DIY || Candle Holders

I was looking through old pictures on my phone and found this picture of some candle holder things I made when I first moved in to my apartment: 

It was probably the easiest DIY "project" known to man, but I still think it's a cute idea to brighten up a space if you don't know what to do with it.

I bought 3 candles and 3 little candle holders at Bed Bath and Beyond and some blue and pink stones at Michael's. And then I put them all together. That's it. In order to make the candle thingys a little more special I also added in some shells and sea glass that my boyfriend brought me from Greece (but that's obviously optional).

Now to figure out what to do with all the extra blue and pink stones...

Magazine Hoarding and Inspiration Boards

I don't really have time to read magazines anymore (and let's get serious, I don't have the money to go around buying magazines willy-nilly), but when I was in high school I had a sizable stash of the things. I store them in a PB Teen magazine rack on my wall very similar to this (except with magazines that don't suck): 

BUT for the past year or so my magazine "collection" had become too much for the rack to handle, and excess magazines were sitting in a pile on my floor. This only became an issue for me when I came back home from college last winter break. My bedroom in general had become cluttered with all my unwanted, unnecessary things, and I was determined to do something about it. 

My solution was to go through every single magazine I owned (and let me tell you, that was no easy task), ripping and cutting out any picture or article that I particularly liked, and to throw the rest of the magazine away. I then glued all the pictures on to white poster board, making a collage of sorts...

The thing is, I didn't want to lug these unwieldy magazine collages back to college with me, so I decided to settle for taking pictures of the best parts of them on my phone. It seems like a whole lot of work for nothing, I know. It was winter break and I was bored. 

Anyway, here are some of the pictures from my "inspiration boards"

Here's an overview of my favorite collage

They may be overpriced, but I'm obsessed with MAC lipsticks. 

I have Syrup, which is apparently the most popular MAC lipstick in Poland.

Go figure.

Blake Lively looking super hot; Shenae Grimes' perfect messy hair;

Some Asian model that just looks nice

I liked this girl's eye makeup and the way her platinum blonde

hair contrasted with her skin tone.

I think I just wanted to be this girl's friend. And steal her sweater.

Blake Lively's pretty pony; nail polish ideas 

These are two fashion bloggers.

I liked their vibe/outfits.

Basically everything about this girl looked awesome to me.

Her blog is called Cupcakes and Cashmere. It's pretty dang cool.

Models with better skin, makeup, and hair than me.

I don't know why I cut this out. I just liked it.

But it kind of seems like the girl is trying to look away and be all whimsically cool, 

which is a little dumb. 

(Barely) New Hair

I have to admit, I'm a complete pansy when it comes to my hair. And by this I mean that the most I've ever really experimented with my hair was when I used Sun-In in 5th grade and I had side-bangs in middle and high school. I just don't like the idea that if I somehow terribly ruin my hair, I won't be able to easily change it back. If I mess up my eye makeup, on the other hand, I just need a bit of makeup remover on a cotton swab and I'm good to go. Anyway, I finally felt like I needed a change. My hair was pretty blah, mousy brown, and just boring.

So I decided to do something drastic. I decided to get highlights. Okay, maybe it's not that drastic. Okay, it's definitely not at all drastic. But for someone who practically has a panic attack every time she thinks of her hair-cutting guy (never know what to call them, "hairdresser" just seems too formal) chopping off more than an inch, it was a big deal. A freaking big deal.

So let's get to the before and after already, shall we?

At the salon, looking like I'm trying to repel
some aliens with a foil contraption

I took this picture a couple of days after I got highlights.
I don't know if you can actually see them, but they were meant to look natural,
so I'd say that's a good thing.  

Neutral Nails

So I know that spring is supposed to mean that we pack away the dark clothes of our winter wardrobes and dust off all of our brights and pastels...but I just don't think I can part with my blacks and navys. In the past year, I've found myself veering away from bright colors in my wardrobe and toward neutrals of all kinds. And my nails are no exception. Granted, I have way more nail polish than is acceptable for a college student on a budget, but I recently decided to pick up a few more to satisfy my craving for more neutral colors in my nail polish wardrobe (note to self: if you have enough nail polish to say you have a "nail polish wardrobe," there's something wrong).

Here are some of my recent manicures. They're certainly not spring-appropriate, but who really cares?

Essie's Licorice with a dot of The Next CEO by Nicole

China Glaze's Glitz and Pieces layered over Essie's Jazz