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Outerwear Under $100

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Happy Sunday! Are you watching the Golden Globes right now? That opening with Jimmy Fallon was so great! I usually watch the red carpet (I love seeing all of the beautiful dresses!), then end up just watching Netflix. I’m more into the Oscars and Grammys. A post that I am planning in a few weeks will show you how to throw the best awards show viewing party! So keep an eye out for that post. I hope that Stranger Things wins a few Golden Globes though! My boyfriend and I loved that show so much that we finished the entire season in a couple days. I hope the second season comes out really soon!

Since the weather has been SUPER cold all over the country, I decided to round up some of my favorite outerwear items to keep you warm. All of these are under $100 (just in case one of your resolutions is to save money 😉 ). Right now a huge trend are beanies with pom poms! My bestie got me the cutest one for Christmas, and it keeps my head so warm! The one I tagged above is very similar, but it’s under $9! I’m also obsessed with that leopard beanie, it is on my wishlist.

One item I really need to get is a coat to wear when it rains. This trench coat from Nordstrom is perfect for that. It’s also under $80! Of course, I tagged a few of my favorite winter coats and a cute faux leather jacket that can be worn on a warmer day. You also can’t forget about scarves and gloves. This blanket scarf is almost identical to the one I wore in this post. You can wear it so many different ways!

Who do you think was best dressed on the red carpet? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Valerie

Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet Review

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Happy Wednesday! Y’all, my birthday is tomorrow. I can’t believe I will be 26! I feel like I just turned 21 yesterday, haha. So far I don’t really have any birthday plans. It sucks when it lands during the week. Maybe I will go out this weekend or something? Who knows!

Anyways, Influenster sent me these Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet lipsticks to review. I always get so excited when Influenster sends me a beauty product to review, I love trying out new products and being able to tell you all about them! They sent me shades Four Hundred For All (the red color) and Second Skin (the pink color).

These lipsticks are said to be ultra-matte, weightless, and long lasting. I will say the product is pretty weightless. After it dries, it has a matte look to it, and I cannot feel anything on my lips, which is a huge plus for me! My biggest pet peeve is when a lipstick feels really sticky and gross, or feels like I have glue on my lips. The colors are also VERY pigmented, so a little bit goes a long way. I wore the red color on Christmas, and it truly is the perfect red lipstick. The pink is not as light as it looks, It kind of showed up like a light red on my lips, but it was a very pretty color!

The only downside is they aren’t very long lasting at all. Unfortunately, while I was eating, the product was coming off on everything my lips touched. By the time I was done eating, you could barely even see the product, it was just like a little stain. I even accidently got some on the sleeve of my sweater! Luckily a makeup wipe took it right off. When I think of liquid matte lipstick, I think long lasting and kissable.

Would I recommend them to a friend? Unfortunately, probably not. There are way better matte liquid lipsticks out there at a cheaper price point. I think Colourpop Ultra Matte lipsticks will always have a place in my heart, haha!

What are some of your favorite liquid lipsticks? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Valerie

Giorgio Armani Lip Magnets received complimentary for testing purposes thanks to Influenster. All opinions are my own! 

Christmas Outfit

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Dress: Loft (Similar)  //  Blazer: Similar  //  Shoes: Charlotte Russe  //  Clutch: Similar  //  Tights: ASOS

Merry Christmas! I am finally starting to get over my sickness. I planned to have this outfit post up a week ago, but I ended up being way too sick to shoot the photos for it. Of course the day I shot these, it was so gloomy outside!

Anyways, I picked up this dress (I tagged a similar one since the one I found in store isn’t listed online) for under $3 (yes, you read that right!) at Loft Outlet at the St. Louis Premium Outlet mall. They hosted a blogger shopping event for the holiday season. I found SO many good deals including a Kate Spade tote for under $100, Nikes for $35, and a Loft layered sweater for $20.

We were also given the chance to have a bra fitting with Jockey, and it was so great! I actually found out I was wearing the wrong bra size. Their bras aren’t your typical cup size, they run by numbers, and are kind of in a way custom fit. It is one of my new favorite bras! If you get the chance, I recommend stopping in there.

Now, on to the Christmas outfit. I always love dressing up around the holidays. I guess it’s because my full time job is so casual, I never really have an excuse to dress up. This dress is perfect for Christmas and even Valentine’s Day. Since the dress is sleeveless, I paired it with a black blazer, black tights, and my Charlotte Russe stud heels. Of course, I had to add my signature leopard clutch. I literally wear it with everything.

Have a great Christmas everyone! Also, I’m having a Christmas giveaway on my Instagram page, make sure you head over to enter!

Valerie

This post was in collaboration with St. Louis Premium Outlet Mall. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Styled Muse possible! 

Gift Guide: Mom

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Ladies, Christmas is a little over 1 week away! So crazy to think about that. I feel like this year has flown by. Sadly, this weekend I am going to start AND finish my Christmas shopping… so bad I know. Luckily there are a lot of sales going on! It’s just going to be SUPER crowded. Wish me luck! Haha. I’m going to head to a few places this morning before it gets super crowded, then again tonight with my mom. Her and I always do a little Christmas shopping together for my boyfriend and my dad. I love our little shopping dates! It usually includes Bread Co (Panera if you aren’t from St. Louis) and Starbucks.

Today I’m rounding up some of my favorite items to gift your mom on Christmas! I always try to get nice things for my parents on Christmas. Both of them were very hard working when I was little. My dad worked the midnight shift, and my mom worked 8 hours then had to take care of us after school, which included soccer practice, basketball practice, girl scouts, etc. None of them really had a break. This is a way for me to really show my appreciation towards them for everything they did for my sister and I when we were little. You can find the gift guide for your dad HERE.

One of my favorite items on this list is the MacKenzie Childs tea pot! This is perfect for my mom, she likes to collect tea pots, and this one is so cute! It reminds me of Alice In Wonderland (one of my favorite books/movies). Something my mom always loved receiving is a picture frame with a family picture. Our family doesn’t have a lot of pictures of the four of us, so this really means a lot to her.

Right now Neiman Marcus is having a friends and family sale, so you can get this Viktor & Rolf perfume (I have this and it smells amazing!) and Kendra Scott necklace for 20% off with code FRIENDME. This is the first time they are having this sale!

I really love to get my mom cozy things to help her relax after work, like this robe from Kate Spade and this Pier 1 Imports blanket! I have a faux fur blanket very similar to this, and it’s so warm and cozy! I also love giving her some of her favorite shower gels and lotions. This one from Philosophy smells so good!

What are you getting your mom for Christmas? Let me know in the comments! Happy shopping!

Valerie

Novel Babes Book Club Announcement

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This is more of an announcement than a blog post, but I wanted to let you all know that 22 other bloggers and myself have started a book club for our followers called Novel Babes Book Club! We have been planning this for over a month, and I’m so excited to finally announce it. The first book we are going to be reading is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. You can sign up by joining our Goodreads group HERE!

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Here is our timeline as of right now:

January 1st: Start reading (or earlier, of course!).
January 15th: Twitter/Goodreads chat about the first half of the book.
January 31st: Twitter/Goodreads chat about the last half of the book.

The Novel Babes Book Club is open to everyone! Make sure you use #NovelBabes when you post about it on social media, and make sure to invite all your friends! Don’t forget to sign up HERE.

Let me know in the comments if you plan on joining. Have a great rest of your week!

Valerie

Stripe Dress And Green Jacket

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Dress (similar) // Jacket (similar) // Booties // Choker // Ring // Clutch (similar) 

Happy Wednesday! It has been so cold lately, I think I’m actually going to have to dig my coat out! Lately I have been getting away with just wearing a jacket, but with the temperature being 30 or less on Thursday, I don’t think that will cut it. I bring that up because when I shot this look, it was a tad warmer, but you can still wear it during the winter! Just add black tights/leggings or OTK boots! Since it is a tad short, I always wear it to work with leggings underneath. So cute and comfy! If you need it to look a bit more business casual, you can add a blazer instead of the green jacket and a pair of heels.

You can also notice in this picture that I’m a lot tanner than what I normally am! Yes, I’m pretty pale. Well, a tanning salon where I live was having a free spray tan weekend special, so of course I had to give it a try! Yes, my first spray tan #amievenhuman? But I have to say I absolutely loved it! I think I’m going to get another one here in a week or two. But this time I will make sure I don’t wear jeans afterwards, because you can kind of tell on my calves where the jeans rubbed it off…

A little update on the blog schedule: The end of this week I will be sharing my hair care routine, and a few products that are perfect for color treated hair. Next week I’m going to have a Christmas outfit post featuring a dress I found for under $3!!! Yes, you read that right. Also, the week before Christmas I will be having giveaways for you guys! Mostly beauty related. Is there anything you would like to see in the giveaway? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great week everyone, and stay warm! As always, thanks for reading

Valerie

Gift Guide: The Guy In Your Life

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Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving? What about Black Friday Shopping? I got a few things (including that super soft faux fur throw from Target I mentioned HERE), but I still have a long way to go to have my Christmas shopping done! I have gone back and forth on a few things to get my boyfriend for Christmas. One thing I know for sure I’m getting him are these Marc Anthony button down shirts. Everytime we go to Kohl’s he eyes these, but he never wants to spend the money on himself. Luckily they are on sale for under $30, so I’m going to pick a few up for him.

These are ideas you can get for any guy in your life: your boyfriend, dad, grandpa, etc. My boyfriend’s dad loves this Polo cologne. Also, how awesome is this Self Stirring Mug!? My boss at work has this and he absolutely loves it! And it actually works!

Of course, another idea everyone always loves getting are gift cards. Uber gift cards are the perfect Christmas gift. You can literally use them for any occasion, like a ride home from the airport or a night out. Go HERE to order an Uber gift card for your loved ones!

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Valerie

This post was sponsored by Uber. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Styled Muse possible!

Black Friday Sales

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For the past couple years, Black Friday (or Gray Thursday?) has become a tradition for my boyfriend and myself. We start out Thanksgiving morning by looking at the online deals before heading out to dinner at my parents’ house. A lot of the deals you can find online in the morning, but they seem to go pretty fast. So we get everything we can, and then will get the rest at the stores. After we finish Thanksgiving dinner at my boyfriend’s parents’ house, we head out to do a little bit of shopping. With our tight budget, this is the perfect time for us to get most of our Christmas shopping done. Last year we got about 90% of it done on Black Friday!

How we plan:

We always look through all the Black Friday ads as soon as they start coming out. We make a list of all the items we want to get, and check the times the stores are opening or their online deals start. If stores open at the same time, we try and figure out which deal is the best and are priority over the others. Since both of us are not huge fans of crowds, we usually wait until the line goes inside the store, then we will go in. I noticed last year that a lot of stores had maps that showed you where all the deals were. Make sure you get one as soon as you walk in the door, and plan your route. It’s best to have more than one person with you, because you can split up to get everything if they are on opposite sides of the store. Once you have all of your items, expect to wait in the checkout line for a while, so wear comfy shoes! Last year it was about a 30-40 minute wait at Target, and the line was all around the back of the store.

Here are a few of my favorite deals I found so far (I will update this as soon as more are released) and what time they start. I also linked all the Black Friday ads so you can view them yourself!

Kohls:
Opening 6pm Thursday. Deals are also online (time not specified) 

-Get $15 Kohls Cash for every $50 you spend.
-LC Lauren Conrad select jewelry, key chains (cute poof ball ones!), and trinket trays ($6.99 each).
– 10-20% off all fragrances for men and women.
-All Nike 25% off (they literally never have Nike on sale!)
-Select boots 50-60% off.
-60% off select styles of handbags and wallets.
-60-70% off all outerwear for women.

Target:
Opening 6pm Thursday, with some deals starting early. 

-Tuesday November 22nd all beauty 25% off!
-30% off ALL apparel, shoes, and accessories.
-30% off all designer fragrances.
-Faux Fur Throw ($19.99)

Old Navy:
Online now, 4pm in stores. 

-50% off EVERYTHING in store and online.

Nordstrom:
Online Thursday, in Store Friday. 

-Too many good deals to list!
-View the women’s deals HERE.
-View the beauty deals HERE.
-View handbags and accessories HERE.

Macy’s:
Opening 5pm Thursday. Starts online Wednesday. 

-Select shoes and boots 40% off.
-Select handbags starting at $19.99.
-Urban Decay Shadow Box Palette ($18).
-A lot of beauty sets on sale, see them all HERE
-Michael Kors Top Zip Tote ($149.99).
-View all deals for women HERE.

 Bath and Body Works:
Online now. Hours vary by location. 

-See the VIP Tote HERE ($25 with any $30 purchase)
-Entire store and website buy 3 get 3 free.

 Ulta:
Opening at 6pm Thursday, online deals start at 5pm Thursday (central time)

There are SO many deals here, that I will just name a few. Click the link above to view all of them!
-NYX Box of Goodies Advent Calendar ($24.99) (this would make a perfect gift!).
-Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potions ($10).
-Philosophy Shampoo, Shower Gel, Bubble bath ($12).
-Select Lorac eyeshadow Palettes ($18).
-20% off Clarisonic Holiday Kits.
-OGX Hair and Bath buy 1 get 1 free.

Sephora:
Online now. Hours vary by location.

-Tarte Intro to Tarte Deluxe Discover Set ($10)
-Make Up For Ever Artist Palette Volume 2 ($25)
-Will update more once it is released.

Tarte:
Online now. 

-Everything 25% off.

Kendra Scott:
Online now. 

-20% off everything with code SALE20

Charlotte Russe:
Online now. Hours vary by location in store. 

-Entire store $20 of less.
-Free shipping, no minimum.

Starbucks:
Online only.

-Entire website 25% off with code THANKFUL.
-$20 off $100 purchase
-Free shipping, no minimum.

Tory Burch:
Online now. 

-30% off $250 or more with code THANKS.

I will update this list once more deals are released. What stores do you plan on going to? Let me know in the comments! As always, thanks for reading!

Valerie

 

 

Thanksgiving Outfit

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Dress: Similar/Similar (Under $40!)  //  Faux Fur Vest: Similar  //  Clutch: Under $30!  //  Boots: Similar  //  Bracelets: Similar/Similar

Does it even feel like next week is Thanksgiving? The end of 2016 is just flying by. Didn’t 4th of July just happen like last week? Haha! This year for Thanksgiving we are doing the usual: visiting my family and my boyfriend’s family. Which means LOTS of food. Then of course doing a little shopping afterwards. I will have a post up this weekend with some of my favorite Black Friday sales! What stores would you like to see on the list? Let me know in the comments!

It’s always hard finding an outfit that looks dressed up but comfy at the same time. But this dress fits that perfectly! It’s somewhat oversized, so you can easily hide that full belly, while also staying comfy. I absolutely love the bell sleeves on this dress. They have been a huge trend this year, and I don’t see them going away anytime soon! I paired this dress with a faux fur vest (my favorite fall item) and ankle boots. If you plan on going shopping Thanksgiving night, just grab a pair of flats to change into! If it’s going to be chilly where you are, you can always wear a pair of black tights to stay warm.

Unfortunately, most of these items sold out really fast (I literally bought those ankle boots 2 weeks ago, and they are already gone…), so I tagged similar items. Both of the dresses are under $50! The leopard clutch is an exact duplicate to mine and is under $30!

What are your Thanksgiving plans? Are you going shopping Thanksgiving night? Let me know in the comments!

As always, thanks for reading!

Valerie

Holiday Drinks

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Happy Monday! Is anyone else having issues with how dark it’s getting at like 5:00 now? Today I shot a few outfit photos for blog posts, and we had to rush because we were running out of sunlight! But that does mean one thing, Christmas is coming! With it being so warm lately, it’s kinda hard to get in the holiday spirit. One of my favorite ways to get in the spirit is by drinking my favorite holiday drinks! Sometimes I have a hard time finding the perfect one that everyone will like, so I’m rounding up a few of my favorites that I found on Pinterest! All of these are perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years! The first half will be non-alcoholic and the second half will be alcoholic:

Non-Alcoholic: 

Hot Cocoa: This one is super simple, but always a favorite. I start out by adding hot water (you can always use milk heated up on the stove or microwave) from my Keurig to my favorite mug, then stir in a packet of Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa. I top it off with Jet-Puffed Mini Peppermint Marshmallows. You can even put crunched up candy canes on top. SO good!

Christmas Morning Punch: This is a mixture of orange juice, pineapple juice, cranberry juice, and ginger ale! This is perfect to drink Christmas morning while opening presents. You can even add a little champagne to make it a mimosa!

Sparkling Cranberry Pineapple Punch: This one is similar to the one above, but more for parties! I will for sure be making this at my next Christmas party!

Slow Cooker Caramel Apple Cider: Pretty self explanatory, but sounds so delicious!

Salted Caramel Egg Nog: I’m not a huge egg nog fan, but this sounds so good!

Alcoholic: 

Cranberry Moscow Mule: A twist on the classic Moscow Mule, but with cranberries!

Apple Cider Moscato Sangria:  Sangria isn’t only for summer! This one is perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas parties.

Apple Cider Mimosa: This one is only two ingredients! A win in my book.

Rudolph’s Cranberry Fizz: Not only does this sound delicious, the Rudolph marshmallows are so adorable!

Jingle Juice Holiday Punch: I think I might make this one for New Years!

Which one do you plan to try? Let me know in the comments!

Valerie

This post was sponsored by Kraft and Swiss Miss. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Styled Muse possible!