More on Facial Care: Witch Hazel

I'm still working on discovering my perfect facial care routine. Today, I share my experience with witch hazel.

Skin Care Basics

Today we are talking skin care!



What are your favorite skin care products?

Youtube: Beginner's Vintage Beauty Kit

Getting started in vintage can be pretty intimidating! But vintage make up can be simpler than you think! Here are my top beauty products that you need for a vintage look.


What are your vintage beauty must haves?

Youtube: Spring Beauty Hits and Misses

I've been trying some new beauty products over the past few months, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on them. Enjoy!


I'm also on the hunt for a new foundation, so please leave me your recommendations!

On Vanity

Those of us in the vintage community are used to being over dressed. In general, I enjoy being the best dressed person at an event but sometimes I just feel, well, vain. Perhaps it is my chosen profession. Chemists are among the people expected to have the least amount of fashion sense.

See, it's all lab coats and safety goggles. It's not that chemists can't look nice. I know some who do, but with wardrobe limitations due to safety and the natural hazard to anything you might wear due acids and other gnarly chemicals, it doesn't exactly encourage a trendy wardrobe.

I often fear that I will be perceived as less serious when I dress in such an overtly fashionable way. And it is true that the bulk of my wardrobe is completely inappropriate for work. *sigh*

Yet there is another arena of my life where fashion is utterly inappropriate. I go to a very active and involved church, which is not a problem in itself, but we meet in a riding arena. Dust, dirt, cats, horses, no ac, no central heating and an entire pit of sand to walk in. Don't get me wrong. It's a nice riding arena and there have been loads of improvement since we first moved our church there, but most people dress appropriately for the conditions.

And then there's me who can't remember the last time she wore a pair of sneakers. And I wouldn't wear them to the arena anyways because they are suede.

But all of these are really just reflections of the attitude prevalent in modern society. People marvel at me when I wear hats but for hundreds of years, no woman would dare leave the house with her head uncovered. Even in the 50s hats were a regular part of a woman's wardrobe. Oh, for the days when showing your ankle was scandalous! Now I can barely walk out the door without seeing some shirtless, overweight middle aged shirtless man and the undergarments of 9/10 of the young women I see.

Compared to the low standards of modern society, I don't see myself as vain at all just putting in a bit of effort, but that doesn't keep me from feeling that way.

I like nice things. I have pretty and impractical shoes. My one pair of rtw shorts come from White House Black Market. I adore giant poofy skirts. I pin curl my hair. I wear red lipstick and winged eyeliner.

And tonight, I will be going to my church's 4th of July fireworks event. It will likely break 100 F and it will be crazy humid. I will be wearing a dress and a crinoline and red lipstick. But I will be practical and leave my hat at home.

And mostly, I'm ok with that. What the average person doesn't realize is that it doesn't really take that much effort to look great. A cute dress is easier to slip on than jeans and a t-shirt. I spend less time on my hair than most teenage girls. And red lipstick is not hard to wear. It just takes courage.

So here is my message to all of you whether you are already a fashionista or if there is a stylish woman inside of you who has been too scared to break out of her shell. This is the message that I have to tell myself sometimes when I look in the mirror.

It's ok to be fabulous. It's ok to be different. It's ok to be beautiful.

This is how I feel fabulous and different and beautiful. Sometimes, other people may make you feel bad for being fabulous and different and beautiful but you can't let them keep you down.

And now I have to go do my hair and put my lippy on.

Make up Review and Blogger Award

This make up review is for an eyebrow powder to help you get those lovely vintage brows!

I've also been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by Tina of Down the Retro Rabbit Hole! Thanks!

I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself.

1. I'm an avid scrapbooker. I posted some of my work back in January but it's my other expensive hobby.

2. I like science and math and all of those other school subjects people love to hate. (Except gym. Everyone hates gym.) I also hate history. Go figure I'd fall in love with vintage and historical costuming.

3. I love to read. My favorite kinds of books are science fiction and fantasy (especially the kind that use both.). I read voraciously in middle and high school and have only recently had enough time to read again. My favorite authors are Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings and Sara Douglass.

4. I'm the oldest of four with two sisters and a brother. I also have an older half-brother but his mom and my dad didn't get married till I was in high school so I've definitely got the oldest kid personality.

5. I'm a crazy picky eater. It drives my husband nuts as he loves all kinds of foods. My philosophy is that I'm an adult and no longer have to eat yucky foods I don't like.

6. I didn't see Titanic till I was 18 despite the fact that it came out when I was in fourth grade. For whatever reason, my mom thought it was "bad" for me despite the fact that I watched movies with much worse. I also didn't see Gone with the Wind or anything Audrey Hepburn till after I was an adult.

7. I generally hate anything that requires me to be outside, get exercise or sweat but I adore bike riding. I found out about a great bike path near my house last summer and I've been biking there ever since.

Youtube: Versatile Vintage Brows

Enjoy my latest video! Happy Wednesday all.

Youtube: Red Lip Tips for Beginners

Red lips are a classic finish to any vintage look, but they can be pretty intimidating! So here I share my tips and favorite products that can help work you up to a bold red lip or work for days when you aren't feeling up for something so loud.

Kat Von D Makeup Review

My review of some Kat Von D makeup! And Lisa Freemont Street posted a review of this line today too!

Review of Lauren Rennells' "Retro Makeup"

Check out my review of Lauren Rennells' "Retro Makeup"! The Reader's Digest version is BUY THIS BOOK NOW!

Fingerwaves

Today I tried out a new hair do! First go at fingerwaves. Yay!

My heavy side of my part came out a bit more like a Marcel wave rather than a fingerwave but it did stay in all day.

See-super wavey! It did flatten out to more of a 30s look by the end of the day. And I usually make my hair curlier than I want since it tends to flatten a lot during the day. Plus I had goggles on at work!

The back was kind of ehhh. I think I need to try a different setting pattern. The sides were pincurled in alternating rows (ie cw, ccw, cw, etc.) and the back I curled under with sponge rollers since it was too short.

My makeup is from Lauren Rennells vintage makeup book. Epp! My eyebrows look red. All of the eyebrow pencils I've been able to find are reddish brown. :(

1940s/1950s Inspired Everyday Makeup Look

Here's my very first makeup tutorial!

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

So Thursday I finally got around to trying out the Night Out make up look. It was fun. I opted to use green instead of blue since I don't really like blue on myself. The look turned out ok for my first go. I think next time I'd try purple instead. And the girl in the video had really pigmented colors that showed up really well. My make up was more sheer, but I'll definitely try this look again.


Here's what my eyes look like.

Again, I think a more pigmented color would look better. The green was a little disconcerting too. I felt a bit like a lizard.

I went with a sexy secretary type look. Wish I'd had time to do a Mad Men style hair do!

Skirt: thrifted
Sweater: Ann Taylor Loft
Shirt: Charlotte Russe
Shoes: DSW
Necklace: New York and Company

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend!

To Fringe or Not to Fringe

While dithering about whether or not to grow out my hair, I have left my bangs alone. They started out as a short betty page length and have now progressed to past my eyebrows and are quite unmanageable. I could grow them out with everything else or chop them again. I'm so torn between all of the adorable hairstyles with and without bangs!

Vintage Fringe

A cute curly fringe.

A smoother bang.

Pin-curl diagram for bangs!

More bangs.

Betty Page style fringe.

With my bangs, I have been able to get both the smooth, Betty Page style and curly style using a curling iron and pin curls, respectively.

Vintage No Fringe

A soft vintage look.

A more spunky, curly look.

The faux bang made by rolling the hair or with a rat (which I have NOT mastered.).

Modern Vintage-y Bangs

Zooey Deschanel with her cute, eclectic, vintage-y wardrobe.

Another Zooey-I couldn't resist!

Kenley Collins showing a definite vintage vibe.

I love the eclectic, vintage-y look, especially for a beginner like me with a modest vintage wardrobe and a job that does not jive with true vintage attire. (I cringe at the thought of dripping chemicals on a 60+ year old garment! No vintage in the lab!)

As I continue to ponder this, I'll probably end up with a post of my bangs styled in a couple different ways.

So, what do people think? Fringe or no fringe?