Not Your Mother's Makeup

Y'all, when I was younger I remember both my Mama & Grandmother swearing by Mary Kay.

And who knew that as a wife now & a woman attempting to "adult" that I would fall in love with the very same brand?
Along with the traditional favorites, Mary Kay has a new Mary Kay at Play line that is full of fun colors, trendy products, and amazing quality.

Through some FaceBook connections, I met the sweetest girl-Morgan Bentley, who is a consultant for Mary Kay.

She allowed me to try out a few of their tried & true, and new products!

 Mary Kay: Ultimate Mascara, Lash Primer, Lip & Cheek Stick, True Dimensions Lipstick, & Baked Eye Trio

My two eyelash products: the packaging is very feminine and classic at first glance

This is the baked eye shadow, which is from the Mary Kay at Play collection which are new products.

I love how this collection has more modern & playful packaging.

Once again, this is the classic MK packaging that our mother's have always loved-now we can love it too!

Lip & Cheek Stain packaging

Let's start with the primer, which was suggested to me by Morgan.

This really helped my mascara stay on longer & lifted my lashes.

Definitely a keeper in my makeup bag.

This is a bestselling Mary Kay product & after trying it, I see why!

It was also recommended to me by the consultant,

and is the perfect every day mascara with one coat & with two, it's perfect for date night.

Out of all the products that I tried, this one might be my personal favorite.

This is the Lip & Cheek Stick in the color Peach Pop.

My morning routine on the days when I have class needs to be snappy & the fact that I can use this as a blush, lip color, (& don't tell anyone, but sometimes I swipe it on my lids for a quick cream shadow) cuts my "get-ready" time in half.

The color is perfect for spring, summer, and transitioning into fall.

When picking out an eyeshadow, I wanted to try one with a lot of possibility for use.

These colors are perfect with my complexion, I wear the brown on my lid, the pink above & blended into that, and the cream as a highlight & on my inner corners.

Super pigmented & super pretty!

I wish I would've swatched this product for y'all, because this color is fantastic. But you can see the color on the website where I linked it above!

The color is Firecracker & I love a classic red lip.

The packaging on this one is super cool...you'll have to buy one and try it out for yourself!

I am so thankful that I tried out these products because I just became a new lover of Mary Kay & I can see myself ordering more products in the future :)

If you're interested in learning more about Mary Kay or ordering, you can leave me a comment or get in contact with my consultant herself.

Morgan Paige Bentley

Mbentley0110@marykay.com 

Www.marykay.com/mbentley0110

Until next time. . .

xoxo, 

 A big thank you to Morgan Bentley (via Mary Kay) for providing me with product in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.  Thank you for supporting brands who support The Southern Stylista.

A Letter to my Freshman Self

 

Dear Freshman Self, 

As I approach my senior year (so what that this is my second year being a senior?)

I wanted to take a moment to reflect, to write to you & tell you what I wish I had known when I started out on this collegiate journey.

First of all, when you make the decision to stay at home and go to a community college, don't be ashamed just because most of your friends are leaving.

What you don't know now is that these two years will leave you with some of the best memories and you'll cry when you take off your Ambassador uniform for the last time.

Don't focus on maintaining those high school friendships too much.

You'll spend hours crying over the fact that your "friends" have replaced you, but what you don't see at the beginning is the wonderful friends that will stay by your side-they'll even be there as you plan your wedding & stand by you as you marry the man of your dreams.

 And more than that, you'll make new friends along the way :)

I don't say this one lightly, focus on grades-not boys.

If you hadn't been worried about some silly boy, you would've taken summer classes and been done a year ago. Sure, it's time to have fun but realize the difference early between someone who is trying to hold you back & someone who supports your education.

Because an education will never wake up & tell you it doesn't love you.

No one can take your education away from you.

Don't waste hours every morning doing your hair and makeup.

It's not worth it and honestly, you look great without it!

Cherish that extra hour of sleep and wear those comfy oversized tees.

My freshman year self, you went to the gym every single day without fail.

You looked awesome!

Try to convince your senior year self to do that...because I fell down on my job!

Don't worry about being forever alone, spoiler alert...when you stop looking and stop worrying, he comes along ;)

And he's worth waiting for-I promise!

Don't do things or go places to try to impress people.

If they really like you, you don't have to do anything to impress them.

Listen to your head, if you feel uncomfortable-just walk away!

Most of all, I'm so proud of who you were and who you have turned into.

Your future self turns out pretty much okay ;)

Love, 

Your Senior Self

 

 

  

I wanted to write this letter for a long time, not only for myself but for all those incoming freshman that are nervous and scared about what the next four (or five...or six!) years hold.

It's okay to be scared-but it's not okay to not get out there and try.

School has been so much fun, and although I'm so ready to graduate, I wouldn't have traded all the sweat, tears, and fun that I've had for anything.

Two schools later and I'm almost done ;)

I hope y'all didn't mind me getting a little more personal on this here blog today, I know I enjoyed sharing something a little bit deeper!

Until next time. . . 

xoxo, 

Honeymooning: Savannah & Charleston

I can't believe I've almost been married two months!

Today I want to share with y'all our honeymoon adventure which took place mostly in Savannah, Georgia & Charleston, South Carolina :)

It's going to be picture heavy, but I hope y'all enjoy!

This was the most beautiful cathedral in Savannah, I was blown away with the inside as well.

This was the inside & this picture does it no justice, it's breathtaking!

 

This is the house that we stayed in on our trip, it's called the Bird Baldwin House & it's in such a great central location in Savannah.

The inside was beautiful & I loved that it had a historic background.

 This is a crappy iPhone photo in really bad lighting, but one of our favorite places to go was down to the Riverfront.

There were so many cute restaurants, shops, bars, and always so many fun things to do.

 I was straight-up obsessed with this scalloped clutch from Marley Lilly on this trip, I carried it everywhere.

My Lilly dress was also a fave :)

 Of all the places we ate that week, The Olde Pink House was our favorite.

The fried chicken is bomb, y'all. :)

  

We told our server that we were celebrating our new marriage and they brought us out this fresh cream & fresh berries platter-it was so sweet!

 

Chris & I absolutely loved the museum at the visitors center, especially the Forest Gump bench (which is one of our all-time favorite movies!)

 

Next to the Visitor's Center, there is a memorial to soldiers that fought in the second bloodiest battle of the American Revolution.

The flag waving was absolutely beautiful.

 

It was the perfect place to take in an afternoon walk & walk off some lunch!

 

Forsythe Park was also an absolute favorite of ours, so many benches & surprisingly quiet.

We loved to sit and watch the fountain and all of the people!

 

Another favorite restaurant of ours was Leoci's. They had the best Italian food & the olives that they brought to the table were to die for!

 

Above all, if you ever go to Savannah, go to Savannah Coffee Roasters!

They have the best coffee, pastries, and breakfast & the best view.

We had breakfast or at least coffee from there almost every single day.

And I brought home beans to grind for us to use when we got home, it was that good!

 

This is Wormsloe Plantation, the most beautiful place I think that we visited.

Several movies have been filmed here, like the Last Song!

It made Chris & I want to build a house with an oak alley drive for sure.

 

They have an original homestead that you can walk out to and Chris had to climb up into the loft, so I snapped a picture.

I think he regretted it because some kind of bugs bit him while he was there!

We saw tons of wildlife, but these deer were so tame-they let me creep up and get tons of close up shots of them with my camera!

 

I had Chris practice taking blog photos of me (more on that in another post lol)

But in this one I'm wearing my favorite sandals, floral shorts from Old Navy, and a white Essie top from Lilly.

It was a super cute but still comfy outfit (although I would recommend better shoes if you plan on walking this trail yourself!)

 

The views were worth the walk though, I can't imagine anything as beautiful as this!

 I'm pretty sure I married the most attractive man on the Earth...sorry ladies ;)

Another shot of Wormsloe-it's beathtaking! 

 Next up...South Carolina!

We only spent one day in Charleston (I wish we could've spent more!)

but King Street was a must for us.

I was so excited to go to Palm Avenue & the ladies were so helpful...they somehow convinced Chris to buy me two things, they're basically miracle workers ;)

 

The Pineapple fountain was a bucket list item for me & it was so fun to take pictures in front of :)

 

We also took a carriage ride, it was the best way to see the city in only a couple of hours.

 

The houses on the Battery were beautiful :)

 

It's hard to believe that only a few months ago, this church was just a beautiful sight that we saw as we strolled around the city.

I never in a million years would've thought it would've been the scene of a crime that would shock the nation.

It was an absolutely beautiful church, though.

 

Best drink of the trip...well other than my Pink Lady at the Pink House.

It's Honeysuckle Cathead vodka, fresh lemon, basil, and cucumber, and sparkling water-so yummy!

 

Country boy, preppy girl.

 

Rainbow row, loved it!

I wanted to return on foot & take better pictures, but we ran out of time!

 

This was the lunch that beat all lunches on the trip-homemade pimento cheese on a pretzel roll, succotash, tomato pudding, and a pickled okra!

 

We also had the best buttermilk pie of our lives, so yummy!

Go to the Hominy Grill if you're ever in Charleston!

 

Another beautiful home on the Battery!

 

Our last night on our honeymoon, we were back in Savannah & decided to go out into the boondocks for dinner!

KilKenny Fish Camp in Richmond Hill, GA has the best resturant, Marker 107.

The view is gorgeous & the food was SO good.

 

She Crab Soup, that's all I have to say y'all.

Just buy it everywhere you go in Savannah-you won't regret it.

I hope y'all enjoyed my little flashback, I had such a great time going through these pictures and putting them together.

Have you been to Savannah or Charleston?

What were your favorite things there?

 Leave me comments!

Until next time. . .

xoxo,