Beauty – Avenue 23

Rainbow Hair Care

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty, Uncategorized

Hey Everyone!

So, as some of you may know- if you follow our instagram, which is @avenue23blog– I changed my hair a little drastically! I went from a silver, blonde to a rainbow ombre! The top of my head is still blonde, because lets be real, I love blonde too much to just get rid of! Then it fades into nice rainbow colours!

Today, I wanted to talk a bit of how I take care of my hair! As some of you may know already, the bright, fun, colours tend to fade super fast. So my hair care routine is an attempt to keep the colour in as long as possible!

My hairdresser/ best friend Melanie (her handle on instagram is @watermelonyhair, her page is SO fun to look at! Give it a look through!), told me after my hair was done to ONLY wash my hair in cold water and to wait 72 hours after my hair being dyed to wash it. So there’s a couple rules from a professional to maintain your new, beautiful hair!

To take this a little further, I have a couple more recommendations to help out!

First, before I go to bed- every second night- I put a hair mask in the ends of my hair! Currently, I use Kevin Murray, recommended to me by Melanie! I comb it through and braid it!

The next morning, I leave my hair in a braid and shampoo the top of my head, then I put conditioner through (this can all be done under a tap, if it’s easier). Then finally, under the tap and in very cold water, I wash the conditioner out of my hair with the braid still in. There’s about three different shampoos and conditioners I tend to rotate between! One is the Moroccan Oil shampoo and conditioner– smells AMAZING! Kevin Murphy is another I used- specifically the Blonde Angel Wash for my blonde hair. Last one I use is the Kardashian brand shampoo and conditioner. This one is a little more affordable- you get way more for what you’re paying!

I will say that I pay a little more for my shampoo and conditioner because I pay so much for my hair! A store bought shampoo and conditioner will strip the colour out of your hair. Also, with a good brand, I find that I don’t have to use so much! My hair is hydrated and healthy after too! I bleach my hair a lot to get the colours I want, so it’s important for me to use a product that is more hydrating. If you didn’t want to spend as much on both, then I recommend splurging on your conditioner at least!

I take the braid out finally, and brush it (my hair needs to be dried before a good combing! It knots super easily!). For a detangler, I buy Lush’s Sunny Day. I always get compliments on my hair smelling amazing- it’s a combination of honey and lemon juice! What I love about it, is that it’s also an anti- static hair spray for my constantly dry, and staticy hair! Also, just a side note- I have pretty fine hair, and I find it

So, that’s basically my routine! I blow dry my hair and comb it out instead of brushing so it’s less knotted up! I hope this helps you! Let me know about your hair care in the comments below!

Herbivore

January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

Hey Everyone!

After a long, busy, couple of weeks, I was looking up some vegan friendly bath supplies to throw into the mix and came across Herbivore on Pinterest!

Herbivore is a cute site that has some very good products. They also have a blog section with some very good reads!

One thing I found, is that some products are a little more pricey. However, I live in Canada so the shipping is probably the biggest thing. For my lovely American friends, they’re an American company so it will be easier and probably cheaper for you guys! Regardless, the products are worth the price! Honestly though, it’s probably the same amount I would spend at Lush.

I bought 2 items: a coconut milk bath (Which I’m surprised didn’t get flagged over the border as it was white powder in a jar 😉 ) and Detox Eucalyptus and bath clay salts. Eucalyptus is used for a number of ailments and I was sick before Christmas, that I need ALL the Eucalyptus! As for the coconut milk bath, it is amazing for your skin!

Both of the products smell AMAZING, especially if you mix them together. I found that you don’t need to use much of the product to get the benefits. It kind of depends on you! If you want a bath with a strong aroma, use more. The coconut milk bath you will have to use a lot to get a nice aroma, but the salts were fine!

I seriously loved both products, I will be buying them again and trying more out in the future! Just as a quick note, the products are vegan and the jars are reusable if your New Years Resolution is to use more vegan products and be eco friendly 🙂 !

https://www.herbivorebotanicals.com/

Are there any products you like you want me to know about?! Let me know in the comments! I LOVE recommendations!

Boxing Day Shopping Spree

January 6, 2018January 6, 2018 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

Hey Guys!

So I never really got the chance to talk about my boxing day purchases! I splurged and got some really cool things!

Of course, I made a Sephora trip! I got this Rose Gold Elixir from Farsali – beauty oil. My skin has been fairly dry from our winter, so I bought some oil for my face to use with a primer before I start putting makeup on. Oh my lord it is beautiful! It smells amazing and if you look in the oil has gold flakes. I also find I don’t use that much so if you want it, start with the smaller bottle! And don’t use too much if you have an oily T- zone!
Another Sephora Purchase was my foot mask. Basically it’s lotion in a slipper that can be tied around your ankle. It made my skin feel super soft- like just had a pedicure kind of soft! It was very cheap, and you can also get a hand mask as well ( I know all you fellow, freezing Canadians- and anyone else suffering- have dry, cracked skin from the – 40 weather lately and need this!). These are so easy to make too. You just use a glove or a freezer bag and fill it with lotion. If you are like me, you have excessive amounts of lotion you don’t know what to do with, so you can use it on this!
Lush, of course, Lipscrub. I ordered this online for some reason, but when it shipped to me, it froze instantly outside because it was so cold out! It was rock solid and should’ve known to not ship it in this cold weather! Apparently, you can eat this one- Sugar Plum Fairy Lip Scrub – and it does actually taste good! However, I don’t like the idea of eating dead lip skin, sooooo I just wipe it off (Sorry for that image!). It does smell delicious!
For Black Friday- ok so actually way before Christmas- Urban Outfitters had a sale online of all their graphic tees for 30%, so most were under $20! I didn’t get the Friends shirt I had wanted, but I did get a very cool Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice t-shirt for under $20, and a Friends hoodie for around $30! Not bad! I love them!
Last actual stop to an actual store was to Homesense (Click for some home inspiration ideas)! My favorite place! I have been looking to update my bedroom furniture before I move out eventually, so I bought a new chair for my room! It’s beautiful! It did cost me around $499 because Homesense is pricey and I had to buy it ASAP before it sold out! Homesense only buys a couple of each item, so you have to get it when you see it. Anyways, it’s so pretty and comfy- I’m sitting in it right now typing. It’s my motivation to type lol. I was like if I work on blog posts right now while I’m home, I can sit in my chair. My last chair I could never sit on. It was one of those round chairs and had a metal bar where your legs are, so it was not comfy at all!

I think these were all my purchases for now! Did you do any shopping? Let me know!

Makeup for a Christmas Play

December 21, 2017 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

Hey Everyone!

Today, I wanted to talk a bit about a show I went to recently! Every year for Christmas, my mom, sister, and I usually go to two shows in Edmonton. We love going to these shows, because it kickstarts Christmas for us and gets us in Christmas spirit! One of the shows we go to, and my favourite is a Christmas Carol at the Citadel!

I love a Christmas Carol! It’s one of my favourite plays to see! It usually runs from Dec. 1- 23. SO if you want to go see it, you have a couple more days! If not, no worries, I’ll remind you about it next year and earlier! It’s very well done. The set is absolutely incredible, and the actors are usually the same, so they’re always very comfortable in their role. All the donations taken are given to the food bank, so make sure to give a few dollars if you can! Also, it’s worth noting that it does not matter where you sit! The set and actors move around and use the entire stage, so you can see well from any angle!

You can park at the Canada Place and take the pedway across to the citadel- super easy and only cost be $5. Also, if you go early enough, you can enjoy a candy cane hot chocolate from Second Cup and walk through the garden of the citadel! My uncle got married in the upstairs part of the citadel by the large boat and fountain- so beautiful! But it’s all decorated for Christmas, so we usually get all dressed up and take some Christmas pictures before going to see a Christmas show! My favourite! Makes me want to go again! Christmas is coming fast this year!

The other half of this post is to talk about my look for the night! I went all out with dramatic makeup!

So to start off, I use Fenty Beauty’s Pro FILT’R Instant Retouch Primer. I love this stuff! For those wondering, primer is important for helping makeup stay on longer and go on smoother. This primer feels more like a lotion and smells beautiful! I absolutely love it!

For my foundation I use, again, the PRO FILT’R soft matte longwear foundation #140. I love this foundation! It’s by far the best foundation I have ever used! It matches my skin tone perfectly (most foundations are way too light making me more pale or way to dark. This is the perfect match! It blends well and I find I only need to use partial coverage.

Ok, this is one of my favourite products! For my eyebrows I use, ka- Brow! Eyebrow cream gel color. The brush on this is AMAZING! It’s so precise! It’s all part of the lid! You pull the top, long, part off for the brush, flip it over and push back into the lid, unscrew the base of the lid and you have a beautiful brush! When shopping for eyebrow pencils, I have been told to go two shades lighter. For most people, it might not matter as much, but I have super dark eyebrows, so if I don’t go lighter, it looks very odd and unnatural! I wear the number two light. Also, if you ever need help learning how to do your eyebrows, I recommend going into Shoppers, or a Sephora and asking for help. They are excellent! I went in a while ago and they showed me which product to use, what color, which brow shape, and then taught me how to draw mine. Very good to know, because it was something I never learned how to do!

Moving on, I used another Fenty product for a concealer! I use ivory for those big bags under my eyes, for touch ups around my eyebrows and for any breakouts I have going on! I also use eyeshadow primer potion from urban decay on my lids before using any eyeshadows.

Next, I used Bronzer. I use the Naked Flushed, streak palette. I put the bronzer under my cheek bone kind of leveled with my mouth, and on my forehead. I’ll thinly use it along my hairline, and then brush a bit more of it on my temples (starting from the highest point of my eyebrows to my hairline). I also blend it in under my chin as well.

After that is my favourite part!! HIGHLIGHTER! I always get the super sparkly, and outrageous looking highlighters. I have this deep love for highlighters. The one I used for this night was called Fenty Beauty confetti! It’s a purpley/ pinky shade with blue sparkles. I freaking love it! Plus it’s so easy to put on with the Match Stix! The best part (in my opinion) is that when you get a bunch, they all stick together with magnets and look like a honeycomb. It’s the little things that make me happy!

When that is all blended in, I move onto eyes! I used Naked2 palette from Urban Decay. I used Foxy for my eyelid, then used then used verve under my brow. Then I used busted to darken underneath my eye and along the outer corner of my eye. Last I used Bootycall in my inner most eye corner.

For eyeliner I used Kat Von D tattoo liner– the best eyeliner. I love the brush at the end! And the eye liner stays on for a very long time! Also for mascara, I have been using Better Than Sex from Too Faced! I do love it a lot, but if you use too much of it, I find it does get a little clumpy. I love the bottle look to it, and the brush. I do still like it, I just make sure to use a lash comb- also using a lash primer (Dior is my favourite) also helps as well!

Last is lips! I LOVE Mac lipsticks! I stick to Mac most of the time. So I used Hot Tahiti and auburn for a lip pencil.

Also, my outfit is from 1861 boutique in Montreal! I order from them all of the time- they are my favorite store! The clothing is good quality, affordable, and ships quickly! My jacket and skirt aren’t on there anymore, however, there are plenty on there that look like mine that are up there now! Take a look through! They’re amazing!

Skin Care Regime

December 8, 2017December 9, 2017 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

Hey Guys,

Hope you are doing great! Today I wanted to start a discussion about skincare and what products I’m currently using! Feel free to leave a comment or recommend a product and I’ll try it out and share with you in future posts!

So I wanted to start off with discussing my skin type. My skin changes from season to season, so my skin routine changes depending on the time of the year. Usually in the spring and summer, I have very oily skin. In winter and fall, my skin tends to dry out, to the point where I get very scaly looking skin and sometimes it even tends to peel a bit- gross!

Because my skin gets so oily in the summer weather, I usually have breakouts like crazy. Sometimes it feels like they never go away. Where I usually get my breakouts are in the my T- zone and around my chin and mouth. In the winter, I hardly break out. If I do, I notice it’s in a couple of spots and it’s usually during my time of the month.

During the winter months, my dry skin usually occurs anywhere outside my T- zone. During this time, my T- zone is not a problem. It’s not overly oily- sometimes it can actually be dry as well. This is the joy of living in Canada- dry air for days!

There’s a lot of good products that I use, but I have definitely had to test out a few over the years and try new things. Here’s my current list of products that I actively use:

For Face Wash:

– I use my Tea Tree Facial Wash from the body shop! This brand is great, because their not animal tested, and the Tea Tree feels like it’s actually working on my face. The face wash I use twice a day, almost everyday.

– The Rodan and Fields Micro- Dermabrasion Paste is my second go to. I use it like an exfoliator. When you buy this product, you are spending more money, however, it lasts a very long time. You only need the tiniest bit of the paste for it to do it’s job. It

dries out and smooths out any pimples or blackouts on my face. I’ve also been using it on my Keratosis Pilaris- those red bumps you sometimes get on your arm. People comment on my arms all the time because it’s so bad and red. Usually they think I have a sun burn, but actually I have a bunch of little red bumps on my arm. So far, the paste has toned that down BIG TIME. I’m hoping it completely clears up, and I can show you the results! So I use this twice a week and on my arms, I use it twice a day. Usually around my period, I break out even more, so I’ll use it every second day then. Exfoliators should not be used too much as they dry out your skin.

Toner:

– I have one toner that I currently use. It’s also from the body shop and it’s called Seaweed. Toner is important to use because it closes those pours making it harder for dirt to get in. I use this after every face wash.

– Olay Toner. I love this toner so much. I switched up brands to try something new this time, but definitely try that toner as well. I just found that I could feel it working because it would be cool on my skin and make it tingle. It’s a good toner and it is affordable as well!

Lotion:

– Currently, I have 3 different kinds of lotions I use. Clean and Clear, is a very gentle, hydrating lotion, and is affordable. It feels very light on your face, whereas sometimes lotions can be heavy and smelly. It doesn’t have too much of a scent which is nice. I use it twice a day or more depending on how dry my skin is in winter

– Olay– This one does feel a little bit heavier, but I do love it! I have used this product for years and feel like it does it’s job well! Again, it’s affordable and there is a little bit of a scent to it.

– Sleepy– I love this lotion for bedtime! I talk about it all of the time! It puts me to sleep in 15 mins. It’s a strong lavender scent. Surprisingly it does not smell too flowery, but actually more so sweet! I use this for bed.

As a side note. I tend to use way less lotion in summer, and I will increase my exfoliator uses as well! Summer, it’s easy for me to get oily skin, so I tend to avoid lotions as much or put a very small amount on. I will use more hydrating masks instead!

Face Masks (My favourite!): Before we get into it, I use face masks 1-2 times a week. Sundays I make a day for myself for a few hours and do face masks, hair masks, the whole works (more in future posts!). It is truly a day for myself to relax and get ready for the next week!

– The Body Shop- Tea Tree Clay Mask. I love this mask, it’s basically my face wash, but in mask form. It’s cool to the skin and tingly, it just feels like it’s working wonders on my skin! This is just a skin clearing mask, and I use it a lot to deal with break outs

– Lush- Mask of Magnanimity. This is a great refreshing/ waking up face mask. It’s got coffee in it, so caffeinated skin! Just kidding, but I love the refreshed feeling I get from using it. It is a little bit thicker, just so you know, but my skin feels cleansed and refreshed after!

– Rodan and Fields- Redefine. This is just a daily cleansing mask. It is very good. I use it to just cleanse my face when my face is clear. It’s just insurance that my face is getting cleansed and is ready for the day. I would use this everyday if I had time. I love it.

– Sephora- purple clay mask.So the purple clay mask is the moisturizing! I just started to use this, and I love it! It’s great for winter, when my face is very dry and like I said, in summer I’ll use moisturizing masks to replace some lotions. My skin feels rejuvenated after each use!

The last product I use at night is Rodan and Fields Lash Boost! I LOVE this stuff! I just put it on like I’m putting on eyeliner and it helps your lashes grow. I have noticed a difference since I have started using it.

Alright! That’s my list for now! If you guys have any comments, questions or concerns- let me know! I do appreciate recommendations- especially for a good hydrating serum!

As Leaf Subsides To Leaf…

September 22, 2017December 7, 2017 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

September 21, 2017

Hey Lovely People!

It is fall here in Alberta, Canada! The leaves are officially yellow, the temperature goes down to 0 degrees Celsius at night, and pumpkin spice is back at Starbucks! Fall is one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. I love the colours of my little world. I actually prefer the colder seasons anyways. I’d rather be too cold then too hot. With cold comes warm drinks, oversized chucky scarves, baggy sweaters, and Chapters reading socks. Fall clothing makes me super happy!

So, as you can probably guess already, I am obsessed with fall clothing! I had a very fun online shopping spree spending my time splurging on summer deals, and the new fall lines! I, of course, justified everything I bought with an excuse. So here are my latest purchases:

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago, my cousin and I went shopping for a dress for her because she has a wedding coming up! She found absolutely nothing, and I found more clothing than I could probably afford! The store we went to is in a small, but growing town in rural Alberta and is called Twig. The store collects a lot of different brands, but overall, their style is more laid back, and comfy. It just looks more stylish than wearing sweatpants- so definitely my favourite! Half of their store was dedicated to the end of summer with beautiful long dresses that were made of that stretchy/soft material, and the other half was their fall line. They had the chunky sweaters, vests, plaid shirts, soft basic tees- all of my favourite things! In the end, I feel like I restrained myself as best as I could. I bought a plaid, soft vest that was just a little bit puffy (perfect!). I also bought just a plain, grey tee. It’s super soft, also baggy and long. I have the worst time trying to find t-shirts like this that are a normal colour! I’m surprised I didn’t buy more!

The other store I splurged on (No Regrets!!), is this little Boutique in Montreal. Obviously, I do not live in Montreal so I do a lot of online shopping! It’s called 1861, and I just happened to find a link to the site one day when I was on Facebook! This stuff can sometimes feel very formal, but I promise that it is worth it to splurge. A lot of the stuff you can dress down. The clothing is also made very well, and is good quality. Outfits can be cheap- I find some stuff is very expensive, while others is more affordable. And, when you get your outfit shipped to you, they wrap it up in the most beautiful way, and they leave a note! My last one said that I had made some excellent selections and they hope I enjoy- they also left a little quote and personally signed it. It’s good service, even though I’m so far away! So what was this amazing selection I purchased! I bought a new fall jacket! It’s thin, but baggy and comfy (clearly how I describe all of my clothing 😉). It looks like a green trench coat! I love it! I also got a skirt! It’s outside of my comfort zone, so I am super excited to wear it! It’s white with all gold and black shapes! Both are amazing pieces, and I can’t wait to wear them this weekend!

Well, the rest of the stuff I splurged on is not clothing, so I’ll let you know what else I splurged on in future posts. What’s your favourite thing about fall? What kinds of clothes do you normally splurge on? 😊

– Erin xo

Lush

August 10, 2017December 7, 2017 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

Hey My Dear Readers!

I hope you are having a great week! We are at Wednesday! THANK GOD! I really could use a day off. Unfortunately, that could be two weeks from now! The countdown begins to a vacation! I will be thrilled to go!

In the meantime, I thought I would let you guys know what I have been splurging all of my money on lately! I found that I have been breaking out lately, and I’m not entirely sure why, so I decided to go get a face mask from Lush….. and walked out with half of the store? Does this happen to anyone else?! I can’t help myself when it comes to lush! Everything smells so amazing and luscious? lol.

Anyways, here are some of my favourite products I picked up!

Bath Bombs- You cannot walk into lush and not walk out with any bath bombs. Seriously. This is what they are known for and for a VERY good reason! Last week I used the Yoga bath bomb- the smells are SO relaxing. I recommend this for stress. I also really love galaxy and dragon egg! Both are very colourful, smell amazing, and – be warned- they leave a TON of glitter in your tub! BUT IT’S WORTH IT!
Detangler- This hair detangler works magic on my constantly tangled hair. Seriously. It is even WORSE when it is wet. I really hate combing it. I find with this and probably the crazy amount of conditioner I use on my hair, I am able to comb it out without breaking any brushes, or cursing my hair. Your hair also smells like you are this hipster chick, living out in the woods, creating oils and you just smell like earth and nature. I bet you all know what I’m talking about!
Ocean Salt- I bought this as a scrub and it is a not nice feeling at first, but in the end has some amazing results. It is this gritty scrub that feels awful on your skin. It’s mainly just rough is all, but it feels like it is really scrubbing the crap out of your skin and after my skin feels amazingly soft! I love/hate this product! It is definitely bittersweet! It is worth the results.
Mask of Magnaminty- This is actually the only thing I was supposed to buy for my face… sooo…. yaaa! Basically, it is one of the best things I’ve used on my face! After I used it, all of the zits seemed to shrink, on top of the fact that it looked, smelt, and felt nice on my face! My skin looked super fresh after and it’s one of those face products that also feels like it’s working too!
I haven’t bought this yet….. I plan on it anyways! I have heard amazing things about the sleepy lotion! It has lavender in it, and that smell is supposed to relax you! I’ve read tons of articles online and looked up reviews on the website that have said that it has done wonders on their insomnia! As your probably know and can tell because it’s 1:30 am and I’m writing 30 million articles, that I suffer from insomnia when I am stressed. It doesn’t matter how tired I am, sometimes I cannot fall asleep! I am so hoping this helps with that! Lavender is highly recommended and known for being relaxing! If this doesn’t help, they apparently have a three products that should help! Good luck fellow insomniacs! Let me know if it helps, or I will let you know very soon here!

So, anyways this is my current obsession! A ton of Lush products that I shouldn’t be buying, but I am anyways! Let me know which products are your favourite!

http://www.lushusa.com/

-Erin

A Fresh (Faced) Start

July 17, 2017December 7, 2017 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

Hey Everyone!

We’re back! I hope you love the new layout of our blog, fresh faced and inspired to bring you guys some new amazing content! Speaking of fresh faced, I’d love to talk about something that a lot of people struggle with – skin.

Now (thankfully) I’ve never had bad problems with my skin, just the odd pimple here and there (and dryness), but recently I have been breaking out left right and center and the texture of my skin has been very very off.

Personally I think your skin appearance has a lot to do with what you put into your body. I know of quite a few people who have had acne related to dairy products, and once they cut out dairy they have the best skin of their lives!

I don’t feel like my nutrition has been terrible these past few weeks, but if I look back on it I have been eating a lot of sugar (I ate two Kougin Amanns back to back), and my fitness routine has been low to non-existent.

That explains the breakouts, but the dryness is something that I have only ever had to deal with in the winter and now I’m finding that my skin is SUPER flaky and rough. I have an amazing chemical exfoliant from The Face Shop that uses green apple. It is completely smooth when you apply it, but the enzymes attack your skin as you rub it in and it eventually balls up all the dead skin. It is the most satisfying thing ever to see your dead skin just rubbed away, HOWEVER that is the danger with it! When your face is constantly dry and flaky it is easy to reach for the exfoliator and just get rid of it all but that is BAD. Do not over exfoliate your skin or you will just get more dry and over sensitive skin!

Here’s hoping I haven’t been doing that (I try to only using it MAX 2 times a week, I aim for 1).

This weekend I have been trying to drink lots of water, cooking with lots of turmeric, and I’m taking chlorella (which I used to take and then my nutrition plan just went out the window). I am also aiming to exercise four times this week, and clean all my makeup brushes (and quite possibly throw out) my beauty blender. I’m also going to try to stop drinking alcohol which I find hard since it is such a social thing (blog post on this later). I’m tired of having dull skin! Here’s to a fresh faced blog and blogger!

Got any skin remedies I should try? Leave them in a comment below!

Kathleen

Boutique 1861

June 13, 2017December 7, 2017 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

Hey Lovely Readers!

Another post coming at you! One that was meant for Saturday, but instead is coming at you Monday! The main reason for this is that I needed to take pictures of my new outfits- which this post is about- and I couldn’t be bothered to get dressed at all yesterday. It was cold and rainy and gross yesterday, and when I got home after visiting my cousin, I just really wanted to get back in my sweatpants and lounge for the rest of the day. Also, Orange is the New Black is on again and I feel obligated to keep watching that show. I know, so many excuses all the time. However, good excuses at least.

So, this place is about online shopping! I love shopping- which most people would find weird because I always end up dressing in yoga pants or swears and a t- shirt (I’m lazy). That is all I really want to do. In a perfect world I would win the lottery and spend all my day shopping and travelling. I love going to the mall here and going through all the stores and coming out with large quantities of stuff I really don’t need. I love shopping for the home and wish I could redecorate my bedroom and life with all the colours of the wind. Currently, I am very lazy so online shopping is amazing. I never really go on a site where I can go to a store here for, so when I found this site I was super happy! The store is called 1861 Boutique! It’s a little store in Montreal that sells their clothing online! I have bought A TON of stuff from this store. It’s all super high quality clothing for a very good price. I brought up this store when I was talking to some friends last year, and it turns out that one of my friends from London bought her grad dress off the site. It was a very high quality dress for a very good price. She said she paid around $100 and it was a very good dress. When I bought my grad dress back in the day, it was $500 and it fell apart at grad. Super ridiculous.

Last year I bought a very pretty blue, wrap dress for $60 from there that was comfortable and I wore for wedding season. The dresses and outfit prices ranges. It’s kind of like walking into Simmons and finding a $600 shirt next to a $10 one. Such a panic. However, there is a reason for that. I saw a leather jacket for $750, however, clearly that is a real leather jacket and not just a pleather jacket you can get. If you see that, do not panic you can still find nice clothing and not pay $750 for it.

I recently bought a new black dress and a black and white romper. I had picked out black sandals to go with anything in my wardrobe, but they ran out. They emailed me right away letting me know their mistake and then gave me the option of a gift card or my money back. I chose the gift card and bought the gold version of my shoes- not disappointed at all. I love them so much! They are very comfy and look amazing!

When you get your package in the mail, it looks amazing. I live in Canada, so it came super fast to me, and it was all wrapped in lovely tissue paper and with bow on the inside of the box. They also leave notes in the boxes saying I hope you look lovely and all this nice stuff! When they mess up they write that they’re sorry and leave it in the box which I don’t need them to do even! I do not expect an apology, it happens, you sell out of things and then I buy new things instead! It’s just nice to see a store go above and beyond for the customer.

I love them, and their clothing. I recommend that if you like something from there, but it ASAP. They do sell out fast and when a style sells out, they bring in a new one instead of bringing that particular outfit back. If it’s super popular they will sometimes. Also, they sell a variety of things: shirts, shorts, pants, skirts, dresses, wedding dresses, grad dresses, accessories, shoes- you name it. They do feel more formal, so if your looking for sweatpants and a hoodie you will not find that there. However, if you’re looking for summer dresses, and everyday cute outfits- you’ll definitely find it!

Anyways, Happy Shopping!

Website: https://1861.ca/

Note: I will post pictures of the outfits later today! On instagram and on this post! I just have to convince myself to stop being so lazy!

– Erin

Dye-ing of boredom

April 24, 2017December 7, 2017 by Avenue 23, posted in Beauty

Hi everyone!

It’s Sunday Funday and ‘m here to talk about something that (should be) fun – hair! Every 6 months or so I have this intense craving to change up my hair, be it from brunette to red, or long to short+ ombre. If you haven’t guessed these were my past choices.

Something I’ve discovered is that I am not meant for high maintenance hair. Ever. I dyed my hair solid red in first year university and I liked it except for the moment I could see roots and then I was just irritated. However I was living off a Starbucks part-time wage and so I couldn’t afford to dye it every time I saw roots. It’s a vicious cycle you see.

Last year in December I had just finished the first semester where I had been going to school full-time, working full-time and living on my own. After that semester I basically said “Fuck it” and decided to cut off my almost waist length hair (much to my future boyfriends dismay). I decided to jump on the band wagon and try out some “rose gold” ombre hair (rose gold is in quotes because it came out light pink). I liked that hair except for when I blinked (aka washed it ONCE) and the dye was gone. After that I was just left with the bleached out ombre ends that I couldn’t find the heart to re-dye pink just to see go as quick.

(look at that beautiful hair)

I’m back to brown now and super happy. I have a haircut booked this week (the first in a year -woops) and I have the familiar itch to change up the look and go for some red ombre… Someone stop me – who am I kidding – I do this to myself.

(something of what my hair is now)

Guess I’ll just dye happy

Kathleen