Celebrating 3 Years of Hairstylesbygabby!

3 years ago today, I made the decision to start an Instagram, to share pictures of my hairstyles. I originally came up with the idea because I enjoyed creating different hairstyles but had know where to post and share them. My account at first was called @nailsandhair_byme, (I wasn’t very original and couldn’t come up with anything else) because I also liked doing nails. As time went on I started to enjoying doing hair more then doing my nails, and with dance I couldn’t have them painted most of the time. That’s how I came up with @hairstylesbyabby (again I know, not very originally lol). I wasn’t the best at hair, and it was just something I liked to do in my free time. I only really knew how to fishtail, french/dutch braid, and three strand braid. As my account grew so did my passion for hair, I practiced more, watched youtube videos and found other hair accounts and learned from them.

I never really knew that by sharing my pictures on Instagram, it would turn into something that is now a pretty big part of my life and that has really given so many cool opportunities! I don’t know if most people know, but it really does take up a lot of my time maintaining my account. I am a perfectionist so I really try my best to make my hairstyles and pictures the best they can be!

So yes, this is super sappy and long, but I am proud to say that at 17, I know exactly what I want to do with my life and the career path I wish to take, all because of an Instagram account I started 3 years ago!

When I see the followers icon on my account and it reads 97K, sometimes I can’t even believe it, and I feel so lucky that I am able to share my passion with that many people! It took me one whole year to get 1000 followers, and this time last year I had 41K followers, I do know that the amount of followers you have doesn’t matter, but I hope I am able to encourage people not to give up because they don’t get a lot of likes or followers at first, it does take time, but it really is all worth it! So I would like to thank everyone that has followed me, the followers that have been there from the beginning and the new ones 🙂 I am so excited to see where this account will take me in the years to come. 

Below I have some of the companies I have gotten to know and had the chance to work with ( There is also many wonderful Instagram boutiques/shoppes, as well )

 

I have also gotten the chance to meet many wonderful people, that have really inspired me! I had the opportunity to meet five of them in person, which was such a cool experiance.

 

 

I took some fun pictures to celebrate my 3 year “anniversary”, hope you like them! (Tomorrow I will post outfit details with some more pictures from this shoot)

 

Thanks so much for reading this super long post, and helping me celebrate!

 

Nordstrom Fashion Ambassador!

A few months ago I found out about an fashion ambassador program that Nordstrom puts on! It sounded like a cool opportunity, so I signed up/ filled out an application. At the beginning of November I got an email saying that I had an interview!! I spent the month planning and getting ready. One of the things you have to bring when you go for the interview is a fashion project, for that I decided to put together a portfolio filled with my hair/ fashion pictures I have taken for my blog and Instagram. I had never been to an interview like this one so I was pretty nervous but really excited to experience an opportunity like that.

During the interview the questions they asked me were:

  • Tell me about yourself
  • Who is your fashion icon
  • What are three trends that you know of right now
  • Why do I want to be on the team
  • What do I want to do as a career

At the end of the interview she told me I was basically in, but I would get the confirmation email in a few days. Waiting was so hard, but when I saw the email notification pop up on my phone I was through the roof!

Outfit Details

 

I would also like to thank Nordstrom for this amazing opportunity, I am so excited to see what this adventure will bring! 🙂

Old City Quarter

For today’s post I wanted to incorporate fall and winter but in a more fancier outfit that what I have done my fashion posts about before. I got this outfit with the intention of wearing it to a nice dinner or in the summer, but seeing as how we have about 7 months until summer I wanted to come up with a way to wear it now. By paring this outfit with some simple black tights and some booties I was able to do that (although I was still freezing 😉 ) I have also really being loving statement necklaces this season so I also knew I had to incorporate that in some how.

If you want to see more pictures, check out my youtube video!

Outfit Details

Skirt: Forever 21

Top: Forever 21

Necklace: Forever 21

Booties: Clarks

Purse: Old Navy

Hair: by me 😉

Thanks for reading!

 

Minnie Mouse | Halloween 2015

This year I was really lost for a costume idea and I decided I wasn’t going to dress up, but then I thought I would just do a cool hairstyles. When I found this Minnie Mouse bun tutorial I remembered I had the perfect dress and it would be a great quick DIY costume 🙂 The hair took some practice (who knew that pig tails would be so hard lol) but after I figured it out I loved the result!

Today I will be sharing with you my costume pictures as well as how to incorporate things you already have in your closet into an easy and quick costume! I know that it is November and a whole year till next Halloween, but i thought that this would be a fun post to do 😉

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My hair was inspired by the amazing Mindy from CuteGirlsHairstyles & Annie from Anniesforgetmeknots ❤

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Bow from: Bowtikii

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I found my shoes at Payless and then added red hair bows from Claire’s that I had from a halloween costume from a few years ago

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Don’t mind my awkward pose as it was freezing out 😉

My dress I got second hand about a year ago, and then I paired it with a black cardigan I had in my closet and with some black tights! I also drew on my nose with some black eyeliner and added a white line with some face paint.

As you can see it is super easy to come up with a costume from things you already have and It doesn’t need to come from a store and cost 80$, all you need is a little imagination and creativity 🙂 My dress isn’t an exact match for Minnie’s, but thats okay because thats where your creativity comes in and you can make it your own!

The only things I bought was the shoes which were 15$ and the tights that we’re 3$, so my whole costume cost me about 18$! (it also only took me a few days to put together and I only came up with it about a week ago)

I hope you had a great Halloween filled with fun memories and lots of treats! 🙂

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins | Pumpkin Patch 2015

Today I will be sharing some fun photos I took recently with my friends at the pumpkin patch, hope you enjoy 🙂

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I love fall traditions, and going to the pumpkin patch is defiantly one of them! I hope you like the pictures we had lots of fun taking them 🙂

HELLO FALL 😍| Collab

Today’s blog post is a collab with Julia from Little Chic Freak! I recently found her Instagram and blog and was blown away by her talent and knew she would be a great person to do my first collab with 🙂  When we were coming up with ideas we wanted to incorporate some of our favourite things along with some trends we have been seeing around! 

We both decided to incorporate plaid in our owns way. I decided to pair a blanket scarf with a cute striped dress and some little brown booties.

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Thanks for reading 🙂


Outfit Details

Scarf: Garage

Dress: American Eagle (no longer available)

Boots: Forever 21 (no longer available)


San Diego 2015

A few months ago I found out I was nominated for the BATD North American Highland Dance Scholarships, it is an event where highland dancers from across North America come to compete and are nominated based on their dance exam marks. You compete in three different “events”, a written paper where you answer questions based off of the highland dance theory textbook, a technical class that you are judged on and a solo which has to be 1.5 minutes or under and your costume has to be celtic themed. I was preparing for this event for months and when it came down to the day I was very nervous but in the end it was a great day and I walked away with 4th place in the technical class out of 67 other dancers.

Today I will be sharing the hair pictures I took on my trip, I did these hairstyles on the other girls from my studio as well as myself.

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The first style I did was this fishtail updo on my friend, I didn’t really have a plan for this one, I just kind of went with it but was happy with the result!

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Next was this dutch lace heart braid and I twisted pieces of hair and bobby pined them to cover the elastic.

 The next few pictures were taken at the roof top pool at our hotel.

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For this hairstyles I was planning on continuing the dutch 5 strand braid all the way down the head but I decided to end it as a half up style with a dutch pancaked fishtail 🙂

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This girl and her sister (next hairstyle is her sister) are so crazy flexible, they always amaze me! For her hairstyles I decided to go with a pancaked dutch 5 strand braid

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Here is the older sister, and for her hair I went with a zipper braid into a fishtail

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Told you they were flexible 😉

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For this girl I did a french 4 strand braid, I end it in a ponytail because her hair wasn’t long enough 🙂 I just love her hair colour!

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During the weekend we also had workshops, for the first day I did a dutch double headband with a corset braid (because it looks like highland dance shoes) into a rope twist headband!

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For the last day of classes I did zig zag rope twists into a rope twist bun and then added a cute yellow lace bun

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The day we were travelling back home I washed and blowed dried my hair and then it was so soft I couldn’t braid it and my hair needed a bit of a break 😉 I also straightened it with my Vanity Planet Ceramic Flat Iron! If you use the code GABBY and click on -> this Website Link you will get 80% off your purchase bringing it down to 40$!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing pictures from my trip!

Fall Fashion | Outfit #4

This will be my last post for my Fall Fashion Series sadly, but if I get enough interest maybe I will do more, because I have had so much fun writing and putting together these posts 🙂

As the days are getting colder which I am not a fan, I just can’t wait for the fall colours to come, of course the Pumpkin Spice Lattes and pumpkin candles (but I would be very happy if my “fall” cold would go away 😦 ) This outfit is so comfortable and the perfect mix between dressy and causal. Where I live I probably won’t be able to wear this outfit for much longer but you can add a cute pair of tights so you could wear it the whole fall season!

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“T-Shirt” dresses are probably one of my new favourite clothing items, its like wearing a big comfy shirt but being able to get away with it in public and not get judged 😉

Dress: Forever 21

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Flats: Forever 21

Can you tell I Like forever 21 🙂

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For my hair I just went with simple quick messy bun, one of my go to hair styles for when Im in a rush or for second day hair. But I have to say for being “simple” messy buns usually take me a long time and many tries.

Tutorial by Hairstylesbygabby

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Scarf: Forever 21

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Thanks for reading!

Please let me know what you thought of my Fall Fashion Series in the comments section, if you would like to show your support and want more fashion posts please share this post with your friends and hit the like button!

Fall Fashion | Outfit #3

For my third outfit in my Fall Fashion series I went with a causal traditional fall outfit, it wouldn’t be fall without plaid so I had to include a plaid flannel 🙂

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So first I want to say I did this braid in the car with no mirror so don’t judge its messiness

Side braids and four strands are my favourite hairstyles, so when you mix them together its the perfect combo 😉

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Being a highland dancer who wears plaid way to much, when I saw this shirt I feel in love with it! I also paired it with a plaid flannel, because its the perfect match 😉 I also added a gold arrow shape necklace, which I like to wear when I have a V neck shirt.

Shirt: Sweet Ts Design

If you use the code “GABBY15” at checkout you can get 15% off your purchase!!

Necklace: Forever 21

Plaid Flannel: Borrowed from a friend 😉

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So I am not a fan of jeans so that fact that I’m wearing them is very rare and you probably won’t see it too often, but I do think they go well with this outfit 🙂

Jeans: Urban Planet

Shoes: American Eagle

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Thanks for reading!

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for my last Fall Fashion outfit 🙂

Fall Fashion | Outfit #2

For my second outfit in my Fall Fashion Series I went for something that I didn’t think I would ever like, but I have totally changed my mind and I think I will be wearing this style of outfit a lot this fall season!

I have been seeing a lot of big floppy hats this season and in the summer, so when I went back to school shopping I knew I just had to get this one, and I’m so glad I did! For my hair I also went a little out of my comfort zone, I’m not usually a fan of “pigtails” but I did a fishtail, three strand braid mix which I thought turned out super cute. And of course it wouldn’t be a fall outfit without brown tall boots, knee socks and a fall dress 😉 oh and don’t forget a cute leaf necklace from Forever 21!

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Dress: Bluenotes

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Okay so I might have been having way to much fun turning in this dress (and with my braids I felt like I was 5 again, but you know thats okay haha 🙂 )

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Since I’m short I have a hard time finding boots that aren’t to tall that make me look even shorter, but I think these ones are the perfect height

Brown Boots: Aldo ( sadly they are from last year and are no longer available, but they have similar ones!)

Cream Knee Socks: Garage

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I first got this necklace last year in silver and wore it to much, and when I went shopping this year and saw it in gold, I knew I had to get it!

Necklace: Forever 21

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Hat: Bluenotes

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For my hair like I said above I did mixed braids which is another look I have been seeing all over Instagram. I started with a three strand braid, then into a fishtail and then back to a three strand braid. I also used the CGH Perfect Pigtails method to add volume to my hair but you can’t see it 🙂

Thanks For Reading! 🙂

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