Inspiration for life

So, it's no secret that I'm obsessed with all things summer. Not to mention boho/hippie chic, bright colors, Native American prints, sheer fabrics, florals, chunky jewelry. . .the list goes on and on. These are some of the photos that have been my fashion inspiration lately as well as life inspiration. I love the easy, carefree attitude of most of these photos and the beautiful natural settings.

Billabong
Free People

Billabong

Free People

Alberta Ferretti

MinkPink

Burberry

Free People

Jeffrey Campbell

Free People

April showers bring. . .Favorites!

These are the items I have been using over and over throughout the month of April. The weather got considerably warmer here in April and it was my first month of being tan so I was loving the golds and brights to bring that out!

HAIR: Because of the humidity and rain I used quite a bit of my Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves frizz control hair cream. It works pretty well and smells like coconuts so that's pretty much all I can ask for! I also found and fell in love with the Aussie Hair Insurance leave in conditioner. This also smells very tropical and sprays in a fine mist so I never used too much product, which I am definitely guilty of.

BATH and BODY: In the middle of March I started shopping at Bath and Body Works again after a few years of not being too impressed with their products. I definitely fell in love with the company again and mostly because of their new fragrance Country Chic. It's floral and a little bit citrus and so light and fresh, I'm absolutely obsessed! This is the lotion just because it had the prettiest label, but I have pretty much the entire Country Chic collection and use it daily! The other product is the Bali Mango shower gel. I'm actually not too big on lotion, so I usually choose shower gels and body splashes at BaBW and this one makes me feel like I'm transported to a tropical getaway.

MAKEUP:

Cream blush is my favorite and MAC Joie de Vivre is the perfect coral-pink. This cremeblend blush came out with the MAC in Lillyland collection.

The eyeshadow next to it is Tempting (Lustre) from the Style Warriors collection, but the color is permanent. This is one of my favorite golds that I use in the crease.

Evening Aura (Veluxe Pearl) eyeshadow is next from the Neo Sci-Fi collection and this is my favorite highlight color. The orangey gold color complements a tan really well and I find that using this instead of a white highlight makes me look so much more awake.

The lipstick is also from Style Warriors and it's called Sunsational (Glaze). It really doesn't do much but give my lips a bit of a golden sheen which is perfect for work and daytime.

My Urban Decay Summer of Love Palette from last summer is one of my favorites year round. My favorite color is the middle neutral Chopper. The lightest neutral Maui Wowie is also really pretty, but I reserve that one for night because there is a ton of glitter!

I've had this gold eyeliner in my drawer for a while but never opened it. I finally did in April and have been using it on the inner corners and to line underneath my eyes. This is definitely going to be a new staple for me and it's ULTA brand, so it's cheap too!

The rest of the items are: Benefit Erase Paste in shade No. 2, Benefit Hoola bronzer, Maybelline One by One mascara, Sinful Colors nail polish in Timbleberry, and Buxom lip gloss in Lacey. . .Buxom glosses are my most favorite lip product!

What are your favorite beauty products of April?

Let down your hair

Rapunzel, Rapunzel by LaurenL0vesL0ve on Polyvore.com





I have thicker hair than anyone I know. It's also really long right now. Fun to take care of right? These are a few of my saving graces and tools that I love no matter what the occasion or time of year.

I used to do my hair everyday without fail no matter what. To me this means blow dry and straighten or curl. Somewhere around junior year of college I got lazy or bored or both and for the first time in my life let it do its natural thing. Don't get me wrong, I still love to do my hair for an event or night out, but there is just too much of it to go through this every single day and it doesn't hurt that I'm really into the bohemian/hippie thing right now. Perfect.

I really try not to blow dry my hair more than once a week. Even if I straighten or curl it I try to let it air dry before I do. This also helps because I have the kind of hair that will not curl no matter how much coaxing or hairspray I use, so when I already have some texture to my hair it curls much better. Enter the Conair You Curl wand, my solution to curl heaven. I don't know what it is about this iron, but it's the only one I've ever used that makes my hair stay curled. Even the next morning the curls have hardly fallen. I am in love.

I've talked about sea salt spray before and I will talk about it again. It is hands down my favorite hair product. My only issue is how few drugstore brands make one and the few that do tend to leave my hair really crunchy. My favorite is the Garnier Fructis Surf Hair spray which I fell in love with when I studied abroad in Sydney, Australia. I came home to find that they either don't sell it in the US or you can only get it in some sort of store I haven't found yet. We do have the surf hair paste though, which I like but it's not the spray. I'm going to try to make my own spray this summer, or maybe take a bottle full from the source when I go to the beach.

Since my hair is so thick I also use a leave in conditioner daily. I've tried countless different kinds and I usually find these are pretty standard and they all seem to do their job. I do prefer a spray over a cream however so as to not weigh my hair down. Some of my favorites are Aussie Hair Insurance and Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner.

One trick I have learned is my use of dry shampoo. When I air dry my hair the roots end up really flat because my hair is so heavy. Once it's completely dry I lift sections on the sides and back and spray the dry shampoo to give a little body without teasing.

95% of the time I have to put my hair up at work because I work in a confectionary and the other 5 I'm either working outside or running around all day. So it's pretty much top knots and lots of braids for me. This easy, no fuss hair routine I've developed is perfect for my lifestyle and I really love the controlled mess, undone look. What are your must have hair products?

Define normal. . .

I've had some internet issues the last few days so this post is going to be a simple one. I don't think my computer is back up to par just yet so I'm giving it a little slack and a little time to fully recover.

So. . .lets talk about books!

Most days, especially lately, I have been reading like there is no tomorrow. I read pretty much any sort of genre, but young adult fiction of any kind is my favorite. I'm also really picky about my books, they have to draw me in somehow either with the cover or the subject matter. I actually have always been really jealous of those people who can just pick up any book and suddenly be completely emersed. Well that's not me, so girly, pretty things rule in my world.

I never expected to enjoy Matched by Allie Condie as much as I did. The cover is beautiful and I read the summary a few times at Target, but always ended up not buying it. So when I saw the book at the library I thought why not give it a shot. And let me tell you, I read this in 2 nights and I am thrilled this book is being turned into a trilogy because I can't wait for more!

When I was probably in 3rd of 4th grade we read The Giver by Lois Lowry in class. This is the first thing I thought of when I started reading Matched. The society is very similar in many ways. Everything is basically decided for you in this world, what you're going to eat, where you're going to work, who you're going to marry, and when you're going to die. In The Giver the story focused mostly on job assignment and while that is touched on in Matched, it is mostly about potential marital "matches." 17 is the matching year for these kids and they can be matched at any time during that year depending on when their match also turns 17. Matches are made very scientifically through basically survival of the fittest. The person you are matched with is said to be the absolute perfect match for you.

The story follows Cassia, a girl who is matched to a boy she knows which is almost unheard of since the database is full of millions of 17 year olds. At the beginning she never questions the society or why the officials do what they do, but there is a glitch with her micro chip that reveals biographical information about her match and she sees another boys face, whom she also knows. Cassia starts realizing that maybe there are decisions to be made and she starts rebeling against the society and starts to use her own thoughts more than she ever did before.

I really enjoy dystopia and being able to imagine what it would be like to live in a world with these rules and what I would be assigned to do and in this case who I would be matched to. This book is really well written and uses some poems that make their way through the story. I love seeing really strong female characters who didn't really know they possessed this strength before, and that is definitely the description of Cassia. I kept trying to slow down not wanting it to end but at the same time I had to find out what happened next. The characters are really easy to get attached to and really relateable even though they live in this strict society. I would absolutely, 100% recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun read! I think this is one of those books that crosses lines and is easily enjoyable by almost anyone, no matter what your reading preferences. Well I guess as long as you enjoy futuristic type novels. . .

you'll like this if: you enjoyed The Giver growing up, The Uglies series by Scott Westerfield (also one of my favorites!), or The Hunger Games (which I have only heard, I still haven't read those books! I know I'm the only one who hasn't.)

Brave New Beauty by LaurenL0vesL0ve on Polyvore.com

Being a Florida girl and a self-proclaimed tan-a-holic, summer is always on my horizon even if it's Christmas. Now that it's finally almost here, here are a few of my favorite beauty picks for the upcoming most wonderful season!

I can never stress how important sunblock is. I use it like it's going out of style and one of my favorites is this Neutrogena cooling mist. Our summers are sweltering here in the South and this is perfect if there's no water to jump into.

That being said, it's way too hot to be one of those girls who never goes in the pool. Sea Salt spray is my best friend this time of year, and I am really excited to try the new Bumble and Bumble one.

The Urban Decay Naked Palette has all the perfect colors for summer. I personally love golds and champagnes to bring out a tan. I love to use a little pop of color in my makeup too, and blue and purple eyeliner to bring out my blue eyes is my favorite trick. Along the same makeup lines a good bronzer is my most important beauty product for summer fun. Benefit Hoola is my absolute favorite. Don't forget the waterproof mascara! I don't know why but any mascara with one of those plastic/silicone/bendy applicators is high on my list. So descriptive and concise right?

I don't know about any of you, but I really get sucked into buying these limited edition Stila palettes. The new summer ones look like they're going to be really pretty, although I am going to miss the cream blush from the ones last year. I'll still buy them anyway though. . .ugh!

Coral lips and nails are still my favorite like I said in yesterday's post, and my favorite blush is a little bit coral too actually. It's a MAC Cremeblend blush called Joie de Vivre, I don't think it's the exact one in the photo however.

Anyone have any essentials that I missed? And what are your summer must haves?

Love, Lauren

Garden Party

Garden Party by LaurenL0vesL0ve featuring lock bags




Happy Easter everyone! I can't believe how fast the spring has gone by! I feel like it was just finally time for some brighter colors and where I live we're already way into bikinis and flip flops! Here's a little outfit insprired by Easter and all the beautiful flowers outside!

I'm really loving these dresses and shirts that start with a trickle of the design at the top and end up (in this case) in a full on Garden Party at the bottom! I think they look fresh and flirty and perfect for the spring and summer!

I've also been into mixing harder and softer elements and I think this leather jacket looks amazing with the pretty floral dress.

Structured bags and coral lips are also atop my list for the summer this year! Coral lips seem to suit everyone with lots of different variations to choose from.

Throw on a floppy hat and some pretty heels or wedges and you're ready to go!


I'm going to go eat mass amounts of chocolate and then I think go see Water For Elephants later today! I hope you lovelies have a great day and week! Summer is coming!