Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight, Walking in a winter wonderland!
I adore a snow day in Boise! Sometimes it’s too cold to enjoy it, but every once in a while you get that perfect blend of white flakes, peaceful quiet, and cozy clothes that are just toasty enough to venture out into the blissful wonderland…
I found this plaid cape at NastyGal.com on sale last season, and had a friend sew some faur fur into the hood for me. (Thanks Montana!) Add a $12 black long-sleeved knit dress from Forever 21, cute tights, my favorite snow-stomping ALDO boots, and the cutest little (and super affordable!) red bag from Closet Barcode, and I’m ready to rock!
Come on now, let’s go build a snowman. ❤ You know you want to!
Thank you Closet Barcode, I love my “pop of color” posh little bag! It’s so perfect for the holidays, and beyond.
I hope you’re enjoying your holiday season as much as I am! May you be surrounded by love, laughter, and peace today, no matter what the weather.
Hugs & Kisses & Holiday wishes,
XOXO,
Tanya
So I tried to swap the magenta for blue, and it was really hard on my hair. Apparently, years of dying your hair one color group makes it really tough to switch to another! For a short while I rocked a black bob with blue ends.
Photo by Aubrey Bower
I did my best with it, but found that the blue faded SO FAST. On a trip to Germany last summer, the hard hotel water turned my hair brassy brown, and stripped the blue to green & muddy grey in about a week. I needed to find another solution, and grow out the damage that all the bleaching had done to my poor frizzled bob.But how to you grow your hair out fast, AND get the color you want? Ta-da: EXTENSIONS! They’re magic, and I love them. Thanks to my Babe Tape-in Extensions, I’ve been able to leave my hair alone, let it recover and grow, and achieve a level of blue ombre that would have destroyed my natural hair with bleaches and dyes. I know some people think extensions are weird, but I’ve been playing with extra hair pieces since I was a teenager and found my mother’s “braids” that she wore in the 60’s to amp up her style! Women have been utilizing hair that didn’t come from their own heads for centuries, back to even the ancient Egyptians who shaved their heads for work in the hot sun, but threw on piles of waxed braids to go out & party.
There are many different kinds of extensions on the market right now, like braiding and weaves, clip-in and keratin fusion. It would be too long to list them all here, but I found a great guide if you’re researching what might work best for you: http://hairextensionguide.com/Hair-Extensions.htm
Local stylist Jennifer Engberg at Turning Heads Studiois a “BABE HAIR” extension professional with years of training. She uses tape-in Babe extensions for my colorful long pieces, and thanks to her skill, experience, and creativity, my chin-length bob has grown twice it’s original length! No damaging heats or glues are used in her process, so my hair feels healthy and strong.
Jennifer created a gorgeous ombre blue effect, which starts as navy at the top, moves down to electric blue, fades to pastel blue, and finally a hint of whitish silver at the bottom. By carefully taping the wefts to my own hair throughout my head, Jennifer brings length, fullness, and gorgeous color into my overall style.
In progress…And then she trims, curls, and styles it. Check out this before & after!I love my blue hair, and I love that my real hair is growing longer & healthier. And I also love Jennifer! It’s been such a delight to get to know this beautiful, creative genius of a woman, and I’m grateful for her help in creating this dramatic new look for me. Photo by Valerie Davenport
XOXO,
Tanya
If you want to dream up something special with Jennifer, or just enjoy a day of pampering, here’s your chance! I’m teaming up with Turning Heads Studio to giveaway a Back To School hair & nails package. (Your kids are back in school, so come get some “me time” and pampering!) 😀
Winner will receive a consultation, cut and style from Jennifer Engberg, and gel nails plus pedicure from her coworker Stephanie at their salon in Middleton. Winner must be local to the Treasure Valley area, as transportation for this contest is not provided.
How to Enter:
1. Comment below and tell me about YOUR dream hair. If you could do anything, what would it be?
With all the tech jewelry and accessories coming out these days, it’s hard to know what’s going to work best with my needs & lifestyle. The Apple watch, for example, looks really cool, but will I wear it every day? When I came across the Ringly, though, I just knew… Now THAT is something I want!
The Ringly is designed to light up and vibrate when a notification comes through your phone, like a text, email, or calendar alert. It’s surprisingly simple, with no major learning curve or programming involved! It arrives in a beautiful box like this, which is also its charging station.
Open it up, plug it in to charge fully (takes a couple hours the first time), while that’s happening download the Ringly app onto your phone and start playing with it. It looks like this when you first get it, but will say “Connected” once your ring charges up.
Ringly is intuitive and simple, and it doesn’t have extra features like talking into it, or navigating anything, like some of the tech watches do. It simply facilitates putting your phone away, for work or special events, etc., while making sure the people you really need to hear from can get through to you.
Once your app is installed, it connects to your Contacts list, and then you can flip a toggle to let the Ringly know if you want notifications from everyone on your list, or just a select few!
Here’s the fun part: Once your Ringly has charged, put it on your finger, press connect, and then go into your Notifications. Here’s where you can select what kinds of notifications you want; phone calls, texts, Facebook notifications, emails, calendar alerts… Even Uber alerts! Select the ones you want, and then swipe your finger across the field to change it’s color to whatever you want. I love watching the little diamond light up in red, blue, purple, etc. when I play with this feature! 😉 You can also tap the little dots on the right, to decide how many vibrating pulses you want. Play around with it; it’s fun to buzz, buzz, buzz your ring!
Ringly has been a huge game-changer for me. I do a lot of networking events, and it’s nice to put my phone completely away in my purse, knowing the ring will buzz me if my husband or kids really need to get ahold of me! For those times that the rest of the world can just wait, it’s been a lifesaver. And a ring is something I naturally put on every day, so it’s tied into my fashion and lifestyle seamlessly!
Photo by Valerie Davenport / Rhyder bag by Coach
Can this lovely little piece of tech help curb my Instagram addiction? Well, that remains to be seen… But it sure is helping me disconnect from my cell and choose what I focus on in each situation! For that, for affordability, and for just being beautiful, I give the Ringly 5 stars.
XOXO,
Tanya
Want a Ringly for yourself? Use my special Discount Link to get $10 off the price: https://ringly.com/?s=SHMNLPP72 They come in 5 color & metal choices!
Disclaimer: This article is my fair & unbiased review of Ringly, not a paid-for promotion or affiliated with Ringly in any way. Feel free to ask any questions about my experience with Ringly in the comment section below!
I confess, I adored my magenta/purple/red hair! But anyone with colored hair will tell you it’s a lot of upkeep and maintenance. Eventually, I felt like I was over-bleaching and putting a lot of wear & tear on my poor locks! I’m also the kind of girl who likes to reinvent herself and have fun with beauty and fashion, so on my next hair appointment, I went black & blue. (Thank you, Melissa Thomas at Deco Hair & Makeup!)
That was fun too (you can see the photos of my wavy bob here!), but I finally realized that what I’ve really been pining for is LOOOONNNG hair! I’m way too impatient to wait for it to grow out, though…
Fortunately, I have an awesome friend who’s also an extension pro, Erin Swenson. Bibbitty-bobbitty-boo, we magically grew my bob to mermaid length, and were able to add the blue I wanted, without bleaching & damage of my real hair!
I’m having SO MUCH FUN with my new long hair. It will definitely have an effect on my fashion style! What do you think; do you like the bob or long hair better?
This isn’t about changing our “flaws;” it’s about the little things we can do to feel beautiful and confident, in our own skin! I am curious to learn about ways I can take care of myself, be proactive, and age gracefully.
There have been many amazing breakthroughs in the last few years, of treatments & procedures any woman can do to help maintain their natural beauty and slow down the effects of time, without going to crazy extremes like some celebrities do. Dr. Kerr and I are going to explore some of those things in our videos! Ever wondered what “needling” felt like, or if “Venus Freezes” really work? I’m going to try out a bunch of stuff, and share the experiences with you. If it’s pampering, or painful, or surprising, or just plain “meh…” you’re going to see it happening and get my honest feedback!
I would love to know what YOU are curious about!
Please join me this Thursday at the Silk Touch Anniversary Party (details on FB here), to experience Live demonstrations of services, special event pricing, meet and greet with the entire staff, and over $10k in prize and product giveaways (including some Boise Music festival tickets, thanks to 103.5 KISS-FM and107.9 Lite FM). If you RSVP at this link before you come, you will also get a free gift, just for walking in the door: bit.ly/silktouchrsvp.
Whether or not you can make it to the party, please leave me a comment or send me an email at Tanya@stylespygirl.com. I would LOVE to know what procedures, treatments, or products you are most curious about, or what questions you would like me to ask Dr. Kerr about in the videos!
XOXO,
Tanya
P.S. For the month of June, if you tell Silk Touch I sent you, microdermabrasions are 1/2 price! Also, book in June to try a Visia Skin Complexion Analysis for FREE (a $50 value), which I recommend everyone should try!!! It’s one of the BEST things on the market to know exactly what’s going on with your skin, at the surface and deep below. I hope you take them up on this offer. I’m definitely going to!!!
Style Spy Girl 