Etsy Find of the Day: Green jewelry storage bowl

I have never seen one of these before and it is so clever!

$38 Jewelry bowl

The lip of the bowl has holes for your earrings, and then you can put rings and bracelets and necklaces in the bowl itself.
Smart!

The color is a little questionable and I am not a huge fan of the flowers, but if you sprayed this matte white? And then maybe painted the inside robin's egg blue? Beauty.

Amazing carved emerald ring

Carved emerald, diamond, ruby, onyx ring

Wow, this is a giant emerald. It's 15 carats and it has rubies set in onyx on either end and diamonds mounted in platinum surrounding the whole thing.
It doesn't have a price--it says to contact the seller for one, but I would think it is well into the 5 figures.

Can you imagine the type of person who would wear this ring? And where would she even wear it to?

Tips on finding a blazer that fits

In this great article about how to find a blazer that fits properly, I found this awesome trick which I will be trying from now on:


"While wearing the blazer, stand near a wall and slowly lean into it. If the shoulder pad hits the wall first and scrunches up, it’s too big. If the shoulder pad and your natural shoulder touch the wall at the same time, it’s a good fit. If your natural shoulder rests against the wall but the shoulder pad does not, it’s too small.
Reaching across your body with one arm, to grab the opposite arm (as seen in the photo above), will also give you an idea if the shoulders are too big. If you see the shoulder pad jutting out, it’s too big."

Smart, right?

Etsy Find of the Day: Filigree bracelet

$539 White gold Belais Brothers filigree bracelet

This delicate bracelet from1925 is done in 10K white gold.
The details and fine work are really impressive. It would look so nice with a sleeveless dress.
It even has a few tiny diamonds in it.

Hair Rat: the old fashioned Bump-It

Ever wonder what women did in the days before the Bump-it to get volume and cool shapes in their hair styles?
Well, they used what is called a "hair rat" which is basically a lump of hair from your brush that you save and wrap in a hair net.
Check out this tutorial on how to make one.

Once you have your hair rat all ready, you roll your hair over it and then pin in place. The advantage of making your own is that it will match your hair color exactly (duh) and will blend in.

SO, what's underneath your poufy hair?

Modern hair style with Bump Its

Vintage "Victory roll" hair style (probably with hair rats)

Self-Tanning lotion--Why does it have to smell like that?

Aaargh! Cant a girl get her fake tan on without smelling like a chemical factory?
Short answer: No.
That's not how it goes.

The very chemical that causes your skin to subtly change colors is what makes it smell as well.
The perp is dihodroxyacetone, or DHA, and apparently in pure form it's a white powder that tastes "cooling and sweet."
NB: DO NOT EAT YOUR TANNING LOTION. 
(But if you do, please tell me if it tastes that way)

The stuff you get at the store will have 3-5% DHA, and professional lotions are more like 10-15%. This is a case where the smaller percentage is probably a good thing- it lets you build a glow instead of BAM...I'm BROWN!
It's safe unless you are a hairless dog (I guess those studies didn't go well), but watch out for the other ingredients in these lotions because they might irritate your skin.

And don't think that a fake tan gives you SPF coverage--you still need to wear sunscreen.

That said, here are the self-tanners I have liked the best and seen around the most:


The one I remember smelling best (I actually got compliments on the smell) was a Bath & Bodyworks lotion that is now discontinued.

Bath & Bodyworks Breathe Romance tanning lotion
now discontinued but you can still buy on Amazon or ebay at a huge markup for like $40

$10.95 Nature's Gate Glow body lotion

This is the one I currently have and it's all organic and crap.
The smell is ok, but for sure still there.
I hate it when I don't use it in a while and then a brown hardened lotion lump condenses at the tip of the pump, but pretty much any lotion would do that I think.

$8 Neutrogena Built-a-Tan lotion
People say this one smells less. I haven't used it.

$3 Jergens Natural Glow
Everyone online seems to love this one, I have not tried it.

I've also heard good things about the Coppertone one

$8 Coppertone Sunless Tanning lotion
Coppertone put out the original tanning lotion with DHA in 1960, so they should know what they are doing by now.

Etsy Find of the Day: Jewelry organizer bag

$41 Trifold travel jewelry organizer

The outside has colorful triangles, and the inside folds out with a lot of pockets to keep things visible and separate and not tangled.
Birds!

How to make these new Old Navy clothes look fancier

I guess I should be over it by now, but I am always surprised when I see cute things in Old Navy that I want to wear.

I stopped in today and the new Spring stuff was fun and bright.
Some of it could look much more expensive than it is with a few tweaks:

$32.94 Cause cord-yoke dress
This little cotton sundress with detailed top weaving is great for a day outside.
The only thing that I think makes it look down-market is the elasticized waist. Hide it with a leather eyelet belt or a men's tie wrapped around your waist and then it will look much nicer.

$32.45 Feather print drawstring dress
Same deal with this rayon print dress--cover up that drawstring with a wide colorful belt, and the dress becomes much more interesting.

$12.94 Striped wedge sandals
These look great in person- the strap is a mix of lime and lemon, and the blue and white looks really on-trend with the nautical theme. The rhinestone circle in the middle of the toe is what is bringing these shoes down, but it's only attached by 2 little threads. Cut those, lose the cheap bling, and yacht it up.

$19.94 Lace-front espadrille flats
These are good as-is.
Only get the black and white stripe though--the red stripe is thicker and looks tacky and the solid gray looks shoddy.

$25 Mixed pleated wedgesA great variety of textures in this shoe. The smooth toe, the jute heel cup, and the cork-look platform go together well.
I like these best in green butthey also come in tan, blue, and white.

$24.94 French terry henley hoodie
If you wore this over your bikini on the beach wearing a wide brim straw hat, oversized sunglasses, and delicate gold sandals, everyone would think you were a fancy socialite and not an Old Navy shopper.

$19.94 each Splash print bandeau bikini top and bottom
This is a totally cute bathing suit that you could wear all summer.
It has bright colors, an interesting wavy pattern that is a little Missoni-esque, and a flattering shape.
Wear it with strappy wedges and white sunglasses for a St Tropez by way of Miami look.

Store-brand beauty products just as good as the high end stuff?

I'm always looking for great beauty buys in the drugstore (who isn't?), and this article lists a bunch of picks from chains that are supposed to be as effective as the expensive name-brand products.

Sometimes you can swap your products and it's not a big deal, but sometimes the cheap stuff is cheap for a reason. Lotions are thinner or greasier; face washes are less foamy etc.

I'll have to try some of these and see if I agree with the recommendations.
Do you have any drug store products that you like as much as the real thing?

Many people swear by Cover Girl mascara but I personally hate it and think the Almay or Maybelline full n soft kinds are much better. But I still notice a difference between those and the fancy Chanel or Dior or Tarte mascaras which have better brushes and also nice smoother coverage.

$6 Cover Girl lash blast mascara

vs

$30 Chanel Inimitable mascara

I do like the Prestige drugstore eye pencil as much as my YSL one, so that is one to look out for.

$3 Prestige eye liner pencil in black-brown

From that article, I might check out:

CVS Oil-Free Acne Cleanser, $4.29
Walgreens Cocoa Butter Moisturizing Cream, 99 cents
Rite Aid Aloe Enriched Lotion, $1.99
Sally Beauty Ion Shaping Plus Styling Spray, $2.49
Target Age-Defying Cleansing Towelettes, $4.29
Rite Aid Advanced Wrinkle Corrector, $9.99 (LATER! I hope, much later)

How about you?

Etsy Find of the Day: change purse

This change purse is made form vintage fabric.

The print reminds me of artichokes.

$25.85 unique frame purse

The lining fabric is cute too

Hatch Collection Maternity Wear

Fashionable maternity wear?
It can be done.
There is a new line out now from the Hatch Collection and you can see a slideshow of it on R29

It's not the normal stretchy, floral, empire-waisted stuff.
The fabrics are luxe and the shapes are flowy.

$238 Hatch: The Shirt Dress

I like this dress because it looks as great on the pregnant as the not pregnant woman. It's all silk and comes in a variety of sizes.

Green Cream- does it work?

I've been seeing mentions of this stuff around:

$50 Green Cream Retinol level 9

I'm wondering if it is any good and worth the money. Anyone tried it?

The retinol is supposed to remove fine lines and wrinkles and give you really fresh skin. It's also supposed to help prevent acne, get rid of blemish spots, make your skin plumper and firmer, and basically make you a sandwich too.

I'd love to hear about people's experiences with this or other retinol creams- tell me what's up!

Etsy Find of the Day: Covered buttons

$6 Floral covered buttons

These are so cute, with little rosebuds on them.
You get 12 buttons and they are 1/2 inch wide.
I think they would be great down the front of a full, knee length skirt or swapped out for the boring buttons on a light cashmere cardigan

Hugo Boss sale starting tomorrow

Hugo Boss is having a Friends & Family sale and you can get up to 75% off men's and women's stuff.

 $696 originally Hugo Boss black twill stripe 2 button James jacket

$450 Originally Hugo Boss bateau neck ruched sheath dress

Where: 260 5^th Ave (btw 28^th & 29^th St)
When: March 20-23; Tues-Thurs (11-7p), Fri (11-3p).

How to go thrifting in NYC

This article posted at Refinery29 is a slideshow full of thrift store shopping tips.

So, when you go vintage shopping, make sure you bring hand wipes and check clothes for bed bugs. :(

I think the best tip is to really know yourself and your wardrobe:
Do you already have something that serves the same purpose?
Are you the type of person who actually goes to get things fixed/tailored/dry cleaned? If not, leave it in the store.

Vintage Green Egg Cups

$9 Green retro egg cups

These plastic cups are meant to hold soft boiled eggs.
I love egg cups but I never eat eggs like that.
You could repurpose these as ring holders or desk accessories to store paperclips or tacks.

I like the tulip shape.

Pearl lovebird pin

$4,250 South Sea Pearl lovebird pin

How great is this antique brooch?
The pearls are natural South Sea pearls and those little extra bumps that form their heads are just how the pearls grew. I think this is such a smart way of dealing with an irregular shape.

One of the birds is sitting in a nest, and the branch they are on is platinum with diamonds embedded in it.
So cute!

Dorky cuff links

Looking for cuff links?
There are a ton out there, but might as well get some that display your nerd cred.

Check these cheap ones out.
DealExtreme (the site where they are all from) doesn't have great customer service/communication, but they are legit and I ordered from them and got my stuff as promised.

$6.12 Esc and Ctrl keys cufflinks

$6.33 Stock chart cufflinks

$6.06 PC Mouse cuff links

$8.20 Gear stick cuff links

$6.90 Obama cuff links

Tangerine Tango Pantone and Sephora Collaboration

Remember a while back when I said this year's color was Tangerine Tango?
Well, Sephora and Pantone put out a collection of makeup in the new tone and it looks pretty cool.
Check out the report on Stripes and Sequins:

The lipstick is the one I am most interested in:

$18 Tangerine Tango Cream lipstick

Mayor Bloomberg's daughter Georgina writes about what she wears

I thought this was an interesting look into someone else's life/closet.
Speaking of which, can you use the words life and closet interchangeably? I bet some people can.

She wears a lot of purple clothing, a mix of expensive and cheap shoes, and fancy jewelry.

Read the article