Hair By the Year 2010 - 2004

I always enjoy the celebrity versions of these that they do in InStyle or whatever. I was watching The September Issue for my thesis the other day, and Tonne had one of those pages of of Sienna Miller's hair, so I decided to make one of my own! I've changed my hair colour three times this year, but it's all subtle shifts of blonde. I've only ever been a non-blonde once in 2005.


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I also tried to braid my hair across my crown because I'm trying to grow out my fringe the other day, but ALAS it is not in me. Plus my widow's peak makes it look awk. I will never look as cute as Rubie does with hers. Or Lauren Conrad. Since the beginning of the year or so, I've been rolling my bangs back when I want them out of the way and I really like it. I used to always backcomb it into a poof, but I'm sort of over it. I tried an off-center poof for awhile, but I really like it rolled back and I think it will look even cuter as my bangs get longer and I can make it more dramatic.


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Other discoveries: Most of 2006 are only of pictures of my friends and I in clubs, my acne has really improved, and I am MUCH better with my angles and taking my own picture.

The dog days are over

Apologies for the lack of updates lately. I've been swamped by my dissertation, which is due in TWO WEEKS, and I'm still only two-thirds of the way done with! It's also been hot and the two factors have combined to make me 1.) unhappy 2.) wear a lot of dumpy cut-offs with old tee shirts and 3.) not want to update/not checking blogs. Anyway, this is a resolution to start updating more. I am aiming for a 3 times a week update of outfit pictures, plus maybe a once-weekly feature TBD because I haven't decided what I want it to be yet.


Today was weirdly cold after it being over 100F on Tuesday and Wednesday. I think the high was 72F! So I thought that justified wearing tights with my shorts today.


Shorts: Primark, Cardigan, Tank: H&M, Shoes: Miz Mooz, Tights: DKNY
I am not a huge fan of these tights. I usually wear the more opaque ones, but somehow I got these sheerer ones and they snag on my fingernails when I put them on and they are super soft (not a con, I guess), but they're good for days like this when it isn't hot or cold.


It's hard to tell in these pictures (maybe?) but I dyed my hair! It's an ombre ala Drew Barrymore and I'm really excited for it to grow out. Today was one of the first days it really started to look ombre. I need a few more inches of outgrown, honestly, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Retro Romper

Apologies for the lack of posts this week. I have a draft due of my thesis next week and it's getting into crunch time. Which means a lot of unwashed hair, baggy & comfy shorts, and old tee shirts for me while I drink enough Diet Coke to fill a swimming pool. If anyone is interested, this is my tentative topic title: "Why Does the Devil Wear Prada?: Creating the Idea of Fashion Through Cinematic Representations of Fashion Journalism".

These pictures are from a few days ago when I went to get my nails did. And...took no pictures of them. I'll try to get one tomorrow. They're french with sparkly blue tips. I love them. And already cracked one, of course.

This is my second of two rompers. It is comfy, but obviously not like the other one which is like wearing a onesie tee-shirt. I love it's retro look, though. My sister took these for me really late in the evening, so apologies for the yellow-ness.


Romper: H&M, Shoes: Arturo Chiang

You think a lot of men can't handle the regalness of a updo right right?

This post/hairdo came about for two main reasons. 1. I have had long hair for several years now and had long hair in high school before that. But I never DO anything with it. I mean, even flat-ironing the big waves it gets in the back was beyond me in high school. And I only really started wearing it curly/wavy last summer after experimenting for a few months with different techniques. Basically my go-to hairdos were: straight & down (center or side part) OR a ponytail. Once and awhile maybe I'd mix it up and put just the front in a pompadour.

My senior year of college, however, I worked a lot of 7am shifts and I just was not willing to get up that extra 20 minutes earlier to do my hair. Suddenly I started getting a lot more into braids, side braids, low side ponies, and other hairdos that hide greasy hair. Rubie had also introduced me to dry shampoo, which I had been using on-and-off to varying degrees of success my junior year. Fast forward 18 months and I am now the master of my previously unmanageable greasy hair. I came about this in two ways: 1. bleaching the shit out of it and 2. baby powder. I get all Marie Antoinette on that shit and just douse my roots and then scrunch it in and (if I feel so inclined) brush it through my roots. I now only wash my hair every other day or every three days. In fact, I put so much stuff in my hair yesterday for this hairdo, I could've skipped washing it today except my hair felt heavy and my scalp got a little upset about all the backcombing.




Tunic: TopShop, Leggings: American Apparel, Belt & Necklace: H&M, Pumps: Coach
The second reason I decided to try a beehive was I got this amazing 1960s inspired yellow sheath dress for my cousin's wedding in two weeks. Since it's in Alabama in July, I am pretty sure I want to rock an updo or something because me and humidity do not get along well. At all. Or heat. Or sweating.




Because I am me, I did not look at a tutorial until I had already backcombed most of my hair, but I think it turned out alright anyway. The back was a little bit of a mess and I was debating bangs vs no bangs, hence the two looks. Also it RAINED yesterday morning and was cool enough I went for leggings instead of shorts! What is that?!


I jus wanna let you know the back of yo head is ridicolous.

I got these shoes on super deep clearance for $20. Originally they were $300+!!! They're also shockingly comfortable.

Faux Bob

Despite the disastrous curlers of the other day, I still wanted to curl my hair. My hair is actually naturally wavy, so this time I decided that I wanted to curl my hair and put it into a fake bob. This worked out...sort of. I discovered I don't have any short layers in the back of my hair! I don't know why I thought I did, or if I'm supposed to, or what. So I braided and rolled under the back of my hair and let the shorter side layers hang out. I curled them with a curling iron and then tousled them with curl fixing gel and I think it turned out really cute. I'm actually pondering cutting my hair this length, which is only about 2-3" shorter than my hair is right now.

P.S. Thank you to my sister for taking these pictures!








Dress: Old from some random shop in Westside Pavilion Mall, Necklaces: Talbots, Shoes: Arturo Chiang

Miss World

Apologies for the lack of recent posts. First I had to prep for my trip while Rubie packed, and then we spent 10 days hanging out and driving across the country, which was generally agreed to be better than driving with our respective families. There are tons of pictures, which I still have yet to look at because I am lame. I also managed to leave my Holga and Creative Zen in Rubie's car. WHOOPS. Anyway, hopefully I will get the pictures from my DSLR and edit them and get them posted in a series of posts in the next few days and update over the course of the week. My birthday is Sunday, and I have my outfit picked out already, so I am stoked!!!

BUT I DIGRESS. What this post is really about is my disastrous adventure with foam rollers.


NOTE: These are not the brand I used.

As I've mentioned, I have a fascination with retro and vintage style, which includes hair. I bought foam rollers last summer and never used them, and today I decided to put them in my hair. Let's keep in mind that my skills (hair, sports, art, whatever) usually fall into two categories: basically instant proficiency or, like the time I tried to learn to knit, AN ETERNAL INABILITY TO GRASP EVEN THE MOST REMEDIAL SKILL. Apparently, foam rollers fall into the latter category. Here is (approximately) how I imagined my hair looking like:



HERE IS WHAT MY HAIR ACTUALLY TURNED OUT LOOKING LIKE:



It was so awful I didn't even want to take a picture of my actual self, BUT EXCEPT THAT MY FRINGE WAS BETTER LOOKING: IT WAS THAT HAIR. I have had to brush it out several times, and it is still janky and full of tangles worst than last summer when I had such bad rats-nests in the underside of my hair (IRONICALLY THE THEN UN CHEMICALLY TREATED, UNBLEACHED HAIR) that my hairdresser spent the first 35 minutes of my appointment gently untangling it. Whatever kind of demon-spawn foam the rollers were made out of just grabbed onto my hair and were like LOL NOT EVER LETTING GO. I ended up having to summon my mother, who grew up in the era of foam/hot rollers, to help me get them out and it STILL was a lengthy, painful, hair pulling/ripping out experience. WORST. I am going to stick with a curling iron or just flat ironing my skills, both of which I have mad skills using.

If my experience has not taught you a lesson i.e. I suck with foam rollers and the hate me (my rollers were also too small for the amount of hair I have, so they took FOREVER to dry), you can get foam rollers at most grocery stores (I got mine at Raleys), drugstores, and places like Sally's Beauty. I HOPE YOUR RESULTS TURN OUT BETTER THAN MINE.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.

Until Saturday, I'd only had my hair cut by one person in my entire life. Unfortunately, my hair dresser has taken ill with cancer and has retired, so I was forced to find someone new to do my hair. Needless to say, this caused some panic in my heart and my hair was already in need of a trim when this occurred, leading to extreme procrastination that led, finally, on Saturday, to a FOUR HOUR hair appointment.


Emily at Salon Bravissimo in Sacramento did an AMAZING job with my hair. I had to have about 3" cut off the ends to even out my layers and cull nasty dead bleached ends. My friend Mel and I had been debating if I should change the color and I decided to go for it because it SHOULD have been fairly painless. Of course, because it's me, it took forever to get the ash toner out of my hair. It literally would not let go. WTF, hair! We decided to go on a color scheme similar to my dog Bjorn for a unique look. It's flaxen on top with an apricot wash over my natural hair underneath. I also opted for some straight bangs, which I know aren't the most flattering look for me. I had straight bangs last summer for a few weeks and ended up feeling bitter about them, but IDK. I get tired of side bangs, so straight bangs for a few weeks and, since it's spring, my hair will grow fairly quickly and I can transition back into side bangs again! When it gets hot I end up pining any bang I have back anyway, so it's really no thing.






Cardigan: H&M; Tank Top: TopShop; Hat: Handknit by my sister; Leggings: Nordstrom; Boots: Born; Nailpolish: Lilacism by Essie