Adrien: This Old Thing, Part II

This is what I wore to work on Friday: an outfit of mostly neglected things. I bought this top for basically nothing last year at Ann Taylor and then never wore it. Not once! And I have no idea why because it's pretty cute. Basically a t-shirt but it has a sheer section of trim around the neckline and a silver zipper up the back. I like interesting details like that so I finally decided to wear it.

My white jeans do not fall in the Neglected Things category and continue to be a spring/summer staple. I have no idea how I ever didn't have white jeans. My current pair is from Ann Taylor but I think my next pair will be something cropped like these. I can't say enough about the usefulness of a pair of white jeans. (Aside from trying to keep them clean, but YOLO, etc.)

I'm also wearing my currently-trendy silver Birkenstock Gizeh sandals which I've had for several years. I dug them out this summer determined to wear them more often. They are cute, but maybe not quite my style? What do you guys think?

My bag is my Marc Jacobs Stella which is a great, classic tote (similar MBMJ tote here) in a perfect neutral that I rarely use. This is getting ridiculous.

My necklace was a very sweet handmade gift from Mima who's Etsy shop is InfinEight. I wear it all the time but haven't posted it on the blog! It's the Signet Initial Typewriter Key necklace. Thanks Mima!

Weekend Window Shopping: J.Crew Sale

Such good deals to be had at J.Crew right now! 30% off select sale and 50% off final sale with code HISUMMER. (Plus 2.0% cash back from eBates which you should be using, preferably through my referral link. Heh.) These are the things I cannot buy from the J.Crew sale even though I’D REALLY LIKE TO A LOT:

So summery!

Tile indigo top

Perfect LBD

Stretch eyelet dress

I'm straight pretty

Silk star blouse

strrriiipppesss

Stripe back-zip dress

So much want.

Schoolboy blazer in black

More stripes! 

No. 2 pencil skirt in colorblock stripe

Cute in it's weirdness

Ratti fish underwire tank

Ooh, sperkles

Beaded stone necklace

Interesting lady bag

Claremont perforated tote

Honorable Mention:

I am awesome.

My beloved Downtown Field Jacket is marked down PLUS an extra 30% off. It’s so, so good, you guys. GIT IT.

Friday #GoHugo

We can't have Friday without a cute boy, right? Hugo is the cutest boy I know (and Tim Riggins isn't bad either.)

If Alexa Can Do It...

So, I don’t know if you guys watch the Lisa Eldridge videos like we have suggested you do, but the Alexa Chung tutorial was kind of amazing. Previous to watching it I didn’t have a strong opinion on Alexa Chung though I like her style.



So, having watched this video I am now FULL OF STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT ALEXA CHUNG:

1. She is really, really ridiculously good looking, even without a lick of makeup.
2. This makes me want to eat glass.
3. She seems easy-going and likable which also irritates me.
4. Her story about how she had a zit THIS ONE TIME and didn’t know what to do about it so she called a friend over to help her deal with it was…oh my God. I don’t even have words.
5. Excuse me while I set things on fire.
6. Her mastery at the liquid liner cat eye made me confident that I can also do this because I TOTALLY know what to do when I have a zit so I’m clearly much smarter than Alexa Chung.
7.You can see where this is going.

So! I watched this video and then did some research on drugstore liquid liner pens since I’m on a fucking budget, though the Alexa-branded Eyeko pen looks pretty nice. (UGH.) I ended up with this one:

Physicians Formula Eye Booster

And you know what? It’s really pretty good. I experimented with it a bit and after some, uh, horrifying liner/eyeball mishaps I  managed to figure it out. Last weekend I did a fairly understated cat eye liner for an evening date and it didn’t look too bad! Of course I didn’t bother to take a photo because I’m the worst blogger ever so you’ll just have to use your imagination.

The Physicians Formula liner is really good - it has a very, very fine tip and didn’t smudge or transfer on me at all. It’s a good starter-liner and I’m hoping with some practice I can get fast enough with it to be able to wear it during the day. (Being half an hour late for work because you want to wear fancy eyeliner is apparently frowned upon. Hmph.)

Adrien: This Old Thing.

I am digging deep, you guys. This dress is Converse (via Target) and it's four years old. It's practically vintage by Target standards! I really like this dress, it's held up great and it has seen some adventures. Obviously it's long gone from the site but this enviable J.Crew dress has a similar Grecian thing going on. Oh, and it looks like there is still a cute Converse One Star dress option. And swimsuits! I like the Converse One Star line even though I'm way too old for it. Anyway:

I lightened the next photo (oh, the pallor!) so you can actually see the details of the dress, because it's got a cute Grecian waist tie thing going on. Photographing black clothing is challenging.

My necklace is also old and is Banana Republic but there is a beautiful version here. (Also, I think this one is really pretty.) I wore it on the blog pretty recently but here it is again - I think I'm actually sick of my locket necklace. Finally, I know.

My bag is my MBMJ Hillier hobo in raspberry and my sandals are Ann Taylor from long ago, but they have a new version of course. Who doesn't need a beautiful metallic flat sandal? Nobody, that's who.

Toes! The color is still Essie Style Hunter because I am trying to make this pedicure last. *sigh*

So. I Went to The Mall.

I have been steadfastly avoiding the mall but my friend Ashley was in town (previous hijinks here and here) and as she succinctly put it, “When I get together with you I might as well just throw $150 on the sidewalk.” Hmph. I am not a bad influence except that I totally am because I doubt Ashley would have found herself in Saks and Anthropologie if not for me. Sorry/not sorry.

We started in Saks because she wanted to buy the same fancy Chanel lipstick her lovely mother was wearing, but they don’t have that color anymore, so she bought this one which looked awesome on her.

Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet #44

It is BRIGHT but that girl can wear color like nobody else.

She also re-bought a Clinique staple, the Chubby Stick Intense in Roomiest Rose which she swears by. I wouldn’t even let myself look at it because I DO NOT NEED LIP STUFF. NOPE. Lest you think I am now a saint-like non-shopping person, I was actually busy having some Saks lady apply $70 Cle de Peau concealer on my face because I NEEDED TO KNOW.

Cle de UGH concealer

Even though it’s a complete outrage how expensive this stuff is I will basically spend any amount of money on concealer and people swear by this one. She dabbed it on under my eyes and I grudgingly admitted it looked good. Then she said, “Now I’ll show you what it can do on your sun damage!” Thanks for noticing, lady. But you guys? She made my brown spots vanish. VANISH. I went out in the bright sunlight and scrutinized and it still looked good. DAMN. IT.  I did not buy it but I want it more now than ever.

We then went to Anthropologie where I tried on a bunch of stuff:

Mahdia Peasant Top

This is so cute but oddly, horrifyingly short on me. I'm not really doing the midriff thing. Ever.

Silk Racer Tank

This top is really nice, the colors were good and the price is amazing but silk is too high maintenance for me.

Islet Buttondown

This blouse is super comfortable and slouchy and the color is so good and Ashley made me buy it.

Tonnelle Dress

This dress didn't do much on me but looked fantastic on Ashley. (She bought it.)

AG Stevie Ankle Jeans

I tried these cropped jeans on in grey just so I could try on the tops and they came home with me too, but then I was all, “Oops, budget. Shit.” So they’ll most likely get returned (and the blouse might too.) They were soft and comfortable and oh my God I hate the budget. Commence to pouting.

Review: NYX Butter Gloss.

NYX is one of those drugstore brands I'm usually pleasantly surprised by. The price points are good, they have interesting products and I don't think I've ever bought an NYX item I hated.

(Hang on while I search the blog to make sure this is true.)

It's true! Okay. I like all things NYX and still think this little pencil is awesome in case you were wondering. Ahem.

Red Velvet

So, I was wandering through Target like I do and trying not to buy things because I'm not supposed to when I happened upon a display of this NYX Butter Gloss stuff and two of the colors were randomly marked down so I felt it was my duty to buy one of them. I got the Red Velvet even though Devil's Food Cake is generally the kind of color I go for. Hey, for $3.50 I can afford a mistake. But it wasn't! Red Velvet is a perfect cherry-red. Subtle it's not, but it brightens up my whole face when I wear it. (On my lips, I mean. I didn't smear it all over my face. Brightening!) The official description gives me second-hand embarrassment:

Buttery soft and silky smooth, the scrumptious new NYX Butter Lip Gloss tastes as sweet as a sugar cookie—and makes your lips look downright luscious.

But I have to admit, this gloss feels high-end and it costs less than $5. You can't beat that. I'm not going to lie and say it's not sticky (I mean, fuck it, it's lip gloss. It should be a little sticky or it won't stay put.) but it's kind of buttery and soft at the same time. It's nicely pigmented so it doesn't disappear immediately and is glossy without being super-shiny. The scent is kind of food-y vanilla-y but not overpowering or obnoxious.

Devil's Food Cake

I went back the next day and bought Devil's Food Cake which is a really intense berry-wine color, just like I like. I probably have ten different lipsticks/glosses/balms in this color family but you know what? Who cares. Buy what you like! Maybe in more than one color! But definitely still the color you already own! 

Flawless.

(Found this one buried in the drafts folder! Enjoy. -A)

M: For you.

A: I’m just mad I didn’t think of it first.

M: I mean really.

A: I might try plain glitter, though. Star glitter seems showy.

M: It’s for black tie occasions.

A: It really does illuminate.

M: Glowy.

A: I’ll bet it creases like a MF.

M: Totes

A: Fallout is a bitch.

M: Literally.

A: It would get in my eyes and probably my teeth. And I’d get fired.

M: Trifles.

A: Whatever it takes to be flawwwwwlessss!

Adrien: Old Navy Pass/Fail

Back to posting, but first I want to thank you all for your amazing messages of love and support towards Marianne. I know it means a lot to her and I maintain that we have the BEST readers ever. Also, there is now a Facebook group where you can get updates and also post messages of support. #goHugo! 

So, you remember this dress? And how much we liked it? And I even wore it and didn't bother to take photos because I thought I'd get to wear it more times? NO! NEGATIVE. It's apparently meant to be disposable because when washed it shrinks into a little baby tunic dress. Not cool, Old Navy. Ugh. But, I am happy to report that THIS DRESS I'm wearing is good* and work appropriate and stuff:

Potential good.

It's also a boob-maker so if you don't have those, this is the dress for you! (If you are already well-endowed, size up.)

boobz

I dig this dress because it's summery and just structured enough to be work-appropriate. (It's that time of year where I try to gauge how little clothing I can wear to work and not be sent home. Is this too short? How about this? Work-appropriate or no?) I'm also wearing my favorite Giles & Brother skinny cuff (also on sale!), which you probably already know.

My wedges are the gloriously comfortable TOMS strappy wedge (love the blue!) and my bag is my raspberry MBMJ Hillier Hobo (on sale!) On my toes is Essie in Style Hunter.

I am wearing a cheap-ass necklace from Forever21, but this one is nearly identical and looks to be superior in quality.  My lipgloss, which you can't really see and which I'm going to review later, is NYX Butter Gloss and (spoiler) it's basically awesome.


*I haven't washed it yet but it's ponte, not rayon, so fingers crossed.

An Update.

Hi there LGFTB readers, Adrien here. It's been quiet on the blog this week and I think a lot of you already know what's going on but I thought it might be good to fill you in anyway. Marianne's awesome and adorable son Hugo was diagnosed with cancer early this week. It's been a dreadful week for everyone involved and they are going to need a lot of love and support. There are various efforts underway, so if you'd like to know more about that, please feel free to email me.

#GoHugo

In the meantime, ya'll are going to be stuck with just me for a little while, so I hope that's cool. There will still be outfits and reviews and maybe some convo posts with a special guest here and there. We'll see what happens. And as always, THANK YOU for reading. We are so lucky to have such a great group of folks willing to read what's in our heads (and we're grateful that you're not all trolls. So grateful.)

I should get going - I've promised a shirtless David Beckham to be delivered to Marianne via errand donkey so I need to get on that.

Adrien: Stuff I Like, Summer Edition.

Every now and then I write a post where I talk about an assortment of things I like that are not new discoveries, just stuff I've liked for so long that I forget to mention it. Or, if I'm currently in Super Budget Mode (which I am) I'll try to re-discover stuff that I maybe didn't give a fair shake to the first time. Here's what I'm digging:

Bumble & bumble Tonic Lotion

Tonic-y

I found a travel-sized bottle of Tonic Lotion in my bathroom cabinet so I started spritzing my head with it after towel-drying and you know what? My hair looks freaking fantastic. I'm sure some of it is the weather (warm weather = better hair) but dang, my hair really likes this stuff. I also have a bottle of Prep Lotion, which is a similar what-the-hell-is-this-for product, but it's not quite as miraculous as the Tonic. According to B&b, Tonic is a detangler and style primer. Whatever, right now it's hair magic and the travel size bottle is nearly empty and WOE.

Essie Polish

Essie  - Style Hunter

I'm not really a nail polish person. I currently own one. One polish and I only bought that so I could extend my current pedicure. I used to own a bunch of OPI colors and always went for that when I got a pedicure, but then one day I picked an Essie polish and that pedicure looked great for WAY longer. Way, way longer. Essie dries faster, lasts longer and the colors are great. I'm an Essie convert and I love that Target sells it.


Reefs flip flops

Reefs Seaside

I know a lot of people don't like flip flops and I was one of them until I got a pair of Reefs. They aren't the cheapest, but they're well made, they have arch support and they are SUPER comfortable. The bit that goes between your toes isn't plastic so they won't cut in or hurt you. And, if you're the kind of person who needs to open bottles on the fly, they have a version with a built-in bottle opener. (Dudes?) I generally prefer the very slender Gingers (size up) or the Seaside, which are just basically 100% perfect.


Tartine et Chocolat Ptisenbon by Givenchy

I smell like summer.

I'm scent-sensitive and most perfume is way too strong and gives me a headache. this one
 is different and I've been wearing it in the summer for years. It's technically meant for children (wha?) so it's very light and doesn't have much staying power, but oh you guys, it smells so, so good. It's citrusy and soft but not sharp or sweet or cloying or powdery in any way. According to the Internets, Ptisenbon's notes include honesuckle, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, bitter orange, Sicilian lemon, mint, musk, oakmoss, and amber. It's discontinued, but you can still buy it online. I will wear it for as long as I can find it.

YogaRat Towel

This probably seems like a weird one, but a year or so ago I thought hot yoga was going to be something I did often enough that I needed the fancy, super-long towel for my mat. I bought the fancy towel and promptly quit doing hot yoga. But, despite not using it for it's intended purpose, the towel is pretty damn good. It's very thin, light weight, and crazy absorbent. I really like that it's long enough to cover the entire length of my pool's grubby lounge chairs and it also works really well for covering my car seat after a sweaty mountain bike ride. (I know, gross.) It's just been much more useful than I expected so if you're thinking about maybe/maybe not doing hot yoga, go ahead and feel good about buying the fancy towel.


Coppertone Sport Sunscreen

This is so boring but Coppertone Sport is a good product and it's pretty much all I use. The generic version is not the same (it just isn't) and this sunscreen has been so consistently good that I keep buying it. I also have the stick version for my face and occasionally buy the spray version which is convenient but a complete rip-off.

That's it! Now, because I have to live vicariously through you guys, please do tell me what products you're loyal to for summertime living.

It's National Donut Day!

A: I HAVE NO DONUT.

M: I don't think he's eaten a donut in a long time.

A: Truth:

M: Aw, buddy. No.

M: Do you know how hard it is to find a picture of a celebrity eating a donut? HARD. Here's Zach Ephron.

A: That belongs on You Did Not Eat That.

M: He spat it out and was all:

A: Gisele looks like she's holding that bite in her mouth because she doesn’t know what to do with it:

M: She's terrified the calories are soaking into her tongue.

A: Hey! I found a picture of David Bowie eating a donut. From the sixties.

M: He looks...displeased.

A: His hair is perfect, though.

A: Wait! I found David Beckham with a donut!

M: I don't believe you.

A: Okay, so technically he's wearing the donut:

Details.

M: UGH SO MANY CLOTHES.

A: SO DEMANDING. HERE:

M: God why are we talking about DONUTS.

A: I KNOW RIGHT.

M: o_O

A: Who's your favorite?

M: Wha?

A: ME. I AM YOUR FAVORITE. GOD.

M: *blink blink*

A: Marianne?

M: *blink*