warby parker.

I'm pretty good at finding whatever it is my heart desires on a daily basis at affordable price points. To say I'm a decent bargain shopper would be an understatement - I'm a damn good one. If you haven't read the title of this blog, you might want to take a second and hit the refresh button. I can't afford to love the designer clothing I want to wear all the time (thank you Sallie Mae), so finding them at a lesser price is very important. After all it keeps me from living in a refrigerator box....

My latest find comes courtesy of my friend/coworker/drinking buddy Sam who happens to be a card carrying member of the "I Wear Glasses because I Have to, Not because They Look Cool" club, just like yours truly. After years of suffering at the hands of contact lenses and only wearing my glasses when I was feeling too lazy to stick a my finger in my eye, I've finally decided ditch the lenses and embrace my inner nerd.

Buying the right pair of glasses is infinitely more difficult than I expected it to be. It reminds me of my constant search for the perfect pair of jeans that will not only cover my ENTIRE behind, but also happen to make me look like I'm a size 2. Yes, it's that hard to find the perfect pair of frames, especially at a price that doesn't make me gag. So when Sam introduced me to the concept and website of Warby Parker I was not only impressed but eager to shop.

It's extremely rare to find boutique frames that come WITH your prescription for only $95. That's not only rare, but damn near impossible to find. Warby Parker not only shows you the frames on real people, they also give you the option to virtually try the glasses on yourself - a concept that is much appreciated, seeing as when it comes to something as personal as everyday glasses, you want to know what you look like in them before you press 'add to bag'.

I've already begun choosing which frames best suit my round beautiful face. I'm in love with the round frames that are black at the top and clear at the bottoms. They look like my Raybans, and I am in love. Thanks a million Sam!

braided.

I've never been one to pay any attention to trends in beauty during the various fashion weeks. I pay more attention to the clothes themselves, because in reality I'm a very basic girl. I barely ever wear makeup, and if my hair is in anything other than a hair tie, it's straight, no curls or anything else very fancy. So during the shows for Spring 2010 I couldn't help but become surprised by the attention I gave to beauty details, especially the hair style that prevailed throughout this particular season: the classic braid.

I was so inspired that I myself have been wearing the braid for several days now (a la Alexander Wang), and loving every second of it. Some of the styles are so easy to do and maintain, you all should give it a try and tell me how it goes!

BTW: NYC in 5 days! Eeeek!

nars celebrates 15 years with a few friends.

The bain of my existence (in the best way possible) and also my wallets arch nemesis Nar's is celebrating their 15th anniversary by combining two of my favorite things, photography and makeup in their new book 15x15. With portraits of famous friends and inspiration behind their famous beauty products, the makeup impresario François Nars features 15 of his closest pals, the likes of which include Marc Jacobs, Naomi Campbell, Daphne Guinness, and Natasha Poly. Due out in November only 1500 copies of the book will be hand numbered and sold on the anniversary website 15x15project.com. [WWD]

barbie loves stila.

Even though Barbie's 50th birthday celebration has been over for awhile now (the big bang was in February for F/W Fashion Week), Stila has decided to keep up their collaboration with the childhood toy and create another collection of beauty products for our grubby little hands. Aside from the smudge pots coming in the three colors above and information that there are 12 new color palettes being released, I've got no idea what other goodies are in store. I haven't bought make up in ages, but maybe Barbie will persuade me to pull out my bank card. Can't wait to see more! [vogue]

sephora by OPI: limited edition matte nail colour.

(Once upon a time I had pictures up here from another blog who sampled the three polishes above, but using them infrigined on her copyright - even though linked back to where I got them. If you'd like to see what these look like you can easily find results via google. With that being said, if I ever use an image that is infringing on any more copyrights, my email is to the left. It's not in my comment box. Thanks)

In the last couple of years nail care has become quite popular. Where shiny, long, and acrylic was the way to go once upon a time, this has now been replaced by short, neat, matte nails. I tried matte nails at the beginning of the summer when I finally decided to give up the acrylic crack (there's a reason acrylic powder is white). My first trip to the land of matte wasn't a sweet one, the Zoya brand I was using began to chipped after just 2 days. After that I gave up. No way I was painting my nails every 2 days, that's too damn much.

Today via nitro:licious, I learned that OPI's Sephora collection contained three limited edition matte nail colors. I love Sephora by OPI, it's kind of my go to brand, just because the polish lasts SO LONG. I used the grey/purpleish color Metro Chic awhile ago (check it out here), and literally didn't have to repaint my nails for at least 3 weeks. Because of my decent track record with the Sephora collection, I'm very interested to see how these matte colors are going to work out.

I know $9 for nail polish may seem like a lot, especially when Forever Crackhouse is selling similar items for only $2.80, but a good nail polish is a good investment. Or at least that's what I like to tell myself... [nitro:licious]