Hot Hiver: BaltimoreGal - Stylehive

Ann Coleman (aka. BaltimoreGal) is an Aries and a self-described Army brat. The nonprofit worker says she developed her eclectic taste from her mother, who comes from a traditionally artistic southern family. With Baltimore pride, Ann quotes resident John Waters: "I would never want to live anywhere but Baltimore. You can look far and wide, but you€™ll never discover a stranger city with such extreme style. It€™s as if every eccentric in the South decided to move north, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay."

SH: What are your three favorite beauty products at the moment?
AC: THREE? That's cruel, like asking a parent to pick their favorite child. My most recent favorites are:

1. Neutrogena UltraSheer Dry-Touch Sunblock, SPF 70 (I am about as pale as pale can be and almost burst into flames under direct sunlight!)

2. The Pout Spoilt Rotten Palette is the best beauty palette I€™ve ever had. Great for the fair-skinned. The eyeshadows are sheer but can be layered, the gloss is light and shimmery, and the blush lasts more than a workday. Also, it fits in the tiniest purse!

3. Urban Decay Eyeshadows and Primer Potion (because you shouldn€™t have one without the other!) The shadows run the gamut from sweet and shimmery to bright and funky. My eyes are my best feature so I both line and shadow them with these shadows to make them pop. The primer keeps the shadow fixed all day and also makes it so you need less shadow for the same impact.

SH: Whose hives are you addicted to?
AC: How long do you have? I'm addicted to the Hive itself! My top faves though, have to be: julie3jax, AuntBee, Intuition, HippiePrincess, zelciia, DIYthing, MissMalaprop, Freakstar, endlessmidnight - and, of course the triumvirate - stylebee, honeybee, and kingbee!

SH: What do you like to do when you€™re not working or hiving?
AC: I love reading- I read an hour+ most nights, and am a huge movie buff who finally fell into the pressure of Netflix and now have 180+ movies queued up!

I also love some other web communities like MamaPop, who fills the pop culture parts of my weblife.

I love traveling, especially to see my family.

But on weekends, my favorite thing to do is get out and around in Baltimore- my favorite city, and in Hampden, my super-cool neighborhood (check out more shops here and here and festivals here and here). While I'm always open to change, I really can't imagine living anywhere else right now.

SH: What's your favorite online store?
AC: That's like asking me "What's your favorite limb?"! But, for pure purchasing pleasure- Sephora.com wins every time.

SH: Name three things you can€™t live without.
AC: Well, I'm not going to say love, family etc. because those are a given and not unique to me.

1. Color is the first thing I can think of. I need color in my life at all times, I'm really affected by it. I think that's why I like gemstones so much. And eyeshadow. And nail polish. You get the idea.
2. The second thing is mascara. I know, I know - shallow. But I am blonde, with blonde lashes and brows, and also very fair. If I don€™t wear mascara I look tired and faded.
3. And Coke. Not any old cola, Coca-Cola. I spent my childhood in Georgia and it's sacred down there. Plus, a dear family friend who was an employee of Coca-Cola passed away a while back and I wrote on his blog that I would always drink Coke.

SH: How would you describe your signature style?
AC: Mostly black with pops of color. I'm very fair but have €œIrish€� coloring, so I look good in dark and brighter, cool colors- better than in muted, pale or warm tones. I tend to dress more plainly but wear colorful accessories- jewelry, shoes, makeup, bags. I'm only 5'1" and very curvy so I stick to cleaner lines and avoid pants, which don't flatter me. For work, it's skirts and black tights in winter, just skirts in summer. I hate hose and think they should be illegal.. For casual times, it's jeans or yoga pants with a cute tee or top- I don't even own khakis and don€™t like shorts either. I love cute shoes but if I'm at home I'm barefoot - better to give the toes a break and show off my blue or green or silver pedicure.

SH: What message would you like to leave the world?
AC: Live kindly and be civil. Civility is so important and is often the missing ingredient in a problem situation. I'm not suggesting people should be pushovers, because I'm far from that, but we should all hope for the best before we assume the worst.

SH: If you had no monetary limit, what one thing from your hive would you have to buy?
AC: I€™m going to tell you two things- the dream thing and the real thing!!

1. The dream item is the Frank Gehry Diamond Fish pendant. I don€™t love Tiffany€™s, or white gold, as much as many jewelry lovers do- but I do love that piece. It is sensual and yet subtle.

2. The real item is a piece of furniture from the store Red Tree - in my very own neighborhood. They have amazing solid-wood furniture that I LOVE- with both substance and real style- in a number of colorful and distressed finishes. Even better is that most pieces, including bookshelves, armoires or sideboards, are less than $1,000.

SH: What's the last book you read?
AC: I read lots of magazines and junk mysteries to relax my mind before sleep but the last €œreal€� book I read was "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah, about his life as a child soldier in Sierra Leone.

SH: Where would you take your dream vacation?
AC: There are a lot of places I want to go but first on my list would be Ireland - the coast of Ireland. It's where my father's grandparents are from and I've never been there, but I feel a strong connection to the place. After all, I have an Irish face, Irish skin, Irish eyes, and, I'm told, an Irish temperament- I'd like to see for myself!

Ann's Stylehive picks: BaltimoreGal