Zoom In: Hyoni Kang

Ugh, man. Such respect for my girl Hyoni here.  Sometimes I feel like my ensembles are too meticulously put together, and it shows. She just does whatever the hell she wants and WERKKKS it. Be it a Philip Lim furry coat or a vintage Mickey Mouse tee shirt, she always uses what's in her repertoire to make  looks that are playful, awesome and effortlessly cool.


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School Boy

Vintage Oscar de la Renta blouse, H&M sweater, UO cargo jacket, Vintage coat, Big Star Jeans, Candela NYC shoes, Vintage Coach bag, Hannah Warner bracelet, Eddera Olive Branch ring

After a haircut at Arrojo, my dear bud Justin and I had an afternoon of debauchery around the West Village, drinking a whole mess of tea and all that jazz.

I wore a couple of comfortable pieces, including this sweater that reminds me of a pinafore when I wear it over a blouse like I did here. I adore these super comfy Big Star coated jeans. Natalie, Christina and I happened to pick up the same pair, and every once in a while we'll end up wearing 'em at once because they're soooo awesome. They're perfect for edging up an outfit! I threw on my Candela golf shoes to add some preppy flair, I can't wait to wear these out with just a sun dress in a few months when the weather starts being truly kind.

In other news, since I'm creating my own major in school for Fashion History & Theory, this semester I'm taking a mix of classes that deal with color theory, food culture, blogging (!), fashion policy and fashion history. It's been a fantastic first week and I wanted to share this PBS documentary one of my classmates shared about the conditions in a garment factory in China. It's a pretty thorough piece, so if you have an hour to kill, take a gander here.

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Sentiments

Stylemint tee, Blank NYC suede shorts, 3.1 Philip Lim blazer, vintage coat & belt, Cheap Monday boots, Persol sunglasses, hat knit by my grandma, monogram necklace designed by my mom, Neha Joyas heart necklace


Another beautiful day here in NYC comparable to springtime in April. Well, at least yesterday was.
Classes have started up again along with events, so even though it was my day off from school, there was still a lot to be done during the day! I put together tomboyish to work with this AMAZING 3.1 blazer. Like, dudes, it has inside pockets and everything! I bought it second-hand at my local Buffalo Exchange and it is seriously the find of the century.

I realized I had also put together an ensemble that was somewhat of a family affair. My monogram ring chain necklace was designed for me by my Mom and my  hat was made by my grandma. It's things like these that keep me grounded and a little less homesick when I have them with me while I'm away at school. I try to wear my monogram necklace everyday to keep my parents close.

Ooookay, well, before things get too mushy, here's a photo of Audrey Hepburn shopping with her pet deer. I'm off to class!

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Them Paris Girls

via The Sartorialist


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Wrapped Around the City

Vintage coat & sweater, Cheap Monday jeans & boots, Vintage Coach bag, Persol sunglasses, Neha Joyas heart necklace, A+Ro sweater & scarf


Snow has finally hit us here in NYC! It was a chilly but beautiful afternoon, Nat is back in the city, so we had a little reunion by parading the city as we normally do, exploring new places in SoHo to grab tea and a bite while drooling over the local fare at boutiques. Chinese New Year is tomorrow so the whole city is preparing. It's so awesome to turn a corner and see really gorgeous & colorful decorations waiting for the celebration!

Needless to day, I had to bundle up today! My aunt so generously sent over this tawny peacoat just in time, and it's been fun experimenting colors with it. All of my coats are super dark & heavy, so this is a nice departure. A+Ro makes the best knits, I swear! They're the warmest pieces I have, so layering with them has become absolutely invaluable and constant. Under the cardigan was this amazing vintage varsity sweater that I found at No Relation Vintage a while back. For $10, it's an absolute gem! Can't go wrong with a snarling mascot tiger, I just wish I knew which school it once repped!

Buried underneath all the layers, I wore this amazing new piece by Mexican jewelry designer Neha Joyas. I've wanted a heart pendant for such a long time and this one beautifully and elegantly tones down the edginess of the dissected heart with a delicate pearl bead chain. I'm obsessed! I've been wearing it as much as I can!

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Frizz Free Friday: No More Tired Eyes

GOOD MORNING!!!

Yeah, not really.

Fun fact about myself: I have a really hard time falling asleep. I just started taking melatonin supplements  because my sleep schedule on school break has been really awful. Sometimes I'll seriously go a day without sleep. So, I'm sure you can see why concealer is one of the most fundamentally important elements in my makeup repertoire. I like to think of myself as a concealer aficionado since it has taken me a looooooong time to finally find the perfect concealer, and since I have finally found said product, I wanted to share that with you guys.

I decided to take photos for this post bright and early at 7:30 a.m. this morning to show you my routine for prepping and managing my eye makeup. So, here we go:

First, my top 3 concealers and agents:

 

from l to r: Sephora concealer airbrush #57, Makeup Forever Lift concealer Benefit Bo-oing concealer, DiorSkin concealer, Ooh La La Lift, Naturopathica Vitamin K brightening serum

t to b: serum, ooh la la, bo-oing, dior, m4e

I love all of these products, but if you really want to know which one is the best, Make Up Forever takes the cake. I just discovered this product last week and it's a life changer. It's light yet highly pigmented and long-lasting. Before I used to layer two concealers under a powder to get the same coverage this one little tube gives. I seriously, seriously recommend this stuff, but everyone is different, so you might want to check these other guys out. Benefit's Bo-oing has a really creamy texture, which is nice and the pigment is perfect, but I noticed it gets a little cakey and it'll start to sit in any line or crease under your eye. Dior's concealer is really hydrating and light, but not as long-lasting. Everyone is different though, so it'd still be good to do some research yourself.

So, to start off, take your seriously tired face and stand in natural light. This might be kinda scary, but is very important since it's the only way you'll be able to see your true skin tone and makeup coverage. But you knew that already.

I prep my eyes with my Naturopathica brightening serum. It's a really nice product that's sticky at first, but goes on totally matte. it has flecks of mica which brightens eyes from the start.

Start with 3 dots and blend away! Pay close attention to the corners of your eyes and where they meet the nose. Get your eyelids too to even out.

This is where I add my Ooh La La Lift, which is a brightening agent. It really wakes you up!

Et Voila! There you have it. A thousand percent more awake (looking) and good to go! Now you're ready to swish on your favorite mascara/liner/shadow or whatever else you need!

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Stalking

Zara leather jacket, Spring & Clifton garter sweater, Free People blouse, Cheap Monday Jeans, Steven loafers, Hannah Warner double skull bangle, Persol sunglasses


It's gotten bitingly cold here in NYC, but I was finally able to buy this leather jacket after months of stalking it, so dammit, I'm gonna wear it! I played up the classic edginess of the piece by layering it over "basics"- something I love doing! This garter sweater is anything but ordinary with its detailing, I tend to layer it over white blouses a lot just to par down its construction to something more familiar.

We all see a lot of pieces that are inspired by nature, death, decay and rebirth, but Hannah Warner's designs stand out & are particularly intriguing to me. The matte surface of this bangle is something I don't normally see, and I love wearing it on its own since it's weighty and a really great metallic element on its own. I guess in that vein, I went pseudo-greaser on this one, wearing my favorite jeans and walking around SoHo in the cold. The golden hour upon us, I threw my sunglasses on, if only for an hour, and walked the streets in search of comfort in the form of soup.

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Back To The Wind

Ph. by Rachel Scroggins
Amber Sakai bodysuit, vintage bellbottoms/belt, Jewelmint pomander necklace, Rachel's sunglasses


These are some of my favorite photos that I have been able to shoot with Rachel for. We hit up her roof again JUST as the golden hour was upon us. It was magic, yo.

I'm sure you've noted the pigtails. I guess I got fed up with not really being able to style my hair since it's so short, so I looked at the heart shaped sunglasses and said "That's it, I'm going Lolita!!" and there you have it. I was wearing one of my Amber Sakai boysuits, one of my favorites in fact. There's something so elusive about a backless piece. You have to take care in how you wear it because it's so sensual from just one side! I decided to pair this lovely piece with some almost shapeless bellbottoms that are SO COMFY in the blistering cold when you wear some Uniqlo heattech leggings underneath Yeah, generates heat when you wear it. Welcome to the future.

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Shots From ENK

Instagrams: Jenny from Jenny Bird's amazing boots, Vanessa Mooney's Clara collection, One of Jenny Bird's hand carved wooden rings (doubles as a weapon), Bangles from Sorrelli, Rebecca Minkoff neon goodness, Sam Edelman Banana sandals


Click below left to read more & see what I wore out!


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Frizz Free Friday: When Air Drying Isn't Enough

We're back!

Most of the Frizz Free Friday questions I've been getting from you guys have to do with keeping curly hair. One of my secret weapons for maintaining my hair is my diffuser & hair dryer, a combo that every girl who wants/has curly hair should own.

For those who haven't been introduced to the magic that is a diffuser, it's a bowl-shaped attachment that you put on your hair dryer to, well, diffuse the air. Pegs are also put into diffusers, which act as "fingers" to further shape curls and prevent frizziness. By making the air flow more broad, you can get more defined curls. 

On my last trip to Arrojo, my go-to stylist Jon showed used three different styling products to use when he diffused my hair: Mousse to keep it airy and curl cream mixed with tacky styling paste to give some hold and definition to my curls. After applying each in equal parts to my hair, he dried my hair with a diffuser attachment by pointing it upwards since my hair is cut in a square shape to define my face.

Pretty much worked.

At home, I use a HANAair Pro Hair dryer, which is a pretty miraculous hair dryer, lemme tell you. Before I was using this piece of garbage hair dryer by BedHead and although the hair dryer itself sucked, the diffuser it came with was amazing, so I kept it for that until I got fed up noticing it frizzed the crap out of my hair. Missikko asked me to review their most popular hair dryer and I GLADLY accepted the challenge because I just wanted to see if it would really make that much of a difference.

And yes, it does.

This thing dries my hair crazy fast. If I'm in a rush, my hair will be dry in 3 minutes. Seriously. This is definitely worth the plunge if you're looking for a hair dryer. It's fast and its temperature range is completely safe and reasonable.

The dryer didn't come with a diffuser, so I had to get a universal one myself. This one I've been test running is a Solano Solano Crystal diffuser. It looks pretty cool, but it's not amazing, only because my hair is short. I need to play with it more, but after a few uses, I've noticed that since my hair is a bit shorter, it's not long enough to hit the bottom of the diffuser and I tend to get a softer look with it. Which is fine and pretty, but I might be better off with a diffuser with longer pegs if I want something bouncier.

Proper etiquette for diffusing your hair is just flipping your hair over and drying your hair from the bottom, letting your hair sort of fall into the bowl of the diffuser. Once your hair dries, it will be light and bouncy. Before styling, be sure to prep with a conditioning product since you are indeed working with heat, which can destroy your hair and dry out the follicle in no time. I HIGHLY recommend Moroccan Oil, which I've been using for a couple months now and I love it. Zero fizz and my hair has been significantly shinier and healthier. It also makes your hair dry faster, which is just bananas. Definitely the best treatment for when you're using heat. And the scent? Beyond amazing.


Here is a list of diffusers that get the De Lune stamp of approval:
T3 II (for Featherweight dryers),  Conair pro (Universal), CHI (for CHI Infra Tech dryers),  Elchim (Universal), Cricket (For Cricket Dryers)
Look for a Target promotional code for some of these brands.

The best diffuser in existence  is the Devachan Finger Diffuser (universal), but man is it expensive...
definitely worth the plunge though!!

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