Tag Archives: pony-hair

au naturel

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summer essentials - la mer watch, aviators, lace, leopard and boyfriend jeans


|| boyfriend jeans by mavi  || leopard heels, fur trim vest, cardigan, green lace top by le chateau  ||  beach stone wrap watch by la mer ||  cross body bag by co-lab  ||  white lace top, floral bustier by sirens ||

If there is one thing I believe in with my whole heart, its that nature has already provided everything we could ever need.  For this outfit I put together all different natural elements – fur, leather, stones, floral, pony hair and leopard print.  In general, I figure if it happens naturally, you can’t really go too far wrong! What do you think?

I’m still really loving these boyfriend jeans. Part of me wants to DIY destroy them but I can’t bring myself to do it because the wash is so nice and they’re such great quality- I think I’ll let them wear out naturally a bit. These are a more polished take on boyfriend denim than a destroyed pair so I can get away with wearing them to the office – I love how cuffed denim perfectly showcases a great pair of shoes, and these are my go-to heels for day or night.

Speaking of go-to, lately I have been layering this vest over everything!  I just love how it pairs with almost anything, the pretty lace and fur trim take the olive green knit up a notch.  The weather in Calgary is so temperamental - easy layering pieces are absolutely essential – a thin cardigan and a vest are just enough to add enough warmth to the cold mornings.  Underneath I wore a floral bustier – another total spring/summer essential, and layered two different lace tops over it- an olive green one under white.  I love the how delicate the lace looks over the floral.

I’m still really stoked about winning this La Mer watch for earth day- as a big fan of the earth (and the brand) I built this outfit around this watch. Usually when I get dressed I pick a single piece to base my outfit around, I love the soft sage leather with the stones and gold – its just so naturally pretty.

“The most beautiful makeup for a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”
-  Yves Saint Laurent

I really believe in embracing your natural beauty – if you see photo’s on the blog where I am wearing sunglasses it usually means I am wearing zero makeup.  I don’t usually wear much makeup, especially not to work when I have to be staring at a computer screen all day.  I really wish more girls were comfortable with going out without makeup- the most unfortunate lie we let ourselves believe as girls, is that we need makeup to make us attractive.  

Accept yourself- it’s the most beautiful thing you can ever do. Find your passions, follow your heart and fight for your convictions.  Do not live your life according to the standards of anyone but yourself, and do not let hardships break you. And always remember, a smile is the most beautiful makeup a girl can wear.

xo, aiyanajane

@aiyanajanee || follow on instagram

Snow Leopard &

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5 INANE (but somewhat relevant) facts about me…

When I get dressed I feel like every outfit has its own story, a memory attached, a character to play. The story is what turns your clothing into your style and everyone can read it. Its who you are for the day to every passing stranger making up stories in their minds. Just think of the places you could have been in other people’s imagination. Anyways, this outfit is a favourite story of mine… facts below.

xo aiyanajane

wearing all le chateau and a DIY WRAP WATCH

  1.  I am obsessed with teal! Teal, turquoise, bluish-green.. whatever you want to call it, its my very favourite color, that gorgeous ocean blue! It makes me wish I was back in the Dominican this March rather than being stuck in Calgary. There is another snow storm currently in progress and I am less than impressed… which brings me to facto numero.. 
  2.  I loathe snow. Straight up my greatest ambition, right after the hobbit house, is to move somewhere where it snows from very little to not at all. I like summer and water and warm. Not snow and ice, except of course, for Game of Thrones, AMIRITE?!   I’m not even linking it because if you don’t know about it by now you live under a rock. Season three starts on the 31st of March, which gives you plenty of time to marathon the first two seasons if you start now.  I recommend the books as well but I would be very impressed if someone managed to finish them between now and the season premier, that would be a LOT of reading. I mean A LOT. Anyways obviously, I am ridiculously excited about it! RIDICULOUSLY. I’m kind of a nerd.
  3. One of my other favourite things is leopard print, which I literally post on at least a monthly basis…  Regardless, these pony hair kitten heels are my absolute go to for city style! They have this moda-reflex technology which is supposedly the bomb, combined with the low heel they are very comfortable. Plus they go with everything and make it instantly 8 times cooler. That’s a fact. The pashmina combines two of my favourite things and add’s a nice pop of color to an otherwise neutral outfit.
  4. Skinny jeans or leggings and an oversized sweater is another go-to. The hybrid counterpart “jeggings” are what I’m wearing here. Remember when jegging’s came out? I made fun of them SO HARD, I’m actually pretty sure an exact quote was “Who the expletive would EVER buy expletiving jeggings?!” Well  these were ten dollars and I realized that really, jeggings are the best efffing thing since sliced bread. They are comfy and tight like leggings, but warm and thick like jeans. I wear one of the family (jean, legging, jegging) on a daily basis when Calgary hits its coldest ( FYI: it drops to more than -40°c sometimes) Thankfully it’s not nearly that cold now. I borrowed the sweater I’m wearing from my roomie/BFF. For the longest time, we were scared to live together because you know, it really can ruin friendships…like, FOREVER. Anyways I was in a pinch and she stepped up and its been amazing! We borrow each others things and cook together, and sit on the internet together. Its quite lovely because we are more like family than friends anyways. I love her the most. She took some amazing photos for the blog which I will put up soon!
  5. Another thing about me, I love DIY’s mostly because I am hella cheap to buy the real thing!  In the summer when I broke my pelvis and all I could do was surf the web and watch movies I found this La Mer Charm Watch that I could not stop obsessing over. I mean, I NEEDED IT. Except for I had ZERO money and so I crafted an alternative for less than $30. I’m extremely happy with it compared to the nearly $200.00 price tag of some of the La Mer ones.. (Which I still kind of want, but now I’m learning more towards a rose gold marc jacobs… in my dreams, hah.) My ring is a Celtic symbol which means mother, daughter, grandmother, I got it visiting my mother’s family in Scotland when we went there in 2008. My ultimate dream DIY, as mentioned above, is building my own hobbit house. SERIOUSLY.

thank you for reading my pretties… ;)

snakes and layers

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As promised here are the results of my first shoot with the lovely and talented Stephanie Dale.

Slither into something stylish with animal inspired print and easy layers.

- thats right, I pre-gamed it! -

 *

What I’m Wearing: 

tunic tank, scarf, shoes, bag & belt – le chateau 

Skirt – Suzy Shier 

I got the skirt for a steal of a deal (half price off of the sale  for only $7.50) its been a staple in my closet for awhile, but after forgetting to hang dry it just once, the dryer shrunk it to extra itty bitty. Now I’m all about short skirts, believe me! A friend of mine and I used to joke that our rules for wearing skirts is that if its not above the fingertips, then its NOT short enough! We aren’t mega skankasaurouses or anything, but short girls need short hemlines! I’m 5’5, so fairly average height, but I have very short legs (thanks to my mothers scottishness) and a longer torso.

To fake long legs I rep the high-waisted skirt all the time!

Wearing a high waisted skirt literally looks good on EVERYONE.

Yes, I said it, everyone.  

Since the skirt shrunk its too short even for my standards, so I turned to my favourite layering piece ever,  a tunic length tank. You can see it peeking out at the bottom and on top it looks like a regular tank top.

This thing makes it super easy to fake the longer hemline, and it acts as a slip because its TIGHT. I wear these (they’re available in legit a million colors) under all my shortest dresses, or even tunics or over-sized sweaters to cover the booty and bare the legs. Don’t pay the regular retail price of $25 either, hit up an outlet store because this is a staple piece and they just make new colors every season. Usually you can find them for about $9.99 on sale. There are le chateau outlets in almost any major city center and 4 in Calgary alone!

The key to making a high waist skirt look good is to position it so the waistband of the skirt is at the narrowest part of your waist. Its universally slimming and flattering, add a belt for even more emphasis.

Choose a skirt that fits your body type- super slim? Pick a pencil or a bandage skirt. Bigger on the bottom, try a tulip skirt (like me!) and curvy all over looks best in an a-line. Draping, pleating, print, rushing and ruffles all help hide anything unflattering.

While shooting on the tracks I found a garter snake, he was NOT stoked to be an impromptu prop but its too damn bad for him I’m a bad-ass snake catchin’ mo-fo.

The abstract print on the skirt is fun, but I was feeling a bit safari inspired and wild, so I added a pony hair leopard print belt.

Mixing prints can be tricky, keep color schemes similar and choose complimentary prints. The best way to know if it works is just by trial and error. If you aren’t sure, ask a friend! Or take a pic and message it to me! I’ll let you know what I think.

I did a smokey eye in two shades of metallic green. I used almost the exact same technique as I did here-

http://citystylecountrysmile.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/makeup-tutorial-what-i-wore-today/
 I even used the same dark green shadow, just replace the gold with a light green.

sssssee you ssssssssoon!

xo. a

makeup tutorial + what i wore today..

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Today’s look brought to you by the letter “G” - Green + Gold

HOW TO:

  1. Brush gold shadow from inner corners outward, blending into the crease.
  2. Apply green shadow (I wet my brush to make it go on darker) and apply to outer corner, blending with a back and forth motion on the lid and outer crease (don’t worry if it gets “outside the lines” you want for your makeup)
  3. Using the lightest gold section on my bronzer pallette, I brushed that on from the inner corner and up onto the brow bone, as a highlighter. Use this shadow on the lid as well if your shadows aren’t blended enough. Make sure you use a soft hand. This will also “set” the wet shadow if you did what I did.
  4. (optional) Use the gold pencil to line the waterline on just the outer corner of the bottom lash-line. ( pictured without, but I added some before I went out!)
  5. Apply several coats of mascara (see product review below!)- brush diagonally up and out  on the outer corner to give a “wide-eyed” look
  6. Using a big blush brush, apply bronzer lightly to cheeks. (If you aren’t sure where/how to apply the bronzer- suck in your cheeks like you’re making a “fish face” and then brush it on in diagonal upward strokes using a flicking motion, starting at the apple of your cheeks and up towards your temples.)
  7. Apply one light coat of sheer pink lipstick. (Choose a shade that looks nearly neutral and brings out the natural pigment in your lips, this will be different for everyone depending on skin tone)

what i wore today:

cuffed skinny jeans (with interesting pocket details), leather jacket- sleeves rolled up, my favourite snakeskin bag,  leopard pony hair heels, a baggy asymmetrical tee and 2 scarves together + bright sunnies!

PRODUCT REVIEW:

Maybelline Pulse Perfection Mascara

I bought this after a friend recommended it to me- she knows how I am constantly on the hunt for the best mascara. She stayed at my house and told me that she had the best new thing (I was a non-believer) but I tried it and then immediately went out to buy my own. . . it was that good.

 

The brush is similar in style to the mega-popular Covergirl Lash Blast with small, spiky plastic bristles. On the handle of the wand, there is a little button you have to depress to get it vibrating.. It takes a little bit of getting used to (especially to do the left eye since I’m not very ambidextrous..) but once you get the hang of it  it is very easy to operate. The vibration feeling is also something to get used to as well, but totally worth it since it seems to really work to separate and lengthen lashes. As for the mascara itself: the formula is good, but a little on the dry side- I noticed tiny pieces that fallen like crumbs onto my face. ( I think this happens when you  layer on multiple coats, then the vibrations can dislodge tiny pieces) If its the price I have to pay to be clump free and mega-long then so be it.. I found that I could blow the crumblies off or take them off with a q-tip no problem.

 

Overall I thought it was the cats meow! It gave me BETTER results than BadGalLash, which was my previous favourite mascara, for almost half the price. I am all about length, volume, drama when it comes to mascara.. and this delivered.. it looked like I was wearing false lashes!

 

They claim the mascara “ delivers the 7 must-haves of mascara: thickness, length, separation, colour, curve, luster, zero clumps” and I have to agree that it was pretty good.. (although I dunno how lustrous my lashes were  ;) ) I did notice a tiny bit of clumping, but I also layered on a LOT product. I will be buying it again for sure! And depending on the battery life of the brush I might try rinsing it off and using it with a different mascara to see how it works!

 

Have you tried this product? What did you think?