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As some of you guys know I’ve been dealing with some substantial hair loss in the last several years. So I was very excited when Vegamour reached out and asked if I wanted to try a couple of their products for review. All items reviewed here have been generously gifted by the brand but of course all opinions here are my own and I was not paid for this review.
I’m writing this review about 13 years too late considering this Celine Trio bag came out in 2011 😂. But I did get some interest from people who are still toying with the idea of getting a Trio bag, so this one is for them!
I wasn’t really going to write a full review about this Dr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm since I mentioned it in my monthly recap. But I was complimented the other day by a worker at BlueMercury on how great my skin looked. And since I never (NEVER) get complimented on my skin, I have to chalk it up to how good this product is.
Thank you to all those who’ve been patiently waiting for this review of the Loewe Mini Hammock bag. As you can see from these photos, I purchased this bag in late Fall and have been using it off and on for about four months now. I used to have the original Loewe Hammock bag (review of it here), but ended up selling it because I didn’t really use it. I think I stopped using it because of the way it aged and the fact that the bag is so open. So how would I compare that to the new Mini Hammock bag?
Here I am with another bra review because honestly I only buy two a year and wear them out by the end of they year. And instead of re-purchasing the same thing I like to see what else is out there in the market. I first heard of Neiwai amongst friends two years ago when one friend got it as a White Elephant gift and all my friends kept stealing it from each other. Huh, is it that good?
I was lucky to try on some new bags over at Loewe and Bottega Veneta a couple weeks ago and I put a little poll up on Insta asking if you guys would prefer my opinions on Insta stories or on the blog. And I’m pleasantly surprised that you guys said on the blog (I guess you long format people are my people 😂).
I’m on a roll with The Row here with a review of a Row item every month so far. This month I’m going to talk about The Row Kitan coat I got from the Neiman Marcus sale at the end of 2023.
As long time readers know, I’m a pretty big fan of Quince (see all my Quince reviews here). But I hadn’t thought to try out their shoes until just recently. But when I saw their machine washable shoes (much like Rothy’s which I like—see my Rothy’s review here), at a very reasonable price, I knew I wanted to give them a try. Here are all the shoes I’ve tried from Quince thus far and what I think about them:
I spent this rainy February continuing to declutter and sell items I was no longer using, as well as to fix up some jewelry. I tried to keep my mindful spending going, so how did I do?
I accidentally bought a fake The Row Park Tote from my go-to eBay seller (who didn’t do me wrong for five straight bag purchases). I actually bought this one for a friend so I was quite bummed when I got it. I knew as soon as I felt it that this was a fake. The leather was rubbery and the handle was too stiff. But since that’s not much to go on, here’s the various ways I knew this was a fake (and it was a really good fake at that too).
At the end of every year I find myself restocking on my favorite Merit mascara and sometimes lip product (both their Signature Lip and Shade Slick) during their end of year sale (my first review of Merit here). Well after last year’s Merit Beauty review some people had mentioned trying out their Complexion stick. Fast forward a year and I decided to give it a try too along with their recommended brush and the Bronze Balm.
I received this Toteme T-Lock Clutch bag as a Christmas present from the family (but of course I picked it lol). When deciding between the clutch size and the regular size, I decided to go with the clutch since the regular one looked so much larger. But I did want a top handle to hold it with since that’s my favorite way to hold a bag so I added a chain I found on Etsy and it’s the perfect combo.
For those who’ve been following me on Insta, you know that I’m completely obsessed by The Row’s N/S Park Tote. I first encountered it secondhand in a shop in Ginza, and even though it was quite worn I couldn’t pass it up (I went back the next day for it). Ever since then I’ve been on a hunt for secondhand Park Totes (I got them all from Japan) and have gotten two mediums (one in the pebbled leather and one in smooth), one small, and one large, along with a brand new pebbled medium one from Saks in cognac.
Continuing with 2023 recaps here on the blog, I wanted to take a moment to look at all my most worn items over the year.
I know it’s already 2024 but I’m giving myself this week to do a bit of a recap of 2023. Starting next week I’ll have all new reviews! So without further ado here are the top ten for 2023 and how I feel about these items now:
For my RSS subscribers, I apologize for the early publishing of this post when it was still unfinished. As you can see from my first “Did” item, I was away during that time and I’m sure that messed up my publishing schedule a bit. Anyway, even though it’s being published in the wrong month (and year 😆), nonetheless here is my recap for December 2023.
If you’re a long time reader, you know that I love me some New Year’s Resolutions. True, they almost always fail by February but I just can’t help myself and make them most years.
I’m very lucky that my mother’s side of the family lives in Japan. So growing up I went there almost every summer and winter break. If you were to ask me about my Japanese speaking skills, I can speak at an elementary level and I understand way better than I speak. I usually default to English first and only break out the Japanese when the other party doesn’t know any English (though these days in Tokyo that feels pretty rare). But it’s been almost a decade since the last time I was in Japan (maybe 8 years) and wow things have gotten so much easier for your average English-speaking tourist.
I am very grateful to be able to purchase high ticket items, and most of the time I think they’re 100% worth it (though not always). This year I didn’t have any luxury purchases I regretted so I just wanted to recap my top 5 favorite and/or most used luxury purchases of 2023. And without further ado…
I originally planned to do a full recap of my trip to Seoul and Tokyo, but since the post is running long I am just recapping the Seoul part here. Stay tuned for my Tokyo recap!
Yes I know it’s already December, but since I was out of town in November this post got a bit delayed. But without further ado, here are all the things I did and bought in November:
If you’re a long time reader, you know this blog was built on Everlane reviews (see the extensive but not updated list here). So I was surprised to see that I had yet to do an Everlane review for 2023, but then again I hadn’t purchased anything from them until just recently. In the last couple of months I got the Wide Leg Dream Pants (on eBay), the Organic Cotton Striped Tee Dress (from Crossroads—a thrift shop), and the Felted Merino Wool Half-zip (on the Everlane website during their F&F sale).
In late July I ordered two Loewe Puzzle bags from Fashionphile, one in the mini size and one in the small. after watching some Youtube videos from Maggy, a fellow handbag enthusiast, rave about it. Plus the Puzzle has been around for so long it’s starting to become a classic. And the news of the classic Puzzle being phased out, motivated me to give them one more chance. And I’m glad I did!
What’s the most October thing you can do? The pumpkin patch of course (well especially if you have kids). We also went on another Airstream trip to catch the Fall foliage in Oregon.
After going down a Diane Keaton scarf inspo Google wormhole I got a couple of scarves from Madewell and the RealReal. And in June I decided to go for a scarf ring from Hermes after watching a couple YouTube videos on tying scarves. And since it’s getting to be scarf season, I thought I’d take the time to review both the Hermes scarves and Hermes Regate ring today.
It looks like my last kid’s review was almost a year ago so I’m due for one. But honestly nothing has really wowed us these days, except for the Yoto Mini Player, which we got a couple of months ago in anticipation for our two-week long RV trip. We knew this time around we would be driving for 4+ hours and wanted something for our kid to do in the car that doesn’t involve screens (we’re still holding out on screen time in the car). And this Yoto Mini Player was just the thing!
Back in August I had a bit of a bag-buying spree that was kicked off by this navy Longchamp Le Pliage XS crossbody bag. While there I also checked out the leather version of the XS bag, called the Le Pliage XS Cuir, but didn’t really want to spend the extra $300+ for the leather upgrade. However when I saw this cuir version secondhand at the RealReal for just $20 more than what I paid for for the nylon one I couldn’t resist. And now I have two Le Pliage XS bags, but I plan to keep both!
I have been a long time fan of the Augustinus Bader Rich cream and have tried a bunch of items from the brand because of that (see my all my Augustinus Bader reviews here). And even though their prices are exorbitant I’m always intrigued by their new products and want to give them a try. The Eye Cream and The Eyebrow and Lash Enhancing Serum were the next on my must-try list, so what did I think of them?