Week 29: NYFW Recap. Invites, Perfect Hair, Survival

Today I am going to tell you some of the Behind-the-Stage Fashion Weeks Secrets. How to get invited to NYFW, how to have perfect hair a few days in the row, and HOW to survive the lack of sleep during the fashion madness!

HOW TO GET FASHION WEEK INVITES?

When I just started blogging, I thought getting invited to fashion shows is extremely hard. And it is if you do nothing! Luckily, I had blogger friends who have been leading their blogs for years and who kindly shared some advices, and I made my own research to discover other useful steps you can take in order to get invited to New York Fashion Week shows.

1. Start at least one month in advance

I had to miss out on some great shows because I was travelling almost the whole January, and didn't communicate fast enough with representatives. Don't repeat this mistake and start emailing brands 1-2 month prior to Fashion Week.

2. Fashion GPS Radar App

Get the most useful app Fashion GPS Radar. It not only gives you a list of shows, emails of PR people, but after some time automatically adds show invitations to your schedule that you can accept (or ignore).

3. Email YOUR people

Like anything in the world, fashion world is about knowing the right people. Think of the brands you already collaborated with, shoot an email to one of your old friends who is working in Fashion PR, or simply ask your trusted blogging friends to share some contacts, or take you as their +1. Yes, sometimes they let you take +1. I sneaked my husband to all my shows :)

4. NYFW Schedule

Find websites with the NYFW schedule. Many of these schedules contain contact information. For example, I used Fashion Week Online to get some emails.

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How to look good during NYFW?

Depending on how busy your schedule is during Fashion Weeks, you might not be able to style or even wash your hair every day. Running from an event to showroom and then to runways shows, and doing it all over again back and forth, can be extremely exhausting!

Luckily, I have found a salon, Julien Farel, that creates KILLER blowouts and hairstyles that last perfectly for a few days in a row. I have partnered with Julien Farel before for Valentine's Day, and was so impressed that my hair, usually so flat and not that fresh only after 1-2 days, stayed absolutely flawless for 5(!) days. And honestly they still looked good after almost a week, and I just had to force myself to wash my hair because I felt it was too long.

That is why I chose Julien Farel salon to style my hair for NYFW. I highly recommend their stylist Aizhan.
Check out the salon: 540 Park Ave, New York, NY 10065. You will love it!

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And last, but not least is my energy secret. Of course, you have to drink a lot of water, and can consume tons of coffee, but I have found out that I feel better just drinking one Berocca vitamin mineral supplement from time to time. Usually I take one when I wake up super sleepy, and it gives me an instant energy boost! Plus it tastes like a lemonade :)

I hope you liked my little NYFW secrets, and they will prove to be useful to you in the future. Let me know if you have any special tips? I would like to hear!

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Week 16: I am BLONDE! Haircare tips and my blonde experience.

I promised I would write about my first dyeing experience and share some hair beauty secrets, and here is the awaited post! I also wrote about my favourite makeup and fashion finds in July in the Insta-Shop section.

As I mentioned in this post, my new blonde look is a masterpiece created by NYC based Turkish hairstylist @asilsmsk, who currently works at the Val El Salon and Spa. I was afraid my blonde ombre would look too yellow-ish or that a dye would damage my hair, but so far my hair is super soft and the colour is perfect. It is noteworthy that I showed Asil a few different photos of what I liked and he came up with something that suited my vision, while also complimenting my feautures. As a side note, this post IS NOT promoted in any way and I am just genuinely recommending Asil to any woman who finds herself in NYC. Since I did not work with any other stylists or have any other services done, I can't specifically recommend anything else at the salon.

I have always loved my long light brown hair and I was terrified to dye it or cut it short. During hot summers my hair would also get really beautiful natural highlights. Oftentimes it looked like I dyed my hair even though I did not, and people would ask me the name of my colour. However, in the last few months I have started to crave a new look, and I am happy I finally gave in.

In this post I will sharea few of my favourite hair products, both for coloured and "virgin" hair, so everyone can benefit from this article.

1. My miracle Coconut Oil and Manuka Honey mask. 

This mask is seriously my secret weapon. I am too lazy to apply the coconut oil /manuka honey mask often, but whenever I do, my hair feels incredibly soft, shiny, and healthy afterwards.

Here is the recipe:

1 Tablespoon of Raw Manuka Honey (I also love this shampoo with Manuka)

3 Tablespoon of Coconut Oil (I use cold pressed coconut oil and 3 tablespoons because my hair is quite long)

Slowly heat honey and coconut oil in a small pan and stir it before it forms into a mass. Do not raise the temperature as you melt your mask! It is important to keep the heat low at all times  in order to preserve the nutrition in the manuka. After it's all melted, wait a little bit for it to slightly cool down (but make sure it is still warm!) and apply to your wet or dry hair. Massage into your roots and make sure you apply the mask generously on your split ends as well. 

Many people suggest that you keep the mask on for half an hour, but I usually tie my hair up, cover it with a plastic bag (don't laugh! :)), wear an old scarf on top (any beanie hat you are not afraid to ruin works as well) and wait at least 3 hours before I wash it out. Make sure you wash your hair thoroughly as it will naturally be very oily. It feels super gross while you have this mask on, but afterwards you will enjoy the results.

Don't do it when your boyfriend/husband is around. I usually wait until I am home alone. ;)

2. It's getting hot in here.

Never forget to protect your hair from your blowdryer and irons. I haven't found my one holy grail heat protection product, but currently I am protecting my hair with:

TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Protective Spray
 

JOHN FRIEDA Frizz Ease serum that I apply only on wet hair.

3. Jose Eber Curling Iron

I get asked all the time about how I curl my hair. My hair is naturally straight, so when I was a teenager I used rollers overnight to wake up to perfect curls. I think that saved my hair from a lot of damage since irons can really destroy your hair. But a few years ago I found a Jose Eber curling iron in Selfridges (London, UK) and I cannot live without it now!

I believe the Jose Eber iron is one of the safest and fastest at curling on the market. It usually takes me no more than 10 minutes to style my hair. My mum and auntie also use Jose Eber straighteners and they are amazing. I cannot wait to get a straightener for myself too as it makes hair look sleeker and shinier.

4. Favourite Hairbrush

I am a loyal user of Tangle Teezer. Nothing compares to this wonderful hairbrush! 

5. What do I wash my hair with?

I like Bumble and Bumble hair products even though they are relatively pricey. However, after I dyed my hair I switched to an Australian brand Evo (this and this one in particular).

6. Volume up!

My hair often lacks volume, therefore I consider myself somewhat of an expert in volumizing products. I used the Got2B powder that everyone raves about for a couple of years, but now I have switched to the John Frieda spray and a volumizing dry shampoo by Sexy Hair. I feel the Got2B powder works really well, but I had a problem distributing it evenly over my hair and felt like sometimes it gave me a white-ish “covered with flour" look.

Dry shampoo works so much better for me and gives my hair a really impressive boost in volume. :) I have this limited Marilyn Monroe edition, but I think there is no difference in the formula if you buy a regular volumizing dry shampoo by Sexy Hair. 

You can see in this photo that my hair had natural ombre highlights. It was beautiful, but I am still happy with my new look! Changes are always fun.

Last summer my hair was super long! 

Please let me know if you have any questions or if you want more product recommendations! I am happy to help and will always answer your requests and questions on our Facebook Page.

Week 13: Grace Kelly. 5 Summer Beauty Weapons

Summer is in full reign and it’s about time I share some of  Grace Kelly's and my own beauty secrets as well as some hot-weather essentials.

1. Must Have Box

Firstly, I would like to start with subscription boxes. I have been curious about beauty and fashion surprise boxes since I was living in London. One of my best friends, Ania Pawlak, who now has her own blog, Beauty Obsessed, had been getting some of the boxes when we were living together and it was always fun opening them with her.

Special Edition Resort Box by Popsugar. 

Subscription boxes are so popular because they give you a sense of excitement every time you open a freshly delivered package filled with surprise goodies. There is always some great product by some brand you have never heard of, cute things you would never try otherwise, or something that you didn't even know you needed.

One of the most beloved subscription boxes in the US is Popsugar Must Have. They  not only have makeup and beauty products, but lifestyle and decor items as well. I was thrilled when Popsugar selected me to be one of the bloggers to review their June box. To be honest, I completely forgot about it until this morning when I woke up to a package. It felt like Christmas!

The June Box has 7 items, including a card game, a very sparkly nail polish, deodorant wipes (I didn’t know such a thing even existed!), a sarong, and a very cute bottle opener. Here are the pictures of the surprise items that arrived in my Popsugar Must Have Box.

Check their website to see "inside" previous boxes. Each one is so different and has a great curated collection of items. It is great that you can get a box of fabulous goodies for a fixed monthly price and get items triple the value or even more. So you don't have to worry if there is something you don't actually need.

Let me know if you have ever used a subscription box service. I would love to hear about your experience.

2. Hand cream

Grace Kelly was obsessed with keeping her hands moisturised and always had a little hand cream in her purse. She revealed that it was one of her most important beauty secrets and that "a woman's age shows on her hand much quicker than anywhere else."

Following her advice, I do actually keep a tiny pack of hand cream in my purse and a big one on my bedside table. My favourite small one is Magic Food Banana Hand Milk by Korean brand Tony Moly. It not only has the cutest packaging but smells absolutely delicious and is quite cheap. I get my Korean beauty supplies in a Tony Moly shop in NYC, 35 W 32nd St, Korea Town.

3. Self-tanning

Princess Grace of Monaco is famous for her beautiful fair skin, but not a lot of people know she loved spending time on the beach and swam a lot to keep her figure slim. Grace knew the importance of keeping her skin hydrated and protected from the sun with lotions with higher SPF.

I naturally have very pale skin as well, but I don't think it suits me. I just simply prefer to be tanned. It was easy to get a beautiful bronze glow when I was living in Miami, but now in New York I have to use self-tanners.

Here are my favourite self-tanners I currently use:

4. Fabulous Floaties

Ok, not really a beauty secret, but a fun, bright float is a serious summer 2016 essential if you have a pool or a beach nearby. It adds fun to your tanning process and also looks great in pictures.

5. Lipstick

I am wearing Anastasia Beverly Hills in Dusty Rose.

Grace Kelly didn't wear much makeup, especially on hot summer days, but she almost never forgot to put on lipstick. She preferred bright red and dark rosy hues.

I, on the other hand, have never been a huge lipstick fan, but during one of my visits to Sephora, I tried Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid matte lipstick and fell in love. So many beautiful colours to choose from and, most importantly, it stays on for hours without feeling gross on my lips like most lipsticks tend to.

So there are my 5 summer 2016 beauty weapons inspired by my latest purchases and Grace Kelly's own beauty secrets. Do you enjoy reading beauty posts? Let me know in the comments!

Week 11: Instagram Babe. Secrets of a Perfect Selfie

I have been busy in Park City with my hubby the last few days, so I was't able to publish the last post of the Instagram Babe Week on time. However, I always try to keep my promises and below I am sharing a few tips on how to take the perfect selfie. And get ready for the new Theme of the Week that will appear shortly!

7 Secrets of a Perfect Selfie

It might come as a surprise to many of you, but I am not a huge fan of social media. I do not try too hard to gain more followers, I don't buy thousands of fake likes just to prove something, nor do I share as regularly as some social media maniacs do. On the other hand, I am genuinely trying to increase the engagement level and the quality of my content, even though most of the times I laugh at myself and my generation for caring so much. But we all care at least a little bit, and we do want to take good selfies!

I have gathered all the information I could, from my own experience and from the experiences of a few of my most-followed friends and came up with this little guide to perfect selfie-taking.

1. Lighting is everything.

Good light is one of the most basic key elements of every successful photograph. My best selfies are taken indoors using natural sunlight coming from the window. Always face the light for crisper, sharper and more vivid photos. Outdoors self-portraits can be beautiful as well, however try to take them in the shade and preferably before noon when the sun is not too bright. 

Avoid taking photos at night because even if you turn on every single light in your house, your face will probably look too yellow and flat.

Poor Indoor Light. My skin looks too yellow and flat.

Natural light coming from a window falls beautifully on my face.

2. Insta-makeup.

Girls with the most liked selfies often have very heavily done up make-up which looks amazing on Instagram, but quite ridiculous and cake-y in real life. If you want to do full blown Insta-makeup, watch this tutorial:

Double layer of Dior Mascara to make my eyes prettier.

If you are like me, a little bit more sensible and not willing to spend an hour drawing another face on top of your own, follow my easy little tricks. I've noticed that the most important part of my selfies is my eyes. I almost never wear faux eyelashes, but when I do, my selfies look prettier.

No one has time for applying faux lashes, so usually I just use a double coat of my favourite Diorshow Iconic Mascara.

My TOP 3 Mascaras:

Another area I also focus on is my under eyes. Try to conceal any darkness under your eyes and make the area as light (but natural looking!) as possible.

Here are my TOP under-eye concealers:  

If you do not have time to perfect your make up, download the Perfect365 app. Almost every single girl I know uses apps to enhance her beauty, but the ones who nail it, use it just a tiny bit. Make-up apps can make you look like a clown, however if you use it moderately, you will get great results! I use Perfect365 when I find that my eyelashes don't look long enough. 

BEFORE Editing.

After. Have you noticed that my eyelashes are darker and longer? I also added the HB1 VSCO filter to adjust colours.

3. Clear the Background.

Make sure there is nothing in your background that will distract from your face. Try to have as few colours in the background as possible. Some bloggers recommend using the Whitening Tool on the FaceTune app for whitening/discolouring the background.

White walls are always handy!

But a beautiful landscape or city view can look gorgeous in a selfie as well.

If you want to show your background then make sure it's interesting and that you fit well into the photograph.

4. Know Your Angles.

"Legend" has it that Ariana Grande demands photographers and filmmakers only shoot her left side. We get it, Ariana has a favourite side. You might not have to go that far, but you can certainly experiment to try to find your most flattering angle and facial expressions. 

P.S. I just noticed that I usually find my left side more photogenic as well!

5. Organise your Instafeed

I used to post without thinking of the overall colour palette of my Instagram gallery. But lately I've been trying to make my Instagram page look more consistent and organised. VSCO is my favourite app for organising my Instagram Feed. You can upload the photos you post on Instagram to VSCO in the same order and then use the app to see if the next picture will fit into your gallery and play with its colours. 

My Instagram Feed a year ago. Colours and croppings are inconsistent. 

My Instagram Feed now. More sleek and organized.

Did you find any of these tips useful? Do you have your own insta-secrets? Share on our FACEBOOK page or write in the comments below. 

Week 3: Cleopatra. Iconic Makeup

The last post of the extended Cleopatra Week is, of course, dedicated to her beauty look. You can dress up in the most luxurious Greek-style dress, wear heavy gold jewellery and even buy the black wig with bangs, but even then you won't pass as Cleopatra if you do not wear her iconic makeup!

Cleopatra's Makeup is as legendary as her story. Of course the most iconic feature in her look is the eye makeup with a gorgeous Egyptian cateye. You can go heavy and bold for the Halloween or a costume party look, or just add an extra dark winged eyeliner if you are going for something more subtle.

I am also a big cat-eye lover and always apply my black eyeliner whenever I want to look my best.  Just a little "Cleopatra detail" makes me feel 10x prettier.

I have selected the best YouTube tutorials on how to apply Cleopatra's Makeup for you. Share your Cleopatra Looks with me via email or tag me on Twitter or Instagram: @uliaali 

Bonus: Check my Pinterest Board for more Cleopatra inspiration:

Follow Ulia's board Cleopatra on Pinterest.