Opening Ceremony meets Pendleton dress, Chloe docs, Nordstrom over-the-knee socks, gifted Coach Classics x Net-a-Porter Stewardess bag (so obsessed)
Despite doing a fair amount of online shopping while I was on bed-rest (in the comfort of my undies), now that I actually have to put on real-people clothes again, I find myself continually reaching for this tent dress. Every girl needs a good tent for when you have to wear fabric, but would really rather be naked. Preferably one with built in style like these excess frills that give the appearance that I put in a modicum of effort. Plus, tents don’t irritate my healing scar like all my tighter options. Definitely a keeper. And the knee-highs? Always a favorite but the real truth is I haven’t waxed my legs since the Dark Ages… hey, you you’d be a bit fuzzy if you’d been cooped up for a month too! The highs and lows of social constructs. The shoes however did take some effort to lace up… baby steps. Next week I think I’ll tackle separates again… and maybe a little body hair removal, too. Maybe.
In other news, I’m moving into a cute new apartment this week (Silverlake – Insert your hipster joke here then meet me at Intelligentsia and say it to my face!) which means eyeing design blogs and forcing myself to get rid of all the clothes/shoes/etc. I’ve been hoarding. Watch this space for a mini virtual yard sale soon!
Alright. So I’ve been struggling to figure out how to depict my miracle product here for a few reasons…
1) I never thought it would work well enough to be worth before/after photos and doh!, I didn’t take any.
2) Even if I had taken makeup-less photos, this blog is no Proactiv commercial, and you probably wouldn’t be seeing them.
3) Like some of the better beauty products in life, the actual product looks like shit – no literally, poop of some variation – and who wants that on their fashion blog?
4) I wanted to make sure it worked. And as evinced by the state of my skin when I stopped using it for a couple weeks: it works!
Minor setbacks and a lack of photos aside (this random photo and google will have to suffice), you should trust me enough to believe I wouldn’t tell you to buy a product that looks like crap, let alone recommend you put it on your face, if I hadn’t done so with incredible results first. This one is Jazzi-tested right here.
Now what is it? My miracle wash is Raw African Black Soap from Ghana via the internet. This isn’t that “black soap” you’ve tried from Target or the health food store – there are a lot of faux Black Soaps out there. Despite the name, this soap isn’t really black at all. More like African Brown Soap. The good stuff will always contain plantain ash, cocoa pod ash, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, palm oil and often shea butter. Apparently this soap is totally commonplace in many parts of Africa, so apologies if I’ve kept you waiting to read about a product you’ve used since birth. If so, I’m totally not your friend anymore since you never shared it with me!
It usually comes wadded up with no pretense in a ziplock baggy for a very fair price. Just lather in your hands and wash (or use as a mask). It’s a little gross looking and your reaction will be “WTF did I just pay for” at first glance. But it’s all-natural, even vegan I believe (hence the uh, natural color) and has a nice earthy smell. Nothing offensive nor lingering.
I have combination to very oily skin with a teenage history of acne that left me with dark scars, spots and hyper-pigmentation (should’ve listened to mom’s advice not to pick, but I didn’t). My skin is overall tolerable, but never even and my pores could use some help.
Well, about two months since starting to use this soap, my skin is pretty bangin’. Not “Oh, I never wear makeup” bangin’, but (if I didn’t love painting my face so much) I bet I could finally be one of those “Oh, I only use a little tinted moisturizer” people! My skin it matte, my spots have noticeably faded, as have my pores and my skin has never been smoother. I think the shea butter adds some extra magic, too.
I forced numerous friends & family to try it (male, female, Asian, Russian, White, Black to name a few) and they’ve all had good results. A few found it drying but said a little moisturizer afterward fixed that up.
Another plus (then I’ll stop ranting) is that you can use this soap all over with similar results. It lathers beautifully, easily (and gently) removes my eye makeup and makes a fantastic shampoo and body wash. This is all I have in my shower at the moment and I couldn’t be more satisfied. ETA: Forgot to note the incredible improvement the soap made with the eczema on my inner arms – no joke, it’s gone.
A little goes a very long way and you can buy a pound for under $15 on Amazon (would easily last you months). Keep it fresh by storing in Tupperware between uses. I’ve also tried African Black Soap variations I found on Etsy and eBay and they’ve all been equally good. Just look for the vomit/dried poop looking stuff and you’ll know it’s worth a try! If you want Black Soap in prettier packaging, those exist too.
Next up, I’ll have an updated list of all the other products I swear by (you know, the kind you can get at Sephora and the drugstore).
Versace ‘January J’ sunglasses, Yestadt Millinery Soothsayer Turban, my favorite dark lipstick I put on just for you and Dr. Bob.
I sure missed you (yeah you!). A few have recently asked if I’d quit blogging, and you may (or may not) be wondering the same as I haven’t updated in a month or so. The short answer is “no.” The long answer is “nooooooo!”
The longer answer is – as those of you who keep up with me on twitter know – I recently had surgery, an abdominal myomectomy exactly, to correct some lady-issues still related to my endometriosis. I didn’t want to flood my blog and twitter with half-hearted and fully-medicated nonsense, so I didn’t. Though, looking back some of it would have been pretty funny. Feel free to google if you’re actually interested in what’s going on with me healthwise, otherwise just know that my surgery went very well and I’m hopeful that this time we’ve taken care of the issues for the long-term.
On the real, life is tough in general and maintaining a fashion blog through the physical and emotion pain I was dealing with honestly wasn’t my main concern. So, hey, I left it unattended for a minute and we all survived! I’ve been recovering for the past few weeks and while I don’t yet have full feeling back in my lower abs, I am now happy to report:
I am back and if all goes as planned I’m about to go H.A.M.
So thank you, as always, for bearing with me! Sitting in bed recovering has one upside: plenty of time to shop online and the goods have piled up. I’ll start with these siiiick new sunglasses which I actually didn’t buy online, but whatever. I saw this photo of January Jones looking amazing in them (they are from her Versace collaboration after all), so I had Sean pick them up for me. Last pair in the store – what now!? The turban was an amazing gift from my new favorite Yestadt Millinery who I’ll be sharing more about soon. Love them!
[*PS - to those of you waiting on my miracle beauty product, I'll be whipping up a post this weekend. I also just finished my first DIY in while - it's easy and oh so good!]
The Olsenboye video series I took part in this past January came out today! I truly had a great time shooting with Natalie, Caylee, Karla and Olivia and it was fantastic getting to know the girls behind the beloved blogs. I still feel super strange in front of the camera (though I feel right at home behind it) but the whole team and the girls made it all good!
As I’ve said before – and anyone who’s read this blog for a while knows – I’m a serious bargain hunter. Expensive clothes are a luxury and by no means a necessity when it comes to personal style, so I was very happy to support a brand that champions budget-conscious style for a younger audience. Youthful as it is, there are some great pieces that all (well, most) ages could rock. I’ll show you the dress that’s made it into my regular wardrobe rotation soon (Natalie wears it in her video).
Thanks to my alma maters, Teen Vogue and Fashionista, for debuting the videos/Q&A and to my buddies at NYLON for posting the behind-the-scenes video! And FYI – I’ll be doing a little guest blogging on Olsenboye‘s site this week. And of course, thank you Olsenboye and everyone who worked on the shoot!
PS – If you were wondering… yes, that’s a staged bedroom – not my own, but play along?
at the Levi’s Workshop green screen inside MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” wearing: Cheap Monday Tabitha pants / overalls, Vans Paityn creeper sneakers, Madewell Top, J. Crew beanie
I’ve pretty much been living in these overalls. I wore them all weekend covering the MOCA “Art in the Streets” exhibit for NYLON and then unhooked them and let the straps hang when I wore them as pants to dinner. Overalls as day and nightwear? Why the heck not! The sneaker-creepers are a recent buy and yes, identical to the Jesse Jo x Vans collab except for the black laces. I actually really wanted the Jesse Jo version, but they were nowhere to be found and these were on major sale so, yeah.
In other news…
- Currently obsessed with: pigtails… not like the photos above, more like two little messy buns I’ve been wearing my hair in (pics soon). Also, MOCA’s awesome new street art exhibit.
- Currently thinking about: writing a book, reading a book, hair dye, trading in life as a freelancer for something more stable, reruns of Martin and Tom & Jerry cartoons.
- the video campaign I did with Olsenboye comes out tomorrow (eep!). I’ll also be doing a little guest-blogging there. Happy to support an accessible line of cute clothes for young girls! There’s one dress in particular I’ll be posting soon that’s definitely worth running to the Junior’s section for ladies!
- Major tease (don’t hate me): I started using an actual miracle beauty product. It’s all natural and got rid of some hyper-pigmentation that I thought was permanent within a WEEK. Even my boyfriend complimented me on my better-than-usual looking skin and he does not notice things like nice skin. I PROMISE to reveal the secret in an upcoming beauty post.
- I had an overnight blur of a trip to NYC for a fun styling gig. Note to self: need more excuses to go to NYC!
- I successfully built Ikea shelves for my magazines and shoes. Really excited about that.
- I’ve got some closet-stock that fell victim to Spring Cleaning… planning to do a little blog pop-up shop soon!
- My birthday is less than a month away (May 9th)! Hey, Tauruses! On my wishlist: a new juicer, farmer’s market shopping spree, truffle fries, shoes.
- Finally got a point & shoot camera… keep forgetting to use it.
- Gearing up for surgery again. Some of you may know I was diagnosed with endometriosis a few years ago. I had a laproscopy at the end of last year, but the pain only got worse. A second opinion last week turned up fibroids, two new endometrial cysts and as my doctor put it “your pelvis is a mess!” So next month, I’ll be having a myomectomy and taking it easy til then. My mom had the surgery years ago and she’s all healthy now – can’t wait to feel the same!
Anyone else out there with a heaping case of Endo? What treatment, if any, have you found that worked? Would love to hear your stories and I hope sharing my own might help someone else out in the future.
