$1 Dollar Tree Makeup

Please don't allow yourself to sleep on $1 makeup from Dollar Tree. And good stuff too like CoverGirl, Sally Hansen, Maybelline, etc....Just my thoughts...... :-) #thatisall

-K.D.

My DIY Bag ;-)

I got this idea from Love Maegan. :-) She makes the most amazing things: shirts, necklaces, etc. Basically everything! When I saw this, I immediately had to try it! I've made 2 bags since. I made the other one out of a dress so it's a little bigger. Here's a pic of one of them. I made this one from a shirt I never wear.

Here's the link if you want to try it yourself. ;-) There's no sewing or anything involved. This is a perfect d-i-y for that top that you never liked, lol. It literally takes minutes. Thanks Maegan!

-K.D.

VA Beach Recap

Let me just say....I'm tired. Really tired. I'm actually blogging bedside which is something I hardly do. The beach was so much fun AND it was so much HEAT! My car's temperature stayed around 107-110 degrees. Being out in all of that heat wore me out! We rode bikes....and even as I type this I still can't believe my husband got me to ride bikes with him for that many blocks. 64 to be exact. :o So...moving right along I didn't get a new bathing suit. I just bought a bottom to a bikini top I bought years. I was going to a fraternity luau and I really only needed the bikini top...so that's all I bought! Looking back on it, I can't believe I didn't just get the whole suit. Well, yes i can. lol....#collegeyearswerebrokeyears

My nail polish. :-)

I had fun doing my toes in these colors. I liked how it turned out. Target silver flip flops-$2.50

And here's one of my new rompers from Burlington's Coat Factory! :D I wore it over my swimsuit. The romper was $7. It has a pocket on the sides and one on top. My nails, toes, and bracelets really added color to this gray romper. :-)
As you can see it's really short. But hey I was at the beach so I didn't care. ;-)

And here's the bathing suit. Oh and the bottom was on sale for $5 at JCPenney. I was so proud of myself for snagging that great deal. It would've been nice to buy a new suit, but I didn't need one really. I hadn't worn this one in years. If we go to the beach again, I'm definitely getting another bathing suit.

And I did wear my beach hat, but mostly while i was riding the bike. So it did come in handy. I have to show you the d-i-y project I did before we went to the beach! Stay tuned. :-)

Can You See My Face?

One thing I hate to do is apologize for not posting. People who read blogs don't wanna hear how busy you are, etc. They just want to see posts! So here I am with a new post. :-) I'm officially in beach mode. Not there yet, just thinking about it and planning. Here's my new beach hat. ;-) Walmart-$7. Even though you can barely see my face...I still feel fly in this thing.

*And I'm still taking pics with my phone* Does someone want to buy me a new camera for my birthday? It's in a couple of weeks. :-)

My Beach Essentials

(On our honeymoon last year in Boca Raton....)

I love the beach. It's so relaxing to me & I can't wait until our beach getaway next weekend. The hubs and I are going to Virginia Beach. This is our 2nd time going there. So right now I'm just in the middle of getting my beach essentials together. So here's what I need...

1. Beach hat

2. Another bathing suit (I really want 3 of them!)

3. My black Walmart flip flops broke so I need another cheap pair. I saw some $5 ones at Fashion Bug...

I've got everything else: sunglasses, sunblock, beach bag, towels, etc. I'm starting to really like monokinis. I went to Target today looking for this one...and this one, but I didn't see them, but I did find the PRETTIEST bikini. :D Funny how clothing stores never seem to have what's online, but you always end up finding something just as cute. ;-)It's freaking gorgeous. Did I buy it? You'll just have to wait and see. ;-) Annnnnnd I finally found the perfect summer beach hat! So I'm almost set for Virginia Beach next weekend. :-) Can't wait! Are you going to the beach this summer? What's your fave beach? Mine is Maui...even though I've never been! :0 It's on my wish list though.

P.S. Guess what?? I have some new rompers! I can't wait to wear the other one and the 2 NEW ones!

Walmart's $5-7 Hats

This weekend I went on a hunt for some (one) summer hat for the beach. Amazingly enough, I didn't go to F21 looking for one....I may just go there this week though. Moving along.... With my under $10 budget in tow, I headed to a place I knew would have some cheap hats......Walmart. :-) I meant to tell you guys about their Miley Cyrus scarves....$2! They're so cute and casual. Grab them up before they're gone. ;-)

Here's a quick shot of mine: a grey and black tie-dyed scarf....and the $7 beach hat I picked out!

I liked it for the price, but I still didn't buy it.
This was a Miley Cyrus hat I think. It was $5....My face is too fat for hats. Ugghhh.

Even though I liked both hats, I didn't buy either one. I need to be sure that $5-7 is the absolute cheapest I can get a hat for. #cheapskate I was telling my husband about the hats and he immediately finished my "i didn't get one of the hats because..." sentence. He said, "you want to make sure that's the cheapest you'll have to pay." LOL, It was so funny! He's knows me so well. I'm not an impulse shopper at all. I used to have that in my blood though. Not anymore. :-) I am thinking about hitting up one of the thrift stores in search of one.....I think I'll end up getting one of the Walmart hats though. I like them. What do you ladies think? I'm so not a hat person! lol....

Summer Body Issue: Bacne & Chest Acne

Photo from Stylelist.com

It never fails....every summer I'm usually hit with bacne & chest acne. It's the area on my body that's the most prone to break out when it's hot. The heat and me frequently co-washing my hair always take their toll on my back especially. It's happened in the past when I was teenager and I never knew what to do about it...I just tried not to pick with them too much. Didn't want the scars that come with busting pimples, lol. As an adult, I've developed a plan to keep the back & chest acne in check. When I put on a shirt with my back out or a cute sleeveless dress, the last thing I want to see is a pimple. I usually start this routine right before it starts getting warm consistently...usually in April or May.

Here's what I do:

1. Exfoliate my whole body 2-4 times a week with St. Ives Naturally Clear Apricot Scrub Blemish & Blackhead Control. I concentrate the most on my back & chest. By mistake, I bought the Blemish Fighting Apricot Cleanser so I've been using this as well. Yes, it's a essentially a face cleanser, but I find it to be very effective on the body too. Some find this scrub too harsh, but it's just right for my skin. One thing my skin needs is constant exfoliation. Some people can get away with never exfoliating.





2. I use my daily face wash which is Black Opal Skin Perfecting Acne & Blemish Wash. I try to apply it to just my chest & back every other day. I've been using this face wash since high school. I buy it from the beauty supply store. Sometimes I can find it in CVS too... When I run out of face wash, the next best thing for me is baking soda & water. ;-) You don't have to use this one, whatever you use on your face should be just fine. Just make sure the wash a 2% Salicylic Acid. SA is the ingredient that help stop pimples. The Black Opal only has .5%.


3. When I really want to "treat" my back & chest I use my Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. :-) I love how cool it makes my skin feel. I put this on for about 15-20 minutes and then I get into the shower to rinse it off. Queen Helene carries a lot of different masques so I'm thinking of experimenting with some of the other ones this summer. I already have the Grape Seed one and I used to give myself the Mud Masque treatments.



4. I can't use overly moisturizing body washes. I bought one from the Dollar Tree a few weeks back and my back did NOT like it. I immediately started breaking out. Not too bad, but a little. The rest of my body loved the added moisture to my skin. lol, I checked out the ingredients and the second listed was petroleum jelly. Can't have that on my back and chest. Break out city. : \


That's it! And the best thing about all of these products is that they're all under $6. The only thing that costs me $6 is my Black Opal. You don't need to pay a fortune for good products. ;-) I've been using all of these products since high school & they work very well for me. Do you get bacne? Or even chest-acne? How do you treat it?? I hear Head & Shoulders is another way to treat bacne! -K.D.

Do You Wear Summer Hats?

I have to admit I have zero summer hats....I have a few baseball caps but not any girly, summer hats ya know? I usually don't wear them for some reason. I don't think I look that cute in them...so that's the reason. I need one for the beach trip i'm going on in a couple of weeks! :-) I'm not trying to get sunburned (again). I really want to tie a ribbon around a cute floppy hat or a fedora!

Here's Rachel Bison in her cute fedora.

And one of my personal faves: Kate Hudson! I love this hat. It's just what I'm looking for.

I just had to throw this one in the mix...even though I have no intentions of getting it! It's the Helene Berman Bow Straw Floppy Hat retailing for $160.94. I'm not paying that kind of loot of a hat.....but isn't this hat GORGEOUS?!

Are you a hat rocker? What kind of summer hats are you wearing?? Where do you ladies buy your hats? Oh yeah...I would like the hat to cost no more than $10 bucks. I know...a challenge right? But I'm up for it!- K.D.

My Patriotic Outfit

Hey ya'll! How was everyone's 4th of July? Mine was just okay. I didn't do anything special at all. At times like these, I wish I still lived in Memphis. No city really compares to their barbecue! ;-) I didn't really get to wear my outfit like I wanted to for the 4th so I wore it again today, lol! I really, really like this shirt and I've been wanting to wear it. And we are experiencing a major heat wave so I'm trying to be as cool as possible!

In case you're wondering how I did my hair....

This park is really scary to me... : \ It's more like a creepy forest. Oh and I wore a reddish lip color. This is new for me as I'm always doing the nude lip.

I went to Borders today to finally use a gift card that I've had for almost 2 years. :0 It was very relaxing....#ilovebooks
I felt so girlie in this shirt! :-)

The infamous spy bag! :D No, not a real one. I normally don't wear knock-offs, but I became obsessed with this bag. This was a gift. :-)I'm going to do post on all of the compartments later. It has so many hidden parts!

Here are the books I bought. I'm the biggest J. California Cooper fan you will EVER KNOW! :D She is my favorite author. No one comes close to her. I hope to meet her one day. :-) This is her latest book and I'm soooo late getting it. I also got Sister, Sister by. Eric Jerome Dickey. I read this many years ago, but I want to re-read it. :-) I still have some money left on the gift card so I'll be back

So here's the breakdown on my cheap outfit. ;-) You guys already know about the accessories. I've blogged about them. They equal about $5-8 maybe.

Shirt: 579, $2.99! (Please everyone stop sleeping on 579.)

DIY Jean Shorts: I actually bought these from Ross last year in the fall for $8.99. I got home and tried them on and they were too small. I lost the receipt so I couldn't take them back..... :\ So I decided a few days ago to cut them up to see if they would fit and what do you know....they did! The skinny legs didn't fit me. The jean shorts are now perfect. :-)

Spy Bag: This was a gift from the hubs. :-) Does anyone have the real spy bag???

And the shoes are just my old gold flip-flops......How was your 4th? What did you get into? :-)

Sleeves Cut On My African Jacket!

So I cut the sleeves on the African printed jacket I bought from Thrift Store Baritillo the other day. I had to....they were literally swallowing my frame. : \ I really wanted to keep them, but they just didn't work with my body. Here's the finished product......

I tucked the shoulder pads under the sleeve part....

You can see the shoulder pad on the right poking out. :o

And here the shoulder pads are all out willie nillie....lol.

I don't know what I'm going to do with the should pads. I may cut them....or sew them under to make a cute little puff. Any ideas? -K.D.

P.S. I went to Thrift Store Baritillo today....yes again. ;-) Can't wait to show you the new finds!