September Favorites

Hello October. September has been absolutely amazing and super super hectic, but it's so good to be back in the city. From fashion week, to birthdays, to going out on the town, to shopping, to learning (yeah, I mean in school!)- it's been a blast. As usual, here are my favorites of the month.

Beauty

01) Naked Palette (Original)- I've found myself going back to this a trillion times this month! I also don't believe I've ever even thrown this into a monthly favorites, so I figure it's about time. My favorites on the lid would have to be either Sin or Naked, with a little Sidecar and Buck in the crease. Half Baked is brilliant for a gold eye, and I can't do without Darkhorse or Hustle on my lower lash line whenever I use this palette.

02) Mac's Silk Stocking Pigment- Limited edition from Mac Holiday 2013, Silk Stocking is a pigment to absolutely DIE FOR. I love wearing this in my inner tear duct to brighten up a going out/ evening look. It also looks brilliant if foiled and patted onto the lid, especially if you contrast it with a dark crease.

03) Mac's Old Gold Pigment- Another pigment, this color is insane in the best way possible. Metallic goldish green and super thick, this is beautiful for creating a fall day-to-night eye look. I love putting this toward inner half of my lid and adding Mac's Woodwinked on the outer corner, with Mulch in the crease. Trust me on this one, it'll come out gorgeous.  

04) Mac's Smolder- I rarely ever put black liner on my waterline, but I found myself doing it a few times this month to go out! My absolute favorite liner for achieving this look would have to be Smolder, it's super thick and lasts all night long. 

05) Mac's Warm Soul Mineralized Blush- Favorite of the season. This adds a really nice warm sheen to your cheeks, and I also love blending it up toward my temples. Extremely suitable for many different complexions as well!

06) Mac Pure Zen- Hands down, the best fall nude. Luckily, this is apart of their permanent lipstick collection, and I highly recommend you get a hold of it! It's super creamy and moisturizing, and the color payoff is brilliant.

Miscellaneous/ Fashion

07) Sexy Little Things NOIR Body Mist- I've literally had this body spray for a few years now (it's a wonder I haven't finished it), and it's my go to for fall. Warm, crisp, and light, the scent is super nice and amiable.

08) Bumble&Bumble Surf Spray- Similar to the Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Surf Spray, this is a texturizing sea-salt solution to keep your hair super textured and slightly curly. I happened to pick this one up at a CCO, so I was able to get it at a discounted price, but I have to say- I do like it better than the NYM version. It's less salty, and has a nice grip on my hair when I use it. I like to wash my hair before bed, sleep in braids, and then spray this texturizing solution throughout in the morning- this is the most perfect way to achieve beachy waves if you have pin straight and flat hair naturally (like me, womp!). 

09) Brandy Melville White High Collared Shirt- In LOVE! I purchased this at the beginning of the month, and I've worn it a ton already. It's super light but still conservative which gives it a really nice fall vibe. 

10) Fujifilm Instax Mini 8- My baby!!! This is by far one of my favorite purchases from 2014. I've decorated my bedroom wall chock-full of polaroids and they're such a gorgeous backdrop and they keep me super inspired.

Finally, my lookbook is LIVE for September. I accidentally lost a whole lot of footage off my computer when transferring some stuff during fashion week (whoops) so, most of it is street style and a few clips from shows I attended :)

Here's to October!

"O! She doth teach the torches to burn bright!"

[Romeo + Juliet 1.5]

Cheers, x

PS Keep updated on my Twitter & Insta for birthday weekend photos :) yayay 

Black Widow

Arachnophobia:: [noun] pathological fear or loathing of spiders

Fun fact: I'm terrified by spiders, but I secretly also think they're really cool. Is that even possible? 

When I saw these awesome black lace bell bottoms at Necessary Clothing though, the image and words, "black widow" came to mind. How insanely cool are these pants? I love how the entire leg is mainly lace and how the flare completely sweeps the floor. This is a piece of clothing that screams for a double take, in the best way possible.

To make the look a bit more conservative, I went with a grey short turtleneck sleeveless crop, also from Necessary. This broke up the amount of skin shown, and created a more casual feel. To play off of the lines in the pant, I decided to add this cool vintage cardigan c/o Beacon's Closet. I love the concept of mixing lace patterns in the fall. Keeping the lace textiles either close in color or complimentary in color really gives the eye something interesting to look at, and they're also fabulous for layering. Finally, I added these adorable blue string earrings c/o BP Nordstrom, and popped on Mac's Retro Matte in Dangerous to funk up the look even more. 

 ♛ Photography by Marissa Legnini ♛

[T Minus 7 days until my BIRTHDAY, woo]

"Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind"

[Hamlet 3.1]

Cheers, x

Heaven Knows

The demise of this past fashion week, although depressing, is quite rewarding to those of us who have been running between uptown and downtown to events and shows (mainly in heels, AH). But now that I'm done with NYFW festivities, I've had time to kick back and focus on school. This week, I was super inspired by this fun Lala article, (I'm a huge fan of The Pretty Reckless, btdubs) so I stuck with with neutrals and a classic silhouette. I started with my lovely white collared shirt from Brandy Melville. I paired this drop dead amazing high collar with this awesome flared black skate skirt from Forever 21- a staple in my closet, because it can be paired with just about anything! The proportions are what makes this look, so my easy rule of thumb: high collar, short flare on bottom // low neck, longer and more form fitting bottom. Next I added some white on white action (I love this because they're two very different shades of 'white') with this pleather Forever 21 jacket (with a ton of zipper detail!). 

Finally, to add some much needed color, I added these vintage maroon suede booties (thank you mom!) and paired it with a closely matching lipstick, YSL #4. I couldn't resist to add my grooviest sunglasses in my collection from Necessary Clothing to add some fall orange and pink shine (yeah, I said grooviest, deal with it, lolol). And there you have it, absolutely perfect to start getting ready for fall!

♛ Photography by Marissa Legnini ♛

[Sidenote, the countdown to my birthday begins! 13 days, woot]

"I will speak daggers to her, but use none"

[Hamlet 3.2]

Cheers, x

PS: Thank you John for tagging me for the Ten Favorite Book/ Impacted Most By List (I thought it would be fun to put it on KQ and explain them a little in depth instead of a brief Facebook post) so, here goes..

[PPS: can't do this without throwing in some Shakes >>mwahah]

01. Stephen King, IT [you must read this if you haven't]- This story is one that I find myself constantly going back to, re-reading, and thinking about when I need inspiration in writing. Yes, it is a horror story, but there is sooo much more to it and every single character has impacted me and will continue to. The lessons in this book are phenomenal, and it's a book I will never forget.

02. Stephen King, The Shining- Just perfect for psychological thrill. Again, I dig this because of King's characters, but the whole notion of 'the Shining' is something that will resound with every reader who realizes it. 

03. Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess- Can't even begin with this one. I grew up re-reading this book and re-watching the movie constantly. It's so dear to my heart.

04. Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None- My love for mysteries are all thanks to the great AC. Twists and turns, crisp and concise, her writing is absolutely to die for (no pun intended...hahha...) and this will always be one of my favorite stories, ever. 

05. J.D Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye- Yeah, cliché, I'm aware. But seriously, worth re-reading again and again, I've been able to pull out many different meanings out of this one as I've grown up. That's the kind of book that deserves to be re-read.

06. Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones- Dark and extremely twisted, yes. But so heart-wrenching and beautiful in a way.

07. William Shakespeare, Macbeth // Twelfth Night- Ah, what can I say. These are my two favorite Shakes plays for tons of different reasons. Mainly though, Lady M and Viola have stolen my heart.

08. Lois Lowry, The Giver- Ahhh, another cliché! But, I have to say, this book totally affected me just like it has many many other individuals. It will forever keep me thinking.

09. J.K Rowling, Harry Potter Series (duh)- Too much to say. This is pretty self explanatory though. The HP books taught us all just about everything we know (or, I like to think of it that way).

10. Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects- Phew, this one killed me, in the best way possible. That's all I can say to that.

NYFW 06: metalmania

Can you say power-jacket?! For my final look of #NYFW, I went with all black and a pop of silver, a huge pop of silver, that is (and a faded flash tattoo on my right arm, I know, I know)! I purchased this amazing vest from Zara in Milan, Italy. Not only is it bold in flashing shine, it has killer texture with layers upon layers of sequins. To give the sparkle some contrast and dull it down a bit, I added all black underneath. My pants are c/o Bullhead Co., and my tank is from American Eagle. 

I could not go without this stunner gummy clutch I picked up in Rome, Italy, and I bounced off with a little more color with these gorgeous sapphire earrings. Finally, my pout is courtesy of Mac Cosmetics, Pure Heroine to be exact. 

It's been a blast -until next #NYFW ! ♡ 

"Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come. 

In yours and my discharge. "

[The Tempest 2.1]

Cheers, x

NYFW 05: geist

[Charles Chessler Photography] 

One of my favorite words in the english dictionary is zeigeist. The definition is as follows: "the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought that typifies and influences the culture of a particular period of time" (Thanks Wikipedia). I've always been interested by that word, and it's a word I like to keep up and posted on my wall, on a stickynote in my laptop, and in a note on my phone. It's just one of those words. When my Writing for Magazines professor used it a few times, I naturally, not only geeked out, I also felt estatic, as if this is some sort of clue telling me that I'm going toward the correct path.  There's something about this word though-- it feels super powerful and cool, which translates to this powerhouse outfit I put together for my fifth NYFW look.

This amazing jumpsuit is c/o Urban Outfitters, and I paired it with this awesome vintage cardigan from Beacon's Closet. To add some brightness to my face, I popped on these fun glasses c/o Necessary Clothing and added this gorgeous Sail La Vie lipstick from Mac. Finally, to deepen it up a bit,  I stuck with my plum Rebecca Minkoff and my black Soulman boots by Jeffrey Campbell. And as per usual, I couldn't leave without my beanie, so I popped that on and was on my way to photograph street style outside of Mercedes Benz. Many thanks to Charles Chessler for the amazing headshot as well. 

""Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind; 

The thief doth fear each bush an officer"

[King Henry IV Part III 5.6]

Cheers, x

NYFW 04: professor plum

Phew, what a week it's been (and it's not even over yet). I haven't gotten the chance to write (or breathe) in the past 72 hours, so bare with me, but I'm very happy to have some time to do some more in depth writing for my fourth fashion week ensemble (all together there will be six outfits I sport to NYFW, so two more to go!)

Fun fact, Clue is my favorite board game. Like really. I'm obsessed with it (and Tim Curry is excellent in that silly movie). In fact, when I was a freshman in high school, Miss Lindz and I were in a show called "Quotable Women," in which we each played an influential author and wrote our own monologues on their characters. At the intro of the show, our director had us all sit at a table and play Clue in character, which I thought was simply genius. But I digress. Truthfully, I think of Clue whenever I wear this Professor Plum- colored Rebecca Minkoff purse, and I can't get enough. I started with these fabulous black jeans from Bullhead Co, purchased at Pacsun. I cuffed them a bit to give it a more casual and late summer feel, and added this adorable Urban Outfitters tribal crop top. To contrast that beautiful purple, what better than this gorgeous mustard blazer from Forever 21. I popped on my black Jeffrey Campbell wedges, and added my black beanie because it got a little chilly out today. I think this was a perfect look to transition from class to fashion week, professional, but still trendy and super fun. 

"It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear"

[Romeo and Juliet 1.5]

Cheers, x

NYFW 03: mrs. robinson

Top & Clutch- Boutique in Salerno, Italy

Skirt- Forever 21

Shoes- Zara from Florence, Italy

Crown- Forever 21

events of the day

 Lacoste @MBFW

Lie Sangbong @MBFW

Malan Breton @MBFW

Academy of Art University @MBFW

Stay tuned for recaps on Lala - & check out my first here! 

"I am sure care's an enemy to life"

[Twelfth Night 1.3]

Cheers, x