Hey guys!
It's Lay.
Wow it's been a while since I wrote on here and I really missed it. In case you aren't familiar with the reasons why I took a break, I want to start off this post by explaining why I've been gone for about a month. So the first big reason is that my finals were coming up. One class specifically was really stressing me out to a point it was ruining my health. I really just needed to focus and it worked out pretty well but I'm not speaking too much about that because hopefully I'll be filming a video about it in my next youtube video. My second reason I think is much more relatable because even though for the most part I was productive, being stuck in quarantine just left me feeling so uninspired because of how much was going on. For me, I was worried about my family the most. I have family who works as a nurse, my brother's wife had a daughter not too long before all this happened (she's currently 4 months now), helping my mom adjust to technology and I couldn't leave my house to even help my mom with groceries since I have asthma and I did not have a mask (now I do finally). I think things were getting too repetitive for me, school was bombarding us with a heavier workload so I had no time for myself and I just felt myself slowly burning out like a candle. So I decided before I completely maxed out again like I did last November, it would be healthier to prevent it instead of forcing myself to take on a lot of tasks.
However, now that I'm refreshed I'm really happy to back which why at the end of this post, I want to announce some changes. Right now I want to jump right in to list the people I find the most iconic for April, May, and June (even though June didn't happen yet, I'll explain my reason in the end).
The three I chose for Icons of the month are:
Zendaya
Alisha Marie
Remi Cruz
This time I wanted to include YouTubers because I feel like Youtubers are more influential for me because they were average people for such a long time and even though some have the status of celebrities, they feel more relatable. So this post because it is so many people, I'm going to format a little different than my usual icon of the month. I mostly want to focus on their personality and style.
Zendaya
I remember the first time I saw her on Shake it up and I was amazed by her. I felt like her character was extremely underrated but she has grown to have such a large range. Even though I came from the era that appreciates, shows from the 90s, and shows from the early 2000s, She was one of the few that kept me watching because of how talented she was.
Even as she strayed away from Disney, she just grew to be more admirable.
My favorite thing that she said was her response to people criticizing her for wearing locs to the Oscars.
"My wearing my hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough. To me, locs are a symbol of strength and beauty,"
As a woman of color, representation to me is so important because at a point I didn't want to wear styles like braids or locs because people used to make fun of things like those where I went to school. I feel like I grew up so uncomfortable in my skin and seeing her wear them to such a large event was just impactful and probably meant a lot to young girls who felt or feel the way I did.
Her personality is so outgoing and the way she manages to speak her mind without being offensive or problematics is just a miracle. She also has the best responses to haters.
Brutal yet classy, a perfect combination.
I personally think she is one the best role models because while she is an advocate, how she presents her ideas and morals is in a way where she doesn't tear people down. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people undermine someone else's success by making comparisons. There is a way to say what you want to say without being judgemental towards others who may or may not have worked just as hard to get to where they are.
Beauty and Fashion
Moving on to her style, She is such a style icon. It was so hard picking my top favorite post from her Instagram. I chose these because it shows how versatile her style is. She can go from a classic look to regular street fashion to completely glammed up and look so gorgeous regardless of what state she's in.
Out of the three, I really love the one to the left because of how classy it looks. The look of it out just so grown and mature and she just looks like girl boss (she is one but you get what I mean). The one in the middle is such a personality pic and the street fashion style in this shows how outspoken she is. I couldn't read the shirt but I can tell from the parts that it was definitely to make a statement and it wasn't something over the top. In the last picture I loved her hair and the color of the dress was absolutely beautiful.
Alisha Marie
Alisha McDonald, more commonly known as Alisha Marie started Youtube about 9 years ago. She created a name for herself as a nice friendly girl on youtube. She constantly tried to please everyone and often had a difficult time saying no. However, since 2018 she rebranded and changed her aesthetic to less saturated and more of a crisp, white aesthetic.
Alisha’s personality before showed more of the perfect lifestyle but now she is more authentic and shows more of the less perfect thing about her. I can't say I watched her videos from the very beginning because I wasn't into YouTubers until 8th grade and I was mostly watching iiSuperwomanii at the time because I mainly enjoyed comedy but at some point I branched and began to watch Mylifeaseva and found Alisha's channel through their collabs.
She had such personal growth through the years and seems more genuine than before because she's not just showing the good parts of her life anymore which is highly respected in my eyes.
From a viewer perspective, she just seems so chill and like such a hard-working, motivating friend. There is just something just about her personality that just makes you want to strive to live your best life
Beauty and Fashion
Alisha Marie definitely has a more of a white, crisp aesthetic but her laid back style is so relatable. She wears a lot of leggings, sweatshirts and sweatpants but when she dresses up she doesn't come to play. I personally love her sense of style because, besides the color scheme, I feel like I'm either wearing something simple and kind of sporty-chic or really dressing up. There's no in-between.
As for the pics I included, they were off her Instagram but I chose my 3 favorites. The first one is from her 2019 vlogmas where she had a new intro every day which was DEDICATION. I loved her look in this so it was hard to choose between this and other looks like the ones from Coachella but I love the icy vibe. The sweatshirt she's wearing in the 2nd picture is from her merch line. It's really cute and one of the clothing items I want so badly but can't get, unfortunately. The last one is a simple look with a crop top and leggings but how she accessories makes it much more stylish.
Remi Cruz
The final person I describe as an icon is Remi Cruz. She is also a youtube and I learned about her channel through Alisha's because they are best friends and became close over the years to end up having a podcast together.
When I started watching her channel I think my favorite thing was no matter a situation she always kept a positive energy even while going through things. Especially in 2018, she got so vulnerable about her emotions even though it was difficult for her. I actually struggle with that same issue which is funny because we have the exact same number enneagram test wise (2w3). So because we have similar personalities and I feel like that is why I like to view her content especially her vlogs more than anything.
I really started following her channel when she started her health journey. I found everything she was doing so empowering and it's honestly one of the few things that pushed me to start treating myself better and to take care of myself the way I deserve.
Beauty and Fashion
I would describe Remi's style as either glam or traditional feminine style. She used to wear a lot of skirts or dresses and her clothing I would usually say are more bright. Her style is really bubbly but it matches her personality.
These were my favorites off her Instagram, I chose one that was full glammed up because I loved the style of the dress (besides it being strapless) and I think the color looked gorgeous on her. The middle one I loved everything about because I feel like it showed her personality the most because it's vibrant and I loved her entire look in that picture. The last one I chose more of a cozy look because I am a sucker for sweat pants and it shows a more chill side of her.
These women are so inspiring and are my inspiration to go for my dreams and keep doing what I need to have success. There are many people who inspire me but the reason why this post has so many people is because I'm cutting the series short. I wanted to do this all year and I had posts planned, but everything got thrown off track with every insane thang happening this year. I still want to make the most out of this year which is why I revised my plans and made sure everything coordinates with each other.
Also, I'm testing out new blog post formats so be sure to let me know if you prefer posts with fewer gifs, or do gifs make it more interesting?
So that's all for today.
I hope everyone is doing well. Stay healthy and safe. Also don't forget to share this post with friends, family, or on your social media accounts if you enjoyed it. Be sure to check out my youtube and Instagram for new content.
Until next time,
xoxo Lay 💋
Youtube video 1- Instagram Photoshoot: Makeup Transformation
Youtube video 2- Getting Real af about college
Youtube video 3- Makeup collection haul part one
Last blog post- Staying mentally healthy
