Scholarly

Where’ve I been?

I’ll tell you: I started a graduate program. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time, and when I took a job at an amazing institution a little over a year a half ago, I decided to go for it. This particular program has funky admissions and enrollment deadlines, so it took some time before I was actually able to apply and get started.

But, the time came, and I started the program at the end of August. It’s part-time, designed specifically for people already working in the field, so I’m still at my job full-time.

In other words, this blog is going to suffer because of my schedule. I wasn’t sure if juggling work and school would make me want to blog even more (because I would want an outlet), or if I’d just be too busy to keep it up. Now that I’m a few weeks in, I know that the reality is, unfortunately, the latter.

So, in the meantime (which is indefinite), enjoy the archives and a have good skin day!

Thanks for reading!

Drugstore Blush Hack

via

I had an “a-ha!” (more like “doh!”) moment a couple weeks ago and had to share. You’ve probably already figured this out, but if you replace the little brush that comes with your drugstore pressed powder blush with a real brush–like a soft, luxurious one that comes in a set–your blush will look infinitely better.

I had a set of brushes laying around–I use the big one for my powder foundation every day, but the others were just stuffed under the sink. Sometimes I’d bring out the lipstick ones on special occasions, but for the most part, I ignored them. When my blush was looking streaky (and the brush was feeling scratchy on my supple cheeks), I got the idea to switch out the brushes. Success! You should try it, too. (But I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m the last person on earth to figure this out.)

Cocktail Season

When someone asks me what my favorite season is, I usually say, “The first two weeks of every season.” But I’ve been doing some soul-searching, and while there are few things more glorious than the changing of the seasons, my real answer is summer.

One of the reasons I love summer so much is the endless supply of fresh, juicy, sweet produce. And cocktails. Lots and lots of cocktails. And combining the produce with the cocktails. I do it all the time, but rarely take a moment to capture my masterpieces in mixology. But last night, I did.

Strawberry Lime Ginger Basil Champers

1. Take:

• 1 handful of strawberries (about 6 medium-sized ones) *Or some raspberries! Or pitted cherries! Or whatever!*
• Juice of ½ a lime
• 1-2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 1 bunch of fresh basil

2. Pulverize in the food processor (or blender, if you’re into mediocrity). It should be a kind of foamy, syrupy juice.

3. Put some ice in a glass.

4. Pour your fruity mix over the ice (as much or as little as you want).

5. Fill up the rest of your glass with Champagne (or sparkling wine/Cava). You may need to gently stir it a little.

6. Garnish with a basil leaf and enjoy! Oh, and you WILL enjoy it.

 

Note: This post was originally published on my family blog.

The Awkward Grow-Out Stage (or, Denial ‘Dos)

Inspired by this post from one of my favorite bloggers, Terra of Stylish White Female, here are some of my tricks for getting through it (AKA: Denial ‘Dos).

Faux Skrillex
This one is good if I’m having a good hair day on one side but not the other (it happens often).

Prom Style
I call this one “Prom Style” because it’s how I wore my hair for almost every formal dance in high school. I just grab pieces of hair and pin them up in half-swirls with wild abandon until it’s all up and off my neck. These days, I like to add a bright bandanna, which is decidedly not prom-like, but whatever.

Run-Around Sue
If I’m going for a run, I need my hair to be up and secure. I usually opt for pigtails because they just work better (and they’re fun to play with).

Twist Twist, Bang Bang
As much as I want to trim my bangs during this time, they need to grow with the rest of my hair (proportions!!!). This is how I get them out of my face. I like how my silvers are featured with this one.

The Usual
I think what makes hair look bad during the AGOS is the noticeable difference between the top layer and the bottom. To keep this from being so obvious, I usually pin the top layer back in whatever way looks best that day. This almost always involves a bang pouf.

What are some of your favorite “fake it til you make it” styles?

Twitter Change

Hey, all! Just wanted to give you heads up that I deactivated my @GoodSkinDay Twitter handle. I was tired of trying (not very hard) to maintain a blog-specific one and then my main one, @NBaltikahn. So follow me @NBaltikahn!

I’ll still promote GSD posts on Twitter, but I have other stuff mixed in there, too. Hope you like it.

P.S. You can see my tweets without going to Twitter (or following me): they’re at the bottom of the offerings over there on the right! >>>

When you don’t have jorts

I know I’ve been MIA/lazy-posting lately. I’m sorry. Things have been awfully busy, and while I could bore you with the details, I won’t. On to an actual post!

Did you notice all your (US) fashion blogs last week talking about 4th of July style? At first, I was like, “These are dumb. They’re all the same: red skirt (or cut-off jorts), blue and white striped shirt, and bright Converse or Superga sneakers.” But then I saw more and more of them, and my tune gradually changed to, “What am I going to wear on the 4^th of July?” and then it changed once more to, “I have to make jorts before the 4^th of July if I’m going to dress appropriately for the BBQ I’m attending!!!” So, I went through my closet to find the retired pair of jeans that would make the perfect jorts and discovered that I recently donated them.

I’m anti-buying jorts, and I wasn’t about to go buy jeans to make into jorts, so I skipped the “perfect 4^th of July outfit.” And you know what? I looked FINE (said in a mid-90s high school movie way). We didn’t take any pictures, but here’s what I wore:

via

A maxi dress (in black and white) from Green Dragon (purchased at a now-defunct yoga studio in New Hope, PA)

via

A red bandana in my hair (a summertime staple for me, especially during hair grow-out phase)

And sandals from Old Navy.

Photoshop Before & Afters

I love looking at Photoshop before & afters, and I recently stumbled upon a blog with a nice round-up (featuring men, too!).

Here’s a little preview:

See the rest here!

Got burnt? Try this:

via

This stuff has saved my skin before, and I imagine it’ll do it again.

Hairy hair hair

I’m growing my hair out. And because I have to justify my decision to myself almost daily, I figured I’d post a bit about it here.

I had a pixie. It was kind of always my ‘do. I first got it in 9^th grade (not counting when I had one when I was a little kid), and have kept it pretty much ever since. Sure, I grew it out to chin length a few times and even made it to my shoulders on one attempt, but I always went back. Back to the pixie. The last time I went from bob to pixie (in 2010), I felt so much more like myself. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel like myself with a bob—it just felt like a comeback when the extra hair was gone.

I went from this asymmetrical cut (which I loved, by the way, but the long part got very unruly)…

to this bob, which got quite a bit longer before I cut it to…

this and kept it here for a few years.

But such a short cut takes a lot of work. Not day-to-day work, obviously, since there isn’t much to do each morning, but the hair appointments have to be pretty regular. In order to save money, I would wait until my hair got long enough to drive me crazy (and stop behaving), and then I’d schedule an appointment for the next week. It was a great strategy, especially for someone who loves the experience of getting her hair cut and would happily go back every four weeks (or sooner).

For my last handful of cuts, though, I really struggled to get into my (totally awesome) salon. My schedule was packed and unpredictable, making carving out time for an appointment really difficult. Plus, paying for them was never painless (even if I was waiting a few extra weeks in between). And finally, I was starting to get curious about what I might look like with a longer ‘do and was getting anxious to try out new styles involving bobby pins, braids, elastics, whatever.

So, I made my decision: the hair is growing out. In the summer (whoops!). But I’ve already made a ton of progress (I can put my hair up in a mess of swirls with bobby pins again!). I just have to keep returning to my Pinterest board for motivation.

Goddess In Progress

A friend of mine, Ms. Gingersnaps of Carolina Chow Chow, has recently enlisted me to be her personal stylist. She’s ready for a shift in her wardrobe–and I mean more than a shift dress! (Har, har, that was really bad. Forgive me?)

I’m delighted by the prospect of being someone’s personal stylist–especially someone as fun as Ms. Gingersnaps–but a whole wardrobe re-do? That’s pretty daunting. So we’re tackling the mission one event at a time.

The first event? A work dinner that recently took place.

She needed a chic dress, a cardigan, and shoes. She has a great jewelry collection, so even though that would have been fun, we didn’t need to get into accessories at all. Here’s what we found one day at TJ Maxx:

va va va voom!

She was incredibly happy, and made my day when she called on her way to the dinner to tell me how fabulous she felt!

…and what does a stylist do while their client is changing? Why, she takes selfies, of course!

jeans: Old Navy; shirt: thrifted (no tag); shoes: Minnetonka; scarf: thrifted (no tag); bag: consignment (no tag); bracelets: One World Market