West Coast Wives

I've gone through some interesting hair color phases. My early college years I did everything to look like Jlo. Hoop earrings, Frankie B jeans, studded belts, attempts to be a fly girl, and of course mimicking her bronzed highlighted tawny hair. Working for Mac I then went through the "my hair must look like an eyeshadow color palette" which meant bright colored "hair blocking" with ruby red, blonde, bronze and sometimes plum streaks. But alas, when college ended so did the monthly allowance from my parents and my part-time cocktailing job was funding EVERYTHING including my hair. In my attempts to cut costs I decided to simplify and go back to my roots....literally. Having my dark hair back I thought I'd channel my inner Penelope Cruz and maybe appear more enigmatic, with more substance, or maybe just appear more in need of a sandwich. In due time the itch for colored hair returned. I eased my way into colored hair again with a low maintenance light brown ombre with hints of bronze highlights, but that was like that first puff of weed, just a gateway fix till I needed to go lighter... and lighter.....

The good, the bad, and the wtf??: My hair evolution

The problem with brunettes going blonde is the transition has to be gradual and can take FOREVER. I have yet to reach my desired hue of blonde. As most brunettes I'm sure can relate, when I keep adding lighter highlights to my ombre I'm also battling the almost inevitable orangey emergence that happens in the last two weeks before I go in for my touch up. Bless his clueless little heart the hubby complimented me on my new "brassy do" and I almost choked on his choice of words "BRASSY" bleh.

Hair Goals- Always obsessing over these two

My hair dresser of 15 years and my transformation consultant, Paris, suggested I try a blue shampoo. While looking like a "Sun-In" and lemon juice tangerine-hued throwback I scrambled and searched till i found the highly reviewed Joico Color Balance Blue Shampoo and Conditioner. This is a brunette girl's savior for those cool blonde highlights we've been dying for that you see above on the lovely Jamie Chung and Hair Goddess Khloe K. The directions: use 2-3 times a week (which is honestly how I often I wash my hair) where the shampoo you let sit for 2-3 minutes before rinsing and the conditioner 3-5 minutes before rinsing. The result after a few uses is less brass, more blonde and a little bit more time before I have to race back to see Paris to tone and touch up my mane. Unfortunately these don't come in Costco value size, however you can often find the shampoo/conditioner set on Amazon for $35 dollars or Ulta on deal.

If my inspi-hair goals idol Jamie Chung is using it than it must be good!! I'm almost done with my first round of bottles and I'm loving the results. I'll post some before and afters once i get through this first set! PEACE OUT

-Tuyen

So given that I've been sick and my feverish brain is unable to concoct a concise sentence, let alone a bunch of them strung together to create a mediocre-at-best blog post, I figure now is a great time to roll out... Topic Cassoulet. A random mishmosh of thoughts and observations, kinda like Chat Stew, but chic-er.

1. Vera Bradley

Ok, so not to hate, but the only contact I have with V. Bradley is when I shop for my mother. Back when granny was still alive, I could always count on a VB box to bring a twinkle to her eye that only Chanel can elicit from my bourjois peepers. But something weird is happening over there at the Bradley bunker. I first noticed it when I was in search of my new gym bag and then again when Xmas shopping for Salami (an unfortunate nickname my mom's stuck with)... they have launched, how shall I describe them..., CUTE bags!? I'm currently formulating my opinion, but I'm excited to see these leather lookers make the blog rounds as I'm sure some 'sponsored posts' are on the horizon for our more popular colleagues (one day....).

2. Dove Daily Moisture 'Poo and 'Dish

This is another one of those 'Ante Up vs Pinch Your Pennies' guys, but I'm not ready to do another designated save/splurge post so in the meantime I'd just like to sing the praises of Dove haircare. Ok Wen die-hards, calm yourselves... I know, detergent, stripping, and SUDSING oh my! But I fell in love with these products back in college when my freshman RA was suddenly having noticeably good hair days back-to-back. She did the Christian thing and shared what was behind those shiny, bouncy locks and I immediately bribed an upper-classman to drive me off campus (a PLNU thing) to the nearest Target. Four years and 2,920 days later, I still love Dove's Daily Moisture shampoo and conditioner and have yet to find a high-end name that holds a candle (which, on another tangent, why do I even TRY???).

3. Emergen-C

I love it, Tropical is the best flavor, and that is all.

4. MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Superwatt

I LOVEEEEE THIS EYESHADOW!!!! It's super-pigmented so just a dab will do ya, but the finish is perfectly metallic/glossy not sparkly/cakey. I probably wear this every day in some capacity, whether it's alone, as a base, or my personal fave- dabbed just on the center of the eyelid over my finished makeup look. I get a million compliments when I wear this stuff and should probably just buy some MAC stock at this point.

That's all for now! Got a new Sephora haul I'll have to share/dish on so stay tuned for that!!

~Jeanie