Weekend Window Shopping: Old Navy Fall Picks

 Hello! Lots of mentions of Old Navy in the comments this week so I thought I'd see what they have for fall. Turns out, it's looking pretty good:

Outfit of the Day: Welcome Back, Old Friend.

A few weeks ago I wandered into a store that was not Madewell and tried on a bunch of jeans that were flared and y'all. Y'ALL. THEY ARE SO FLATTERING AND GOOD. HELLO FLARED JEANS. HELLO HELLO WELCOME BACK.

YES. These are Mother The Weekender Mid Rise Flared Jeans and they are so stupidly expensive that I feel like I should apologize. I ended up buying them on sale during the Bloomingdales F&F because I had to have them. They were the kind of jeans you put on and they just...fit perfectly. They are technically meant to be a cropped style but only if you're a model, I guess? They are definitely not cropped on me. For something similar, Madewell has some flared styles and J.Crew has some nice options on sale right now but I'm telling you, these Mother jeans are making me really happy. 

I'm wearing my new jeans with my new Quince cashmere fisherman sweater (reviewed here) and it's so soft and good that I want another one in a different color. I'm going to give this one a few more wears first though because I'm waffling between ordering another large or going for a more fitted medium. I also want to buy the Quince cashmere batwing sweater but I'm waffling between sizes on that one too.

Apparently, I needed to try on all my new things together, so I threw on my new Quince leather jacket (reviewed here) and was happy to discover it fits nicely over a sweater! I was initally worried about sizing up but really wanted to be able to wear it over more than a t-shirt. I'm really still so impressed with this jacket. It's such a freaking steal. Quince has several different leather jacket styles and they sell out quickly. I'm hoping they'll restock the washed leather jacket so I can try that one too. 

And yay! I got my Hammitt VIP bag back from being repaired (in record time!) I immediately started carrying it again because it's my best everyday bag and I missed it. On to details:

I'm wearing my sick new leather jacket with an old Dean Davidson tassel necklace you can't even see. Sorry! It's an old favorite that I've worn a million times before. Here's the down-below:

Woof! I love the flare. My boots are my new Blundstone heeled boots that are breaking in nicely! They're perfect with these jeans, right?  I'm just so happy flares are back because I find them so flattering. How're you feeling about bootcut/flared styles? Not ready or born ready? 

Monday Mood: A Mystery Solved.

Just a note: there are no affiliate links in this post!

Let me just start by saying this: I am an idiot. No seriously, I am AN IDIOT. I have solved a mystery I should've figured out ages ago. I mean, the "duh" here is so obvious to me now that it's really ridiculous. 

I'm pretty sure I've talked about this before but I've had issues with my face getting red, bumpy and swollen and for a while I thought it was rosacea, which was rather flippantly confirmed by my dermatologist at the time. It was not rosacea. (Yep, I mentioned it here and OMG, you guys TOLD ME WHAT IT WAS in the comments!)

It started in 2017, mostly in the summer and then stopped for a few years. When I moved to Oregon, I got a new dermatologist, and she confirmed what I'd suspected -  it was an allergic reaction. To what, I wasn't sure (I know, I know) but I knew that whatever my face was reacting to, exposure to the sun made it much worse.

Last summer it happened again in Austin, the worst occurrence yet:

Ouch. My face was super swollen and hot to the touch. The day before we'd sat out by the pool for a while, and before we went out I touched up my sunscreen with this spray formula that I'd recently purchased. I woke up the next morning looking like a horror show. WHAT COULD IT BE? Something I ate? I know, y'all have probably already figured it out but it took me another year.

So, remember last week when I bought a bunch of fun new sunscreen products? Yeah, guess what happened? I slapped them on and the next day I woke up with a red, swollen face. I am, as it turns out, wildly allergic to chemical sunscreen. Specifically to octocrylene and oxybenzone (benzophenone-3) from what I can tell. These in particular are well-known to cause allergic reactions. I wasn't paying attention. At all. 

I looked up the ingredients of every sunscreen I've used since 2017 and it all makes sense. My face stopped reacting when I switched to Skin Aqua Super Moisture Sunscreen (which is a combo mineral/chemical sunscreen but doesn't have the ingredients I'm reactive to.) 

Every product I recently bought has octocrylene in it, including that stupid eye cream. Honestly, I mostly think the "clean beauty" thing is marketing bullshit but the more I read about chemical sunscreens, the more pissed off I get. So, I cannot recommend:

- Supergoop Daily Dose Hydra-Ceramide Boost + SPF 40 Oil

- Supergoop (Re)Setting Refreshing Mist SPF 40

- Coola Full Spectrum 360° Day SPF 30 & Night Organic Eye Cream Duo

- COOLA Dew Good Illuminating Serum Probiotic Sunscreen, SPF 30

If you aren't reactive and these products work for you, that's great! Keep using them. However, if you've been dealing with weird allergic reactions and aren't sure why, take a look at your products that include sunscreen. One of them even got the "allergen of the year" award for it, which made me bark-laugh.

Honestly, I am so relieved to have finally figured this out and now I'm on the hunt for a really excellent mineral sunscreen. Even though the one I've been using works fine for me, I'm really not feeling great about it. I currently have MD Solar Science tinted mineral sunscreen but I really want an untinted everyday mineral formula that isn't greasy and that plays well with makeup. Any recs? 

Weekend Window Shopping: What's New At Quince

I was all excited to link Quince's new washed leather jacket but it's already sold out in most sizes! They'll restock, but in the meantime I looked around to see what else was new and good and found some great stuff:

If you've never shopped Quince before please click on my link to get $20 off your first purchase!

(Full disclosure: for each purchase I get credits to spend.)

Stuff I Like: Decorative Gourd Season.

Ah, fall in Oregon. We've had a really good run of unusually warm, dry weather but the rain starts tomorrow and doesn't look like it's going to stop. I've been preparing for it with the following autumnal favorites:

My SAD Light That Staves Off Despair
I'm pretty sure I posted about my Verilux light last year but it bears repeating, as the mornings have been dark and it's getting on towards winter. I turn mine on first thing when I sit down to work and let it beam happiness directly into my face for 30 minutes or until my retinas burn out. It really does help with the seasonal sads and I feel like they should just issue everyone a Verilux when they arrive in the Pacific Northwest.

This Tana French That's Way Better The Second Time Around
I love Tana French but a few of her books, like The Witch Elm, weren't a super favorite the first time around.  Sometimes a re-read is in order and makes me like a story more because I pick up all kinds of things I missed the first time. The Witch Elm is one of those - it's so much better the second time around! Just a little weirder, the atmospheric beauty of French's writing, the off-kilter feeling of it all. The main character in this one is unlikable in such a good, subtle way. Like, he's not a bad guy but he's that guy. Anyway, it's a perfect Halloween read - an old house, a mysterious skull, and an unsolved murder. Good stuff all around. 

These Comfy Pants I Am Wearing Right Now
You guys. I have found a pair of lounge pants I like at least as much as my Vuori pair. Sadly, they are MORE expensive (but on sale at Zappos!) and are so freaking good that I have to tell you about them anyway. They're the Spacedye Midi Jogger from Beyond Yoga and they are a sort of legging/jogger hybrid. Soft and stretchy and somehow kind of flattering? My only complaint is that the pockets are too shallow. 

This Weeknight recipe That's Stupid Easy
Okay, despite disliking the name of this website, I really love Skinnytaste's Turkey Chili Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe. It's one I add into the rotation the minute acorn squash arrives in the stores. Marianne introduced me to it because she's magic that way and I'm just a copycat. Anyway, I double the spices (seriously, what the hell with 1/4 tsp of chili powder?) and usually add a dollop of sour cream on top as well as the cheese and it's delicious. 

Adrien's Candle Corner
I generally skip the pumpkin spice bullshit that is fall candles and jump right into Christmasy-type scents (this one is excellent) but I will admit the Honeycrisp Apple candle at Trader Joe's is surprisingly nice. 

BUY THIS (Because I already Did): Recent Purchases.

Hi hi! I have been kind of shoppy lately and I thought I'd tell you about it even though I haven't actually received any of the items yet. Best blogger/worst blogger! It's a toss-up. First:

I've been eyeing the Calpak Luka duffel and belt bag ever since Marianne bought them for a recent trip (both of us influenced by Olivia Muenter, naturally.) I have a few big trips coming up and my Lo & Sons backpack is looking a little shabby these days, so I wanted something a bit bigger and more easily accessible. Plus Calpak is having a sale that ends today! (Just FYI, these items are final sale which is lame, but what can you do.) I'll do a full review of both items once I receive them. 

I also discovered I can buy all kinds of fancy sunscreen products with HSA/FSA funds! I went through HSAStore but apparently you can buy direct from Supergoop using HSA/FSA funds and Amazon also has an HSA/FSA approved section. Anyway, here's what I ordered:

Supergoop Daily Dose Hydra-Ceramide Boost + SPF 40 Oil. I am really curious to try this! I've been using Tretinoin and my skin is currently really dry and flaky, so I'm hoping this will help. Plus it's got SPF 40! I don't understand how sunscreen works in an oil formula but I guess I will find out.

Coola Full Spectrum 360° Day SPF 30 & Night Organic Eye Cream Duo. I'm nearly out of my Clinique eye cream and this one is a double-sided thingy with a day eye cream (with SPF) and a night cream with some other stuff I've already forgotten. I mostly think eye cream is nonsense but somehow I'm always willing to hope that a new one will prove me wrong. 

COOLA Dew Good Illuminating Serum Probiotic Sunscreen, SPF 30, 1 oz. Do I need a glowy sunscreen primer serum? Probably not but this one gets very good reviews and I am always game to try a new product for blog science. I will report back! 

PS. I also bought a pair of stupidly expensive jeans that aren't Madewell. Shocking! I'm saving those for another post, though, so you'll have to wait. 

Review: Blundstone Women's Heeled Chelsea Boots

 Hello! Nearly two years ago I reviewed a couple of styles of Blundstone boots and kept the Classic 550 Chelsea which I still love and wear. They're great boots - rugged and comfortable and very PNW.  I got them in the rustic finish which is extremely rustic. So, while they're great boots, they're also super casual and I wanted another pair that was a bit dressier but could still take miles of walking in wet weather. 

Blundstone has a women-specific style that really appealed - the #1671 Heeled Chelsea boot. It has the same Blundstone look with a bit of a heel, a more refined toe, and a higher shaft than my classic pair. 

Look at my cute little Blundstone family! I'm a dork. Anyway, here's what they look like on my feet: 

I ordered the heeled boots in two sizes because Blundstone sizing is weird - half sizes are wider but not longer. I wear a 6/9 in my Classic boots but different styles run differently, so I got these in a 5.5/8.5, and a 6/9. The half size felt great overall except that my big toes definitely were hitting the front of the boot and that's the kind of thing that's not a problem until you lose a toenail. Nope. I settled on the 6/9 which has a bit more length and room for thick socks. These are my new Ireland boots! Now I just need to break them in, though so far they feel quite comfortable and my other Blundstones didn't require much break-in time so fingers crossed. 

The heel is pretty low but still enough to give you a bit of lift and dress things up a little bit. They still definitely have that Blundstone look with the pull tabs and whatnot. Some reviewers complained that they struggled to get these on and off, but I haven't had issues. (The pull tabs help, but I also don't have high arches.) Outfit details:

I'm wearing my Varley Cleon pullover (reviewed here) from last year. It's sold out but they have a similar tunic-length version and I also love this one with the big zip collar. I love an athleisure pullover - looks like real clothes, feels like a sweatshirt. I'm also wearing a pair of Madewell Perfect Vintage jeans similar to this current pair. 

I'm still carrying my Minkoff quilted Love bag every day and I especially love it with a casual look (which is good, because that's generally how I do.) I will probably post some more Blundstone outfits as I feel like this pair could be cute with dresses, leggings, etc. More to come!