Let’s talk fast fashion for a minute here.
Okay, so when you think “fast fashion” Forever 21 and H&M probably come to mind right? If you’re Instagram obsessed like me (follow me – shayna_apopofcolour), then you’ve probably seen so many people post outfit posts of cute clothes for cheap prices.
I’ve worked with a few of these affordable fashion online retailers in the past and to be blunt, they all seem to come from China. Buzzfeed recently posted a long article warning people to be careful when buying from these retailers as often what you see may not be what you get. I think we’ve all seen the horror stories, someone ordered a dress online that looked amazing for the price, but then when it actually came it was cheap fabric and not at all what it looked like.
Like I said, I’ve dealt with a few of these retailers in the past since they love reaching out to bloggers. Us bloggers are usually given the choice of a couple items from a page they send us in exchange for a review or banner on our blogs. For the most part, the clothes have always been fine and there are a couple items that I wear on a regular basis. Granted yes, the threads are coming out of it, and it may not be the most comfortable fabric (one dress I got one of the arms was too small for my bicep), but depending on what you order, you can have luck with these retailers.
Which brings me to today’s post. Zaful recently got in touch with me and let me choose a couple dresses from their site. Again, I looked for items that I figured they couldn’t mess up on. Zaful is an online retailer that offers trendy apparel for a cheap price. Their selection of items is vast and the best part is that there are tons of reviews on items so you can see how the clothes turned out for other people.
I ended up choosing two dresses, one of which is this cute LBD with a cut out under the bust so it looks like two pieces. I wore this outfit out last Friday night to the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Cirque Mechanics here in Winnipeg.
I paired the dress with my long camel trench from Club Monaco, a tribal necklace from Call It Spring, gold reflection aviators from Nordstrom, black tights, and my Michael Kors pumps. For my bag, I chose to go with my Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 in the damier print to keep everything neutral (plus I needed a bag large enough to carry my camera).
For $13.99, I do recommend this dress. It’s made from a jersey fabric that’s super comfortable. It features spaghetti straps and a criss-cross neckline so it shows off the chest nicely. They changed the photo of the dress on the site recently, as the model is now wearing it backwards (maybe to show it’s reversible, although I don’t know why you would want to wear it backwards..), but the quality on it was very good, which is the most important part.
You can never have enough LBDs in your collection and this one is going in the heavy rotation pile.
Have you ordered from Asian clothing sites? What’s your experience been like?
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With the weather finally warmed up (it reached +33 C last week), I got the opportunity to box up my winter boots and shoes, and store them for the season. Not only did it take up a ton of clutter in my front closet, but it made lots of room for spring and summer shoes.
I think I’m like every girl out there where I just need to get new shoes every year. Although I already have boxes of flip-flops, sneakers and sandals, I always need to pick up a few new pairs every year.
Since the hot weather means lots of walks (especially when I own a dog…), cute comfortable shoes are a must. I teamed up with Union Jack Boots to pick out my top six pairs of shoes for summer. As much as I love heels and scrappy sandals, comfortable shoes will always be my favourite type of footwear to kick on.
1. Vans Slide-on Women Sandal (C$39.99) 2. Chuck Taylor All Star Dainty Cove Craft Textile Slip in Black (C$59.99) 3. Dr. Martens Sostud in Acid Pink Canvas (C$69.99) 4. Dr. Martens Alstud in White/Black + Black Crystal Suede + Canvas (C$39.99) 5. Dr. Martens Lester in Black Hawaiian Floral (C$109.99) 6. Chuck Taylor All Star Li Ox Knit in Red/Black Converse (C$84.99)
Union Jack Boots is a Canadian retailer who carries Dr. Martens, Converse, Timberland, Blundstone, and JuJu. Visit them online at UnionJackBoots.com.
What kind of shoes are your favourite for summer?
I teamed up with Union Jack Boots for this post, but all opinions are my own.
Okay, so remember in my last post where I was like Make Up For Ever is killing it lately. Well, they are doing death-defying new releases (okay, not really, but I needed a circus reference somehow…).
Just in time for summer, the Parisian brand has introduced a new eyeliner. But no, it’s not just any eyeliner. The Aqua XL Eye Pencil is an innovative formula that offers extra-long-lasting ultra-pigmented colours that apply like a dream and smooth on oh so gentle.
Available in 20 shades with five finishes (matte, satin, iridescent, metallic and diamond), these all-stars are more than just an eyeliner. What’s most impressive is definitely the shade range, of which Make Up For Ever sent me the entire line (#OMFG!); there’s an aqua blue, a lilac, a metallic bronze; a hunter green… the list goes on and on. Best of all, these apply amazing. I think we’ve all been there, we see these amazing eyeliners in store only to buy them and they don’t apply nearly as gorgeous as they look on the pencil. It’s so disappointing. Well, not only do you not have to tug with these, but they apply so pigmented and go on just like how they appear (no, it’s not magic!).They also last all day and don’t transfer. When I wrote this post, I wore the brown shade (M-60 Matte Dark Brown) with the yellow on top (M-40 Matte Pastel Yellow) and they were as vibrant at the end of the day as they were at the beginning. And best of all, they didn’t move. They didn’t transfer to my lids, they didn’t smudge, they sat still. Considering how creamy these are, this is quite a feat. I will say though, because these are so pigmented and creamy, you have to be careful when applying them, I did manage to break the tips off a few of them since they are so delicate.
Since the colour is so vibrant, you can also use these as cream shadows as well, which is perfect for any day at the pool or the beach because they are waterproof (meaning they won’t budge).
Make Up For Ever’s Aqua line is nothing new, in fact, this pencil already exists. The brand has completely reinvented the Aqua XL Pencil with artist Charli XCX being the face of the brand. The connection of course is that these pencils are stage-proof and offer flawless makeup results, incredible stay-on power and high-colour intensity. The Aqua XL pencil is perfect for the stage, whether you’re performing on land or in water, making it perfect for say, a circus performer.
If you are in the Winnipeg area, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is performing Cirque Mechanics this weekend (May 13 to 15) at the Centennial Concert Hall. Inspired by the modern circus, Cirque Mechanics finds its roots in the mechanical and features circus
acrobatics, mechanical wonders, and just plain clowning around. The troupe was founded in 2004 in the United States and quickly established itself as a premiere American circus. From what I gather, Cirque Mechanics is not quite Cirque du Soleil, but instead think more sideshows of the late 1800’s, where circuses would roll into towns under the big top to perform death-defying tricks and illusions.
I’ll be heading to the show this Friday and if you want to get tickets, they start at only $25 (make sure you also follow me on Instagram, as I had a giveaway going on there as well).
What colour will you be picking up from the new Make Up For Ever Aqua XL Liner line?
Please note, this post contains product that were sent by PR. All opinions are my own.
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