Things that smell good.

Guys, I filmed a video for you all!  It's all about some of my new favorite bath time treats!  For the names of the products, check out the video on YouTube.  I apologize for the low quality of the video.  Anyone who wants to make fun of it can just save themselves the trouble and head straight to hell :)  Enjoy!

Check out Vivianna Does Makeup for great beauty product reviews from across the pond!

I like you guys enough to show my face,
Harris

Look what I made!

I'm so proud of myself.

Get clicking!

All that glitters is NOT gold.

Sometimes it's pink.

This is my new favorite fall manicure, which I originally saw on my very own roommate's nails, and I promptly stole the idea as soon as she acetone'd it away.  This very festive, chic mani is two coats of Essie Sassy Satchel and two coats of Essie A Cut Above.  The best part about the glitter top coat is that it is powerfully chip-resistant. My last mani featuring A Cut Above lasted ten days without needing a single touch-up, and that is pretty damn impressive for someone who slams her hands into things as she's walking as often as I do. 

Now, I was going for something extra glittery, but if you wanted to tone it down a bit (and I do mean just a bit), you could easily just do one coat of A Cut Above.  The look, while exciting, surprisingly isn't overwhelming, although you office types may want to save this for the weekends or a little closer to the holidays.  The warm-brown-with-a-slight-sheen creates a fantastic contrast to the pale pink glitter, adding a lot of dimension to the look.  I think this will be putting in quite a few appearances in the next couple of months.

What are some of your favorite late fall/holiday nail colors?  I'm always looking for recommendations!

That Time I Got Dressed

AS I PROMISED.

I know what you're thinking.  Adorbs, right?  J. Crew denim jacket, J. Crew bubble necklace, Lilly Pulitzer dress, wha-BAM.  Seriously that dress is my favorite thing in the world.  You can wear it with pretty much anything, and if there is one item in the Lilly repertoire that is likely to suit everyone, it is this dress.  The Camie, in case you were wondering.  Tragically, it is not currently for sale on their website, because they have not realized the full potential of the dress (however, the similar Cassie, which I also recommend, is available).  It's your basic cotton shift, with half-length sleeves, and a button up cuff detail.  It is also cut quite large, as far as Lilly items go, a fact of which I heartily approve, not being a member of the slimmer, preppy body set.  It comes in both solid colors and prints.  I have three (but I've put the other two away because they have spring/summer prints on them).

"But Harris," you say, "how can you possibly be wearing what is obviously a summer weight dress as Chicago rapidly approaches winter, and how could I make that work for me?"

Easily, my friend, quite easily.  First of all, I don't stop sweating until it's consistently in the low forties.  I probably have nerve damage, whatever.  Second, I never wear pants, so I am used to showing a lot of legs.  Now, for those of you of weaker constitution, or better sense, the wonderful think about this puppy is that it is light enough to layer comfortably.  Blazers, jackets, tights, I've even heard tell of wearing it over jeans (though I have yet to see an example, so no official stamp of approval from me on that front).   I even tried it as a shirt with a skirt I tried on at Anthro yesterday!

So that's what I wore for Halloween, and I encourage you to give it a spin, because it really is a comfortable dress, and one that lends itself to personal style augmenting quite easily.  Also, if you think this post is sponsored, obviously you think my life is more interesting than it actually is.  I just really like this dress.

Lakeview, Chicago 10/30/12

I actually love Halloween.

What's not to like?  Everyone needs a good sugar coma once (twice? forty times?) a year.  There are babies in costume.  There are dogs in costume.  I can freely vilify cats. And as an actress, I hope you can assume that I have always loved being in costume.

But I'm not dressing up this year.

Why not?  Because Halloween requires a bit of an investment, and the only thing I'm investing in right now is Facebook keeping food in my refrigerator.  BUT I DID GET DRESSED TODAY! WOO!  This isn't exciting for you, because you don't know how often I've just been changing from gym clothes to lounging clothes and back.  I assure you, however, that you should be excited, because not only did I get dressed, I wore possibly my most versatile, chic, comfortable article of clothing.  What is it?  Tune in tomorrow to find out...


In the meantime, enjoy this clip from one of my favorite Halloween movies.

I never liked Grease.

Y'all, I am a sad cat today.  Hurricane Sandy is a big old bitch, and it tore up a bunch of shit, including the refuge of my childhood summers.  It is particularly poignant because I did not have the pleasure of going home this summer to enjoy it one last time.  You never know the last time is the last time.

Thankfully, however, all family and friends are safe and sound, so that's what counts, especially since I could not personally battle the storm, being Stranded in Chicago, as usual.  My good thoughts go out to everyone who wasn't so lucky.

And I never did like Grease.

The view from my aunt's backyard, 10/29/12. Photo credit: Nora Mulheren

Sometimes It's Actually Like Magic

HI.  So, my little sister spent the past eight weeks in London, and was kind enough to bring me some goodies for cheaper than I can get them here in the good old U.S. of A., only one of which I'm going to talk about right now (I'll do the others when I've had a bit more time to work with them.)  All I can say is, if they are all as delightful as this one, my bank account is going to have some serious issues.

That's Marimekko bedding, btw.  Bought it at Marshall's.  I win.

Bourjois Paris Magic Nail Polish Remover.

Does it actually take one second?  DON'T BE STUPID.  Is it actually magic?  YES.  A couple of twists of the finger and BAM! No more nail polish annoyingly sticking around, interfering with your new nail color.  Seriously, it took me maybe two minutes to do both hands.  No, a minute and a half.  DOESN'T MATTER IT WAS FAST AND DIDN'T SMELL BAD.  This product came to my attention courtesy of my very favorite makeup blog, Vivianna Does Makeup, you should totally all go check it out.  Lots of good recs, even if some of it is easier to obtain in the UK.

Now, I'm not gonna lie.  That link above?  Yeah, the price of this with that shipping is total crap, especially since I don't know how long this sucker is going to last.  That, however, is the only place I've been able to find that ships to the US.  But I'll tell you what, if it puts in a good long haul, the time it saves me might be worth the money.  I mean, I paint my nails like, three times a week.  That's a good deal of nail polish removing.  Especially since I have twelve new Essie polishes (AM I EVEN KIDDING).

Late Summer Makeup

If you're anything like me, the rigors of summer (i.e. excessive heat) make wearing makeup an all but impossible task.  It doesn't matter how perfect the formula, I walk around looking like someone just dumped a bucket of water on my head pretty much as soon as the temperature starts hanging around the 80s, which obviously obliterates any products I could put on in the morning.  But now that we've had some blissful days in the 70s, my face-primping tendencies have been clamoring to get out again.

OH HI

Hello sad blog people, who must be missing the glamorous musings that typically pour forth from my loving mind and hands (admittedly, at strange and irregular intervals).  Now that the Christmas rush is over, I can begin demonstrating for you all the wonderful goodies I accumulated throughout the holiday season.

NEW OBSESSION, THY NAME IS "GIRL ABOUT TOWN."

You see, when I first started my love affair with makeup, it was a little friend called MAC Cosmetics that drew my attention, since my darling best friend's mother took me to a fun makeup counter to get my unhealthy habit started.  But in the intervening years, my attention has wandered, which is only to be expected from someone whose behavior could easily be mistaken for that of a 40 year old, I kid you not, but I digress.   BUT LO, I was inspired by the fabulous stylings of Vivianna of Vivianna Does Makeup, and upon her recommendation in a video that I can't find right now because her site is having some growing pains, I sought out the delicious glory of a hot pink lipstick even more tantalizing than the colorful fun found in this post (why don't you go ahead an click on that, take a look at my pretty face, get an idea of what I'm talking about).  So here are my new obsession goodies.  Click on 'em, why don't you.

The "Embrace Me" Lip Pencil, which the site unfortunately says is sold out right now, comes from the Tour de Fabulous collection of new Lipglass lip glosses with coordinating lip pencils.  I would say the above swatch is a fairly accurate rendering.  Their depiction of Girl About Town is, however, woefully inaccurate, as the real color of it is something much closer, albeit a richer version, of the pencil.  Hey, if you're lucky, maybe I'll add a picture of me wearing it later DREAM BIG, KIDS, DREAM BIG.

A word to the wise: if you were thinking about not having pink lipstick on at any point in the day you decide to wear this, forget about it.  That Amplified Creme formula isn't going anywhere.  Seriously, I had Starbucks the first day I wore, and it looked like it came off all over my cup, but it turns out that was just the extra that I should have blotted because I didn't need to touch up AT ALL.  Woah.