Curly Hair How-To

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/hairtut-1-4_zps3ee75b56.jpg" /><br />I'm really not that good at hair styling so I tend to have a few default settings: milkmaid braids, natural (which is straight) and curled. I'd love to figure out more vintage styles eventually like victory rolls or pin curls, but for now I'm just sticking to what I know. I've received a few requests for a tutorial on how I curl my hair so here you go.<br /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/hairhowto_zpsb66ad155.jpg" /><br />I think my bangs/fringe work best with straight hair, so I start by hiding the bangs before I curl my hair. I take a small section of longer hair from the left pull it across my forehead and secure it in place with a bobby pin.<br /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/hairhowto2_zps544c764d.jpg" /><br />I use a 3/4" curling iron and turn the iron towards my face. Hold the curling iron perpendicular to the ground to get the best ringlets. Even if your hair isn't layered, work at your hair in sections to give it variety. I curl larger sections of hair on the bottom and separate small pieces of hair on top to give it more movement. Once you've done one side of your head repeat on the other. For this style it isn't important that the curls are consistent or neat, it looks best when there's variety.<br /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/hairtut-1-5_zps557d8a71.jpg" /><br />That's it you're finished! Another trick is to turn your head upside down and shake out the curls a bit so they're less uniform and have more body while you apply some hairspray (I actually tried to photograph this but couldn't get the camera to focus so...). Anyway it's pretty simple, it just takes patience if your hair is thick.<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">*wearing <a href="http://rstyle.me/n/p89iehu7e" target="_blank">this dress</a> & <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/76040957/handcuff-and-heart-key-gold-necklace?ref=shop_home_active_1&ga_search_query=handcuff" target="_blank">this necklace</a> </span><br /><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a></div>

Curly Hair How-To

I'm really not that good at hair styling so I tend to have a few default settings: milkmaid braids, natural (which is straight) and curl...

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Milkmaid Braids Tutorial For Medium Length Hair

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/braids12of13_zps5bb27f67.jpg" /><br />I've gotten a couple of requests for an updated milkmaid braids tutorial with my shorter hair, so here you go. I'll probably try to shoot a video of it sometime, but hopefully the photo format is also helpful.<br /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/braids1of13_zpsda74415f.jpg" /><br />First off: you don't need long hair for milkmaid braids. Approximately shoulder length and with a few shorter layers will work--like my hair. If your hair is slightly shorter or you have more layers then try styling your hair when it is damp.<br /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/braids1_zpse6459db8.jpg" /><br />Start by dividing your hair into two parts and then braid each section. You want to braid your hair tightly at an angle pulling it towards your face/the front of your head. My braids typically go over my ears and sort of stick out at a angle.<br /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/braids6of13_zpsec67f5f0.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/braids7of13_zps43ae59bd.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/braids2_zps71e43b65.jpg" /><br />Once both sides are braided, use some bobby pins to pin them to the top of your head. I put bobby pins in from the back of the head towards the front. It usually takes me around five bobby pins to get everything to stay in place. If you hair is longer you can tuck the unbraided ends under the braids, but if it's slightly too short for that (like my hair) just bobby pin the ends together.<br /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1u/braids10of13_zps470d821b.jpg" /><br />That's it--you're set! If it feels unsteady then you can use some hairspray to secure it all in place. But as you can see it's still pretty simple even if your hair isn't Rapunzel length. To me this a very functional hairstyle; I like wearing it on hot or windy days when I don't want to deal with my hair getting in my face or super tangly, so I think it works even if your braids aren't the smoothest or longest. It's about convenience rather than elegance.<br /><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/" style="background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; line-height: 0; min-height: 20px; min-width: 40px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a></div>

Milkmaid Braids Tutorial For Medium Length Hair

I've gotten a couple of requests for an updated milkmaid braids tutorial with my shorter hair, so here you go. I'll probably try to ...

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Photo Tip Tuesday: There Is No Substitute For Time

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_6255-2_zpsf45222bd.jpg" /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Today I'm starting a weekly series of photography tips; specifically photo tips for personal style bloggers or other people who want to get better at taking their own pictures. The focus is self-portraits in a way, not always the most creative ones, but rather practical head-to-toe shots for amateurs like myself. When I've finished the series I'll compile everything into a master post for anyone looking to find all the tips quickly. Anyway, week one is less of a tip and more of an encouragement: great pictures don't take amazing equipment, or expert advice, but rather time. It's not just the amount of time you spend on a single photograph (although that helps), but also the amount of time you take experimenting and playing with photography in general--it's getting comfortable with the equipment you have, developing a style of images or preference for times to shoot, and getting accustomed to being in front of the camera. All of those things take time and can not be manifested overnight.<br />There's this great quote by Ira Glass that relates to this subject; "<i>Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me...there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.</i>" When you're just starting to take outfit pictures, or you just bought your first nice camera you want your images to look like the work you admire, but it won't. It isn't because you can't be as good as them, it's because you haven't put the time in yet. Half of any skill is practice--you didn't wake up one morning and decide you're going to be a astronomer and expect to mentally download every bit of information on the sky in a single week, or buy a fancy telescope and suddenly write a compelling work on what you've sighted through the lens--so why pressure yourself to be a photographic genius without practicing it routinely? Give yourself a break, acknowledge that you have to produce routine, mediocre work in the name of practice in order to improve (you can always delete those images later anyway!).<br /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/compare1_zpsea657976.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/compare4_zps2d3a0491.jpg" /><br />As a reference point, here are some pictures I took in my first year of blogging compared to the photographs I share regularly now. Yes, I have a nicer camera today, but it's so much more than the equipment that has improved. In my earlier pictures I also look awkward, my body language is not of someone comfortable and I'm almost always looking out of the frame. I'm trying interesting settings by sitting in a flower bed, or leaning against a tree, but the composition isn't that good and I'm shooting in the middle of the day, so the light isn't as soft as I now prefer it. I've stuck to the same basic themes, but I've learned to use natural lines in the background to lead the eye and add depth. In later weeks I'll talk more of the process of taking pictures, but for today the take away message is: give yourself time. The more you practice at taking pictures the better you will be--I still consider myself a work in progress and I'm learning new ways of playing with my settings, editing my pictures, and dealing with the outdoors every day.<br /><br />P.S. Since this a my first photo tip post, please feel free to chime in with the sorts of tips you'd like. Right now I'm planning on discussing everything from tools to posing; hopefully I can even bring in other bloggers down the line to add their tips and perspectives because photography styles can be as personal as the clothes you choose to wear.</div></div>

Photo Tip Tuesday: There Is No Substitute For Time

Today I'm starting a weekly series of photography tips; specifically photo tips for personal style bloggers or other people who want to ...

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V-Day Nails

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_7622_zpsa33dd357.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_7628_zpse3de0188.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_7632_zps06953859.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_7635_zps783a8332.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_7638_zpsb2c5b799.jpg" /><br />I've shared this nail tutorial before (with different colors) but it's my go-to for nails that look nice with minimal effort. Maybe it's all the candy and conversation heart packages that I see every time I go to the store, but I've been craving cute nails that look a bit like candy themselves; red and pink is also one of my favorite color combinations. Anyway, I used <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=ZeS/lRslpkc&subid=&offerid=256670.1&type=10&tmpid=719&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.sephora.com%252Fmini-paint-pot-nail-polish-P384912%253FskuId%253D1581420" target="_blank">Ciate</a> Candy Floss for the base (2 coats) and Ciate Boudoir for the tips (one coat). The pictures are fairly self-explanatory for how-to, just be certain to let your base coat fully dry before you apply the stickers.</div>

V-Day Nails

I've shared this nail tutorial before (with different colors) but it's my go-to for nails that look nice with minimal effort. Maybe ...

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