Hi! I initially wasn't sure I was going to do another seasonal inspiration post because of how much went into creating Spring Inspiration a few months ago but even though it was a lot of work, it was also one of the most fun posts I've ever done. I eventually decided to take on the challenge for summer as well, but I didn't want it to look the same as the spring post so there are a few new elements in the 'See' and 'Hear' portions of the post. With any of my seasonal inspiration posts, as I've mentioned before, I like to involve all of the senses and make it a more immersive experience so this is going to be pretty long. You'd think I was doing something more important than just seasonal inspiration with descriptions like 'involve all of the senses' and 'more immersive experience,' huh? LOL But anyway, let's get to it. As I believe I mentioned in the Spring post, some of the photos and accompanying websites are not from the same post; some are merely there for inspiration. Enjoy!
*Mandy's Note: I've noticed that the saturation levels in some of the photos have changed quite a bit from the raw images on my phone, so I apologize if any of the photos look overly saturated or low-quality on your phones/PCs.*
Fashion: rompers, cutoffs, crop tops, bodysuits, gladiator sandals and jeweled strapped shoes, gold dangly jewelry
Beauty: Bronzed skin, colorful liner or shadow, thick and long lashes, big eyes, bright lips
Hair: 90s buns, half ponytails, waves, messy/tousled styles
Headspace: on the road/travelling, wanderlust, festivals
Beauty: Bronzed skin, colorful liner or shadow, thick and long lashes, big eyes, bright lips
Hair: 90s buns, half ponytails, waves, messy/tousled styles
Headspace: on the road/travelling, wanderlust, festivals
I wanted a lot more visual inspiration this time around, which is why there are so many different collages of photos. For fashion, it's been a bit of a mix in terms of inspiration. Being a '90s kid and not seeing much wrong with the fashion then, it's been fun to get back into it now that it's back in style (but truthfully, I never felt it went 'out.' I do what I want. lol) I also like bohemian inspiration for summer because while it's time to flaunt what you have in the tight, form-flattering stuff, I also like the breezy silhouettes that bohemian fashion create especially when mixed with other styles. Cutoffs are my uniform for summer and crop tops are finally starting to be a staple that I'm comfortable with wearing. I've been slow to come around on the resurgence of the bodysuit but I'm here for 'em now. I don't often bother with jewelry because I'm forgetful but I've been moving towards gold, dangly jewelry lately. Initially I wanted to create my own lookbook, but I found the Fashion....art Tumblr, which is where most of the fashion comes from. The accessories are from Charlotte Russe and Forever 21.
As for beauty, I don't want to see foundations until November. lol It's been bare faced at very least, BB creams at most, and I love it that way. I'm not usually into 'dewy' looks as they just come off a bit sweaty-looking to me but bronzed, highlighted skin is something different and I've been getting into that lately.
Glittery shadows look great against bronzed/tanned skin, bright lips are both a fun touch and on days that you're wearing light makeup can be the focal point of your face, and bringing color to the eyes via liners or shadows spice up a normal everyday look. I'm diggin' it.
Glittery shadows look great against bronzed/tanned skin, bright lips are both a fun touch and on days that you're wearing light makeup can be the focal point of your face, and bringing color to the eyes via liners or shadows spice up a normal everyday look. I'm diggin' it.
Now it's a beautiful red ombre, with dark roots and from the ears down, hints of blonde, rose gold and even a little orange, depending on how it hits the light. It looks a little similar to the style in the bottom left corner, just not as bright. I'm in love with it. It's not as short as I was going for, but I'll probably start cutting it later. While we're on the topic of hair, I've been thinking about maybe doing wig and extension reviews on here; what do you think?
In terms of my headspace, I find myself really inspired by Tumblr bright colors, new adventuring and travelling. Summer is when I find myself the most inspired and when I seem to have the most cabin fever, and I've spent a few too many days imagining just taking off to places unknown. Wind in my hair, radio blasting, empty road ahead of us (because presumably, I'd be travelling alongside someone lol), time on our side and adventures waiting to be had.
Even if the road trip I initially envision doesn't go down (and it usually doesn't lol), the intrigue of day-long adventures and being a tourist in my hometown pulls at me the most during the summer. A good way that I've found to bring the travel to you if you're unable to leave is to put a bit of travel-inspired decor in your home, which I'm going to explore once we get to Touch.
Even if the road trip I initially envision doesn't go down (and it usually doesn't lol), the intrigue of day-long adventures and being a tourist in my hometown pulls at me the most during the summer. A good way that I've found to bring the travel to you if you're unable to leave is to put a bit of travel-inspired decor in your home, which I'm going to explore once we get to Touch.
--upbeat music, an ambient/electronic hybrid
Summer is probably when I discover the most new music, which is probably because it's when I'm the most inspired. So rather than just a playlist, I thought I'd include a few apps for finding some new music in addition to the playlists. I still don't really listen to the radio so these apps have been a lot of help in finding new artists and music. I featured different apps because each app features different artists, so you can then take those back to your usual music app and find them on there.
Summer, for me, is the season that deserves its own soundtrack and I try to leave my comfort zone as much as possible to find both new sources for music and new artists on those apps. I thought I'd do a little combination here and stick in a few mini-reviews (which have been lacking in the worst way and I'm sorry) as well as some music.
Indie Shuffle covers a pretty wide range of experimental and traditional genres and exposed me to quite a bit of new artists. You might find some mainstream music on the site, but I came across more remixes of the songs than I did actual tracks. What I love about this site is that there are user reviews for the tracks and similar artists if you'd really like to go down the rabbit hole and find new stuff. So if you're looking to widen the range of your music, check Indie Shuffle.
2. Audiomack
If you're looking to try new music within the genres you normally listen to, Audiomack focuses primarily on mainstream artists within the hip-hop, reggae and electronic genres. I like that there are options to download tracks or albums directly from the app, and there's a feature called Audiosnap It!, which allows you to snip a clip from the song and add either music or photos to it. Audiomack isn't my favorite of the music apps on the list but it has features that the others don't and exposes you to new/trending music within a couple of genres. I'd recommend this for the person who prefers mainstream to indie music.
3. Soundcloud
Good ol' Soundcloud. A few years ago, my music tastes shifted dramatically and I didn't really know where to find the music I was interested in other than YouTube but then I remembered Soundcloud. I dropped Spotify like a bad habit for months after getting lost in Soundcloud. Soundcloud is solely for indie/underground music and covers, as mainstream music that users upload usually gets removed not long afterward. If you're a fan of dubstep, chillstep or ambient instrumentals, you'll find an array of artists who fit the criteria at Soundcloud.
This app is a secondary app created by the developers of Hype Machine. The regular Hype Machine site has so many different tracks on the first page that it can be a bit difficult to figure out where to get started. This one has tons of categories and genres, which is cool partially because it means there's so many new places to start, but it can also be a bit overwhelming. There are mainstream tracks on here as well but again, I'm mainly on there for the indie tracks. uberHype is a bit more condensed and its easier to find new music. A pretty cool thing about Hype Machine in general is that it can be found on both Spotify and Soundcloud, so you can condense the music you find on this app on either of the other two sites.
5. Spotify
Even though I switched it up a bit this time around, I couldn't not include the OG of finding new music. I've found tons of music that I loved through the Spotify playlists I listen to, so that's why I recommend a Spotify playlist every time. You can find and follow user playlists without having to follow the user, and you can search for seasonal lists (one of my personal favorites when doing the seasonal posts) and come up with something good every time. The other sites don't have quite as much mainstream music so it's nice to have a resource in the back pocket that keeps you aware of current tunes. The playlists are much longer and more extensive than the other sites, which is another reason why it's still one of my all-time favorite apps to use for music.
--grilled meats, cold salads and vegetables, roasted side dishes, fruit-based snacks and desserts, ice creams and snow cones
Sources:
I like to put my focus on grilled meats, berry fruits and sweet treats for summer. Despite my raging lactose intolerance, I love the idea--because that's as close as I'll get to ice cream most of the time--of a cold bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day. I love grilling during the summer; it's actually my favorite cooking method for this time of year, so I really enjoy tossing different veggies and cuts of meat on the grill.
I wanted to include one of my favorite snacks on here, elote en vaso (Mexican corn in a cup), which is a really popular Mexican street food where I live, but I couldn't find a recipe that came close to the ones I eat. I had to leave it off but I wanted to include something with corn on here because if you've never had grilled corn, you're missing out on life. LOL That's what my requirements are for having a 'fulfilled life,' eating grilled corn. smh But anyway, I like a variety of foods during the summer, so I tried to include food items that displayed the range of flavors I like for this time of year.
--coastal-inspired decor, bright colors, travel-inspired wall art
Sources:
2. Hula Hoop Canopy Fort, Brit + Co (original source link no longer works)
3. Summer Bucket List Blackboard, Gray House Studio (display photo is from Life Love Larson)
A lot of my summer projects focus on the outdoors because 1-duh and 2-I'll be outside less and less for the remaining two seasons so I'd like to enjoy it while I can. Warm nights, late sunsets and stargazing. Ahh. Minus the damn mosquitoes, a few of these items can help create the perfect summer night.
I do have a couple of notes for improvisation:
Firstly, the blackboard in #3 and the tutorial I included aren't for the same site. The image is from Life Love Larson in a post that mentions summer bucket list items, and the tutorial is for the actual blackboard. The reason why I combined the two is because I wanted a blackboard for seasonal bucket lists, so the image here is for the intended usage of the tutorial I included.
Second, I'd improvise #5 a bit and rather than just random maps, I'd switch those out to some of my favorite vacay spots to continue with the summer/travel theme.
Finally, I'd combine the octopus wall art and lantern in the same decor scheme if I was going for something beach/coastal-inspired.
 |
| Sorry for the uneven photo sizes; I edited this in Paint on the fly. It shows, doesn't it? LOL |
Extras:
Wall Art Gallery, Inspiring Home Ideas (This isn't a link to a tut; it's more for inspiration purposes)
Vintage Summer Postcard Wall Art (this goes along with the wall art gallery)
All of the postcard images are from Zazzle, here's where you can get them:
1. Italy
3. New England
4. Beach police
5. Hawaii
7. Japan
8. Palm trees
9. Cuba
Now what I'd do with this is substitute the canvas print for the vintage postcards. I'd probably try to get larger sizes and make it the focal piece on an entry wall. I like the design of vintage postcards, but the seasonal ones would lend a unique touch to your home.
--fruity-based scents with floral accents, sweet notes and citrus, ocean/water-based notes
Watermelon Lemonade--watermelon, raspberries and lemon
Seaside Gardenia--gardenia, sea air and bamboo
Raspberry Citrus Swirl--raspberry, citrus, passionfruit juice
Black Sands--ocean mist, amber and cedarwood
Summer Boardwalk--caramel-glazed popcorn, taffy apples, salted sweet cream
Sparkling Waves--citrus, bergamot and musk
Seaside Gardenia--gardenia, sea air and bamboo
Raspberry Citrus Swirl--raspberry, citrus, passionfruit juice
Black Sands--ocean mist, amber and cedarwood
Summer Boardwalk--caramel-glazed popcorn, taffy apples, salted sweet cream
Sparkling Waves--citrus, bergamot and musk
Pina Colada Smoothie--mango nectar, pineapple and grapefruit
Sunny Coconut--orange, vanilla and coconut
Mango Coconut Cooler--coconut, mango and island spice
Sunny Coconut--orange, vanilla and coconut
Mango Coconut Cooler--coconut, mango and island spice
For summer, I try to keep it light and stay away from musk/wood based scents. Now when they're used as secondary/accent notes, like in Black Sands or Sparkling Waves, it can make a scent more rounded out, but as the primary notes I just find them a little too strong. I love Bath and Body Works candles, even though they're not the most environmentally brand on the market, but they fit the sort of seasonal vibes that I'm looking for when I do these posts. There are always more than enough scent profiles for me to choose from when I do these, and most of the candles I've tried from there smell like little slices of heaven. I think one of the main reasons why I always feature B&BW candles is because the scent carries, it lasts, and don't burn themselves out as quickly as cheaper brands.
That's what I've been inspired by for this season. This took me so damn long to finish that I worried summer would be over by the time I was able to publish it. I'm starting Fall's post in August. lol If you'll indulge me in a minor horn toot for a second, I'm really pleased with the results of this post but I feel like I can do better.
I would like this to become a regular staple on the blog; I don't see too many bloggers taking on the 'inspiration' theme quite like I do and I like that. With everything that's going on in the world today, it was really important for me to try and create something that allowed us to remember and enjoy a few simple pleasures of life, whether it be a roadtrip, rainbow-colored ice cream or an outdoor movie night.
Okay, horn toot over. Anyway, per usual, I hope that you enjoyed this post and were able to take something useful from it. I'd like to know, what inspires you for summer?
No comments:
Post a Comment