The Dainty Days
  • Blog
  • About
  • YouTube
  • Gallery


         
   





​The Dainty Days


​

Dainty Drugstore Must-Haves

6/28/2015

3 Comments

 
I absolutely love makeup. I love all kinds, and use a nice mixture of high end and drugstore brands. There are many products that I truly believe are worth the splurge and can't be replaced by a drugstore brand, but those are few and far between! For the most part I try and find a drugstore substitute if at all possible, as I hate spending $80+ on just two products at Sephora or MAC. I've found a good many drugstore finds, and I hope you are able to get some use out of them too!
                                                                                                                                                 Photos by Sarah Knuth

Picture

Four Faves

  • Jordana "Fabuliner": This is the liquid eyeliner I use for my wings every day! I've only been able to find it at Walgreens so far, but it's definitely worth the special trip because it is only $1.99/tube! It is a felt tip pen liner, and it's the only form of liquid eyeliner that I can use very well.



  • Essence Lipstick: These lipsticks are only $2.99 at Ulta, and I absolutely love the formula. My latest favorite from this brand is "Wear Berries" but I also love "Coral Calling"! 



  • Maybelline "The Rocket" Mascara: I love this mascara because it offers a lot of volume and doesn't weigh my lashes down. I love high brand mascaras but I honestly think this one is just as good for half the price!



  • Maybelline "Dream Lumi Concealer": I am no connoisseur in face makeup as I've only just started using it, but I think this concealer does a nice job at a decent price!  

OOTD

Picture
The Flying Cupcake Bakery was nice enough to let us use their adorable Greenwood location to shoot my fun pink tulle outfit! This sweet and girly outfit was inspired by exciting Friday vibes, and was thrown together last second that morning! 
My pink tulle dress has a silky corset top to it, with adjustable spaghetti straps. I love how the mixture of the different materials look as if they could be two separate pieces! I found this little dress this past fall in the clearance section of Marshall's for $20.
Picture
Picture


My denim vest is from Target, last summer! It's a medium wash, so it goes well with most colors under it. I wanted to pair this with the tulle to dress it down and make it more wearable for everyday! The above-the-knee hemline also makes it a more versatile piece, and I'm so glad I finally got the chance to wear it!
My beige fringe booties (around $60) are from Kohl's, and I have gotten so many compliments on them! Dottie just got in a similar style, if you happen to be looking for a more affordable pair! I love pairing them with dressy and casual outfits, they have proven to be a very versatile pair of heels! My only complaint is that they hurt like the dickens. Like worse than some stilettos I've had. This doesn't dissuade me from wearing them, but I may end up looking like a foot binding victim by the end of it. I've always understood that beauty is pain but that doesn't stop the tears from coming, beware.
Picture
Picture



I paired my turquoise peekaboo earrings to complement the light pink! These earrings are from Express, and I bought every color combo I could find so that I can wear them with almost anything! I love these earrings because they are a fun, subtle statement but aren't heavy on my earlobe at all. They are very wearable and don't even bother me if I accidentally sleep in them!
Picture
Picture
I decided to do a quick braided updo to hide my second-day hair problems. I started a Dutch fishtail at my hairline, and fed it into a Dutch braid parallel to a Dutch braid into the bun at my opposite ear. I kind of just made it up as I went along, and I think it turned out okay!
Picture
What drugstore products are you all loving this summer? If you end up trying out anything I mentioned definitely let me know that you love it too!


Love,
Ashley
3 Comments

Rose and Lace

6/17/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
I have been on the hunt for dusty rose colored skinnies for...wait for it...NINE MONTHS. Since the day I saw my dear Dottie friend Amanda wearing similar pants, I knew I needed some in my life. I wanted them so badly because I knew how much I could pair with them color-wise (I have big plans for grey, white, wine, and olive to complement these!). I don't do so well with white skinnies, as they often make my legs look like a busted can of biscuits. Suffice it to say it ain't cute. I do a little better with muted color skinnies, like these new ones and my favorite olive skinnies!
Picture
These jeggings($20) are from Marshall's in Anderson, my all-time favorite location. 
There isn't a whole lot worth going into Anderson for (as in my heart my papa bear lives in Pendleton), but this Marshall's is somehow a goldmine for all things affordable and trendy. People ask me all the time where I get different articles of clothing, and the answer is almost always either Dottie Couture or Marshall's/TJ Maxx. It is well worth the dig in those discounted stores! 

My lacy top is from H & M, and I believe I paid around $10 for it on sale...but don't hold me to that. I used to go to H & M semi regularly, but haven't been able to find much there the last year or so. The older pieces I have from there are some of my favorite staples though, so I still have hope that it may return to its former glory! I love the high neckline and gold buttons on this simple top, it adds a little something without making it a statement piece.
Picture
Picture

The humidity has made heat styling my hair a sick joke lately, so I've been doing a lot of quick, messy updos to keep my hair out of my face! For this look I just pulled my hair to the side, more or less wadded it up in my hands, and pinned it with one setting clip, and this flower clip! My mom bought me this clip when we were on vacation in Hawaii, but I've seen similar pieces in places like TJ Maxx and Nordstrom Rack before!
To accessorize this simple outfit, I wore my tortoiseshell RayBan Clubmasters. I love these sunnies because they stay on my face without sliding around when it's ungodly humid. They are a very classic look but the tortoiseshell adds a little something fun! 


I have a serious obsession with pairing grey and light pinks together, so it was a no-brainer when I picked the shoes to go with this outfit! These are very comfortable for non-platform heels, and they were definitely a good investment as I can pair them with so much of my wardrobe!


What color combos are you loving so far this summer? If you have any suggestions for me or anything you'd like me to blog about, leave them in the comments I would love to read them!


Love,
Ashley
1 Comment

May Favorites!

6/12/2015

0 Comments

 
As months tend to do, May flew by! I am a time-handling novice, so I'm awfully late on getting my favorites out (as we are already halfway through June), but here they are nonetheless! Better late than never is a thing right? Like people believe that...or I'm hoping you do, anyway.

Picture

Fashion:

I have really tried to make an effort to stop buying rompers this month...which has been more hellish than the heroin withdrawals I've read about in Ellen Hopkins books. Or it's definitely comparable, though I've only tried to give up rompers and not hard drugs. Instead I've been pulling out some old favorite summer dresses, and new loves like this little peach lace number! I got it on sale at Dottie a while back but only just got a chance to wear it!
I've also made better use of the heels in my ever-growing shoe collection, and have enjoyed the viewpoint an extra 3-5 inches has given me! I'm on my feet for so long every day that flat shoes start to really take a toll on my heels, so it's nice to put the pressure on a different part of my feet for a day, even though heels are arguably far worse for foot health than flat shoes. It doesn't have to make sense for it to work in my life. Logic seldom fits in here, and its absence just makes my life work somehow.

Entertainment:

HBO's "Girls" has recently kidnapped my existence. I often listen to shows on Netflix on my daily commute, but I now listen to "Girls" any free moment I have. That's partially why this blog is so late, because that show is too good. Lena Dunham is a genius, and I am awed by the ferocious mundanity of the lives of the characters she's created. It simultaneously makes me want to be all and yet none of them, and I can't wait to finish the series though I will surely mourn its loss whenever it ends!

Nutrition:

I am still going strong in my quest to cut out added sugars! It's officially been an entire month, and I've never felt healthier. Though I've previously mentioned my insane love of sugar (sucrophile?) I've found coffee drinks to be what I'm missing most. My caffeine addiction is partially to blame for my craving of coffee, but I also just miss the act of going to Starbucks and starting my day off as basic white girl as I possibly can. I really tried to enjoy flavored coffees but a lot of them have a terrible after taste that I can't handle. I'm currently loving Caribou's "Breakfast Blend" coffee with a splash of all natural vanilla creamer rather than the way I used to take my coffee--two tablespoons of creamer and FOUR tablespoons of sugar. I die at the thought.... But if you are also on the struggle bus of being somewhere between a sugar addict and those who can only drink black coffee (that matches their soul), you should give it a try!


Beauty:

Though I always love makeup, I have especially been loving my Colour Pop lippies this month! As I mentioned in my last post, they're completely amazing and perfect in every way. I need every lippie they make, they're that good. I only wish that I could buy them in store so that I could swatch the colors before I purchase them, but hopefully they will move to stores soon!
Another beauty favorite is Benefit's "Hula" bronzer. I utterly despise Benefit's packaging, but love their products. It is the perfect matte grey-brown bronzer for subtle contouring. I use a Real Techniques contour brush with it, and I'm loving using them together!

OOTD

Picture
I paired my peach lace dress with a brown twisted belt to dress it down a bit. This belt is from Marshall's, and it's somewhere around six years old! That is one of my favorite places to find random but great little additions to my wardrobe.
Picture
My brown wedges are from Target, and I thought the little flowers complemented the subtle florals in the lace pattern of the dress. I usually prefer wedges over precarious-looking stilettos, but these can be rather uncomfortable when I wear them for the day. I've found that heels aren't really something on which I can skimp price-wise. I swear my feet know when I've paid $60 or more, they simply don't hurt as badly!
Picture
My white and tan sun hat is from TJ Maxx! I was on the hunt for a light, neutral hat to add to my very small collection, and fell in love when I saw this one! The hat was once completed with entirely boring, hideous ribbon so naturally I covered it up with this lace I found at the bottom of my closet. I had previously used the lace to sew onto the hem of denim shorts, and I love when I can get more use out of something I've already purchased rather than having to buy something new! I do think I'd like to find a cornflower blue ribbon to tie on whenever I'm wanting a little pop of color...unless you have a better color suggestion for what I should add to the hat!


What were your favorites this month? I want to know! And if you watch Girls...just please tell me so that I know I'm not alone in my obsession. 

Love,
Ashley

0 Comments

Colour Pop Review

6/3/2015

2 Comments

 
My obsession with Colour Pop lippies is officially real! I ordered "LBB" in both the liner and lipstick for my first order, to make sure that I liked the formula. Just as every review I'd read promised, the lipstick and liner are amazing! The color payoff is comparable to a high end lipstick, the formula is creamy and long-wearing, and the $5 price point is unbeatable!

The color I paired with this outfit is "I <3 This" and it is definitely my favorite so far. It is a deep berry red in a matte finish, but it is not a drying matte lipstick like most!
I love my matte MAC lippies but I can't hardly stand the ridiculously difficult application process. It literally feels like I'm drawing my lips on with an old crayon when I put on "Ruby Woo". This lippie is moisturizing and stays on all day!
Picture
One of my favorite things about Colour Pop is that each lippie has a matching liner! I hate falling in love with a lipstick and then beginning the fruitless quest of finding a matching or complementary liner...though maybe I'm just too blind to successfully match anything. Each color on the site has multiple photos and a fun, sassy description of the color. I love pretty girls with sailor mouths, and in my mind a whole lot of them work for Colour Pop Cosmetics. The color swatches are shown on multiple skin colors, and I think this is such an obvious necessity for online makeup purchases that is almost entirely overlooked by other companies. They put their customer reviews on front street, and these were most helpful when I was trying to pick only three more colors!  
Picture
I purchased three more colors for my second go-round because they offer free shipping with any $30 purchase! The shades pictured from left to right are "Punky", "Wifey", and "I <3 This".  Each liner and lippie is only $5 a piece, and with free shipping it's cheaper to purchase these than to go to the drugstore! The quality surpasses anything I've yet to purchase from Covergirl or Revlon and CVS doesn't even bring it right to my front door...Colour Pop is officially my first stop for new lip colors! 
Picture
It has been unseasonably cool for June so far! I hate the stifling heat, so I won't complain about a few cool days. My dark high-waisted denim skinnies are from Dottie, and I got them on sale for $20! They are somewhere between jeans and jeggings, so they don't make me feel like I'll pop a button if I eat but they hold their shape really well. I added a skinny belt that pulls out the coral in my tank for a little pop of color.
Picture

My light grey ruffle tank is also from Dottie, and only $18! It is pretty sheer, but the ruffle covers enough that I can wear a nude bra and not have to worry about layering another tank underneath. The floral pattern on this shirt is made of light blue and tangerine colors, and it's the only floral pattern I've seen that is this dainty and simple!
Picture
My buckle wedges are from DSW, and are so very comfortable! I bought these online, as 5's are getting more and more difficult to find in store...any store. Rude. I like that these really strap my foot in, and that the straps are adjustable!
Picture
I'm thrilled with the Colour Pop lippies I've gotten so far, but I'd love to know what you recommend for my next purchase! Sorry hubs, there will be another purchase. Maybe my magical online cart is already full with fun colors...shhh. 

As always, thanks for reading!

Love,
Ashley
2 Comments
    Picture

    Ashley

    Behind the dainty days is a whole lot of planning. And coffee.
    Here is a look at both, and everything between.

      wanna hear from me?

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Archives

    February 2021
    December 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • YouTube
  • Gallery