A couple months ago, I decided to order a bunch of affordable costume jewelry on Amazon. Like most people these days, I've bought a lot of random items on Amazon over the years, but I had never really purchased any jewelry on there. I guess jewelry is usually something I prefer to buy more in-person? As I do with any fashion related Amazon purchases, I made sure to read the reviews on everything before buying. I was so pleasantly surprised that I loved five out of the six items that I got!! (I won't be sharing the sixth one that was a dud.) I'm sharing my five favorites with you today:
I have a decent collection of Kendra Scott jewelry pieces that I've amassed over the years, but there are a few special pieces that I love and wear more than others. I always enjoy writing a good review post, so it seems overdue to share about my most worn Kendra Scott pieces! I have four that I wear often (one of them that I literally almost wear every single day)!
One piece of feedback that I received in my recent reader survey was that a lot of you really liked my past Designer Diaries blog post from last year! I meant to turn it into a regular blog series at the time, so we're finally going to make that happen now. 😊I'm not often one to really splurge on clothing, jewelry, or accessories, so when I do make a bigger purchase I try to be really thoughtful about it. I hope these Designer Diaries posts share a bit of insight into why I decided to pull the trigger on a pricier item, and also if I think it was worth it!
It's been far too long since I've done a PR package review on the blog! Over the last month, I've received some wonderful spring mailers from brands that I love, so I wanted to share and review them for you today! Here's my usual disclaimer about PR reviews if you haven't read one of these posts before: nothing that I'm featuring here today is sponsored! I simply like to share and review the packages that I get sent by brands for blogging. 😊
I headed down to Richmond this weekend for the most fun event that I'm so excited to share about with y'all today! I attended the Diamonds Direct Designer Holiday Trunk Show. It was an afternoon filled with the prettiest jewelry and lots of sparkle, and I also was able to seriously brush on up on my find jewelry education. Let me show you all of the stunning jewelry pieces and jewelry designers that I got to know on Saturday:
Today's post is sponsored by Diamonds Direct. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Southern Belle in Training!
Diamonds Direct has stores across most Southern states and a few midwest/western states as well. I remember hearing a lot of radio advertising for their Charlotte, NC store during the years that I lived there! I was absolutely thrilled when the Short Pump location reached out to me to partner with them. Short Pump is a high-end retail neighborhood in the west part of the Richmond metro area, and it's become one of my favorite destinations for weekend trips, as it's very convenient to get there from Charlottesville! Their annual Designer Holiday Trunk Show is a grand event, with representatives from some of the most popular fine jewelry lines visiting participating stores with special merchandise. Almost everything in the store was 20% off over this weekend's event. What an amazing deal to purchase a fine jewelry gift for someone or yourself Christmas, or an engagement or wedding ring!
I had a couple goals in mind for attending the Designer Holiday Trunk Show event. 1.) I thought it would be really fun to try on a few engagement rings! I've never even given much thought to the type of ring that I'd like someday if I get engaged, so I thought it would be cool to try a few on and see what types of styles that I like, for when that time comes someday! 2.) I was really excited to check out their selection of gemstone pieces, and especially hunt for those under $500. As I'm getting into my mid 20s, I'm realizing that while I have a huge collection of fashion and costume jewelry, I have just a couple of fine jewelry pieces. With the years to come, I'd like to save up for more fine jewelry that will last through the years, rather than just cheap trendy pieces. I was excited to see the types of gemstone pieces that Diamonds Direct had in-store.
First- a recap of the engagement ring "search" process. (So funny to type that as I'm very single!) First up was a ring sizing! I learned that I'm in between a 6.5 and 7 (6.75? Haha!). My friend Abigail, who came with me to help with the photography in this post, had her ring finger sized as well. She learned her finger was smaller than she thought- which shows how important it is to know your accurate ring size!
I tried on beautiful engagement rings from Tacori and A. Jaffe. Another line that I absolutely loved looking at were the engagement rings from Henri Daussi. I think that as of now, my dream enagement ring would be either a halo, or a solitaire with a larger karat diamond!
Good news for us single ladies or anyone already married- Diamonds Direct has many more varieties of diamonds than just engagement rings! They had the most stunning diamond earrings, right hand rings, bracelets, necklaces... everything diamond that you could possibly think of, and more! Many of the stunning diamond jewelry pieces are from the store house brands.
I wanted to try on a pair of diamond hoop earrings, and I was just in love with the ones that were suggested for me to try! Such a timeless and classy piece. The current silver hoop earrings that I own I purchased at least 10 years ago in high school, and I'm 99% certain they were under $10. So it's safe to say these gorgeous hoops from Diamonds Direct were a big step up for me!
You can see here that there are diamonds on the inside of the earrings as well- Diamonds Direct goes the extra mile to make sure their hoops have the most sparkle!
As stunning as all of the Diamonds Direct diamonds are, this store has so many gemstone jewelry pieces as well! I couldn't wait to head over to those cases and explore.
My birth stone is sapphire, so I adored getting to try on these two pieces! The brand on these is Real Gems. The bracelet is pink sapphire and diamond, and the ring is classic blue sapphire. These might be two of my favorite things that I got to try on!
The next ring, pictured below, is an incredible morganite stone. I love the rose gold tones of this amazing gem! Now I really want something with morganite.
As I shared earlier in this blog post, one of my goals for my store visit was to find several gemstone jewelry pieces that would be perfect "treat yourself" gifts, or nice gifts for a special woman, like your mom, sister, or best friend. It became pretty clear to me that Tacori is a fabulous jewelry line for these types of pieces! Tacori is sold at fine jewelry retailers nationwide, and Diamonds Direct Short Pump had a fabulous in-store selection. I loved these amethyst drop earrings and the long gemstone necklace, shown below!
I also loved this gemstone bracelet from Tacori. Look at how it's adjustable so that it's easy to put on and take off your hand!
And finally, this stunning gemstone ring from Tacori. Ahh! I love pretty much anything that is teal or aqua in color, so this ring was definitely one of my favorite pieces in the entire store. This would make a beautiful right hand ring, or cocktail ring!
The Tacori selection at Diamonds Direct Short Pump includes many pieces that are under $1000, and a fair amount that are under $500 as well! One beautiful ring that I tried on was $325. This is a great price point for one of your first pieces of fine jewelry- it's definitely an investment, but if you save up for it you won't break the bank!
The Designer Holiday Trunk Show also featured some delicious treats (think gourmet mini cupcakes!), and they even had a photo-booth company on-sight for the later part of Saturday afternoon! The whole store was bustling with activity during the time I was there. It's clear that the Diamonds Direct team goes all out for this annual event, and there was definitely excitement in the air!
To my Virginia friends- if you have any engagement ring or fine jewelry needs during this holiday season, I highly suggest an in-store visit to Diamonds Direct Short Pump! If you're a Charlotte reader friend, they have a store there as well. And if you're not in Virginia or North Carolina- don't fear, as Diamonds Direct has stores in 12 states! Thank you so much to Diamonds Direct Short Pump for the invitation to this holiday event, and for letting me play dress-up with such beautiful jewelry! I'm already dreaming of so many pieces to start saving for.
Every few months, I love sharing and review the packages that I am lucky to receive as PR mail from brands! Usually my PR reviews that I share are mostly beauty and skincare products, but for today's post there is a whole variety of fun products from lots of brands! As always- no part of this blog post is sponsored- these are all gifts from brands that I've received and am choosing to share with y'all, and my reviews are 100% honest.
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!
Later in today's post, I'm also sharing the details on a great jewelry sale, happening now through tomorrow! There aren't a lot of sales that I *heavily* promote on Southern Belle in Training each year, but I think this one is especially good, and I shopped it myself yesterday. Anyways- first let's do PR reviews! 😊
Up first today are some beautiful earrings from Sugarfix. This is Baublebar's exclusive line for Target, and all pieces are usually under $20! I've been receiving PR mail from Sugarfix for awhile now, and I've really grown fond of their earrings. Each season, they come out with new styles in trending colors and materials, and everything is always so affordably priced. The two pairs that I recently received are both so cute, and each priced at $12.99 Not sure which are my favorites- these crystal hoops, or these pretty ones with resin.
Time to talk beauty! I've raved in past PR reviews posts how much I love receiving packages from Avon. They are always so generous with what they send to bloggers, and have such creative themes and ideas for the their packages! Last month, I received a fun mailer that was themed all about glowing skin, in honor of the Skin So Soft Radiant Glow collection. I loved the adorable makeup bag that they sent, and I've already used it on weekend trips! The skincare products included the Illuminating Dry Oil Mist, and the Glow Skin Luminosity Polish. Thank you Avon for helping me take my summer glow into the fall!
Let's talk earrings again! I received a very unique pair of statement earrings this month, from a jewelry company called Tuleste. They specialize in pom pom and feather earrings. I was sent a white pair, which I think would be perfect for brides-to-be, especially if you're looking for a unique accessory to wear to pre-wedding events! The best thing about my Tuleste earrings is how lightweight they are. They don't hurt my ears at all, which is great for a statement earring.
Time to get organized- next up are some awesome planners! True story: I haven't regularly used a paper agenda since I was in broadcasting school (after undergrad) which was two years ago. I've shared before that I use iCal for my blog's editorial calendar, which has been the most convenient for me! However, I was recently starting to think that it might be nice to get a paper planner again, for things like work and my personal life. BlueSky must have read my mind- as they sent me TWO of their 2018-2019 planners! I especially love the cute leopard print on the larger one. I've started using one of them, and love it so far! It has a lot of space for me to write down my monthly and weekly commitments, but is still lightweight and simple. (P.S. the leopard print one is on major sale on Amazon right now!)
Skincare goodies are next! I received a package from CeraVe and had the chance to try out some of their products that I hadn't used before. I've been using the facial cleanser daily for a few weeks now- I like it so far. I was also sent micellar water and makeup wipes- two useful things to to keep around! I'm always in need of makeup remover.
I've always preferred using soap in the shower to body wash. I've had some experiences over the years with various body washes that have made me break out on my back after extended use, and I've never had that issue when I've just used soap. I've used different Dove beauty bars in the past and really liked them, but I hadn't tried the Anti Stress Micellar Bar before. Loving it so far- it's found a home in my shower caddy!
Last but certainly not least, the most fun package of liquid lipsticks from Buxom Cosmetics! They sent me four shades of their VaVa Plump liquid lipsticks, in the most fun and bright shades. I did a giveaway on my Instagram a few weeks ago to win the same colors that I received! These will be so fun to wear into fall, and give pops of color to more neutral outfits.
The PR products reviewed in this post are all linked below, if you'd like to shop any of them!
Lastly, I wanted to share quickly about a great sale on jewelry that's happening this week through Friday! Over the last couple years, I've grown to love shopping at Baublebar for fun statement jewelry, as well as some more classic and delicate pieces! This week they had a Friends and Family sale, which is still going on through tomorrow! EVERYTHING on the website is 25% off- even new arrivals! Shipping is also free for orders over $25. I treated myself to several goodies, including this ring which was already on sale (I already own a similar ring that I love, so I wanted a second similar one!), and this darling monogrammed necklace. Below are some more of my favorite sale picks:
Have a wonderful weekend! I am headed up to DC tomorrow evening and looking forward to a weekend in the big city with one of my dear friends.
I've been trying to share my lifestyle posts lately on Southern Belle in Training, but today we're keeping it simple with an outfit post for this Monday! I live in casual cotton Lilly Pulitzer dress styles in the summer, and I'm excited to share this pretty dress on the blog today.
First things first- let's address the elephant in the room for Lilly Pulitzer lovers. When oh when are the late-summer After Party Sale dates going to be announced? My fingers are crossed that the news will drop this week. You can count on me for keeping you informed on when that will be as soon as I know!! (Not sure what the magical After Party Sale is? Check out this blog post of mine! 😊)
Alright- onto this outfit. I've been absolutely living in my casual Lilly dresses like this one during this whole summer. I love how this dress looks paired with chunky wedges and some coordinating jewelry! It's an adorable summer look that could be worn anywhere from a casual office to church to date night. It's the type of outfit that makes you feel pretty and put together, but not over-the-top dressed up. Win win!
I share recaps of my weekends in my weekly Midweek Ramblings posts on Wednesdays, but I want to finish today's post by talking about something I did last week (before the weekend). I went to see CRAZY RICH ASIANS!!! I bought a ticket for premiere night, and I think that's the first time in my life that I've ever intentionally bought a movie ticket for the premiere (I saw Mamma Mia! 2 on premiere night this summer, but I didn't realize it had opened that day.) I've mentioned more than a few times on the blog how much I enjoyed reading the full Crazy Rich Asians trilogy this spring. The movie definitely did the first book justice, and it was a magical experience to see everything played out on the big screen. Wow wow wow. Who else saw it on premiere night or over the weekend? My fingers are crossed that the success of this movie means that more romantic comedies will finally be heading to theaters into 2019! I feel like it's been a dry couple years for them- thank goodness for Hallmark and Lifetime movies. 😉
Tassel earrings- they are all.the.rage! Actually, even saying that is probably an understatement! I first remember seeing tassels starting to really pop up as a jewelry trend a few summers ago, right around the time that the infamous bubble necklace was beginning its slow death (#RIP). I thought that the tassel trend would be a quick fad, but it's lasted longer than I thought it would, and I'm glad it's stuck around! Tassel jewelry is fun to wear, especially in the summer months.
This style of tassel earrings like the ones picture above are probably the most popular style from this jewelry trend. Since my LipSense review post from a couple week's ago was such a big hit, I thought it would be fun to do another review, but this time comparing and contrasting similar tassel earring styles from different jewelry brands! They're all at different price points, and I think y'all will be surprised as to which were my favorites!
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!
Baublebar is "famous" for this style of tassel earrings, and I think their Pinata earrings are partly responsible for launching this trend! Of course I had to try out these coveted earrings for myself. I actually bought these several months ago, with intent to wear them with the outfit I had picked out for the rehearsal dinner I had to attend for the wedding that I was in back in April. I also thought they would be practical earrings to wear year-round, since black shimmery earrings match lots of outfits.
I was really disappointed when these arrived to me and I started wearing them to see two things. 1.) They're the HEAVIEST earrings that I've ever worn in my life! I went through quite a statement earring phase back in high school so I've worn some heavy jewelry before, but I really thought these were going to damage my earlobes. and 2.) They turned my earring holes strange colors! I'm not sure if part of that was due to the fact that these were the black tassel earrings so maybe the black coloring spreads more so then the other colors that they come in, but either way it was kind of disgusting, and something I didn't think should happen for the higher price point on these! I ended up not wearing them to the rehearsal dinner since I didn't want my ears to be sore or discolored for the wedding the next day.
I do own other Baublebar and SugarFix by Baublebar jewelry that I do really like and enjoy wearing, but I REALLY did not like these earrings and would not recommend them. At this point, there are so many dupes at other retailers for the Pinata earrings (two others reviewed in this post!), so I would recommend anything else pretty much over these.
This is Charming Charlie's version of this popular earring style. They're less then half of the price of the Baublebar earrings! In Charming Charlie's online store right now there is only one color showing up (which I have linked above), but in-store I know they are still selling these in multiple colors. Charming Charlie sent me these a couple months ago in this fun yellow and multicolored style, and I think they're really fun for summer!
As I mentioned, these earrings are cheaper than the Baublebar ones, yet look almost identical. They are much lighter on the earlobes, and also didn't change my earring holes any strange colors- so that's a plus! I've been a longtime fan of Charming Charlie and am usually very pleased with their dupes of popular jewelry styles.
Burlington Coat Factory Tassel Earrings ($5!!!)
These are my favorite earrings out of all three! I bought these on a whim right before I moved out of Charlotte. I ran into a Burlington Coat Factory to look for a few things for my new apartment in Vermont (Burlington is another store we don't have in VT!), and I actually ended up buying some jewelry that caught my eye while I was there. They had a lot of cheap versions of popular statement earring styles, and I couldn't resist these coral tassel earrings. I was absolutely amazed at how much I loved them. They're so lightweight, don't discolor your ears (I really feel like I have to stress that now after the first pair from Baublebar- ha!), and they're such a pretty color. Burlington had tassel earrings in some fun, different shades that I didn't see carried at Baublebar or Charming Charlie. These earrings unfortunately aren't sold online so I can't link them, but at $5 (!!!), they're a must-buy if you live near a Burlington store!
So out of all three, the Burlington Coat Factory tassel earrings are my favorites! And buy far the cheapest!! Charming Charlie's Shimmy earrings would be my second favorite. Below I have linked tassel earrings from even more retailers, and the dress I'm wearing in this post:
Please let me know if you would like to continue seeing more review posts like this on SBIT!! I love hearing y'all's feedback. 😊
