Things I loved in July ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪
My favorite movie wardrobe, the perfect lip combination, and crocheting.
I keep seeing all this content claiming it’s officially the start of fall. However, it has been one of the wettest and gloomiest years in England I've experienced so far, and we only really started to see proper sunshine, like, a week ago? Therefore, I am simply not having it. I, for one, will be enjoying summer until the very last minute. August isn’t fall! Don’t start. I’m not in the mood.
At the moment though, I’m in my hometown of Los Angeles, a place I consider to be the epitome of summertime. Beyond reconnecting with all my friends and family, there are so many things I adore about LA: feeling the wind and the sea on my skin as a reminder it’s not that serious, the fact that denim jackets are always enough coverage to keep you warm in the evenings, perfected iced lattes (you guys know how I feel about this), and perhaps most vital to me, the constant easy access to Sephoras, Ultas and Targets. I really do try my darnedest to not be overly indulgent when I’m back home.
So for this end-of-month roundup, I thought I would share with you guys a few things I’ve been really loving. As always, not everything is a generic product recommendation—I’ve thrown in my new favorite activities, current lip combination, and a book and movie recommendation. This is list is kinda short n sweet, but I hope you enjoy.
My go-to lip combination of the moment
As of lately, I’ve been religiously wearing the combination of Glossier “Villa” and Make Up Forever “Endless cacao”. I love a cool toned lip liner, but I’ve learned that it looks so much better on me when I pair it with something warm and pinky in the center (I noticed Gabbriette, a devout “Endless Cacao” user, also does this.) Glossier’s “Villa” is a hydrating, dusty rose shade that isn’t too orangey, but still adds this really great wash of warmth so that the cool-tonedness of “Endless Cacao” doesn’t make you look like a corpse.
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I started crocheting!
In a desperate attempt to free myself from the shackles of my phone, I decided to take up a new hobby, which my sister-in-law told me had radically lowered her weekly screen time. And I’m obsessed! I’ve only been doing it for about two weeks now, and I’m still sort of bad at it (which is why I’m not showing you anything I’ve made quite yet), but it has by far become one of the most relaxing, enjoyable, and rewarding past times to do in front of the TV while I binge watch a show. I’m totally useless at these kinds of things, but it really only took me one full day of practice to figure it out. The best thing is that it’s really easy to undo your work, so it’s not like you’re doomed by one mistake (which is what I used to feel with knitting). Here’s a tutorial I followed when I first started out.
Brutes by Dizz Tate
This is one of those short, impactful novels that you just absolutely tear through in a day or two. The book follows a tight-knit group of tween girls in a small Florida town who become obsessed with their enigmatic neighbor, a charismatic TV preacher's daughter, who mysteriously vanishes. As they start to delve deeper into the disappearance, their collective obsession starts to reveal the darker undercurrents of their tight-knit community. It’s both a coming-of-age tale and a psychological thriller, capturing the insecurities and heartaches of youth while examining the haunting complexities of a sun-drenched suburbia. Buy the book here.
NARS Tinted Moisturizer
I sort of don’t understand how the NARS-tinted moisturizer isn’t a viral product. This was my go-to when I was in college, and I’m just so glad I picked it up again because it’s truly better than any other tinted moisturizer I’ve tried. What I love about this product is its incredibly moisturizing formula that feels super duper light on the skin and gives a glowy, moisturized finish. It’s undetectable on the skin, but it does actually provide more coverage than my other skin tints, eliminating the need for extra concealer. I’m in the shade “Norwich”.
Fallen Angels - 1995
Wong Kar-wai is one of my favorite directors of all time. Even though his other film, In The Mood For Love, is undoubtedly his most popular and celebrated, the stunning (and occasionally dizzying) visuals, insanely good, quintessentially 90’s wardrobes, and mesmerizing storytelling of Fallen Angels has always just scratched my brain in a special way. I rewatched it recently with my husband, who’d never seen it before, and I was instantly reminded why I was so obsessed with it in college. Fallen Angels is a neo-noir film that weaves together the lives of two people in the nocturnal underbelly of Hong Kong. Through its gritty, mysterious, and often dreamlike cinematography and fragmented, crime-infused narrative, the film is really an exploration of loneliness, longing, obsession, and human connection. In a conversation about the movie, my friend once remarked, "I've never seen a film that's both so soft and so violent as Fallen Angels," and that observation has always stayed with me. Aside from the fact that this movie just looks really fucking cool, it also pulls on my heart strings every single time.
Come Live With Me- Dorothy Ashby
Dorothy Ashby is this incredible jazz harpist, singer, and composer, whose music I have been listening to obsessively lately (thank you to my bestie Georgia for the recommendation!) All of her work is amazing, but I have been listening to “Come Live With Me” on repeat. Her signature, dreamy melodies and lush, rhythms are literally the perfect thing to listen to when you’re driving around or taking a stroll on a beautiful sunny day.
i need to get into crochet!!
opened for the kaomoji, stayed for the very good recs ~*~*~*