Shrinkage 101

Hey everyone! Welcome to Shrinkage 101 class. Today’s lesson will teach you about what shrinkage is and how to manage it.

1) What is shrinkage?

When your wet hair starts to decrease in length as you hair dries. Your curls/kinks get tighter and usually more defined.

Dry hair

Wet hair

2) Is shrinkage good or bad?

Shrinkage shows how elastic and bouncy your hair is and shows how tough your hair is against breakage. So it’s a good thing!

3) How do i control shrinkage?

There are 2 main ways to control shrinkage: straigthening and stretching. The straightening method is when you use a blowdryer or flat iron to straighten your curls, which adds length to you hair. This usually requires heat to be applied to the hair, which I try to avoid.

That’s why I prefer the stretching method; which is elongating your hair by using a specific hairstyle or hair tool. Hair tools you can use are curlformers, rollersets, and flexirods which are all items that curls your kinky hair.

Hairstyles you can do include the pineapple method, which is similar to a ponytail and the twistout/braidout method in which you twist or braid you hair, when wet, to help elongate your curls. My twistout is shown below.

4) Enjoy your hair!

Do what works best for you and your hair. What works for one 4c chica may not work for you. Also, drink a lot of water to keep your body and hair nourished!

Hope this mini hair lesson was fun and informative. Have a great rest of your week lovelies!

Hello 2019!

Happy New Year! ❤

Welcome to 2019! Today is page 1 of 365 in your blank book. How do you plan on filling up the pages of your book?

Do you plan on going back to school? Do you want to finally take that leap of faith by moving to a new state? Do you want to travel more than last year? Do you want to face one of your biggest fears this year?

Whatever it is that you want to do, go for it! Don’t let anyone or anything get in your way of achieving the tasks and goals you want to obtain this year.

In this post I will share my list of goals/tasks I want to achieve in 2019. Remember that you should have a few goals you want to achieve this year, but also maintain balance in regards to your goals. Don’t stress yourself out or overwhelm yourself trying to do so many goals at once. Take things slow and stay focused on specific tasks and everything will work out. Take a look at my list below.

2019 Goals

1) Figure out/research what career I want and take steps towards it

In October 2017, I moved to LA to follow my dreams of getting into the fashion and entertainment world. It was a huge leap of faith, but I am happy I did it. I’ve already been promoted and I can only go up from here. But this year I really want to discover my passion and work towards that in order to make something I love my lifelong career.

2)  Get Driver’s License

A self explanatory goal lol. I’m 24 and don’t have my license yet which isn’t a terrible thing, but I do want to be able to drive sooner rather than later!

3) Read a book a month/more books in general

I have so many books in my house on a variety of topics. I have books on exercise and health, self-help and lifestyle, fashion, art, and so much more. I didn’t make time to read them in 2018 so 2019 will be the year I read a lot more.

4) Pick up a new skill

I want to learn a new skill because learning, growing, and changing is amazing. I might try a new form of exercise like dance or aerial yoga. Maybe I will try my hand at photography or painting or learning a new language. I want a new skill that will be beneficial to me and fun at the same time.

5) Get a video camera

I want to make videos for my own Youtube channel and I want to take better pictures for my blog here and for my Instagram @Coralbuttons as well. To do those things I need a great camera so getting one is on the agenda for this year.

6) Continue to practice self-love and self-care daily

Another self explanatory goal, but this one is super important. I already consider myself a positive and happy person, but theres always room for improvement and for more positive energy. I plan on continuing to meditate, do yoga and treat myself to personal days to feel refreshed. Take time for yourself and your body, you need it lovelies!

What did you think of my goal list? Let me know in the comments below your own goal list for 2019! Have a great year everyone!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that you are enjoying your day with your friends and family!

This time can be joyous and full of fun and laughter and it can also be hard for some people who can’t be with their families or don’t have any family to spend time with.

I just wanted to let you know that you are strong and loved! Even if you are alone on Christmas today or not feeling the best, brighter and better days are coming.

Take a walk, start reading a book that you’ve been wanting to read, jot down some inspirational notes in your journal, or say a few reasons why you are thankful today. Clearing your mind and taking some time to do something beneficial for yourself will make you feel better.

I just wanted to drop some holiday motivation for you lovelies today. Stay beautiful and happy holidays!

#OOTD

Hey hey!

This #ootd is actually from my birthday which was November 18th, but life has been a little busy since then with Thanksgiving and flying back home to Maryland from LA to visit my family! 🙂

I don’t have many pictures from visiting my family because I was trying to focus on spending time with everyone and staying disconnected from social media as much as I could.

I did however take a lot of pictures on my birthday so I hope you like my outfit pictured throughout this post!

This dress was actually given to me by one of my previous coworkers…thanks Kelly! It fits great and it is super flattering.

I got my blue heels from Macys last year for my birthday and I thought that it would be a cool tradition to wear them every year on my birthday until I forget or outgrow them lol.

On my birthday, Shawn and I just went to the movies and out to eat at a restaurant called Sizzler. Have any of you eaten there before? It was yummy!

I am blessed to see another year and sorry for the late post showcasing this outfit, but let me know in the comments below if you like it! Enjoy your week lovelies!

Visiting the LA Zoo

Happy Saturday! Hope you are enjoying your weekend so far.

As you all know I am trying to explore my new state more so I decided to take a trip to the LA Zoo.

I saw flamingos in shades of white and pink, of course. Most of them were sunbathing, swimming, or sleeping.

I also saw adorable little meerkats. They were super active. They were wrestling each other and running all over the exhibit.

This zebra was actually eating the grass and leaves nearby the railing so I was able to get pretty close to it.

I also discovered an animal I never saw before called a gerenuk. It looks like a long neck deer and I thought it was a cutie.

The highlight of my zoo trip was feeding Philip the giraffe! I never fed a giraffe before so I was a little nervous, but also very excited. Philip was a sweetie and was super hungry.

I saw more animals than the ones pictured here, but these were a few of my faves. There were also a lot of animals I didn’t get to see, but that just means I have to come back again!

If you are ever in the LA area I reccomend taking a trip to the LA Zoo. You can make it a family affair or a day date, either way, you will have a great time.

Smorgasburg LA!

Last Sunday I decided to take a trip to a place here in LA that I’ve been wanting to visit for some time called Smorgasburg!

If you are like what in the world is that, let me explain. Smorgasburg is held every Sunday in downtown LA from 10 am to 4 pm. A bunch of local shopping, food, and drink vendors set up tents to sell their amazing food or awesome merchandise.

Attending Smorgasburg is also a great date idea! It’s lowkey, fun, and you get to try out new food and drinks.

I found out about Smorgasburg on Instagram when I saw numerous pictures showing delicious looking desserts and drinks and I knew I had to visit. I love all things shrimp so I knew I had to stop by the Shrimp Daddy booth to get a meal and I’m so happy I did.

The meal left me speechless. Take a look at it below:

I ordered a pineapple boat which is grilled shrimp, mac salad, rice with curry paste, and pineapple chunks served in half a pineapple. The plating is beautiful and it tastes delicious. I definitely reccomend trying it out if you attend Smorgasburg.

To finish off my meal I got a yummy, mango ice cream cone from Wanderlust creamery. I give it a 10/10!

I decided to wear a dressy casual look to the event. I paired a black and white polka dot, crop top from H&M with skinny jeans from Topshop, and black heels from Nordstrom Rack.

I also rocked a sporty fannypack from FashionNova. What do you think of my #LOTD #OOTD? Let me know in the comments below. Also tell me if you’ve visited Smorgasburg and have a fave food spot or plan to go, I want to go again!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

One year LA Anniversary!

Just four days ago was my 1 year anniversary of moving to LA. It’s crazy to think that I’ve already been living here for a full year. It really flew by! This post is going to be a timeline of a few of my favorite LA moments over this past year. Enjoy!

Moving to LA – 10/22/17

Visiting Echo Park – 10/31/17

Visiting The Grove – 11/3/17

First birthday in LA – 11/18/17

First holiday season in LA – 12/8/17

New year, new look – 1/1/18

First rainy day in LA – 1/8/18

Visiting Griffith Observatory – 1/16/18

Visiting the Love Wall in Beverly Hills – 2/8/18

First Valentine’s Day in LA/Visiting the Natural History Museum – 2/14/18

Attending my first wedding – 4/21/18

Celebrating my 6 year Anniversary – 4/25/18

Visiting Santa Monica – 5/4/18

Visiting La Brea Tar Pits – 6/6/18

Attending Janelle Monae concert – 6/28/18

Visiting Manhattan Beach – 7/10/18

Visiting Little Tokyo – 7/24/18

Visiting the Beverly Hills Sign – 8/9/18

Hiking to the Secret Swing in Elysian Park – 8/23/18

Visiting Universal Citywalk – 9/27/18

The adventure continues – 10/2618

Hope you enjoyed traveling through time with me and I look forward to bringing you all on many more journeys! Have a lovely weekend!

Hair Spotlight: Marley Twists

Happy Friday!

Today I wanted to showcase my most recent hairstyle, Marley Twists!

I’ve been getting my hair braided/twisted by other people for the past few years and I realized that I save money by doing my own hair and it’s also a cool skill to have. After numerous youtube videos and attempts, I’ve begun to master doing protective styles on my own hair.

This is actually my first time twisting my hair, the other times before this I did box braids. The purpose of the twists is to be a protective style for my natural hair, meaning it gives my real hair a break. My hands aren’t constantly in my hair and my hair grows while it’s in the twists.

It took me almost 7 hours to do this marley twist style so if you are planning on learning how to do your own hair, make sure you set aside one of your days off to do it and have a few movies or tv shows to binge while doing it.

I would eventually love to do a video showcasing me doing my own hair. Stay tuned for that!

What protective styles do you like? Let me know in the comments below. Have a great weekend!

Dresses are my fave!

One clothing item I could wear forever are dresses! They are so easy to wear and have a style for every occasion. Want to go for a walk, but still look cute, wear a sundress. If you are going to a party, wear a cocktail dress. Attending a black tie wedding, a fit and flare gown will look gorgeous!

Any event you need to attend, you can wear a dress for that occasion. I wore the dress pictured in this post is for a dinner date with my boyfriend Shawn. I wanted to wear something flattering, but also fun. The bold pattern on my dress, paired with the pop of orange makes this a stylish look. The best part of this dress is that it has pockets!

All my ladies know that we love when dresses have pockets, it makes the outfit 10 times better 🙂

I actually recieved this dress as a gift from one of my former coworkers so I’m not sure how much it cost. The shoes I paired with the dress are white BP flats from Nordstrom that cost around $20. 

What’s a clothing item you could wear forever and never get tired of? Maybe it’s a dress for you to or maybe it’s button up shirts; let me know in the comments below. And don’t forget to relax and stop and smell the flowers often!l

California Crop Top

Can you believe that September is almost over and in a few days it will be the first day of fall!? It’s crazy because in LA it still feels like summertime.

It’s been consistently in the 80’s or high 70’s these days. That’s why the outfit shown below is perfect for a sunny, September day.

I wore a blue crop top with the word California on it, adorbly decorated with flowers and butterflies. I paired my crop top with denim cut-off shorts and yellow Vans to accent the flowers in my top.

My top is $15 from Topshop, my shorts were $20 from Forever 21 and my Vans were a gift!

I recently realized that I don’t smile often in my pictures, so I made the decision to smile during every photosession from now on. I can have more serious photos taken as well, but I want to make sure I get a few smiling shots in the mix since it is outside of my comfort zone.

I love my smile, but for some reason I just don’t feel like I photograph well when I’m smiling, so I want to break down that wall I have on myself and challenge myself to embrace my smile more in pictures.

I posted the pictures featured in this post on IG @coralbuttons, so if you follow me you saw my caption saying: “Smile more, #lifeisgood” and it’s true so smile and make the most out of your day everybody!

Is there something you want to improve on when it comes to your style or your photos? Let me know in the comments below!