Alison Freer's Blog, page 2

Get Yourself Some Leg Hoodies

If you haven’t jumped on the fleece-lined tights train yet, ALL ABOARD! Commonly known as ‘leg hoodies’, they are one of mother nature’s very best inventions, adding very little extra bulk to your cold weather look—while still packing a wallop of warmth. Yes, they are legit sweatshirts for your stems—with comfy, cozy, toasty fleece built right into them.

Tights from Target, Shellys London shoes from Amazon.

Fleece-lined tights are the only reason I can remain fully dedicated to my skirt and dress-based lifestyle come winter. (I do own a pair or two of pants—but strangely, only ever wear them during the summer.) They are basically pants in stocking form, and as fate would have it, the very best fleece-lined tights around are available for 14 bucks at everyone’s favorite place to hang: Le Target. They only come in black, but that’s okay: because the first rule of black tights club is that your tights must be totally black. That means completely black and totally opaque, without even a hint of sheerness.

Women’s fleece-lined tights, $14.

These puppies somehow never snag—no matter how many cocktail rings you are drunkenly wearing at a party. They are black as night, warm as toast, and light as a feather (but not stiff as a board.)

If you want your new fleece tights to last forever (and once you wear them for the first time, you will), you should be carefully handwashing them in cold water. But if you simply MUST put them in the washer due to sheer laziness, I feel you—just invest in a mesh lingerie wash bag to keep them from snagging, tangling and losing their elasticity prematurely. Treat your fleece-lined babies well—and they will always keep you toasty warm all winter long in return.

Set of five mesh laundry bags, $11.99.

I am the author of ‘How to Get Dressed: A Costume Designer’s Secrets for Making Your Clothes Look, Fit, and Feel Amazing’ .

Keep in touch, let’s be pals: Instagram , Facebook , or Twitter ! You can also sign up for my email list here or by texting ALISONFREER to 22828. I’ll only send you the cutest stuff, I promise.

Get Yourself Some Leg Hoodies was originally published in Alison Freer on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There’s Still Time to Buy Your Mom This for Christmas

I’m not at all sorry to brag on myself over here, as I’m on the verge of giving my mom her best Christmas gift ever—one that will have her swanning about as if she’s living inside Mariah Carey’s closet.

Via Glamour magazine.

I’m talking about this clever hand steamer from Jiffy. It’s called the E-Steam, and it’s the Hollywood Secret to removing wrinkles without busting out an iron. There’s one somewhere in the bowels of Mariah’s closet, trust—she just isn’t the one firing it up every day.

Steami...

Stop Drying Your Hair With a Regular Old Towel

When I moved out of my childhood home as a wee adult-toddler hybrid, my parents sent me on my way with two things: an admonishment to “Be safe!” and a set of towels monogrammed with my initials.

I immediately disregarded the advice regarding my personal safety, but a large number of years later, those towels my parents gifted me have kept on truckin’. While half of them were stolen from the laundromat years ago (who steals monogrammed towels?!), the remaining ones are still perfectly useable — albeit kind of threadbare and more than a little dingy.

I’ve finally replaced them with 30 piece matched set (I’m talking bath towels, bath sheets, hand towels, washcloths, any towel configuration you can dream up) of these Lacoste towels in ‘fandango pink’, because I am a grown woman who follows Barbie on Twitter. If they last me even half as long as the set my family gifted me, I’ll be in a senior living home when the time comes to replace them.

But none of these fancy new towels are meant to be used for drying my hair—because I’m of the opinion that absolutely NO bath towel is good enough for your precious hair. Rubbing your hair dry with a regular old bath towel is a fast track to frizzy, damaged hair — as the terrycloth texture causes friction and roughs up your hair cuticles, which equals frizz.

Plus, if you are a gal who likes to put her hair up while she gets ready and does her makeup, the weight of a regular old bath towel on your head can cause breakage around the roots — resulting in all those super short hairs you get around your hairline.

So just say no to bath towels for hair drying—and always use a special microfiber hair towel, duh!

Aquis lisse crepe (smooth crepe) microfiber towel , $20.99.

Mind you, I’m not talking about the proliferation of lame-o “twisty” hair towels and turbans out there, as much as I love my ‘As Seen on TV’ products. There is only one original microfiber hair towel, and it’s made by Aquis. They are smooth as silk, completely gentle to your hair, and last forever. I’ve washed mine somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 times and they are still going strong.

Aquis lisse crepe (smooth crepe) microfiber towel or Turban , both $20.99.( Aquis makes a few styles of hair towel, but the lisse crepe is par excellence.)

Aquis hair towels are superior to literally all other hair towels because of their incredible water-sucking ability. They cut hair drying time in half and don’t cause any bends or dents in your hair. Once it’s wet, the towel dries completely within about 20 minutes, making it perfect for travel and gym use. (Traveling with your own personal hair towel = height of luxury.)

If you think that buying to dry your hair with sounds insane, you still shouldn’t stoop to using a regular old bath towel. Simply stalk the aisles of your local automotive store for a super-absorbent car towel at a quarter of the price—or just do what curly-haired girls the world over have been doing for years: Wrap your wet hair up in an old T-shirt and be done with it.

I am the author of ‘How to Get Dressed: A Costume Designer’s Secrets for Making Your Clothes Look, Fit, and Feel Amazing’ .

Keep in touch, let’s be pals: Instagram , Facebook , or Twitter ! You can also sign up for my email list here or by texting ALISONFREER to 22828. I’ll only send you the cutest stuff, I promise.

Stop Drying Your Hair With a Regular Old Towel was originally published in Alison Freer on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.