the fashion & beauty guinea pig

Printed Tunic, Forever21, Orange Striped Bralette, Free People, Black Fei Vest with Brass Buttons, Anthropologie.

After Christmas in June, I wanted to brief you on some of the products I have splurged on -- because they actually have enough benefits to be worth the price (bonus -- some of them are cheap).

So tomorrow will bring a new day as well as new products from my product-junkie collection. Remember that I've worked at many retail companies with great products -- including Crabtree + Evelyn and Nordstrom -- so I have quite a pile to select from. Consider me the ultimate product guinea pig.

But for now, a little preview. The photo above came from a couple nights ago. Here, proof of the guinea pig statement: a fashion experiment, to see if the runway bra-over-plain tunic thing could possibly work in real life, and a beauty experiment to explore the results (however terrifying) of letting my hair air-dry. Results: the bra thing works with a very sporty looking or obviously made-to-be-seen bra (like mine, with orange stripes. Very non-lingerie looking). If you have a larger chest like mine, you need to wear a vest over the style concoction to avoid looking too wide. I saw the runway look in a Parisian fashion magazine, ripped out the page and put it on my wall for inspiration. Voila!

How-to hair:

1. If you have straight-across bangs like mine, always blow-dry them for styles where you're leaving them out front. Then straighten to sleeken and tame, depending on how unruly your hair is.

2. Next, mist a wave-enhancing spray (I used Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray, available at salons) all over hair, focusing on the part from the tops of your ears to the tips of your hair. Scrunch with your fingers, pushing up. You want to make a wave, so let it be as curly as possible.

3. Repeat scrunching until hair dries enough to keep the shape of the waves. If you're in a hurry, use a blowdryer to dry while constantly repeating the scrunching motion with your hands, all over your hair.

4. If desired, pin front hair back (i.e. stray strands that frame your face) with bobby pins so your face is more visible. But don't forget -- a little strandage is good because it looks soft and sultry (yes, I believe I just made up a word).

La Petite Parisienne

Bow Clip, Anoki Paris. Blue Circle Scarf, LA Made. Coat, Guess.

Two of my girliest obsessions: flowers and bows. They're staples in my accessories wardrobe, and they also happen to be speckled throughout the shops in Paris.

So the other night I decided to do a bit of shopping on Rue de la Huchette after having a few drinks. This would seem like a bad idea, but somehow I always end up making great purchases when I'm just the slightest bit buzzed. Go figure.

Anyway, here it is, in all its glory: my turquoise bow hair clip. It fits into my hair well, never so much as adjusted throughout the entire day, and gave me a nice little pop of color to fight the gloom of the gray Parisian sky. And best of all, it's just plain cute!

The Mataano twins

So today at work while taking a short breather from boiling down a Texan aerospace sector directory, I went on my favorite break site, CNN. I was thrilled to find this story and just had to write about it. It's about a pair of Somalian twins who fled their country to escape civil war, settled in the US and created a clothing line:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/04/08/somalia.fashion.twins/index.html

I have always thought African designs are really beautiful because they like colorful pieces (like Californians do!) and always create unique patterns. Check out the site at http://www.mataano.com/ to find some cool items. I did have to dig a little-- some of them aren't as African as one would expect-- but the ones that are look incredible! My favorite collection is Spring 2009.