The Trend: Nautical

Sailors! Anchors! Stripes! Oh my! I cannot get enough of the nautical trend. As a girl who's style is a mix of classic and girly, nautical is the perfect trend to work with! So let's get started!

So what exactly does "nautical" mean? Nautical means of or concerning sailors or navigation; maritime. The nautical trend gets its inspiration from things like sailors, the navy, classic colors like blue and red, and a 'sea' theme. Often in nautical clothing, you will see anchors and ruffles.

One of the most common nautical outfits would be a striped shirt with red and blue. You may have seen pictures of celebrities like Taylor Swift sporting this trend.

One of my favorite stores to shop for nautical pieces is an online store called ModCloth. They have a whole range of nautical pieces, whether you want a simple nautical style or a full out sailor style. ModCloth also has a huge amount of nautical bathing suits, and carries regular and plus sizes.

Want to try out the nautical trend? Some staple pieces are: a striped shirt, a ruffled blue/red skirt, anchor themed clothing, and pretty much anything that is red or blue!

Photos from Google; they do not belong to me. All opinions are my own.

All About Oxfords

I just love Oxfords. They're so cute, but the perfect pair can be hard to find. You've seen Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and other celebrities wearing them. But the problem is, their oxfords are so expensive! And on a young woman's budget, those shoes are not going to be in your closet anytime soon. So where do you buy cute, inexpensive, sturdy oxfords?

My favorite oxfords!

I own two pairs of oxfords at the moment, and I'm hoping to get another pair soon. My absolute favorite pair is from...Forever 21. What? Forever 21? Yes! I was a little hesitant about buying them, but they were so cute and cheap (about $25) that if they fell apart it wasn't a big deal. I've owned them for months now, and I've worn them through New England weather. I wear them to school, when I'm out with friends, you name it. They haven't been damaged a bit! The exact shoes aren't still available at F21, but there are others like them. (See the picture to the left!) My second pair of oxfords are by Steve Madden. They're blue and white striped. They're a bit harder to make an outfit with, but they're very comfortable, and with the right outfit they look great.

If you're planning on purchasing oxfords soon, there are a few things you should consider. Do you want leather oxfords, or a different fabric? How much do you want to spend? What weather will you be wearing them in? If you'll be wearing them in snow, you may want to spend less than if you were wearing them on a sunny day. Solid colors (like mine pictured above) are much easier to wear with an outfit than something with a pattern.

Some great places to purchase oxfords are: Forever 21, Steve Madden, Nordstrom, and Urban Outfitters. Good luck!

Picture #1 from Google. Picture #2 is by me; no stealing.

What's in your shampoo?

Have you ever looked at the ingredients in your shampoo? What's cocamidopropyl betaine? Or methylisothiazolinone? Keep reading if you're curious about what you're washing your hair with!

At my last hair appointment, I was telling my stylist what shampoo and conditioner I was using. I told her that since I had started using the shampoo, I felt that my hair had dried out, and it was much harder to brush through. She told me that a lot of shampoo companies (even high quality!) will put waxes into their shampoos in order to cover up damage. Putting wax on my hair? No thank you!

So I went home, and I decided to look at the ingredients in my shampoo (it's typically in very small letters on the back of the bottle.) When I read the ingredients, it looked like scientific words. What were these things? So here, I'll explain.

My shampoo at the time was the L'Oreal EverStrong Reconstruct Shampoo. My hair wasn't damaged, but I just wanted to strengthen it a little more since my hair is so thick and can be hard to brush out. I've picked five of the ingredients to show you. For a full list of the ingredients in this shampoo, click here!

Ingredient definitions:

1. Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate is an ingredient derived from coconut oil.
2. Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate is an organic salt with a sweet, pleasant odor.
3. Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a synthetic surfactant (a substance that tends to reduce the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved.)
4. Methylchloroisothiazolinone is a preservative with antibacterial and antifungal effects
5. Decyl glucoside is a mild non-ionic surfactant. It is biodegradable and is gentle on all hair types.

So you decide. Do you like what you're putting on your hair? I looked up some of the other ingredients in this shampoo, and it's impossible to find what it is...some are just chemicals! Typically, pricier shampoos are better for your hair, but this shampoo is only $7 at CVS! In case anyone is wondering, I switched shampoos about a month ago. I am now using the Tri-Design Moisturizing Shampoo. It smells wonderful. It has definitely moisturized my hair, and it was recommended by my hair stylist.

Information on product ingredients is from Google and does not belong to me. All opinions are my own.

Layout

So...this layout will be okay to start up. I customized it a little, but the HTML and CSS in me are dying to change the layout. I don't really know Blogger's coding yet, so once I figure it out I promise I will actually make the layout.