Crop Top Daydreaming | OOTD

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a big fan of midriff-baring outfits. This crop top trend is my favourite trend in years, and I can't get enough. So much so, that I often tie some of my regular-length shirts up into crops. Variety (and a sliver of tummy, apparently) is the spice of life, my friends...

We're still buried in snow here in Canada, so this is a bit of a daydream post. I would most definitely be wearing this on a casual Sunday, were it not for Old Man Winter and his cronies. I have to say, this boyfriend button-down from The Gap has ended up being one of my favourite pieces ever. It's soft and slouchy but is proper enough that I can sneak it into my work-wear rotation as well. 

The pants, I actually bought down in Florida, because I hadn't brought enough long pants to wear. They're super thin and casual and will be great for spring and summer weather, maybe even the office too! Multipurpose closets are the best kinds of closets :) 

Are you sick of these sandals yet? I have to admit I am a little bit. They're wonderful and required zero breaking-in time, but they're still my only pair. I'm tired of looking at them. Perhaps I'll be singing a different tune once it's actually summer here, but for now I've happily tossed them into my box of summer clothes. 

Stuff and links and such:

Button-down - The Gap (similar here)
Pants - H&M (link!)
Sandals - Target (link!)
Bag - Coach Factory (similar here)
Watch - Michael Kors (link!)
Glasses - Warby Parker Mallory (no longer available)  :( 

p.s. I've been bad (again) and have done some more fashion shopping. I still have some Florida OOTD posts to put up, but I have a feeling I'll have some snow-backgrounded (is that a word?) shots soon too!

xo Chloë

On My Face | Same Old, Same Old

I feel like I've fallen into a face/base/foundation rut, but it's one of those ruts that really isn't all that bad and could be infinitely worse. Inevitably I will end up trying something my face hates, thus sparking a breakout or two... I can't help myself sometimes. But until then, I'll sit here happily with my Chantecaille Just Skin and my Makeup Forever Face & Body foundation, thank you very much. 

The newest part of my routine - and not by much, since my Just Skin is pretty recent too - is this foundation brush by Louise Young. I'd read numerous raves about it on primarily UK blogs, and my interest was piqued. Louise Young isn't available in Canada, so once I had decided to bite the bullet, I held my breath and ordered this through Beauty Bay, which *ahem* doesn't have the best reputation in terms of customer service. Happily, my order did not mysteriously disappear in-transit and I am now the proud owner of the Louise Young LY34 Super Foundation Brush. Holy moly is this thing ever enormous. It's huuuuuge. And it takes about half the time to get my foundation over and done with, because ain't nobody got time for that. 

Granted, I've only really used it with these two foundations, both of which are very light coverage. Foundation for people with pretty decent skin, which happens to be me at this point in time (yaaaaaaaasssss), so I cannot really say one way or another how this fares with a thicker formula. 

My favourite thing about this monster-brush is that it does everything. It spreads foundation like a flat/paddle brush, and buffs it like a flat top brush. All in one brush. Perhaps this is a tad premature and dramatic, but this is akin to a makeup miracle in my books. 

I'm currently looking at the new NARS foundation to try this with, but I'm a bit apprehensive because of my disastrous experience with NARS Sheer Glow. If only more brands had expanded shade ranges for their foundations. I have so much hope that Lisa Eldridge will help a sister out in her new gig at Lancome, but until then, it's slim pickings for me :(

xo Chloë

OOTD | Sweaters and Miniskirts

If there is such thing as clothing detox, please point me in the right direction because I am quite certain I am addicted to this sweater. It's becoming a problem. Because ideally, I would wear it every day, however that's kind of gross and not the most exciting. But I just keep on reaching for it. Even in warmer weather, I was all over it. I can't be stopped.

It feels like ages ago that I was down south in the sunshine, so it's a nice feeling to be writing about an outfit that's not essentially just a huge coat (although my leopard coat from Aritzia will be making an appearance on here soon!). I've had this mini skirt for ages, and it has turned out to be a fantastic Zara sale steal. One of my favourite bloggers, Laura from Buynow/Bloglater, had purchased the skirt and shown it in an OOTD post. I wasn't crazy about it at that point, but when I saw it in store I figured I'd give it a go, since it was so deeply discounted by that point. Needless to say, it came home with me and has been well-loved!

My accessories were pretty minimal for my whole trip, so you'll be seeing the same things quite often in these OOTD posts. While down in Sarasota, I purchased a beautiful necklace from Anthropologie with some Christmas money, and found that it pairs amazingly with my Tiffany & Co. Diamonds by the Yard pendant. I'm also wearing my rings from Victoire, a local boutique in Ottawa. These have pretty much been on my fingers since I bought them, so I'm declaring them as official "mainstays" of my collection. 

I'm not sure how I ended up deciding on socks with peep-toe booties, but if I remember correctly it was more functional than fashionable. I have yet to break in the toe-box of one of the shoes, so on went the socks! I actually kind of love it - it adds a touch of rock and roll to an otherwise quite tame outfit. Not that I'm particularly rock and roll, but I'm certainly not that tame, either...

Something tells me I'll be repeating this outfit this summer (or more likely this spring) when the weather is hovering around 20C. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when it's too hot to wear my beloved sweater, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. 

Outfit:

Skirt - Zara (really old!)
Sweater - Aritzia - Babaton Erin (link!)
Boots - Rag and Bone Noelle (link!)
Socks - Aritzia (link!)
Bag - Coach Factory (similar here)
Sunglasses - Warby Parker Reilly (link!)
Rings - Victoire (link!)
Necklaces - Anthropologie (no longer available) & Tiffany (link!)
Watch - Michael Kors (link!)

I suspect you've all noticed that my blog has a new look. I'd love to know what you all think - I adore it! It was time for a change (and an upgrade!) so I thought I would bite the bullet and buy a custom template on Etsy. The seller I bought from is here and she has loads of Blogger and Wordpress templates to choose from. Also top-notch tech support :) Highly recommend! 

xo Chloë

Good Skin Days

Once my skin calmed down from the inevitable mess that comes after flying, I've found myself being able to string together multiple "good skin days" in a row. Meaning minimal base, a touch of concealer, and whatever eye/lip/cheek combo I'm feeling that day. This is rare for me, to say the least. Once I'm certain that this isn't a fluke, I'll share my most recent skincare routine and discoveries, but in fear of possibly jinxing my delightfully blemish-free face I will wait for further confirmation and reassurance. I will, however, share some of my current face base routine... which features something new and stupid expensive. 

I had been hemming and hawing over this purchase for a while, never actually doing it because for some reason Chantecaille is only available at counters in Canada, and those are very few and far between. So when I happened across a counter in Saks at the UTC Mall in Sarasota... well... things happened. Just Skin happened. I obviously bought the shade Alabaster, which actually isn't that pale, but it's nice and sheer so it works for me. I haven't been using it long enough to have made up my mind as to whether it's worthy of a repurchase - it was $67 USD - but I wanted to share the fact that it's here and being tested rigorously :)

The other bits you've all seen before: Bobbi Brown corrector in porcelain bisque for my ridiculous undereye circles, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in the lightest shade, and my old faithful Hourglass Veil mineral primer. I keep going back to these products no matter how far I stray. 

Aside from these four core products, I usually sweep on a powder, either my Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Ethereal Light or my Tarte loose setting powder. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect setting powder, so any suggestions are welcome! I admittedly feel a bit half-arsed for this post, as I don't have a full face photo to actually show these products at work. My excuse is that I've totally re-done and moved my filming/blogging/photo area and have yet to work out most of the kinks. Please be patient with me. I feel like I say that a lot, but I really do appreciate your understanding :)

xo Chloë