I don’t watch New Girl with Zoey Deschanel, but well, we can’t talk about the glasses trend with out seeing her adorkable ways!
When I worked at this designer/hipster store in Toronto a few years ago, I really saw the trend for wearing glasses go up. It was a way to look cool, smart and cute, and it completed a fashion look. Girls were all wearing big glasses with dark rims to look cute in an fringe way, but I was always left out of this trend since I have perfect vision. Yes, by default, I never had glasses growing up or anytime because I didn’t need them. I was not achieving my lack of eye apparel look by wearing contacts either as some people assumed. The truth was the only glasses I could ever wear were non-prescription “fake” ones that didn’t come out until recent years.
Rewind even further back in time to my art college years, when I was quite shy and not very confident. I worried sometimes about how I would be perceived by classmates. I even contemplated then, before glasses were in, to wear fake glasses to help me to look “smarter” among my peers. So now that the fashion trends have given their permission to wear fake glasses, I have recently bought a pair of optical quality non-prescription glasses, they are scratch resistant and uv protecting. And well, I kinda like them. I really have to get used to wearing them though. I have been naked faced all of my years!
So, these are not really the black rimmed glasses I saw everyone wearing a while back, but I kinda like their boldness and colour. (:
I read somewhere that eyeglass wearers always get protection from glare and uv because they wear their prescription everyday for vision. Us visually perfect people never get that kind of protection on an ongoing basis. We get all the rain, wind, snow and sun in our eyes, and the full glare of our computer screens. So o ther than glasses giving a fashion boost and vision correction, might they also give a health advantage too? That’s not fair to those of us that face the harsh world with an unprotected naked eye day in and day out!
Glasses are seen as cool, but on the other hand, I also think back about how that is not always the case. Most gorgeous gals in mainstream movies/music today and in the past don’t wear vision corrective apparatuses. I think technically, not wearing glasses is still seen as the norm when describing a good looking person. But still, it is nice for me to see the success of hip and happening fashionistas that are just cool enough to pull off the glasses look and propel a trend that has fringe beauty appeal. And with fashion’s green light, I can now participate too with my fake eye glasses on days that I feel like it!
What do you think? Do you like the look of glasses? Are they fashionable? Or would you rock no glasses/contacts any day?
I like doing things myself, and for the longest time, I used to go to hair dressers to do my haircuts, my colouring…etc. But for the last couple of years I have been doing everything myself. And I’ve learned so much from this. It wasn’t easy. Doing your own hair means making a few mistakes here and there, and taking time to correct it. But don’t fret. Doing your hair yourself also means you get what you want, and you don’t have to pay hefty fees to stylist that sometimes make mistakes too! They are professionals, but they are not flawless.
Back to Brown
I recently decided I wanted to go lighter than my natural black again. I used to rock a dark blonde way back when, but this time around, I decided I wanted to do an ashy light brown instead because it is healthier since it is less levels of lightening. My hair had grown out at the roots and was virgin black hair to my ears, and below was pre-lightened brownish hair stained with a tinge of purple from when I rocked purple hair. So here begins my misadventures. I want to tell you right off the bat that if you have hair that is not uniform in chemical treatments, this is where colouring gets tricky. I mean really tricky. But still, I am not bowing down to the professionals yet.
So I grab the light ash blond colorant I always use when I used to do a dark blonde. It has a base of dark blue toner, to combat any orange colours in hair that arrive when trying to lighten hair. I know this time I was aiming for brown, but I still wanted the toning effect to get rid of excess brassiness, so I thought the same colorant can be used, but to get brown, I would just use weaker volume peroxide for less lift. Okay…so guess what? I was right about using a weaker peroxide, but wrong about the blonde ash toner in my colorant! It saturated the middle shafts of my hair–the parts of the shaft that were the most porous, and when I washed out the colorant, I had stained the mid sections an ashy green! I also still had some purple tint on the very ends, and my roots were a warm brown colour, because it was healthy virgin hair that resisted the stain of the ash green. I basically had 3 colours in my hair! Not what I wanted at all.
I don’t know if you can see it. Photos are deceiving. But my midshaft was green, my ends were ashy, and my roots/top was a warm brown!
Trying to fix Tri Coloured Hair!
So not happy, I start researching how to get rid of the greenish part in my hair. I figured that I could live with a bit of uneven hair colour tones, but just not ashy green. I heard remedies from bleaching again, to ketchup, to salt! I decided on using a lemon juice soak to get it out. After an hour of soaking the bottom half of my hair in a mixture of lemon juice and conditioner, I washed it out to find little to no change.The ash colours were still there. And I was still unevenly coloured.
After the lemon juice: I still had a lot of ash to my mid section, and if anything, the lemon juice just lighted everywhere. Still tri-coloured! Yikes.
Emergency Box Colouring:
I don’t usually use box colour kits from the pharmacy, but waking up to tri-coloured hair was bothering me a lot. Warm roots, grey/green mid-shaft, and greyish purple tips was driving me mad. I walked to my corner pharmacy to fix this once and for all! Two boxes of colour kits since my hair is long. I figured where I had gone wrong was in using a colourant with a ton of toner in it to begin with. The ash blond colourant was made for people who were aiming for blonde, not brown, so there was no darker colour but bluish toner to fill in areas that I had pre-lightened before, therefore staining it green. The science of hair colour finally hitting me in my face. Every hair color has a tint of either red/gold/green. But there is also a base colour of different concentration depending on how dark you wanted to go. Ash blond does not have any base colour. Where as if I wanted brown, I would have to use a brown base especially where I had pre lightened before! Too complicated for words. After the redo in a light golden brown colour from the store, the green was finally covered. But then a new problem presented itself. Dull brown hair!
I got rid of the greeny part in the middle, but now the ends were stained darker than the top, making the colour flat. My roots/top was also still warmer than the bottom!
Clarifying to remove the over dye:
I put lemons into my hair again to remove the over-dye. When hair has over dye in it, the strands are too saturated, they can’t shine because of it and are weighed down. This is when one can use different remedies and products to remove some of the dye. I used lemons, because I had some, but I think clarifying shampoo works too. After this I shampooed twice. The result the next day was this:
My ends are still darker, but at least it doesn’t look like a different colour in the middle. With more shampooings, I think the colour will lift a bit more to be more even.
So at the moment I am rocking a slight reverse ombre, which is lighter at the crown, and gradually darker in the ends, which is not the worst thing. If it really bothers me, in a few weeks, after my hair has rested from all the peroxide, I can always lighten the ends and recolour. But my main point is still true. DIY hair colour may require tweaks done over the course of several weeks to give your hair a rest. So no, the professional stylists have not won, but I know now to have a bit more respect for how hard hair colour chemistry can be.
Roses are red, violets are blue…everything is coming up roses…la vie en rose. So many expressions in our language about his beautiful, elegant flower. It is the ultimate flower to represent love, friendship, romance…and more. How is it that the rose became so synonymous with romance, love and all that? I know I always try to use this flower in my make-ups in hopes that in doing so, roses can impart to me its attractive aura. There is something magical about this flower, and you can even see it included as an ingredient in some innocent white witch love spells! So here are ways to work the magic of roses into your wardrobe and make-up so you feel extra alluring this Valentines day or any day in general.
Rose Water Toner: I always talk about my rose water toner. And why wouldn’t I? Roses are known to have a hydrating effect on skin, and the rose water is used in Mediterranean cuisine is perfect for your face. It is basically made from the water that roses are boiled in, and is super pure and fragrant. I put mine in the fridge and dab it with a cotton ball on my face for an instant rose face lift.
Rose Perfume: The smell of roses have a wonderful effect on the soul…Calming, stimulating and feminine. So why not use some of it’s power on a day like Valentines? I blend my own perfumes, and I find rose oil to be too strong of a scent on its own. Combine rose scents with something sweet smelling, and mellow, to counteract its potential spicy top noted scent. If you don’t have the ability to make a perfume, I think L’Occitane has a pretty good rose based perfume. And the key is subtlety. Just use the tiniest amount to not over power your company.
Face Masks: because roses are such a gorgeous flower, wouldn’t its essential oil transport some of its power to you if you use it in a face mask? During the winter months, I do a clay mask almost every week, to re-hydrate, rejuvenate and detox tired winter skin. As well as using honey, yogurt and olive oil in the clay mask, I add several drops of rose essential oil and then leave the mask on my face for 20 mins. When I wash it off, my face is tightened, moisturized and toned. Thanks rose flower power!
Rose Tea: Drink in its power. Certain herbal teas have rose buds in them to impart a beautiful bouquet and scent to the tea. I also believe roses in tea can be anti inflammatory, calming, and just wonderful to drink. Herbal teas are also great for relaxing and hydrating your body. Teas can also help to reduce appetite for healthy weight loss.
Rose coloured clothes and make-up: And let’s not forget the emotional value that the colour “rose” can impart. Although roses come in a variety of shades today…the colour one means when talking about “rose” is a pinky red. A perfect colour to wear on valentines…whether it is in a generous swipe of flushed red blush on your cheeks, or donning a gorgeous pink dress, anything rose coloured will get you noticed and feeling like a freshly picked flower. Appreciate all that nature has to give us!
I was feeling shy and mysterious in this photo. And a bit moody. Fits in with the spirit of roses…I think.
Dreamy Reveries: a journal of make-up and fashion 