Tag: cruises

After 8 months at Sea: Style secrets to always have good hair

~ Emmie ~ Leave a comment

It’s been too long since I’ve posted in here. And I’m sorry. I don’t know why I haven’t checked in with y’all. Truth is I’ve been learning so much about hair and make-up since I’ve been away. Where have I been? I’ve just finished my first 8 months contract as a hairdresser on board the MSC Meraviglia, a cruise ship extraordinaire! I glamorously (and sometimes not so glamourously) sailed to Bahamas from NY all winter and then sailed the Mediterranean in the spring. My ship had a huge spa dedicated to the art of relaxation, self care and beauty….and I’m here to dish out style tips that saved me on this amazing work journey and kept it on the glamourous looking side. Because travelling and working requires practical hairstyles, that look glam. I’ll talk about the ones below because they balance functionality, with professional polish, and style. And they’re also so easy!

  • Embrace the frizz: I was in the middle of the ocean, and the air was salty, damp and misty. There was no way to have pristine, perfect glossy hair. Unless my hair was coated and weighted down in oil and wax. Or if I were firing up the heat tools every morning to style, which not only did I not have time for, would have fried my hair. I instead heat styled after shampooing only once a week! Then I added a light application of dry waxes and hair oils day to day to keep my ends looking less damaged. That meant I was rocking about 15% frizz on a daily basis. But that’s totally acceptable because the hair looks effortless that way and the frizz was forgivable, because it was still light and bouncy.
This is me in my uniform on a typical day onboard. I feel pretty and ready to work with my half updo hair!
  • We all use thin hair elastics to do braids or hold a pony, or half updo. But the trick to making it look polished? Don’t show the tiny elastics. That’s right. Always cover it up with a ribbon or any polished fascinator or flip it to cover with your own hair with a pony inverter. Same goes for bobby pins. Hide them as anchors under the hair.
This elastic was a simple black one. But what was the elevation? I flipped it to hide it.
  • No low pony tails with a bushel of frizzy ends: For some reason, low pony tails looked very lazy and sloppy on the ship. I think it’s the fact that when hair is pulled back it loses volume and the face looks severe. Then after the elastic, the tail end of the hair style poofs, asthe sea air adds frizz and makes too much undefined volume. It doesn’t looked balanced or tidy, as one may think. The solution I always did was if I was to wear a pony tail, it had to be high pony tail and with straight, sleek hair. it just looked a lot cooler that way!
Higher pony tails with slick hair avoids the frumpiness of low ponies and frizz
  • Professional looking buns are made with french pins: A french pin is an amazing hair tool. It’s not hard to use, and it looks chic and not overly formal. The way I used it was with a pony tail tied with a thin elastic, and the ends wrapped around. In the same sentiment: never use claw clips or scrunchies to hold buns. Claw clips damage hair with their teeth and scrunchies look sloppy.
A beautiful bun without any fuss or overly ornate claw clips with a french pin
A simple french pin is the way to fasten a bun and make it look chique
A simple french pin is the way to fasten a bun and make it look chique
  • Check the back with a mirror in front of a mirror to avoid unknowingly wearing cowlicks: This tip was an important one for me. My hair at the back has a cowlick split that always parts vertically. It’s not pretty. And should be fixed. It’s also a game changer to always know how your hair looks to other people from the back! Ways to fix a cowlick? a bun, a braid, a partial pony, or lots of hair spray!!!
  • Soften up the appearance of pulled back hair in ponytails or buns by leaving out face framing pieces: Women in the workplace and seafaring have to look able bodied without hair falling everywhere, but we also want to look pretty. On a ship pulled back hair signals order and control. But nothing adds more softness and femininity than to leave out some strands at the front of the face to look less rigid and uniform.

And the most important take away from these tips are that none of the styles look overly done up. They just look thoughtfully stylish. And trust me, as a seafarer, there was never enough time in the morning between downing the cup of crew mess coffee and running to report to work. So all the styles mentioned above take less than 5 minutes. That’s the true beauty of any hair routine, in that it looks effortless because it was. More styling tips to come stay posted about the fashion vibes I rocked on the ship!

Why Cruises may be the best vacation out there…

~ Emmie ~ Leave a comment

I feel like vacations are important. They are part of the well being and mental health routine; way up there in terms of a non drug treatment for common malaise and mild chronic depression. Day to day life needs adventure, leisure, and change…we’re not all rich, so what can give us all of that at a decent price? Why I think that would be a cruise. I recently came back from a 5 night vacay on a ship going to the Caribbean for the second time, and I can definitely say that I had fun, relaxation and thrills. Pretty good food and just amazing travel views. That is what is in store on a cruise on these beautiful ships. Whether it’s an old vessel or new one, big or small, the glamour of sailing the high seas is alive and well in this culture. And without trying to sound like a travel agent trying to sell cruise vacations, here are the reasons, for me, why it may be the perfect getaway from our land locked lives!

On my very first Caribbean cruise. Is it obvious that I liked it? The deep blue sea was amazing!
  1. Value: Because cruising includes food and entertainment and lodgings, even transport between ports on the itinerary, there is no need to use our wallets that much. I’ve come back from land vacation trips where the expenses while in that destination was astronomical. (New York City, I love ya, but what gives?) While cruises do tend to have a lot of add ons and while in port there is often spending, it’s just not equal to what is doled out for land vacations where a dinner out can be hundreds and tourist sites can chart a hefty sum to visit. While it’s also expensive to book excursions with the cruise line, one can simply decide to stay on the ship, or tour ports on their own, with a bit of research. In that way, one can tailor a cruise: is the trip going to be a splurge trip with specialty dining and fancy excursions? Or a more pared down budget friendly option? It’s adjustable to each sailing.
  2. Being truly removed from anywhere: “Like Robinson Caruso, it’s primitive as can be..” lyrics from the old t.v. show Gilligan’s Island, it rings true with cruises. Being on a ship in the middle of an ocean feels like a remote desert island in some way. And because we are removed from the everyday, we have time to think, time to problem solve and time to really disconnect. There are no reminders of home on land and suddenly just “existing” is at the center of it all…
  3. No dishes and house chores: Let’s be honest…daily life and life chores are mundane. Going to get groceries, cooking, doing dishes, taking out garbage and such…it’s all really boring. Going to work daily…these are just boring motions of modern society. Cruises are the antithesis of that! Just show up on the ship, get taken care of daily in cabins that are cleaned and meals that are lovely…explore what new foods can tickle the tastebuds without even washing a plate! No lining up at the grocery store…everything just appears! just like that!
  4. Live Entertainment is just a short walk away: On my two past cruises, I saw singers and dancers, stand up comedians, acrobatics, and live music that would get one dancing in the isles. Cruise directors and their team hosting game shows and trivia…and it was all soooo close to my stateroom cabin. All so accessible…there is no city or travel spot in the world that can give that same convenience.
  5. It’s Educational: Not that one can’t learn about big tourist cities when visiting, but because cruises visit many ports during a sailing, the opportunity to get a wider scope or perspective on a larger area can be acquired. For example Caribbean cruises visit many islands, and because it’s just for one day, it can make it extra special to learn about the speific place while in port…since tomorrow, a passenger will be elsewhere. And in that sense one can get easily acquire general knowledge about a geographical region in a short time frame. Same thing goes for Alaskan or Mediterranean cruises. It’s easier to get a general view of a geographical area.
On my second cruise and I felt at home…There is lots of glamour to be had on designated “formal nights” on many sailings!

I used to relate cruising to that of a expensive luxury, a past-time for “older folks” with time and monies…but now after trying out two cruises, I can say I’m hooked. The truths about cruising for me is that I find them culturally valuable and time well spent. A vacation that is actually a thoughtful getaway from daily life. Whether lounging poolside, having an adventure on a shore excursion or playing shuffleboard on deck seaside…life is good when on the high seas. And the leisure component of vacationing is truly potent when sailing away on these big ships in the middle of the vast blue ocean.