Category: fun

Mid Summer’s Day Dream…

~ Emmie ~ Leave a comment

This summer 2023 has been a difficult one for me. With my decision to not travel and just save up for winter holidays, I feel I had inadvertently set myself up to be locked up in a slump. City life during the hot months in Toronto is not the most relaxing or pretty. Construction, sticky smoggy air, bad traffic and noise is the reality of summer in the city. I realized how some people, the “elite people”; i.e.. the well-to-do people of Toronto get to go away in their fancy cars and drive up north to the various scenic lakefront properties they own or rent. They get to have a real getaway rather easily, and spend lots of their weekends by sitting on the dock on a quiet lake and watching the waves, and just truly recharging.

I feel like this summer in particular, I had the need for escaping. But unfortunately, I could not. Certain aspects of my personal life and work life had gotten hectic; not being able to foresee this happening earlier this spring, as mid summer arrived, I was hit! I was left in a lot of emotional turmoil with no exit or break from it in sight. I did end up taking a week off of work…but then what? I thought to myself on the first few days of my staycation..This so called “vacation” ultimately would require me to work at turning off my brain and anxieties without a true physical getaway. I had to plan local outings, I had to find my friends. And on days where those options weren’t available I was truly unhappy. There is nothing worse that being on a vacation where I could not escape the boredom or malaise that was my life while it was summer in the city. I don’t have AC, so imagine me heatedly crouched over my bed post to stretch myself to the window to smoke mini cigars. That was my one of my escapes as weak as it was.

My week of being off work is coming to an end and I still think about how if I had been more privileged or luckier in life I too could have been one of those free people up at the cottage when us low folk down here have to work and toil. And if not work and toil, take staycations that are just unpaid unrelaxing wastes of times. My only solace was to splurge a bit and spend a half a day at a nice pool lounge in downtown Toronto. With no one bothering me and my surroundings being totally new, it was a lovely change from my usual routine. Sitting poolside or near any body of water always seems to calm me and the cool breeze of the rooftop pool was comforting. It made me forget some of my pains.

After that moment of solitude by the pool…I feel it is possible to have some beautiful moments in trying times…looking at what possessions and resources others had and what I didn’t was not what I should have been doing. But after a week off with some torturously boring moments where I wondered what I was doing with my life, I had the advantage of an good expanse of time; where I was able to examine my own resources and mobilize to use them. I was able to put down my mini cigar and realize that there are little pieces of paradise in the city and in our minds if we only allow ourselves to find it.

Working hard or hardly working? When at the poolside who really knows? This was my tiny escape from summer in Toronto with no cottage.

How I try to look like an off duty model…

~ Emmie ~ Leave a comment

I grew up in the 90’s where the now familiar term “super model” was coined. The fashion model was not only an unattainable example of female physical beauty, but it was also a lifestyle that was coveted by many teenagers in my days. Travel, fashion, culture and a way for young women to make good money was the image the modeling world was trying to show off. We all know later on, that the truth of the industry was far from glamourous; a lot of exploitation, eating disorders and mental health horrors bestowed onto young women that were just barely finished childhood. The pressures of the beauty and fashion world combined to crush the souls of the small percentage of girls that fit the super thin, super tall, and not ethnic look and standard of the runway model.

The trauma of the model culture backlash has since subsided, I feel. Or it could be later in my life as a more experienced woman, I just don’t have the ability to see it as much. But I still remember the fairy tale glamour the modeling industry used to supply me. After two decades of being a mom and living in the biggest city in Canada, traveling and being creative, I feel cultured, educated and worldly. I didn’t have to be a model to get that achievement. As much as the dreams of being a model did charm me in the past, in a way I am glad I never did it. We can find everyday ways to channel our inner diva, our inner model.

One of the fascinating ideas and life styles that I want to adopt from fashion models is the look of when they have days off. Not on the runway. Where once glamourous modelled looks are only suggested by the bare bones look of effortless “cool”. Models on their off days I learned, often have to audition for jobs in what is called “go-sees”. That’s when models often are dressed very basically, very simply…and run around the city to go visit big designers to interview for jobs. In a way, models have to look like a blank canvas, fresh faced, and ready to represent/sell any campaign. They have a daily look that is still polished, but so pure. I like to achieve this look in various ways:

  • Don’t wear make-up. A made up face is a finished, polished product. I like to show my raw potential. So I don’t cover up with any make-up. Just show off a nicely hydrated face. Sunscreen is always flattering because it has a naturally dewy look
  • Have clean, un-styled hair. The reason for this is hair is also a form of expression. So having the hair natural shows texture, colour and potential for different ways of styling. It shows an ability for a range of looks. And that’s exciting.
  • Clothes for go sees are very basic. Tank top and jeans, a white fitted tee, jean skirts. They show off the silhouette of the body without speaking too loudly and distracting from the shapes and forms that already exist. They are casual, carefree clothing. Not sloppy, but not dressy.
  • I try to channel a youthful spirit with my “off duty model” look. I try to show off some humanity, some quirkiness. That’s because I believe even the most beautiful models in the world, are truly very ordinary people. Those that have the right to execute this mundanity in the purest, most effortless way. Daily life in the city as a common person can be very exotic if viewed by top model!
So this is me. My everyday look. Unpolished effortless cool. Would I be hired at a “go-see”? Maybe? haha

Get Ready with Me for a Date Night:

~ Emmie ~ Leave a comment

Getting ready for “date night” is a really basic beauty ritual that needs no explaining, in my opinion. We all do it, primp and preen and get our skin glowing for that special someone. But there is actually a lot more to it that flexing our vanity and grooming muscles. There is an order and logic to it. It’s a process, so let’s talk about that process. I will start by talking about my emotional state recently and how getting ready for this one date was so interesting to me.

So I do have a boyfriend. I guess that’s what he is, considering that it we’re monogamous and it’s pretty regular that we see each other. And it’s really difficult making time for each other with our busy adult lives. And the future is always uncertain, in terms of the longevity and meaning of the relationship. I recently feared a lot of things after some revealing text messages from my boyfriend. And I didn’t know how to deal with them. I am a hairstylist in Toronto; my day to day consists of taking care of the business of looking good, and not much else. So there it was–a wall of emotions that floored me and I didn’t know what to do for days. But as a date night with my beau approached, I did what I had to do. What I always knew how to do…prep and get ready. And believe it or not, the process of selfcare and beautification really made me feel more secure of myself and what I want and was therapy in a way.

After showering I love to just relax in my robe and plan my next beauty moves. Usually it involves grabbing a tea!

The Ritual of Getting Ready:

  1. Facial Pampering: I like to do this the night before a date, or the morning of. It’s exfoliating with a gentle face exfoliator. I used Deciem’s Lactic Acid. Then applying a mask. The exfoliating makes the skin cleaner by removing dead skin cells so that it can absorb the nutrients of a moisturizing mask and expel toxins trapped within. It’s also creating the ideal canvas for make-up application. Also the best time to do my nails is the night before!
  2. Cleansing face, body and hair: I like to do this a few hours before the date: I do the whole enchilada; shampoo, condition my hair, shave, brush my teeth. After all the cleansing, don’t forget to moisturize with a nice light body lotion.
  3. Blow Dry and Style hair. My hair style depends on the formality of the night. After being apart for a while from my beau, I needed to have a more carefree, low maintenance look. This was because I wanted to create a more relaxed vibe between us after the awkwardness of the previous week and the messages. So I opted for a tousled look without flat ironing or curling. It was very natural. To achieve this I just blow dry and add a bit of serum for shine and de frizzing.
  4. Decide on outfit: Do this before putting make up on. Even if I don’t dress until right before the date, I still need to know what colors I’m working with. After choosing the appropriate outfit, for this one night I chose a lace turquoise body suit spaghetti strap tank and flare jeans. Casual but stylish attire to match my mood.
  5. Make up time: I decided since few colours didn’t clash with turquoise I would wear a smokey beige shadow with a bit of shimmer. It was perfect. Subtle, but alluring none the less. Liquid line with a pen, my usual day to day make up. Blush, brows, and lots of mascara.
I’m a fan of mascara. I truly believe that is there is one make up arsenal that really makes or breaks a look, it’s the mascara on lashes!!
Tada! The finished look. Is it possible that something so subtle and easy looking took about 2 hours? That is the mystery of getting ready!

By the time I got picked up by him, I was looking fine. Not overdone…even with all the work and prep it took. I enjoy the process. By the end of out date, after a hard couple of weeks second guessing our relationship, it felt nice that at least I always knew how to put on a good show; even if the future is uncertain with my beau. And well…it’s who I am to put my best face forward.