I found a ton of beautiful dresses for spring in my recent online search. Here are just a few of the classy looks I discovered. Use them to inspire you this spring:
ModCloth.com
ModCloth has vintage and modern dresses that are usually in the $40-$60 range and are of average quality in their make. I've found so many beautiful dresses on this site!
From ModCloth
From ModCloth
From ModCloth
Le Chateau
Le Chateau always has classy, timeless looks available for every season. They tend to be on the pricier side, but you can usually count on higher quality design.
From Le Chateau
From Le Chateau
I'll have another post soon with more dresses.
Let me know what you think of these styles! Would you wear them? Which one is your favorite?
My family went to Florida in February for a vacation. It gave us all time to clear our heads (and our skin) and just relax.
In Celebration Town, FL
How can you not relax when it's so beautiful outside? Florida is such an amazing place. If you live there, you know it! You are some lucky ducks!
Recognize Patterns and Habits
While we were there, it got me thinking that very few people have this kind of opportunity. To just relax, and reflect on what your life is right now.
By reflecting, you give yourself the opportunity to recognize patterns in your life that are helping you or holding you back from being an AMAZING person (beauty on the inside).
On this vacation, I realized through reflection that my life was too stressful. I wasn't taking time for myself and was putting school work and work work ahead of my personal health. What helped me realize this was the 2 day detox I experienced once I finally let myself sleep until I was fully rested.
Eat Healthy, Eat Well
In addition to relaxing by the pool, we ate some really tasty food! We stayed in Vero Beach, so most of the seafood was super fresh and super delicious.
This is a whole other blog post on its own, but eating healthy is vital to staying healthy and naturally beautiful.
On a Daily Basis
If your next vacation is a ways away, think of ways to have "mini-vacations" on a daily basis. This can include meditation or just taking a few deep breaths everyday. It's important for your inner and outer beauty.
What About You?
What do vacations help you with? I use them for reflection and revitalization. What do you use them for?
If you're looking for a 100% natural face mask that only requires ONE ingredient... you're in luck.
What do I need?
1 Grapefruit
1 Small Bowl/Container
1 Grater (optional)
How do I make it?
1. Cut the grapefruit into quarters
2. Squeeze 1/4 of the grapefruit into your small bowl/container
3. Zest the grapefruit skin using the grater so that you have about 1 teaspoon of zested grapefruit skin
4. Put the zest into the container with the grapefruit juice
5. Stir with a spoon
And it's ready to use!
But how do I use it?
1. Use a small cotton pad and soak it in your grapefruit concoction (you can use your fingers or a face cloth if you have no cotton pads available).
2. Apply your DIY mask all over your face (avoiding the eyes), massaging it to let the zest exfoliate lightly
3. Leave the mask on for about 15 minutes - let it dry on your face
4. After 15 minutes, wash off the mask with lukewarm water
How did you come up with this?
I was eating a grapefruit not too long ago and thought "hey, if this is so good for me when I eat it, I wonder how good it is when I put it on my face". This might seem like a strange thing to wonder, but it's my job :)
After doing a little bit of research, it was quite obvious to me that I'd been missing out.
The Big Revelation on Grapefruit: GRAPEFRUIT IS AMAZING FOR YOUR SKIN!
It's an antiseptic. People who have oily skin usually find that their skin becomes less oily after using a grapefruit toner or cleanser.
Let me know what you think of this DIY mask! Does it work for you? Will you try it out?
I saw the Dove Beauty Sketches video last night and had some... feelings... about it.
If you haven't seen the video yet, take a look:
Immediately after watching, I felt empowered.
But then, a blog post popped up in my news feed written by my friend. I wanted to share it with all of you because it's a very different look on where this self-hate comes from.
Her blog post is included below:
Amidst all the senseless terror, confusion, and hurt surrounding the Boston Marathon yesterday, it was extremely comforting to come home to see a beautiful video with a heartwarming message. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out the Dove Real Beauty Sketches here.
This video has a great premise. Ask any woman to name 5 things she hates about her looks and she'd probably ask: "just 5?" Ask her to name 5 things she loves,
and I bet she'll come short after 2.
This is a problem. In a culture where our self-worth is measured by
how beautiful we are, how sexy men perceive us to be, and how we compare to other women, if only 4% of women see themselves as beautiful,
then does that mean only 4% consider themselves to hold any value?
These Real Beauty Sketches are attempting to change that. Dove seemingly wants us to understand that we have a skewed perception of ourselves;
we are actually much more beautiful than we perceive. If we learn to develop a positive self-image, then we will be infinitely more happy, carefree,
and valuable.
However, I struggle to stand behind this campaign.
These "Real Beauty Sketches" are only reinforcing an emphasis on
aesthetics and "beauty." If the women in these videos can learn
to see themselves as pretty, then they will be happy. How is this a positive message?
At one point in the campaign, Florence says that our perception of our beauty:
"impacts the choices that we make, it impacts the friends that we make, the jobs
we apply for, how we treat our children; it impacts everything.
It couldn't be more critical to your happiness."
She then says that she has some work to do on herself (regarding self-image).
This message completely misconstrues the issue.
The problem here isn't that women have a negative self-image, but
that the norms and expectations in our culture perpetuate these
impossible stereotypes. We are consistently being told that if
you aren't "pretty" enough, then you have no value. This Dove campaign
is only further exacerbating the problem. I would have liked to see a much different ending to this video. The woman should not be told that she is wrong for not perceiving herself as beautiful, but instead that society is wrong for placing emphasis on "beauty" in the first place.
Self-actualization and value shouldn't come from aesthetics; it should come from our accomplishments and the quality of our character.
Think about it.
Don't blame yourself for self-hate, and don't think it's entirely your fault. While you have the capacity to make a change in the way you view yourself, there may be forces working against you. Stay strong and remember that there are people surrounding you that love you and think that you are beautiful - inside and out. They may be people you pass by on the street, or they may be people you know intimately. To really solve this issue, change needs to start from the ground up. Change needs to start with media that portray women in an unrealistic way everyday. I personally appreciate Dove for at least bringing some awareness to this issue.
For someone with curly, dry & frizzy hair, finding a moisturizing hair mask can be tough -- especially with the outrageous prices of some of the hair masks out there!
I've been experimenting with mixing ingredients for more than a year now, trying to find the most effective & most simple DIY hair mask to leave-in over night -- an inexpensive remedy that actually works! After many mornings of defeat, I have finally found my perfect moisturizing recipe!
When to Make the Mask: An hour before bedtime.
What You'll Need:
1 large egg
1 cup of coconut oil
1 teaspoon of lemon juice (optional)
2 bowls/containers
Saran wrap or an old towel
The amounts of egg & coconut oil can be adjusted depending on how long/thick your hair is.
Note: Coconut oil can be found in the healthy food/organic section of your local grocery store. Besides for your hair masks, it can be used for cooking healthy everyday, so the $10-15 investment in that jar of wonder can be used on other things as well!
Making the Hair Mask:
Crack 1 egg into a medium-sized bowl, whisk or stir until the yolk is broken and mixed up into a solution.
Take another bowl and put 1 cup of coconut oil (in solid state) into the bowl.
Put 1 teaspoon of lemon juice into the bowl of coconut oil. **optional
Microwave the coconut oil & lemon juice mix in the microwave for 10-20 seconds (until the coconut oil is melted -- microwave for longer if necessary).
Let the coconut oil/lemon juice solution cool for about 30-60 seconds.
After the solution has cooled, pour the coconut oil/lemon juice solution into the egg.
Stir the solution until it is smooth and "chunk-free"
Go over the sink & carefully apply the mask to your hair using your hands
Focus on your roots & your ends, spreading the mask as evenly as possible.
Once you've used up all of the hair mask, take saran wrap (or a towel... or both), and wrap your hair "turban-style" as securely as possible. Be careful to keep the saran wrap away from your nose or mouth. The saran wrap increases the amount of heat on your hair & allows for better penetration of the mask.
Place a towel over your pillow before you go to bed. This is in case the saran wrap or the towel falls out of your hair! This hair mask shouldn't stain your sheets, but it may make them greasy. Let's try to keep those sheets as clean as possible.
Washing out the Hair Mask:
In the morning, after a restful 6-10 hour sleep, it's time to wash this hair mask out. The most effective way to do this is by showering. Note: When you feel your hair before entering the shower, it should feel slightly "crunchy," that's normal.
Upon entering the shower, shampoo as usual, being sure to wash all of the mask out. This may require you to shampoo your hair an additional time. (Don't forget about the hair close to your ears! That's the part I always forget).
After shampooing, condition just the ends of your hair, starting halfway up the hair shaft and working your way down.
And we're done!
What are you waiting for? Give it a try!
After I've followed these instructions to the tee, my hair always feels bouncy & moisturized immediately after I get out of the shower. You can notice the difference much more after it's air-dried.
If you end up trying this hair mask, please let me know how it works for you! It's now my go-to recipe. I do this once every 2 weeks & it has really improved the condition of my hair.
You have probably heard of parabens before. Parabens are usually used as antimicrobials in cosmetics, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and even food (yuck). Parabens are usually absorbed through the skin and through the GI tract and blood system. The problem with parabens is that they mimic estrogen, so they can bind themselves to estrogen receptors by pretending they're the real deal. They can alter the expression of some of your genes, and change your hormone regulation (like by pretending to be estrogen), these kinds of weird bodily shifts create all sorts of dangerous developments, like the creation of breast tumour cells.
At this point, scientific studies have shown that different types of parabens have been found in almost all biopsy samples of breast tumours. The ones found were almost always those used in cosmetics. The downside is that parabens are so common in our products today, almost all commercial make-up, lotions, hair products, etc. that you use probably contain them… just check the ingredient lists on the back of your products!
So what do you do? Make sure you start by checking out the ingredient lists of your products, reading labels isn't just for food anymore. Don't be fooled by products with green or "eco" labels because they're just as likely to contain harmful chemicals, so do check. The safest products are obviously those that are clearly listed as paraben-free or that are certified organic. Here are some of my favourites:
FarmHouse Fresh -- The whole line is Paraben AND Sulfate free, and the majority of the line is Vegan and Gluten-Free. What more could you ask for? Oh right, it's beautifully delicious scents and whimsical packaging. It's a treat to use these products. Check them out here: http://www.smellypatch.com/category-s/47.htm
Principessa Beauty -- 100% Paraben Free and 100% Feminine. This line is so pink and so pretty AND based in Vancouver, Canada. Check them out here: http://www.smellypatch.com/category-s/33.htm
What are some of your favourite paraben-free products?
This post will definitely be updated as my online creeping for cute dresses continues...
I am soexcited to start wearing pretty spring dresses -- it was 20 degrees in London, ON today and I was dying to get my favourite floral dress on! With all the warmth in the air, and dresses on my mind, OF COURSE I went browsing online for some beautiful clothes.
Here are some of the spring 2012 dresses I'm currently coveting:
That's lots of lace and lots of short hemlines! Bring on summer!
Which is your favorite dress? What trends are you loving this Spring 2012? Let me know in a comment below!
