bag & watch by Michael Kors, dress by Taylor Made, glasses dolce & Gabbana
-SDS
-August 7, 2014
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I got shocked lately, in trying to stick within my monthly Beauty Budget. When I added up the cost of the products I used daily…I came to a conclusion…it’s expensive to be me. The other day, before purchasing yet another $30.00 tube of designer lipstick, I decided to challenge myself and see if I could buy an entire arsenal for the same price. Not only that, how would it look?
Back in the day, I was a District Manager for a retail clothing chain, and the chain also decided at one point to carry a small line of cosmetics, known as NYX. Now NYX has added a longer list to their friendly priced products, so I decided to start with them for a lip liner and lip stick. The matte color shown here is Summer Breeze. It has tons of pigment and is not so matte that it dries up your lips. I also chose the illuminator from NYX and was pleasantly surprised. It was more of a gold tone as opposed to a white so it looked more naturally dewy to me.
The ELF Cosmetics bronzer duo was fantastic, and was under $4.00 and I was not expecting much but it was fabulous! Look Ma, No lashes! Being on a budget, I refrained from using false lashes and decided to try out New York Color Mascara. Loved it! I believe it was less than $5.00 as well, and that’s quite a savings compared to the designer $30 a tube mascaras out there! I will buy this again.
My personal theory is that by saving money on certain things, then there is a bigger budget allowance for bigger things, such as top of the line serums and moisturizers. To me, this is where the money matters because you are paying for tons of research and better ingredients. Moisture and repair is where it makes more cents to me to spend. Additionally, your technique of application has everything to do with how you turn out, as long as the product meets a certain standard. The price friendly products above, all had decent features and benefits.
This was a helpful post to me, because it made me more mindful of the money spent on cosmetics in the past as well as what I will spend in the future! Not only that, I pretty much look exactly the same as if I’d had on a $400 collection of products!
-SDS
-July 7, 2014
It’s been a year since the last Top Glammy Swim Suits Edition was posted so I figured it was time for yet another edition.
I realize that swimgerie… a new version of lace embellished swim wear is attempting to come in… it looks too crazy to be worn poolside, so I denounce this as a upcoming trend.
I also realize that a mere 5% of females have what is considered to be an ideal beach body. If you don’t believe me, go to the beach. Or the pool. Or ask a man. Or Google it. Just because you are skinny, won’t mean that any swim suit will make you look fabulous. Just because you are larger, doesn’t mean you’re not sexy, but the wrong suit can make a mess of most of us. Naked is not always a good thing. A big boob is not always a great boob. Cheese should always be covered. Period.
It is because of this that I have chosen very structured swim suit designs to be included in my Top 10 post this year. Structure by design is good. It creates the illusion of firmness and solid form.
Structure is a win-win for us all. Basically, if your body is lacking in fit or form, the right suit can solve a myriad of problems. The shape of a suit can help to create shape where none truly exist, or hide what does.
As for accessories, I am a firm believer in poolside accessories. They help you to give the allusion of being dressed and having a tailored appearance. They can sort of hide the fact that you are basically naked in blaring daylight, which isn’t truly a great thing for very many.
I asked my husband to get his opinion, before doing any research, “What percentage of females do you feel probably have a perfect beach body?”
“5%,” he immediately decided with absolutely no thought put into his answer. After doing some reading, I found he was right. So this leaves out me and 94% of you reading this.
What this means for you and me, is that while we may have one or several visually pleasing parts to our physique… society and media now has an insane expectation of our nakedness. The right suits can help everyone feel fabulous and a little less self aware.
The suits we have here are all for a wide array of body shapes and types.
The top three pictures all show fabulous yet simple suits that allow for the individual person to shine. The criss-crossed, hip exposed picture above is great for creating contour and the hat is a perfect fun look.
While I did include some great full sized models here, you have to admit the red hot bikini with bling rings on the brunette does look amazing. If you can wear it, do it well. The thing with these type of unstructured bikini tops, is that if you have a floppy chest, you should not wear these. Trust me, you are doing more harm than good. It is so much better to cover it up and let the world assume you are perfectly fabulous than to prove to them that you are not.
The suit above comes in several colors but it’s so hot in black. The style adds structure to a flat chested or a larger chested person. If you have a great back, it’s going to show it off, yet appear fair covered by today’s standards.
I absolutely adore the cut of this monokini. It’s so classy. Again, it adds form and structure and the ruffle would help a smaller chest to have a bit more volume.
This Lane Bryant suit is adorable in metallic gold animal print. Again, the hat and bracelets add an extra bang for those times you want to appear more fashion forward, keep the sun off, control the wind blown hair and rock the summer like the girly girl you are.
This ruffled monokini comes in all types of colors, and it also has a great contouring ability due to the shape as well as the padded boost cups. There is a thick, structured band holding up the top around the back, so this is something to look for when you need more chest support in a swim suit.
If being a glamour puss is your thing, a solid color is best most of the time you want to make a statement. A multi-colored and patterned suit is usually a bust that washes a person out. A strong and bold swim suit print can usually make a larger person appear even larger. Solids or well done color blocked suits are best.
And this was so adorable, I had to include it. Yes, it is a bikini. It’s
a well structured bikini on a well structured woman. The top clearly has under wires for support and the shape is great. However, the accessories and the hat make this so much more fabulous. For the self conscious, a really sheer black cover up would look amazing as well.
These suits make me want a vacation now.
SDS
-June 7, 2014
BA STAR COSMETICS
I was totally thrilled to get my brand new BA STAR Eye shadow glitter set in the mail last week!
I’d wanted to try it with several different applicator types, before doing this post…to see which worked the best.
I’d decided that the fluffy applicator blush from ELF was the best, after applying the tube of glue stick to the lid area.
I’d also filled in areas with my BA STAR shadow palette from this post, for more highlighting and contouring.
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The bottom line is that you get a glittery and smooth lid effect with BA STAR!
For a limited time, Luxor readers can use the promo code below to purchase BASTAR on the cheap! Check it out here!
Or our reader discount code is BBDUST !!
-SDS
September 3, 2013
SIX SHOTS
july of two thousand thirteen
July was hot. There were a lot of ups and downs. Things are not always easy. Or Fun. Or exciting. Some days are scheduled tight. I have friends that have a few social events every weeks with friends. We get excited to have Movie Nights at home with the babies. Actually, on a Friday this month, we went to the movie theater around five, thinking we were going to avoid the masses. We were wrong. A theater full of other people had thought the same thing.
I guess I like to throw in the reality of life because it is not my intent to only post lovely pictures and pretend life is always fabulous. There are things which require thought, planning and stress. These are the reasons why it’s so nice to get to steal time on occasion and do and share some things that are nice and positive and fun!
The top photo of us was taken before dinner and a concert!( The Rock Girl Blog Post.) The weather was great, we were relaxed and happy and I really think it’s funny/trendy/cool that he is the “background” guy.
The photo above is a bird bath in Old Town Spring which motivated me to continue with my yard plans. It’s just been too hot and even the bamboo I planted is having difficulty surviving!
The post was called Blue Shoe. I could spend all day in Old Town Spring!
The photo above was from a different day in Old Town Spring. It was a very happy day. The “A Good Day, and YES…More Animal Print” blog post only took a few minutes and we honestly, sat on the bench and talked. This was one of those fun blog posts…not like some of the ones where I have to explain how to use the focus button and consider quitting the style posts!
I think the only thing that’s probably worse than getting your photo taken, is taking one of yourself for a blog post! So I tell myself to be so grateful that I have a friend who likes to help!
I adore introspective cranes, so I had to snap the one above at the Woodlands Waterway! He was just chillin.
Maybe it’s not terribly artsy, however, there is nothing that brings me more joy than to see Jazzy when she’s happy. Nothing makes her happier than to be going somewhere in her “Jazzy Purse.” She goes crazy when you get it out, and on this day she got to go to the local Farmer’s Market for berry picking. I especially love the fact that my husband is man enough to carry a polka dot Jazzy bag! Love this shot!
And in closing…yes…it’s an Old Town Spring shot. It’s literally just a few minutes from where we live and we love it. There are so many places there that I’ve not yet been to, like a wine tasting place, the dog bakery, tons of dress shops or garden places! It’s my happy place!
And those are my Six Shots for July!
-July 31, 2013
-SDS