Mani Monday: A splash of glitter.

Hi everyone! Today I have for you a super cute manicure perfect for any event. I wore this look to a wedding last Saturday. Since I was wearing a blue dress with gold detailing on it I wanted to emphasise that gold but I didn't have a gold nail polish to wear! Instead I obviously had gold glitter and decided to wear this fun little look on my nails! 

   














First, paint your nails with your favourite base coat to protect your nails from getting stained and to bring the colour out a little more, think of it as a shadow primer but for nails. I'm using Nivea Beaute's Top, Base and Care coat. 
Next, paint your nails with the main/base colour, since my dress was blue I chose China Glaze's For Audrey. Now for that splash of gold glitter I sprinkled on gold glitter on my nails 20 seconds after I put on two coats of For Audrey. Lastly, to make the glitter stay on my nails I put on the same base coat I used at the beginning and used it as a top coat. There you have it, glitter splashed nails! 

A Glance Into Ralph Lauren: Exclusive Interview

Hey guys! I am so sorry for my complete lack of posting recently, I just arrived back from Switzerland where I had an intense week of skiing with my family therefore giving me no time to post ( Holiday post to follow)! Recently, I had the greatest pleasure to interview the VP ( Vice President) of Ralph Lauren, I am not allowed to write her name for copyright reasons, do enjoy the interview! 

 1. What is your daily routine?

I don't have a specific daily routine since I manage quite a few areas and everyday something new comes up. However, Monday thru Thursday   mornings we have fittings with our Design team so I normally attended those. Then my days is spent following up with my teams in development, production , and purchasing,  as well as any issues which may come up throughout the day.

 2. What advice would you give to those who want to break into the fashion industry?

I did not go to school for fashion--I have a degree in Journalism and History, and a minor in Political Science. Many of the staff who work for me attended the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) here in NY to learn specific areas on fashion--Product Development, Illustration, Merchandising. The best advice is to get experience working in the industry. I started here 32 years ago, taking sales orders and worked my way up, learning as I go. Many things happen that you don't anticipate,but if you have "street sense",and work hard, you can go far.

3. As  VP of Ralph Lauren, what is the main purpose of your job?

To oversee the development and the production of the Ralph Lauren Women's luxury lines(Collection,Black Label and a new premium denim line we will break in June called Black Label Denim), through the inception of the line from Ralph's direction, through the development of the product and the delivery of the garments to the store. I am responsible for Product Development, Production and Raw Material Purchasing.

 4. How long does it usually take to finish a collection of clothes?

Design usually presents a concept to Ralph about 4-5 months before we start to make patterns and samples. They first look at fabrics, and then ides they may get from what is fashion for a particular season, adding the Ralph Lauren "spin" on it..Ralph is a master stylist..he can take a trend and turn it into his own ideas of what it should be--obviously he has been very very successful since we are a billion $ company.

5. How did you break into the fashion industry?

As I said, I went to college for a non-fashion degree. I wanted to get into advertising or work at a magazine. I could not get a job in that field so I took a job at a company who had the license to Ralph Lauren(we paid him royalties for his designs) When that company went bankrupt, Polo took all of us over to work for them. That was 16 years ago and I have been moving up the ladder so to speak. I have done everything here from Merchandising to production to development--everything except sales.
I have also been fortunate to travel all over the world- Hong Kong, Thailand , Singapore(one of my favorite spots!) and many places in Italy. We are beginning to produce our Collection line in Italy so I will be travelling there more and more, which is not too much of a hardship!

 6. Have you attended fashion week before? If so, what was the experience like?

I go to every show(twice a year) because my team and I are directly responsible to put it on--we work very very closely with the Design team and as it gets closer to a new line opening or a show, we work daily with Ralph. We make all of the patterns and samples here in NY so we are part of the process from the beginning.
We do not have our shows where everyone else does(previously it was the tents in Bryant Park, now Lincoln Center) Ralph has a space in SoHo where we show..more intimate.

 7. What is it like working with Ralph Lauren?

Fantastic. He is a wonderful, creative person..I have worked closely with him, as well as fitting his wife and daughter for many years. Wonderful, down to earth people.

 8. Runway shows are often described as whole different scene backstage with all the chaos, can you relate to that?

I use to work behind the scenes at the show but now I enjoy it from the second row!!

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It's been such an honour interviewing her, and I really hope this gives inspiration to those who want to make it into the fashion industry!

Clear Trench Coats..?

Hi everyone! Lately the unusual trend of clear trench coats has been seen in RTW collections of many designers such as Jeremy Scott and in stores like Topshop. I'm not sure if I like this trend or if it is too risqué for me.

What do you think? Would you wear this trend?

XOXO Eli

RAVE. RAVE. RAVE.

source

Hi everyone, I hope your all having a lovely day! As you can probably tell by the title, I am going to rave my heart out today. Rave about what? CORALista Blush Powder by Benefit. Oh My Gosh. I'm not exactly the biggest blush fanatic out there but this is seriously so beautiful. It even smells good. The colour is such a pretty pink peach and it suits so many different skin tones! I have a tan right now (in winter? yes. If you live in Singapore you would get what I mean) and this blush looked so pretty and natural, my mum on the other hand has really pale skin and this looked just as good and natural on her. This was actually my first blush from Benefit. I was debating whether to get Bella Bamba, another great colour, or this. I am so glad I chose Coralista. The packaging is super cute and it even comes with its own little brush. Personally I prefer using my own brush but this is great for travelling! The colour is so adorable and it lasts on your skin all day. The only downside to this is the price... I think even though it comes with a lot more product than other blushes on the market, it's a little wee bit too pricey! Overall, this is my FAVOURITE blush ever. Ever. If you are looking into buying a Benefit blush I highly recommend this one! 



Do you like the Benefit blushes/boxed powders? Which one is your favourite? Tell me what you think! 

Fascinators.

When I hear the word 'fascinator', I think of those unique, exquisite,wild hats that you see only showcased in fashion shows or that you would typically see in an English wedding. The 'Fascinator' ( also commonly known as 'mad hatter') has been around for many years, but it really started  trend started last year, around the time of Kate and William's royal wedding. I admire these crazy hats, the creativity of the way the hat is styled and put together, the wonderful colours. Just by putting on this bold statement, it changes the complete look of your outfit and makes it so much more interesting.

 

The Duchess of Cambridge ( Kate Middleton) rocking off this beautiful fascinator, while still managing to look so elegant!

Blake Lively ( Gossip Girl's 'Serena Van der Woodsen') looking beautiful in a cream coloured dress and fascinator.

Sarah Jessica Parker in such a beautiful fascinator! The colours in her hat are so bold.

Hope you enjoyed these photos!

P.S. Did you hear about what's happening to wikipedia?!

Update.

Hey everyone, I hope you're all having a great day! I just wanna do a really quick update about my life, 'cause something BIG is happening. As our readers, you mean a lot to us and if anything was happening in our lives that was really important we would have to tell! So heres my big news:
I'M MOVING TO NORWAY!

Yeah, I know I can't get over it. It's awesome. Incase your wondering why Norway, I'm Norwegian so I guess it's home. I currently reside in Sigapore, a billionthousandkagillian miles away from Norway. Because this is going to be such a great experience I decided to come up with a few ideas for posts such as a MovingDairy and transitioning a summer wardrobe to a wardrobe fit for a winter-wonderland princess!(I know so random!)Anyway, sorry this is such an un-interesting post but I really had to get it out.

p.s. Thanks for the support! We finally reached 100+ followers!

Japanese fashion.

For my christmas break, my family and I travelled to Japan and the moment I landed in this country, one of the things that really stood out for me was the beautiful scenery of the japanese mountains, and the bold fashion style. Before coming to Japan, i always knew that  the Japanese had a very unique fashion style but i wanted to check it our for myself. What I saw while walking around the streets, really shocked me. But this wasn't a shock of horror, it was a shock of awe. I will always admire the Japanese for having the courage to step out of their comfort zones and produce bold and colourful statements. In some countries, you find that everyone wears the same kind of clothes, the clothes that are trending, but in japan you will find that everyone there has their own unique style. I felt so out of my place with my oversized sweatshirt and scarf with my jeans, you could feel all the eyes of the japanese girls staring at you. I decided to share what the japanese fashion that i saw because it really is truly one of a kind.

A classic 'kimono', a type of traditional dress used in japan.

What do you guys think about japanese fashion?

This or That: Lip Balms.

Hi everyone, I hope you're all good! This post is the first in the new feature here at The Green Raybans, This or That. In this new feature we will be talking about different products that all claim to do the same thing and find out which is the *best* This week, me being the lip-care junkie I am, we decided to do it on LIP BALMS! Since we are well into the colder and dryer months of the year, lips tend to get more chapped and everybody needs a good lip balm (or a few!) to keep that pout nice and soft! I have loads of lip balm so I just picked out 11 which I could review and rave about the most. I'll be going from worst to best... So let's get started!








The ABSOLUTE WORST LIP BALM I HAVE EVER TRIED IS... The Body Shops 'Born Lippy Rasberry Lip Balm'. I had such high hopes for this product but when I finally got this overrated piece of crap, I was devastated. It is sticky, doesn't moisturiser and just sits there on top of my lips being a bad product. It didn't even slightly tint my lips or even give them some moisture. Don't get me wrong here, I love Body Shop stuff but this, this was just bad. I am really sorry if you love this one but I just hate it. So much. 






Ok, after that horrific review I have two lip balms that are more on the bad-side of the middle. if that makes any sense. So the lip balms are... 'Lip Smacker Coca Cola Vanilla' and 'Vaseline Original'. I didn't really have high expectations when I bought the lip smacker, I just bought it 'cause it smelled good. My cousin and I saw it at boots and it was a buy one get one free thing so she bought one and I got one free :) They didn't have a wide variety to chose from so I took the one that had vanilla in it.. because I LOVE VANILLA. However, I do not love this product. It doesn't moisturiser as well as other lip smackers and it tastes a teeny tiny wee bit like fish. And I like fish, just not when it's on my lips mixed with vanilla. On to the 'Vaseline Original', this was a okay lip balm. Not too amazing but not to shabby either. This is somewhat moisturising but its not enough for me! 

Now on to the middelers.. These are the products I liked but probably wouldn't buy again. First up is 'Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips'. This was a lot more moisturising than the original and it had a gentle tint and shine to it. It looked natural and pretty but it was a so-so moisturiser. It was better than original but still not good enough for me. I would probably wear this over a non-tinted lip balm to give it some colour and shine (even though I don't need the colour since I already have pretty pigmented lips!) Next up is 'Nivea Lip Care in Strawberry Kiss', I liked how this gave a subtle tint and moisturised well but it irritated my lips when they were super duper dry and cracked. It looked pretty for a while but the tint wore off really quickly. Lastly I have 'H&M's Hello Kitty Lip Balm' (this came in a set with two but I took the black one and my friend took the pink.) It moisturised but had no colour and went on pretty smooth but it was just okay. And I hate saying that, because Hello Kitty is so amazballs <3 I do love that the packaging was super cute and it came in a set of two!

Moving On these are my runner-ups for the best lip balms ever! Firstly I have the 'Watermelon Lipbalm By H&M'. This smells soooooo good. I can't even believe it!! ITS SO FREAKING GOOD. It hydrates my lips and its super cheap. It comes with an endless amount of product but is still cute and compact. Next is 'Nivea's Pinkish Boost SPF 15'. I am a huge fan of SPF, but I can never seem to find a lip balm that have SPF but also moisturises! BUT I FOUND THIS :) The only "bad" thing for me is that it's in a tube. I tend to gravitate towards things like sticks or a tin but the product is so good I had to make it a runner up! My next runner up is so tinted it could be a hydrating lipstick. Its the 'LipIce Water Colour Lip Moisturiser in 03 Kissy Pink'. This is so great. So, so, so, so, so, so great. It comes in four different pink hues and is super natural looking. Kissy Pink is a mix or red/coral/pink. Its so pretty on a lot of skin tones. It does a great job moisturising and has a really nice tint but it can feel like you just put oil on your lips... My FINAL runner-up, the almost winner is.. 'The Body Shops Cocoa Butter Lip Care Stick!' This is one of the most moisturising products I have. It restores your lips and makes them beautiful and smooth. This completely re-news them. I just wish it was tinted. I can honestly say nothing bad about this product. It's cheap, easy to use, moisturising and makes your lips kissably soft. 

And now.. The moment you have all been waiting for... The lip balm you decided to read this post for... THE BEST, THE MOST MOISTURISING, THE MOST NATURAL LOOKING, THE BEST LIP BALM EVER!!! 

BURT'S BEES TINTED LIP BALM

 *APPLAUD*

This truly and honestly is my favourite lip balm ever. It doesn't irritate, it moisturises and restores. It doesn't look fake and shiny, It gives a natural tint and glow. It doesn't come off within two seconds of you applying it, It will stay forever. I wear this stuff religiously. (so dramatic) IT IS AMAZBALLS. There is no other word to describe this heaven-sent beauty. Its the Mother and God of all lip balms. It is Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm. 'Nuff said. 

LOOK AT IT. 

*All opinions are my own, all photos are from google images and weheartit.com, I bought all the products myself or they were given to me as a gift from a friend*