Beautiful Crinkly Hair

Cynthia Rowley’s Fall 2010 collection at New York Fashion Week went down the runway featuring some serious texture in the clothing and in the hair. While the collection itself is pretty cool (though I’ll admit I think I’m more keen on the clothing in the Spring 2010 collection ), I’m more interested in the hair.

All the models had very texturized long, low ponytail with bits of crimped and colored extensions weaved in with their natural hair color.

Picture from Hair on the Brain. Click to go to source.

Hair on the Brain, a really great hair-centric blog I follow, has the scoop on the look, go check it out for a step-by-step as well as a step-by-step of DKNY’s collection’s hair as well.

I love how the hair looked on the runway, Cynthia Rowley described this collection as  a “chic monster-girl collection.” This hair seems appropriate to that description as well as actually very wearable since those colored bits are extensions which you could switch in and out if you got the clip-in kind.

Picture from Hair on the Brain. Click to go to source.

I love the idea of crimping the extensions, it’s unusual and really amps up the interest. Just make sure if you try this out you get some REAL hair wefts (you can buy those at Sally’s Beauty Supplies along with clips that you can sew to the ends of the wefts to turn them into clip-in extensions) so that when you crimp the hair it doesn’t melt. Synthetic hair CANNOT be heat-treated, it’s plastic and proves that once the heat is on by shriveling up and burning.

Picture from Hair on the Brain. Click to go to source.

Also, I suggest you do what Wella (the brand responsible for hair at this show) did and dye the extensions yourself for a customized look. They went with really saturated jewel tones for this show, but I think I’d like to do some pretty pastel streaks if I were to give it a go!

Any looks you particularly liked from New York Fashion week on or off the runway? Share ‘em!

It Will Only Make You Feel Bad

Things you should avoid doing:

• Drinking calorie-laden Starbucks while walking by anything fitness related
• Taking yoga classes with your more flexible mother
• Reading old correspondence that will only make you sad
• Telling yourself your going to stop drinking Starbucks when you’re not going to follow through
• Drinking alcohol and owning a cellphone
• Discussing LOST with people who don’t watch LOST
• Putting serious dramas on your Netflix queue when all you watch are comedies
• Signing up for classes that take place far before your usual wake-up time
• Watching Gossip Girl– you will only feel really poor and annoyed with the characters’s poor decision-making skills

Trust me.

Musical Shortlist

A small collection of music I’ve been enjoying this week that you may enjoy as well. I’m using YouTube videos instead of embedding the actual songs because I feel like it’s easier for you to peruse them this way. But, if you want a copy of a song contact me and I will send it on over to you (what’s a little music sharing between friends, right?).

Drop me some band/song suggestions if you have any! I’m always interested in hearing new music.

This one wins great song AND video award from me. Of course it’s the only one here that has an actual official music video, but either way it wins.\ “In the ’80s I was too high to make anyone as beautiful as you.”

I don’t enjoy these lyric YouTube videos normally, but this song’s lyrics are beautiful and good advice. And, oddly enough, I met and had dinner with George Plimpton, he was an inspiring guy. Sadly he died in 2003.\ “Don’t live another day unless you make it count.”

Love this band, I highly recommend checking out their music.\ “I painted your house, To pretty up the town, I try to be good, But all I do is wrong”

Another band I love, their Website is actually in my blog roll on the right side of the page. This song and the new CD is a big downer compared to their older stuff. Still good music though. \ “She was always far too pretty for me to believe in a single word she said.”

A classic and even after many years of listening is still fun to sing along with. \ “It’s tearing you apart!”

Annnnd, the fantastic band that is Frightened Rabbit. Their new CD is out in March.\ “You’re the shit and I’m knee-deep in it.”

If you want a blow by blow of what music I’m listening to, complete with charts of my listening habits,  you can hook up with me on Last.fm. If you haven’t heard of Last.fm go check it out and become fascinated.

Happy Valen-tidings!

You didn’t think I’d forget you did you? I mean, I’m not my delivery boy for a florist ex-boyfriend whom I so foolishly assumed would, I dunno, deliver ME flowers on Valentine’s day. Yes, how silly of me, just because you have to go by the florists about twenty times a day doesn’t mean I should expect you get me anything, let alone flowers.

Back to the point where I’m not bitter at all, I got you something nerdy and awesome, just like me! And you! That’s why we’re such a good match, right?

Click for Source (and two other nerdy Valentines!)

My brother claims the Navi didn’t have nipples (and he “was looking”) so it didn’t make sense for the Navi to have breasts. I don’t need to explain this logic do I? I’m assuming you’re smart enough to follow. But I totally think they did have nipples and he just sucks at nipple spotting. This is all referring to the movie “Avatar,” by the way. For God’s sake try to keep up!

I used my recent love song discovery the other day , but here’s an older discovery. I think it’s a sweet song. But beware, those of you who have language sensitive ears, there is an F-bomb in this sweet song, thus making it even more impressive.

LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN

“The Reasons” by The Weakerthans

LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN

10 Trends for 2010

Here is a little look at my Top 10 Trends for 2010 brought to life by Polyvore.com. Before we start, let me say that these are not rules, in fact no one but you should dictate what you will wear this year. Wear whatever speaks to you! And, if you are inspired by any of the trends that play out this year make sure you take them and wear them in your own unique way. Fashion is not about all of us dressing exactly the same, it’s about being inspired and happy in what we’re wearing.

Also, check out the other Rimmel 10-er’s blogs for their own Top 10 Trends for 2010! Yep, this is actually a Rimmel 10 Girls mini-challenge, but don’t worry this isn’t the February challenge, it’s a just a snack before the Feb. challenge. And if you didn’t know/forgot, you can find out more about the Rimmel 10 girls by clicking on the Rimmel 10 icon on the right side of my blog.

Here we go!

1) Pale Lips – Nude or milky pink colors. You’ll notice I included a concealer in the set below, if worst comes to worst you can actually put concealer on your lips for a nude look. It just isn’t as nice looking as lipstick. And it tastes weird.

2)  Big Bold Prints – I’m trying to keep all my examples within a reasonable person’s price range so I didn’t include the tie-dye Proenza shirt, but that is a great (and very expensive) example of what I mean. P.S. I Made This has a great D.I.Y. version of the Proenza shirt, take a look!

Click for Item Information

3) Ombre Effect – Clothing, makeup and hair! All are great in ombre, but I’m particularly excited about hair, I love anything new and fun in hair. Though I think most people will go for a much more subtle ombre effect in hair, I LOVE this look on model Abbey Lee from Vogue Australia! Who What Wear did a whole article on ombre hair with loads of celeb pictures this past December if you need some natural looking ombre hair inspiration.

Click for Item Information

4) Pastels and Sheers – Easter egg colors! I love pastels and am so pleased they seem to be creeping back into fashion. I’ll be honest, part of the reason I like pastels is that my ultra-”fair” skin (read: extremely white) is well suited for pastels. But besides that they’re just plain pretty. I think pale colored sheer items are coming back as well, especially soft nude colored sheers.

Click for Item Information

5) Big Florals- I know, you’re thinking that this should be included in big bold prints. But I think it should have its own category because A. Last year “ditsy,” small print florals were in and this is a twist on that and thus should be noted, and, B. I think this is going to be a big trend on it’s own. But we could say this and big bold prints do overlap I guess. Hey, look how cute those glasses are!

Click for Item Information

6) Crop Tops – The bane of normal girls like me’s existence. Luckily, you can just put a tanktop or another shirt underneath it and keep your tummy’s dignity intact while working a cool layered look. Also, not referring to it as “tummy” will help keep your dignity intact as well. This is clearly an homage to ’90s fashion, which has definitely made a comeback. I mean, the whole floral trend, acid wash jeans, and grunge looks are definitely pulling from the ’90s, and all of those are fairly in style right now. I won’t even dignify “harem pants,” commonly known as M.C. Hammer pants, with a mention (besides that one).

7) Light colored nails/ Multi-colored nails – Pastels and nudes have been leaking over from clothing to makeup, and I think they will also begin to show up in nail colors. We’ve been bingeing on dark colors recently and I think we’re all ready to lighten up. I also think people are more open to having fun with their nails by doing multi-colors and having variety from nail to nail, it’s cheap and an easy way to change-up looks. I’ve never tried this particular brand of nail polish, but their colors look adorable!

Click for Item Infromation

8)  Braids – Soft, loose side braids and soft milkmaid braids are going to be everywhere this year. If I had more hair I would so be in on this! I love the I’ve-just-rolled-around-in-the-woods-with-some-guy-but-I-still-made-this-premier-on-time look of it.

Click for Picture Info

9) Scalloped Details – Scallops are a very sweet and girly and I love them. I think they will become more prominent this year, detailing hem lines and edges of clothing and accessories. I also love this scalloped skirt, it’s darling and I think a style that will gain some traction this year. Though, since I am of the pear-shaped variety, I won’t be able to wear the skirt since I can tell it would only add volume in an area I’m trying to visually slim. *Sigh* I think I could rock those shorts though! Win!

Click for Item Information

10) Ruffles- But you knew that, right? Ruffles are cool because they can add volume toplaces you need volume or simply call attention to an area and are feminine without being overtly so depending on how you style it. I personally like girly looking ruffles though, thus my overly girly collection of them below. Notice the hat has SCALLOPED looking edges because of the style of ruffle, sweet trend overlapping action!

Click for Item Information

To sum this all up: It’s going to be a PRETTY, girly year. Think ballerinas, my favorite girly go-to look, full of soft colors and ruffles and femininity. I couldn’t be happier.

Bonus predictions: I think stripes and sailor inspired looks might be gaining a little this year as well, which I heartily welcome with open arms. I also hear army jackets (not marching band style military jackets that ruled the fashion world last year, I’m talking about green, Lindsay Weir of “Freaks and Geeks” style jackets) are coming back. Ugh, no me gusta.

Inspiration Sensation

Failed Attempts at Facial Hair-- a one man band."Beware the groooooove....groooove" (this will make sense at the end of this post) Click for Source

Let’s listen to a cute ukulele using song! I think it’s a ukulele, I’m not totally sure, but it sounds like one to my untrained ears. Anyway, I like this band– well it’s one guy, but that can still be called a band right?

LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN

Bad Haircut by Failed Attempts at Facial Hair

LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN

Wasn’t that great? It makes me wish I had the least bit of musical talent so I could learn to play the ukulele too. But I don’t.

I went to summer camp when I was 13 or so and “majored” in guitar one week, and after about a day and a half of totally not understanding strumming (seriously, how does that work? I still don’t understand how you get it to sound right when you have to strum up and down and it sounds different depending which direction you’re strumming) and having a difficult time trying to hold strings down to do chords I gave up and spent the entire time just chatting with the other guitar kids while my loaner guitar gently weeped in the corner. By itself.

Look at them go! Such skills, such grace! Click for source

Now on to fashion.

Looking for some inspiration in the fashion department? I’ve got two things you should take a look at!

First and foremost, chictopia.com! This site is great and, most importantly, sooooo inspiring. People upload what they wore and maybe write a little description about it and where each piece of clothing is from (if they can remember). So many people have such great style and the best part is that the majority of the users aren’t in designer clothing. Take that magazines, we can still be chic, stylish and all sorts of awesome without your $4,000 dresses!

This is Ester, one of my fav chictopians. She actually does wear some designer stuff, but I find her totally inspiring. Too bad she rarely posts. Click to go to her profile!

To be honest I’ve only uploaded two outfits (and that was super recently) though I’ve been a member for around a year. I mostly just surf it to look at all the great outfits other people are putting together. I promise you, no matter what your style, you will be inspired.

A cute, girly and ORANGE look from Keiko Lynn. Click to see her profile!

There are guys too! And some of them have really great hats, like Adrian. Click to see Adrian's profile!

Also, Chictopia has an interesting feature where it shows you outfits from “people like you”– meaning they have a similar body type and/or coloring. You tell the site those kind of details about yourself when you sign up, don’t worry, they’re not stalking you to find out your body shape or anything.

Intrigued? Wanna join? Use my reference code when you sign up: LANABSTAR999 or, if interested, feel free to check out my not very exciting profile on Chictopia.

My other suggestion for inspiration is the fabulous photographer Gemma Booth’s Website. If you’re at all familiar with the brand Aerie you might know her work, she did beautiful ads for one of their recent campaigns. What I love about Gemma’s stuff is it’s all very magical looking and has such a soft girly quality that I find ultra inspiring.

Mmmm, pastel color scheme, my favorite! Photo by Gemma Booth

This next picture by Gemma has a llama AND a poncho in it! And good Lord do I love ponchos, but I have a soft spot for llamas as well. They’re cute, weird and their name looks a lot like mine. They have a gross spitting habit when they get nervous or angry though, so if you meet one don’t rile them up unless you want the most disgusting, green, stinky stomach acid-y spit on you.

My brother’s childhood best friend was from a family of llama farmers (yeah, I know, what a random thing to be right? But it’s also kind of eccentric-ly awesome) so I was constantly warned about the spitting, I just figure I should pass it on.

"Shit, it's a llama, don't move!" Photo By Gemma Booth

I would also like to recommend you take a look through my links, which are to the right of this post. Not only do I link to the other Rimmel 10 blogs, listed shockingly enough under “Rimmel 10 Blogs,” but under “Blogroll” I link to several good fashion blogs such as Olsens Anonymous, Waitin’ Around 2 Be A Millionaire and Come Over to the Dark Side, We Have Candy (who, by the way, is also on Chictopia and is INCREDIBLY stylish).

Where do you find fashion inspiration? Any Websites, people, or what not I should know about? Also, how much do ukuleles cost? Can I just carry one around and pretend to know how to play it?

P.S. All this talk of llamas reminds me of one of the best movies ever. If you haven’t seen it I think your life is missing an ESSENTIAL piece. Fix that problem right here, right now.

When You Walk In The Room

Fyfe Dangerfield (Click For Source)

Do you ever just have a mind explosion when you hear a song for the first time and you LOVE it? I had that today with Fyfe Dangerfield’s “When You Walk In The Room.” And yes, that’s his real name.

Fyfe is apparently best know as a singer for the band the Guillemots. But since he/they’re British I’ve never heard of them/him before. There seems to be a real divide between America’s Top 40 and the U.K.’s Top 40, huge bands over there can be virtually unheard of over here and vice versa. I don’t know if our tastes are just that different, or what. But I think it’s odd.

Anyway, without further ado, the song (sorry, it’s not a music video, just a static picture and the song):

I hope this crazy, uplifting song blew you away like it did me. Seriously, I stopped what I was doing I was so shocked by how much I liked it, paralyzed by the intensity of my appreciation.

Only one thing can I complain about, the rest of the album, called Fly Yellow Moon,  is pretty much super mellow music except for maybe two other songs. And, while Fyfe is still good while in mellow mode, it was a bit of a let down after “When You Walk In The Room,” especially since the song opens the album and thus (you think) is setting the style of the music/tone for the rest of the album.

Do you have any songs that you were blown away by recently?

Rimmel Challenge #1 Wrap-Up Video

Rimmel asked us to do a little video wrap-up for the first challenge talking about our experiences.  It’s rather long, and addressed to my peeps at Rimmel, but if you want to see a whole video of me rambling on for ten minutes about the experience and makeup, here you go! For more authenticity I’m not even wearing makeup, just like the first challenge! Also the fact I was about to go to bed factored in…