Updos, Hairstyles and more

I decided to do a different type of post today, with a little more substance than just my outfits for the day! Today I will be talking about appropriate and easy hair styles you can wear in the lab!
I want to try each of these each day this week and will post the pictures in next week's Monday post! Or if you can't wait I will be posting each hairstyle on my Twitter (@vanillaxcupcake, link on left ) so follow me there!

Since the strict lab safety rules have been implemented at UCLA this past year, we not only have to wear flame resistant lab coats, closed toe shoes, pants, gloves, and goggles, but our hair needs to be securely fastened out of our face, so it doesn't catch on fire, especially if you have long hair (like me!)! Whenever I don't tie up my hair I notice it is in my face, in the way, and since I am touching chemicals with my gloves I can't really move my hair out of my face without getting some chemicals on it!

The way to solve this problem? Tie your hair up! BUT, it doesn't have to be a boring pony tail (this is my fall back, and the quickest way to just get your hair up and out of your face, and what I usually end up doing because I'm lazy).

Here is my schedule of hair styles for this week:

Back to School Fall Fashions

The new school year is starting next week and I am kinda bummed that summer is over. Time for classes and other commitments! But that doesn't mean you still can't be fashionable!
I came up with a bunch of things that I will be wearing this fall, that are still lab appropriate (hopefully this heat wave in LA goes away so it's more comfortable to wear pants!). I am all about the dark colors and blues this fall. Leggings are a staple in my wardrobe, so i can pair it with a flowy shirt, skirt, or dress and still be able to wear it to lab!
I also fell in LOVE with booties from Zara this weekend (the stiletto one, down below) but I couldn't spend 80$ on them because they're not as practical for me to wear to lab (although they still made the cut on this board, haha!). I'm all about the natural makeup while still looking stunning. This is what I normally wear to lab every day anyway as far as eye makeup (thanks to my Naked3 Palette)!

What do you think? What are you wearing this fall? Is there a staple to your wardrobe this fall?

xo - Andrea

Back to School Fall Fashions by andreah227 

Magical Red Carpet

A friend invited me to go to "The Magic Castle" last week in Hollywood, an exclusive members only club, where magic happens! Legit magic, there are tons of magic shows going on throughout the night, set in a 1900s style castle with restored bars and rooms. It is not only a place for magic shows, but there are several bars, it is a dinner restaurant, and a place to hang out. Several celebrities go there to hang out, and we even saw a few people there. No cameras are allowed inside the actual castle, but we took some pictures at the red carpet they had set up outside! It was pretty fun. A couple of glasses of wine, some good company, and awesome magic shows, it was a rather magical night! 

It was also a Monday night, so I had to leave lab early (6 pm, sadly that's early for me...haha!), get dressed up, and have a good night with friends. It was a change from the usual routine, and it made me feel better about working - I have a social life, not just work-work-work all the time!

There is a strict dress code; men must wear suit and tie, and women must dress fancy! 

So I busted out this dress that I bought from Asos.com 3 years ago - it was the perfect bodycon dress, I am in love with the color and it had enough sparkle! I particularly love the neckline, with a little peek-a-boo skin showing! 

Oh and be sure to show some love and "like" my new facebook page! 

Www.facebook.com/phdfashionista

Greek Festival fashions

This past weekend I attended the Greek Festival at the Greek Church in Koreatown/Downtown LA! In past years I have volunteered to help out but this year I was quite busy so I just headed there to enjoy the festival and food. I headed there with some friends and got a Gyro pita and a frappe! (pictured below) I also bought some yummy greek pastries that I devoured throughout the week! It was great, although I did get a little homesick! It was also rather hot in LA that day, so I wore a coral sun dress from H&M. Did I say I got it on sale for $5?!?!?! Such a steal! And it is easily converted to lab wear by adding some black leggings and boots! Can't wait to wear it to the lab! An easy outfit to go from day to night -- lab with leggings and boots to night with legging removal and heels/sandals!

Some Updates - Yesterday's Outfit, networking, and facebook page!

Hi everyone! Happy September! 

I finally returned from my vacation in Hawaii, it was amazing! Very relaxing and much needed! More pictures on that soon! I bought a lot of cute stuff that I have adapted to be able to wear in the lab, I will post about them this week!

In other news, I was contacted by Mary from FAB Counsel, about an amazing opportunity to learn how to Monetize your blog and make it better for your readers, an event in Santa Monica, CA on October 7, with a lot of advice from some top bloggers called FAB DI Lab - Digital Influencer Lab . I bought my ticket after attending another event yesterday at the Microsoft Store at the Century City Mall, where I met Heidi Nazarudin from TheSuccessfulStyle.com and BloggerBabes.com, and both Mary and Enrico from FabCounsel.com. It was a short 1 hr workshop where I got to learn about what I really need to do to help build my blog! and afterwards there was a short networking event where I met some other bloggers! It got me really excited! 

If you want to purchase a ticket to the #FABDILab Event, check out this link: http://fabcounselevents.eventbrite.com/?aff=FABDILABAFFILIATE2&afu=115468858365

and let me know if you are going! I would love to meet you! 

I think this is a great opportunity to network! As a grad student, I feel like I am constantly around the same people, and while networking is important for my professional studies, this allows me to network outside of my comfort zone and meet people I look up to, whether it be fashion or beauty related, or even just pros in whatever they are doing. It gives a new perspective to grad school because there is life outside of the lab! 

Here is what I wore to the event yesterday! I wore a dress I posted about recently, with red stone earrings, and my makeup was done using my Naked3 Palette and just some pink lip gloss!