Sweet Like Deadly Nightshade

Fun fact: When I was growing up, my father had major aspirations of my brother and I becoming child models. Every so often he would put up a white bedsheet on one of the walls in the living room, get some props and outfits together and we’d have our own photoshoot sessions right at home. I still have the albums full of the photos including the professional ones that he had done to send to modeling agencies. Neither my brother or I ever got a modeling contract as kids (Not for lack of trying, I mean we were adorable but I guess that wasn’t enough, hahaha) but at the very least we have the memories.

At the start of quarantine last year, my brother was actually the first one to point out that I could not use the pandemic as an excuse for not continuing to take photos and create content. According to him, I’ve been “trained for in-house photoshoots” and now I even have more space to work with than we did growing up. I initially disagreed because working in one space can be pretty limiting, but in time I took up the challenge, working around issues with lightening (my apartment is intentionally dark in certain spaces) and even did some much needed furniture/decor shopping which I had put off for the last 2 years.

I’ve done quite a bit of shooting at home as a result, some of which I haven’t shared yet, but I wanted to try my hand at something “different” for this new year. So armed with my trusty tripod, selfie light, new make up, new bedding and a lux velvet set I bought as a Christmas gift to myself, I figured it was time to try something way, way outside of my comfort zone – my own boudoir shoot. Continue reading

Perfect Diary Cardcaptor Sakura Makeup Collection Review

Along with Sailor Moon, I’m also a huge fan of the Japanese shōjo manga series, Cardcaptor Sakura. I was first introduced to the series via the English dub anime that once aired on the WB Kids animation block back in the late 90’s and got into the manga very soon after. For those of you who may either be to young to know about this series or may have just never heard about it, the story follows an elementary school student who accidentally sets the magical Clow Cards loose into the world and she must use magic to retrieve the cards to prevent catastrophe.

The show was quite popular back then, releasing 3 seasons, 2 movies, 3 specials and 12 volumes of manga from 1998 to 2000, though for some reason Sakura isn’t as well known a magical girl icon like Serena/Usagi from Sailor Moon today, at least not in the US. Even so the series remains on my top ten favorite anime list which is why I pounced once I heard about the limited edition Cardcaptor Sakura make up collection by Perfect Diary.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. 

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Curl Definition and Color – Review of CURLSMITH Hair Makeup

It didn’t take very long for me to start playing around with my hair once Quarantine started. For one thing I cut my hair a grand total of 7 times, though to be clear these weren’t big chops but rather small cuts to give my hair a different shape. I managed to give myself some sort of layers which was a nice change of pace as I’ve had the same asymmetrical hair cut since 2016 –  being shorter in the back and longer in the front.

I’ve since decided to grow out my hair, if only to try something new. I also got my first ever dry hair cut at the Miss Rizos Salon in Manhattan the weekend before last, (and I will be sharing that experience on the blog soon as well),  however, that (final, for now) hair cut provided me with more traditional layers and greater volume, so I basically have a new canvas to play with and that also got me to trying CURLSMITH’s  Hair Make up for the second time. Yup, second time, but we’ll get to that.

If you haven’t already heard about CURLSMITH’s  Hair Make up it is a temporary color and styling gel all in one, created specifically for curls. It does NOT dye your hair, but provides a layer of color pigment around hair strands that will wash off with water and shampoo. As someone who loves hair color but doesn’t like the commitment and is scared of bleach ruining my curl pattern, this sounded like an amazing product that would allow me to play a bit with color without much consequence. How did it go? Well, let’s just say it had its highs and lows so I’m sharing them with you today just in case you’re looking to trying something new with your own hair while we are still in this Quarantine/Lockdown period. 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. 

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Summer Noir (feat. Foxblood)

It is rare for me to have a moment when I see something and think to myself that “I must have this” and immediately buy it without much of a second thought, but it when it does happen its probably because  Foxblood dropped something new on their site.  (Even if it is something that I have to purchase via Afterpay, I make it mine.)   The minute I saw this wide leg, tie top jumpsuit as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, I gagged.  It is everything I’ve ever wanted in a summer outfit that I didn’t even have to look for.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. 

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Let’s Get This Straight! – Natural Curls in the Workplace

Five years ago when I told my mother I had an interview for an internship position with a renowned fine art and antiquities auction house, her immediate reaction was, “go straighten your hair.” I had really long waist-length tightly curly hair—a gift from my mother’s side of the family—that tends to get a lot of unwanted attention. Though choosing to retain my natural texture for most of my life, I had a love-hate relationship with it- until I realized that my hair wasn’t a curse but something that made me more unique. Maintaining my curly hair was long, tedious process so as a child I often complained about my texture, while my mother was always the one championing  its natural beauty, so hearing her “go straighten your hair” declaration threw me off a bit. What did my hair have to do with my qualifications for the position?

A lot apparently.

2015 Office Selfie

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