'Tis the Season

Hello, dear readers, 

Today I thought I'd search for a winter-related tag to do so that I would have something to give you in between now and my winter break (I started writing this last month! It's now the end of my break. Oops!). I struggled to find one that wasn't strictly about Christmas, as I realize not everyone, myself included, celebrates it. Luckily, this 'Tis the Season Tag is more neutral! Warning: This will be wordy! Let's get into it:

❄ Top 2 Winter Beauty Essentials 
Moisturizers for face and body, as my skin gets very dry and flaky. My face is dry/combination, but it gets drier in the winter, and my hands get chapped and red. Specific products: Any of the Avon Moisture Therapy hand creams are great and have either little or no fragrance. For my face, I use Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture Sensitive Skin. It's not rich, but it does the job. 

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Moisturizing lip color. I just received the Clinique Taste of Honey holiday gift set for my birthday [Thanks, Mom, if you're reading!], which contains four Almost Lipsticks: Luscious Honey [a sheer deep red], Shy Honey [a sheer baby pink], Flirty Honey [a sheer bright pink], and Black Honey [sheer deep wine/burgundy]. These are moisturizing enough that I don't need to wear a lip balm underneath, and the sheer color is definitely buildable.  Other good moisturizing lip colors are the Clinique Chubby Sticks and Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters.

❄ Top 2 Winter Fashion Essentials

Cardigans/sweaters. Throw on a cute top from the warmer months, top with a cardigan, and you have the recipe to my cold weather wardrobe. I do have to say, though, that I've been loving throwing on pullover sweaters, because they're so comfy and easy to wear.

A cute winter coat. I've struggled with bulky, puffy, coats before, and I've also found myself matching both toddlers and moms in my Columbia jackets. I now have a belted, longer winter coat from Victoria's Secret that is both functional and [I'd like to think] fashionable.

❄ What shoes do you tend to wear the most in the winter?
This year, I've been wearing my riding boots from Alloy. There hasn't been a lot of snow yet, so I've been able to get away with that.

❄ Favorite Winter Accessory
To be quite honest, I don't really have winter-specific accessories. I don't wear scarves or hats or anything like that.

❄ Favorite Winter Nail Polish
In the winter, I always love a good red nail polish. Hands down, my favorite red this season is OPI The Spy Who Loved Me. It's a gorgeous bright red with red and gold shimmer.  The other two polishes from my OPI Skyfall trio are great cold-weather colors as well. Goldeneye is the perfect glimmering, warm gold. Skyfall is a strange brownish burgundy, which isn't usually my cup of tea, but I love it for the winter. 

❄ Hot Cocoa or Apple Cider?
Hot cocoa. No question.

❄ Favorite Winter Candle?
I don't ever buy scented candles, but I did receive a Slatkin & Co. mini candle in an Influenster Beauty VoxBox a couple of months ago. The scent is pumpkin cupcake, and it smells delicious enough to eat. 

❄ Snowboarding or Skiing?
Neither. I'm terrified of both.

❄ Have you ever gone Ice Skating? Are you any good or do you FAIL miserably?
I've only gone a few times in my life, and none recently, but it takes me a while to get my footing. I was never very good.

❄ Does it snow where you live?
Yes.

❄ Have you ever made a snowman?
Yes.

❄ What holiday do you celebrate?
Hanukkah.

❄ Favorite Christmas/Holiday song?
My favorite is actually technically not a holiday song at all. It's "Winter Wonderland," particularly Jason Mraz's version. 

❄ Favorite Christmas/Holiday movie?
I never saw all of A Nightmare Before Christmas, but I feel like I really enjoyed what I did see. As a child, I love A Christmas Story. Now, the only holiday movie I watch with any sort of consistency is Elf.

❄ What is your favorite winter treat? (candy cane, gingerbread, etc...)
Hot cocoa is my favorite. I can't think of a dessert that I particularly favor over any other in the winter.

❄ If you were to ask Santa for one thing and you were guaranteed to get it, what would it be? (even if you don't celebrate christmas)
A guarantee that my next semester of college goes well. Is that cheating? I don't think so.

❄ Do you have anything fun planned for this winter?
Since I'm filling this out after the holidays, I've already fulfilled plans to see movies with friends and family and have a holiday party. As for the rest, I'm not sure.


That's all, folks. I hope you enjoyed this tag!

xEsther

My Life: October/November 2012

Hello, dear readers,

As promised, here is an update on my life since the last time I wrote. As I mentioned at the beginning of this month, in my previous post, November has indeed been my busiest month. Let me start off with October, however, since I entirely skipped over it here on When Life Hands You Lipstick. Essentially, I accepted a bid for Delta Delta Delta sorority [technically a fraternity] in September and spent October going to meetings for it before being initiated. It was in October that I was assigned my "big," or big sister. Because I don't want to give away the name of the college I attend, nor do I want to invade the privacy of my big, I have cropped the following photos from the day the new members found out who their big sisters were:

Super awkward camera phone photo shot from above.

Wow, my face looks extra shiny! This is from the photo in which
 the "littles" sat in the front and our "bigs" sat behind us.

Beyond that, October was a bit of a blur. The only exception is Halloween. I went to visit two of my friends at one of their universities, and we all dressed up and had a good time catching up. I meant to go as Audrey Hepburn, despite the fact that I didn't have the right style of dress or correct jewelry. I ended up wearing my friend's dress and necklace, but my hair wouldn't stay up. I really didn't end up looking like anyone in particular, but one of girl guessed who I was. Can I count that as a success?

Once again, I'm cropping out my friends. I'm sure they'd be ok with me showing them, but I just want to be sure. Here is my failed Halloween costume:

I tried.

On to November, my most stressful month so far. By the way, I had never considered joining a sorority before coming to this college. I'm not into the whole stereotypical sorority scene, in which girls are judged by their appearance and what clothes they wear. I know not every sorority is like that at big colleges, but the Greek scene at my tiny campus is way smaller and much less like that. Of course, it is a group of around 30 girls, so there's bound to be some annoying aspects, but I'm glad I joined. It's a great way to meet people and get involved, regardless.

Ramble over. I was initiated into Tri Delta at the beginning of November, and then we immediately had a philanthropy event to promote and run. Then we had a Founder's Day brunch with the same university I visited on Halloween. It was fairly laid back, and I was surprised with an award for academics.

Now we're working on recruitment practice for formal rush in the spring. I went through informal recruitment, in which transfer students and upperclassmen can join. It's much more casual. It's funny preparing to bring new girls in when I just became an official member a few weeks ago. Here's a picture of me from initiation. It was in the morning, at the end of a weekend retreat. I cheated and didn't wash my makeup off the night before, because we're not supposed to wear makeup for the ceremony. I didn't want to look completely dead, but most of it came off anyway:

This is a photo of my "family," which consists of my big sister and
 my aunt [the one with her arm around me]. I don't quite
 get how that works. Note that I am nearly as white as the dress.

I realize this post has mostly centered around my sorority, but that's what keeps me the busiest outside of school itself. I also had multiple midterms, and I always have a paper to write or multiple chapters to read. I was just assigned a paper yesterday, and I have a group project now! 

On a more relaxing note, I did very much enjoy my Thanksgiving break. I turned 21 on Thanksgiving, and had a lovely evening with my family. I went out for Black Friday shopping [at 10 p.m. that night! Poor workers!] with friends. I didn't buy anything, nor did I have a great desire to, but I wanted to take advantage of the time I had to see my friends. They took me out for my birthday the next night, which was quite fun. The rest of break consisted of the weekend, which was delightful as well. I got some holiday shopping in, including gifts for a Secret Santa exchange in Tri Delta. Now I'm back at school, and I'll be busy with sorority events, choir rehearsals, a concert, schoolwork, and finals until winter break!

Just so you know, this isn't meant to be an "Esther's Excuses for Not Blogging" post, but rather me talking to you about where I've been. I have fun writing these posts.

I hope that those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. had a lovely holiday and that everyone is excited for the upcoming holiday season! I'm going to have to remember to bring my camera home for winter break, which starts in mid-December, so that I can actually take pictures of things that I want to write about.

Until then, I will try to squeeze in a post or two if I can. No promises, unfortunately. I hope your week is going well! 

xEsther

Dug Up from the Drafts: "There's More to Me than Makeup" Tag

Totally random and unrelated photo. View from my bedroom window, taken in January. The window has a screen, 

hence the blurriness. I played with editing, but eventually decided on the original. I hate making posts without pictures!

Hello, dear readers,

I know this is another tag, and an old one at that, but I actually have a fairly decent reason for it. This is the second of the drafts that I promised to post. At last, my "Posts" box will be empty of anything but published blogs. I'm not changing the font on this one, because I rewrote the answers to suit my current situation. 


1. Do you go to school? If yes...what is your favourite subject/ what is your major?
Yes, I go to school. My major is Communications, with a minor in Spanish. Within Communications, I love film classes. However, I'm not going into the film industry; I just find those courses extremely interesting and fun. 

2. Do you work? If yes...what is your job?
I don't work at the moment, but I am looking for a summer job. I hope to find one, but, if not, I may end up taking a class instead. I do have an unpaid blogging internship online for CHAOS Magazine, and I'm applying for a copy editor internship at another website. It's also unpaid, and I'll tell you what it is if I get the position.


3. Do you read? If yes...name a few of your favourite books and/or magazines.
Yes.  Some of my favorite books are the Harry Potter series [in English and Spanish]; Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett; American Gods and Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman;  The Princess Bride, by William Goldman; The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory; Bookends by Jane Green; The Looking Glass Wars trilogy, by Frank Beddor....Honestly the list could go on and on and on.
As for magazines, my favorite is probably Marie Claire. 


4. Can you cook?
I can't properly answer that, because it's not that I can't cook; I just don't cook. I'd like to learn, but I lack motivation.


5. Do you have any siblings?
Yes. I have a sister, aged 24, and a brother, 27.


6. Do you speak any other languages?
If I were to be immersed in a Spanish-speaking environment, I think I would be able to quickly improve my spoken Spanish. I am fairly fluent as far as reading, writing, and understanding, but I could use more practice speaking. I've studied for a little over eight years, so I should hope I would pick it up! 


7. If you could holiday anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I'd love to travel all over Europe and the UK, just to experience the culture and the sights [The shopping wouldn't hurt either!]. Specifically, I'd like to visit Spain or another Spanish-speaking country for the reasons mentioned above. 


8. What is your idea of the perfect date?
I don't have anything specific in mind. Honestly, I think the most important thing is that it goes well!


9. What is your dream career?
I'm not 100 percent sure, but I would like to explore the world of publishing/publications. I'm also fascinated by the idea of translating books for a career.


10. Are you athletic...do you play sports/work out..or are you a couch bunny?
I'm athletic in the sense that I love working out and keeping fit. I absolutely do not play sports. My hand-eye coordination doesn't exist, and I don't have the patience for team sports.


11. What are your three favourite things (that have nothing to do with makeup/beauty)?
I'm going to skip friends and family, because they're people, not things. As far as tangible "things," I would say film, books, and music. How much more generic can I get here? More intangible things would be singing, traveling, and working out. 


12. What is the BEST thing about you? 
I love the fact that I'm easily amused by pretty much everything, which makes other people laugh as well. That probably isn't the BEST thing about me, but it's one of my personal favorite qualities.


Ahhhh, the sound of complete silence from the "Drafts" area of my profile. How I adore it. I'm not entirely sure when I initially wrote this, but it was probably before or during last fall. Like I said, the answers are up-to-date, having rewritten them yesterday. I didn't think it would be necessary to show you the old one because things have changed, and it no longer contained inaccurate information.


Have you done this tag? I think it's fun to read about the lives, loves, and dreams of other fashion/beauty/lifestyle bloggers. We all have a certain amount of "girliness" in common, but it's nice to see what else is going on with everyone. Maybe we have more in common than we thought [or even less]! 


In any case, enjoy your day, whatever you happen to be doing!


xEsther

All You Need is Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Whether you're single or in a relationship; celebrate Valentine's Day or not, I hope you all have a wonderful day. You should always love everyone who's important to you, and yourself; today's just an extra reminder!

xEsther

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

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A very Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

xEsther

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah!

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I hope everyone who celebrates has a great first night of Hanukkah! 

!חג שמח

xEsther

"Baby, You're a Firework!"

Yes, dear readers,

That is a Katy Perry song I'm quoting. And it's all because until about 18 minutes ago, central time, it was July 4th! Happy 4th of July to all my readers in the United States! I'll be blogging more soon, but it's late and I have to get up early tomorrow morning to head back from Iowa to Illinois.

Hope you enjoyed your holiday if you're in the U.S.!

xEsther


P.S. No, I did not plan to have two posts with fireworks references in a row. It happens, people. It happens.

Image from http://www.examiner.com/family-in-seattle/4th-of-july-crafts-for-kids