TEXAS

So I live in Texas and this weekend I traveled to San Antonio and Austin on Saturday. For those of you who live in Texas if you are ever in San Antonio in the Spring time you should definitely visit the Shops at La Cantera! It is an Outdoor mall and very pretty with a pretty decent selection of stores.

But I would not recommend going in the summer because Texas is brutally hot, and if you are trying on clothes it might be uncomfortable.!

I also went to the Tanger outlet in San Marcos and I have to say I was disappointed because most of the "outlets" aren't really outlets. Yet, there was a really good BCBG Max Azria outlet. It was a true outlet with great discounts! I am biting my tongue about not buying this dress there.

---I also went to 6th street in Austin, it reminded me a lot of Bourbon Street in New Orleans except cleaner and less scandalous LOL. For those of you who haven't been to either place they shut down the entire street and people are walking around bar-hopping. Yet, in Austin you can't drink in the streets like you can in New Orleans! 

-I actually didn't take any pictures because when I travel anywhere away from my apartment (even to my parents' house) I am terrible about charging my phone and I hate carrying my camera!! This is a picture I took in the day time in New Orleans a little over a year ago, and how everyone is just in the streets! You see a lot of people painted metallic colors acting like robots! 

I was a little disappointed with what I saw fashion wise in Austin. Austin's logo is "Keep Austin Weird", and I thought I would see some cool fashion choices there. 

I look at fashion blogs all day at work when we are slow, and I wish I could mention where I got this photo exactly... I think it might have been Monica Rose's blog or Kourtney Kardashian's, but I thought these Louboutins were so cool! These 8-inch stillettos raise money for the English National Ballet. 

Funny Quote

I have always admired Roberto Cavalli as a Designer, and I loved him even more after seeing his appearance on Girls Nextdoor, and how funny he was. But now I love him even more--- 

"I copy the dress of an animal because I love to copy God. I think God is the most fantastic designer."

-Roberto Cavalli

 

Rainy Monday

This weekend I went home for an early weekend on Thursday evening. I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, but I didn't get to go to the midnight showing this time! Usually, I go with my roommate, but I decided to wait until Friday evening! It was amazing! I would have crashed out if I went to the midnight showing.


This weekend I went shopping with one of my good friends, and I bought her daughter Hailey this shirt from F21 because she has called me bear her whole life! =P lol. 

 

I also bought the three of us these necklaces for $1.50 (since my nickname is bear and they were so cheap). I bought pink ones w/ gold chains for Hailey and I and my friend Priscilla wanted a turquoise one with a silver chain. 

 I hate spending money because I am really trying to build up my bank account, but I have been taking 6 hours of school this summer session, and working two jobs so I decided to splurge a little and buy myself some coral heels from Bakers! They were actually on sale for $69.99! I wanted something fun and summery! 

Another Thursday

A

So this morning at work I decided to take pictures of myself because no one is in the office. My pictures in the lighting we have here always come out odd looking. 

-I woke up on time this morning and decided to curl my hair, but the humidity here is terrible! I live fairly close to Houston, and in the mornings my hair has no chance when curled because naturally my hair is board straight! So instead of getting frizzy with humidity it gets flat and straight! =( 

-I did my makeup quickly since I had trouble picking out an outfit this morning. I just threw on a light coat of physician's formula foundation, a swoop of liquid liner over my eyes (I don't remember the brand, I found it at HEB), a light coat of Maybelline falsies mascara, and my NYC lipstick in 316 blossom... For more dimension in color I put a coat of my elf lip-stain in birthday suit in the center of my lips, and a clear gloss on top! I also put my sugar bronzer in the hollows of my cheeks (but very lightly)... They no longer make this bronzer, so I stocked up on it a few years back.

So since my nails were lasting pretty well and I was able to keep up with them and glue them back on if one popped off, I decided to cut them short. The long nails were bothering me and I personally like them shorter. I have terrible real nails so even if I have my nails short I'd rather them be fake, They look so much better! My hands are lying on my Bermuda-length lace leggings I purchased at Marshall's a few years back, and I am wearing a purple H&M dress my friend bought me in New York!

LOL you can see my slimfast in the background =P

Luscious Lips

Ok sooo I have really bad allergies as I mentioned in another post, and as a result of this my lips are always dry, flakey, and cracking. I have tried carmex, the regular chapstick, soft lips, and other various lip balms. About two months ago when my mom bought some sunscreen it came with a free Neutrogena lip moisturizer. 

This is the worst picture ever because my phone, office lighting, desk, and the color of the packaging were not cooperating-- but here's a general idea of what chapstick I am referring to.

This has to be the first product I have used that actually moisturizes my lips without them drying off the instant it is no longer applied. it doesn't get cakey and peel like other products and helps my lips actually heal! It has been a life saver! 

This one says "Norwegian Formula" on the tube and has an SPF 15 which is perfect for the Texas summer! 

I thought this picture was classic from a few weekends ago at my best friend Ricky's (in picture) niece Gracelynn's (on right)  1st Birthday party!I am holding my best friend Diana's beautiful daughter Kamilah! She is my angel, and like a niece to me! These Princesses look so precious with Kamilah in her polka-dotted dress and Gracelynn in her tutu! 

Puffy eyes

Ok so I know we all have looked up "how to get rid of puffy eyes, bags, dark, and dark circles". Well, I am the queen of trying ANY and EVERYTHING for this because I am part middle eastern and I have the stereotypical eyes with dark circles, and puffiness.

This picture isn't even my eyes at their worst, but I found this picture from 2 years ago that I took to see what my hair looked like, LOL. No judging! =P

This picture was taken around the same time period... but if you look at my left eye it's very swollen. I was going through a very stressful time period, and it really showed in my eyes! 


Well, most of the time this is just genetics and you can't fix it completely, but I have found a combination of tricks that really help for me.

1st off I have terrible allergies. I don't get mucus or sneeze but tons of congestion. By congestion I mean my sinuses are swollen and there is TONS of pressure behind my eyes. So much that if I do not take my allergy medicine, nasal spray, and a decongestant (not an expectorant) daily I get horrible headaches!

This can cause extra swelling and water retention in the eyes... So just back taking an allergy medicine and a decongestant (claritinD is a combo of both) it reduces the swelling in my eyes. 

-Everyone says it but Hemorrhoid cream... it really does help with dark circles under the eyes, but you need to use it consistently!

-A lot of puffiness is caused by water retention that why it's good to drink plenty of water and work out on a regular basis! I take a lot of medication for allergies and other things so I have trouble with water retention and working out literally helps so much!! 

-Also every morning I get something cold (like a water bottle) out of the fridge and put it on my bags! It feels funny, but it really does help the swelling!! ESPECIALLY, after a long night of partying or studying!! 

-Another thing that helps is buying something like Mary Kay's cooling eye gel- it works great especially if you put it in the fridge!! (to help maximize the cooling effect)

-Also i really like both of the Garnier under-eye rollers! The one with caffeine works sooo WELL!  The caffeine seems to really help me with the dark circles!! It gets the blood flowing! 

 

These pictures are more recent after I started cracking down on making my eyes look better! Also foundation, concealer and a highlighter help!! =D But you can still tell they are there, but under control. 

 

WHiTE OUT!

Ok so yesterday when i got home from work I was waiting for my friend so that we could hit the gym, and I had time to paint my nails... I couldn't decide between pink and sliver so I decided on white... 

-I used my roommates NYC longwearing nail enamel in 134 French White...
I was a bit skeptical on how this white would turn out because some white nails polishes look AWFUL! This one is glossy and only takes two coats! It also suprisingly dries super fast! I was really impressed! (Esp. since it's .99 cents) 

K

<3 --Kdoll

Piink

So yesterday I went to Walmart for groceries and ended up buying some nails. I bought some cheap brand (I will post the brand later, I forgot the name) that was under $4. I used my leftover broadway nails glue, and let me say that glue it strong! I fell down this morning (LOL) and hit my nails as I was trying to catch myself, and I thought they were broken... but they polish chipped and the nails are STILL perfectly intact! =D 

 I plan on painting them since I don't care for white tips, but I haven't decided on a color yet... I am thinking a fun summery PINK! What do y'all think?

Also I wanted to post the elf eye primer I bought for $1 a while back... Let me just say I love it! The top of the line one I see that most make up artist, bloggers, and makeup fans use it the Urban Decay Primer potion.. Well, ever since I used this 3 years ago I haven't been a big fan. I recently tried it again recently because my roommate had some and I found that it worked better than I remembered, but I feel for the price the elf one is more reasonable- with a similar texture and staying power... 

I also liked the color of the NYC lipstick and it was only around $1 so I purchased that as well (I love cheap stuff that works). I have actually liked NYC lipsticks for a long time. They are cheap and work pretty well. They aren't drying and they don't bleed, but their staying power of course isn't the best. 

I also bought this ELF lip-stain and gloss duo for $3 just to try... It works OKAY, but the lips stain doesn't stay on as long as most lip-stains do, and I felt it needed multiple coats because the pigmentation isn't as vibrant as it appears in the tube. Yet, when you put a couple of layers and let it dry, then apply gloss it looks pretty! IDK if I would buy it again, but I will use it while I have it. It would probably work better with a bright pink lip liner like barbie pink by NYX. 

Here are the swatches--
The Elf eyelid primer
The NYC lipstick in 316 Blossom
The Elf lipstain in Birthday Suit #00908
& the gloss

Have a Wonderful day!

KristendollXOXO

PROBLEM!

Ok so I know I posted about the Revlon photo-makeup (which I love) but... I have a bone to pick about it. I have seen that a lot of bloggers love it and use it, as do I, but there is one problem! I have been using it daily (which is not what it is intended for). WELL, I have paid the price because it is messing up my skin. I couldn't figure out why my skin has been looking so dry and why my pores feel so congested. Well, I live in Texas and it is SUPER HOT, and I walk a couple miles a day because my school's campus is one of the largest in the nation! Well, that means I sweat and that makeup has been clogging my skin up MAJORLY! Nonetheless, it is still amazing for those days/nights you know you need to look FAB for pictures! =)

This make up is not intended for daily use, and the rules should really be followed! I figured since I take amazing care of my skin I would be ok- and that's a negative ghost rider! lol my skin has been jacked up! I switched back to using my physicians formula since it is supposed to keep this type of thing from happening... and in just a few days my skin quality has already improved DRAMATICALLY! 

Also I just ordered this make-up from Canada that my best friend, who does free-lance make up and hair and is a model, LOVES! She never uses anything else and I have seen her with it for YEARS! It's a brand called Yves Rocher and you can no longer buy it in the U.S. BUT it is wonderful!

It is mousse-like and very creamy but not oily. It makes your skin look very smooth and flawless. The coverage and staying power is amazing, and I have no clue why they don't sell it in the U.S. because it's the best stuff I have ever used! LOVE IT! It blends amazingly- I was trying hers for texture, not color and it easily blended to my skin even though she has skin two shades darker! I am absolutely in love! 

 
Currently it is on sale for $12, and they also gave me a FREE gift! Typically it is $22, but my friend said they always have sales and deals! I am so excited to get mine in the mail! =D I ordered it in their lightest shade of Beige 100 for very light complexions!

 You can order online here: http://www.yvesrocherusa.com/