Training for a half marathon is hard enough, doing it with long, gnarly hair is even harder. We all know that it's healthier for your hair to be washed every other day or less. However, with my running schedule this summer I had to shower every day. I know this doesn't mean washing your hair every day, but  my fellow long-haired girls know that showering is a PROJECT with long hair. It takes forever to blow dry, and if you let it air dry it comes out ratty and snarly (or maybe that's just mine).

Basically, by the end of this summer, I was tired of my messy waves and ombre from last July. It was time for a change.

The plan was to do purple and ombre. As I looked on the internet more, I fell in love with the balayage effect.  However, I knew I had to wait until the end of the summer so I didn't go into my work and internship with purple hair. It turns out the store I work at didn't care, but I don't think it would fly at the House of Representatives. I'm glad I waited, because nothing beats going back to school with a new do. Also, the purple will fade in eight weeks, and I want to milk the purple on campus as much as possible. 

So, here is a picture that shows my long, dead-end ridden, lackluster, old ombre hair from this July. It also features a painting I somehow managed not to totally mess up. Yay paint nite!

This was the picture I showed the stylist:

My stylist, Colby form Fantastic Sams in Dracut, MA was AWESOME! He has YEARS of experience and was very knowledgeable about technique. He knew a lot about hair and how it reacts to different treatments, and made sure I had all of my best options for my hair.

To go from my drab to fab, it took four hours. However, it was so worth it. First, he lightened my hair at the tips and did baby highlights. I was blonde at phase one. After a wash and dry, the real color was applied. He dyed my roots and a few inches down from my roots a nice grey/silver with a touch of a smoky purple. Then, he did my tips and some highlights a bright purple. I am in LOVE!

I was so bored of having just my tips done. I had blonde tips for about four years on and off now. I think it's a more mature look.

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I'm also geeking out about the silver and grey. I chose purple because I wanted to go as bold as I could, however if I also adore the silver and platinum looks that are popular now.

I love the faded purple.

I say switching up your cut and color is the way to beat the summer. However, I always liked to be equipped with the right gear. My friends at Madison Reed have come up with the perfect summer survival checklist:

Have I inspired you to switch up your style yet? If so, I have all of the tools to help you. If I didn't do this crazy purple, I definitely would have done a natural shade either lighter or darker. However, I would've had no idea how to go about that. I would've referred to the Madison Reed color advisor. I did it hypothetically, and got many gorgeous golden brown recommendations. What did you get? Do you think you'll follow through with one? Comment below!

If you choose to dye your hair with their dye, make sure to use these awesome products:

Style + Tame Set

Semi Permanent Gloss

Why are we drawn to the colors red and pink on Valentines Day? I was so curious about this question, I took it to the only place that will give you a straight answer in this world: Google. I was very pleased with the historic context behind the answer! St. Valentine, the man behind the big day, was a martyr. Red represents the blood of a martyr. So, that's the "bloody" reason why everyone gravitate towards red on Valentines Day. I figured what better way to honor this martyr than to jump on the blogging bandwagon and do a red-lip inspired post.

However, like love, red lips don't deserve just one special day to be celebrated. I'm a firm  believer in a statement lip year-round. However, I also love pink lips, whether they be light or bright. I fit in a flirty pink lip into this post for my fellow pink lovers.

What look are you? I feel the most "myself" with a pink, flirty lip, and a flowy, flirty top and cardigan. Here are three directions to take this Valentines Day, by my top 3 lip product recommendations and outfit ideas!

1. The Classic Look

Sweater - $28 Blackfive

Necklace - $10 Amazon

Shoes  -$48 HEELS.com

Pants - $20 NEWLOOK.com 

Lips - Smashbox Lipgloss

2. The Flirty Look

Necklaces - $5.50 Etsy

Top - $20 Charlotte Russe

Pants  -$30 Blackfive

Booties - $98 TOMS

Lips - MAC Impassioned

3. The Vampy Look

Ear Cuffs - $35 Claires

Belt - $50 Pre-Owned Moschino

Dress - $50 ASOS

Jacket - $90 BONADRAG

Booties - $75 ASOS

Houndstooth Tights - $9.90 Forever 21

Lips - Revlon Just Bitten Kissable

I'm dying to know, what look are you? Comment below: classic, flirty, or vampy?

Smashbox Wondervision Lipgloss set (95$ value)

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/smashbox-wondervision-lip-gloss-set-limited-edition-95-value/3598206

It's not that pretty, but no mess is. I started with me in the middle. Then, I decided four categories that are important to me - Health, Writing, Experiences, and Relationships. Then, from these "sectors" of my life I picked out the details that were the most important to me.

Then, it discussed finding an overlap between your passions. I like health and nutrition/fitness, and I like to write and I'm decent at media production. But where does that intersect? The article said to either do something or just wait for inspiration. As for the professional part of my life, I decided to wait. I'm young, I have 3 and a half years left of my undergrad. However, I decided to make something new on my blog!

Here's where the challenge comes in! I'm so excited for this, I'm typing at the speed of light. I've always wanted to do something like a weekly series on my blog, this is my first try. Another one might arise soon, like beauty favorites or one to prepare for a perfect beach body.

Welcome to the "Be Your Valentine" weekly series! It's a great way to get into the valentines day spirit by loving the most important person in your life, yourself! Of course we all have our significant others, I have mine, but sometimes we have to show ourselves how much we really love and appreciate ourselves. This is INSPIRED by Karen and Katrina's "Love Your Body" series - but it's not copied! This challenge has to do with bettering yourselves and your mind, I'll leave the workouts to them. 

So, basically every week I want you to make two promises to yourself. One social promise, and one promise to try something new - simple as that. However you gotta stick to it all week and get back to me about it every week. I'll post every Friday. There are four more Fridays from now until V-day including V-day! There will be a chance to win a face mask, a revlon balm stain, and an inspirational card! Stay tuned for the result!

So, how do you join the challenge and giveaway? First connect with me. Follow this blog either on bloglovin or Google, follow me on twitter and instagram (n_vergak) and subscribe to my youtube. Also, you must comment only ONCE in the four weeks your personal goal and what you are going to try new, either on a blog post or on the youtube video!

This week, I pledged myself to stop waving off every idea in my head as another fleeting thought and actually do something. I never want to get stagnant in my life. Instead of just running every day and not having a set schedule for blogging, I decided to start doing more Zumba and the TIU challenge. And of course I decided to do this weekly series. I think this will be therapeutic, am I right?

I've always wanted to try "K-Nourish" Oatmeal/hot cereal. So, I grabbed two boxes of it and I tried it this morning with fresh strawberries. I liked it! It was brown sugar-y, warm, and filling. I also started doing Zumba classes! I wanted to keep active however I didn't want to get bored of running. In Zumba I work muscles, work up a sweat, and have a great time!

That's it! I hope you guys join in on this, comment below your two challenges or tweet/instagram me! Make sure you follow up for every challenge, EVERY FRIDAY!!

It comes fully equipped with directions on how to shade your smoky eye perfectly and what brushes to use. I haven't invested in any of their brushes yet, however I intend on it. You all should, too. Hopefully I can have them give me a discount code for all of you lovely readers! The colors in the palette are a dark "coal", a light and bright "frost", a light but smoky "platinum:, and a gold, warm "glimmer." The blush in the middle is called "snow glow." Now, with all of the directions and the colors with adorable names, we're ready to make the smoky eye. But how do we?

A Smoky Eye the Studio Gear Cosmetics Way: 

1. Prime your eyelids and brush "frost" from lash line to brow bone.

2. Apply "platinum" from lash line to the crease.

3. Make a v shape from the outer corners of your eye in with coal

4. Highlight your brow bone with "glimmer."

5. Blend it all together with a blending eyeshadow brush.

Here's my face when it's all finished!

I applied bb cream, blush, and bronzer, I filled in my eyebrows and I finished with a Revlon lipstick in "plum perfect." I'm very happy with how it all came out. I'm overall satisfied with the studio gear cosmetics palette. With the useful colors, and helpful steps I'll definitely be looking into purchasing more from the website. If you're interested as well, (and you should be), here's the contact info:

link for the palette: http://studiogearcosmetics.com/shop/eye-make-up/holiday-smokey-eye-palette/

website: http://studiogearcosmetics.com/

twitter: @SGearCosmetics

instagram: studiogearcosmetics

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StudioGearCosmetics

WANT A DISCOUNT CODE ON THS MAKEUP KIT? USE DOLLAR13 FOR 10% OFF!!

Here's my video using this palette in live action!

The benefits I speak of, as you can see,is 40% off STOREWIDE! yes, that means the entire site, any frames are 40% off. There's something about fall that makes you want to put on some stylish specs to brace the chilly weather, right? Firmoo is your place to access this, just use the discount code 4YEARS at checkout. Hurry now to stock up for the fall, you only have until September 8th, then the party ends. Also, from September 2nd to September 8th, by sharing the page for their story and anniversary, you will be entered into their lucky draw. Will you have the luck of the draw?

I highly recommend clicking the link to check out their story, their styles, and most importantly check out a pair of glasses! Congratulations Firmoo, you've been great to work with and I hope to continue working with you. I wish you the best of success. Thanks for reading guys and check back often!

BTW - I'm typing this from my campus library! First day of classes look and dorm tour soon. Let me know if you want to see a college style series!

If you couldn't tell from the before-and-after above, I, as people would say nowadays "chopped my hair off." That's not all, though. It also dyed it just a bit darker! Basically I went to the salon because 1. my hair was getting way too long, and 2. I had a gift card for there. So I knew I wanted to go darker, and my stylist showed me a chestnut color with a tint of red, and a more brunette color. We decided to mix the color for a shiny, trichromatic result, and oo la la! I knew I wanted just a little below shoulder length, so that's what I got, with under layering for a little movement. It's a bit shorter than I imagined, but I can't go wrong with all of the celebrities rocking shorter locks nowadays such as Carey Mulligan, Miley Cyrus, and of course Anne Hathaway. I guess as my stylist said, she styled the "new me" for college. The keep up is easy with me moving away to college because demi-permanent shades actually last longer. I'll be sure to be using my color protectant shampoo!

So, now that my hair is shorter it's definitely easier to maintain - less drying time, sometimes even the natural shine and movement needs not to be styled. At least I can just throw on a headband or bow! However I ask myself, if I were to style it, how would I? Here's some advice for ladies with short hair and breaking the day to day drab!

1. All About the product

picture from crushbeauty.com

Just by teasing your hair with some sea salt spray, or texturing cream (I recommend Not Your Mother's), you can add some pizzaz! That's what so great about short hair - a little goes a long way. Not only can you tease it, but adding some dry shampoo at the tip adds volume instantly. 

2. Woah There Waves

photo from tumblr.com

Anne Hathaway flawlessly proves here that there's no length limit for wavy or curly hair. It adds movement to hair, making you instantly look sexy. You can do the ol' leave the braids in over night trick or break out your curling iron or wand to make loose curls. Do a side french-braid or add a headband for an effortless boho look.

3. Accessorizing is key!

 It's the ageless fix for either a bad hair day, or a fix for a boring look. A colorful or design-clad hair tie, bow, headband, or scarf is to go-to's for hair accessories. The best thing about hair accessories is the unlimited variety of styles you can pull off. Depending on the color scheme and pattern, you can pull off anything from edgy to boho to classy. And of course they work with all hair types - especially short! If your hair is straight or curly, the right accessory will pull the look together. 

Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear feedback about my hair! Do you have a similar story? Comment, below, email me, or tweet me!

Listen: One Direction - Best Song Ever 

             Red Hands - Walk Off The Earth

 

When it comes to post-beach hair care, or getting those Sel Gomez style beachy waves sans-sand, Not Your Mother's products take the cake! This whole week I've been using my texturizing cream religiously after I come home from the beach! Just leave your hair in a topknot or braid and lt it dry in it. Then, let your hair down and scrunch your hair with the cream, or spray the sea salt spray and scrunch as well. You'll get effortless beachy locks. I like the idea of using all natural ingredients such as sea kelp and sea salt. When you squeeze the cream in your hand, you can reassuringly feel the sea salt. The texturizing spray can be used year-round for hair that needs some sultry waves or extra hold. Both products are $5.99 at ULTA or sold in drug stores!

2.  

Don't just leave all the moisturizing to the conditioner and shampoo1 Argan oil and moroccan oil are the best known moisturizer for hair. Of course oily hair and skin is something to avoid, but the right amount of the the right type of oil applied to hair or skin can make it shine just enough and moisturize it! I apply a dollop of this argan oil and run it through my hair before I blow dry or air dry it, after my shower of course. It's just that extra bit of reassurance. I snagged this at TJ maxx for only $6.99!

So, there's my beachy waves regimen. Shower with the products, apply your oil of choice product, and sea salt it up after the beach. my last suggestion is to avoid using heat. Beachy waves are all about embracing the natural curls of your hair. Here's my beachy hair:

Before:

After:

As I was spending my last week in the beautiful city of Honolulu, Hawaii, I was obviously in and out of the water. Wet, beachy hair can be some girls' worst nightmare, especially if beachy waves just don't happen for your hair. I share your pain, beachy waves just translates to frizzy locks for me. It's the struggle between wanting to dip in the beautiful aqua waters and go out after but not wanting to look like a wet dog. Here's two easy hairstyles that don't require any blow-drying so you can go from the beach and dinner in a reasonable amount of time.

1. The Queen's Crown

Don't fret, this look isn't as stuffy as it sounds. It's really simple. First, put your hair in a high ponytail. Then, either take a hair donut or the sock you use to make your sock bun, and bring it all the way to the root of your pony tail. Next, Try to spill your hair evenly over the donut, and secure that bun shape with another hair elastic. Braid the remaining hair and wrap it around your bun. Viola, your queen's crown! This is one of my new favorite looks. 

2. The Princess's Tiara