Outfit of the Day | Lunch at El Agave Restaurant and Tequileria

By know, I think most of you know how much I enjoy discovering new restaurants in San Diego. I'd say that it's one of my favorite things to do in my city, and when the opportunity came to collaborate with El Agave Restaurant and Tequileria in Old Town- I had to say yes! Food and styling a casual outfit? What's not to love? I decided to invite my mom to a casual lunch in Old Town and this is what I wore to our little mother-daughter lunch. You'll also get to see the "lunch of the day" which was really really great. You probably already heard me rave about the lunch if you follow me on Snapchat, but in case you didn't then you'll hear me rave about it in this post as well.

August 2016 Favorites

August was definitely a much better month for me than July. It seems like things are finally falling into place and there's some exciting ventures ahead. There was even some very exciting beauty discoveries this past month! I found my new go-to acne treatments that don't dry out my oily skin, some products that combine my love for nerdy things and makeup, and I even found the most comfortable nude lip combo. August was a pretty easy breezy month for me, which I honestly needed that after experiencing one of the most frustrating summers. And now that August is over, I can start counting down for fall! I just want cooler weather, dark lip colors, and fall clothing.

Smoked Out Purple Lower Lash Line

After posting my Top 5 Lip Balms video I got so many requests to make a tutorial on this particular makeup look. The requests even came pouring in on Snapchat and Instagram, so I sat down and recorded this simple look incorporating a bright pop of color. I know, it's the most cliché way to describe a makeup look but it's literally what it is in this case. If you're normally a bit scared to wear a bright color, then this is the perfect way to ease your way into more colorful looks. And if you're not a fan of purple, then you can apply this technique to literally any other color. You can switch up the color to blue, green, olive, maroon... I think you get the point. The best thing is that this makeup is super quick to do but it looks like it took a lot more effort.

Review | Marc Jacobs Air Blush

When it comes to luxury brands worth the splurge Marc Jacobs always ranks very high on my list. Pretty much everything that I've tried from Marc Jacobs has been absolutely incredible and definitely worth the money. I've tried lipstick, eyeliners, contour powder, and even their eyeshadows- all expensive but very worth it. So you can only imagine how excited I was when the Air Blush launched very recently. Oh boy, I think I got a little too excited about a blush. The packaging itself is stunning and very sleek, and don't even get me started about the striped blush design. Now the Air Blush isn't exactly an affordable blush, in fact I think this is my most expensive blush in my entire makeup collection. Kind of crazy, huh? The one thing I asked myself when I started trying out the Air Blush was: "Is this blush even worth $42?" Well after weeks of trying it out I finally figured out the answer to that question.

Outfit of the Day | The Drop Waist Dress

When it comes to fashion for curvy girls, we're always encouraged to wear items with a cinched waist because somehow that will give us a more "flattering" look. As much as I love a good pair of high waisted jeans, I honestly feel like I've been missing out on a few trends because they're not considered flattering on my body shape. Now this shape will not give you an hourglass look or fit your body like a glove, this is a trend for the people who like loose fitting clothing like myself. I was honestly a bit scared about wearing anything with a drop waist, but now I'm glad I decided to try it out because it looks quite nice- even on a curvy figure. It's a different look but one that didn't feel too forced on myself.

Review | Kate Somerville EradiKate Mask and Acne Treatment

If you deal with acne, then you know how incredibly annoying it can be and sometimes treating acne can be pretty damn annoying as well. Some acne treatments are very harsh and will dry out your skin, and then you know what happens next. Once you apply your foundation, concealer, and powder then the product will just cling on your skin and enhance the dry spots. In my opinion that is not a pretty look, so you can imagine how excited I was when I discovered non-drying acne treatments. I had heard so much about the cult favorite Kate Somerville EradiKate Acne Treatment and now that I've tried it, I know why people love it so damn much. In this post you'll be getting a ton of information about the products, as well as some very handy product demos.

Nails of the Day | The Drugstore Nude

I honestly didn't think much about this Essence nail polish when I first saw it earlier this year because of how cheap it was. I mainly bought it just to test out the Essence nail polish formula and for less than $4 I said, why not? I was not expecting much out of this formula since it's so cheap, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the longevity of this particular nail polish formula. Not only is the color a beautiful nude, but the formula has remained chip-free for 5 days now. In this post I'm going to be sharing this affordable nude polish and I also want to let you in on my new favorite base coat! I think the base coat definitely deserves a lot of credit for keeping this nail polish practically glued to my nails.

How To Use a Diffuser on Curly/Wavy Hair

Whenever I diffuse my hair I always get questions about the products that I'm using. I'm still using a lot of the same products and testing other ones, but the main difference is the way I'm drying my hair. When I'm in a hurry and don't want to leave the house (or film with wet hair), I'll just grab my hair dryer and diffuser and just dry my hair that way. Yes, that funky attachment with spikes that comes with a lot of hair dryers is actually used for something. The diffuser attachment will distribute heat much more evenly, so you won't look like a lion got electrecuted. The attachment will also encourage your hair to look more defined and create bouncier curls or waves. Big and bouncy curls in under 20 minutes? Count me in!

Playing With New Makeup | Pür Cosmetics, Bésame Cosmetics, Milk Makeup

If you follow me on Snapchat, then you've probably seen me do "Mail Time" snaps showing the PR packages that are sent my way. It's such a fun way to show new products and I love getting feedback from my followers on what they want to see me use and review. In today's post I've decided to play around with a few of the new makeup products in my makeup collection. It's kind of a tutorial and first impression rolled up into one silly video- that's pretty much how I would describe this. Hopefully this will be the first of many "Playing With New Makeup" videos, although I really shouldn't be buying any more new makeup but it's just so much fun!

Outfit of the Day | Laidback Summer

The heatwave is back at it again in San Diego and I'm currently wishing that I could just live in the huge walk-in refrigerators at Costco. When it's this hot, all I want to wear is light clothing and a hat to block off the haters (in this case the sun). During my recent trip to the thrift stores I came across a pair of lightweight denim pants which I've been wearing a ton recently. They're absolutely perfect for summer because the material is very light and airy, plus unlike regular jeans these are pretty loose. I paired the pants with my thinnest white t-shirt and a boater hat for an easy laidback summer look.

Review | Tarte BB Tinted Treatment Primer

During the summertime I put away all my medium to full coverage products and opt for very lightweight and lighter coverage bases. I have a lot of BB creams in my collection but one that I always come back to is the Tarte BB Tinted Treatment Primer. Now this isn't a new product from Tarte, it's actually quite an old one but with all the recent launches it seems to have gotten lost in their lineup of products. This is quite different to my other BB creams because it's has a thicker formula and this is technically a tinted primer with 12-hour wear. I've been wearing the Tarte BB Tinted Treatment Primer a lot recently and have been getting a lot of compliments on my skin on social media, so I figured that I would let all of you in on my secret weapon.

Top 5 Lip Balms

A few weeks ago a subscriber of mine gave me a suggestion to share my favorite lip balms on my channel. I've shared a lip balm here and there, but for some reason I hadn't made a video exclusively about the lip balms that I use when my lips are feeling dry and chapped. When it comes to lip balms I prefer thicker and more moisturizing formulas that have a better grip on the lips, instead of thin formulas that fade away much quicker. For that reason you won't be seeing the famous EOS Sphere Lip Balms that are all over YouTube in my list. My lips can get quite dry and cracked thanks to the San Diego weather and all the lipsticks I wear, so I need a heavy duty formula that will keep them soft and healthy.

Neiman Marcus Fall/Winter 2016 Trends

Last week Neiman Marcus in Fashion Valley hosted their semi-annual lunch to present the upcoming trends for fall and winter. The San Diego based bloggers and stylists were served a great lunch as the models walked down to show us all the different trends that we'll be seeing this upcoming season. I'm not much of a spring/summer person, but fall/winter fashion excites me so much. Bring on the dark colors, berry tones, and layers upon layers! I was also very happy to see some more trends that lend themselves to someone who isn't very girly like myself. I can definitely see myself rocking some moody fall florals or a sporty bomber jacket. Here's my recap of some of the trends that really caught my eye.

Birchbox August 2016

Birchbox has been absolutely killing it! This is the happiest I've ever been with a subscription service and you guys know that I've tried a few. I find that the Birchbox profile and review feedback determine the absolute best samples for each person, and because of that it's very rare when I get a product that I just end up disliking. I do have to say that Birchbox samples tend to be more on the luxe side, which does suck a bit because I sometimes don't have the money to spend $40 on a hair product or $70 on a face mask. But regardless, I still think it's a ton of fun to try out different products and I personally love how many natural brands Birchbox carries on their boxes and website.

Get Ready With Me: Blogger Lunch

This past Wednesday I was invited by Neiman Marcus to attend their fall trends presentation and lunch. If you've been following me for a while, then you know that I've been going to these trend presentations ever since I had a pixie cut and they're one of my favorite events held in San Diego. As a blogger you always have to look and feel good when going to one of these events, especially this one that's all about upcoming trends. Now I'm not the trendiest when it comes to fashion, but makeup is another story. I'm desperately waiting for fall right now so I can start to wear my dark and berry lipsticks on a more regular basis. Plus it would be really nice not looking like an oil slick anymore. In this post you're going to see a quick "Get Ready with Me," as well as some of the looks from the presentation.

5 Easy Thrift Shopping Tips

I know you've seen me wear a lot more thrifted items recently (click here to find out why), but I actually wasn't very good at thrifting until this year. I remember begging my ex-boyfriend to take me to the thrift shops in Orange County when I would go visit him because I wanted to see if I could find some cool stuff like all the fashion vloggers on YouTube. And each and every single time I would leave the thrift stores disappointed or with only one item (which still counts as disappointed). Somehow I was convinced that I just sucked at thrifting and that I should stick to traditional retail shopping, but it turns out that I was just not going into this with the right mindset. In this post I'm going to share with you 5 easy tips to make your thrift shopping experience a hell of a lot more enjoyable and worth your time.

Outfit of the Day | Sunday Afternoon

One of my favorite things about blogging has been all the friends that I've made over the last few years. I definitely consider myself very fortunate to have befriended some of the sweetest bloggers in San Diego and I feel even more lucky that we're incredibly supportive of one another. We'll help each other take pictures, film videos, and even give each other advice. Sometimes in the blogging community you come across people that will see you as their competition, when in fact we're all in crazy blogging journey together. If we don't try to help one another, then who will? On a very sunny Sunday afternoon my blogger friends and I decided to meet up in North Park, have a delicious brunch, and take a few outfit pictures in some of the most "Instagram worthy" backdrops. This is what I wore to the blogger brunch.

Empty Products #8

It's time to talk about my trash- I mean the product I used up.  I told myself that I wouldn't let the empties box fill up to the brim, but I let it happen... again. Some of the products I really enjoyed and will/have repurchased them, and other products you can't even pay me to use again. Yes, they were that bad. In this round I have a lot of body care products, natural products, dry shampoo cans (I think I went a little overboard with that), and facial masks. If you're a fan of quick reviews, then I'm sure you're going to enjoy this latest empty products post. Just as a warning, you might want to get a snack and drink for this video. Or you could even give yourself a little mani!

Nails of the Day | Vibrant Vibes

I probably have every single color in the rainbow in my nail polish collection. I am not one to shy away from very bright, unusual, or "ugly" nail polish shades. The weirder the shade, the better! Nail polish can easily be removed with acetone, so there's no harm in experimenting with colors. One of the more unusual shades that I own is this neon pastel lime green color by Essie. It's kind of a weird color to describe because it is bright like a neon, but it also has a milky white base like a pastel. I never thought that I would need a neon lime green polish, but when I saw this I immediately picked it up.

Review | L'Oréal Voluminous Féline Noir

If you're a longtime reader of my blog, then you know that I adore the L'Oréal Voluminous Miss Manga and the Miss Manga Rock mascaras. I was a bit surprised that I had not heard a thing about the L'Oréal Voluminous Féline Noir from UK based bloggers, or so I thought. It turns out that this mascara is actually a spin-off of the original Voluminous Million mascara and it even has the same packaging. For some reason the L'Oréal Voluminous Féline Noir in the United States got a little name change and the same packaging as the L'Oréal Voluminous Miss Manga and the L'Oréal Voluminous Miss Manga Rock, which lead me to believe that I would get a similar effect. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and this has been one of the few times that L'Oréal has disappointed me with a mascara release.

So Choix | Luxury Beauty Sample Box

In the world of beauty subscription boxes, most of the times you'll get surprised with 5 samples tailored to your needs. And sometimes you'll even get 5 completely random samples that may work for you, or they might be completely wrong for your skin type and tone- that's when So Choix comes in. The So Choix box allows you to pick 5 luxury beauty samples. We're talking about luxury brands like Tom Ford, Chanel, Dior, Hourglass, Givenchy, and YSL just to name a few. And you can try out anything from nail polish to setting powders! You pick everything from the brand, product, and shade that you want to try out. So Choix basically has your back if you want to try out luxury makeup before you decide to splurge on a specific product.

Outfit of the Day | Rock The Vote

In the past I never really cared much about politics, but boy has time changed the way I view politics. If you've been following this election, then you know how crazy and weird it has all been. I was personally a Bernie girl and will continue to support him even though he's not the Democratic Presidential nominee. What Bernie's campaign was able to do for me is something that I will forever be thankful for. Because of his campaign I can now say that I am a much more active and passionate participant in our nation's government. I really feel like more young adults should feel that same passion and rally together to shape our country's future. That's why I think it's amazing for a beauty and entertainment website like Popsugar to team up with Rock the Vote to encourage people to register to vote and get their voices heard.

Review | Issey Miyake L'Eau d'Issey Pure

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how stunning this bottle is? The Issey Miyake L'Eau d'Issey Pure has such a sleek and minimal water drop shaped bottle that I'm absolutely crazy about. It's easily one of the most beautiful bottles of perfume that I have in my collection, there's no doubt about it. And as you can probably guess, this perfume is yet another spin to the iconic L'Eau d'Issey fragrance. Unlike the other versions that I've tried in the past, the Issey Miyake L'Eau d'Issey Pure is much less floral heavy and instead reminds me of the sea. It's definitely a much cleaner and earthy take on the classic L'Eau d'Issey fragrance.

July 2016 Favorites

July was a very odd month for me. I can easily say that it started off as one of the worst months because dealing with a breakup was not easy, but with that very strange transition came something quite refreshing. I had been playing it very safe with my makeup lately and in July I started experimenting with different colors, textures, and brands. I honestly haven't had this much with makeup in a while and it really brought back a lot of memories of when I started falling in love with makeup in 2008. This past month I also fell back in love with MAC which was the first makeup brand that I became obsessed with. I literally have makeup to thank for getting me out of a physical and emotional rut this last month.

MAC Star Trek Tutorial | Deanna Troi Inspired

A lot of you really loved the makeup that I wore when I reviewed the MAC Star Trek collection, so I decided to recreate this look for you guys. This particular look was inspired by the glamorous Deanna Troi of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Deanna Troi is one of four female characters that inspired the upcoming MAC Star Trek collection and I personally happen to love her makeup the best. She honestly looked like a Greek goddess in space, she was such a stunning character. Deanna Troi was known for her big curls (which I'm very jealous of), her sultry smokey eyes, and a subtle rosy pout. My makeup look is more of a modern take on what Deanna Troi wore and I added more drama to the eyes by using those bold lashes from the MAC Star Trek collection.