Tag: fashion

I don’t usually write make-up reviews for cosmetic giants, but…

~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

Maybelline doesn’t need my help to sell it’s make-ups. It’s as ubiquitous as all the other make-up giants; that kill the environment, use chemicals and test on animals…Maybelline is no exception. But since this is a make-up journal, I feel inclined to report about how I recently discovered the crazy over performing lipstick that is the Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink Lipstick line. It’s a semi-new release (within the last year) that has gotten me in a state of fandom over long wear make-ups for my lips…(since that’s really the only place on the face that needs it…since we eat and drink, every hour of the day)

The two best colors from the line, as mentioned by a lot a reviews: Lover (mauve), and Pioneer (classic red)

I come from a philosophy of simple is better, less is more and basically I feel natural always trumps chemicals. That’s why I have a line of gentle handmade cosmetics and perfumes called Dream E available for all. But because I work in the fashion industry as well, I know how important a well painted lip can be and how much it can pull together a fashion look from head to toe. So here I am being hypocritical about my own philosophies by liking super-stay lipsticks; since they probably have more in common with car paint enamel than the traditional wax based lipstick…what to do…

The reason I feel I have this contradiction is because ignorance is bliss. If I think about the chemical gloop that are in super-stay lip color, I would probably cringe…but I am slightly comforted by the fact that once they set, they don’t go anywhere. They become more like clothes that one wears and then takes off at night. The problem I’ve always had with traditional lipsticks were that they were movable, oily and gross, getting on food, coffee cups and clothes. I could feel them on my lips, they felt greasy, slimy. Not to mention they are made with chemical/metal colorants that could make their way into my body eventually. Too gross. But the great thing about a color stay lipstick is that it doesn’t budge, and because of that, I am assuming the chance of it getting into my belly is unlikely? (cross my fingers)

Ok now that I’ve explained my contradiction, what were the general downsides of wearing color stay lipsticks? Flat, unfashionable choice of colors, uneven wear throughout the day, 2 step application of some formulas, drying feel on the lips…the thing with the Super Stay Matte Inks is though that they don’t feel dry on, the wear is even throughout the day with NO retouching at all necessary…and they come in highly pigmented, velvety colors that you virtually paint on once carefully, and forget about it. It is that comfortable and light, that I forget I’m wearing it until I walk past a mirror and see my high fashion lips!  Just like a great eye make-up that you put on once and don’t have to worry about reapplying throughout the day, you can live the busy life you have, while having a high maintenance lip look that nobody knows you didn’t work at!

Here is the mauve color (“Lover”) on my lips. In this photo, it looks a bit muted, but in real life it’s actually deeply pigmented… almost plumy…
And here is the classic red color (“Pioneer”) on my lips. I really like the intense color and matte velvet finish…

The two colors I own from this line is a gorgeous mauve pink called “Lover”, (that started me on this epiphany of how to wear lip color from now on!) and a rich, classic red called “Pioneer” that screams fashion! I was doing a make-up look that was sans lipstick for a few years now, since I couldn’t deal with the gross feel and maintenance required of tradition lipsticks, but with this new long wear formula from Maybelline, I am a fan of colored lips once again! From reading other reviews online, the two colors I have demo-ed in this post are the two best and most popular colors from the Matte Inks line. Which one is your fave?

Habits from Paris…French Bohemian Mindset…

~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

I lived in Paris France for two years a while ago, when I was just an art student, aspiring to be an artist, that was when I moved to Paris as a young woman to move in another artist and settle down–whatever that meant.  But I learned a lot about lifestyles back then, and I admit till this day, although I am a Canadian born and raised, (Torontonian for that matter) I still hold dear a lot of the French mentality and outlooks on life and still adore Parisian Bohemia.  So let me share with you all a few of my experiences…I want to talk about the mindset of French bohemia, because the fashion will always follow suite…

Forget the beret! These mindless stereotypes of what the French are about are ridiculous. (wearing hats in general is cool though!)

We live in North America, the land of donuts and coffee, cold winters, fast food, and malls, cars and outlets.  Suburbs, churches and barbecues…flannel shirts and jogging pants. But my experience living in Paris tells me there is a more elegant, thoughtful way of living… And by looking at most fashion trends, it is actually super in style at the moment. French Bohemia is about being a free spirit, not following rules, or worrying about the 9-5 agenda.  It’s more about having the ability to have free time, rather than about what to do with it.  Hanging out with friends because they are cool, and not because it’s cool to hang out and an obligation to be social.  It’s really about simply enjoying life, but more specifically enjoying the visual and meaningful beauty of life. And how the two connect. Here are some things I’ve learned:

  1. Try to dodge trends by finding old things you forgot about. Dig into your closet and look for items of yours that are simple, classic, and chique.  French styles are often simple, and not looking like a slave to the trends is key (even if you are!).
  2. Eat less, but eat well.  The French are all about liking food, but good food.  I often have a day of very little indulgences, but for dinner, I will have treats like fish and chips, burgers, pizza, ice cream. Flavourful things in moderation…Pleasurable things…but just a little.
  3. Be interested in visual culture.  I mean this in a general way.  You don’t have to be into art and know everything about it academically (like I do as a former art student), but notice movie posters, graphics on your daily products, architecture and design. Work up to visiting an art show, weather it is at a small local gallery, to a big city art museum.  Just enjoy looking at things and thinking about how things look. People watching (not leering, or gawking or staring) is a fun pass time when on patios.
  4. Care about how you look.  BUT–don’t fuss over your appearance, and don’t be vain by thinking you’re all that, but put a bit of effort into your appearance.  Wear clean, fitted clothes, have manicured nails…give yourself the right to “judge a book by it’s cover” because well, the cover says a lot about something! Don’t be afraid to be a little superficial and care about the face value of things.
  5. Enjoy life, don’t stress. Avoid stressful things/activities as much as possible …ie event/parties you don’t want to go to.  If you don’t think you want to do it, unless you risk social shame for opting out, do opt out! There is nothing worse that regretting going out to an event.  Better to stay home and relax any day.
  6. There is always a more elegant option to whatever you are eating. Instead of toast, have a croissant in the morning!!! my favourite breakfast ever! (beats bacon and eggs too!) Instead of having a muffin, have a cupcake…Instead of ham and cheese sandwich, do ham and brie (a french cheese), instead of watered down coffee, try espresso. Little variations in daily mundane life such as standard food is a great way to add a bit of french to your life.
Me enjoying my favourite breakfast of all time due to its simplicity and deliciousness. A flakey, moist, buttery croissant, with a cup of hot coffee. yum!

What is your favourite way to be embody a bohemian babe? Do you like the fashions it’s famous for?  Do you like stalking the sale rack at the closest Free People store to you, or finding a way to make braids and plaited hair and staple? Wearing that vintage dress you found with sneakers?  How do you show you are a free sprit?

 

3 summer fashion hacks I just came up with, and am quite pleased with…

~ Emmie Reve ~ 7 Comments

If you’re like me this summer, you don’t have an unlimited budget to spend on updating your wardrobe to follow all of the latest trends in depth.  Even with scoring cool stuff on sale, or by settling for the quality of cheaper stores like H&M or Forever 21, they don’t always suffice in delivering the goods you want fully.  There is always compromising and settling involved when trying to stay current while not breaking the bank!  It is hard, but these are a couple of tricks of modifying clothes that I’ve tried with some success.

My distressed denim hack:

The store I work for part-time, Smartset doesn’t have a jean that is distressed enough to follow this season’s line-up of sporting really wrecked-beyond-hope denim, so I can’t use my staff discount there to save.  My solution?  I had a pair of light greyish blue denim from Smartset last year that was just boring.  They had no distressing, and as a full-length light coloured pant,  they just kept getting gross and dirty at the ankle parts because it was a bit long.  This was not stylish or cool.  So I decided to cut them into crop pants and distress them myself.  I cut off the pant legs past the ankle, hand sewed some cuffs in them and then ripped the heck out of them with different denim distressing techniques I learned online.  I ended up really liking the casual undone look of them, and wrecking them gave me some therapy too!  I saw similar jeans to mine at Urban Outfitters later that week.  I was happy to say I may have saved about $70, doing it myself by recycling unwanted old jeans in my closet.

Feeling like I gave these jeans a face lift by cuffing them into crops and distressing them to fit in with current trends...
Feeling like I gave these jeans a face lift by cuffing them into crops and distressing them to fit in with current trends…

My Strapless Romper Hack:

Such a reasonably priced romper, made with cotton and even had cute pockets. The only down side was the fact that one pull down and I would be exposed...
Such a reasonably priced romper, made with cotton and even had cute pockets. The only down side was the fact that one pull down and I would be exposed…

Summer isn’t fun without a romper. Why?  Because you can do it all in a romper.  It’s a onesie made for adults!  For those of you that don’t know, a romper is basically a dress at the top, but instead of it turning into a skirt at the bottom, it turns into shorts, all in one piece.  It’s great.  Casual, super cute, and really comfortable.  You get to keep cool this summer, by covering just what you need to cover, and unlike short skirts, you won’t show everything when you move.  Rompers however tend to be expensive.  Don’t know why cuz they seem easy to make and don’t require that much fabric.  I however did find one at Forever 21 that was only $10!  Sometimes you can’t even get a tank top for that.  The one flaw with the romper I found was that it was strapless.  All of a sudden, summer care-free behaviour is restricted in this romper by the fear of it being pulled down by accident.  But it being only $10, I bought it, took it home and sewed on halter straps to keep it from falling down, making it much more functional, for no cost at all!  I even like the look of it with straps more than without!

After sewing on two pieces of drawstrings from another top. Not my strapless romper is functional as a halter romper. yay!
After sewing on two pieces of drawstrings from another top. Now my flawed strapless romper is a functional halter romper. yay!

Jersey Bodycon dress hack:

Jersey (t-shirt material) bodycon dresses are the best basics.  They fit your body well, can be dressed up or down, great for summer, and they hug your body and show off your feminine curves.  They also are an effortless way to make yourself look put yourself together in two minutes. Add heals and you’re ready for the club, wear with flat sandals and it’s a casual day at the cottage.  The awesome thing too is that because they are simple dresses made out of stretchy jersey material, they don’t cost a lot.  I recently snagged a nice floral bodycon dress from the Smartset were I work.  With my discounts and specials, I got it for only $15!  I was thrilled.  I could possibly match that price at some other discount stores, but the ones at Smartset were so much better quality, and the length was not too short.  The only problem was that the neckline I noticed was not flattering.  It barely scooped in the front.  I noticed it scooped a lot more in the back, so what did I do?  I carefully removed the stitches of the label on the back collar of the dress and then wore it backwards!  The scoop back became the front, and well, now I am liking it more.

This was originally the back of this fitted jersey dress. Just by carefully removing the stitches on the label in the back, I can now wear this with the flattering scoop neck in the front.
This was originally the back of this fitted jersey dress. Just by carefully removing the stitches on the label in the back, I can now wear the flattering scoop neck in the front.

Remaking clothes that you have or got on sale is great.  It saves you a money in the long run and more importantly, you get what you want for the price that you want it.  🙂  Let me know a hack that you have done to your summer wardrobe to make it your own!