Spring Semester Trend Report 2014

Winter Break is officially over, say it ain't so! :(

Ahhh! I don't want it to end but sadly that pesky "real world" everyone keeps talking about is knocking on the door and we've all gotta answer. 

Just because I'm sad to see the end of my lazy days doesn't mean I'm sad to see the start of a new semester though! There's just something about the spring semester that gives everything a more optimistic turn and I'm taking that bit of optimism and running with it. 

That's why I've compiled a look into some of my favorite trends for this upcoming semester. Now, these might be trends you already know and love but that's kinda the point, these are trends that make me happy and excited to get dressed in the morning so let's have at it!

Who doesn't love a great statement necklace? I mean, they're kinda awesome. They have the ability to turn a casual tee or sweater into a glam outfit and add a brilliant pop of color to any outfit. In fact, I'm wearing a school spirited statement necklace from Charming Charlie (similar) for my last first day of classes!

If by some miracle I happened upon a large sum of money I would most likely spend the majority of my fortune on Tory Burch flats, I'm just being honest. Sadly, I do not have the kind of cash to blow on these little beauties but that doesn't mean flats are completely out. I LOVE flats whether they're Tory Burch, the Gap, or Target I love 'em all! A.) they're super comfy, B.) they can really dress up an outfit, and C.) they come in all different shapes, colors, and styles! What's not to love?!

I vow to start stepping outside of my comfort zone with flats, maybe I'll pick up a cute red pair like those pictured above!

In case you couldn't tell, this next trend is inspired by the lovely sarahbelle93x!

(You should totally go check out her YouTube channel, stalk her on Twitter, then crush on everything she does on Pinterest!)

I follow Sarah on like every social media platform...ever, so that pretty much means that I just drool over her incredible style all day, every day. Take this look she posted to her Instagram last week for example. Uhh, polka dots and camo?! Girl can style anything and that's why I've made mixing prints one of my trends to watch. It's time to be fun and fearless because well...YOLO!

Yes, that just happened, go with it.

 

This next trend is probably one only actually trending by me but I adore leopard print (that is just the print, not the actual fur. We're pro-animals 'round here!).
I will literally wear leopard print with anything. In fact, I'm wearing leopard shoes from Target right now! They're kinda my staple, I've had at least one pair of leopard print flats or Toms or something since I was a freshman in high school.
I might even try tossing in some leopard with another print soon to tackle that whole mixing prints trend from above. I'll keep ya posted on how it goes!

Good luck to anyone out there starting your spring semester today or very soon!

until next time, darlings.
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

Little Black Bag

So, thanks to the lovely Sarah Belle and her May Favorites video over on youtube.com/sarahbelle93x (you should really check her out if you haven't already, seriously open another tab...it's worth it!) I was introduced to a little site known as littleblackbag.com. After hearing Sarah explain the concept of the site, seeing showing off her fun goodies from them, and the offer of a free gift link (check out the May Favorites video to get the link) I was hooked and had to check out the site for myself. 

Upon signing up you're asked to take a quick & simple style quiz, which was actually pretty fun if I do say so myself. From there you'll be stylistically (did I make up a new word?) matched up with a gallery of products from handbags to cosmetics and everything in between, even shoes and sunglasses! I don't think I got to pick my free gift but to start your little black bag experience you pick one key piece to put in your bag and that item is matched up with 2-3 other items that are picked by the stylists and placed into your bag at a discounted bundled price. However, since I was getting a free gift via Sarah's link they kinda made it seem like I was just getting two bonus gifts in my bundle. Well, anyway, once you get the stylist picked bundle in your bag you're able to see the mystery gifts and choose to either go ahead and ship your items or, and here's the fun part, trade your items with other site members for something that's more to your liking! 

My key gift was a First Aid Beauty Repair Eye Cream that I wanted to try out because I'd seen the brand on Sephora and have been looking for something to ease the rough patches I get around my eyes from my allergies. My bonus gifts turned out to be a really antiquey gold looking eye shadow from Pixi that I was really excited about when I saw it in the gallery and a kinda gross looking brown shade from the same brand. I was totally prepared to keep the first two and trade the brown shadow but it seemed like no one wanted it, I couldn't really blame them the picture made it look quite unattractive for an eyeshadow. However, I got tons of offers to trade my gold shadow and my eye cream. All of which I denied (sorry!) even when it came down to a dangly seahorse ring that was super cute, but come on when am I going to sport a seahorse dangling from my finger?

I ended up just letting the trading period slip by without actually trading anything but I must say the experience was quite fun and I enjoyed seeing what the stylists picked for a few different members and trying to barter away my murky brown shadow. 

Once my items shipped I was asked if I wanted to become a VIP Member of the site for $9.95 a month and I figured I pay that much for my Birchbox subscription that I'm not too happy with at the moment (more to come on that subject) so I thought I'd give it a try. After setting up my subscription I was given a new gallery tailored to me personally based on my answers from the style quiz and they were pretty spot on. 

I wanted to buy everything I saw (I've circled some of my favorites) and the discounted prices and promise of mystery bundled deals didn't help. 

I ended up falling for this navy patent leather tote

and even really adored this polka dotted number for some odd reason

It was like half off retail and had two other items in the bundle at that price so I was very tempted but decided that I should probably get through my first Little black Bag experience before I started another.

Then this came in the mail

How precious, "every girl needs a little black bag." They definitely get an A for packaging, the products were even wrapped up in black tissue paper. However, that's about the highlight of the experience. Yes, that's right folks, the Little Black Bag ending up being a Little Black Bomb from the moment I tore open that tissue paper and discovered this...

Yes, glitter gals, that is a cracked eye cream! Gasp! Now, I understand the rough journey that is the postal route of such a tiny package but this little bottle was double bubble wrapped! I repeat, double bubble wrapped! There's no way this little guy could have received such a battle wound while incased in the wonder that is bubble wrap. No friends, this was a pre-transit attack and with the accompaniment of a few other scars I noticed from the labels of the products and a chipped eyeshadow I came to the conclusion that these "free gifts" might very well be damaged or returned goods and I don't know whether to be appalled or remain appreciative. Eh, they all still worked so we'll go with the latter.

Now on to the eyeshadows, turns out I was wrong about them and shouldn't have judged them from what now appears to be poor quality photography.

I was right about the gold being antiquey as it's even in its name, "Antique Gold" even though the actual color was completely off and I was surprisingly wrong about the "Bronze Beam" that has nothing murky brown about it. However, while that's great and all these are absolutely terrible shadows. They are so dusty and lack luster that I'm glad I didn't pay for them! Infact, I had more shadow dust on my cheekbones after applying these shades that I wished I hadn't already applied highlighter/bronzed because once I brushed it away the remains on my cheeks was a bit of an overload.

Overall, I wasn't happy with the products. The eye cream is really thick and creamy which is what I look for in an eye cream but I really don't feel like it's doing much other than making my eyelids a little shiny and the shadows were definitely not worth it which was rather disappointing.

I do, however, really like the site and think that if you play around with it enough you might be able to score some really great deals. I'm still thinking about snatching up that navy tote.

If you decide you wanna give it a go and see for yourself you can get started by clicking this link

http://littleblackbag.com/v/InviteFriendsGet50

Thanks to SarahBelle93x for recommending the site and for the free gift, we'll see what we can do with them.

xo

aFm