Wardrobe Makeover - Part One!

"Buy less, choose well, and mix it all up" - Vivien Westwood

Many of us go to our wardrobes when we are looking for that perfect outfit to wear out, and sometimes even for just every day outfits, and say those famous words " I have nothing to wear!"  Well good news, its not true!  Your closet is bursting with treasures that used to make you happy and excited to get dressed in the morning, now all you have to do is rediscover your wardrobe.  Whenever I do a wardrobe makeover with someone it consists of three steps; rediscovering what you have in your closet already, what basics is your wardrobe lacking and what pieces do you want to spice is up.

-What do I have

-What do I need

-What do I want

The reason you want to rediscover your current wardrobe instead of buying a completely new one is that you probably have some really great pieces you have simply forgotten about or that you don't have the right accessories for.  You don't need a huge wardrobe, just a versatile one as the quote by Vivien Westwood states above.  

So we are going to start with "What do I have".  First of all when cleaning out your wardrobe you need to be in the right state of mind, you need to have fun and make it an event, or a girls night in.  Think Carrie and her friends in Sex and the City  editing Carries closet in the first Sex and the City movie!  Turn on some great music, have a glass of wine and get into it!  

The first thing you have to do is purge purge purge!  Make three piles; garments to donate, garments to keep and garments that need a little love.  Be ruthless, the goal here is to better streamline your wardrobe so that it better suits you!  Don't keep anything ruined beyond repair, and don't keep anything that was extremely trendy in another decade...it wont be coming back, only classic looks come back!  Keep all your good quality basics, we will get to what the basics are later, even if they are a little dated if they are made well find yourself a good tailor and have them altered.  Some garments may have a small hole, may have a little stain, read the post prior to this one to read about how to deal with those garments because you can make them feel almost new again! 

For anything you don't want that is still in great shape try donating it to a good cause instead of simply throwing it away, knowing the clothes is going to be loved and be helping people will make it easier to give it up.  One that I am fond of is Dream Dealer http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=338103497797  the reason I like this is the the operator (Micheal) takes the donated clothing from you and re-sells it to people who really want it, then uses the money towards charities or trips such as his recent trip to Hati.  Organizations like this are also a great place to go looking for some of the pieces you may want to add to your own closet as the items are often more gently used then a second hand store and the money is going to a good cost while you are getting a great deal!  

Take the time before you start cleaning your closet to re-think your look, what kind of look do you want to achieve, then remove anything from your wardrobe that does not fit into this new look.  Always remember:

"There is a fine line between modernizing a vintage garment and simply looking like you haven't gone shopping in 10-20 years." - Nina Garcia 

Once you have sorted through all of your clothing and accessories (such as handbags and shoes) make a list (yes with a pen and some paper) of all your basics.  You will be building your new wardrobe around these pieces.  Then make a second list of all of your maybe garments and what they need to be keepers.  Do they need alterations? Embellishments? Or is it simply something you love yet have nothing in your current wardrobe that you can wear it with.  

And then that's it, you now know "What You Have"!

xo. Diva

 

Repair and Revive your clothes... don't throw it out!

Everyone does that spring cleaning of the closet, and when you do you always find those pieces that you used to love but somehow they got stained or damaged.  You just couldn't just throw it away because you always love wearing it, but you can no longer wear it because it is ruined.  Well there is a solution to this problem, if you have a great piece of clothes you cant part with then take a good creative look at it and see if there is some way to fix it.  If it is a fallen hem find a good tailor, same goes if there is a hole in something, could it simply be altered to fix the problem?  To deal with a tough stain could you add a belt? A patch? An accessory such as a pin or flower?  Can you simply alter the piece yourself? 
An example of this would be the great striped pull over sweater I had, nice scoop neckline, light fabric so great for cool summer days, the perfect sweater for when you want to look nice and put together yet still casual.  Not even a full week after buying it a thread in the collar got snagged and within a few seconds half of the ribbed collar had detached itself.   I couldn't bear to part with the sweater right away because it was so new and I was so happy to have found it.  A few weeks later I was trying to find the perfect outfit to wear and came across the torn sweater in my closet and tried it on, even though it was ripped, because it would have been the perfect. As I looked at it sadly and wished I could wear it, I had an idea.  I then proceeded to rip off the rest of the collar.  And viola! I suddenly had my cute, casual sweater back except now instead of a scoop neck I had a cute wide neck/off the soldier sweater perfect for wearing over a cute tank top.
So next time you are sad because you have ruined or worn out a favorite piece of clothing, see if you can revive it before buying something new...your wallet and your wardrobe will thank you!

Love your face!

No matter how well you know your make up if you don't have a great canvas to work with (your face) then you will have a much harder time creating that natural flawless look you desire.  The solution to this is simple... love your face!  Taking care of your face and your skin is very important to your overall look.  Having great skin can make you look healthier, happier and younger!  Here are my simple steps to loving your face.

1. Drink LOTS of water daily!  This is very important for your skin and your hair!
2. Eat well, whatever you put on the inside of your body will show on the outside.
3. Cleanse - find a cleanser that uses natural products and doesn't have a lot of chemicals.  Use this cleanser daily with lukewarm water.
4. Next get a great natural toner, that moisturizes.  Apply evenly with a cotton pad, not a tissue or face cloth.
5. Next find the moisturizer that is right for your skin, splash some cool water on your face and then without drying add the moisturizer.  This will lock in the water which is great for your skin.  Again try to stick with natural products as your skin is absorbing everything you put on it... so if you wouldn't put it IN your body don't put it ON your body.  An SPF is great to! 
6. Your final step is to splash ice cold water on your face.  This is a bit uncomfortable for a moment but closes up your pores and locks all that moisture in!

Now 1-2 times a week you want to exfoliate your face.  There are plenty of products out there for this but I find that the best product is one I make myself! So simple and so effective.  First you need fresh squeezed lemon. You can squeeze a real lemon or use that lemon that comes in already squeezed.  Just make sure that it is pure lemon juice (organic is even better!).  You then saturate a cotton pad in lemon juice and sprinkle a good amount of plain white granulated sugar on the pad.  Apply this to your face in circular motions using medium pressure.  Finally rinse in cool water.  The reason this is so effective is that lemon is FULL of BHAS and AHAS and these are very important for your skin and help to break down all of the dead skin cells.  The sugar serves as the exfoliate and helps to lift the old skin of your face without damaging your good skin cells.

xo.  Diva 

Your Make-Up Bag

Every woman has a makeup bag, or drawer or counter full of makeup. However you keep it most of us have a lot of it!  Problem is most women don't know how to wear most or any of their makeup properly.  Wearing your makeup the right way can take years off your face, make you look fresh, sassy, sexy and much much more.  The first step is to learn what you NEED to have in your makeup bag, then how to use it all.  Once you have the first two down you can begin to experiment and have fun with different looks.

Here are the essentials of any makeup bag: (in order of application)

- Moisturizer (stay tuned for a skincare blog about what type is best for you): Your face face needs to be smooth and ready for makeup, no dry patches of flaky skin.  *Tip* Apply moisturizer right after cleansing your face while it is still wet, this way your face will absorb both the water and the moisturizer. 

- Primer: Primer creates a great base for your makeup.  It fills in fine lines and pores and your foundation will cling to it creating a nice even surface. 

- Foundation: Foundation does exactly what it says it will do, creates a foundation for all of your makeup.  Foundation can be applied with a brush, sponge or your fingers and comes in many forms.  Liquid is the most common form and works for all skin types.

- Concealer: Concealer is like plastic surgery without a knife!  You can use it to make dark circles, discoloration, redness and blemishes completely disappear.  Make sure when applying concealer you dab and blend softly without pulling or rubbing the skin.  Light concealer can also be used as a highlighter. 

- Powder: A powder is very important to your foundation and concealer, I recommend a translucent loose powder but you can also use a powder that matches the colour of your foundation.   Apply it all over your face, not forgetting the eye lids and around the nose, the powder will make your foundation last all day long.

- Bronzer: A great way to give your face a sun kissed look and a dark bronzer is great for adding contouring to your face. 

- Blush: Available in many forms such as creme, powder, gel and stick blush can finish off your face and make you glow.  Its good to have a powder and a creme or gel as the powder is great for when you are wearing full makeup while the creme or gel is great if you are wearing bear skin to just add a bit of colour.

- Eyeshadow:  I recommend having a few good, high quality eyeshadows in the fallowing colours: white, black, light brown, dark brown, a sheer fleshy shimmery colour, and a sheer pink.  These colours will allow you to create many different looks, then if you want to option of fun and funky colours invest in a multi-coloured palette.  These are often available on ebay for a great price!

- Lip stick: The key to young full looking lips is lip gloss so buy lots in lots of shades!  Lipstick wears well under a gloss for a little added colour but you can also use a lip liner and fill in your lips completely with it.

- Eye liner: Pencil is the easiest and most common form of eye liner to use.  It also comes in liquid and creme. A tip is to go over your eye liner with powder in the same colour to soften the look and seal the liner.  Black, brown and white are the essential colours.

-Mascara: Many mascaras claim to do many things but I just recommend trying a few to find what works best for your lashes.  If you desire longer lashes curling them will make them appear longer, and if you want fuller lashes try adding a few false lashes!

So if you have all of those things in your make up bag you will be set!  To avoid creating an extremely long blog post I have not gone into great detail about how to properly use each product.  If you would like to learn how to use these products watch some of my upcoming YouTube videos that I will be starting soon and read my "Lenses" on Squidoo at http://www.squidoo.com/yourmakeupbag  these lenses each feature one of the products I have listed and talk about them in great detail!

Hair Doctor!

Lets be honest, we are all very hard on our hair.  Exposing it to the elements, using styling products, curling, straightening, teasing, sitting in the sun, you name it we do it.  So here are some of the most common hair ailments and what you can do to remedy them.

Hair Gone GREEN From the Pool
If you love to swim and dye or highlight your hair blond you may have experienced the unpleasant discovery of a slight green tint to your beautiful blond locks.   First of all there are a few simple ways to avoid this; easiest way to make sure you do not get green hair is to simply not swim in chlorine.  Next, if you are an avid swimmer you can wear a latex swim cap and wash hair immediately after swimming.  Now I was a lifeguard while I was in highschool, bleached my hair blond and being a vain teenager wouldn't be caught dead in a swim cap.  I would always saturate my hair quite completely in a leave in conditioner (this fills your hair with moisture so that it absorbs less of the chlorine filled pool water) and then wash it with a high quality cleansing shampoo right away not allowing the chlorine to sit on my hair for any amount of time after I was finished in the pool.
It is important to understand WHY the chlorine in the poo will turn your hair green.  Chlorine is a naturally clear chemical so a blue dye is added to the chlorine so that it can be seen and identified.  Blond hair is very porous as the cuticles (the pores of your hair) have been blown open by the bleach, making it very absorbent of any moisture it comes into contact with.  As your hair absorbs the chlorine full of blue dye it reacts with the yellow tones of your hair creating that green tone.
 The second reason is that there is a copper deposit in the piping of pools that can react with the blond hair dye giving it a green colour.  This is important to know because in some older homes you will find this same copper deposit and even taking a shower can tint those lovely blond locks green!

Now how do you fix it if it happens to you!?
The first remedy I would try is a great quality deep cleansing shampoo.  Wash the hair properly and give it two or three washes before you decide it is not working.

If that doesn't work then try washing your hair in tomato juice, the red in the juice will neutralize the green dye.  Make sure to leave the juice on your hair for a decent amount of time (3-5 minutes) and make sure it is TOMATO JUICE NOT A TOMATO DRINK OR COCKTAIL.

If the green in your hair still wont budge then you need to call your stylist and book an appointment asap!

Dull Lackluster Hair
If your hair is dull, flat and all together dead looking it can really bring down your look.  Sometimes your hair may be so dull even a healthy spritz of shine spray doesn't brighten it up.  This happens due to sun damage, build up of hair products, chemical damage and heat damage.
The remedy for this is again a great clarifying shampoo to wash out all build up on your hair, then start a healthy hair routine of moisturizing, proper cleaning and drinking lots of water!  Finally to bring your hair back to life have the ends trimmed to get rid of all those split ends, you will be surprised how much of a difference it makes to the look of your hair!

Dry Ends
This is the most common complaint I hear from people, what can they do about their dry and split ends?  Well there is not much you can honestly do about dry split ends, you can't "unsplit" them and split end treatments are only temporary as they simply add moisture to them and smooth them down.  The only remedy is to have them trimmed off and take better care of your ends next time!  Keep in mind no matter how well you take care of your hair you will always at some point have to trim the ends as they will still eventually get dry and split.