I'm a huge TJMaxx fan. I can always find cute and trendy things from designer clothes and shoes to things for the home at an affordable price. TJMaxx is also really good about ensuring their designer items are authentic and in good condition. Sometimes I'll find something and sometimes I won't, but I like to drop by every now and then to see what I can find. I went a few weeks ago, and here's what I managed to score.

I picked up an Anne Klein blouse which had this unique blue and green pattern on it. I thought it'd pair well with my pink pencil skirt for work. I also saw these pocket size Kate Spade notebooks in their stationary section. They were cute and I couldn't resist. The highlight of my trip though were the bags I scored. I spotted this Ralph Lauren cross-body bag and fell in love. It's a classic design that's in this rich cognac color which matches anything. It's the perfect size to carry all the things I needed, and it's a great everyday bag. Then I literally took 5 steps and saw this bright hot pink Kate Spade bag. It was in perfect mint condition. It's a great spring bag and would add a nice pop of color to any outfit. I had a hard time deciding between the two, but in the end I decided to get both. The best part is how much I managed to save altogether. 

Ann Klein Blouse $25 -- originally $60 

Kate Spade Notebooks $7 -- originally $10

Kate Spade Bag $99 -- originally $248

Ralph Lauren Bag $99 -- originally $228 

Paid: $250 -- original price of everything $546

Basically for the price of the one Kate Spade bag, I managed to get 2 designer bags, a shirt, and designer notebooks. Not bad right? I'm not a designer/brand-a-holic. However, I do like to invest in classic, timeless, quality pieces that will last for a long time especially if they're ridiculously discounted. I have absolutely no regrets. I am definitely a maxxinista for life. 

With warm regards, 

Lovely 

All nice things come in shiny black Sephora bags. I went on a little shopping trip to treat myself for all the stress I've managed to accumulate. I haven't bought myself anything or gone shopping in over a month, and it felt so good. But enough with that, let's dive in to the haul.

First I got the BareMinerals original foundation in medium tan. I still love my Sephora Perfection Mist Airbrush Foundation, but I was itching to try something new. I don't have the time or willpower to do my makeup, so I thought that the BareMinerals would be fast and light. I heard it also had pretty good coverage, so I'm excited to try it out. I'm really feeling the spring season and am gravitating towards pink and peachy colors, so I picked up the Sephora Collection blush in Romantic Rose and the Rouge Shine lipstick in Sweetheart. The blush is more of a peachy pink color, and the lipstick is a sheer glossy warm pink. Lastly I stocked up on a tube of the Smith's Rosebud Salve because it is the only thing that can keep my lips hydrated and moist. I got samples of the Diorskin Nude BB Creme and Dior Hydra Lift BB Creme. I wanted to try them out to see if the hype was real. The girl at Sephora gave me extremely generous amounts of each, so they'll probably last me a while.

I also bought a few things from Forever21, but I'll save that for another time. Shopping makes everything better. Half-kidding. When you work hard and earn your own money, I think it's important to treat yourself from time to time.


With love,
Lovely

I'm really into super quick and easy hairstyles. I'm just tired in the morning, and I have no will power to tame my mane. This beachy wavy hairstyle is really great for those lazy days or when you just don't have time.  It creates really nice defined yet effortless waves, and it literally takes me no more than 5 minutes to do. There's only 3 steps. Well, technically 4 but one is optional!  

Things You'll Need: 

• Mousse  
• Old T-shirt (optional) 
• Leave-in Conditioner/serum (optional) 

Steps: 

1. After showering, comb your hair with a wide tooth comb to eliminate tangles. 
2. With your hair still wet and damp, get a palm size amount of mousse and begin scrunching. You want to scrunch your hair the same way you would scrunch a piece of paper. Make sure you also flip your hair upside down and scrunch to create lift & volume. 
3. This is optional, but you can take an old t-shirt to help with scrunching and drying off your hair. The t-shirt helps dry your hair faster and better than a towel.
4. After scrunching, wait for your hair to dry. When your hair does dry completely apply a pea size amount of leave-in serum or oil or product of your choice to add moisture, shine, and to control frizz. 

And there you go. Super easy right? If you want to you can take a curling wand/iron to fix some parts of your hair. Lately, I've been addicted to Shark Tank, Scandal, Kpop Star, and anime. Now, I have a little more time in the morning to relax and watch my shows!

With love, 

Lovely 

I am lazy, and I have a hectic schedule. Half the time I work, the other half I have my internship, and the last half I have school (math whiz). The last thing I want to bother with is my hair, and I have a lot of it. I used to curl my hair everyday, but I just can't anymore. It takes too much time. That's why I love this heatless wavy hair trick. It's super quick and easy. It's less damaging to your hair, and it gives you those effortless waves.This method works best on damp hair. You can take a shower at night and sleep with this, or you can do it in the morning and dry your hair with a blow dryer.

What you'll need:

• Hair tie 
• Mousse 
• Leave-in Conditioner (optional) 
• Thickening / Volumizing Spray (optional)  
• Hair Spray (optional)
• Curling Wand (optional)  
• Blow dryer (optional)

Products I use: 

• Tresemme Youth Boost Flexi-Bounce Mousse
• Rusk Thermal Serum
• Big Sexy Hair Root Pump 
• Big Sexy Hair Spray & Play Hairspray

Steps 

1. After showering, let your hair air dry until it's about 50-60% dry. If you can't wait, blow dry the roots of your hair so that they're dry but leave your ends damp. For added volume, spray a thickening spray to your roots before blow drying them.

2. With a palm size amount of mousse, or a product of your choice, start scrunching your hair.

3. Taking your thumb and pointer finger, take a section of hair from the top of your crown/head. You can include your bangs or not. Split the section of the hair you grabbed into 3 different strands. Then start french braiding. Depending on how tight you braid and how small your sections are, your waves can either be loose or tight.
Here are some tutorails to show you how to french braid:
Lauren Conrad, Le Beauty Girl,  Erika Astrid 

4. After braiding your hair all the way, tie it with a hair tie, and leave it alone until it's completely dry. Afterwards you can go to sleep with this. If you're doing this in the morning, you can do your makeup, watch TV, or eat breakfast while you're waiting. Again if you don't want to wait, blow dry the braid until it's completely dry.

5. When you're ready, remove the hair tie, and start breaking apart your braid. Play with your hair, mess it up, scrunch it, and fix it to your liking. Add a leave-in conditioner or serum to add moisture and shine. You can take a curling iron or wand to fix some parts and spray it with some hairspray if needed.

There you go. French braiding can be a little tough, but with some practice you'll be able to do it! 

With Love,

Lovely 

I went just a little crazy at Sephora. My friends & family gave me Sephora gift cards for Christmas, so I went all out and bought all the things I’ve been drooling over and wanting for the longest time.  I know it's a lot of stuff, but I wouldn't normally buy this much if I didn't have gift cards. I wanted to get everything and do one massive haul rather than posting each individual one, so let's get started!

Sephora Perfection Mist Airbrush Foundation
This is my second bottle of this stuff, and I love it. I have oily skin, really oily skin, and this foundation is the only one I’ve tried so far that can control my oils. It keeps my face matte and gives a nice airbrushed look on the skin. I still get a little oily about half-way through the day, but it's not that big of a deal. If anything it gives a nice glow to the face.

Sephora Pro Lip Brush #81
I have a slight lipstick addiction.  I've been wanting a good lip brush to apply lipstick with and to help fill in the gaps in my lips. I like this lip brush because it's firm and glides easily on your lips.  I found that by using a lip brush I can really control the shape and amount of color I pack on rather than applying the lipstick straight from the bullet.

   

Top: Sephora Rouge Infusion in Cherry Nectar, Stila Liquid Lipstick in Patina, Stila Liquid Lipstick in Aria,
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Underage Red
Bottom: Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella, Nars Audacious Lipstick in Fanny, Makeup Forever Artist Natural in N9

Sephora Rouge Infusion Lip Stain in No.12 Cherry Nectar 
Sephora makeup is actually pretty good.  This one is a watery lip stain, but the colors are really opaque.  Cherry Nectar is deep/dark plumy-wine color.  It's a good color for the fall & winter.  It doesn't feel drying at all, and the color lasts for a while too.  After eating I'd still have a bit of color stained on my lips, so I give this two thumbs up!

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Patina & Aria
I’ve been really loving matte lips, but the problem with matte lips is that they can be drying. These liquid lipsticks give you a nice matte finish, but they don’t dry out your lips. You can put a sheer layer on or build it up to make it intense and bold. Patina is more of a pinky-brown shade leaning more on the brown side, while Aria is a bold purpley-mauvey-magenta. I love them both! The only thing I don’t like is the packaging. The wand and stopper kinda make it all messy, but other than that it’s a really great product. 

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Underage Red
This is another matte lipstick. I love this because the color is so opaque and bold, but it's so drying. You definitely need to make sure you exfoliate your lips and put on a good lip balm if you're going to put this on.  I know Outlaw is really popular, but I found Underage Red to suite  my skin tone better. Outlaw is more of a red-orange while Underage Red is more of a classic straight-up red.

Nars Audacious Lipstick in Fanny
I've been wanting to try the Nars Audacious lipsticks for a while, but the price always turned me away. I finally picked one up in this beautiful deep plumy-purpley-magenta color.  Everything anyone ever said about this lipstick is true.  It glides on effortlessly.  It's creamy and opaque.  It has great staying power. I must get more!

Makeup Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara & Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick in N9 
This was the birthday gift freebie you can get from Sephora for 2014 if you're a beauty insider.  I haven't tried the mascara yet, but the lipstick is pretty good. It's glossy, but the shade is a bit too natural for me. I lean more towards bold and intense colors.

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella and Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien
This is actually the 2015 birthday gift for the year. Last year was the Makeup Forever mascara & lipstick. How I got both is because my b-day is at the end of December, and you get 2 weeks before & 2 weeks after to get your b-day gift.  I went to Sephora around 3-4 times in between December & January so I got both gifts! I really like Cruella because it's a bold matte color.  Rikugien is a satin finish, and it's too natural for me so I gave it to my sister.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Blushing Bride
I've heard so many good things about the Tarte blushes.  I picked up Blushing Bride because it's the one that everyone's been raving over for the past couple of months.  It's a pretty warm pinky-mauve shade.  They're somewhat sheer, but it creates a natural flush on the cheeks.  I'm definitely going to go back to get some more shades.

Nars Bronzing Powder in Laguna
I had a hard time deciding between Nars's Laguna or Benefits Hoola.  Hoola was a bit more grey-ish and better for contouring, so I went with Laguna since I was looking for something to really warm up my face.  Laguna has a nice warm golden tone.  It does contain micro-shimmers, but you can barely notice them and it gives your face a nice golden glow.  I love it!

Philosophy Fall in Love Eau De Toilette
Philosophy makes surprisingly good scents.  I'm really bad at explaining scents, but it's very warm & inviting.  It's simple, fresh, and clean.

Issey Miyake L'eau d'Issey Florale Rollerball
I fell in love with this scent the moment I smelled it. I don't normally like floral scents because they're very heavy & mature, but this one is more fresh and light. I wanted to try the scent out before I commit to buying the full size bottle, which costs $100, and plus the rollerball is convenient to carry around.


Anyways, that's it! I swear who comes up with these super long names? And is it bad that I'm already planning what to get on my next Sephora visit? ;)