Out With The Old In With The New

fall is coming (even though it feels nothing like it) which means its time to switch out my wardrobe. out with the old in with the new! I am selling 25+ items of my wardrobe to friends and whatever is left to plato's closet. seeing as i'm pretty much selling everything its time to restock my closet. so for the past week i have browsing forever 21 online and slowly but surely filling up a wish list. one i decided that my wish list was complete i moved everything to cart and in about 3-5 days i'll have some new pieces in my closet! I thought I would share with you some of the items I'll be rocking this fall

L to R: Cutout Craze Cardigan, Essential Cutout Top, Cozy Contrast Top, Pleated A-Line Shirt, Low-Key Contrast Tee, Tribal-Inspired Layered Top

After placing my order at forever 21 i was still in the shopping mood, so i opened up another tab to tobi. I dont shop here often because a lot of the clothes are super expensive but right when the page loaded i saw in big bold letters "50% off site wide". right then and there i thought i was going to have a heart attack! I knew i had to take full advantage of this sale. it was pretty much fate because it was the last day everything was 50% off so obviously i hopped right on it! I didnt buy much from here though because a lot of their site was still summer clothes and even though its freaking 90 degrees here i'm looking for more fall clothes.

L to R: Calling Dannielle Blouse, Marlene Twist Blouse, Wannabead Top

I want to throw it out there and say that without the 50% off promotion i would have had to pay $154 for just those three items, but i saved $91!! 

I cant wait for my new clothes to arrive! do any of you have any favorite clothing item for fall? mine is definitely oversized sweaters and cardigans

Tootles Summer

Going into my second week of classes I thought I would do a little goodbye post to summer. This summer has been one of the best summer yet. i was finally 21 which meant i was finally able to experience all the fun beach activities (aka seacrets) and i tried so many new things i was so proud of myself. Not many of my friends visited this summer but when they did visit it was crazy, beach all day, party... well all day as well. i went paddle boarding for the first time ever, standing up for me wasnt the hard part it was going against the current. I totally give so much credit to people who paddle board often because it certainly wasnt easy, but its an amazing work out. i also learned how to skurf! probably one of the highlights of the summer. the weather could have been better but that didnt stop us, storm? pshh beach volleyball in the rain! it was amazing to have all the goon kids together, summer is quite possibly the best bonding experience with them ever. who could forget fitting 8 people in car to go out in dewey for a night. i'm going to miss summers like this, it was my last summer living at the beach. next summer calls for a big girl internship/job. but you better believe that every weekend i'll be at the beach.

now i'm back at school and already in a funk, which is why i haven't posted lately. its only the second week of classes and i already had to pull an all nighter. my classes seem like classes i'm really going to enjoy so hopefully everything will get better soon. i'm hoping to get a website for my artwork up and running soon. maybe i'll post some things on here if i really like it. and if you havent guessed the "back to school series" has ended. those posts are a lot of work and as of right now i dont have time for it. sorry for the lack of posts i'm hoping to get back into the swing of things. i hope everything is going well with your back to school craziness!

Beauty Blender

To be honest, I wasnt even going to review this product because i didnt think it was even worth my time. but recently i picked it up and it changed my mind, well kinda. i'm going to go over the pros and cons of this product and tell you if its worth all the hype. 

how you use it:

1. run dry beauty blender under water

2. squeeze it a few times to evenly soak the beauty blender

3. squeeze dry

4. wrap in towel or tissue and squeeze again 

if you take proper care of your beauty blender it should last you about 6 months. you will know when its time to retire your beauty blender when it no longer dries to the normal size

how to properly use your beauty blender:

when using my blender i used the cover girl 3-in-1 foundation. I applied small dots of foundation over my face and then took the damp beauty blender and bounced/patted the beauty blender in circular motions. this allows the beauty blender to distribute the foundation evenly. 

time to be real, this took forever. i used the beauty blender for about a week and a half and just couldn't take it anymore. applying foundation is a timely process to begin with so this just made it take even longer! i'm not going to lie, this process made my face book flawless and smooth. but to do this even day was just getting annoying.

concealer & other products:

i recently picked up my beauty blender again and thought i would give it a second chance... but this time with my benefit porefessional. porefessional usually works best when it is patted into youre pores, so why not use the beauty blender for this step! i dont even know why i didnt think of this earlier because the appearance of my pores shrunk even more by properly applying this product with the beauty blender! it regained my hope in the beauty blender

next i figured why not try it with my concealer. my concealer has never looked better! i have super dark circles under my eyes and the beauty blender helps the concealer go on smooth and evenly to cover my dark circles and make the concealer look natural and not cakey. i have also noticed that my concealer has not creased since using the beauty blender. 

cleaning your beauty blender:

the brand beauty blender sells a pretty big size sponge cleaner from anywhere between $15-$20, which i have yet to buy because i feel like that is ridiculous. I have a brush cleaner that I use to clean my beauty blender. I have even heard that facial soap does the job. 

luckily i received a sample of the beauty blender cleanser in a birchbox awhile ago. which was used up after about 3-5 washes. you really should clean your beauty blender after every use because germs can collect in the sponge and ultimately be transferred to your face. i'm not going to lie here... aint nobody got time for that. I clean mine at the end of every week. 

overall thoughts:

if you haven't been able to tell, i have a love hate relationship with this product. do i regret buying it? no. do i neeeed this product? no. i will continue to use my beauty blender everyday for my concealer and primer and only use it for foundation when i have time to use it or for special events. the beauty blender to me has some pros and cons. one of my biggest cons is that it gets stained by foundation and concealer, i'm super OCD about things like that so this is a huge con for me. if you have money to blow and want to try it out go right ahead and get it. but if you dont have a ton of money its truly not a big deal. this product is hyped up to the max when i truly dont believe it should be. I understand makeup artists that use this on clients because their clients have hours to sit in the chair and get their makeup and hair done... but for normal peasants like you and me, its not a must have. 

Back to School: Glam

[ ae cropped t-shirt, love culture studded shoulder bag, forever 21 faux gemstone bib necklace, motel leopard print flippy mini skirt, gojane stretchy chain mail sandal]

when creating this glam look i tried to channel my inner beyonce/kim kardashian. surprisingly i found making this glam look was quite difficult, glam is not a huge trend right now. it seems to be more edgy, more studs than glitter. but none the less i looked to my eight essential glam pieces and put together this look. i feel like leopard print can be done in a glam way instead of a trashy way, you just have to make sure your accessorizing it right and that the leopard print isnt over powerful. so pairing this leopard print skirt with a plain black top helps balance the look. adding some bling sandals and a necklace glamify this look. instead of a backpack try an oversized tote to carry your books in!

Peach Cobbler

For the past 3 days i have made this peach cobbler twice, I was supposed to make it for my neighbors as a gift but ended up eating that one so I obviously had to make theirs again. I thought I would share this recipe with you guys because it has become my obsession over the past couple days.

ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
4 cups peeled peaches (this was about 5 large peaches for me)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2/3 cup variety baking mix (pancake mix)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk

directions:
1. in a medium mixing bowl combine peaches, sugar, 1 teaspoon baking mix and cinnamon. once combined then place mixture in a 9 x 9 pan.

2. in a separate mixing bowl, mix remaining 2/3 cup baking mix with brown sugar. once combined add in butter until mixture is combined completely. to moisten the mixture add milk

3. drop spoonfuls of the crust mixture onto the peaches mixture. i noticed that the crust mixture will be doughy so you might need to use your fingers to get it onto the peaches

4. bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into crust comes out clean. let stand 5 minutes

this makes about 6 servings, or if you're like me you will devour it in a matter of minutes... just kidding, or am i?

let me know if you try this out and how you like it!