The Haute Hydrangea

fashion / home / beauty / life

Summer Essentials

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We’re already closing in on 90+ degree temperatures & high humidity, so I’ve been dreaming of a getaway.  While my summer vacation is still a month away, there are some pool days in my near future.  In honor of the start of summer, I’ve compiled my must-haves for time in the sun, whether it’s a beach trip or a day by the pool.

Summer Essentials

No matter where you’re heading, a large straw tote will keep everything together.  I love this one with poms in almost any color you want!  An oversized towel or mat is perfect for covering your chair or lying out on the sand.  There’s not much worse than hopping across concrete or sand, but a pair of cute sandals will protect your feet.  I always leave my wallet at home & bring only the essentials (cash, license, etc) & keep all of my smaller items in a small, water resistant pouch.  I bring a secondary battery for my phone since I use my phone to keep up with friends, post to social media, & for music.  It’s just not summer without a fun float like this flamingo.  We all know how obsessed I am with flamingos!

I have very fair skin & am prone to sunburn, so I take several steps to protect my skin, beginning with a good coat of broad spectrum sunscreen, like Coola Sport or CeraVe.  Both are light & cooling, with a high SPF.  A big, floppy hat & chic sunglasses not only look great, but will help protect your face & eyes.  A tinted lip balm, with sunscreen, will protect your lips from the sun & keep them hydrated all day.  Sand, sun, & salt water can do a number on your hair, so always apply a good leave-in conditioner, like this one from Unite, and use a detangling comb.

Spring Manicure

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I love a colorful mani, but it’s so hard to find time for a full manicure during a busy week.  Over the weekend, I took the time to do my nails properly with Pool Side Service, a deep cerulean blue from Essie’s spring 2016 collection.  Here are my 3 steps to a foolproof at home mani:

1.  Begin with clean, dry nails.  Wipe with polish remover to remove any oils from your nails.  Paint nails with a clear base coat to prevent stains and prepare the nail surface.  There are base coats to treat any nail issue from dryness to peeling to promoting growth.  I use Sally Hanson’s Miracle Cure because my nails tend to get brittle & split.  Essie’s Grow Stronger is another great option to help strengthen nails.  Allow at least 2 minutes for the base coat to dry.

2.  Begin adding color by painting only the tips to give an extra layer of protection to the area most likely to chip.  Be sure to paint over the tip, you want to wrapping around the underside of the nail tip in color.  Allow 2-5 minutes to dry.  Then paint nails, from the cuticle to the tip, with the first coat of color.  Add a second coat of color if necessary.  Some polishes will cover nicely with one coat, while some make take up to three.  I’ve found that most of Essie’s color go on smoothly with just one coat.  Allow 2-5 minutes between each coat.

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3.  Finally, apply a layer of top coat to protect from chipping and add shine.  I got Teeez’s Head Over Heels top coat in a GlossyBox & love the shine it gives!  Essie’s Good To Go and Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure Ultra Wear Top Coat are also good choices that can be found at most drug stores.  Be sure to paint over the tip, like you did in step 2.  Use an orange stick dipped in polish remover to clean up any mistakes and allow around 15 minutes for nails to dry fully.

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Younique “Stiff Upper Lip” Lip Stain

Back in November I told you how much I love Younique’s “Stiff Upper Lip” Lip Stain, but I wanted to give you an update & a more detailed review.  As I mentioned before, my favorite shade is “skittish,” a bright pink…go figure, lol.  First, let me apologize for the quality of the photos – since I had plans to go to dinner after work yesterday, I decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to really test out how long the color would last & used my phone to take them.

I start by applying a thin layer of the color, to be sure that it goes on evenly, then let it completely dry.  One of the best features of this stain is that it dries to a soft, smooth finish, with none of the tackiness that comes with some long-wear colors.  Here’s what the first layer looks like:

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Then I add a second layer if I want a deeper color.  Again, I let the color completely dry.  Here’s the two layers:

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Depending on the look I want, I sometimes add a coat of gloss over the color.  The gloss can cause the color to fade or bleed slightly, so I opted to skip that yesterday.  Here’s a shot of my water glass after applying the stain – the color stays on my lips where it should be, not on my glass:

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Finally, here’s the color after dinner.  The color has slightly faded because I tend to lick my lips when I’m not wearing gloss, but it’s still there!  I have the stain in 3 colors & wear one of them almost daily.  It’s amazing to not worry about maintaining some color!

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Beauty Protector – Protect & Detangle

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Today I want to share a hair product that has changed my life!  I got a sample of this little gem in my Birchbox last year & it sat in my maybe-I’ll-try-this-later box of samples for a few weeks.  I have super fine hair that tends toward oily, so I’m always suspicious of leave-in treatments.  They tend to weigh my hair down and/or make it look greasy.  After a friend, who has a similar hair type, raved about the Beauty Protector – Protect & Detangle, I decided to give it a try.  I’ve been using it daily ever since & cannot praise it enough!

First, it smells great!  While not critical, it’s always a nice treat to have good-smelling products.

Second, it detangles!  My fine hair tangles up instantly when I get out of the shower.  I’m trying to grow out my  hair some more, so it’s important to protect against breakage that can occur when combing out wet hair.  Protect & Detangle makes it so much easier & less painful to manage my wet hair.

Third, it protects!  If I’m going to wear my hair down, I have to wash it in the morning.  Washing at night only leads to oily, unmanageable hair in the am, & a ponytail.  Washing in the am also means I have to blow-dry it almost daily to avoid going to work with wet hair.  Protect & Detangle has reduced the broken/split ends & fly-aways that come with constant blow drying, plus it helps protect the color from heat.

Fourth, it lightly conditions!  As I said, my fine hair leans toward oily, so I can’t deal with heavy conditioners.  They also tend to weigh my hair down. With Protect & Detangle, even after blow-drying, my color-treated hair is soft & shiny.  It’s lightweight so I don’t feel like I lose any volume either.

Finally, it’s versatile!  I use it daily on wet hair to detangle & protect before blowing drying.  But, it has also come in handy to detangle dry, windblown hair before brushing out.

Five Minute Face for Work

I am not a morning person.  I actually hate getting up in the morning.  I will hit the snooze button as many times as possible, which means I’m usually in a rush to get out of the door.  Here’s my go-to make up routine for mornings when I have about five minutes to spend:

Foundation:

I begin by buffing Bare Minerals loose foundation over my face.  Then I cover under-eye dark circles with Bare Minerals Well-Rested Eye Brightener.

Eyes:

Moving on to my eyes, I start with a matte nude color from Urban Decay’s Naked2 palette, like Foxy, over the entire eyelid to the brow bone.  Using a fluffy brush, I add a golden beige, like Suspect, to the entire eyelid & a dark bronze, like Snakebite, in the crease and at the outer corners.  I actually keep a small compact containing those three colors, plus YDK, in my purse for touch-ups if I’m going somewhere after work.  I apply a thin line of Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Zero to my upper lids only.  I finish off with a coat of L’Oreal’s Voluminous Mascara to the top lashes.

Cheeks:

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Using a fluffy & angled brush, I sweep NARS blush in Orgasm from the apples of my cheeks to my temples.  It is the ultimate blush color, perfect for just about any complexion.

Lips:

I wear L’Oreal’s Colour Riche in Nature’s Blush daily.  I’m fair skinned, so a nice pinky-nude looks natural for the day.  I’m also constantly touching up with a bit of Stila’s Lip Glaze in Sugar Plum.