Leopard Love – leopard ballet flats for fall 2014
Tag
leopard
OOTD – turquoise, leopard and corduroy
Outfit of the day – turquoise, leopard and corduroy. Actually the more I think about it the color sweater color is dead on cyan instead of turquoise. Ok so most of this outfit came from Kohl’s. I’m finding Kohl’s to be a good source of decent quality basics at a good price. I gave a sneak peak of some of these items in this post but that didn’t include the sweater. That $10 Kohl’s cash coupon I got from my online order I used to go back and buy this sweater. Actually I ended up with two of these cable knit sweaters because I liked them so much; the “bold blue” and the “brown heather”.
Sweater: Sonoma Life + Style Cable-Knit sweater in “Bold Blue” | Pants: Sonoma Life + Style Modern Fit Straight Leg Corduroy pants in camel | Scarf: Apt. 9 Leopard Scarf | Hat: Crushable straw fedora bought early last summer at Kohl’s | Earrings: bought last year at JC Penny | Shoes: Ugg Antora in black patent (similar Ugg Antora II in black patent)
Ok one quick note on the Uggs Antora ballet flats: I LOVE these but I have last year’s Antora not the Antora II and there is a difference. What I liked about last year’s style is that they are lined with shearling which helps keep my feet warm in winter. Not as warm as boots but better than most ballet flats. There’s no shearling on the footbed but there is shearling along the sides. If you see patent leather on the outside, there’s shearling under that. This year’s Antora II shoe however appears to only have a little tuft of shearling in the heel and that’s it.
The Payless Claire Scrunch Flat dexflex flat is my go-to black ballet in the fall and this Ugg Antora is my go-to black ballet flat in the winter because of that added warmth. I really hate wearing socks but my feet get cold easily. I actually own three pairs of Uggs and they are what go into heavy rotation in the winter and I should probably do a separate post about those. (Don’t worry, none of them are the typical suede Uggs that everyone knows and loves to hate!)
OOTD – Military green pants, leopard ballet flats, fedora –
October 2 2013
Just a quick photo of what I wore today – Military green pants, leopard ballet flats, fedora.
Most of this outfit is actually from Kohl’s. I’m a little addicted to shopping there lately. I seem to find more pants that fit me there than anywhere else I seem to go for some reason and I’m not sure why. Really a fan of the Sonoma Life+Style and Apt. 9 brands when it’s coming to pants. Also not loathing crops and capris like I used to … and I’m not sure why.
- The pants are Apt 9 “Skinny Crop jeans” in military green that I bought on clearance. I like the studded detail on the pockets. I had gone looking for the zippered front accent full length version but didn’t find them and ended up spotting these.
- The necklace and earrings I wrote about in this post. Mega clearance jewelry haul.
- The fedora (hat) is also from Kohl’s. It’s the Apt 9 Ribbon Straw Fedora in tan (no longer available) – they still have the black and white versions in clearance. I’ve had this most of the summer but didn’t blog about it before. I bought a similar style hat from ebay that’s a little lighter because this one is just a little too much on a 90 degree day (I should do a hat post.) 70 degrees outside and this one is great. Also this one is crushable so it bounces back from being abused – thrown in cars, bags, I think I sat on it once…
- The Leopard ballet flats are Lauren Conrad from Kohl’s. I bought them around Christmas 2011 (!!! ack) and have almost worn them out. They have been so well loved that I have had to glue one of the soles back down on the toe of one of the shoes. Honestly, leopard ballet flats should probably be a wardrobe staple so I need to find a good replacement. I’ve loved that these had comfortable elastic on the heel. (Open to suggestions on replacements!)
- The basic black t-shirt – I have two that are identical (and I’m not sure which one I wore now that it’s in the hamper.) One was some brand I had never heard of but was nice, soft, thin but not too thin and a little drapey. And the other I ran across at Walmart for about $5 – it was identical to the $20 no name that I liked so much and really I haven’t been able to tell the difference between the two. What I got was either this or this from Walmart but I also have a dark purple t-shirt from Ann Taylor Loft that’s pretty much the same fabric and I think that is the Ann Taylor Loft everyday t which is less than $10 at the moment.
- My bra is my “last resort, need to do laundry now” bra so it’s digging into my shoulders a little and I just noticed you can actually tell that in the photos. Oops… You don’t need to tell me I need a different bra than what I’m wearing in these photos – I already know.
June 2013 Birchbox vs Ipsy Glambag
My Birchbox unboxing AND my Ipsy unbagging in the video below along with some swatches and commentary. AKA June 2013 Birchbox vs Ipsy Glambag:
My June 2013 Birchbox:
- Davines 3-Step System – Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo, Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner, Davines OI/ OIL. dimethicone…
0/5 stars - Mirenesse Glossy Kiss in “Quick Kiss” – the color was growing on me and at first glance I thought that the ingredient list looked ok. Not super healthy but not super toxic. What I missed was that they include fragrance AND dimethicone. The dimethicone is a deal breaker for me personally. And it’s a gorgeous color.Argh. Cosmetics database custom report has it about a 4. Since I had already swatched on my hand, I tried on my lips just because I was curious about the color. I think it might be a little hard to wear but I do think it might have certain occassions that it would be nice to have that extra pop. Then I washed my face intensely and I’m hoping that a limited test isn’t going to cause cystic pimples anywhere near my mouth. I was thinking of the Laqa & Co Lil’ Lip Duo when I was doing the video so I’m frustrated I didn’t get this product. 0/5 stars for the Mirenesse (would have been a 5 star if it had been without dimethicone and fragrance … or if it had been the other product.)
- Color Club Wanderlust Collection – I received “Pardon My French” which is a nice lavendar but I was hoping for “Reign in Spain” because I have a thing for corals. My problem with this isn’t that I have to buy the nail polish color I want, it’s that they don’t have full size bottles and you can only buy the set. Since you already have one of the colors, then you’re buying a second of that color no matter what you got in your box. The purple is a good enough color to have as a mini but I don’t need two and I really wish that they offered these as full sized individual bottles instead of the collection. I will probably buy the collection though at $8 and free shipping, so whatever.
3/5 stars (I’m just not a big purple fan plus my comments about the collection above and no full size products even available. For purple it’s an excellent shade and always love the Color Club polishes.) - Oscar de la Renta Something Blue – synthetic fragrance. They now have a new check box for “don’t send me more than 6 fragrances a year” but I really wish I could make that setting “don’t ever send me fragrances” …. maybe with the additional of “I’m allergic to half of them and I don’t want to use the other half and this is such a waste. One even gave me a headache just from opening the box so please stop sending perfume already.” Sigh. Just know, unless it’s natural / organic and it doesn’t give me a headache (which does exist, just rare) I’m not going to give a fragrance a positive review. 0/5 stars
My June 2013 Ipsy Glambag:
- Starlooks Lip Pencil in “Bare” – I had high hopes for this one. However the color made me unsure if it was meant to be a lip liner or a light eyeliner (though lip liner makes more sense …) Nothing jumped out as obviously bad ingredients that I could identify. No dimethicone, no frangrance, no parabens. But the custom report, it ended up a 6. (pdf linked on this one.) 0/5 stars
- J.Cat Beauty Eyelash + Eyelash Glue – even the glue on this isn’t bad for you. I may cut these apart into individual lashes instead of trying to use the full strip but I’m happy enough with these. Until you get into some really specific eyelashes, those in the under $8 price point are all fairly decent and your biggest factor is lash style / cut. Latex free glue. And these are human hair … ok so a little higher quality than your average drugstore lashes but also a little creepy in that sense. Cruelty free (not tested on animals.) I don’t wear false lashes maybe more than … once every three years but I will be using these for an upcoming special event probably fairly soon. 5/5 stars
- Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter Pencil – AWESOME no cones. Turns up a 3 in a custom report. Talc is the worst ingredient and in this case I’ll forgive it since it’s not going to go on my eyelids (where talc tends to crease) and it’s not filler reducing impact of some other pigment. I love this in the inside corner of my eye and this looks perfect and natural. No shimmer so it can be used easily and I wonder if it might make a good concealing pencil as a result as well. 5/5 stars
- J.Cat Beauty Sparkling Cream Palette – this is categorized under “body glitter” instead of eyeshadow. It’s a chunky glitter so this makes more sense. No, just no for so many reasons. Plus there are the ingredients which aren’t good as well. Kind of on par with petroleum jelly mixed with glitter. It even says “This product should be used on the body and not on the eye area.” I’m not sure what they were thinking. Halloween? Rave? 8 year old girls? I don’t know and this just really doesn’t seem like a great fit for an ipsy bag even ignoring the ingredients for a minute. Yes it’s wild but… Might have made more sense it to be sent out in October just for the Halloween reason. 0/5 stars
- NYX Blush in “Pecan” – awesome bronzer shade but there’s dimethicone and talc so I won’t be using it. I haven’t swatched this but I suspect the color is excellent for a beachy summer look. 0/5 stars
I also just realized that people were commenting below the products on ipsy (linked to in the glamroom) if they wanted to trade. OR there’s also http://mygl.am/glammieswapforum (though the other seems more efficient… or makeupalley would also work better than the facebook page.)
And I’m happy with the leopard bag with the neon zipper. I’ve been leaving the chevron bag in my swim bag recently just to throw my jewelry in so it’s not lost at the bottom of the bigger bag. I’ll probably find a use for this one too.
So there you have it … another mildly disappointing month with Birchbox and a good month with Ipsy. I think I wouldn’t even be saying this if I had received the Reign in Spain polish and the other lip gloss Birchbox had promoted on facebook. Actually I’d probably have been happy with just the other shade of nail polish just because the swatches I saw of it looked like a nice bright fun summer color. The creamy shade is one that I already own something similar and the green … meh, not as versatile. Actually the purple I already own something similar to as well just the that Color Club purple is just a hint better actually.
Swatches of some of the products from these boxes: 
What I wore: Polka Dots & Mix N Match Neon nails
I’m playing catchup here on some things here. This outfit, let’s see, I wore it March 27th! Oops. It’s been a repeat outfit though because I really love the polka dot shirt I found at the Talbot’s outlet. Click for a larger view.
And then there are the nails. I actually did a full post on the nails before but you can tell here that they really can work well with neutrals.
Recently on Pinterest: September 24th edition
Just a selection of things I’ve pinned or repinned on pinterest recently.
Click on any image below for a larger view OR go for the links to sites, go to: http://pinterest.com/hilary_baumann/style-files/
