Metallic Hair Color

Rainbow Metallic 
Hair

Happy Saturday night, tonight I wanted to share my new hair color. Anyone that has followed my blog or my social media over the years knows I'm a fan of dying my hair. I have always loved to have unique hair colors and always played with dyes. When I was a teen being blonde made it easy to change my hair color, I use to use kool aid, markers and store dyes to color my hair. I always loved to have fun colors and funky streaks in my hair. As I have gotten older it hasn't really changed much. I have had a few jobs where I was not able to color my hair as dramatically as I like to, during those times I would color it more natural tones or colors but with sliced in chunky high and low lights or coloring the entire underneath. I have also done the tips or ombre style looks too. 

Luckily for me dying your hair fun colors has become a trend and over the last 8 years many amazing color and hair care lines have come out with some amazing dyes for the hair. I use to use the store dyes like manic panic and it would fade so quickly. For a couple of years while working as a bartender I had an amazing stylist who didn't have experience with the brighter fun dyes but was willing to experiment with me, at the time my hair was white blonde and black. I had gone platinum and didn't like having my hair all one color so I started adding lowlights to give it some contrast. I started with a brown almost caramel color then before long had red and then a darker brown which led to the black and blonde. I dyed the entire underneath black and had the top sliced in chunks of black and blonde. While attending a hair show my stylist came across a new line of dye by Paul Mitchell I believe it was called Inked. Not sure it was over ten years ago, but it was the first line outside of the manic panic lines that had some fun bright colors. 

When she returned from the hair show I added a layer of purple between the black and blonde then a few smaller steaks of purple into my top section. I was hooked. Since then the only times  I have had my hair one color is while I was pregnant and when I was working for the school as a kindergarten aid and substitute. Even during those times I had clip in extensions in different colors and I would dye my hair with the manic panic and another brand of dye I would buy at Hot Topic because the colors would wash out after a few shampoos, on long weekends and holiday breaks I would dye the underneath or some small pieces for fun. 

Over the last 8 years I have pretty much had my hair primarily blonde with an ombre or underneath dyed a fun color. I have experimented with many colors and became a huge fan of hair stylist Guy Tang. I follow him on Instagram and YouTube watching his amazing videos, admiring his stunning colors and techniques. To me he is a hair color genius. He takes dying hair to another level and is a true color artist in my eyes. It has been a long time dream of mine to have him one day color my hair but for now I have spent several years looking for amazing stylists locally. While working making cakes, doing event and party planing and interior design I met one stylist that worked with Pravana dye, for a few years I had her color my hair and she did some amazing work. I was always hesitant to color my entire head because being blonde I have tried other colors over the years and always regretted it then would want to go back to blonde which isn't easy and is very damaging to the hair if done to soon after going dark. I have had to cut my hair many times due to damaging my hair from stripping so I decided to keep my blonde roots only coloring the underneath and ends like I did as a teen and in my early twenties. 

Recently I decided it was time to take the plunge, it is a huge commitment going for the entire head, a lot of up keep but I really was ready. I finally found colors I loved and they are lighter so it would not require going darker which is what I always seemed to not like. I was born blonde and it looks best on my skin tone versus darker colors. I have found some darker Browns and reds that look good in my skin tone but colors fade quickly within weeks of dying the pigment that made the clot look good would fade leaving me with just brown or gold hair. 

Sadly I had made the decision after having blue hair that was stubborn and we couldn't seem to remove, I ended up having to go almost orange to cancel out the blue. Luckily the color looked good in me and I was able to pull off the orange look with some rose tones thrown in giving it a rose gold and blonde look but I wanted to do something I had not done in a long time and that was red. Right around the holidays I had a new stylist who was coloring my hair at her home dye my hair a deep red almost burgundy underneath with an ombre melt effect. The top was my blonde roots then melting into a pink, red then dark violet based red to look burgundy. The red and burgundy was gorgeous but it bled into my blonde and I had fifty shades of pink. Pink isn't one of my favorite colors and within a few weeks I had to have her remove pink tones which reminded me why I didn't like the red family. I decided after the new year my goal would be to lighten my hair little by little trying to keep my long length. I didn't want to over strip and bleach my ends since they had been dyed and bleached so many times over the years. I have strong hair and it had really surprised me how strong it was, it took a lot of the passed ten years and really was still pretty healthy for all the coloring I had done to that particular area of my hair. 

In January I began the process. Sadly my hair was so dark it took many appointments to get the underneath red burgundy color to turn pink. Once it was a bright pink I decided I could live with some pastel colors and really wanted to start the metallics. Guy Tang has a couple of color lines one with Pravana and one with Kenra, the metallics have been a favorite of mine for over two years when the grey first started popping up  and I had been really considering it but once I saw the silver I was in love. 

In order to have silver hair you have to have white hair to start. It can't have any yellow or gold tones it has to be white. Being a natural blonde I have a lot of gold tones in my hair then living in Florida the sun brings out those gold tones even more. Once my underneath was pink I decided to take the plunge and have my new stylist bleach my hair all over. Sadly she didn't use proper products and my hair didn't turn white. I suggested using a violet or purple based toner before dying it because I knew from watching videos and reading about the process of dying hair silver that any hair that was not as white as you could get it wouldn't take the colors. She believed it would take and only be darker in some areas so I let her dye my hair. All I can say is I ended up with silver streaks and gold with pastel pink tips. I will say the pastel link was pretty and then the areas that the silver took looked gorgeous but it was a mess otherwise. Mixing metals is one thing when it comes to accessorizing but when you are coloring your hair I don't recommend it. I left totally crushed along with feeling bad because I am such a nice person I didn't have the heart to tell her I hated it. My husband made me text her to explain I didn't like it. I felt horrible she had become a friend and we had spent hours together over the six to eight months she had been coloring my hair prior to this. Unfortunately she had messed up and had a hard time doing my hair more then this once but I let the other times slide because she charged way less then my previous lady and she was eager to learn. I just had to stop, you get what you pay for and I didn't want to teach someone who should know more then me and at the same time I didn't want to end up bald. I had to cut my loses and find someone new. 

Finding a good stylist is so hard and now I had a mess which would not only require someone with a lot of talent but someone willing to fix and risk working with damaged hair. I highly recommend with bleaching and dying your hair these types of colors to do a lot of research on the stylist you use also be ready to spend some money. It takes a lot of time, the products they will use are expensive and usually they work in high end salons. If someone is going to dye your hair for 100-200 I would want to see photos of their work and find out the brand of dye, and bleach they use, if they are familiar with toner, also do they use Olaplex and other conditioning treatments during the process. Olaplex is a life saver and I wouldn't allow anyone to touch my hair that doesn't use during the process of bleaching and coloring the hair.  My stylist uses an amazing product line by Kerastase.  The treatment she has used in my hair for repairing is called the Fusio Dose and it is amazing.  

Luckily I had a consultation with someone else who referred me to the my new stylist that is coloring my hair. He is an amazing stylist and color specialist but he does a lot of the popular Balayage style color, this is when they don't use foils but paint the bleach or color on the hair using a brush and paddle style board. This makes your hair have a grown out more natural look with less maintenance then regular foil style highlights or to the scalp dyes. This style of coloring and technique is not new, it has been around for a long time but it has slowly crept it's way back into style after ombre became a trend several years ago. He recommended me to the lady that is now my new stylist and I love her, she was willing to take on the task of repairing my color for me, and I was shocked when she told me she would be able to give me the pastel metallic silver and purple color I wanted to start. She was willing to work with me and told me she would be able to keep the health and integrity of my hair. Sadly my hair underneath had broken from all the prior bleaching and was mess. She cut it for me when she was done color correcting and in the end due to my crazy idea to go dark red and within less then 30 days change my mind making the choice to go into the silver metallic and pastel colors, I lost almost 10 inches of length underneath. My hair is to my neck bone on my back or maybe a little longer underneath now. I did manage to keep some length on the top layer and my new stylist did an amazing cut that camouflages the loss of hair. I was so blessed to have found her and feel like she is a God send. 

This all happened the week I was leaving for our family spring break road trip and had a huge event for my job so I didn't want to look a mess. My hair is something I am known for in my work field and I was embarrassed to show up with bad color. She was able to fix it and helped repair it drastically with an amazing cut and using Kerastase Fusio Dose treatment that her salon carries along with Olaplex. If you didn't live with me or weren't one of my closest friends you wouldn't ever know the bad experience I went through that week. My hair looked amazing and it was one of my favorite colors.

Being a creative person I already had my next color ready by the time I returned from vacation. Luckily it is in the metallic family and doesn't require bleaching and changing my hair much. Also the lighter tones fade really fast so I was able to send her photos of my inspiration then she let me know what was doable. I went yesterday and after many hours and lots of bowls of yummy Kenra Metallics I now have the color I have wanted. It was the photos that inspired me to go silver and purple to begin with. I cannot even begin to tell you how gorgeous the colors are. She lifted some of the purple using color remover, I have decided to leave my roots for now since I will have to tone my hair often since the silver will fade quick. Having roots doesn't bother me and eventually will just have a darker grey root. For now it's just darker against the silver looking almost dark grey in photos but really it's my natural color, she did add a darker silver tone with some violet booster but it didn't really take to my natural color, my roots have a violet blonde tone but I think using my purple conditioner and silver based shampoo it will just tone it more grayish. 

Enough babble about colors and old dye jobs let's show some photos. I have had a hard time capturing the colors because it is so hard to really get the colors in photos. For one my hair has three colors in it plus some of the colors will bleed or blend when the hair is all parted or laying a certain way so you really get so many tones, contrast and dimension. To me and I really am an admirer of hair color, I think it is just stunning. You can part it, flip it and style it so many ways and it will look different. The more you play with my hair and move it around the more you see the many colors and all the yummy metallic goodness in it. The top layer is silver grey, the rest is all sliced in perfectly with metallic silver, violet and rose pink. When the silver and violet meet together it looks blue. Let's post some photos finally. 

Here is a shot in horrible lighting, I hate finishing my color so late at night because the sun is gone and I have to wait for the next day to really capture the colors. This photo is with my hair parted to my left side so you see more pink. When it is parted down the middle you see mostly silver with some of the colors peaking through and visible on the ends. Parted to the sides you then see more of the pink and violet colors. 

Here is a shot when I ran my hands through the hair and flipped it around letting it fall so you can see the pink and violet colors primarily. 

Excuse my unmade bed my daughter was asleep in my bed when I got home since it was after nine. Here is a shot with my head tilted at an angle showing more pink with the violet and in good lighting you can also see the blue shades. The blue is again from the grey silver tones meshing with the violet shade. 

One last bad lighting shot but wanted to show my length, the cut, how healthy my hair has managed to stay and trust me it really could be way shorter and fried but luckily Olaplex and Keratesse has made it soft and healthy looking. I won't lie I have breakage and fly always but nothing like I could or should have from all it has been exposed to. 

The photo on the left is my original inspiration photo I sent my stylist by Guy Tang from his IG page. I had ten to fifteen pictures I had sent her and I had saved in my iPhone as far back as last summer but this one he had posted this week. I really wanted something like this or just the metallic silver, violet and some pink. It is amazing how close she got it. I have to say she pretty much nailed it and if you dye your hair these colors you would know that you never really know what the end result will be. You pretty much go for it and hope the colors will taken turning out with the end result being close to what you wanted so imagine my surprise or I will be honest here, my excitement when she finished my blow dry and I saw my hair looked almost identical to the photo. In all my years of using an inspiration photo only one other time was it exact. It is hard because the colors don't always look exact and then sometimes depending on the way the colors or sliced in or placed it will give it a slightly different look. I couldn't be happier with the results and it's just an overall fun color. Braided it looks like art, half up or all up is beautiful, side parted and parted down the middle looks totally different so I have many different looks with this color. 

Both this photo and the one above are photos my amazing stylist posted on her Instagram page. She really did capture the colors good for being indoors, way better then I was able to capture with the photos above at home. 

I was at the beach all day today and I had a hard time capturing good pics but once I was home I took a moment to apply a little makeup so I could capture a few decent shots with the remaining daylight. My hair got pretty wind blown at the beach so it is a little messy here but I really love how the color looks. I got a lot of compliments at the beach along with people stopping to look, snap photos and some even wanting to touch it. 

I will continue to add more photos here and to my social media as I take them. This one was taken on my patio which is covered so I did have to adjust the light and brightness some so you don't get to see the true colors completely but it does show some of the blue and silver in the portion of my hair. 

I know I am in love with the color.  Whenever I am in the bathroom or in front of a mirror I spend time flipping it and moving it around to see all the pretty colors and tones. I have to say that geniuses like Guy Tang and of course my talented stylist Chrissy make hair color look like art. I'm so pleased with the final outcome and most likely will be keeping this color for a long time. I can't guarantee because I am always inspired by photos I see online and in magazines so I can't say I won't see something else soon and want to try it but for now I am concentrating on getting my hair healthy again as well as growing it back. I will be staying lighter for sometime and any changes I make will be in the metallic or pastel family. 

I always love to see other colors and hear about other amazing stylists or good IG feeds with inspiring hair color photos. Feel free to message me or email me or links. I also am always open to trying new hair care products to review here on my blog. I have worked with Hot Heads, Pravana, Olaplex, Revlon, Wet Brush, and other products. Some items I buy myself or get samples from my beauty supply store then review and other items have been sent to me for use to review. I am always honest about all products and will not promote something I don't stand by. If an item is sent to me doesn't mean I will endorse it or love it. One product I have review coming up on was sent to me from Grace & Stella Co. I received the Moroccan Argan mask then used it in my daughter's hair first then my hair. It worked so good I decided to post it and will be doing a detailed review with information for everyone interested soon. If you have a product whether its hair care, styling products, tools or even hair accessories I would love to try them or style them into my daily outfits to post then share. I am always looking for hair care products for my hair and my two daughters. Also I am currently interested in hair styling tools for curling and smoothing hair, also hair accessories from clips, headbands and other pieces I can wear with my daily outfits to work, I would love to have some fun stuff for summer to post here and on social media. Feel free to email me or message me here. 

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed my hair color pictures. You can find more photos of my previous colors over the years here and I have a hashtag on Instagram #melissashaircolor and then somehow I forgot which tag I was using so have also used #melissashaircolors and #melissahaircolor. I also share my hair color photos on Pinterest. 

Have a fabulous and relaxing weekend.

XoXo 

Links for products or items mentioned in above post:

Kenra hair care and color:  Kenra Professional Products

Olaplex: Olaplex

Kerastase: Kerastase USA

Festival, Summer Lace and lace up looks...

Lace with summer is coming so fast I am getting excited. It is my favorite time of year. Nothing better then long days at the beach, summer road trips, BBQ's, pool parties, fireworks, and music festivals. I have been highlighting this week and last week some of my favorite looks or trends for this upcoming festival season as well as summer time... 

My last post was dedicated to the Festival F word fashion trends, this post were going to the end of the word festival for the L word looks. Lace is a huge trend as well as crochet pieces. You will also see the spring lace up shoes and sandals trend carrying over into the summer with open toe looks and gladiator style or height lace ups. Laces aren't just a hot trend of shoes right now but also on clothes. From lace up bodysuits, cropped tops and shirts with side laces, lace up shorts, if it has laces it's probably in style or trending right now. Again some more of my favorite styles I am picking to highlight from Forever 21. I pick Forever 21 because they are affordable and every one can budget for these pieces as well as they tend to have a lot of look alike styles from higher end designers or shops. 

Starting off my post with lots of lace up style shoes. These open lace up style sandals are super cute for summer. Available in multiple colors.

Gladiator style lace up sandals, which I live with a pair of cut off shorts, mini skirts and summer dresses. 

If you don't like having something all the way up your calf they have these shorter option lace up open sandals. 

Lace shorts with lace up waist. I really love all the lace up pieces for summer. I just got a bodysuit and a pair of side lace up denim shorts from Hollister for summer. 

Same shorts but front view and adore this open bell style long sleeve cropped top paired with the shorts, very boho festival vibes. 

Another cute lace pair of shorts with the lace up waist, also paired with a sheer light weight, long sleeve top with tie string neck. 

Loving these side scrunched lace up shorts. They also have a matching top, I personally am not a fan of matching pieces like this I would buy both pieces but pair them with different pieces not together. 

Love this cut reminds me of the Spell and the gypsy style shorts. Ordered a pair for the summer for the beach or fun summer parties and BBQ's.

Lace up rompers are very cute. I personally wouldn't recommend a romper or body suit unless it has the snaps, for a music festival because trying to remove these after being hot and sweaty inside a porta potty isn't something I want to have to do. I want to be in and out of those porta toilets as fast as possible if I can possibly just avoid them all together lol. 

Rompers are great for the summer and this floral one is perfect now for spring time. Sheer lightweight material so it wouldn't be to hot for summer. 

Lace up front body suit in black. They also have a lot of varieties of cropped tops and tanks with lace up front detail.

This tank was one of my favorite styles with the side laces. Perfect for pairing with a fringe skirt from my previous post or as pictured with cut off shorts.

Closeup of the lace details on the light weight cropped tank. 

Lace top dress with lace up front detail. This dress also comes in black if you aren't feeling tan enough for white, I love to wear white over the because it does compliment my summer sun kissed skin perfectly making me look more tan then I am. As I get older I try not to get to much sun if only I had listened to my Aunts and mom when I was a teen and in my twenties lol. 

Last up I loved this tie neck low cut body suit with zip up faux suede mini skirt. Figured since it has the tie neck and low cut neckline it could fall into my L post. 

Hope you love and enjoy my L word Sumer or festival style pieces from Forever 21. Below will be links to all the items I can find on my widget you can also go to the Forever 21 website and click on their festival muse section for all these styles or looks. Enjoy browsing and I promise there are many other pieces I didn't pick just because my post would be five pages long. 

Aren't you attending any cool music festivals in your area? If so which ones? Which bands are playing? We go to the annual weekend festival in Jacksonville Florida called, Rockville. It's a two festival with 3-4 stages of bands. Don't forget all these styles are perfect for summer time. 

Peace, love and rock n roll always. Xoxo

Where to shop

www.Forever21.com

Fringe, frayed, feathers, and fedoras

Festival season is underway and right now all the stores and boutiques are stocked with 70's inspired, boho chic pieces for that perfect bohemian, gypsy look. 

Festival style is all about fringe, frayed denim, fedora hats and feathers among many other styles. I have gathered some of my favorite F word pieces for Festival season from Forever 21 to share with you. 

Starting off the F's with fringe. This skirt is one of my favorite pieces from the Forever 21 curated, festival shop they have on their website right now. I had to order one because it is adorable and so versatile for summer. I love how they have it styled with a tied up graphic tank and low gladiator style sandals. Perfect for wearing to a music festival, the beach, summer vacation, BBQ, out to dinner or a girls night, the options are endless. You can add some heels and a cute flowing top then layer with jewelry for a more evening styled look. 

A combination of fringe and frayed here with a halter style faux suede, fringe top, paired with frayed bottom, high waisted denim cut off shorts. This screams music festival for sure. 

Add this faux leather wrap necklace with feather charms to any of these outfits for the perfect accessory. 

Every true music festival or concert goer  knows you have to have a great back pack or cross-body bag to carry your necessities from sunscreen, ponchos, blanket, wipes and many other items. This fringe backpack is great and matches with the true 70's boho inspired feel that has become the classic festival look. 

Another bag option is this cross-body bucket bag with fringe details. You want to have a cross-body or backpack style bag so you can be hands free and have your bag secure to your body with all your belongs while dancing or throwing your hands up to the music. 

If you don't need to carry much and just 

want something small for your ID and phone this smaller cross-body, studded bag with tassel detail is perfection. It comes in a few shades if black isn't what you want you can also get brown.

Cut off distressed, frayed bottom shorts are a great festival piece that you can wear all throughout the summer and you can't go wrong wearing shorts with a crop top of tee shirt. 

Another choice for cut off frayed shorts in a lighter less distressed look. I personally like to go with a darker denim for festivals or outside concerts where you may be sitting on the ground just in case of rain which can lead to a muddy mess. 

These fringe ankle detail sandals are super cute for a festival. I use to wear flip flops since they are rubber but if it does rain you will be flinging mud all over yourself in flip flops. I tend to try to wear something closed toed because I like to make my way closer to the stage and don't like getting my bare toes crushed while making my way through the crowd. I always love to be closer to the stage, the closer you are the louder the music, and the better the view of course plus you are in the midst of the action so you get the amazing rush of being at a rock concert. 

Fedoras are a great way to protect your face and hair from the sun as well as providing some shade. These all day concerts can be draining so any shade and sun protection is a must for sure. 

I have a real feather tattoo on my arm but if you don't want to commit to the permanent ink they make amazing realistic looking faux tattoos now. This feather tattoo is super cute and goes great with theme of my blog post. 

Stay tuned have some L word festival pieces coming up next post. Lace, layers, lace up shoes and all types of clothing with laces. Hope you enjoy my festival F word essentials from Forever 21. They have so many amazing pieces at affordable prices not just for the festival season but ideal for the summer. Happy shopping. Retail therapy is always the best, I know it takes away any stress I have or any worries I might have on my mind shifting my thoughts to what cute outfits I can wear for the upcoming Rockville music festival here in Florida and for the summer. Don't worry be happy always... 

Where to shop:

www.Forever21.com

Ivy Revel

Heard about the new digital fashion house Ivyrevel? See the full collection on their website www.ivyrevel.com. 

Below are some of my favorite pieces from the launch of their new site. Lots of great pieces to style many ways. Loving the rocker edge to their pieces and how all the pieces are easily mixed and matched. 

They carry everything from tee shirts, skirts, pants, jackets, shoes, bags and jewelry. Everything you need to put together some killer looks for spring and summer.

Lots of leather and studs, along with sweats and of course graphic tee shirts. You know my love and addiction to tees. 

If you're looking for something for work, everyday style, comfort or play they have something for everyone.

I am totally in love with these cropped pants pictured above right. 

Paired with one of their logo graphic tees and stylish bag from their line it is perfect for my everyday style. 

I also took a few to check out their swimwear line since we are getting so close to summer and they do have some cute suits. Not sure on the sizing or quality yet but hoping to be able to purchase some items next payday to check out and review for everyone.

Be sure to check out their site and also check them out on social media @Ivyrevel. Happy shopping and I wish Ivy Revel a successful launch today. Here's to one more day until Friday. WooHoo. 

Xoxo 

Teekinis by Betty Bangs

Betty Bangs Bikinis

The original Teekinis 

Many years ago I met one of our dear friends ex's and she is an amazing super talented designer. She makes the most amazing swimwear line here in South Florida. She is super awesome and has a one of a kind wild child personality. Little bit hippie, gypsy, free spirit bad a@* chick. I loved her from the moment we met. I remember meeting up when I worked at the Hard Rock bartending for a fun afternoon with the boys and Beth arrived before long we were doing shots and riding the bull at Tequila Ranch, another spot I later worked briefly before finding out I was pregnant with my second child. 

Now fast forward a few years and she had told me about her love for fashion back then and how she use to cut up her tee shirts and make super cool bikinis because she couldn't find anything that was her style. She was so creative and talented. I later saw her line and was so amazed at these creations. I have always had a love for graphic tees especially band tees and she was making these killer sexy bathing suits out of tee shirts. Every teekini was hand cut from tee shirts and sewn by hand by Beth. She would hand apply all the rhinestone and live every suit from her home or studio using her sewing machine. Info course had to have one of these suits for myself.

Not long after her line started and was becoming very popular I was pregnant so I was not going to spend money on a suit until I got my pre baby body back by as soon as I did I contacted her and she sent me the Ay Dios Mio suit. When it arrived I was blown away this hand made suit was so gorgeous, and the details were just amazing. You would never know this suit was handmade and that it started out as a tee shirt. She used this amazing lining then hand studded and blinged out the details in the suit. It is hands down the best bikini I have ever owned. Not just the quality but the original unique style, and detail is amazing. She also had the cutest packaging my bikini came with an old vintage looking hotel key, with all the suits information and care instructions it was such a cute and totally Betty detail.

All photos belong to www.bettybangs.com

Check out her IG page @BettyBangsBikinis 

I of course wanted many more but then over time we lost touch because her suits became so popular and her business got so busy. I reached out to her last summer but right around swim week here in Florida so she was super busy prepping her booth and getting ready that I dint want to be a bother but I am reaching out to her this summer with my fingers crossed she will have time to make me a suit. 

Her teekinis are her trademark suits. Like I mentioned above every suit is hand cut from vintage tees and then she had studs them then sews in a lying to each suit. These suits are totally wearable for the pool and beach. Below are some of my favorite styles. I have always been a huge Kiss fan for those who don't know and love Gene Simmons so her Kiss and Gene Simmons suits are some of my faves. I literally love them all, to pick one is almost impossible. If I was rich I would kit early spend thousands and have her custom make me like ten suits.

You can also get the teekinis without the bling or rhinestones if you don't like blinged out suits or if you want to save a little cash. Her suits start around $140 for the no studs teekinis and then go up from there. You can get a fully hand studded one of kind style suit for $250 give or take a few bucks but it is worth every dime. You can even have the creative Ms. Betty Bangs make you a suit also. Trust me you won't be disappointed. She is so cool and kind you will really get a hoot out of her personality then when you get your suit you will wonder why you never got a suit from her before.

She not only makes the teekinis but she also has some Lycra suits and these short cute denim bottoms that if I wasn't shy I would so be rocking them. Take me back to 18-25 and these would be my go to bottoms not just on the beach but all summer. She is basically a creative genius and her style is for sure a total rocker, gypsy and hippie bohemian vibe. They are so my style I literally like I mentioned above would kill for one of every style she has designed. I have never seen a suit she has created or designed I didn't absolutely love. 

Above are some of her more recent styles in the Lycra material. The Desperado is a favorite and I am obsessed with feathers, she has a falcon high waisted suit that the top is feathers and I am so in love with it. 

Be sure to head over to IG and follow my girl @Bettybangsbikinis and make sure to tell her Melissa sent you. Her website is Betty Bangs Bikinis I will be adding a link under my favorite shops in my sidebar on the desktop version of this blog. I plan to add several of her Lycra and Teekinis along with some of her separates to my fashion trends tab above for must have summer styles and favorite trends for the beach. 

Hope you enjoy my favorite local bikini designer and I can't wait to share my custom suit fingers crossed she will be able to find to time this summer to make me one. Sadly I don't fit in my old suit she sent me, I had lost all my weight after my second child five to six years ago and was a size 00/1 but still larger busted, the top is even a little small on me now since gaining weight but I was a little tiny back then and also younger. This was also before my many health issues that have caused me to gain more weight then I would like but I am at the age now where I like to have some curves and to me the perfect size for my taller height being 5'8 is a 5-8 anything smaller I look a little sickly plus my 16 year old is taller then me and she isn't no size zero anymore, she works out, cheers and is a police explorer so she is always training or working out. She is in fabulous shape and she is a size 9/10 but looking at her you would never know. Size is just a number it's all about how we feel about ourselves and I personally feel sexier being more curvy then I did when I was s skinny little girl. I embrace my womanly curves how ever being larger busted can be a pain in the neck come bikini season or other fashion pieces can be hard to find. Like button down tops and one pieces like dresses or jumpers/rompers are a mission luckily I know an amazing seamstress since I have to always order several sizes up to fit my bust so have to take in the waist area so it is not looking like a frumpy sack on me. Lol. 

Again I hope you will check out my girl Beth's amazing and unique suits. Make sure you tell her Melissa, Kenny's friend sent you. That way she knows you saw my blog post or social media posts sharing her amazing designs and site. Excited that summer is so close and can't wait to share even more of my favorite fashion styles and designers for summer looks and designs. I have many more amazing posts coming. Thanks for the love and support. Also thank you to everyone for all the continued love and likes on IG, I have reached over 13K followers and climbing then the amazing kind comments and likes make me smile. I truly am so thankful and honored. Cheers to the weekend which is almost here, peace and love always 

My favorite jeans

Silver Jeans Co.

For a while now I have been working on sharing my favorite brand jeans with everyone. I share them weekly sometimes daily with my ootd posts on social media. Wanted to really dedicate a new post on my blog to my favorite brand jeans. 

Silver Jeans Website

I wore their Tuesday boot cut jeans in distressed look for years. I had several sizes and every color or look they came out with. Over the years I have always bought Silver jeans before most brands not just because I love the way they fit but because they last forever. I still own and wear my old Tuesday jeans and they are over ten years old or right around that. 

They make everything from skinny, flare, boot cut, boyfriend, cropped/Capri style and shirts of course. I even have a couple skirts that are amazing. Every pair fit amazing and are made of the most amazing quality denim. 

Silver jeans Flare style.

Silver jeans Capri/cropped jeans.

You all know how I love my ripped and distressed jeans, the more distressed and torn the better for me, I love how the secure the ripped areas so they don't eventually become one large hole over time. 

These capris have the patch under the hole which I also really love. 

These are just a few recent shots of my Silver jeans with a couple shots of some of my favorite styles. If I am not wearing the Tuesday, Aiko or Suki style then I am for sure in a pair of boyfriend jeans. No matter which style I am wearing they fit amazing and look great. I am going to add some shopping links below once I charge my laptop. Also you can find a link to the Silver Jeans website in my favorite shops in the side bar. Right now be sure to check out their newest jean short styles for summer. I am psyched to get my new boyfriend shorts to wear and review for all of you. Have a wonderful weekend xoxo 

Where to shop:

i recommend buying them direct from Silver Jeans link is above and in my favorite shops are you can click here to go direct to their site.  www.silverjeans.com

You can also find many styles at www.Maurices.com