Back to School with Madeline and Company

Can you believe it's already August?! This is so cliche but the summer really flew by! Between my internship, my job at the boutique, our trip to Maine, and trying to having a social life, the past few months have seemed like a blur! My friends who are staying on campus will be moving back in the next 2 weeks and it's kind of just hitting me that I won't be on campus until 2018!!! I'll be leaving for my study abroad semester at the end of August and have slowly been preparing for this crazy experience!

My new Madeline & Company backpack is already becoming one of my favorite things that will be coming with me abroad! I'm sure this will be my go-to for school and travel during my semester abroad and of course, when I'm back at Richmond!

I'm so inspired by how this company started and so supportive of other #girlbosses like Madeline! She was just starting high school when she felt that there was a lack in the market for chic and functional backpacks - so she decided to make her own! Her mom helped her out and Madeline & Company was born. Now, it's the go-to for cute  backpack for young girls, college students, and working women!

I chose this simple, navy faux leather backpack because I knew it would go with 99.9% of my closet but trust me, it was hard to resist these super cute striped ones!

This outfit is something I would typically wear for a normal day of classes! Most everyone at Richmond 'dresses up' for class so I like to wear something simple, yet classy, like these jeans, a cute top and my favorite sandals. 

I love how functional this backpack is! There is one large pocket with a laptop sleeve built in, and the lining is a cute blue and white stripe. There's two more smaller pockets in the front and a pouch at the top for your keys, phone, money, etc.! But, my favorite part might be the cute striped detailing in the side pockets - which fits my S'well bottle perfectly!

I want to help you get back to school ready so if you use the code 'BELLEADORE' you can get 15% off you purchase of a Madeline & Company backpack! Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite backpack is!

Updated Beauty Routine

This post has been a long time coming! As I’m sure you could tell from the content that I’ve been posting recently, I’ve really taken a stronger interest in beauty and skincare! Maybe that’s because I’ve been so focused on getting my skin to a better place, but I absolutely love trying and talking about new products on the blog! 

I mentioned before that my skin wasn’t the greatest when the school year ended but now that it’s in a really good place, I think I’ve finally narrowed down what works for me and I’m excited to share those products with you! If you’re interested in my skincare routine, leave a comment letting me know because that’s definitely something I can write about!

I pretty much do the same makeup routine every time (if I need to dress it up I’ll add liner and eyeshadow) and these are the products I use!

I truly think the most important part of a beauty routine starts with your bare skin! For your makeup to look its best, its needs a good canvas. That means clean and hydrated skin! My skin looks its best when I’m working out and hydrating enough - I love love love my new  bkr bottles and while it may seem silly to think that a pretty bottle will help you reach your water intake goal, think again! I have this gorgeous  pink glass bottle on my desk at work and I find myself refilling it at least 4-5 times when I’m at the office! I have the full  1L and 500mL bottles and couldn’t recommend them more! 

Primer - I use to swear by the  Smashbox primer but after getting suckered in my the Sephora minis at checkout, this one by  Too Faced might be a new favorite! It smells deliciously like coconuts and its a moisturizer like consistency so it blends and sinks right into the skin. I let that dry before I apply anything else. 

Concealer - While I don’t have many blemishes to cover up, I do have a bit or redness/scars to cover up. I read SO much about the  Tarte Shape Tape that I had to give it a try! It was hard to put my trusty  Nars creamy concealer away but it was worth it! I make a triangle shape under my eyes and cover the redness and then blend it in with a  beauty blender. I would say the Shape Tate is full coverage, meaning it gives my complexion an even base, but its not too heavy! It blends best with a beauty blender but also really well with a brush or just your fingers!

Foundation - This  CC Cream might be my most favorite beauty find in the past year. I’ve been through so many foundations, BB Creams, CC Creams, tinted moisturizers and I haven’t really been happy with most of them. I tried the  It Cosmetics CC Cream from a recommendation from someone at my work and since then I’ve repurchased it already! It’s called the ‘Your Skin but Better’ and I really think the name says it all! I wear the shade ‘Light’ and I think its the perfect match for me right now. It goes on smoothly, has a light citrusy scent, gives you a really flattering finish, and doesn’t break up throughout the day. I have combination/oily skin and I’ve noticed that my makeup still looks great when I come home from work. I appreciate that it has SPF and that its even moisturizing on the skin - I definitely think this product will be great even in the colder months too!

Blush - You might remember me raving about the  Glossier cloud paints in an earlier blog post and I am still loving them! I absolutely love the shade puff for the summertime…I do a dot on each side and blend it in with my blender or my finger!

Bronzer - I don’t do bronzer everyday, but when I do I use  this one by Benefit! A little goes a long way but the result is sun kissed looking skin! I love this 

Setting Powder - I let my face makeup sink in for a few minutes and after that, I’ll use this  setting powder to keep my makeup in place! It’s translucent and sits on my skin really well throughout the day. If you have oily skin, you’ll love this product!  This one by Neutrogena is a great drugstore one that compares nicely!

Brows - You’re probably tired of hearing this by now but I swear by the  Glossier Boy Brow to fill and shape my brows. I use the shade ‘brown’ and its great if you want a quick brow fix! 

Lashes - After curling my lashes with this curler, I do a layer with my all time  favorite mascara from Bobbi Brown! I wanted to find a drugstore one to add to my collection and finally settled on  this one! I do a layer of this on top and the finished result are full, long lashes!

Lips - Finally, I’ll apply one of my all time favorite lip products - this  rose salve with mint! It's so hydrating and smells amazing! 

These are all the products I use to create my everyday beauty look! You can shop them below!

What are your must-have beauty products? Let me know in the comments!

Our Trip to Maine

My family and I celebrated the 4th of July weekend with a trip to Maine, and it definitely made my list of favorite places that I’ve been. I had been trying to plan a trip up there ever since hearing about the amazing time my friend Julia had! 

After our trips to Washington and Alaska last summer, my family has been into finding places with great trails to hike. With Acadia National Park being there, we knew this summer would be the perfect time to take a road trip up to Maine!

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

While the drive was long (about 10 hours on the way up) I dowloaded a few episodes of my newest obsession the ‘My Favorite Murder’ podcast - has anyone listened to it? Do you love it?! On the way up we stopped to take a break and grab some dinner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was seriously the most picturesque town. There was a band playing in the town center and everyone was strolling along the water. We got dinner and gelato and watched the sun set before we finished our last leg of the trip.

These were the  sunnies that I wore everyday of the trip - I've been loving them lately! I lived in these  leggings and  tank top on our hikes!

On our first full day we made our way to Acadia National Park to start hiking! It is gorgeous! We hiked up to the peak of Parkman Mountain and the views were amazing - it was strenuous but we made it! After a day of hiking we had dinner in Bar Harbor - it was the first of many lobster rolls:) 

We took a well deserved break the next morning and took a day trip to Camden! Tim Hortons coffee and donuts were a must for our drive there - so yummy and so much better than Dunkin Donuts - who agrees? Camden is a super cute coastal town and we couldn’t have picked a better day to visit - it was sunny and breezy and there were tons of people strolling around! After a quick lunch, we spent the afternoon exploring the shops, historic buildings, and everything the town has to offer! We couldn’t pass up a boat ride on such a beautiful day so we set sail for a sunset ride!

Sweater, Shorts, Sunglasses

One of the gorgeously curated shops in Camden, ME

Since we were there for July 4th, we spent the day again at Acadia National Park. What better way to celebrate America than in one of most beautiful places in New England! We hiked around Jordan Pond and had the infamous popovers at the Jordan Pond House that morning. We spent the rest of day in the mountains and summited to 3 different peaks! We spent the night in Bar Harbor again having a rooftop dinner (of lobster rolls obviously) just in time to see the fireworks! 

The gorgeous sunset on our last hike of the trip!

Even though our trip was just for the holiday weekend, it was so much fun and everyone agreed that we definitely come back again! 

Have you been on a trip to Maine? Where did you go and what was your favorite part?