Earth Month: Sonya Dakar

I'm almost back in the USA, friends! Just a few more posts from Asia before I hop on a plane and cruise back home. Today's Earth Month post is devoted to one of my favorite skin care lines by Sonya Dakar, whose products have kept me hydrated and moisturized while I've been away. Sonya is a skin genius and I remember first being introduced to her by a friend who grew up on the West Coast, when I moved out here for college. That was when I was still skin naive, hardly used moisturizer because I thought it was going to make me break out, and didn't know what exfoliation was!

Since then, I've become a bit more skin savvy. As I've aged, my skin has changed a bit and I've tried to find things that work for each specific area. Sonya Dakar's products have been so major across the board for me and being 100% natural (fragrance free!!, no parabens!!, sulfate & detergent free!!) they make my skin feel like butter...in a non-greasy, delicious on top of your popcorn, kinda way.

The detox collection has been a travel savior for me this trip as my skin has dealt with plane rides that dried me out, heavily trafficked and polluted air, and humid (read: sweaty) weather, but with all of those transitioning elements, Sonya's products have kept my skin even keel. Take that, skin roller coaster!

Sonya Dakar Skin Clinic www.sonyadakarskinclinic.com Price – $12+ Varieties – moisturizers, exfoliators, sun care, anti-aging, masks, and eye care products.

Copycat: Charlotte Olympia Cat Bag DIY

When I saw these kitty clutches by Charlotte Olympia in December, I immediately fell in love and put them on my little vision board of things to remake.

The day is finally here!! With this fabulous black suede clutch, I have the perfect base to use as my copycat clutch. Get ready for this cat-tastic DIY!!

 I started off with a silver marker tracing the cat's features onto the bag. I trimmed out little templates for the eyes and used those to trace around.

Then the silver sketching kept going until all the kitty's features were drawn on!

With the tracing done, I added the ears to the top of the purse next. I trimmed out ear shapes from pieces of black and light metallic leather, cutting a smaller shape in the metallic shade and then gluing it to the larger black ear. I affixed the ears to the purse using a little E6000 glue and let them dry for a few hours.

Now it was time for more tracing, using a paint pen. I used Tulip's Beads in a Bottle pens for this one just to get a thicker consistency on the purse, but you could always use a Sharpie or Krylon paint pen or whatever you've got in your stash.

I made my way tracing over each area, leaving some dry time in-between just to prevent smudging.

I let the purse sit overnight to make sure all the paint was fully dry before moving on to the eyes.

To match the Charlotte Olympia purse, I found two gems in a lavender shade...

...and glued them to the center of the eyes.

My 'lil cat is all ready for some fun.

Hello, kitty!

I just loved how it turned out!

It has all the essence of the black acrylic Charlotte Olympia version...

...in a clutch form which I'm an even bigger fan of! I can use the fab handles or just grab the bottom of it.

With some paint, gems, and a steady hand, this clutch is purr-fect!!

Ooh, and did I mention that theirs is $995? Not too shabby completing this fun DIY for a just a few bucks!!

SPRING CLEANING WITH HALLS

I’m working with HALLS® today on a fun “gearing up for spring” piece. Spring is officially here (!!!) which means it’s time for that major cleaning sesh! I always use this time of the year to hold a serious wardrobe edit in my room.

Time to get crackin'!

Taking each piece out of the closet and putting them in one of three piles: YES, NO, or ON THE WARDROBE RACK – I like to substitute wardrobe rack for “fence” – feel me? It’s super cathartic to expunge pieces that haven’t seen the light of day in a while and put them into the donate pile.

Y/N/OTR

What comes along with this weekend of cleaning is not only a few bags of clothes to donate or bring to swap parties, but some INSANE allergy issues as well. You can’t even imagine the dust that accumulates in my closet – it’s like the more clothes I remove, the bigger the party the dust has in my room. It’s like a dust dance party and I’m sneezing along to the beat!

What to keep?

I have crap allergies to begin with and you guys have been so helpful in the past of sharing your allergy relief methods from eating local honey to ingest the same pollens from the area to build immunity to using Neti Pots and Zyrtec. October, when the Santa Ana winds plague Southern California, and May are my two nemesis months. They’re like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers, except they aren’t a cute, make-up covered, accent spilling Mike Myers. They’re invisible and like little blades to my sinuses. My usual cleaning routine is to take an Allegra D, open all the windows in my apartment to air it out while the massive clean is underway, and have water nearby to stay hydrated. This time I decided to add HALLS to the routine. I popped an Allegra along with a Honey & Lemon HALLS before my day o’ cleaning began to see how I’d feel.

HALLS to the rescue

I was still a sneezing fool as I picked and sorted through my pieces, but my head, which is usually throbbing, felt A-OK. Honestly, I was just waiting to feel crappy and it never happened. I have to say that for my first HALLS tester, I felt pretty good. Not only did I feel better than usual, my closet got cleaner, and I'm ready for all those pastel colors to emerge in my wardrobe! 

Ready for Goodwill!

So to help find new homes for the things I’m getting rid of, I’m giving away a little “grab bag” of goodies that I’m no longer using/wearing any more. I’ve got an assortment of jewelry, accessories, cosmetics, clothes, etc. that will be going to one lucky reader! To enter, leave a comment below of something that you’re looking forward to doing to gear up for spring! Perhaps you’re cleaning out your garage or getting a new haircut? The lucky winner will be announced April 15^th (a sweet treat on tax day!!).

HALLS Drops for Allergy Season When you have a cold, HALLS is the #1 cough drop that most people choose for effective relief. Did you know that the same HALLS you trust is also effective for allergy-related coughs and sore throats? Don’t let allergies get the best of you. Grab your allergy cough by the throat and try HALLS Cough drops or HALLS Breezers throat drops as a complement to your primary allergy medication regimen. Click here to learn more.