How To Build A New Look

I’m the type of person that gets bored really easy; which has led me to being really fluid. Every now and then, my boredom leads me to an overhall. No matter how much I love my clothes, jewelry, makeup, hair- I need a new look. I spent four years in fashion school, I know how to buy clothes I like- But when it comes to getting  a new wardrobe- things can get daunting. For me, when I’m buying a new wardrobe- I’m actually changing my style.  I like the *shock* factor (people looking at me and going “Woah! You look so different!”) so I never do anything slowly.

So, I decided to look around the internet to find some help on changing your style/look. I was very disappointed in what I found. All anyone tells you is

·         Buy re-mixable pieces

·         Know your style

·         Try things on

·         Buy pieces you love

*Sigh*  I’m getting really sick of “ How-to’s” that are zero help- So I decided to go through and make my own guide from a fashion trained girl who likes to change who she is

When I was 13-15 I was big into vintage inspired eclectic clothes (long, drapey sleeves, deep necklines and uneven hems)

When I was  about 16, I went through a overhall. Skulls,  ties, bows, pink and black, ripped up clothes, safety pins, mesh, sharpie/paint splatter

Then at 18, I had a horrible breakup, and my style changed again. This time I was more into party  girl styles- sequins, dark/edgy lace, zippers, lots of black

Recently, I went shopping. I had found pictures on pinterest that I liked- and I went in search of clothes like that. The result was a sophisticated, feminine and adult style. I remember looking in the mirror on the way to work and saying to myself “Wow, who is that?” That’s how I want my clothes to make me feel.

Step One: Identify What You Want to Become

• Who is it you want to be? What is the new style you are after? 
• Create a style board of looks you like on Pinterest. Don't worry about any "rules" yet.  If you like it, pin it
• Scroll through your board. What do you see? Don't look at individual outfits just yet. If these clothes belonged to one person- what would you define their style as? Vintage, goth, retro, trendy, feminine, athletic ?

Look up your favorite celebrity What clothes do they wear that you love? Are there items you wish you had/could pull off? give em a try (at least try them on at the store. If they look bad- don't buy them and no one ever has to know. If they look awesome....well, everyone will be jealous and think you're ballsy

Step Two:Shop Your Closet

• open your closet. What do you see? How would describe the style of the owner of those clothes? What it the style of that person?
• make a positive or negative list of the styles
• Take everything out of your closet. Separate it into three pile love,  meh, nuetral
• Put together your favorite outfits. Now identify WHY it's your favorite. Do you like the way it looks, the color, the fit, the style?  
• What item makes it your favorite? The shoes, top, bottoms, etc
• Put together your favorite outfits- now change one thing. Change the shoes, jewelry or the bottoms.
• Make a pile of things you don't like or that don't fit
• Before getting rid of them- analyze what you don't like. Try to belt it, tie it, tuck it, wear it with something new, add a cardigan or different accessories, maybe you just need something that goes with it. Sometimes we are simply bored with a piece- and certain issues (like fit) can be fixed easily.If you still don't like it, get rid of it.
• Take pieces you have never worn together and mix and match
• make an inspiration board by taking pictures of yourself in a variety of different outfits and looks. Dress up and down different looks- and then hang the pictures in your closet. When you are in a hurry- it's really nice to have a reference
• Have a friend come over and act as a personal stylist. Let them dress you. They may come up with combos you never thought of
• Get rid of your old comfortable _____. You are more likely to default to your worn out comfy tee, then put on something glamorous. I have an areopostal shirt I got when i was 12 as a Christmas present. It was edgy and comfy- and I kept it till I was 22, and it was holey (in bad places) . Get rid of it- this will force you to wear other things

Step Three: Get To Know YourselfTo avoid major fashion mistakes, or purchases you regret- you need to have a solid grasp of yourself and what you are looking for. Maybe you want vintage items, trendy items, girly items, goth items. DO NOT run out and buy a bunch of those items. This part will require Shopping ....*erhm*..I mean..."Research"

• Look at yourself in a mirror- and try to identify what your body type is. Grab a measuring tape if you need to.
• Before shopping, do your hair and makeup in your favorite way, put on your favorite outfit and shoes. This will make you feel better about yourself. Also, if an item doesn't look great while you're at your BEST- it's not going to look good when you're in hurry to get out the door, your hair is wet, and makeup just isn't happening.
•  Get a bunch of camisoles or under shirts in every color under the sun and try them  on (no need to buy them). Take notes on how each color looks on you and  how it changes you appearance (For example: I can't wear hot pink, bright or sky blues, yellows,oranges, or neons. All of these make my skin look off. I also can't wear colors that are similar to my hair color. I DO look good in mint, coral, soft pinks, navy, cream, white, olive,black and burgundy) This will help you identify your personal colors, and keep you from making expensive mistakes on clothes you will never wear.
• Try something that scares you. For me, it was candy colored jeans. Now, I wear them with everything. Maybe it's a glittery jacket, skirts, a new color, scarves, or a new shoe style. Try these things while you are shopping- and wear them with a variety of things (If you want candy colored jeans, try on some pairs with a variety of tops that you like.), this will help you be sure that you can actually WEAR them; and that they will interrogate into your wardrobe well

Go through your pinterest board identify items and colors that crop up a lot- and go try them on. How do they fit? do they look good on your body? If not, skip them. No matter how trendy/iconic/cute they are, if it doesn't look great on you- you won't wear it. (For example, peplums, batwings, and bubble skirts are all no-nos for me) Knowing what does and doesn't work for your body will not only keep you from making costly mistakes- but will also save you time next time you need to shop.  

• Take those items that you like- and try them on  with some other pieces

Make Your New Look

• Now that you know what looks good on you, re-evaluate your pinterest board. Find two-four outfits you really love. Can you create them from things you already have? What pieces do you need to make that look? Are those pieces re-mixable (can you wear them with lots of different tops/bottoms, can you belt/tie/tuck it, can you pair it with several different styles/colors  of shoes, can you mix it with a blazer/caridagan/moto jacket)
• Make it yours. I like being unique and wearing things other people don't. Try taking thing you love from other generes (like how I was edgy with hippie braids and jewelry, feminine nails, goth spikes, etc) or take items from other decades (leg warmers from the 80s, hair from the 50's, sunglasses from the 60's etc)
• Get bold accessories that AREN'T shoes or a bag
• Buy a bold, unique bag
• mix up your shoe style. Buy some attention grabbing shoes that go with most of your wardrobe
• Dye your hair (remember- bold colors mean that you need to look pulled together ALL THE TIME in order to pull it off. Messy brown hair with no make up, sweats, a frumpy tee and sneakers is one thing; but change that to hot pink hair; and now you look unkempt and gross. Having a bold hair color will make you look worse- so you need to be polished if you want to pull it off. Also research how much  upkeep the color will need...Oh, and keep in mind your clothing colors (If all your clothes are neon pink, don't dye your hair all pink, etc))
• Get a haircut. This is always an awesome idea. You can also do this instead of a dye, if you want a more subtle look
• If you aren't sure what to do with your hair- ask around and find a great stylist. Dress up in an outfit that optimizes the look you are going for. Go to the stylist and tell them you want something (feminine, goth, athletic, etc) They can probably help you. Just be SURE you are all on the same page before ANYTHING happens!
• Try a new nail color/style
• have your make up done professionally
• For me, I commit fully to my new look. Anything that I can't wear with my new style, or that doesn't fit what I'm trying to achieve- I get rid of. This gives me the "Whole new person" feel
• Before you take off ANY price tags from new items- put on you favorite skirt/jeans and shoes and try it out with the new tops. If it doesn't rock your world while you're in your favorite clothes; you won't like it with flats and boyfriend jeans. Do the same with  pants/ skirts and any accessories. Make a pile of  stuff to take back (if necessary) 

What I Use To Get Clear Skin In Less Than A Week

I have been struggiling for awhile with both acne and scarring. Try as I might- NOTHING was helping. I've tried using different types of acne washes, my cocoa butter soap, aloe vera, Tea tree oil, scar gel, zapzyt, new make up- all my normal things, and they weren't working. So I switched to all natural products from the company I work for. I now work for a handmade, all natural, bath and body company called Cosset Bath and Body.  I currently use clean sweep, Sweet Face, Face Envy, and Midnight Magic.

Clean sweep: Clean sweep is facial cleanser that is made without sulfates, parabans, harsh chemicals, or artificial gunk. The activated charcoal in the soap pull out impurities, dirt, and excess oils from your skin. One side is rough from the charcoal, and the other is smooth. This allows you to choose either a traditional smooth wash, or mild exfoliation. The star Anise in the soap is a natural anti-bacterial, which cleanses and detoxifies the skin, it also lends the soap the smell of licorice.  Ylang Ylang oil balances out sebum production, and will regulate natural oil production. Hemp seed oil will moisturize and nourish the skin.

 Sweet Face: This is a gentle exfoliant made with a micro sugar that will never tear, damage or cut the skin. It is safe to use daily and is loaded with amazing oils to nourish and heal the skin. These include: Hemp oil- which is a deep penetrating oil that helps to close pores and make them apppear smaller. It also fights free radicals, and helped your skin maintain elasticity; Moroccon Argan oil and squalane- these provide nutrients to your skin, fight the effects of aging and are also acne solutions; Caffeine- this awakes your skin, brightens, reduces scarring, reduces wrinkles and helps repair cells to maintain and restore youthful glow.

Face Envy: This is our variation on a facial moisturizer. I say "version" because it is not a lotion. Instead- Face Envy is a deep penetrating, dry oil that is comogenic (it won't clog your pores). It is made with the same blend of oils as sweet face- and includes shea oil (to moisturize and protect), Lavender, and Ylang Ylang essential oils to maintain a healthy balance of oil in your face, which will produce a youthful face.

Midnight Magic : This is our newest product. It is designed as a night cream for wrinkles, discoloration and other skin problems.It is packed with age defying ingredients such as Vitamins A, C, and E, as well as caffeine.

I  recently  added the new Midnight magic to my routine- and this is the result. I was pretty impressed. 

March 6, 2015 pm

March 7, 2015 am

March 7, 2015 pm

March 8, 2015 am

March 11, 2015 pm

 My nightly routine is to wash my face with clean sweep. I allow to let it to sit for a few moments to let it draw out the impurities in my skin. After rinsing it off, I exfoliate with Sweet Face for three minutes. When I'm done, I rinse my face again and dry it. I then use rose water as a toner. I then smooth on a thick layer of midnight magic.

In the morning I wash my face with the clean sweep, use the rose water toner, and then top it off with face envy

To buy these products- go to cossetbathandbody.com

Hair Update

So last year, I had struggles with my hair and was worrying about it growing and trying to encourage it to do so faster. I just wanted to post a quick update.

February 1, 2014

March 1, 2014

The picture on the left is day one of my hair journey- the day after my "Big Chop." The one on the right  is a month later.

...And this is a year later- March 12, 2015

Tangle Tamer Max

Since growing my hair out, and getting rid of my extensions, I've been getting really bad knot/tangles in the back/underside of my hair, right next to my neck. I work at a daycare- and so I see a lot of infomercials. One infomercial I saw was for a detangler brush. I wanted one, but wasn't super excited about ordering it off the T.V.  so instead I decided to check out my local beauty supply store- Sally's.

I found a couple tangle brushes, and decided to go for the cheaper one, which was $9.99

At first I really liked the brush, because it did get the tangles out, and it did make my hair smooth, and I was getting a whole lot less hair left in the brush than with my boar bristle- but...then I started to notice that whenever I would brush my hair, the surface directly under the brush was covered with tiny little pieces of hair. The brush was actually breaking my hair. After a few weeks worth of use, I noticed that my hair was getting shorter!! This freaked me out, since I try to take good care of my hair, and I'm trying to get it longer. Because of this, I avoid using the brush. I'll sometimes use it if I have a bad snarl, or if I need to brush my hair when it's wet (I try to NEVER do that, but sometimes I have to).

ELF Makeup Lock & Seal

I love this stuff! it had mixed reviews on the website, but I decided to buy it anyway, and I have been really happy with it. I like to go dancing, which is really sweaty! Well, though I love my eyeliner, it does have one downside, it smudges easily. If I'm not careful my eyeliner will melt and make my eyes look puffy and baggy. Normally I use a loose powder under my eyes to hold it in place, but even then, it can start to excape.

Enter the lock and seal. this stuff STAYS put. seriously, I sweep just a little bit of this over my lids and my lash lines, and when I come home, several sweaty hours later, my makeup looks good as new! Yay!


Well, I decided to issue the Makeup lock and seal a new challenge. The other day a friend came to see me for lunch and see said these words "Wow, you're unusually made up for the daycare aren't you? You don't usually wear full makeup here." ...I was wearing the same makeup that I wore everyday. When I informed him of this, he said "Well, maybe it's just been an easier day so it hasn't all worn off as fast." Yikes. I thought I'd looked ok...
   So what I decided to do was to put on full makeup, put on a coat of lock and seal, and see how well it held up to eight hours of chasing around one year olds. Dancing? easy. Playing  "mommy" for four infants? HARD.

Freshly applied Makeup 9:30

After an hour at work 10:30



Play time 2:30

Lunch Time 1:00



Outside Time 4:00

Closing Time 6:00

Hair Appointment 6:30

Home 8:00

Bedtime- about to wash my makeup off 11:30

Village Inn with the guys 9:00



Coconut Oil

So if you're like me and you spend time on the Internet, you've probably heard all about the miraculous coconut oil that is suddenly all the rage for...well, everything! I'd heard amazing things about using coconut oil for your hair and skin so i decided to try it. I bought a big jug of Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil from Nutiva at Costco because 1. It was the cheapest coconut oil I could find 2. Coconut oil supposedly doesn't go rancid, so I have time. I was pretty nervous about using it on my face, because, well, it's OIL. The first time I used it, I instantly regretted it. I think I probably used too much, but my face was so slick and oily it was GROSS! I thought for sure I was going to break out, but I didn't. Since I've been using the coconut oil, my face is smoother, healthier, more moist, and the blemishes have started to dissipate.  My routine is that after i was my face, i rub my fingers against a chunk of solid coconut oil so i get just a tiny bit of the melted liquid on my fingers, then i spread it evenly over my skin.

I've been using it on my hair as well, but haven't noticed any changes there yet. I've seen tons of coconut oil hair masques and stuff online, but I've just been smoothing the oil onto my ends and lightly massaging it through my hair.

I also used it as a lotion on my body, and was impressed with how long my skin felt soft, smooth and moist. Unlike lotions, which only last a few hours- a day, this was still going strong after three days!

I tried using it to shave, but I got a lot of red bumps, so maybe that one isn't for me- though it might not be the Coconut Oil's fault.

What do you use coconut oil for? How do you use it?

BB Cream

I decided to jump on the bandwagon and see what all the hype was about. BB creams are kind of expensive, and I have gotten sick of spending a ton of money on beauty products, only to discover that I hate them. So, I looked around and chose the cheapest one I could find, which ended up being the Rimmel London brand.

I love it. It has been so awesome! It has great coverage, goes on smooth, blends easily and stays on fairly well. On the bottle it says you can use the one product in place of :Moisturizer, primer, concealer, foundation, sunscreen, illuminator and bronzer. You probably could if you REALLY wanted to, but I don't. I find that layering this product with my regular moisturizer, primer, illuminator, concealer, and bronzer helps make my my face look extra flawless.





I wanted to try some other BB creams, and so I bought the CoverGirl one. I was
not impressed. It's more of a sheer coverage, with a liquidy and doesn't conceal at all. It is, however, a better color match for my skin, so I have been mixing the two together.

Have you tried BB creams? what brands do you like?

Life Hack- Makeup Primer

While on my Internet adventures, I come across some pretty interesting and weird tips, and because I'm me and way too curious for my own good, I have to try it . The latest one I saw was for "on the cheap" face primer. Apparently, according to the girl (who's blog I've lost, if you've seen it let me know, so I can site it) Monistat anti chaffing gel-powder has the exact same ingredients as Smashbox primer.
 the Monistat is only $6, and a little goes a long way. I was definitely wow-ed by this product. It went on very smooth, blended great, had a nice matte finish that covered/blurred imperfections really well, didn't make me break out, and was great under makeup. Unfortunately, there were a few downsides too. It took a REALLY long time to dry, and you definitely want to make sure it's dry before applying the makeup- and the deal breaker: It was too drying for my skin. Since this is an anti chaff gel, the purpose is to help with moisture problems. This would be great for people with oilier skin, or in the summer while my skin is moist- but right now, it sucks the moisture out of my skin and leaves it kind of flaky. That makes me sad because I really liked this product as a primer. It lasts a long time, it's cheap, and it really does a great job as a primer- so check it out! tell me what you think!

L'oreal Hydra-Renewal

I've recently been on the look out for a really good facial moisturizer that will go well under makeup, since the one I use really doesn't, and I don't want to have to have separate moisturizers. I posted a facebook status about it awhile back- and I got a lot of responses (Thanks guys!) BUT....I don't have the $14-$20 to spend on a little bottle of lotion....So until I find a coupon for it, it will have to wait.

     I ended up buying  L'oreal Paris Dermo Expertise Hydra-Renewal Continuous Moisture Cream for Sensitive Skin.
From the moment I started to apply this to my skin, I knew it was a mistake. It was heavy, and greasy and made my skin feel tacky, greasy and heavy. I could practically feel my pores clogging, and sure enough, by the time I got off of work, I had a fresh crop of zits. on top of that, my skin didn't even stay moist. It dried right out and started to flake. This might be a product for you, but not for me. I have very sensitive, dry skin, and most moisturizers make me break out- so if you're like me and have delicate skin, or you want something light and gentle; this product is not for you.

Gallon A Day Challenge

So, for my health, and as part of my new diet, I've decided to do the Gallon a Day challenge. Basically I am going to try to drink a gallon of water every day for a month. I started this 4 days ago on January 17th, and so far so good. My skin is more hydrated for sure, and feels way more moist. I'm still waiting for my body to adjust to the water flow though,  so I don't have to make so many bathroom trips. I will update you all later.

My Beauty Arsenal

People always seem to be interested in what I use for my look. I like to think it's because they know I'm a penny pincher, and yet I still look good, so they want to know to save some cash. So, I'm going to list my swear-by, use daily products.

Face




Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub

Noxema Triple Clean Anti Blemish Pad

 

Witch Hazel

-

 



Zapzyt

Garnier Moisture Rescue (Dry Skin)

ELF Mineral Infused Primer

 










HardCandy
Glamoflauge

ELF Flawless Foundation (Porcelain)-
Winter use

Physician's Formula Mineral Wear Foundation
 (Creamy Natural or Translucent Light)-Summer use

Physician's Formula Mineral Wear
Matte Finishing Veil

Maybelline Fit Me Bronzer
 (Medium Pink)-

ELF Studio Bronzers (Warm Bronzer)





War Paint Beauty
Shimmer Eye Roller

Loreal Paris Liquid Eye Pencil
(Carbon Black)

WarPaint Beauty
Eyeshadw



Rimmel Lash Accelerator
Black



Hard Candy 1,000 Lashes
 Midnight Black

Maybelline Lash Discovery
Waterproof, Very Black

Love and Beauty
 Hint of Color
Coconut Flavored Lip Gloss



Maybelline Illegal Length
Black, Waterproof

Maybelline
Voluminous False Fiber Lashes
Black, Waterproof

 







 

Hard Candy World Balmination
 Bridal Blush

Generic Value
Heat Activated Texture Spray








 



 



 

 

 

 





Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo



ELF Mist and Set