My Summer Style Guide for Women

Summer has rolled around, do you know what you will be wearing? Here are a couple trends I've been loving:

Pairing Neutrals with Brights

My favourite bright will always be hot pink, but to keep it from looking like a revival of the 80s or too hippie, I like the idea of balancing it out with light-coloured neutrals like bone, white, tan, and greige.

Neons and Tropical Colours

These colours celebrate the dawn of summer, find your neon and incorporate it in both your tops and bottoms

Sheer Tops and Multi-Coloured Denim

Give tie dye a modern spin in pastel colours and pair with sheer for a chic bohemian vibe.

Candy-Coloured Baubles

The brightness continues with jewellery in every colour possible under the rainbow. Balance pastel coloured jewellery with white pieces; and neon coloured jewellery with neutrals like tan and bone. Mix in the metallic for unique looks as well.

Fitted White Pants paired with Pops of Colour

White pants are everywhere. A fitted pair in a cotton material works, the stretchier materials may cling to bumps you may not want to highlight. Again, with light-coloured bottoms check in the mirror in sunlight to see if it is see-through

Bikini Tops with Fringe and Ruched Bottoms

Bikinis are sexy again, and ruching on the bottom? Genius! It will get rid of that sag some bikini bottoms can get and prevent riding up

Flowy Sheer Tops

These are every girl's best friend, breezy material that lets the air through but floats away from your body in such a flattering, feminine way.

Tangerine Everywhere -

Everyone is going in on Tangerine for summer. This colour looks fantastic on dark skin tones, and adds a glow to almost everyone, so I am finding ways to incorporate this into my outfits as often as I can. Plus...this was the colour of the cheerleading uniform of my house in my last year at High School. :)

                                                           
Alright guys, that's it for me. I am putting together a style guide for men as well, but if you would like me to do a diy tutorial on how to tie-dye old denim shorts leave a comment and let me know.

Is there anything else you feel you must wear this summer? If so leave a comment and let me know!

Till later,
Jane

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Skin Care Routine

No, I won't claim to be a demi-dermatologist and declare that X potion and Y serum will get you the best skin of your life but I do know what works for me, and I know this because when I do slack off I see the repercussions on my face in the mirror in the morning. 

Simply put, routines work and to get the actual best skin of your life you need to find one that works for you and stick with it until the day you die. Or at least, until you find something better.

Firstly, figure out what kind of skin you have - best bet for this is to wash your face with water in the morning and at the end of the day determine whether your skin is dry (then you have dry skin); oily (then you have oily skin); or combination (dry in some areas, oily in others). And please for the love of all things sane, do not confuse oil with sweat - they are NOT the same thing.

Alright then, when you're done with that you will need to get products that will 'solve' your problem or at least control it. I have combination skin, and I get breakouts when I am stressed or when its my time of the month. I also tend to get breakouts if I am dehydrated or I have consumed extra sugar, or as gross as it sounds - I forget or am neglectful of my skin post-workout. 

For make-up removal I use baby wipes, or makeup remover wipes from either Neutrogena or Simple. For nights when I go heavy on my eye makeup with dark colours I will also use Ponds Cold Cream to get off the makeup or Neutrogena Eye Makeup remover in liquid form
.

For a cleanser I use the St. Ives Green Tea Cleansing Face Wash, or the Loreal 360 face wash for Combination Skin or Normal Skin. I make sure my face wash has salicyclic acid to help control any pimples. If my breakout is bad I will get maybe four pimples on my entire face. I wont pretend to be one of those kids in a proactiv ad , it does not get that bad for me. So if you have hard core acne issues, see a dermatologist. For my cleansing routine I wet my face with water, and then wet the Loreal 360 scrublet (heaven-sent  I tell you!) and pump out a dollop of face wash, apply to my cheeks, forehead and chin and then rub in gently with the scrublet. Then I rinse.

For toning and acne control, I will alternate between using rose water with witch hazel and the Clean and Clear Astringent for sensitive skin. I use the one for sensitive skin because my skin is dry in some places and astringent can dry out your skin because of the alcohol it contains. I pour some onto a cotton ball or pad and swipe over my face and neck and behind my ears. (For girls with hair long enough to grow past your ears its important not to neglect that part of your body because oils and dirt can get trapped there).

Moisturizing is the quickest part of the routine, and by far the one I have to convince myself to do because I constantly forget it. I let my skin air dry - I think its a happy compromise between the schools of thought that you should pat not rub so you don't draw your skin and get wrinkles, and the other school of thought that you should rub your skin dry in an upward motion to fight gravity. I use the Oil of Olay Complete moisturizer with SPF for daytime and at night I will alternate between using tea tree oil and Oil of Olay Night Effects Night Cream. The tea tree oil moisturizes and gets rid of any bacteria that might be on my skin, and the night cream moisturizes and fights wrinkles.

My eye cream is a recent addition to my routine since I hit my twenties. My family seems to get wrinkles and crepey lids and I prefer to prolong that as much as possible because my eyes are by far my favourite feature.I use the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Eye Cream. 

And that's it! When I have a particularly stubborn pimple I will use queen helene clay mask to dry it out along with tea tree oil. I don't really do facials unless I am supremely bored or I convince myself to spend money at a spa. I don't pick my pimples, instead I try to wait it out and dry it out, and 9 times out of ten it goes away without leaving a mark.

Drinking lots of water keeps skin issues at bay. if you're having a particularly rough time with acne though, it's important to see a dermatologist to see if prescription strength medicine will be your answer. 

Till next time,
Jane

PS- let me know if you want a video to see exactly what my skin care routine is. I will be happy to post!

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