My Latest Snag: Drugstore Eyebrow Wand.
I have been using Chantecaille’s eyebrow gel for the past year but when I finished my last tube, I hesitated before reordering. $40 for eyebrow gel? Is it that good or that different from any other gel I’ve used in the past? I decided to put it to the test and ordered Maybelline’s eyebrow gel, which gets very good reviews. Stay tuned for an update, though I have a hunch it will be just as good. (I also love E.L.F.’s $2 clear gel but right now need something with a little color to fill in some spots.)
P.S. More favorite affordable beauty buys here.
You’re Sooooo Popular: The Tartan Top.
The most popular items on the blog this past week:
+The Dyson Airwrap! Lots of mixed opinions on this — have heard from some Magpies that it’s really best for people with some dexterity/talent in styling their hair; have heard from others that friends SWEAR BY IT.
+My tartan top! If that’s too “holiday central” for your taste post-Christmas, consider this floral variation.
+This stunning Zimmerman-esque eyelet dress (under $200). Perfect for a warm-weather getaway.
+Cozy pom pom socks for your rainboots.
+Prettiest dress for a birthday girl.
+A slouchy sweater. Perfect with leather-effect leggings.
+A dreamy playhouse for a little one.
#Turbothot: Nerve.
As I head into the New Year and refine the handful of resolutions I have for 2020, I find myself returning to a potentially apocryphal quote attributed to J.K. Rowling: “Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”
My experience with entrepreneurship has steeled me to the point that I tend to roll my eyes at such platitudes. Because they are simply not true. I had nerve, work ethic, intelligence, commitment, funding — and I still ended up winding down our business. Success is a lot more complicated than having nerve. I could write a lengthy treatise on the subject as it pertains to start-ups in the technology sector (and I actually did write several paragraphs here that I have since deleted — too bitter for my own taste, too fatiguing to those uninterested in the subject), but suffice to say that if all “it” took was nerves, there would be a lot more success stories out there.
That said.
The quote stirred something in me.
I would not describe myself as nervy or plucky. I have more of a low-key, slow-burning, quiet drive. But reading those words, I felt something buckle up, heels digging in. Do the thing!
So I thought I’d leave this charge on your doorstep in case you need it at an arm’s length as you head into the new year, whether you’re thinking of asking for a promotion, or broaching the subject of marriage with a loved one, or speaking out against injustice in your own life or that of a neighbor, or contemplating launching a new business or stepping into a new profession or moving cities or — oh, all the quietly brave things we do that feel like they will end us but never do.
I’d like to think back on 2020 as the year of nerve. Hoping you’ll join me in this, fellow women of substance.
Post-Scripts: An Oversized Coat + A $12 Staple.
+I did like a quadruple take when I saw Hailey Bieber (above) wearing an oversized camel coat over her exercise gear. I need a coat like that! Options: this Kooples, this Merceau, this Mango.
+A $12 staple. Chic with suede boots or pointed toe flats or Golden Goose sneaks.
+Adore this sweater! The collar! The swing-y shape! So good.
+It’s hard to tell with a sample, but I received one for this cleanser and was very impressed. I like the way it left my skin feeling squeaky clean (though not tight/irritated). I am in a committed relationship with this cleanser, but I might buy one of the TBs for travel.
+Crazy good sale at Moda right now. I love this dress, these flats, and these earrings in particular.
+Cute rugs and baskets for a nursery.
+This belted wool sweater is delicious.
+More of what I want to wear RN.
+
I love this mantra — to have more nerve. So good, and something I’d do well to remember this year! Happy new year, btw, if I can still say that on January 12 😉
I love the oversize coat look and opted for one from Christophe Lemaire’s line for Uniqlo, but in black because I shockingly found myself without a black wool coat in my outerwear repertoire. I adore the oversized proportions & long sleeves! My favorite of the camel ones you posted is probably the Kooples one.
xx
Yes, a black wool coat is a must. Mine is trimmed with a fur collar and I’ve owned it since high school (can you believe that?!) and not a single season goes by where it goes unworn.
CHEERS to nerve and happy new year!
xx