Breton Stripe Redux + Heart Flats review

I have this habit of fixating on a specific article of clothing that I'm fond of and wearing it in endless combinations, perhaps more often than is appropriate...I've thrown on this Breton striped jersey dress by Cotton On three times in this past week. While this probably makes me a bad fashion blogger to post two outfits featuring the same dress one after another, I think it's a great thing to have versatile pieces in your wardrobe.

Cotton On Colette Breton jersey dress
H&M dolman-sleeve slouchy cardigan
Printed Village Black Sheep scarf
Mel Pop Special Blush Heart flats

Let's take a moment to talk about these cute new flats I'm wearing, which I picked up from Modcloth for a modest $45. They're by Mel, the more affordable little sister brand of Brazilian brand Melissa who is known for their adorable vegan jelly shoes and amazing collaborations with popular designers such as Vivienne Westwood, Jason Wu, and Karl Lagerfeld.

Concept-wise these shoes are simple yet charming, a translucent matte muted mauve jelly flat topped with a shiny candy apple red heart. It goes without saying that I love the design which is right up my alley, no complaints there.

But what really hits it out of the park for me is the incredible comfort of these flats. I don't think I've ever had as much of a Cinderella moment as when I first put these shoes on because the fit was perfect--they molded to my feet like they were made for me, and not once did my heel slip out of the back as is common with many flats I've tried. I ideally wear a US size 5 shoe and am often forced to compromise on shoe sizing because most brands don't manufacture anything smaller than a 6, but Mel comes to the rescue again by actually producing my size! Mad props to them for that alone.

I was initially concerned about them rubbing or cutting into my heel with long wear because they were plastic, but I wore them out all day today and they are by far the comfiest first-wear I've ever had with ballet flats.

Possibly my only critique is that when I wore them with sheer tights today I noticed a small amount of sweatiness happening, which is unsurprising since they are plastic, but when I wear them barefoot (which I guess facilitates evaporation better) I have no issues, and since a bit of sweat is to be expected with any barefoot or close-to-barefoot closed shoe regardless of material, I think I'd rather have my shoes be easily washable.

TL;DR--Cutest shoes ever, fit is amazing, I want them in every color.

Review! Crest 3D White Luxe Glamorous White Toothpaste

With the warmer weather, I've been in the mood to play a little more with my makeup. I normally wear fairly natural makeup: mascara, blush, and brow liner are my staples, with plenty of concealer to hide my dark circles. If I'm feeling extravagant maybe I'll smudge some kohl liner around my eyes. I tend to neglect my lips, mainly because I'm often constantly snacking throughout the day and the idea of touching up my makeup after every nibble is more upkeep than I want.

Lately, though, I've been craving a poppy orange lipstick--I'm talking Maybelline Vivids Electric Orange-level of brightness. The thing with bright lips of course is that they draw attention to your mouth and teeth...what state are my pearly whites in?

Anemone

Today I have a review/rave for CoverGirl Natureluxe Gloss Balm in Anemone. This is one of my favorite lip colors. It gives my lips a pretty rosy, pigmented red color without the laser precision that red lipstick requires--very nice for a mirror-free application! Plus, it is super glossy. The wear time is a couple hours as long as I don't eat or drink anything. I actually bought this a year ago, but I recently rediscovered it in the pocket of my winter coat, and oh how I missed it!

As a little girl I remember watching Disney's The Little Mermaid and being fixated by the scene where Ursula plucks a mollusc from a shelf and uses it as lipstick, and naturally the name "Anemone" reminded me of that. Ursula may have been one bad bitch, but the lady was FANCY.

HARE Cast in Bronze

In the aftermath of Sandy messing up the ENTIRE METRO SYSTEM (eff you Sandy, please go get a yeast infection), I decided I needed some cheering, and nothing does the job like my first-ever indie! HARE is one of the first indie polish makers to catch the nail community's attention, and she remains one of my favorites. I have a lemming for Bisbee that began practically the day of my indoctrination into polish hoarding, but I opted to pick up one of her new creations this time, the very amazing Cast in Bronze from her Fall 2012 Finder's Keepers collection.

Gorgeous. This was two coats of Cast in Bronze by itself, a beautiful lilac jelly packed with tons of shimmer and bronze colored hex and square glitters. If you look hard in real life you could probably see visible nail line, but to me the sheer, squishy jelly-ness of this is part of the charm so I opted to wear it alone.

Formula-wise, I had no problems at all. The base is thicker than most polishes to better suspend the glittery goodness, which is normal and expected and can be fixed by a few drops of thinner, but even without thinning I didn't have much trouble getting this on my nails. There was a brief moment after applying the first coat during which I feared the sheerness might also result in streakiness, since the distribution of color seemed a bit uneven, but the second coat erased all those doubts (and frankly it was probably my own fault anyway because I was using Revlon's 2-in-1 TC/BC, which is a terrible basecoat--so slippery, doesn't help with even polish distribution at all).

All in all, I had a great experience with HARE and can't wait to get more!