RACHEL
Denim Vest
     Considering Tessa and I frequently end up wearing nearly identical outfits, it should come as no surprise that I've chosen a denim vest. I added this to my wardrobe this past summer and have essentially worn it year-round since. This is fantastic to throw over a zip-up hoodie during the cooler, rainy days of spring. However, it's also helpful to bring along to pop on over a t-shirt if things are a little warmer. I even pair it with summer dresses when I want to keep my look casual. A vest allows me to layer up, without completely masking my outfit underneath. Sorted. (P.S. - see it styled here).



TESSADenim/Hoodie Jacket
     This jacket has been a well-loved staple in my wardrobe for about a year and spring is no exception to breaking it out. I've found that it's the perfect layering piece for when the weather is starting to warm up but it's not quite time to rock a t-shirt or tank top solo. The mix of fabrics give a laid back vibe to any outfit, and the fact that it's light denim and grey means it goes with pretty much my entire closet. I usually pair it up with leggings and a longer tank top or oversized t-shirt or dark wash jeans and a basic t-shirt with a statement necklace.



TORI
Ankle Boots
     I bought these at Forever 21 awhile ago and have been wearing them constantly. They are easily dressed up or worn casually. They are perfect for the spring transition because they can be worn with pants (like shown) or with shorts or a dress. Bonus: they are clicky. Who doesn't enjoy a good shoe that clicks?

If there's two make up products I can't live without, it's lipstick and mascara. I'm the ultimate mascara junkie and have an ever-growing lip collection though I don't know that I'll ever top Jen in that department. If I'm ever in a rut in my make up routine - which is fairly often - I always turn to my lip products to spice things up a bit. Not to mention they're a great just-out-of-winter-pick-me-up that we've all been needing. Here's a few of my tried and trues and some more recent additions.

MAC Vegas Volt
This is an oldie but a goodie in my collection. I've had it for about a year now and I love the way it will brighten up a make up look. It's a good orange for those who are just venturing into the world of bold lipsticks. Much like is expected from MAC, it's a great formula and wears really well.

Milani Rose Hip
One of the newest additions I've added to my collection, I'm obsessed. I've seen that it's a dupe for MAC's Candy Yum Yum (I haven't swatched them side by side for myself but I shall let you know if I ever do). It's definitely a matte formula, so you'll want something moisturizing underneath. I love pairing this up if I'm wearing an eye look from my Naked 3 palette, as the light pink undertones of the shadow compliment the brightness of Rose Hip perfectly.

Milani Nude Créme
I'm not sure that I've ranted about this enough to y'all, but here we go again. This has become my holy grail nude, even over Soap & Glory's Nudist. The formula is really moisturizing and lasts well. Even when it wears off, it's not a color that you need to reapply as it wears wonderfully. It's new home is in whatever bag I have with me at that moment in time. I'm not sure I can go without this ever again.

Maybelline Pink Pop
When Maybelline launched their Color Sensations Vivid line I went a little cray for it. It's possible I'm still obsessed and eyeing up a few more colors (read: I will own the whole collection at some point). This is a really pigmented baby pink and I love it. This was one of my go-to's last summer, especially if I was keeping the rest of my make up really simple. The best thing about it is that it's a baby pink that won't wash out pale skin tones, which is sometimes hard to accomplish.

Maybelline Coral Ambition
I blame Rachel 1000% for me buying this. Unlike the rest of the products I've talked about, this product is more balm-like and has less pigmentation. I still really love it though. It's another product that lives in whatever bag I'm carrying because it's a good sheer wash of color for days that I'm feeling really lazy.

SWATCHES

Maybelline Coral Ambition, MAC Vegas Volt, Maybelline Pink Pop, Milani Rose Hip, Milani Nude Creme

What are your top 5 lip products?

xx
Tessa

Howdy, y'all! I've had this recent issue where I've been using the word y'all on a fairly consistent basis. I'm not entirely sure where the habit originated since I go to school in Maryland but I'm rolling with it. It may just be due to the fact that I'm way too lazy to say "you all" or "you guys". Most of my decisions come down to the amount of effort required in all honesty.

Anyway, with the theme of the week being Spring Lips I decided to round up my favorite lip products of each general "type" for spring. You know what I mean? Lipstick, lip pencil, lip gloss, what have you. So here they are!


Let's start with the basics. My personal favorite lipstick for spring is MAC's Girl About Town. I spoke about this in the Tuesday Talk posted yesterday so I'm not going to go into much detail. Just know that it is the most beautiful fuchsia shade that isn't drying and stays in plays for hours (even without a lip pencil!).

    Here at FBG, it seems that we have all been getting on the lipgloss bandwagon (and I fully blame Essiebutton). At first it was a bit of a struggle to balance everything out and figure out just the right pairing for makeup. I would guess about 90% of my lip color involves stains or a matte finish, so gloss seems downright crazy. Instead of going straight into buying a lot of glosses, I thought I would incorporate products that I am already comfortable with just to help me get used to them. This involved lip pencils. I know a lot of people seem to be terrified of them because they automatically think the colors don't match and they will look like something out of the 80's or 90's. If used correctly, they really enhance the colors in whatever you are using.
     The gloss that really got it started for me was the YSL Glossy Stain. I know I have talked about this before, but it really is just amazing. It does have a bit of that glossy stickiness to it when you first apply it but that quickly sets into a really nice liquid lipstick kind of texture. I only own one of these but I already have a couple more colors that I am eyeing. I own the color 16 Pourpre Preview. I thought I would just show you guys how I typically would wear this. The lip pencil I am using is Dynamo by MAC. This lip pencil just enhances the glossy stain and takes it to a vibrant magenta hue that is just really nice for spring. Not to mention, the lip pencil makes the glossy stain last a bit longer.


What color combinations are you guys loving?
xx Tori

I did a post a while back on my fake tanning routine, and now I've given this tan a run through and feel like I can properly review it for you. So here goes nothing.

I originally picked it up because it said "Compare to St. Tropez" on the bottle, and the packaging is really nice. I swear to God I'm a marketer's dream (which is ironic since that's what I'm studying... anyway). Last summer I raved about Banana Boat's Sunless Tanning Spray, but I think that Equate might take the place as far as holy grail status goes.

This applies with a tinge of color which I love because it makes it easier to see spots you've been over, and it makes it easier to see where you still need to rub product in (if I didn't mention it in my routine, I spray, rub in, and repeat until I think I've got a good coverage going). It's a green based tan (very similar to St. Tropez and other high end brands) so you don't look orange at all, which is obviously a huge plus. I've found it applies quite well as a face tan too, when first sprayed into hands and then put onto the face. *Disclaimer: This is not formulated to be a face tanner. However, I do not have sensitive skin and have done this with all my other spray tans as well. Take that advice with a grain of salt.* Within the first two applications, I haven't noticed a whole lot of streaking or patchy-ness. A few here and there in the usual trouble spots (knees, elbows, ankles) but this is quickly remedied with a quick spot spray and some lotion. For now, I don't think I'll go much darker than what the tan has shown to be now (2 applications, 3 days apart) as it develops to be quite dark even after one application. Or maybe that's just me with my ghost skin...

Downfalls of this tan... First off: it's a messy application. I would definitely advise you to use this in the bath tub/shower area so you can just rinse it down after because it will get everywhere. Secondly, you will definitely smell like fake tan - for at least 48 hours. I've found that that's the stretch time, after showering a second time after application I don't notice it anymore.

Other than that, I don't have any complaints about this tan. It's hard out here for a girl like me (aka pale and always streaking with any other tan I've tried) to find a good fake tan. Now that I've got two on rotation, I'd say I'm in pretty good shape for the upcoming seasons.

Have you tried this tan? What did you think?

xx

Tessa

I haven't shared my favorite things, possibly ever on this blog. So I figured I'd share with you a few of my non-beauty favorites that I've been having a love affair with recently.

Mac OS X 10.9.2 
I somehow had a free software upgrade on my MacBook Pro and I am absolutely in love with it. I bought my laptop before I started college so it was long overdue and I was missing out on some pretty awesome features apparently. One of my favorites is Messages, it just really makes my life more convenient because I'm on my laptop way more than I'm on my phone so it's helpful to be able to reply to messages without having to switch devices. I'm also loving the mail notifications feature, it helps me to know if it's something that needs my attention immediately or if it can wait until later.

Spotify
I know I talk every week about how much I love Spotify, but I've really been loving it even more lately. By the way, if you didn't know, they're now offering Premium at a 50% discount to students and have some of the absolute best customer service around. If you're ever wondering what I'm listening to besides what I post for On Repeat, check out my playlists.

Pinterest
My love affair for Pinterest started back in my freshman year of college. I kind of left it to the side for a while but recently I've found myself spending a lot of time on there. Especially if it's slow at work and I've got my phone charged up enough. I've been on the hunt for a new hair color so Pinterest has been super helpful in the search. (ps - go give me a follow!)

Breakfast Smoothies
Let's just get this out of the way: I'm not a health nut. No matter how hard I try, I just can not give up my terrible eating habits. Recently, I've been trying to be a bit better, which has included incorporating a breakfast of something other than a coffee and granola bar. My usual go-to is pretty simple: a banana, a scoop of vanilla soy protein powder and some vanilla coconut milk. I've been loving these because I can still take them on the go, which is good considering I'm usually running about 30 minutes behind.

Marley Lilly/Monograms
Ask any of the other girls about my obsession with monograms and they'll probably roll their eyes. If I could put a monogram on everything I would (this is also the part of me that loves Lilly Pulitzer and anything preppy). Marley Lilly recently released an app, for free by the way, and not only can you shop, but you can make your own monogramed backgrounds. So naturally I went HAM and have about 20 on my phone now. Whoops. Sorry, not sorry.

My Kindle/Amazon
Amazon is always awesome, but as per my New Years Resolutions, I've been on a reading binge recently. I read through the Divergent trilogy (and also went to see the movie, of course) and am currently on the second book of The Maze Runner series. I've got a wishlist on Amazon.com about 5 pages long of books to read, so hopefully I'll make my way through them soon. I've also been loving my Kindle to work on instead of my laptop, especially if I'm at home hanging out (watching Netflix) and just have a couple quick things to do.

House, M.D.
Speaking of Netflix, let's talk about how the whole House series is now on there. I was in love with this show when it was on air but never really followed it completely, I would just catch episodes here and there. So now I've made it my mission to get through the entire series, start to finish.

Well, that's all from me for this week. What have you been loving recently?

xx
Tessa

     If you've been a little out of the loop with FBG as of late, every Tuesday we post collaboratively. We blabber on about anything from makeup to movies so be sure to tune in dudes. Since the spring season finally seems to be creeping up on us, we're here to share our favorite fragrances to don this time of year.

It seems that spring is finally upon us here in Kansas. And now I'm going to hope and pray that I didn't just jinx it. I've been in a bit of a rut lately as far as fashion and make up goes lately, so here's some spring time inspiration that will hopefully help you if you're looking for something new, as well as help my out of my routine.

I've already decided my color palette for spring will have actual color. A huge shock to anyone who knows me, try not to fall over. Gray is going to be my main neutral this season, because there's always a shade that goes with everything. Continuing on the theme of my last few videos, purple is of course going to be included. Inspired by an eyeshadow that I lived in for most of last summer, teal will also be joining the party. And last but not least, coral. Three colors is like overload for me, but I don't even care. I may even add in a splash of emerald, considering I've been obsessing over it for the last year and a half. So without further ado, here's some fashion and make up inspiration for you, featuring my spring color palette.