Summer Casual- Dark Cold Shoulder Tunic

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Dress- Tilly’s HERE
Headband- DIY HERE
Necklace- Forever 21 (similar)
Rings- Tilly’s HERE
Sandals- American Rag HERE

I promise I’m wearing shorts underneath this, I promise! I fell in love with this top/tunic/dress so much and knew I HAD to have it the moment I saw it in the store. It’s suppose to be a top but since I’m 5’3″ I thought I could pull it off as a dress. Once I bought it though, I was slightly skeptical because it turned out kinda short to be a dress and I didn’t want people staring at me for the length, but again I’m wearing shorts and I like it, so that’s a good enough excuse to wear it, right? ;)

XX,

Summer 2015 Beauty Favorites

Below are some of my beauty favorites during this summer. I’ve been doing a lot a traveling lately so I’m keeping the products I use to a minimum, but for back-to-school, I’m excited to try out new cosmetics and share my thoughts with you guys. As for now, these are the products I use on a everyday basis and usually the only makeup I wear during hotter days.

Pantene Pro-V Blowout Extend Dry Shampoo ($5)

I bought this to bring on a 1 month vacation because my favorite dry shampoo (NYM Clean Freak) was too big but my mini Psssst one (I can never remember how many “S”s there are) wouldn’t be enough to last me 30 days. I randomly decided to pick this up at Target without doing my research prior to purchasing and I’m so glad I didn’t. Everyone seems to hate this but I love it so much. It absorbs oil so well and even with my everyday-waves, this refreshes my hair without ruining any styling I did the day before. The “con” would be that the formula is slightly on the heavier side and is why it has bad reviews (and for others the nozzle doesn’t always work; mine has been working perfectly though). I can only feel the heavyness slightly at the roots, not throughout the rest of my hair so I’m still pretty happy with this dry shampoo.

Burts Bees Lip Balm in Honey ($3.29)

With lip balms, I like the wax based type where the balm is really thick and it sort of melts when it comes in touch with the heat coming from your lips. I feel like they last longer compared to the glossy balms. This is my holy-grail Chapstick and the smell is amazing.

EOS Lip Balm in Mint ($3.50)

Another favorite lip balm of mine this season. It gives off a tingling sensation which I find really nice.

L’oreal Voluminous Waterproof Mascara in Black ($8)

I have tiny, stick down-pointing lashes so it’s really hard to find a way to make my eyelashes visible. Visible in-person I mean; I don’t think they’ll ever be visible in photos. :( I’ve got a whole routine on how I take care of lashes (lol) but this mascara is a product I use that has been great for achieving natural looking lashes.

NYX Tinted Brow Mascara in “Expresso” ($7)

With makeup, I like what I wear on a daily basis to be as fast as possible to apply. Instead of drawing on my eyebrows (which takes tons of time to get them just right and is very prone to overdrawing), I run this “brow mascara” by NYX over my eyebrows and they stay in place all day. I already pretty thick eyebrows so this just fills the sparse areas and adds color. My only complaint is that the brush is a little large, therefore making it hard to be precise.

What are your beauty favorites for summer?

XX,

DIY Golden Leaf Crown

DIY Golden Leaf Crown- LoveSpunk. Super cute to wear and make during summer!

Flower crowns were so popular this past spring and during festival season. This cute little golden DIY leaf crown is a twist on that trend. I personally prefer this crown over flower crowns since they’re a little too feminine for my taste (I’m a ripped jeans and leather jacket girl). It’s so easy to make during a lazy afternoon and perfect to wear during the rest of summer. You’ll find yourself walking around feeling totally pretty and bohemian. Let’s get started! :)

Instructions

Materials:
– 1 yard of gold leather trimming (I found mine at Joann’s)
– 3/4 yard of 1/2″ wide ribbon for the ties
– needle and thread or sewing machine
– scissors
– leaf shaped template in small and large, making sure the larger one fits on the gold trimming (I drew/cut mine out from cardstock)
– a pen
– (optional) hot glue and a hot glue gun

1. Cut out a bunch of leaves using the templates you created. I cut out an equal amount of large leaves and small leaves.

2. Draw lines resembling the curves of the leaves on the back of the leather trimming. The back is the side with a line running down the center. You can use this line as a guide for the center stem.

3. Sew on the lines using needle and thread or using a sewing machine. The picture above shows it hand stitched, but I ended up using my sewing machine.

4. This part is totally optional but I cut jagged edges all along the curves of the leaves to give them some texture and mimic the shape of actual leaves. Then I scruffed them with my fingers to really create texture. That way when worn, the edges kind of blend into your hair seamlessly so it doesn’t look like leaves plastered on your head. If you plan to do this, I suggest doing this before step 3 so you don’t accidentally cut the stitching.

5. Repeat steps 2-4 until all leaves are stitched and cut (if desired).

6. Cut a piece of ribbon long enough to go around your head plus a few inches extra for the ties. Start sewing the leaves onto the center of the ribbon, overlapping them. You could also use hot glue to make this process faster. Finish sewing/gluing all of them on and you’re done!

If you try this, please send me pictures via Twitter, Instagram, or even blog post by leaving a link below! I would love to see your creations!

XX,