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California Travel Diary

January 6, 2019

California Travel Diary - Coronado, San Diego

We planned a spur of the moment trip to California the last week of 2018 and had such a great time. Andrew had some meetings on the West Coast so I decided to tag along to keep him company and to also visit family and friends. We decided to hit up three cities in one week including San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I was beyond thrilled to go back. We didn’t have any concrete plans beyond our flight dates. It was all about catching up with loved ones and packing in as much eating and shopping as we could! A number of you messaged me asking how I manage to stay fit while having an “amazing appetite” and it made me laugh so hard I started to cry. After months of sticking to mostly clean eating I decided to live life to the fullest and not care about the calories for the last week of the year. It was 100% worth it. Also with all the walking we did neither of us gained any weight during the trip.

San Diego

Tampa to San Diego Trip, December 2018

Above Left: Flying out of Tampa International Airport overlooking St. Pete Beach, Right: Landed in San Diego with the Away Luggage in Bigger Carry On and two Everywhere Bags (c/o), rest of our luggage was at baggage claim, wearing Madewell Sweater, Joie Jacket (older style), jeans worn are Frame Denim, sneakers are Converse Shoes

We took a red eye from Tampa to San Diego and packed our Away Luggage with 1 Medium Suitcase, 2 Bigger Carry-Ons and 2 Everywhere Bags. Full review + packing posts to follow in separate features as this one is pretty lengthy with 3 cities. I will say that the Medium Luggage was perfect for us and that we are both incredibly impressed with the Everywhere Bags. In San Diego Andrew booked us a room at Hotel Republic near downtown. It was around 12 minutes walking distance from Little Italy and in a relatively safe area. We enjoyed our stay! The rooms were clean, modern and very comfortable. We would definitely consider staying here again.

San Diego Travel Diary, Hotel Republic

Hotel Republic San Diego, California

Hotel Republic San Diego, California

We stopped by some of our favorite food places and tried one new spot. The first morning Andrew had to rush to meetings so we had breakfast in the hotel which was decent but there are better options in town. Our favorites:

  • Mission Cafe in North Park / Hillcrest – There are several locations around the city and this one is our favorite. They have the best rosemary potatoes and coffee in town. If you are going on the weekends go early, the wait can sometimes be longer 45 minutes!
  • In-N-Out Burger – I used to eat this weekly. There are no other burgers like this. If you like to eat healthy then I’d say avoid this, but I love it. My brother has offered so freeze and ship them to me from California.
  • Indigo Grill – One of our favorite dinner spots in Little Italy. We met up with a good friend here for dinner. If you try it I highly recommend you try out the brie appetizer. Their ribs are also pretty good.
  • Pho on 5th – This is a little hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant, we’ve tried a lot in town and there are so many good ones. This one is our favorite.

Other food places I’d recommend by area:

  • Little Italy – Crack Shack, Ballast Point, Pappalecco (for coffee and desserts), Ironside, PrepKitchen
  • Hillcrest / Balboa Park – Cucina Urbana
  • La Jolla – PrepKitchen, Coffee Cup La Jolla, Whisknladle, Herringbone, Piatti

Favorite Eats, San Diego, California

Little Italy, San Diego

We stopped by Coronado a couple times to visit family and walk around the beach. Compared to Tampa, the beaches in Coronado seemed freezing this time of year! We still love it here.

Coronado, Hotel Del, San Diego

Above wearing Everlane Cashmere Crew, Kate Spade Sunglasses (older color style, current version here), Rag and Bone Ankle Skinny

I also made a point to stop by one of my favorite coffee shops in town. Communal Coffee has really interesting floral lattes (and regular ones too). Their light bites are very good as well. They have a cute flower shop inside which is a little spendy to build your own bouquet but they always have the prettiest fresh cut flowers. The shop is not just Instagram friendly. They actually have very good coffee and food.

Communal Coffee San Diego, Hillcrest

Los Angeles

Our next stop was LA! On the way up we stopped in between San Diego and Los Angeles to see Rachel of Beauty Professor! I posted a photo of us with her beautiful baby on Instagram in case you missed it! We drove up that evening to LA and we stayed with my brother while we were in town. View from my brother’s house:

Los Angeles Views

We did one touristy thing while in town which was to visit the street where you can see the Hollywood Sign on Windsor Boulevard between 4th and 5th Street. Also shown in this post here.

Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles

We managed to pack in a lot of shopping at The Grove, Beverly Center, Americana at Brand and Westfield Century City. I would say the best spot to shop is Century City. The Grove is always fun, but with the recent changes and upgrades, you will find a lot more options at Century City or Americana At Brand. Melrose is also a super cute area for the smaller boutiques and restaurants. Quick thank you to the sweet readers who stopped me to say hello while we were out and about! It really made my day that you took the time to stop and say hi 🙂

Christmas Americana At Brand

Highlights Below:

  • Westfield Century City has Eataly is super cute inside! I think the one in New York is better, but the one in Los Angeles isn’t bad. We bought some bite-sized pastries and espresso to refuel and re-energize in between all of our walking and running around.
  • Sugarfina stores aren’t anywhere in Tampa (yet), they have a small selection here and there at a few stores, but no free standing location. I stocked up on their holiday santa cookies and gummies!
  • Compartes Chocolates has some of the cutest chocolate bars, I usually go to the one on Melrose but we didn’t make it there this time. Luckily there was a cute store in Century City!
  • Gjusta is my brother’s favorite place to eat so we met up with him there. This was my second time here and it is always amazing! We also really love Gjelina in Venice (restaurant and take out) but for dinner they often require reservations which we didn’t plan in advance for. We were in town Christmas week and knowing how busy they are we didn’t even try to go.

LA Eats Century City and Gjusta

Other eats and tries:

  • Butcher, Baker, Cappuccino Maker was a spot we tried for the first time in West Hollywood, Andrew’s breakfast sandwich was amazing but my avocado toast was just ok. The coffee was delicious though!
  • Egg Slut – We met up with my bestie here for the first time and loved it. Andrew was convinced we were going to Shake Shack next door and still hasn’t forgiven me that we didn’t stop by this trip.
  • Dominique Ansel at The Grove – We had a few pastries here and the cronuts. The one in NYC is better but the Los Angeles location is still very good.
  • Din Tai Fung (not shown) – We were so excited about this we forgot to take any photos! My family is from Taiwan and when I was in college, I spent a summer there. I ate at Din Tai Fung in Taipei every week. I don’t think any of the locations in the US are quite like the original ones, but it’s still very very good! It was Andrew’s first time trying it and he was very impressed.

LA Eats Butcher, Baker Cappucino Maker, Egg Slut, Dominique Ansel Bakery

My bestie Laura, so happy to see her! Below wearing the top is the Free People Nikala Tee (still available here), jeans are the 7 For All Mankind High Waist Skinny, Chloe Mini Marcie, Cole Haan Grandpro Stitchlite

Beauty Look Book Besties

Below outside my happy place, I had to stop by multiple Sephora stores. This one at Century City is the best one we saw!

My Happy Place Sephora

Last Stop San Francisco

San Francisco Exploring

Cropped Sweater from & Other Stories, Frame Le Skinny Denim jeans on repeat, Converse Shoes, Chloe bag

Our last stop was San Francisco. We arrived in town Christmas Eve and stayed a few more days at my brother-in-law’s house. One of our good friends gave us a tour of the new Facebook facility in San Francisco. He’s based in campus in Menlo Park but was still able to give us a tour of the new building. The views from the top floors were amazing!

View from 34th Floor Facebook San Francisco

Leather jacket from Vince (old style, current version here)

San Francisco Views from the 34th Floor

San Francisco Views

My must-sees for San Francisco were Tartine Bakery and Tartine Manufactory. I would eat at both places on a daily basis if I could. The bread and pastries are the best I’ve ever had! I live for the Tartine Morning Buns.

San Francisco Tartine Manufactory and Tartine Bakery

We also tried a few other cute places which I didn’t get pictures of. Most of the restaurants were closed for Christmas Eve and Christmas but we managed to find some open restaurants. On Christmas Eve we stopped by a ramen place called Iza Ramen which was really cute! On Christmas evening we decided not to cook at home and instead went out for Chinese dumplings. Three of us put in our names at both Kingdom of Dumpling and Dumpling Kitchen (they’re both on the same street) and waited nearly 45 minutes for a table. Kingdom of Dumpling opened up first. It’s a very tiny restaurant inside with maybe only 8 tables. Even though the wait was long and space was a little cramped, we had the most entertaining memorable Christmas there. We would 100% go back.

A few more snapshots of our trip. I have the worst fear of heights and it’s an ordeal for me to walk down steep hills. I would almost rather stop drop and roll down any steep hill, it’s that bad. Andrew held my hand the entire time. We walked through Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Lombard Street and it was so packed for the holidays! We eventually made our way down to Boudin’s at Fisherman’s Wharf to grab some coffee and just took our time to enjoy the city.

San Francisco Nob Hill

San Francisco Travel Diary

On our last day before we flew back to Tampa, we stopped by a hole in the wall Banh Mi shop called Dinosaurs in the Castro. It was excellent! It’s tiny but the food was delicious.

San Francisco Travel Diary

I hope you enjoyed our California Travel Diary! We are not good at planning but we always manage to have a good time even on spur of the moment adventures. I hope in 2019 we’ll be better and plan our trips more in advance. I’m currently researching places to visit in the upcoming months. We have so much on our travel bucket list it’s hard to pick a destination!

Do you have any favorite spots in California? Or any travel plans for the upcoming year? I’d love to hear about them! Packing posts are what most of you have been asking me for. I’m breaking it down into a 3 part series so stay tuned! I’ll let you know what I brought with me, what I could have skipped and also the list of things I felt like I missed.

 

California Travel

Hello from California!

December 26, 2018

Christmas 2018 in LA, Americana At Brand Mall | The Beauty Look Book

I’m a day late but hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I’m writing from San Francisco, California right now. We decided to spend our last week of the year on the West Coast for Christmas to visit family and friends! I was so thrilled to be able to hit up three cities, San Diego (our hometown), Los Angeles and San Francisco. I’ll have a more detailed travel diary up soon but you can follow along on what we are doing on @beautylookbook Instagram Stories. It’s been two years since we left San Diego and my first time back since then. My heart has been filled with so much joy as we’ve been reunited with friends and family. I’ve been trying to live as much as I can in the moment so I haven’t been posting as much but I have some beauty reviews coming up very soon that I’ve been working on so stay tuned!

City guide, packing post, travel beauty picks and more to follow soon. So many of you have asked about our favorite food spots in San Diego and I’ll compile a list of our favorites. We were in town only for a couple days but made it back to Mission Cafe (best one is in Hillcrest), Indigo Grill, Pho on 5th and of course In-n-Out Burger. After being on a very strict healthy diet back home for the past 6 months (mostly chicken, brown rice, sweet potatoes or some kind of vegetable) we decided to indulge in a full cheat week with all the amazing food on the West Coast. I’ve been busy getting my fill of bread, dumplings and pastries.

A quick peek at some places we hit up in San Diego – Coronado, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I was also so thrilled to be able to visit my good friend Rachel of @beautyprofessor and finally meet her adorable baby Johanna. This is such a precious age and I’m happy I was able to see her!

California Christmas San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco | The Beauty Look Book

All the things I packed to follow in a more detailed post, but above wearing the Everlane Cashmere Crew, 7 For All Mankind b(air) Skinny Jeans, Make and Model Cozy Up Cropped Hoodie in Grey, Loft Cable Knit Sweater, Vince Moto Jacket (old style, similar here), Converse Chuck Low Sneakers. Also been living off the IGK Jet Lag Dry Shampoo for the nights I’ve been too tired to wash my hair. We also put our Away Everywhere Bags to the test for the first time and I can say hands down it’s the best travel bag I have ever used. Andrew was also impressed after testing it!

Hope you all had a great holiday! Sending you lots of love from California right now.

 

California Packing Travel

Weekend Los Angeles Travel Diary

December 10, 2017

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

I have two travel diaries to share as we’ve spent a few weeks traveling this holiday from coast to coast! Two weekends ago Andrew and I flew to Los Angeles for my bestie’s wedding. We spent a few extra days in town to visit some of our favorite spots and meet up with some family as well. It’s been only 10 months since we left California and I can’t believe a lot has already changed in LA! Lots of new construction, new stores and massive mall renovations. We were in town for close to 3 days. This was a short trip and I wish we had been able to stay a full week but hopefully we will be able to travel back to the West Coast in the new year. Trip highlights and photo diary below!

Where we stayed: Mr. C Beverly Hills

For this trip Andrew and I stayed at Mr. C Beverly Hills and had an amazing stay. This was our second time staying at this hotel and it couldn’t be more perfect. I’ve stayed at a number of hotels in Los Angeles before and this one has been my favorite. The hotel has beautiful rooms, excellent service, amazing views and it’s also located in a great spot in Beverly Hills. It’s clean, modern, romantic and just lovely.

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

His and hers Away Suitcases, these are the regular Carry-On Size (reviewed here)

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

Travel beauty shelfie: let me know if you want the full beauty pack list and I’ll try to do a separate travel beauty post. In the meantime you can see my Travel Beauty Cases post here. What I packed on previous trips in my Dallas Travel Diary and San Francisco Pack List. I tend to repeat a lot of items. I traveled with the Dyson Supersonic Dryer for the first time and found it was absolutely essential for me. It will definitely be going on future trips! If you buy one make sure you find a good storage case for it. The one I have came with a pouch. I think the hard case version will probably be more ideal to protect it.

Travel Beauty Shelfie

Mr C Beverly Hills Hotel

Sightseeing spots:

We’ve both been to Los Angeles a number of times so we picked a few sightseeing spots to visit. One of our favorite things to do is to look for night-time viewpoints. Since my brother is based in LA he has been able to show us some amazing view points! Places we stopped by:

Santa Monica Pier Sunsets | The Beauty Look Book

Santa Monica for the sunset and beach

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Beverly Hills Nighttime Lights

Night City Views from our Hotel

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Griffith Observatory Night View December 2017

Griffith Observatory Night View December 2017

Griffith Observatory

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Hollywood Sign Viewpoint Beachwood Drive

View of the Hollywood Sign from Beachwood Drive. If you’re driving along this street make sure you don’t keep going straight up into the hills! Turn off before you reach the hill otherwise you’ll get stuck like we did. The streets are narrow and windy and it took us forever to find our way back down!

Where we shopped:

Westfield Century City is a newly renovated mall and it’s amazing! There are still a lot of stores under construction with “coming soon” signs but there is a lot to find there. It’s especially great if you want a central location to shop with a lot to offer. The Nordstrom there has the most amazing beauty department I’ve seen in the US – they have Tom Ford, a Space NK wall, Atelier Cologne, Frederic Mall, a Natural Beauty section and so much more.

Nordstrom Century City Mall | The Beauty Look Book

Nordstrom Century City Mall | The Beauty Look Book

We also stopped by a few boutiques including Penhaligon’s and Aesop. The Aesop store is just so beautiful – all of them are! The staff is genuinely friendly, helpful, non-pushy and knowledgeable.

Aesop Century City Store Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

We made a quick stop inside Barneys New York on Rodeo Drive, I love this store 🙂

Barneys New York Beverly Hills Store | The Beauty Look Book

One evening we had dinner in Venice Beach on Abbott Kinney. I made a quick stop inside Hourglass store to see what was new. Anxiously waiting for spring launches!

Hourglass Store Abbot Kinney Venice

Also on Abbot Kinney is an amazing Smashbox store! They have a lipstick bar and lipstick wall, it’s incredible. I highly recommend stopping by.

Smashbox Store Venice Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Where we ate:

Unfortunately I didn’t get many good food pics as the times we ate we were in dark restaurants or in a rush and didn’t get a photo! As a junk food junkie I’ve been dreaming about In-n-Out for months. I had been dieting for weeks beforehand to be able to eat junk food on our two recent trips. We ate at In-n-Out twice, had Mr. C room service a few times which was AMAZING (best burger I’ve ever had), dinner spots included Gjelina and Marino. Gjelina is one of my favorite restaurants of all time. In the event you aren’t able to get reservations and don’t want to wait for a table (dinner can get busy) there’s a take out Gjelina right next door.

Mr. C Beverly Hills Room Service

What I packed and what I wore:

I packed an Away Carry-On with a few outfits, makeup, skincare and my Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer. I definitely over packed but didn’t quite pack the right clothing for the weather so I’ll share what I actually wore. I’ve also come to the realization that I need a wardrobe makeover for travel. Living in South Florida I’ve been living in super lightweight clothes, sandals, shorts, dresses because it is HOT here! For the rest of the country it’s really not warm enough to wear what I have right now. Funny how quick we can be to forget what real seasonal weather can be like. Although I do have to say I’ve always lived where it is sunny year round.

Weekend Packing for Beverly Hills

What I wore:

  • Tan leather jacket by Joie (older style, similar here, here and here)
  • Cotton floral sundress by Zara (old style)
  • Louis Vuitton Neverfull Tote MM size
  • Strapless navy floral dress by Majorelle
  • Black denim jeans from Paige (my favorite brand of jeans ever!)
  • Long sleeve sweater/tee by Rag and Bone/JEAN
  • Cotton button down shirt by Joie (old style, similar here, here and here)
  • Denim cut-off shorts from Blank NYC
  • Nude leather wallet on chain clutch by YSL
  • Black block-heeled sandals by Stuart Weitzman
  • Patent leather sandals by Tory Burch
  • Foldable sunglasses by Tory Burch

Weekend Getaway Pack List | The Beauty Look Book

One snapshot I have from Laura’s wedding, thanks to Jessica Alexander for the photo! Laura wearing a chic white dress from ALC, I’m wearing Majorelle.

A few more photos:

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

Mr. C Beverly Hills Hotel Los Angeles Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

Prosecco and chocolate strawberries courtesy of Mr. C Beverly Hills! We’ve never been treated with such a surprise before!

Mr. C Beverly Hills Prosecco and Strawberries

Santa Monica Pier

Beverly Hills

Additional thoughts:

We had a lovely stay and it was great to be back on the West Coast. There were a few things we would have done differently if we could have a do-over on the trip.

  • If you plan visiting LA from out of town and are going to stay mainly in the Beverly Hills area I’d recommend you Uber instead of renting a car. Any hotel in the Beverly Hills area is going to have pretty high overnight parking fees and the traffic in LA is pretty stressful no matter where or when you’re driving. Not to mention finding street parking adds more stress. I’ve driven to LA from San Diego for events and weekend trips a number of times and my brother has recommended I take the train instead and Uber around the city to save time and stress from parking. That being said a lot of things are spread out in Southern California sometimes having a car is essential.
  • We probably would have booked 2 more days to be able to take our time, see more places and visit more with friends/family. I think if we had 4-5 full days it would have been plenty of time.
  • Shopping-wise I would have planned out my stops a little better. Abbot Kinney on Venice Beach has grown so much since I’ve last been there. I would have definitely allocated more time to walk the streets and browse. There are a lot of beauty boutiques there like Aesop, Caudalie, Hourglass, Smashbox and lot of clothing stores there. I think the Century City mall is quite amazing though.
  • We would have probably skipped visiting Santa Monica. I think it’s great to see once, but we’ve both been there so many times seeing it again was a bit redundant and it was pretty far from everything else we wanted to see.
  • Take some time to just sit back and do absolutely nothing! This is something we both need to work on. When we travel we tend to travel for adventure and I pack in a lot of things. Sometimes I need to remind myself to slow down and take a break.

Hope you enjoyed this travel diary! I’m working on my Miami trip post but probably won’t have it up until the end of the week or early next week. Stay tuned for more beauty posts soon!

Do you have any favorite LA spots?

Media rate was provided by Mr. C Beverly Hills for feature.

 

California Packing Travel

The Palace Hotel + Travel Packing List for San Francisco

August 31, 2017

Palace Hotel San Francisco | The Beauty Look Book

Today’s post is Part 2 of my San Francisco Travel Diary with a review of the Palace Hotel and my pack list with the Bigger Carry-On from Away’s new Stockholm Collection. In past years my husband and I usually stay at the Westin St. Francis on our San Francisco trips because we fell in love with the cute romantic vibe in their Landmark Building. This visit was a girls trip so I decided to try something new decided to give the Palace Hotel a try. The beautiful Garden Court is what sold me – it just looks magical! The reviews looked promising for cleanliness and comfort so I booked a room with 2 double beds. When we checked in they gave us one on the 7th floor with the New Montgomery Street View and it was just perfect. We didn’t hear any street noise and it came with one of the Toto Washlet and with heated seats. The rooms are on the small size which was expected for the city but the room was pristine with comfortable beds, amazingly soft linens, extra towels and really cute turn down service. Upon check-in I was given a small bag of Ghirardelli Chocolates as they have a store right outside the hotel. For me it was a win right from the start!

A look a the entrance:

Palace Hotel San Francisco

We wanted to try the Garden Court for tea but didn’t make it this round, the lighting is just so pretty. If you look up you can see there’s another floor with a room which we assumed was reserved for special events or weddings. We tried to find the door to it but could not.

Palace Hotel San Francisco

Palace Hotel San Francisco

Palace Hotel San Francisco

Away Bigger Carry On in Clay:

Away Bigger Carry On

There is a pool and a nice gym on the 4th floor which we took a peek at – we didn’t get to use it though as each day we did quite a bit of walking. Enough to wear us out completely!

Palace Hotel Pool San Francisco

A look at the room we booked, cute hallways on each floor!

San Francisco Palace Hotel

Double Bed Room:

San Francisco Palace Hotel Room

View from the 7th Floor, New Montgomery Street View:

San Francisco Palace Hotel Room and View

Bathroom and a quick selfie, sweater top from Club Monaco, jeans from Hudson, jacket old style from Joie (similar here and here), flats by Chloe:

San Francisco Palace Hotel Bathroom

What I packed below. As mentioned in Part 1 – both Laura and I under packed for the weather. She flew in from Los Angeles and I flew in from Tampa where the weather is in the high 90s. Our clothes simply were not warm enough for what we’re used to but we made it work by layering. Since 75% of our outfits were too cold we re-wore a lot of our sweaters and pants. I brought the Away Bigger Carry-On in Clay which is the perfect warm clay pink color. It’s part of the Rashida Jones Stockholm collection with 3 limited-edition colors, Packing Cubes and a Stockholm tote (new current packing cubes here). My husband is the organized one who knows all the packing tips and tricks to make life easier so he bought me packing cubes for our Europe trip a few years ago. They do indeed help organize things but they’re not really the most aesthetically pleasing. It’s a minor detail but these Away cubes are the prettiest ones I’ve seen. I’ve already ordered a few more packs.

I didn’t have time to photograph all the outfits I packed and since I didn’t wear everything I’ll list what I fit inside the Bigger Carry-On Size. You can also see this post from spring here and here of what goes inside this size. My pack list, I’ve linked the items I packed as well in case you are curious:

  • 2 pairs of jeans (I usually wear the Paige Verdugo Ankles because they’re good for my height) and 1 pair that I wore on the plane
  • 2 shirts, one long sleeve button down from AG, one off-shoulder top from Rag and Bone
  • 1 brown leather jacket from Joie (old style, similar here and here) and 1 short trench I wore on the plane (from Jcrew, old style, long classic version here)
  • 1 pair of running shoes from Nike
  • 1 pair of flats from Chloe
  • 1 shift dress (old)
  • 2 pairs of yoga pants to sleep/lounge in
  • 4 tank tops to sleep in or layer (I love these from Madewell)
  • 2 sweaters from Club Monaco
  • 1 belt
  • socks and underwear
  • Leica Instant print camera (but I forgot to pack the film!)
  • tech stuff like laptop charger, phone cords etc.
  • makeup and skincare will be listed below

Pack List with Away Bigger Carry On

Before I go into my beauty pack list, here’s a look at the Bigger Carry-On next to the Stockholm Tote. The tote is made of “water-resistant nylon with vegan leather details and featuring a zip top, an exterior pocket, interior laptop sleeve, two interior snap pockets, and a removable zippered pouch that fits the really big iPhone.” I didn’t take it with me on this trip but I wish I had. One of the biggest issues I have with my larger totes is they don’t have good pockets or compartments inside (I should probably invest in an insert at some point!). The Stockholm tote is simple, streamlined and functional with enough pockets to store essentials for easy access. The depth is quite roomy so you don’t have to feel like magazines and your laptop are stuffed inside.

The Bigger Carry On measures 22.7” x 14.7” x 9.6” Weight 7.3 lbs Capacity 46L
The Tote measures 13.5” x 12” x 4.5” and can fit an 11” MacBook, cross body strap drop is 18″

Pack List with Away Bigger Carry On and Stockholm Tote

A look at my suitcase opened with the tote laid on top for size reference. I received the Cactus Packing Cubes from Away and for this trip I only used 3 of the 4 in the set. There are different sizes so you can organize literally everything. Shown below on the left is the Daily Edited Large Cosmetic Case in black (largest one one of the best travel makeup cases I’ve bought!), Leica Sofort, Sony NEX-6 (discontinued, old model), Marc Jacobs Rimless Aviators (current style here). On the right is a Glossier Pouch (you usually get them with your orders), Truffle Mini Clarity Clutch, mophie Powerstation Mini (2,500mAh) – White, Here Magazine and a Sugarfina Cube of Pineapple Candy.

Pack List with Away Bigger Carry On

A few notes if you’re shopping for luggage and missed my previous reviews on Away. I discovered them in 2015 when they only had 1 size (the Carry-On) and have used their suitcases exclusively for the past few years because of the streamlined design, sturdy exterior, charging component in carry-on and for their really good wheels. I’ve literally bought all my loved-ones suitcases as gifts and converted them all to using them as well! I’ve tried both the regular Carry-On which is best for international flights and the Bigger Carry-On which works on most US Domestic Flights. You can see a size comparison with dimensions on their website here which is really helpful – they’ve done the research to help you decide! As a carry-on traveler this really can fit a lot inside because the handles, battery and wheels don’t consume a lot of space on the inside while a lot of other brands do.

I have checked these on occasion even though I usually do carry-ons. My husband has checked his a lot too. They are prone to scuffs and scratches, but really anything you check is bound to get scratched. With mine I used it on 3 back to back flights and it didn’t get any deep scratches. For surface scuffs the team at Away recommends you use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and warm water to remove them and for me it works like a charm.

The makeup I brought with me (items that were press samples will be marked with a *)

Travel Beauty

My skincare lineup shown below. Believe it or not all of my liquids did indeed fit inside a single quart size bag. I had to play around with the arrangement like Tetris a few times to make everything fit as I’m a carry-on traveler. If you’ve been following this blog for years, you may remember that I actually made it through a month-long trip in Europe with a carry-on backpack.

Travel Beauty

I missed having my hair dryer, but San Francisco water is so much better than Tampa water – my hair was naturally shiny and smooth during my trip with air drying! I also packed an assortment of tools like makeup brushes, lash curler and hair brush but didn’t photograph them before unpacking. As usual I packed too much – I did use everything I brought in skincare, but makeup was a bit overdone.

Packing for San Francisco

One last look at the beautiful hotel:

Palace Hotel San Francisco

I hope you enjoyed this review of the hotel and what I packed! We had a lovely stay at The Palace Hotel – I’d definitely consider staying here again on my next visit. If you travel to San Francisco occasionally where do you usually stay? Open to any and all recommendations!

P.S. My posting schedule has been a bit off lately as I’m living the nomadic life right now. I’ll be heading to New York, California (again) and back to Florida in September. Florida life recap post is still coming – I know many of you are curious where/why we are moving and I’ll explain more in a future post. Long story short we now get to explore different areas of Florida and it’s been quite an adventure but an unexpectedly great experience. I still cannot believe how BIG Florida is and since moving here and most of my West Coast friends don’t know how spread out everything is. I have to show them maps to explain how long it takes to drive from area to area. Beauty posts to resume soon. I’ve still been putting a lot to the test to review here!

Beauty and skincare press samples indicated with a *. Away Stockholm Collection provided for review. We paid for our room, however a media rate was extended to us by The Palace Hotel for this review. As always all opinions my own.

 

Boutique California Travel

San Francisco Travel Diary

August 30, 2017

San Francisco Travel Diary | The Beauty Look Book

I’m excited to share Part 1 of my San Francisco trip with you today! Last week I went on a mini girls trip to San Francisco with my bestie Laura. It has been around four years since I last visited the city and was thrilled to have a few days to explore, shop and eat. We made a shared Google map listing all the places we wanted to visit and most of them were either bakeries or breakfast places. In total we had around 3 days to see everything so after we made an enormous travel wish list we narrowed our top picks to pace ourselves and give us enough time to chat and catch up since we now live on opposite coasts. We stayed at the Palace Hotel San Francisco which was the first time either of us had visited this hotel. Both of us had a great experience here and loved the customer service – we both agreed that it’s one we would both most likely return to on future San Francisco trips (more on this in Part 2 coming soon).

We covered quite a bit of ground during our stay. I’ve thought about how to share our trip and decided for this post it would be most helpful to share this in a San Francisco in 3 days kind of format. Our trip was really spread over 4 days including travel time, but our actual time in the city was around 3 so if you’re planning a quick trip or extended weekend kind of vacation this might be helpful. We both would have loved to be able to say the entire trip was a hit filled with all amazing experiences. We actually had a few misses, but we didn’t let it spoil our fun. If anything it made for some good memories we can laugh about in the future.

Day 1: Thursday

I flew into San Francisco in the morning and arrived around noon. The trip from SFO to the city was around 35 minutes. We both arrived at different times so I had a few hours to walk around Union Square and stopped by Barneys and Sephora (bought the Milk Blur Liquid Matte Foundation in Golden Sand). After Laura arrived in the city, we walked to the Nespresso Boutique excited for good coffee and a light sandwich but were both extremely disappointed with the poor service and food quality. Both of us have been to Nespresso cafes before so we were shocked at the rude service, dirty tables, incorrect coffee orders and long wait time we experienced after we were seated. Based on our experience I will never be eating here ever again. However we did not let that spoil our spirits and we decided to walk around Union Square to do some window shopping.

San Francisco Palace Hotel | The Beauty Look Book

San Francisco Travel Diary

San Francisco barneys and sephora | The Beauty Look Book

By the time we checked into our hotel room we completely forgot the sour experience at Nespresso as our hotel room was just so adorable and it had the perfect setup. We had a New Montgomery Street view room (around 300 sq feet) on the 7th floor. It was on the small side but the rooms looked like they had been renovated within at least the last year. The bathrooms were modern and everything was clean and pristine inside. The toilet seats were heated and now I want one of my own. More on this lovely hotel in Part 2!

For dinner we met up with one of Laura’s friends at Nopa. All of us fell in love with this place and thought it was well worth the long wait. The restaurant books up pretty fast and by the time I had tried to make reservations there was nothing left! They do have a bar area and shared table which is unreserved and open on a first come first serve basis. We arrived at around 6:10 and every seat was already filled so we waited 30 minutes at the bar and had some drinks before something opened at the shared table. The food was phenomenal and the drinks were amazing. We did some shared plates which was plenty of food for the three of us and I ate the best tomato salad I’ve ever had in my life. Service was quick and professional – if you’re not a fan of crowded restaurants you definitely should make reservations in advance. After dinner we walked around the corner to a small market and bought some cookies for dessert before heading back to the hotel to wind down. At the hotel we both whipped out some sheet masks I had brought while we watched TV until we passed out granny style lol.

Nopa San Francisco

Day 2: Friday

Our priority on this trip was a visit to Tartine Bakery. We had both been here before on separate occasions and fell in love. Tartine is on my must-do list for every SF trip! This round it was every bit as amazing as we had remembered. I got my usual which is a morning bun, croque monsieur and a latte. Laura got her usual which is the ham and cheese croissant but also tried a few other new pastries including a lemon poppy seed cake. We heard that a restaurant opened called Tartine Manufactory but we didn’t make it this round. After breakfast we headed to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies – it was such a beautiful area and we were really surprised how many people we already in the park sitting to take in the city views. We spent around 30 minutes sitting and snapping pictures.

Tartine Bakery San Francisco

San Francisco Alamo Square Painted Ladies

San Francisco Alamo Square | The Beauty Look Book

Our next stop was Fillmore Street where we stopped by Space NK and the store is beautiful! If you’re looking for an intimate and quiet place to do some beauty shopping this is it. The staff at the individual stores are always so nice, not pushy and really helpful. I bought a pack of 111SKIN Sheet Masks because I find them life changing. I also picked up a By Terry Glow Expert Duo Stick in Amber Light (excited to try this) along with a Stylo Blackstar in Maroon Glace (also excited to see how this wears!). I convinced Laura to buy a pack of the 111Skin sheet masks as well. She bought the By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Primer – I’ll have to ask her what she thinks about it. We wandered around Fillmore a bit more and stumbled across an Atelier Cologne boutique. I had to stop inside as I’ve never seen a full store before. We were helped by an associate named Homer who was one of the most knowledgeable perfume experts I’ve ever met. He was patient, friendly and helped us sample almost everything in the store. I bought Bois Blonde in the travel size. There are also sampler sets you can buy as well in case you can’t smell them all in person. If you can stop by a boutique I highly recommend it, the service is phenomenal and they aren’t pushy at all. These days I find retail shopping can often be an unpleasant experience (outside of Sephora or Nordstrom) with pushy sales reps or reps who don’t know the products well. Both SpaceNK and Atelier Cologne had excellent service with knowledgeable staff that were friendly and fun. Plus the interiors are well maintained and clean!

Space NK Fillmore Street

Space NK Fillmore Street San Francisco

Atelier Cologne San Francisco Store

The day ended with an amazing dinner at Gary Danko. I’ve been here several times with my husband (reservations are highly recommended) and it’s one of the best restaurants I’ve been to with a fancy yet unpretentious atmosphere. The experience is truly special and words cannot explain how lovely this place is.

Day 3: Saturday

We decided this was the day we would do some hiking and get some good photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately it was cloudy everywhere we went! We started the day at Land’s End. It was foggy but still beautiful for a short hike. We started at the Suttro Baths end made it to the half-way point until we reached the steep staircase, took a look at it, decided we didn’t want to go up hill to check out the view on the other side and turned back to look for some food. The total hike was around 2 miles to the half way point and was really easy. Later on the trip my friends told me if I was hiking there to get good views and photos all I had to do was walk to the end and take an Uber to the other side, snap a picture and then fake tell everyone I hiked the whole trail. If it weren’t cloudy and my friend wasn’t expecting I probably would have tried to walk all the way.

Land's End San Francisco

Our food adventures this day were misses. We decided to look for some Bun Mee so Laura googled “best bunmee SF” and we decided to try a place called Saigon Sandwich because it had over 2,800 reviews with a 4.5 star rating. We did not realize this was in the Tenderloin nor did we really know what the Tenderloin was like. We navigated through some pretty rough areas where the streets were filled with drug addicts and twitching people. We both thought there was a chance we’d get stabbed. Still we braved the few blocks to the sandwich shop and both opted for the combination sandwich. This place is a take out kind without seating so we decided to take our sandwiches to Union Square out of the Tenderloin to eat them. Based on the high rave reviews we let down but perhaps we had too high expectations. Neither of us finished our sandwiches – maybe we just got the wrong kind. The meat was flavorless for me and the bread was super crunchy. Laura thought her tooth broke after she took a bite. Since we were in Union Square, we decided our next stop would be Diptyque on Geary Street and it was just so beautiful inside! I had visited the original one on Maiden Lane but they moved locations into a new space. I bought two mini candles to take home as a souvenir in Baies and Verveine.

San Francisco Maiden Lane

Diptyque Geary San Francisco

Diptyque San Francisco Geary

Diptyque San Francisco Geary

By mid-day we decided to search for something sweet and headed to Miette for some pastries. We ended up going to the location with mostly candy and macarons instead of the one with cakes but decided to try the ice cream sandwiches which barely had any taste. We decided after a few bites they weren’t worth the calories and didn’t finish them. As an FYI we went to the Miette on Octavia Street. When we arrived at the store we were told the one at the Ferry Building had a larger selection of cakes and cupcakes so if this is on your list, I’d recommend you go to the one at the Ferry Building instead.

After two semi-fails for food we decided to visit Media Noche which also had high ratings for great Cuban food. I ordered the Lechon Bowl and Laura ordered a Media Noche sandwich with some empanadas. We’re both obsessed with Cuban food and had high hopes. I’d give it a solid B+ rating but the local Cuban sandwich shop in St. Petersburg Florida has pretty much ruined me for life as I now consider this the standard for the best Cuban food I’ve had and to date nothing has come close in comparison. We notices reviews on Yelp complained about the small portions and we found the portions quite generous. The Agua Fresca of the day was quite amazing there, SF has some of the best fresh drinks and juices I’ve ever had.

San Francisco Media Noche and Garden Creamery

We decided to give our food adventures one last try in search for some ice cream. We both had Bi-Rite Creamery on our list (which I’ve already tried and really liked) but there was one right down the street about a block or two away called Garden Creamery which has good reviews and interesting sounding flavors. There was a long line out the door when we arrived but it was probably only a 10 minute wait. They’ll let you sample flavors when you get to the counter and I got two variations of coconut. It was perfectly smooth and creamy without being overly sweet. They also have dairy free vegan options. I liked it enough that I would definitely go back – the flavors are so unique! Little details like that make places special. Just an FYI their “single” option is actually two scoops and you can either get 2 of the same flavor or 2 different ones.

The last part of our day was to try and catch the sunset by the Golden Gate Bridge. We took an Uber directly to the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center and much to our dismay the fog had rolled in. The wind was pretty strong so we waited around 30 minutes hoping it would pass as we walked around but had little luck. It was still fun to see the interesting weather.

San Francisco Fog Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco City View from bridge

Day 4: Sunday

This was our last day together in the city. We started the day off with another visit to Tartine then headed to Golden Gate Park to see the Conservatory of Flowers and California Academy of Sciences which has one of the most impressive aquariums we had ever seen. There’s a fun butterfly exhibit inside their rainforest section with some of the biggest butterflies I’ve ever seen. I didn’t leave until the next day so after saying goodbye to my friend at the hotel I wandered around the city for a few hours to stop by Bloomingdales to pick up the Charlotte Tilbury exclusive lipstick Miss Bloomingdale. I also stopped by Nordstrom and bought one of the Dior Rouge Liquid Lip in Delicate Satin and a MAC Dazzleglass in Sugarrimmed. They had a mini Sugarfina boutique inside so I picked up several cubes of candy as there isn’t one in Tampa. I met up with friends in town that night and we had dinner in the Castro at a cute place called Finn Town which was delicious and I would definitely go back to.

Golden Gate Park San Francisco

San Francisco Conservatory Flowers

California Academy of Sciences

A few other thoughts and notes:

  • Navigating the city: San Francisco is the perfect place you can travel to without a car. It’s actually better not to have one. We got around easily on the Muni, Bart and Uber. Like any major urban city, there are going to be busy times that aren’t ideal for getting around quickly in which case Uber is usually a better option but a lot more expensive. Out of all the big cities I’ve visited, navigating the San Francisco is probably one of the easiest and most straight forward even for a novice traveler.
  • Weather can be unpredictable: Laura flew in from Los Angeles and I flew in from Tampa. Both of us had looked at the weather reports and still under packed by a long shot in terms of warm clothes. We doubled up on our sweaters and long sleeve shirts and even though we had a warm weekend there were times we felt like we were freezing.
  • There’s so much more we wanted to see. There was a lot on our list we didn’t get to but we felt like we accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.
  • Food highlights: Tartine, Nopa and Gary Danko.

I hope you enjoyed this San Francisco roundup! We covered a lot of ground in a few days. Part 2 to follow with a packing list and recap of our stay at the Palace Hotel. Have you done short trips to San Francisco? What are your favorite spots? Any go-to restaurants or bakeries you love?

 

California Packing Travel

Travel Beauty + Packing For San Francisco

August 26, 2017

Travel Beauty Away Luggage Carry On | The Beauty Look Book

I’ve been a bit MIA as I’m currently in San Francisco for a quick girls trip! It has been quite a few years since I’ve visited San Francisco and I’m beyond thrilled to be back. I’ll have a full packing post, SF travel diary and a little shopping feature coming up soon. In the meantime I’ve rounded up some of my favorite travel beauty sets you can buy right now. I always try to hoard my minis and samples but sometimes they’re just too good to save for trips. I love it when brands have travel sizes or sets available for purchase because then I don’t have to decant anything into mini jars or bottles. I really like original packaging anyways.

First I wanted to mention that Away launched a new collection in collaboration with Rashida Jones with three new colors and these are the best colors yet! The launch is called The Stockholm Edition as it was inspired by Scandinavian designs and colors. There are new colors three available in Clay (shown here), Cactus and Violet. Also launched with the Stockholm Collection is a new Stockholm Tote made of black water-resistant nylon and vegan leather. It has a sleeve in the back to slide over the handles of the suitcase for easy carrying. They’ve also launched coordinating colors in packing cubes. Full review to follow soon but the packing cubes are the best looking packing cubes I’ve ever seen while still being super functional.

For those who love Away they’ve also launched a new magazine called Here.

Away Luggage x Rashida Jones Clay and Tote | The Beauty Look Book

Up first is haircare. I love travel-sized haircare! Often times it’s what I’ll buy first before buying the full sizes. I think they’re such a great way to try things and I love testing all kinds of shampoos and conditioners. My obsession can get a bit out of hand with all the bottles and jars that accumulate in the shower, but I love minis. The Ouai Morning After Kit at Nordstrom has the perfect size travel items with the Rose Hair and Body Oil, Finishing Creme and Dry Shampoo Foam (also available at Net-A-Porter). For brushes I usually bring a few with me, my favorite travel-sized one is the Sephora Collection Luxe Combo Travel Brush. There’s also a Christophe Robin exclusive to Net-A-Porter called the Essentials Kit with minis of the Moisturizing Hair Cream, Regenerating Mask, Cleansing Mask and Cleansing Purifiying Scrub with Sea Salt. I’ve tried and love all of these but I know some of you may have been hesitant to buy the full size as the price points are on the expensive side. This is a great way to sample them. You can also find some of the mini sizes at Sephora with a mini Cleansing Purifying Scrub, Detox Ritual Hair Kit and Regenerating Hair Ritual Travel Kit.

 

Ouai Morning After Set and Christophe Robin Minis Net-A-Porter | The Beauty Look Book

In skincare, Tatcha has the best travel sizes. The packaging is well designed and they have good sizes for several days worth. I’ve already bought and featured the Starter Ritual for Normal to Oily Skin (currently sold out). Below is the Starter Ritual Set for Normal to Dry Skin with travel sizes of the One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil, Classic Rice Enzyme Powder, Essence and Silk Cream. I think these are really phenomenal sets perfect for travel.

The Sisley-Paris Subscription Program is one of the best ways to try Sisley skincare at an affordable price. Many of you commented you had already subscribed and kept the minis for travel which I think is genius. I’ve discovered quite a few amazing items from this program. You can see a 6 month review here.

Another set I tried recently was the Belif Best Sellers Travel Set. I bought it at Sephora curious about the items in the line as I really liked the Aqua Bomb. I haven’t been able to test everything yet but found it priced reasonably to give the other items a go. Let me know if you want a review!

Travel Skincare Sisley Subscription, Tatcha Starter Ritual Set, Belief Best-Sellers | The Beauty Look Book

Two sets I’ve been loving include the NARSissist Velvet Lip Glide Set exclusive to Ulta (5 of the 6 colors shown below, all reviewed here). For perfume I wish more brands had travel-sized or purse sized minis. The Jo Malone Cologne Set is one of my favorites. They change seasonally. Mine is from Nordstrom but I suspect new ones will launch come holiday.

NARS Velvet Lip Glide Set and Jo Malone Cologne Set

Charlotte Tilbury skincare can get pretty spendy and her Gift of Red Carpet Skin Travel Kit is a nice way to try a lot of deluxe sized minis at a lower price. This one is TSA friendly with 15 ml tubes of her Goddess Skin Clay Mask, Multi Miracle Glow, Magic Cream, Wonderglow, Supermodel Body and Take it all off. I’ve loved and used up an entire jar of her Magic Cream and tube of the Wonderglow (full size) and they lasted me a very long time. These minis are perfect for travel – I think you can get quite a bit of use out of them too. There’s enough product to get a really good feel for how the product will perform on your skin.

One last travel favorite is the Aesop Boston Kit. I’m such a huge fan of Aesop and the kits are a nice way to try multiple things. You can see the full review of this one here.

Aesop Boston Travel Skincare Set | The Beauty Look Book

Travel Beauty Packing San Francisco | The Beauty Look Book

For those curious the other accessories shown above:

Do you also hoard your minis and samples for travel or do you buy sets like me? I’m a carry-on traveler so I have to abide by the quart-size bag limit. I know many of you check luggage so this isn’t an issue, but as one who prefers to travel light I love it when I can find travel sizes that I can buy for trips.

Stay tuned for the SF roundup! I didn’t bring all of these travel sets with me although I did mix and match for 4 days worth of travel.

Press samples featured include the Away Stockholm Collection, Tatcha Starter Ritual Set and Charlotte Tilbury Skincare Set.

 

Boutique California Fragrance Travel

Scent Bar Los Angeles

February 21, 2017

Lucky Scent - Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

I stopped by the Scent Bar in Los Angeles over the weekend and this store takes the perfume experience to a new level of amazing. It’s been a while since I stopped by the store as I tend to gravitate towards larger retailers for my beauty shopping – but this place is the best I’ve shopped at for perfume. For those in-the-know you are already aware of all the reasons why this place is great: unique selection, relaxing intimate store setting, knowledgeable and friendly staff, and there is absolutely no sales pressure. The store is primarily organized by notes to help you find variations of what you like by mood. There are also a few areas organized by brand. They carry a wide range of brands including Tom Ford, Byredo, Creed, L’Artisan, Cire Trudon, Serge Lutens, and Escentric Molecules to name a few. The experience you’ll have shopping here is going to be different than most other beauty shopping experiences. I think it’s great because it’s suitable for anyone no matter what level of perfume expertise they have. They have a unique selection for those who want something unusual or different. At the same time they carry a good selection of more main stream but still luxurious brands to pick from. If you’re a complete perfume novice I think it’s perfect as they’ll really help you find your perfect scent as well.

On Saturday afternoon I was delighted to find the store wasn’t busy when I stopped by and was lucky to have the whole store to myself for a little while while. It quickly filled up with a lot of customers within the next hour but the staff was still extremely patient, friendly and I was really impressed with how well they were able to meet everyone’s needs even when it became busy. A look at the store for those who haven’t been before:

Lucky Scent - Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Everything is organized and sorted by notes, although some brands are grouped together:

Lucky Scent - Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Lucky Scent - Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Steven at the store helped me and he was amazing to work with. I shared a few of my favorites with him to see what he would recommend. At the top of my list right now included Tom Ford Soleil Blanc, Creed Virgin Island Water, L’Artisan Mure et Musc and L’Artisan L’Ete en Douce. He immediately identified my tastes as liking clean, beachy and fresh scents. I told him I love vanilla but couldn’t find one that I could wear so he pulled an almond option which I fell in love with immediately. He pulled few suggestions for me to smell and it was literally like magic – all of his recommendations were great.

  • Profumum Confetto is a sugared almond that smells like a delicious sweet scent without the overpowering notes of vanilla that you usually find, they were unfortunately sold out but this was next level delicious
  • Parfumerie Generale Le Musc and La Peau was recommended as a good skin scent since I loved L’Artisan L’Ete En Douce (once of the few I’ve used up entirely), it has a white musk blend with light florals and smells like skin, but fresh and has a hint of sandalwood, this was at the top of my list and I almost came close to buying it but they urged me to take a sample home and wear it to enjoy it over a few days and take my time deciding
  • Escentric Molecules was an interesting line try, I smelled a few and they had a small sample pack which they gave me to try, I sprayed one on my hand and I could not smell anything but they did explain it’s something others can smell on you rather than something you can smell on yourself, I’ll report after I’ve had a chance to try them
  • Maison Francis Kurkdijian is a line that has intrigued me but one I’ve been intimated to try at department stores because of the pressure I experience from pushy sales associates, the Scent Bar is the perfect place to try these as an alternative, Steven patiently went through the line and picked his five favorites that he thought I might enjoy, the top three being the Petite Matin, Aqua Universalis and A La Rose, I am going to try to go back and see if they have the discovery set in store to buy
  • Byredo Mojave Ghost is one I’ve smelled before, another one that tempted me but I still have Bal D’Afrique and Black Saffron which have a long way to go before being used up, so decided to wait on this one

I left by buying a Cire Trudon candle in Ernesto which is one of the most amazing candles I’ve ever burned (I had a mini from a trio set a few years ago). They will make samples for you so I left with a couple on a card to try at home.

Lucky Scent - Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Lucky Scent - Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Lucky Scent - Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Lucky Scent - Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Scent Bar Los Angeles | The Beauty Look Book

Bottom line perfume heaven and a beauty lover’s dream come true. They have candles and some body products as well, but the primary focus is perfume. These days online shopping has been my go-to for convenience, no pressure and also no attitude, but with scent often times you have to just experience it in person to decide what to buy. Even though I’m a beauty lover, I really don’t like shopping for perfumes in stores because of the pressure to buy. The Scent Bar however offers a really unique experience without the pressure. You can learn about different lines or perfumes at your leisure and take your time to find something you’ll truly love. This place is definitely worth the visit if you’re ever in Los Angeles. They’re located at 7405 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036. If I lived closer to this place I know I’d be in here on a regular basis. They do sell items online too on their website Lucky Scent.

Have you been to their store before? If not where do you like to shop for your perfumes?