Nude Nails

Finding the perfect nude nail can be difficult depending on your skin tone. I've bought many nude polishes only to realise I didn't like how they looked on my hands.

Then I picked up 'Abalone Shell' at a MAC warehouse sale, and I love it:

It's nude with the perfect amount of peach undertone which makes it wearable for me. I'm wearing two coats in the picture above, and although I'm not a huge fan of MAC nail polishes, this one goes on nicely, but does tend to chip pretty quickly.   I'm not sure if it's still available but you could always check a CCO if you are in the States.

Hope you are all having a great day!!!

What's in My Purse?

Hi All!

Thought I'd do a quick What's in my Purse Tag while the little one sleeps :)

First up; the Purse- Balenciaga Velo with the new Medium Gold Hardware. This purse is perfect because it can be worn on shoulder or cross body (much needed with an infant)

Now for the contents :

yeeesh, okay, let's zoom in:

1. Missoni for Target Baby blanket
2. baby toy
3. Gum
4. Baby clip
5. ray ban case
6. Burberry Sunglasses
7. Pucci Make-up Case
8. Miu Miu Wallet
9. Purse Dust Bag
10. can of Tuna (i don't even eat tuna)
11. hand sanitizer
12. another Ray-Ban case
13. Tissues
14. L'Occitane hand cream
15. hand cloth that expands in water
16. Louis Vuitton Card Case
17. camera

So that's what I lug around with me on a daily. A little worried about colour transfer, but other than that..loving this purse!

Mommy Mondays: Natural Baby Products

Sometimes Mom's know best.

I remember growing up, my mom always use to tell me "Natural is better". Of course, at the time I ignored her. I grew up in a time of "the Body shop" So from soaps to body washes and fragrance lotions, I had to have it. There seemed to be (and maybe still is) a notion that The Body Shop products are natural. They are not.

Fast forward several years decades, and I find myself expecting my first baby. All of the sudden, finding natural products not only for my daughter, but for myself as well seemed very important. But if I start talking about all products...this will be a very long long post. So I will stick to just baby products for this post.

When I started on my quest, I was naive. I assumed that if a product said "all natural" it really was all natural. That was until I found out that there are no real regulations governing the use of "organic" and "natural" on products in North America . I was already warned to avoid Aveeno Baby so the first product I bought for my little one was from the line "Live Clean" http://live-clean.com/

Even though the product says it's paraben and sulfate free, after carefully reviewing the ingredients, I was disappointed to learn that it had many of the same harmful chemicals that all other lines had. I contacted the company for clarification, but no one got back to me (yup...I'm THAT person) so I moved on.

Next I stumbles about a great website http://evolvingwellness.com/ and met a wonderful and helpful lady named Evita Ochel who helped me find safe and natural baby products to use on the little one.

I should point out, that on most occasions I use good old fashion water and olive oil, or coconut oil, but there are times I need something more (body/hair wash sunscreen etc) I decided to go with products by a company named California baby http://www.californiababy.com/. These products are truly as safe as it gets. and rates from 0-2 on the Skin deep Database which is a great website that give a numeric value of 0-10 in relations to a products toxicity level. 0-2 is very very low. Try typing in some of the products you use to see how they measure up.... you might be scared!  http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

I'm happy to report that my daughter hasn't had any reaction to these products, and I feel good about using them on her whenever needed . I never thought I would be so obsessive passionate about finding natural products until I became a mom! 

Anyone else turn into a hippie once they became pregnant? 


UPDATE: Since writing this, I was advised (see comments below) That California Baby has recently reformulated it's products and are not as "chemical free" as they used to be!! Thanks Ms Fantastic for pointing that out! The ones I am currently using are pre reformulation so once they are used up, I will be finding a new skin care line. See the comments below for great suggestions! Thanks ms. Fantastic and Evita! 

Herve Leger

I think my very first tweet on twitter was about the Herve Leger dress, and how I HAD to have one. In fact, I have been lusting after this designer for many many years. It all started with this picture of Kate Beckinsale

I think the hem line could stand to go up a couple of inches, but I LOVE this dress. Kate is also roughly my height, so it's easier to picture on me than let's say if a 5'3 actress wears something. SO the frantic Google search began as I tried to track down this dress. When I finally found it, I realized the original dress is actually MUCH shorter than this one. This must have been specially made for Kate. Since this is already a skin tight dress, I definitely didn't want it to also be a mini on top of that.

So I kept searching for my dream Herve Leger dress (at a dream price) I was not willing to pay full price for one of these bad boys. Then, while perusing "the Outnet" I stumbled upon this, and had to snap it up!:

LOVE.

 I like the length, the colour contrast the fact that it has tiny cap sleeves. I mean, this dress is already tight....I didn't want to "over hooch it" This mannequin is 5'11 so several inches taller than me (I'm a bit over 5'8" so this hit's me at the knee.

Now I just need the perfect occasion to wear it at, and of course , a nice clutch and shoes...and I'm all set! I can't wait to wear this!!!!

Happy hump-day Everyone !

Mommy Mondays: Celeb Mom Crush

|Happy Monday Ladies!

Is it just me, or do ALL celebs have babies now? It's like an epidemic. Or perhaps I'm just more aware of it since I too am a mom now. In any case, I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing. On the one hand, I love flipping through magazines and feeling inspired by these ladies who are still fit, hip and seem like they still have exciting lives.

On the other hand, although I am well aware that they have access to personal trainers, dietitians, nannies and whatever else, it does puts a bit of pressure on the rest of us common folks (why didn't I loose the baby weight in 2 months? how come she looks so put together and well rested?) A slipper slope indeed.

Regardless , I do often develop Mommy crushes. My crush of the moment, Jessica Alba:

Not only have I always found her beautiful, I am finding her extremely relateable as a mom. From what I can gather (through following her on twitter and reading interviews) we share many of the same philosophies regarding raising our babies.

I also like the fact that when I see her out with her girls, she is dressed in clothes that make sense for a mom to wear. Many celebs have me scratching my head trying to figure out how they can carry their babies while dressed like that ...(yes, I'm talking to YOU Mrs. Beckham)

Yeah....this boggles my mind! Where is your diaper bag woman!

Yes...this makes much more sense!!!! I tip my hat to you Ms. Alba !

On a side note, today is day 1 of my 30 day challenge to not eat any refined sugars!!! it's harder than you would think since EVERYTHING has refined sugar in it!!!! Wish me luck!!

MAC - Fix Plus

There are some make-up products that you come across and soon realise you cannot live without. For me, that item is MAC's Fix Plus. 

I never really even knew what I would do with this product. As far as I knew, it was a mixing medium, but then about a year ago, I realized it could also be used as a setting spray. That's when I fell in love! I've never been a fan of the very powdery look, but I am someone who has to set with a powder, otherwise my face will start melting! And here are the results : 

Sorry for the strange serious look in the picture...But in any case, I know some people don't like the overly dewy look, but I'm a big fan, especially in the winter when my skin can be very dry . 

On a side note, although my lipstick isn't necessarily winter appropriate (even though it has be unseasonally warm here) I love my YSL Rouge Veloupte in 3 :) 

A quick post! Talk soon :) 

Winter Nails: Hooker Chic + New Year Resolutions !

I've seen these white nails making a comeback in the beauty world over the past few weeks. My initial thoughts were, cute, but probably not on my skin tone. Last night while Pumpky (blog name for my daughter:) was tucked into bed, I figured I'd give them a try. I was trying to make it work with whatever I had around the house, so I started slapping on random products. Here are the results .... Drum-roll

So, what do we think? cute? or street walker? Perhaps another picture with different lighting ...

I will say this: if I do attempt to do these again, I will
1. get a professional manicure
2. cut my nails shorter
3. use a white that isn't so opaque

But, I'd be lying if I said I hate it. My hubby actually really likes them too, well that might be a bit of an exaggeration. I think the conversation when something like this :

Me: " do these nails scare you?"
Hubby: "no"
Me: "are you sure?"
Hubby: "yes"

Well...I'll take it.

Here are the products I used. More so to illustrate what NOT to use. but it's what I had around the house:

From L to R: OPI Base Coat; Sally Hansen 'Nearly Nude' in 1 - Natural white;  SH 'beyond perfect in 03- pampered pink; OPI Top coat

*yes, those are teeth marks on the "beyond perfect" bottle. You've done it too, don't lie.

The white was VERY hard to work with since it's meant for white tips and it was way too white, hence why I applied the Sally Hansen in 03 on top of it. A fun little experiment:)

Okay.... Now onto my New Year Resolutions, I'll try to keep this short

1. Cook more often and healthy. Want to make sure my Pumpky eats healthy food...and us too:)
2. Wear all the clothes in my closet. I have many many clothes that still have the tags on them.... this includes a Herve Leger dress!!!!
3. take good care of my skin. Wash my face every night!!!!
4. drink more water
5. and of course...the token "get in/back in shape" that I think is on every women's resolution list

That's it ladies... and gents???

Obsessed: Alice + Olivia

Ever flip through a magazine or browse the internet for clothes, and notice that many of the peices you are drawn to happen to be from the same designer? Well, that is what started happening with Alice + Olivia for me. It's a younge and hip brand , and I am really loving it!

My recent shopping trips have also yielded the same results : Alice + Olivia items. The first piece I purchased was the leather/jersey Blazer. I love the mix of leather and fabric. Tres cool....it's been worn many times! 

Love the wide collar 

Trimmed in leather 

Next I spotted this beautiful tank top which weighs about a pound btw! It's antiqued sequins...and I love it! I picture it with a blazer and cropped skinnies. LOVE. So I have to mention that I got it for a STEAL! I found it at "Holt Renfrew last call" Original price was 450$ (yikes). But I got it for 34$!!!  Sure, there are a couple of sequines missing on the back but;  1. I plan on always wearing it with a blazer and 2. they gave extra sequins, so if I really wanted to, I could have them replaced.

Sparkly and fun :) 

I love the antiqued look of the sequins 

One more close up for good measure

And the last item is this camel coloured form fitting dress. I got it from the Holt Renfew 'Midnight madness sale' I blogged about earlier (LINK).  If I had a celine lugage tote (LINK) I would carry it with that to work....but I think it will also look nice with my Chanel Jumbo (LINK) <grin>

I like that it's a business chic dress but the material is actually a jersy cotten blend. Super soft and makes it look less stuffy. I can't wait to wear it!!!

Love the ruffle detail :) 

Side panel 

Love the exposed gold zip 

So those were my recent Alice + Olivia finds, I'm seriously itching to get into my work wordrobe. I'm back to work in a little over 2 months, and while I'll miss my daughter, it will be nice to have an excuse to get all dressed up :)

I Hope you all had a happy and safe New Year!!!