Girl Crush: Gigi Hadid

Guys. I'm having kind of a girl crush. Ever since a few weeks ago, I've been obsessing over Gigi Hadid. Well not just a couple of weeks, but when Cody Simpson was dating her. I was like, okay okay this girl is pretty haha. I mean, I don't know what it is about her, but I really think she is a model to watch. Already she's been walking in major shows and shooting for some big names. Just a couple days ago the Pirelli Calendar was released and I was stunned to say the least. Gigi has very prominent features and I think thats why I'm drawn to her. Shes also not stick thin, she's healthy and strong and you can tell. Anyway I thought I'd share this with you guys. Isn't anyone else obsessing over her with me?! 

Maddie

Current Fall Nighttime Routine

Lately every night, after I finish all of my chores, homework and social media surfing I take a nice hot shower, cozy up into my bed and pick a magazine to read out of the stack i have on my desk. It's been SO relaxing and catching up on all the latest trends and reports (especially all of the september issues) is very satisfying haha. I also brought my bath and body works "pumkpin cupcake" candle out after months of being stuck in my closet and it smells divine. While I sit in bed and sip on my tea, i like my room to be dimly lit. It makes it feel so much more cozy and calm, just me? haha.

Sometimes I'll read magazines, sometimes blogs, or sometimes I'll write. I really suggest every person to do this before going to bed because it kind of frees your mind of the hundreds of thoughts that swirl around your brain as you try to go to sleep. It's definitely works for me most nights! 

Right now I can't help but think of the butternut squash my mom is going to cook later...mmmmm I love fall haha! ;)

What does your fall nighttime routine look like at the moment?

Maddie

Pastel Moodboard♡

I found myself wandering the realms of pinterest for over 2 hours today and felt the urge to create a moodboard on what I've been obsessing over. I created a few new boards on my pinterest and these collages kind of sum up what they're about haha! The pretty soft pastels with the white are absolutely stunning, but i also love the bright neon chalky colors too. So many decisions ;) I think after looking at so many pictures, I want my room to stem from one of these palates. Probably the one on the top, because I love the way it looks with gold and those colors could pretty much go with anything. 

Oh, and I ended up not going to school yesterday (tuesday) or monday because my city had a terrible rain storm that flooded everywhere, including some major streets and schools, so my school closed! I was taken by surprise, but having an extra two days off after the weekend felt extremely satisfying. 

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week! :) Two more days until the weekend ♡

Maddie

Review: L'Oreal Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara

After wanting this for so long and lusting over the adorable packaging, I finally picked up this mascara that everyone is talking about. Seriously, I don't think I've heard anything bad about it, and in almost every beauty video I watch on youtube, this is mentioned. so I don't feel the least bit guilty for buying it! Okay so packaging, A+. When I opened it up I noticed that the wand is almost like a pyramid shape, going from big to a small point, but it's still small overall. After curling my lashes, I applied the mascara to my outer lashes first, and I will say I actually said "WOW" out loud. It made them SO long and spidery almost. I know some people don't like this effect, but sometimes I do like it. It has that effect without going overboard (am I even making sense?). By the time I finished one eye, I was in love with it. With the pyramid shaped wand, it's easy to get to the smaller lashes with out the product ending up all over your face, which happens to me almost everyday. It's very black and I don't think I have anything bad to say about it! Overall, I'm so glad I finally have this in my life ;)

Have you tried this mascara?

Maddie

10 Quirky Facts About Me

(I'm weird yes I know!)

1. If I sleep with socks on, one ALWAYS comes off.

2. I'm an early bird. Usually I'm up before the suns up, which for me is about 5:00-5:30. Sometimes I'm even a night owl, which means I probably don't get enough sleep that night!

3. I drink over a gallon of water a day.

4. There's nothing I love more than being creative-whether I'm writing, drawing, playing the piano, doing my makeup. I don't think i could survive without my wonderful imagination!

5. Throughout my four years of high school, I've been to three different schools.

6. When I'm stressed I like to sweat it out. I love running, weight lifting, yoga, and all kinds of different exercises.

7. Sometimes I have days where I wish I could grow up already and do my own thing, and then other days I have panic attacks that I'm growing up way too quickly and I wish I was back in elementary school.

8. I'm a Pescatarian, which means the only meat I eat is fish. I also don't eat eggs, dairy, gluten, or processed sugar. Yes I'm a health freak but I feel amazing! ;)

9. I used to be obsessed with anything Victorian and embellished, now I'm more of a minimalistic, simple lines with a pop of color kinda girl 

10. I aspire to have a life where my job is doing something different everyday, like writing, then taking pictures, then creating something, then something different. etc. I'm the type of person that needs change, and having a creative job will give me just that! :)

11. Okay I thought I would just throw this out there-I'm a weirdo. I love to laugh in serious situations, which isn't always a good thing, but it's just who I am. I don't always like to take life too seriously. Life is about living in the moment, and making every moment count! So I like to be happy as much as I can, even though that can be difficult sometimes. But no one is perfect and everyone deserves to live the life they imagine to :)


I hope you liked this fun kind of post! Share some quirky facts about yourself in the comments, i love to read them :) 

Maddie

∙•Create, Not Compete•∙

We need to create instead of compete. I sat outside just thinking about everything, and this thought popped into my mind. Wouldn't it be amazing if people everywhere just created anything they wanted to, with the intention of being happy? Not out to compete with anyone, but just for the sake of their own happiness?

Just imagine how much freedom everyone would have. No one would be looking for any anger, stress, competition. 

But why can't it be like that now? Why can't everyone just start to create what they want to? Do you want to create your own blog? DO IT! What's stopping you? The fact that someone else has 10,000 followers? Big deal, because you could get there with hard work and belief that you can.

CREATE something. ANYTHING you want. WITHOUT the intention of doing better than someone else, because THAT DOESN'T MATTER. If cutting out pictures from magazines makes you happy, then do it! Don't worry about what the end result will be, just be in the moment. Love every second of cutting those pictures out. 

By doing and creating what you want, you use your imagination and you set off more thoughts and ideas. And it will make YOU happy, and in turn that makes others happy. But don't do something to be better than, or cooler than, or smarter than 'someone else.' Create the life you want, for YOU.

Just some Tuesday thoughts ~

Maddie

Are You an Introvert?

I was at the bookstore with my mom a couple days ago and I spotted Company Magazine in the sea of all the other magazines. I was shocked because my bookstore never carried this magazine before and I've been dying to read it for a couple months now, so as soon as I saw it I grabbed it right away! Anyway, I was reading through it and absolutely loving it. And, this may be cheesy or weird, but I love how everything in it is priced with pounds or euros, and they use English words that us Americans don't use, so it made me feel like I was actually in England...cries.

The point of this post is about an article I read in the magazine, and it really got me thinking. It was all about how introverted people are thought of the wrong way. I mean think about it, when you think of someone who is 'introverted' you think of someone who is shy, quiet, un-confident, simple..right? That's what comes to my mind. But after reading the article I quickly got to scolding myself thinking where did I even come us with those words?? 

An introvert is someone who could be totally social and talkative, but the difference between an introvert and an extrovert is simply this: an introvert needs time alone to recharge and re-energize, while an extrovert needs to be around people to feel re-energized. It all makes a lot of sense to me now. I think introverts get a bad wrap in society. Personally, I know I'm an introvert, and saying that doesn't bother me the slightest bit. I'm a very talkative, outgoing person, and when I want to speak up boy do I speak! (I've kinda gotta be careful with that lol.) But I definitely need my time alone. If I don't get the right amount of alone time in a day, I feel drained and frantic, you know like when you can't think straight. I'll admit, I could only hang around crowds of people for so long before I feel like I need to get away and come back to reality.

Some of the most successful business owners and celebrities are introverts; like Beyoncé (i know right! i couldn't believe it!) Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Lady Gaga to name a few. And not that it matters, but that made me feel better about it too haha.

So I'm curious, are any of you introverts, or extroverts? Do you think this information describes you, or what you thought? Let me know in the comments!

Maddie

∙•❁June Favorites❁•∙

I can't believe it's June Favorites already...I remember typing my May Favorites like it was yesterday! This month flew bye but I still managed to try some new things and now I get to share them with you :) 

Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray// This stuff is talked about everywhere so I thought I may as well try it..Well i absolutely love it. I used it on freshly washed hair and it did wonders, and I also used it on day 3/4 hair and it still made my hair so voluminous and wavy. Also, the smell to me is amazing, and it brings me to think about special memories I've had on the beach :)

Maybelline Vivids in Shocking Coral// I LOVE the Maybelline Vivids Collection (I have pretty much all of them) and since I've been getting tanner I've been able to pull off the brighter, peachy-er shades of lipsticks. This color is the perfect coral color (of course) and it's so smooth and buttery and it's actually pretty tough to take off. I love wearing this with some highlighter and bronzer, ooooh the summer feels!

#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso// All I have to say about this book is it got my imagination running like crazy and it made me want to get off of my ass and start something! Haha, but really if you're in need of some motivation or just an interesting read of a woman who started from the bottom, pick up this book immediately! 

L'Oreal Infallible The Super Slim Liquid Liner// Okay, so before I purchased this I probably would of had no future with cat-eyes or with any sort of 'flick'. But I'm telling you, this has helped me so much with precision and patience haha! It's so easy and build-able, and I love it to death. I've been wearing it for weeks. It really does stay on for 12 hours, and it's pretty tough to take off, and its BLACK!

Benefit They're Real! Mascara// I picked this lovely product up in my Mini Sephora Haul at the beginning of June and after hearing so much positive feedback about it I decided to give it a try. It definitely makes your lashes look voluminous and fake (hence the name they're real) and you could also probably get away with one coat because it coats them very thick. I would say if you're not a fan of the clumpy, spidery kind of lashes you may want to pass. Although it is build-able, and boy is it a job to remove.

Lot's of beauty lovin' this month. I've been having this urge to drop a lot of money at the mall, and I am trying soooo hard to fight it, but I think I might have to go and see what I can get...I need some summer clothes! ;)

Have you tried any of these products? What's a favorite of yours this month?


Maddie

Mini Sephora Haul ❁

Oh yes it happened. I asked my mom to drop me off at the outdoor shopping center, because it was a lovely day and I had a gift card that I was dying to spend at Sephora. As usual I walked in and wanted to go in three different directions. Believe it or not I was so confused on what to pick up. I originally planned on buying one or two things (i really dont know what I was thinking) but that thought quickly escaped my mind and I walked around the store for at least an hour and a half. First I actually made my way to the benefit area. The "They're Real!" has been getting much attention and I've never tried that mascara before, so I picked that up (i'm really excited for the gel liner pen too). I don't think I've heard anything bad about it, so I'm hopeful I'll love it.

Then I passed the Tarte stand and saw the limited edition packaging for a summer collection and immediately fell in love. This blush is a gorgeous peachy pink color, and it leaves such a beautiful glow on the skin, especially if you're tanned a bit. I like it because the color is more of a nude-y peach than a pink, and that's exactly what I've been looking for! The packaging scores major points too.

By this time I've been walking around for ages but I managed to try out the Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray that's made its way around the blogosphere. I have to say, I saw instant results. So I put it in my basket and went to the dreaded checkout line where there's more products to choose from! That's when I smelled the Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black and White rollerball perfume.. Ahh guys. Literally me in a scent. I wish I could afford both spray perfumes, but I'm in the process of that haha. So for now I just picked up the Nirvana Black rollerball. As I'm writing this I actually grabbed it and rolled it on my wrists...it smells SO GOOD. 

So yeah I spent more than I wanted too but hey. I'm pretty happy with the things I walked away with and I don't feel guilty at all. Should I?! I know I'll be back soon anyway... ;)

Have you picked up anything recently?

xx,
Maddie

Summer Glitter ♡

Let me just start off by saying where has this week gone?! It's already Friday! That is insane. Actually, it's Thursday as I'm writing this but thats okay ;) Today I had a very productive day. I started the morning off with some light yoga, had my beautiful and delicious breakfast, and then caught up on a TON of blogs. While scrolling through my bloglovin' feed, I came across this post and fell in love with the makeup look. 

It was perfect timing because later today I have to go for a little drive to see my grandparents. They are leaving on a vacation for a month and they're taking my brother, so we have to drop him off, and my dad thought we might as well go to dinner since we won't see them for a while! 

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my makeup, but after seeing that post I had found my look! :)

It's pretty similar to her look. I used the same eyeshadow, Half Baked from my Urban Decay Naked palette all over the lid, and then I used a matte brown shadow called Buck (same palette) in my crease, outer v, and smudged along my bottom lashes. Instead of doing some outrageous eyeliner or anything too defined, I decided to go with more of a smokey look and use a black pencil. Any pencil will do, as long as you don't make any harsh lines!

I then piled on my mascara (as I alwayyyys do) and I went for a nude glossy lip. Pretty simple, yet soooo pretty! Sometimes I'm afraid of what glitter all over a lid will look like. I don't want to be a disco ball during the day. But this turned out nice :) It's just enough glitter to catch some light and reflect off. 

Now I need to find something to wear!! By the time you read this I will have already gone to dinner, so hopefully I find something nice ;) 

What do you think of the look?

xx, 

Maddie

Experimenting With My Hair

Summer is here and to me summer means change. Everyone around me seems to be changing a little something about their look, style, whatever it may be. Well I’m here to tell you I am dying, DYING to give my hairstyle a major makeover. See, my hair is very difficult to work with and style. I have so much of it, and it’s very heavy, so it basically falls flat to my head. No matter what product I use, or how I curl or dry it, it will end up looking the exact same. The problem is, my hair is on the thinner side, so that makes it even harder to hold a style.

Lately, well, since like October of last year, I’ve wanted to dye my hair. And it seems like since I’ve wanted to do that, everyone else has! All of the beauty gurus and celebrities out there have chopped inches off and dyed it every color imaginable, and I’m over here like “Well I thought of that ages ago and I did nothing about it” so now I’m kind of pissed at myself haha.

So like I said, I want to make a change. The ends of my hair are embarrassing, so I need to cut at least 4 inches to help it look healthy. Then this is the confusing part: Do I dye my entire head? Do I dye the ends and do ombre? Or do I do highlights? EVERYTHING IS SO CONFUSING! And it’s not like I have blonde hair, I have a medium hazelnut kind of color so if I was going to dye my hair I need to be quite sure of it. Cause there’s no turning back! I’ve been going back and forth with colors like pink (like Sprinkle of Glitter) purple, blue-ish turquoise, and even red. I think I’m leaning most towards pink ombre, but I reeealllly don’t wanna make a mistake. After all, I’ve never dyed my hair before so this is all a new adventure for me.

If you guys could give me any tips, advice, or input I would really appreciate it!! ;)

Xx,

Maddie

Summer Nails

It’s finally summer!! Well actually for me it’s been summer for like 2 months already haha, any guesses on how hot it was yesterday? 109 DEGREES. YES. 109. Honestly that’s a little too hot for me. But what can I do I’m only living here for one more year J

Summer is probably my favorite season for nail colors and designs. You can get away with wearing blindingly bright neon colors or soft pastel tones.

Fingers//

For my fingernails, I love wearing any colors that will enhance my tan. Normally during the fall and winter I’m pretty light, so summer is when I always get my tan on haha! I usually go for coral-ly pinks and bright blues. This summer I have been OBSESSING over bright white nails. It looks so chic and to me, beachy. Pairing these colors with simple jewelry or midi rings are my favorite. My favorite white nail polish at the moment I actually bought from Forever 21. Random right? Haha, but it stays on for literally 5 days straight! And I'm not even joking! 

Toes//

Toenails are special because you don’t always see them! As silly as that sounds its true. During the summer though, when feet are the center of attention in pools and sandals, you have to make sure to make ‘em look nice. I'm currently loving Essie's "Tart Deco" which is a vibrant peach color, but I also LOVE blue. Especially a bright turquoise. That paired with a glittery blue on the fingernails and you’re ready to go!

I have been seeing that trend a lot lately. Whatever color you have on the bottom, put it on top with glitter and some nail stickers. It adds texture and interest.

What are your go-to summer nail colors?

xx,

Maddie

New Makeup Storage ♡

While I was babysitting, all I could think about was the makeup storage drawers I had ordered a couple days before. WELL, when I walked home, guess what was waiting for me on the kitchen table?! Yep, the package came.

After I opened the box, I was a teeny tiny bit disappointed in the size. From the website, it looked a lot bigger in the pictures. I'm still so happy with the way they look though, so I don't want to upset myself too much.


Since the drawers are smaller than what I had imagined, I can't fit much in there, but it's alright. I've put the only makeup I use in it, so that works out well! I put the drawers on my vanity where I usually do my makeup, and set my makeup brushes on top. 

The set also came with a top piece that holds lipstick and it has three other compartments. It's so adorable. I didn't wanna stack it on top of the drawers, so I placed it on my dresser next to my perfume tray. It looks pretty, but I think I have to find a way to make it work without it looking cluttered. 

So I'm excited to style it and see how it works out! Do you guys have any of these acrylic drawers?
Have any tips on how to style them? :)


xx, Maddie 

❁•∙May Favorites ❁•∙

I seriously cannot believe it's June already...Like, 2014 is halfway over!! That's absolutely crazy to me. Time is going bye wayyyy too fast if you ask me. Throughout the month of May, I did a lot of "spring cleaning" through my wardrobe and my makeup. I decided that I needed to get rid of some things that were just taking up space in my room. While doing this I rediscovered some beauty products and I ended up using them most of the month! 


1// Essie's Mint Candy Apple: I painted my nails three times this month with this color! If that doesn't say love or obsessed, I don't know what does. I just find this color to be springy and summery and i can't get enough.

2// Urban Decay NAKED Palate: It's an oldie but a goodie. I think I used this palate every single day. You can't go wrong with the colors; there's perfect neutrals and stunning shimmery shades to blend with. I always went for a simple daytime look, and enhanced my eyes with the darker colors.

3// Pink Sugar Perfume: Have you smelled this? If you haven't, you're really missing it. It smells like straight up sugar cookies, but without making you sick. I used to wear this in middle school...ahh those were the days. Brings back a lot of weird memories of gym class *shudders* Any who, this is the perfect scent to spritz anytime of the day. Is it weird that i like to spray myself with a hint of perfume when i get out of the shower?? It makes me feel fancy..

4// Maybelline Color Elixir in Nude Illusion: Ahhh the nude lipgloss! Since I've gotten darker, this color has looked better and better. I've probably worn this everyday too. It has a warm peachy tone to it and like i said, if you have a bit of a tan it doesn't look like you have no lips, it will give you a simple fresh summer look. Which is my fave. It also stays on through eating!! Score.

5// Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Dry Shampoo: Another somewhat oldie! I bought this at the drugstore a couple months ago and kind of forgot about it. When I was going through my bathroom cabinets I grabbed it and kind of squealed when I found it..Let me just say it definitely does it's job. It gives amazing volume and gets rid of any oil. The only down side is...white powder. Yep. It does leave a cast behind, so if you have dark hair, I wouldn't recommend going into direct sunlight with this in your hair!

So that's what I've been loving currently. What are some items you have been loving? Have you tried any of the products above?


Happy June! :)

xx, Maddie