The One Hair Product to Rule Them All

Hello, dear readers,

Remember the last time you heard from me? I didn't think so. I am one of [what seems like] only a few people who like to read about why bloggers have taken such a long leave of absence whenever one happens to occur. However, despite having written several updates in the past, I realize many people read that as a long-winded essay of excuses. I shall spare you the boredom before I move on to the actual post; instead, I will give you this abbreviated list: School, blah blah blah, job searching, blah blah blah, personal reasons, etc. Essentially a compilation of acts and events that many people perform and go through, respectively, while they are still breathing and moving. I believe it's called life. I did not prioritize this blog. There you have it.

And now on to what we do, in fact, care about: The one ring hair product that beats them all, in all its shining glory:

See? Even the bottle is shining!

We have here the Aquage® SeaExtend® Ultimate ColorCare® Silkening Oil Treatment. No, there are no typos there. Yes, there are that many registered trademark symbols.

As you can most likely see in the photo, the product claims it "creates silky, smooth, frizz-free hair," and I have to say I agree with that assessment. I don't make those kinds of statements lightly, because my wavyish, curlyish hair is a fan of frizz and flyaways. The picture above shows the 1.7 oz bottle, which is convenient for travel, and I also have the 4.5 oz full size.

The full size bottle reads: "Ultra-light formula delivers silky, smooth, frizz-free hair. Restores moisture and shine. Seals in haircolor for longer lasting results. Speeds drying time up to 40%. Crystal-clear; won't alter color tone. Exclusive Thermal-V® [Yup, another registered trademark. These people are dedicated] heat protection."

It is important to note that I have never colored my hair in my life. To that end, I cannot speak to those particular claims that pertain to preserving color. I pretty much never use heat to style my hair, so I'm not a reliable source for confirming the 40% faster drying time. So what can I address? The fact that it makes hair silky, smooth, and frizz-free.

My hairstylist introduced me to this product, and my mom sneakily bought it when I wasn't there [thanks, Mom!]. My hair looked fantastically smooth and shiny when the stylist used it after my hair cut and before blow drying my hair, and I suppose my mom was sold. Granted, I can never get my hair to behave quite like the hairstylist can, but it works for me nonetheless. This product contains argan oil as the fourth ingredient, along with sweet almond oil, blue sea beet, seaweed, blue sea kale and sea fennel, not in that order. Can you see where the "SeaExtend®" name came from? No? Okay.

Argan oil helps fight frizz, moisturize, and smooth hair, and all the fancy sea botanical ingredients help to do the same. I mostly use this product after a shower, so I detangle my hair with a wide tooth comb before taking a big T-shirt and squeezing out excess moisture. I then put a couple of pumps of Silkening Oil Treatment in my hands and apply from about ear level down to the ends, concentrating on those ends. I run another comb through my hair to evenly distribute the treatment. When my hair dries, it is smoother and shinier. With the exception of a few flyaways, there is no frizz to speak of. It doesn't weigh down my hair either.

This being a salon-only professional product, it is not cheap. My full size bottle says it is $36, and I'm not sure about the smaller size. To read more about the product and see a video demonstration of its suggested use, visit the Aquage® web page here for Silkening Oil Treatment. 

Easy to use and effective, I say this product is a champ.

I hope you enjoyed this long-winded review; I'm sure you desperately missed those.

Happy June!

x Esther

Get to Know Me: The Beauty Blogger Tag!

Hello, dear readers,

I was browsing through my favorite blogs earlier in the week and stumbled across the Beauty Blogger Tag on The Beauty Broadcast. This is the first tag I've seen specifically directed at bloggers and not vloggers, so I was excited to fill it out. I like the fact that these questions are different than the ones on the various other tags I've filled out. 

Here goes:

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

I consider my hair to be curly, but I have looser curls that fall into waves as my hair grows.

2. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

I have never dyed my hair, and I don't plan to do so. 

3. Do you wear the same style everyday, or do you change it?

It's generally the same style, because I prefer to wear my hair down. The only creativity, if you can call it that, comes from my love of experimenting with products, but the look is always nearly the same. The extent of excitement is when I throw it in a low bun, but the bun always looks tiny and I appear not to have much hair. That's my opinion, anyway.  

4. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

I do my own manicure. I find it relaxing and enjoyable, and I don't love having other people mess with my hands. I'm weird that way. I have gotten a manicure with a friend once, which was a fun experience, but besides that I prefer doing it myself.

5. How often do you change your nail polish?

 I've worn nail polish anywhere from one or two days to three weeks. It depends on how the polish wears and how bored I am in my classes. I tend to peel off all my nail polish during my three hour night class and repaint it later, even if it's not chipping. Yes, I throw the peeled polish in the garbage. Not to worry.

6. Do you polish your toes in the winter or just the summer?

I never paint my toenails. I don't like dealing with feet, but it's cute on other people. 

7. How long does it take for you to put on makeup?

No more than 10 minutes on average. I use foundation or my own self-mixed tinted moisturizer, concealer, powder and lipstick at most. Only if my face is really red or has stubborn breakouts or flakiness does it take longer.

8. What do you do first? Face or eyes?

I like to focus attention on lips, so I don't really do eyes. The most I'll do is a light champagne shade if I'm looking extra tired that day. So, it's face by default.

9. Do you collect makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?

I buy foundation, powder, and concealer on an as-needed basis, but I collect lipsticks.

10. How often do you wear false eyelashes?

Never.

11. Do you do a full face of makeup everyday?

No. I almost always have at least concealer, powder, and lipstick on. I don't wear foundation every day, especially because my skin has been annoyingly flakey; I have yet to find a foundation that doesn't exaggerate flakes. 

12. Do you wear makeup when you're home alone or with family?

I answered that above. The only time I'll wear makeup home alone or with family is if I'm bored and want to play with my makeup.

13. Will you leave the house without makeup?

If I'm running errands or taking a walk with a family member, I don't wear makeup. If I'm hanging out with friends and having a good skin day, which seems to be a rare occasion lately, I'll go makeup-free.

14. How many high-end products do you have?

I have one Estée Lauder lip product, and the rest of my higher-end products are from Clinique. I have Clinique foundation and several lip products, many of which were gifts with purchase. I don't know how high-end Clinique is considered to be, but it's department store makeup in any case.

15. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you're getting dressed?

I tend to decide when I'm getting dressed. I generally check weather.com in the morning and then pick out clothes based on the weather. If I know I'm going somewhere the next day, or if someone is visiting me at college, I often have an outfit planned the night before. I take forever to get ready [I blame you, problem skin and all your products!], so it helps me save time and not keep people waiting too long.

16. How often do you change your handbag?

I used to change it seasonally, but I've used the same Charming Charlie's cross-body bag since last summer. I suppose I change it based on how much I need to carry with me that day and what size purse that requires. Or I switch them out on a whim.

17. What time do you wake up and go to sleep?

I truly do not have a set schedule. It's almost the end of the school year, so my sleep times are all over the place.

18. How often or when do you workout?

Again, because the year is ending and the work is piled on, my schedule is irregular. Right now I work out a few times a week, but ideally it would be 4-6 days a week.

19. Left handed or right handed?

Right.

20. How tall are you?

5'3" 

21. Do you speak any foreign languages?

I've taken Spanish every year since I was 11, besides last year, so I can read, write, and understand it pretty fluently, but my speech is a bit rusty. I'm a bit shy about speaking Spanish, too, since the classes I've taken in college haven't involved too much conversation. Fun fact: I signed up for free subscriptions to Siempre Mujer and Latina through some rewards website, and I read them cover to cover, if that gives you an idea.

22. How many pets do you have?

None.

23. How often are you on Blogger?

My posting is quite sporadic, but I'm on Blogger every day to catch up on the many blogs I read.

24. Do you read comments posted on blogs?

I hardly ever get comments, so of course I gladly read every single one. I occasionally read comments on other people's blogs, usually only if I'm checking to see if the blogger responded to my comment.

25. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

I definitely notice the products that keep popping up on various blogs, and I tend to do my research on them. I particularly like to use Beautypedia, a website I wrote about here. I keep track of products, but I don't write down the names.

26. How did you come up with your blog name?

I wanted it to have something to do with lipstick, my favorite cosmetic item, and I wanted it to be a cute phrase or a play on words. For some reason, the quote "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade" popped into my head and refused to budge, hence "When Life Hands You Lipstick." I'm sure I was subconsciously thing of "Live, Laugh, Love" when I came up with the URL lovelipstickandlaughter.

27. What kind of camera do you use for your photographs?

Lately I've been lazy, and I've used my MacBook webcam. The camera I own is a Nikon Coolpix, which I received before I went to Peru. It comes in handy when I put effort into my pictures. It's not the number one best quality camera in the world, but it works fine for me. I've recently figured out how to use all the different settings. 

28. How often do you clean your house?

Since I live at home, I'm not responsible for cleaning the entire house. Besides my desk, which my mom says is going to fall into the basement because of how many magazines perch atop it, I try to keep my room fairly clean so I don't have to do an overhaul on a regular basis. At school, I do the same thing in my dorm room. My desk tends to suffer slightly from clutter, much less so than my desk at home, but the rest of my room stays pretty neat and organized.

29. What's your favorite color?

Aqua 

30. Do you swear?

If I'm really frustrated with or angry about something, yes, but that's not extremely often. More often, the cause is that I'll walk into a chair or drop something. I'm a klutz, so most of my cursing happens because of clumsiness.

31. What are you doing with the rest of your day?

I have three essays due this coming Monday and Tuesday, so that's going to take up most of it. 

There's my Beauty Blogger tag. I hope you enjoyed.

xEsther

Happy National Lipstick Day!

That's right, dear readers: Today, July 29th, happens to be National Lipstick Day here in the U.S. Apparently lipstick is the most popular cosmetic item and therefore deserves a prominent place on the national calendar. In honor of this, I thought I'd share a little tip on determining which lip colors will look good on you.

Most people only consider their skin color when browsing for the next perfect nude or vivacious fuchsia. Actually, the first feature you should look at is your lips themselves. The natural color of your lips has everything to do with how that lipstick will look on you. Unless you cover your lips with concealer first, the color you see in the tube is going to look different on your lips. For example, there's a generalization that pale pinks look good on pale girls. If I wear a super light pink lip, I look like a corpse. Here's the reason why: My lips, though not extremely pigmented, are actually a neutral reddish-pink. If I want to look alive, I can't wear anything lighter than my own lips, so an extremely light pink or nude will make me look dead.

After you've got that straight, then you consider your skin and hair color to determine whether the color will be flattering. Also, don't be surprised if you have cool-toned skin and a warm color looks good on you, and vice versa. If you have neutral lips like I do, you may have more color options than you think. More than once, I've been shocked when an obviously warm-toned color has looked flattering on. I recently got a Revlon Moondrops lipstick in the color Apple Polish, a bright orange-y red, and it's now one of my favorite summer lip colors. I'm thinking that's because not only are my lips neutral, but I have pink and yellow undertones.

I'm making this sound like a scientific study, but it's not. All of you lipstick-wearers probably already know what colors look good on you just by eyeballing them in the store. I just thought it would be fun to share how I hunt for lipsticks. Maybe the next time you're shopping for a lipstick, be a little adventurous and pick up a great shade that you normally wouldn't dream of wearing. Who knows? It might just be your new favorite.

xEsther

Beauty Rules I Break

Hello, dear readers,

I hope everyone that celebrates had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week. My sister, her fiancé, and her wonderful little dog came to visit from out of state. Last week was also my 20th birthday [yikes!], and my lovely friends threw me a surprise party; they really are the best!

This week I've been thinking about what to write today, and it occurs to me that there's a post I've been meaning to do for at least a month now. There have been various tags around YouTube under several different monikers centering around beauty rules that people may often preach but fail to practice.

Here is my take on the beauty rules I break:

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1. You should always wash your face morning and night.
    This is something I do most of the time, but, because of my current situation, I don't always practice. I'm   at home at the moment, so I'm often doing things around the house and not going anywhere until later in the day, if at all. In that case, I'm not wearing makeup anyway, so I'll sometimes go without washing my face at night. Then, the next day, because I usually work out in the late morning or late afternoon, I don't want to wash my face beforehand. Therefore, less face washing occurs. It hasn't caused me to break out, so I can get away with it. 

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2. You should always moisturize your face before bed.
    The acne treatment I use, which I'll talk about in a long overdue updated skincare post, remains slightly sticky and can get a bit diluted with an added moisturizer. If my skin is really awful, there is no way I want to dilute the medication. It will obviously leave my skin drier in the morning, but, as far as I'm concerned, the faster the breakout is gone, the better.

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3. Be very, very, gentle with wet hair.
   I really should practice this one, but I am incredibly impatient. I know wet hair stretches and should be treated with utmost care, but I just don't have the time! Recently I've been getting a large knot at the back of my hair after every shower that I simply cannot gently comb out. I have to use my fingers, and breakage will occasionally occur. No amount of leave-in conditioning and detangling spray can solve this problem for me.

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4. Get frequent trims if you want your hair to grow longer.
   First of all, this is a misconception. If you get regular trims, and the same amount trimmed each time, your hair is not going to grow much. Most likely, it will simply retain its length. I understand cutting off the damage before growing your hair out, but you have to go longer between trims if you want it to grow. I've probably had only two trims all year, and this is the first time anyone has noticed it growing longer, including me. I'm sure it's somewhat damaged from daily wear and tear, but I have used heat a grand total of one time all year, and I tend to wear it in braids to bed. There's no way it will grow if I get it trimmed every six to eight weeks.

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5. Never, ever, fiddle with blemishes.
   I'm usually pretty good about this one, but if I have a zit right smack between my eyebrows or on my nose, you can bet that if it's not gone in a few days, I'll do something about it. Yes, I have been known to pick a pimple to get it out of my sight, if temporarily. I do know that this can cause scarring, but I've never had any permanent scars from this, so I'm going to keep right on at it when I have to.

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6. Stay away from sulfates.
   Besides the fact that this is pretty difficult to do, not all sulfates are actually harmful. Sodium lauryl sulfate is the one to watch out for, and it's the one I avoid. Sodium laureth sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate, and ammonium lauryl sulfate are actually benign and won't harm you. Therefore, I don't avoid them, despite all the claims from various beauty sources. I'm sticking with science here.

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7. Never use mineral oil or petrolatum.
   This one is relatively recent, and I'm not sure where it stemmed from. Since when is Vaseline bad? Haven't we all read countless articles on the multiple uses for it? If you're unsure, you can read about petrolatum here and mineral oil here. I promise you, neither of them are actually bad for you. I use Vaseline, or petroleum jelly, for extra chapped lips and flaky skin. It also works wonders for removing long-lasting lipstick. 

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8. Always use a separate base coat and top coat for your nails.
   If I can save some money and use one product to do both jobs, you can bet that I will do just that. I use the Wet 'n Wild Shine Clear Nail Protector, reviewed here, and it works just fine.


Those are all the beauty rules I break, at least all those that I can think of right now. Some of them are rules I really should practice, and others are simply myths that turned into law somehow.

What beauty rules do you break?

xEsther

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Class...

Incidentally, this is the exact hair dryer and kit that it came with when I bought it. The straightener has since been replaced. Source

 

 

 

 

Hello, dear readers,

I seem to be at a loss for what to write about whilst delaying the charging of my camera and taking pictures. I also know I owe you some posts that I promised to write towards the middle of the summer. You will see them! I just can't promise when.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you a very strange observation I made this afternoon, and it is this:

I loathe the way my hair looks blow-dried. 

Yes, you heard that right. Now, I'm not sure if it's because I have a rather elderly blow-dryer [it's from the days when the word "ionic" was revolutionary- about six years ago!] or what, but I just hated the results. If you've read my hair care routine post, you will know that my hair is super low maintenance. You may also know that I try to use heat as sparingly as possible. Today is the second time all year that I've used heat at all.

Today I also had to get to class in the cold and the rain, and the last thing I wanted to do was go out with wet hair. After I took my hair out of the T-shirt, I put on some more shine serum and leave-in conditioner, and started drying it. The dryer sounded a little suspect, but worked just the same as alway. I used the diffuser like a good curly-haired girl, and I hated the results!

The blow-dryer took out most of the natural curl and wave, leaving my hair rather shapeless. I decided to act fast before my hair was dry [funny, really, as my hair takes ages to dry]: I pulled my hair over to one side and managed to get most of it in a fish-tail braid. After I did my makeup, about ten minutes later, I took it down. Alas! The wave was back in my hair and it looked much prettier and livelier.

I honestly don't know if I should be using some sort of scrunching product, which I own, if I blow-dry, because I don't seem to need one if I let my hair air dry. In any case, I was highly disappointed. I don't see myself getting a new dryer anytime soon, so I'll have to figure something out.

If any of you have wavy or curly hair and have any tips on making your hair look nice with a dryer, do let me know!

Until then, I hope you're having a good hair day.

xEsther

Fall Loves Tag

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Hello, dear readers,

This is another tag that has been going around YouTube for a while now, and I thought I'd try my hand at it. If you've been reading for any amount of time, you'll know I can't help myself when it comes to tags.

Alas, here we are:

 

Beauty & Fashion:
1) Top 5 fall makeup items?

• Hard Candy Glamoflauge Concealer [Shade Light]

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• Clinique High Impact Lip Colour in Extreme Pink

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• Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Latino

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• Avon Ultra Color Rich Lipstick in Berry, Berry Nice

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• L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Tropical Coral

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I chose these products because I really can never live without concealer, and the lipsticks are ones that I either a) think are good fall colors or b) I wore throughout fall last year

2) Favorite fall hair product?

This is a year-round favorite: Generic Value Products Smoothing Serum, but it's even more important in the colder months because for some reason I just like my hair to look more polishe, whereas I don't mind it a little frizzier and more textured in the summer. It's the exact same as Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, and it is a must to tame the annoying frizz and flyaways. [Links are to the reviews, by the way]

3) Favorite fall nail polish?

This year it has to be Milani Bijou Bronze polish. I especially like it layered over a black nail polish because it shows up even brighter and more metallic.

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4) Favorite fall scent?

I like this scent year-round, but Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar is particularly great for fall. I also just love the smell of fall foods and spices, like pumpkin and cinnamon. 

5) Most worn clothing item & accessory?

My most worn clothing item is, without a doubt, a cardigan. I live in cardigans throughout the colder months because I really don't like long-sleeved shirts. It's also handy because temperature differs from classroom to classroom to dorm to the outdoors, so it makes it easy to be comfortable when you can just add or remove a layer. My most worn accessory is my watch, but that's year-round. I don't have specific seasonal accessories, because I don't really own scarves or anything like that.

Random fall Questions:
1) Who's your fall style icon?

I don't have a style icon, per se, but I do love Taylor Swift's style.

2) Going to a corn maze, what do you wear?

I don't think I've ever gone to a corn maze, but it brings up the image of a black or white tank top, plaid button-down, jeans, and riding boots. I don't actually own riding boots; it's just that a corn maze makes me think of a stereotypical country-cute outfit.

3) Favorite Halloween movie?

I don't recall having seen too many Halloween movies, but you can never go wrong with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It's such a cute movie.

4) Favorite Halloween candy?

I love anything chocolate, so Butterfingers and Reeses Cups are always favorites for candy. As for Halloween-specific candy, I do enjoy candy corn. I haven't really had Halloween candy in at least a year, though.

5) What are you being for Halloween?!

I'm not entirely sure, because I'm not sure if I'm going to any Halloween parties or not. I do have a flapper-style dress I got from Forever 21 two years ago for a 20s-themed party, so I could always wear that.

So those were my answers to the "Fall Loves" Tag. By all means,  feel free to do it yourself if you like. I love reading other people's answers just as much as I love filling in my own!

I hope your weekend was splendid!

xEsther

Summer Besties!

Hello, dear readers,

Tonight [well technically this morning] I've decided to do a tag [I hope no one's heart stops from shock] that's been going around for at least the past month on YouTube. This is, as you may have guessed from the title, the "Summer Besties" tag.

There are ten categories, and you're supposed to pick your favorite summer item for each category. Of course, this means I'll probably cheat for some and not have anything for others.

Here we go!


1. Lip product: I'm a lipstick girl through and through, and I've been rotating between a few lately. However, if I had to pick one perfect summer lipstick, it will have to be L'Oreal Colour Riche in Tropical Coral.

For lack of a better description, this is perfect for summer because it is a nice coral, but it's only a few shades more pigmented and brighter than my natural lips. If you want some more detail, I wrote a post on it when I first started the blog, so you can head on over here.

2. Blush: I hate to disappoint, but I actually never wear blush. The last time I wore it was probably in my elementary school days in day camp plays for stage makeup. Obviously I'm no connoisseur here, though I do own an unopened Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips blush that I won in a contest.

3. Nail Polish: Due to the fact that I've already worn this twice within a month, I have to go with China Glaze For Audrey. 

I'm not 100% sure if this is an exact match to Tiffany Blue, but I absolutely love it. For more information on this product and why I'm not a fan of the brand, read my post here.

4. Liquid Face Product: It's definitely tinted moisturizer here. I do own two different brands, but for now I'd have to say that my favorite is CoverGirl Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisture in 805 Fair to Light.

This still needs a powder to set it, but it's nice to even out the skin and give a very sheer tint to it. Once again, you can read a review here. [Self promotion is the key to happiness! Don't quote me on this. Mostly because it's just not true.]

5. Powder Face Product: Because I only use one, this award goes to... Physician's Formula Powder Palette® Multi-Colored Face Powder in Translucent.

This came with a powder puff, so I swapped that out for a brush that came in the green version of this palette [DON'T BUY THE GREEN ONE. Unless you'd like to look like Elphaba, otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the West.]. It helps to keep my makeup in place throughout the day and mattifies it, at least temporarily. I've never fully reviewed this product, but I did mention it on my post about faking a flawless face.

6. Hair Product: If we're talking specifically summer, then I suppose my must-have for summer is leave-in conditioner. The one I'm using now is V05 Detangle and Shine Restoring leave-in conditioner.

I've been having trouble finding this product, but I actually quite enjoy it. If you want to know exactly how I use it, take a gander over at this page. Basically I spray this in after drying with a T-shirt, and then I scrunch. Sometimes I don't even need the shine serum after!

7. Eye Product: I don't actually wear eye products. I do put concealer on my eyelids to even out the lid color, but no true eye products.

8. Self Tanner/Tanning Product: As my brother says, "There's Snow White and then there's Snow Whiter." I happen to be both. He refers to the fact that I'm so pale as the "Snow White," and that once you notice that I actually have a watch tan and shoe tans, you see that my color during the rest of the year is "Snow Whiter." I don't use tanning products, needless to say, so I thought I'd mention my favorite sunscreen. It's Neutrogena Sensitive Skin sunblock lotion.

The reason I love this so much is that it's a mineral sunblock with both titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. This means it's great for sensitive skin as it is a physical protectant against the sun's rays. I also like the Pure and Free baby sunblock, which has the exact same formulation. They are both waterproof, hypoallergenic, fragrance free, etc. Read the label!

9. Fashion Accessory: Ballet flats and cute necklaces. End of story.

Though I'd love to, I don't own any of these.

I actually own this one.

I own this one, too! Both are from Avon, I believe.

I live in ballet flats for as long as I can throughout the year, but especially in the summer. I hate flip flops, and don't own a decent pair of sandals. As for jewelry, I get more into gold in the summer, and I love charms, keys, and the nautical theme.

10. Clothing Piece: Dresses and skirts!

I promise this dress is actually cute. I own it!

I own this as well and it's so cute.

That about rounds up everything. It's time for me to get some sleep. It's getting late!

I'd love to hear what your summer besties are, if you haven't already shared.

To lazy summer days.

xEsther

Images from:

http://www.thisnext.com/tag/harpers-bazaar/ 

http://www.sallybeauty.com/china-glaze/SBS-606417,default,pd.html

http://www.drugstore.com/covergirl-smoothers-spf-15-spf-15-tinted-moisture-fair-to-light-805/qxp153558

http://www.goodguide.com/products/267587-physicians-formula-powder-palette

http://www.stylefeeder.com/i/yr7dtzmw/Alberto-Vo5-Detangle-Amp-Shine-Restoring-Daily-Leave-In-Conditioner-10oz

http://www.shopstyle.com/product/neutrogena-ulta-skin-care-sensitive-skin-sunblock-lotion-spf-60/113056100

http://www.thefashionpolice.net/2007/07/wanted-nexts-au.html

http://www.sportslinkup.com/shop/0-Heart-key-48.html

http://www.sportslinkup.com/shop/0-Gold-rope-8-LOWEST.html

http://www.forever21.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=FOREVER21&category%5Fname=dress%5Fcasual&product%5Fid=2000014222&Page=all&pgcount=25

Lately I've Been Loving...

•               Mixing lipstick colors to create custom shades to coordinate with outfits. A couple have been Revlon Super Lustrous Gentlemen Prefer Pink with Maybelline Color Sensational Pink Peony, and Clinique High Impact Lip Colour SPF 15 in Extreme Pink with the same Maybelline Pink Peony. 

•               Using really pale pink and summery coral nail polishes, such as Avon Speed Dry Nail Enamels in Delicata and Creamy Coral. These are polishes I've had for years.

•               Eating on a bench outside the library during lunch breaks. The library's right across from my workplace.

•               Exercising outdoors. I love going on walk/runs, in which I alternate between the two.

•               Hula hooping to girly movies. This is my favorite indoor workout, which I follow up with simple strength moves.

•               Hot weather. My college friends can probably attest better than anyone to the fact that I abhor cold weather. I'm a huge complainer in that arena.

•               High waisted skirts and dresses. I recently got some for work, and I've been loving putting together simple outfits with them. The silhouette is really flattering on me.

•               The current state of my skin. It's been really clear lately. I still have redness and undereye circles, as well as acne marks on my chin, but spots are down to a bare minimum, pretty much gone, really.

•               My long hair. It's more weighed down since it's long, so my curls are turning into looser, beachier, curls and waves. I'm loving letting it go as natural as possible with just leave in conditioner spray and smoothing serum.

So there you have it. I don't mean to copy any other bloggers, as I know a multitude have features like this, but I feel it will help keep me positive just to record the highs of life. [Not those kinds of highs, naughty!]

To happy days.

xEsther

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