Beauty / Heatless Waves

February 6, 20157 Comments

Continuing on with showing you guys my go-to hairstyles, these heatless waves are my most go-to hairstyle as it’s probably one of the easiest things you can do to make your straight hairs a little more interesting. This hairstyle may seem like a sort of “duh” hairstyle, but I honestly would have never thought of it if it wasn’t for my best friend (hi Kristen!) who used to braid her hair and leave it in over-night or for extended periods of time only to take the braid out and have these amazing waves (her hair is seriously the best). At the time I had quite short hair and was unable to braid it, so I made note for my future long hairs that this would be how I would get excellent waves with the littlest amount of effort (at the time I had been using a hair straightener to create waves), and now if I’m not ragging my hair at night, it’s in a braid. So here we go! Quick, easy, simple, but effective.FIRST STEP: Braid your hair…yes, that’s it. I like to do a side braid, but only because I have a real, real hard time doing a braid down the back of my head…but if you’re a magical human who can braid your hair from any angle, well go to town my dear friend. You are far more talented than I.Make use of said braid by doing stupid things with it.SECOND STEP: As with my previous tutorial, I sleep with my braid in at night so that when I wake up my hair is very nearly ready to go – probably the simplest of all steps, unless you have a hard time sleeping at night, but even so, that makes no difference to your beautiful hairs.THIRD STEP: In the morning I will sometimes hairspray the braid to ensure my waves stay wavy throughout the day, and like I do with my rags, I will use my blow dryer on my hair briefly, which also helps maintain your wavy babies – make sure to let your hair cool after you use the blow dryer.FOURTH STEP: Once I’ve taken my braid out and given my hair a wee brush, I often backcomb my hair so I have a bit more volume – my hair is quite thick and thus heavy, and so it can sort of just floop on my head like a giant shapeless mop.Ta-da! Easy peasy! I will note my waves could have been a bit better – if you don’t wash your hair for a few days and braid your hair every night, your waves, obviously, will be even more prominent.

Let me know if you guys are enjoying these tutorials. I’m thinking of including my daily makeup routine and other makeup/hair fun. Do you prefer written/picture tutorials like this, or are you more likely to watch a youtube video?

Give me your eyes, I need sunshine

February 2, 20159 Comments

For a little while I felt like I had lost myself with taking my outfit photos, specifically when it came to taking outdoor shots. It started to become an okay let’s just get this done situation (probably because it’s been so cold), and I really started to feel like the quality of my images had suffered, and ultimately, didn’t feel like me. For one reason or another – and I think I have said this before – the actual feeling and artistry of the images I share is just as important to me as showcasing the outfit, maybe even more so. I mean, I’m not saying I’m making waves in the blogging world or even producing the best possible photographs (I’m still a newbie) or doing something that different or new, but it’s incredibly important to me to stay true to who I am. I’ll probably never be one of those bloggers that enjoys taking my outfit photos in front of a solid backdrop, which is strange, because some of my favorite bloggers do just that and I love it. I think it all comes down to my personality type, I have a hard time letting anything just be simple. Everything I do, in all aspects of my life, needs to feel important, and full of passion and creativity, and I am almost never satisfied (and clearly I am incredibly dramatic. get over yourself Alex!). I guess it goes without saying (but I will say it) that my brain (and my life, to be honest) has been in a tumultuous state of sorts lately. But taking these photographs and being able to share them with you feels incredibly therapeutic because these images feel the most like me out of any photographs I have taken in a long while. They remind me that even if my world feels like it’s falling apart, I can create something beautiful all by myself that makes me feel good, and it’s as simple as that.

Blouse: vintage via Public Butter
Skirt: vintage via Common Sort
Tights: old pair of ballet tights
Boots: Samantha Pleet x Wolverine

A Lesson in Plaid

January 12, 201518 Comments

I’ve acquired quite a collection of plaid/tartan skirts at this point, but I think this one is my first “new” plaid skirt. I guess it’s pretty obvious at this point that I only buy vintage and thrifted clothes as a general rule, but every once in awhile I stumble across some vintage-inspired pieces on the internet and cannot pass them up – this vibrant plaid skirt being one of them. One could argue that you don’t need 5 different tartan/plaid skirts that reach about the same length, but if you know what you like and what suits your taste (and there are just so many different colour variations and styles!!!), then why not own an assortment? (says the clothing hoarder). What about you guys? Is there an article or style of clothing you are constantly drawn to?

A fun little fact – to tell the difference between a tartan and a plaid (yes, there is a difference) you look to the pattern running vertically and horizontally. If the pattern running vertically is exactly duplicated on the horizontal axis, then we are in tartan territory. You will notice that the skirt I am wearing is indeed a plaid and not a tartan, as the pattern, colour and size are not the same in both directions. Anyways, I’m sure some of you already knew this, but I didn’t for the longest time and thought it would be nice to share the knowledge. Knowledge is power. (said a curly, ginger-haired animation from the 1970s)

Button-down & cardigan: thrifted
Skirt c/o Larmoni
Boots: Samantha Pleet x Wolverine
Tights: old pair of ballet tights

Belle Vie / 29

January 2, 2015Leave a comment

1-2. The sparkly Christmas tree at Ryan’s dad’s place.
3-5. Ryan opening his Christmas presents from me, and Gus can obviously never live a minute of his life without sitting on someones lap.
6. My new, beautiful Samantha Pleet x Wolverine Arc Boots – they were a gift from Ryan.
7-9. I very badly would like the couch in Ryan’s dad’s office…but I mostly posted these pictures because Gus is adorable.
10. My equally beautiful clutch from Falconwright – another gift from Ryan.
11. If you are ever feeling down, put Gus in a bag.
12-13. I realized I had never shared these illustrations of me by Sara Rocha (only on my instagram), a lovely girl I met through instagram, who is super sweet and has a knack for illustrating fashion bloggers in the most adorable way. She’s so talented, so please check out her work. You may recognize these illustrations were inspired by these photographs… 1, 2.

A New Year

January 1, 2015January 8, 201519 Comments

Happy New Year dear friends! So I’m a bit irked right now…I had written a whole post talking about some good and bad things that happened in 2014, but my computer malfunctioned and the whole thing got deleted, which has never happened before (!!!), so I guess it was a sign. Maybe those words were not mean’t to be seen…maybe all those things were mean’t so stay with 2014, in the past. I guess all I will say is that I’m glad to see 2014 go. It was not the best year of my life. I saw tragedy and illness and lost something very dear to me…the sort of things that would understandably make you feel like the year was kind-of a bummer. But, there was quite a lot of good too and I have this blog to thank for that, so I shouldn’t give 2014 such a bad rap. This little corner of the internet has opened many doors for me that would have never happened 2 years (it’s been that long!?) ago. Even without the successes I’ve had with and because of this space, I’d still continue blogging because it has given me things I value tremendously. I’m very thankful for this space, and for those of you who have been here from the start, and those of you that are new here. In this new year I’d love to get to know some of you guys. I know I follow a ton of bloggers and never comment…just sort of a silent reader. But if you felt so inclined, it would be cool if you commented and let me know who you are, or told me a little bit about yourself, or even just a simple hello…anything really. I’m quite excited to see what this new year has in store and I hope you guys will be here to share and follow along.