August Wishes 2013

I assume you guys have just been sitting around waiting for me to make another post about stuff that I want from ASOS, right? Well half of this stuff is from there, though I did go a bit outside the box this time. Here are the top six things that I want to get this month. I'm finally stocking up on fall clothes, because I just can't control myself anymore. Seriously.

1. Maternity Body-Con Dress in Blue $17.82: I want this dress so, so bad. The bad news? It doesn't come in my size in the color that I want. I'll hopefully be getting it in black, but I want it in blue so badly. I will literally buy it off of someone! I love it that much. I could do so much with it, it's not too plain, but it's still a safe dress that I could pretty much pair with anything that I want. Not to mention I adore that shade of blue... on other people.

2. Monki Lightweight Parka Jacket $76.37: Yeah, I know I put a parka on my last wishlist. But I didn't buy it and I actually like this one a lot more. It seems a lot more versatile because of the fit and the style of it. It's not too grungy and it can still be styled with more classic pieces. I'll never be able to get it though. Or any of them for that matter.

3. Pink Lips iPhone 4/4S Case $12.95: Okay, you caught me. I'm currently obsessed with cute phone cases like that. I guess that's why my iPhone is cracked really badly on both the front and the back. I just love when my phone case is just as cute and stylish as my wardrobe is, you know? Sometimes I convince myself to put on a protective phone case, though. I've actually had one on my phone for a week or so now.

4. Lennon Slipper Shoes $33.94: I am obsessed with the ASOS color "oxblood" right now! Also, these shoes just so happen to have Lennon in the name and I've loved John Lennon ever since I was a little girl. And my boyfriend is obsessed with the Beatles. But the real reason I should get these shoes is because they're versatile. They could be casual, dressy, grungy, classic, or basically whatever I want them to be. I could wear them with so many different things. Basically I'm in.

5. Over-the-knee Socks $12.95: I'm obviously not dying to have this specific pair of socks. They're just knit socks, there's nothing special about them. But I do want socks like these that I can pull up over my knee or bunch up at the top of boots for the fall. Preferably in gray because that's what would go with most of my clothes and shoes best. I do really like these though and if I had money to just toss around I would definitely get them. I bet they're really warm and comfy for those chilly days that you want to wear a skirt or shorts.

6. Velvetines in Red Velvet $16.99: I have wanted this shade of this exact Lime Crime lipstick for a very, very long time now. I've had it saved in my phone with a reminder, but I still haven't gotten around to buying it. Maybe it's because of my thing about buying lipsticks in unfamiliar brands that are expensive. If it's disappointing I would be so pissed off, seriously. I want this so bad though so I'm definitely making it a goal for August. Keep your fingers crossed for me ladies! I have a lot to be buying this month!

So what are some of the things that you're looking forward to buying this month? What's on your shopping and to-do lists? Are any of these things something you'd be interested in buying? Are there any products you'd like for me to add to my shopping list for review? Any brands or stores you have for me to check out? Any tips? Let me know! I'm always curious about what my readers are thinking, using, and doing. You can also talk to me on twitter @debbieshapes.

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation

I've been using this foundation for a couple of weeks now, so I feel comfortable sharing my opinion on it now. It claims to have the "lasting power of primer, coverage of concealer, and blendability of a foundation in one." As well as claiming to be "shine free." I started using this stuff after watching quite a few reviews on Youtube, but I only managed to find one for dry skin. After careful consideration I decided to give it a try myself and I was mostly pleased with the results. The color that I got was the lightest one that they have, 805 which is called Ivory. Is it sad that I wish they had something one shade lighter?

Did this stuff live up to all of it's claims? I'm going to have to say it did, for the most part at least. I generally put my makeup on around 11:00 AM and take it off around 9:00 PM, but of course that depends on the day. Even on long days though, this stuff seemed to hold up. Of course I don't expect to look as good as when I first put my makeup on with any kind of makeup at the end of the day. It did look pretty good still though. As for the claim that it has the coverage of a concealer, I wouldn't really say that so much unless you really layer it on the places you need concealed. I try to put it on my trouble spots and under my eyes before I do a full coverage so that it'll dry and get an extra layer. It does, of course, have the blendability of a foundation because it is a foundation. And lastly, since it dries to a powder finish it is indeed shine free! However, keep in mind that I do have dry skin these days.

The formula of this stuff is very light and dries really nicely. I can't really tell that I'm wearing makeup when I have it on, but it makes my skin look really good. And for those of you with dry skin this is totally good to use and I've heard it's really good for oily and combination skin, too. If you do have dry skin, like I do, I recommend that you exfoliate before you use it so that it doesn't cling to any dry patches and make them more noticeable. They have a pretty wide range of colors, but be careful when buying because it does oxidize just a bit throughout the day. If you don't know what oxidize means basically it makes the color of the makeup a bit darker. Make sure that you blend into your neck! Also, it goes on a bit lighter than it dries. I thought that the color I got may be too light, but it ended up drying just a smidge too dark. I can work it in right though.

So what score would I give this stuff? I would give it 4.5/5 stars, I would recommend it to you guys, and I plan on using it until I find something better. Why didn't I give it the full 5 stars? Basically I'm frustrated that they didn't have a color light enough for me, it was difficult for me to make sure I didn't have a makeup line, and I had to pile it on. Thankfully it isn't heavy and it feels great, so I still like it a lot.

How Cigarettes Affect Your Appearence

Image from NBC News

I didn't smoke for that long before I had to quit, thankfully. I started smoking way before I should have, probably when I was about fifteen or sixteen years old, and I quit in April. The only reason I quit was because I was pregnant or I would still be smoking, but I still think about it a lot more than I should which people told me wouldn't happen anymore after a month. They lied! So I've had to look for other sources of motivation to stay quit after I have the little because I like to tell my boyfriend, family, and friends that I'll only buy the one pack and once it's gone I'll be done. One of those sources of motivation has been constantly Googling the phrase "affect of cigarettes on appearance," which I've been doing a lot the last few weeks.

If you do what I did you'll find a lot of things like pictures of twins, one that smoked and one that didn't, and the one who did smoke generally looks a lot older than the one who didn't smoke. I personally am not a fan of wrinkles, though it isn't something I really have to worry about at my age. However, nicotine really speeds up the process of getting wrinkles and generally makes your skin look like crap. It dulls the skin, it can cause breakouts, and it can cause wrinkles like I've already said. Why is that? Because smoking actually keeps your skin from getting oxygen and other stuff that it really needs to look as good as it can. I don't want to look like I'm thirty-five when I hit twenty-five, because at the rate I was going that would definitely happen. I was smoking a pack a day or more if I was having a really crappy day. Yes, I know that was a huge waste of money.

Then there's the affect is has on your teeth! As we all know tobacco yellows teeth, fingers, nails, whatever else basically, but it can also do a lot more to your teeth than make them look ugly. It can also literally make them rot and fall out. I know we've all seen someone who has brown spots on their teeth from smoking, and even if you do that's not as bad as it gets so don't think just because you have something like that it isn't going to get any worse! Your teeth could literally fall out and let's be honest, brown teeth are probably preferable to no teeth at all. Plus there's always whitening options if you're not too far in. Thankfully I wasn't and my teeth are getting semi-better.

What didn't I know smoking could cause? Psoriasis! Now of course having psoriasis isn't the end of the world and it can come about even if you don't smoke, but if there's a possibility you could avoid it why wouldn't you want to? If you're wondering what psoriasis is it's extremely dry patches of skin that are scaly and can be discolored as well. They're uncomfortable and I imagine they'd make someone very insecure, but I can't really speak for that because I've been lucky enough to avoid that in my life so far. Also, I had no idea smoking could cause sagging skin, saggy arms, and saggy breasts. This is because the skin loses a lot of elasticity while you're a smoker and that also makes it easier to get stretch marks. Eek! Hopefully that won't be a problem in my pregnancy because of my smoking.

So if cancer, the smell, or the money weren't good enough reasons for you to quit smoking for good you should try to torture yourself with articles like I do. A good place to start would be this WebMD article about how smoking can change your appearance and some health threats in smoking you may not have heard about. You can also Google search for things like I did and keep in mind the things that I read that bothered me. I feel like I've done so much research on it that I'm nearly an expert, only not actually. It may be an ugly truth, but I'm glad I shared it with you guys.

To Pixie or Not to Pixie...

I've been thinking for quite some time about chopping all of my hair off. And when I say all of it I mean cutting it like Michelle William's with her pixie once it grew out a little bit. When we found out that I was pregnant I thought that it would be best to wait and embrace my hair for a little longer since when you're pregnant hair grows like a weed and it would be nice to have a little change after baby and something that's easy to manage at that. So the plan right now is to get my hair cut like Michelle up there in January, I'm just concerned about a few things.

I'm not sure that I have the right face shape for a pixie cut and I'm also not sure that I'll be able to handle something so drastic. My thoughts are that I won't even care if it looks like crap because I'll have the little to look after 24/7 and by the time he's calmed down enough for me to give a crap it'll be grown out if it's really that horrible. However, I'm not a hair stylist and I definitely wouldn't consider hair my forte. If anything it's what I'm worst at. So I'm really not sure how this will look on me, I just love it so much! And from what I've seen pixie cuts can look good on anyone if they pick the right one and if they are happy about it. Personally I don't have such bad self esteem problems that people being rude about me looking like a boy would make me not like my haircut, though. If I like it no one else's opinion will matter.

Obviously I have a lot of time, but I would love to hear everyone's opinion. Sorry this isn't a real content post, again I'm very busy if you haven't noticed and things should calm down as soon as my boyfriend goes back to school for this last semester.

Gender Reveal Nails

In the spirit of actually being able to announce/brag about something regarding the baby I thought I would make another post about the little one's gender which is, as most of you have already read I'm sure, a boy! Yay! I had these nails in the outfit post from yesterday, It's a Boy, and I've been wearing them for over a week now. I don't think anyone has figured out I did them this way solely because the baby is a boy. Not even my boyfriend, my mom, or my best friend, and they know how I am. I'm just excited that I get to announce something, because I basically got to tell four people I was pregnant before the word some how got out. It was disappointing. Thankfully it was kept a well-hidden secret this time, so I can finally get some joy out of bragging about something!

First off sorry this second picture is so out of focus! I didn't think to upload them to the computer to check before I took the nail polish off, so sorry. To do these nails I applied my base coat like normal. After that dried I applied Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri "Blue Away," but I had to put on about 4 coats. I do not suggest this nail polish! I take very good care of my beauty products so that I can give you guys the best advice I can as well as keep them as long as I can. This is only the second time I've used this nail polish, it was closed and stored properly, but it is already drying up! Good thing it was only about $4. Then I applied Forever21 Love & Beauty's "Baby Face" on my ring finger, two coats. I let that dry then put on a top coat and voila! On my toes I just used the Forever21 polish so it would kind of match, but it wasn't too matchy.

Tell me what you guys think and if you're interested in me doing more posts like this. If you want to know what kind of base and top coat I use, I always use OPI. It's what works best for me! Aren't you guys excited to see all of the little boy clothes I pick out? And meet the little? I know I am!

P.S. If I make it to 100 followers on Bloglovin soon I'll definitely be willing to host a giveaway!

I Wrote a Guest Post: DIY Hydration Tropical Mask

If you guys are interested at all I wrote a guest post for my friend Daphne over at her blog Peanut Butter and Chocolate Life. She's been really busy with her internship and I thought I would offer a helping hand. Her blog is lovely. She has a lot of beauty advice and recommendations, and I read it on a regular basis so give it a little look. My post is just a simple little DIY face mask that I came up with during my dry skin horrors. All you need to make it is a banana and some coconut oil! If you want more detail on it, head over to Daphne's blog and check out my guest post by clicking here. I would appreciate the support and I'm sure that Daphne would also.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture for Sensitive Skin

As most of you probably know from my constant complaining I am a very busy girl who is constantly running around doing stuff for baby (and occasionally other people, too). I'm not sure if it was from pregnancy hormones, my change in activity levels from laying around all the time to running around all the time, or something else, but suddenly my skin got very, very dry. And when I say dry don't take the word loosely. I couldn't wear any makeup that I already had because it made the dryness too obvious, so I just went bare skinned almost every day. My skin was cracking in some places and peeling in others, and it was horrible. So after a mask and using Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture for Sensitive Skin (which I saw on the back of a baby magazine might I add) my skin is finally fixed! I was thinking of getting just the regular Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture, but I got this stuff instead because of how crazy my skin has been getting lately.

I pretty much love everything about this stuff. The bottom line is that it moisturizes my dry skin really well and it doesn't break me out, which is really important to me right now because I have been breaking out like a thirteen year old who just hit puberty (thanks a lot, pregnancy hormones). It doesn't leave my skin looking oily or shiny, which is also a plus, but in my opinion it's easier for me to cover shiny skin than dry skin so I would still like it if it did. It doesn't though! It doesn't smell bad or like anything really and that's coming from me with my pregnancy senses. It didn't break the bank or anything, I'm pretty sure I got it for about $9, but if you pay attention to coupons you can maybe find it for less. It's alcohol free so it isn't drying at all and it's water based instead of oil based, so it's okay for oily skin, too. Basically this stuff is ideal no matter your skin type.

The only problem that I could even find with this stuff is that I had to use three pumps when the back of it says to use one for all over your face and neck. I was excited to only use one pump because that's a huge money saver! Unfortunately it didn't work out that way, but I still love the formula and everything else about this stuff. I would give it 4.7/5 stars, definitely recommend it to my readers, and I plan on using it for a long time unless I find something better.

If you guys like this review let me know what products you want me to review so that I can do some more! What kind of moisturizer do you use? Have you ever tried this stuff? What were your thoughts?

Sephora Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner

I have been looking about for some makeup brush cleaner all over the place for every day, or at least every other day, use that wasn't going to be more than $10, because let's be honest it's just makeup brush cleaner. It's meant to get the germs and makeup residue off of your brushes and that's it. If it does that then why would I spend $10 on the product and then $8 on shipping when apparently I can just go to Sephora and get this amazing $6 bottle? And it definitely does the trick!

I know a lot of girls don't bother to ever clean their makeup brushes, literally ever. They just wait until their brushes are making them breakout or until they're starting to make their makeup look crappy, then they just throw away perfectly good brushes and buy new ones. As you can see at the top up there my brushes look brand new right now and I use them every single day, other than makeup free Monday, of course. Other than that though my makeup brushes get used a lot and I know the leftover makeup, oils, dead skin, and (worst of all) bacteria can be really bad for your skin especially if it's sensitive, acne prone, or both like mine is right now. And even if your skin isn't sensitive or acne prone, acne is definitely something that can get caused by dirty makeup brushes. We all know that I've been a huge germaphobe lately because of the pregnancy and ridding the germs from this area of my life has greatly improved my skin even over the last few days.

How do you use it?
1. Spray your brush's bristles 2-5 times depending on the size
2. Gently rub it in circles on a paper towel to get all of the makeup off until there isn't anymore.
3. Let the bristles air dry before you use them and make sure they don't dry out of shape.
* You can do this as often as you like to either keep your brushes clean or keep them cleaner than they would be for a deep clean with baby shampoo later on. I suggest doing it every day or every few days at least. Eyeliner brushes must be cleaned more often than the rest.

How often do you guys clean your brushes? Do you use a spray like this or do you do a deep clean with baby shampoo like I do sometimes? Which do you prefer if you do both? Do you use a different method than I do? Are you guilty of throwing your brushes away instead of cleaning them? Because I know I have been in the past.

My New Favorite Lip Shade: On Fire Red

Every girl needs her favorite "true red" lipstick that isn't too berry colored and isn't too orange. That perfect red that goes with basically any outfit and that you don't have to refresh every hour on the hour to make sure that your lips are just as beautiful as before. I think I found my new favorite and that would be Maybelline's Color Sensational Vivids in On Fire Red. The color of the container is what caught my attention at the store and the name is what kept me interested, then since my hands were full with other products I asked my boyfriend to lift the lid and show me the color and I knew I had to have it without even reading anyone else's review, which is something I do on a regular basis to make sure that I'm not wasting my money on a product that I won't love. I guess it's lucky that I really loved this lip color.

As you can see the color is a nice "true" red. What this means, if you don't already know, is that it's not too orange and not too pink/purple. It's just red. It looks like this when you put it on which really makes certain eye colors (like my icy blue) pop and you can wear it any time of the year that you want to. You may have to put it on once then wait a few seconds and put on another layer to get the right color which isn't too much of a hassle. Especially considering this lipstick stays on a pretty long time. I wore it all day and only had to reapply after I ate something (which is something I personally would have done anyways just because I'm especially anal about my makeup lately when I'm out). It's always safest to bring your tube of lipstick with you just in case you need to reapply, even if you're positive you won't have to.

As far as the texture of the lipstick goes it isn't too slippery and it also isn't too dry on. You can rub your lips together comfortably the whole time you have it on, although I wouldn't recommend doing this because it can increase the number of times that you have to reapply. It's a habit of mine, and probably a habit that a lot of you are stuck with also, but it's something that we all need to break. The only complaint that I have is that it is kind of drying. I had to pile on some lip balm before I went to bed the day that I wore this stuff. But it's definitely still worth the money that I spent on it which was only about $8.00 and I would also highly recommend it to a friend and my readers.

What's your favorite lip shade right now? Do you have any true reds that you'd recommend? Are you more of a red or a pink lipstick kind of girl? How do you like the sneak peak of my new carpets? (; Let me know what you guys think!

Extreme Makeover: Hair Edition

I was planning on saving this post for tomorrow, but I ever so stupidly forgot to take the pictures for my OOTD post before I got my hair done. Therefor I decided to reveal my hair today so that I could post the pictures of the outfit tomorrow. There is kind of a preview of the outfit on the right. It's very casual, cool. Also, before I start I'd like to apologize for the picture quality. They're iPhone pictures taken in my bathroom (the before) and my best friend's bathroom (the after). So not only are they kind of bad pictures, but the colors are different. My teeth aren't actually that yellow! Ah! But without any further delays...

Here it is! My hair before I got it done and after I got it done. I was really back and forth about whether or not I should get straight across bangs so I asked my stylist if I got side bangs cut if I could use clip in bangs and if they would look normal, but she said she wasn't so sure so I crossed that off. I kept thinking and thinking about it and as you can see I got bangs, but my stylist suggested I get bangs that I can style straight across and to the side which worked out perfectly for me. I absolutely love it! Although I will admit that I was really nervous at first. Luckily my sister was there because she scheduled a last minute appointment at the same time as me with a different stylist and she talked me into it.

 Unfortunately I didn't get to get all of my hair back to the natural color yet, just highlights which lightened it up a lot. I'm happy with the way that it turned out, it just isn't want I imagined. It's so close to my natural color I can't even complain. Next time it'll be completely back to normal, but I don't think I'll go back until November. Or October at the earliest. She thought the smell of the dye would bother me too much if I got it done completely today being pregnant and she was 150% correct! I got sick just from the highlights and I was holding a towel over my face. It was horrible. Once it was done though I almost cried I was so excited (dang, hormones!).

As far as the cut goes I didn't do anything but get layers and have it trimmed. I didn't want it to be too much shorter because I want my hair to grow out, but it was driving me crazy that I didn't have any dimension to my hair at all. It was just brown and flat and cut straight because of the way I got it cut when I had it cut short. Now it's a lot better and once it grows out for a week or two it'll be absolutely amazing.

What do you guys think of my new hair? Does it work for me or should I style it differently? How do you want to get your hair cut?

Makeup Free Monday and Insecurities

This post is difficult for me as I am pretty self conscious about the state of my skin right now. And though it doesn't bother me to not wear makeup out in public it bothers me when there are pictures floating around of me without makeup, but why should I be bothered by that?

Today is my first makeup-free Monday! The whole idea is from TheBeautyBean.com and I think it's a beautiful, positive concept. I'm going the whole day without makeup, including the shopping trip I'm going on with my best friend. The point of this is to promote positivity and learn to love ourselves for who we are. We shouldn't be so ashamed of our flaws that we're ashamed of ourselves. We shouldn't have to apologize for not wearing makeup in public, because these are our bodies. We should be happy in our own skin, even if it isn't perfectly clear.

Yes, I did try to hide this picture farther down in the post, don't judge me. I have been very insecure about a lot of different things since I've gotten pregnant whereas before I just didn't give a crap, but now that I'm gaining weight I want to look better in other ways. My skin is covered in spots, the tone is uneven, I have horrible lines under my eyes. Not only do I have acne on my face, but I have acne scars from pimples of the past. My teeth are also not as white as I want them to be, so I hate smiling for pictures, but that isn't something that I can fix with makeup. I have short eyelashes, too. I look like a twelve year old, especially when I don't wear makeup and being pregnant that isn't exactly fun because people give you dirty looks. And lastly I hate my natural hair and eyebrow color which is showing at the roots right now. But I like my lips, I like the color of my eyes because it's very distinctly me and I like my cheeks. Find things you like about yourself. No one should be so bothered by their flaws that they can't do what they want.

The point is that you are beautiful no matter what you're insecure about and you should believe that! I'm working on it. How can you do something? Get liberated and take part in Makeup Free Mondays with me. You can tweet me your pictures @debbieshapes or you can post about this on your blog to spread the word. Just remember that you are beautiful, everyone has insecurities, don't apologize for not wearing makeup, and go makeup free this Monday.

July Wishes 2013

These are the things that I want to buy really badly this month! And hopefully, if I save up correctly, I'll be able to get a lot of them or something close enough to satisfy me. However, some of these things are things that I will never be able to afford, but a girl can still dream, right? Let me know in the comments what you've been wishing for lately and let me know if you're into any of the stuff I shared here.

1. Army Parka $93.34: This army parka from ASOS is literally the cutest thing that I've ever seen and I want it so badly that I can hardly stand myself. The only problem is that I don't have the money for it. It would be so perfect for fall and the early weeks of winter. If I actually had the money I would be willing to splurge for it, but I just don't. I have to put more important things above clothes... sadly. Times are a-changin', I suppose.

2. Maternity Full Length Soft Touch Legging $20.36: I've come to learn I'm not going to be able to get $10 maternity leggings like I was so hoping. But they're a necessity, so I have to get them anyways. Most of them are at least $20 and if they're cheaper all of the reviews tend to say how poorly they fit. Everything I get from ASOS is really good quality though, so if I get these I can hopefully just get two pairs for the entire pregnancy and be happy with that. A charcoal pair and a black pair.

3. Maternity Peg Trouser in Bird $37.33: If you guys haven't been able to tell yet I am completely obsessed with ASOS and ASOS's Maternity clothes lately. These pants are no different from the rest of it. I absolutely love the pattern and the way that they look. I actually bought some solid peg pants from ASOS a few days ago, but they haven't gotten in yet. It says that they're really soft and should fit the entire pregnancy.

4. Capsule Ponytail Clip $18.00: If you guys didn't know this, which most of you probably don't, Nasty Gal is one of my favorite websites, but it's mostly out of my price range right now. However, I can't resist the urge to constantly window shop anyways (even if I can't fit into the clothes and wouldn't spend that much money on most of the accessories). I figured out yesterday while I was shopping I'm going to have to buy 95% of my accessories these next two seasons probably from Forever21 because I'm broke. I have tricks to keep those in good condition though.

5. Miu Miu Cat Eye Frames $325.00: Sorry that I won't shut up about these, but I just love them so much! If I could just make any item in the world appear in my hands right now it would be these glasses (and I wouldn't complain if everything else on this list appeared, too). They're just so fresh and fierce, okay? I totally don't have $325 to spend on something that I wouldn't use literally 24/7 though.

6. Zoeva Bamboo Pinsel Set 30 EUR: This set is kind of pricey, but it seems like it would be totally worth it. For 30 euros (about $38.50 in American dollars) you get the 12 makeup brushes and the travel cases, and you know what? 12 brushes are a lot of brushes for that amount of money. They're made of bamboo and they're completely vegan and they've gotten some killer reviews from what I have seen.

7. Conditioning Makeup Brush Cleanser $15.00: I originally was recommended this product from another blog, but the link they provided was more expensive than this. I'm pretty sure this is the cheapest you can buy it. It's the original website. Basically you use this stuff daily to clean your makeup brushes after using them. That prevents breakouts and spreading germs around on your face unnecessarily which is really important to me because I am a huge germaphobe lately. I carry around 3 bottles of hand sanitizer at all times and I refuse to touch door knobs with my hands. I'm that girl in the bathroom opening the door with her elbow.

8. Lady Danger Lipstick $15.00: You guys are going to shame the heck out of me for this, but I've never gotten MAC lipstick. I've been lusting after a million shades for a million years and I've heard from everyone under the sun that it's the best thing ever, but for some reason I can't will myself to spend that much on lipstick. I'm planning on it this month though. I've heard from so many people that it's worth it that I thought it couldn't hurt to give it a go because the colors are so fantastic, especially this one.

So what are you into lately? Are there any products that you could recommend me, clothes and beauty wise? Or even brands! Remember though that for clothes I am pregnant and right now I'm trying to buy mostly maternity clothes other than big shirts and dresses that will fit for awhile. What are you wishing that you could get this month? I hope I hear back from you guys.

Should I Get Straight-Across Fringe?

I've had this same exact hairstyle for a year and I am getting sick of it. I don't know about you guys, but I like changing my hair a lot and if I can't get it cut a lot I get boxes and boxes of hair dye and dye my hair like crazy. Or at least I have in the past. In the last few months being pregnant has opened my eyes about how badly I treated my hair before because I started having to pay for it. I couldn't dye my hair every month like I used to and I had to start working on getting it back to my natural dirty blonde (you can see it at the roots) so I wouldn't have to mess with my hair anymore.

Well on Tuesday I am going to the salon for a hair makeover! I'm getting my hair all the way back to my natural color, that is if I have the guts because I absolutely hate the color, and I was thinking while I was there I may get my hair cut a little bit. If I do I was considering getting straight across fringe because the look is so chic and classic. It's not going out of style any time soon! I'm a bit scared to though, because my sister thinks it's going to make me look even younger than I already do or that it will just look weird on my face shape. I absolutely adore the look, though. Help me!

Do you think I should get it done? Do you think side bangs will look better? Do you like the look or do you think that it's overdone?

P.S. If you didn't notice I started some renovations to the blog! A whole new layout right now. I'll be making more updates in the coming week, so stick around. Also I'm sorry that this post was posted so late in the day. I was busy shopping and pricing items all day. I'm learning how to coupon and use rewards cards at different stores to save money.

Affordable Shops With Fourth of July Sales

Today has been a very rainy Independence day, so naturally I've just sat around internet shopping and chatting with my friends on Twitter and Facebook. We had big plans to run around in the sun, cook on the grill, and later tonight roast marshmallows. If we're lucky we'll still get to make smores, but it will be on the front porch under the roof. Smores are good though, so that's okay! But I'm also okay with internet shopping because I made a few purchases today and discovered some things that I need/want to buy for the future. In my shopping quest I have come across a few helpful sales for today (and some beyond).

70% off certain items & 20% off full-priced items at ASOS. ASOS happens to be one of my favorite shops for a lot of different reasons. They have decently priced clothes, cute accessories, clothes for a wide range of people including women, men, plus sized women, and pregnant women, and everything is good quality and really cute. This year for fourth of July they are having a huge sale! 70% off on some items, as a matter of fact. And if you pay for full priced items that aren't part of the sale you can use the code HAPPYFOURTH to have 20% taken off! I bought a pair of maternity peg pants that I've been lusting after. Click here for the sale.

Free shipping if you spend $25 at Sephora. Though Sephora can sometimes be pricey, they have really nice products and it's usually worth the money that I spend there. For this independence day Sephora is giving us free shipping if we spend $25 or more on their products. And though that may seem like a lot on beauty supplies, let's be honest with ourselves, it's worth it! The code for free shipping is SHIP25 but make sure you've spent the right amount of money!

75% off certain items at Forever21. I try my hardest not to shop at Forever21 for one reason and it's that the clothes sometimes only last a few washes before they start falling apart, but I can't resist because the items are actually really well priced and they're so aesthetically pleasing. Is that shallow? Anyways, they have sales up to 75% off for women, including plus sizes, and men! Click here for the sale.

Free shipping on all orders at Topshop. Topshop has the best clothes! For real! And although they can also be kind of pricey sometimes, it's the kind of pricey that you should pay for because it's quality. You just have to make sure to pick out the right pieces so that they won't go out of style for a long time. Anyways, Topshop is giving us free shipping on all orders with the code STARSANDSTRIPES so no money restrictions for this one.

20% off at Nasty Gal. Nasty Gal is probably in my top three favorite online shopping destinations. Everything on the site is something that I would buy, though for now I'm mostly having to stick to buying accessories from there because of the person that is growing inside of me. They're having a 20% off sale of anything in the store though, so that's okay with me! The discount is applied at the checkout so don't fret if it's not taken off in your basket.

What fourth of July sales have you come across? Are you going to use any of these? Do you closely pay attention to sales or are you just excited when you happen to come across one?

A Nightly Routine

At the end of the day, for most of us I would say, it's difficult to remember to do simple things such as wash our face or brush our teeth just because we're tired and lazy. I personally get home from my long days of shopping or finally lay in bed after a day of cleaning, renovating or something of the sort to prepare for the little, and I just hope that by some miracle if I fall asleep I won't get a pimple if I don't clean my face. And yet I still do it! The last few weeks I've been trying extra hard to stick to my nightly routine and I thought I would share it with you guys. Of course not everyone's routine should match mine, but this is the one that I've been trying to follow along with some reviews and tips.

Feeling Patriotic Outfits for Fourth of July

 

Feeling patriotic this week? Independence day is just around the corner and I know most of us, living in the United States at least, probably have big plans that involve being out  in the heat all day and night. I put together some easy outfits to wear for the holiday for almost any occasion you can think of.

First of all I would like to apologize for the poor quality of these photos. We're currently renovating the house (mostly for the baby) and that means that a lot of my stuff is away in storage, including my good camera. I decided that I would just do this anyways and substitute in my webcam, but the results weren't as satisfying as I'd hoped.

Also, just a quick update, I thought I would let you guys know that once I get up to 100 followers on Bloglovin I will be doing a special giveaway! So let your friends know! Now, onto the outfits.

Twisty Hair Summer Trend

I've noticed recently that something that is catching on in different ways than before is twisting your hair! Finding different ways to twist your hair and make it look cool is actually pretty easy. I used to wear a style where I twisted strands on both sides and pinned them in the back, then I pinned the rest of the hair left hanging in the back on top if it. Sounds simple, right? It's a cool way to add just a little something to your beauty look for any occasion.

Solange Knowles has recently been working a style called havana twists, and although I can't tell you how to do this or how easy/difficult it is I can tell you that it's chic and cool. However, if you would like to learn how there are plenty of tutorials on Youtube. Just go and search "havana twists" and I'm sure you will be able to find something that way. If this was the texture of hair that I had I would do this in a heartbeat, because I am absolutely in love with how this looks. On top of her awesome hair look at those perfect red lips. I just... I can't. Too beautiful.

Miley Cyrus tried out a new way to work her short haircut at the Myspace relaunch party using twists underneath the long layers. From what it looks like all that was done was twisting the last half inch or so of the long layers upward towards the rest of the hair on both sides and putting a small rubberband in the back to connect the two and hold it together. I would imagine a lot of hairspray/product was needed to make the twist look and stay looking this sleek, but it's worth it because it's so fresh and cute. Miley gets too much crap!

Khloe Kardashian Odem also recently showed off her version of a twisted style, though hers seems the most simple of them all it's still adorable and obviously totally doable. It looks like all she did was twist the first inch or so of her hair back on the side that most of her hair is on (if you have side bangs just do it with your bangs) and then she took a strand and wrapped it around the twist tightly to give it a different look. I could be wrong because I haven't tried this yet, but I'll get back to you. Don't forget hairspray and pins to hold!

What do you think of these looks? Would you try them? Which ones? Do you want to see my version of a twisted look? Maybe a tutorial? Let me know! xx