Here's this exact post in a "short, sweet, and to the point" form.
But for those AWESOME READERS of mine, here's the meat of this lookbook. :)
On December 23 I went to the thrift store, in hopes of finding ONE outfit. I had an idea in mind. I wanted a gold party dress. One with sequins on the bodice and the skirt to poof out in ruffles.
I could do so many things with an outfit like that to give it so many different looks.
But I looked through the dresses and found nothing that came close to what I wanted.
But the store made up for it by providing four other options that I had to have and will be remaining in my closet FOREVER.
Outfit number one: Retro is the way to go-go
This doesn't exactly go with the gold theme I was shooting for, but there's gold threaded all throughout this top. I imagined that if I were in the 70s that this would be the outfit of choice to ring in the new year.
And rich colors like that should NOT be left on a hanger for someone else's hands to take them home.
I stuck with one eyeshadow palette for this whole lookbook (ELF Golden Goddess $2). One, because it kept with my gold theme; two, it took the guess work out of figuring out what to wear on my eyes; and three, it made the process of doing this photoshoot much easier.
The only thing I changed up was my lip color and eyeliner (using different colors and different thicknesses).
This lip color I made using the regular dollar store, nude lip gloss that I put on nearly every day and over it dabbed some gold eyeshadow.
Did you know there's this site that shows you how to make your own lip gloss using Vaseline and eyeshadow?
People are pinning it like crazy and acting like that is the most genius idea ever.
YouTubers were trying it out too and here I'm watching them thinking:
"HELLO, I did that when I was eight years old and I didn't like the colors of lipsticks that my play makeup had so I figured out that trick on my own and was wearing blueish-purple lipstick with pride...even if Mom thought I looked like I was going through shock."
I straight up love these next photos.
Because you can see my set up. You see the wall I pose next to, how my kitchen it just off to the right. You can see the yellow filing cabinet my friend gave me and the piano that I lean against that we're trying to get rid of as I got a newer one for Christmas.
I love how these show more of me and of my little world.
Outfit number two: The comfy sweater.
Honestly, this is me. Right now.
I'm not at a party. HA! I'm writing to you guys so of course I'm not doing anything "fun" in the New Year's Eve sense.
But I LOVE writing you. To me, this is fun, this is my jam, this is how I party.
Now this outfit and the last two were done on the same day.
I know, spilling my secrets isn't cool. I didn't do these on four different days and wear them the whole day, I'm sorry. I did wear the last outfit for the rest of the day though.
I was on a time crunch, what can I say other than the truth!
The heart socks were put on on a whim and I'm so happy I did it. I love it. I wanted to show you all that just because you're not out partying, that you can still celebrate at home in your own way.
Or you can totally wear this out. I would be all for that too.
I am wearing Maybelline's Red Revival lipstick in this shoot as well as wearing ELF's liquid eyeliner in Coffee, painting on a small wing.
I wanted a softer eye, a more relaxed look while keeping it rich with the bold lipstick
This necklace was a Christmas gift from my friends Jessa and Tinisha, also YouTubers. It's breathtaking!
Outfit number three: Stripes and scratchy sequins.
This is my least favorite outfit.
Because it's not comfortable.
Next time I put this on, I'll remember to wear a shirt under it.
C'mon, you can see my bra in the photo below. Another reason to wear an undershirt. I should've known.
I also was having massive hair issues this day. It was a Saturday and my hair had just been washed the night before.
I loathe clean hair days. My hair is uncooperative and not in the way I like it.
Hence the reason I PUT IT UP. It was either that or yank it out. ;)
For my lip I kept on the Red Revival but added a little bit of gold eyeshadow over it, to warm it up and make it sparkle.
I also went over the brown eyeliner to make a bolder wing, in NYC's black liquid liner.
Outfit number four: The DJ
I had no name for this look until a couple hours after this shoot, while still wearing this, my son said, "Mom, you look like a DJ!" to which I made some pathetic, record-scratching noises leaving my son to ask what I was SAYING.
"What is a 'wick-uh'?"
Me: "You know, record scratching, wick-uh, wick-uh!"
His squinting eyes in my direction explained that I went from looking cool to weird in about 3.33 seconds.
Now this lipstick...
I removed the Red Revival and BONUS, the rubbing of the towel on my lips gave them a good plump.
I went back and used my dollar store lip gloss but I think I put on too much to which had me putting on too much golden eye shadow over the top and then I had to line my lips with brown because I lost the outline of my lips and they looked gargantuan. The brown helped keep them from looking like I just got lip injections.
But I sure felt like I had a solid layer of sludge resting on my mouth.
(WHY AM I SHARING THESE SECRETS WITH YOU?)
So far, this has been the favorite outfit from my viewers. Which makes me over-the-moon ECSTATIC because I truly do think it's a great look and fits my style best. I feel like it is a nod from my viewers to how I style myself. And while I will wear what I like, what an honor it is to see that others like it too. <3
HAPPY NEW YEAR, my friends! May you life be filled with nothing less than GREATNESS. This is your year to have happiness, freedom, love, loyalty, truth, friendship, you name it. This is YOUR YEAR.
And thanks for following along with me through mine.
If you missed my last post about about my thoughts on 2015, as well as my thoughts about this coming year, please read it here.
