hollywood housewife

beauty & blogging meetup at blushington

On Monday night I hosted an LA bloggers meetup at the new makeup bar Blushington in West Hollywood. 

pink tipped hair

I dyed my hair pink.  Okay, *I* didn't dye it, my beautiful hair stylist did it and it looks amazing.  In the strangest of ways, I've been admiring bright hair for a while now.  First on Rachel McAdams, then in this picture from my Pinterest board.  Then on this model. 

And I kept thinking that it would be ridiculous to dye to my hair pink because I'm 32 years old and a mother, for heavens sakes.  But I just kept thinking about it.  And envisioning how EVERY article of clothing I owned would look better if my hair were pink. 

Finally I just decided to do it.  I mean, I don't work at a bank or something.  First impressions don't matter to me.

Just kidding.  First impressions totally matter.  Mine just now includes pink hair.

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Looking for Friday Links?  Me, too.  I had every intention of doing them, but I guess I didn't read much interesting this week on the 'net.  If you did, feel free to link in the comments.  Even to your own best post.  I always appreciate a good link.

Don't forget that you only have until midnight tonight to enter the Stella & Dot statement necklace giveaway.  And if you were an HH facebook fan, you would have had a chance to win the Jade earrings that I picked out for myself.  I only did that giveway on facebook, that's how cool it is over there. 

We have houseguests this weekend, a neighborhood brunch, and the Super Bowl!  What are you up to?  Happy weekend, HH readers!

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things i've learned about style from my toddler

Welcome to Mommy Mondays, the one day of the week I drone on about my kids.

Some people are just born with it, you know?  That innate sense of style.  I've learned a handful of lessons by watching my opinionated toddler pick her clothes each morning.

comfortable shoes

I have far from retired the high heels, but I'm also far from their daily use.  And since that has happened (approximately two and a half years ago, when my first pregnancy wiped out all illusions of being a hip and stylish mom), I've struggled with finding a good mom-at-the-park type shoe.

On the days when I actually put on some lipstick and a cute shirt, I opt for a cute and comfy flat, of which I have several pair.  I wrote about my recent favorites here.  But I really need something even more casual.  Cargo pants and t-shirt casual.  Okay for the sand box and the grocery store.

(And you should know that I don't do tennis shoes.  I've owned exactly two pair of tennis shoes in the last eight years.  I've worn them about five times TOTAL.)

One would think I would gravitate towards chucks.  They're a signature look in our group of friends.  But they're just not me.  I like them on other people.  They achieve what I'm going for, but no, they're not right on my feet.   

how not to apply false eyelashes

Thanks to L'Oreal for sponsoring my post about my favorite beauty looks, tips and tricks! Check out Makeup.com for beauty advice from the experts.

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As I've gotten older, my eyelashes have gotten skimpier.  I've had false eyelashes applied for special events - my wedding, red carpets - but always by a professional.  When they're done well, they look great!  But I do my own makeup most of the time, and would love it if I could achieve the high eye drama on my own. 

I decided to try it out before girls night dinner this past weekend, confident that with a little practice I could be sporting "come hither" lashes for all this season's holiday parties. 

I purchased these beauties at Sephora.  They were $8 and came with their own adhesive. 

signature style

I've been thinking a lot about style recently. 

Outside of a few special occasion pieces, I haven't bought very many items of clothing in the last few years.  In 2008 I was trying to get pregnant, in 2009 I was pregnant or recovering, in 2010 I was losing the weight, and in 2011 I was pregnant.  My fluctuating size and mood wasn't great for shopping and my daily wardrobe has suffered. 

I've never liked having an overflowing closet anyway.  Though I've been guilty of succombing to cheap and trendy pieces from H&M or Forever21, my mom taught me about quality over quantity when it comes to fabric.  I try to stick to it.

But now that I don't have pregnancy limitations on the horizon, I've looked through my drawers and I don't like what I see.  A person's style can change over time, but I feel like I'm at a point where I want to curate a certain look, a signature "Laura" that I can put on without too much thought, but that still looks good.  Once I've nailed down such a style, maybe shopping will be less haphazard.

Signature styles I admire:

Gwen's red lips, Rachel's pink hair, Anna's iconic haircut

Notice how I gravitate towards one dramatic element instead of an overall look?  My tastes change too much to decide I'm "bohemian" or "preppy" or any other category.  I want to find one thing that defines me and then invest in that and work everything else around it.  Does this seem boring?  It's what I'm craving.

I've done lots of experimenting in my day.  Black hair, thrift love, granny chic.  It was fun, but I know when something feels right and when it feels like a costume.  A woman of a certain age should decide who she is stylistically.  I'm there. 

As I've been pondering this, I've noticed that there are a couple of things that spring to mind when I think about what makes me happy getting dressed.  One thing that I've been doing since I was in my early twenties is mix something very fancy with something very not.  I love to wear a silky embellished shirt with ripped jeans.  Or a ratty t-shirt with a nice skirt.  Though I own nice tops and bottoms, I feel stiff when I wear them together.  I usually overcompensate when trying to balance it out. 

I also own multiple statement necklaces.  I love them.  I wear them with t-shirts and they make me happy. 

And while it's not something I think I could do every day (but maybe?) I do love a deep fuschia lipstick.  Everyone just looks so much better in lipstick. 

So those three things: fancy/ratty, oversized jewelry, dramatic lip, are those my signature style?  I'm still not sure.  I'm finding it.  I'll let you know when it's found.

Do you have a signature style?  Do you think a person even needs one?

beauty tricks that are making a difference

Three little tweaks I've made to my beauty routine have made a pretty big difference in how my makeup looks at the end of the day.  Two involve...wait for it...WAITING.

I'm impatient in general, and I'm always in a hurry to get ready in the morning.  This means that after my shower I slather on the moisturizer and jump right into applying foundation and whatever else. 

But after seeing something in a magazine about making your makeup last longer, I started waiting at least five minutes between applying moisturizer and eye cream and doing anything else.  I get dressed or futz with my hair.  I brush my teeth or go check my Instagram feed.  When I start in with my foundation, I've noticed that it looks fresher, less oily, goes on more smoothly, and lasts longer.  Who knew?!

The same sort of principle applies to my next tip: Apply (at least) two coats of mascara, but do so several minutes apart.  I love thick and clumpy mascara, and I always apply multiple coats, but I usually do them one right on top of the other.  A friend mentioned how she applied her first coat, then moved on to lips or hair or whatever, then came back at the end and applied the second coat.  It looks even more dramatic!  

Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm going to tell you to do something earlier than you probably are doing now.  I learned this during a facial once: Wash your face before dinner.  The biggest stumbling block to washing your face well, applying serum, etc. is that often you're too tired to go through the whole routine before bed.  I'm especially guilty of running a wet wipe over my face and calling it a day.  But if you do the whole thing when you first get home from work, or whatever time of day you change into something more comfortable.

I was a little hesitant to do this, because I didn't want my family seeing me all, um, "fresh-faced" for the whole night.  But I quickly realized that they don't seem to care, the number of nights I actually do a beauty routine increased, and my skin looked a lot better.  So a bare, shiny, face at dinner it is!

I'm not usually one to advise that you add time or steps to ANY routine, but these are simple enough and have made enough of a difference that I've adopted them permanently.  Try it!

Any tweaks to your beauty routine lately?  You know I love to hear them.

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You can see just a few of my favorite beauty products by clicking here.  Anything purchased from Amazon after clicking through from this site supports the Hollywood Housewife blog.

expensive sunglasses

For my 21st birthday, my parents gave me lasik eye surgery. 

I wanted a boob job.  Fixing my eyes was a more practical investment.  Not to mention sanctioned by my folks.  So under the red laser I went.

I have told many, many people since about the wonders of the lasik eye surgery.  It is nothing short of a miracle.  It is as if Jesus himself descended upon me and healed my eyes. 

An unfortunate side effect of this surgery, however, is that it makes me super light-sensitive.  So I have to wear sunglasses every day, almost every time I step outside.  Fairly soon afterwards this meant I had to ditch the drugstore sunglasses in place of something cuter and longer lasting.  It just wouldn't do to keep losing and breaking something that was so vital to my day. 

my favorite looks from the 2011 Emmys

I intended to just tweet a few things about the red carpet and maybe the intro, but I ended up watching the entire Emmys broadcast and was throroughly entertained for three hours. 

I don't watch enough scripted television to fully appreciate the actual awards, but the show was fun and funny.  And inspired me to watch some of those box sets of good shows that we own that are still wrapped in plastic.

Here are a few of my favorite looks from the carpet:

 

Anna Torv in Vera Wang and Emily Blunt in Elie Saab

 

Evan Rachel Wood in Elie Saab and Nina Dobrev in Donna Karan

What did you think?  Did you watch? 

{brag book} seasonal style

In place of my normal Friday Links, I'm hosting a link up highlighting YOUR seasonal style.  I encourage everyone to visit the links below and give a shout out to those participating, because these Brag Book links ups are about supporting one another to brag on ourselves.

*Maternity Seasonal Style*

Even though we were at our southern lake house for most of the summer, I have thanked my lucky stars almost every day that I didn't have to deal with the RAGING heat my home state has experienced over the last couple of months.  (If you've lived through this summer pregnant in the middle of the country, bless you.)

Still, I like to keep my maternity style breezy.  Breathable, if you will.  But on the other hand, "fitted" looks better on my disproportioned body.  If it's too loose, I look like an absolute whale of a human.