Want to send your questions to ibeauty? e-mail them in with "ibeauty" as your title!
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Hey everyone!

Fall and winter are coming up, and want to know what's really in?

JEWELRY.

Specially jewelry with any of the following:

• charms
• LOTS of funky chain
• bold colours!
• something that combines these three. :)

Ideas:

• Buy a chain necklace that has bright pink, orange and blue shells.
• Charm  bracelets! Dig through your mom's jewelry box from when she was your age (WITH her permission, of course) and find an old charm bracelet. take it into a jewelry store or a friend who knows how to make jewelry and add tons of new charms and beads!
• Go for extremes. Either use icy colours like lilacs, light blues and greens, or even whites and blacks or else go for neon green, bright pink, or a dashing orange with a tad of blue! NEVEr at the same time, though.
• For earrings find stuff that is dangly and has chain on it. The American Eagle site has some earrings that are made of chain and pearls. They're really pretty!
• Layer chain necklaces or charm bracelets! No joke. Just make sure they're around the same size and are both the same colour, otherwise it looks kinda weird.
• Silver is in! Try going for a silver look instead of for a gold or bronze one.

Hope I could help you guys! I'm a jewelry fanatic, and I make tons of it myself. :) I might post pictures on this entry after my camera starts working again. :) every single one of these tips came from my jewelry making business and from different sites like American Eagle, Bluenotes, Smart Set, Suzy Sheir, etc.

Thanks for reading!

OH, and I FINALLY have everyone on my mailing list who asked. :) thanks soo much! I love all your comments and e-mails, so keep them coming!

ibeauty
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have questions for ibeauty? Send them here! Please ask me anything. :) I'm hoping to have a Qs and As entry in the next two weeks.

Want to send your questions to ibeauty? e-mail them in with "ibeauty" as your title!

Hey everyone!
Today we're talking about SHOES!

Let's get to it:

1. Styles of shoes
   There are tons of different styles of shoes! Pick out the one that's best for you. If you want cute shoes, but don't like the whole girly girl approach, go for vans or converse. If you DO like girly stuff, try wedges, ballet flats, or anything with a bold design!
2. Colours
   Shoes are a GREAT way to spice up an outfit. I love the bright pink polkadotted ones I have in the picture above. I wear them with a solid colour top and jeans. You can get away with anything on your feet as long as you don't wear anything else that is very patterned.
   It's also a good idea to have at least two pairs of practical shoes. The brown pair above are both extremely comfortable and extremely trendy. Plus, they go with absolutely everything. Get at least one pair of neutral shoes if you can.
3. Good Quality shoes
   It's VERY VERY VERY important to have shoes of good quality. If you can see they are starting to wear down in some places when you get them, it's not a good sign. Shoes with the shiny plastic covering look cute, but get scratches and marks on them so much easier.
   Also, make sure that your shoe has a great sole to it. If you get the kind of flat that you pull onto your foot like slippers with elastic all around it, (I have a black polka dotted pair like this) make sure your heel does not hang over the edge, or else you will quickly wear a hole through it.
4. Bargains
   If you're a size 5 or 6 or even 6/12 ladies you can often fit into the KIDS SECTION! (I do.) you can find extremely cute flats for less than half the price of the ladies shoes. Just make sure it doesn't have dora the Explorer on the front. That would be kinda mortifying.
   Shop for the next year. During fall, go to shoe stores and check out all the neat sales! I found a cute pair of sandals at Winners, a liquidations store, from Roxy (the white shoes in the picture) for FIVE DOLLARS. they were originally sold for FORTY. That's a deal!

So yeah! Have fun shoe shopping!

ibeauty

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remember to send me your questions. I really want them! :D I can answer anything. (We have friends who work for various make up companies, and my dad's a paediatrician. I can ask them anything!)

Want to send your questions to ibeauty? e-mail them in with "ibeauty" as your title!
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Hey everyone!

Today i'm going to point out a couple cute items for this fall, and some common lies that are spread.

First, the must-haves:  

1. Scarves!
   scarves are a great way to spice up an old outfit. Grab those jeans, that ugly old t-shirt, and a funky scarf, and it'll look better than ever.
2.  Big Bags
   Purses are a great accessory as well. And now it's "bigger is better" all over again with bags! Find a funky colourful purse. It can change your entire wardrobe!
3. Jeans
   Ok, this sounds basic. but there are lots of different kinds of jeans. Skinny jeans, flare, bootcut, etc. I'd say get whatever looks best on you. when you're buying your jeans keep these considerations in mind:
   (a) Quality= how ripped up or thin they are. Get thicker jeans. If you want to get ripped jeans, watch where the rips are. No rips on the behind area.
   (b) Tightness= if jeans are tight, they're going to make your thighs look big. it's a fact. but then again, if they're too loose they'll do the same thing. Make sure your jeans fit snugly--but not tightly--around your legs.
   (c) Rise= if it just barely goes over those panties (unless they're granny panties) it's too low. When you bend over if you can see your underwear, it's too low. Anything that is more than an inch and a half below your bellybutton is too low.
   Remember, even if you have to buy  a size up in jeans, it'll look better than a size too small!
4. SHOES SHOES SHOES!
   I have a challenge for you: buy more solid shirts, or not so big prints, and funky shoes! buy polka dot or striped flats, or plaid converse (on sale of course, since they're insanely expensive) and go wild! You can often find awesome shoes at Winners at the end of most seasons, or at any liquidation store. Go check it out! shoes are awesome. Look for sales. that's how I treat my self. I save up like 30 dollars and go buy 1 or 2 pairs of awesome shoes.

Now the lies:

Before I start, disclaimer: I AM NOT TRYING TO OFFEND ANYONE AT ALL. THIS IS SIMPLY MY BELIEFS ON THIS SUBJECT, AND IF YOU THINK I'M WRONG, I'M SORRY.

Ok. now let's go:

1. Leggings are not the way to go.
   If it's too immodest without the skin-tight leggings, it's too immodest with leggings. Leggings are too tight to be considered modest. They cling to your skin, letting people see every outline. If a skirt is too short without the skin-tight leggings, it's almost worse with them. Besides, the long skirts are coming back in fashion! and they are so much prettier than jean skirts anyway. In my opinion. Don't layer leggings, and don't wear leggings unless you wear them under something you can wear on its own. Respect our brothers in christ, girls! They deserve better than that.

I can't think of anything else I'd like to say against some fashions... but if you see any please tell me.

thanks for reading!

ibeauty

Want to send your questions to ibeauty? e-mail them in with "ibeauty" as your title!

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Hey everyone!

we're talking about c o l o u r s today, so here we go:

Step 1: Learning which colours "go".
we're going to talk about how to layer your old tops so that your old outfits look brand new! Here are some ideas for layering tanktops under t-shirts which you may not have thought of:

(a) Opposites! layer purple with a bright sunshine yellow! work with blue and red! Opposite colours add a whole new look to a t-shirt.

(b) Neutrals over bright colours. try a grey t-shirt over a bright pink tanktop, or try a black tanktop over a purple one! It's hard to go wrong with neutrals, so most shirts go with these.

(c) Different shades of the same colour with each other. try two different shades of blue, or two different pinks and stick them together. just make sure they aren't too close, or else it will just look sloppy.

Step 2: Layering
When you find out which of your shirts "go," you can try to layer them in all different ways. Here are some quick ones:

(a) try a tanktop over a t-shirt. Add a cute checkered scarf and you're all good to go!

(b) try two tanktops over each other. be careful about bra straps showing, though. You may want to buy a criss-crossed strap bra for tanktops. modesty is important. Don't ever underestimate it.

(c) try a t-shirt over a tanktop. this is a great way to make a v-neck shirt perfectly modest! Or you can stick a bright pink tank-top under that favourite grey t-shirt to add a touch of colour.

And there you have it! Just remember that clothes, while it's fun to try and look pretty, are really supposed to be used to honour God. Remember to stay modest, while still dressing God's Temple (your body) as you think you should dress it.

We are God's temple. that means we're supposed to take care of our bodies, and not use them like some sort of garbage can just to throw all that trash we're watching on TV or listening to in our songs into. How many garbage cans are going to win hearts for God? It's important to look nice, I believe, since we're supposed to be representing our saviour, but it's not important to look hot, if you know what I mean.

Next time you think you're ugly, or that you don't like your body, remember: when you insult yourself, you're insulting God's temple--His creation which he loves.

ibeauty
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what do YOU want to hear about next? Becca can answer any question (with the help of google at times) and loves suggestions! please leave them in a comment, private message, or e-mail them in with "ibeauty" as your title. Thanks, and God bless!

1. Second hand shops.
   Here where I live, it's easy to find second hand shops anywhere you go. We have Value Village, Salvation Army, and lots of locally owned boutiques. Don't feel embarrassed to go into these shops! Most of the shirts I own are actually from AE and Garage, but I get them all at second hand stores for 20% of their original price. That's a deal!
   
2. Timing is key!
   You can get really cheap clothes at stores that are usually really expensive if you go at the right time. For instance, there are always blowout sales for shorts and summer skirts and bags around September. I saw a shirt that started out as 30$ go down to 5$ simply because it was out of season. 
3. Newsletters.
   If you're comfortable, often signing up for a newsletter by e-mail lets you know first hand when the best sales are so that you can get to the good stuff before anyone else.