A Tale of Two Dresses

So yeah, Modcloth.com....

I saw two dresses I really liked on there. Two RED dresses. I don't own a whole lot of red stuff and I wanted to change that! Because I really do love the color red...it's so flashy! When you walk into a room wearing an all-red dress people can't help but to stop and stare! (Hopefully in a good way?!) LOL!

So yeah. Originally I saw this one and wanted it badly:


Aren't You Precious Dress in Ruby

But it was totally sold out and there was no plan to ever restock it! My heart was crushed!

So instead, I ordered this dress!


Lady Love Song Dress

I tried it on (click the jump to see those photos...there's a few of 'em) and I was kind of on the fence. It was a nice dress but it wasn't cheap, first of all. I wasn't sure if the quality of the material was on par for the cost.

Secondly, omg, it really shows off every CURVE in your body! Which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing if you're feeling pretty confident and want to show off your bod' but a bad thing if you just maybe went to a dinner and ate quite a bit...because whenever that happens to me, my stomach looks pooch-y and plump, haha. >__<;

So yeah. Well here's the real dilemma. Someone just returned the Aren't You Precious Dress (the first one I posted) and there was both a size S and a size L but no size M! Of course, I am generally a Medium. So I was torn. I read some comments and they said size M was kind of big so I opted for the S. *fingers crossed* LOL. It's probably going to come in the mail in a few days. So I think I will just try it on and see which of these two I like better. They're both around the same price...so I can totally return whichever one I don't like and keep the good one!

And of course I see this and start drooling too. >___>;; Modcloth is evil. It sucks you in! @____@;;


So my question is simple, dear readers: Which red dress do you prefer and why? :)
(if either!)



Photos of me wearing the second dress:


Front


Side


Up Close


See what I mean by hugs your every curve?? xD I need to get some shapewear for this if I keep it!!

Again, Still Alive

Been so busy that I basically just dropped off the face of blogging for a while, lol.

After I finished my second-to-last semester last month, I took a trip to Colorado to visit my boyfriend's family. We had a really great time! I even got to hit up some vintage clothing shops in Boulder and they were spectacular! I got a dress and a skirt. :3

I am a bit sad though because I am no longer working at LUSH! My seasonal contract thing was up and they didn't want to keep me working part time...I think due to availability issues or something? Anyway.... I am a student still, but I will be interning again this semester with a different company than last summer. It will be awesome because I am getting paid a lot to intern so I will be able to save more money for a house.

I really want to move to Colorado but it's SO expensive to live there. I guess it depends on what part of Colorado...but yeah. I dunno. I went snowboarding at Breckenridge with my boyfriend and our friends and it was awesome even though I fell many times and hurt myself. >_<;;

I have this issue where I keep taking tons of photos and then I never upload any of them to my computer. LOL derp!

And I've been playing a lot of videogames lately so I've been kinda MIA from the blogging world because of that. Terraria is my new addiction, and I started playing World of Warcraft too. (Ahh! All downhill from here!)

I still want to do my blog giveaway even though it's so damned belated at this point. I had all of the stuff lined up in neat little piles and then I went on vacation and totally forgot about it! LOL!

I guess real life is more important than the internet, but I miss reading all of my favorite blogs and commenting on peoples' entries. I think maybe I will try to update more now that I have a sweet new desktop computer (it's amazing.)

Moreover, I wish blogger had some way for you to send your mobile pictures straight to a storage folder connected to your blog or maybe straight to a blog post. I hate typing on my iPhone though. It sucks.

Anyway! I am making some homemade buns so I guess I better go take care of that dough. No exciting photos this time, sorry everyone! ;____; my new years resolution is definitely to post more though! (Didn't I say that last year?!)

>___<;;; lol

School begins for me in a week though so....yeah. MEH.

Oh and I will leave you with a great post I just read on another girl's blog!

http://peteralexandra.tumblr.com/post/15492520296/iii-dresses-are-easier-to-deal-with-they-dont-have


Edit: oh and I just stumbled upon this on Polyvore!
http://www.polyvore.com/spotlight_erdem/collection?id=1278314

I really dig on this label/brand/whatever! Erdem? Never heard of it but it looks cool. Like retro 1960s?

I'm still alive, I swear!

Don't worry...I'm alive and still going to have my giveaway but it's being put on hold for the time being. (I just realized it's been exactly a month since my last entry! Baw!)

I've been really busy lately with school mostly. I am presenting my portion of our Senior Design project tomorrow morning (bright and early, ugh) for some big-wigs at various companies. Most of these guys are in the aviation industry, not the space industry, so I can't say how they will give us feedback but I am sure it will be a great learning experience either way!

What has been going on otherwise? Well, I bought a bunch of stuff, lol...mostly due to my Birthday/Christmas coming up. A got a ton of stuff at LUSH too because, well, I love their stuff and I love working there. Sometimes during training meetings we play games like Lush Jeopardy and we can win prizes of products. It's really fun. ;3

I guess I'll just say that things will be on hold for a little bit now on my blog until final exams are over. If you want to see some of my recent "gets" click the jump below and I'll probably be hotlinking a ton...blah...sorry! It's late...I'm tired....etc. etc. hehe.

I've also been yelping a ton lately to relieve stress. And my official "birthday dinner" is tomorrow night. I had to put it on hold from last week because I had two exams and a project due. And soon I will have a take home exam, another project due, and some papers due too. No rest for the weary! I can't wait till school is over. Oh and I think I may take up knitting again now that the weather is cold. Knitting is like a cold weather activity for me. And baking. My mom bought me a KitchenAid mixer for my birthday and I am in love with how efficient it is compared to my ghetto old hand mixer, hehe. My dad's gift to me for my birthday is a brand new Canon Rebel Camera and it's SO fucking sexy. I am excited. xD




Stuff I got recently:



Paper Lanterns Dress from Modcloth.
It's been on my wishlist for a while now!



Spike Lita shoes by Jeffrey Campbell from Solestruck.com. I still want the Cosmic Litas but it's hard to find either style in my size! >_<;; I got a restock notification on this one today and immediately pounced on it but I don't even know if they still have it in stock or not. Fingers crossed!


Snagged this cute dress (in all black) from boohoo.com, one of my favorite British fashion sites. Kinda regretting all black now because I already own a ton of all black dresses and plus the white x black or red x black reminded me more of videogame character outfits...hehe. But I know deep down I will be able to coordinate all black with more of my items, like my new black shoes hehe.


Also got this cute hat to match.
Kind of reminds me of Maetel from Galaxy Express 999....doesn't it?!



I ended up getting these Just Bitten from the Buckle too. (I figured I'd never get the Spikey Litas...they're so hard to get now!) And my co-workers at LUSH both own these and they wear them day in and day out at work. So comfy!


This dress from the TaoBao Shop called Artka.


As well as this one! I was SO mad they were sold out of this red dress and this blue one. WHY ME?! D:


Kat Von D Candelabra Palette from Sephora. Gorgeous. Just simply amazing and lovely and just wow! I can't say enough good things about it. I want to do swatches too, muwhaha.


Kat Von D Painted and Foiled Love Lipstick Set also from Sephora. I got the lipstick set last year and decided it was probably one of my best and most used make up purchases of 2010. So I had to get the second set this year but I was SO disappointed with their packaging this year. Last year's was a cute little book and this years is sooo boring. D: Also I already owned 3/6 colors in it which made me feel dumb for buying it but I use these so much that I felt like it was worth it instead of buying full sized lip sticks....

I really wanna try Illamasqua's lipsticks...(speaking of lipsticks)...but they're only available online since my local shop doesn't carry this line. I've had my eye on Sonnet for a while but never purchased it...hmmm. Any thoughts?

UPCOMING Birthday Giveaway! (This is the "feeler" post?! LOL!)

OK, I know...I should have done a "1 Year Pretty Kiss Blog Anniversary Giveaway" when my blog turned 1 year old this summer...but I totally forgot! Durrrh!


Yay google images, lol.

Instead, I'll be having a REALLY sweet giveaway (I promise it will be cool!) and it will begin in the next week or so and it will end on my birthday, December 1st.
I wanted to have the giveaway BEGIN on my birthday, but the first couple of weeks of December are final exam time for my university, so I probably won't have time to compile one. I might just compile it now, and have it start then, and end on the 31st. Hmm. We shall see...!

What will the prizes be? Well I haven't solidified it yet but here's the plan:

- There will be a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize!
- Prize items will probably involve make-up, accessories, stationery, etc.
- There will be runner-up prizes too.
- Items will be CUTE for sure, and/or useful. :3
- Will ship WORLDWIDE! Doesn't matter if you live in my country (USA) or not! :)
- I will try to put items everyone would like so it won't be just gyaru-themed stuff or lolita-themed....maybe a little bit of gal, loli, mori, and dolly. (Since those are my favorite styles and this is an all-embracing (aka ADD, lol) fashion blog!) Or maybe it will not be fashion-related at all, hehe.
- All you have to do is wait for my official post about it (once I solidify details!) and follow the instructions in that post. :3 Easy as pie!

So what do you all think? Would you be interested in something like this? I feel like my blog is too small for a huge giveaway thing but I honestly just want to give stuff away to people. I've accrued so much extra make-up, stationery, and other random and cute things that I know I will never use it all. I want to send cute stuff to loving homes where other girls (or guys?!) will use 'em! :D That's about it for now. xD I shall try my best for another update soon! :)

xoxo


(I wish I could toggle these off when I have no need for them, bahaha. Codingfail on my part, sorry guys!)

"Artka" TaoBao Shop!

Yesterday night I was helping my boyfriend browse for a cheap suit and tie on Taobao.com. And during my browsing, I discovered a really, REALLY cool shop! It's called "Artka" and they have a pretty nice selection of dresses and sweaters. My favorites are mostly the dresses....they have skirts and tops too but really, the dresses are what caught my eye! Here are some of the ones I love the most below.

Tell me which is/are your favorite/s!! :)





I think I might order this lovely red dress. It's the dress that drew my attention to Artka's shop in the first place. :) It reminds me a little of classic lolita and sweet lolita but without too much over-the-top-ness. :D


This blue dress is to die for. Seriously. I love it so much! It definitely reminds me a little of traditional Chinese garb and yet somehow it's also kind of European...like "Gypsy" almost maybe? It comes in white too but blue is my favorite by far!



I am so tempted to buy this dress too. I LOVE sleeves...so unique! And the print with the flowers reminds me of a watercolor painting. :D Here is another shot of it.


Another one on my wishlist for sure...it reminds me a lot of Juliette et Justine or even Millenoirs...both classic/gothic lolita brands. :D I am debating whether to order it or not. My BF said he didn't like the black lace on it. But I adore it. *__*; Apparently this is from their "lolita" collection.


Another one I am positively in love with! It's so lovely...also kind of reminds me of Millenoirs brand. <3 More of a turquoise blue but I still love it! A lot of these remind me of paintings too and I think they were inspired by paintings because if you go to a dress product page it has all sorts of artwork on the top.


A blouse version of one of the blue dress above.


Reminds me a lot of mori girl style! I really want this one but I already own a lot of these colors!! >_<;;


Another one that looks sorta mori/dolly kei.


GORGEOUS black dress! Soooooo much love! <3


Red dress with black accents...reminds me of ethnic garb as well.


I love the belts on this one...I think it might be a little hard for me to pull off though for daily wear.... LOL!


A simple grey and white dress. Reminds me of Juliette et Justine.


I don't think I'd buy this one myself but it's really lovely and worth mentioning. I could see it being used in a really awesome dolly kei coordinate! :D


AWESOME BOOTS. 'nuff said! I REALLY want these but the biggest size they come in is EU39 which is like a US8 ish. I am about a US9 or a EU40/41. =___=;; I think I am going to see if I can get someone who speaks Chinese to ask if they can make them custom for me one size larger. :D These really remind me of Amir's clothing from Bride's Story...I mentioned it a few posts back. It's a manga about a girl living on the Silk Road in the early 1900s! These remind me of her boots. :D Even this model is wearing very similar style boots! I want those too! xD


I really adore this sweater. It's so simple and mori looking and yet has a unique design to it! :)

They have skirts too. Some are long and floaty and some are just...denim!


I really like how they have some basic and casual items which look outdoorsie/mori-like, and then they have CRAZY extravagent looking items...some of which look like they were inspired by Rococo paintings!



The prices seem to range like $40 - $70 US. That's kind of expensive for TaoBao, IMHO, but still cheaper than dresses at, say, Grimoire, or Anthropologie! :) I definitely plan to make an order. I will make another post once I receive my goods with a review of their shop! :)

Oh and unrelated to Artka but my BF found a really cool belt on Taobao that comes in many different colors. He said it reminded him of the Artka stuff. xD How cool!



So tell me what you think, everyone!! Do you like these dresses? Any favorites? I will definitely post pics of whatever I end up getting. I can't get too many because they're not very cheap...so I imagine I will have a very difficult time deciding. >_<;;;

I DID IT!!!!! :)

Dear readers,

I am so excited!

I got the holiday part-time job at LUSH Cosmetics! :)

Seriously, super excited. I've already been to a few training sessions and I'm now officially on their payroll. Now all I have to do is not spend my entire paycheck there in the store, hehe. The discount is awesome but I don't think it would be right to disclose how much it is. But it's enough to have the employees try out a lot of different products. I am more willing to try something I don't normally buy just to see if I'd like it, and that way I can help customers better when it comes to deciding what they can buy to suit their needs...yay! :)

I guess that's all I wanted to say with this post, haha. But I guess if anyone has any questions about what it's like to work for LUSH feel free to ask me, and I can try to answer your questions but some things are confidential! I obviously don't want to get in trouble by answering anything. >__<;; but I am so excited! :)

BTW If you've never heard of LUSH, check out their website to learn more and to find a store near you. They make everything by hand, do not test on animals or buy supplies from companies who do, and everything they make is fresh, vegetarian, and good value! Their products actually work, especially their skin care which is on par with a lot of the other really great skincares I've used, but even better because it's super fresh and no animal testing. :) What more could ya ask for? Anyway! That's all I wanted to say in this post. :3

Here's a great post with more info on how to get a job at LUSH!

And here is the rest of it.

Fall Fashion...leading into winter.

As the outside air temp has been dropping (and oddly, rising) I've been drooling over some fall clothing. Leggings, colorful tights, fur...

I know snakeskin is hella on-trend right now but I really just hate the way it looks. It kind of makes me think of "tacky" and "cheap" stuff from the '70s or '80s some other period of awkward snakeskin-induced fashion. >_>;; Or just over the top Western. In a bad way, lol. As in not in the cutesie Liz Lisa way I adore. But I am sure Liz Lisa could somehow make pink snake skin look cute hahaha. xD

I totally bought this whole outfit:


And by whole outfit I mean the hat and dress, hehe. It reminds me of something from the '70s and this time, in a good way. :3 I think I accidentally bought the brown hat instead of the grey one though which pissed me off a bit. I wish boohoo.com would just link to all of the items a model is wearing so you can buy them all or some individually, ya know?


Click below for more...

I really love NASTY GAL's styling:



But I really hate their name. Nasty Gal? Seriously? That just sounds...dirty...or mean...I don't know! I don't really get it. Maybe it's some kind of inside joke with the owner? LOL. I've only ever bought one item from them and it kind of fell apart after wearing it for a little bit (lace top) but I still love it and I will probably repair it. I love their fall stylish especially. They were the source of my learning about JC shoes.

It also kinda bugs me that I feel like I can't pull off a lot of their looks because I am not stick thin.... ugh. But I'll save another post for that rant, lol!!

Annnnd...
I've been stalking Grimoire's blog again by the way. Totally inspired by these lovely nails:



I've got the magnetic nail polish from Sephora by Nails Inc, btw.

And also with the '70s theme I've got going on for this post...from the Grimoire blog, this gem:


LOVE! <3 Sooo gorgeous. Mysterious...that's what I love about dolly kei style. With a hint of RPG!

More from Grimoire:


So lovely!



And lastly...

This scarf/shawl reminded me SO much of Amir's clothing from that manga called Bride's Story!! :)


Silk road much? I love it! I wanna do an Amir inspired coord. :)

Amir:

I just love her outfit and I want to cosplay her one day too! :)