Lately I’ve been wearing the same colors-over and over again.
Oxblood, Army Green, + Cream.
[with little-to-no variation]
I’ve found that this color combination is great together, and also great in separates!
My favorite way to rock this color palette is with a green Army Jacket, Oxblood Lips and Cream pants/accessories.
J.Crew Leather Pants//Current Elliot Jacket//Savoir-Faire Necklace//Anthropologie Kicks//3.1 Philip Lim Bag
I’m back from Blogshop, and let me tell you-it’s a life changer! [ok, maybe mostly a blog-changer].
I learned SO many wonderful tips and tricks of photoshop and blogging in general!
Upon going to this class, I knew slim to nothing about photoshop. I knew how to open up a picture-maybe add some weird things to it, nothing fancy-and that was about it.
Now I know way more than I ever thought possible, and I know how to create exactly what I want!
I’ll be posting more pretty pictures, pretty things-more pretty everything!
Bare with me while I try and devote more time into making my blog bigger and better!
If you haven’t noticed, it’s a tad frigid out!
This weekend however, I won’t be enjoying the warmer temps in Arkansas
but going to Chicago for some colder temps!
As you might’ve noticed on my twitter feed, I’ve been tweeting for a few days about going to Chicago, most recently about the 50 mph wind gusts that are currently delaying my flight as we speak/as I type.
But what am I going to Chicago for, to endure the negative temps you ask?
I would love to tell!
I’ve been a H U G E fan of Bri Emery’s blog, Design Love Fest for the longest time. She posts about all sorts-design, decoration, fashion, entertaining-you get the gist. [her site is where type and images totally make out, as said on her site-love.] I’ve recently become a fan of Angela Kohler, who is basically a mastermind visual artist. She’s a photographer who creates A M A Z I N G images, some for Toyota, Amazon, Capitol Records, and Verizon [to name a few].
Obviously these two lovely ladies are basically pros at Photoshop, so they teamed up to host photoshop classes all over!
They created Blogshop, a Photoshop class for bloggers.
In this class, they teach the basics along with some fun things that help to make individual blogs, well, individual!
Blogshop literally happens ALL over the world [NY, LA, Chicago, Sweden,Canada, Australia…] and for one of my Christmas gifts, I was given the opportunity to participate in the Chicago Blogshop and literally could NOT be more excited!!!!
Through this class, I’ll going more knowledge about photoshop and how to make my blog better, more exciting-and overall more pretty with it! So over the next few days, stay tuned as I share my amazing experience with you all!
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Until then though, waiting in the airport is ultra boring so I wanted to show some fur
-something I’m definitely bringing for the -13 degree weather in Chicago.
Below are some of my favorite furs of the season.
[fun fact-I made this image in PS!]
2//Alice+Olivia
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what I’m wearing//
T.J. Maxx shirt
Savoir Faire skiât
Thrifted necklace
Sam Edelman fringe booties
Michael Kors bag
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I’ve noticed a trend lately, of being effortlessnes.
A casual outfit that still looks put together but in cool, I-have-no-cares way.
Slightly un-done hair, that has that just rolled out of bed look without being too messy.
When I see this look, I am so jealous, wishing I could roll out of bed-throw some clothes on
-call it a day and look that chic.
In reality though, no one can simply roll out of bed and look fabulous
(unless you’re Erin Wasson of course, she can do that).
But sadly not everyone else.
So here are some tips and tricks for looking effortless-
here’s Part 1 in a 3 part series, being how to style your hair to look effortless!
[Par1 2=Makeup + Part 3=Style]
For the hair//
>>Products I like
Whenever I like to make my hair messy-as in beach waves or straight bed-head, I always reach for dry shampoo. There are 2 dry shampoo’s though, the kind that actually makes the oil seem to disappear (this kind is more intense and should be used on hair that is actually dirty, think 3 days after washing it) and then there’s the kind for cleaner hair,
that simply adds a little volume and makes it smell good.
I happen to own both kinds, and have found what seems to me like the best 2.
For dirty hair, I like Batiste. It costs only $8, you can buy it at Walgreens and its fabulous!
(And it comes in colors, which is nice for you dark headed gals)
I like this brand because when you spray it, it comes out white so you know where it’s sprayed on. Wait a minute or rub it around with your fingers and the white goes away!
My tip for this kind of dry shampoo is to spray a bit on your roots, where the oil is, then hold up your hair next to your roots, and spray underneath(like you would a volumizing spray) and rub in again. I also like to flip my head over and rub it in, that seems to help with the messiness!
For clean hair, I love Davines‘ Hair Refresher, and it does exactly what it says-freshens the hair!
I like to apply this the same as Batiste, but with a little more if I think I need it.
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For messy hair, beach spray is almost a must. I like to alternate a few out, simply because they all are a little different, yet similar. Keep in mind I do have thin hair, with extensions making it medium thickness, so results may be different on other hair types!
My favorite on the cheap would have to be from Walmart, Not Your Mothers Beach Babe spray-I saw this one actually on The Beauty Department’s Beach Spray For All Hair Types, for Fine Hair(which I have!).
I love this one not only beach it’s cheap, but you can “layer” it by applying some, then some more until you achieve the look you want! You can buy this one here!
Another beach spray I love is also by Davines-it smells SOOO nice and is easy to use, kind of like the NYM, you can add it in layers to achieve what you want! I really recommend this one! (you can get a mini one from birch box
Another product that’s similar to beach spray is one of my all time favorite products EVER, by Kusco Murphy Beach Hair, which is a mix between a gel and a hair product that’s similar to beach spray, in a tub.
I’ve found that this product looks best/feels best when I get a little out, about a half dime’s worth and mix it with my hair oil (I posted about it a while back).
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Hair tools that I love are a 1 inch curling iron and my wet brush.
I use Hot Tools 1 inch iron, that is a little challenging to use at first-but the results are SOO lovely!!
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How to style the hair//
There are 2 ways that I will either do my hair to look effortless-with heat, and without heat!
Obviously without heat is MUCH better for your hair,
but sometimes I like to use heat for a little more oomph!
To create hair without heat, you’ll need to either A) Have a night to create the hair, AKA sleep in a braid or
B) Have curly, wavy hair. For the A option, you’ll follow the directions below,
for B you’ll just follow the directions AFTER the curling(you don’t have to use heat, yay!).
A// Curling the hair
First you’ll need to spray your hair with heat protectant(duh).
Then start curling your hair in small sections if you have finer hair like mine, so that every inch gets curled.
The curling method I like to use is curl about 3/4 of you entire hair shaft, only hold the heat on for a few sec-and then immediately tug downwards on the hair to give it that loose, curled look.
A,B// Curling-without heat braid
For getting beach waves without heat, you’ll need to braid your hair before going to bed-but NOT with wet hair.
This braid is a tad different from a normal braid however.
First of all, if your hair is fine like mine, you’ll make 2 separate braids, one on either side of your head. For thick headed gals, you can make one braid down the back of your head.
To create this braid, make a regular braid-but inverted. Meaning, instead of braiding strand-over-strand, braid strand-under-strand, and try to do this loosely. After your braid is done and secure, hold the bottom where your pony tail is tied and gently pull out each section of your braid so that the strands poke out a bit, this will make your braid become looser and make beach waves overnight.
In the morning after sleeping with braids, or right after curling hair with heat-this is the last step you’ll take!
Last Step//
After either step of making hair curly/wavy, you’ll brush out your hair with a wet brush or a bristled brush.
This will make the hair softer, smoother and more natural looking.
After brushing it out, you’ll apply some dry shampoo at the top of your roots to make your hair fuller.
Rub it in, and flip your upside down to create more volume.
This next step really creates the beach waves!
Mix together the Kusco Murphy and a hair oil of your choice-I like to do this because I find that using the Kusco Murhpy product alone is too much and makes the hair crunchy.
Run this mixture though your hair, and scrunch it in-towards the bottom and the middle of the hair. Don’t brush it out-this will take out the curls!
Next, spray beach spray towards the middle of hair and the ends a bit, scrunch more.
You can add hair spray if you want, but I don’t-simply because the because the beach mixture stays all day!
YOU’RE ALL DONE!!
(woah, take a breather!)
That’s it for Effortless Hair, within the next few days I’ll be doing a, Effortless post about makeup and style.
Until then, here are some lovely examples of Effortless hair.
Erin Wasson
Recently, I’ve been so intrigued by the Navajo culture and especially prints and patterns.
I’ve always wanted a Navajo blanket but I thought, perhaps, a jacket could suffice.
I always see jackets such as these for sale, advertised as hand painted-but at price points way beyond my reach.
Yes, these jackets probably shouldn’t be any cheaper, since someone took their precious time hand painting them,
but I guess I just wanted to paint my own for justification.
I ventured into my local thrift once again (for about the hundredth time this break) and found the perfect denim shirt/jacket,
and started painting as soon as I was home.
This is what I came up with!
Yes, my pattern is a bit uneven, but that’s what makes it unique!
I free handed this pattern, so I wouldn’t expect it to be pitch-perfect.
To make this, I used simple acrylic paint and puffy paint for the yellow outline.
I have yet to wash my jacket/shirt, but I doubt I will since I’m afraid the paint may come off!
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some of my inspirations
There’s just something about red+yellow+turquoise together that just is so perfect.
I’m truly inspired by this wonderful artwork, and will continue to be.
One thing I love about Christmas is the pretty, different ways packages can be wrapped.
This year I used a lot of silver glitter wrapping paper, wrapped with twine and a pine needle filled branch, which was rather messy. I also incorporated washi tape-I wrapped packages in plain paper and simply taped on different designs, making for a cute + unique look.
After you’ve opened everything however, it’s so depressing to throw away all the beautiful paper.
If you’re like me though, you keep it-in hopes that some crafts soon will be there.
I probably should’ve created this post a while ago, since the trash has already gone out-meaning the wrapping paper, but if you’ve still got some left over I’ve got the perfect craft for you.
This Christmas, I received some lovely gifts from my neighbors + dear friends, that was wrapped in the most amazing bicycle print. As soon as I unwrapped it I neatly folded the paper away, already thinking of something I could do with it.
Since the paper was the color of cardboard and the bicycles were printed in black,
I knew gold would surely be a lovely addition.
I’ll be living in an apartment next year, so proper decoration is a must. I know I’ll be using lots of golds and neutrals, but it stinks to have to go out a buy all that-so why not make it!
Wrapping paper>>wall print
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For this craft, you’ll need:
-Printed wrapping paper
-1 or 2 tiny paint brushes
-Glue
-Fine glitter
-Scissors
-A picture frame
-Sharpie/Pen/Marking device
>First I took the glass out of the frame + I lay it down on the wrapping paper, making an outline of the rectangle so I could cut the right amount out for the frame.
>Next I cut this rectangle out.
>I then picked out 3 bicycles I wanted to paint with the glue and traced their outline//I think 3 is a good number when decorating, or any odd number is.
>after I painted each one, I sprinkled glitter on them so it wouldn’t dry too quickly//I decided to use fine glitter because the bikes were so small
>I shook the glitter around on the paper then dumped it back into the glitter tube to conserve as much as possible
>I repeated this process 2 more times, then voila!
Let the bikes dry for a few minutes, then put in the frame and you’re done!
My finished product in my room!
I thought this definitely turned out pretty awesome,
and I’m excited to do it again next year with some fab wrapping paper!
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what I’m wearing// Ascot+Hart white T(my 2 favorite bloggers’ collab), Rag&Bone Jeans, Jeffrey Campbell boots, and a BarIII blazer.
Who would’ve thought?
Overalls, on GLHC-what a riot.
I noticed this becoming a trend around Spring last year,
and I tried to ignore the weird urge I had to like this trend I used to despise as a youngling.
I can remember looking at them in stores when I was little in disgust, so what is this now?
I’d say I’m pretty particular about the right kind of overalls though, so don’t jump to any conclusions just yet.
My dream pair would be loose, however the legs would be tapered [perfect for sneaks + heels], they would be a light-medium wash and possibly have some washed-out/faded out flowers or a fun pattern. I just love the concept of an outfit in one piece-you can add a fun shirt underneath, some cool shoes and call it a day, possibly also why I love dresses so much.
Overalls are also such an American staple. They date back to the backbone of the great US-in 1873, Levi Strauss + Jacob Davis invented the overall, complete with buttons for suspenders.
info via: [http://www.levistrauss.com/sites/default/files/librarydocument/2010/4/history_of_levis_501_jeans.pdf]
These really are such an American staple, and I’m SO happy to see them making a comeback.
I’m sure we’ll see them in the spring again,
and hopefully I’ll be rocking a pair soon [hopefully vintage, because that’s fun].
Until then, here’s what I’ve been pinning recently-overalls, duh.
|| images above via Pinterest ||
Also, some of my favorite on Free People right now.
L O V E those green with the diamonds
If you noticed in the title, I said ‘pinned’-I’ll be doing something new where I post once a week about the latest things I’ve pinned, to my Stylin + Profilin board of course, which is fab I must say.
Until next time,
As promised on my insta account, I’d love to share the link I got the free 2014 calendars from!
Recently I was exploring Pinterest, like always-and I came across these lovely FREEEE calenders!
What I love about these, other than the fact that they’re free, is the lovely color palette.
From the blog, Oh the lovely things (she made them, how cool!?).
I especially love the month of August, with the little dipper, my favorite constelation.
I recommend printing these adorable calendars on card stock so that they’re durable, and either hanging on twine with clothes pins or how I did, in rows of 6 with wash tape {I used black/white dotted tape}.
Happy printing!
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[link is on the blog address]
I’ve always been a lover of thrifting-there’s just something about owning something that once was someone else’s,
because everything has a story.
Being home for Christmas, I’ve been able to make several trips to the local thrift-PCDC. I’ve posted about PCDC before, simply because they really do have the best deals and steals.
A few days before Christmas, I decided to stop by looking for a few flannels,
and I came across probably the greatest thrift store find E V E R.
I walked in and spotted |literally| a leopard coat.
I almost died.
I ALWAYS see bloggers posting about their leopard coat finds and I get so jealous, since every fur I find at a thrift either has a billion tears/damage done, smells like a cigar club, and/or is in terrible shape.
This coat was different.
I immediately went to it, probably a little quicker than I should-I think the entire store was wondering what on earth was wrong with me, running in PCDC. I ran my fingers through the soft fur, realizing quickly that it was genuine rabbit fur, dyed like leopard, so that was a mega plus. It had HUGE shoulder pads-which wasn’t a problem-I like a little padding every now and then.
I tried it on in front of the teeny-tiny mirror and OHMIGOSH IT FIT!!! My heart did a little flip-flip inside, because this was crazy.
The arms were just my length, with fitted wrists, it had a semi-cropped length,
coming to the top of my hips and the fur was in excellent condition.
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did I mention that it was $20???
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I looked in my wallet and sadly only had 10, so I asked the cashier if they could hold it (no) so I cringed putting it back on the hanger while rushing to the bank. I got back and the beauty was still there! I grabbed it up and purchased it, along with a black/white checkered flannel.
The fur really was the steal of the century.
A few days after christmas my cousins were in, so obviously I took them thrifting.
The thrift was having a sale, so I definitely took advantage of it!
I got some ahhhhhmazing steals, totaling to $11 (can I get a whoop-whoop).
So needless to say, the thrift was good to me.
//the steals//
[don’t mind my messy floor, I’ve been sewing a dress which I’ll soon post about]
A denim blazer with a boyfriend fit [which I’ve been searching for] + a lovely plaid blazer that’s wool, also boyfriend fit.
A dotted chambray shirt + a wool/polyester sweater-like shirt
2 tees-one army green, the other khaki colored
and possibly the coolest denim vest ever.
It’s definitely western, and has white/red/blue fabric with the most rad detailing.
[looks like something from Free People]
Have the happiest 2014, I know I’ll try to!
glitterloveshautecouture.wordpress.com 
