Understated ruffle blouse for fall 2016

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Wearing: Chanel sunglasses / bold mother of pearl earrings / understated ruffle shirt (on sale!!) / frosted pink lipstick / Larimar ring c/o / Kendra Scott nail polish c/o / black top handle satchel / fall guitar strap / dark wash boot cut jeans / pewter high heel loafer pumps

Do you love the current ruffle blouse trend, but would like to rock it in an understated way? Me too! I was thrilled to find this blouse which featured ruffles, yet a conservative shirt silhouette. It is perfect for my personal style, and can easily be worn to the office, church, or for day to day activities; like how I wear it!

Ruffle blouses and ruffle shirts were everywhere when I attended fashion week last month. There were bold off-the-shoulder versions, revealing cropped versions, and avant-garde ruffles which were eye-catching and downright fabulous. I loved them all! While these bold ruffle shirts looked amazing on the streets of New York, and I bet they look amazing in the South, and in Southern California, they don’t really fit into our style here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are an understated bunch in Silicon Valley.

This does not mean we cannot rock the ruffle shirt trend here in the Bay Area, we just need to do it our way. So when I spotted this shirt with ruffles, a crisp collar, and modest bell cuffs, I knew it was the perfect way for me to wear the ruffle trend; while still fitting into our San Francisco Bay Area style. Love it!

This ruffle blouse is super comfortable, and I love the blue stripes. It was also priced well under $100. Loved that! While it is super cute, and comfy, it does wrinkle quickly. I think most people understated this type of fabric wrinkles, and can be forgiving when you are walking around, or you are at work with a few wrinkles. My daughter took these pictures of me after I had been sitting in the car, and shopping with my daughter, so you can see the wrinkles that accumulated after driving and running errands. They are there, but not too bad.

I would also like to give a shout-out to this guitar strap! Fendi introduced this trend a few seasons back, but I never wanted to spend an-arm-and-a-leg for a novelty strap. I was thrilled when more designers and brands came out with whimsical guitar straps priced under $200, and under $100. You can see all my favorites this season online here. I picked out this strap for under $100. Since it is a trendy item, I didn’t want to overspend on it, and I am thrilled with my choice! I love being able to wear trends without breaking the bank!

What do you think of the ruffle shirt trend? Will you be rocking a ruffle blouse this season? How do you wear it in your part of the globe?

You can find my ruffle blouse on major sale online here. Pink version, also on sale, online here.

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO

Cathy

Shop the look:

office approved ruffle blouse

Christian Louboutin Trouble in Heaven parfum review

christian louboutin parfum review

Pictured: Christian Louboutin Trouble in Heaven parfum

Christian Louboutin creates the hottest high heels on Earth; let’s be frank. When he introduced nail polish, followed by lipstick, a few years ago, his beauty collection mirrored his footwear; allowing women to to feel beautiful, and anything-but-understated, from head to toe. So this season when he introduced fragrance, expectations were high.

Christian Louboutin Trouble in Heaven parfum is one of three new perfumes from Christian Louboutin. All three perfumes are heavy, sensual, and not something you would wear to a job interview; let’s be frank again!

I had to own one of Christian Louboutin’s new parfum’s. If I could afford all three, I would have gone for it! Alas, a girl only has so much cash, so one parfum it was! I chose Trouble in Heaven parfum because it seemed to have been the warmest, and spiciest of the three scents. I love warm and spicy!

Trouble in Heaven parfum combines main fragrance notes of iris, Patchouli, amber, and Tonka Absolut which creates a sophisticated, intoxicating, warm, and heavy fragrance experience perfect for evenings, cold weather, and special events. Love!

Top notes: bergamot, cascalone

Middle notes: rose boutin, iris firabs

Base notes: amber, patchouli, tonka absolut, labdnum

When I first sprayed Trouble in Heaven on my wrist, there was a swirl of fragrance notes laced in patchouli. It took about five minutes to settle down into a beautiful, smooth Patchouli scent with a faint floral hiding in the background. The Tonka Absolut is what smooths down the Patchouli, making it calm, and spicy, at the same time. While the Amber is hard to detect, it is working in the background to keep the fragrance experience warm, and sensual. Amber has a habit of doing that when it is in the base, and not the heart. 😉

Christian Louboutin Trouble in Heaven parfum is a heavy scent, reminiscent of the trail-leaving perfumes of the 1980s. This is a mysterious, attraction-getting scent. It is the ideal fragrance to wear to formal events, gala celebrations, date nights, and anytime you want to stand out in the crowd. Love it!

There is more to Christian Louboutin’s new fragrance collection than heavy, intoxicating perfumes. There is the packaging. Leave it to Christian Louboutin to push the boundaries of beauty product packaging!

First he gave us an upside down, spiky high heel which doubles as a weapon for painting our nails. Then, Lououtin gave us another sharp, weapon-like object for painting our lips. Now,Louboutin has strayed from possible TSA disapproval into the realm of pure artwork.

The parfum bottles are twisted glass with a central aperture. The internal loop of the bottle creates a vision of the liquid being alive. The twists and turns in the glass catch light, making the liquid and glass combine to seem fiery; evoking a sense of luxury (diamond-like fire), and fire (the intoxicating, heavy scent).

Christian Louboutin left no detail unturned when he also added a magnetic cap to his parfum bottles! Yes, that’s right, no fiddling to get the cap on straight! It automatically makes itself straight due to the magnetic force within the cap. It is the easiest bottle to keep looking beautiful when stored! This is also a detail which helps when you are in a rush getting dressed. How many times have you fiddled with a bottle cap when you just need to get out the door? My hand is raised high! Thank you Christian Louboutin for thinking of this detail!!!

Lastly, did you notice I labelled this “parfum” and not EDP or EDT? That’s right! Christian Louboutin did not fool around with his fragrance collection. He did not dilute a drop to stretch his parfum into more bottles. This is parfum, not eau de parfum, and he did not raise the price to reflect this. The pricing is actually extremely low for parfum! I had to read, and re-read the packaging to make sure I was reading it correctly. This is pricing for EDP, not parfum. Who ever thought Christian Louboutin would give you tons of bang for your buck?! Love that!

Although Trouble in Heaven is my favorite of Christian Loubouin’s new parfum collection, if I had the extra cash, I would have purchased all three. They are all fabulous! I am giving Christian Louboutin Trouble in Heaven parfum five out of five stars!

You can find Trouble in Heaven parfum by Christian Louboutin online here.

Breast Cancer Awareness products

breast cancer awareness products give back

From top left: make-up palette / fleece zip-up jacket / la mer lip balm / bobbie brown duo / hair dryer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. This means it is a great time to find a breast cancer charity and make a donation to help find a cure for breast cancer. In addition to making a cash donation, this is a great time to purchase products you might already purchase as needed, which help benefit breast cancer charities!

I have rounded up a few products from around the web which are necessities in every Fashionista’s life, and assembled them into this article. All of these products donate a portion of the purchase price back to a charity or non-profit which is helping find a cure, or to fight, cancer. Love that!

Since we are on the topic of breast cancer, I think this is a good time to talk about how breast cancer has affected all of us. I think anyone reading this can think of at least one person they know who has been affected by breast cancer, if not directly.

Breast cancer ha always been something in the front of my mind. I am at high risk for the disease; and frankly the thought of contracting it frightens me more than anything else on Earth.

My grandmother died of breast cancer when my mom was only a small child. She watched her mother suffer for five years before passing away. Knowing how this affected my mom’s life, is devastating to me. It also makes me acutely aware of how much breast cancer can adversely affect one’s own life, as well as the lives of others.

In addition to my grandmother, I watched one of my friends battle stage four breast cancer, and survive. She beat all the statistics and odds. She really is inspirational to her beautiful children, her entire family, and our community. I am in awe every time I see her. She is a fighter, and she won the fight. She is truly blessed.

Lastly, I had my own scare last year when I had a mammogram show a large mass. Knowing how high risk I am for breast cancer, this was the scariest thing I have faced in my life. I have three beautiful children between the ages of eight and twelve. I have an amazing husband, and I have a whole life ahead of me. Until my follow-up appointment, I couldn’t sleep, or function. I had never been so scared in my life.

Thankfully it turned out to be nothing; literally nothing. I was extremely thankful it was nothing, at the same time a little upset that the machine wasn’t accurate the first time and it put me through so much anguish. I can only imagine how horrible it must feel when a detection is actually true.

My heart goes out to anyone who is currently suffering from, or has suffered from, breast cancer. It is a devastating disease, and we need a cure.

If you would like to help fight breast cancer, here are two charities I like which are working hard in the fight against breast cancer. Please visit NationalBreastCancer.org or bcrfcure.org

To help fight breast cancer while shopping for everyday necessities, visit the products with a cause listed below. I am getting the hair dryer!