Reader Question: Gaga For Neon

I'm in love with a pair of neon yellow heels. Does that make me weird? Is that okay??!

That definitely does NOT make you weird, but actually makes you extra fabulous.  Neon is definitely the color theme for this spring and summer.  Adding a bright pop of neon color is a super fun way to spice up your wardrobe and brightening up your day.  I know I'm in love with some neon!  How about you?

Juicy Couture, $278

i.cco, $12 @

Kelsi Dagger, $109.95 @

Reed Krakoff, $590 @

Rare, was $63.63, sale $25.45 @

Zara, $35.90

TopShop, $92

Joia, $12 @

Brian Atwood, $595 @ *

ASOS, $13.63-27.27 @

Deborah Lippmann, $45

@ Available in more colors
* EWP Fave

Reader Question: Comfy (& Cute!) Flats

I finally understand what you've been saying about flats.  I wore flats to drop off my son at daycare and they tore up my feet, which never happens to me in heels.  But I didn't want to carry my son to daycare in heels. Post on flats for the working mom? 

Oh have I been there. Well, not that exact scenario, but the whole flats rip up your feet part.  The problem is, I don't have a magic flat that will work for every single person.  Everyone's feet are different and shoes hit each person differently, so while I LOVE my Tory Burch reva flats, other people find them to rub wrong. And I know people who love Sofft flats, but they make me blister terribly.  The only thing you can do is trial and error. I know, it sucks.  But to narrow down your trial options, I've gathered a list of the brands and designers known for being the best when it comes to comfort and wearability.  

Cole Haan with Nike Air technology, $158 @

Wears like a sneaker!

Sofft, $95

The name says it all

Me Too, $88.95 @

Well priced

Sam Edelman, $109.95 @

A brand that has worked for me

Sperry Top-Sider, $108 @

These have a great tread on the bottom so you aren't walking flat on the ground

TOMS, $73.95 @

TOMS now have a ballet flat!!! So the comfort of the original, but none of the grotesque shape

Tory Burch, $195 @

My personal favorite

Sperry Top-Sider, $89.95

A classic style

@Available in more colors

EWP Spotlight: ChloeTate

Today I'm spotlighting a super adorbs Etsy shop called ChloeTate.

You know I'm obsessed with correspondence and stationery, so finding a new place to order customized personalized stationery was about the best thing ever.  Especially since I was in need of some new stationery for my photography business.

And, well, before I could do customized stationery, I actually needed a logo.  This business is new, y'all, and I had shopped from one graphic designer to another and was quoted prices that were just too much out of the budget for this stay at home mama.  Enter ChloeTate and I was saved from my logoless-ness.  She worked with me closely going over fonts, ideas, colors, shapes, whatever I needed.  She had to deal with me going "I like pink, but not too pink, and maybe bolder but not bold" and patiently sent me logo option after logo option with the color changed by a fraction of a hue.  And not once did she balk at my ridiculousness. And I must say I am OH SO PLEASED with my new logo. It's exactly what I wanted.

In addition to my fantastically awesome business notes, I got myself a personalized mama notepad, because, hey, why not?  You can pick the silhouette of the boy(s) or girl(s) you have, pick out fonts, pick out colors.  It's all totally custom. And OH SO reasonably priced.  Seriously.

Personalized Mom Notepad, $12 

I'm pretty sure I'm buying the mama notepads for every shower I attend for the rest of time.  So, Kathy, don't buy one, you'll get one in June :)

ChloeTate also features other cute paper items like these super cute mason jar cards, perfect for yourself or a newly married couple you might know.

Personalized Mason Jar Flat Notecards (Set of 20), $22

And I'm so about to buy these gift tags.  I'm a sucker for personalizing gift tags.  

Personalized Gift Enclosure Cards (Set of 40), $18

And as seasons change, so do the products.  She had some freaking adorably cute easter pails for easter, but as Easter has passed, they're not up on the site anymore.  I wonder what products she might be adding soon.  I'm obsessed and I know I'll need them.  Y'all need to check out ChloeTate, it gets the EWP stamp of approval.  

EWP Reviews: Keratin and Aveda Keratin Treatments (With Before & After Pics!)

Keratin treatments seem to be all the rage right now, and I obviously had to find out what all the fuss was about.  It's supposed to give good protein or something to your hair, thus taming frizz and making it easier to blow out.

As I've mentioned before, basically all my hair fell out after I had a baby, but it's begun to grow back, which is good except for a curly-haired person, new short hair just leads to a crown of frizz.  See below:

The frizz was making me INSANE.  And I decided I needed to step into the world of keratin.  I did my first treatment in November (with Alex and Michael Anthony Salon on North Avenue. I LOVE him) and had planned to do a before and after post for all of you, but never got around to taking pictures. Oops.  But the treatment's lifespan had ended (as evidenced by the above photos) and it was time to re-keratin myself.

I went back in for the keratin blowout since I liked it so much the last time, but out of stupidity and scheduling issues, I did not go to my styling love Alex but another stylist I'd never seen before.  She told me about how Aveda has their own keratin treatment now and, while it is more expensive, it uses much less chemicals and is more natural and lasts longer.  After some convincing I upgraded to Aveda's treatment.  Whichever treatment you get, it has to be flat-ironed to seal into your hair, so this is me post-flat ironing.  No, this is not what your hair looks like regularly after a keratin treatment.

And then I completely forgot to take the real "after" pictures where I just let it air dry normally.  Oops.  I then proceeded to go on a trip to the Bahamas where I washed my hair daily, if not twice daily depending on pool visits.  So these pics (which I lazily took with my phone) aren't a fresh post-keratin look.  You're not supposed to wash your hair everyday as to extend the life of the treatment.  But you can get the idea.  These are just air-dryed, nothing done to my hair days.  Please note the significant decrease in the crazy halo of frizz ridiculousness.

This one is post gym, so I'm especially gross but it seems to look only slightly frazzly.

Please don't judge my chipped nail polish, I'm doing my nails tomorrow. 

Okay, picture time is over, now it's time to get reviewing.

First of all, there are two different levels of keratining, one lasts, I think, 6 weeks (if you don't wash your hair everyday and use certain types of shampoo) and the longer one lasts... 3 months?  I've never done the longer one.  Michael Anthony Salon (not sure what other salons do) has you do a consultation first to figure out what works better for you and at my consultation we discussed how the longer version would be too heavy for my hair.  And I like a little bit of wave/curl left so I didn't want to do the whole shebang. Plus it's twice as much and I'm loathe to drop that much on my hair in one visit.  And with each of the services you can't wash your hair for 1-2 days.

1) The keratin treatments.  There's the full treatment at... $300?  You get a free shampoo and conditioner that is compatible with keratin with your treatment.  It lasts about 3 months.  I did the keratin blowout which was, I think, $175.  It's labeled as lasting 6 weeks, but I found it lasted much longer than that.

2) Aveda keratin.  This is the one that was kind of sort of pushed on me as "better."  This too has the longer version, which I have no idea how much it costs, but does not come with the free shampoo and conditioner, which are Aveda and pricey so sad not to get them.  The shorter version was $225 and SMELLED SO BAD.  I seriously was ready to vom for most of it.  It's done just as good a job at de-frizzing but it's left my hair feeling really dry and strawy.  For being the more "natural" option, I would've expected it to be easier on my hair. I was pretty annoyed about that and called to complain, and in the 5 years of me going to this salon I've never complained once.  Lastly, I only got it 3 weeks ago, so I can't vouch for how long it lasts yet, but having been washed extra, it's still holding up well.

EWP Grades.

Regular Keratin: A- (minus for the price)
Aveda Keratin: C+

I Know, I'm a Terrible Blogger

I know, I've been MIA since the Oscars. How did that happen?  I have a few excuses.

I went to the Bahamas and luxuriated at the Atlantis.  Then I had to take time afterwards to just get over my pool time withdrawal.  It's been hard, y'all.  I basically got the shakes from not seeing a pool chair in a week.

Oh, and we bought a house.  Which involved lots of house hunting. And a three hour inspection.  And shopping for a new dining table.  

And there were photoshoots.

And of course this munchkin keeps me pretty busy.

So, basically, not too much time for shopping.  But I've got a million posts I've been meaning to post, reader questions to address, products to review.  I'm going to do my best to get them all done for ya.  Consider EWP back on the case.