Bye, Bye Google Reader

Well, it's official, it is now July 1st and Google Reader is now a thing of the past. I hope that I do not bore you all with repeating the same information over and over again but, I want to make sure that all of you who follow my blog (as well as other blogs) receive the info!

Before I start I would like to clear a few things up, for those that follow blogs via the Blogspot Reading List, this is NOT going away, you can still find all of your followed blogs as well as their posts on your reading list located on your Blogger home page. The recent changes to Google only affect those that follow blogs via Google Reader itself.

Google Friend Connect is also still working! I know almost all of us were concerned if our current follow count would be frozen or if new followers could continue to join via GFC. Well, they can! I followed two new blogs today and both times, their GFC count went up by one as well as displaying the tiny icon. Thankfully it seems that a lot of our previous worries have turned out to not affect us much at all. Who else is insanely happy? I know I am.

For my darling followers who follow via Google Reader and would like to continue receiving post updates from Dollface Beauty, there are two options.

If you have not already, I have made the switch to Bloglovin' and you can follow me there. If you have never heard of Bloglovin' it is just like Google Reader in the sense that all of your favorite blogs are in one convenient place, you can use this link to take you directly to my Bloglovin' page. You can also find a link in the right sidebar!

The second option, for those of you that would rather not sign up for Bloglovin', you can also follow my blog via email, that way every post update is emailed right to you, simply type your email address in the right sidebar and click submit. This is easy yet inconvenient if you follow a lot of different blogs since your email might become flooded if multiple blogs post on the same day.

Well, that's it lovelies! I am completely relieved to see that almost everything is exactly the way that it has always been and only a few minor tweaks are noticeable. Love you all and hope to see you here or over at Bloglovin'!

Much love xo

Spring Into Summer Shopping & Styling Event

Hi lovelies! I hope everyone is having a fantastic and hopefully cool weekend! I am super excited to write this post because I attended my first ever fashion event on Thursday!!! How awesome is that? And as you probably know, I now have the overwhelming need to share my experience. This show was hosted by InHer Glam and Blair Chic Boutique. You can check out the InHer Glam blog here and Blair Chic's website here.

Before I start, I want to give a big thank you to both Jessica Blair of Blair Chic + InHer Glam for throwing this event, there were a few hiccups but at the end of the day, this event was free and open to anyone and let's be honest, who doesn't enjoy fashion, food, and free stuff?

In the beginning, everything was a little behind schedule and unorganized so we did end up waiting around for a half hour or so before everything started but, Jessica (the owner) did apologize to everyone. From personal experience, I know how difficult it can be to get back on track when even just one thing goes awry. I will say, the people, atmosphere, goodie bags, giveaways, drinks + snacks were amazing and more than made up for it!

The purpose of this event was for local Chicagoan bloggers and lovers of fashion to come together in a body loving, positive space to share tips and tricks as well as try (and possibly buy) some of the clothing from the recently opened Blair Chic Boutique (sizes 1x-6x). I myself did not purchase anything but I did browse around and I ended up falling in love with this floral print skirt. I must admit, it was pretty marvelous having so many plus size lovelies in one room sharing fashion fears, finds, DIY tricks, thrifting ideas and overall just talking and helping each other out so that we can go to stores and be able to pick something up that we would normally maybe shy away from.

Now, I wasn't able to get pictures of all the models since everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, so please forgive me! I know I should have been a lot quicker when taking photos. As far as fashions, I did like the pieces that were shown which included a lot of interesting styles and everything from that floral skirt and jumpers to wrap dresses and camo print leggings, there are even pieces from other retailers like ASOS Curve available.

Overall, aside from the usual Chicago weather that decided to juggle between a full on downpour to insanely hot to comfortably cool, I really enjoyed everything. I wish Jessica all the luck in the world for the future and I will be back to see Blair Chic's new offerings and how it has evolved once the dust of opening a new store has settled.

Much love xo

Matrix Biolage Hydratherapie Ultra-Hydrating Balm - Review

As you lovelies probably already know, my hair is extremely dry. Ever since I can remember, I have had to apply palmfuls of oils and products to nourish and tame the cactus formally known as my hair. Because of this, I am constantly on the hunt for new and awesome conditioners as I have never truly found the perfect one. Is the perfect one even really out there, or am I doomed to only find ones that are close but no cigar?

A few weeks back I was at my local hair salon getting a trim when I decided to browse their wall of  products wanting to try something new. A few stylist recommendations later and I left for home with this in hand. According to the back of the bottle:

"Biolage Ultra-Hydrating Balm intensely conditions very dry, thick, coarse hair. Formulated with aloe extract, cupuacu butter, and apricot kernel oil to help envelop and smooth hair. Biolage Hydratherapie enriches dry hair with essential moisture, manageability, and softness. Formulas with aloe vera botanical help nourish and restore hair's health and moisture balance, revealing its natural softness, shine, and radiance."

So, how did it work? Quite good actually up until I read and researched the ingredients list (will explain more below). My favorite thing is just how little I need to coat all of my hair (I have medium length hair) a tiny bit goes a very long way with this conditioner which is unheard of for me, since I am so accustomed to using mountains of product. As far as routine, I simply wash my hair, apply the conditioner and cover with a plastic cap for 10-15 minutes before cool rinsing. Seems easy enough right? This is actually a bit of a negative for me because this balm only seems to work if I really let it soak in for ten minutes or more. I know that 10 minutes is not a long time whatsoever but it is a bit of an inconvenience if you're looking for a quick wash and go. I can't necessarily fault the product itself for this since my hair is so naturally dry but, it is something to be aware of if your hair is similar to mine. After my hair is completely dry it is very soft and manageability is spectacular. However, my hair is also naturally frizzy and this does absolutely NOTHING for frizz. Zero, nip, nada. So I still find myself having to use another product to combat that.

So far everything sounds pretty decent right? I was honestly shocked when I started researching the ingredients list because this is where the conditioner severely falters; it is absolutely chocked full of chemicals and fragrances, with quite a few of them being down right unhealthy for your hair. In hind sight, I should have done this before I made a purchase but unfortunately, I did not and now I'm stuck with it. I have bolded all of the unsavory and fishy ingredients below, as always please do your own research and decide what is best for you!

Ingredients: water, cetearyl alcohol, palm oil, behentrimonium chloride, glycerin, fragrance, isopropyl alcohol, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, apricot kernel oil, cupuacu seed butter, limonene, citric acid, chlorhexidine dihydrochloride, hexyl cinnamal, coumarin, linalool, butylphenyl methylpropional, benzyl alcohol, hydroxycitronellal, amyl cinnamal

Isopropyl Alcohol aka rubbing alcohol is extremely drying

Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine is used to provide slip and to keep product from separating but can be corrosive and irritating if not neutralized properly.

Limonene is a strong citrus based solvent often used in cleaning products that may cause skin irritation.

Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride is a solvent mainly used as an antiseptic for wounds. May cause skin irritation.

Coumarin is used for fragrance and may irritate the skin. Toxic if eaten.

Benzyl Alcohol is another drying alcohol; can also be irritating in large amounts.


Overall, I really do like the way that this conditioner makes my hair feel but, would I re-purchase? Absolutely not. The vast list of chemicals, solvents and fragrances is something that I personally do not feel comfortable with and my hair is already dry enough without the use of not one but two different alcohols. No thank you! If this conditioner did not contain the multiple irritants and alcohols I would be in love but, as of right now, I will not be using it unless it is reformulated at some point without the harsh ingredients.

Retail: $17.99 (varies) // 10.1 fl oz

Ingredients information came from Tightly Curly

Much love xo

Beauty Things I Suck At!

When diving into the world of beauty, fails and mishaps are inevitable and it is something that we all go through at one point or another. Sometimes it can be hilarious, and sometimes not so much; like the time that I accidentally left my favorite lipstick in the car and it melted into a big puddle of red goop. But what happens when a one time mishap becomes so much more? When there is that one thing that no matter how hard you try, it always manages to derail? Whether it's getting the perfect cat eye, not bumping your nails before they dry, or getting those brows juuust right; we all have our moments that makes us want to hurl a certain product into the sun, or is that just me? A big thank you to one of my favorite bloggers, Cookie over at The Charming Cheshire for tagging me in this, now let's dive right in shall we?

Blending Eyeshadow:

Yep. I admit it. Properly blending my eyeshadow is FOR SURE not one of my strong points. In my defense, I did not start wearing eyeshadow until the last few years and even then I was wearing one color. You can imagine my epic failure when I decided to add multiple shadows to one eye look! Most of the time I can never seem to find a perfect medium when it comes to blending, either my shadows are not blended whatsoever or they become muddled and turn into one color. Alas, I am still learning everyday and maybe soon I'll be able to take this off of the things I suck at list!

Curling My Hair:

Now, as someone who loves to wear curls and is rarely even seen with straight hair, you would think that I would be a wizard with a curling iron right? Nope. Not even close. Not. even. close. While I can do the front of my hair with somewhat successful ease, the back of my head is another story. The mirror completely throws me and I usually end up with sore arms and a very irritated expression (cue the grumpy cat face).

Tight-lining:

I'll be honest here...until I got deep into the beauty game, I never even knew that tight-lining existed. Seriously. Even once I knew it existed I would often forget. On the occasions that I would have my black eyeliner in hand and decided to go for it, I would poke myself in the eye and spend the rest of the day squinting. Smooth right? These days I've started to get better at the art of tight-lining but...it still isn't one of my skills.

Nail Polish Cleanup:

I have been polishing my nails for years now and even still, I cannot for the life of me, cleanup the polish properly after applying it. I have tried q-tips, brushes, you name it. I can never get it to work. I've resulted to polishing my nails at a sloth's pace as to not make mistakes. Well okay, maybe a FAST sloth. Is that even possible?

I Tag:

Sara // Dancing With Drag Queens

Allison // Mischief Managed Makeup

Kristina // Discovering Beauty With KV

Miss Dalisay // Beauty Rehab

Aileen // Beautiful You

Well there you have it loves, my epic fails of the makeup world, I really hope you enjoyed them and I would love to hear from you all! What beauty things do YOU suck at? Comment below!

Much love xo

Torrid Fold-Over Pencil Skirt - OOTD & Review

"Soft, stretchy and oh-so-versatile, this jersey knit skirt goes from classic pencil to sexy mini with a fold of the wide waistband, it will be a fashion favorite all season long."

As a plus sized girl I have always been intimidated by pencil skirts; they are the one clothing item that I have always been absolutely enamored with but terrified to wear. Why? I have belly rolls. And the tightness and form fitting aspect of a pencil skirt was just not something that I felt comfortable wearing for a long while.

A few weeks ago, I was window shopping the Torrid website looking for a plain black skirt to serve as the bottom for my upcoming Shaun of the Dead cosplay and somehow, in between the lace and florals, popped out a series of fold over skirts. Okay...I will admit this sounds incredibly corny, forgive me! After a small pep talk with myself and an overbearing need to just say f*ck it and wear whatever I want, I called my nearest Torrid to check if they had it in stock. To my luck, they had one left and it happened to be my size. Fate eh? No? Well, I like to think so.

Anyhow, fast forward to trying this baby on and it was instant love; the length and fit were absolutely perfect. Now, I must warn you, it is a VERY good thing that this skirt is meant to be folded down and customized to your needs. Why? Because I'm 6'1 and even when pulling it up to just under my breasts, this skirt still almost reached my knees. If you are any shorter than I, you will probably need to fold this skirt up a bit to still be a classic mini or pencil.

Can I express just how much I love this skirt? The material is super duper stretchy and beyond comfortable, this is one item that you can definitely wear to dinner and not have to worry about it feeling uncomfortable by the end of the meal. Now unfortunately, nothing can be perfect and this skirt does have a flaw. Since the material is so stretchy, after a day of wear it becomes very loose, not to the point of falling off but it is definitely not as form fitting (hopefully washing will fix that right up).

Onto my cam-whoring! Let me pause for a moment and say, I tip my hat to all of you fashion bloggers out there; posing is a lot harder than it looks! I ended up taking around fifty photos just to get ten that I really liked.

Overall, I really do love this skirt so much I'm probably going to end up ordering the black & white striped version, especially now that they are on-sale. I think these types of pieces are essential in ones wardrobe since they are perfect for dressing up or down. In case you're wondering, my skirt is a size 3, lipstick is MAC's Lady Danger, and the cami that I'm wearing is also from Torrid but now sold out online.

And to all my fat babes and my regular babes, wear whatever the hell you want and hold your head high, don't be afraid or intimidated like I was; I spent so many years shying away from pencil skirts when I could have been enjoying them! Love you all and hope you enjoyed my very first outfit of the day!

Retail: $24.50 // 24" long (Cotton/Spandex fabric)

Purchase Black here

Purchase Grey here

Purchase Black & White Striped here

Purchase Navy Floral here

Much love xo