Lip Loves: L'Oreal Color Caresse Wet Shine Stain & Maybelline Color Whisper

I haven't reviewed beauty products in what seems like an eternity so I'm so excited to share a couple of products with you that I've been using recently that are deserving of a review.

As you all know, my makeup routine is the exact same everyday. I use the same products and apply them the same way.  The one exception to this is lip products. I find myself trying new lip products more than any other makeup products.  I get less attached to lip products and always want to try the new lip gloss or lipstick whereas I don't feel the same thrill to try a new foundation or bronzer (in fact, I can be downright reluctant to).

Two products have impressed me recently. The first is L'Oreal's Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain.  It was an impulse buy at the grocery store and since I hadn't bought makeup in months, I thought, why not? I'm so glad I got it because I absolutely love it (and it was on sale too!)

It's basically applies like a stain, but shines like a gloss.  It doesn't give the super-shine look like most glosses do, but that's what I love about it. The shine is more subtle, but it's still glossy and has the look of a gloss, without feeling too sticky or heavy. The texture is lovely and it is long-lasting. I put it on every morning before I leave the house!

Mine is in the color "Pink Perseverance." It's a beautiful soft pink. You can buy it here.

The second lip product I'm enjoying is Maybelline's new Color Whisper gloss. It's similar to Revlon's lip butters, but truthfully, I like this one better. I like how it gives a very sheer color to the lips and I like the way it feels. It doesn't have a residue at all and it feels balmy. Perhaps what I appreciate most about it is that 

I got the color "Petal Rebel." The color is a pretty pink---but not a baby pink (which is what a lot of my glosses are). You can buy it here.

Have you tried any new products lately that you love? Or have you tried the ones I've reviewed here? Leave me your comments below!

Thank you for reading!

FTC: I purchased these products with my own money. These are my honest thoughts and I am not being compensated for this review.

PS- My friend's Etsy shop, Mint Tangerine is having a Valentine's Day Sale! Use the code LOVE20 at checkout to get 20% off of any purchase. Click here to check out what's new in her shop!

(aren't these pretty!?)

22 weeks!

I haven't been blogging much lately. Things have been so busy at work that I'm typically pretty tired by the time I get home and ready to eat dinner, watch a couple of shows and go to bed. I love being busy at work though, so no complaints here. Even though I have four months left at work, I feel like I'm trying to get as much done as possible before I leave for 12 weeks, so that may be a part of it too.

This has nothing to do with my 22 week update, but I wanted to share my weekly hair routine since I had some ladies ask about it when I posted the photo below of my fourth day hair on Instagram over the weekend.  I guess it's somewhat baby-related though since having a hair routine that doesn't take a lot of time every week is beneficial for any new mom (or anyone, for that matter, baby or not).

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know that I wash my hair just twice a week. Over the years, I've trained it to not get so oily, enabling me to go longer between washes and it's one of the best decisions I've made because it means less time washing, styling and overall messing with my hair (you can read my original hair washing post here). 

I'm especially thankful for a quick routine with a baby on the way because, believe me, I would not have time to wash and style my hair every day or even every other day with a baby to care for (heck, I don't even want to spend that much time washing/blowdrying it now!) Just as a recap, here's my weekly routine:

Monday- wash and blow-dry my hair, set in velcro rollers. Total time (including full shower/washing hair/blow drying: about 35 minutes). It helps to have a really great hairdryer that dries hair quickly. I use the CHI touch hairdryer and I also love my Elchim hairdryer. It's incredible what a difference it makes time-wise to use a professional dryer. 

Tuesday- I either keep it straight (just run a brush through it) or I curl it. Curling it with a curling iron (3-4 curls on each side) takes me 6-7 minutes total.

Wednesday- if I kept it straight, I will usually curl it, so another 6-7 minutes. I also spray some dry shampoo on the roots. If it's already curled, I might spend 2-3 minutes touching up the front pieces with the curling iron and then just run my fingers though it.

Thursday- same as Monday- wash, blowdry, set in velcro rollers for shape/volume

Friday- curl with curling iron 

Saturday & Sunday- Brush out curls and use texture cream to revive curls a bit. I no longer style my hair with heat on weekends.  I just wake up, brush out the curls and use a tiny bit of texture cream to "scrunch" through the ends which seems to revive my curls and make them loose and flowy. It takes less than a minute. My hair seems to hold curl well enough to maintain a loose-wave look, but if you have really straight hair naturally, this may not be an option.

I know this routine isn't doable for everyone (it completely depends on your hair type/how much time you want to spend) but that's what I do every week and it's been working well.  Once the baby is here and I go back to work, I may switch to washing and blowdrying my hair at night those two days so that I don't have to do it in the morning, but we will see. Overall, I think I spend a lot less time on my hair weekly than someone who washes daily/every other day and then blow-dries.  I definitely spend more time on it than someone with a wash-and-go style, but I've long accepted that I don't have a wash-and-go hair type (I'm seriously envious of you gals who can air dry your hair and have nice, smooth-looking locks!) 

UPDATE: I had a few ladies ask in the comments what I do with my hair on days I don't wash it. When I shower, I wrap my hair in a towel, turban-style, so that I avoid getting it wet in the shower and also because the cotton is breathable whereas a plastic shower cap is not, and can cause frizz. I take pretty short showers (a few minutes) just to wash my body, so this trick works perfectly for me.

The other thing I was asked about was what I do with my hair when I sleep. I use a clip to secure it into a big ballerina bun on top of my head. I make it loose so it's comfortable. I find that wearing your hair high on your head as you sleeps helps keep volume intact. I actually used to sleep with it down, but I noticed when I clipped it up my style seemed to remain intact better and it was more comfortable overall.

If you're a mom (or soon-to-be mom)---please feel free to leave me a comment about how you streamlined your morning routine, especially if you went/are going back to work. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, this is really not an important issue, but I'll be focused on so many other (much more important) things once the baby is here that I'd love to know all of your mom/baby morning routine tips now. I absolutely love reading your comments and advice every week :) 

How far along? 22 weeks (I do these a week behind as a recap of the previous week, so I'm actually 23 weeks today.)

Total weight gain/loss: About 5 lbs so far. I will find out my total weight gain so far at my 24 week appointment.

Maternity clothes? I'm still wearing maternity pants and my regular clothes.  Now that it's warming up, I can't wait to start wearing dresses and skirts again. I have been avoiding them for the last couple of months because I hate wearing tights now. Even the non-control top ones feel uncomfortable after a couple of hours. Once I can go bare-legged, I'm breaking out the dresses and skirts again (whichever ones still fit, that is, haha). 

Stretch marks? I'm continuing to use Belli's Elasticity Belly Oil, Mamma Mio Tummy Rub and Mustela double-action stretch mark cream in rotation, at night only.

Symptoms: I felt good this week. A little tired, but overall I'm feeling good.

Sleep: Still using my Snoogle and have been sleeping pretty well this week, save a few nights.

Best moment this week: Getting our first baby furniture delivery. Our dresser arrived and we are so happy with it!  I can't wait to order the rest of room's furniture and accessories and start putting it all together. 

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Not having to pee all the time.

Movement: Still feeling movement daily---I always notice she kicks around the same times everyday.

Food cravings: Ice cream, butterfingers (and butterfingers mixed into ice cream)...mmmmmmm.......

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.


Have you started to show yet: Definitely! I haven't noticed a lot of change in my belly size this week though.

Baby is a: Girl!

Belly Button in or out? Still in.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy---though still the occasional cranky morning.

Looking forward to: Hitting the 24-week mark and painting the nursery (we are going to tape it off this weekend!)

 Thank you for reading and for all of my pregnant readers, please feel free to check in below as well and let me know how your pregnancy is going :) I also welcome everyone's advice and comments about pregnancy!

Weekend Shopping & Baby's Dresser Has Arrived

We had a pretty laid back Saturday, until I decided when we got home from lunch and running errands that we were going to empty out the nursery.

Our day started off with our Restoration Hardware Baby & Child Haylan wide dresser and hutch being delivered (we got it for 20% off!).  More on that later.

Then, we went out for lunch and I suddenly had a major craving for ice cream. So we made  quick stop at Marble Slab and enjoyed the beautiful warm, sunny weather.

We also went to Target where I picked up some adorable onesies for the baby.  I was thrilled to find some mint green and purple ones!

Then we stopped in at Marshall's Home Goods where I scored some lovely baby and home decor deals.

I was able to find these gorgeous tulips, which are identical to the ones I got at Marshall's Home Goods last year for our coffee table---those these are in a different shaped vase and there are less tulips. The arrangement cost $39.99, which is a deal considering how expensive these arrangements tend to be in speciality stores. They had a lot of nice ones in store today so be sure to check out your local Marshall's Home Goods!

I also picked up two of these beautiful wall mounts.  I absolutely love that the hooks spell out LOVE.  I got one for my closet and one for the baby's room. Not sure where I will put it yet but I thought it would be sweet in her bathroom or above a bookshelf.

Finally, I picked up a beautiful dress and some onesies from Marshall's:

We are so thrilled with the dresser!  It will be perfect for the room once it's all arranged. Though it's on the pricier side (heck, it cost more than our dresser) I'm really glad we made the investment because it's a piece that doesn't scream "nursery" and will look good in a child's room and eventually in a teen's room. In fact, I joked with my H that if our daughter ever doesn't want it, I'm happy to take it for our room!  It's a beautiful piece.

One piece of nursery furniture down---three to go!  We need to order our crib and glider and possibly a bookshelf (or we may do floating shelves, I haven't decided yet) as well as a chandelier.

I can't wait to see the room come together with all of the little details! Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Stella & Dot Giveaway- Jewels for Spring!

I've always been a fan of Stella & Dot jewelry.  The pieces are pretty, trendy and high-quality. Many of the pieces I have from the line are some of my most-worn and beloved pieces (you can see them in my holiday wish list post here).

One my my readers, Alyssa, generously offered to host a Stella & Dot giveaway on my blog.  She sent me the gorgeous Bianca Tassel Necklace to style...and if you've been following my outfit posts on my blog and on Instagram, you know I've been wearing the heck out of this beauty!

I love that it combines different links and textures. It's overall just a lovely, bold statement piece---and it works perfectly to add pop to an all-black outfit---but looks equally as fab with brights (which I can't wait to start wearing again as the weather warms up).

For those of you still dealing with the frigid cold front, this giveaway will be a welcome "hello" to Spring--- Alyssa is giving away one of Stella & Dot's new Julep bangles--they are perfect to add to any arm party and if you win, you can pick the color of your choice (I love the pink and green!)

All you have to do is enter via Rafflecopter below!  There are two ways to enter:

1) visit www.stelladot.com/alyssawagner and leave me a comment here telling me what your favorite piece is

2) Like Alyssa's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/shopwithalyssa 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and thank you for entering---and major thanks to Alyssa for hosting!

21 weeks!

I think the halfway point of pregnancy kind of brought out a sense of urgency in me.  Suddenly I started to think about how I haven't ordered much yet so I started to (in a panic) use the task list app on my iPhone to make a list of all of the things we need to do before baby arrives (tour daycares, have nursery painted, curtains installed, decorate nursery, check into baby's baptism, finish all of those books, take infant care and infant CPR classes, book maternity and newborn shoot...and the list goes on and on).  

Realistically I know there's still a lot of time and I feel ridiculous to even feel a sense of urgency at this point, but I think making the list made me feel better. It's all manageable.

I'm experiencing a lot of indecisiveness too. I go to baby stores and just browse around saying "oh this is cute and that is cute," but I rarely buy anything (hard to believe, I know!).  I've purchased some onesies and a couple of other clothing items but for some reason I get hesitant to buy a lot of stuff. Silly, I know.  Same goes for nursery items. I'm always second-guessing the gliders I'm looking at and the crib, even though I've loved it from the start.

I realized I just need to start ordering things instead of stalling, since many items can take weeks to come in (and everything is returnable if I change my mind).  I also plan to make some of the artwork in the nursery myself, so next weekend I'd like to make a trip to Michael's to buy some supplies and get started. 

Here are a few items I've purchased so far:

 (carter's)

(Old Navy)

(Old Navy)

(Target)

(Baby GAP)

How far along? 21 weeks (I do these a week behind as a recap of the previous week, so I'm actually 22 weeks today.)

Total weight gain/loss: About 5 lbs so far. I weighed myself when I was at the hospital (more on that later).

Maternity clothes? Still wearing maternity pants and regular tops.  I'm really enjoying styling my outfits now that I've got a little bit of a bump. I also LOVE maternity pants, like whoa. I don't know how you can ever go back after the awesome comfort of maternity pants!

Stretch marks? I'm continuing to use Belli's Elasticity Belly Oil, Mamma Mio Tummy Rub and Mustela double-action stretch mark cream.  Just to clarify for those who have asked---I use these in rotation, not all at once! I heard so many great reviews on all three creams that I decided to get them all to last me through the entire pregnancy and just rotate them. I like that they all have different scents and textures.

Symptoms: Still peeing a ton. Sometimes I get round ligament pains. Other than those, I've been feeling good.

Sleep: Still using my Snoogle and have been sleeping pretty well this week.

Best moment this week: At 21 weeks, 5 days pregnant, I woke up with some aching pain very low in my abdomen, on the right side only.  The pain intensified as the day went on and I even experienced sharp pain when I peed. I was okay when I was sitting but the moment I stood up/walked I felt an intense ache that wouldn't go away combined with a lot of pressure and jabs of pain. Sometimes the sudden sharp pain took my breath away a little bit, but I tried to just walk through it thinking it would go away.

I have had round ligament pain before but this felt different. I ended up calling my OB's office and they told me to go to the assessment center to rule out a UTI (which is what I thought the issue might be) or another problem.  The nurse checked me out and said the baby was good and very active and then asked a bunch of questions about my symptoms. They did a urine dip and it came back completely clean (so no infection, which was great). 

The doctor came in to see me and it turns out that baby is growing and lying transverse, and her head is putting a lot of pressure on the ligaments on my right side.  The doctor even placed my hands on my belly so I could feel where the baby was---baby girl is super low and lying right across my belly, I could feel where she started and ended. The doctor told me the pain I was feeling was just due to baby's position and because I'm on the smaller side, and that everything is normal.  I was relieved.  

I may try the 30 second daily inversion recommended on spinningbabies.com to see if I can get baby into a more comfortable position.  At the end of the day, some discomfort is totally worth it if baby is happy and healthy in there, but I figure it can't hurt to give this a try. Let me know if you've tried any spinning babies techniques! Of course I will consult my OB first :)

Okay, so that didn't sound like a "best moment," but I'm just feeling really blessed that everything is okay. I think when you're a first time mom it's sometimes hard to tell what's normal and what's not.  I wasn't even going to call my OB and planned to wait it out another 24 hours but a few of my co-workers encouraged me to place the call to have peace of mind. 

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Not having to pee every 25 minutes.

Movement: I'm feeling movement daily and I absolutely love it :)

Food cravings: A classic cheeseburger. YUM! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Still grilled chicken and iceberg lettuce. I can eat any other salad, just not iceberg. 


Have you started to show yet:  Yes, and I love it. I still love to alternate between fitted and looser tops, but it's fun to watch my growing bump. 

(21 week bump!)

Baby is a: Girl!

Belly Button in or out? Still in.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: 21 weeks was the first time I started to feel cranky during my pregnancy. Second trimester has been wonderful and I've felt great for the most part, but I seemed to be really sensitive and cranky this week, especially in the mornings (I'm usually not). I'm just going to chalk it up to pregnancy hormones because it's not typical for me to be cranky like that. Overall though, still happy :)

Looking forward to: Hitting the 24-week mark, ordering more items for the nursery, checking off items on my to-do list. 

What I'm reading: Baby Bargains---I started to work on my registries over the weekend and this book has been a Godsend. I'm also reading a lot of baby product recommendations on the blogs I follow. I'm also still reading the Mayo Clinic's Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy---trying not to skip ahead too far, but I'm finally getting into the chapters on the actual birth.

A co-worker lent me two books on breastfeeding as well which I am really looking forward to reading once I'm further along (they're The Nursing Mother's Companion and the Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers). I am fortunate to be delivering at a hospital that provides incredible lactation support as well.

Thank you for reading and for all of my pregnant readers, please feel free to check in below as well and let me know how your pregnancy is going :) I also welcome everyone's advice and comments about pregnancy!

Outfits Lately & GAP maternity really skinny pants love

This post is a little combo of two weekend outfits and two work week outfits. I've found myself gravitating towards the same pieces---especially my super long tanks and dress shirts. They work so well with a bump.

The one thing in common in all of these photos is the GAP really skinny maternity pants. It's safe to say I'm completely in love with them. They just work well with so many different outfits and are incredibly comfortable.  I tried to buy another pair over the weekend but they were sold out in the store. Hopefully they will get more! You can get them online here (limited sizes though).

I am 21 weeks pregnant in all of these photos. The last photos of the set are from today, at 21 weeks, 6 days pregnant.

PH8 jacket (old), High Fashion Home tank, GAP maternity really skinny pants,

Zara flats, H&M flower pin

Banana Republic sweater, F21 tank, GAP maternity really skinny pants, Tory Burch Reva flats

Artizia shirt, Nordstrom blazer (Gibson), F21 Necklace, GAP really skinny maternity pants, Zara heels

H&M sweater, Club Monaco Shirt, GAP pants, Kate Spade heels, Stella & Dot necklace c/o

Have a great week!

Outfits Lately

Dressing for work has been fun lately. Now that I'm showing more, it's interesting to see how different clothes drape on my body.  Fortunately I own a lot of long and looser tops, so I haven't had a hard time putting together outfits...yet...haha! Ask me 10 weeks from now how simple it is to put outfits together.

I'm still wearing a lot of black but mixing it up a couple of days a week too.  I can't wait for it to get warmer. The majority of these were taken at 21 weeks pregnant.

The Limited Blouse, J.Crew No. 2 pencil skirt, Express cardigan, Zara heels

H&M sweater coat, Zara dress, J.Crew belt, Jessica Simpson boots

Gap maternity longsleeve top, Ann Taylor sleeveless sweater, 

Regina Pierallini necklace, Tory Burch Reva flats

J.Crew blouse and sweater, GAP maternity pants, Tory Burch Reva flats

Artizia shirt, Express cardigan, F21 necklace, GAP maternity really skinny pants, Zara flats

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!