Month: April 2018

Saturday Musings + Plants – No Coffee Today

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I’m a plant person now.

I started this Saturday Musings series with the intent of getting to post blogs with content other than outfits, and I’m definitely liking this format. Still, it gets tiresome posting photos of my laptop, planner, and a cup of coffee – sometimes, I want to switch it up, you know? So today, instead of my coffee,  I thought I would photograph my plants.

I love my plants. I was not at all a plant person before I came to school, but my roommate, Mariana, was. Seeing her with all of her plants made me want to get into gardening, so over the last few months, I’ve been accumulating more and more.

This prickly pear cactus was my first plant. I’ve had him for at least a year now, since before I came to school. My mother mainly took care of him at home, and she did a good job. He’s a lot bigger now than when I first got him from Home Depot, and he’s grown a lot over the time I’ve had him at school too.

My next plant was this African violet. I got her just before spring break, when I went to the local farmers’ market with my dorm. She was struggling there for a while, but I think I’ve finally got her in a good place now that I’ve put her in a bigger, better-draining pot. She currently has three buds, so I’m hoping I might get some flowers soon.

My chicks-and-hens succulent is next. This little guy came first from my grandmother’s garden, and then my parents’. He’s a hearty little dude — he had no problem flying with me in a plastic bag on my way back to school after spring break. I’m wondering if he might sprout some baby succulents soon.

Then, I have some plants that I’ve been growing from seeds. First up are these tiny oregano seeds that I grew from a kit I got at Walmart. I’m not sure how long it’ll take for them to mature, but they’re looking very good for being only being a few weeks old.

I also have been trying to grow some cacti from seeds. So far, all I’ve got is this little red sprout. I also have a bunch of these weird little sprouts in the same pot where I planted my cactus seeds, but I don’t think they’re cacti. I don’t know what they are. Any ideas?

Then, I have some sunflower seedings. I didn’t really intent to throw these, but they accidentally got sowed along with my cactus seeds, and they started sprouting. I don’t really have any place for them at home, and I can’t keep growing them in this tiny teacup, but I’m not ready to throw them away yet.

These two succulents are new too. They were in the dining hall for decoration during the Easter buffet, so I snatched them up because I figured they were probably just going to be thrown away away after. I’m not sure what kinds of succulents they are, but they’re looking really good for being store bought.

This spider plant is my most recent acquisition.  I took him as a clipping from a mature spider plant in the art building, and I’m trying to get him to root. I’ll let you know what goes on there.

And that’s all the plants I’ve got right now! They’re so much fun to care for and watch grow. Do you have any plants? If so, let me know what kind in the comments below!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

March 26, 2018 – Neon Pink (OOTD #254)

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Favorite hobby: writing these blogs under my notes class during boring lectures.

In my Philo class, there’s very little to do in class, especially when my professor gets going on a tangent. He’s an intelligent guy, but he likes to hear himself talk, and I don’t really.

It’s great, because I get to appear like I’m engaged and taking close notes, when in actuality, I’m only half paying attention and instead getting some other (still important) work done.

I’ve been developing a really nasty cold lately, which I’m kind of bitter about because I thought for certain I was done with being sick for this school year. I pretty much avoided falling ill all winter, and I figured that meant that I had successfully dodged the bullet. I was mistaken, as my cough and stuffy nose prove.

I was also wrong about thinking the winter was over — it’s never over in South Bend. Here we are in April (well, I’m writing and publishing this in April. The outfit here is from March), and just yesterday, it snowed. I love the snow, but I’m over it.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life here at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Dress: Hollister

Jacket: Vintage (thrift)

March 25, 2018 – Runway Ramblings (OOTD #253)

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I really need to get better at not cutting off the tips of my feet when I take my own photos.

Or like, maybe I should just get better at asking people to take a few moments out of their lives and take photos for me. That would certainly be a lot easier than hiding out in the art building late at night waiting for it to clear out so I can set up my phone on a table and use my Apple Watch’s remote feature to take the pictures myself.

To be honest, I’m kind of surprised that I’ve managed to keep this blog going (almost) every day while I’ve been at school. I think it’s good I started it back in late high school and developed it over the summer; it almost certainly would not have been something I would have started out of pure personal interest while in college. It’s kind of hard to find the time to write sometimes, even now that I’ve been doing this for a year and and know (sorta) what I’m doing.

But it’s really rewarding to get a nice comment on a blog or get paid for a collaboration with a brand, so the motivation is still always there. I don’t think it’s really my dream or whatever to ever become one of those famous bloggers who turn this into a full-time career, but it’s cool to see that even as a relatively small fashion blog, there are still benefits I can take advantage of.

It’s also nice of course to get to talk about my love of fasion and share it with others. In some alternate universe, I think I went into fashion merchandising or design. It was always something that interested me, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find decent work because of how competitive the field is. Maybe one day, when I’m a rich retired lady (so like, in 10 years, right?), I’ll take some sewing classes. Project Runway, here I come!

(Have I already made that point about wanting to take sewing classes as a retired old lady? It can be hard to remember everything I’ve ever written about on this blog)

Anyway, time for me to get back to schoolwork. Err…maybe more like to get started on it. I can’t go back to something I haven’t touched yet.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life here at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: H&M

Sweater: thrifted

Pants: The LOFT

March 22, 2018 – Untitled (OOTD #252)

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I allllllllmost didn’t post this outfit as a blog.

I only have four photos, and one isn’t even very good, so it almost didn’t really feel worth it to post it as a full blog, you know?

I decided to go for it anyway though, because I really like this jacket. It reminds me of the most expensive item in my wardrobe, a similarly architectural jacket, except that I doubt this one is worth hundreds of dollars. Interestingly, though, I bought it at the same thrift shop from back home as I bought the super expensive one — coincidence?

I wore this jacket specifically for an interview I had at 9AM, and, considering I was accepted into the program I was interviewing for, I guess it worked out! While it’s not a paid job (that I’m still searching for), it is a almost-entirely grant-funded trip to Nepal to observe and aid in a research project, so I’m super excited.

You can bet that I’ll be posting a lot about my adventures in Nepal (assuming I have time), so stay tuned for that. Maybe I’ll actually be able to keep up with a regular schedule, unlike what happened to me in London, where one week in, I stopped posting at all.

Speaking of London, can you believe it’s been almost one whole year since I started L’ensemble du jour? I need to check my stats for the exact date, but I’m pretty sure I began this whole project sometime in mid-to-late April of 2017. I should do something special for the one year-anniversary. Any ideas? Leave me a comment below!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life here at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: thrifted

Shirt: Free People

Pants: The LOFT

March 21, 2018 – Insert Joke About Being Hot Here (OOTD #251)

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Meilin’s adventures in exploring the art building at night continue!

At this point, I’m just heading out to Riley every night that I don’t get my pictures done earlier in the day — in fact, I’ll probably do the same today, as I didn’t get my pictures done at lunch like usual on Tuesday. It’s basically my second home.

The longer I spend in Riley, the more I come across unusual settings that make for interesting backgrounds, like this yellow paint cabinet. I loved both the bright color, and the “Flammable” text printed on it — figured it would make for some funny Instagram captions.

The summer job/internship search is in full swing, just as it was in April of last year. If you look back far enough in the archives of this blog, you’ll see my discussions of interviewing and trying to get hired last summer. You’ll also see that the job I ended up working last summer was really not any fun and a terrible fit for me, so I’m trying to avoid that by getting on the whole application thing earlier.

Honestly though, I’m realizing I probably could have been even earlier. Getting a job is hard, especially when you’re just an unexperienced college kid like me who can only work for a few months.

Worst case scenario, I’m sure I can get a part time job maybe at a local restaurant. It’s not really what I want to do, and it doesn’t really contribute at all to my resume, but it makes money, and that’s what’s important. I’m jealous though of my friends who are able to study abroad or work academically or professionally-relevant unpaid internships over the summer.

Anyway, pray for me, wish me luck, whatever you want to do to send me some good will as I try to procure some summer employment.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: Vintage (thrifted)

Shirt: Thrifted

Jeans: Abercrombie

Boots: Ralph Lauren

REVIEW: BareMinerals Bare Pro Concealer

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Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. All opinions are my own.

Look at me! Doing more beauty posts and using my blog as a platform for testing and reviews products!

The thing I love best about doing Influenster reviews is that I feel no pressure to have an opinion, one way or the other, about the products I receive. While I do try to always provide my own opinions and thoughts for the other complimentary products I’ve received for promotional purposes on this blog, it would be a lie to say I don’t still feel some pressure to emphasize the positives over the negatives. With Influenster, since the products are being sent to me via a third party rather than from the brand itself with the stipulation that my only role is to review the product, that pressure is gone.

This is my second Influenster VoxBox (the first one being the L’Oreal Color Crave Hair Makeup and Semi-Permanent Hair Color), and with my experience so far, I’d definitely be happy to get more of these in the mail. They come packaged so cutely in these colorful boxes, and they always provide helpful instructions for what to do once you’ve received the box. If you’d ever like for me to review Influenster as a service for bloggers on LEDJ, leave me a comment below and let me know!

Anyway, the product I got from Influenster this time around was a little stick concealer from BareMinerals from their Bare Pro line, which claims to have 16 hour coverage. I received color 05, which seemed like a pretty good fit for my light-medium skin with neutral undertones.

Now to be honest with you, I don’t typically wear concealer. I much prefer to simply use a BB cream all over my skin, and then dab it on in a little more concentration on problem areas. If I do wear concealer, it’s probably because I’m running late to class and I don’t have time to do a full face of makeup, and I just want to cover up some pimples. Very rarely do I ever do concealer and BB cream/foundation — only special occasions.

So the look I’m sporting here is, in truth, more makeup than I typically wear. I have on both a very light coverage BB cream and the concealer over top of a couple of pimples and scars scars I have on my temples and cheeks, as well as a little discoloration beside my nose. Otherwise, I don’t really have any huge problem areas right now (bless), so I didn’t need to wear it anywhere else.

I was pleasantly surprised with the blendability of the concealer, as its texture is harder and more chalky than some of the other stick concealers I’ve used, like the Revlon Photoready concealer. A few dabs with my ring finger, and it smoothed right in.

I think a large part of the easy blending is just how well this product matched my skin — I don’t typically find products that match me perfectly, as things tend to either look too pink or too yellow, but this concealer really fit my neutral undertones. Especially since I didn’t get to test this product in the store and selected it based off of some sample images I saw on the Internet, I got pretty lucky.

As for its claims of 16 hour wear, I did not get to test this, and I honestly don’t really care to. Who wears makeup for 16 hours straight? It’s not something that’s currently a part of my lifestyle, so whether it wears for 16 hours or not is truthfully not important to me as a consumer. Its staying power did seem pretty solid though for the full 12ish hours that I wore it — nothing spectacular or life-changing, but still serviceable.

Summary:

Pros:

  • Perfect color match (for me, an Asian with light-medium, neutral undertone skin wearing 05)
  • Blends easily
  • Paraben, sulfate and phthalate-free
  • Wears well (for an average 12-ish hour day)

Cons:

  • Costly at $25
  • Still not completely “all-natural” — though what really is?
  • Average to above-average quality

In the end, I liked the product. It’s no Holy Grail for me, but I found it delightfully average, and even a little above average in terms of color matching. Is it worth it for the $25 price tag, when you could get another perfectly serviceable drugstore concealer (Revlon Photoready and the Sonia Kashuk quads are two of my favorites) for half the price? That I guess depends on your views of BareMinerals’ ingredients — they do claim that this concealer is paraben, sulfate, and phthalate-free, and that its natural ingredients (though not all natural — there are definitely some chemical-y ingredients that I have never heard of on the label) “nourish” the skin, so if that’s something you care about, maybe it’s worth it for you.

Have you tried the BareMinerals Bare Pro Concealer? Or do you have any suggestions for your favorite concealers? Let me know your thoughts below!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

March 20, 2018 – Happy Easter (OOTD #250)

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What? You mean to tell me that Easter didn’t fall on March 20 this year?

Yeah — so I’ve discussed this before, but I have my daily blogs on a bit of a delay, so as to never wind up having nothing to post just in case I decide not to take OOTD photos one day or in case I don’t get to take photos until late in the day. The issue with that, of course, is that when holidays roll around, I’m never able to post the blog from that particular holiday on the actual day of the holiday.

I guess I could plan my outfits in a way that it looks like I’m celebrating the holiday earlier in the week, and then posting that blog on the actual holiday, but to be honest, that’s too much work for something I don’t really think is worth it.

Anyway, so today (the day I’m posting this blog) is Easter, but the outfit I’m posting is from March. Luckily, this outfit looks pretty festive and spring-like, so I guess it works for an Easter outfit.

The building I’m standing next to is the law school building, which I have interestingly never been into, even though I’m thinking of maybe one day trying to go into law (though I’m not really sure why — talking in front of people is scary). It’s just one of those places where I don’t really feel like I belong in, since I have no classes or anything there, y’know?

It’s my goal to make it into all of Notre Dame’s buildings at some point by the time I’m done here, including the dorms. I’m not really sure how I’m going to manage that, considering I never go to parties and have few friends outside of my dorm. I’m going to figure it out somehow…probably. Maybe.

Anyway, happy Easter! I hope you get to spend the day celebrating somehow with friends and family, and if you’re at The Most Catholic School On Earth ™ like me, I hope you enjoy eating meat and breaking the Lenten fasting thing, even if, like me, you haven’t really kept it anyway. I did swear off dining hall french fries, though, which has done well for my weight. Good for me, I guess?

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Sweater: Altar’d State

Shirt: Forever21

Skirt: Rue21

Tights: The LOFT