Friday, September 30, 2011

238: jeffrey campbell leopard pixies

So I know in Syl's last post she talked about her poor Jeffrey Campbell Litas being damaged :( but we have nothing against JC and will continue wearing JCs =)

That being said I'm super excited about my Jeffrey Campbell Pixies that arrived to my doorstep today! I'm very pleased with them!











Now to put together an outfit to wear them out with =)

Syl actually has the same pair of shoes but hers are dark grey suede!


Happy weekend!!


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Thursday, September 29, 2011

237: lita damage :(

So I used to treat all of my material possessions with great care & was always trying to keep things in super-perfect condition. My friends were scared to ruin anything that belonged to me & would laugh at me because I would return their items in even better condition than they came in. As I got older, I learned that it was more fun to just wear out my shoes or clothes & have fun instead of fearing the elements or worrying about looking picture perfect all the time.

That said, I'm not SUPER careful with my shoes. Of course, I spray them with weather protectant & polish them when necessary... but I also stomp around & let myself get messy sometimes. My shoes have battle scars of scuffs & scratches and sometimes some spilled drinks and barf. It's okay with me! My litas are probably my most-worn heels & they've been to plenty of parties... but I was really shocked to see that they were starting to split in the strangest spot!

The sole is peeling off under the curve of the heel :( on BOTH shoes!



my damaged litas :(

I'm sure I can fix this with some Goop but I just need to figure out how I should bind them while the glue dries.

Has this happened to anyone else's litas...?! or am I just super unlucky?

xoxo

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Monday, September 26, 2011

236: tutorial - diy nail decals

I used to love buying nail decals and 3d nail stickers because they were such an easy way to jazz up a plain nail polish job. I just learned a way to make your own home nail decals & wanted to share with you!

It's an awesome alternative to doing hand-painted nail art on your nails. You can work on a flat surface instead of on your nails & you don't have problems with applying on your dominant hand! So your left hand & right hand nails will be equally neat :)

Check it out! All you need are your nail polishes and a sandwich bag!


Just start drawing on your sandwich bag with your nail polishes. use whatever tools you would typically use to achieve the details, like striper brushes, toothpicks etc.


I decided to start with simple hearts & just doodled more things on the sheet as I went.


eventually I started drawing sanrio characters. haha


A helpful tip that I learned was to do a topcoat of clear nail polish over & around your decal design.


Let your decals dry for SUPER long, like a few hours.
After they're dry, it should be easy to just bend the sandwich bag and then peel the corner of topcoat with some tweezers! The topcoat acts as a border that you can start peeling from so that you don't ruin the actual design of your decal!


You now have decals!


To apply, just put a coat of fresh nail polish on & stick the decal on your still-wet nail. Make sure to press all the clear edges down so that you don't have any bubbly spots.


Then put on some topcoat & you're done!

Pretty cool right?

xoxo

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ps, don't forget to check out our September sponsors!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

235: september sponsor highlight!

You all know that Syl and Sam are independent shop owners of Lipgloss and Black right? Well, we believe in supporting independent artists, designers and bloggers too! Have you noticed our lovely sponsors hanging out on the right sidebar this month? If you haven't given them a click or two yet, I encourage you to check each of them out... or keep reading to learn some more about all of the lovely ladies that have joined us. We have some exclusive coupon codes for our readers, so check it out!


________________________________


Cherry Red Boutique



Cherry Red Boutique is a small one girl run, DIY shop which opened its virtual doors in May 2005. The original idea for the store was conceived after failure to find a decently priced cute tote bag. Since 2005, the store has expanded greatly – we now carry all kinds of adorable, yet edgy accessories!

Cherry Red Boutique is owned by me, Liz DeTino, a 20-something year old Queens resident. By day, I am an IT consultant for a small consulting firm in midtown Manhattan, but by night, I'm a crazy seamstress! When I'm not sewing or crafting, I enjoy photography, upbeat music, cooking, baking, programming, and other nerdy activities.

- SHOP - BLOG - TWITTER - FACEBOOK -


Liz would like to offer readers of Syl and Sam a discount of 10% off your next order at Cherry Red Boutique with the coupon code "sylandsam"
________________________________


CandiWare



Hi my name is Candice Ware and I am the owner of CandiWare. It is an independent online shoppe established in 2008. I am a graduate of Seneca College from the Advanced Animation Program. As a child I loved small toys such as Polly Pocket, so miniature food jewelry just happened to fit my style perfectly! I started making mini food jewelry for myself. It wasn't long before people started asking me where I got my jewelery and that was when I decided to share my creations with the world. Thank you everyone and have a wonderful day.

- SHOP - BLOG - TWITTER - FACEBOOK -

________________________________


Unknown Boutique



I'm just a girl obsessed with anything French, feminine, bad ass and design related.

I grew up in Denver and spent a lot of my childhood picking through junk drawers, finding the little treasures no one wanted or remembered they had. Whenever we had breaks from school, my mom would take my brothers and I to garage sells, community pools and the world famous GOODWILL. It was effing Christmas when we went there and she always smiled before saying, "Pick whatever you want.". To me it felt like a
shopping spree and I laugh now knowing she gave us the world....on a budget. Smart lady.

Now that I'm older, I'm in loooove with thrift stores. I've been scouting, buying and redoing furniture for years but now I want my own little piece of the pie. I want my own store front. The online shop has been a great intro to the world of small businesses and I can't wait to take the final leap Summer 2012.

The furniture pieces I've collected, the DIYs I've learned and all the inspiration along the way should make for an interesting journey, one I hope you'll share with me. I'll smile and cry along the way but I WILL succeed.

Thank you for your support,
Shaunie

- SHOP - BLOG - TWITTER -


Shaunie would like to offer readers of Syl and Sam a discount of 15% off your next order at Unknown Boutique with the coupon code "ShhhDiscount"
________________________________


The Demure Muse



HI EVERYONE!! I'm Katrina! You may have seen me lurking around here on Syl & Sam's blog a few times now. (Oh, how I miss these girls and living in Toronto already...) I recently relocated to the Pacific North West and have been trying to figure out how to convert myself into a west coast city girl. A lot of my blog documents the things I do in my spare time: craft, experiment in the kitchen, and play dress-up with the contents of my closet.

Feel free to stop by and say hi! I promise I don't bite. ;)

- BLOG - TWITTER - SHOP -

________________________________



Welcome our sponsors by checking out their shops & blogs & remember the following exclusive discount codes!

10% off your next order at Cherry Red Boutique with the code sylandsam
15% off your next order at Unknown Boutique with the code ShhhDiscount

Hope you all had a great weekend!

xoxo
&
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Thursday, September 22, 2011

234: show your bones

Here it is ladies! Our Halloween 2012 catalog!
Almost ALL items are made to order in custom sizes. Order soon to ensure arrival by your big Halloween Party.

& if you view the catalog full size, you'll see little hearts pop up! You can click on those & it'll take you directly to the item listing :)



Let us know what you think!

xoxo
&
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233: crystal head

If you've been spying closely on us, you may have already seen Sam's face all done up a la Rick Genest (zombie boy). If not, well, you should know that I'm not the only one here that's been hanging out in crazy makeup.



Later tomorrow-- our Halloween lookbook will be posted!
:)

xoxo

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

232: what a drag

I totally "jo calderone-d" half of my face today. & I may or may not look completely insane.



For now, I'm just gonna say that this was indeed halloween related.
& it's okay if you have a crush on my male alter-ego. hahaha

xoxo

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231: tutorial - top knot hair

So lately I've been doing my hair in this big fat bun on the top of my head.


Basically, I've been doing it because it's one of only 2 or 3 hairstyles that I can actually achieve with my weird lengths of hair. Seriously, I have been trying to grow out a hairstyle in which about 50% of my head was shaved bald!

The strange thing is, I feel like this is a pretty normal hairstyle but it's been getting a LOT of compliments from strangers. Maybe it's cause my bun is green. Maybe it's because it seems like I suddenly grew a shitload of hair. But people have been asking me how I do it... & I tell them there's a sock in there... & then my friend Suzanne goes & tells me to stop telling my "secrets" to everyone.

BUT I'M GONNA TELL YOU ANYWAY.
This tutorial is a two-parter so pay attention!

First make your "hair donut"...


Grab any sock that is close to your hair colour.
You can use any old sock. Seriously, look at this embarrassing ass sock, it's so linty.


then cut off the toe with some sharp scissors.


Now grab it from the end you just cut off & start rolling it up!


LIKE THIS.


So that you have a donut. AMAZING.
This calf-length sock makes a decent sized donut but if you want a gigantic bun, just get a longer sock.

PART TWOOOOO:


start with clean hair... actually, you can start with dirty hair cause it's easier to work with.


put your hair in a pony tail on top of your head.

This is the hardest part for me cause my hair is so short so it involves braiding the back of my hair while lying face down on my bed so I look like I'm planking. You can just do a normal ponytail.


Now take the hair donut you just made & slip it onto your ponytail! It's stretchy so it's easy to plop on there.


fan out your ponytail over the donut.


and then just tuck the remaining hair under the sock in a 'spiraling' sorta way. I dunno, just tuck it.


Then I just take another hair tie & loop it on over the base!
You can use bobby pins to keep it in place as well if your hair is longer.

Give it a quick hairspray & that's pretty much it! you now have a cinnamon bun on top of your head!


Woo hoo! Now it looks like you have luxuriously thick hair piled on there instead of a weak ass looped ponytail. yay!

xoxo

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