Monday 8 April 2024

The Bob Haircut & How To Style It







Over the last year or two, I’ve done two drastic things to my hair. First, I got bangs in November 2022. Then after a little less than a year with them, I decided to cut them and get a bob. I haven’t looked back since I got a bob haircut. When anyone ever asks me about my haircut, I almost always say, “YOU SHOULD GET ONE TOO”. I know, I know there are some hair types and face shapes that might not be suited for a bob (I mean, tbh, I don’t really agree with this), but if it’s something you’re interested in doing to YOUR OWN HAIR? I say go for it. At the end of the day, hair always grows back.

What I Asked For – The Bob Haircut

I just love my bob haircut. I think it’s my favorite haircut ever, and I can’t see myself with long hair ever again. Crazy statement, I know. When I first decided to go shorter, all I knew is that I wanted it to be one length. After about 6 weeks, I knew I wanted to keep it this length, so I decided to go get a trim (and have gotten 2 more since then). Now I feel like I’m a pro when it comes to what to ask for when I’m getting a cut. I tell my stylist I want it all one length, right at my chin with some soft, blended texture.

I know this may not be realistic (it’s not super realistic to me either, but I try to stick to this schedule & budget it in), but I prefer to get my hair cut every 6-8 weeks.

Ways I Style My Bob Haircut

There are actually a lot of ways to style your bob haircut.

  • Blown out & straightened
  • Air-dried & tousled
  • Add a bend!
  • Add messy little curls
  • Waves 

I also think short hair looks extra cool with hats. I love wearing baseball hats, and beanies in the winter.

 Products I Use To Style My Bob

When it comes to styling a bob haircut, there are SO many things out there:

  • Flat iron
  • Dry shampoo
  • Heat protectant
  • Texturizing spray
  • Pomade (optional)

And there you have it!! I truly think a bob haircut is a low-maintenance haircut that looks great on a lot of people. If you’ve been thinking about taking the leap, DO IT.


Saturday 6 April 2024

The Importance of Skin Care: Nurturing Your Body's First Line of Defense


Our skin is much more than just a surface. It's a complex organ that serves as the body's first line of defense against external elements, pathogens, and environmental stressors. Yet, despite its crucial role, skincare is often overlooked or relegated to the realm of cosmetics. However, understanding the significance of proper skin care goes far beyond mere aesthetics; it's about nurturing our body's health and overall well-being.

Protection Against External Factors

One of the primary functions of our skin is to act as a barrier, shielding us from harmful substances, pollutants, and UV radiation. Without proper care, our skin's ability to perform this vital role is compromised, leaving us vulnerable to a myriad of skin conditions, infections, and premature aging. By adopting a consistent skincare routine that includes cleansing, moisturizing, and sun protection, we can fortify our skin's defenses and maintain its integrity.

Preservation of Skin Health

Just as we nourish our bodies with nutritious food to stay healthy, our skin also requires care and attention to thrive. Regular cleansing helps remove dirt, oil, and impurities that can clog pores and lead to acne breakouts or inflammation. Moisturizing helps replenish the skin's natural moisture barrier, preventing dryness, flakiness, and irritation. Additionally, incorporating specialized treatments such as exfoliation and serums can address specific concerns like uneven skin tone, fine lines, and hyperpigmentation, promoting a radiant and youthful complexion.

Prevention of Skin Disorders

Skincare isn't just about addressing existing issues—it's also about preventing them from occurring in the first place. Neglecting proper skin care can increase the risk of developing various skin disorders, including dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, and skin cancer. By adopting a proactive approach to skincare, we can minimize the likelihood of these conditions and maintain our skin's health and vitality for years to come.

Boosting Self-Confidence and Well-Being

The state of our skin can significantly impact our self-esteem and confidence levels. When our skin looks and feels healthy, we tend to feel more comfortable and assured in our own skin. On the other hand, dealing with skin concerns such as acne, dryness, or premature aging can take a toll on our mental and emotional well-being, affecting our self-image and overall quality of life. By investing in proper skin care, we not only improve the appearance of our skin but also enhance our self-confidence and sense of well-being.

Long-Term Benefits for Aging Skin

As we age, our skin undergoes various changes, including decreased elasticity, reduced collagen production, and the formation of wrinkles and fine lines. While aging is a natural process, proper skin care can help mitigate its effects and maintain a more youthful appearance. By incorporating anti-aging ingredients such as retinol, antioxidants, and peptides into our skincare regimen, we can support skin renewal, stimulate collagen synthesis, and minimize the visible signs of aging, promoting a smoother, firmer, and more resilient complexion.

In conclusion, the importance of skin care cannot be overstated. Beyond its cosmetic benefits, proper skin care is essential for protecting our bodies, preserving skin health, preventing disorders, and enhancing our overall well-being. By prioritizing skin care as an integral part of our daily routine, we not only nurture our skin but also invest in our long-term health and confidence.

So, let's pledge to give our skin the love and care it deserves because healthy skin is not just a luxury—it's a necessity.


Friday 5 April 2024

How to wear colors



It’s time to regain some order when it comes to colors. The situation has gotten ridiculous, and I’m going to tell you why. And also how to bring your color skills up to this standard:

You know that more and more men are worrying about dressing in the right colors. And people often ask me during a makeover, “Ben, which colors should I wear?”.

The problem is that you hear anything and everything on the subject of colors. The majority of makeover agencies have made it the focus of their presentations, citing a whole range of related tools: seasonal analysis, drape testing, and even “chromopsychology” (no, seriously)…

I’m going to make myself very clear: I think these tools are USELESS.

Color theories:  it feels like something’s missing

To start with, telling a guy who doesn’t know anything about colors to wear blue isn’t helpful, because there’s blue and there’s blue. Just as there are cheap-looking materials, there are equally thousands of really cheap-looking colors, often linked to the quality of the material (but that’s another story). And there are some beautiful shades that don’t appear on the color chart or the drapes used by makeover agencies. That’s the problem.

Advice of the “you’re more Fall than Winter, so you should dress in warmer colors, they’ll add warmth to your complexion and complement your personality” kind is hardly comprehensible to a guy for whom H&M on a Saturday afternoon is his only fashion reference.

In all honestly, even I don’t really know how to interpret this kind of advice, and the method behind it, as well as becoming more and more vague, does absolutely nothing to help you get your bearings in a shop and construct your style from pieces that suit you.

The advice that I like to give is to look at as much high-end men’s clothing as possible so that you get used to picking out attractive colors (without necessarily buying anything at first). Then have a look around an H&M or an X afterward. You’ll see where I’m coming from. It’s really important to develop an eye for colors. Going to art exhibitions and admiring a country view are also good habits to get into (even if they don’t fall strictly within the genre of this blog).

Having noticed that the best pieces of men’s clothing often come in subdued colors (not all the time, but often), Kinowear’s team and I offer a few very simple rules during our men’s makeovers.

  • Base your outfit above all-around contrast: the level of contrast between the items you’re wearing should be about the same as the level of contrast between your skin and your hair.
  • Pick up on your natural colorings (the color of your eyes, cheeks, and hair) by wearing accessories in those tones.
  • Wear mainly neutral colors (blue, brown, grey, and a bit of black and white).
  • Don’t forget the importance of cut: I’m convinced that a guy who wore solely black and white but well-cut clothes would have more style than someone who dressed according to the four seasons color theory)…
  • … or the importance of materials: understated colors require high-quality materials. It’s up to you to find them.

    Last thing: don’t get too worked up over colors. There’s very little risk of getting it really wrong. As I repeat tirelessly, focus your efforts on finding excellent cuts and materials, especially when it comes to your basics, which you can later team with pieces in bolder colors.

    Never go naked again!

    Read our Best-Of we take the Crash Course to start working on rock-solid foundations.

    But you have to know, that our best advice is in The Kinowear Bible. Included 100+ HD photos of looks that you can easily replicate.

    Which colors should I wear?

    Bluebrowngray: the three pillar colors

    It’s a bit of a shame, but we have less freedom than women when it comes to the colors we can wear. Generally speaking, a guy’s wardrobe should be based on three colors: bluebrown, and gray (and any tone that’s a combination of these colors, like blue-graytaupe, and camel).

    Of course, you can add touches of other colors to your outfits, but I defy you to dress head to toe in purple and not look like a Power Rangers fan… Well, alright, it’s possible. But I want this post to be accessible to as many people as possible, so, for now, let’s focus on the basics. (N.B. If you’re the purple Power Ranger and you’re reading this post, please ignore this paragraph.


    Abuse these three pillar colors, especially if you’re a style beginner. Gray is the easiest of these colors to wear, and, contrary to the stereotype, isn’t a “sad” color… Play with original cuts and materials, or use gray to balance out other pieces in bolder tones, like Bordeauxkhakivioletclear blueorange, etc.

    If you select all of your clothes in these three colors, you’ll never have to worry about clashes when it comes to putting together your outfit!

    Tip: don’t overlook pastel shades, especially in summer. Acne, APC or Saturday Surf NYC, and more generally, Scandinavian brands, offer some nice pieces.


    The colors you wear too much of

    Certain colors should clearly be used in moderation. I’m thinking particularly of bold shades of primary and secondary colors like the colors of the poster paints you used in kindergarten. These shades are quite simply too garish and lacking in subtlety. You can use them in small doses, but more than one item per outfit in a tone like this is probably already too much.



    The case of black and white

    Let’s debunk the myth right now. Black and white are not easy colors to wear. And they don’t suit everyone. Quite the opposite, these colors are tricky to wear well, because they’re at the two extremes of the color spectrum. Often, if the other colors you wear with your black piece(s) aren’t dark enough, all people will see is the black piece(s), which will dominate the outfit. The same goes for wearing colors that aren’t light enough with your white piece(s).

    What’s more, these aren’t practical colors. White becomes gray through washing and general wear, and black fades unless you buy really high-end clothes where everything is done so that the dye holds.

    So use them in moderation, and if you do buy black, do so purposefully (i.e. with a specific idea in mind), not by default. For the easy option, go for gray.

    Ben and Gill wrote a response to an email from one of our readers on the subject of colors, where they talked about how to wear black. It repeats some of what has been said in this post and the previous one

    So stop worrying about colors and start thinking about contrast!

    Now that you no longer need to stress out about wearing the right colors (because, at the end of the day, you can always just stick to blues, browns, and grays), we come to the second key element of coordinating colors: contrast. Don’t skip this part, because it’s the most important one!

    If you only retain one piece of information from this post, it should be this sentence:

    The level of contrast between the items you’re wearing should be the same as the level of contrast between your skin and your hair.

    A hangover from our hunter-gatherer ancestors, the eye is always drawn to contrasts, to the part that sticks out from the rest. As a consequence, an observer’s eyes will always be drawn to the most contrasting part of your outfit. The objective is of course to direct attention towards your face with an outfit that has just the right dose of character.

    The problem is that if you have fair skin and light hair, but you wear an outfit with strongly contrasting colors, people won’t see your face.

    Conversely, if you have fair skin and dark hair, but your outfit lacks contrast, your clothes will look a bit like pajamas, as all the attention will be on your face.

    Photo illustrations (I’ve put the photos in black and white so that you can see the contrasts separately from the colors themselves):

     Intermediate skin/hair contrast: Justin Timberlake.

    Left: little contrast in the outfit but contrast on the face = pyjama effect.

    Right: the outfit contains more contrast, and the result is more balanced.


Thursday 4 April 2024

The Essence Of Being A Full Time Influencer






Would I Be A Full-Time Influencer?

Collaborations Would Be Easier

Do you know how defeating it is when I was invited to a breakfast or lunch meeting/event and couldn’t attend because of my 9-to-5? I’m lucky enough to work with brands who understand my schedule, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have the time to create and foster these relationships with brands by attending more events with them, especially in a post-COVID world.

I’d also be able to have more time to dedicate to content. Although I think I’m doing a decent job with my content, I feel like I could be more thoughtful with it. Before COVID, I think there was A LOT more pressure to come up with pretty content. Of course, that’s still a big part of it, but now it’s kind of a mix between the “content” and pretty much just sharing my every day. In 2019, I would shoot every few weeks to make sure I had content ready to go. Now? I could snap a pic of my outfit in the mirror and that would get the same kind of engagement.


Travel Would Be Easier

This is another thing I think about. A lot of the time, I can’t go on trips because I have a set number of vacation and personal days. I have to be very strategic with how I plan my PTO days. And on the weeks I’m asserting? Can’t even think about travel.

Again, I think post-COVID it’s definitely easier. I can work from home and if I happen to be in another state for a day or two – that’s cool. I can still do my job. But again, at the end of the day, I always put my 9-to-5 first because it definitely pays my bills (on top of LOVING what I do).

…but it’s still not that easy

I’ve been seeing a lot of, “Influencing isn’t hard.” And then the whole “it’s not rocket science or you’re not saving a life” debate comes into play. And then it blows up. I get really sick of that argument because you can make these arguments about any traditional 9-to-5. Like hi. I work in the fashion industry. I assort product and help with inventory opportunities to help grow a business. Am I saving lives? Absolutely not. Is my job hard? Yeah, it can be tough when you have a lot of expectations to meet. But is it HARD? No, of course not.

My point is, it’s not easy to be an influencer and be successful enough to make it your full-time income. Trust me, I’ve tried it. A lot of people have really weird misconceptions about those who



make a full-time income from their Instagram and websites. The Internet makes it very easy to assume that everyone’s lives are perfect, or that they’re allowed to criticize EVERY. LITTLE. THING someone does because they are more open to putting their lives on the Internet. It’s a highlight reel. Nothing more and nothing less. Sure, there could be vulnerable moments, but for the most part, it’s only the good things.

While we show what goes on “behind the scenes”…it’s still a lot of highlights. We loooooove the idea of hustling. We looooove showing that side of our lives online.

But what about real-life things??? Like health insurance. When I started a new job after trying to be a full-time influencer for a bit, my insurance didn’t kick in for 60 days. I had to pay $900 for shitty health insurance (that didn’t include dental…and I need a lot of dental work at the time. If I truly were a full-time influencer, there’s no way I could afford $450 a month without sacrificing something else in my life. It’s just not something I want to do ever.

I guess that’s my main point. Since I’ve struck the perfect balance between the two, why would I stop? Right now, my 9-to-5 and my own business allow me to live the lifestyle I want. I really don’t have to sacrifice much. Not only do I absolutely LOVE what I do at my LITERAL dream job, but I also get to run my own business. The dual income, the security of steady biweekly paychecks, the benefits, working in the fashion industry, AND working with brands on my own…it’s all kind of worth it to me. It works for me. It’s not easy by any means. But it works.






Thursday 5 March 2020

9 BREAKOUT TRENDS FROM THE PARIS FALL 2020 RUNWAYS

Altuzarra, Dries Van Noten, Paco Rabanne, Rokh and Balmain.  

The sartorial marathon is otherwise known as Paris Fashion Week finally drew to a close on Tuesday evening, and designers in the French capital managed to fill eight rainy days with desirable fashion for the upcoming season.

Wednesday 12 February 2020

BRIGHT PINK WAS A STREET-STYLE HIT ON DAY 4 OF NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

On the street at New York Fashion Week Fall 2020. 


Pink may not be as ubiquitous as it once was, but on day four of New York Fashion Week, the street-style pack proved that it's still a sartorial favorite. 

Thursday 11 July 2019

IS INDIA THE NEXT BIG GLOBAL BEAUTY MARKET

Photo:Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images 

The first product that Nykaa.com sold on its website was a Maybelline lipstick. Since that first transaction in 2012, the Indian beauty e-tailer's revenues have reached hundreds of millions of dollars, reached a valuation of $750 million, built 35 brick-and-mortar stores and earned the moniker "India's Sephora."