My Perfect Sweaterdress

Fall came and I wanted a sweater dress soooo bad! All I could think of is how cozy, comfortable, and easy to put together it would be. I had started hunting for my dress a long while ago, but could never find the perfect one. I don't know if its just me, but I'm soooo picky about the kind I wanted. I couldn't be too thin, it couldn't have super giant cables, and it absolutely could NOT have a turtleneck. No way, nuh uh, ain't happening'. Then I went to heaven, (T.J.Maxx) and FOUND it!!! And for only $20 too! It's got this fabulous cowl neck, it's warm and the cables are beautiful, and I just love love love it! It was just barley long enough to wear just stockings with it, (I kinda had to constantly tug it down) but it's a great length for leggings. I'll be trying it with those next. Anyway, I topped it off with some glitzy accessories and went to hand out posters for my towns new years eve party!

The necklace I'm wearing? Take apart the crystallized magnets and turn it into a longer necklace, or a bracelet! All for $12.

Hope you enjoyed!!!


Sophiiiee =)


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Straight to the Source: Week 1

Hey everyone!
So for the third post in my skin quest series, I said I was going to talk about my diet as of right now, what can go, what can stay, and what I should add.
So first we are going to do a little talking about what the book, Feed your Face by Dr. Jessica Wu, says about foods for acne prone skin. In the book she goes into full detail on each and every bad ingredient out there. What part of it hurts you skin, what does to you skin and how.
Now, as I'm not the author, and have no copyright on this book whatsoever, I can't just copy and paste what she says. So if you do plan on following my journey, I highly recommend getting a copy, or renting one from your local library, for yourself.
Here is a brief list of ingredients of foods I should avoid for acne:
Sugar
Too much sodium or "iodine"
Glucose
Dairy
What is so bad about these foods, is their level on the glycemic index, which is high. (And for those of you who don't know what the glycemic index is,  is basically something that measures how fast your body breaks down foods into glucose.)
The foods that break down faster should be avoided because too much glucose spikes your blood sugar and causes your body to produce more insulin to try and regulate the blood sugar. So the increase in blood sugar apparently leads to more oil production in your skin, and if that excess oil isn't cleansed off regularly and properly, can lead to pimples. Alongside that, is a higher skin cell production and elevated androgens, (which explained in the book are acne-casing male hormones.)

Anyway I'm no scientist or doctor so if I continue talking about all of that I'm going to confuse myself.  (Also, if something I said was wrong, let me know!) I'm going to go ahead and show you all a food journal, which is what I regularly eat from week to week. Of course if varys, but this is an overall view.

Although I drink a lot of coffee and tea, I always have a reusable bottle of water on hand. Always.

Monday -
    Breakfast: Coffee with cream and sugar
    Mid-morning: Tea and a cookie or some sugary treat
    Lunch: Egg's with half&half, onions, salsa, (or red peppers) chili powder and garlic power and a dash of salt, with some sort of fruit and yogurt, with water and milk.
    Snack: Either Trader Joes ritz wannabee crackers, or candy, cookie, ice cream,      something sugary or salty.
    Dinner: My mom normally makes a meal with a protein, 2 veggies and a salad. I     normally eat just the protein and salad, only veggies if they arn't green.  Water to drink.

Tuesday-
    Breakfast: Egg's with cheddar cheese
    Mid-morning: Whatever sweet is lying about the house.
    Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwitch, chips, and some fruit.
    Snack: More of whatever the previous snack was.
    Dinner: Mom's normal food groups.

Wednesday-
    Breakfast: Coffee with cream and sugar.
    Mid-morning: If i get bored I again, reach for whatever is here.   Lunch: Sometimes we go out of town on Wednesdays, therefore we eat out and I get a wrap or some sushi, but when we are home, I have a turkey and cheese sammich with small amount if mayo (too much just sickens me) lettuce, tomato.
    Snack: Repeat.
    Dinner: I normally just have a coffee and some peanut m&ms, because I'm gone at a knitting group during dinner and I go to hot yoga right after that. Then when I'm home I have a plate of whatever my mom made. Or as of this week, a taco bell crunchwrap because our dog Bella ate my dinner. -.- It's always me.

Thursday-
    Breakfast: I skip breakfast a lot of times.
    Mid-morning: Repeat
    Lunch: Pasta Salad or Egg's fixed with all the spices and such.

    Snack: Repeat
    Dinner: Repeat

Friday-
    Breakfast: Coffee with cream and sugar.
    Mid-morning: Repeat
    Lunch: Sometimes mom takes me and my sister out to lunch at Cookout, where I get a burger with chili, cole slaw, cheese, ketsup, lettuce and tomato, or some chicken nuggets and a corndog with fries and a sweet tea.
    Snack:  Repeat
    Dinner: I eat out with friends this night, and normally have pizza or mexican food. Burritos mainly.

Saturday-
    Breakfast: Skipped
    Mid-morning: I'm normally at work so If I don't have some candy or chips in my purse, it's skipped.
    Lunch: A cheeseburger with lettuce tomato and ketchup. Sometimes bacon.
    Snack: None
    Dinner: Normally this is sleepover night, so it's pizza, doritos, sodas, chocolate. All those bad-mamma-jammas you should stay away from.

Sunday-
    Breakfast: None, I sleep in on Sundays.
    Mid-morning: Chocolate that was purchases over the weekend.
    Lunch: PB&J
    Snack: An apple before I head to a coffee shop, where I enjoy 2 cups of it. Loads of cream and sugar.
    Dinner: Mom's normal mixture of food groups.
 
  

So that is a basic overview of my weekly diet. Some of the stuff is repetitive, like breakfast, (or no breakfast) and some of it changes. But as you can see, I have a sugar problem!! Whenever I'm bored, I'll reach for a snack, and I almost always reach for something sugary. Today (Friday) I decided that I will go ahead and start the Feed Your Face diet for a week, and see how it works!! I will list what meal from the book I ate, and also a after picture of my skin. I can't cut cold turkey though, so some of my old habits might remain the same for a bit, but I'll try my best to beat em!

Until then, here is a picture of my skin now. It is dry, I have blackheads, and zits are popping up everywhere. NOT COOL. Let's change that. =)

The black dots mark everywhere I have a problem....that's too many problems! Some are way worse than others though. Thank God for my 24 hour Maybellene concealer!

My first meal from the book!

Straight to the Source: The Beginning

The beginning of my quest didn't start as expected really. I was really just reading a lot of magazines at the time, but I went to the library to check out some books on cosmetology, and in the same section as those books, were books on your skin. I was thinking, "Oh hey, might be something in here that the magazines don't have".  As I was browsing through them, deciding on what ones seem worth checking out, I came across a book called "Feed Your Face" By Dr. Jessica Wu.  I immediately flashed back to a recent Glamour magazine I had read, interviewing some dermatologists, and remember seeing her in the mix.  So in she went with my pile of books.
After a small debate, I decided to read Feed Your Face first. Wow. Suddenly, all of the articles I've read over the years, seemed...not stupid, but not as informative as they could, and in my opinion, should have been.
This book is amazing. Instead of focusing on what to apply to get rid of stuff, she (Dr. Wu) talks all about how your diet is related to your skin condition. It has a chapter for everything. Acne, aging, eczema, hives, hair and nails.  My field of interest would be acne of course. Now as I had mentioned in my previous post, announcing the launch of this series, I've had great skin for most of my life. It was only the past summer when I've had continuing issues. As I read on, I realized why. A) Was because I did stick to a routine (mostly...everyone had those nights where they don't feel like washing their face right? Right.) and b) My diet, compared to the diet she foods she recommended along they way, were very simaler. Of course, there are main foods you should stay away from, because they are the main cause if acne, and one of them is sugar. Bam, that was my weakness.  I discovered that not only was my skin bad because of my bad summer habits, (Again, explained in the previous post) it was my diet over the summer. Although I did like eating healthy, and did so regularly, down in Disney world, I kinda let loose. I was having so much fun I didn't stop to think about the toll all of the sugar wafers, sodas, artificially sweetened tea, (artificial sweeteners, another food to stay away from) candy and so on, would have on my skin. Another skin savage, is too much sodium. Now everyone knows that you need salt.  Your body needs it, and can't survive without it. But there is a point where you've maxed out on it.
Down in Disney, we ate mostly in the cafeteria for breakfast, lunch and dinner, (Aside from the occasional character breakfasts, and dinner buffets) and I knew that the food served there wasn't all fresh and homemade. I don't know this for a fact, but most of what I ate, (Pizza was my fave! I'm surprised I'm not sick of it now.) was probably pre-packaged, frozen, and full of artificial this and that, not to mention tons of sodium! Also me and my friend both stocked up on junk food that you would find in the isle of chips, crackers, and candy at the grocery store. I know for sure it's not all fresh, natural, and low in sodium and sugar.
In the book, she not only tells you what is good for your skin and what isn't, but she goes into a full and easily understandable (Thank goodness, I'm no science whiz!)  description about why these things are good/bad for you, what they do, and how they do it.

Coming up, will be a before picture of my skin now, barefaced, no makeup, right after cleansing,  alongside a food journal. (A list of my regular day-to-day diet).
I will also be talking about the book, and what I should be cutting out of my diet, and what I should replace those cut-out foods with. 

Thanks for reading!
Sophiiee =)

Straight to the Source

Hey everyone!
This going to be a tad bit different than my normal posts. Still related to beauty, but instead of focusing on the outside, i.e. what to put on this, how to cover that, creating a look like this, I am going to share some of the knowledge that I have recently gained on going "straight to the source":treating yourself from the inside to better the overall look AND health of your skin. So then you won't have to worry about covering anything up!

What I have been doing lately is reading a lot of books based on skin science. The reason being, is because I never had a problem with my face. I had a routine, and I had stuck to it ever since I started needing a routine. But of course, as time passes, your skin changes and I needed to make a few adjustments.

Over the past summer, I had the fabulous opportunity (Thanks Morgan!) to spend 2 weeks down in Florida at Daytona Beach and Disney World! Next thing you know, I'm spending all day out in the sun, partying, swimming, hugging Mickey Mouse and riding Splash Mountain 3 times. By the end of the day I was exhausted. Did I really feel like washing my face, after sweat, salt, chlorine, change of climate, and everything else taking a toll on my face? Ha wish I had thought that far into it at the moment. Of course I didn't feel like washing my face. So therefore, I didn't stick to my routine as well as I should have.

Leading to coming back home with a wonderful tan, my naturally-highlighted hair lighter than ever, and.....some really messed up skin. My skin was worse than I ever remember. (Aside from the one time I got hives...more on that later on in the series.) I had terrible peeling sunburn on my nose, and I didn't leave it alone (dangit!) so it had led to a big red sore, that no matter what I did, couldn't be covered up. I also had breakouts all over my forehead and chin. Some way worse than others.

Ever since that wonderful, fun filled, amazing summer vacation, I've haven't been able to clear up my skin. 

As soon as I got home, I did get better about my routine again. But then again, it was summertime, and I was up late every night, slept in late every morning, hanging out with friends. So It wasn't as good as a ritual as it should have been, but better than when I was in Florida.

Summer had just now ended (not officially, but the weather went away) then it was freezing, like winter, and just now it had regulated into normal, pleasant, fall weather.  I can imagine my skin going "Get me off this temperature roller coaster!!" Because although my skin is pretty normal in the summertime, it gets so dry in the wintertime, and then fall is the transitioning period for me. They got switched up and around this year and confused my skin. It went from normal, to scaly, flaky dry, to mostly normal. I'm having a big issue with blackheads, not only on my nose now, but they have migrated to my chin. Not happy. And I also get breakouts all over my forehead and around my chin. I even got bangs to cover my forehead, and a couple summers ago I swore I was never going to get bangs again, because they made my situation worse. (That was summertime, so it was more of a problem with the sweat and greasy hair.) I was so fed up with trying to clear up my face, switching my routine, buying this and that, that I decided to check out some books at my local library on skin, and started reading.

I have discovered so much more about skin science, not to mention about hair and nails too, and I'm so exited announce that I am going to make a new series of posts on it. I'll be reading, sharing the book titles, any proven remedies, tracking my skin, watching for any breakouts and patterns, and also experimenting with my (and everyone else's) source to great skin. My diet.

If you would like to learn more alongside me in my quest for great skin, follow my blog and keep and eye out for my skincare posts, (as well as the other fashion/beauty posts) and we'll see where it goes!!

Sophiiee =D

Buttons and Belts

For some reason I've been in a style rut. You know, when you wear the same kinda style every day? I like never do that, so this is a first. So...I decided to blog about it!
If you haven't figure it out already, my rut is all about belted button downs.
Here is a series of pictures showing how I wear my button downs and belts.

Equestrian-esque

Casual

At a music fest down where I live. Lots of fun! Garden-party/music fest-esque.

Taylor Swifty!!

First Pic: 

Top-Hollister

Jeans-Forever21

Boots-Limelight for Rack Room Shoes

Belt-N/A

Second Pic: 

Top-Ralph by Ralph Lauren

Jeans-can't remember the brand for the life of me.

Shoes-N/A

Belt-Forever21

Third Pic:

Top-Ralph by Ralph Lauren

Skirt-Ralph by Ralph Lauren

Shoes-N/A

Belt-Forever21

Hat-From Dollar General

Bag-Tommy Hilfiger

Fourth Pic:

Tank: L.E.I.

Top: Liz Claiborne

Skirt: Spring Street

Boots: Limelight from Rack Room Shoes

Belt: Forever 21

Hope you enjoyed!! And thanks for reading =)

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Sophiiiee =)

Sweater and Leather - OOTD 11.5.11

Hey hey!!

I am so happy, because the weather is finally getting to a regular around where I live. Before, we were in 102 degree summer, straight to 50 degree winter. Skipped fall altogether. But thankfully, it has regulated and we have some nice, sunny, 60 degree fall days. Although my fave season is summertime, I am LOVING the fall. I get great pictures!!! (Post on some fall photography soon!!)
This sweater featured here is, in one word, fantabulous. (what other word is there? haha) It's soft, stretchy, comfy, a cowl neck, and PERFECT for fall. The only downside is that it is so delicate. If anything at all snags on it, you got yourself a small hole. I have a hole in the back of the right sleeve, but thankfully because I'm a knitter, I picked up the stitches, put them into a couple safety pins, and after I find some matching thread I can knit the hole back together.
Also the "leather" jacket here is not leather, it's fake. But I LOVE it! It was $40 at T.J. Maxx last year, and I have only worn it twice, but after rediscovering it, it will be worn much more often.

Without further ado, here are the pictures =)

I was happy...I actually had a fantastic hair day, hahaha.

Bedazzled bug eye glasses! LOVE em!

Sweater-
Jacket-
Jeans-
Shoes-
Earrings and glasses- N/A

Halloween OOTD!

HAPPY (totally belated!) HALLOWEEN!

Haha, it's obviously not Halloween anymore, but this is my costume. Minnie Mouse!
I stayed home and handed out candy, but after the candy was gone I went to a small party where I enjoyed some classic s'mores, and some s'mores with recees cups instead of chocolate!!
Here are a couple of pictures, and also a link to my Minnie Mouse makeup tutorial!

My modified version. Added jeans and a jacket cause it was cold. Brrr.

The original version of my costume...with a sequin mini skirt. Then it got cold!

 

The Video:

I hope you all enjoyed!!
What were you for Halloween? I'd love to know!

Seeya soon!!

Sophiiiee =)



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