RR

reader request.

if you have a sister, you are among the lucky ones. if you have a big sister, you're really lucky. if your big sister is also beautiful and kind, if you could steal her much cooler clothes, learned all your makeup tricks from her, if she offered to braid your hair, and is generally your biggest fan, then you already know how lucky you are. if your big sister also happens to be the hardest working mother of four children under the age of 3 you know, and still finds time to ichat with you and visit your blog, then we should probably meet, because we might be the same person.

i'm not under any delusions that anyone reads this blog besides myself, my husband, my sister, and occasionally my mom, and so i feel perfectly at liberty to tailor a post directly to one reader in particular.

in an email response to my post introducing my fall palette, my sister, in all her wisdom, wondered at what makeup, accessories, and nail polish one would pair with these looks. i guess i hadn't really thought of it, because, well i live with myself and i know that my makeup, accessorizing, and nail polish routines are rudimentary at best, and completely lacking most often. i'm not going to pretend that i'm all cool and low maintenance and like, "who me? i just roll out of bed this way..." because that would be very far from the truth, and my other reader, my husband, could call me out on it, to my face!

so very briefly, i'll give you the reality. i've been way more into skincare than makeup lately. in an effort to normalize my misbehaving skin i've sort of laid off the makeup routine - and maybe its my beachy atmosphere, but i feel this is working for me. i typically stick to some concealer, a little blush and mascara. as for my nails, well i always feel that nail polish is one of those places that you can go a little crazy - especially on your toes.

but in my fantasy life, things are a bit more glamorous. of course i wouldn't constantly be at war with my skin, and it would just be perfect. all the time. like my fall palette, i would use bold colors to accent an otherwise natural look.

emily weiss of into the gloss

i like the power an orange-y red lip gives to a clean face - plus the fiery shade is a nice update on the classic red lip look. on days when i'm not feeling so.... lippy, i'd probably fall back on the always classic nude lip. since a lot of my look is sort of 60's inspired, the orange and nude lip are particularly fitting.

NARS Heat Wave
NARS Honolulu Honey

when it comes to nailpolish, i believe that matching and restraint are for people i hope to never meet. once again, in reality my hands don't get much attention - i just like to keep my nails a little longer, rounded, and clean. but my toes i try to change once a week or (we're talking reality here) once every two weeks. but the fantasy me? she'd be all about the manicure. and like i said, matching is not a priority here. i don't care how classic my wardrobe may be, in nail polish i am always drawn to the most complex colors out there. and for that, i think chanel does it best. not that i've ever actually owned chanel nail polish, but from what i can tell they make the most interesting colors.

Chanel

the real me is particularly lacking in the accessories department. i own one purse - and i'll only replace it once it starts to fall apart. i do, however, really like jewelry. unfortunately my tastes and my finances don't often agree - like, ever - so the real me only owns a few fun jewelry pieces that i keep on heavy rotation. until i get sick of them, and then they get no rotation. but the fantasy me would not have such silly problems like budgeting and could afford to spend surplus cash on fun accessories.

Top: The Vamoose Bottom: Of a Kind

I like the idea of pairing jewelry with natural elements and indigenous designs with a more classic, buttoned up wardrobe. it keeps things feeling a bit looser and free and picks up on the more bohemian aspects of my dream self wardrobe.

and those, are my thoughts on makeup, nails, and accessories. well for now at least... trust me, i could go on. but i think instead i will focus my attention back to sewing.

xx