Lovely Locks.

So, in addition to loving fashion I am also quite obsessed with hair. When I was a little girl my mom kept my hair super short in what I like to call a mushroom cut. She claims that she kept it short so that it could "grow in really thick". It was hideous. My mom always claims she kept her kids trendy. I think I looked like I had a mushroom on my head. I will not post pictures because they are far too embarrassing :) So in order to feel like I had long lovely locks, I would put on a big t-shirt over my clothes, then take it off only to the point where it was stuck on my head, creating the feeling of long flowing hair. I was a weird child! I just wanted long hair! I did the t-shirt trick almost daily, and would brush it and have my mom put bows and ponytails in it. Again, I'll skip the pictures. :) I knew at a young age that I loved hair.

Come high school, I decided I would go to hair school. I thought if I love playing with my own hair then I must love playing with others' hair as well. Instead of going to a regular beauty college I did a private apprenticeship in a salon. The woman who owned the salon has been doing hair for over 20 years and she is fabulous at it. She is an instructor for the Matrix hair brand and travels all over to teach classes on the latest color and style trends. She taught me the tricks of the trade, along with traveling to hair shows and classes. I started during my junior year of high school and went to the salon in the morning and school in the afternoon.

While my endeavor started off well, about halfway through I started to realize I didn't love doing hair as much as I thought I would. I forced myself to finish the program and took the horrifying state tests and passed. I got my license. I thought maybe once I started working in a salon I would grow to love the art more. It didn't happen.

I decided that doing hair is the last profession I would ever choose to have. :) I absolutely hate it! I will only give cuts and colors to my closest family members. However, after all of my schooling and experience during hair school I have come to appreciate beautiful hair even more than I did when I was little. I look at hair blogs and celebrity hair styles as much as I do the clothes that they are wearing. I appreciate the art and talent that it takes to create a beautiful hairstyle. I also know that it is hard work! Hair styles can completely finish off a look, it is like the frosting to a delicious cake.. not complete without it! :) The best part is that it adds a whole other outlet for creativity and self expression when it comes to personal style. I love hair! I just don't love doing hair. Ha!

A few years ago my apprentice intructor asked me to be a model for her in a hair show she was doing for Matrix. They were coming out with this new color line dedicated to vibrant REDS. I've always loved red hair and decided to be brave and go for it. Turns out it is my favorite color I have ever done! (and trust me, I've tried just about every color possible).

This is me with my red hair:
This is when my cute husband came home from his mission. The red hair was quite intense to say the least. I think it freaked him out a little bit haha. But I loved it. :)

Red hair is so vibrant and I loved how shiny it always looked :)

The red also works with the fact that I am freakishly pale. I liked that it worked well with what I've already got going.

This is my best friend Bristyl. Love her :)

While I love the red and will probably go back one day, it is a lot of upkeep! I had to color it every four weeks in order to keep it bright. If I slacked on the maintenance it turned orange, which wasn't exactly pretty. It got very tiring after a year of coloring my hair once a month, not to mention the fact that that much color isn't great for keeping hair healthy.

Along with sharing my personal favorite hairstyle, I wanted to share a few hair trends I love. Right now I'm loving long wavy locks with lots of volume and body. I especially love the bohemian vibe that Nicole Richie has made her trademark and pulls off perfectly:

Love the headband. And the shiny gold locks. This whole thing just works!

I love bangs. I've tried the bangs look and can't really pull it off. But I love fringe around the face, it brings attention to the eyes.
Olivia Wilde's bangs frame her face perfectly and make her eyes pop.
Reese Witherspoon has awesome blonde hair. I envy blondes, I have tried it and it does NOT work with my pale skin :( But her shiny blonde locks and side-swept bangs make her face look like perfection, does it not?

One of my favorite haircuts is short hair. I love when people have to guts to completely chop their hair off. It is like re-creating your whole look! Recently, Emma Watson chopped all her hair off after she finished filming the Harry Potter series. This girl has got some serious guts! Her face is gorgeous so her short hair brings all the attention to her facial features.
I definitely think this is one of those girl-hot kind of trends. Most women would probably think Emma looks amazing with short hair (at least I do). On the other hand, the majority of men think hair is what makes a woman feminine. I happen to love when women take risks with their hair, especially when it works. I would LOVE to have short hair, I'm just not ballsy enough. Not yet at least. :)

J.Crew

Shopping has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember :) And I'm dang good at it at that! I know what I love and over the years I have learned exactly where to find what I am looking for. My husband thinks it's a little strange, but I especially love shopping by myself. I hate when I feel like I have to rush through the stores so that people aren't waiting for me. My ideal shopping trip would be a day at Nordstrom by myself when I can stroll through every department and take my sweet time. I would look at every item if I could! I would hate to miss something that I couldn't live without. :)

Every store or brand has a certain feel or theme to their clothing. Since I live in Ogden, Utah my resources are somewhat limited. However, I have learned to work with what I've got and make it work. I love Urban Outfitters. They have a great mix of basics, trendy items, soft girly pieces, and edgy quirky items. I know if I need something a little dressy or party-ish I should look at Express. They almost always have something sparkly. :) I usually buy jeans at American Eagle. Until I am out of my newly-wed-poor-struggling-college-student phase, their jeans work great for my budget. One day I'll own many pairs of nice designer jeans that are super well made and fit like perfection. :) I love to shop at Forever 21 when I want something trendy that might be out of style next year and don't want to spend too much. They also have great jewelry and accessories that are way cheap!

To get on with the main purpose of this post, I want to express my love for one of my all-time favorite stores to shop... J. Crew! I love love love J. Crew! The way they mix classic pieces and designs with of-the-moment trends is genius! I could do some serious damage to my pocketbook at J. Crew. Their style is very simplistic, and all the different items are really easy to mix and match to create different looks. I love the way they put colors together that I would have never thought of before, while making it look so effortless. The clothes are very well made and last a long time because they wash and wear well without the fabrics breaking down. One of my biggest pet peeves is clothing that changes shape with every wash and you end up with some hideous ill-fitting shirt that you never would have bought in the first place. J. Crew's fabrics are great quality and keep their integrity. The all-around vibe of J. Crew style is effortless chic. I love the way they make it look like the models just threw something on and ended up with this fabulous ensemble that is pretty, unique and classic all bundled into one stylish look!

Here are some looks that inspire my own style and give me hope for what my future closet might hold. :) If you've never shopped at J. Crew I suggest you try it. (They also have a great men's line with that effortless-cool feel. And don't even get me started on their children's line, Crew Cuts. The stylishness they create for cute little children is perfection! LOVE it!)

J.Crew style:





Happy shopping friends! :)

Falling for Fur?

Every season, there are new fashion trends. There are many this Fall and Winter that I am dying to have and are already on my Christmas List :) One of them, however, I sometimes like but am still unsure of. The trend I'm referring to is Faux Fur Clothing. I see the models wearing fur, as well as celebrities and they usually make it look great (with a few exceptions which I will point out). There are faux fur coats, vests, hats, gloves, they have even found a way to put it on footwear. A few months ago I bought a faux fur vest and have yet to wear it! I'll admit I'm a little scared to put it on and leave my house, I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull it off. There is a fine line between fashionable fur and completely over the top crazy attacked-by-an-animal looks. I have come to the conclusion that my personal favorites are looks that have just one item of fur. It has to look like YOU are wearing the fur, instead of the FUR wearing you. I found some photos to try to illustrate my scattered thoughts on this Fall trend:

These are the reasons I want to wear fur: Rihanna, Jennifer and Kim seem to be able to pull it off without looking like a Halloween costume.

While a full-on fur coat frightens me, this cute girl put her ensemble together perfectly:

If you've ever watched celeb stylist Rachel Zoe's TV show, you know she is all about the fur. Some of her looks are a little over the top, but this one works:


Other ways to wear fur: here is some furry footwear:

A fur scarf looks fashionable on this model. However, I think I might feel like I have a live animal wrapped around my neck if I were to wear this:


Then, of course, there's the craziness. This fall trend seems to be well done the majority of the time, but these looks are down right nuts to me! Good luck doing ANYTHING ambidextrous in these crazy gloves:



Often times a celebrity looks glamorous and classy in a fur coat. I'm not getting that vibe from Kate Moss here. Her little body looks like it is being swallowed up in that coat! This fur is definitely wearing her, instead of the opposite.


I love Kim Kardashian's style, but this awkward fur sleeve thing is confusing. Plus, it's never a good sign to be compared to a furry mascot:


So, if you're feeling the fur trend, go for it! In most cases it looks great, it just takes some guts to put it on in the first place (for myself, at least). A little fur goes a long way. You wouldn't want people to confuse you for a furry creature. With these cold temps rolling in I'm about ready to break my vest out... Hope it works :)