NYC Snapshots: AKA Dogs, Mirror-Selfies, and Shit I Bought

I've really got to try and take more relevant pictures. I don't like to play tourist and stand outside taking photos of tall buildings and junk...but there's probably a happy medium between that and.... this. But nevertheless...

Hometown Barbeque in Red Hook. I don't know if it was actually amazing, or if it was just really, really good and I was really, really hungry, but either way I recommend it. I do have a picture of the food but I don't think the suave city boys making gross chewing faces in it would appreciate my posting it. So instead, here is their rather charming bathroom.

I met an excitable Boston Terrier named Liam who lived in a curiously long apartment with his two dogfathers. He is the source of the aforementioned dog drool, btw.

I decided at some point that it would be funny to text pictures of dogs to my husband all weekend, just to be annoying. I will spare you most of them. This dude was cute though. Travis suggested I start a tumblr called "Dogs of New York".... I assured him that that must already exist.

Last time I was in NYC I went to Purl Soho, which is a gorgeous shop, but I thought this time I'd mix it up and go to Downtown Yarns. In my light-packing frenzy I hadn't brought any yarn or needles which was obviously foolish. I purchased both. This is Madelinetosh DK in the rather amazing Cosmos colorway.

I also bought this necklace and a random-ish gift shop- I'm fairly sure it's not a real porcupine quill, I think it's burnt wood. Pretty, though.

This is what I look like hiding in the dressing room at Urban Outfitters so I can sit down without being cold or spending money- not an easy thing to do in Manhattan.

An amazing elderberry-lime soda, the best of a great many drinks I purchased in order to use various coffee-shop restrooms. Notice the self-defeating-ness of this strategy. Regardless, I now have the drive to learn to make "mocktails" even though I can't say that word without gagging on the tweeness a little.

On Tuesday I had some time to kill around the garment district so I stopped into Kinokuniya, a huge English/Japanese bookstore with an amazing English-language fashion section (because duh) and a fabulous Japanese-language craft section, including these obscenely adorable needlefelting kits. I didn't buy one...but it took a lot of willpower. (There's another Kinokuniya just outside of Portland, in a big Asian grocery store, but I'd only ever made it over there once or twice and I think it was almost exclusively Japanese.)

This is Vinegar Hill House, which was literally across the street from the apartment my friend and I were renting (which is remarkable because there is NOTHING else in that part of town, heh.) It's hard to see, but above that weird wheel thing is a window made of agate slices. I am completely obsessed with it. Definitely having a pretty rock phase, lately. Also, amazing cornbread.

Plane pup! A satisfying end to my dog-pic-texting (poor Travis.) And no, I don't know why he was allowed to fly all free like that- maybe an anxiety dog? But he behaved like a total champ and deserved that seat to himself.

Packing List: 3 nights in NYC

I have to admit, I am absolute crap at packing light. This is mostly because I'm a klutz, and by the time I take an item of clothing off, there's a pretty good chance it's not fit for another day's wear. So even though I fawn over other blogger's "capsule wardrobes" and what-have-you... there's just no chance I'm going to manage a 3-day trip with one pair of pants and two shirts.

But still, I love peeking into other people's suitcases, and as long as it still fits in the carry-on.... hey!

The list:
- Comfy jeans (for the plane)
- Black jeans
- Blue jeans
- 3 tees
- 1 tank
- 1 flannel shirt
- 2 sweaters
- 1 hoodie (for the plane)
- Leggings (for sleeping)
- Leather jacket
- Water resistant jacket (for the day(s) it was supposed to rain)
- Knee-high boots
- Black flats, just in case
- Scarf
- Hat (I ended up bringing a yellow one and a brown one, rather than black)
- All the requisite socks & underthings

If I'd wanted to pack lighter I could've reworn more of the clothes and only brought one jacket, but even so all of this fit into a carry-on easily.

Other tips for hopefully-not-having-to-check-a-bag:
- Hoard bath & body samples like it's your job. A lot of natural-ish food stores will occasionally have them (one of the shops near me periodically does a "spa day" even where they give out a ton) and they are so great for short trips when even a little bottle full of shampoo is too much. Also hoard tiny bottles- anything that you don't have a sample size of, stick it in a tiny bottle. I even brought about 1/2 a square centimeter of liquid foundation in a tiny plastic container that once held a lotion sample.
- Bring the smallest device you can get by with. In my case, my phone was fine. It would've been nice having my laptop, but not worth the trouble.
- Leave space in your suitcase, or bring an extra bag just in case. You're probably gonna buy stuff, c'mon.


Here's how the outfits played out:

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Sunday night: insanely good BBQ with friends

Jacket: Theory
Shirt: OP
Jeans: Grane
Boots: Franco Sarto
Tee: BDG
Hat: a modified Bivouac

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Monday: Checking out shops, lunch with a friend. Notice the room around me getting messier as I go.

Jacket: Green with Envy (it was supposed to rain this day, though it barely did. Old coat, can't find a website.)
Sweater: Roxy
Jeans: Hollister (I can't go within 100 feet of their stores because they reek of perfume, but I found this pair used and it turns out they're crazy comfortable around the waist while still being good 'n tight. Score.)
Boots: same as above
Glasses: no clue
Hat: Corone

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Tuesday: Meetings of a secret and covert nature in the fashion district. You can't tell, but there is a small amount of dog slobber on the jeans- I TOLD you I can't be trusted to wear things twice! Luckily it wasn't very noticeable.

Sweater: ABound
Jeans: Grane again
Scarf: Collection 18
Hat: same
Boots: same
Ended up wearing the waterproof jacket again as it was lookin' mighty misty.


I'll spare you my flying outfit- let's just say I prioritize comfort, heh.

I didn't take a ton of pictures during the trip (as you may have surmised from the shitty mirror selfies, the only camera I brought was my phone- packing light, see?) but I did take a few- I'll post 'em up tomorrow :-)

Inspired by: Agates

 

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Kids, science is pretty cool. 

OOTD: April 5

Tee- J Crew 

Leggings- Helmut Lang 

Shoes- Aldo 

Pentagram bra- DIY, link here 

I am off to New York in the morning, on top secret business that may or may not stay top secret, depending on how it goes. Also gonna bum around in some cool shops I can't afford. There's a fair chance I'll end up blowing all my money at the Strand and then not be able to get all the books home. These are the risks you take.

The Great Oil Experiment (with DIYs)

Don't forget to label your bottles with old publicity stickers! Or, you know, actual labels.

The concept of washing your face with oil sounds very strange, but it makes sense - the basic idea is that the oil dissolves the excess grease and grime on your face, without stripping it and drying out your skin the way soapy cleansers do. Moisturizing with oils seems similarly frightening, but most people report a decrease in breakouts rather than the expected increase- apparently not all oils are as comedogenic as our own delightful skin oil.

As a fan of skin oils in general, I've been meaning to try oil cleansing for awhile now. I'll admit my usual face-washing routine is pretty lax (I usually just splash some hot water on there in the shower, and occasionally use some Dr Hauschka's Cleansing Cream which I buy entirely because it smells AMAZING and for no other real reason.) I occasionally use coconut oil to remove make-up, but that's not quiiiite the same (though this method will remove make-up very well.) Likewise, I'll occasionally use coconut oil in lieu of lotion for moisturizing, but I've never tried actual "face oil."

Now, if you go out and buy face oils, for cleansing or (especially) moisturizing, they will run you into the realm of ridiculou$$. The ingredients are usually obscenely simple (sometimes, it's just a tiny fancy bottle of a pure oil that they're charging $50 for, when you could get twice as much for a third of the price at a hippie grocery store- looking at you, argan oil.)

Anyway, that makes them natural candidates for DIYing! Here are my very simple recipes for both- I recommend putting them in a little eyedropper bottle (which you can usually find at the sorts of hippie grocery stores that carry the oils- I got everything necessary at Whole Foods.)

Cleansing oil:

2 parts Grapeseed oil
1 part Jojoba oil
A few drops grapefruit essential oil (or EO of your choice)

Many people like to use castor oil for cleansing- apparently it works a little better than other sorts, but it can also be drying and since my skin veers towards dry, I went with gentler grapeseed (which is also good for balancing oily skin.) Jojoba is more moisturizing, but also usually pretty safe for oily skin. Depending on your skin, you can tweak the ratios of lighter and heavier oils (some Googling will give you waaaay more info about what different oils are good for than you ever wanted or needed.)

As far as EO's are concerned, you'll be washing it off so it's mostly about whatever you like. I love the smell of grapefruit EO but it's not one I necessarily want to leave on my skin all day, so this is a good chance to use it.

To use a cleansing oil, take a few drops and massage them thoroughly into your face (if you're wearing make-up, be sure to give those areas some extra attention). Grab a washcloth, run the tap water nice and hot (not burning, obviously, but good and cozy), soak the cloth, and press onto your face for a few seconds. Rinse the cloth, repeat. Try not to rub too hard- the hot water well melt the oils off, taking the dirt, grime, and skin oil with it.

Moisturizing Oil:

4 parts Jojoba oil
1 part Grapeseed oil
A few drops lavendar essential oil (or EO of your choice)

You'll notice I used the same oils- that is called "not spending a freaking insane amount of money at Whole Foods." I went heavier on the jojoba because I want this one to be more moisturizing than the cleansing oil was, but again, you can tweak this using whatever oils you need to for your skin type.

As for EOs, here's a quick and dirty guide*:

For dry/aging skin: Geranium, Lavendar, Neroli, Rose, Birch, Rosewood
For normal/combination skin: Lavendar, Rose, Sandalwood

For oily skin: Pachouli, Myrrh, Rosemary, Ylang Ylang

For acne-prone skin: Lavendar, Violet, Rosewood, Rosemary, Tea Tree, Chamomile
For sensitive/irritated skin: Lavendar, Chamomile, Ylang Ylang

Bergamot and some other citrus oils are useful for oily or acne-prone skin, but they can make your skin more sensitive to UV light, so I wouldn't recommend them for anything you're going to leave on your skin. Neroli is apparently an exception, and sweet orange and grapefruit may or may not be okay...but might as well play it safe. On the flip side, apparently some EOs like lavendar, Roman chamomile, and myrrh as well as sesame, coconut, and olive oil actually offer some UV protection.

Another note on EOs: Go easy!! A little goes a long way. 

*Disclaimer: I haven't used all, or even most of these. Please research whatever oil you want to use before committing, in case my ten minutes of Google research was mistaken.

To use the moisturizing oil, put a few drops (like, two) in your hands, rub them together, and then pat all over your still-damp face, aftershave style.

So how's it work?

One day later...
My face felt really soft when I went to bed last night. Skin looks pretty decent today- hard to tell after just one use though. One thing to note, if you're not extremely careful, the oil does tend to work it's way into your hair, especially if you have bangs- no big deal (it's probably really good for your hair) but you'll want to make sure you can shower before going out the next day.

Several days later...
So far so good! My face tends to get more or less moody depending on the time of month, but the oil doesn't seem to have made anything worse, and it's at least as moisturized as with the lotion I was using before. My pores seem cleaner than they did with normal facewash, possibly because I use the oil more often (I didn't want to overdry my skin with soap.) The biggest downside? The required washcloths. Normally I just wash my face in the shower and splash some water on there to rinse, but that doesn't work as well with the oil (I tried it, but it was much harder to get the oil off without a cloth.) I'll just have to be diligent about laundry and maybe buy a few extras.

In conclusion...

Totally worth a try. The ingredients aren't that pricey if you think of how far they go- the EOs are the priciest part, but they last a long time and have many applications... and honestly you could probably skip them if you wanted to, but they make the process rather nice. Keep your other oils in the fridge unless you're using one with a long shelf life- that way they'll stay good longer.

Would love to hear your guys's recipes and results- I'm a sucker for DIY skincare/beauty stuff!

OOTD: March 25

Shirt: James Perse

Tee: Mossimo

Jeans: Grane

Shoes: Aldo

(None of those are direct links since I think all of these things are from at least one season ago. Sorry. Slow fashion! Woooo! (I don't think that's what slow fashion means.))

Good 'n Casual.

Mountains and Crystals

The last few months I've been dabbling with watercolors and gouache... finally got my scanner set up (though admittedly, these scans still aren't very good.)

It's been about 7 or 8 years since I dropped out of art school and switched to psychology. It feels good to play with color again. 

Super into crystals and such lately. Not the healing-energy-spiritual-whatever side of crystals, though that's all well and good. I just like geology and think they're damn pretty. And fun to paint. 

Experimenting with linework over watercolor... I have some mountains done the same way but they won't fit in the scanner and piecing wasn't working out so well. I'll have to photograph them sometime.