beauty | Girl Meets Life | a lifestyle blog by Gracie Gordon

loose waves hair tutorial {video}.

11 April, 2014 by Gracie 6 Comments

Last week I asked for your feedback about which topics you’d like me to cover now that I’ve started doing videos, and how I do my hair was a definite top request.

If you’ve been a loooong time GML reader you may remember doing a hair tutorial video in the past, but it’s long gone by now. I think this one is much better as I go into more detail of my routine

FYI - I don’t think the captions are showing up via mobile. Nothing super important, but just so you know!

Also, you can find the “links below” listed in the details on the actual video page.

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What’s your go-to hair routine? Have you ever tried doing this type of loose wave in your hair?

color lovin’.

8 April, 2014 by Gracie 8 Comments

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my newly BLUE hair.

No, I didn’t actually dye my hair blue (although, it IS quite trendy right now according to Pinterest…). That optical illusion is thanks to Shimmering Lights, odd lighting, and a cool-toned filter. I’d never forsake my beloved blonde, but the blue is kinda cool looking, huh?

More color has been making an appearance in my life via my accessories. I definitely tend to lean toward neutrals when it comes to my clothes, but jewelry is a fun and easy way to add a pop of color.

I got this great bracelet from Target. I don’t usually check out their jewelry section, but they had some great finds! I thought this was just so fun for the spring and summer.

Speaking of jewelry, did you know that Speakable necklaces look great with any color? 😉 Shameless plug – sorry not sorry.

On the food front, this go-to meal has continued to make an appearance quite often. I always knew this combo of avocado, eggs, and sweet potato was delicious and filling, but it’s also quite the colorful one, yeah?

And then there’s Baby Bo’s Cantina, which is one of my favorite hidden gem restaurants in the city. They have hands down some of the best authentic Mexican food I’ve ever had. Not to mention it’s clearly quite festive there.

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What do you think of the bright and bold hair colors trending right now? Would you ever try something like that?

ALL CAPS necessary.

3 April, 2014 by Gracie 11 Comments

If you’ve ever wondered why I love makeup so much, it’s because MY FACE DISAPPEARS WITHOUT IT.

Basically.

Yesterday I made the dumb decision to go to the specialty food store when I didn’t really need anything. I proceeded to make the dumb decision of spending $10 on wraps.

I’m sorry, wrawps.

Now the problem I’m left with is that I LOVE THESE THINGS and will now most likely spend $10 on wraps wrawps every week.

Damn you, raw vegan geniuses.

By the way, despite loving those flat breads I’m neither raw nor vegan…because a life without THE MEATBALL SHOP is no life at all.

Such a fun night with my small group. These girls are top notch.

Sometimes when I watch Mad Men, I get so bored, yet I can’t stop watching it.

I blame…DON DRAPER. I hate to love him.

HIS ways, HIS paths. ‘Nuff said.

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What in your life right now is ALL CAPS necessary?

what i’m loving right now.

20 March, 2014 by Gracie 9 Comments

ombré lips.

For my birthday Erica got me this great dual lipstick from Bite, which is perfect for doing easy ombré lips.

It was so simple - I just did the dark (red) shade on the outside of my lips, and the lighter (fuschia) shade on the inside. It’s not as fancy as the ombré lips/tutorials I’ve seen on makeup blogs, but it does the trick. Voila!

ribbon hair ties.

ALSO a gift from Erica…thanks E 😉

Um, why didn’t anyone tell me about these things sooner?! They’re so much better than regular hair ties as they don’t break or leave creases in your hair. Not to mention they just look cuter in your hair and/or on your wrist.

vaseline spray & go moisturizer.

Ok – this stuff is a game changer. I’m slightly OCD about using body lotion every day, and Vaseline Spray & Go makes it SO much easier. I still love regular body lotion and body butters, but when I’m in a rush this is great for quick application *and* quick drying.

I’ve only tried the Cocoa Radiant one, which I love – it smells like cocoa butter!

roasted veggies.

Nothin’ fancy or new here, just good old big bowls of roasted vegetables. I’ve mentioned before how roasting vegetables (with lots of spices) is the best way to make them taste good, and lately I’ve been making big batches ahead of time.

Smothered with some Annie’s Goddess dressing = perfection.

(I have a great guide to roasting vegetables on this post)

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What are you loving right now? Any of these things?

what i’m loving right now.

10 March, 2014 by Gracie 6 Comments

Ellovi body butter & lip butter.

Hi my name is Gracie, and I have an extreme obsession love for all skin moisturizers. I’ve never met a body lotion I didn’t like, but I was especially excited to accept a sample of Ellovi body butter when I learned that it’s all-natural, handmade, and includes just six ingredients. Made from macadamia nut, coconut, marula nut, hemp seed, and shea, there are no synthetic ingredients, preservatives, parabens, or other secret ingredients in Ellovi.

Their lip butter also has just six ingredients - Hawaiian coconut, sunflower, hemp, macadamia, Ghanaian marula, and shea.

Both butters smell amazing, and they feel incredible on my skin and lips.

Madecasse toasted coconut dark chocolate.

Not much explanation necessary here. If you see this in stores, get it. Trust me. If not, you can order it on the Madecasse website.

UV Sriracha vodka.

That’s right, sriracha really can add flavor to anything and everything. Rachel and I used UV sriracha vodka to make “Srirachaberry Margaritas” (with raspberries instead of strawberries) before going out, and it was the perfect way to kick off the night!

this meal combo…

This isn’t anything new or revolutionary, just a meal that I’ve been loving and eating just about every day for either breakfast or lunch.

It’s pretty simple – just a combination of soft boiled eggs, sweet potato, and avocado. It’s so filling and delicious!

Liquiteria.

In case you didn’t notice, cold-pressed juice is like, really in right now. Especially in NYC, at least. I’ve tried a handful of juice brands, and Liquiteria is definitely one of my new favorites. I had a discount code so grabbed their Level One Cleanse the other day, and I loved it. I drank the juice in additional to my normal (slightly smaller) meals, and it left me feeling really energized throughout the day. I didn’t even need my afternoon coffee fix!

(Oh, and I also like how Liquiteria’s juice 6-pack is the most inexpensive I’ve found yet.)

Arrojo PrIMP working spray.

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with hairspray. Since I add waves to my hair often, hairspray is a necessity. But even with my (then) favorite brand – one spray too many left my hair feeling and looking crunchy. So when I got the suggestion to try Arrojo’s PrIMP working spray, I figured it was worth a try.

The verdict: it’s the hairspray I’ve been looking for all my life! It’s super light but still holds my hairstyle in place. Best of all is that it still allows you to switch up your hairstyle if you want to do different shapes and styles (it was actually created for that purpose for photo shoots). It also smells amazing and works well with heat tools.

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What are you loving right now?

a good hair day, every day {with suave gold-natural infusions}.

10 March, 2014 by Gracie 9 Comments

I know you’ve had them too…those days where your hair is just exactly how God intended it to be. Shiny and bouncy, but still with that hint of “oh, I just woke up like this!”

I’ve really found that the key to having a good hair day every day isn’t about your hair cut or how you style it – it’s more about the products you use to keep your hair as healthy as possible. I’ve recently tried Suave’s new line of Gold-Natural Infusions, and they really make my hair look and feel amazing.

With natural-infused ingredients like moisturizing macadamia oil and spray, thickening awaphui ginger, Moroccan oil for shine and Keratin for smoothing - Suave® Gold Naturals can help you get the “Goodness” back in your hair to have a good hair day, every day.

Some of the new products include Awapuhi Natural Infusion, Macadamia Moroccan Infusion, Shine Keratin Infusion, Macadamia Spray Moroccan Infusion, and Moroccan Argan Styling Oil.

Suave® Gold-Natural Infusions is putting the goodness back into your hair so you look good, feel beautiful and radiate goodness outward into the world.

Suave and Walgreens want to help spread the goodness by providing fun and easy ways to pass it on so they are offering Buy $6 worth of Suave® Natural Infusion and get 2,000 balance reward points!