TOP 5 Glam: the Emmys

The Emmys were Sunday night, I know you watched the red carpet and I am sure you saw the whole fashion breakdowns Monday.  Well I didn't, I watched The Back Up Plan instead of the Emmys and only half watched the commentary on Monday night.

But if you go on style.com, they have a slide show of all the looks... I have chosen my top 5 to give my comments on. Mainly people who dressed well, and because I don't feel like being negative, I am not going to give a worst dressed, but if you really want to know, ask. So in no particular order my 5.

Danes- Armani Prive
Dancy- Burberry

Claire Danes, girl looked so good, I missed that Hugh Dancy was standing next to her!  This dress just looks awesome on her, and the color is just right. You see so many of these nude color dresses go so wrong, its refreshing to see one looking so right. You can't see it in this picture but her nails are a nude shade that match the dress and I want that color.

Jennifer Carpenter, I just started watching Dexter and I love her! I also love this dress, it is FIERCE. The dress features a long sleeve and it is just gorgeous. I think it is beautiful and she rocks it.

Monique Lhuillier, with a VBH clutch

Kyra Sedgwick, on the show I was watching they raved about this dress. I agree I like the dress, the color is different, but compliments her. But there is something about Kyra that always leaves me unsettled, I think its her mouth or maybe her head is too small?

Burberry

Jayma Mays, I love this dress on her, the color with her skin tone and hair is to die for. I would have done something different with the necklace. Maybe a bigger, statement piece.

Zac Posen

Christina Hendricks, I chose this dress more for the detailing at the waist and the color. I don't like the neckline or the wings. But the color is gorgeous with her coloring and I love the detailing in the dress.

See, that wasn't so bad, I wasn't so brutal. I did enjoy giving my Top 5 things... this maybe the start of something new. Who knows!

***All Pictures are from Style.com

Nail Polish of the Week: Lapis of Luxury and School Updates!

I am at an odd place right now. I am was having a hard time deciding what nail color to go with, it was slightly distressing. So this week my color reasoning: it was right there in front of me. I usually have a reasoning behind why I choose a certain color and this week there simply was none. I guess with the start of school and all that I don't feel particularly inspired.

But the color for the week is Essie's Lapis of Luxury, I really do like this color it is such a pretty shade of blue and I got a few compliments on it today.

Tomorrow, I have to bring in all the supplies for my pattern making class. When you are going to school, you never realize how truly expensive it will be until you have to buy supplies. If you can see in the picture that pack of T-pins was $26! Its unbelievable how much things cost and THANK GOD my parents help me out, I couldn't do this with out them.

A small portion of my supply list. 

So pictured above is just mainly my sewing supplies, I have this huge roll of butcher paper and a bag packed with about 5 yards of fabric, a tape dispenser, a ream of paper, 10 poster boards and huge sheets of carbon paper to bring in as well. I have no clue how I am going to walk all of this across campus.

But other than that school has been going well. Parking is a pain, I spent over 30 minutes trying to find a spot and made it to class just as it was starting. Hopefully that nightmare won't happen again.

My classes?
I am finding my Product development class, 3032 and Marketing to be oddly similar. Marketing being more general and 3032 just focusing on the clothes.
Pattern Making or 3037, we have just taken notes in. I think tomorrow we will get to the meat of things and start draping (fingers crossed)!
Visual merchandising and Promotion strategies or 3045, we have just been taking notes and nothing new to report. 
Intro to Fine Arts got canceled today, after I walked without an umbrella in the rain to get to it, but that just means I got to go home early and bring packages to the post office. I sent some FabFlower love to Memphis, Tn!


But how is your fall shaping up?

The Crafty Side

I got good use out of my crafty side Thursday night when I was asked to make a Turtle T-shirt for the little sister (it was a school fun day and her class animal is the turtle). Mom expected me to just draw something onto the shirt with fabric markers.... I went a little more all out than she expected, but once there is a vision in your head, you just have to go with it.

For the front I took two pieces of felt and sewed them together leaving one side open, I stuffed it with a thin layer of batting then finished sewing and sewed lines across to make the front of the shell.

On the back, I decided to cut out hexagons in different colors of brown and stack them to give the shell depth. I then sewed all the layers of the hexagons together.

Then I sewed the hexagons to the turtle shell template. I made a border and sewed that on, then I sewed it down on the shirt.

With some left over fabric I made a little yellow flower headband for her hair.

I think it turned out too cute.

Nail Polish of the Week: Royal Purple

Yeah, yeah, it isn't Monday, but Thursday when I am posting this week's nail color. But I didn't have any nail color on until Tuesday night! Yes, I went the first two days of school with naked nails!

Anyways, this week I really wanted a purple for some reason... maybe I am having a bought of school spirit. I decided to go dark purple instead of my usual Done Out in Deco. My favorite dark is OPI's Eiffel for this Color, but mine is like completely and utterly destroyed/ empty. So I had to search my nail polish for the perfect purple.

I came up with E.L.F.'s Royal Purple. I got this last Christmas, but hadn't used it because my sister told me the Elf colors chipped and came off really easily, but I was desperate.

So far its worked out pretty well, I have been wearing it for a whole day now, and no serious chipping to report. But we shall see. One thing I have to say, I liked the brush this nail polish came with, it was nice and thick which made for a quick and easy application.

Speaking of Elf, I had bought a bunch of makeup from them recently, a nice little haul... perhaps I'll do a post/review of a few of the things I got.

School is Back

When I first started this blog, I intended it to chronicle my journey through design school. However, I started in the summer and then started to get lazy when school kicked in, so it never got to that point. Now, with the new semester starting I have a fresh chance to try again.

With the first three days of school down, I have been to all my classes and I feel like its going to be a good semester. I am deep in the middle of my design classes, with 3 of my 5 classes being completely devoted to my major. My other two classes are closely related to my major, Fine Arts and Marketing.

What other classes am I taking?

Huec 3032- Product Development, Huec 3037 Intermediate Apparel Product Design and Huec 3045 Visual merchandising and Promotion strategies.
(Huec is for Human Ecology, my major is in the school of Human Ecology.)

So in these classes I have projects, in 3032 we are going to have to develop a clothing line and "sell" it to the class.  For 3037, its basically my introductory pattern-making class, and we will finish the class off by making bustiers. 3045 seems really fun, one project we get to set up displays for a charity vintage clothing sale and for the final project we get to set up a window display.

So now I am a Junior, halfway through college. At the start of my college career, I felt so alone on a huge campus. But now its so odd now, I actually know people other than my friends from high school. The campus doesn't seem so big anymore. This semester will be intense, and will challenge me and my lack of time management skills... but I can't wait.

Interested in the books we are using?*
I thought so...

• Patternmaking for Fashion Design (5th Edition) Helen Joseph Armstrong
• Beyond Design: The Synergy of Apparel Product Development (2nd Edition)Sandra J. Keiser, Myrna B. h. Garner 
• 
  

  Visual Merchandising & Display (5th Edition) 

  Martin M. Pegler

*I find it interesting what books are being used in design classes, before I got to college, I would go on amazon and just look at all of the design books... 

How am I transporting these books? A few months ago, I got myself a new Vera Bradley Messanger! 

I had been using one in Yellow Bird since freshman year, but it was time for a change! I got Make Me Blush! I love it the inside is adorable!

Because I So Needed Another Pair...

I went shopping today, and I didn't spend too much either.  I went to T.J. Maxx with Anna and while I don't usually shop there I did find some cute things. They had a few Coach purses and I found a nice Michael Kors and Lucky Brand Purse. However I couldn't bring myself to buy any of them. They did have a good selection of sunglasses though, so I got myself Some Betsey Johnson Sunglasses for $15. 

 I just couldn't pass these up. 1. They have that cat eye to them that I have been wanting so badly. 2. They were big, my must have. 3. They are adorable! Check out the side detail, light pink stripes and a black bow.

And after going into the Betsey Store when I was in New York I have been wanting something Betsey. 

I also got this new MAC eyeshadow Amber lights, its a gorgeous golden bronze color. 

Amber lights eye shadow, Sephora Doe eyed eyeliner, The Falsies Mascara

Getting things DONE!

So yesterday was a really good day. As opposed to last week, where it just sucked all around I accomplished things today and it just makes you feel good.

It started out by waking up early to go work out, while I only did thirty minutes on the elliptical, it was still something. Then I went and finally got an oil change, my car was begging for one. Afterwards, Mary met me at my house and we had a little photo shoot...

Afterwards, I got my etsy site running! So now you too can have a Fab Flower. Not all are up yet, but they are coming. I also need to get out to Hobby Lobby so I can get some pins so they can also be used as brooches.

Then Amanda came over and we preceded to make over 140 cupcakes... just because. It was really nice, because she is going back to school in a few days.

So it was a good day, spent with great friends.

Nail Polish of the Week: Envy

This week, my nails are green with Envy! The color of the week is Ulta's Envy. I got this color for my birthday, but hadn't used it because I felt it was more of a fall/winter color. However I couldn't keep myself from it anymore. I decided the shimmery green reminded me of the outside of a watermelon so I painted my toes OPI's La Paz-itively Hot, a shimmery hot pink, and my fingers green... my own take on a watermelon... Voila, enjoy!

At the Make Up Counter: Brushes

This week has seemed to drag on, and not in a good way either. Work has been busy and it has just been so stressful. I've had 3 or 4 posts on draft for the past week and I just can't seem to find enough time to get them done.
Finally I have a few minutes to myself to get something complete...

I want to preface this post by saying I am a complete amateur at makeup. I love playing with it, experimenting and what not. But I have no proper knowledge and I am not a make up artist. Having said that...

 I was asked recently where you can find good affordable makeup brushes. So I decided it was a good time for a post on makeup brushes...

Of course we have all heard of MAC brushes being really good, I however haven't used those yet but I am pretty sure they would be awesome. Check out Allthatglitters21's MAC brushes video, she really does a good job of explaining all the brushes she owns...

I have a Bobbi Brown Foundation brush which I love. However Bobbi Brown brushes can be very costly, my foundation brush alone was $35 dollars. On a college student's budget that doesn't get very far... that is why that brush was a gift from my aunt.

Bobbi Brown Foundation Brush

My main brushes have come from Coastal Scents. I love this company, which I have said before. The brushes can be bought individually or in sets and they're priced just right. The low prices of the brushes allows you to buy many and experiment finding which ones work for you!

Coastal Scents 13 piece set

I have the 13 piece brush set, $16.95, its really good for anyone just starting out in the makeup world. It gives you a good base of brushes to have.
The 13 brushes in the set contain a blend of sable and goat hair, except for two synthetic brushes. I found that even though these brushes have a low price, they are a good quality. I have been using them for over a year now and none of them have shed and all remain in good condition.
The brushes come with a carrying case, which I dont really use. The case isn't anything amazing, though other sets come with cuter cases. The only times I have used the case was to protect my brushes while traveling.

Aside from this set, other brushes I use often include:

• Crease brush, not really sure where this one is from, Avon or Mary Kay someone gave me a brush set for my birthday forever ago. But I still love this one. 
• While I don't own any, I have used Sephora brushes before and liked them. 

Cleaning brushes:
Cleaning your brushes is very important! They are going on your face and in your makeup and along the way they will pick up bacteria which can cause infections!
I use Sephora Anti-bacterial brush cleaner at least once a week. Anytime I use my brushes on someone else I clean them before and after use. Also when using liquid/ gel eyeliner, liquid foundation or a cream eyeshadow, the brush should be clean after each used.
At least once a month, I thoroughly wash my brushes using Johnson's No More Tears baby shampoo.

Just remember to have fun with your makeup, play around with the brushes... nothing is set in stone.  

Nail Polish of the Week: Red Nouveau

It is that time again for the nail polish pick of the week! I should really pick a day to just do this every week, I'll try to commit to doing this post every Sunday (a little something to look forward to).
This week's color is Essie's Red Nouveau, it was one of my Colors of Summer picks, and now you get to see it in action. Red Nouveau is a gorgeous red with a hint of orange.

Pixie

So I am sure by now you have most probably already seen Emma Watson's new do! She recently posted on twitter: @ EWmatsonYes, I cut my hair off a few days ago! I love it- feels incredible. Hope you like it! Photo onwww.facebook.com/emmawatsonx

Emma Watson

If you know me, you know that I am obsessed/ in love with pixie cuts... I sooo want to have one of my own, but don't really think it would work with my crazy frizzy curly hair, or the shape of my face. Another famous pixie cut I love is Carey Mulligan's.

Carey Mulligan

But, I don't know. My current idea is to let my hair grow, it hasn't been long since high school, so I'll let it grow for a while. When I went to get it cut in May I told my stylist that she couldn't let me cut my hair short for a while... We shall see how long I last.

Oh and last week I missed the premiere of Project Runway Season 8 when I was in Disney. The second episode just started so, I'll have to watch then of course I will share my opinion on it. 

Celebrate Today!

So we went to Disney last weekend... it was nice and HOT. When I say hot, I mean hell on earth hot, I heard something like in the 100s.
But I soldiered on and fashion went a little out the window, but not completely.

Justin, Me and Grace at the Boardwalk
I am wearing a J.Crew top, Hydraulic Jeans, Blowfish shoes, Vera Bradely Hipster in Totally Turq

 The first day we met up with some family from Miami at the boardwalk, the heat that day was tolerable as we were there mainly around sunset.

The next day we went to the pool and downtown Disney. I finally got to wear my new Modcloth swimsuit (no pictures with it yet).

When we got to Magic Kingdom we were able to get most of what we wanted to do over with early, so we left then came back to the park in time for the fireworks.

On the people mover at sunset

The last day, when we went to Epcot, we stayed the whole time in scorching heat... I thought I was going to pass out.

After a long day at Epcot

But the thing I did that I NEVER do, I wore sneakers on both days in the parks. I never wear sneakers unless expressly working out or doing some sort of thing that calls for them. I haven't wore them in other circumstances since high school. But i did it in the name of comfort.
Also while in Disney, I kept my tinted moisturizer with me and kept reapplying. The one I use has a 15 SPF so it protected me from the Florida sun and I escaped with out sunburns.
Overall it was a fun trip. You'll notice in all the pictures I have my hair up. All days I started with it down but the humidity was unbearable that in no time it made its way into a ponytail.

Nail Polish of the Week: Safari

It feels like forever! I just got back from Disney and am ready to get back to the usual routine.  Anyways in anticipation for the Disney vacation I had decided to do some fun nails...

Zebra Nails!

Zebra Print! I love zebra, so i free handed this. I started out with a clean slate and painted my nails white using Snow Me White from Sinful colors. Then using the Black from  Kiss Nail Artist Stencil kit I painted on my stripes! I think this hand came out pretty well... the other not so much. 

But anyway, the Kiss Nail artist stencil kit came with three polishes: black, white and sliver sparkle. I got mine at Walgreens for about $7. They feature long thin brushes so you can create details. I am looking forward to playing around with them and creating more nail designs. 

Please excuse the fuzziness of the picture, it was taken in a moving car on an iphone and it was the only picture I had of the nails. 

Oh and my Kiss Everlasting French Nails? They lasted for about four days until i got annoyed by them and decided to pop them off... but other than that they were pretty good.