It is now eleven days since I got a fringe (or bangs, if you prefer the American term), and I must say it has been an interesting transition. I don’t regret it at all, in fact, I’m really glad I did it, but it has taken some getting used to. I thought I’d share my experience with you, in case somebody out there is considering a fringe but is still on the fence.

Articles and such always talk about how it’s important to find a style to suit your face. That is important, of course, but I think it’s by far more important to find a good hairdresser. You see, there are lots of ways to cut a simple, blunt fringe like the one I’ve got (not to mention all other kinds of fringes), and different cutting techniques suit different kinds of hair.

When it comes to what will suit your face, I never thought a blunt bang would look good combined with my quite round face. I’ve read my share of hair magazines (“Perfect Hair” being my favourite), and some of them have these drawings of faces with a “suitable” bang for each type of face. These rules aren’t written in stone, though, and what will suit you also depends on the placement of your features (especially the eyes), the condition and structure of your hair, and your personality. I mostly chose my fringe based on what kinds of bangs I normally think look cool. Zooey Deschanel and my little sister Cookie have the most fabulous blunt fringes, so I knew I liked the concept of that particular style. I then booked an appointment with the only hairdresser I trust (Therese at Hårny in Harstad, if you were wondering), and told her about my concerns.

I expected her to say “yes, you can have a fringe, but let’s stay away from the heaviest kinds”, as this is what I’ve been previously told – I’ve always suspected it was because of my “round face”. But no, Therese suggested a quite long, heavy fringe that starts almost at the very top of my head – you can see it in the picture above. This was so clever as it makes the fringe pretty heavy, thus preventing it from becoming thin strands that look greasy simply because it’s not one even layer of hair. No previous hairdresser have ever understood my hair (each hair is rather thin, but there are lots of them!) properly, which is probably why no previous fringes have looked flattering.

This is how I style mine (I’ve partly copied Cookie’s routine, as she is my fringe-idol).

After shower: dry hair with towel (squeeze the water out, don’t rub vigorously), add some volumizing mousse (preferably one with heat protection). Make sure to get it into the roots – I didn’t do this before as I was afraid it would make them greasy, but I’ve realized not that this is pretty much what causes the volumizing effect. Silly me. Blowdry fringe from crown (the top of your head) and down towards the front, until it’s dry. Then blowdry a little bit from beneath, so the air is directed almost up your forehead. This will give the fringe some lift (thank you, Cookie!), but if I do it too long I end up with weird kinks at the ends. Experiment with what works with your hair. Then brush, and use a straightening iron to slightly curve the fringe so it goes away from the top of your forehead, and in again towards your brows. This takes some practice to avoid kinks where you clamp down the iron, and to get the right curve, but it’s so worth the effort!

Without showering: I don’t wash my hair daily, but the fringe seems to need some freshing up pretty much every day. In the beginning I used to simply wash it in the sink (tie the rest of the hair into a high knot or away with hair clips so it won’t get wet), but that requires more blowdrying and straightening/curving, which seemed damaging and like a lot of job. Maja tipped me off about Batiste Brunette Dry Shampoo, which works like a charm. Spray into fringe, leave it in while putting on makeup, then rub with fingers or a towel and brush. It looks almost better than when it’s freshly washed, and it takes very little time. Ss they have a brunette version it doesn’t turn greyish, and it doesn’t make the hair sticky or brittle at all, either. I’d feared it would be a little like when using Dust It and such powders, but the hair stays nice and soft. They have it in non-Brunette versions too, of course – and right now it seems to be on sale at Vita, by the way.

What I found most important – and fun! – about my fringe, is discovering new ways to style my hair. Pulling all my hair up into a high bun, which used to be my emergency hairstyle, doesn’t work without using hairpins to keep the fringe back, but I haven’t felt the need to do this. The dry shampoo makes a greasy fringe a non-issue, huzzah! I’m still working on how updos look with a fringe. I find it rather exciting, as I usually struggled with how to style my long, sideswept bangs in combination with an updo, but that’s not a problem any more.

The thing I love the most about my fringe, though, is how it has changed my general look. Not only does it bring out my eyes in a wonderful way, but it also gives me an edge, a touch of devil-may-care. And that, my darlings, is always a good thing.

This Monday I was going to a birthday party and had absolutely no idea what to do with my hair. I’d tried my usual solution: making it really messy, but for once I just thought it looked messy. Then a bright idea popped into my head: the faux bob. As I have layered hair I did it in a way that would allow my shortest layers to hide any bobby pins and the ends of my hair, but if your hair is all one length I suggest you try this method. Here’s how I did my messy version:

You need:

A dry towel/a comb for teasing, hair spray, bobby pins/mini jaw clips

1. Start with dry hair, preferably hair with some sort of product in it already. Use a dry towel to mess up hair. You can, of course, use a comb and tease the hair, but the towel-trick can save you a lot of time if you’re in a hurry. Just rub it all over your head, and don’t panic when you remove the towel – you can brush it down a bit if it’s too big for your liking.

2. Flip head upside down, spray with hairspray and then – I just learnt this, actually, by watching this video – wait for 20 seconds to allow hair spray to dry. If you flip it back before the spray is dry, the volume will just collapse after a few minutes.

3. Divide your hair into two sections by parting it at the back (just the lengths, not from the top of your head).

4. Take small sections of hair (I divided each side of my head into about three sections, so I had six in total) and roll them from the bottom up to where you want your “bob” to end. Use a bobby pin/jaw clip in the same colour as your hair and fasten the little roll to your head. It doesn’t have to be a perfect roll as we’re going for a messy look, the important thing is that the bobby pins aren’t visible.

5. Repeat until all your lengths are tucked in. Try to shape your “bob” nicely, and make sure both sides are equally long.

6. Pull the top layers of your hair to loosen them. It doesn’t matter if some hang longer than the supposed length of your bob – people will know it’s not a real bob anyway.

7. Finish with a little hair spray, and may I suggest a pair of chandelier earrings? It looks delightfully feminine when they dangle against your  now bare neck.

As I’m spending the day redecorating my room – after wonderful Boyfriend moved all my furniture around yesterday – I thought it only suitable to show you my little creation: the Origami Bird Lamp.

My lamp looks like an ugly beehive, you see, so this is my attempt to distract the eye. Here is how you make one:

1. Fold a lot of origami birds according to this site. You can use patterned paper, like I did, or make lots of birds in different colours, or simply make them with plain white paper. It will take some time in the beginning, but once you’ve done it a few times you probably won’t spend more than about 4 minutes on each bird, so hang in there!

2. Stick a needle with white thread through the middle of the bird, from the bottom up. Remember to tie a knot on the end of the thread so it won’t just fall out again.

3. Measure a ring of paper to the same size as your lamp. Then tape the threads of the birds to the paper ring (easiest to do if you remove the paper ring from the lamp while working). I think it looks the best if they hang at different lengths.

4. Fasten the paper ring to the lamp. My ring fit so snugly that I didn’t even have to tape it, which is good as the tape might have melted or become permanently stuck to the lamp because of the heat.

You can, of course, make something similar without attaching it to a lamp by simply taping the threaded birds to the ceiling itself, or to a wooden/plastic ring and then hanging that from the ceiling.

I also added a bird taped to the paper ring itself. It looks like it’s hiding, trying to ambush the other birds, don’t you think? Boyfriend suggested I tape a single bird to the ceiling itself a bit further away from the lamp, like this:

I think this is my favourite bird ♥

A couple of days ago Ulrikke from Ask For Answers wrote a post (in Norwegian) about how she feels uncomfortable with walking in high heels and wondered if she simply lacks the gene for it. Trust me, darling, there’s no gene for that – you just haven’t read my Guide to Walking in High Heels yet!

Concerning the Body

♥ The most important thing is to remember to relax, especially in the hips. You see, it is impossible to walk in high heels without letting the hips sway from side to side. This is part of their magic – don’t fight it! This will also help you to not hunch your back, which is the most obvious sign of not being used to high heels.

♥ Take it slow. Being in a hurry in heels is for the intermediate and advanced high heels-wearer, and should ideally be avoided for newbies.

♥ Baby steps, darlings! Whenever I feel like I look clumsy in my heels, I make my steps a little shorter, and it always feels much better.

Concerning Your Mind

♥ Some girls tend to devote all their attention to the oh-my-I’m-walking-in-high-heels-and-I-need-to-relax-my-hips-and-I-wonder-if-I-look-hunchbacked-now-thoughts. Relax. Think about something else. Your body is very good at adjusting, so if you don’t obsess over your shoes every minute, your body will probably improve your walk all by itself.

♥ Work with the shoes, not against them. Heels always make me feel more feminine, more powerful, and usually kind of seductive, too. The trick is to think “okay, sure, I can be more flirty today”, rather than “oh, no, now everyone will think I’m trying to be sexy” or the classic “I’m just not that kind of girl/woman”. Allow me to repeat myself: don’t fight the magic!

The tip: Practice Heels

♥ Go out and buy yourself a pair of heels that will be used mainly for practice. Be brave enough to buy a pair that’s more than 6 cm (2,5 inches) high. Why, you anxiously ask? Well, why not simply learn to walk in a quite high heel straight away? Once you can do them, lower heels will be ridiculously easy. Also, your practice shoes don’t have to be the prettiest, most expensive pair of shoes you can find – you can buy those shoes once you know how to walk in them! Just like ballerinas have to wear slippers for years before progressing to pointe shoes, your practice heels should be functional and durable first and foremost.

♥ Wear the practice heels when doing household chores. Wear them while doing the dishes, then progress to keeping them on while cooking or vacuuming. Not only will this make you more used to the feeling of high heels, but the chores will keep your mind occupied so you can’t fret about your feet too much. Using other parts of your body will also make sure you don’t turn stiff, which is essential for mastering the heels. When you’re able to clean the bathroom or hang wet clothes to dry in your heels, walking down a street will be easy as pie in comparison.

By the way…

♥ Strangely enough I find heels of about 7 cm or higher the easiest ones to walk in. I have a theory (“It could be bunnies!”) that this could be because heels of this height force you to change your balance all the way to the front part of your foot. Shorter heels make me feel like I’m “neither here nor there”; as if my weight is being placed mostly on my arches rather than the toes, throwing me off balance.

♥ My best tip of them all: TAKE A DANCE CLASS WEARING HEELS. My first pair of proper heels were a pair of T-strap ballroom shoes, which I wore for learning salsa. Both my mind and my body were so busy learning the steps and remembering them that I simply wasn’t able to worry about the shoes. Sure, it felt a little strange in the beginning, but so did the dancing. After a few classes the heels felt like a natural part of the dance movements, and I noticed that when I walked in the heels, my hips moved naturally and the rest of my body relaxed, just like when I was dancing. Oh, and did I mention that is was also incredibly fun?

Let me know if my tips were of any help to you, will you, darlings?

A while ago I wrote a post about my obsessive listmaking, and Cindy commented and told me how she also likes to cut out pictures from magazines and put them into their own “inspiration book”. I remembered this when I passed by my favourite bookstore the other day, and two minutes later I left the store with a fresh start. You see, I started a project like this sometime in high schoolm but it didn’t turn out very good (I cut out almost everything in the magazine, which means I could have simply kept the magazine as it was), and it had black pages. Maybe it’s because I started reading blogs and realized I can’t stand (visually, at least) blogs with black backgrounds, but I decided I needed something with white pages. Thus begins my newest project (no, I’m not like Lorelai, Cookie, I will finish this one!): to go through all my fashion magazines and be merciless. Whatever survives the process shall be prettily pasted into my new inspiration book (which has a red cover, in tribute to Bridget Jones, naturally). Are Cindy and I slightly crazy, or do you other fashionistas do this, too?

This is my method for that big, once-every-five-years closet clean-out, not the small ones you do every now and then just to keep things in order. Think of it as a detox for your wardrobe, which will leave it in excellent health and appearance when you are finished.

♥

This process will probably take a whole day (or maybe even two, depending on how many clothes you have), but it can be quite fun if you do it right. A suitable soundtrack, proper lighting, and some ready-made snacks and drinks (I suggest sparkling water mixed with apple juice) can do wonders, but your most indispensable aid will be a friend. Preferably a girl, preferably someone who knows you (and your style) well, and someone who can tell you her complete, honest opinion when it’s needed. I could never have done my clean-out without Boo (thank you, darling!).

♥

If your hair or face doesn’t look its best, do some simple things to improve this. Trust me – otherwise you’ll only end up focusing on said hair or face, and no clothes will look good. Just make sure you’re still able to try on a lot of clothes without fuss (which means no red lipstick or complicated updo, for instance). Some blusher, mascara and a slightly teased low ponytail (placed off-center) did the trick for me.

♥

Make sure your working space is tidy and has as many clear spaces as possible; one for laying out everything when removing it from the closet (I find my bed a good place, as it’s long enough to accommodate even floor-length dresses) and one for placing piles of clothes as you progress. You’ll also need a floor length mirror (or, in a crisis, a friend with a digital camera).

♥

Every dress, top, skirt and skeleton must now be transferred from the closet to the working area. And yes, I do mean all of it. If you keep your knickers in a drawer, you can leave them there (for the moment); the point is to empty the closet so nothing can hide and come out to scare you later. If you tend to stop mid-project, such as myself or Lorelai, I suggest removing the “fun” clothes first (in my case this would be dresses), and pile the more boring ones on top. This will give you motivation to keep going if courage should fail you later on. Lay everything flat on your designated area (this is where I use my bed, see?) on top of each other. Try to put them in layers so that all tops are together, all pants underneath, then all skirts, etc. This makes it easier to decide if you really should keep those jeans or not, since you can compare it to the rest of your jeans.

♥

Quickly wipe all surfaces of closet, and vacuum the floor if there be one. A clean slate is important, yes?

♥

Now begins the real job. Simply start on top of your pile and work your way down, trying on everything as you go along. As you put them on (and you do need to put them on, not just hold them up in front of you), ask yourself this:

♥ Does it fit me? If no, put aside.

♥ Does it look old and worn (look for stains, holes, faded colour, etc.). If yes, put aside.

♥ Have I worn this in the past two months (very seasonal items can be allowed a longer time period)? If no, put aside.

♥ Do I have many items that have the same function/look? If yes, you’ll have to decide on how many items in each category (jeans, t-shirts, dresses, etc.) you’ll allow yourself to keep, then decide between them.

How strict you must be with yourself depends on many things, like how many clothes you have to begin with, how much closet space you have available and how long it has been since your last thorough clean-up.

♥

The ones that survived this process you can safely keep. Fold them together by category, or hang up straight away to minimize wrinkling.

♥

The ones you’ve put aside must now be sorted in three (or four) piles. Pile One is for things that can be mended or altered and will then be ready for use. Keep Pile One as small as possible. Pile Two is things that are beyond help, and must simply be thrown away. Pile Three is for things to be donated or given away to friends/relatives. I’ll usually let my mother and sisters have the first pick, then ask a friend or two if they want anything, then deliver the rest to the Salvation Army. This year, though, I also made a Pile Four, which will contain things to be put in my as-of-now-nameless blog boutique… But more on that later, darlings!

♥

Put your underthings, stockings, tights and socks through the same process, getting rid of anything that doesn’t fit or doesn’t look good. If you really want to get a fresh start, you can also do the same with outerwear, bags and accessories.

♥

Fold everything that’s to be folded, place in neat piles in closet. Hang everything that might wrinkle. If you feel like really going crazy, you can sort the clothes by colour (the piles) and length (the hanging things). Cutting out some of your favourite editorials and hanging up on the inside of the closet door can be really helpful if you later feel uninspired.

♥

Congratulations, your closet is now in perfect condition… but you’re probably not. All that dressing and un-dressing has probably made you a sweaty mess, so reward yourself with the longest, steamiest shower imaginable, enjoying the knowledge that dressing afterwards will be easy as pie. At this point I suggest you sit down to paint your toenails – maybe with rollers in your hair to dry? – and write a list of the items you’ve discovered you ought to buy – and now also have room for.

Some of you might remember that a while ago I showed you the collage I’d made to hang over my piano (if you can’t remember- fear not! The post is right here). Well, I really like the pictures of Emma, but when Boyfriend found that genius program called The Rasterbator I decided it was time for a change. Put simply, the Rasterbator takes a digital image of your choice and turns it into millions of tiny dots (when looking at it from a distance, the eye can’t see the dots and it simply looks like a regular image). The Rasterbator then creates a pdf-file where the image is spread over as many regular sheets of paper as you wish (thus creating an image that is as big as you’d like).

As you can see, my image is quite big, though I think it would have looked better if it was even larger. I love the symbolism in having the picture of Lucy peeking into the wardrobe hanging right above my piano – sometimes I feel just like Lucy going to Narnia when I’m making a new song.

To create your own gigantic picture, simply do this:

♥ Download The Rasterbator. Yes, you can simply rasterbate images online, but the downloaded version allows you to choose smaller dots, thus creating a better final result.

TIP: If you are using Windows, the program should run just fine. If you’re on a Mac, however, you’ll need to follow these guidelines to make the program work. It might be handy to have a Mac-nerd at hand, since the instructions require that you have some knowledge of working with the Terminal and other nerdy things.

♥ Find a photo you want on your wall. This is actually what I found most difficult, and I had a hard time deciding between Lucy or an image from the kiss-in-the-rain-scene from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

TIP: It might be helpful to know that if you have a very small room and want it to appear larger, choose an image with some depth in it. The Lucy picture made my tiny room seem so much bigger, and it took me a while to figure out why…

♥ When you choose your image, keep in mind that the bigger the picture, the better the quality of the final result.

TIP: You can do this to enlarge an image that is a little small. Boyfriend did this to my Lucy-image (it was originally 1400×1034 pixels big), but unless you’re a real nerd, you should probably find one to help you before attempting this as the procedure is quite complicated. For the less nerdy of you out there, simply choose the biggest image you can find of your chosen motif.

♥ Run your chosen image through the Rasterbator program. This is where you choose how big you want the final picture, whether you want it in black&white or colours, and how small dots you want.

TIP: I chose dots the size of 2mm. This creates an image that looks good even from a rather short distance, but your printer won’t have to work itself to death.

TIP 2: If you choose it print it in colours, it will use A LOT of ink. If you want it in black&white like mine, the best way to do this is to use an image editior (I use Pixelmator) to make the picture black&white, then choose “multi-color” in the Rasterbator. This will create a black&white picture with lots of detail and shadings, compared to simply choosing black&white in the Rasterbator.

♥ Print the pdf-file that the program created. I strongly recommend printing it on paper originally intended for drawing or painting, as regular printing paper is very thin and will become bumpy because of all the ink.

♥ Before you do anything else, number the sheets with a pencil on the back. This will save you lots of time puzzling it together if the order becomes messed up somehow.

♥ Cut off all the margins on each sheet. The best way is to use a ruler and a utility knife, as the edges have to be as straight as possible to create a good final result.

♥ Attach the topmost row (a strip of the sheets going from left to right) of sheets to each other (check to see that the pages are lined up correctly first) by taping them together from the back. Use a little tape first, check that the result is good, then use more tape to secure it.

♥ When you’ve taped all the rows separately, use tape to attach the rows to each other. Again, use a little tape first, work with it until it looks good, then use lots of tape to secure it.

Voilá – you’re done! If anyone managed to get through this insanely long and nerdy post and decide to create an image of their own, please leave me a comment so I can see how it turned out. And a more fashionable post is on its way, if anyone got concerned with my level of nerdiness…

This is my project for the night – I don’t like to sleep, so my sister and I usually stay up till between 3 and 6 a.m. when I’m home. If I work like a dog (Miriam is listening to Beatles, and that song  just started playing! Weird.) I might even finish it in time for meeting Ingvild tomorrow!

The content of my project is a) an insanely soft grey dress from Indiska (of which I’ll only use the top part), b) a long, black zipper, c) some real shiny, stretchy fabric I suspect might be PVC (as belt) and d) lots of pale yellow velvet (to make the skirt of the dress). Wish me luck!

♥ I used an old T-shirt I’d already cut around the neckline. It was very wide and kept falling off, so I made a couple of straps in the back and tied it a little tighter (see last Polaroid).

♥ Be careful and don’t tie the first side too snug against your body. When you tie the second side it will automatically get much tighter.

♥ I also cut holes down the back by folding it in two and cutting straps (though I didn’t cut these straps in half or knot them).

♥ Yes, I’m wearing a woolen tank top underneath the T-shirt in the pictures. It’s 4 degrees celcius outside (39 F), and I didn’t want to showcase my goosebumps…

♥ This can be worn without something under for a very hot day, or you could slip a plain tank top (perhaps in a contrasting colour?) underneath. I can’t wait to try it with something lacy underneath…

Every year brings a lot of travelling possibilities: Easter, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and the Summer Holidays, in addition to all the other breaks from school/studying/work that vary from country to country. Travelling is wonderfully fun, but before the actual journey can begin comes the packing… which, for many of us, is a nightmare. It used to be like that for me too, but after some years of travels of very different kinds, I’ve found a strategy that always seem to work for me:

First off, we have THE BASE. These are items you always want to bring with you, no matter where you are going or for how long (you might want to bring more of some items if you’ll be gone long, though). My base consists of; bras, usually one black padded and one white underwire; one pair of knickers for each day I’m gone (I try to match the colours with the bras); a couple of thin tank tops in neutral colours and quality fabrics; black tights; sunglasses; one (rather large) bag in a simple colour and shape, to match every possible outfit; a favourite necklace; Rosebud’s Minted Rose Balm; something to read (usually a book or a really thick magazine, as I’m a fast reader). It looks something like this:

THE BASE

The next thing I usually pack is toiletries. I usually start with the things I need, then add the ones I want; contacts and glasses (I’m very myopic!); toothbrush and -paste; deodorant; Chanel no5 (the ony perfume I like); shampoo and conditioner (the Sexed-Up ones from Tigi can do miracles! I’ll never use anything else again); Vichy Pureté Thermale Cleansing Solution, which works as a makeup-remover, skin tonic and general cleanser at once; Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, which is a little expensive, but is very much worth it; the hair thickening foam from Define (a Scandinavian brand), which gives me curls without having to make any more effort than scrunching it in towel-dried hair;  a glass nail file; a tweezer; a rat-tail comb; bobby pins; pencil sharpener and black eyeliner; a bright red lipstick from Maybelline; Max Factor Masterpiece mascara; and mineral foundation and blush.

TOILETRIES

These are the toiletries I have to bring; if I have more free space, I usually add more make-up or hair products/accessories. Below I’ve made some suggestions for packing for specific types of travels, and included some tips based on personal experience. Hopefully they’ll make your packing experience easier, and thus, your holiday more pleasant!

BEACH GIRL

♥ An extra pair of sunglasses might save you from a frantic shopping trip if you lose/break your first pair.

♥ Two pairs of bikinis might be a good idea, and if they match, you’ll have even more options.

♥ Bring a bag in a light colour – anything dark will fry the content if left in the sun. Trust me when I way that melted lipsticks are a MESS.

♥ Keep accessoires to a minimum, as they’re likely to feel constricting in the heat, and might turn weird shades of green if sprayed with salt water from bathing. Just bring one, very fabulous piece.

♥ Open-toe sandals prevents you from walking around with sand in your shoes the rest of the vacation.

HAPPY CAMPER

♥ DON’T bring shoes with laces if you’ll be living in a tent. The lacing and un-lacing will not only make you seriously annoyed, but might also make you miss half the fun.

♥ Layers are key. Yes, we’ve all heard this, but it’s even more important if you’ll be at the mercy of the weather.

♥ Since accessories might get lost or ruined (and be the cause of some weird looks from less fashionable campers), let the clothes do the talking with patterns, fabrics and cuts. Just make sure it doesn’t wrinkle too easily.

♥ Makeup on a camping trip can also be a bother, so choose clothes in colours that suit you. This will minimize the need for makeup, as the right colours make you look good practically no matter what.

♥ Bad hairdays don’t exist if you’ve brought a cap or hat – and there are always plenty of bad hairdays when camping, trust me.

THE SHOPOHOLIC