Haul: Pre-New York City Vacation Essentials

Image via We Heart It

Hi there! I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to post like at all this week. It’s just been really busy with the last few days of school filled with exams and projects due, etc. so I really had to focus on those instead. But now I’m pretty much free, which feels pretty great.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been slowly buying things here and there for my trip to New York tomorrow (I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that in 24 hours, I’ll be in freaking NYC) ranging from swimwear to beauty products.

Since I wasn’t planning on doing a packing post sharing what I’m bringing with me, I figured this haul would be a fun little substitute. Enjoy!

I’ll start off with fashion-related items. I’ve been wearing the same (now ratty) swimsuit for the past few years so I decided that this year, since I’m also off to Atlantic City, I should get myself some new swimwear. I got this really cute polka dot top from Aerie (here) and a black high-waisted bottom to go with it. I love the whole retro vibe of the ensemble and it definitely reminds me of something Taylor Swift would wear. Now, all I need is some red lipstick.

The last things I got from Aerie is just a little crop top that I thought was really cute that was on clearance in a size or two too big and a pair of pineapple shorts. But since I’m a fan of oversized tops and other clothing, it was fine by me.

The next thing I got was a dress to go to Broadway from Zara. When I was out shopping with my friends, one of them spotted this lovely eye-clad dress and said that I’d love it. I don’t really know if she was joking or not, honestly, but either way, I’m forever grateful because I’m so in love with this dress. It’s just really quirky and very much me. While it is in a size bigger, I thought I’d be able to work the oversized shift dress angle for this one. It looks like a big blob of fabric in the photo, but I assure you, it doesn't completely swallow me up.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that I don’t really wear makeup (like ever). I don’t wear it to school or anything, but I’ll occasionally put on some mascara or whatever when I’m going out for dinner, but that’s about where it ends. So since I’m going to New York, I decided that I wanted to look just a bit more, err, put together, I guess, so I picked up a few things from Target.

The first thing I really needed was a curling iron of some sort because I found that my bangs look best when my hair is curly or wavy or anything but stick straight. I asked a friend whose hair I’ve always loved curled about which curling iron she used, went out and bought that, and am completely in love with it. It’s the Conair Infiniti YouCurl Curling Wand and I’m obviously still a complete beginner at this whole heat styling thing, but I’m slowly, but surely getting the hang of it and I’m pretty happy with the result so far.

To go with the curling wand, I also had to get some hairspray because my hair just doesn’t like to hold a curl. I got the TreSemmé TRES Two hairspray because I’ve heard good things about the brand and since I couldn’t find the L’Oréal Elnett Satin Hairspray that is like a cult favourite with beauty gurus on YouTube, I just picked that one up.

I also got two Essie polishes in Penny Talk (the copper/rose gold colour) and E-nut is E-nut (the bright coral colour) because I have pretty much abstained from painting my nails for six months now and I needed to get some new colours for my nails.

Sorry that my smile is just completely awkward, oh my goodness.

Makeup-wise, I got a Rimmel Apocalips lip lacquer in Apocalyptic, something that was a completely spontaneous decision because I was in Target and I had no service, basically, so I couldn’t look up swatches or reviews of anything (even though I had already done some of it at home, some of the products just weren’t in stores). I remember a couple people talking about these lip products and I figured that I might as well try it and it was a plus that it was cheaper than the other product I was going to get.

It’s such an interesting consistency because it’s like a lip gloss, lipstick, and lip stain all in one. I really don’t like lip gloss, but surprisingly enough, this one doesn’t bother me too much because it just looks and feels like a glossy lipstick, and you could totally just dab away the glossy layer to leave a slightly shiny stain-like finish on your lips.

I also got a NYX slide-on eyeliner in Tropical Green because I’ve been obsessed with the idea of getting a green eyeliner for the longest time now, and all the other colours looked just off, so I got this one. I’m just praying that it won’t smudge in the heat because that would be awful.

The last makeup thing I got was just the waterproof version of my favourite mascara, the Maybelline Megaplush because I accidentally got the non-waterproof version last time and it smudged a bit by the end of the day.

You'll get to see most of these products and pieces in action in a post I'll be doing after I get back full of photos and possibly videos of what I was up to. I'm just so excited about this trip, it's crazy. 

Have you been to New York before? What are some things you like to pick up before a trip like this? What do you absolutely have to bring with you on vacation? Leave your comments below!

Thank you so much for reading!

- J

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