Let's Try Something New: Dark Lips

Madewell tee and sunnies, Free People corduroy jeans, Superga sneakers, Topshop jacket, beanie and rings, and Lionette NY necklace

I am one of those people who absolutely despises when anything changes.  I don't like starting a new school year, a new job, a new tv show. I don't even like changing the way things are organized in my room. I just like to stick to the old, the comfortable, the method of living that I know won't have a negative outcome.  Now, changing a lipstick color doesn't exactly seem like an extreme change, but considering I absolutely despised lipstick until about last year and since then have only worn neutral shades, this might as well be a complete life overhaul for me.

Seeing as this is new territory, I made sure to do my research.  I read a lot of blog posts and watched a lot of videos on how to wear a dark lip, and I found a lot of conflicting opinions. One of the most helpful was Michelle Phan's video on dark lips for different skin tones. However, I was still cautious, so I decided to go for a drug store brand instead of a more high end product in case something went horribly wrong.  I ended up mixing together Maybelline's Super Stay 14 Hour lipstick #100 'Wine and Forever' and Maybelline's Color Whisper #85 'Berry Ready'.  

Against my mother's wishes (which she knew I would completely ignore anyway), I wore the lipstick to school last week with this exact outfit and actually got a lot of compliments.  I think I might even wear it out again.  I would say, overall, my dark lips experiment was a success.  Have you tried anything new lately? 

xo, Sophie

Reader Request! How To: The Messy Fishtail Braid

So, this post is going to be a bit different from what I usually do.  I have been wearing quite a lot of fishtail braids lately, as you can tell, and they have pretty much been my go-to hairstyle every day since swim team season has started and my hair is constantly wet.  A couple of weeks ago, a reader of my blog asked me to make a tutorial on how I make my fishtail braids.  I know there are already a lot of other braid tutorials online, but I guess this reader really likes the way I do mine specifically, so I have decided to attempt to make a tutorial. I have never made a video before, so this certainly took me a while to figure out, but I think I may have made something that will help you out if you are struggling to make a fishtail braid. 

I was originally planning on talking you through the steps in this video, but after I filmed it, it seemed kind of long and boring, so I have decided to just show you with little descriptions to keep it nice and short.  In case my video isn't enough help, some videos that have helped me include those by Zoella, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Into The Gloss, and A Beautiful Mess.  If you like my video and maybe want to see some other videos (I once had someone ask me to show them how I scrunch my hair into little curls without heat), please leave me a comment on here or over on my video/subscribe to my channel to let me know that you would like to see more videos.  I would really appreciate any feedback you have for me as I am obviously new to this (I even uploaded the video a couple of days before I wrote this to make sure I could do it properly!)  Enjoy! 

Some time next week I am going to do a post with a bunch of pictures and videos from my experience at Teen Vogue Fashion University, which I can not wait to share with you! Have a great week:)

xo, Sophie