You Don't Have To Buy Everything I Blog About || Ramblings on Ethics, Consumerism, And Balance

You Don't Have To Buy Everything I Blog About || Ramblings on Ethics, Consumerism, And Balance

Olivia Youngs
Slow Fashion, Simple Home, Slow Living, Lifestyle

"Use my code to get 15% off at checkout".

"Looking for the perfect fall staple? This is it." 

"Invest in fewer, better pieces, and you'll thank yourself later on" 

A few excerpts from my least favorite aspect of blogging: promoting consumption. As a lover of simplicity, intentional slow downs, and ethical fashion and culture, I'm often caught in the crosshairs of two seemingly conflicting lifestyles. The first, promoting the brands I respect, love, use, and believe are making the world a better place. The second, preaching that slow and simple wins the race — not really "wins" but certainly makes your life easier. 

How can someone who has a capsule wardrobe continually promote new brands, add new pieces to her own life, and encourage her readers to do the same? 

Introducing GRAMMAR || The Last White Shirt You'll Ever Need

Introducing GRAMMAR || The Last White Shirt You'll Ever Need

Olivia Youngs
Slow Fashion

These two phrases are easily the quickest way to my heart: quality wardrobe staples and good grammar. As it turns out, today's brand has mastered both. GRAMMAR is a crisp, new fashion company hailing from NYC, on a mission to create wardrobe classics that every woman will wear time and again. 

Although GRAMMAR's first collection, aptly titled the Perfect White Shirt Collection, seems effortless, the brand's founder and designer, Althea Simmons, had anything but an effortless journey to see them to this point. In celebration of GRAMMAR's official launch on Kickstarter, I'm sharing a bit of a peek into that story today. 

Transitioning From Summer To Fall With Sweet Lupine

Transitioning From Summer To Fall With Sweet Lupine

Olivia Youngs
Slow Fashion

It's been my goal for a few months to curate a general "all seasons" capsule type wardrobe to use all year round. Of course, living in a very seasonal climate (80's in the summer and -30 in the winter...) that's not completely possible. But my goal is to curate a closet full of pieces I can wear all year, with a few truly seasonal investment pieces that will last me for years to come thrown in when I can afford to do so. 

When Amanda of Sweet Lupine reached out to me to work together on a blog post, I initially thought of choosing pieces to feature on our trip to California last month (definitely a summer themed post). However, after I got back and we settled into our new home, I realized that the pieces I had chosen from her shop were actually much more versatile than I had expected. 

Slow Transitions || Living Intentionally in Seasons of Change

Slow Transitions || Living Intentionally in Seasons of Change

Olivia Youngs
Simple Home, Slow Living

An entire year. 

That's how long it took for us to make one of our long-time dreams a reality. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, a single year is nothing, but to a young couple who felt stuck and unsure of their next step, a year was an eternity. 

Buy a foreclosure, fix it up, rearrange some furniture, create a home. This home is forever, right? 

Decide that, maybe, the grass is greener where the mountains are. Put your house up for sale. Make plans, clean the home 294857 thousand times, watch as potential new-owners analyze every nook and cranny of your home, telling you it's value, as if you didn't already know that there was a crack there and that the cabinets needed refinishing. 

How We Soul || Sharing Beauty From Start To Finish

How We Soul || Sharing Beauty From Start To Finish

Olivia Youngs
Slow Fashion

As an influencer in the ethical fashion space, I have the unique chance to interact with the founders, designers, and creative minds behind the brands I showcase on SL&Co. It's a much deeper process than agreeing to work with a brand because they have "ethical" scrawled on their homepage. Instead, I get to personally ask questions, vet the brand's practices, and dig deeper into the heart behind each brand I write about to make sure they fit my own personal values and are something I think you, my readers, will support too. 

As subjective as ethical fashion is, having a firm grasp of each brand's ethics is hugely important to me. I've been following along with How We Soul's journey for a while now and, I have to say, each time they release a new product, share a new photo, or interact with their community, I'm more and more impressed.

Plaine Products || Zero Waste Products for the Whole Family

Plaine Products || Zero Waste Products for the Whole Family

Olivia Youngs
Simple Home, Motherhood, Slow Fashion, Slow Living

I've been on my trek towards a more natural, healthy, ethical lifestyle for several years now and when it comes to my hair, I've learned to be picky. I've tried almost every "natural" method for taking care of your hair on the market. Shampoo bars? Yep. Sulfate/paraben/chemical-free? Of course. The "no-poo method" where you let your hair "adjust" to it's natural oils and then cleanse it with baking soda and apple cider vinegar, like, once a month? Oh yes. 

I've been feeling a bit burn out on the whole "healthy hair" thing and wasn't sure there was an actual product on the market that I felt good about. When I said I was picky, I meant it. I wanted all-natural ingredients that would actually help my color treated hair, not damage it. I wanted recycle-packaging that wouldn't end up in a landfill. I wanted to not smell like I walked out of a perfume shop. 

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