Tag: april

April 6, 2018 – Winter Wrap Up (OOTD #260)

Published on by lensembledujour2 Comments

If you’d like to hear the delightful My Little Pony song that inspired the title of this blog, have a look here.

For a 19 year-old adult, I probably care more for cartoons than I should, but I have to admit, my childhood obsessions like My Little Pony, the Disney Princess films, and the Powerpuff Girls still hold up pretty well today. They’re good to put on while I’m on the elliptical in the morning because they’re so sweet and innocent — the perfect way to clear my head from anything that’s stressing me out.

But anyway, just like the ponies of the Winter Wrap Up song, it looks like spring is finally getting ready to show itself here in South Bend. I almost wondered if it would never come, what with some of the snow showers we continued to get even into early and mid-April, but once we get through these next few days of chilly rain, it looks like the warmer weather is finally here to stay. At least, that’s what the Weather Channel app says for now.

Fingers crossed it stays that way!

I got some cute pieces over spring break that I’ve been excited to finally show off, so maybe, with the spring weather due to come soon, I’ll be motivated enough to wear them.

I don’t know if this is a common thing, but do you ever feel like you have to wait for a special occasion to wear new clothes? Like, even if you didn’t buy them for a special cause, and even if they’re seasonable for the current weather, it seems like new clothes deserve a special unveiling event. Maybe I just like my clothes too much.

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: H&M

Top: Free People

Pants: The LOFT

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Late Starts

Published on by lensembledujour2 Comments

Guys, I woke up at 2:30 pm today.

Part of me really loves late starts to the day, and another really part of me really hates the fact that it means I never get anything done. I’m probably going to wind up with a really late night now doing the work I didn’t do during this morning…but it’s fine. I work better late at night anyway!

Or at least…that’s what I like to tell myself.

It’s Moms’ Weekend currently for my dorm, but unfortunately, my mother’s not here. It’s okay — we both decided it wasn’t really going to work out for this weekend, especially with my schedule, and especially given the fact that she’s going to be on campus in a month to help me move out.

Besides, even though my mother’s not here, other people’s mothers are here, which means I’ve been treated to like three free meals in the last few days. I feel kind of badly continuously going out to eat and not paying but like…free food. I’m not going to say no to that ever.

In other news, the baby cactus I mentioned in my last Saturday Musings post is doing well! He grew his first a little spine, and I am a proud mother. I’ll keep you updated on his progress — probably less because anyone other than me is interested, and more because I’m just really excited about plants right now.

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!

April 5, 2018 – Spider Plant, Spider Plant, Does Whatever a Spider Plant Does (OOTD #259)

Published on by lensembledujour7 Comments

Look familiar?

Yes, you might remember, I’ve used this setup before as a background for my photos . It’s the painting  studio in Riley, and I’m a fan of it in particular because of the spider plants that hang from the ceiling.

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you might know I’m very into plants now. In fact, I’m so into plants that I even decided to take a little clipping of one of the spider plantlet growths hanging from the tips of this (very overgrown) spider plant and take it home to try to propagate. I mentioned this in my last Saturday Musings post, so go check it out if you wanna see the progress of that project.

I realized the other day that I only have two and a half weeks left of classes — can you believe that? I definitely can’t. There’s no way my freshman year is almost over.

Furthermore, there’s no way finals are coming up soon because there’s no way I’m prepared for them!

I sat down and did some calculations and came to the conclusion that I have a little under 60 pages worth of writing due before the last day of school, May 11. So far, I have about 5 of those written — so I’m maybe 1/12 of the way done with my work. 75% of the way through the semester and 8% of the way done with the work — those aren’t concerning numbers at all!

I’m a little worried, but I figure it’ll all turn out in the end. With some of my classes, I think my grade is already pretty set, and some, I’m going to have to work pretty hard still if I want to get a grade that I’m happy with. I also have class scheduling still to worry about coming up in about a week — which will be fun, considering I am in the very last time slot for the whole sophomore class. Basically, I’m probably not going to be getting my ideal schedule for next year.

College is a nice little pressure cooker. Summer break should (hopefully) be a nice vacation from that.

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: thrifted

Sweater: thrifted

Saturday Musings + Plants – No Coffee Today

Published on by lensembledujour13 Comments

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 22, 2018 – Untitled (OOTD #252)

Published on by lensembledujourLeave a comment

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)

Published on by lensembledujour2 Comments

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

Published on by lensembledujour3 Comments

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!

May 1, 2017

Published on by lensembledujour1 Comment

I’m back!


I don’t know if I’d really call what I took as a hiatus, as it only lasted one day, but after New York, I felt like I needed one day off from blogging. I still took my pictures for the day and everything, but I held off on making the post.


So here we are, with the outfit for Monday, May 1.


So yesterday being College Decision Day, I wore the shirt from the college I will be attending this Fall – Notre Dame! I actually was accepted back in December, but it took me until April to actually choose that that was where I wanted to go. I’m admittedly a pretty indecisive person, so it was a huge relief to finally get the decision made, and it felt great to get to show off to my high school what I am going to be doing with my life.

 

But just because it was a college shirt doesn’t mean I couldn’t still make it a fashionable outfit. I wore my Notre Dame football jersey with leggings and a loose black cotton jacket, and to dress it up, I threw on my layered Francesca’s choker with rhinestones that I like so much. It’s not the most unique outfit I’ve ever worn, admittedly, but it’s kinda hard to work with a football jersey. 


Otherwise, it was a pretty lowkey day. I was exhausted from having arrived back at home from New York at 1 AM that morning, but thankfully, none of my class work was too hard. AP exams are coming up, so most of my teachers have cut back slightly on the homework. Thank goodness.


That’s it for today. Thanks for reading, and see you in the next one!
Shirt: Notre Dame University Store

Jacket: Anthropologie

Choker: Francesca’s 


Bonus mirror selfie:

Also, be sure to check out my new Instagram!

April 30, 2017 – Until Next Time (OOTD #10)

Published on by lensembledujour1 Comment

New York City: Day 4.

I’m gonna keep this one short because it’s getting late and I’m about to catch my plane home. In truth, I’m glad to go. I’ve been raving about how much I love New York, and trust me, that hasn’t changed, but what I love is the city, and I don’t want to leave – but that’s not necessarily true for the people I’m with.

That’s not really anything against these kids – I can’t think of any group of 40 people who I could tolerate spending 24 hours a day with for 4 days. We’ve had a ton of fun together, but I’m ready to get away from them for a while.

img_9903-1

Today was a pretty-low key day. We went to the 9/11 museum, went back to Little Italy for lunch, and then did some shopping around Chinatown and Times Square. The 9/11 museum was easily one of the highlights of the trip. It was such a moving experience, but I didn’t take any photos there – it didn’t seem appropriate.


Outfit-wise, things were pretty low key as well. I went for all black – not for any particular reason, but sometimes I just feel a little edgy. You really can’t go wrong with black.

And that’s it for today. I should be home before too long, and then it’s back to school tonorrow. Goodnight for now.

Top and shorts: H&M

Choker: Francesca’s

Bonus mirror selfie:

Also, be sure to check out my new Instagram! I just started it a day or two ago, and I’d really appreciate a follow! I follow back 😀

April 29, 2017 – On Top of the World (OOTD #9)

Published on by lensembledujour2 Comments

New York City: Day 3

Here we are, with our third and second-to-last Day in New York winding down to a close. In the entire time I’ve been here, the most prominent emotion I’ve felt is exhaustion.

But after exhaustion, what I’ve felt is joy.

I love New York. In fact, it always surprises me when I hear the other kids in my tour group say that they could never stand to live here – for me, it’s more like how could I not live here?

Yes, it’s dirty and crowded and the people are rude, but it’s just the kind of dirty, crowded, rudeness I adore.

Today was spend doing mostly tourist-y things (okay, this entire trip has been pretty tourist-y). We hit St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Top of the Rockefeller Center in the morning and then the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the afternoon.

The outfit for that part of the day was a pair of loose, colorful shorts and a denim top. It was simple, but practical for the day’s purpose – which was a hell of a lot of walking. To make things a little more interesting, I layered a simple gold necklace   on top for something of a boho look.

That evening, we took a dinner cruise on the Spirit of New York.

View this post on Instagram

新年快乐 / happy chinese new year !🏮

A post shared by Meilin || L'ensemble du jour (@lensembledujour) on

I changed into something a little fancier – a traditional Chinese silk qipao dress.

View this post on Instagram

boom boom (qi)pao

A post shared by Meilin || L'ensemble du jour (@lensembledujour) on

There aren’t many occasions where I can wear this out (in fact, Chinese New Year is probably one of the only occasions I ever wear it) but I decided to make an exception this time. It looked sad and dejected sitting there in my closet unworn, so I packed it because it’s a crime to not wear a dress like this that fits so well.The boat itself was nothing special, but, with the sun setting and the water sparkling, the marina it was docked on made for some beautiful photos with my friends.

 

View this post on Instagram

Concrete jungle wet dream TOMOATOOOOOOOO 🍅

A post shared by Meilin Scanish (@meilin_scanish) on

That’s it for now. I’m exhausted, and I fly home tomorrow.
Outfit 1 –

Shorts: Francesca’s

Top: Ann Taylor LOFT
Outfit 2 –

Dress: eBay
Bonus mirror selfies:

Also, be sure to check out my new Instagram! I just started it a day or two ago, and I’d really appreciate a follow! I follow back 😀