Author: lensembledujour

Hey there! My name is Meilin, and I'm an undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame. I'm currently working on my daily fashion blog, L'ensemble du jour - check it out!

May 23, 2019 – Sunday School (OOTD #506)

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Oops, it looks like I can’t stop taking pictures inside churches.

In fairness to me, there are some spectacularly beautiful churches in Rome, and they are very often mostly empty. If I don’t visit during mass time (which let’s be honest — I almost never do, because I’m not Catholic), and I’m not visiting a major tourist site like San Pietro, the churches in Rome are usually not hopping places.

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alexa, play “take me to church”

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Which to me, is odd, because they’re architecturally gorgeous. The churches I went to as a kid usually had the same artistic design as the average Target — simple, good for holding large numbers of people, and unoffensive. If you were lucky, maybe they had a big cross for decoration near the stage, but there were none of the stained glass windows or elaborate paintings as you see in European churches.

At some point, though, you see so many European churches that they just begin to run together in your head. Admittedly, I don’t think I could tell this particular old elaborate church from an old elaborate church in say, France. I’m sure someone who actually studies architecture could tell me all the ways in which French church design and Italian church design are fundamentally different, but to my untrained eyes, I don’t immediately recognize the difference.

In fact, one of the reasons why I chose to attend Notre Dame was because I visited the basilica on my tour, and I was blown away by the beautiful design. In my daily life as a student, I don’t ever visit the basilica. Like I said, I’m not Catholic, so it’s just not a thing I do. But I had never seen such a beautiful building before (remember, this was a time before I had visited places of worship in different countries), and I didn’t know churches in the US could look different from big box stores. I thought beautiful, gothic-style churches could only be seen in Europe or in films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Turns out, you can see them in the US too, but Catholics have a monopoly on them.

So basically, what I’m saying is I went to Catholic school because I liked the aesthetic.

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

Blouse: Forever21

Trousers: The LOFT

May 22, 2019 – Sotto Il Cielo Di Roma (OOTD #505)

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Not even a week into my time in Rome, and I already twisted my ankle.

I wasn’t even doing anything exciting. I wasn’t running or riding the metro or sitting on the back of a Vespa. I was walking home from work, switching the song playing on my phone, and suddenly my whole body pitched forward. I didn’t quite faceplant, but I rolled my ankle pretty hard, making the walk home pretty painful. It took about an hour and a half, when it normally only took about an hour.

 

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buongiorno di roma 🇮🇹

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Thankfully, I didn’t have work the following day, and so I could rest up and let my ankle heal a little bit. The injury wasn’t bad — not bad enough to warrant getting it checked out by a doctor —  but it was a major inconvenience. For about a week, all I could do was hobble around slowly, which is not something you want to have to do in a brand new city.

As you can see in some of these pictures, I wrapped a sock around my ankle in an attempt to prevent myself from hurting it further. Because my boots are black too, I hoped that, at first glance, no one could notice that I had wrapped a sock around my foot in an impromptu cast. Socks normally go on your feet, not around them.

Still, I tried not to let my ankle prevent me from going out at least once a day, even if it was only to hobble around slowly and hunt for a place near my house to take pictures for my blog. You might notice that in most of my pictures here I’m sitting — can you guess why?

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

Jacket: Thrifted (Clothes Mentor)

Dress: Thrifted

May 20, 2019 – Up On the House Top (OOTD #504)

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I’m sorry, I don’t know why I used that title, it’s not even remotely close to Christmas and this post is going to have nothing to do with reindeers. I just happen to be standing on a roof because it was empty, and I didn’t know where else to go to get a picture of my outfit.

This was my first day of work outfit, and I personally feel like it was a success. It can be tough dressing professionally and stylishly at the same time, so my work-around is usually to incorporate color and pattern when I can. This outfit gets both.

What it didn’t get, however, was points for being appropriate for the weather.

May in Rome was cooler than June and July, but not by enough to justify wearing long trousers, a long-sleeve blouse, and a blazer. My daily commute was also an hour each way through a combination of walking and the metro. Either I could walk longer and take one metro line, or walk a shorter distance and take two metro lines. In the beginning, when it was cooler, I chose to walk, but by July, when it was reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day, you can bet I was walking as little as possible.

But at least I looked cute while I sweltered and died in the heat. I wouldn’t want the policeman or woman who has to write me up when I die of heatstroke to judge me.

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

Jacket: Banana Republic

Blouse: Zara

Trousers: Banana Republic Sloan

May 19, 2019 – Roaming Rome (OOTD #503)

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Packing for Rome was so hard.

I’ve never had to pack for such a long period of time before with only suitcases to put my things into. Packing for Notre Dame is different; I have storage boxes and suitcases and a whole car trunk to load them into. For Rome, as I had to fly, all I could bring were my suitcases.

I brought two suitcases to check, plus my backpack. Naturally, I didn’t start packing until the night before my flight left, so I didn’t really have the time to put together intricate plans for outfits.

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And besides, I didn’t even know how to plan. I knew it would be hot since I was going to be there May-July, but I didn’t know how hot it would get. Do Romans wear shorts and t-shirts, or are they always stylishly conservative? What kind of dress would my supervisors at my internship require?

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wes anderson would approve

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As you probably could’ve guessed from the aforementioned fact that I didn’t start packing until the night before my flight, I never bothered to research the answers to these questions.

And so the packing strategy I ended up going with was something like this — clothes I knew I liked and that I knew would be versatile. For example, I packed this plaid Zara blouse, which I figured could be dressed down with ripped jeans (as you see here) or dressed up with a blazer for work.

And I think it worked! For the most part, I think my attire was appropriate for my European audience, who on the whole, dress a lot nicer than Americans (no offense). Does that make me feel like I fit in? Yes — but I’m not sure how I feel about that. One thing I like about the US is that dressing nicely helps you to stand out in a crowd of basketball shorts and hoodies — you can’t easily do that when everyone around you dresses up too.

The solution? I guess it’s time to start dressing more like the “lazy American.” The next OOTD on LEDJ — leggings, a Victoria’s Secret hoodie, and Birkenstocks.

Sponsored link: Check out these extreme distressing black denim skinny jeans on Dresshead.com!

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

Top: Zara

Jeans: Hollister

REVIEW: BeautyBlender Bounce Kit: Part 4, The BeautyBlender Solid Cleanser and Final Thoughts

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

This is part four of a four part review. For part one, on the BeautyBlender primer, click here. For part two, on the BeautyBlender sponge, click here. For part three, on the BeautyBlender foundation, click here. 

And now, as a final mini-review: the soap.

I didn’t really like this. It’s a solid block, like a bar of soap, and it just doesn’t work well for cleaning the sponge. You kind of have to grind the sponge against the soap in order to get any lather going, which I’m not positive isn’t bad for the sponge in the long run.

With a sponge that’s meant to absorb and dispel liquids, you’d think a liquid cleanser would be the best option. In fact, I’m pretty sure BeautyBlender has their own liquid cleanser, and so I don’t really know why anyone would have use for the solid one. I can see a solid soap working great for a brush with bristles because you can rub the bristles into the surface of the soap, but there’s no easy way to do that with a sponge.

My favorite way to clean my sponges is simply to use a touch of hand soap, squeeze it into my palm, and then roll the sponge around with the soap in water until I get a later going. Then, I squeeze it out until the water runs clear. I may not wash my sponges (or brushes) as often as I should, but I can’t imagine that this solid soap bar is going to encourage me to do it more regularly. It doesn’t seem like it would make the process much easier.

In conclusion, I liked about half of the products I received. The foundation and sponge were great, if overpriced. The primer was hard to review with only a sample size, but I thought it was okay. I thought the soap was lame.

Thanks again to Influenster and BeautyBlender for sending me these products to review! I love switching up my fashion blog with reviews; it prevents things from going stale and gives me something new to write about. It also helps me to live out my lifelong dream of being a professional critic, à la the villain from Ratatouille.

Have you tried the any of these products? Or do you have any suggestions for your favorite sponges, primers, or foundations? Let me know your thoughts below!

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

 

REVIEW: BeautyBlender Bounce Kit: Part 3, The Bounce Liquid Whip Longwear Foundation

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This is part three of a four part review. For part one, on the BeautyBlender primer, click here. For part two, on the BeautyBlender sponge, click here. For part four, on the BeautyBlender cleanser and my final thoughts on the whole set, click here.

That leads us onto our next review, the foundation. Of the four products I received, this was the one that excited me most. I already owned a similar sponge to the BeautyBlender, I wasn’t thrilled with the little foil packet primer, and soap is kind of inherently boring (more on that later). The foundation was the most unique item I received, if you ask me.

And I like it. It’s got a thick consistency, almost like a BB cream, which makes it buildable. It can be a little heavy, which is why you need the BeautyBlender sponge or a buffing brush to help blend it out. It’s not really one I’d recommend applying with your fingers. The color is a little orange-leaning for me, but most foundations are.

The coverage is medium-to-full, the consistency is buildable, and its claims to longevity are valid, if not magical. It lasted through a regular 8-hour day for me, though it was definitely looking kind of patchy at the end of the day.

The finish is described as “velveteen matte,” which I would very much agree with. It’s no Revlon Colorstay, but it’s far from having a dewey finish either. It has a creamy texture and a semi-matte finish, if that makes sense. I definitely wouldn’t wear it without a powder; it didn’t set well enough on its own for that.

I both love and hate the packaging. I love that it’s sturdy and chic-looking, and I love that there’s a switch where you can lock the pump to stop product from accidentally coming out (seriously, why don’t more products with pumps have this?). I think the little tray that you’re supposed to pump the product out onto is silly and gimmicky; I tried it once and I honestly can’t imagine using it again. I prefer just to pump the product out onto my hand, dot it onto my face, and then use the sponge to blend. By using the tray, you create an extra mess for yourself to clean up, which seems unnecessary to me.

Speaking of messes, what about the last product I received — the solid BeautyBlender cleanser? Click to go onto the last part of this BeautyBlender review series, featuring the BeautyBlender Solid Cleanser.

Have you tried the any of these products? Or do you have any suggestions for your favorite sponges, primers, or foundations? Let me know your thoughts below!

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

REVIEW: BeautyBlender Bounce Kit: Part 2, The BeautyBlender Sponge

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

This is part two of a four part review. For part one, on the BeautyBlender primer, click here. For part three, on the BeautyBlender foundation, click here. For part four, on the BeautyBlender cleanser and my final thoughts on the whole set, click here.

Now, onto the sponge and the foundation: I really like these, the sponge in particular. I remember back when the BeautyBlender first became trendy on online beauty circles back in 2011-ish. It was a funny shape, expensive as hell for a literal sponge, and unlike anything anyone had seen before, but all of the YouTube beauty gurus were raving about it.

Back then, I bought a little knockoff sponge from CVS, which I still have (not with me here in my DC apartment, unfortunately, or else I’d provide a comparison photo). It was squishy, bouncy, and held water like it was supposed to, and it was half the price of the BeautyBlender. It was my favorite way to apply makeup for a while, before I discovered the RealTechniques buffing brush which changed my life forever.

So now, in 2019, is the BeautyBlender sponge worth it?

Eh…it’s worth it to buy an egg-shaped sponge, absolutely. There’s really nothing better than a wet sponge for liquid foundation application, if you ask me, if you have the time in the morning to wet a sponge and spend a minute or two sitting there and bouncing it on your face. It’s not a part of my daily makeup routine because it takes too long and I’m usually in a rush (hence, the buffing brush), but I like one for special occasions where I want my makeup to look really flawless.

For size comparison, here’s the sponge dry…

…and wet.

As you can tell, it really swells up with water.

I appreciate the BeautyBlender for being the first of its kind and totally revolutionary, but the thing is, you can buy similar makeup sponges from other brands. There’s no reason in this case to buy name brand, if you ask me. Go buy a knockoff. Like I said, the CVS generic brand one is pretty good (or at least, it was when I was in 8th grade and I first bought it). As I hear, RealTechniques has a comparable makeup sponge too.

So how about the foundation itself, the product that this sponge is supposed to complement? Click here to go onto the next part of this BeautyBlender review series, featuring the Bounce Liquid Whip Longwear Foundation!

Have you tried the any of these products? Or do you have any suggestions for your favorite sponges, primers, or foundations? Let me know your thoughts below!

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

REVIEW: BeautyBlender Bounce Kit: Part 1, The Leveler Pore Minimizing Primer

Published on by lensembledujour3 Comments

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

This is part one of a four part review. For part two, on the BeautyBlender sponge, click here. For part three, on the BeautyBlender foundation, click here. For part four, on the BeautyBlender cleanser and my final thoughts on the whole set, click here.

A half a year later, and I’m back with another Influenster VoxBox review!

My last one was way back in May 2019, back while I was still on Notre Dame’s campus. That literally feels like a lifetime ago now, at this point in August 2019. I’ve been all through Europe, a part of South America, a part of the Middle East, and moved into a new apartment in Washington DC in the span of time between those dates. I know only four months have gone by, but it seems so long ago!

I actually received another VoxBox in between the last one I wrote about and this one, but I never got around to posting a full review of it. The way Influenster programs work, you’re not actually required to write a review — all you have to do is take the brief survey in the end, and you’ll remain eligible to continue receiving boxes. I like to write the reviews, both for the sake of having content for this blog and because I think it helps me to get more boxes, but last time, I just wasn’t able to get to it in time. I mean, I was literally in Rome for most of the time the campaign went on; you’ll have to excuse me for not having a chance to write a review for a facial scrub.

But I’m back, with more time than ever (at least for now, until my internship in DC begins) and there’s nothing that would make me happier than to write a review for you. So let’s dive in to my latest Influenster package: a BeautyBlender package consisting of the classic BeautyBlender sponge, their Bounce Liquid Whip Longwear Foundation, The Leveler Pore Minimizing Primer, and BeautyBlender Solid Cleanser.

I’ll begin with the primer, as it’s the first product I put on my face. It came in this little foil sampler package which I was admittedly not impressed by. Look, I’m really appreciative that I was sent a full-size version of the foundation (a $40 value itself), the cleanser, and the sponge, but I’m really not a fan of receiving a foil sample that I could’ve received for free from a makeup counter and then being asked to review it, as if I could give a detailed, honest review for something I can only use two or three times.

But that’s beside the point — what do I think of the primer?

It’s nice. I’ve never used a tinted primer before, and part of me thinks it’s a nice thing (who says no to extra coverage?) and another part of me thinks it’s pretty unnecessary. The best primers, if you ask me, have correcting properties in addition to helping your makeup to go on smoother/last longer. And by correcting, I mean a correcting color — for example, using a green-toned primer to counteract redness. My normal go-to primer (Revlon Photoready) is pink-toned, to help with brightening. Your foundation is for matching your skin and concealing imperfections; you don’t need your primer to do that too.

I personally prefer a thicker, slicker primer than this one, but I know a lot of people don’t like the feeling of a heavy silicone-y product on their face. This one’s pretty thin and lightweight — good for avoiding heavy, cakey makeup, but bad for doing much to help your makeup glide on smoother. I didn’t really feel like my skin texture had changed much after application.

So how about the foundation itself, the product that this primer is supposed to complement? Click to go onto the next two parts of this BeautyBlender review series, featuring classic BeautyBlender sponge and the Bounce Liquid Whip Longwear Foundation!

Have you tried the any of these products? Or do you have any suggestions for your favorite sponges, primers, or foundations? Let me know your thoughts below!

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

May 17, 2019 – Roman Holiday (OOTD #502)

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I’ve actually never seen Roman Holiday.

I’ve actually never seen a lot of classic films, as I’m not a big movie-goer. I don’t like sitting in place for so long focused on a single thing; I guess it’s the Gez Z kid in me. Movie theaters are the worst. Siting in a dark room for three hours without your room and nothing to do but watch a screen? No thanks.

I do wish I’d studied up a little more on Italian cinema (or Hollywood cinema that depicts Italy) before I came here, because now I’m realizing that I don’t know all of the cultural references that I should. Everything I know about Italy in movies comes from The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Paolo and Lizzie driving around the Colosseum on a Vespa? An iconic moment in cinematic history. “This Is What Dreams Are Made Of?” Anthem of a generation.

Prepare for more interesting Roman backgrounds for my OOTD blogs in later posts, but this was just a single day after I’d arrived. I hadn’t even unpacked all of my clothes yet, let alone wandered around the city looking for good photography locations. These shots were just from the garden at the student center where I stayed. A judgmental nun might have watched me set up and balance my iPhone on a bench and pose for the camera, but I’m pretty shameless about it at this point.

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

Top: Free People

Jeans: American Eagle

May 15, 2019 – Dilly Dilly Philly Philly (OOTD #501)

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Controversial opinion, perhaps, but I love a long layover.

Many might bemoan a long wait time sitting in an airport until your next flight, but I’ve actually come to thrive on them. If it’s over 10 hours, I’ve found, I can leave the airport — especially in a city with good public transport — come back, and it’s like I had a little day-long trip before my main trip. A detour, if you will.

On my way to Rome, I had a nearly 12-hour layover in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, my second-favorite city in the US after New York. I left Lexington at 7:30 in the morning, arrived around 9, and I didn’t have to get my flight to Rome until 7 in the evening. I wasn’t about to wait around in the airport all day, so I grabbed my backpack, hunted down ground transport, and took the train downtown.

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what’s up, billy penn

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As it turns out, I also happen to have an uncle who lives in Philly (and another uncle, and some cousins, and basically my entire father’s side of the family), and so my Uncle Tim agreed to meet up with me for lunch.

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how enlightening

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Uncle Tim has actually popped up on this blog before — namely, on a day-trip to Bardstown, KY when he came to visit my family back home. He also gets a mention sometimes when I post pictures wearing work shirts with other people’s names on them, because he’s the one who gave me those shirts. He drives a hearse, has tattoos, and wears earrings. He’s a quirky dude, and he’s the best.

So Uncle Tim and I headed to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch, where I ordered a Philly Cheesesteak (the only place to buy one) and grabbed a Wawa smoothie to drink. From there, we headed to South Street, where we walked around the vintage and antique shops.

Like my father (his brother) and me, Uncle Tim could spend an eternity in antique shops. We both had a lot of fun wandering in and out of the various oddball stores on South Street. I was proud of myself — I didn’t buy anything, even though there were definitely a few pieces of vintage clothing that caught my eye. I just didn’t have enough storage space in my bags to take them with me all the way to Rome. I’m trying to whittle down my wardrobe, bit by bit.

All in all, it was a good layover, but it was only that — a layover. I wished I could stay longer and meet up with the rest of the family, but I had another plane to catch, so after an afternoon in the city, Uncle Tim brought me back the airport and we said our goodbyes.

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bye, usa

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Next stop: Rome, Italy!

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

Jacket: H&M

Top: The LOFT

Leggings: The LOFT