Hello Internet Friends,
Welcome to the first Regular Girls Newsletter! I am excited, thrilled, terrified, but ultimately ready to accept my title as the new voice of my generation…
I’m really trying to not put pressure on myself or this newsletter. I want it to grow as this community grows (obviously #nopervs) but I can’t tell you how hard it is for me to just start small. I have too many ideas and not enough platforms to do them on! The sayings “one day at a time”, “one foot forward”, “only have ONE podcast” are truly and utterly lost on me. So what is a woman to do? Or more specifically a woman who has an overwhelming urge for total world domination?!
I talked to my lovely friend/wonderfully talented writer Anne.T. Donahue (follow her newsletter HERE) and she gave me an amazing piece of advice… JUST START WRITING. Which if I’m being honest was a new concept for me. Just do the thing? Usually I just daydream about the thing I want to do, instantly imagine the success and accolades that will come of it, sit down to actually put in the work, immediately find every reason under the sun to not do it, and then spend the rest of my life wondering where it all went wrong…
So this “just start writing” concept is new but I am determined to try it on for size. Plus, Anne is truly one of the most hard working and driven human beings I have ever known so out of fear of embarrassing her and our friendship I am going to take her advice and just start writing... While daydreaming of starting a third podcast and the outfits I’ll wear on my future book tour, obviously...
Now, this newsletter will cover a variety of topics but going with todays theme of START SMALL, I am going to start with just two segments. The first one is “Let Me Influence You”. This is the segment where I break down all things beauty and DEMAND you listen to me! The second is “Internet Friend Of The Week” where I feature one of my favourite online accounts you NEED to know about! This week it’s the wonderful Jan Caruana and her incredible Food Blog “Two Little Sandwiches” .
ENJOY!
So if you have been listening to the POD for any amount of time or have known me one second or less, you know that I really should have become a beauty influencer. A full on Glamazon Monster who tells you to like and subscribe, while wearing a bold cut crease cat eye and lips plumped to the size of two watermelons. But alas that is not me. I am instead a thin haired comedian with a penchant for cheek redness and budget beauty...
But when I find a product I love I have no other choice but to share and demand you TRUSS ME. And yes, I left out the T. I am a dramatic woman who considers proper grammar purely optional…
These are my two Beauty Picks for the week.
Alexa Chung Has A YOUTUBE CHANEL And We Are All Late To The Party.
I recently came across Alexa Chung’s YouTube Channel and honestly I wasn’t prepared for how into I would be. Alexa Chung is a British writer, television presenter, model, and fashion designer. And above all else, she is the woman who makes me want bangs all of the time. If I bring in another photo of Alexa Chung to my hairstylist she will disown me. I digress.
At first I was skeptical of her YT channel but I soon realized she is the beauty blogger we NEED right now. The whole beauty blogger scene is evolved into this dark place of high expectations that leave us feeling helpless. Everyone is so polished, and fake. Not to mention SO rich, and detached from reality. Which sucks because I love watching tutorials, but with $5000 foundations these tutorials have become unwatchable. This is where Alexa Chung comes in and washes all that BS away. Her advice is useful, her style is full on goals, truly it’s so good it makes me weep. And the plus side is you probably have similar items already in your closest. She’s not fussy or uptight and you finish watching her videos and feel like you have every piece in your closet or makeup drawer to get the look. THE LOOK! Even for those like myself with thin ass hair and a not so secret desire to look cool and effortlessly Parisian 24/7.
I first dipped a toe with her tutorial for getting “Easy Messy Waves” and from there I deep dived like my life depended on it. The best part of Alexa Chung, for me, is that she has THIN HAIR AND TALKS ABOUT IT!! She’s not parading around with four wigs on acting like she has just been gifted since birth with the power of volume. She is honest and works with what she has instead of fighting it. And because of that I listen and TRUSS HER!
My thin hair has never been so happy and taken care of. This tutorial makes volume and texture easy, even if your hair has the emotional fragility of 3 million Eeyores.
Things I took away from her Messy Hair Tutorial (with the help of her hair stylist):
I am keeping my hair on the curler for FAR TOO LONG.
I don’t need to use product, besides heat protectant, before I blow dry.
Use Dry Shampoo & Texturizing Spray even with clean hair.
Which brings me to my next “TRUSSSSS ME”, but this one is $$$.
$ THE MUST HAVE THAT COSTS MONEY $
If you have thin hair then you know how hard the struggle is to not only achieve volume but to also maintain your style. But worry no more, I have found your solution! Good news, it works! Bad news, she is one expensive little lady…
ORIBE TEXTURIZING SPRAY
These two range from $45-$50 and I bought mine from Amazon and Nordstrom. My personal preference is the Dry Thickening Spray but they both work great. They smell amazing and they HOLD YOUR STYLE and GIVE YOU VOLUME! Yes the price tag SUCKS but once you leave the mall and finish guilt crying on the bus ride home you will never regret it. You will feel amazing and finally have the hair you’ve always wanted.
Now if this is not in your budget I highly suggest using Dry Shampoo (my fav right now is DOVE’s Dry Shampoo), just keep it far away from the root and try spraying underneath the hair. This technique will save you from that white dust look that screams “I chose sleep over a shower Diane! Look away LOOK SO FAR AWAY!”.
Sidebar: Everyone should be watching Baroness Von Sketch Show.
Both of these little beauty do’s have saved me in the last few weeks and it would be CRUEL not to share. Let me know what you think of Alexa Chung’s TY channel. And if you splurge on Oribe let me know how it works out!
ALSO if you have beauty trends or products you want me to try and chat about reach out and let me know!
I would be REMISS if I didn’t end this newsletter without introducing you to your next favorite account on the internet. Each week I am going to give a shoutout to a person, place, or thing (hello Oribe!) that you NEED to follow. These are my fav Internet pals that may or may not know how deep my love is for them. In fact, they may not know me at all, but just like this newsletter our relationship needs to start somewhere…
This week I wanted to feature truly one of the most talented women I have ever had the honour of knowing, Jan Caruana. Jan is an award winning comedian and writer who I was blessed to perform alongside at The Second City, in Toronto. She has recently launched an incredible Food Instagram TWO LITTLE SANDWICHES that will be a guaranteed boost to your day. Her captions are heartwarming and inspirational, and her food is delicious. She was also the most recent guest on Regular Girls! We chatted Instagram, building a brand, and we unpack why being vulnerable and authentic online feels so scary. You would be INSANE to not catch up.
I asked Jan if she wanted to contribute a special post just for the RG Newsletter and lucky for us she said YES! So enjoy an extra little taste of Two Little Sandwiches, and after you read this FOLLOW HER!
Well we did it, the first RG Newsletter is done. Next week expect Pop Culture chats about the new VANDERPUMP RULES trailer. I linked it so you can catch up. I am excited about where this will go and I hope you are too. If you have topics, ideas for segments, or have Q’s you need me to A, reach out, but remember #nopervs forever and always…
Thanks for following and have a great week!
-Stacey