washington dc – Page 5 – L'ensemble du jour

August 30, 2019 – Parks and Recreation (OOTD #557)

Published on October 26, 2019 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Parks are one of my favorite places for pictures.

August 29, 2019 – Capitalizing on the Capitol (OOTD #556)

Published on October 25, 2019October 30, 2019 by lensembledujour2 Comments

Naturally, the first tourist destination for my semester in DC was Capitol Hill.

I mean, I’ve visited Congress before, on account of having been a middle schooler before and going on the trip that every American middle schooler (at least on the Eastern half of the country) seems to go on to DC. It’s like a rite of passage for young American teens — if your parents don’t take you, your school probably will.

Honestly, in terms of cool government buildings, DC probably isn’t the best. The Capitol is definitely worth seeing, but the Supreme Court and the White House aren’t all that. Otherwise, DC has a lot of brutalist designs (think the FBI building or the State Department, which I think were designed to be as ugly as physically possible). Budapest’s Parliament or London’s Westminster Palace are personally more my taste in terms of impressive architecture.

Some of the monuments and memorials are really cool, though, but I’ll get into those another day.

I can’t speak to the basement offices or the mysterious Capitol subway that runs between the two chambers, but the stuff you get to see on a generic tour is neat. We went with someone from the office of Jackie Walorski, the Indiana representative from the district where Notre Dame was. It was just some poor intern who looked more excited to get to something interesting for once, but she did a good job.

In fact, I’m a little jealous she got to give us a tour — that’s not something I can do in my internship. As much as I don’t think a Capitol Hill internship is really for me, I do think some of the benefits to working on the Hill are enviable.

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 semester in Washington, DC. 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: a boutique in Kathmandu

Blazer: Banana Republic

Skirt: Banana Republic

August 26, 2019 – Summer Salmon (OOTD #555)

Published on October 24, 2019 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

I kind-of regret not considering Georgetown more seriously when I was applying for university.

I don’t remember why I ruled it out, but it was eliminated from consideration before I even got around to visiting schools. I think if I had visited, I may have given it some more serious thought — as it turns out, Georgetown is a really lovely neighborhood, not to mention, it’s in DC, arguably the hub for the types of studies I want to pursue.

(I also probably could’ve gotten into it when I was 18, unlike, say, H_____d, but we don’t have to talk about that).

But no matter — I’m at Notre Dame now, and I love it all the same. South Bend is no Washington DC, but I’m sure I’d have things to complain about if I lived in DC for 10 months a year: in fact, I already had some complaints about the culture of the city after having been here for less than a week, which I voiced in yesterday’s blog.

And besides, I get to come work and live in DC now for a semester, so I ended up getting my DC experience in the end.

Top: Vintage (thrift, Street Scene Vintage)

Skirt: Forever21

August 25, 2019 – Rainbow Road (OOTD #554)

Published on October 23, 2019 by lensembledujour1 Comment

You know, if you squinted, this could almost pass for a part of Notting Hill in London.

Look, I’ll be up front about it: Washington DC is not my favorite city in the world. It’s not even my favorite city in the US. As much as I’m grateful to be here for the semester as a part of an internship program with Notre Dame and as much as I’m excited to be away from South Bend for a few months, my enthusiasm is more to do with what goes on in DC, rather than DC itself.

Dress: Thrifted (the pile of abandoned clothing in my dorm room’s laundry room)

Jacket: Forever21

August 24, 2019 – The Washington Way (OOTD #553)

Published on October 22, 2019November 18, 2019 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Finally, my actual location and the location that I’m writing about in my blogs match up again!

As I’ve mentioned before, the content I’m posting about in my blogs tends to be a bit behind (or, has been the case recently, quite behind) the date I’m actually posting it. For example, I’m writing this blog in late October, but it’s about something that happened back in late August. So in late August, I was moving in to my apartment in Washington, DC.

But wait, Washington DC isn’t in Northern Indiana! Isn’t there where I normally go to school? Why wasn’t I moving back into my dorm at Notre Dame in late August, along with all of my friends and the rest of the student body?

The answer: because I’m taking a semester away from Notre Dame to do a special program though the Political Science Department to take a full 15-credit semester course load while working an internship here part-time. Think of it like a study abroad semester — except of course, DC isn’t really abroad.

Unlike a semester abroad, however, I get to work (and in my case, get paid!) while maintaining my status as a full-time student. And at any rate, I get to go abroad in the spring semester anyway, so I really get the best of both worlds.

What I don’t get, however, is the third world: my friends back on campus at Notre Dame. I’m going to be away for a whole year, and that’s kind of saddening. Not saddening enough to prevent me from doing it (and honestly not even really saddening enough for me to give a second thought about whether I wanted to do it), but enough so to make looking at my friends’ Instagram posts of them moving back into the dorms a little bittersweet.

Turtleneck: Forever21

Trousers: Zara

Sunday Musings – September 2019 Bullet Journal Spread (in October…)

Published on October 13, 2019December 15, 2020 by lensembledujour3 Comments

Oof, it’s been a really long time since I’ve posted one of these.

Look, I’ve been busy. I’ve been to seven different countries and three different continents in the time since I last posted a “Weekly Musings” or a bullet journal post. I finished my sophomore year, finished an internship in South Bend, finished an internship in Rome, finished a research trip to Israel-Palestine, and made it halfway through an internship in Washington DC.

And it’s not like you missed out on much in my bullet journaling. I did a spread from April, and it actually turned out quite nicely, but I haven’t done a spread since then. Maybe I’ll post the April one a little down the line — a sort-of bullet journal #throwbackthursday, perhaps?

These bullet journal spreads just take so much time! I love doing them, but I need to sit down and devote a solid five or six hours to getting everything drawn. The reality is, they’re never really done until the month is well-over. And sometimes they’re never fully-done — you may notice that my mood tracker was never filled in for several days towards the end of the month, for example.

That’s what I love though. Because I can’t draw everything at once, I have to work on it a little bit at a time, especially with the mood tracker doodles. It’s not a daily thing, but it certainly is an every-several-days-or-maybe-once-a-week thing. It gives me a way to keep up with my drawing, even if it’s only drawing simple line illustrations.

The only part that I really try to do all at once in one sitting is the month cover page (the part that says “September” with the big drawing of the Washington DC Metro map). The cover page sets the theme and color scheme for the rest of the pages, so I have to complete it first. Ideally, I’d have it done before the month actually begins.

Well, ideally, I would have posted this blog before the end of September, so you can tell where my ideals get me.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy looking at my bullet journal spread, even if the month it’s about has come and gone. I rather like how the Washington DC public transport theme played out, especially on the cover page. The color scheme isn’t as strong with this one (I tried to do like, a red-white-and-blue thing, but it was hard), and I ran out of Washington DC doodles for my mood tracker and I had to resort to random Americana imagery, but I’m still satisfied with the overall product.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one. 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!

Bullet Journal Supplies (with Amazon links)

Bullet journal: The Scribbles that Matter Pro, A5,

Pens: Pilot Frixion

Markers: Prismacolor Brush Tip and Copic Brush Tip

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

Published on August 31, 2019 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

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

Published on August 30, 2019August 30, 2019 by lensembledujour3 Comments

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!

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

Published on August 29, 2019September 30, 2019 by lensembledujour3 Comments

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!

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

Published on August 28, 2019August 30, 2019 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!