Fall Booties

Even though temps have been in the 80s/90s this week, I've been on the hunt for a great pair of fall booties. I love to wear ankle boots with jeans and sweaters, but I also want to find a good pair for skirts and dresses!

Today I'm sharing a roundup of some great ankle boots that I have my eye on! You may notice that the majority of these are pretty pricey, but shoes are one area of my wardrobe that I try to invest in quality products. Cheap shoes simply don't last with me, because I have a tendency to wear the same shoes every day until they are worn out.  Do you have a go-to brand for shoes? I'm always looking to invest in shoes that combine comfort and style. Let me know what you think!

Color Treated Hair Care

If there's something you should know about me before reading this post, it's that I'm VERY picky when it comes to my hair. My poor mom had to deal with my tears just about every time I got a 1 inch trim. If that wasn't dramatic enough, let me tell you a little story about the first time I colored my hair. Back when I was in junior high, I decided it would be a good idea to get my dark brown hair highlighted with a box of blonde color that probably cost less than $10 from the drugstore or Walmart. It was one of those kits where you wear that cap with a bunch of tiny holes, pull skinny pieces of hair through the holes, and apply the boxed color to your hair to get a consistent highlight effect. This, my friends, was the last time I colored my hair for a very long time.

At the end of last year, I decided I was a bit bored with my hairstyle and color. I find that when my hair is all one tone, I have little to no texture, volume, or definition. I knew I didn't want to do anything drastic (hello, 7th grade nightmare) or high maintenance, so I decided to overcome my fears and give Balayage a go. If you're unfamiliar with this coloring technique, the stylist essentially paints color randomly on your hair giving it a natural highlight. I have been so pleased with my Balayage, but after several months, I found that my color was getting a bit brassy, and I wasn't doing much to maintain it.

Shampoo | Conditioner

Caring for color treated hair can be a bit more high maintenance, so using a quality shampoo that's formulated for colored hair is beneficial to making your color last. Today I'm sharing my thoughts about the Nexxus Color Assure Vibrancy Retention shampoo and conditioner. I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes, and I have been pleased with how they performed. This shampoo and conditioner duo smells great, and I appreciate the quality ingredients. I'm no hair guru, but I know using products that are both silicone and sulfate free is important, so that was an added bonus! I will say that the conditioner is not as moisturizing as I would prefer, but if you do not have dry hair, this shouldn't be a problem.

Do you have any hair products that you recommend for color treated hair? I would love if you shared them with me!

Love,

Emily

Skillpop Greenville Review

I've never really liked the question, "What are your hobbies?"  It's pretty embarrassing when you're at a job interview and they ask what you like to do for fun, and all you can say is, "I like to shop." Over the past year, I've tried a variety of hobbies from crocheting to watercoloring to brush lettering to blogging.

While I enjoyed brush lettering, I found that it was just more challenging than I had thought it would be, and I didn't really keep up my practicing. Everything I knew, I had taught myself through websites and youtube videos, so when my friend Ashley of Third Floor North Photography told me about a brush lettering basics course in our area, I was excited! I wanted to learn proper techniques from a real teacher and potentially pursue this skill further.

If you've never heard of SkillPop, you should check it out and see if they offer courses in your area. From what I could tell on their website, they have classes in Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greenville. SkillPop's concept is that they are essentially pop-up skill classes in your area. The classes are pretty inexpensive, and I love the variety of subjects they offer. In Greenville, they have upcoming classes in screen-printing, coffee tastings, and hand-dyeing textiles! It's so interesting to learn from experts in certain fields, and it is a great way to learn a new skill! 

Our class was a brush lettering basics class taught by Tabathia of The Adorned Fox. She has a huge Instagram following and she does beautiful work. It was great to hear her story of how she got to where she is. We started with practicing basic strokes with Crayola markers. We were provided with alphabet practice sheets, and we took the time to go through those. She also taught us about different styles and brands of markers that she recommends which was really helpful. I've been practicing the skills I learned in the class almost daily, and I highly recommend taking a class through SkillPop. I plan to sign up for another soon!

Grab your best gal pals, and find a class in your area. I promise you won't regret it! 

Love, 

Emily