Some things and some stuff.

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This post is going to be about exactly what the title says: some things and some stuff.

I couldn’t think of some fancy, well-scripted intro where I blather on about the latest this and that without it simply sounding too contrived. And so, to quote some nonexistent animated persons that I respect and admire deeply, I’m going to write about some things … and some stuff.

1. I had Justin put some highlights back into my hair. They’re subtle, ombre’d bits of caramel that provide just enough color to make me feel like summer is just around the corner. I plan on going progressively lighter, but this was enough for now. With my single-process hair color, I felt very one-dimensional (duh.) and I just didn’t have as much fun with my hair as I did when it had some lightness to it. And so, it is with a heavy heart that I admit the possibility that a leeeeeeeeeeetle bit of blonde may help you have a leeeeeeeeetle bit more fun. But hold your hosses thar! I didn’t straight-up say that blondes unilaterally have more fun than brunettes. Why, that would be plumb silly! But I do believe that I am more satisfied with my hair when it’s provided with some colorful dimension, if only to use my hair as a metaphor for my life and provide the illustration that sometimes we need a little warmth and sunshine to shake us up out of the drab monotony of everyday existence. This all sounds much better when you say it in the voice of Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock.

Here is my hair as it was this spring, as colored and cut by Justin Kamm and as styled and photographed by Laura Licata:

I have to say, it was raining that afternoon. How Laura managed to keep my hair from turning into this, I’ll never know.

And this is the best picture I have of my new highlights, as well as, ahem, my awesome nephew:

2. I graduated with my Master’s degree last Saturday, and received some gifts for doing so (and some may have been for my birthday as well, which was celebrated here). Some of those gifts included Sephora giftcards, which burn bigger holes in my pockets than lit matches. Seriously, I don’t know what it is but I will save gifts of cash and any other such cards for weeks or even months, but you designate a mere twenty bucks for me to spend at that magical house of facepaint and I just go cuhhhh-raaayyy-ZAY! There may not be a thing I need, but I will haul my butt down to the nearest Sephora and just stand in front of the NARS counter for a solid fifteen minutes, looking like a freak, without a single expression on my face, doing absolutely nothing. I just stare. And touch EVERYTHING. I’ll bring my own brushes and by the time I leave that place, it looks like Jackson Pollock came back from the dead and decided he just wanted to do a quick masterpiece on someone’s wrist. I’m convinced that dead artists would have a thing for me.

3. If I could look like this as a redhead, that would be an okay thing.

4. This is what I came back with from my most recent Sephora trip.

Well, the one on the left I’ve actually had for a couple months, but the one on the right is brand spankin’ new. I haven’t so much as smudged it with a finger. It’s called Stylish Move, and I look forward to using the bottom right and top left shades for bridal makeup. But really, this one was kind of more for me. Dior 5-Couleur palettes are the holy grail of eyeshadows, and while they are quite expensive (I’ll never purchase one without some kind of gift card), they blend so well, coordinate so perfectly, are almost always universally flattering, and I make long-lasting use of them. I’m breaking this sucker in tonight, so I’ll have to let you know how it goes (though hopefully not via an obnoxious Instagram selfie, but I have a bad feeling …). Honestly, if you’re not too sure about what eyeshadows are right for you but hate wasting time on a bunch of individual shades (that add up in cost anyhow and can be difficult to store and keep track of), I’d recommend looking into just one of these palettes and letting it be your one-step solution to your whole problem problem. Might I suggest Rosy Tan or Earth Reflection?

5. I smell bad and get sweaty. Sometimes. Maybe. If so, it’s because I don’t wear antiperspirant. And I haven’t done so in years. Why? Because what makes antiperspirant do its thing is something called aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex, a substance linked to early-onset Alzheimer’s as well as breast cancer. Weird. And we shave our armpits and layer on the stuff every day. Weirder. And our armpits are suspiciously situated quite near our breasts. Weirdest. So here’s the thing: I use deodorant, but I don’t use antiperspirant (and no, there are no “natural” or “safe” kinds of antipersp; the aluminum ingredient is always the active one in antipersp).

For a couple years I used Tom’s of Maine’s Natural Unscented Deodorant Stick and my body adjusted well. However, a couple months ago, my armpits started experiencing a burning and itching sensation that left my armpits peeling in a big ring and looking as if they’d been out in the sun with no protection. At first I thought it was razor burn or something, but then I realized that the sensation was returning just minutes after applying the Tom’s. And to my surprise, I found that many users had experienced the exact same symptoms after years of using Tom’s (Bless you, Internet ~~only sometimes because mostly I hate you~~!). Why all this burning and itching only started occurring after years of use, I’ll never know.

Anyhow, I discovered that Tom’s, while being free of aluminum and not an antiperspirant, still contains a chemical called propylene glycol. PG, as we’ll call it, is meant to keep many body products from either melting or freezing, but it unfortunately also “alters the structure of the skin by allowing chemicals to penetrate deep beneath it while increasing their ability to reach the blood stream”. Additionally, PG has also been linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, reproductive issues, allergy developments, and other bodily issues (as is the case with many substances in our body products).

So what do I use?

Desert Essence strikes again! This brand is seriously so awesome. My face and now my pits owe so much to it. You can find Desert Essence’s deodorant at Sprout’s, Whole Foods, or any of your local hippie-dippie hotbeds, and it has no aluminum (and just realize if the product does not say it is an antiperspirant, it doesn’t have aluminum anyhow) nor any propylene glycol. Excellent.

And now the inevitable question: But don’t you have B.O.?

Yes. Not all the time, and not every day, but sometimes, yes. And do I care? No. Let me throw this out there: Your body, as it naturally functions, is supposed to sweat. It’s one of the processes that your body uses to eliminate toxins from your body. Your skin operates like a third kidney, sweating out urea, metals, and minerals. You get rid of about 30% of bodily wastes through sweating, with the other methods being pooping, peeing, and other glamorous things we talk about on beauty blogs where Kate Beckinsale and perfume are also talked about regularly. I just said “poop” and “Kate Beckinsale” in the same sentence.

So anyhow, I’m honestly okay with sweating a bit through the day. It’s literally meant to be. And I’ll be straight with you- If I’m planning on wearing a delicate fabric or know that I’m going to have an anxious morning (interviews, standing up to rebelling freshmen in their math class, etc.), I do wear the clinical strength antiperspirant. And I mean, like, the 25% aluminum kind (because if I’m going to wear the stuff, I’m going whole-sweaty-hog). But I try to severely limit these occurrences. And I’m trying to bulk up around the freshmen.

Anyhow, that’s my blabbering about some things and some stuff for now. Until next time, stay sweaty, shop Dior, get your highlights on, and stay poopy Kate Beckinsale!

xo, MR

And thanks to thegoodhuman.com for the smarts on PG.

April 29, 2013the Me stuff., the Skin stuff.

What I’m Obsessing Over: This French woman telling you how to wash your face

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So, this kind of post is basically just me drooling over someone else’s post. Namely, Into The Gloss’s post. This website, as I may have mentioned before, literally changed my approach to beauty over two years ago. It carries an extreme insider perspective (with founder Emily Weiss being either a current or former Vogue fashion assistant, I’m not sure … Into The Gloss may be her full-time gig now), and it provides a thorough and luxurious look into beauty complete with inspiration boards, product reviews (both drugstore and high-end), interviews of fashion and beauty insiders peeking into their routines, and so much more.

I think ITG was the first source responsible for getting me to both calm down and obsess even more over beauty. I’ve realized that wearing absolutely nothing but some NARS Dragon Girl on my lips is perfectly okay, and yet I am more particular now over what I use on my skin than ever before. I’ve never felt more affirmed in my love for a throw-it-up-and-go topknot than I have since becoming a regular ITG reader, and yet I now use Rahua shampoo (but only once a week, since I wash twice a week and I switch off between two shampoos, with the other typically being Aveda’s Color Conserve). My hair doesn’t always look great, but it’s undeniably healthy. I credit the fact that I’m satisfied with healthy-but-not-always-pretty hair to ITG, along with my beauty philosophy in general over the past couple years.

Anyhow, ITG also manages to produce some amazeballs how-to videos, including Emily’s smokey eye makeup, a lovely tutorial on contouring and brightening, and this little number on how to wash your face. And you thought you knew how to wash your face! Nope, not until a super-chic skin care expert with a glorious French accent tells you how! Now, behold and be amazed. You’ll want to listen to her say “thermal water” over and over and over. xo, MR

April 13, 2013the Fragrance stuff., the Hair stuff., the Magazine stuff., the Makeup stuff., the Me stuff.

Spring Blahs: What’s exciting, what’s frustrating, and what Ben Affleck did for my beauty routine.

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It’s been a while since I posted last- over two weeks! It’s hard to write about something like beauty and hair and the latest trends when you’re not feeling particularly inspired, and I haven’t been so much lately. I’ve been dealing with a lot of what we’ll just call blah these days, and that’s okay. Beauty and fashion are constant and probably won’t ever really “go away” so to speak, but sometimes I peek into the lives of people in these industries and it’s like they try to rely on these things to keep calm, stay happy and escape from the reality that life deals them … and that’s called self-medicating. I don’t want to fall into that cycle, and so I’ve been allowing myself to accept the fact that there are times when I will feel “meh” about hairstyles, colored eyeliner, and CC creams. There will be times when the things I typically enjoy won’t bring me joy, and that’s okay. It’s a season, and the joy will come back.

This doesn’t mean, however, that I cannot practice joy in makeup, beauty, and hair. I still see the goodness in identifying something that I really, really like and expressing how much I like it, even if it feels functional and not as interesting as other times. And so here, in the midst of blah, I’m listing what I’m currently excited about (or perhaps what I’m not excited about) in beauty.

1. Early one morning before taking off for teaching, I attempted to do this seemingly easy slicked-back hairstyle. I thought I had the right product for it, and I had planned to wash my hair that afternoon so it seemed like a good chance to use plenty of gel. I ended up looking more like a wet Pekingese than anything, or like a cow got really friendly with me and decided to lick me and just not stop until the cow’s tongue turned to sand. I’ll try it again later when I’m not planning on standing in front of teenagers all day, susceptible to their scathing criticism and underappreciation for the avant-garde in the classroom. Such peasants, they are.

2. I’m excited for these.

Every year, InStyle comes out with an issue that’s just about hair (awesome) and People StyleWatch‘s May issue always features a big beauty section covering skin, makeup, hair, and the works (awesome). InStyle‘s main edition also features a “Best Beauty Buys” section in it’s May issue (more awesome). I think I just like pouring over up-close shots of celebrities with inspiring hairstyles and makeup shown in hi-def, and issues like these are loaded with them. I swear my hair gets healthier and prettier during the week after reading a new magazine like this. I also swear that the longer you stare at a picture of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s hair, the more likely you are to grab a curling rod and get to work on your own. It’s this thing I call “envy”.

3. I got through my whole bottle of Lancome’s La Vie Est Belle! It’s a miracle, I tell you! I never get through a whole bottle of perfume in just one season (because I frequently forget to put it on, in the first place), and I am so proud of myself for finally doing it. I can officially call that my Fall/Winter 2012/2013 scent and I can now move on to bona fide summer fragrances, like my beloved D&G 3 L’Imperatrice, so I can smell like an unmistakably rich juicebox.

4. I acquired the supposed shade of lipstick that was used on Jessica Alba in my post here (Avon’s Totally Kissable Lipstick in Lovey Dovey Pink, as my reputable resources tell me), but I proceeded to find that the shade was in fact a frosty pink that had me feeling more like this than anything. I’ll be needing to do a little more research on that shade of Jessica’s. I’m not convinced.

5. I’m not at Coachella looking so impressed with myself that my eyes are rolled into the back of my head.

6. But I WAS impressed enough with myself AND my hair one night to shamelessly Instagram this selfie.

But come on, cut me some slack. My hair was behaving like a voluptuous attention hog, I’d had an extra twenty minutes that evening to do a perfect smoky eye, and my bathroom lighting can get weird to the point where you can leave some photos unfiltered and they’ll still have a nice, flaw-concealing sheen to them. And lest you believe this is a common occurrence, here I am, as I exist, right now:

No filter, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING. Now if you’d excuse me, IMG Models is calling and I’m replacing Miranda Kerr in the Victoria’s Secret Angels lineup. This is the face that will crush Gisele.

7. I had my hair color refreshed recently, and I’ve found that since then my hair texture has slightly changed. It dries much straighter, and each strand seems, I don’t know, perhaps a bit more wire-y or thick. My friend said she’s seen it happen particularly with dark shades, and so I’m not really worried. But I am prepping myself for going lighter in less than a month, I’d say. I have relatively no layers in my hair at this point (what I’ve wanted- mission accomplished). It’s weird though, I’ve had layers basically for the last ten years up until now. I’ve finally grown them all out (and had them cut to one length) and now I’m now sure how I feel about it.

8. I watched Argo the other night and proceeded to bite off all of my nails until each finger started to burn with pain. No nail polish now for nearly a month. Thanks, Ben Affleck. You and your movies make a crap manicurist.

Alright, I’m done. Time to go sleep on a satin pillowcase to keep my hair and skin smooth and to prevent split ends and breakage. Yes, I obsess over breakage even in my sleep. xo, MR

March 25, 2013the Makeup stuff., the Me stuff., the Review stuff., the Skin stuff.

Weekday update! And how I have no sales resistance.

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So, an update.

I’ve been using the same very cheap under-eye concealer for a couple years. I’m pretty sure the shade is wrong (a cool tone, which is not even a characteristic of my own skin), but for some reason I continue to use it. I thought I’d perhaps purchase the same concealer but in a neutral shade instead. So I stopped by Ulta (so that I also might purchase some new cologne for the husband … Givenchy Play smells like swag, but the nice, helpful, courteous, I-may-not-be-loaded-but-I-still-have-good-taste kind of swag) and found myself experiencing an acute lack of confidence as I checked for a better shade of my beloved L’Oreal True Match Super Blendable concealer. It’s not often that I feel the confidence drain out of me as I shop for makeup. I’m usually the one bossing someone else around in that situation. You need THIS blush! You’ll make your eyes pop more with this eyeshadow, dummy! Stop it- that shade makes you look like Snooki on an even worse day! So what did I do? I did the last thing … literally, THEE LAST THING … that I ever like to do in the beauty department: I asked for help from a sales associate.

It’s a strange combination of anxiety and exhilaration that I experience when I ask a beauty sales associate for help. On the one hand, I almost have this sort of avoidant disorder that makes me want to throw up when a sales associate approaches me and asks if I want to try anything or if I need any help. It’s the same feeling I get when I’m asked for money by a solicitor outside of Target. I’ll put my phone to my ear and pretend I’m talking to someone just to avoid contact with the person, or I’ll run past them as fast I can. I just hate having to say no. However, if I decide that I do want to try something on my own terms, I throw all caution to the wind and I want them to go absolutely crazy on me. The only problem is that, well, it’s really awkward if a sales associate tests a couple things on you and you don’t purchase something. In fact, if an associate ever does apply a full face of makeup on you at your own request, it is expected that you purchase at least two items. I’ve taken this policy to the extreme in that I feel obligated to purchase something shown to me by any associate if I’m helped at all.

So anyhow, I sort of on-purpose ran into a woman working at Ulta and explained my dilemma. She perked up, went and grabbed her favorite undereye concealer, and proceeded to perch me on a chair and blend the product neatly under my eyes. And it looked alright. I don’t know what it is, but sometimes I experience this feeling of not liking something so much because I didn’t find it myself, even if it does exactly what I need it to do. But like a moron, I thanked the woman and walked away with the concealer- which was priced at thirty bucks. Ugh. Seriously? Not even $24.99? I don’t know, sometimes I can be pretty spineless when it comes to sales resistance. This stuff wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t even Yves Saint Laurent’s Touche’ Eclat (the legendary luxury undereye brightener and concealer that I own but am continuously underwhelmed by). The drugstore kind I’d been using never tops ten dollars, and I just felt like a sucker. And yet I did not want to say no and hurt the nice lady’s feelings! Her whole career in makeup might hinge on that thoughtful, enthusiastic sales pitch of hers!

So what did I do? I picked up one of the L’Oreal concealers in a better-matched shade, held on to the thirty dollar one too, stood in line, flashed the thirty dollar one unmistakably and reassuringly when my friendly helper walked by as she assisted another customer, made it to the register … and proceeded to sigh and whisper, “You know, I’m not going to take this today”, and handed in the thirty dollar concealer to be put back on the shelf, discreetly out of view from my helper. And then I bolted.

There’s something extra difficult about resisting a sale in the beauty department. Beauty sales feel more personal to me because usually the associate has taken the time to assess your personal features and desires, and has then used their technical skills by applying the makeup to your face. You feel as if they’ve pampered you a little bit, and you also may feel that they’ve played “artist” a little bit, and turning down a sale would be insulting to their artistic abilities. It’s something I really need to get over, though.

I don’t exactly have any pictures of my escape from Ulta, but here’s a picture of the current state of my medicine cabinet!

There isn’t a whole lot that’s new here. I found that Caudalie Vinexpert Radiance Fluid for about a third of it’s original price (which always makes me worry that it’s old) and so I snagged it just to try. It leaves you looking very glowy, which I love, but it’ll never be worth the full price. I ran out of eye makeup remover (and I’d been using Caudalie’s) and so I picked up some of the famed Lancome Bi-Facil. It works really well, but I’m not used to the feeling of oil left on my eyes (as I’m pretty sure it’s not oil-free). I love having a pretty, sparkly, blue fluid in my cabinet though! Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream is a cult favorite for dry lips and skin, but it feels and smells as if it’s almost one hundred-percent petroleum or mineral oil, which freaks me out and makes me want to use the smallest amount possible. I got it for Christmas and luckily I know it wasn’t very expensive, but it definitely isn’t what I thought it would be. I’m about two-thirds through my Boscia B.B. cream, and half-way through my Acure night cream. And nowhere through that Bio-Oil. Anyone want that stuff?

And for a last little bit of excitement, I busted out my most saturated shade of pink yesterday in celebration of the spring-worthy weather we were experiencing.

I’m wearing CoverGirl’s Lip Perfection lipstick in Spellbound, the most kick-butt shade of fuschia EVER. It’s very much pink, but it’s got enough purply-plum in it to give it some edge and keep it from being too baby. The purple makes it more flattering for darker skin tones too. I first applied a couple coats of it around ten in the morning and I think I reapplied a total of three times (one coat each time) during the whole day (and I think I finally scrubbed it off around nine at night). I probably didn’t need to reapply any at all because the stain it leaves is very even, but over time the purple fades out of it and you’re left with the hot pink base. I just like keeping it looking fresh. Oh, and this photo is unfiltered! No joke!

Let me know how your medicine cabinet’s looking these days, what spring makeup you’re trying, or your awkward stories from the makeup counter! Believe me- I didn’t even get into my worst tale. That’s yet to come. xo, MR

March 11, 2013the Hair stuff., the Me stuff., the Review stuff.

Ode to Salon 9 feat. Justin Kamm. And no, this is not a song I wrote.

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This post has been a long time coming. I mean a loooooong time coming. In fact, I’d argue that it probably should’ve been one of the first posts I’ve ever published. I’ve talked about my hair stylist and the salon I go to quite a few times, but let’s face it- I owe a lot to Justin Kamm and his home base at Salon 9.

In the summer of 2006, I needed a change. I’d been going to the same salon and same stylist as my mom for all my life. It hadn’t been bad, but I just felt like I wasn’t owning my hair. And perhaps I felt like I just wanted someone closer to my age managing it with me (not that this stylist was particularly old or anything, just a difference in generation). So a friend recommended Salon 9 to me, and she recommended the name of a female stylist there that she liked. I called, tried to book said stylist (and I’ve completely forgotten her name- she may not even be there any more), but she was unavailable. And so I was offered an appointment with Justin at the salon instead. BAM! Destiny.

The salon changed locations from an awkwardly-located shopping strip near some train tracks to the incredible Old Town Orange area in Orange, California around over two years ago. I can’t emphasize how enviable Salon 9’s spot is compared to where they were, but what really blew my mind was that the salon moved just as I was, in fact, moving to Orange too. BAM! Destiny. It couldn’t have worked out better. I’ve also watched the salon transition from one that relied on Bumble&bumble products (overrated, in my opinion) to the lesser-known lines of Arrojo and Davines. I’ve loved that the salon has sort of gone off the beaten path recently and taken on these extremely effective product lines as their mainstays. I’d been reading about Davines in various magazines for some time but could never find their product anywhere. Now I know where to find the whole line, five minutes away from my home. I am all about the Oi Absolute Beautifying Oil (works better than MoroccanOil) and the Momo conditioner for dry hair these days. In the future summer days I’ll probably be looking into the SU Sun Oil when I want to condition it as I lay on the beach.

For the past coming-on-seven years I’ve relied on Justin as my “hair mechanic”, as I call him to my friends. He fixes things. He improves things. He suggests things. He says when I don’t need things. He says when I do need things. He makes my hair such that I receive compliments from others. And the most awesome part of it is that he executes it all with precision and professionalism. I know that word ‘professionalism’ can seem a bit stuffy and distant, but I use it because Justin has continued to invest in his education and trade over the years. He instructs at workshops, attracts crowds at conventions, and is garnering more and more attention as his relationship with Davines has grown. He and a fellow hairstylist recently developed a start-up called LoveTHECraft, a creative space meant to encourage stylists to come together and share their visions, learn from one another, and be creative in a profession where it sometimes can be a lot more mundane than the average folk (like myself) would think. Oh, and he has a family. And he just Instagrammed a picture of his homemade stuffed portobello mushrooms. So basically, he isn’t any I-mindlessly-cut-your-hairs-and-then-I-go-home-and-derp-around stylist. He’s got serious chops, and if you’ve ever liked anything about my own hair whether in cut or color, you can credit that to Justin. Oh HAYYYY, Justin!

I know I spend money on makeup and skincare (though not as much as some of you may imagine), but there are ways that I can justify cutting corners and saving a buck in these areas. The same goes with clothes. However, I never have a problem forking out for the cash for my hair at this place. Ever. You wear you hair every day. It’s the accessory that you can’t take off and will still be there where you’re sixty, so invest in it. I will say, however, that what I’ve been consistently charged at Salon 9 for cut, color, and styling has been extremely reasonable when I’ve compared it to other rates. I don’t want to name an exact price because I don’t want to create particular expectations for other possible clients that may take in more expensive services, but let me insist that whenever I’ve revealed to my friends how much I pay for hair services, the most common reaction has been eyeballs popping out of their sockets followed by, “That’s reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally goooooooood”. I mean it. And I ask around to compare, too. I’ll put it to you this way: At a different salon, I got charged more for a blow-out than what I’ve been charged for a blow-out and color at Salon 9. And no, I didn’t get this blow-out done by Chris McMillan in Beverly Hills (and just so you know who he’s responsible for…). I got it done at a salon in the same city as Salon 9, which happened to be open on a day when Justin doesn’t work and I was feeling adventurous. It’s a high price that Frodo had to pay for adventuring off to Mordor, and it was a high price I paid for that little adventure of my own. Frodo and I should’ve known better.

I can’t encourage you enough to visit this place in you’re in the Orange County area and if you’re interested in cultivating an awesome head of hair (or heck, get your butt out here even if you’re in Delaware … WORTH IT.). And of course, I also can’t encourage you enough to ask for Justin when you do visit. It pays off to invest in your local salons and invest in a stylist, because have no doubt- it is their job to make you look your best, it supports the free enterprise of individuals, and they invest in you. xo, MR

February 28, 2013the Hair stuff., the Me stuff.

Oh, hair.

McKennaRishmawyawkward hair, best ombre hair, Jessica Biel ombre, Justin Kamm, Kara Cherie Photography, Kara Lackey, Kat Thompson, Laura Licata, natural brown hair, ombre hair, ombre hair for wedding, ombre highlights, Salon 9, wedding hair ideas 1 Comment

Have you ever gone through pictures and looked at how your hair has changed through the years? I recently perused through my photos that I’ve had uploaded to my drive, and holy smokes– I only went as far back as 2008, and I am a completely different person. Completely. I know I’ve done posts on my hair journey before, but there’s something to seeing it and chronicling it in pictures. I’ve become so much more educated on how to take care of my hair and I’ve become so much more aware of how I like it within the past couple years that I’m not quite sure what I was doing with it everyday beforehand. Was I in tears every day? Was I cutting my own bangs out of a deep need for control in my life? Was I expressing a constant struggle with anxiety by curling every half-inch strand around a small curling rod until I looked like I just had a pile of springs on top of my head? What was any of this accomplishing?! I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!

This was when I thought I was cool. Well actually, that’s a problem I consistently have so that could likely be said for each picture here. But this was when I thought I was really cool. This was one of the first times when Justin colored my hair (a couple shades darker), and my cut was super-razored, super-layered, and super-textured. I wanted stick-straight hair back then, but I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t like it so much when I achieved it every once in a while. I finally realized that flat-against-the-head straight just isn’t flattering on my face shape, which is somewhat narrow. I look best with a little volume.

BUT NOT THIS KIND. This was maybe one or two months after the last photo, and I would trim my own bangs in little fits of impatience. Oh God. WHY?! I would rough up my hair at the top because I thought it looked edgy. Just … no.

Maybe six months later, and we’ve landed on this in May of 2009. The curl in my hair really came out with all the layers, clearly. My bangs are growing out slowly here, and so I would try to brush them to the side, but I’m pretty sure I was employing the dreaded “curly hair with straight bangs” look. Bad. But I had fun with this hair; I’d finally started using tools besides a straightener and so that was exciting.

This is my hair in October of 2009. I remember this being the first time that I felt extremely proud of how I’d done my makeup and my hair. I’d been skilled with the makeup brushes for quite some time by then, but this was one of those days when I set aside the time, I knew I was going to be in front of an audience, and I wanted it to look perfect. I also had Justin put in my first set of highlights that summer, and I’d wanted them to look grown out a bit by this point (a preview of my love for ombre’, all the way back in 2009!). This was probably when things started to take a permanent turn for the better …

… but apparently I still had an obsession with curling my hair with a one-inch iron. I’d gone back to a single-process color by this point, which was February of 2010. I liked the look at the time, but such curling madness without at least a little brushing out would be a no-no these days.

Ah, summer 2010 hair. This I loved. We cut it shorter and put in some new, sunny highlights. This was also the first year that I started actually enjoying summer. I’d always considered myself a fall/winter girl, but some trips to the beach alone along with tracking my severe dip in mood and energy during the winter lead me to realize that the sunshine may actually be quite good for me. The hair matched.

And then I went dark again, just for autumn of 2010. This was a rough season for me and for some reason, and the hair just brought me down. I should’ve kept up with the highlights, but I wanted “fall hair” and I felt that that meant it needed to be darker (and Meesh, you were blonde!!). I still wasn’t the greatest at styling it on my own, though (and I don’t know what was up with my eyebrows or face either– I look funny and I’m not sure why). However, hope was on the horizon- Jessica Biel had debuted an incredible hair style that became known as “ombre” during her press tour for “The A-Team” during that past summer. I’d been trying to go for something similar about a year beforehand and had adored the natural “roots” look, and here was a celebrity showing off the very look I’d wanted for so long (and all before it literally EXPLODED and devolved into the strange dip-dyed Pinterest-pandered look I see everywhere now). And so, in late December of 2010, Justin and I put our heads together and he gave me my first ombre’d hair.

I loved this. I LOVED this. It came out perfectly, and he placed the highlights closer to my roots so they could grow out and blend even more with time. This is one of mine and my husband’s kick-butt engagement shots by my amazing bridesmaid Kara Lackey, and there are few un-Instagrammed pictures of me in which I truly love my hair. This is one of them.

And this was the goal! Grow it out, keep up with the ombre’d color, and do a half-and-half look for the wedding in June of 2011. Achievement unlocked! My friend Kat Thompson styled my hair for the day and I probably sent her such a weird combination of pictures for inspiration that made absolutely no sense. How she managed to know what I wanted through all of that mess, I’ll never know. And speaking of my wedding, I still need to do a post on my hair and makeup just for that day.

During the autumn after the wedding, Justin cut some blunt bangs for me. I liked it, but they were difficult to style everyday. I don’t think I’ll do bangs again until I’m much older (because they make you look younger), but they were good to try just for a season. And I got to do this fun shoot thanks to the fabulous Laura Licata and her talents!

The ombre’ adventures culminated in long, wavy, grown-out beach hair by August of 2012. This was good. Very good. A lot of oil masks and a lot of tender, cautious care with natural products and little washing, but it was worth it.

And then we chopped it! And went back to fully brunette! I think I finally felt confident enough to style it ~~and Instagram it~~ myself by this point. I employed the use of larger irons and, ironically, just started caring less over all. Less became more in 2012. It was a good year for hair.

And here we are today, basically. A little grown out (and I’m going for long again!), and my natural color. I’ve been wearing it straight; I’ve been wearing it wavy. I like to sleek it up, and I like leave it down. Who knows what I’ll say in a couple years, but for the moment I just feel like this works. Justin recently put an ashier single-process color that took out any red and put me back at a basic, natural brown that’s probably the closest thing I’ve had to my natural color in years. It’s good to be back, but the sun’s been out a lot lately and I just don’t think I’ll be able to resist some ombre’d highlights for long. We’ll see. xo, MR

February 25, 2013the Fashion stuff., the Hair stuff., the Makeup stuff., the Me stuff.

Best of the 2013 Academy Awards. Or, WOMP womp.

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Ok ok ok. So, I’ll admit that I’m going to try to calm down a bit when it comes to my criticism of tonight’s Academy Awards red carpet ~~even though I feel ROBBED and want to SLAP whoever put that thing on Anne Hathaway~~. If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’ve been very underwhelmed by the fashion and beauty turn-out of this year’s awards season, and tonight was frankly no exception ~~and I just KNEW this was going to happen because whoever has been styling these people lately still needs to wake up from their fifty-year NAP and get QUALIFIED already~~. However, I don’t want to be so negative ~~but really I do~~. I think I’m just not easily impressed when it comes to red carpet styling, but here are a couple things I’m trying to keep in mind:

1. A lot of my favorites were missing entirely from tonight’s festivities. Marion Cotillard (who was too busy KILLING IT at the Cesar Film Awards in THIS … check those shoes!), Diane Kruger (only to be found later at the Vanity Fair party in THIS awesomeness), Angelina Jolie, Keira Knightley, Kate Bosworth, Rachel Weisz, and Cate Blanchett–each of them were missing and each of them are favorite players of mine on the red carpet (though they may have shown up at some of the after-parties). This gave me the sads, so I had to bear in mind that my frustration with tonight’s red carpet would probably have been tempered with the appearance of one of these ladies. And I think I’ve finally picked up on something– I not only favor how Europeans do beauty, but I also prefer how they do red carpet gowns. But there’s hope for me! This week is Paris Fashion Week, and I’ve a feeling I know exactly where I might find Marion …

2. Gowns that initially look boring actually look way better in Hi-Def. The texture and bounce of Jennifer Lawrence’s Dior Haute Couture gown really stood out as I watched her on T.V. in HD, but at first glance online, the gown looked structurally nice but perhaps aesthetically dull. The color and sparkle of most gowns really stood out much more as I watched them move on T.V. as opposed to when I just checked out shots of them on the web.

Alright, so I admittedly have very few gowns that I’m featuring in this post, but there were still a couple that got me doing the happy dance. I’d rather be brief and to the point than ramble on about how so-and-so looked … so-so. Let me know what you think!

Kerry Washington showed up in the kind of dress that I’d wear to an event like the Oscars- hands down. The coral-red-pinkishness of this Miu Miu gown was unexpected and feminine, and it stood out in a sea of beige and muted tones. If I had to choose a style champion of the 2013 awards season, it would most certainly be Washington.

This scarlet and gold Marchesa gown couldn’t have been a better choice for Olivia Munn. I love a dress with drama, and this delivered (score ten points for premium use of alliteration). I also love that this gown works so well with Olivia’s coloring. Celebrities so often seem to make the mistake of choosing a gown that doesn’t complement their skin tone or physical features to their best advantage, but this color and design make the very best of Olivia’s look.

Do I still miss Charlize’s longer hair? Yes. Do I still think she looks amaze-balls regardless? YES. The woman is the picture of goddess-like beauty in Dior Haute Couture, structured to perfection with a sparkly peplum bodice. And because I’m such a sucker for minimalism, this one quickly found a special place in my heart. I love the lack of jewelry and utter simplicity to the whole look- I compare it to last year’s Tom Ford caped look that Gwyneth Paltrow stunned in.

Aaaaaaand that’s it! Yep. That’s it. Octavia Spencer also looked gorgeous, and Amy Adams’ gown was, of course, a real princess moment that Giselle herself would be proud of. But Anne Hathaway’s Prada apron gown was a huge let-down for me. No joke, the glorious red Valentino gown that Sally Field wore was the exact gown that I had hoped to see Anne in, but instead we got a pink apron with funny darting at the nips. I had also really looked forward to seeing more color in general from Jennifer Lawrence or Zoe Saldana, but whatever. I’m over it! The MET Ball is only a couple months away! I’ll survive! And I mean, like I said, there were others that were lovely, but the three mentioned above are the ones that felt like clean wins. Oh, but I do have one more thing to discuss. After all, this is, first and foremost, a beauty blog.

That makeup and that hair!! Get outta here! Adele has never, ever looked better than she did tonight performing Skyfall and accepting her Oscar for it. Those false eyelashes! That contouring! That eyeliner! The bounce in her hair! The sensational glittery black gowns and the way she moves with such conviction when she sings! Forget Jennifer Aniston (and I mean it- her look was a snore tonight) — I want to look like Adele. xo, MR

February 24, 2013the Hair stuff., the Me stuff., the Skin stuff.

In praise of Whole Foods … or, I blame the hippies.

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Long have I praised the good name of Whole Foods to my friends and on this blog for its wealth of natural resources when it comes to beauty, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’ve felt somewhat judged for my devotion to the establishment. But I get it- Whole Foods can be a real hotbed of pretentious bobos. I find myself throwing massive shade at the folks wandering around the place every time I visit. Wealthy forty-somethings driving their nice cars, fresh from their CrossFit workouts, making a quick stop at Whole Foods to pick up their certified organic produce that costs ten dollars per pound, or their preservative-free kale chips, or their Vegenaise, and other things that make life not much fun. Buuuut my allegiance to Whole Foods, or at least the health and beauty department, cannot be denied. Like the need for a tax increase on Bod Man body spray for men, it cannot be denied.

I didn’t exactly stumble into a Whole Foods one day and then just fall in love with what I found there. In fact, I’m sure it was quite the opposite. I recall health food stores in the nineties being more associated with the blue-haired folk, trying to preserve the last signs of life and vitality (along with their colon). But then something happened with the turn of the century, and I think it was Al Gore (which kind of spoils the fun), but suddenly “green” became the hip thing to do. Green was everywhere. Green cars, green food sourcing, and green beauty. I can’t remember exactly what started me down my journey of green beauty, but it’s come to my attention in recent years (I’ve been trying to go green for about five) that Whole Foods is thee mecca for effective green beauty brands. Here, a look at my local (and HUGE) Whole Foods:

My particular store that I go to is pretty big, but that’s good news for all of us because the selection is overwhelming in the most awesome way. There’s every kind of “green” brand that you may find in Target or a drugstore, but keep in mind that a lot of these brands suffer from what folks call “green washing”, or the appearance that the product is safe and natural but doesn’t contain a list of truly trustworthy ingredients. The packaging or container might be biodegradable, but perhaps the actual product isn’t. Or there maybe are a select amounts of organic oils within the product, but the rest of it is made of synthetic crap like everything else. Your best strategy- learn to read a list of ingredients and educate yourself on some of the most risky ingredients found in body and beauty products. This kind of information is available easily with just a Google search. I also highly recommend reading The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel. I love brands like Weleda, Dr. Bronner’s, Desert Essence Organics (at least for their face products, but not for hair), and John Masters Organics for their very clean ingredients.

Some of the skincare brands found at Whole Foods (and Sprout’s or Mother’s Market, too) can be pricier compared to, say, an eight-dollar bottle of Neutrogena moisturizer, but I’m convinced it’s worth it. Some will argue that their skin does just as well with a drugstore brand and that there isn’t a need to switch to greener products, but I say if you can cut out any shady chemical ingredients (with links to early-onset Alzheimer’s and various cancers) while maintaining great skin for a few dollars more, why not?!

If you do enough reading on blogs or in magazines associated with beauty, you’ll begin to memorize the names of a few cult products that celebrities and artists swear by (but I’ve still yet to understand why Maybelline’s Great Lash mascara has such a stellar reputation … I hate that stuff!). One such product is this stuff called Egyptian Magic, a pomade kind of thing loaded with honey and different kinds of oils that treats the skin beautifully when slathered on regularly. However, a jar of it will set you back somewhere close to forty bucks! But check out the product that’s always sitting right next to it- Medicine Mama’s Sweet Bee Magic. The ingredient list is exactly the same and it costs half the price of Egyptian Magic. So while you’re foregoing the idea of owning the Egyptian Magic cult-favorite elixir, you’re getting a way better deal with Sweet Bee!

And here, the one product that I swear by for every use under the sun- Dr. Bronner’s Magic Castile Soap. This stuff might be one of the most trusted brands among all green health and beauty names, and what’s awesome about it is that it’s truly all-purpose. We use it for body wash, but just yesterday I scrubbed my tub with it, used a bit to wash some dishes, and have even used a bit for washing my clothes when I was low on detergent! You can use it on your baby, your car, anything. And it comes in multiple scents, every one of which you can find at Whole Foods.

Like I’ve said, you can find some of these brands elsewhere (and possibly for a higher price), but you hit all the bases at a Whole Foods. I think they have Burt’s Bees there, too (which has a great reputation) and a whole slew of other lines that I haven’t even tried. If I can convince you to even just change one thing in your routine (and my vote is to start with Dr. Bronner’s), I’ve won! xo, MR

February 9, 2013the Makeup stuff., the Me stuff.

Spring is sprung! Not really!

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In case you didn’t know, we’re currently in the middle of New York Fashion Week. That’s right fools. Get your calendars straight according to the world of fashion and start ringing in the New Year in September with Fall Fashion Week, and celebrating the mid-year in February with Spring Fashion Week (though both really take place in summer and winter). I’m not exactly sure how that’s all going to pan out what with Nemo (cute name for a storm, ain’t it?) going down and all, but the folks who make the fashion world go ’round don’t exactly pay attention to things like weather reports when it comes to the bi-annual insanity that is Fashion Week. Deadly weather be damned! I can guarantee you that things like high heels and skirts are STILL happening in the midst of all the snowfall, and there are seriously like, ten shows a day happening or something like that. Fashion peoples be cray.

I’ve been aware of the trends we’re going to be seeing this spring for some time now, and the only one in fashion that I really paid attention to was the surge of graphic black-and-white prints thanks to the likes of Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga, Alexander Wang, DKNY, Louis Vuitton (blame Marc for that one, too), and seriously a bajillion more. Being that this is a beauty blog, however, I’m more interested in discussing the beauty trends of the season. The two most prominent beauty trends for the spring of 2013 consist of blue-green shades of eyeshadow (not your Grandma’s shade of periwinkle, by the way, so don’t be rollin’ your eyeballz just yet) and bright orange-red lips. Now don’t think too hard about trying to do some fancy peacock eyeshadow look when it comes to the former. I have a fat eyeliner pencil from Sephora in a shimmery shade of aqua that I like lining my eyes with, even just the bottom lid. And Sephora Rouge lipstick in shade #29 is a flattering, comfortable shade of tomato-ey tangerine for anyone.

But beyond the specific trends for this spring, I’ll be trying a couple things more often with the hope of integrating the techniques into my everyday look. First is the tough one- contouring. You know how sometimes you look at runway models and they almost look as if they’re making a fish-face, sucking in their cheeks and they have cheekbones that look like they could cut glass? Welp, they’re probably not and they probably don’t. I mean, chances are that if one is a model then they probably do have very high cheekbones, but I’m telling you- Every model on the runway has undergone some makeup contouring. This typically involves using a darker shade of foundation or powder foundation, a deeper-but-neutral shade of blush, or a bronzer in the hollows of the cheeks to create the illusion that you have higher cheekbones. Well-done contouring can even work wonders on the shape of your nose, as well as the forehead and jawline. Celebrity news blogs and websites will always make a huge fuss over speculation on Kim Kardashian and how it appears like she’s had some kind of surgery on her nose, cheekbones or whatever, but it’s actually all the result of her crazy skills with makeup and contouring. Believe it or not, Kim is actually very talented with makeup (but she just wears so dang much all the time that I just can’t seem to like it).

I’ve been using NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna most faithfully for contouring on my own, but I’ve also taken to using a cheaper, darker shade of creamy foundation sometimes too. Coco Rocha mentioned the tip in an interview I read recently, and it’s worked out well. I picked up a CoverGirl+Olay Simply Ageless Foundation in Classic Tan, and I just use my fingers to blend it upward into the hollows of my cheeks. I like to use a powder just under my jawline and a little swipe going from my temples back down into the hollows of my cheekbones. Think of making a “C” shape with your brush. For lighter contouring, I also like MAC powder blush in Buff.

As for eyebrows, I’ve taken to the almighty Cara Delevingne as my inspiration lately. Seriously, this girl is THEE model of the 2010’s if you ask me. She is EVERYWHERE. Her bone structure is out of control (though note the contouring on her cheeks!), but it’s her eyebrows that have gotten everyone’s attention. Dramatic eyebrows have made a serious comeback in the past three years or so thanks to various models like Cara and runway beauty trends, which is good news for me considering I’ve never plucked mine. Ever. I’ve never waxed, never had any kind of eyebrow appointment, nothing. My mama always said I had good eyebrows, and I didn’t really care much until I met Jennifer Connelly’s eyebrows. Oh dang! But what I have been doing lately is filling in any uneven patches with an eyebrow pencil and just brushing them out using an eyebrow comb. And sometimes, when I think of Cara, I just pencil them in a leeeetle bit more … and a little more … and a little more. I’ve been using two different shades of Make Up For Ever’s eyebrow pencils for a while now, sometimes using both and sometimes choosing one depending on how dark my hair is at the time.

So below, we’ve got the results of my contouring/eyebrow-loving adventures. I put a pretty heavy filter on the shot so you could really see where I placed the product (and in this case, it was the CoverGirl). If you try contouring, don’t be afraid to use a lot. Results with contouring tend to be a lot more fun as opposed to when you’re too shy. Now, what will really be fun is when I put a little blonde back in my hair and I still stick with the dark, heavy brows. I always was disappointed by the assumption that light hair calls for dainty eyebrows. NO HAIR CALLS FOR DAINTY EYEBROWS. Shoot, I told my husband last night that I wish mine would grow out and get even bigger! I wish my eyebrows would just declare mutiny and take over my whole face! Oh, and whatever you do, DO NOT pluck your blonde (or even dark!) eyebrows into oblivion and then proceed to draw chola brows in their place. What are chola brows? THESE.

So there you have it. These are my makeup plans for this coming spring- contoured cheeks, strong brows, blood-orange lips, and blue-green eye makeup (though probably not all at once). Oh, and for those that insist they don’t follow trends, and that “trends are for followers” or “people who can’t think for themselves” or whatever such derp as that- I’m sorry, trends are for people who like to have fun. Trends are for people who like to play around and try something different. And don’t you be foolin’ yourself into thinking that you have nothing to do with trends and that you’re some kind of original. Just refer back to Meryl Streep’s death-kill monologue in The Devil Wears Prada wear she, *ahem*, educates Anne Hathaway’s character and lets her know that everything she’s wearing, and everything she ever chooses to wear, was chosen for her months in advance. There are those who follows trends, and then those who set them. And if you’re not in some studio designing and working on your collection right now for your September show, it’s very likely that you’re not a maker of trends. If you purchase a clothing item, a neat new beauty product, any such thing from a store, congratulations- you follow trends. And that’s ok! What on God’s green Earth is WRONG with being a follower, I ask you?! The world would be a better place if we all chose someone commendable and committed to following them as best as we could instead of trying so desperately to make our own way. So get out there and copy someone! Just not this person. xo, MR

thebrightblush

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Category Archives: the Me stuff.