My March and April Favorites

At this point in time, we're closer to June than April, so this post is definitely delayed but oh well! Again, I didn't discover enough favorites in March or April alone to dedicate a whole post for those months on their own. In March and April I added a bunch of new music to my go-to playlist, wore new fashion trends, and tried new beauty products that have now become staples in my routine.

I've also tried to group similar things in my monthly favorites posts (music and movies together, clothes with accessories, all makeup together, etc.), but this is the first time I've actually labeled the groups with headers. So if you only care about what music I'm listening to or what new clothes I've found, you can easily scroll to that section!

As usual, click the link in the subhead if you're interested in learning more about or buying a certain product I've included.

Music

"Leave the Door Open" - Silk Sonic

Simply put, this song is Blasian excellence. A Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak collaboration is something I never knew I needed in my life. The song and its sound are so smooth and suave, and the vocals are incredible. It's certainly be a while since Bruno Mars has released a single, and this was totally worth the wait.

Too Young to be Sad EP - Tate McRae

As a dance fan, I've been a fan of Tate's before she started seriously making music. I can't believe it's been six years since I was watching her slay on So You Think You Can Dance, and now she's all grown up, performing at awards shows and having songs on the Billboard charts. I've enjoyed listening to the songs on her latest EP for the past few months now and particularly like how although they're all pretty "sad" songs, they aren't all ballads and do contrast in sound.

"deja vu" - Olivia Rodrigo

I wasn't expecting Olivia to release another single until maybe after the second season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premiered, so "deja vu" was a pleasant surprise! It has a more chill vibe and sound to it than "drivers license" that always makes me want to blast it with the windows down while I'm driving (which I do when it's nice out) but still has a bit of angst to it. "deja vu" also has some synthetic pop/electronic moments that make it easy to jam to. So I think the music video having scenes in a convertible driving down the Pacific Coast Highway fit the song perfectly, and I can't want for the entire sour EP to be released next week!

My February Favorites

I meant to get back to blogging on here earlier this year, but we all know it's certainly been a whirlwind of a year even though it's hardly mid-March. However, now felt like a good time to step away from other things for a bit and bring some attention and love to things that I've enjoyed and have made me happy, so here are my February favorites.

I'm going to be totally honest here and say this blog post should honestly just be called My February Favorites: P.S. I Still Love Everything To All the Boys I've Loved Before, but that's too long and there is one thing on here that has nothing to do with my favorite Netflix movie series.

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

The highly anticipated sequel to the Netflix original movie To All the Boys I've Loved Before (adapted from Jenny Han's novel of the same name) was finally released last month (based on Han's second book in the series, P.S. I Still Love You), and I LOVED IT! I love the movie so much that I actually watched it three times on the day it was released. I even woke up early so I could watch it before work because I didn't want to wait until I got home from work that day to watch it.

While I don't think it was better than the first To All the Boys film, I still think it was a good adaptation like the first and had the same essence and vibes that made us all fall in love with the first movie. Lara Jean is still highly relatable. Peter is still setting the bar high for boyfriends. Kitty is still sassy and up to something. But P.S. I Still Love You actually made me cry at the end, and the first one never made me cry. So that says something.

Lara Jean deals with what it's actually like to be a girlfriend and in a real relationship and the insecurities that can come with that, especially as an introvert, an overthinker, and a hopeless romantic whose only real experience with platonic love beforehand was reading about it in novels. I found that to be very authentic and because the movie showed those flaws, the audience gets to see Lara Jean's growth and maturity progress.

I don't really know what else to say without spoiling the movie, but I will add that the soundtrack is amazing, as it was for the first movie. Also, if you haven't read the books but are looking to, the second book is rather different from the movie. The first movie goes into some of the second book's content, automatically making it so the movies have to be a bit different. I'll stop now because I could probably keep going, but TATB2 is another great, feel-good movie, and Team Lara Jean forever!

Love Letter Signature Embroidered T-Shirt from Something Good Merchandise

I'm going to be brazen and totally honest and include something I designed and sell from my own merch brand in this post. My sister and I designed and released a collection of  To All the Boys-inspired shirts/sweatshirts/hoodies, including this T-shirt, which features my own handwriting embroidered on a shirt!

We wanted this design to be something Lara Jean would like for herself, so we went with something cute and girly with the script, more curved letters, and the envelopes with little hearts on them!

My Lipstick Collection

In honor of National Lipstick Day, I'm sharing my lipstick collection on here. I may consider myself a girly girl, but I'm actually not that into makeup. I don't really wear or own a lot of makeup. I only wear eyeliner and lipstick, so of the two cosmetic products, I own more lipstick.

I love the effect lipstick can have on your entire look, whether it's a bold lip or a subtle nude. I started wearing lipstick my sophomore year of college, which was about four or five years ago. I actually deciding to try it out after a bunch of elite gymnasts started wearing lipstick at USA Gymnastics meets to match/go with their leos. I wanted to channel my inner Aly Raisman and Kyla Ross, so I went to Target one day and bought two e.l.f. lipsticks to see how I'd like wearing the product. I wore lipstick once or twice as a kid when I was a flower girl and didn't like it, so I wanted to try a more wallet-friendly lipstick before I decided how I liked it.

Obviously, I ended up loving wearing lipstick and now own 14 different ones, which I'll show and tell all about below!

Kylie Jenner Velvet Liquid Lipstick - Party Girl

Liquid lipsticks are my favorite, and I've always been interested in trying a Kylie lip kit. But I never wanted to buy them online (if I could even snag one before they sold out), and they're a splurge compared to how much I normally spend on lipstick. So when they started selling them at Ulta, I decided to finally give it a try and got this coral Kylie lip kit. 

I used to have a coral lipstick, but it wasn't the best, so I decided to give this coral Kylie lipstick a try. It's from the velvet collection, so it's matte, which I like. (I don't like glossy for whatever reason.) Honestly I've worn it only once because I've had some trouble figuring out how to best apply certain colors. I guess because of how tan I am and the natural color of my lips, it's been harder for me to evenly apply lighter and brighter colored lipsticks. But this one applies pretty evenly. The lip liner is great and definitely helps with application and staying. I'm for sure going to try to wear this one more before summer ends.

ColourPop Disney Designer Collection Creme Lux Lipstick - Jasmine

I love the Disney Princesses, so when I first heard about ColourPop's Disney Designer collection, I just had to have one of the lipsticks. I chose Jasmine because she's one of my top three favorite Disney princesses, and I love hot pink. (Shoutout to Broadway's original Princess Jasmine, Courtney Reed, who also loves hot pink and a bold lip!)

My February Favorites

Being the shortest month of the year, it's not a surprise I didn't have much going on in and didn't discover a lot of new things I loved in February. But I did find a few, including some beautiful music, Target finds, and custom tech decor!

"Bad Habit" and "Ease My Mind" by Ben Platt

You may or may not recognize the name Ben Platt, but most people probably know him as one of two characters: Benjamin Applebaum from Pitch Perfect or Evan Hansen in the Tony Award-winning best musical Dear Evan Hansen. Either way, you probably know he's a great singer, but it wasn't until last month that I felt I truly got to hear him sing as he released his first two original songs from his upcoming album. "Bad Habit" and "Ease My Mind" are two of the most beautiful and vulnerable songs I've ever heard. Of course I enjoyed hearing him sing in Pitch Perfect and listening to him in the DEH cast recording, but I feel his original music does him more justice.

My January Favorites

January certainly felt like a long month to start the year off, but right now it's a new year celebration for those who celebrate the lunar new year. Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate! Anyway, back to the long month of January. The -40 degree weather certainly made it seem longer and definitely contributed to what I loved last month. From keeping me warm to taking care of my skin, several things caught my attention last month.

My Oh My Supply Co's THE SNUGGLY DUCKLING x DREAMERS DESTINATIONS Unisex Crewneck - Pink

I got this for Christmas and actually featured it in my What I Got For Christmas 2019 post, so it may look familiar. I wore this a lot last month. It's super soft inside and definitely comfy. I can even wear another shirt underneath it if it's extra cold (which it was last week in the Midwest). I love the color, and I love Tangled, so it's a sweet, subtle way of showing my love for the Disney princess movie. My Oh My Supply Co actually has lots of variations of this design  for other Disney movies, like the Cave of Wonders and Agrabah for Aladdin, so if you love Disney, you should definitely check it out! (You can click on this subhead if you want to go to their site.)

Sanrio and Skincare: Riley Rose Winter Beauty Haul

Last weekend while I was in downtown Chicago, I went to my favorite non-clothing store, Riley Rose. For those of you who don't know, Riley Rose is Forever 21's beauty and gifts store. They have tons of makeup, hair, and beauty products and a ton of fun home/gifts stuff, like pens, stationery, and home decor. Inside of the store is all white and pink and super pretty and fun, so I love the atmosphere.

Now that it's officially winter, I realized it was a great time to buy and try some new beauty products. The cold, dry winter air is no fun, and I as get older, I realize I need to take better care of myself, not just in the general terms of health and not getting sick. So scroll down to see what I bought at Riley Rose! (Click the name of the product to shop it online.)

The Creme Shop x Sanrio Chococat Handy Dandy Hand Cream

Whose hands don't get super dry in the winter? I can't go a single winter without buying new hand cream. I'd already bought some earlier this year, but it doesn't last too long, and I don't think having too much hand cream is a bad thing. So when I saw this limited edition one, I immediately tried some from the sample. Chococat's always been one of my favorite Sanrio characters, and the shea butter in the cream makes it a great hand cream. It's much better than the cheap one I currently have.

November Favorites

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November wasn't too eventful of a month for me, even with Thanksgiving happening, so this monthly favorites post won't be as long as others. However, I did find and wear some new things I really enjoyed.

e.l.f. brown sugar lip exfoliator

Although I consider myself to be a girly girl, I don't actually own that many beauty/makeup or hair products or am that into that stuff. However, I highly recommend this lip exfoliator. Whether you wear lipstick or just lip balm, it's an easy-to-use and wallet-friendly product.

You just apply it to your lips in a circular motion and then wait a bit for it to do its magic. Then you wipe it off, and any dry, chapped, and/or dead layers of your lips come off with it. Put some lip balm on top afterwards, and you're good to go! This makes your lips a clean and smooth canvas to apply lipstick. With winter coming, this is a good product to have and use regularly so your lips don't get chapped.

My September Favorites

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For some reason, I'm not sure why I didn't have as many favorite things for September as the other months I've done these kinds of posts. That's probably why it's taken me nearly half of October to figure out what to include in this post. Perhaps it's because I've been listening to the same 20 songs for the past three months and I've slowed down on reading. However, there were a few things (and one big thing that relates to others) I loved this past month.

Too Good at Goodbyes - Sam Smith

Sam Smith is back, and his music is still amazing.

My Go-to Makeup and Beauty Products

Even though I have an interest in makeup and beauty, I honestly don't use a lot of any of those products. Part of it's because I just don't know how. My mom never really used a lot of makeup or anything, so no one was there to teach me or anything. Another part of it is that I just don't want to. When it comes to makeup, I like to keep it simple. At the most, I'll wear eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. Usually, I'll just wear eyeliner on an everyday basis. While I don't use too many beauty products, I do have go-to products for what I do use.

To purchase any of the products listed below, just click the title of the product.

My Go-to Hairstyles

My hair is very thick and long enough to reach the bottom of my back, and I shed pretty much everywhere I go. So it's unrealistic for me to wear it down all the time, especially in the summertime. Here are my go-to hairstyles for when I don't want to wear my hair down. Plus, I've linked a tutorial for each one so you can try them out yourself!

Topknot aka the Aly Raisman bun

Most people refer to this hairstyle as a topknot, but I like to call it the Aly Raisman bun because it resembles Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman's signature hairstyle. This hairstyle is pretty simple to do, and doing a messy bun is done essentially the same way. If you want to see a tutorial, check out this one.