Its a wrap!

That's it! July is over, and it's the peak of 2012. These are my monthly favorite items, and I'll link where you can get them or something similar! Enjoy. 

Three things I truly care about for my everyday cosmetic routine--Lips, Eyes and Hair.

I love wearing berry or wine colored lipsticks, or even just a stain, but my favorite for this month is Revlons Colorstay lip stick. This one featured here is Stay Currant. Of all the 24-hour drugstore brand lipsticks, this one has won my vote as the best. You can eat, drink, or kiss without this rubbing off. Find this product at your local drugstore.

Eyeliner, I love eyeliner. It's always the most important part for eye makeup, the finishing touch to any look. I didn't want to spend much on an eyeliner (I've tried expensive brands) and so far, Loreals' Infallible gel eyeliner in Blackest Black has yet to upset me. This gel eyeliner lasts forever. This, you can also find at your local drugstore.

Hair, hair, hair--That's my trade mark. I have extremely thick and voluminous hair, a combination of my Salvadorian and Filipino heritage. But I really do not like to wash my hair everyday(and you really shouldn't). Your hair needs its natural oils. However, sometimes those oils need a bit of balance. So I highly recommend Lush's dry shampoo. Its a loose powder with a wonderful grapefruit scent that you pat in your hair. I know I just bought this product a few days ago, but I am truly impressed. Find this at a Lush store or on http://www.lushusa.com and much, much more!

I love doing masks! And I think it's even more fun when you make your own. This is a recipe for a honey green tea oatmeal mask that I found, and tweaked to my own. (and it's organic) Oatmeal reduces inflammation and redness, green tea revitalizes and replenishes, and honey tightens pores.
-1/2 cup of plain Oatmeal
-1/4 cup of hot brewed green tea
-2 teaspoons of honey
mix all of these together in a small bowl to make a warm paste(it should be warm, the heat opens your pores). Cut open the green tea bag and mix the used loose leaves in the paste as well. Apply on face, and wash off after ten minutes.

As for accessories, I've been using these two vintage finds this month a bit more. These over-sized butterfly glasses and gold chain rosary necklace. You can find similar glasses Here. And a similar necklace Here.

It's Summer, so I'm not going anywhere too fancy. These are my play shoes, classic high top Chuck Taylors. As much as I love, love my wedges or heels, nothing beats my childhood shoes. These can go with anything, and you can get a bit dirty. My great grandpa used to call them "Boy shoes", he was born in 1922, girls didn't wear these kind of shoes when he was growing up. Find them here.

My over worn clothes this month are my vintage velvet shirt and my black plain shorts. I don't always wear them together, but I find them to be essential basics to my outfits. You can find a similar velvet shirt here at American Apparel. These shorts are a steal at Forever 21--every girl needs a good pair of black cotton shorts for summer.

My favorite bag at the moment is my Fossil Messenger Bag! I love this bag for work, interning and travel. It has so many pockets, and places to stick things. It's just an ideal stuff-everything-in-it bag. I believe everyone needs a bag like this.

And my last favorite, are my chicks! I got four new baby chickens last month, and they are growing so fast. I love chickens. To eat, and for pets. (Wingstop is amazing). Don't get me wrong though, I would never eat my pet. Haha.

Gimme Lush and a taste of the City.

I haven't been in San Francisco for a few weeks now, and today I had the pleasure of having a quick trip to the city. Unlike many other visits, it felt more calm and at a slower pace. Maybe because the weather was perfect, or maybe because I didn't have anything really planned and I was not there for work. I got to wander downtown a bit with one of my best friends, Shahreen, and we also met up with a friend from our High School drama club, Gabe!

I haven't done a post in Black and white in so long! Today just felt like a monotone photo type of day--simple and beautiful.

I told myself I wasn't going to do any shopping and get carried away because that's what I tend to do. But that damn sales guy was just too good. Haha. This product is from Lush, an all organic cosmetics company with great smelling stores. I heard about their dry shampoo everywhere, so I guess I'll have to try it!

Shahreen, rocking that boho look in a long black maxi and knit pullover. We had a too-friendly guy throwing some pick up lines at us over at union square, I blame her great looks.

We also came across Ph.D Mike Da-something giving free advice. He is invited to Shahreens' wedding.

I finally got to walk down that pier on Embarcadero, in front of the Bay Bridge. I can't tell if my eyes are open, or just really tiny.

We also got to hop around behind that large cubism water-fall statue on Embarcadero. We got splashed with a bit of water and thank goodness I didn't trip. That couple in the back is cute, haha, and I guess so is Gabe!

And BART for our transportation back home, it excites me. If you live in the bay area, and never ridden BART, then that's kind of weird. Ha. Kidding.

Oh, and this last one that Shahreen snapped of me. I liked the wall.

Video Inspirations.

There is never a time that I do not find some sort of inspiration in cinematic creations. These are mine for the night.

Gabrielle Revere, one of my idols in the photography world. Can I have her job please? She is an amazing artist, she gets to do all sorts of interesting things. Revere has photographed many, many, big fashion names and celebrities. She's done covers for LIFE magazine. And she has done some amazing charity work in developing countries with her photographs as well. Trust me, there's a big list on her photo accomplishments. See for yourself at http://www.gabriellerevere.com/. But for now, This is just a look video directed by Gabrielle Revere that I came across: Black and White with some snips of old color-- you simply cannot get better than this. Being that I love black and white photography, I find this video to be just outstandingly beautiful, a picture in motion.


I was not too fond of Lana Del Rey when I first heard her, but as time went, I fell for her flower-child look and sweet songs. But not only is her music great, I love the videos too. This one in particular, really portrays the song well. Summer Time Sadness with old film, light leaks and some silhouette lighting... so pretty. It fits perfectly with Lana's classic beauty and hypnotizing voice. Not to mention, her basic summery clothes in this video are wonderful.



And my last favorite of the night, this backstage video of Diors' Haute Couture 2012 fall show. I love, love watching all the haute couture shows online over and over again, they are always so precise and incredibly done with class and elegance. But this video, is the backstage version. The part most people don't see--and that's what I love. I love seeing the work that goes into these huge creative events. Many people just see the final product (being the model in the fabulous clothes) but what interests me the more than anything else, is the work and detail that goes into this. The imaginations of all the designers, photographers, make-up artists and directors are the most intriguing part of any fashion show.

H&M and lizards

Today was my day off this week from work, and I really wasn't expecting much, other than just sitting around at home and sleeping. However, I ended up going to Berkeley to bring my younger brother to the East Bay Vivarium, (A huge reptile pet store). I feel like I've been spending a lot of time there this week. I even got to go to CREAM again... so delicious.

I went to H&M, just to browse and see what's new. I didn't pick up much other than a plain unisex T-shirt and a Maroon tank. Oh, and they threw in a free H&M summer magazine with some neat stories and interesting photography.

 What I love most about this store is that you can find a bunch of good quality basics, similar to the ones sold at American Apparel, for half the price or less. And H&M also has line of basics that are organic, which is pretty cool. 

One spread is about Southern Californian skater girls. Styled with boho-beach clothes, which is always enjoyable this time of year.

I found it kinda funny how I was wearing something a bit more relaxed and skater-like today. Honestly, I didn't feel like glaming it up, it's cool to be chill on some days. This cropped baseball tee is from Pacific Sunwear--Pacsun. And I paired it with black jeggings and a vintage rope belt.

Oh, and this was that reptile place. It smelled like animals and they had cute little baby chicks in the large
snake tanks. Sooo sad. But if your a reptile enthusiast, this is your spot.

An Andy Afternoon

Meet Alex. She's a current student at SJSU, and one of my long-time best friends. I bet your wondering why "Andy Afternoon?" Well, even if your not, I'll tell you why. When we were younger, we combined our names into a short one. Alexandria  and Cassandra, thus Andy. Today, we had a short adventure, in the hills of East Union City. You know, just wandering in the meadows, talking of old memories and laughing at our ridiculous pictures--which I'm afraid, you won't be seeing much of. Only these few, haha.

Throwing our jackets up in the air.

Conga! And this was so unintentional.

Alex! She wore a pair of magenta-red skinnies from the clothing shop she works at, located in our local malls called American One. Along with a cotton black shirt--perfect for summer afternoons.

To add a bit more of detail, she wore a gold chained, tribal necklace from Forever21.

And what better for summer than a tassel fringe bag? I love these! and to stomp around in the trees and meadow, she wore plaid fold-over combat boots, from G by Guess found at Macy's.

And her rings!

And for me, I stuck to my favorite pair of Cheap Monday, second Skin jeans. (These are my favorite pair, I really do love em! I paired it with a vintage corset and vintage floral denim jacket.

After an awkward spin,

Before heading to the meadow, we grabbed some drinks from our local Tapioca spot. Where all the cool Asian car-head kids hang out.

Like this.