of how i felt about what was going to be there when i opened my box

in the box was:

• Ouidad Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel

• theBalm cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer

• Lucy B Cosmetics Roll On Perfume Oil Duo

• Vitivia Vitamin capsules

• LUNA Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar

well i was right, not excited or happy about most of the products. the ouidad climate control heat & humidity gel, ok yeah i guess i can use it… in the summer seeing it fall/winter now there is no heat or humidity going on with my hair. I was exited to theBalm Mary-Lou Manzier. I have been using it since i got the box. its a highlighter that can be used as an eyeshadow as well. i don’t usually like to use high lighter because my face is oily so i don’t want to bring anymore shine to my face. but i like to use it as a highlight on my inner corner and my cupids bow. i used it on my sister for her homecoming make up and it looked really good on her skin type. oh look another perfume same, i’m so so so sick of these! i’m super picky with my perfumes and these do not smell good. and don’t let the name fool you, the samples are not roll on nor are they a spray. as for the vitivia vitamin capsules, i’m not going to take any vitamin or medicine capsules that aren’t prescribed by my doctor or if my doctor says i should take vitamins with more vitamin a or whatever. so i wont take these. finally as a lifestyle extra another luna bar these are whatever i eat them right when i open the box because i’m usually hungry haha. the box also comes with a card with how to you makeup and such.  overall not happy at all with this box. i seem to be getting worse and worse boxs as the months go on. i’m just waiting until i get a beauty blender ;) i was hoping this month would come with some cool beauty products you could use for halloween! maybe some colored eyeliner, eyelashes, fun colored lip products, texturing hair gel or something. this is not what i was expecting for the month of octorber. lets hope next month is better. how did you like your box? 

if you want to get a birchbox of your own click the link here. it will help you skip the waiting list!

It's That Time of Year Again...

It's homecoming season! I'm no longer in high school but my younger sister is, she's a junior. This year she went with one of her friends, who happens to be the quarter back of the football team. Cheerleader and quarter back football player going to homecoming together, typical I know. He is super sweet and I love him and his family to death, they actually went together freshman year as well so this was nothing new to them. So as always I came home from school to do Kristen's make up and her friends hair... and actually ended up doing my sisters hair as well, but thats a different story. Kristen finally wore her own dress, she has borrowed someones dress at the last minute for the past 2 years and I never really liked the dress. This year was different she finally found a dress she loved, and it was red she has been dying for a red dress, and I actually approved of it. She decided to get her hair done by someone this year, i usually do her hair and i get so frustrated because her hair is so pin straight its impossible to hold a curl! So I definitely didn't mind when she told me she was getting it done. So while she went to get her hair and nails done her friend came over and I did her hair, she just wanted curls and a braid lauren conrad -esque. Kristen came home from her appointments right was I was finishing her friends hair... her hair was a hot mess. It just did not look good and most of the curls had fallen and was straight again. I quickly did her make up (and mine too) she got dressed and I started fixing her hair. Her date showed up 10-ish minutes early so he sat with us while I finished her hair. Then off to his house for pictures. We got pictures of just them before everyone arrived for group pictures and they looked adorable together, they are one of those people who just photograph well. My sister is on crutches because she sprained her ankle on thursday during cheer practice and it turned out that her date was in a splint from the homecoming game yesterday. They obviously didn't wear any of it for the pictures but I insisted on getting a "crip pic" where she was on crutches and he was in his splint. Once everyone arrived we did group pictures which as always were crazy because they had 38 people in their group and all the parents were there and they all believe that they are photographers so it was just a mess. I usually dont take group pictures since their group is so large you cant see anyone anyways so thats where i do close ups of my sister and her friends that I know. After group pictures everyone was doing individual pictures with their friends and I was lucky enough to snap one of Kristen and her friends, they all looked stunning! The dress colors everyone chose was just amazing, they always look so good and I wish I had amazing dresses when I went to homecoming! I didn't have a sense of style when I went to my freshman year homecoming so I looked like a disaster! I only went to my freshman and senior year homecoming and my senior prom, so I don't have many pictures of me all dressed up and one of the years I look crazy. Luckily my senior year I knew a little more and actually knew how to properly dress myself. Once they left for dinner my sisters dates mom had everyone inside for some food and drinks. I had some food and came directly home to edit the pictures. They turned out amazing and my sister and her date couldn't have looked better.

Wardrobe Essentials Via Lauren Conrad Style

When I go shopping I usually shop for the classic wardrobe essentials. When reading Lauren Conrads Style book I came across the chapter of her wardrobe essentials so i thought i would share! these are some of her wardrobe essentials, I threw a few things of my own essentials in there.

The Emmy Awards 2012 Best Dressed & Honorable Mentions

the emmy awards were the other night and i didnt watch the whole award show but i did make sure to watch the red carpet! i was blown out of the water with the red carpet fashion! everyone looked so amazing which is why this time i wont have a worst dressed because mostly everyone looked stunning. i had such a hard time deciding who was going to be on best dressed and who was going to be on the honorable mention list. so in no order lets get started with best dressed.

best dressed is in no particular order because i feel like that would be impossible for me. kelly osbourne looked stunning in her one shoulder lilac dress by zac posen. paired with a vampy red lip and her purple hair. she left her accessories to a minimum seeing as her hair and stunning dress are accessories enough. sofia vergara looked stunning in a form fitting zuhair murad teal gown. apparently she had a wardrobe malfunction during the award show with her zipper breaking exposing her nude thong and butt that i’m pretty sure she tweeted. either way it was fixed and she still looked amazing as always. heidi klum looked like she was glowing in this seafoam blue alexandre vauthier dress. she was all about that color that night, which seemed to be a trend of various blues on the red carpet. hayden panettiere wore a metallic blue marchesa dress, once again keeping with the blue trend on the carpet. i love the dress one her even though it may have been a little to mature for her age she was able to pull it off! zooey deschanel wore a light blue reem acra dress. it reminded me of a fairy! it looks so light and perfect, i also loved the neckline on her. finally julie bowen wore a neon yellow, another popular color of the night, monique lhuillier dress. there was a lot of yellow on the red carpet but i think she was the one who pulled it off best. plus the hair and make up was amazing and everything worked out flawlessly. 

like i said earlier, there were so many amazing dresses i couldn’t not show them off so i had to do an honorable mention section instead of worst dress. to start off emily vancamp wore a grey j. mandel dress. it didn’t picture as well as it did over the tv, but none the less she looked stunning. if you cant see in the picture you need to google this, she wore a breath taking bow bracelet and crystal clutch. kat dennings wore a scarlet j. mandel dress (look another mandel dress on my honorable mention list). although i thought the bust was a little to small the dress just hugged her in all the right way and synched her at the waist, she has one of the best figures out in hollywood. the matching red lip was a nice touch too. nicole kidman wore a white antonio berardi dress with blue sparkly details. the dress silhouette was so simple but stunning and made her look like a statue. sarah hyland wore a grey/silver marcesa dress that she actually helped co-design! i loved the hair style she wore with the dress to show off the beautiful flower appliques. julianne hough wore a beautiful strapless white and aqua-green dress embellished with swarovski crystals by georges hobeika. was teetering between my best dress list because the dress looked ah-maze-ing on her, the one thing that got me was the hair. i hated the hair, she has such beautiful hair i don’t know why she decided to wear it like this. none the less she deserved to be on the honorable mention list. finally we have giuliana rancic in a black romona keveza dress. i do wish she chose another color than black but the shape of the dress was so amazing i could look past the color. 

over all these were the best dressed people i saw all night and i was throughly pleased by the dress choices made my a lot of these women! there were still so many more people i would like to list but just didn’t make the cut. what do you think of the fashion that night, is there someone you think i missed?

September Birchbox - The September Issue

this months birchbox theme was "the september issue". i'm guessing they are going off of the big start of this seasons fashion. to be honest i feel like they had no idea what to do for this month because there is really no over all theme i saw. I watched the september box teaser and i didnt see anything i was dying for. They introduced a custom Color Club nail polish line inspired by Fall 2012 collections. The names had to do with social media which was really cute. I was hoping for the cobalt blue color called insta-this, i may just purchase this online. since the theme was the september issue it came with a little fall lookbook with ten fall trends. i really enjoyed this little magazine they added in this months birch box, i kind of hope they continue with this magazine. it also came with a little "gift card" to madewell for $25 with a purchase of $75 or more. i just became aware of madewell through fashionably broke so i'm excited to have a gift card. according to my tracking information my box weighted .6300 lbs. I loved this months teal tissue paper its one of my favorite colors so i was super excited to see it when i opened the box!

in the box was:

• benefit cosmetics foamingly clean facial wash + refined finish facial polish
• color club birchbox custom polish
• nexxus pro-mend split end treatment system
• twistband birchbox custom lace hair tie
• youngblood mineral primer
• mightly leaf tea company teas as my lifestyle extra

once again didn't hate my box but i didn't love it. i love all of the benefit cosmetics products i own and i didn't know/haven't used any of their face products yet. there isn't much in the sample so i don't think i will ever really know if i like it or not, with things like this i feel like you need to use it a couple times before knowing if it works and or breaks out your skin. like i said before i wanted to cobalt blue nail polish color but i guess a dark gray is going to be good for fall and winter. i got the color "status uptade" i'm assuming they wanted status update but had a little mix up at the printer! i know everyone messes up every once and awhile but i had a great laugh. i haven't used any of the nexxus hair products but i haven't heard anything bad about them and my hair is ridiculously damaged because of the amount of times i have ombred my hair, so might as well try it. i have only received one other twistband in another birchbox and really liked it minus the fact its a horrible color so i don't wear it often. i like that it somewhat looks like lace i just don't understand why they don't make it black and white but i like the color better than the other one i had! i have never heard of the brand youngblood and i don't really use a primer but never hurts to try. and the packaging of the product is really cute and dispenses the product so well. for my lifestyle extra i got a couple of teas, i don't really drink tea but i will be willing to try. maybe i will try them when i'm really sick one day.  

like i said before this box isn't amazing but isn't horrible. all i'm happy about is i didn't get a perfume sample thats a huge plus!! i don't understand why they didn't put a madewell "gift card" on the product list but i don't hate it! i will definitely look onto the website and see if i find anything special! i saw in the sneak peak video they had the brush guard which i have heard a lot of good things about so i was somewhat hoping i got that, but they are only $5 so its not a huge deal. how did you guys like your box? 

if you want to get a birchbox of your own click the link here. it will help you skip the waiting list!

Lorac Pro Palette Review

the past couple weeks i have had my eye on the lorac pro palette. i knew i wasnt sure if i wanted it because i have the naked and naked 2 palette so why would i want another neutral palette? and i also have my build your own mac palette which is pretty much all neutrals. i was looking at swatches and they all looked stunning and its was just the perfect palette for on the go, it has matte and shimmer colors. so as of last night i decided to get it seeing i have a gift card to ULTA. 

the palette is $42 and recently launched for the lorac fall collection with 16 different shades of eyeshadow, 8 matte and 8 shimmer, it also includes a mini behind the scenes eye shadow primer. the palette itself is super skinny and has a large mirror which is great. its built like the naked palette in the sense that it uses a magnet to close. the finish of the palette is somewhat like the nars compacts, which i love its super sleek and classy looking. i did some research and the eyeshadow wells trick you, they look like your getting a fair amount of eyeshadow but in reality you are getting .02 oz. a mac eyeshadow is normally .05 as well as the eyeshadows in the naked and naked 2 palettes. i loved the way they set up the palette that one row is shimmer and one row is matte. the shadows in this palette don’t have outrageous names, they are simply named as their color. out of all the shadows pewter has to be my favorite shadow in the whole palette! perfect for fall. the shadows itself are very buttery and soft and silky. in some palettes you get some shades that are total hits and others are total misses but in this case you get a palette full of amazing formulas. 

Video Music Awards 2012 Best & Worst Dressed

as you are all aware the mtv video music awards was on two nights ago and like many people i was watching. as always i was excited for the red carpet but sadly i missed the pre-show because i went out to dinner. i was able to watch the vma’s though and see the fashion on the show and i was not very impressed. i usually have at least 6 best dressed but i had a hard time to even get 5. there was no one who wowed me, but i put together 5 people together who did look good!

last night was miley’s first night out rocking her new hair cut to an appearance. she looked really good! at first i didn’t like her hair because it wasn’t styled right, i knew if she styled it in a mohawk style it would look better! also can i add how amazing the dress looked, i loved the deep plundge in the front and the see-through slits throughout the dress. she was probably one of the best dressed people there. demi performed at the pre-show, which i’m real upset i missed because shes one of my favorite people ever, and she looked stunning! she rocked a simple sequin mini and added a rocker leather jacket with studs. i also heard her dress was from topshop! zoe saldana looked really cute as well, her dress and hair seemed very effortless and cute. who really knows why she was there but girl, if your there and not in a music and look better than most people there you go girl. i think this has to be one of the most scandalous outfit i have ever seen tswift wear and i love it! i love that she wore a suit with a deep plunge, finally this girl is growing up. my final best dressed was katy perry, i’m not 100% sold on the dress but i love the silhouette on her! she looked so look and just fresh i loved it, and i think i heard her dress was done by elie saab who is my favorite designer! 

now for the worst dressed, this was a lot easier for me because some people looked like a hot mess. first off jessica szohr looked ridiculous and i don’t understand what she was thinking. she was on fashion police the next day and i don’t understand why would you look like that knowing you are going to get ripped apart! nicki minaj wasn’t the worst out of the bunch but i just want a huge fan of what she wore… i could see her doing better. the next one hurts me to say this but emma watson and ezra miller did not look good! i think i have seen emma wear something like this before and it looked better but the mixing prints here just didn’t work and ezra miller just looked like a train wreck! like what is on that suit?! and why pick that hideous color?! next was ke$ha, luckily it looked like she showered and was more tamed than normal i just dont think that dress did anything for her figure, maybe if it was tailored better it would look better because its not to horrible! finally rita ora, looks like she had sex with a disco ball! i have seen her look so much better, thats why i was a little disappointed! 

overall i was not very excited about the fashion at the VMA’s, i always expect so much and get so little in return. 

Maybelline "Olive Martini" Eyeshadow Quad Fall 2012 Collection

it would be an understatement to say that i have fallen in love with the new maybelline “scene on the runway” fall 2012 collection! i now own 2 out of 4 of the color tattoo’s, 2 out of 4 of the eyeshadow quads, and one of the lipsticks and have my eye on some/most of the nail polishes. my recent adventure was for this quad, the maybelline olive martini eyeshadow quad. 

i went to 2 CVS’s and a rite aid to try to find this eye shadow. finally a day after my first adventure i went back to my closest CVS and saw them assembling the display for the collection and knew if i went back today they would have everything, and i was right they did. so i picked up this eyeshadow to finally “complete” my full collection i wanted out of the collection. I was surprised they named this one olive martini because i see some green in it but i know the one called smokey cinnamon was more green or olive-y, if you will. 

this quad features a shimmery light nude, a frosty mint green, a frosty brown/green duo-chrome and a frosty red-brown. the shade that really drew me into this quad was the brown/green duo-chrome color. I read some blogs saying that this is a cheap dupe for MAC’s Club eyeshadow. I also was really attracted to the light mint green color, i could see myself possibly using this on the inner corner for a nice pop of color. 

over all the texture and pigmentation on these are great! they blend very easily and wear quite nicely. I picked up this quad at my local CVS for $9.79, quite pricy if you ask me… but i think the quad is worth it given its quality of the products. these are limited edition so if you are thinking about getting some i suggest you start your search sooner rather than later.

August Birchbox - Beauty School

sorry this is so late, i have been super busy trying to get things ready to go back to school! i just now was able to take some pictures of the august birchbox. this months theme was beauty school! it seemed fitting seeing everyone is going back to school. birchbox also teamed up up with pencils of promise, they have a goal of making $25,000 to help build a school. the whole month of august they are donating 15% of the proceeds they make from the birchbox shop will go to pencils of promise. i know my post is really late and there are only a few weeks left in the month but if there is anything you need beauty wise it would be really awesome if you got it from the birchbox shop! when i heard this month was beauty school related i thought it was a total clever idea and that this months birchbox had to be good! i mean when you stop up for beauty school you usually get all the necessities! i was thinking maybe 4 or 5 essentials foundation, eyeshadow, mascara, lipgloss and maybe a dinky little brush or something! i got box 1 and the shipping says it weighed .6325 lbs. and that i got is not what i expected! the package the box came in was cute, it was yellow and i’m guessing was supposed to look like a ruler!

in this box was:

• beauty fixation makeup remover
• juicy couture viva la juicy la fleur
• miss jessie’s original quick curls
• pixi beauty lid last shadow pen
• “birchbox find” schick hydro silk razor

i didn’t hate my box but i didn’t love it! the beauty fixation makeup remover is kinda a joke… its like 3 q-tips with make up remover in it. i guess i can just stick it in my purse or backpack for those days where my makeup is running down my face? which is usually never. i can see how a makeup remover can be a beauty school essential so they were on the right track here. you all know how i feel about perfume samples… i hate them. every single birchbox i have had has come with a perfume sample and i’m sick of it! luckily this one is actually in a little spray bottle so i might actually use this one. but other than that perfume samples are free things i can ask for at sephora if i really want one! i was watching the eleventh gorgeous unboxing of their birchbox and i think it was tracy who said to only have perfume in a box when the season is changing which i think would be a brilliant idea! i don’t see why a perfume is a beauty school essential? the miss jessie’s original quick curls is something i can actually see myself using! it was a pretty decent sample size too! i have very curly hair and its supposed to help tame frizz.  i see how this can be a beauty school essential too because beauty school isnt all makeup you do learn about hair as well, so a hair product was a good choice! i actually really like the pixi beauty lid last shadow pen. its somewhat like the NYX jumbo eyeshadow pencil. my shadow pen came in the color shell sheen, its a champagne pink color that could be used as an inner corner or lid color/base. i’m glad they put and actual beauty product in the box. i guess the “birchbox find” is new and this month was a razor… don’t really see how thats a beauty essential… i was kinda hoping for an eyeshadow brush or something but you know what? you can never have enough razors! i like the schick brand, its the razor brand i use, so i didn’t really hate getting this. one the back it also came with a coupon for money off the next purchase of new razor heads for that razor! which can usually be really expensive so in the end i didnt hate getting the razor.  

overall i liked 3 out of the 5 things in my box, which isn’t bad! i really hope i don’t get another perfume sample in my next box or else i’m going to go insane! every perfume sample they have sent me i have hated because they are all floral sense which i hate! if you guys want to know more about some of the products in my box let me know i can do a review on them! did you guys like your box?

if you want to get a birchbox of your own click the link here. it will help you skip the waiting list!

Maybelline "Scene on the Runway" Color Tattoo Fall 2012 Collection

look what is finally in my possession! i have only been searching for these bad boys for the past 2 days! first off let me state the obvious by saying these are the new maybelline “scene on the runway” color tattoo collection for fall 2012. the whole collection is filled with earthy shades! which is right up my ally! I read online that as of right now people could only find them at rite aid. which is something i don’t really have around where i live, and the ones i do have aren’t that great! i went to all 3 of them running all around the world and no one had them! the one rite aid that i knew would have them was about 30 minutes away and i decided i would call instead of drive there… they weren’t much help they just said they ran out of them. which sounded like a bold face lie on the phone. so today i decided i would drive up there and look for myself! and wouldn’t you have guessed it… they have a full display of them!

i picked up the 2 colors i saw i wanted and went happily on my way! i picked up the colors gold shimmer and barely beige. I read that the maybelline products were 50% off which is why i wanted to get them now, but apparently there was no sale. but i got them anyways. each of them were $6.69 at my local rite aid.

gold shimmer is a deep honey gold and barely beige is a light shimmery nude. these colors are going to be perfect for fall! they have the same consistency as the other color tattoos, pigmented and longwearing. i love to use the color tattoos as a base like MAC paint pots but when i’m feeling extremely lazy its super easy to just run this all over the lid and it wont crease throughout the day.  

as you can see they come wrapped in plastic with the words limited edition on them. i’m super bummed these are only limited edition because i feel like the permanent collection doesn’t have a wide range of more natural colors. i assume this collection will be out for a couple of months but i suggest if you want some of these shades to pick them up sooner rather than later.

i was able to get a quick picture of the display to show you guys what to look out for! there are 4 new colors in this collection and they are re-promoting two, bad to the bronze and audacious asphalt. the two other colors in this collection that i didn’t get were mossy green and rich mahogany. i don’t tend to wear green even if it is such a dark green which is why i didn’t pick it up, also as of right now i don’t wear dark browns either but rich mahogany is a color that i may eventually pick up! and the two other colors, bad to the bronze and audacious asphalt are in the permanent collection and i already have the colors. apparently this collection is supposed to include eyeshadow palettes, blushes, and nail polish so be on the look out for more displays with those products. 

DIY: Chevron Wall Art

i have been crafting quite often for my apartment recently. i sit on pinterest just searching for the next piece of artwork i can make for my apartment! its becoming unhealthy how much i want to craft. I saw this chevron wall art on pinterest and i thought i had to do it! its super cute and super easy! i think it would look so cute if there were a ton of different colors in it also! i only chose to do 3 different colors because in my room in my apartment i only use turquoise and black and i added silver just for a little glitz effect! 

what you need: acrylic paint, painters tape, a paint brush (or multiple if you would like), and a canvas. 

1. take off your chevron lines. i used one inch painters tape and cut the tape 4 inches long. with my first 2 four inch pieces of tape i made a V shape. I then placed it on the canvas and repeat. 

2. i painted the turquoise and silver on the canvas. i let that sit for a day.

3. peel off the painters tape revealing the turquoise and silver chevron lines you made! make sure the paint is dry and then tape over the blue and silver chevron lines you painted the day before, pretty much just repeat step 1 and then paint the canvas your second color, in my case i used black. let the paint dry for one day.

4. peel off the tape and reveal your master piece! 

DIY: helloberry Inspired Bracelets

i feel like i have been completely M.I.A. on this blog lately, i’m on it all the time but i never post anything! i have been keeping busy with work and when i’m not working i’m at the beach but lately it has been super gloomy outside! it went from being 100 degrees to raining and overcast for the past 3 days, and of course i have those days off. but i have been keeping busy with some DIY projects! i have been mainly focusing my attention on these bracelets but i do intend on starting a painting that i will post once i start it! but i have made a bunch of these bracelets and a lot of people have been seeming to like them that i decided i’m going to start selling them! i have already made 5-7 different orders! i also learned how to do 2 different colors in one bracelet (as seen on my instagram @bhouhoulis) i’m only selling these for about $5 right now because i don’t think they should be worth anything over $10-$15! if you are interested in buying one let me know i will definitely make one for you! i may set up and etsy shop but right now i don’t think its a huge deal to the point where i need to set up a shop! if you’re interested just leave a comment on here and we can get in touch over email and i can make it for you that day! :)