summer ootd Archives - Partial Ingredients

It seems like the old rule for not wearing whites past Labor Day is pretty much dead, isn’t it? So in honor of that old, dumb rule here’s nearly an all white dress right before Labor Day! I guess technically it is more of a beige but oh well. I have had a bit of a love affair with anything linen this year and this dress from Urban Outfitters is perfect for late Summer days. Summer seems to have gotten a late start this year and has been especially hot and dry the last few weeks of August. I think it’s reached the 90s almost every day this month, ack! This dress is made from such a nice breathable material for hot Summer days and it has helped keep me cool for sure. I paired this dress with a few leather details–including these Royale Flats from Free People and this great saddle bag from Etsy. It has been my go to bag this Summer and holds all my favorite stuff!

Dress: Urban Outfitters; Shoes: Free People; Bag: LeatherStrata Etsy Shop

I have no idea how I fell in love with this dress. There are two factors here that would make this so improbable that I can hardly believe it. First off: I HATE snake skin print. To me it’s the heavy hitter of trashiness, second only to leopard print. Hate it. I probably don’t need to explain my reasons, you probably already know and are on the same page. Moving on.

Second: the brand is Abercrombie & Fitch. I actually worked at Abercrombie Kids briefly while I was in high school and let’s just say the brand has come along way since then. They have some awesome, well made clothes for reasonable prices that don’t look like kid-wear. No longer do I see the gaudy “AnF” writing on everything nor do I see the oversized moose insignia stitched on everything. Gotta take my hat off to them for getting me to buy something snake skin, seriously. I mean come on, the pattern is gorgeous though right? Also, another awesome thing with their sizing on this dress: they offer this in tall which they recommend for anyone over 5’8. I’m not over 5’8 but I bought it anyways to get an extra few inches in the length, which paid off. I don’t like mini dresses and having the option to add some inches was great. Another smart touch to this wrap dress was the little snap enclosure. While I love wrap dresses it can be annoying to keep the front always secure so that little snap was a perfect touch. I love all the little details of this dress and it’s great to branch out into something I don’t normally wear!

Dress: Abercrombie & Fitch; Bag: unbranded; shoes: Birkenstock; necklace: Urban Outfitters

Next up is a bit of a makeup experiment. I was curious whether my favorite — but pricey — concealer by NARS (the Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly) could be duped by a more affordable brand. It’s hard to find a perfect tone for fair skinned folks so I thought it would be tough to beat since NARS’ offering is a perfect skin tone match. NYX’s HD Studio Concealer in Porcelain (retails $6) gives a pretty good run for its money though and I was overall very happy with it. The coverage is pretty much the same but maybe slightly less creamy. The tone is a very good match but has a bit more of a pinky tone than NARS. For 1/5 of the price, their dupe is a pretty amazing option. I have tried both as an undereye concealer and am happy with both of them. If you’re a pale person like me and have been on the hunt for a perfect fair skin concealer, try both of these out!

Labor Day Whites

Snake Print Dress