Loving Your Hair

Protecting your natural hair at all costs always seems everyone's last concern, until they realize that not caring for their hair whether it's dying constantly, using too much heat not washing with the right products. We all want something different from time to time, and that can cost us our natural healthy hair. For me it was after dying it multiple times in one year, using too much heat and not cutting the dead ends often enough. Always having had healthy long hair I was under the impression that, it would be okay to dye my hair, and put it through extreme heat.

I've seen the same happen to many people I know, they continually change so much that, their hair ends up lifeless and dull, for some even falling out. Seeing your hair fall out by simply running your fingers through it can be scary to say the least. I was there for a short amount of time myself. After dying my hair many times, I started to notice how dry and unhealthy my hair was. The last straw to realizing I needed to do something different was when one morning I was brushing my hair and it was falling off, as if it was being cut. I was horrified I looked in the mirror and noticed the bottom half of my head had significantly less hair than I was used to. I remembered seeing many friends with crochet braids and realized that might help strengthen my hair it was a way to leave it alone for a while. 

Up until that point unhealthy hair had been the least of my worries, because my hair had always been so manageable, and strong. It took a while to get back to healthy hair. Crochet braids were definitely a big helper to getting my hair back to normal. Healthy hair  now is always a must for myself over anything else. That's why I love DivaTress, trusted by professionals stylists, and beauticians. They have thousands of options for crochet braids to help protect your hair, and even help your journey back to healthy hair. There are different colors for when you don't want to wear you regular hair color making the process fun, without sacrificing your strands. I love my hair now and having a protective style was a fun way to get back to my healthy hair. 

*This post was sponsored by DivaTress but all opinions are my own.*

Vino Roso Per Uno

Here we are again the time of the year some of us dread, while others love to love. Valentines day is tomorrow and I know there's plenty of us out there who will be spending it alone or unhappy. Let's be honest here, not everyone has someone they can gush about to friends and family, or some of us don't want to have anyone at the moment because, well we want to be selfish and care for ourselves. This post is dedicated to those people those of us who are being selfish at the moment and are worried about ourselves more than a holiday that gives people an excuse to make others feel a little bitter.

I honestly cannot count myself in that group of people who are bitter at this time of the year, it's not who I am, although I was in that position a year or two ago I am now nowhere near feeling that way. Valentines day this year is a happy one for me, and what do I  mean exactly by that? I am happy with myself, this past year I had a lot of alone time to work on myself, be more independent, I love me and the woman I am becoming. Although I have reason to celebrate valentines day I am instead choosing to have that mind space to celebrate self love. We all feel that this is a day to celebrate someone else in our lives, and although there's nothing wrong with that I feel it is very important for us to remember that love begins with us, and we should nurture that in some way. Whether you're spending this Valentines day alone or in good company enjoy a drink or three and remember that in order to be happy you must love yourself first. So to you in advance I say Happy Valentines Day.

What's on my Playlist

Hey there lovely people! I am back with another What's on my Playlist post and this week I have a list of ten new songs that I just cannot stop listening to. If you like music, and variety in it as much as I do read on. Don't be afraid to click the links below which will bless your ears with beautiful sounds!

    Magic - Coldplay

I love this song because, it has a calm vibe. It talks about falling in love in a different way than other songs do. Chris Martin never fails to impress with his lyrics.

        Can't help falling in love - Cover by Andie Isalie

I discovered Andie Isalie on YouTube purely on accident she's from Australia and  her voice is soulful and soft. She can turn pretty much any song into her own, even though she didn't write it. Her covers have a twist, depending on whether she uses the ukulele, the guitar, bass or the piano.

                                                       Back to Life - Alicia Keys

I love the feel of this song. The lyrics are empowering, and I often find myself writing to it. Reminds me to keep going. I'm surprised it didn't get much promotion other than for the movie it was featured in. 

                                                   Feel it Still - Portugal The Man

This song is definitely a pump up song, I work out to it, write to it, dance to it. Although the lyrics are simple which I'm not always a big fan of, it's fun and catchy.

            Only Heart - John Mayer  

 Helpless - John Mayer

The search for everything was definitely a new side to John Mayers music, this album had nostalgia mixed with all the new things he's realizing and experiencing. I definitely love every song on it. But I specifically like helpless because he talks about a love that doesn't correspond ( we've all been there) and the take is kinda like he wants someone to yank him out of that state of mind where he wants to keep trying even though it's pointless. It's not a sad song, it's actually very upbeat my favorite on this album. 

                                    Carry you Home - Tiësto ft Aloe Blacc, Stargate

  Summertime Romance - Johnnyswim

         Touching Heaven - Johnnyswim

ATM Collection FW16

 This past Friday I got to interview designer Anthony Thomas Melillo at Neiman Marcus and have a luncheon while models strutted in his favorite pieces for fall, many which can be easily worn in the cold winter months. ATM Collection is about taking basic everyday pieces like your favorite t-shirt, terry sweats, and your favorite cardigan and making it as comfortable and wearable as possible, the fabric will make you fall in love with every piece. Check out our interview below, and some pieces from the collection. 

Anthony takes pride in having the best fabric (which is light as air BTW) Melillo owns the machines that produce his fabric in Peru, making unique to his brand, something other designers won't have. A short and honest overall thought on this collection is.. It was chic, elegant, and very comfortable.

What was the inspiration behind the fall collection?

ATM: What we see each season is that more about our brand aesthetic, we look for inspiration in fabric, to have the fit, the feel and the relaxed elegance. The drape of the fabric is important, maybe we'll add a cargo pocket to a great shirt dress, etc.

I love the brown suede dress I saw, are there any more like it in the collection?

ATM: I wouldn't say we've done this exact dress more than once, it's an easy dress. We'll do different versions maybe in silk, in washed jersey, in the spring collection I know there's one in pique,  The dress might be snug around the chest but gives you room around the hips and the waist. Dresses are  fashion pieces so, the fabrication changes every season, but the silhouette remains.

What can we expect for the spring collection?

ATM: For spring we developed more into fabrics, we did a group of sun bleached jerseys, sweats and t-shirts, washed silk. We also did micro modal rip, which is throughout the whole collection in tops, dresses, and skirts. Bodysuits are one of the big pieces coming for spring for us since we had really good feedback.

I love how easy going the pieces are.

ATM: We pride ourselves in our easy going color palette, but you know people fall in love with the fabric and the ease of it, people buy multiples at a time, because of how light and soft the fabric is. We always will go for softer fabrics than we had the previous season, the fabrics are really important in the way they feel when you pick it up and wear it.

Comfort & Style

I grew up around, seamstresses, tailors, artisans, you name it. Art and fashion were a big part of my daily life, specially on take your kid to work day, when my  mom would take me with her to meet all these wonderful people she worked with daily. 

So in getting dressed to get some work downtown. I decided to follow a rule that is always very present when I get dressed. " Don't sacrifice comfort for style." This is something my grandmother used to always tell me

Houston has been unbearably hot as of like ... all Summer long, and we don't get fall around here. When I got dressed Saturday I decided to be as comfortable as possible. This is how this outfit as simple as it looks to my surprise walking down the street I got a lot of questions about the skirt and the hat. Saturday was in the hundreds here so this was definitely the right move, jeans would have been a bad choice after a few hours of running around in the heat.

Thank god after a little while I got to sit down in the A/C inside of Tout Suite and grab an iced coffee.

Layering For Fall

 Fall is upon us,soon the leaves will brown and fall shortly after that the cringing cold will arrive. You think you have to give up your favorite summer pieces, but I say that's not true.

Crop tops for example can be worn in the colder months if you layer them with something. For this look I paired one of my favorite crop tops from Nasty Gal, with a white button down from Gap, a denim skirt I got at a thrift store and my favorite Schutz lace up sandals, my bag is a souvenir from Cuba, and my earrings are from Forever21

Love Soul Style

I recently have been super caught up with work.. it has been crazy, sometimes sitting in front of a computer at a desk all day makes you not want to be close to one at all..for a while. I have been in a slump,writing just hasn't been something I've been wanting to do but I am sitting here with at the peak of my caffeine levels an am finally writing (music helps too).I had to drag myself out of the house because it was almost like I never had coffee all day or energy for that matter. But what's important is that I am here to talk about my recent collaboration, with Love Soul Style a brand of boho bracelets that helps women embrace who they are, with the struggles and insecurities we all have.

 I am collaborating to inspire other women to be who they are and embrace all of their flaws the actual ones and the ones other people make us think we have. I remember always loving to have my hair curly as a little girl, and as I grew older I remember someone at school making fun of me for wearing my hair curly, maybe it was because in middle school everyone is mean intentionally or are insecure themselves. Either way I remember not wearing my hair curly for years only during the summer occasionally until just recently.