Summer Favorites: Bath & Beauty

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1. BioOil: This is a great multi-purpose moisturizer for your body. While an oil might seem heavy as a summer moisturizer, I find the hydration incredible to keep my sun kissed skin from peeling and to prolong the color of my natural tan. It's a real luxury for me to slather this stuff on and then lounge around in my fluffy robe after I get out of the shower. The oil also helps reduce the appearance of stretch marks and scars, another plus since we tend to have more skin exposed in the summer.
2. Tarte Bronzer: A great compact bronzer to add a natural glow to your face and neck. I always get a stubborn neck tan line from the way I tilt my head while reading on the beach. This bronzer fixes that while evening out my tan. Best of all it's not orange and it allows for buildable color depending on how deep you want your bronze to appear. I get the best results when I apply with a kabuki brush.
3. Chanel Rouge Allure Lipgloss in 59 Impertinence: Chanel lip glosses are my ultimate beauty splurge. In my opinion, no other lip gloss has the perfect blend of pigment, lasting coverage and gloss factor. It's not sticky and lasts through a venti iced coffee. This particular color is the perfect "nude" shade to accompany a bronzed face in the summer.
4. Mario Badesco Seaweed Night Cream: This is my go to face moisturizer before bedtime and whenever my face has gotten too much sun. It has a cooling effect for burnt skin and is also the perfect moisturizer for oily/combination skin as it hydrates without being too greasy.
5. Neutrogena Liquid Face Moisturizer with SPF: My face is very sensitive to sunscreens (I either break out and/or my skin becomes very irritated). My face also rebels moisturizer in the summer because of the amount of sweat my face produces. This product does not irritate my skin and lasts through a great sweat sesh on the beach. I just make sure to reapply after being in the water.

What summer bath and beauty products do you swear by?

Let it Bead,


~~

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Welcome to the Bead & Button Show

 

Well, it's official: The Bead & Button Show is here. Actually, the Bead & Button Show is in Milwaukee ...and so am I.

 

I'm so excited to be here. I arrived today and had just enough time to register for the week's events and check out the entries for this year's Bead Dreams Competition. Just seeing the incredible works of art submitted by these talented artists from around the world inspired me and reminded me just how extraordinary beads can be.

Here is a beaded corset by Laura McCabe. Her iconic use of glass eye cabochons really make this corset stand out as a signature Laura McCabe piece.

This beautiful crystal necklace by Akka Maslennikova is breathtaking. It reminds me of cascading water and the title of the piece--Crystal Waterfall--could not be more appropriate. I love the ombre affect with the blue crystals and her use of crystal cupped chain, a product new to me that I'll be on the lookout to purchase while I'm out here.

 

This stunning necklace by Agnieszka Jankowska caught my eye because of her ability to take monochromatic to the next level. Even though her color palette consists of only varying shades of purple, every single bead stands out and makes the entire piece a showstopper.

 

This incredible necklace by Robynne Simons-Sealy is so intriguing for both her color combination choice--I never would have thought to pair royal blue and olivine together but absolutely love it--and her perfect use of symmetry in creating this almost geometric-like statement piece.

 

This nature inspired necklace by Susan Horine caught my eye in the way she added this cascading pearl fringe to her bead embroidered neck strap. I haven't really experimented with long fringe on my bead embroidered work before and this necklace makes me want to begin adding it to my work ASAP. I also loved how she incorporated the beaded feathers in her work. It gives me some design ideas to play around with while contemplating my BSOEPA's summer challenge theme of birds.

 

And what Bead Dreams Competition would be complete without a Sherry Serafini entry?! I knew this was her piece as soon as I saw the extraordinary colors brought to life by her incredible use of crystals and seed beads. As if this one piece wasn't mind-blowing on it's own, imagine my surprise--and delightful awe--when I saw two more of her extremely brilliant creations.

 

Again, loving the pearl fringe of this piece by Sherry Serafini.

Even void of color, this piece by Sherry Serafini is just as visually compelling as her bright colored piece above.

 

Taking in all this creativity was a great way to start my exciting beading journey here at The Bead & Button Show. I'm so excited to learn new techniques, meet interesting beaders and discover beautiful tools and beads I will probably call my own as I have fun shopping during the last leg of this trip.

 

To check out my itinerary while I'm here at the show, read my post from a few months ago when I first signed up and registered. I hope to blog about my experience here, but you can also follow along with me on Twitter and Instagram. Don't forget to use the hashtags #BNBShow and #LetItBead.

 

Tomorrow this image of Keshi--the Bead & Button Show spokesperson--will be me as I'm off to my first class: The Art of Photographing Jewelry.

 



Let it Bead,

~~

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Pumped Up Kicks

After much encouragement from my sneaker fanatic brother, I finally caved and bought myself a solid, comfortable and practical pair of sneakers. But I didn't buy just any kind of sneakers, I bought custom designed Nike ID Nike Air Plus sneakers!

 

I put my feet down--quite literally--in that I would only wear sneakers more often if they were pretty. Since I couldn't find a pair of sneakers that met my attractiveness qualifications (if you exclude the sneakers I liked with heels and the sneakers that weren't really sneakers at all), I decided to custom color coordinate a pair of Nike Air Plus sneakers. 

 

I loved the final product so much, I can't seem to get enough of the punchy turquoise and neon yellow color combination. Everything from my new beaded creations to my new spring accessories are matching my favorite pair of shoes. 

 

Vera Bradley Lime's Up | Columbia fleece | North Face fleece | Jewelmint earrings | Vera Bradley Jazzy Blooms

Let it Bead,


~~

What accessory provides inspiration for your favorite color combination this season?

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