As I spend more of this summer experimenting with my style (& emptying my wardrobe), there are a few pieces I'm leaning towards more - namely pants and dresses. I picked these up last month and while linen and its inevitable tendency to wrinkle is annoying, the weight of the fabric and overall look is exactly what I want right now.


*Fit Note: I sized up to a 14 and had the waist taken in. I preferred the length and fit in the hips of the 14, so I considered it a worthwhile expenditure. 

Well looky here - a review of a skincare product without a picture of my face! Sorry friends, but while this *is* actually doing great things for my face, I just wasn't in the mood to sit and pose and look totally enthused, lol (probably why I'm a fashion blogger and not a skincare one).

Thanks to a generous giftcard from my job, I've been slowly adding a few products here and there that are slightly more experimental than my usual (i.e., brands that I don't branch out to usually). I like to put the bulk of my skincare dollars into serum. They tend to have the highest concentrations of ingredients that actually do something, lol, so I consider it money well spent. After spending way too long looking at everything (and horrifying the Sephora associate by telling her I just haven't been impressed with Sunday Riley) I settled on this Dr. Dennis Gross serum.

According to Sephora's website, the C+ Collagen Brighten & Firm Vitamin C Serum...

"This energy-generating serum combines vitamin C with a proprietary energy complex—featuring CoQ10, superoxide dismutase, carnitine, and niacinamide—to recharge skin. Maximize the power of vitamin C to help support natural collagen and brighten skin, while experiencing an improvement in visible skin firmness and the look of dark spots over time. "


Sounds pretty good right? And to be honest, in spite of the strong vinegar smell upon application, this has quickly become one of my favorite serums ever. In addition to having a positive impact on the frequency of breakouts (aka they slowed down), my skin has just started to look better overall. Brighter, moisturized, and while lightening post-acne hyperpigmentation isn't a fast process, I do think I see some improvement in that area as well.

In the end I consider it well worth the $78. I use one pump all over my face in the evening, and while I've made a visible dent in the product, it does seem like it'll be hanging around for a while before I have to buy another one.

I love how the battle with myself this year seems to be "will I let myself go and take pictures at the most overly-Instagrammed locations in DC?" So far the answer seems to be yes, but only if it's an aside to the main purpose of the day, and I don't have to lug my tripod with me.

This is one of the few pieces where I find myself torn about whether to blog about it or not. It's a cute top that fits flatteringly true to size, and should (should) be good for summer temps. But two words are keeping me from true joy:

Boob. Sweat.

Specifically of the under boob variety, this unlined top shows sweat freaking immediately and it is no bueno in my book. I still ended up wearing it to a BBQ because I'm trying to even out some color I got before (while wearing SPF, don't come for me about my love of Vitamin D) but I was vaguely uncomfortable the whole time.

WHY ANTHRO?!

So buyer beware on this one, but it's so damn cute it annoys me to have to say that.