June 2013 Favorites

This month has been a long and tiring one, and oh am I happy June is finally over. I can't wait to relax and do nothing for two months straight before getting back to the meat grinder a.k.a. school.

Anyways, I won't ramble on and on about nothing because this post is going to be a long one. Enjoy ;)

Nike Dry-Fit 3" shorts Since I've had a bit more time on my hands due to the lack of homework and the end of the school year this month, I've had a bit more time to workout. And since I've been really good with following Bree Bond's (my personal trainer's) workout plan I rewarded myself with a pair of these Nike shorts. Ever since, I've been majorly obsessed with these babies - I wear them every time they come out of the wash!

Victoria's Secret PINK 32 oz water bottle This is quite a recent favorite (I only started using it this week) but I know for sure that I'll be using this water bottle every day for the rest of the summer. I got mine on sale this past winter and let me tell you, if you're a health freak like me and you like to drink a lot of water you will love this! It makes drinking 2 liters of water a day so easy, all I need to do is drink at least two of these a day and I'm good to go!

J.Crew Chino shorts Since the weather has been unbearably hot and I've had more places where I can actually wear normal clothes (not school uniform) this month I've been wearing J.Crew chinos every single time I go out. I currently own 5 pairs and I love them all! They are so comfortable and super cute! Just make sure to get a size down when buying them, they tend to run a bit big.

La Roche-Posay BB Cream As I mentioned before, it's been getting super hot here recently, so instead of using foundation I decided to go out and get a BB cream. I got this one at my drugstore just because it caught my eye and I've been loving it! Every time I wear this BB cream I get multiple compliments on how my skin looks. 

Redken "Outshine 01" anti-frizz milk I recently found this on the bathroom counter, just laying around, so I decided to use it and boy, am I happy I found this. My hair has always been kind of frizzy, and I've tried multiple products to manage my mane, but this one works wonders! I just apply a pump onto the palm of my hand and then spread it all over my hair - it leaves my with silky, shiny, and non-frizzy locks instead of puffy and crazy hair.

Song favorites of the month: 

• "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West
• "Mirrors" by Justin Timberlake
• "Monster" by Kanye West (feat. Jay Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver)
•  "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse

What were some of your favorite things this month? Let me know in the comments below along with any other post suggestions!

xoxo,

Liz

My Summer Makeup Routine/Favorite Summer Makeup Products

I recently got a request to make a post, naming some of my favorite summer/waterproof makeup products, so I decided to just show y'all what I do for everyday makeup in the summer months. If I'm going out somewhere fancier than usual (or somewhere where I need to look nicer) I'll put on more makeup or put more effort into it, but this is what I'll do if I'm just running errands or having a relaxing day out.

Anyways, I can tell this post will be pretty long, so I'll just get right on it :)

1. Conceal imperfections/dark circles and powder face. If I'm going out somewhere I better be doing something to conceal my redness or people are going to think I'm blushing 24/7. Whenever I wear makeup in the summer (which isn't every single day) I use my favorite concealer, the YSL Touché Eclait to cover up dark circles, conceal redness around my nose, and cover up the veins on my eyes. My skin gets pretty oily in the summer so I always make sure to finish off any face makeup with some powder. My favorite one at the moment is the Chanel Healthy Glow Sheer powder, it offers a tiny bit of coverage but keeps my skin matte for the whole day.

2. Fill in brows with powder and set with brow gel. I've talked about this before, but I cannot leave the house without doing something to my eyebrows. Eyebrows are a pretty big part of your face, and I find that simply combing them and filling them in (even if you're not wearing any other makeup) makes you look more awake and put-together. When I have more time on my hands I like to use the Benefit Browzings kit (the powder from the kit, to be exact) with an angled brush to fill in my brows. If I'm in a hurry, though, I use the MAC brow pencil. It's just faster and easier to apply than the brow powder. After I'm done filling my brows in, I always make sure to set them (especially during hotter months) with my Anastasia clear brow gel. It keeps my brows in place and groomed as long as I want them to.

3. Apply cream eyeshadow and mascara. I don't like to use too many eye products in the summer months, so I usually just opt for some cream eyeshadow that's super easy to just swipe on with your ring finger. One of my favorite cream eyeshadows is the Chanel Emerveille cream eyeshadow - it gives a slight hint of color with a little bit of sparkle. And of course, you can't leave the house without some mascara, right? I love any Chanel waterproof mascaras but some drugstore mascaras work just as well!

4. Apply lip stain and chapstick. If you like something not too sticky, yet glossy, and stays on all day then you will love the YSL lip stains. I've been using them since last summer and I still love them! They come in tons of different shades, so you're bound to find one that you like.

5. Use dry shampoo. I don't usually use dry shampoo that often, but for some reason this summer my hair has been super oily. So, now it has become an essential for me to use my Tresseme dry shampoo every other day (on days when I don't wash my hair) in order to keep my hair...well, clean. All you need to do is just spray some into the roots of your hair and shake your hair out a bit. Quick, easy, and super convenient!

What are some of your favorite summer makeup products? Let me know in the comments below!

xoxo,

Liz

4th of July Outfit Ideas

I love the 4th of July. It's the all-American holiday - barbecues, pool parties and fireworks; what more could you ask for? 

This is my second year in a row of not spending the 4th of July in America, I will be in Spain during that time this summer. And though I couldn't be happier to be going to Spain again I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness because of missing this glorious holiday. 

And even though I will not wear anything patriotic on the 4th of July (wearing red, white, and blue might look a little strange on the streets of Madrid) I still decided to put together an outfit or two of what I would have worn. Oh well, a girl can dream, right?

The outfit below is perfect for the beach or the pool (let's hope those are the only places you would wear a bikini), so if you're spending Independence Day basking in the July sun - this one is for you!

:: hat :: flip flops :: bottoms :: top ::

And just in case you won't spend the whole day having fun in the sun, I put together another outfit that is bound to make an impression at any party. You can either wear it with a cute cardigan and comfy sandals or dress it up with some brown wedges and maybe ditch the sweater! It's perfect for going from a party to dinner - so easy to dress up or down and extremely cute and patriotic!

:: wedges :: sandals :: cardigan :: dress ::

What are you going to wear on the 4th of July? Let me know in the comments below!

xoxo,
Liz

Bikini So Teeny

Now, for some people this is good news and for some this is bad, but bikini season is officially here! Whether you are going to the beach or not this summer, I'm pretty sure you'll be wearing a bikini sooner or later. There are some cute one-pieces out there, but this post is about my favorite bikinis for this summer. 

I have been doing some shopping lately (what else is new), and I ended up with a couple of adorable bikinis! I love to match tops and bottoms up and I very rarely wear a top and a bottom from the same set. Most of my swimsuits are from Victoria's Secret, but I recently got some bikini bottoms from J.Crew and I love them! 

Anyways, I decided to share some of my favorite bikinis (or ones that are on my wish list) with you. And just in case you wanted my opinion - I think anyone can wear a bikini, no matter what shape or size you are :) It's all about what you feel most comfortable and confident in!

:: Fringe Top :: Flouncy Crop Top :: Royal Blue Top & Bottom :: Retro Bottoms :: Lime Bottoms ::

As always, let me know if you want me to post about anything else! And don't forget to let me know which bikinis are your favorite ;)

xoxo,
Liz

Roadtrippin'

I don't know about you, but I love road trips. Seriously, sitting in the car for hours and hours, listening to fun music and talking as much as a want are some of my favorite things in life. And while car rides with my mom are usually stressful for me, I love car rides with my dad.

I talked about this in my previous blog post, and needless to say, I'll be spending a ton of time on the road. Don't get me wrong, as I said, I love driving and I cannot wait to get my driver's license! But, just in case you haven't read my last blog post, I'll be going on two roadtrips this summer - from Texas to California in 10 days, and from Texas to "the beach somewhere" in 5 days (we have no idea what beach we're going to end up going to).

Anyways, as I was trying to plan a route and looking for stops on the way to California I realized that I could probably find a very helpful route-planning website...if I just googled "road trip maker". That is what I did, and after looking through some road-trip-planning websites, I decided on favorite one - Roadtrippers.

This is how the homepage of the website looks - everything is step-by-step and super easy to figure out. Oh, and in case you were wondering, you can plan roadtrips outside of the U.S. by using this site - the map is worldwide!

After messing around with the website, I figured out that before you begin to plan your road trip you have to start with the basics - enter your starting point and your destination. After you see the general route that you will take, you can go more into detail to decide on where you can eat, shop, rest, or go sightseeing.

If you click on the "find place" button that is below the "plan trip" button, you will get a bar like the one in the picture above - it categorizes places that you would usually go to while on a road trip, making it easier for you to plan your road-trip step-by-step.

By clicking on one of the options from the bar that came out (I clicked on "Food + Drink"), more options will pop out. From those options you can check off ones that you are interested in. For example, I checked off "Vegetarian and Healthy" from the "Food + Drink" category, and the image below shows what popped up.

As you can see, all of the "Vegetarian & Healthy" places to eat in the U.S. came up - some of them are on my road trip route, some are not. This makes planning so much easier!

Me being the type A organization freak that I am, I spent some time on this website and just started to plan our in-depth road-trip. I have a lot of stuff going on this week, so I couldn't spend as much time as I would like to on this website... But, I mean, I will be completely free this weekend, so I can spend as much time planning as I want.

I am not sponsored by Roadtrippers in any way, shape, or form - everything I say here is my own honest opinion :)

Are you going on any road-trips this summer? If yes, let me know in the comments below!

Also, feel free to leave any requests for further posts below :)

xoxo,
Liz

Summer Plans

I am beyond excited for summer - I can't wait to get away from all of the drama and stress that is going on in school! And, boy, am I ready for High School.

I won't go too deep into my summer plans simply for personal safety reasons, but I'll go over them briefly. I honestly have no idea how often I'll be posting this summer, because it's going to be preeeetty busy.

School has yet to end for me - graduation is this Friday, and a week later I will be leaving to Spain with my mom and my two sisters. Two and a half weeks into our trip I will fly back to Moscow, meet my dad, and the both of us will fly off to the U.S. There we will be going to a One Direction concert with one of my friends (yes, our dads are going with us) and the next day my dad and I are (gasp!) heading off to visit my best friend in Los Angeles, California. The trip there is supposed to take about 3 days, so we'll spend 1-2 days in LA, and then head back (another 3 days) to the small town in Texas that we live in. Next, my dad and I will drive to Houston, pick up my little sister from her flight, and head down to the beach with our uncle. The rest of my summer is pretty undecided and blurry, but I'm pretty sure I'll be flying in to Moscow sometime mid-August. I'm pretty sure school starts somewhere around the 22nd of August for me, so I need to be in Russia about a week or so before that in order to fight off jet-lag and unpack.

I'll try to schedule as many posts as I can during my "free" week (which is next week), but I can't really promise anything :)

What are your plans for the summer? Will you be spending time with family and friends, or will you be spending quality time with your laptop? ;)

We all know what the answer to that question is.

xoxo,
Liz

Simple Semi-Formal Summer Makeup

I'm kind of maybe possibly super anxious to post this, but who cares.

I got a request and I dared myself to do this, so here you go: my very first YouTube video. It's actually a "tutorial" on the look that I'll be wearing for my 8th grade graduation :)

Apart from the extremely awkward thumbnail, I think the video turned out fine (for a first YouTube video, at least)...so I hope you all enjoy! Can't really add much more :)

xoxo,
Liz