The Truth About Fast Fashion

So you get a cute pair of shorts on sale at Zara. Fast forward to next season and you're over them. You think you're doing a good deed by donating them to your local Value Village. What  you might not realize is that 85% of the clothing that's donated to these charitable places actually ends up in a landfill in a third world country. Turns out your good deed, actually isn't a good dead at all. 

I get it, we love fast fashion because it provides instant gratification. We want the latest trends NOW NOW NOW, but 1) the quality is shit and 2) it's bad for the environment. The other day I went to put on a pair of my new Zara jeans only to find them ripping in the back and I'd only worn them twice before. That's not cute.

Wearing Zara jeans from SS18 (probably the last I'll buy from the brand), A Nordstrom blazer, Alexander Wang sandals from 5 years ago, a Reitmans cami, and Gucci bag.

I never thought too much about the cost of fast fashion because I try to be mindful of not bringing home anything I don't need or love. That rule applies not only to how I shop, but also how I accept samples from retailers as a fashion blogger. Unless there's something specific I need, I just won’t.

To clarify, when I say the cost of fast fashion I don't mean monetary value but in terms of how it's effecting our environment. In the back of my mind, I know this is an issue but I never took the time to educate myself on the matter until recently. I came across a video on YouTube late one night, which admittedly was not the best time to watch because my anxiety went through the roof and I couldn't sleep. 

Photo: CBC's YouTUBE CHANNEL

This CBC documentary uncovers what happens to unwanted clothes when they don't get sold at second-hand shops. The short of it is, the quality of fast fashion is so poor that they almost always end up in the landfills. A lot of you probably already know this, but for me, it was a real eye-opener.

Just look at my last couple of videos - they were both hauls! It's even a joke with everyone in my circle whenever I say I'm not going to shop, "Ya, okay Nathalie. Stop lying to yourself.” 

I don't have a solution to this problem, but I'm doing my part by donating to my local women's shelter instead of conglomerate second-hand stores. Just because it's cute it doesn't mean it ain't trash, so let's all try harder and in the end be better dressed.

---

A Personal Note

It's almost the Christmas, it's almost the New Year and heck, I just celebrated a birthday! Who else is looking forward to 2018 and setting new goals? I know I am!

I don't know about you guys but I look forward to setting new goals every year. I'm not talking about new years resolutions like "lose 10 pounds", but enriching things like "travel to Iceland" or "finish my basement renovations" or "start a new company." 

I've been setting goals for myself since I was in my late teens and I still do it because it really helps me stay on track with what I want to get out of life and turns my dreams into reality.

Goals are awesome for self-improvement and holding yourself accountable for accomplishing what you want out of life.

Without them, it's easy to go year after year telling yourself "I hope I can afford to go on an epic holiday soon." Instead, change your mentality and change the words to "I will go on an epic holiday this year".

Tell yourself and believe that you're finally gonna do it. Start planning, start saving and make it happen. 

True story, Geoff and I went to Iceland in October this year with our best friends and it was incredible! It was number one item on our bucket list and it was everything we could have imagined and more! 

Thing is I had been planning this trip for years but something would always happen and we'd never move forward with it.

At the start of 2017, Geoff and I promised each other that we'd go to Iceland no matter what. We held each other accountable to our goals and in March of 2017 we took the first step and booked our flights.

We set up an auto savings plan with our bank so that we could easily save money for our vacation without even having to think about it. All we did was plan the holiday itself and everything just fell into place. 

That's the thing with goals. They don't have to be massive or life changing but they should be fun. I mean, what's life without looking forward to something and making those dreams a reality?

Put it in writing and work towards that promotion at work, get that tattoo you've been planning forever or move to that city you've always wanted to move to.

Life is happening now.

Make those dreams a reality and get out there and reach those goals because when you get there, it's pretty awesome! 

I hope you guys have been enjoying WoahStyle in 2017 and like I said, I can't wait for the new year. I have a lot of cool shit up my sleeve and I'm finally gonna hit those goals and get it out there. 

I also just want to say thank you all so much. You guys make me want to constantly improve my craft and give you something new and exciting to look forward to.

I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday and Happy New Year!

xo, 

Nathalie

---

Important lessons in marriage

I was at a friend's baby shower recently and we were talking about how time seems to speed up as we get older and how it sucks. Remember when you were little and it seemed like Christmas was forever away? Now we blink and it's another year. Man. 

Yesterday, Geoff and I celebrated our ninth year wedding anniversary. I still can't believe it! 9 years married! I feel like we've accomplished so much together in that time and I really do feel like the luckiest girl having such an amazing partner. I honestly believe that I wouldn't be where I am career wise, being a freelance blogger and all if it wasn't for his constant support. He's truly incredible and patient with me even when I'm at my nuttiest, depressed, anxiety-ridden self.

One of the most important lessons we learned in that time is to take time for us and not allow other people (aka familial obligations) dictate how we spend our time off. In the past, we've always prioritized family over our holidays, but this year we're putting us first. In October, we're skipping a family's wedding (sorry G&A!) to cross something off our bucket list and flying to Iceland for an epic road trip! Then in November, Geoff's youngest sister is getting married in Halifax. We're extending our stay in Nova Scotia by a few days for yet another road trip, this time around to the Bay of Fundy, up to Moncton, driving up the Magnetic Hill, and circling back to Halifax for the day before flying back home. 

If there's one thing that's made our marriage stronger each year it's communication coupled with respect. We don't oblige each other to do anything we don't want to but yet we know when to comprise. Putting us first to take time off as a couple and to do the things we want is super important. While I have the luxury of setting my own hours as a freelancer, Geoff has an allotted amount of vacation days in a calendar year. We wanna make sure we're using our holidays for us because next thing we know, we'll blink and we'll be a couple of old people looking back on our epic road trips.

What I'm Wearing

Queen of Hearts tank sold on my shop here
Ferragamo sunglasses
Zara striped trousers
Balenciaga red clutch/ document holder
Hermes and David Yurman bracelet
Vans checkered slip-ons
 

Photography by Geoff Martin

My lipstick blog is here!

You wanna know what the great thing about being in your thirties is? You finally stop giving a f*ck. 

I've been so focused on insane things like how well my posts would perform on Instagram that I started to lose focus. As great as IG has been for bringing people together, it is the devil in terms of mental health! If you read my recent post on Life After Instagram, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. 

These days I'm feeling refocused and re-inspired.

Last month I had this insane idea to launch a lipstick blog. I ran it by you guys on Stories the exact day I received this massive PR gift from MAC containing 68 lipsticks (!!!!). Talk about kismet! You guys were excited by the prospect and DM'ed me to make it happen so here we are.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I carry at least 5 tubes of lipstick in my bag at any given time so when I got the MAC gift, I was in lipstick heaven! I wanted to swatch everything for you guys and talk about MAC as an iconic brand so I set out to do just that. I started working away on Lipsick.me, a new blog 100% dedicated to lip products, with the help and guidance of my beauty contributor, Diana. 

We launched the blog on July 28, National Lipstick Day. 

I started WoahStyle as a means to give women confidence in how they dress. Now, I'm launching Lipsick.me, to inspire lipstick enthusiasts and give the beauty community something new.

Oh, and what's with the name? It's a play on words for my lipstick obsession. Lip-sick. Get it? 

Finally, not giving an eff is paying off. I'm trusting my gut and just going with the flow.  

I hope you guys will enjoy my new blog!

And don't worry, WoahStyle isn't going anywhere. ;)

I'm feeling myself and it's gonna show

Fashion photography by Michael Biro
Beauty photography by Nathalie Martin
 

It’s June and I can’t believe we’re halfway through the year already. In a lot of ways, I thought I’d be further along in terms of blogging and life goals but I’m learning that I need to chill out and stop being so hard on myself. I recently picked up the book In The Company of Women by Grace Bonney. It had been on my wishlist since it came out but I only just bought it now. I’m glad I finally did because it’s helping me get back to my roots. (I’ll explain that in a sec.) Almost as soon as I started reading the book I was hit with a wave of sadness. Reading about how these highly creative women define success made me realize that I’ve totally derailed from what I love to do and want to get back on track.

Like a lot of people, I have a tendency to be really hard on myself and don’t take enough time to enjoy and celebrate my accomplishments. I mean, I do to a certain degree but I have a tendency to focus more on what I don’t have versus what I do have. For example, Geoff and I would love to have a family one day but we don’t. I probably think about that more often that I even admit to myself and to some degree I feel guilty that we don’t have kids and yet, it’s just the way life has rolled out for us. In terms of work as a freelance blogger, I often wonder why my blog hits aren’t as high as they are and yet I should be celebrating that my metrics have almost doubled since last year!
 

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not an ingrate and trust me when I say that everyday I wake up and thank my lucky stars that I’m able to blog for a living. I absolutely love it and I’m incredibly proud of how far along my photography and writings skills have come since I first started. Yet here I am, battling my inner demons constantly. 

Come on guys. Don’t tell me you haven’t been there!

So here’s where the book In The Company of Women comes in. Reading about how these creative, successful and fearless women approach lives and their businesses makes me realize; I miss making shit with my hands and I define success with monetary value. (Yikes when did that happen?!) 

When I say I miss making shit with my hands I actually mean that I miss being a hands-on artist, not a digital content creator. When I was younger I used to paint and when it was time for college I was enrolled in graphic design in hopes of getting a job at a magazine like Vogue when I graduated. Instead, I went into business for myself, hand-making iPod cases and selling them all over the world with my business partner, Diana, BFF extraordinaire and now WoahStyle's beauty contributor. We closed the business after a few years and soon I was back at it again, illustrating and screen printing on textiles this time sewing my designs into tea towels. Fast forward to eight years later and I can’t remember the last time I painted or sewed anything.
 

I read about six interviews from In The Company of Women when I realized that not a single person had defined success by how much money they made. Maybe it’s taboo to admit in print, I don’t know.

When I was younger I remember thinking that I’d be successful in life if I had my own business, if I was an artist and if I made enough money to shop at the Gap full price. Ya, I said that!

It makes me realize the two points are connected. Somehow putting so much focus on my annual income means I’ve lost sight of what makes me happy and what makes me me and that’s my art.

Crazy how it took a book to make me realize that. I’m hoping that my creating art again and bringing my paints out of storage that I’ll start to feel more balanced in my everyday life and who knows, maybe one day not be as stressed out and actually have a family.

I urge you guys to take the time to celebrate your accomplishments in life because damn, life is crazy and we have to pat ourselves on the back right? 

MY ANNOUNCEMENT

I’ve been blogging for three years now. When I started out, I had no idea what I was doing. I knew I wanted to be my own boss and be a full-time blogger and I also knew that I wanted to inspire women to feel their best.

I accomplished one and kinda lost track of the other. 

Before WoahStyle, I’d already had a bunch of careers under my belt - marketing, stylist, accounting, entrepreneur and yes, even blogger because I started my first one about a decade ago. Imagine I had kept that up!

My jobs were super random and all over the place I know, but I was never happy until I started to see WoahStyle was actually going somewhere. 

And then, about two and a half years later I hit a wall. 

I wasn’t happy anymore and blogging and social media were turning into a never ending source of stress. 

I couldn’t sleep, I was getting sick a lot, I was gaining weight, and I was living in my head full of fear and negativity. I had plateaued and I was scared that was the beginning of the end. 

IN MY CLOSET:

Bowie jacket, Forever 21 (exact here)
Glossy leather skirt, Winners
Bags, Stella McCartney and Saint Laurent (with custom leopard shoulder strap)
Gold sandals, Gucci
Pink sparkly boots, Saint Laurent
Bronze hi-top sneakers, Vans
Glasses, Forever 21

THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED 

I know it sounds cliche but I can say now with full confidence that plateauing was the best thing that ever happened to WoahStyle. 

When I finally got my head on straight (and that took months!I), I started to see past the fear and reassess what made me happy and why I had started blogging in the first place. Once I let my guard down and started to share more personal experiences, that you guys started to engage with me more. It reminded me of why I started the blog - to inspire women to feel their best. 

I told you guys that I was bullied for most of my childhood and the DM’s I still get to this day are overwhelming. I’m glad I shared that part of my life that I was ashamed of for so long but with everything, we have to move forward. 

When I think back to when I was happiest in my past job, it was when I was styling women and helping them feel their best. 

You see, that’s where bullying coming in. Even as a kid, I was always hyper aware of fashion but in combination with bullying - fashion and beauty became a necessity. I helped me stand straight again and gave me the confidence to be myself.

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

With all of that, my announcement is simply this; fashion posts will still be present on my site, but there will be less of them. Perhaps once or twice a week tops. They’ll be more educational based as opposed to just “pretty pictures”. 

I’ll also be doing lots of fashion reviews and hauls because you guys all want to know how my Princetown Gucci’s fit (post coming soon!) and what I’m buying right now. 

Beauty posts will become more frequent - about 3-4 times a week because I love beauty and you guys do too. Some of my most popular posts are on foundations and How to Clean A Beauty Blender, so I want to give you more of that.

Also, I’m 36, and not afraid to say it anymore! LOL! You guys are around my age as well so hey, let’s talk about anti-aging and how to get luminous youthful looking skin right?

If you look at my menu bar, you'll see I added three new categories, Beauty Talk, Makeup and Skincare. I hope it'll help you search for your favourite topics like Tutorials, Eyes, or Skincare Solutions even quicker. I want it to be super easy for you guys to get the info you want. Also, I did a site refresh! I spent lots of time researching different sites so I can get mine to a place where I'm truly happy with it. What do you think of it?

Drop me an email and let me know what you think of my announcement and what you want to see more of moving forward. I love hearing from you!

xo, Nathalie

Photography by Nathalie Martin.

Affiliate marketing links in this story are used as a form of compensation.

WHY I F@!#ING HATE NEW YEARS

I'm not gonna bullshit you guys. I hate NYE. Like I really fucking hate it.

Growing up my mum would make my brothers and I dress up in our holiday finest. I'm talking velvet and lace dresses that were a far cry from Valentino FW16. No. It was more like Little House On The Prairie meets Little Women. Come to think of it, I hated velvet until recently. LOL

My dad would make his roasted lamb with potatoes as a nice gesture to ring in the new year. Even now I recall the smell so vividly that it makes me gag. As a kid the thought of eating a baby animal was the stuff of nightmares! I'd push the piece of lamb around on my plate and would pick at the potatoes, which I swear tasted like lamb too. Honestly, I have so many memories of crying at the dinner table because I didn't want to eat my chicken or beef or whatever. Guess I was destined to be a vegetarian! #MeatFree 

Aside from being scarred of lambs and velvet dresses growing up, I always thought New Year Eve was a sorry excuse of a party. Sure I have some strong opinions about the day but hear me out. 

I'm an introvert (surprise!) and I've never been one to party so my ideal NYE is all about curling up in front of the tv while eating pizza, chips and beer, not lamb! Geoff and I typically spend the Eve with our closest friends while watching South Park or some other random comedy until the clock hits 12:00 and we say "Happy New Year". That's it. It's super simple and really not that cool but it's our tradition and it makes me happy. 

And with that, Happy New Years dear readers! I hope you spend it how you want to, wether you're out partying your face off or snuggling at home with your cat.

xo, 
Nathalie

shop the look

WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON WITH ME

Anyone who follows me on Instagram will have noticed a few things;

1) I changed my handle name from @woahstyledotcom to @_nathaliemartin
2) I've been less active on the app these days

So why the name change and what's going on? 

Let me tell you.

For one, I changed my handle to be more personal. Sometimes I meet people IRL and they say "hey you're woahstyle!" Cool story you know my handle but do you know my real name? It happens more often than you think and yes, while it's flattering to be recognized, it also irks me knowing that I've been hiding behind an IG name to a certain degree.

That leads me to the next point. What's going on with me and why have I been less active on Instagram?

Truth is, Instagram has been boring me these days. Everyone looks the same, everyone posts the pics and everyone wears the same clothes all for the sake of likes and trying to stay ahead of the algorithms. Enough already!!! 

BTS I've been thinking about how to appease the app and myself without compromising who I am. If wear stripes for example my likes might be subpar but if I wear stripes with a logo or recognizable brand, my likes sky rocket! If I show the logo of a designer shoe, then my likes go up 10 fold and I can easily gain up to a thousand followers a day until that shoe pic makes it to the bottom of my grid. It's absurd really.

So if I haven't been posting on IG what have I been doing?

Well, I've been working on quality content for the blog for one. I hope you guys have noticed and based on your comments, I think you have so thank you! I've also been gathering lots of inspo from Pinterest and Tumblr. Yup I'm going old school! And when I'm not doing that I've been shooting new videos for my YouTube channel and I've been strategizing my 2017 plans. In the new year you guys will be getting to know me more; what fears and what life goals I have. You'll see what inspires me and what fuels my creativity. At the end of the day I might have a shoe closet that I'm damn proud of but I want to be known for who I am vs. what shoes I wear.  ; ) 

Did you catch that all? Is it all making sense? Great!

Follow me on my social channels

SHOP THE LOOK

As much as IG has been stifling my creativity these days I'm grateful for the app. For one, I might not be a freelance blogger/ content creator without it introducing me to so many people. It's those people who have made my blogging journey more exciting. My IG friend Ruby from rougecloset.com was recently the guest editor of The Closeteur Magazine and she asked me to style this rad kimono from Sarah Lai. Click here for my interview. (Thanks Ruby!)

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

As I write this my entire house is in chaos as I gear towards holiday mode. Gift sets and press releases are all over my living room floor along with my studio lights, cameras and props. Geoff begs me to tidy the mess and I swear to him that I'm trying in between getting work done and searching for a dress for my BFF's upcoming nuptials. She's my very best friend in the whole world; like a sister really and we've known each other since we were 10. She's marrying her long time boyfriend over what she calls a "boozy brunch" because she can't fully admit to herself that it's a real wedding. 

In the middle of wedding planning there are also birthdays - hers, her boyfriends and mine. Not to mention the holiday events (!!!)- my husbands company Xmas party (which I cringe at each year seeing I have social anxiety) and then all of the industry events that come with blogging. 

Life is a little chaotic right now but even still I try to carve out the time to see the good in everything and be thankful. I know it's major cheezy but it helps because you know what, life is tough and it can really suck if you let it get the best of you. Take the time to connect with the people you love and appreciate what you have each and every single day.

I know in time I'll find something to wear to my best friend's wedding and that samples in my living room will be put away. At the end of the day those are trivial things and having time to spend with my hubby and my family are so much more important. 

I'll leave you guys on that note for now and promise to get more real on the blog cuz sometimes we all just need a bit of honesty. 

SHOP LARSSON & JENNINGS LUGANO WATCH

Get 15% off Larsson & Jennings with code LJ15.

Washed out tunic from Sanctuary Clothing. 

SHOP MY LOOK

I'm wearing: Aritzia coat, Sanctuary Clothing top, Equipment skinny scarf (from the Kate Moss collab), Rag & Bone jeans, TOMS sunglasses, Chanel patent leather jumbo flap bag, Saint Laurent Candy Platform boots, Tom Binns nail bracelet and Vita Fede rings from Black Caviar. 

Bracelets and silver rings from Black Caviar in downtown Oakville. 

This post is sponsored by Larsson and Jennings. All opinions are my own.