Blog

Moving from conspicuous to conscious consumption and doing reviews along the way.  Find plenty of unsponsored reviews of Quince, Everlane, Grana, and Cuyana on the site!  I'm working towards a minimal waste lifestyle, and oh yea I love bags >.<

Quince Review: The Linen Shorts [Updated November 2024]

Last year, I was (and still am) a huge fan of Quince’s linen tank (Quince 100% organic linen tank review here). So when they released matching 100% organic linen shorts this year I jumped on them right away. And I have no regrets. In fact, once I ordered one pair, I immediately ordered two more pairs and now I have my all linen summer uniform.

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For Days Upcycled Rib Top and Pants Review

I first heard of the brand For Days via Instagram (dang you Insta marketing), and when they had a sale a couple months ago I snagged the Upcycled Rib top and pants set that I had my eye on. Everything else from the brand is mostly tees and sweats, and seems very Gen Z to me. But this rib set reminded me of some of the stuff I used to wear in the 90’s during middle school, and I guess the nostalgia got me.

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U Beauty Review: The Super Smart Hydrator

I really love the U Beauty Resurfacing Compound (I’ve repurchased it 4 times and counting). You can read why I love it so much in my U Beauty Resurfacing Compound review here. So I had fairly high expectations for the next product that U Beauty produced, their Super Smart Hydrator. And I really wanted to like it (and believe me I did because it’s more affordable than my current favorite moisturizer, the Augustinus Bader Rich Cream). But unfortunately it didn’t work out for me at all.

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Beklina Review: The Ribbed Open Toe Clog

After writing up my review for the Beklina Matisse Criss Cross Platforms, I ended up purchasing these Ribbed Open Toe Clogs in both black and buff (as I mentioned at the end of that review). Well it’s been over 5 months since I got these shoes so it was about time I wrote up a review. If you follow me on Insta, you see that I wear these shoes a lot (see the compilation above lol). I loooove how they look and how comfortable they are, and they’ve quickly become my go-to shoes.

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Levi’s Ribcage Straight Ankle Jeans Review

A couple months ago I wrote up a review of the Agolde 90’s jeans, and ever since then I’ve been on a quest for the perfect mom jeans (the problem with the Agolde ones were that they were a tad too small and even though I tried a size up, they still didn’t fit right. You can read all about it in my update in the Agolde jeans review). So I recently decided to try the Levi’s Ribcage Straight Ankle Jeans as a more affordable alternative to the Agolde jeans.

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Mansur Gavriel Review: The Mini Travel Crossbody Bag

Ok ok, so I know since my last Mansur Gavriel Protea bag review I said no more Mansur Gavriel bags. Buuuut I actually bought this last year before the protea bag and hadn’t really had a chance to use it because we were staying home all the time (and all I needed when going out to do errands was a small bag). Well now that we’re back in California and Emi is a full-on toddler with many toddler needs, I’ve started carrying this Mansur Gavriel mini travel bag and I have to say I love it.

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Weekend Update/Ramblings

Hi guys! How have you been? For those of us in the states, did you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend? We were pretty busy with kids birthday parties and hanging out with friends. It was definitely nice to be able to gather again.

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Augustinus Bader Review: The Lip Balm {Updated October 2022}

Let me just say that having grown up in Hawaii, I rarely used lip balm. There was no such thing as chapped lips in my childhood, unless we went to the US mainland. So I’m not really experienced with lip balms and I was never a chapstick addict. I’ve tried various lip balms since moving to California (20 years ago lol) and thus far I have never found one that I loved. I basically went from chapstick to a free Sephora sample or another when I needed it. But now my search is over because I can definitely say that the AB lip balm is The One.

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Two Days Off Clothing Review: The Safia Midi Skirt

If you can’t already tell by now when I love a brand, I loooove them and have to try almost everything from them. It’s happened before with Everlane and Elizabeth Suzann, and I can tell it’s now happening with Two Days Off. So far I’ve reviewed two dresses and a top, but this will be my first review of a bottom. I saw this Safia Midi skirt on Gina and knew that this would be next on my list. I love the quality of their linen (which I’ve ranked as number one on my list of linen from ethical brands), so I knew I wanted to try it in this sleek looking midi skirt.

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What I Bought in May

This May I definitely bought more items for my closet than I intended to. I think it was partly due to the changing of the season and the optimism of things slowly returning to pre-pandemic conditions.

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Chanel Reissue 2.55 227 Bag Review

If you follow me on Insta, you know a couple weeks ago I splurged on a Chanel Reissue bag. Well I had always wanted a Reissue bag because I’ve had the classic style bags before (with the CC’s) and thought the Reissue was more subtle. It didn’t scream “CHANEL” as much as the classic.

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Weekend Update/Ramblings

Hi guys, how are you all doing? We’re doing well here. My husband and I got our second vaccine shot last week and we started planning a 4th of July getaway with friends. Things are slowly going back to how it was (though I don’t expect things to be exactly how it was pre-pandemic nor do I want it to be). But I am excited for this new post-pandemic world that hopefully we can all step into someday.

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Ichi Antiquites Review: The Linen Wide Leg Pant

As I mentioned in my What I Bought post back in January, I wasn’t sure if I could rock linen culottes. But $80 for Ichi Antiquities pants (or Ichi anything) was just too good of a deal to pass up (plus I had some eBay bucks burning a hole in my pocket so I got a bit of a discount too). Well I’m so glad I didn’t decide to pass up these pants because they are so good.

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Valextra Review: The Secchiello Medium Leather Bucket Bag {Updated November 2024}

So like I mentioned a couple times before (here and here), I bought this Valextra Bucket Bag for myself as a birthday present. I didn’t think I was the big bucket bag kind of person but seeing the resurgence in popularity of the Celine Sangle bag and the fact that I have a toddler now made me want try out a big bucket bag again. Since I had the Sangle before (Celine Sangle review here) and ended up selling it, I knew the Sangle wasn’t for me. I thought about getting it in the smaller size but I didn’t love it. But when I saw this Valextra Bucket bag I knew it was exactly what I’ve been looking for.

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LED Light Therapy Face Mask Review

Have you guys heard of LED light therapy for your skin? Well I was once an early adopter of these at-home LED light tools, and I had an early version of an LED wand like this LightStim for acne. But I never could keep it up because it required doing it in front of a mirror and moving the wand around to various spots on the face (because I’ve always had a lot of spots lol). But Jennifer Fisher recommended one of these full face LED Light Therapy Face Masks because it does your whole face in one sitting, and I knew I wanted to try one out. I decided to go with this one since it has great reviews on Amazon (4.3 stars out of 1700+ reviews). And you guys I was not disappointed.

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Mother's Day Gift Guide

This Mother’s Day gift guide might be a tad late since Mother’s Day is this coming weekend (oops). But Mother’s Day is definitely one of the occasions where a thoughtful gesture or gift is 100% warranted (because man being a mom is tough sometimes lol). Also it’s worth celebrating and appreciating all those who care and nurture others whether or not they are a biological mom. And since this is another Mother’s Day spent during a pandemic a little something is extra nice.

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Weekend Update/Ramblings

Hi guys! It’s been awhile since my last update, but we’ve been busy settling back into life in California. So far we’ve gotten our first vaccine dose, caught up on doctor and dentist appointments, and met up with some friends. It’s been fun but hectic. I don’t really have anything in particular I wanted to share but here are some thoughts I’ve had over the past couple weeks:

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What I Bought in April

It seemed like I bought a lot this month since I decided to add in my beauty/skin care re-purchases. But overall I only bought one new item for my closet (ok well it was a two piece set). I did however return quite a few things.

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