Tag: toronto beauty blogger

A Year In The Life

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OKAY ANDIE | A Year In The LifeHappy New Year M’Loves

I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions, so you won’t be getting any lists like that here. But when a new year comes, how ever man made it is, you can’t really help but feel like it’s a fresh start, a marker of sorts, for acknowledging the past and looking to the future. This year for me has certainly been up and down, as all years are for everyone, really. I went through depression that felt like it would be the end of me. I had days of complete elation where I felt incredibly lucky to be alive. I learned from a dear friend that to be in a lasting relationship you must choose that person everyday and that sometimes is easy to forget. I met some of the most kind and beautiful people on this planet. I’ve learned new skills that I am proud to have and that I am much too hard on myself. I’ve had moments of feeling like the luckiest person in the world, surrounded by love and moments of hating myself so deeply I wasn’t sure if anyone in this world genuinely liked me. I’ve talked about my feelings and bottled them up. I’ve laid in bed all day watching netflix and got painfully sunburnt swimming in the warm and salty sea. I’ve yelled until it hurt. I’ve laughed until it hurt. I’ve lived the only way I know how. As I do, everyday, of every year.

There are big markers, good and bad, for every year. But years are also made up of small moments and details that weave in and out of the big ones that make up most of our lives. They say you can’t see the forest for the trees, but sometimes acknowledging those trees can help to see the forest for what it is. We are mean’t to do things with our life, but just existing and living is doing something too. It’s okay not to be the best or the worst and it’s okay to have no real plan at all. There is a system and societal structure to this life that can make us feel inadequate and exhausted, but realizing that a slow pace is still a pace, afterall, can be a relief like no other.

As always, thank you guys for being here. I didn’t post near as much as I did in previous years. I’ve written and deleted countless posts for the reason why, but in the end, it probably needs no explanation. I am here now, and that’s all that matters.

I love you all and you enrich my life by just stopping by here. I hope my words and images do the same for you.

-WHAT I WORE-
pant suit: Zara via CS | Blouse: Anne Klein via CS | Jacket: Topshop | Socks c/o Tabbisocks | Shoes: Seychelles
OKAY ANDIE | A Year In The LifeOKAY ANDIE | A Year In The Life

photos by Zach

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

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OKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year…most of the time

These days you can pretty well always find me in pants and a jumper (usually, a rollneck). My jeans and trouser collection has become pretty extensive in the last year, and since the cold season has arrived, so has my jumper collection. Dressing for autumn/winter has always been my favourite. Sure, dressing for the summer is always a welcome change after a long winter, but I feel most myself this time of year. Autumnal/winter shades are my favourite and suit my hair/skin tone most, plus being dressed in layers of warmth is something I will never tire of. Each summer I feel like I go through a confusing period of not knowing how to dress or what feels most like me, and then autumn rolls around and I fall (pun!) into it with ease. I love most things about this time of year, yes, but I’m not going to give it all the glory, anything that reaches subzero temperatures and can literally freeze parts of your body can’t be all that good, right?

-WHAT I WORE-
Jumper: Jcrew via CS | Jeans: H&M | Coat & purse: vintage | Boots via CS
OKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the YearOKAY ANDIE | It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Beauty: How-To Trim Your Own Fringe

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OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringewith a twist!

It’s about damn time I share this tutorial. I have been trimming my own fringe for about a decade now, pretty much ever since I left home and no longer had my mother to trim them for me (lol). Over the years I have become more and more self-assured when it comes to trimming my fringe, and in the more recent years have discovered the easiest and fastest way to get the job done. Trimming your own fringe, not to mention your own hair, can seem a little bit nerve wracking, but I promise this technique is pretty much fool proof, and as long as you take your time and just relax, I am 100% certain you can do it yourself as well. Here we go, my little trimmers.

OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringe1. Section it; for those who already have a fringe, just pull your fringe forward creating a diamond or (Glenn Danzig) shape over your face. If you don’t have a fringe, part your hair in an upside down v shape (^), pulling forward the amount of hair you would like in your fringe.

OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringe2. Twist it; taking the ends of your fringe, twist your hair a half twist (to the left or right, doesn’t matter) and hold it there.

OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringe3. Cut it; with your free hand, place your fore and middle finger where you would like your fringe length to be and using proper hair cutting scissors (which I haven’t always done, and tbh, didn’t notice a difference, but I’m sure a professional would cringe at that ) and cut below your fingers. Tip – It’s always best to cut a bit less off of your fringe to start with, you can always cut more, you def can’t add back on.

OKAY ANDIE | How-To Trim Your Own Fringe4. Tidy it; for the most part your fringe should be pretty close to the shape and look you want, – it won’t look perfect just yet, but it’s definitely something you can easily work with – from here you will even it out and trim any stray pieces.

My Current Favourite Jewelry

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OKAY ANDIE | My Current Favourite Jewelrya girls best friend, or whatever

For the past several years I’ve had no real interest in jewelry. I have always worn a few fairly subtle rings that were, of course, for aesthetic purposes, but mostly for sentimental reasons. In the last year, and probably even more so in the last few months, I’ve really liked adding a simple necklace to an otherwise uncomplicated outfit, or something a bit more eye catching to really pull a look together, and pretty much always beautiful crafted, generally dainty (but sometimes not) rings. I thought I’d share some of the pieces I have been wearing the most with you guys today.
OKAY ANDIE | My Current Favourite JewelryOKAY ANDIE | My Current Favourite JewelryBolo by WellDunn

I’ve been looking for a really great bolo for some time now, so when Well Dunn contacted me to see if I would like something from their store I was pretty excited to see they have a plethora of bolo necklaces, all unique in their own right. I wouldn’t really consider myself very boho, I can get down with it from time to time, but not on a regular basis, so this bolo felt like the perfect fit for me; slightly boho but still very chic depending on how you style it. Plus, the black and tan leather mix makes it a bit more fun than your average bolo, but still, really simple.OKAY ANDIE | My Current Favourite JewelryOKAY ANDIE | My Current Favourite JewelryOKAY ANDIE | My Current Favourite JewelryStone Ring from Common Sort, Petal Vintage Ring and Aelia Hammered Ring by Eclectic Eccentricty

I have always worn rings. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t. Unfortunately, I have lost a lot of rings that meant quite a lot to me over the years. The ring department has started to dwindle, to put it lightly, so I’m always looking for new rings to add. These three here I have been wearing quite a lot lately, although I usually don’t wear them all together. The aqua stone ring is from Common Sort, unfortunately I don’t know the maker of the ring and the two bands are from Eclectic Eccentricity, of which they carry a lot of really interesting and beautiful rings.OKAY ANDIE | My Current Favourite JewelryOKAY ANDIE | My Current Favourite JewelryVintage Glass Leave Necklace by Eclectic Eccentricity

Adding simple, dainty necklaces to my outfits has been something I’ve been doing a lot lately. It is pretty certain I won’t leave (see what I did there) the house without one on. This leave necklace from EE is one I pretty much always have on. I love the subtle bit of colour it adds to my sometimes colourless outfits and after shooting these, I realized it matches m’eyeballs, sooooo, bonus points. If I’m being honest though, when I ordered this necklace, I was quite prepared for the chain on it to be much longer than I wanted. I don’t really like necklaces that dangle down my chest, and I have been unpleasantly surprised many times, receiving jewelry that didn’t quite look like it did online, so I was really happy to see this necklace was the perfect length and did actually look like the images I ordered from.

*some or all of the products featured were given to me by the brand, but my choosing to share them is due to my v real love of them.

 

All Things

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OKAY ANDIE | All ThingsOKAY ANDIE | All Thingscome full circle

I really don’t wear skirts and dresses as much as I used to. I have become a full fledged pants and trouser lover which is something I thought I would never say again. I have this theory, I guess you could call it,  that we always revert back to our former selves when it comes to fashion and aesthetics, like a circle of style, if you will. That something you once loved as a kid will be something you begin to love again one day. As a young child I really loved skirts, dresses, all things feminine and the colour pink (I named all of my stuffed animals “Pinky”…), as I got a bit older I shed those things for tomboy looks and then black eventually became my colour of choice in my teens (goth lyyyyyfe). If you know anything about me from visiting this space over the last several years, my girlish self was in full force – cutesy looks, the colour pink, again, as my favourite. But within this year I’ve become more accustomed to masculine looks and styles, the less frilly, and clearly I am no enemy to black. I guess it’s not so far off from styles of decades past recycling themselves in current fashion trends. There are little cycles within littles cycles, within littler cycles going on all the time in life, and that goes beyond fashion and exist witinh ethics and even societal issues. “History repeats itself” has always felt like one of the truest statements, to me. I have always wondered why that is. Does nostalgia drive us more than we think it does? I often feel nostalgic for times I didn’t even exist in, which seems absolutely absurd, but it’s a feeling I know doesn’t just exist for me. Who knows why these things happen, who knows why I have what seems like two different people that exist inside me, one trumping the other at certain times in my life. It’s something I have come to learn and love about myself, though, and it’s something that has become of great interest to me.

Do you guys notice these things about yourself as well? It’s a topic I’ve never really discussed with anyone. Let me know in the comments below.

-WHAT I WORE-
Jacket: Ruby Leather via CS | Dress: Vintage | Shirt & Bag: Zara | Shoes: Dr. Martens
OKAY ANDIE | All ThingsOKAY ANDIE | All ThingsOKAY ANDIE | All ThingsOKAY ANDIE | All ThingsOKAY ANDIE | All ThingsOKAY ANDIE | All ThingsOKAY ANDIE | All Things