style challenge: new hairstyle, oscar inspired casual outfit, and grace

Audrey's fourth style challenge over at Putting Me Together was to try a new hairstyle.  I decided to go big or go home with this one and booked a color and cut appointment. You see, my Pinterest hair and makeup board had started to look like this...

so I booked an appointment to get two inches cut off the bottom of my hair and attached a picture of beautiful balayage highlights. My stylist Tess loved the idea of very subtle dark caramel highlights. She did use foils, so these aren't strictly balayage highlights, but she did go from subtle at the roots to more intense on the ends for an ombre effect. Instead of painting highlights on the top layer of my hair (where roots growing in would be really obvious really fast), she did three "peekaboo panels" on each side and a "mohawk section" at the crown.  She also left the toner on for a bit longer than usual so that the highlights would be fairly dark, since it's still winter - they will lighten over time with repeated washing.

I love it so much! My hair gets so dark in the winter that the white hairs that are coming in around my temples really stand out. I don't hate aging, and I don't really hate my white hairs, but highlights make them a lot easier to live with until they grow out enough to be in full Susan Sontag/Bonnie Raitt/Stacy London/Rogue from the X-Men cool streak mode:

Here's the very casual outfit I put together for Oscars night dinner with Mr. Q and Breeze - I definitely wanted to get some gold in there, and my art deco necklace always reminds me of Old Hollywood glamour.

Cardigan: Merona for Target  Tank: Old Navy (Similar, Similar) 

Necklace: Lia Sophia (Similar, Similar) Jeans: LOFT  Boots: Merona for Target

I also wanted to share something from a celebrity I love this morning. I have a little addiction to Fashion Police and usually agree with Giuliana Rancic on all things red carpet. However, I thought young actress Zendaya had one of the most beautiful looks at the Oscars this year with her faux locs, rosy makeup, and goddess-worthy dress.  G, on the other hand, made some comments that were meant to be humorous but came off as reenforcing negative stereotypes. I saw her apology to Zendaya on my Facebook feed this morning, and thought, "Now that is an example of grace." Check it out:

Linking Up With:

PMT Style Challenge at Putting Me Together

I Feel Pretty at Get Your Pretty On

Manic Monday at More Pieces of Me and The Daily Express

Style Sessions at Style Elixir

Style to Inspire with Rhea Et Cetera
Style Me Wednesday at Shopping My Closet
Oh Hey Girl at Pumps and Push-Ups
Let Your Light Shine Thursday at Made With Zeal