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 >.<

Hermes Review: Silk'In Classic Long Wallet vs. Azap Classique Wallet (and Quince Continental Wallet Review)

Every once in awhile I’ll do something crazy like buy two Hermes wallets at the same time. Well it all started when I was browsing Instagram (isn’t that how many impulsive consumer tendencies begin? Well at least that’s true for me 🤦🏻‍♀️), and I got the notion to have a wallet that’s large enough to fit my usual card case items + my phone. I think it’s something a lot of people do, but I hadn’t really the need until I started working (and switching bags). I like my minimal card case (an oldie but goodie from Everlane), but I wanted something that could fit my phone. And like I’m wont to do, I went straight to Fashionphile to see what they had in stock.

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Fairly Curated Shop March Item: Organic Cotton Mesh Produce Bags

I’ve used cotton bags in the past (those made by my mom from leftover fabric) but stopped during the pandemic. But lately I noticed I was using plastic produce bags way too often and had collected a drawer-full (I reuse them for small trash cans and dirty shoes/clothes). It was time to stop to go back to my old (and better) habits. So I picked up these organic cotton mesh produce bags. I love these because they have their tare weights right on the tag (so if you’re buying something particularly expensive (hello nuts), then you can at least subtract the weight of the bag from the overall price). I also love how compactly they fold up (much less bulkier than some of my handmade bags).

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babaa review: merino wool jumper no25 sweater

I purchased this babaa no25 merino wool sweater this past summer because I saw it for a fairly good price on the RealReal (like this one) and I had some credit there as well. I’ve only tried the thick chunky babaa cotton cardigan in the past (my babaa review here), which I loved for its quality, but in the end I never really wore it because I’m not super into chunky sweaters (I feel like it adds too much bulk). However since I was so impressed with their quality, I was willing to try them again and I have to say it does not disappoint.

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Augustinus Bader Review: The Face Oil

Last month I said that the Augustinus Bader Soothing Cream was one of my worst purchases of 2022, but I have to say the Augustinus Bader Face Oil was one of my best. I never thought I would be a face oil kind of gal because I’ve grown up with oily skin and acne. I’ve been trying to remove oil from my face all my life. But now that I’m close to 40 (like a month away), I find that the AB Face oil is just what I need for dry California winters.

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My Top Ten Posts Of 2022

I wrote a similar top ten post for 2021 and it was quite popular (in fact it fell in the top 15 posts of 2022 lol) so I thought I’d do it again for 2022. I also like to see how the list changes year over year because it makes me see what people are interested in reading on the blog. So thank you to all of you guys who take the time to read the blog and without further ado, here are my top ten posts as of 2022:

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Fairly Curated Shop February Feature: Dick Taylor's Single Origin Chocolate Bars

I bet you didn’t see chocolate as my next offering in my low-waste online shop, but I’ve been in love with Dick Taylor’s Single Origin chocolate bars since my visit to Eureka last year (granted it wasn’t that long ago, but still). I’m not kidding when I say this is the best chocolate bar I’ve ever tasted and believe me I’ve tasted a lot (A Lot) of chocolate in my almost 40 years. So what makes these chocolate bars so special?

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Merit Beauty Review: Clean Lash Mascara, Signature Lip Lipstick, and Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil

I can’t believe I haven’t done a Merit Beauty Review considering I’ve been gifted a couple of their items, and loved it so much that I purchased a couple more myself. I guess since Merit’s PR people are so chill (they only asked for one Instagram post and Sephora review) I never thought to put time into writing a blog post. Buuuuut since their stuff is so good that I’m repurchasing my favorite items I figured I might as well write this review.

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My Best and Worst Luxury Purchases as of 2022

I had been reflecting on my expensive purchases of last year and I thought I would do a brief recap of what I thought were the best and worst purchases. The last time I did this was about one and a half years ago (My Best and Worst Luxury Purchases of 2021—and I still stand behind those choices except maybe for the Apple Watch which I don’t use as much anymore 🤦🏻‍♀️). Anyway without further ado, here are my best and worst luxury purchases as of 2022.

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What I Learned From My Year Of Being Alcohol-Free

I started last year with the resolution to have an alcohol-free lifestyle for one year after having had several terrible hangovers at the end of 2021. And with some moaning and groaning, along with proud moments, I can say I did it. I went 365 days without one drop of alcohol (not even one sip), and these are some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way:

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The New Fairly Curated Shop

As a present to myself on my 40th year (my birthday is in a couple months), I’ve decided to try something that I’ve always wanted to do—open a (legit) online store. As much as I love reviewing things on this blog, I no longer want to be just a critiquer. I want to throw my hat into the ring (or rather marketplace).

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Brightech Review: Sky Floor Lamp

One thing about living in an older house is that sometimes there are no overhead lights. We’re used to recessed lighting so we didn’t have many lamps when we moved in. Well I finally got a lamp about 2 years after moving in because we just needed more light (though I really didn’t want to accumulate more furniture). I’m not sure how I found Brightech, a San Francisco direct-to-consumer (DTC) company, but I’m so glad I did!

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November 2022 Recap

This month we went on an Airstream trip to Pinnacle National Park, Pismo Beach, and Solvang. And I went a little overboard with the purchases 🤦🏻‍♀️

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The Curated Review: The Tailored Coat

After purchasing The Curated’s Classic coat, which I loved (and reviewed here), I decided to try out another one of their coats, this time the Tailored coat (currently no longer sold). I got this one on sale at the end of the season and thus was only able to wear it a couple times before it got too warm. Now that it’s Autumn and the temps are cooling down am I reaching for this coat? Frankly, not so much.

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Ree Projects Review: The Medium Wyn Bag

I had been eyeing the medium Wyn bag from Ree Projects since the beginning of summer when I saw Sherri, the owner of the boutique McMullen, carrying it around during her travels in Paris (see below). But for $750, the price was quite a bit steeper than I was prepared to pay. So I was thrilled to see it on sale on FarFetch (I paid about 40% off), and I nabbed the last one they had in stock. And I’m so glad that I did because I absolutely love this bag.

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My Most Worn Quince Items in 2022 and 2023 {Updated February 2024}

I don’t know if you can tell by now, but Quince is now my go-to brand for pretty much everything. I love their quality clothing (both womens and mens), jewelry, bags, and even home goods. And I’m very lucky that many of you guys have supported these reviews by purchasing through my referral link (thank you guys! ). But after doing so many Quince reviews, which items were my most used? My favorites? Well here they are (in no particular order):

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