Brilliant Baubles

On Friday, I had the pleasure of going to Los Angeles with my fashion class. The garment district is the largest in the USA, with blocks and blocks of fabric stores and vendors selling clothing and accessories for ridiculously low prices. I had never been, and I was extremely excited to tour the California Market Center. This is where designer showrooms sell their merchandise to buyers. Every last Friday of each month, these showrooms are open to the public. The sales are amazing! I saw so many women hauling off loot and stashing it in rolling suitcases. It was a bit crazy!

The California Market Center, Downtown L.A.

Santee Alley, blocks and blocks of...stuff! Can you see the MAC cosmetics sign? You have to beware of fake knockoffs here.

After walking around Santee Alley and The San Pedro Mart, my friends and I went back to the CMC. I DIED in one particular showroom. The jewelry displayed in the window shimmered and shined, and I had to get a couple pieces.

I have never heard of the designers before, and I think they are only available to store buyers, as well as to the public in certain high-end stores.

In looking at their website, I see that they are quite popular amongst celebs.

This necklace is gorgeous! I love the pretty rust color against the soft rose gold. The stones sparkle like mad

I also got another similar necklace in a rich, deep navy. This one is quite a bit longer than the other necklace. It will look great with just about everything, especially long tees and blazers.

Lastly, I got this beautiful druzy stone ring, and it looks perfect with the shorter rust colored necklace. This screams Fall to me.

I am enamored with this line! I'll have to go back next month and grab some more. This jewelry would make a great gift.

I was so impressed with my trip! Equally impressed with these pieces that I will undoubtedly wear to death.

Thank you to my teacher for the trip!

In November, we are heading to South Coast Plaza in the O.C., where she worked for years at Saks as a personal stylist. I go to SCP fairly often, but it will be so nice to see it in a different light.

♥ Noelle

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leopard lush

In going through my closet the other day, I took note of just how many leopard print pieces I own. I was actually astonished. It's no secret that I love a good leopard print, but my goodness! I think I need an intervention.

Just a handful of things in my collection

Head to toe:

Just a touch:

Rachel Zoe says that it takes courage to wear leopard. I guess I agree with that to a certain extent, but then again, I consider myself to be pretty shy.

Who knows?!

On another unrelated note, I am enjoying my jumbo flap with full gusto. I am very careful about what I put in it, for fear of pens leaking, lipgloss spilling, or dirty change floating around. Paranoid much? Absolutely, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. But I am loving it!

Makeup bag (Tory Burch), Wallet (Rebecca Minkoff), HTC phone, Keys.

Although I have room in my bag to store more things, I find that this is all I need. I carry everything in my cheapie totes and other bags from H&M and Aldo, but I stay streamlined with my Chanel. Funny how that works.

♥ Noelle

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Reader Request ~ Wedding!

weheartit

I've received so many requests asking about my upcoming wedding. I truthfully don't have much to tell you girls. My fiance' and I are just enjoying that wonderful feeling of being engaged!

Here are some things we do know:

1. We haven't set a date, but we do plan on waiting about a year and a half. Once we do set a date, we want to make sure that we have plenty of time to plan our dream wedding.

2. So, our dream wedding combines two things: romance and fun. We don't want to put on some huge production that doesn't feel like us. It's all about celebrating our relationship, so we want our friends and family to feel at home and we want them to walk away from it saying, "wow, that was so them." Make sense?

3. Ideally, we want to get married on or by the ocean. I'm not yet certain what that entails because I haven't started doing any research but my fiance' and I love the beach. We definitely want to get married outdoors.

4. I want lots of flowers and candles at the reception. A lot!

5. I want a very simple yet elegant dress. Strapless would be nice, with maybe a sweetheart neckline.

That's really all I can think of at the moment! Although this engagment has been a long time coming, it still feels like a whirlwind for me. I'm very happy and excited, but also really nervous about planning a wedding. I would seriously appreciate any advice you may have, as I know many of you girls are married :)

Tell me, what do I really need to know?

♥ Noelle

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Current Loves

The transition from Summer to Fall has left me in a bit of a funk. I can't stop dreaming of the beautiful clothing I want to wear, and I want to wear it all NOW. The problem is that it is scorching hot and so I'm rendered helpless in the name of fashion. Dressing has been uneventful lately in my world.

However, inspiration never seems to cease and there are a few things that I am currently in love with at the moment:

1) Going back to school! Not for my Master's, and not to further my studies in Psychology. Nope, I'm instead taking an intro to fashion class at the community college I used to attend before transferring to a four-year and getting my BA. I'm a schoolgirl again.

2) My great great grandmother's vintage opal ring that she left me after she passed. I was once afraid to let it see the light of day, but I've realized the best thing I can do is to wear it and think of her.

3) Yoga! I've never tried it before, but now am attempting to do it once a week at my gym. You should have seen my first class. I was heinous! Total unflexibility at it's best. But it did help me to relax and focus on breathing. I was extremely sore the next day too.

4) My new necklace and earring set from Jewelmint. It's my first go at a shopping subscription service, but I love this dainty piece so much and I couldn't resist. Who knows if and when I'll order again, but I'm very happy with it overall.

5) The anticipation of The Rachel Zoe project! It starts in two weeks!

What are your current loves?

~ Noelle

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Product FAIL

For about three years, I have religiously used Urban Decay's Primer Potion to ensure that my eyeshadow stays put throughout the day. There is no greater beauty blunder than slick eyeshadow creasing! Not a good look on anyone. The primer potion has never let me down. Even when it was only sold in a tube, with a little wand that didn't quite allow for the most effective product application. I was thrilled when Urban Decay released their professional sized tube. No wand applicator, just a ton of product. Great deal right?!

It was a happy romance, until I started having issues with the product drying out on me. I never had that with the previous primer potion in that little genie tube. Getting any product out in this form was a struggle.

I lost the battle and the pro size tube won. It ripped at the seam and the entire thing basically burst.

I was so upset. What to do, what to do? Buy a new one? Chalk it up to the California heat in my bedroom? Maybe that caused it. Go back to the original version? Do they even sell it that way anymore?

I had to act fast, as I wanted to save as much product as possible. I improvised and used a tiny jar that used to hold khaki colored pigment. Problem solved!

But I'm still angry, because it's a waste of money no matter how you look at it.

What should I do girls? I think this will hold me over for awhile, and I do like the convenience of a jar. But I am loyal, and I think I might buy another tube when this runs out. Hmmmm...

~Noelle

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~Changes~

weheartit

It's been two years since I first started this little bloggy blog. I started it mainly out of boredom to be honest. I was still in college, studying a subject that isn't very light-hearted a lot of the time and I really needed an outlet. I loved makeup, so I figured why not start a blog? I loved beauty products, I am a girl, and was 24 - hence, the moniker Beautygirl24. Not the most exciting or creative name. Sometimes I regret choosing it, but I never thought I'd even get 10 followers let alone 400. So really, I don't regret it. It's me. Now that I do more fashion posts, it's even more me!

I've been wanting to re-design the overall look of my blog for a long time, but because I'm not computer savvy I wasn't sure how to go about it.  Well, I finally found someone to vamp it up, and I couldn't be more thrilled! The process begins next week. Expect a new layout soon. I want something simple, because that's how I am ;) I have no idea how it will turn out, but I don't think it could be anything other than a much needed boost. I hope you all will like it!

 I love blogging even more now than I did back then.

Thank you for reading and commenting. I really appreciate all of you!

~Noelle

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Odds and Ends

In my last post, I had a reader request to see a more detailed look of my natural hair using only the Living Proof Wave Styling Creme. Well of course I can!

I took a shower, put my hair in a towel for about ten minutes, combed it through, and then dispersed a nickel sized amount of creme, focusing on the middle of my hair and going down through the ends. I didn't put any near my roots, although I did use a tiny amount left over on my hand to run through the shorter layers of hair around my face. Then, I air dried. Fan blasting in my room, my hair was dry in no time flat.

I think it looks much better than it normally does without the Living Proof product. It isn't perfect by any means. But I don't think naturally wavy or curly hair ever is perfect. If I want a more polished look, I have to pick up a heating appliance, bottom line. But I really love the creme's control. It can be a bit crunchy, but only use a small amount and you should be ok.

The sole reason I bought this was to wear my hair as is, and I feel confident enough that I can. Do I still  prefer my hair straight, or curled with an iron? Yup! But because it's a million (ok, 100) degrees where I live during Summer, I needed something to tame my frizz and let me be free.

I hope this photo helped my reader =)

PS - taking a close up pic is a leeettle bit strange for me. The old days of taking gratuitous self shots for MySpace are long gone my friends. Long gone!

If all else fails, and my hair just won't cooperate no matter what, then I use this:

There, that'll do it. Fedoras are great.

On another note, GO BUY THIS BOOK!

I love Bethenny, I think she's a riot and incredibly savvy. But even if you aren't a huge fan of hers, I highly, highly recommend this book. Hate your job, your relationship, your food habits, your life? Or just need a quick boost? This is life-changing, no joke. I read it cover to cover in one day!

I sound like a walking infomercial.

~ Noelle

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Facebook Pictures

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was great, I went down to San Diego again and had a really beautiful Saturday. The weather was perfect! I had lunch at an italian bistro, and later went out for drinks at a bar called El Camino.

In other news, my laptop is almost fixed. I'm so relieved because I didn't want to buy another one, at least not just yet. Hopefully I get it back within the next couple of days.

This will be a short post, but I wanted to show you some pictures that I have on my Facebook page. I used to take my camera with me everywhere I went, and now I only use it for blogging purposes. Such a shame! I need to start taking my camera along with me, because I love documenting happy moments. All of these make me smile.

I'm really looking into getting a new camera. What do you girls recommend? I want something with amazing picture quality, yet small and portable. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

~ Noelle

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IT girl

I'm not sure what an It girl is, but whatever it may mean, this girl has got it!

When I'm not blogging or watching YouTube videos, I'm most likely scanning Chictopia. One girl I've come across several times is beautiful, and her style is my ideal. She lives in Paris, clearly loves leopard print as much as I do, has an affinity for skinny jeans, and owns gorgeous shoes and bags. I honestly don't know much about her, but I always save her pictures to my inspiration folder because I want to emmulate every single one of her looks.

*Photos courtesy of the next trend and chictopia*

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