happy halloween!

Edgar Allen Ho:

you're welcome. via Jezebel.

girl crush: blondes

curly bleached hair problems

i decided to take the plunge and go full-on bleached-out peroxide blonde. i have naturally curly hair which is very temperamental. this was not the best idea in terms of the health of my hair, of course. in fact, it took a few weeks for it to stop freaking out and look half-way decent when it was down. i scoured the internet before and after bleaching and found anything by way of a complete hair tutorial for specifically bleached curly girls. so, here's my take.

special shout out to my beauty bible, The Beauty Department. their hair bootcamp guide really gave me some fantastic ideas.

first, don't freak out because your hair feels exactly like Barbie's. this is the price you pay. suck it up, and wear a loose bun and/or braid for a few days. try to avoid the dreaded and evil ponytail holder, because it might cause breakage.

second, have at your disposal, BEFORE YOU BLEACH, a super-moisturizing hair mask. i used Heaven in Hair by devacurl. it smells delicious and it is so luxe.

leave it on for a half hour/45 minutes/hour. you really can't leave it on long enough. i think the biggest hurdle of bleached hair is getting it moisturized and, dare i say, "dirty" again. think about it - curly hair looks best when you don't shampoo every day, and you let the natural oils take over, and calm your locks. when you bleach it, you strip all of that out. so, you've got to put it back in.

third, make your own oil treatment. i used The Beauty Department's recipe of a 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup jojoba oil, and 1/4 cup olive oil. i also added some drops of lily of the valley fragrance oil, because it smelled like pasta. put gobs of it all up in your wet or dry hair. comb it through. get it all up in there, so it feels like an oily mess. do this on a saturday where you're not going anywhere in particular. slap it in a braid and bam, leave it. add more at night if you'd like. don't wash it out until the next day. and then, don't bother with shampoo. just let it chill. in fact, just don't bother with shampoo for the next week or two.

fourth, you're gonna need an everyday conditioner, since wearing oil in your hair all day everyday is just not cute. i recommend the EverSleek line from Loreal. it's sulfate and alcohol free, so, that's good. i'm not sure why. but that's what all the blogs recommend, so just go with it.

fifth, you might eventually want to wear your hair down and show of your curly, bleached blonde locks, right? well, it's going to be a frizz monster. it just is. it's freaked out. don't touch it with a hairdryer or any other heat tools. just don't. trust me. but if you want to wear it down, and have it air dry, might i recommend some products that will help?

don't mess with the "regular strength" of this - go for the extra strength. put it on right after your shower, when your hair is sopping wet. finger-comb it root to tip.

i'm kind of on the fence about this stuff - it's way too fragrant and not in the best way. however, it gives good results. slap on a gob or two, and start to scrunch. after i get this in my hair, i do an initial, very light, scrunching with a towel to take out some of the excess moisture.

THIS GEL IS AMAZING. it smells delicious, is not drying or sticky, and gives GREAT hold. after i get this all up in the curls, i scrunch more aggressively with the towel (remember, no terry cloth!) to get all the excess moisture out. then, i let it air dry for about 45 minutes, and finish off with a light misting of any old hairspray i have lying around. i do NOT recommend the DevaCurl hairspray - although it smells like lavender and i kinda want it as perfume, it is really quite drying. i recommend a non-aerosol hairspray like Tresemme.

i promise, it will get back to normal. it just takes a little time and some SERIOUS TLC. have you got questions/comments/concerns? or TIPS? shoot me a comment, below.

beautifying

latest + greatest loves from the world of beauty:

i didn't start to use foundation brushes until super recently. but THIS. this brush. magic. Marc Jacobs, The Face II brush. i can slap on my makeup any which-way, have a tonne of streaks from my other foundation brush, and this brush blends it all away without taking it all off my face. it looks like my face has been airbrushed afterwards. i no longer have to use my pore refiner - it's THAT good. and i was obsessed with my pore refiner.

Armani's Blushing Fabric sheer creamy-blushy thingy is heaven. incredibly light-weight, and infinitely buildable. you decide how much you want to put on. it glides on like a DREAM. sigh. i think i'm in love.

yes, it's $42. yes that's way too much for mascara. yes it's the most amazing, non-clumping, super-lengthening, mega-volumizing mascara ever. and i've tried A LOT of mascara.

do you have any tips or tricks i should know about? do you know of an amazing, non-clumping, super-lengthening, mega-volumizing mascara that i should know about? (yes, thank you, i've tried Diorshow with mixed results.)

inspiring

all work is by Ana Teresa Barboza.

i'm not worthy.

writing

you take photos in your studio apartment, using natural lighting against what you hope is a mostly-white background in order to better photoshop them afterwards. photoshop (kind of) works, but everything looks washed out, and it's really fucking hard to try and photograph something that is 4' x 8' when your ceilings are only 10', and you can only realistically stand about 15' away from the giant object. you import it into photoshop and everything looks horribly distorted (you clearly need a tripod) and the color balance won't get rid of the pale yellow light that always tinges everything in your apartment. you resign yourself to the fact that a studio apartment is not, in fact, a photo studio. it will just have to do.

you put the (kind of) edited photographs into a power point presentation, and begin to write meticulous notes on each slide. you start to (kind of) think about the reasons why you do the things that you do, and it all feels horribly personal and embarrassingly shallow. you dig deeper and manage to come up with something that is (kind of) acceptable. you even (kind of) impress yourself, as you've never really done this before, and you just (kind of) want it to be over with.

you start your presentation, and realize all of your meticulous notes are not visible on your screen. you don't want to waste any time, so you try and try to remember what amazing things you wrote in your notes, but only manage to mumble through, making excuses, telling things you never meant to say, and blurting out the (kind of) truth about the items. it goes okay. you go back afterwards, read your notes, and realize everything you forgot to say, and feel (kind of) like an idiot.

on presenting (personal) artwork to a group of coworkers, 10.14.13

reading

in three words.

cringe-worthy, painful, acceptance

uproariously, laugh-out-loud, riotous.

i don't know, i just started this two nights ago.

inspiring

Ole Martin Lund Bø's Deceptive Outward Appearance, 2007

stop with this. this is just too fucking cool.

the business/the news

YES.

Banksy announces a residency in NYC.