Pinterest Round-Up

Hey guys, I know I know, I am seriously the worst blogger ever! I apologize for being absent for almost two months, law school has just completely taken over my life. I have a couple of posts planned that I want to churn out asap, but right now my laptop is currently being repaired (pictures I took are on laptop :/ ) so I decided to throw together this little post about things I've been pinning on Pinterest that are seriously getting me through the days. Once I have my laptop back I will be writing another skincare essential post as well as a few product reviews, so stay tuned!

Disclaimer: Not my pictures; borrowed from Pinterest.
Please let me know if you own one of these and want me to take it down.

A Cautionary Tale: Brazilian Blowouts

Hey guys, today I'm going to share with you a story my good friend and avid reader (who wishes to remain anonymous) recently sent me regarding her hellish experience at an upscale salon in Atlanta. It is quite eye-opening, and I hope her story will help you if you are thinking about getting this procedure done! 

Organic Skincare Haul

Hey guys! I recently picked up a couple of organic skin care products from Whole Foods and Juice Beauty that I am currently loving. I'm not one of those people that's obsessed with being all-natural and eating organic all the time, but I feel that if there are simple substitutions you can make that have more natural ingredients and work just as well, why not? 

My Daily Eyeshadow - bareMinerals Top Shelf

Hey guys! My mornings are usually spent in a mad dash to get ready in as little time as possible. As a result, I've come up with numerous tricks to get myself looking slightly put together without too much effort. One of those is wearing a tinted moisturizer as my foundation some days (and skipping my long routine of antioxidant serum followed by moisturizer w/ SPF followed by foundation). I try not to do that too often, but it has definitely saved my life a time or two. 

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Hey guys! Recently Alex and I went to the Botanical Gardens. That was where we went on one of our very first dates four years ago and we love going back from time to time. This time I decided to share a few of my favorite pictures with you... 

Powder vs. Liquid Foundation

Hey guys! Wow so it's been a minute! Law school started back up again so I've been buried in homework. For today's blog post I wanted to talk about foundation, specifically the age-old question: Powder or liquid foundation? 

All About Exfoliation

Hey guys! Today I wanted to share with you my exfoliation routine because as I'm sure you all know, exfoliation is essential for beautiful skin. Unfortunately, it's one of the steps most skipped by women, and its even been suggested that one of the reasons guys age better than women is because they regularly exfoliate their face while shaving. Therefore, it's time to stop skipping this essential step ladies! 

bareMinerals READY Foundation & Correcting Concealer!

Hey guys! I just recently made some purchases from bareMinerals that I wanted to share with you. As you know, I am a huge lover of their foundation and blushes; I have about four of the blushes and love them all. I've used the loose-powder foundation for a while now, and the natural ingredients have really helped improve my skin tone. I also love that their foundations have SPF 15, mineral kind! I usually layer more SPF under anyways, because SPF in makeup is never enough, but its still great to have an added boost of protection. 

Not Worth the Hype...

Land of broken dreams over here

Hey guys! I am writing today to warn you of three products that I expected a lot from but was heavily disappointed by. Maybe I'm not using them right or missing something, but I just felt like for the price, these products do not deliver.

Clash of the Drugstore Liquid Eyeliners

Hey guys! Hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend! My fourth of July was not too good, we went to a cookout at a friend's house and I ended up getting food poisoning after eating some under cooked lamb. Not fun, I spent all day Friday recovering. Thankfully I felt much better by Saturday which was perfect because we were heading up to Blue Ridge for a lake house party!

Fado Irish Pub

Not my picture, found it on Google!

Hey guys! Last night for my friend's birthday we decided to hit up Fado Irish Pub in Buckhead for dinner and drinks. Having never been there before, I decided to snap a few pictures to share with you. A through and through Irish pub (the restaurant was literally built in Ireland and shipped over here), they have been providing Atlanta residents with authentic Irish pub fare for years.

My Pet Peeve.....

Hey guys! This post is gonna be really random, but I just had to get this off my chest... Why are sales associates at makeup stores so annoying?? I get that they want to make sales, but seriously, a simple "do you need help" or a quick blurb about a new product should suffice. Instead, I feel as though I am routinely surrounded by pushy sales associates intent on selling me the latest thing. No particular incident inspired this random post, it was more of a combination of makeup store visits over the years that one day made me realize... wow, they are really annoying at makeup stores!

Physicians Formula Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Cream

Hey guys! Alright I promised a few posts back that I would let you know which affordable BB cream with physical SPF I was currently loving. I am seriously obsessed with this stuff and I know you will be too. It is super affordable and packed with good-for-your-skin ingredients. Allow me to introduce you to Physicians Formula Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Cream. 

My Current Obsessions

Hey guys! I am sorry it's taken me forever to write another blog post, after my last one I was working on my law review application for two weeks and then I started my new job as a summer associate at a law firm in Atlanta. Needless to say I've been extremely busy but I definitely missed writing here. I promise to never leave you for so long again! 

Today I thought I'd do a quick post on three skincare/beauty products I am currently LOVING just to get back into the swing of things. 

Love it or Leave it: Smashbox Tinted Moisturizer

Hey guys! So for this post I decided to do a product review, specifically the Smashbox Sheer Focus Tinted Moisturizer with Broad Spectrum SPF 15. As I'm sure you picked up in my last post about antioxidants, wearing SPF everyday is very important for maintaining youthful skin. I love using a tinted moisturizer w/ SPF on days when I'm in a rush. It's also great for when I don't feel like putting a full face of makeup on but still want some coverage. I had been on the lookout for a good oil-free one because my skin can get very oily, especially around my t-zone. I'd heard a lot of good things about this one and it was one of the more affordable ones at Sephora so I decided to give it a try...

Yes I saved the box specifically for this picture.

Essential Skin Care Ingredient: Antioxidants

Hey guys! Today I'm going to be sharing with you some of my knowledge about antioxidants and the vital role they play in keeping your skin healthy. If you do not have some sort of antioxidant serum/cream in your skincare routine, you are really missing an important step to protecting your skin from premature aging. Obviously we are all going to age, but the key is doing it gracefully and keeping your skin wrinkle-free as long as possible.

The Optimist

Ah the Optimist. Like a little seaside crab shack transplanted right into the middle of Atlanta

Last night to celebrate our four year anniversary my boyfriend and I decided to go to The Optimist, a little seafood and oyster bar located in West Midtown. Complete with palm trees and blue dock benches, you can close your eyes and almost feel the ocean breeze. We'd been wanting to try it for ages and this seemed like the perfect occasion. 

Hair Care Tips

Hey guys! For this post I am going to be sharing with you some of my tips for having long, healthy, beautiful hair. I'm not a professional hair expert, but I have been told before that my hair is pretty and looks healthy. Read on if you want to learn my tricks!

Summer Hair Inspiration

Hello! So for my first official beauty post I decided to share some summer hair inspiration pictures that I found on Pinterest. Sorry it's not very original but I am currently locked away in a study chamber at the library, trying to study zoning laws but incessantly being lured by the siren call of Pinterest. Figured I would embrace it and then get back to studying!

So here are a few photos that I've found and that I think would be perfect for summer. I'm sure you will notice a trend in that they are almost all updos... I don't know about where you live, but in Georgia it gets so hot and humid in the summer. Definitely not the best for wearing your hair down, especially if you plan on being outside for more than ten minutes!

So lets get to it...

Source: girlbeinspired.tumblr.com via Patricia on Pinterest

How fab is this top knot?? I think its so pretty, especially with those sunglasses. I actually used to think I couldn't wear top knots, since my hair is very thick and it used to be really long, it would just never stay up. I have it short-ish now but anyways, I tried a top knot again the other day and it worked!

Here is the trick: you have to put your hair in a pony tail first! I was always just twisting it all up there and expecting it to stay. That might work if you hair is thinner, but for us thick-hair girls, definitely need to start with a ponytail. That may have been common knowledge already but I just realized it! But anyways so yeah ponytail, wrap around and secure, and I even left a strand out to braid and loop around the base, looked so cute! Was quite proud of myself. Going to try it with a sock next time to get a more fuller bun like hers.

ANYWAYS back to the pics >>>

Source: hji.co.uk via Patricia on Pinterest

I don't know about you guys but I love Whitney Port! She was always my favorite on the Hills, and I was so sad when her spin off The City got cancelled. I just think she is so stylish and effortlessly chic: exhibit 1, this braid. I love how loose and wavy it is at the top, very laid-back and deconstructed for a lazy summer day. 

Source: stylecraze.com via Patricia on Pinterest

Ponytail! such a classic but such a MUST during the summer, especially if your trying to stay cool. I love how hers is curled a little at the ends, its def not your average "roll out of bed and throw you hair in a ponytail" ponytail. Would be perfect for a summer party! You could even wrap a strand around the base of the ponytail if you want to hide the elastic. 

Source: harpersbazaar.com via Patricia on Pinterest

Ah another ponytail just for fun! This one is a low bouncy one, LOVE IT.

Source: elle.com via Patricia on Pinterest

This roll-up is so cute, the pin didn't link to an actual tutorial so I'm not completely sure how she did it, it looks like she put that fabric headband on and then wrapped her hair around it at the base. Not sure if my hair would stay up all day with just that, again, #thickhairgirlproblems, but I will definitely try.

Source: amazon.com via Patricia on Pinterest

Fishtail braid! This is so gorgeous/cute, I can't even. I think to recreate this you would have to do a fishtail braid and then pull at it to give it that deconstructed poofy look. Either way, it's so cute.

Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Patricia on Pinterest

If all else fails, you can always just chop your hair off into a cute bob for summer, that way it will always be off your shoulders! That's kinda what I did last summer to be honest, which is why its still short-ish now. I don't know about you but I think this picture of Keira Knightly is GORGEOUS and her hair looks so pretty. It definitely has some texturizing spray in there to give it that messy look.

Alright that's it for now, really should be getting back to studying. 

Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite!

xoxo Patricia

Welcome to my blog...

Hello world!

I decided to finally create my own blog after thinking about it and wanting to for so long. Since this is my first post I figured I'd better tell you a little bit about me and what I plan on doing with this blog. My name is Patricia and I am an aspiring lawyer, current 1L student in law school. It's a very stressful learning environment, and I've found that a common way I've been de-stressing lately is by reading lifestyle blogs such as The Londoner (love her) or watching Youtube skincare/beauty channels such as Check in the Mirror (love her too). Through countless hours of procrastination (haha ;)) I've come to amass quite a bit of knowledge on these girly topics! I'm also a complete product junkie, it's becoming a problem. My boyfriend always says that I should start my own blog/youtube channel and while I'm not quite brave/talkative enough to do a youtube channel I thought why not start my own blog? I go through enough beauty/skincare/haircare products, might as well share my knowledge by reviewing some of them! And believe me, I have come across MANY a bust. Hopefully my experiences can help you not make the same mistake.

I also want to do some posts on health/fitness, which is something I'm struggling with in law school. College was bad enough, I definitely gained the freshmen 15, and law school has not been helping. I'm thinking writing about it will inspire me to take my own advice! 

And then there will also probably be posts about other random things I enjoy, such as decor or entertaining ideas, or anything else really.

I hope you find this blog entertaining/informative, or if nothing else a fun way to pass the time when you should really be doing something else!

xoxo Patricia