The Weird Thing About Having Magical Hair

The Weird Thing About Having Magical Hair...

Coloring my hair has been one of those super fun things that I never thought I'd be able to do. Yet here I am, 26 and with a head-full of dreams and a scalp full of purple hair. 

I've colored my hair twice already this year - the first time I went for a metallic rose gold. Which honestly turned out better than I expected and I looooved how it turned out once I washed it the first time.

The second time I kinda went buckwild - I went straight for the purples, pinks, greens, and blues. Its my current hair and I'm in looooove with it.

But there is something about having this awesome crazy hair that I honestly didn't expect. And its the immediate judgement and stares people give you. I was always taught to never judge a book by its cover, which (to be honest) has been something very hard to do. When someone dresses or looks a certain way we immediately stereotype or make judgements on the kind of person they are. I have had to purposefully teach myself to toss those immediate impressions aside, to think positively, and realize that it's not what on the outside that counts.

April 2016 Favorites

April Obsessions

So I've been out of the game for quite a bit - so I figured what a better way to hop back in the game than by writing an April Obsessions? Either way, these are items I've been moving for probably more than April, but they are def my go-to items.

Cute Notebook from Target

Isn't this notebook the cutest? I picked it up from the Dollar section at Target - it was $3. I wanted to pick up a notebook to help me learn Japanese and I figured why not pick up a cute one! It's the perfect size to pop into my purse and to take with me. When I'm watching things in Japanese and I want to look a word/phrase up later I jot it down in this little notebook!

Hard Candy Velvet Mousse Matte Lip Color

This is an absolute fav of mine - I picked it up while I was at Walmart with my Grandma. I got the color Cherry Blossom which is a nice everyday pink color. The packaging in the store is adorable - they come in gorgeous tins and the product is inside. The packaging of the lippie itself is super slim and it's got a standard flat applicator. It's $6 for 0.23 oz.

SinfulColors Nail Polish in Supernova

Target endcaps are a love of mine. This nail polish was on clearance - I swear I think I paid less than a dollar for it. It's a super pretty neutral gold metallic that's perfect for spring summer. I wear it on my toesies a lot and it's going to be even prettier when I get a little bit of a tan!

My New Hair!

I got my hair done a little bit ago - and I've been in love with it since I got it done. It's a gorgeous combo of purple, blue, green, and pink! I got it done by Christine and if you are ever in the area and want to get some gorgeous mermaid hair - look her up!

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New year - New Hair!

New Year - New Hair!

I've joined the majestic unicorn club and decided to take my natural golden blonde hair to a GORGEOUS metallic rose gold. But first, some backstory.

Right before Christmas I went in to get my hair trimmed and my hairdresser and I were chatting about Guy Tang and how we both LOVE his metallic hair creations. You know, one thing led to another and all of a sudden she goes "We should totally do that to your hair! You have virgin hair and I really want to enter the Guy Tang Hair Battle for Metallics!" I was super apprehensive, my hair was virgin hair, I hadn't done ANYTHING to it in about 7 years. But after talking it over with my fiance and a few family members I decided to just go for it. It will grow back the same way every single time - and I was ready for a change.

Fast forward to Sunday January 3rd, 2016 @ 9AM. I arrived at my hair salon and the whole process began. By 9:30am my hair was being bleached (the first time) and after a short wait my hair was very, very blonde. Next came the the second round of bleach and my roots - which in all honesty it didn't hurt quite as much as I expected it to. I expected a terrible stinging but it didn't really bother me much at all. After that second bleach it was time for some violet toner and a quick nap while I sat.
While I was sitting, it was her chance to mix up the colors that were going on my hair. We were going for a rosey metallic - so we went in with shades of pink and purple (it's wayy more complicated than that, but I see colors in a mixing bowl and not much else). So she applied those colors to my hair and after a short sit my hair had magically transformed into a beautiful unicorn!

ANNND - the finished product:

I am SOO in love with my new hair. 

If you are ever in the area and want to have magical unicorn hair, or just want a great hair stylist to do your hair GO SEE CHRISTINE. You guys need to check out her Instagram so you can see all the awesome hair that she does. She is a braiding wonder too! https://www.instagram.com/hairsbychristine/

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How To: Keep Your Long Hair Fun & Healthy for Summer!

How To: Keep Your Hair Fun & Healthy for Summer!

Today I'm working in conjunction with Brooke Elise on this haircare How To! We've both got a few tips and tricks for keeping your hair type healthy and happy. Personally, I've got super long (almost to my butt) naturally blonde hair - so I'll be telling you what I do!

Stay away from the hot tools!

This is my natural hair! (and natural curl)

No seriously - it may look awesome for like a second but it ends up damaging the hair more. If you want to style your hair try the blow dryer on cool, braids, or rollers!

Speaking of braids...

They will become your best friend, and are practically a necessity if you want manageable hair. A braid is also a super cute hairstyle and is perfect for windy days. I personally braid my hair every night before bed - sleeping with your hair loose just creates tangles and a mess to brush through in the morning. Also - use a metal free hair tie. I bought a pack of 100 at the dollar store!

Find the perfect brush/comb

Personally, I use a wide tooth comb and a tangle teezer to brush my hair. I also own a wet brush that I never actually use in the shower anymore - but dry when my tangle teezer is no where to be found. The wide tooth comb is a shower staple when I've got conditioner in my hair to make sure that the conditioner gets in every nook and cranny.

Washing your Hair

Now I know everyone is weird on hair washing, and we all have our own system. But I'll tell you mine - I was my hair MAYBE once or twice a week. I don't have super greasy hair although it definitely can get that way, it just depends mainly on how sweaty I get during those inbetween days. I use a moisturizing shampoo too - I know there is all this chemistry behind shampoos but I'm gonna be honest, I buy my shampoo and conditioner at Sams club. (which is a wholesaler) So I've got a very large shampoo and conditioner pump sitting in my shower.

Conditioning your Hair

This is going to sound weird probably, but I always apply conditioner to the ends of my hair first. I feel like this is the part of my hair that is most fragile and I will apply a large portion of moisturizing conditioner there before anything else. My hair is also long enough that I pull it up in a bun of its own while I shave/wash my body and the last thing I do before I get out of the shower is wash conditioner out. I always end up letting my hair air dry as well.

Stay away from permanent color!

This is kind of a no brainer - peroxide based hair colors damage hair. Long hair is sensitive and you need to be gentle with it. But I've used demi/semi permanent colors on my long hair before with no repercussions. (I prefer using brands like Manic Panic)

Be Gentle!

No seriously - have patience and be gentle. It may take up some time of your morning- but it'll be worth it in the long run!

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Valentines Day 2015

Valentines Day Weekend

I was going to write a beauty and fashion post about what I did for valentines day and the lovely makeup and outfit I wore - but reality set in quickly.

Chris is supposed to be leaving on Sunday morning to go to NYC to see his family again after moving down here. Which is very exciting - but it meant we had to turn our house inside out to get him packed for winter in NYC and get a suitcase ready for him. (which he didn't do until last minute) So on Friday we packed him up for NYC, packed up a bag for myself for the weekend at my parents/grandparents, and packed the dog up with us. We had a delicious dinner that my brother cooked for us (with my Moms help) and spent the night with them. The boys (Chris and my brother) played Magic: The Gathering until past 1AM. At which point I was exhausted and made them vacate the bedroom so I could catch some much needed sleep.

New Years Eve 2015 Recovery

The Day After...

FOTN on my Insta!

So, normally I don't drink much. I don't know what came over me this year, but I ended up drinking wayyyy more than I intended. And I'm going to be honest, the only pictures that came out good are the ones that I took while I was still sober. So I'm going to quash any drunken memories and just wish you all a very happy New Year! 

I've been thinking about my resolution these past 2 days and I think I've finally figured it out:

I want to spend 2015 happy.

Not that fake happy where you pretend everything is alright and you put your head down and hustle. I'm talking about the happy where you get to enjoy life, eat the food you want, have the friends you want, and spend your time (outside of work) how you want. I want to spend more time with my family and friends. I want to smile, laugh, and cry more. And I'm gonna try my damnedest to complete this. And also losing 10lbs wouldn't be too bad either.

Either way, its the 2nd of January and this is what I did today:

I'm gonna be honest with you, my fiance and my dog can't swim very well. So we did what every Floridian does, we went swimming on the second day of the year! We wanted to teach Buster where the steps were in the pool so that if he ever fell in I wouldn't have to dive in and save him... Again. So Buster got a swimming lesson that turned into a fun learning playtime with him and his Daddy. Once we got home my makeup brushes got a good cleaning and Buster is continuing to sleep the day away. Overall it was a day that I enjoyed more than anything, I laughed lots, got to spend time with my family, and had the most amaaazing dinner cooked by my Grandma. Ugh, I love pork and sauerkraut. Delicious. 

It was a good day.

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New Years Eve Outfit

New Years Eve

Fresh off of the Christmas goodies is the holiday where you wear the sparkliest thing you own and go to parties where you could possibly make some bad decisions. For me though, its the complete opposite.

I always see everyone make all these grand plans for what they are actually going to wear to a party, and I'm the same way. But I'm going to be honest and share with you the outfit I will actually probably wear.

I made another Polyvore for this outfit, because I haven't actually worn the clothes I plan on wearing yet (just got them for x-mas). Be sure to stalk my twitter for my New Years OOTD & FOTN. I'm sure it'll be glittery and I'll be partially inebriated as I take pictures and write the post. So enjoy it. ;)

Realistic New Years Eve Outfit by xwenchqueen

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Get Ready With Me - Drugstore Edition

This post is picture heavy - so the full post is hidden under this break.

FL Winter OOTD - FOTD

Okay so it was like 59 degrees outside, but whatever!

Okay so lets be real, I'm a born and raised Floridian so I barely ever get to wear the winter clothes that I've collected throughout my life. And my boots, well, I have a massive collection of boots and I wear them all Fall/Winter no matter what the weather is like. If they go with my outfit, I wear them.

No shame in my boot wearin' game.

The dress is seriously just a simple black v-neck long sleeve wrap dress. Wrap dresses are seriously so forgiving and lord knows I need to be forgiven for all that food I've been eating this holiday season! I picked the dress up a couple years ago in NYC at an H&M.

The red wool scarf is even older than the dress I believe. I got it quite a few years ago when I was heading to NYC to visit Chris one of the first times. I wore grey tights under it all, because they were warm (and clean, I seriously need to do laundry). And I paired the whole outfit with these suede boots with cute little buttons on the side that make my gams look amazing and the heel is suitable for all day wear.

To be fair, the FOTD is so simple. I've been so lazy with my makeup since the holidays. You can pull off anything with a good application of eyeliner (when it doubt, wing it out) and a fabulous lip. I just used the Almay liquid liner in Black, the elf eyebrow kit in Medium, and the NYX soft matte lip cream in Prague. 3 things to make a simple but fabulous face!

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I was in a wedding!

Remember that wedding I went to back on Nov 1st?

Well here are the pictures and the post you guys have been waiting for.

So back on October 31st I had to skip classes and fly out to Maryland for my amazing cousins wedding. She was getting married November 1st and I was so happy to be asked to be in her bridal party. Originally Chris was going to join me on this adventure, but he ended up not being able to take off work and I spent Halloween running through airports.

One thing you guys probably don't know is that I get miserably motion sick. Like miserably, so I knew that the flight from Florida to Georgia and then from Georgia to Maryland were going to feel like the longest plane rides in the history of my life. They weren't actually the longest I've ever had, but my motion sickness didn't set in until I was about 19-20.

Nevertheless, if you've ever landed in the Atlanta, GA airport it is absolutely HUGE. And of course I only had an hour long layover so if my first flight didn't go right on time it was practically guaranteed that I wouldn't make my second flight.

But no worries, my flight out of Ft. Lauderdale went off without a hitch and the only problem in Atlanta is that my next terminal was literally across the entire airport. Even the stewardess on the airplane wished me good luck as I ran through the airport. Atlanta has a tram though, and I still only made it with 5 minutes to spare!

EITHER WAY: The moral of my story is not about airports or travelling, its about these lovely ladies right here and LOVE. Plain and simple.

Rehearsal time!

When I landed my Grandparents scooped me up from the airport and we went straight to the hotel and the wedding rehearsal. And thank goodness its a tiny airport because I don't know if I could have handled another large airport that day. I got to meet most of the bridesmaids that were going to be there and I finally got to see my cousin! It feels like forever since I've seen her, its so funny because we can spend years apart and then we get together and we always click and its like its been no time at all.

November Favorites

November Monthly Favorites

I only have a few items that are my favorites this month. But I've really been using a lot of the same stuff as last month because I've been trying to be more budget conscious, and not spend so much money on makeup and beauty supplies that aren't deemed necessary.

One thing I haven't been able to pick up this past month but am drooling over is berry colored lipsticks. I've been seeing them all over and they are absolutely gorgeous. I haven't been able to find a shade when I'm out and about that I'm in love with, so if you have any recommendations for berry lipsticks, leave them in the comments! I'd love to see them and maybe I'll go pick them up.

Onto my favorites:

So, this past month I got my first subscription box. And it has been one of my favorite things I've received all month. Chris has already worn his shirt, and we have all the things we received on display in our apartment.

For a more in depth review click here

This past month I've also been obsessed with doing my hair and trying to find the perfect way to curl my hair easily with minimal heat. My solution: BUNS.

Variation one:

I do a simple twisty bun on the top of my head like Zoella Does! (I didn't actually get this one from her, but this was the closest example I could find) This creases my hair but it usually looks so cute and it leaves my hair is loose curls so I like it quite a bit.

Variation two:

I don't know if any of you have ever used Spin Pins, but they are amazing! I usually throw my hair up in the pins when my hair is almost dry and then I sleep in then all night. The best part is that they don't crease the hair so when I let it out my hair just looks like spun golden perfection! A little hairspray afterwards and I'm done!

Transformation Tuesday

Transformation Tuesday

This isn't a post about my weight or where I started and where I'm at now, its a post about how makeup transforms me into a fabulous sorority girl.

Plus I really liked how my eyemakeup came out the other day.

To the right is a image of me, one half of my face has makeup on, the other half has none. My bare face isn't something that I'm always confident in because of my trichotillomania, but there are days where my skin needs to breathe and I have to face the world.

Tonight was not one of those nights.

I had a important sorority event in where I needed to dress and look business professional.

Halloween costume ideas

Costume Ideas for Halloween

So, as Halloween approaches I've done enough googling for Halloween costumes for about 3 people. So I'm going to show you some of the costumes that I seriously considered!

I like costumes that are a little more conservative, and usually had a male pairing because Chris and I are finally able to do a couples costume this year!

Costume #1: Broken Doll

I came across an amazing makeup tutorial on how to do a broken doll makeup. I spent a very long time looking for the proper costume to compliment the makeup I was planning on doing, and eventually settled on this dress shown on the left. My favorite color is purple and I had amazing ideas on how to style this.

I hate ordering costumes and clothing online sometimes, because I can't touch the fabric. But the reviews online for the dress were amazing.

If you like this costume I found it on Spirit Halloweens website.

I didn't end up picking this one though because Chris didn't want to be a doll or a puppeteer. Plus I had to think about its wearability throughout the night while I was hosting a party, so I eventually decided against this.

Wedding Plans...?

The more comfortable I get in my everyday life makes me realize that marriage is no longer something that a couple needs to do to validate their relationship.

Ones relationship is just as valid as any others with or without the churches approval or a legal binding. This legal binding does however, protect and give your loved ones rights and protects them.

Which is why, after two years of engagement to my lovely fiance I've decided one thing:

I want to start planning my wedding.

I want to be legally bound to him, as he will be to me.

Sorority Event - OOTD & FOTD

Sorority Event - OOTD & FOTD

Today's post is inspired by the absolutely lovely ladies in my sorority. I'm a sister in Alpha Omega Epsilon, which is the sorority that supports women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). I am a computer engineering major myself and most of my sisters are engineering majors as well. Last night was the night that we welcomed new candidates into the sorority, it was a pin attire event so we had to look our best. Here are some pictures of the lovely ladies!

Overall though, this was a night about the new candidates and them on the path to becoming lovely new sisters. I managed to catch everyone for an awesome picture with our banner + the membership educator.

Here are our lovely candidates!

I'm excited for the rest of this semester and to see these ladies grow into lovely new sisters!

Now down for why you're actually here: My OOTD & FOTD.

The Wet Brush Vs. Tangle Teezer

The Wet Brush Vs. Tangle Teezer

Round 1: FIGHT!

Please note: I bought both of these products with my own money, and these opinions are all my own.

The Wet Brush

Firstly, lets talk about how it looks:

My Wet Brush is green and has a really smooth texture. When my hairdresser handed this brush to me and told me to brush my hair in the shower/when my hair was wet I was definitely looking at her sideways.

So when I took it home it sat on my dresser unused for a long time. I've been using it much more recently now though in the bath when I have conditioner in my hair. The bristles are sooo soft and they give way to knots and overall is a very gentle brush. When I'm running it through my hair it is very easy and gets the tangles out without pain and without all the tugging I was doing before. It also helps work conditioner out of my hair and when I get out of the shower I feel like my hair is smooth and soft.
The one qualm I have with the brush is that I feel like since the bristles give way so much that my hair doesn't get brushed through thoroughly all the time. But overall, I like this brush a lot and its currently in my shower.