Neutral Colored Denim (UPDATED!)

Colored denim has been out for a long time now. Have to admit I'm very late on this. The colors that seemed to attract the most attention were electric blues and reds. I was really tempted to buy some from Zara at the beginning of their winter clearance sale since they had my size and were $29 or maybe it was $20. Can't remember. When I thought long and hard about it I didn't think I'd get much wear out of them nor did I really like the idea of having bright stand-out pants! I love wearing color in the spring and summer, but that's limited to shirts and mainly pastel colors, so I opted out.

I was still hung up on the idea of colored denim and needed to fill my void.

Solution? Get neutral colored denim that still stands apart from wearing your everyday black and blue. Colors that are of particular interest include burgundy's and dark green's.

I'm new to colored denim so I'm not ready to make an expensive commitment by buying an expensive pair. For a regular pair I'd feel more comfortable paying the price but since this is more trendy (maybe it'll become a staple in the future) I was looking to pay a low price point.

$22 @ Urban Planet 

I know Urban Plant is not known for their quality at all but I really liked these and they suited my budget so I really can't complain. I'll update about the quality + color when they arrive. Maybe they won't be as bad as I think just like the Bluenotes Trousers I bought a while back. Here's to hoping!

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So these arrived at the beginning of this week and I must say the quality of them isn't bad at all! The material is very soft and the color is great and true to the photo. My only complaint is that I wish they were more fitted! I ordered the green in a small and burgundy in a medium since that was the smallest size left. I figured they might fit small but I was wrong. The pants are bigger in the waist and through the calf so I'll have to go exchange the burgundy pair if I can find them in store, the green pair I can handle not being as fitted as I had hoped. Maybe I'll try shrinking them.

Yay for color :)

Midweek Blues

Another outfit post! I haven't been up to much lately besides leaving the house for school and running errands. Boring, boring, but I guess that's the life of a student. 

My retail adventures currently consist of me waiting for things to arrive. I'm currently waiting on some jewelry, skin care items, and pants, all which I'll make a post about soon. The pants will probably be featured on my next post (but with stock pics since they look better anyway lol).

Tuesday's Outfit

Tank || American Eagle

Plaid Shirt || Song
Blazer || Forever 21
Jeggings || Aldo Accessories

Similar to yesterday with the exception of an additional plaid shirt, different leggings/jeggings, and black flats instead. I guess since I go to school for one class a day, three days a week, I get kinda lazy deciding what to wear. Also since I'm sitting in front of a desk, no one can see what I'm wearing anyway. A lot of the times I keep my jacket on too so it probably looks like I'm always wearing the same outfit lol.

Wednesday's Outfit

Yay today was a Mail Day. The items featured on this post arrived today, minus the Lina shirt which is one of the items I was looking forward to. I guess it oversold :(

I decided to try my sweatpants and here's how I wore them to run errands today.

Tank || Fluo
Blazer || Costa Blanca
Sweatpants || Fluo

Thoughts?
While I do like these sweatpants, I think they could stand to be more fitted throughout the leg. Maybe I'm just accustomed to the tightness of skinnies and leggings/jeggings but I think these could look more polished. Also the waist is a bit too big for me so I have to wear them high waisted (not that I mind) but even after tying the drawstring it begins to loosen and eventually sinks back down. Semi-disappointed but I still like these. The fitting issue can be fixed with tailoring.

To end the afternoon of errands I grabbed some food with the boyfriend from T&T to snack on. I should've known better not to park my car in the parking lot since the spaces are small AND it's full of bad drivers but it was raining and cold. Before we left the car I called my mom so we sat in the car for a few minutes and a car pulls into the stall next to us and opens their driver's side door and knicks my car while doing so. The driver had the audacity to just walk off when we were sitting in my car too!! :@:@ We got right out and stopped the woman from walking away. She honestly had nothing to say and denied that it happened. She claims the clunk we heard on my door was her finger hitting my door and not her car door. Can a finger even make that big of a clunking noise!? I'm just glad there's no damage on my door. I see a knick in the paint but that's nothing to escalate over. 

Either way. Not impressed!!

Revlon Lip Butter - Peach Parfait

I guess I should made a post on one of these. I bought this back in December but I never got around to making a post about it.  I feel motivated to since Kerri from There's Something About Kerri posted one! I bought this off Well.ca when these were harder to find at the time for $8.99 + tax a tube. I love shopping from this website since it offers free and fast shipping. The only downside was that there was a limited number of shades available so I just ordered Peach Parfait.

Overall, Peach Parfait is slightly shimmery and not too sheer. I think it's perfect for everyday use if your lips need a little boost. As the name implies, it's peachy and shows up as nice pink color. Personally I don't really wear this too often. I'm usually bare lipped or have Burt's Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm on instead!

Will I buy again?
Probably if I find them for a good deal! Otherwise I can live without them for the time being.  

Outfit of the Day

Lace Top || Kimchi Blu

Blazer || Forever 21

Leggings || Gap

Boots || Nine West

New to the Beauty Regimen

My Beauty Diary Masks!

I'm sure many of you have heard of these or tried them so I'm excited to add these to my routine since I've heard so much about them. As you can see I bought the hyaluronic version which is good for moisturization. my skin got really dry during this winter break and still is, especially on my cheeks and chin.

I found these at T&T for $10.99 for a box of ten. I have no clue if that's cheap but if you don't want to wait for these to ship from Sasa Cosmetics or any other Asian retailer I think this is a decent price.

This is my first time buying sheet masks so it was kinda funny putting them on and placing it nicely but I'm sure with more frequent use it'll get easier. It feels really soothing and cool wearing these (I have one on right now!) so I'm happy. I hope this won't cause any ugly breakouts or anything since my skin is so sensitive but these masks seem to have a good reputation.

I hope I can find these on sale again since I want to try some other types of masks!

Cozy Comfort

First outfit post in a while! The snow's finally gone.. although I never got my snow day or sledding day, but at least I don't have to wear Hunters every day!

Today I dressed very casually and warmly since it was still very windy. I'm just glad it wasn't raining, gave me a chance to wear my Uggs to complete my "cozy comfort" look. I generally don't wear Uggs anymore unless I'm feeling uber lazy and driving to the grocery store or wherever to grab something, but today was an exception ;)

Wool Sweater || H&M

Top || Talula Babaton

Grey Leggings || J. Crew

Boots || Ugg

I'm in the process of helping my boyfriend clean his room up so we took a trip to Home Depot storage and organization aisle. Sometimes I wish I had an empty room so I could get brand new furnishings, especially for a high-tech closet, but that won't be until I get my own place! We didn't want to buy too much stuff in one go and are planning to slowly organize each area one at a time so we got one thing. A cube shelf. I love these (see here for my cube shelf) as they're a great alternative to the Ikea Expedit shelf if you're on a tighter budget. 

I arranged his cube shelf to make a little wardrobe/dressing area. I quite like it and wish I had my own area to do that. I like making makeshift walls out of bookcases and screens so this played out nicely.

White 9 Cube Organizer

This shelf also comes in Expresso (a dark brown) and Alder (a wood color). I was reading reviews for this shelf and despite low ratings (on the Expresso version) this shelf is great. I was kinda surprised people said this was hard to put together and had unclear instructions considering I put my 6 cube together by myself at 3AM when I wasn't exactly the sharpest lol. 

Yeah, that mirror is girly lol. We'll get a new one when we take a trip to Ikea but for now it'll do.

Boyfriend being Mr. Organized, strategically putting things together.

From Top to Bottom, Left to Right:

Solid Colored V-Necks

Shirts with Screen Prints/Designs

Sweaters

Belts/Sunglasses

Plaid Shirts

Track Pants

& A Bunch of Jeans

To continue the clean up/reorganization of my room I also bought something

24 Inch Walnut Floating Shelf

I really like that it doesn't have brackets although Home Depot did have some cute brackets available. I haven't installed them yet (will probably have to get my Dad to do it!) but when I do I think I'll put photo frames on top. I'm excited for these to go up so I don't have to see a bare grey wall any more.

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

Ackkk I made such a noob mistake.. I bought this way back in December (so I guess this is a technically not so recent purchase) but was waiting for my nails to grow out so I just discovered my mistakes now. I was planning to do a modified French Manicure with a matte colored black/purple base and shiny tips after seeing it on another blogger's page. Of course I would NOT know that there are two versions of the same polish; an actual matte version of color and your regular shiny version. And yep, you guessed it, I bought the shiny version :(

Anywhos, I still like this color despite the fact that it's not what I wanted. This is OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. It's a very deep colored purple that almost shows up as black. I like that it's not your run of the mill plain black and something a little bit different. 

After one coat the polish is very opaque but with close inspection you'll see that it's a tiny bit streaky or that some parts are a bit lighter. Two coats was perfect.

Kinda messy! Also added some nail stickers that I got off eBay.

Sorry about the lack of outfit posts. I was going to upload one for this post and Thursday but I must've accidentally deleted them off my phone.

Instead I present this:

Poutine Pizza!

Me and the boyfriend are fatties, especially around the hours of midnight to 1:00AM. Yes we finished that in one sitting and I eat the same amount he does hehe.

Brrrrr It's Getting Cold

Vancouver finally got its first dump of snow that actually stuck! I was scared I wouldn't be able to make to it school today taking transit but kudos to SFU for actually making the roads ridiculously clear. My bus driver didn't even drive slowly today and just sped the entire way up.

Outfit of the day:

I never took my coat off today since my classroom was really cold but this is what I was wearing. The temperatures in classrooms are never spot on.. it's always too cold or too hot.

Top || Old Navy

Leggings || The Gap

Scarf || ? - purchased off a booth selling scarves at school

Rain Boots || Hunter

Sorry for all the phone pictures. It's so much easier to take them, especially if I need to show my shoes. I have a carpeted house and am against shoes on carpet. I like taking photos in my room better for convenience and outfit sake, phone pictures it is :P

Keeping my feet warm and dry in the snow. Looks like I'll be living in these for the next few days.. I'd wear other boots but they're leather so they'll get ruined.

I'm hoping for a snow day tomorrow/Wednesday/Thursday. I want to go sledding in the park near my house! I bought one of these Magic Carpet Sleds from Toys R Us a few years ago and never used it so now would be a good time :)

Fancy Sweatpants

 "When you are forty-five years old and have six children, it's a slippery slope to sweatpants and a minivan."

- Laura Bennett

No, that isn't me.. I'm neither 45 or have 6 kids.. but I do love sweatpants at my current 20 year old state. I don't know why but I'm suddenly intrigued by fitted sweatpants.. not the slouchy, slobby, in-your-house-only sweats, but fitted, well cut ones.

I think I first saw Lily @ Bleed For Fashion rocking them and I thought they looked great. Unfortunately I can't find the exact post but if anyone follows her blog you know they'd look great!

T By Alexander Wang makes quite a few fitted sweatpants (see examples on Shop Style) but I would honestly never pay more than $40 for sweatpants brand name or not, especially with my student budget. As a result I found some other sweatpants that are fitted and within my budget to satisfy my current obsession.

Fluo Nicole

I ordered these recently and I'm hoping they fit okay. They look a bit more baggy than I'd like but I was keen on getting a pair. I really like the cuffs on the pants but I'm afraid that the waistband makes these look more pajama-y. We'll see when they arrive. 

American Eagle 77 Kids Straight Leg Sweatpants

These should definitely be more fitted since they're kids size. I think these look a lot less like pajamas and more so the look I was going for. They're grey in case it's a bit hard to tell.

A couple outfit inspirations:

L: La Vegabond Dame

R: Style4Style

Paired with blouses or tighter coats, I think this could look great.

Aside from these sweatpants I've made a few other recent purchases in the last couple weeks. I was going to wait until they arrived to blog about them but stock pictures look better than my crappy modelling pictures.. so here goes!

ASOS Cross Back Cutout Side Dress

This actually arrived on Wednesday and I love the back. Not posting a front photo since there's no black photo, but click the link to see if you're curious! I was planning to wear it tonight to go out but given the snowfall I don't think I'll be wearing it anymore :(

Fluo Lina

Another blouse! 

Fluo Leggings

Non-black leggings for a change

American Eagle Knit Blazer

A pop of color for my wardrobe. All my blazers are neutral colored so this will add some variety and be great for spring!

Outfit of the Day

Quick stop at Metrotown today to buy a book for school. No shopping for the sake of my credit card! I had to resist a sale at PLEN+Y where all fall/winter merchandise was 50% off and more markdowns at Zara..

This is my outfit of the day:

Top || Michael Kors
Blazer || Forever 21
Jeans || Forever 21

Demi By Julep On My Injured Toe

Before I show the polish here's my outfit the of the day:

The weather was surprisingly nice today so I dressed more springy... Although by 4:30 it was super cold and I wished I wore some thicker clothes. I had a jacket on but that was also thin.

Tank || American Eagle

Blouse || Ellen Tracy

Jeggings || American Eagle

Scarf || Everything All We Ever Wanted

I changed my toe nail polish finally! My toe nail polish always seems to last a long time and I blogged the last time I painted them which was back in December. Upon removing the polish I noticed there was discoloration on my big toe. At first I thought it might be stained from having polish on for so long but it actually seems to be a bruise or blood under the nail, I don't know :( I probably got it from wearing crappy heels clubbing a few times this winter break. Ugh. Lesson learned: don't buy heels from Forever 21 even if they're cheap and disposable.

Gross! Sorry this was in the middle of removing polish.

I wanted to cover up the ugly bruise so I used my Julep nail polish which was featured in my last post.

Demi by Julep

One coat - the color is supposed to be a burgundy shade. It reminded me of blood when I was applying it because the polish was really liquidity.

Makeupkismet commented that when she tried Julep it chipped really fast leaving her disappointed. So far my nails haven't chipped but it could be because the polish is on my toes and not finger nails. My nails experience way more abuse than my toe nails. We'll see how long these last!

More Mail - Julep Maven!

I ordered an introductory box from Julep Maven back in December and it finally arrived! Julep Maven is similar to other monthly subscription services like Glymm Box and Birch Box where you get a few beauty products every month. Because Julep released a promo code this introductory box was only a penny! They made you take a quiz on what nail colors you would wear for certain occasions and the quiz determined that my nail color theme was most suited to "American Beauty." 

Everything arrived in a little red box and this bag was inside. Cute bow.

Sorry boyfriend in the background playing Modern Warfare :P

So what's inside?

1. Julep Nail Color in Demi - an elegant burgundy color (8mL)

2. Julep Nail Color in Jennifer - beautiful, sheer polish with just a hint of pink (8mL)

3. Pot of gold glitter

4. Julep "Facial for Hands" Glycolic Hand Scrub (89mL) + a 2mL sample

5. Age Defying Hand Brightener sample (2mL)

I think this is an amazing sample box for a penny! I haven't tried the polishes yet since I still have Warm & Fozzie on but I can't wait to try them. The hand scrub lotion is also really generous to offer. I'm not sure if this is/what the full size is but either way this is nice. I have dry and rough hands due to eczema that comes and goes so I hope this stuff works. I'll make a new post when I try these out.. sadly it might not be for a little while. My next polish in line to try out is OPI Lincoln Park After Dark! I bought it back in early December so it needs to be used first :)

I'm not sure if I'll stay subscribed to Julep. It's $20 a month and with that comes a few polishes + products. I'm not really a nail polish junky so I think I'm better off subscribing to a service that offers other beauty products. Julep's service seems great overall though as you can also skip months without fees/being charged, send your box to a girlfriend, or just cancel by giving them a call.

OUTFIT OF THE DAY

Top || ? - Bought on eBay from a seller in Hong Kong

Bustier Underneath || Talula Babaton

Faux Leather Leggings || American Eagle Outfitters 77 Kids

Warm & Fozzie

So what's Warm and Fozzie? 

This!

OPI Warm & Fozzie

I quickly went to the beauty section at Winners in Metrotown today and discovered that they have a few shades from the OPI Muppets Collection which features polishes that are all glittery. They were $7.99 a bottle. From what I remember they only had Warm & Fozzie, Meep-Meep-Meep, Fresh Frog of Bel Air, Divine Swine, and Gettin' Miss Piggy with It. I kind of want to go back and buy the Miss Piggy shade which is a red-pink shade. I chose Warm & Fozzie since I'll probably wear it the most. 

The bad? The bottles are kind of scuffed. You can see it on the top left portion of the bottle pictures above but here's another picture: 

Swatches:

One coat, two coats, three coats

Sorry, pictures are a bit blurry since I used my phone. As you can tell the first coat is really sheer and a bit streaky. I'm waiting for my finger nails to grow longer at the moment and with one coat the tips were very visible. Second and third coats aren't photographed well here, but even after the second coat my nail tips were still a bit visible. After the third coat, all is well and the polish is finally opaque! 

Thoughts?

It's very bronzy. I like the sparkly-ness. I'm not sure how in love with color I am. I think I was swayed by the glitter, my new obsession. From what I've read online, other bloggers will agree that using any of these shades requires at least 3 coats for full coverage and effect.I think I want to go back and buy the Miss Piggy tomorrow since I'll be at Metrotown again. Boyfriend will not approve haha. 

As part of my promise, some more stuff is slowing rolling in! What came today? My Sigma F80 Kabuki Brush!

It came with the little red bag and a care instruction card!

I'm excited to try this out. I apply my foundation using my hands and this brush is supposed to your makeup application "flawless" so I hope I see a good change. After reading a number of reviews from other bloggers I have high hopes!

The brush is $16 + shipping which works out to be pretty cheap (~$3) and if you Google there are usually 10% off codes :) 

Last of all here's my outfit of the day:

As I mentioned in my last post, I decided to keep the TOMS, so here they are. I pretty much paired it with a similar outfit as I did when I was trying them on.

Not really sure why I took my shoes off in the second picture lol. I was intending to show the lace detailing on my tank.

Top || American Eagle Outfitters

Blazer || Staring At Stars

Circle Scarf || Everything All We Ever Wanted

Leggings || Charlotte Russe

Shoes || TOMS

Sequins & Print

Here's a small recent purchases post. I'll have more coming soon, I'm just waiting for things to arrive in the mail :) The mail's been pretty slow since the holiday season just wrapped up so I'm sure things will slowly start trickling in next week.

Sequin TOMS & Everything All We Ever Wanted Animal Print Circle Scarf

Prints, Prints, Prints (features the sister Zara Animal Print Scarf)

Keeping this for sure. I love  the print and that it's a circle scarf, my favorite.

& Sequins!

Not 100% sure if I want to keep these though. They're cute but I'm debating how much wear I'll get out of them since I usually just wear flats with my outfits. TOMS look more casual in general but the sequins could potentially jazz up an outfit a bit I guess. 

(so what happens if I return them? does this "one for one" business still hold true? lol)

The items together:

Hmmm, to keep or not to keep?

If anyone really wants them email me (see "contact me" tab at the top of this page) asap. Will be deciding within the week whether to keep or return. They're a women's size 7. Retail for $70 + tax, selling for $45.

Scratch that I'm gonna keep them ;)