Maybelline Fit Me review

Hello, Dolls! 

For YEARS I've used Bare Minerals foundation because it's so great for my temperamental skin, but since I've passed my early twenties (and rounded the corner a bit) I've noticed it settles into my fine lines a bit too much, and seemed to wear off quicker than it used to. 

Before Bare Minerals, I wore a heavy "cream to powder" by Lancôme that I loved, but I just can't justify paying that much for a beauty product now that I'm not a single girl making more cash than I can spend. 

I picked up this Almay mousse makeup, which claimed an airbrushed finish. I LOVED the coverage and feel of the makeup itself, but since it's packaged in a pot you have to put your finger in it to get any out, and it gets under your nail and just isn't user friendly. Half way through the container I decided it wasn't worth it and moved on. I also noticed this dried my face out TERRIBLY! By mid afternoon my forehead would get scaly! Not gonna work for me! 

On a whim, I saw this Maybelline Fit Me pressed powder on sale at Walgreens and picked it up. I'M LOVING IT!! It's a really dense, smooth powder. (My color: Natural Beige) 

This is me with NOTHING on my skin. I usually apply BB cream before any makeup but wanted to show the coverage given with this pressed powder alone. 

Annnnnd okay so I have my eyebrows on but one blog post on here without them is enough for one lifetime. 

Anyway, naked face:

Notice the redness, under eye discoloration, and mild breakout areas. 

Here's after applying the Maybelline Fit Me powder ONLY. 

I'm amazed and VERY happy with the coverage. For those who like a little more coverage, I'm sure it could be applied more liberally, but one swipe is just right for me. 

I've been using this for about a week now and it lasts all day, washes off easily, doesn't get oily or dry, and is so quickly applied. My bronzer and blush go on a lot more smoothly and the color shows more true than with other foundations I've used. I never noticed how mineral foundations seemed to zap the two before! 

If you're in the market for a new foundation, or are over the multi-step processes of cream foundation followed by powder, give this one a try! I'd love to hear what Yall think about it!

Until next time!

Xoxo

Lauren 

DIY boot-cut to skinny jeans

When I was pregnant with Layla I had FOUR girlfriends who had just had babies and were wonderful enough to give me all of their maternity clothes.  I wound up with about 15 pairs of jeans.  Since this was 2011, most all of these were either boot-cut or straight legged and I wore them until the day I delivered...and if we're being honest here, for a few weeks after delivery.

Now that it's 2015 and I'm pregnant with another princess, my style has changed a bit.  Instead of going out and spending a small fortune on jeans that I'll wear for 4 or 5 months, I've decided to alter the ones I was so graciously gifted and make them exactly what I want, and here's how you can do it, too:

Turn the jeans you're wishing to alter inside out, and lie flat. (Keep in mind, this can be done to ANY jean, not just maternity!)

Top your fixer-upper pair with a jean whose leg you love.  Again, this can be anything from a jegging to fave pair you haven't been able to button since Clinton was in office, as long as the leg fit is right!  Line them up crotch to crotch, outer seam to outer seam, as shown.

Mark your new inner seam

Using a straight stitch on your machine, follow the line you made while holding the leg tight so the outer seam doesn't roll on you, keep the fabric taut and flat.

After straight stitching, the extra fabric can be removed, and a I used a zig-zag stitch to finish the raw edges so fraying will be at a minimum.

Now stand back and admire your work!

This also works perfectly for jeans that are too short, or any whose hem has been damaged, since taking them in at the ankle elongates them significantly.  I'm tall so I never have an issue with jeans being too long but if I didn't anticipate rolling these at the bottom every time I wear them I would definitely need to take an inch or two off of the bottom! This would be a great thing to do for kids who outgrow their length before their waist!

Until next time!

XOXO!

DIY Shoe shelves..

...well, *I* didn't do it, but Chance did! My shoe situation has been a problem for about ten years now. When we got married Chance built me THESE in our old house:

I came home from a shopping trip with my girls and he had them trimmed out and everything! 😍😍

So naturally, we had to have some in the new house! The layout of our master bedroom is odd. It's a farm house that was built in the 70s, so I'm unsure if this is the norm for the era or if it's just ours, but the bathroom sinks and vanity are outside of the actual bathroom in both our and Chesney's bedrooms. I actually LOVE IT because when you're getting ready you're in the bedroom watching Vanderpump rules while your husband is behind closed doors showering and NOT steaming your blowout to death. 

Chance whipped these up from scratch Saturday morning while Layla and I lazed around catching up on Wendy Williams.

TAAAHHH DAHHHHHH!!

As soon as the paint was dry I started color coordinating heels! Please excuse the loungewear, my excitement was too over the top to contain long enough to put real clothes on. 

The Pistol Annies say it best in their song "Being Loved by a Workin Man". (If you haven't listened, you must do so now!) 

Until the next project! 

Xoxo

Lo 

My new favorite red!

I've been a fan of Revlon's lip butter for YEARS! It's so moisturizing, and unlike most lipsticks that boast that quality, Lip Butter doesn't lack in color opaqueness! 

I've carried their Creme Brûlée in my bag 24/7 because it's the PERFECT nude for my complexion. 

With the holidays approaching, I really need a good RED that doesn't dry out, bleed into lip lines, or fade awkwardly. (Do you know what I mean? Some lipsticks wear off unevenly like a bad Mystic Tan.)

Of course the first one I tried was Revlon's lip butter in Candy Apple, and for once the search was over after the first trial! It. Is. PERFECT! Not too pink, not too orange, just the perfect red, no liner or gloss required. 

Pop into your local drugstore and pick up a tube; you won't be disappointed! 

What I learned from my first cruise:

I plan on doing a full post on our latest vacation, but want to share a few things I wish I'd known ahead of time! Thankfully my friend Kristi is a freaking cruise expert so we weren't going in blind but there were a few "ah-ha!" moments that I wish I had thought to ask her about! 

Tip #1: Wear things you can repeat.

We flew out of dallas at 7am in November and it was chilly, so I wore skinny jeans, a 3/4 length t and booties. Stupid outfit for cruise wear seeing as to how as I soon as we reached Miami I was dressed as an idiot! 

I would suggest a maxi dress and cardi, maybe flats but sandals would be a better choice. 

tip #2: Pack more casual outfits. 

When you get up early and go to breakfast, then go on an excursion, then back for lunch, then another outfit for dinner (if it's casual, which is mostly what we did) you run out of shorts and tanks quickly. I made the mistake of taking super dressy dresses, and cut offs with racer back tanks. No in between, and I felt like an ass at the bar with smartly dressed women while I had a plain tank and white skinnies on, but the night before had a silk dress on and was over dressed. 

Tip #3. Be smart about your drinks. 

Luckily, we were gifted with the Ultimate Beverage Package, so we didn't pay for any Cokes, beer, liquor or wine, but we had to sign for every one of them, so I noticed that a bottle of beer was $6.50, a mixed drink was $10, and a COKE was over $3! Bottled water was $4.50! Lunacy. If you don't intend on spending over $150 PER DAY for you and your boo to drink all day, look into the rules for your specific ship on what can and can't be brought on, or do what I would do and smuggle it. 

Tip #4: pack odds and ends you MAY need. 

For instance, tweezers. I don't carry them in my bag, but I have a pair in my car and one in my desk drawer. On day one I was wishing I'd brought mine. I was glad we packed sunscreen, Chapstick, our own bar soap and toothpaste, ibuprofen, heartburn pills, etc. Small items to include, and they cost A WHACK on the ship. 

Tip #5: Don't pack:

*Beach towels. They give you these to use! 

*anything that wrinkles can't be steamed out of by hanging in the shower. 

*a blow dryer. The one we had was pretty snazzy! 

*a watered down version of your hair and makeup routine. When we go to a beach resort, I always decide to just go with my natural curl since we're mostly outside and it will frizz all the way back to Texas anyway, and I never pack any kind of makeup besides tinted moisturizer and mascara, but you shouldn't do this on a cruise because what I didn't realize prior to this one is that YOU'RE INSIDE the whole time! Eyeliner and a flat iron don't take up enough space to leave home. 

Tip #6: Take advantage of the buffet! 

We made a lot of friends on the cruise who went out of their way to make reservations, dress up WAY more than I like to on vacation, and paid extra to go to specialty restaurants. Chance and I never planned to do this because we have a SUPER laid back vacation style so we would split from them, go have a burger by the pool or hit up the seafood night in the main dining and then meet back up with everyone afterwards. Not ONCE did any of them so "oh the food and service were AMAZING and well worth the extra $75!"  They always said "it was okay. My shrimp was bland/my steak was over cooked/it too forever/ potatoes were instant" and we would say really? We had ALL the things and are almost too stuffed to drink these beers!" 

If fine dining is your thing, by all means, go right ahead, but don't think you'll be missing out by not hitting the sushi bar on the boat. (There was sushi on the buffet that same night! And no closed toe shoes or slacks required. Pretty sure Chance wore a tie dye tank top.)

tip #7. If you'll be flying into or out of the Miami airport, they are SERIOUS about carried on luggage. 

Luckily, Chance and I packed one large duffle and I carried my purse on, but there were other people we were LIVID that the luggage they carried on without a bat of an eye in DFW wasn't allowed on in Miami. One lady had to pay $25 to check her PURSE because it was wider than the example bag! Crazy. Be prepared! 

Lastly, Tip #8: if you've ever had even a HINT of motion/sea/car/morning sickness, buy a box of 24 hour Dramamine. 

(I actually bought the off brand!)

The boat moves....NON STOP. So many people told me I would never feel a thing, and every one of them turned out to be a teller of lies. Since the formula I bought was 24 hour, I took at right before bed and although I felt the rocking constantly, it didn't upset my stomach or make my head swim. You MUST take it before bed though, because for the following 30 minutes after you dose yourself you will feel as high as the grocery bill on Thanksgiving week. This was me after making that mistake on day one:

Please comment if you have great tips I missed! 

Until next time, happy cruising!

Xoxo

Lo

DIY Laundry Room Re-Vamp!

As mentioned previously, Chance and I bought a 1970's farm house a couple of months ago. I bet the distributors of wood paneling are STILL living high on the hog because apparently is was all the rage during that decade. 

I'm not one to decorate a laundry room, but when you spend as much time in one as I do mine, you don't want to be swallowed by brown. Before Chance flipped it the were brown paneling walls, brown faux wooden laminate, brown doors, hell even the DOORKNOBS were brown. Oh and I just remembered the brown crown molding. So glad they threw that fancy touch in. There were double cabinets on either side of the window that Chance had already taken down before I got a picture. I'll give you ONE guess as to what color they were. (Hint: rhymes with Crown)

Before: 

I chose a deep blue for the walls. Chance thought I was crazy for selecting a darker color for a room that's not too terribly large, but with the window and a (soon to be) white door on each wall, I was confident. 

I'm CRAZY about it! 

Chance had this old door in his shop, so he slapped a couple coats of paint on it and it became my counter. 

HOLY LAUNDRY BASKETS. Everyone has their own "clean" basket that they take to their rooms to put up after everything has been washed. Yes, there really are that many of us! Chance and I share a laundry basket because we don't have 12 foot ceilings and he likes to live out of his clean basket. You remember how we all did that in college? He never really shook that habit and his would stay filled, so I put all of his clothes up while doing mine. I bitch about it under my breath and put hexes on everything while I do it, too. 

Each basket has the kid's name on the handle, and is hung by a screw, which is surprisingly strong enough to hold them up even when they're filled to the brim, as they usually are!

Here's Chesney's full of clothes, shoes and two full sized towels. 

I realize one basket is blue while the others are white but when it starts to bug me I'm reminded that there are people dying all over the world and I have bigger issues to worry about. 

To make up for the loss of storage space after removing the cabinets, Chance built a shelf with drying rod on the perpendicular wall. Perfect!

Until the next project, I'll leave you with this vision in a tuxedo Tshirt. 

Xoxo

Lo