Who are you wearing? 2013 Emmy Awards

The best part about any award show is always the red carpet beforehand.  When there is an award show, I am sitting by my TV eagerly awaiting the arrival of the stars. Sunday night was the night that we award the best of the silver screen.  Time for a fashion recap of the best of the 2013 Emmy Awards. 

Here were the biggest trends of the night...

Now that we know the trends of night, let's see who really pulled them off and who needs to fire their stylist...immediately!

Time for Best and Worst Dressed!

(Let's do this)

The Award for MOST improved goes to...

Tina Fey

FINALLY some color. This dress was a vast improvement from the normal black.

Best Dressed

Christina Hendricks

Leave it to the girl who I have had my ups and downs with for years to kill it. This Christian Siriano gown is perfection on her. I'll be the first to admit, I wasn't blown away by it when I first saw the dress on the carpet but looking through all pictures trying to decide who was my best dressed, I kept coming back to her. Her figure is to die for in this dress. I love the lace throughout and her hair and makeup just make everything complete. Perfection!

Derek Hough

One Word. Handsome.

Worst Dressed

Claire Danes

Easiest decision by a mile. HORRIBLE. Anyone who thinks that this dress was acceptable is in pure denial. This was disgraceful. The color is awful for her skin tone. Without the red lip, she would basically look like she was walking around naked. Can we also talk about the fit? PULL UP YOUR DRESS. NO. Better yet don't wear a dress that is meant for a girl with boobs. Don't even get me started on that faux bob!!!!

Jon Hamm

As much as this pains me but dude ever heard of a little thing called a razor? Buy one. Better yet hire some guy to just do it for you. I am sure you would have no problem finding people. 

Who else watched? Who did you think deserved Best/Worst Dressed? 

Read More

Word of the Day: Structure

Enough is enough.

I have officially had enough of this. Grab a pen and paper cause this is happening.  Dear plus size clothing manufacturers, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE WORD STRUCTURE???

I have never wanted to look like a blimp. All of your clothing on the market makes me look like one, I guess you think it will be a good look on me. NOT! Every single piece of clothing I have seen shopping around in stores, is so big and baggy its ridiculous. There is enough fabric on that shirt I can cut in half and donate it. I don't want to see anymore overly baggy shirts with a band at the bottom of the shirt to make me look even bigger than I already am.  Where are their waists?!?!?! Every shirt on page 1 of Lane Bryant's website has zero structure and is Baggy McBagShirts.

All the models on the website look swallowed in fabric. I DARE you to go through all the pages in the tops section if you don't believe me. So if all of the models look like blimps online, won't that mean the same thing for me when I go shopping. 

I want a shirt that has seams. I want shirts that don't require a belt to show off my waistline. 

I have watched enough episodes of What Not To Wear to know how to dress for my ever changing body type. 

It's not like I am asking for a lot. Am I? 

Give me a shirt with structure, and I am a happy girl. Word. 

I went to Target the other day just being sucked into the "you desperately need this vortex" as usual. While I was there I start through the clothing department as always, and was instantly turned off that there was flipping nothing. HOLY COW. Like do they realize lots of people of all sizes shop in Target? So why are you going to dedicate all this room for regular sizes and then give 2 racks for plus size that HAVE NO STRUCTURE. WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?

As seen here...

http://www.thecurvyelle.com/2013/04/a-open-letter-to-target-plus-size.html

What is it going to take?
No really, what is it going to take for us to get clothes great for all sizes plus included?

Share the fashion love. Girls of all sizes should like cute and trendy.

Let's do this.

Read More

The Phone Apps of Champions

Ever since I got my iPhone, I realized I was dead until I got one of the babies in my hands. I didn't want one cause I am simply a person who doesn't what to go with the flow. I am an individual for crying out loud. I hate anything related to Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Vampires (of any kind), or Kartrashians (note the spelling). I didn't want to be a person who was lumped into the "iPhone groupies" demographic. It's so annoying to me. But then I got my phone and my world forever changed. Keep in mind, my phone isn't my identity. It's not permanently attached to my hand. I don't get separation anxiety when I am away from it like some people I know (hint hint). But I love it all at the same time.  My phone has really kept me organized and made me not go spaz from forgetting to do something.  So these are my iPhone apps I use almost daily. 

• Social Media: Facebook, FB Pages, Twitter, Vine, and LinkedIn- Gotta keep myself in the loop. I need to know the hottest gossip and keep in touch with my friends from all over. I feel like we never moved away. It's awesome.
  
  
  Top Left- Facebook Pages
  Top Right-Twitter
  Bottom Left- LinkedIn
  Bottom Right- Vine
  
  
• Photography: Instagram, PicStitch, Aviary, moreBeaute2-One of my favorites hobbies as of recently is photography. I have really been enjoying taking pictures and seeing things through the eye of the lens. I took my sister's headshots and took pictures for a local boutique in town of their beautiful wedding gowns. No matter where I am, I see the opportunity for a beautiful picture. I WILL whip out my phone and take a picture whenever, wherever. I don't care who is around or if they like it or not. You never know what could come of it.
  
  For those of you who have been living under a rock, Instagram is a social media site that allows for users to upload their photos/videos and apply a vintage effect to their images/videos. Everything that gets uploaded seems to have more meaning because of the effect. It's so cool. PicStitch is a way to composite pictures together so you can see multiple photos in one overall image. Aviary is a photo editing app that serves like a photo shop but on your phone. You can brighten, change color tone, add frames, change focus, crop, remove color, add text/stickers, whiten, remove red eye and blemish, and so much more. I use this app every time I take a picture. The original image I took could look like crap but when I play around with it in Aviary it somehow manages to turn out a little better. MoreBeaute2 is fairly new to my world. I was introduced to it my Melmphs on YouTube. Basically it is an app that allows for you to really edit all of those selfies and make them worthy to be in Vogue. It's a retouching application for pictures with people. You go and edit your images to make the faces in your images look flawless. What I love about it, is that there is a before and after button so you really get to see all the changes you have made.
  
  
  
  Top left-Instagram
  Top Right-Pic Stitch
  Bottom Left-Aviary
  Bottom Right-moreBeaute2
  
  
• Shopping: RetailMeNot, ShopKicks- Who doesn't love to go shopping? I don't know about you but I am a shopping freak. In the words of Carrie Bradshaw, "Shopping is my cardio." So its no surprise that I have shopping apps on my phone.
  
  RetailMeNot is a great source for all the great sales happening in the world of retail. Everytime I drive by or walk by a mall my phone instantly alerts me with the sound of a ringing cash register. It recognizes the mall and you can pull up all the deals both in the mall and online. It also works with some hotels, and restaurants. It will work with your current location to find the closest deals near you, look by categories, or the trending deals that everyone is talking about. ShopKick is basically a rewards program for you shopping habits. Yes, you heard that correctly. All you have to do is walk into your favorite store and check-in to get your points or "kicks." The app instantly logs it in and sooner or later all your purchases will be to your advantage. How so? Your kicks can add up to be a free drink at Starbucks or a gift card at Target. You can use them or save them up and get some really great rewards through the app.
  
  
  Left- RetailMeNot
  Right- ShopKick
  
  
• Pinterest- Oh yes. Pinterest get's it's own moment of glory. Pinterest is the best thing to happen to the world wide web since Facebook. Pinterest is a social media site that allows for users to post their favorite ideas, products, and more to virtual pin boards that they create and links to a website. This allows for users to post pictures of products that are then linked to their website and through your personal social media pages like Facebook and twitter. You can create a board for almost everything to products, books, quotes, DIY, photography, weddings, food, crafts and more. The sky is the limit when it comes to what you can do. I am on this thing more than Facebook some days. I just completely reorganized my boards and renamed some to keep my page fresh. This thing is completely addicting.
  
  
  
  
  My Pinterest page
  http://pinterest.com/TheRealityDiva/boards/

*Most apps are available for iPhone and Android users

To visit all of my social media pages look here or click on a circle icon on the right.

What are your favorite apps on your smart phone? I am always looking to update my phone with new apps. 

Read More

August Favorites: Skincare Edition

Now that it is officially September...
Dear Mother Nature, As of September 22, it will be the first day of Autumn. Can you please make FL feel like fall and make me the happiest woman in the world?! Thanks. 
Let the countdown to Fall begin!!! Who is with me?
Since my makeup routine has been pretty standard this month, I decided to switch it up the month and give you my skincare favorites as well as my routine. I have it down to a degree and still need to work out a few kinks but hey my skin has never been better. 

I have had my fair share of skin issues especially when hormones took over my innocent body. (Someone remind me again why we have them again?) Now that I am in my 20's, I have noticed that my skin still goes on a roller coaster and I am OVER IT! 

So I decided to really pull the reigns and do something about it. Yes, I don't have as many breakouts as I used to when I was a teenager, but it still fluctuates. During the hot Summer months, I get extra oily and breakout more. Fall/Winter I tend to dry out a bit more than normal. You get the picture.

So when trying to figure out my plan of attack, I decided to stick with my go to drugstore products like I normally would; However, I also wanted to get products that would really keep my skin clean as to not hope for any more "junk" to appear on my face than normal. 

After trying many products theses are my favorite...

In the morning, I wash my face with Olay Pore Minimizing cleanser/scrub and my scrublet (From L'oreal Go 360). This smells good and really makes my face feel clean when I use the scrublet with the cleanser. 

At night, I leave it up to the good old Clean and Clear. Isn't this the stuff that everyone used when they were teenagers? I don't even care. It works. While the smell is annoying, it does it job. 

(Don't mind the Equate label. Just trying to save a buck or two). 

1. Foaming Facial Cleanser

2. Astringent

3. Moisturizer

Once a week, I put on a mask to scare my neighbors and relax. 

Once a week, I use a really nice scrub to exfoliate. 

Before I put on my makeup, I make sure my skin is really clean. I may be putting on my makeup at 7 am or 1 pm. No matter what time I put on my makeup, I want to make sure I get all the dirt and excess oil off my face so my makeup looks better and lasts longer. 

1. Any Astringent to prep skin for makeup. I like one that will remove dirt, and clean my skin. 

I put it all over face, behind ears, and down neck. 

2. Olay Oil Minimizing Toner- A toner that smells good! Woot Woot! 

I put it all over my face including my eyelids to absorb oil. It really works and I can tell when I forget to put it on. 

It took me a while to figure out but I really love how my skin looks. 

What are you go to skin care products? Do you have a holy grail skin product that you have to have? 

Let me know in the comments below what they are. 

Read More