Frankly, I don't give a dress

Check out this sweet little number! I bought as a gift for myself after eyeing it for a while on the well known ModCloth.com; Mod, retro, indie & vintage clothing. And it's a gift, because in my book, this is so expensive that I'll probably not be able to afford anything else aside from food until my next paycheck rolls in. This dress is obviously cut in a 1950's inspired silluett, red, and smokin' hot! It kind of reminds me of the legendary white Marilyn dress, and definitely pin up inspired. I got this dress in medium, but I was worried about it being to small over the chest and too short. I knew the large was going to be to big around my waist and the small would probably be to tight over my chest and the length too short, but fitting aroung my waist.. - Um, yeah. Difficult!! Anyway, I think it worked out! It's definitely not to tight around the waist, probably a little loose, but it''s fine. The length turned out to be great, even though I was worried that it would be too short. I'm 5'9 and the length goes just under my knees. The fabric is really nice and thick. The skirt is lovely, flowy, and the color of the dress is more blue red than orange, which is great for my particular skin. This is my new favorite dress!

Introducing Cotton Candy hair

So my first (techniqually second) experiement with Manic Panic hair toners. I used the 'Cotton Candy Pink' on a couple of sections underneath the top part of my hair. I started out by pinning all the hair from my ears and up, out of the way. I took medium sized sections, placed a piece off foil underneath it and pinned the hair and foil together with double prong clips while attaching it to the root of the hair. This held each section seperated from the hair that I didn't want to get any pink toner on, and the foil made it really easy to just 'paint' the toner on. After coloring I wrapped up each section and waited about an hour before I rinsed the bottom part of my hair over the sink in cold water to lock in the color.

The blue clip is holding the hair that was underneath and in between the pink that I didn't want to get toner on. This was after I rinsed the hair and after I blowdryed it. Even though it looks bright pink in the jar, the name is definitely more true to the actual color. It's cotton candy! Oh, and here you can see how badly I need to bleach my roots. That's hot! I enjoyed trying out the pink toner, it doesn't show as well when I have my hair down, which is fine. I just wanted a little something extra, nothing too crazy, and I like it!

This week I also figured out how I wanted to create my glamorous side swept updo thingy. I'm kind of happy with it, but of course it can be perfected. The flower is this months blossom from Belle Blossom.

Blossom of the Month

It's a new month which means more flooowers! At least if you're a member of The Blossom of the Month club, a relatively new feature from Belle Blossoms.

This months flower is truly unique. It's a deep red/burgundy, green and orange-ish orchid. (Man, do I rock at describing flowers or what...) Actually it's techniqually not just one flower. It's three of them put together on one clip which makes a nice little bouquet. This orchid is truly one of a kind, I've never seen anything like this anywhere else.

I love how different the two flowers I've recieved from BOM has been so far. (June and July.) This just shows that you don't have to worry about not getting variety in different flowers! Also love the way you recieve the flowers. Each one is wrapped in some pretty paper and tied with ribbons. Adorable! It makes the surprise of opening the package and seeing the flower even more exciting. Being a member of this club also provides you with exclusive petals that you can't buy at Belle Blossom's, since so far I haven't seen any of the BOM flowers on the site. You also get a hint for what next months flowers is going to be. This months hint for August was stinking easy though..! But I think it just made me more excited, and I can't wait 'till I get it!!

I also recieved a new Lucious Alice red rose. The one I had before had the single prong clip attached to it. This was before Heather (owner and creater of Belle Blossoms) discovered the larger clip, which she now uses on the large blossoms. (If I understood her correctly). 

She was generous enough to send me a brand spanking new rose with my Blossom of the month flower, which I really appreciate! I can't say it enough.. I adore this rose. And now with the new clip, it's beyond perfection. It truly is the perfect red rose. My search is finally over!

Before and after - the old clip, and the new clip that Heather's started using now. Love it!

Bangs?

I've been wanting a Bettie bang for so long. But I know from experience that bangs... not exactly something that compliments my face. However, I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and do it anyways, eventhough it's about 80% likely that I'll look like a weirdo? True, I've just saved up enough so that I'm easily able to create whatever front roll or whatever hairstyle it may be.

Julie Hewett & flowers

I recently treated myself to a couple more products from the lovely Julie Hewett cosmetics line. This is my second time getting something from her site, the first time being when I purchased the Noir lipstick collection, set of six lipsticks. (Which I dare say is one of my absolute best makeup purchases ever.)

This month was the first package from Belle Blossoms blossom of the month Club. I'm a satisfied member of the Large Blossoms, and this months flower was big, gorgeous and yellow, wrapped in leopard tissue paper. Also, with it came a riddle, or a hint I guess, for what next months flower is going to be. I just have to say that the clip on this flower is amazing. AH-MAZING. It's a long kind of alligator clip, with a tight grip. The end of the clip is covered with a leaf from the flower, so the clip doesn't show when you're wearing it. I love that she (Heather, owner and creater of Belle Blossoms) adds this little touch to the flowers, which is quite unique. To be honest I was a little concerned about what clip to expect. I've ordered three items from her before, and I'm stunned by how gorgeous her creations are. However, the clip on the large red rose I got contains only of a single prong clip. Eventhough the flower is big, and due to the size, not at all heavy, it's too much for the single prong clip to bear. This means that I have to wear it supported by an updo. It needs something to rest on to stay in, I guess you could say. That's the only thing I can say that kind of made me a little bit sad, because the rose itself is so perfect and I've been looking for a perfect red rose. (Side note: However, I recently learned that Heather has switched the single prong clip, and that she's now attaching the larger clip on all the 'Large and luscious roses' Yay!) But, like all I've seen from Belle Blossoms, the creation lays flat against the head. Which I can not stress enough, it makes such a difference compared to those floppy flowers you see everywhere else. The ability to lay flat against the head of course also goes for the gorgeous yellow flower in this months package. The petals are made to cover around the clip, and not stand up around it. Happy customer; check!

I also placed my second order to Julie Hewett Cosmetics. The Camellia balm has been something I've wanting to get for a long time. Even though it's pricy, the jar is around $20, I had a hunch that it would be worth it. The smell, oh the smell...! I love citrus smells, and this original Camellia balm has exactly that. But it doesn't really taste anything, which is good for my prefrence anyhow, and the scent disappears after sitting on your lips for a minute or two. Which is fine. The balm has a feel that's light as a feather, it's not at all greasy or heavy on your lips. By the way, this stuff works. Around the time I got this I actually had a one of those gross and annyoing split lips in the corner of my mouth. I applyed the balm before bed and the next morning the split was no more. I could still feel something there, but the sore had closed itself and didn't rip open when I opened my mouth. This was almost too good to be true, since I've had this kind of problem several times before and I've used tube after tube with chalpstick.. and it never did anything like this. Also, the Camellia balm is not only to use on your lips. You can use it for your face, hands and eye area. I tried it on a couple of dry spots that always annoy me on the sides and underneath my nose. Again, like with the sore in the corner of my mouth, it actually helped! I have to ask, what is this magic? Products that actually do what they're supposed to..? I'm sold. Well, I guess I kind of was after trying and adoring the Noir lipstick collection, but now I definitely am!

The second thing I got from Julie Hewett was this Cheekie palette with the colors pachie, rosie, natural and jami. I've been eyeing the peachie cheek color, I love peach colors, and the Cheekie colors come in single jars as well (similar to the Camellia balm jar), But since this May was 40% off every order, I figured it was just as well to go ahead and get the palette with four of the colors. To my surprise I've used the rosie color the most this far, peachie comes in on a close second, then jami and natural. The colors are really easy to blend and leave a beautiful color and glow to the skin. I love them, simple as that.

After opening everything I for some reason checked the box to see if there was anything else in there... And to my surprise, there was! I found the first sample, the Belle Noir lipstick, and screamed excited, before I found the Cheekie Rosie sample - also followed by a scream. Since I have both these products in original full size, I gave them away to my friend. The samples were a really good size and in good packaging/jars - considering the fact that they're just samples..! I was definitely impressed.

Testing, testing; Layrite Pomade

So for those of you who haven't heard of the Hawleywood Layrite, (or heard of, but never used) I thought I would give you my thoughts on this product, my first impression. I've never used such 'fancy pomade' before. I've stuck with various cheap stuff! The kind that you get at your everyday drugstore. I'm not slammin' drugstore products at all, I love certain things, but some of the pomade, or waxy stuff you can get there has always kept me wondering: I's this really how it's supposed to feel like?' I was never truly impressed I guess is what I'm trying to say. (If anyone knows of a good, cheap pomade, please let me know!)

One of the cheaper brands I've tried is Dax-Wax, which is around $6. Despite of hearing a lot of horrible things about this, I decided to try it out myself to see if it really is just a piece of crap. My issue with this product is the fact that it's too thick and super greasy (for my taste) which made it difficult to work with. It also has quite an unpleasant smell in addition to being a bitch to wash out of the hair. I think you need a special shampoo or something to get rid of everything, and really, who wants that! I ended up throwing it out, not a big deal due to the price and also knowing that my Layrite was on the way! I'm not going to tell you not get Dax-Wax, there's many out there who like and use this product - but I'm under the impression that most of them - don't. Either way, if you wanna experiment and you dislike it, you're only out six bucks! Or, you can take my word for it and save your money for a rainy day..

Another pomade that I haven't tried myself, but after what I've heard I feel it's kind of similar to the Dax-Wax. It's the legendary Murray's pomade which have been around since the mid 1920's (Correct me if I'm wrong.) I'm under the impression that this is the kind of stuff you don't wanna put in your hair unless you want it stay there *giggle*. It's unexpensive as well, $3 online for a 3 oz can. However, if you're a rockabilly 'greaser' dude doing pompadours and slick backs, you most likely want a lot of hold and probably wouldn't mind looking a little greasy! I guess there's a reason Murray's have lasted all this time..?

Now let's move on to the good stuff. Hawleywood's Layrite original pomade is $14.99 (4 oz can). You can also supersize it (like you can with everything in the US, *cheap (true) shot*), and get the 32 oz can. But for normal use, if your not a hairstylist or anything like that, I say the 4 oz will last you plenty.

The first thing I noticed when I opened it was, naturally, the color. It's kind of an orange color. The second was the smell. It doesn't smell bad at all, but I can't really put my finger on it. In a way it's a familiar smell.. both me and my boyfriend stood with our noses in it, sniffing and trying to figure it out. I'm really bad at defining smells, and I usually end up with a weird conclusion no one else gets.. Anyway, like I said, it's not a bad smell, and the scent sort of gets weaker when you get it in your hair. I concluded with the scent of summer and retro hairsalon. (...) The jar says that the fragrance is "parfum". Yah, thanks!

You use it on dry hair, just rub it in your hands until it softens before you apply it in your hair. 




The texture has kind of a rubbery feel to it, mixed with play dough. At least that's my first reaction. It softens up really nicely once it gets warmed up by your body temperature. The pomade is water soluble, so it's supposed to wash out just fine when you wash your hair. I actually believe I could sense a little bit of the smell (just a teeny tiny bit) left in my hair after I'd washed it. The pomade "grease" itself was all gone, but it was the scent that stuck. This can all just be a combination of my strange nose, overanalyzing and - a not so thorough hairwash (which is kind of gross and weird..) Moving on: Depending on how you're using the pomade - if you just want it on a little section of hair and not all over; seriously, you only need a tiny amount on your hands. It's better to add more if you need it since the pomade is kind of heavy. Adding too much will leave you with nothing less than a hot mess! The thing about pomade which for example you won't find with any hairspray or hairgel (at least none that I've heard of), is that you're actually able to comb through your hair after applying it. It doesn't dry to a hard consistency, and it makes the hair work with you not against you. The pomade also adds shine to the hairstyle, making it smooth and controls fly-aways. "For pomps, DA's, flat tops, spiking, parting, or whatever your hairstyle will be, it will LAYRITE." Quoting the jar. Got to love play on words. Am I 'riiiite?'

About the pictures of the hair: I made a faux bang type of thing, using the pomade on straight hair, not curling my hair first to see if it actually helped me with shaping and controling the hair - and it did! Really good I might add. I hardly used anything for this, just touching the surface of the pomade with my fingers. Overall impression with this is that I actually really like it, and I'm well on my way to being a Layrite-junkie. You know, wanting to do my hair all the time just so I get to use it.. The only thing is the price, which I guess is okey if you factor in that it'll last me a really long time and the quality is good. (Also the design is completely hot!) By the way, if any of you have a reasonable answer to what the smell of this pomade - please tell me!! It's driving me, insane.

Next on my list of pomade's I want to try out are: Schmiere Pomade and Suavecito Pomade. The color 'dots' next to the Schmiere Pomades shows what color the pomade's are. Oh yes, pinky/coral and bright blue! That's awesome. I read about the Schmiere Pomades on the thebobbypinblog and was mesmerized. Need to get my hands on them ASAP!

Tattoos

So, this friday, I got to build on my Pin Up tattoo on my left arm. I got two green orchids and strawberries surrounding the cupcake. I also got some blue for the background of the excisting Pin Up tattoo. This is only my third tattoo session (including the poem lower on my left arm which isn't visible in the picture) and I have to say I get more and more hooked, each time I do it. It's like a beautiful rush, and I just love it. Plus, this is the first time I didn't faint or feel faint! I guess you could call that progress, right?

Here's the "before and after". The new elements are still a little red and the colors haven't really, emerged. And also it's a polaroid that one of my friends who came with me took of the process. Fun! The artist behind the tattoo is from Latvia and his name is Rokadz. He was coming from a Tattoo Convention when he decided to visit a friend of mine for a while, sleep on his couch and do some at-home tattooing. So when I heard about this talented and not too expensive tattoo artist from my friend (which also had the tattoos to varify the talent), I jumped on the chance.

(The colors in the pictures I upload to my blog always end up looking washed out.. and I don't know how to fix it!) So here's the different angles of my arm which show's the two orchids and jummy looking strawberries! I'm really, really happy with it! The blue color as well. I think it just added to a nice composition. Another thing I was really happy with was the good price I got on this! It took three hours to finish the tattoo, and Rokadz wanted $310, which was a hundred dollars less than what I expected. The Pin Up tattoo cost me $930, which seemed insane at the moment when I handed over the money. But now I feel it was one hundred prosent worth it - I'm absolutely in love with it, and I haven't regretted it a single time.

Virgin Snow

This weekend I touched up the roots in my hair with bleach and gave my hair a long needed trim! (I wanna thank my boyfriend for being a trooper and holding up a mirror so I could see the back of my hair while bleaching.. So, if anyone is in need of a pro 'mirror-holder', I can hook you up!) It's been over a year since my hair has felt the serious touch of sharp scissors, so to save money, I took matters into my own hands. Spoken like a true cheap ass SoB. Before I cut it, my hair was shorter in the back, and longer on the sides. This is the curse and after effects of cutting a bob hairstyle. Also, it was all in one length, no layers, which makes it difficult to get the desired effect - especially with vintage hairstyles! I like to think of this bob style as an 'n-shape' - which I then cut into a 'u-shape.' Right? U-shape; Longest point in the back, gradually getting shorter towards the sides and shortest in the front. So, now my hair looks significantly shorter, but oh so worth it! After the cut I felt I was in kind of a daring mood.. So I chopped some layers into it as well! Maybe it was the bleach seeping into my brain, or just plain craziness - but it actually didn't turn out too shabby! (Or did it..?) At least not with curled hair. Unstyled it looks a little.. well, chopped. After butchering my hair, I was ready for Manic Panic amplified Virgin Snow toner! Or, two days later I was ready - after giving my hair a break from chemicals.

Here's what my hair looked liked after I had saturated each individual section with the toner. I used big hair clips and sectioned of small sections (total of 12, I think) and rubbed it really well with the toner. I started in the back, since this was the area where the yellow really got to shine. After going over my entire hair, I took whatever was left on my hands ran it over the roots - since that area didn't require that much attention because of recent bleaching. I'd made sure that I still had some toner left, and I went over each section one more time, to make sure I got the toner everywhere. I waited about an hour before I rinsed my hair, making sure that the water ran clear before I considered myself done. As I got my hair wet, the color of my hair looked grey or silver-ish. I panicked. Eventhough I know, that the color your hair is when it's wet is not what it's going to look like dry. I also could see a little bit of orange still clinging to my hair in certain areas. So to quickly get rid of my worries I got my blow dryer and ---

-- after five minutes of apprehensive blow drying, still not completely dry, I could see the color better. And, as you can see, it's not silver, nor is it grey! Hurray! I think I actually stood in front of the mirror for about ten minutes just staring at my hair.. running my fingers through it and smiling. Yepp, I'm that vain.

In these pictures I just wanted to compare the before and after.. Hopefully it'll be obvious which is the before and which one's the after. Even though the Virgin Snow didn't quite take in some areas, (I suspect this happend as a result of too little toner) like my bangs and certain patches that look a little weird with hints of yellow - it's certainly MUCH lighter and 'cooler' than what it was. Now I'll just have to see how it fades, and if it'll be worth a second buy. But the way things are looking this far, I'll most definitely be back for more! - and probably getting two jars of toner. Eventhough my hair is really fine, there's still quite a lot of it, so with two jars I'll avoid not having to 'ration' the toner like I did this time. I wish the color was permanent and not just a toner! Dang it! Anyway, my overall conclusion: Success!

News in 'Pair-a-dice!'

A couple of months ago, I talked about needing a job and finally getting a job! - But not at the place where I wanted to work the most.. I wanted to aply at Pair-a-dice, which is a 50's diner downtown, but I didn't dare, since I was too afraid of not getting the job. (Makes sense..?) Anyway, as it turns out, a friend (which I wouldn't expect this person to do this-) talked to a guy he knows who works at this diner. He told him a little about me, and as it turns out that guy ended up going out to look for me at the place where I'm working now! I wasn't there, haha.. but, my friend told me that I could just hand him my application, 'n all that jazz, and he would take care of it.. "Tada! Tada! How do you like me now? Tada!" (South Park overload) ..Talk about knowing the right people! I can't tell you how often I've looked at pictures on their Facebook page.. (Yah, I'm a nerd) wishing I could be a part of their fun times! Now it might actually happen - if I can get myself started on the application..

60's evening

This saturday it was time to put my pin curls, red lipstick and hair nets aside, and make room for bigger hair and bigger lashes! I was going with some friends to an event were the dresscode was 1960. I was a little reluctant at first, but then I realised that this would be an excellent opportunity to try out one of the 60's inspired hairstyles in Lauren Rennells Vintage hairstyling book. The one I chose was titled The Receptionist. I didn't do exactly like the book said, I kind of just made it work for me. But I did use the victory roll-method to achieve a good base for building the volume as I went on. The back of the hair is not nearly as neat as it should be, but I say good enough! This is my first time doing a hairstyle from this specific era and I've never teased my hair as much as I did for this style. All I can say is, people in the 60's must have had really damaged (yet awesome) hair!



(By the way: Looking down to emphasize the 60's "bump")

The Misfits

Easter is almost over, and I'm feeling sick! Partly sugar overload, partly runny nose and scratchy troath. Today I spent mostly in bed with films and my sisters new cat. Sounds great, right? I watched The Misfits (1961), starring Clark Gable (Gay Langland), Marilyn Monroe (Roslyn Taber) and Montgomery Clift (Perce Howland). Roslyn and Gay (..which by the way has a son called Gaylord) eventually fall in love. They meet in a bar after Taber's divorce and Gay and his friend Guido (played by Eli Tellech) take her and Isabella Steers (played by Thelma Ritter) out to a cabin in the country. Later they meet Clark Gable who's trying to make a living doing rodeos. They all team up and decide to catch horses out in the mountains of Nevada. Things start to unravel as Taber's sensitive soul starts to feel the pressure of having three grown, stubborn alcoholic men to babysit. Monroe's acting is naive and charming. Some might not like her performance, but I find it refreshing and so adorable! She might seem childish in a way, but oh so cute and truly a good hearted human being! What better way to bid this years easter farewell, than two hours with miss Monroe on the screen.

"You can hear your skin against your clothes." (Roslyn Taber)

Manic Panic Easter!

Well, easter is right around the corner. I love easter, because I love candy - and that's that. Any occasion where I'm able to eat more candy than usual, I'm completely for. I think maybe the fact that I'm high on sugar practically 24/7 is the reason for my sleep deprivation. But I just can't help myself, 'cause that sugar is just too sweet!

I wanna dye my hair. I've bleached my hair for 3 or 4 years now, and that's counting all the time it took for me to go from pitch black to brown, to brown-ish/orange, orange/yellow and finally blonde. I've dreamt of having red hair for years now, but after the hassle of getting my hair from black - to another actual color, I've sort of been putting it off. Plus, I've been looking for a cool toned blue/red color, not an orange/red which would make me look sick. And, let's not forget the commitment it takes to have red hair. However, putting the red hairdye on hold for now - when it comes to blonde, I'm really not a big fan of those yellow toned blonde colors. I like the more cool tones, which is what I have now. I find that it suits my skintone better. Eventhough my hair is really, really.. really, blonde at the time, I would like to find out if I could get it even more extreme! So I recieved a tip - Manic Panic's Virgin Snow. I've checked out Manic Panic before, but for red colors. I never even though of looking at blonde. The thing is, this color is not blonde, it's more white. Oh yes, white. If something were to take care of the last pieces of yellow in my hair, this would probably be it! So I guess I'll have to get my hands on a couple of these Virgin Snow containers very soon! Now, enough of my random haircolor rambling! Let's enjoy easter and this entertaing song and dance with Fred Astaire and the lovely Rita Hayworth.

Goodness Grable!

Trying out Betty Grabel's characteristic victory rolls. Since I first noticed this style I've loved it. It might be a little bit.. over the top (but not really). At least for these, oh so modern times - but who cares? It's beautiful. Besides, you'll love the attention. It's not that hard to achieve if you're comfortable with making victory rolls. But even then, if you have bangs, you're probably gonna end up feeling like you wanna tear your hair out anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter. Then again, completely worth it in the end if the prize is looking Grablelicious for a night!

1940's nostalgic beauty tips

"Please, avoid the; too powdered look." Indeed.. Quoting the charming beauty guidance film underneath. This short film may not the be the most relevant makeup tips for the majority of us.. But it certainly is authentic! Check out Glamordaze for more lovely videos!

Working girl

Finally! I've got myself a J-O-B. Eventhough the headline makes me sound like a prostitue, the job is far from it! You're now looking at (...) H&M's new employee. I've worked there for about one week now, and I'm so happy with - everything! I like all my colleagues, (I've only discovered one possible b to the itch, and no, it's not me. So, hurray!) and it truly seems like a great and organized work enviroment. I'm noticing how much I appreciate efficient associates. Where I worked in the past, everything seemed to happen by chance. You'd have to cross both fingers and knees and just hope that the message to your boss (or others) got there safe and sound, and that whatever problem, got fixed. Long story short: Imagine the most confusing, chaotic and cluttered work place - well, H&M is exactly the opposite, and it's such a relief! At last, I feel I owe Lisa a big thanks for helping me with tips and tricks to get H&M hooked on my charm!