OOTD #1

Spring has tentatively sprung in Texas and oh gosh oh golly am I excited. Last week, on an exceptionally lovely day, I spent several hours at Little Elm Park basking in the sun - reading for a while before wandering down to the lake to take some pictures. 

Little Elm is a little off of my usual path, so I was pleasantly surprised when I had the park to myself basically the entire time I was there (otherwise I probably wouldn't have taken so many pictures). It was  the first time this year that it's been warm enough to not wear tights or a jacket, so I was excited to pull out a pretty simple, and comfy outfit: high-waisted skirt from Forever 21, with ankle boots that I 'borrowed' from my mom 6 months ago and a scoop neck teeshirt from target.

This outfit, with some minor variations, is basically the only thing I'll be wearing for the next few months. Luckily, that means not a tremendous change in what I wear in winter: I simply put away the cardigans and tights until colder weather comes again. For those of you blessed with actual seasons, you don't know what Texas spring is: roughly 2 weeks of 'nice' weather before it gets overbearingly (and unhealthily) hot and then stays that way until October.
I've only just recently accepted how amazing skirts and dresses are, so this spring will be a comfy one. I hope comfort-style is here to stay.

Banded skirts are my friend, y'all. They accentuate the narrowest part of my body and are flowy and do not require special undies to look nice. I love them. I own 7. I've had this one for years and years - bought it before I really even wore skirts but now I wear it almost once a week. Who says Forever 21 can't make stuff that lasts? Most everyone. Because 99% of the time you're paying cheap-o prices for the lack of quality, but this skirt is in that 1%. Same goes for my teeshirt. I'm not sure when I bought it, but I know I've had it for years and it is perfectly worn in and oh so comfortable.

I try to wear pretty sensible shoes in general, but I make sure to wear comfy walking shoes when I know I'm going explore. There's a lot of the park that I haven't seen, especially with the lake as low as it is, and it just so happens that one of my favorite pairs of shoes are great for tramping around in. 

Last time I went there it had rained & this was the result 

 The weather last week was so lovely and I look forward to many many warm and windy days like it in the coming months.
I've decided to make an effort to explore more of the areas near my house, and I hope I'll find some nice places to hang out once Spring actually springs and everything is decidedly less brown and more flowery.
Also more allergy-y, but I like to pretend my allergies don't exist until I have to deal with them.

So, here's to warm days, and to banded skirts, and ankle boots, and a new season: Spring.

xoxo Kate

When I first started to wear makeup on the regs (read: daily) it took me 30+ minutes to do - much to the consternation of my roommate at the time. But that was then (a year ago) and this is now. I've got my '5 minute face' down pat and I'm actually kind of proud of it. Oh the strides I've made in a year.

It's a mix of both high-end and drugstore products - but really it's what I've found that works best for my skin type and for my coloring.
Starting from the top left: NYX Brow Powder in Taupe/Ash, MAC Eyeshadow in Club, Pürminerals Correcting Primer, No 7 Dual Action Tinted Moisturizer in Fair, Revlon Eyeshadow in Oyster, No 7 Blush in Soft Damson, Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara, and Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Strawberry Kissed

I've just recently started using the Pürminerals Correcting Primer and I am in love with it. It keeps my makeup in place all day, feels amazing and creamy on my skin (without getting really heavy) and somehow does a decent job of covering up my acne scarring all on it's own. Which is the most amazing thing in the world, to be honest. I use about a pump and a half of it to cover my entire face, eyelids included. 

For the longest time I had myself convinced that, because I had oily skin I would never need moisturizer. Wrong, wrong and also wrong. Finding a good moisturizer and cleanser has made an insane difference in my skin. Turns out, my body was overproducing oil because it thought I needed it, but with moisturizer that has stopped! Far gone are the days of super oily skin - now my skin is 'normal'. Not something I'd ever thought I'd be able to say. I have the clearest skin I've had in years and I'm pretty sure it's 90% thanks to good moisturizer. The No 7 Tinted Moisturizer is fantastic for days when I don't want a lot of coverage, but still has enough tint to even out my skin tone. Plus, it has SPF 15, which is always necessary in Texas.

 I'm hardly ever fancy when it comes to eye makeup, and my go to eye makeup routine involves 4 things: a base for all over my lid (Revlon metallic shadow in Oyster), a color for the outer 2/3 of my eye (MAC's shadow in Club), a brow filler (NYX Brow Powder in Taupe/Ash), and a mascara (Benefit's Bad Gal Lash). And if I'm feeling a bit fancy/don't want to put mascara on my bottom lashes I tight line my eyes with whatever color that's on the outer 2/3 of my eye.

 I am very very sad that the Target near me has decided to stop carrying No 7 products, because they are gorgeous (luckily, there are lots of Targets within driving distance and Ulta sells No 7 products as well). Their blushes are really lovely, non-sparkly muted colors, are nicely buildable, great for everyday-wear, and are pretty good dupes for much more expensive blushes. Their blush in Soft Damson ($7.99) is a great dupe for Benefit's Dandelion ($28.00).

You don't hear a lot about Sephora brand makeup, so I was a little wary of trying them out. But, their Cream Lip Stains: oh my god, they are beautiful - super pigmented, creamy, and hella easy to apply. I got my first one because one of the girls at Sephora was raving about it's staying power and, like any other victim of false advertising about the 'staying power' of certain 'lip stains', I bought it not thinking it would actually do what it said. I say again: oh my god, these lip stains are amazing. I wore it on New Year's Eve and didn't have to reapply once. And that's with eating dinner and ... drinking quite a few drinks. It looked exactly the same at the end of the night. The only downside to these is that I don't like very many of the colors they have, so I only own 3, but I love them. 

Aaand a quick OOTD because I am sick and tired of winter weather so I'm dressing for Texas spring, dammit. And there you have it! My quick and easy 5 minute face. I hope this was either helpful in some way, or at least a little bit entertaining. 

xoxo Kate