recycled style

I recently purchased an amazing blazer from express on sale for $40. Its black with slightly pointed shoulders. I was very excited because i am very into geometric right now. Looking for some guidence as to what i should wear this with, i grabbed some fashion magazines. Flipping through the pages i noticed that fashion today is completely recycled. Taking summer/spring clothes and just layering them to create winter clothes. With todays economy not too many people can afford regular maintenance on fashion or their hair for that matter. Just as with fashion, im finding that you can take an out grown haircut or color and just by changing one thing make it updated and modern. Long hair can be dolled up with a nice strong bang. Shorter styles might just need some quick maintence around the neck and ears. Over grown highlights can be spruced up with layering a shear tinted gloss over it. Same goes for all over color. You can easily have some low lights or highlights painted through the old color to add dimention and break up that awful line of demarcation. Right now the "grown out" look is very in.

Ive also realized that i always feel more spruced up just by adding some red lipstick or tinted lip gloss to myself before heading out. I just started consulting for Arbonne. A vegan/green/botanical based health wellness and beauty company. They have everything from shampoo to lipstick to vitamins. Ive been really happy with their selection of lipsticks and tints.

Tomorrow at the salon i think i am going to incorporate all of these things into my day. How exciting.

arbonne.com ID#18705952
darlenemartinez.com

A Growing Girl

This is my first ever blog post. I have to say that i am actually really excited about it. I was told i should do this by so many friends. And here i am finally getting around to it. I want to start off by talking about my recent life changing experience. For the past 7yrs i have been working for Xenas Beauty Company. A well established lovely salon located in the west village. I pretty much grew up there. Starting as a spunky 20 yr old that thought she knew everything, i now know that i was far from that. The past 7 yrs have been an amazing journey for me. One that i didn't know would change course in such an extreme way just a little over a month ago. I guess what they say about a persons body changing every 7 yrs, or the "7 yr itch" is true. LIttle did i know that not only would my hair texture change, but so would my entire life. 

So to stop beating around the bush, keeping you in suspense ill begin in August. I took the month off. Why? I have no idea. I had this strong urge at some point earlier this year to take a month off. I felt  like my skin was crawling and that i needed to shed things. I started my August in Israel visiting a good friend. I spent 10 days on a couch feeling like i had no direction. As each morning would pass consisting of me waking up around noon, spending the day tanning and reading books. I began to realize that i have had no clue who i am. I had been living life according to how everyone else wanted me to live. My job at the time (tho i was making a great name for myself) felt foreign. I didnt recognize myself. Each day in Israel forced me to get in touch with myself, and learn to love who i am. Not just what people viewed everyday. I gained a strength that i never knew i had living inside of me. When i returned to NYC i felt light and free. My next stop was to Reno to link up with my parents and my sister and brother in Law. For the rest of that trip i knew something in me had changed. We traveled to Lake Tahoe. Where i think i heard nature speak to me. I finally was able to breath and feel the air fill my lungs. Coming back to NYC again was tough. I spent a few days before i returned to Xenas vegging out, eating brunch, and sitting outside people watching. My first day back was unusual. I felt like i had to explain myself for my month off. But all i wanted to do was keep that precious month as something sacred that helped me get through my days and nights in an environment i didn't feel formatted for anymore. The most life changing moment came when i was approached by my boss just 4 work days into my return. He questioned me about my freelance work. And soon after that fired me. I have never been fired before. But all i can say is that it gave me such a feeling of freedom i don't think i can describe. I had no clue the weight i had felt being there until i was set free. Now just to clarify. I was extremely loyal to Xenas Beauty Company, and i would have given anything to help that place out. And i still see them as a family i was so blessed to have the past 7 yrs. But with all of my emotional growth this past summer, I think the best thing was them letting me go. I have been forced to face myself head on. And in a way realize my worth. I am so blessed to have Alexis Wheeler not only as someone i see as a mentor, but as someone who has taken me in and shown me that i can do anything. Being "unemployed" has been scary. But at the same time a beautiful challenge for me. 

I am a free bird that has had such an amazing chance to see the world from a new perspective. Day by Day i am more and more thankful for life. And for the opportunity to shed that skin that was so awkward and uncomfortable.