Washington: Roozengaarde during daffodil season

Seattle is currently gearing up for the possible return of Snowmaggedon, or heavier-than-usual snowfall that brings the city to a slippery skidding slowdown as the various hills that comprise the landscape of Seattle is rapidly transformed into hazardous slides leaving drivers and city crews to cope with the ensuant chaos. Businesses close or alter their hours as their teams are able to safely navigate their way in or are not so able to. Of course, all this slippery icy terrain is exceptionally beautiful as Seattle glistens under a blanket of frost, so it's tempting to go out and explore despite the potential risks. Also, given that the terrain varies wildly from one neighborhood to the next, some parts of town keep moving along smoothly while others come to a frigid halt as accessibility goes down. While it snowed a little earlier today, it was only a light dusting that set about to dripping away shortly after landing, but the portents are there. Winter is here, and snow is coming. 

Given the deep chill settling into the air around us, it's probably understandable that I'd rather reflect back on some sunny spring days when the daffodil fields were ablaze with the brilliant yellow flowers as the sun beat down, glowing warmly in the sky above. To partake in the sight yourself, you'd have to drive North of Seattle on I-5 for roughly an hour to Mount Vernon, where Roozengaarde resides. The farm is fairly easy to find using your maps and the information provided by their website, and parking is fairly ample, though I imagine it will fill up during peak visiting season and hours. I went on a weekday and the gardens were still quite bustling with a wave of visitors, soaking in the sunlight and admiring the assortment of blooms decorating the expansive grounds. Admission was only $7 at the time of my visit, though it may go up during their Tulip season, where the rainbow blooms are not only incredibly beautiful but exceptionally popular and bring in visitors from all over the region. After my own meandering stroll through the grounds, I can definitely understand the appeal, it was stunning! I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and would recommend anyone go at least once, and if Roozengaarde is full there are other, smaller farms nearby that would love to host you! After my time here, I headed towards Deception Pass for a hike, and during the drive, I passed several farms, one with a very friendly little lady waving excitedly as I drove by. Pretty idyllic scenery, for sure, and a wonderful respite from the hustle and bustle of the city, and the cold. Should you find yourself nearby, I absolutely recommend checking them out! Just, if you do, mind the signs. Please. They exist for a reason. Don't be like these assholes! You're a visitor, and the signs exist for a reason, so respect the signs and keep things pretty for everyone! 💘

Beauty: Purple hair 2018

By this stage in the game, it should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that I'm a big fan of changing up my hair. I've had accidentally green hair thanks to Lime Crime's Charcoal dye, neon orange-red with Lime Crime's Leeloo dye, outright buzzed my hair off when I got sick of the bleach blonde, had purple-pink pigtails, tried Manic Panic's Electric Lizard Green (with bangs!), rocked faded turquoise and minty-green strands, channeled multiple Sailor Moon characters with both pastel pink and bright turquoise, gone bright blonde, and even rocked the ombre thing way back when, so changing my hair is a common occurrence. These days, I've been trying to avoid bleaching all the way up to my scalp because it's just not a fun or enjoyable situation. Have you ever bleached your roots? It's tingly stinging weirdness that feels very much like the chemical burn it is, so if I don't have to go to my scalp to rock the colors I love, I won't. Also, I'm lazy, guys. Do you know how much work it is to try to maintain platinum blonde when your natural hair color is a dark brown? Hair grows, a lot, and you've got to stay on top of your touch-ups or you're going to have a very visible situation in no time. 

So, lately, I've been making the best of my bleached ends and faded ombre to throw darker colors over top. I've been alternating between different shades of purples and pinks, whether it's Lime Crime's Pony or Special Effects Wildflower, they all play well together after a little fading. There's less upkeep, too, as these shades seem to stick around more on my hair than the pastel tones, though there's also the much better quality of water in Washington compared to Vegas to consider here. Antho helped, which, naturally, stained his hands a bit.  

I've really enjoyed rocking the purple shades! While I know that purple will no longer be the color of the year going into 2019 (it's coral), it's still a favorite of mine. I'll keep rocking it when it feels right!

Thanks for popping in!

💘

XOXO,

NAU

10 Things I Love on Etsy November 2018

It has, unfortunately, been a bit of a while (uh, since May, guys) since I've done one of these posts cataloging some of my favorite Etsy finds from the prior month. This has not been by choice, mind you, but more due to principle: Your girl Nau has been way, waaaaaay too busy working on making that money to worry about the idle ways in which to spend it... I know, a shame, but I'm back at it with this post and happy to share some of my sexiest finds from the Etsy-sphere!

Let's get started!

1. ROSE QUARTZ moon ring size Us, made to ORDER, raw jewelry, copper electroformed, crescent moon, knuckle ring, midi stacking, moon phases

Um, have we ever talked about how much I love gemstones? I can prattle on for a ridiculously long time about how much I adore the sunny shades of citrine or the soothing purple of amethyst, but who can resist pretty-in-pink Rose Quartz?! It's such a feminine, gorgeous shade of pink and the stone itself is symbolic of love, both that ever-rare love of self-acceptance or unconditional external love, rose quartz is all about the warm and fuzzy feelings.  Anything lunar is a guaranteed win in my book, too, so, naturally, I can't resist this gorgeous hand-made moon ring! 

2. CRYSTAL PIPE - Lunar Blue Goldstone gemstone pipe, boho smoking pipe, psychedelic smoking bowl, rainbow galaxy pipe, gift

Yoooo, get your chakras right with this gem-stone pipe! The shop is currently on break, but you might be able to catch them again soon so if you dig this piece give it a favorite and Etsy should notify you when they're back online! 

3. Mandarin Mimosa 9oz Soy Candle - Classic Collection

This Mandarin mimosa soy candle is right up my alley this winter. I've been burning so many candles, and luxuriating in their fragrances to the best of my ability. As a partial anosmiac, I don't have a very strong sense of smell to cull from, but working with essential oils and mindfulness I've been able to bring a little more depth to a sense I normally never noticed. This has given me the ability to appreciate a whiff of vanilla from a candle where before I might have simply gotten a headache, so this new appreciation for all this scentsual has brought on a strong desire to sniff ALL the candles! And this particular candle fuses many of my favorites, "like mandarin oranges, pineapple, and peaches blended with mimosa blossoms, soft lavender and vanilla." Ohhhh yes. Doesn't that sound delightful?!

4.Get Lost Hard Enamel Pin, Mountain Pin, Adventure Pin, Explore Pin, Hiking Pin, Cute Funny Pin, Nature Pin, Let's Get Lost, Stocking Filler

OMG! Is this pin not the cutest?! It's got one of those goofy silhouette birds we all learned to draw as kids, trees, mountains, and that wanderlust spirit we all know and love. 

5. Dark Blue Hair Dye

This hair dye has long been on varying wishlists of mine, and now that I know the shop and I share a city, I'm all the more inclined to buy it! The hardest part is trying to decide which of their gorgeous shades I want to try, but luckily they do offer multipacks, either in the form of their astronomy-themed lines like the Moon pack (shades of grey) or the Split Dye packs for people who want to try the edgy half and half look. 

6. Magenta Pink Angel Aura Healing Crystal Necklace -Turquoise Gold Dipped Rainbow Bullet Pastel Boho-Galaxy Natural Quartz Jewellery -Stone

Is this necklace magical or what?! I'm a total sucker for gemstones, and pendants, and necklaces, so this is a natural fit. I love how irridescent and refractive the stones are!

7. Watermelon Crossbody Bag

This watermelon crossbody bag is ridiculously cute. Not only does it fuse the fruity fresh and cute flavor of summer into any damn season you want it to, but it's practical! Carry your phone, your chapstick, and other goodies in this fresh and fun tote! 

8. Raw crystal necklace Healing crystal necklace Angel Aura Quartz Necklace Opal crystal necklace Rainbow quartz point Unicorn crystal gold

WOW! So, obviously I'm a fan of crystals, right? Isn't the blue-reflect on this stone GORGEOUS?! With that pretty gold chain it's all the more classy. These would make a wonderful gift for that crystal loving boho-spirit in your life!

9.  Crescent Moon Ring, Half Moon Ring, Zodiac Ring HSRMOON

Ok, so not only is this crescent moon ring ridiculously lovely, but you get to choose what metal you want it made with! So if you're more into silver, or rose gold, never fear, this shop has got you covered, in style, naturally. 

10.

Handcrafted Exfoliating Sugar Scrub - Japanese Kumquat/ Body Scrub / Natural Body Scrub / Vegan / Soothing/ Smoothing/ Inspirational/Citrus

And last but not least, this beauty rounds out the round-up. I'm obviously going hard on that winter citrus theme, with Japanese kumquat scented sugar scrub helping freshen up our senses during the long-grey season. 

What do you think? Did you find any new favorites among my round-up of this season's favorites? Hope you enjoyed this list! Cheers!

💖

XOXO,

NAU

Makeup: Colourpop Supershock Shadows Swatches

Who doesn't love some new makeup in their lives? I tend to invest in some new makeup a handful of times throughout the year, if that, and this year has been especially minimal in terms of new purchases. Last year I was swooping up all sorts of Velvetines and liquid lippies and palettes (most of which I haven't reviewed yet), but for most of 2018 I've only picked up new makeup second hand (Antho brings me home something new he found) or out of necessity (ran out of mascara)... but it's been quite some time, and I felt like I needed to #treatmyself since I was starting to hit pan on some of my most used eyeshadows...that's the fancy way of saying that I've used so much of the particular shades in my palettes that I'm starting to unearth the bottom of the pan holding the powder. 

Naturally, Colourpop had a BOGO (buy one get one) sale and caught my eye. I'm always happy to score a good bargain, and Colourpop cosmetics already have a reasonable price point at $5 for each supershock shadow pan. They're pretty big! I got four eyeshadows for $10, plus $5.99 for shipping, which means I spent about $16 of my hard earned cash total for these. Not bad, guys, not bad. I picked up four colors: Bill, Kennedy, Set to Stun and Girly. I took close up photos in the sunlight to better showcase their colors because boy howdy are these beautiful to look at!

Set to Stun is a cool pinky-orange tone with blue and silver sparkles that I'm super excited to pack onto the center of my lid for an ethereal bling effect. It's described as an "icy rose" with blue glitter and that's totally accurate, I think. It's SO FREAKING PRETTY! I'm definitely planning to use this one often. 

Kennedy is right in line with all the warm, peachy tones profligating through various palettes- whether it's Lime Crime Venus II's "Mud" or Too Faced's Sweet Peach palette's "Puree", or one of the shades from Urban Decay's Heat, or countless other's- I think this will be a great crease and lid color for simple, warm toned looks. Given the consistency of this product, I'm also really excited to try layering it with my Sugarpill loose powder in Supernova! It's also going to be really easy to incorporate this one into my routine, so that's nice. 

Bill is this cool mauve matte tone that reminds me of Urban Decay Naked3's "Nooner", which is one of the colors I've depleted heavily. The consistency, again, is really creamy and rich and I'm super excited to use this as an all-over eye color with maybe some smudged eyeliner, mascara, and simple inner corner highlight. So in love with this! Could also say it's a pinker version of "Divine" from the Lime Crime Venus I palette. 

Girly is a hard one for me to try to swatch, because it pretty much dissolves into my skintone like butter on toast. Pale girl problems. It has this really pretty shifting gold-pink tone to it that I'm totally smitten with! I got this to try to use as an inner corner and brow highlight, but I think there's more possibilities with this one, so I'll have to experiment. This color is super pretty and reminds me of the color "Aura" in my Lime Crime Venus I palette with a little less chromatic effect.  

The texture on these is SO much fun! Oh my goodness. It's like a smooth, buttery cream and you only need to apply a little pressure to get a lot of color payout. I'm super excited to play with these and try all sorts of looks! I definitely had a palette in mind when ordering these, as the colors are going to work with all the palettes I already own- Too Faced's Sweet Peach Palette, Urban Decay Naked3, Lime Crime Venus I & Venus II. I tend to burn through my go-to shades pretty quick and have hit pan in a few of the colors close to these, so if these work out for me I'll be super happy. It's recommended that you use your fingers to apply for best results, so that's where I'm going to start. I've watched some Youtube videos and sought out blogs and reviews on them, too, to get an idea before diving in. Colourpop is an affordable brand and has sales pretty regularly, so there's no reason to feel intimidated by trying them! And holy cow their color selection is INSANE! They also recommend making sure you close the lids on super tight so the product doesn't dry out... it really has such a fun, wet to the touch consistency that it would be a shame to lose that. I'll be sure to follow up with some looks using these over the next few months. 

Thanks for stopping by!

💖

XOXO,

NAU

Kyoto Day 4- Bamboo forest

While a leisurely stroll among nature is long known to be relaxing, the Japanese have gone so far as to not only give the practice a name (shinrin-yoku) but studied it extensively. From the shinrin-yoku forest medicine website:

"Shinrin-yoku is a term that means "taking in the forest atmosphere" or "forest bathing." It was developed in Japan during the 1980s and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine. Researchers primarily in Japan and South Korea have established a robust body of scientific literature on the health benefits of spending time under the canopy of a living forest. Now their research is helping to establish shinrin-yoku and forest therapy throughout the world. 

The idea is simple: if a person simply visits a natural area and walks in a relaxed way there are calming, rejuvenating and restorative benefits to be achieved. "

However much stock you put into such claims,  the bamboo forest in Kyoto is one exceptionally lovely (albeit smaller than I had anticipated) locale to partake in some soothing plant-gazing and walking. Depending when you visit, there may be crowds of people milling around, dispelling the illusion of solitude quickly. I happened to visit during a relatively quiet time, and managed to snap these. When a van rolled through the narrow lane it really helped to illuminate just how tall these bamboo shoots are... bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants, is it not? 

If your visit finds you here on a slow day, you'll be able to enjoy the sound of the wind rippling among the towering flora.  If it's summer, the cicada will join in to bolster the chorus. 

Who knows, maybe, just maybe, you'll feel rejuvenated, too.

Hair, May 2015: Pink ombre fun

I currently have pink hair.

And I'm okay with this.