Style inspiration

Personally, I think fashion is different from style. Fashion or trends have more rules and they come and go with the seasons. While style is who you are, it has more freedom, it lasts longer (unless you change your personality often), and it's all about expressing who you are through dressing up.

People have their own likings and differences; to each his own, they say. Some do cosplays because they like anime, some like to wear all black, spikes, and skulls. All of these, I think, convey something -- clothes serve as a lifestyle statement.

I, personally, tend to lean towards monochromatic, versatile, detailed, and un-girly pieces. I love prints, denims, leathers, sheer, sequins, studs, black and white, lace, gold details, piling on accessories, and pops of color. Some things that doesn't appeal are too much pink and pa-cute stuff and too revealing clothes.

I'd say my style is casual and laid-back. Here are some styles that caught my eye:

 

 

 

 

This as formal as it could get:

Pop of colors:

 

What's your style? How do you manipulate pieces of clothing to express who you are?

*Photos grabbed from Tumblr and Pinterest*

Mi Ombré!

Ombré hair has been around for quite a while, I know, but I am not one to follow trends so kiber! If you follow me on Twitter you'll know that I have been bored with black hair for more than a year and was looking into things I could do. Ombré hair was on top of the list, I also considered whipping out the good ol' bangs, shaving one side of my head, and dying it whole lilac or any purple shade, srsly!

It took me this long to finally do ombré hair because bleaching powder and toners are such a b**ch to get a hold in this country-- it's either you wait for HBC to restock their bleaching powder (which are always sold out) or wait another 2 months for pre-ordered items. Since waiting is involved in both options, I went for the former because it's cheaper. Anyhoo, this post is to show you guys how I did mi ombré hair.

Things needed:

• Hair bleaching powder and developer (or you can buy a bleaching kit or a highlighting kit for less hassle)
• Non-metallic bowl and a hair color applicator brush
• Long hair clips for making hair partitions
• Aluminum foil and scissors
• Barber's cape (or whatever you call it. Not in picture.)
• Hair color kit of your choice
• Gloves (I used the ones that are included in the Revlon kit)

Notes: Aside from this particular bleaching method I used, you can also use a highlighting kit for no mixing hassle but I highly doubt it's also available in stores. // Non-metallic bowls should be used to avoid chemicals from the bleach to mix with the metallic bowl's chova. I know you know what I mean! // They said that you should get hair color kits with "ash" on them to serve as your toner -- which takes out the brassiness and orange of your hair. Since "ash blondes" isn't readily available too (sucks!) I went with whatever blond shade is on sale just to take out the orange parts.

 First split your hair into small sections using long hair clips to make sure your application will be even throughout. I know my partition skills are bad, hah! But you get the idea.

Then mix the bleach powder with the developer. I mixed 1 part bleaching powder to 3 parts developer. Mixture shouldn't be sticky because it'll be hard to work with it.

Next step, which I didn't get to take a photo of, is put on an old shirt and your "barber's cape" to avoid bleach going to places you don't want. Then apply the mixture on the bottom ends of your hair first where you want the color to be the lightest.

Once you're done applying the bleach, cover it with Aluminum foil and leave it on for 30 mins. After 30 mins. wash the bleach out and repeat bleach application  - this time apply the bleach higher on your hair. Maybe from under your lips up to the ends of your hair. Wrap it with Aluminum foil again and wait another 30 mins.

Above is the result after 2 sessions of bleach application -- orange-y ickyness. I had to have 2 sessions of hair bleaching (1 day apart) in order to really lighten my hair and reach the shade I wanted.

I let my hair rest for 3 days then I applied the Revlon Colorsilk kit to take out the horrific orange in my hair. Halloween lang ang peg!

Above is the outcome of my experiments. Chos! But seriously it was trial and error; I didn’t know what I’d look like after every application. Left photo is raw and the right one’s edited.

Considering I’m no hairdresser and this being the first time I bleached my hair, I’d say I did a good job. My mane still isn’t the blond color I’d like it to be but I achieved the “fading effect” the ombré hairstyle is all about. And being the restless person that I am, I am now thinking about dying my ombre pink or purple or red. I don’t know! We’ll see. Haha!

I hope this “sort-of-ombré-tutorial” made sense. I’m really bad at explaining things but, hey, I tried! Also, I apologize for the quality of the photos. The DSLR is with the sister so I had to make do with the iPhone’s cam.

Enjoy!

Lately..

Soo bad with updating this blog and it's because I have been busy/stuck doing the same thing everyday. I know, what a bore! Aside from the usual business thingamajiga, taking care of the kid, and trying to lose weight by working out and TRYING to eat healthy, I always look forward for grocery/shopping days where I discover and purchase new products to try.

And one of my recent purchases are these Beauty Buffet face masks. Cute packaging and "caviar" got me sold but haven't tried them out so can't give out my thoughts on these just yet. Oh!! One more thing about my weight loss thingy.. Today is my sixth day of not eating rice and so far lost a couple of lbs. so yay!! Fingers crossed on me losing more so I can get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Hey, it's about damn time!!

Also, after more than a month of waiting, my sneaker wedges arrived today!! Didn't really fix the lace on the picture above because I was too excited to try it on and take a picture. Got these here. 

Another thing is I am YouTube-hooked!! Before ('til now) it is where I find my music but lately it has a whole another purpose for me. Out of curiosity and, yes, boredom I stumbled upon these channels and they serve as a boredom-buster when I got nothing to do!

Click on the photos for the channels' links:

Sunbeamsjess --Mainly fashion and a little bit of everything. I like how her style is un-girly and not your typical shizz.

Beautycrush --Mainly beauty. Basically this channel and the next two are where I get tips on everything vanity.

Viviannadoesmakeup --Mainly beauty.

Essiebutton --Mainly beauty.

It's Judy's life --A vlog. Basically a documentation of a couple's lives. This is what made me realize I have to be more housewife-y and domesticated. haha! I also love how Benji is such a good man to Judy and the TimTam Slaaam.

Well, that's it. These are what I've been up to lately.

Check out the channels and enjoy!