New Year's Eve!!!

I can't believe another year has come and gone, it feels like 2013 just started yesterday! This year has been a crazy one and I am so excited to ring in 2014 with my family this year. 

New Year's Eve has always held a special place in my heart as far as holidays go and this year is no different so I thought it would be the perfect time to share my favorite NYE looks with you!

Now, I've been a lazy little thing during winter break (seriously, I'm so so so sorry for the lack of posts, forgive me!) so I've actually turned this into a New Year's Eve master post. By that I mean I had initially intended to make two different posts, one with fashion looks and the other with a makeup tutorial but this one is chock full of all of that so let's get started.

All of the looks featured below can be found on my Polyvore page!

For all you fabulous Monogrammed Magnolias out there I've compiled my favorite glam look for all those New Year's Eve parties that you're bound to find yourself at this holiday season. 

This year it's all gold everything, and not just gold...but gold glitter!

I love this classic, glamorous look and with all the glitz you're sure to shine brighter than Times Square at midnight!

Don't forget to check out this look and all of the items and products featured on my Polyvore page.

This next look is for all you couch potatoes, no worries though, I'm totally with you! There is nothing I love more than curling up on the couch to watch the ball drop in the comfort of my own home, call me crazy but nothing's better!

I love these cute little jammies! Especially the "A Little Party Never Killed Anybody" tee (I'm a little Gatsby obsessed!) and now perfect is that "Keep Calm and Ring It In" sweatshirt?! Adorable, I tell ya!

My plans are to turn my New Year's Eve evening into a spa night with my sister before channeling surfing between my beloved Anderson Cooper and the fabulous performances Ryan Seacrest is sure to introduce. 

Now, if you're not like me and you actually have fabulous plans that involve venturing out into the real world, I've got the perfect makeup look for any glitzy glam party you may stumble upon.

Glam Gold Eyes

Start with your favorite foundation and set with powder. 

Then contour the face with a bronzer a few shades darker than your skin tone. 

(Check out this video from Jaclyn Hill for some advice on how to contour.)

Next, apply a peachy blush (or one you feel compliments your skin tone best).  After applying the blush to the apples of my cheeks I primed my eyes with a cream nude primer but you can use any eye shadow primer you wish.

For my eyes, I stuck to shimmery neutrals because I plan on using gold glitter eyeliner and false lashes on my eyes. 

I started with the palest color in my inner corners and used a medium matte brown shade in my crease and outer corners. I think used a shimmery gold shade across my outer corners, keeping the mid lid and inner corners a pale shimmery color. 

I then used a black liquid felt tip eyeliner to create a winged look (check out this post on winged liner) and went above the line with a gold liner topped with gold glitter liner for sparkle. 

Next, I applied my favorite false lashes with a pair of tweezers for precise application. 

My final touch was a pale, shimmery nude pink lip. 

Here are pictures of the final look, sorry I forgot to take step-by-step pics. 

A close up of the winged eyeliner!

Fancy Merisa

Sorry these are kinda crappy quality, iPhone selfies were the best I could do at the time.

I hope you all have a fabulous and safe New Year!

until next time, lovelies.

xo

Merisa

My Blogspiration!

My name is Merisa and I am addicted to beauty and fashion blogs!

When I say I'm addicted I wish I was kidding, I'm always reading up on posts on Bloglovin in between classes and literally can't go a day without checking out my favorite videos from the beauty girls on YouTube. Now that all that is out in the open, I feel like the only way to move forward is to share my blogspiration with you! By blogspiration I mean the blogs that have inspired me to start this little page.

To start things off, here is one of my absolute favorite favorites and probably the first beauty blogger I ever stumbled upon. 

The lovely Miss Tanya Burr!

I first found Tanya on YouTube and fell in love with her fabulous makeup tutorials not to mention her adorable British accent! I've been following Tanya for a while now, so long that it feels like she's an extension of my circle of friends all the way in England. If you're into really easy and fun makeup tutorials I highly recommend Tanya's YouTube channel, she even does tons of collabs with her YouTube friends like Zoella and Joe Sugg as well as her adorably charming fiancé, Jim Chapman (his sisters run Pixiwoo and created the Real Techniques makeup brushes I love so)!

I also follow Tanya's blog on Bloglovin. She recently went to Dubai (so jealous!) and she's posted all kinds of cute photos so that we all can live vicariously through her. She also posts more in depth beauty posts like her recent look at the best winter lip colors. I love how Tanya's blog and channel give a little peek into her life and I hope my blog gives off that vibe a little too!

My next blogspiration beauty is the sassy and fabulous SarahBelle93x! 

This girl inspires me because she's just like me! A twenty-something Kentucky college girl majoring in political science but decided against law school so that she could follow bigger dreams? Hmmm, sounds very familiar if you ask me. 

I love Sarah Belle because she has shown me that what I'm trying to do is totally possible for a girl like me and for that she really is a true inspiration. I also love how sassy and fun she is, she's not afraid to laugh at herself and she makes her viewers feel like her best friends!

Now for the ultimate blogspiration, step in to the big leagues, girls, it's Courtney Kerr!!!

I have adored Courtney ever since she graced my television screen on Most Eligible Dallas, one of my many Bravo obsessions. Well, after the show ended I was feeling a bit of a Kerr sized void in my life so I went out searching for (aka: I googled her!). That's when I discovered What Courtney Wore, the array of fashion, fashion, and more fashion that only a Southern belle as fabulous as Courtney can provide. 

Now she's back on Bravo's spin-off show, Courtney Loves Dallas and I just can't get enough! I highly suggest you check it out on Bravo Thursday nights at 10pm! It's well worth it, Most Eligible Dallas cutie Matt Nordgren makes an appearance, even though he's fallen in the Dumb Boys category for breaking Courtney's heart he's still nice to look at. 

I hope this has given you a little insight into my blogging inspiration!

until next time, lovelies

xo

Merisa

December Ipsy Glam Bag!!!

Finals are over!!!

I am happy to report that Danielle and I both survived, even though it was a close call at some points.

I'm even happier to report that today marked another highlight - the December Ipsy Glam Bag arrived!!!

Yayyyyyy!

Just like last time, I am obsessed!!!

This month's theme is Celebration and they have hit the nail on the head because as soon as I opened that shiny pink package I wanted to go out on the town. 

These products are perfect for a fun night out. They're so versatile and will help you create the perfect look for a night of dancing or your best friend's holiday party!

Let's start with this bag though, how cute is this?

I just want to use this as a clutch for a night out and to be perfectly honest, I don't go out so thanks Ipsy for bringing that side of me out! :)

The wonders don't stop there, these products are seriously top notch and had me ripping open their packaging before even leaving the post office!

Lately, I have been on a serious blush and lipstick kick and apparently they lovely behind-the-scene peeps at Ipsy are mind readers because I got just that.

These shades are amazing and work really great with my skintone, however, I think the lipstick is a little on the cooler toned side so I'm going to need to be careful with that because I tend to lean more toward the warm tones. I think these shades also go really well together, they're practically the same color after all, but I think that goes to show that Ipsy really does put the effort in to create a bag that's going to offer the essentials for a really great look together as well as separate. My only struggle is that the blush is a heavy product and probably won't be very well suited for oily-skin types so be careful.
My favorite part about these two are definitely their names though. The lipstick from NYX is called Iced Honey while the Be a Bombshell... cream blush is called Girl Crush! LOVE!

The product I was least excited about when I opened my bag were the eyelashes (which I just realized aren't actually in this picture, that's because I had already tried them out!). \
I don't wear false eyelashes, mostly because of a tragic eyelash experience from like 3 Halloweens ago, but sticking true to my beauty girl ways I gave 'em a shot! And I loved it! 

OMG! I finally understand what all the fuss is about, false lashes are a wonder of the world! 

Check out those lashes! Overlook the new bangs, I was feeling frisky this past week and decided to DIY them.

Overall, the only product I wasn't completely satisfied with was the Nicka K nail polish. I don't what it is but Ipsy loves to put me in really neutral, brownish nail polish shades. Well, I'm just not feeling it.

I cannot even begin to describe how much I love these bags though! 

I highly recommend them!

So, if you're interested, I suggest clicking THIS LINK and heading over to Ipsy and grabbing your own Glam Bag for next month!

till next time, lovelies

xo

aFm

Finals Week!!!

Finals Week has officially begun for both Danielle and I so please excuse us from posting as frequently, we're trying to brighten our futures...or whatever they call it. 

But in the meantime here are some funny little posts to get your through your own Finals Hell.

Because the world is just a better place with Ryan Gosling telling you not to stress.

It's true, no one is excited about the hell that is to come.

A Finals Week Prayer to get you through. Amen.

Come on Rory, that's not what's important at all! 

And finally, remember lovelies, you can do this!

 'til next time, darlings.

xo

aFm

May the odds be ever in your passing favor!

All pictures found on Pinterest.

Holiday Gift Guide

If you're like me you've probably already experienced the flood of emails flashing insane percentages off and coupon codes galore today, well that's because it's that time of year again!

Happy Cyber Monday!!!

It's time to celebrate and what better way to celebrate a day of ah-may-zing deals than with a guide to help you navigate your way through the madness! Hopefully this guide will help inspire you on your search for that perfect gift for everyone special in your life.

You can check out where to get all of the items pictured below on my Polyvore page!

Here are some great gifts for your best friend that are perfect for a college girl's budget! We especially love the monogrammed t-shit!

Keep your momma on trend with these amazing rose gold gifts!

These little gadgets and gizmos would be perfect for any special guy in your life, and they're budget friendly too!

Now time for the grand finale of the gift guide world, Your Wish List! After all, you've made it through another year, why not splurge on your self a little?

Hope you find some great deals, lovelies! Let me know what's on your wish list this year!
xo
aFm

Sunday Style

Ahhhh! We're back!

So sorry for the lack of posts but we've been taking a break from blogging this past week to enjoy all the goodness of Thanksgiving Break! I had an amazing time with my family, and our new Yorkie puppies, I hope that you all had an equally wonderful time too! 

I can't believe it's already December! It seems like summertime was just yesterday, which I suppose that's because down in the South it's been feeling a little summery except for here recently. 

Enough of that though, back to business! 

Seeing as today is the first of December (yay!), I thought it would be fun to give you a peek at a few different styles that I am loving this holiday season! I've created 3 different sets to showcase my picks and you can check them out as well as all of the items pictured on my Polyvore!

When it comes to the craziness of Finals Week and Winter Break I just want to surround myself with comfort and for me nothing is comfier than cable-knit! 

In the winter I want all cable-knit everything from my head to my toes, literally! I especially love when designers mix cable knit comfort with glamorous sparkle like in the headwrap shown above.

This next style is a classic that can really go for any season but I am absolutely obsessed with it at the moment, it's tortoise shell!

Tortoise shell just screams classic to me and puts me in the mind of classic style like Jackie Kennedy, and who doesn't want that? Of course I had to include my favorite monogrammed pieces too, fit for any Monogrammed Magnolia girl!

I don't know if my style is just evolving as I get older or what but I am usually a die-hard sterling silver lover but recently I have become obsessed with gold sparkle! (I'll blame it on the killer Deborah Lippman nail polish I got earlier last month that's pictured below)

 This style screams holiday glam to me. From the gold baubles, sparkly shoes, and foiled clutch you'd totally be set for even the best of holiday parties! Plus no holiday would be complete without a little sparkle, right?

I love all of these styles and I hope you check out some of these amazing finds on angelmerisa.polyvore.com

'til next time, lovelies

xo

aFm

PS: Prays for Danielle and I to sail smoothly through Finals Week would be greatly appreciated! xoxo