OOTD: Girl on the Go!

Hey guys!

With the recent burst of springtime weather here lately, I was inspired to finally bust out a lighter jacket and a cute springtime outfit that is both cute and functional. I've also included a makeup and hairstyle for this outfit, so if you guys are interested in an extremely simple, comfortable, and casually chic outfit, just keep reading!

Alright, so to start things off, I dug up some of my flowier blouses since it was finally above zero degrees Celsius here. The one I'm wearing in the photo below is one I picked up from Winners, but you can find a nice chiffon blouse basically anywhere these days. I think this one from H&M is super cute, and very similar to the one I'm wearing. What I like the best about this is that it hasn't got any buttons! Five minutes taken out of getting dressed right there as I'm kind of button-ly challenged.... This blouse is more on the sheer side, so if you want, you can wear a cute lace bralette under it, or simply do what I did and just wear a plain white bra. The pockets over the chest area make it so it's not a big deal if you choose a bra vs bralette. Either way still looks classy! 

Because this top is so versatile, it easily goes with basically any kind of bottoms you choose, but for this particular "Girl on the Go" look, I chose to pair it with a pair of dark wash skinny jeans from Aeropostale. I think a pair of boyfriend jeans would also do the look justice as well. You can find decently priced destroyed boyfriend jeans from Forever 21. The boyfriend jean trend is definitely a hard one to pull off, so if the trend doesn't work for you, try something else. Try to work the trend, don't let the trend work you! 

For shoes, I just wore my black combat boots since there's still snow on the ground here, plus, since I was running around a little that day, I didn't really want a heel. However, if you choose to go with the boyfriend jean look and there's no snow where you are, I highly recommend wearing a heel. Boyfriend jeans are naturally supposed to be loose and baggy, so to avoid drowning yourself in the jeans and shrinking yourself down, wear heels with them. If there was no snow, I definitely would have worn a pair of black pumps or black sandal heels like these ones here from Forever 21.

My purse is by Kenneth Cole that I found at Winners over the summer for only 40$! Needless to say, it's my favorite carry-all type of purse. The only downsides are the fact that the top has a snap button closure as opposed to a zippered one and there are no shoulder straps, so you can't just sling it on like you would a crossbody. All in all, this back is pretty awesome and is what I usually carry to school if I'm just bringing a notebook to class. I was able to find a similar handbag from H&M for you guys if you're looking for a sizeable purse to throw everything a girl on the go needs! 

As for accessories, I kept my jewelry simple, wearing only my usual jewelry - my necklace, birthstone ring, and a ring with an "A" engraved in it - in addition to some rings I picked up from Forever 21 last week. On my middle finger, I have a bow midi ring, my index finger had a plain gold band, and on my other hand, I had a gold band with a flower on my thumb. These rings came in a set, so it made it super easy to just throw them on, knowing they already went together. Feel free to layer on the bracelets and dangly necklaces though! It will definitely make the look more chic.

Next, since it was sunny, I threw on my favourite aviator sunglasses and my tan faux leather bomber jacket to complete the look! 

Now for the hair and makeup...

For my hair, it really wasn't cooperating being styled down or in a ponytail, so I decided to do a sock bun. Usually when I do these, it's a hit or miss type of thing since I can never get my hair to fully cover the sock all the way around. Plus, my sock is a nude colour which doesn't exactly blend in with my hair colour. I was thankful it worked out this time and I'm super pleased with the results! 

How to: Sock Bun

1. First, pull your hair up in a ponytail. I like mine pretty high, so to do that, just flip your over, gather it all, and flip back over so you can pull it up in a ponytail. 
2. Next, take your sock, preferably a mismatched one or one you won't miss wearing, and take some scissors, then chop off the entire toe part of the sock. 
3. Once you've done that, take the sock and pull your ponytail through it until it's resting at the base where the hair tie is. Then, keeping one end of the sock at the base, stretch out the rest of the sock until it's completely covering the ponytail.
4. Now, spread the ends of your ponytail so that it covers the entire circumference of the sock hole bit, and roll!
5. Keep rolling until your sock looks like a bun and tuck in any edges that may be peeking out! 

If you don't want to do the sock bun, feel free to use a hair donut.

1. Make your ponytail and simply pull it through the hair donut.
2. Next, spreading your hair evenly to cover the donut, start pinning away until all the hair is secured into the donut.
3. Pull out a few strands to make the look wispier and carefree.

Since I wanted it to look a little messy, I shook out my hair a little at the roots and pulled out a few strands near the ears. Some strands naturally fell out in the back and rather than pinning them, I left it alone. My hair, being the naturally curly mess it is, doesn't make this bun look all neat and tidy at all, which is the main idea behind a sock bun, but I like the messier unkempt look. It adds a to the relaxed, casual look we're going for!

Onto makeup...

On my nails, I have Essie's Lilacism

I kept it pretty easy and didn't use any liquid liner at all for this look! Definitely a rarity, but I think the black liner would have been too harsh for the look. 

• To start off, I used the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream in Light/Medium. I've really grown attached to using this product since it moisturizes my skin as well as provides some coverage. 
• Since BB Cream isn't really full coverage, I followed up with using another Maybelline product. This one is their Dark Circle Eraser. After applying it in a > < shape under my eyes to both highlight and conceal. Then after blending it out, I also decided to use it as a primer for my eyeshadow.
• To cover any extra blemishes, I took the Maybelline DreamLumi Concealer and dotted it on any red spots and anywhere else I wanted to highlight - center of the forehead, down the bridge of the nose, cupid's bow, chin, and around the lip area.
• Next, I set it all with my Makeup For Ever Powder.
• Moving on, I took my Revlon PhotoReady Skinlights Face Illuminizer in Bare Light and squeezed a decent amount onto the back of my hand. I have grown to adore this stuff and use it on a regular basis now. I like to call it my sunshine in a bottle. Using my third finger, I dabbed this along my cheekbones, up to the side of my face, close to the outer brow bone. The rest I apply to my forehead, tip of the nose, cupid's bow, and chin. Even though we already used the concealer to highlight, this just adds a healthy glow to the face. I highly recommend picking up this product if you can!
• Onto the eyes, I filled in my brows with an angled brush and using Faint from the Naked Basics palette and then to darken the tail end, I used Crave. Try to avoid making your brows entirely one colour if you do fill in your brows! Always aim for a soft gradient from tip to tail for a more natural look and soften any harsh lines that happen with an angled brush using a spoolie brush.
• Since we used the concealer to prime the eyes, we can jump straight into shadows. For this look I'll be using the Naked Basics palette.
• Taking W.O.S. on my all over eyeshadow brush, I patted that all across the lid.
• Then, using a crease brush, I picked up Naked 2 and swiped that into the crease, focusing on really accentuating the crease with this subtle taupe colour.
• Using that same crease brush, I picked up Crave and concentrated that right into the outer crease and really dug the shadow into the outer crease, blending it softly as we approach the inner crease area.
• To soften the harsh lines, I took a clean fluffy blending brush and softened the lines above the crease and along the outer corners for a natural smoky eye look.
• Once everything has been blended, take a clean tapered crease brush, pick up Venus, and lightly pat that on the inner part of the eye to brighten things up. You can also use Venus for the brow bone highlight if you want.
• **Optional**: If you can't go without eyeliner on your top lid, take an angle brush and pick up Crave and thinly line your upper lash line.
• Next, we'll be lining the waterline with Rimmel's Scandeleyes Waterproof Kohl Pencil in Nude. This will help make the eyes look more awake and big. In addition, it's also less harsh looking on the eyes.
• Last step for the eyes, take your favourite mascara - I love the L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Excess in Blackest Black - and layer on as much as you like. I don't curl my lashes or anything, but if you do, do that prior to applying your mascara! Since I skipped eyeliner and didn't use Crave on my lash line, I applied four or five generous coats of mascara on my top lashes, then, switching to Maybelline's 360 Big Eyes Mascara for the dual wand, I took the smaller wand part of the mascara tube, and applied a couple coats of that on the bottom lashes.
• Now that the eyes are done, I lightly contoured my face with Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12hr Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess. To contour: suck in the cheeks and apply the bronzer in the hollows, making sure to blend it all so that there are no harsh lines (this is where a good brush comes in handy, the one I use is the Sephora Pro Angled Contour Brush #39). You want to make sure you don't take the bronzer too close to the corners of your mouth because then it looks like you have a beard, and that ain't cute... Once the cheeks have been contoured, take some bronzer on the temples and jawline. The easiest way to think of contouring is making a 3 motion on the ride side of your face, and then a backwards 3 on the left side.
• For blush, I lightly applied Benefit's Rockateur blush to my cheeks, swiping it up towards the temples so the blush doesn't drag my face down.

And that is everything!

Thank you so much for reading, and I will see you guys in my next post!

XOXO,

A. Bean