Safer Skincare

So a looooong time ago I wrote about how I was starting a safer skincare/ makeup routine. That did indeed happen. But as it turns out, all skincare is not created equal and I ended up trying a ton of different brands. I started out with the brand that seems to be the most prevalent, BeautyCounter. And I have to say, ehhh. I didn't love it. I didn't notice a difference in my skin at all and honestly my Olay moisturizer  performed better. It was a lot of hype, but not a lot of results. I do appreciate what they are doing with the ingredients, but it wasn't a match for my skin. But it was expensive, so I finished using it. But I won't be buying it again.

On a more positive note, I love this product. My skin looks and feels ahmahzing after using it. I will buy this again and again.  You can read more about Tata Harper and her approach to natural skincare here.

Tata Harper Mask

I also tried a few products from the french brand Caudalie. The one that stood out to me the most is

this eye cream. It works wonders on dark circles and puffiness. There is a reason it's nickname is "the Cadillac of eye creams". It's pricey, but it's a good size bottle. Read more about Caudalie and their ingredients here.

Premier Cru Eye cream

As far as moisturizers go, this is where I had the most trouble. My skin is dry y'all. In the winter it's flaky and and my complexion is awful. I tried lots of different brands and for a while was just using this face oil because I had given up. But it wasn't cutting it when the weather was cold and dry. I still love that oil, but now I use it with this fantastic moisturizer....

Intense hydrating mask
It's on sale right now!! Go buy it!!

It's the beeessstttt. I use it at night and put thick layer on and sleep with it. My skin is dewy and smooth in the morning and stays like that ALL DAY! Before makeup I'll use a bit of the Tarte face oil. If you haven't been using face oil before your makeup, I suggest you start that now. Your makeup will glide on so nice and even. I also recommend this oil. 

I also picked up a few other CR products after I bought the moisturizer...

Clarifying mask

This mask is great and makes my skin soft and smooth while cleaning out pores. 

Enzyme polish

This you can use as a mask and then a scrub. Smells lovely and really exfoliates your dry skin. 

After I have this baby I am going to try out this retinol treatment. Gotta get after the fine lines. And as much as I wish I could do that with an all-natural product, you need retinol for that. I've heard great things about it and hopefully my sensitive skin likes this better than past retinol treatments I've tried. 

Retinol Treatment

While Colleen Rothschild products aren't completely natural, they are formulated without parabens, sulfates, formaldehyde, PABA, and a few other no-no's. You can read more about it here. 

So there you have it. It's been a lot of trial and error to get to this point. But I was commited to finding products that were better for my body but also improved my skin. It was a lot harder than it seemed. 

Hi! You there? And big news!

Well hello there. That is, if there is anyone still reading this blog. Sorry for the neglect. The past year was, how you say, emotionally rough. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say, the blog suffered. I would have expected it to be an outlet of sorts, but it didn't really pan out that way. It really just wasn't something I thought about.

But I'm hoping in 2017 to sort things out. Life is on an upswing. Starting with big news that we are, in fact, expecting a baby boy in April! He will join our now 6 year old (!!!!) little girl and I feel that our family will be complete. The exciting news of a new baby brings about the exciting news of decorating a nursery. I haven't done one in so long and I am totally thrilled that it's for a little boy this time.

I had a million ideas swirling at first, but I've narrowed it all down to the design board below. I think it's just the right amount of baby without being too "baby". As with most people decorating a nursery, I want it to grow easily with him in the future.

Most of the fabric has been ordered and the Pottery Barn crib arrived right before Christmas. I am still on the hunt for the perfect dresser/changing table. This one was just a random google image search but it's what I am looking for. And while that painting by Renee Bouchon is everything, and it's basically what I designed the whole room around, it won't be in the room. I'll probably end up doing something similar myself.

So there you have it! I am hoping 2017 is the year I bring this ol blog back to life. Although with a new baby, things will probably get tricky. So much for timing.

Random Bits

Hi, hi, hello, yes I'm back for a quick post. I love doing these.

I love a big statement earring in the summer. Especially with a nice tan and pulled back hair. Preferably at the beach. Baublebar is killing it with the earrings right now. I have these, and these, and these. All of them are great. 

I bought a fiddle leaf fig tree. This was in happier days. I think I'm killing it.

I'm obsessed with this product. Like oobbssseessed. I have 2 cans
right now because I can't bear the fact that I might run out. It will change your life. I promise.
Get it here

I've gotten into podcasts. I'm sure that ages me greatly because podcasts have literally been around for years. I listen in my car and usually in bed right before I go to sleep. They are free and there is an endless array of choices. My favorites at the moment are



Hilarious. If you watch any of the Real Housewives, you will love this. It stars Casey Wilson from one of my fave shows Happy Endings (R.I.P- but you can watch it on Hulu!) and I just love her. They curse, so maybe don't play in front of the kids. But it's a must-listen. I've woken up my husband at night from laughing so hard.



Also hilarious. Also cursing, so for adult ears only.








I finally got around to framing and hanging some badass art from badass artists.

Yellow Face from Sally King Benedict (queeeeen!)
Abstracts from Jenny Andrews Anderson (also queeeen!)






This show. It's one of the few my husband and I watch together. It's only a miniseries and I will be deeply saddened when it is over. Because Tom Hiddleston.


Ok that's it! bye!

Master Suite Reveal

Yesterday I finally got my shizz together long enough to take a few pics of our master bedroom and bath. It's come a long way since we moved in (luckily there are no pictures of that) but I still have a little left to do. Curtains are at the top of the list. And right behind that is reupholstering a sofa that's now living in our attic.

You might remember from this post where I fell hard for Biscuit's Bloomsbury pattern. Well here she is in all her glory. I loooooove it. I started with just the duvet and then decided that I definitely needed the shames as well. It was a good call.

I had grand intentions of upholstering the bed but that never happened and honestly I'm kind of glad I didn't go through with it. I like the play of the color of the bed against the color of the walls. By the way, the walls. They are amazing. It's a Schumacher linen wallpaper and the photos don't really do it justice. You just want to touch it when you see it. I've also decided I just prefer carpet in a bedroom. We had hardwood in our last house and I never loved it. It was beautiful, but it was harsh. I want my bedrooms to be cozy and soft.

Those lamps. Major heart eyes.  

This is the view into our master bath. You can see the ceiling detail in this photo. It's not a true coffered ceiling, but since we had to drop the sides down a bit to allow for air ducts, I figured it was a good moment to do something special.

Classic master bath with polished nickel and marble. For a hot second I had planned to paint the cabinets a soft mint green. Part of me wishes I had done it, and part of me is happy I didn't. This is how my brain is all the time.

I only included this terrible shot so you can see the lovely Susie Bettenhausen painting I have hanging in here. Also on the agenda is to get a runner to go in between the sinks and the bathtub.

My vanity. I love having a separate area to put on makeup. It makes me feel extra girly. I used to have all my stuff hidden away in drawers, but using these acrylic boxes have changed the game. I like having everything where I can see it. No more digging through drawers. Also, I have a product post planned soon to tell you all about some great (and not so great) skincare and makeup items. 

So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed this little tour. 

Here are a few sources for the items I used:


Wallpaper - Schumacher
Duvet and shams - Bloomsbury in green from Biscuit
Coverlet - Restoration Hardware
Bench - Homegoods
Lamps - Regina Andrew (can't find mine online, here is something similar)
Bathroom paint color (cabs, trim, wall) Benjamin Moore White Dove
Bathroom cabinet hardware - Martha Stewart
Faucets - Signature Hardware
Framed photos - Framebridge
Painting - Susie Bettenhausen
Acrylic boxes - Beauty Box

Spring Forward

Spring! It's so close I can taste it. Luckily we didn't have too brutal of a winter, but I have been dealing with a nasty cough that I feel I've had since Christmas and it just won't go away. Over it. Also to add fuel to the fire, this is my favorite time to buy unnecessary, but very pretty things. I love sandals and maxi dresses and caftans. Come September I will be more than ready for cool weather, but Spring is my jam.

Here are a few things I couldn't resist, and another few things I have my eye on. Happy Spring shopping!

I tried this on in the store and it's so cute! And the price is ridiculous.

Old Navy dress
 

In case you haven't heard, pink is the color this season. This little bag is so fun!

Rebecca Minkoff Fringe Bag

Can we discuss this dress? I am ob-sessed. I love all the colors but I got this blue gingham which I think will be so great for summer. Honestly I think it will be too short on me as a dress, so I will probably have it shortened a bit to make it a tunic length to wear with shorts. 

MLM Off the shoulder dress

I saw this top in J Crew the other day and was thisclose to pulling the trigger. I feel like I have a million tops like this but they are just so nice to throw on when its warm. 

J Crew linen tunic

I love love love this Banana Republic dress. I keep going back and forth and back and forth. 

BR Goddess dress

Switching gears to the home front, I got my hands on some of this Miles Redd for Schumacher fabric  and I am thinking its time for some pillows. Maybe piped in emerald green??

Deconstructed Stripe fabric 

Killing It: Ballard Designs

Happy Prez Day! I got the new Ballard Designs catalog in the mail over the weekend and let me tell you..they are killing it lately. SO much good stuff. A little snapshot of my fave items...

Rug (Ordered it for our living room. Backordered until June?!) / Coffee Table / Pagoda Shelf / Umbrella Stand / Bedding / Candle Sconce / Bedskirt / Pillow 

Faves: Fabrics

Continuing on with my faves series, I'll touch on my favorite subject...fabrics. I am a complete fabric junkie. I am constantly buying yardage of fabric that I may or may not have a use for but that I feel the need to hoard in my collection. I usually only get a yard or two. Just enough to make a few pillows or recover a stool. I change out pillows in my house like other people change socks.

So here we go. A few of my favorite tried and true fabrics. Some of these I've used a bunch of times, some of these only once but they made such an impression that I feel they warrant a spot on my all time favorites list.

1. Celerie Kemble Betwixt 

This fabric has gone the distance for me. I've used it in Stone, Black, Biscuit, and Zinc. It always works.

Betwixt in Stone/White

2. Braemore Jamil Natural 

My absolute favorite animal print fabric. Just a little dab'll do ya. I've used it errrrrwhere.

Jamil neutral

3. Ralph Lauren Nanking in Blue

Classic. Like a crisp white shirt. 

RL Nanking

 

5. Brunschwig and Fils Les Touches

A great fabric to throw in the mix. Works wonderfully as a neutral. I love all the colorways, but I'm partial to the brown and ivory. 

6. Schumacher Pyne Hollyhock

A decorating institution. Shown below in charcoal, but a winner in every color.

Pyne Hollyhock 

I spy another of my faves in this photo. 

6. Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon

A showstopper. For those who are fearless and fabulous.

Chiang Mai Dragon in aqua

So there you have it! I could have made this list much longer, but maybe we do a part 2, huh?