OOTD, The Bachelor Fashions & P90X, Clarisonic Update

Today I wore my new ruffle sleeve top that I blogged about yesterday in my Forever 21 haul. I just love this top. It's a great top because it's comfortable like a tee, but when you take off your cardigan, it doesn't feel like just a plain ol' t-shirt. It still feels put together and pretty.

It was gross and rainy here today, so I wore my trusty Express "Editor" pants.

Top- Forever 21; Pants- Express "Editor" Pant; Necklace- Tiffany & Co. "Return to Tiffany" heart pendant and Forever 21 key pendant. On Nails- OPI "Lucky Lucky Lavender. Watch- Michael Kors. Shoes- Aldo.

I am actually blogging as I watch The Bachelor finale live. I just love this show. I've know who was going to "win" for several weeks now since Reality Steve broke the news. I get sucked in nearly every season, and every season I always find out who wins way before the finale because I just can't seem to keep away from the spoilers.

One of the reasons I love the show, of course, is because of the abundance of fashions, hairstyles and makeup looks. 25 women all on one show is bound to bring a lot of different styles together (not to mention personalities, drama!)

I stumbled upon a blog recently that has a lot of Bachelor fashion posts so I thought I would share it with you all. It's called The Possessonista. She has an interview with The Bachelor's Rozlyn and I even found a link to Corrie's blog from the show (she is a fashion stylist IRL- link to her personal website here.)

I've always thought it must be really fun to get chosen as a contestant for The Bachelor because think of all of the beautiful dresses you'd get to buy (and you'd have a place to wear them- hello rose ceremonies!) I always find myself buying all of these cute party dresses with no place to wear them since I'm not really into the whole club scene/going out and partying scene anymore. I'm going to make it my goal this summer to wear my fun dresses on date nights with my husband.

Speaking of The Bachelor, Jason and Molly from last season got married over the weekend. Their wedding will air on ABC next week, I believe, but here are photos from their big day in the meantime. You can see them here and here. I really loved Molly's Vera Wang gown. The skirt of it was just stunning.

Did you watch The Bachelor this season? Let me know what you think in the comments below. I am a Tenley fan, have been from the start.

Before I go, I'm going to give a few quick updates.

#1- P90X- After my food poisoning, I thought it was actually a blessing in disguise to cleanse my system before fulling embarking on the P90X journey. My husband and I took the nutrition guide with us when we went grocery shopping on Sunday, and although we are not following the diet to a "t," we are using it as a very strong guideline to make better choices.

Today, for example, I ate strawberries and peaches along with a string cheese stick for breakfast, with a cup of green tea. For lunch I had a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with one slice of cheese. I had a few more cups of green tea after lunch and also ate some almonds as a mid afternoon snack. For dinner we had whole grain rotini pasta with marinara sauce and shrimp (yum!). For dessert I had a 140 calorie ice cream cone (the Nestle lil' drums- I highly recommend them, it's a big payoff for very little calories.)

I am not big on diets. I think they are way to restrictive and I absolutely love sweets so I need to keep them in my diet or I feel completely deprived. I eat some form of ice cream, candy or cookies on a daily basis, I just try to keep my portions moderate.

We did day one of the classic program today (arms, back and chest.) I think we did well. Push ups are always hard for me. I can only do them on my knees right now, since my upper body strength is not very good. I'm really looking forward to toning my arms more.

#2- Clarisonic- I absolutely love my Clarisonic. I feel the cleaning power you get from a Calrisonic really does clean deeper, which is why my pores are smaller. I definitely can't imagine not washing my face with it before bed. It is a wonderful tool. I never experienced any breakouts and overall my skin has improved. I still get dry patches and red areas, but they have decreased since I've started to use it. I also notice I am not reaching for my facial self-tanner as often as I used to, which I guess it due to the more even-toned skin I'm experiencing after using the Clarisonic.

If you have any questions about P90X or the Clarisonic, or you'd just like to gossip about The Bachelor, please leave me a comment below.

xoxo,

Veronika.

3 things: & an OOTD

I'll start my post by first making 3 updates:

1. First days of Clarisonic use
2. Stila "Petunia" cream blush review
3. Eyelash curler discussion and photo evidence- if you don't have one, get one NOW (this should really have a separate post, but I'm feeling word-y today)

...and then I'll post my outfit(s) of the day.

So without further ado, here we go:

I used my Clarisonic for the first time on Sunday night, and so far, so good. I used it with a combination of La Roche Posay's Effaclar Gel Cleanser and Neutrogena Acne Stress Control Foaming Face Wash.

Pros:
Makes skin very clean
Makes skin feel smooth and you can tell your products absorb better
My makeup went on very smoothly the next day
Feels good on your skin
Removes dead skin and flakes
Mia model is smaller, so no big charger on my sink area

Cons:
When I use it around my nose, it really, really tickles
The Mia model turns off after 1 minute, so I have to turn it back on for more cleansing

I will continue to make regular updates about my Clarisonic use. I have good skin right now, I just want great skin. I know a few people had left comments to a previous post where I (dramatically) complained a bit about my skin, but when it comes down to it, I do feel lucky to have good skin. Having had cystic acne in the past, I know what real bad skin looks and feels like. I apologize if I confused anyone in any previous posts. I do have some unevenness and things I dislike about my skin, but in general I have good skin (especially compared to what it was.)

My hopes for the Clarisonic are:
Improvement of pore size (smaller)
More even skin tone
Prevention of fine lines
Better product absorption/effectiveness
No flaking/dryness on skin

Now for the Stila convertible lip and cheek color in "Petunia". I have used this as a blush for the past few days, and it literally shot right up to my number one mostfavoriteblushever. I apply it using a MAC travel size duo-fiber brush, and then I blend it with a clean Sigma duo fiber brush to give it a perfectly blended apperance. Note: I wear this over powder and bronzer.

It lasts ALL day (even through an hour of pilates) and it really gives your skin a translucent pink-y/peach glow to it. I have no idea how I hadn't discovered this product a long time ago. I was always so afraid of using cream blushes because I tend to get a bit oily, but this doesn't make my skin oily at all. In fact, I've noticed I haven't had to blot at all in my cheek area when I wear this.

I absolutely love this blush and plan to buy more cream blushes because of this product. The color is so incredible. I tried to take pictures of it for the blog, but sadly, my lighting or something was off because it hardly showed up, whereas in real life, you can totally see a pop of color. The thing I love most is that this blush shows a pop of color while still remaining glow-y and translucent. It shows your real skin through, yet still adds color and dimension.

I also love it as a lip color. I wear it under my MAC lip conditioner in "Feelin' Good." Do I recommend this blush? Absolutely. I also have to mention I love the packaging. Pretty and easy to toss into your purse or makeup bag without having to worry. I think the key to cream blushes is application technique. I am all about the duo fiber brushes. I first deposit the color onto the brush, and then onto the top of my left hand to make sure I don't have too much product. Then to cheeks, and blend blend blend.

Item number 3 was prompted by a picture I took of myself where my lashes were so incredibly curled, I thought I had to show it to my readers to convince anyone that doesn't have an eyelash curler that they absolutely MUST invest in one. I've written about this beauty miracle tool before, but to summarize: Shu Uemura's eyelash curler is your best investment. Blast for a few seconds with your hairdryer, curl lashes, apply mascara, and done!
You can click the photo to enlarge it. Do you SEE those lashes? I absolutely love how wide open and awake my eyes look just from this simple step! Ladies- if you have $20, please invest in this incredible tool. You will thank me, I promise!

Now for 2 outfits of the day: I wore this one on Monday:

Top: Macy's; Skirt: Ann Taylor; Cardigan: Express

Today I just wore something really simple. Black dress pants, top and sweater.

Bottoms: Express; Top: Club Monaco; Sweater: Forever 21

Questions? Comments? Please leave them below! I love reading your comments :) As a reminder, Leah is still answering questions in yesterday's Motivation Mondays post.

xoxo,

Veronika.

I Got It (Clarisonic) & Other Weekend Buys (Oh, and My Hair Cut)

Well ladies, I finally got it! I went and bought the Clarisonic Mia at Sephora with my 10% VIB discount. I got the pink one. I got the Mia because I like the size of the Clarisonic itself, and the charger takes up less space. Since it is the same brush head, I hope to get awesome results.

I have a strategy for my Clarisonic use. I pray I won't go through a purge period, so to avoid it, I am starting off slow. I am not going to use it twice a day (or even once a day) and I am going to use it only on my non breakout areas (so I'll use it on my forehead, nose and cheeks, and avoid my chin and jaw.)

I will give updates as I use it. I can't use it tonight because it has to charge for 24 hours first. So Sunday will be my first Clarisonic cleaning day.

Here is a pic of my Mia, right next to my Sonicare toothbrush:

Before I get to the rest of my purchases, I'll show you lovely ladies my new haircut. Today was hard because I actually had more cut off than I had planned to. I love it though. I needed it. Basically, my hair was so damaged and snapping off, that my "length" at the back of my hair was actually just the longest part of my hair that hadn't broken off yet, so it kind of formed a "V" at the back. When my hairdresser showed me in the mirror, I was like, just cut it off. David talked me through what he would do, I took at deep breath, and off we went to the washing sink.

I really love how much lighter it feels, and how he took the front layers up shorter. Now keep in mind, this is hair I've been running errands with all day, and laid on the couch with for hours before I took these pics (watching the last episodes of Season 2 of True Blood: love love love):

Here is a shot of the length so you can see how far it goes down my back now:

Here are some more shots of the layers:

Anyways. I really like it. It's a bit shorter, but it's healthier and softer.

I've made a new commitment to myself this year. I want to focus on making everything the best it can be. Taking better care of my hair, skin and body. I want to take my vitamins regularly and just focus on keeping my skin in great condition. Next on my list is a Vitamin C serum for my skin.


Now onto my purchases. My friend Heather (who got married on the beach) wore these gorgeous earrings on her wedding day from Swarovski. I had to have them. Not only are they oh-so-pretty, but they are exactly like my engagement ring! It is the same look of a round center stone with pave around it. Love them. They are the style called "Angelic." They retail for $75.00. I told my husband they were his Valentines day gift to me, and he said I ruin surprises. I think he meant to say "thanks for making gift-giving so easy."


Love them.

I also got this great final sale skirt from Ann Taylor today. It has an awesome animal-print-like texture (and we all know how much I love animal prints). It was $39.98...originally $120, which obviously I wouldn't have paid for it.


I was once again disappointed with my trip to Forever 21. The stock just wasn't great today. I tried about 7-8 things on, and bought one top. It's just a simple pink and black striped top, for $10.80.
It looks kind of shapeless, but it is really nice on. It's actually one of those tops I picked up thinking "this could be very good, or very bad." For $10.80, there wasn't much to lose.

You know I can't resist a Victoria's Secret coupon, so when I got one in the mail for a FREE lacie panty (they are my fave!) and $10 off of any bra, I was sold.

I got this cute animal-print bra for $24.50.

Here it is on VS model Miranda Kerr:

I love her. So pretty. Speaking of Miranda Kerr, how awesome is this recent pic of her ( I believe it's from GQ):

I love her hair...kind of actually reminds me of how mine is now (the length and layers.)

Back to shopping... I got this cute workout headband for $1.50 at Forever 21:

Yes, I wear headbands with bows on them to work out. I still like to have cute accessories. Plus, this one has little teeth in it to really hold hair back.

My final purchase was this awesome bracelet from Forever 21 for $7.50. It looks a lot like some of the ones I've seen at J. Crew and Ann Taylor for $80-$100.

It is much more sparkly and awesome in real life. Very happy to have gotten such a great deal on an accessory I've had my eye on for awhile.

That's all for today ladies. As always, thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!

xoxo,

Veronika.

Taking the Calrisonic Plunge & Other Updates

I think I'm finally going to do it (purchase a Clarisonic skincare brush.) I seriously cannot deal with my skin anymore. Today, after a LONG day of work that started with a 5 a.m. wake-up call, I glanced into my rear-view mirror as I was driving home and was horrified to see that my makeup somehow just looked awful, uneven, poorly blended, etc. I don't remember it looking so gnarly this morning, so I thought it must be because my skin is uneven and I haven't exfoliated in weeks, and over time the oils and other grossness just made it seep into my pores and smudge all over the place.

I've heard great things about the Clarisonic including its ability to even out skin, make products work better and reduce pore size.
It's a pricey investment, but after pondering the importance of healthy skin for awhile (prompted, no doubt, by my SPF-70 obsession while sunning myself) I think the investment is worth it to have great skin, since glowing, healthy skin is among one of the most desired beauty traits for most women.

My skin has just been feeling rough, uneven, red and blotchy etc. Of course, I can cover all of this up and make it look nearly flawless...but I don't want to have to do that, I'd rather just have skin that is as awesome as possible on its own. This isn't to say I don't want to wear makeup/a base, but I'd like to be able to not always wear a base and feel good about how my skin looks sans coverage.

Some girls have mentioned there are websites that sell the Clarisonic at a discount price...if you know what these are, please let me know. I might purchase from Sephora anyways, for the return policy and the points, but I'd love to know how they are priced elsewhere online or if you got a great deal somewhere. Feel free to let me know how you liked it in the comments as well!

In other news, I am seeing my lovely David on Saturday morning for a trim. Yep. I have re-evaluated the situation and I don't think it's that bad. I think I was just being a bit dramatic. I do want to have the layers reshaped and the ends trimmed up and possibly bring some of the layers up a bit, but I'd still like to keep the length, because I just love having long hair.

Please share your awesome-skin secrets, products and advice in the comments below!

xoxo,

Veronika.