Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Bud Beads

As a clever craft, I found a simple way to take a bobby pin and turn it into what closely resembles a marijuana bud. 

Green bud and baubles! Show your love
of Mary-Jane in an accurate way
.

Everything you need to roll a J,
Bud Beads
and real pot included.

Nothing about these buds is actually weed, yet it sends the positive message that I dig it! If you dig pot too, let me know and I will gladly make some for you! The possibilities are endless with how much we can make with bud beads. Share your ideas! 


Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy 

Nug Porn Star: Purple Jack

There’s one thing about make-up that I wish someone told me: you get accustumed to  feeling unattractive unless you’re wearing it. The only way out of this trap is to stop wearing so much make-up inorder to actually experience life and forget about it. While complaining about how odd the concept of drawing and painting on your own face is, a friend explained to me that make-up is merely a fun mask used to enhance your features.
With french braids, septum piercing, and a smile,
I am the Blonde Bull nug porn star! 
Although the majority of the cosmetics industry is designed around lying to people to make them feel unattractive, I choose to forget the trickery. Once in a while I take the time to actually “play” and experiment with my make-up, because I use my face as a blank canvas to express my moods. Doing my make-up after smoking a joint is a favourite activity of mine. Try it,  you’ll be style inspired by unusual influences. 

Lately, the idea of doing marijuana inspired nug porn make-up really gets me buzzed. Mernagh can best describe nug porn as, “Specifically tight close-up marijuana photos of cannabis buds. 
Glistening ganja posed sexily with sparkly Swarovski like trichromes.” The Nug Pornographer couldn’t have described my fantasy any better. What a great topic to spark some cosmetic creativity!
Matt Mernagh's nug porn
Purple Jack was my inspiration for this particular Nug Porn Star look. 


To re-create a subtle yet colourful smokey- eye be sure to:
  • Smudge eggplant purple shadow along crease
  • Blend subtle neon green shadow with light gold sparkles up to crease
  • Apply liquid green glitter liner along lower lash line
  • Enhance features with eyeliner and mascara


Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Cameron Diaz Grabbed Weed From Snoop

This week, during an interview Cameron Diaz was asked about where she grew up in High School. Sparking some great memories, Cameron explained that she's pretty sure she bought pot from Snoop Dogg an remembers him for being tall with braids. Check out the video! 


Cannabis Criminalization: A Short History In Song

The Harmful Affects of False Advertising


As I am just about to get off the bus, an adorable pink unicorn on an advertisement distracts me. Just in the nick of time, I am able to take some pictures.


A banner reads, “Dressing it up doesn’t make it true.” Advertising Standards Canada explains that they “help protect Canadians from false messaging in advertising. Because among all the pretty words and pictures- truth matters.” 

Easily, this could be one of the greatest ads I have ever seen on the TTC, and it reminds me of the harmful affects of prohibition. Contrary to “pretty words”, Drug Comission Harry Anslinger used false negative messages to frighten people away from marijuana before prohibition. 
  
These videos perfectly describe the power a simple false rumor has, and the real intentions behind prohibition, which you may not be aware of.




As screenshots, I was able to capture a few quotes and images about marijuana from Anslinger in the videos.

People involved in the cannabis culture in 1937 must have been 
furious that their clothing and medicine were deemed 
"dangerous" by a fictional character’s response to pot. 
An image for an anti-pot campaign where they're
supposedly destroying marijuana, yet no weed is even in the photograph.

By bringing awareness to these lies,greed,  and racism, I hope Harry Anslinger rolls over in his grave. Someone should really have shared with him the fact that whichever woman happens to give birth to you is completely out of your control, thus making race completely unpredictable as well. 

Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy


Thursday, January 20, 2011

Pot Culture: Style HIGHcon

Through the better part of the early 1990’s, Gwen Stefani performed and hung out with Sublime. This leads me to believe she has gained her amusing courageousness from our mutual friend, Mary-Jane. During early 2000’s No Doubt recorded the album Rock Steady in Jamaica. Let us pray to Jah she at least got to enjoy some ganja!  Even if Gwen abstained from smoking pot, she still wears clothing and accessories that depict the Rastafarian symbol. Red, yellow, and green, represent a religion that is known for using cannabis for spiritual purposes. 



Gwen's best accessory is her smile.






Cha-ching, cha-ching, we've got hydroponic
love and we'll smoke it.




Solely for her fashion bravery, Gwen Stefani, the front-woman of No Doubt has been a fashion idol of mine. The loudest colours, animal prints, a bare midriff, and Rastafarian colour blocks, only Gwen has been able to mix punk-tween with Jamaican vacation.
Jam away a boring wardrobe after you pack a bowl of
California Skunk and start experimenting with prints.




Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Marijuana in Every Media

An article "Marijuana's New High Life” in The Los Angeles Times explains that, “Cannabis is moving into the mainstream, with fashion, films, TV and politicians acknowledging it's here to stay.”

Both of these products were mentioned
in the article: Lucien Pellat-Finet  
designed luxury weed pieces and...
...a Johnathan Adler Hashish Candle.
Adam Tschorn gives a great glimpse into the pot fashion scene of the L.A lifestyle:

At fashion-insider parties, joints are passed nearly as freely as hors d'oeuvres. Traces of the acrid smoke waft from restaurant patios, car windows and passing pedestrians on the city streets -- in broad daylight. Even the art of name-dropping in casual conversation -- once limited to celebrity sightings and designer shoe purchases -- now includes the occasional boast of recently discovered weed strains such as "Strawberry Cough" and "Purple Kush."


The trendiest of all marijuana strains. 
Mernagh's Purple Kush nug porn. 
Acknowledging the highlights of cannabis culture within an area of trend-setting leaders really reinforces my theory that whenever marijuana is seen as a positive substance in any media form, it’s a small advancement for the anti-prohibition movement. 

Get Conscious

The majority of the most fashionable hemp pieces are hemp blends. It’s truly a magic fabric, because it’s easy to manipulate the material’s appearance, yet all the benefits are still guaranteed. Fed up with only finding garments of burlap-sack looking hemp, I was very excited to find Get Conscious

As an eco-friendly company focusing on hemp bridal wear, they offer a variety of unexpected hemp blends in their fabric including:
hemp/silk blend, a hemp/silk floral jacquard, hemp/silk satin, and a hemp/tencel blend are all available. 



Get Conscious women's and men's formal apparel.
Even if you personally wouldn't wear any of these particular styles, you must admit that you never would have guess what the fabric actually is. Hemp fashion is definitely growing through it's innovations, by allowing sustainable fashion to become more than a fad, and eventually leading us to a promising pot-filled future. 

Always look to the bright side of the sun,
Puffy


Saturday, January 15, 2011

Cher the Benefits of Cannabis


When Cher in the film Clueless puffs on a spliff at a party, I was baffled by my real-life Barbie’s drug use. A significant marijuana and fashion moment from my childhood, this only allowed my curiosity to grow. 
This chronic shit probably made their
eyes as red as their outfits!


At a party in The Valley, Travis the stoner classmate spills beer on Cher’s shoes, frustrated, she freaks out while trying to find paper towels: “Ugh! Ruin my satin shoes why don’t you! Excuse me, my shoes. This is so not fixable.” Overreacting to the situation, Travis restores the buzz by explaining to her that, “It’s a small price to pay to the party gods! I’ll make amends, how about some chronic shit?” Agreeing with the offer, Cher tells him that it’s the least he can do while he sparks up the joint. 

Alicia Silverstone, the iconic Cluessless actress, must have remembered acting in this delightful scene, for she is using hemp fabric in her new project. EcoTools and Alicia teamed up to create a collection of eco-friendly cosmetic brushes and cases which include: hemp cases lined with PET recycled plastic decorated with a floral print with non-toxic inks, bamboo brush handles, 100% cruelty-free taklon brush bristles, and all packaging is recycled.
Make-up brushes and cosmetic cases designed
by Alicia Silverstone and EcoTools.
 
Some “chronic shit”, cannabis, can be a lot more than just a container for your make-up brushes, it can also calm an addicted fashion fiend from having a total meltdown. 
Cher and Dion: Best Buds always wearing
anything but ordinary wardrobes.
Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy 

Cosmetic Ingredients and Cannabis

There is a general knowledge that hemp seed oil when used in cosmetics, does wonders for your appearance. Unsure of what exactly makes a significant difference in oils, I searched through Emperor Wears No Clothes but found zero on the topic.
Nothing defeats dry winter hands
quite like this Hempz moisturizer!
Looking for information from another source, I came across an article which describes the mineral-oil based cosmetics the majority of us are wearing now. They explain the cosmetics industry as:


Many people do not realize that the makeup and personal care products they apply to their face and body are petroleum based. When we use cosmetics containing mineral oil we are basically trying to revitalize our living bodies with dead material. This does not make sense.
Only oils from living plants: - live carbon sources - contain regenerative properties. So why is mineral oil in so many products? In a word: price.”

Basically, since prohibition or earlier, manufacturers still use products comprised of oils with ineffective ingredients and advertising  promising radiant results. Cosmetic companies had lucrative results, because they’ve convinced consumers that the only way for a product to work is to continue using it, especially if it never worked from the beginning.  

Hempz, a cosmetics and haircare company which is fully aware of the benefits of hemp describes their products as, “
HEMPZ creates naturally advanced professional hair and body care products designed for all types of hair and skin. Every product contains Pure Organic Hemp Seed Oil which is one of nature's best sources of essential fatty acids with the perfect 3:1 ratio of Omega 3, 6 and 9 amino acids, perfectly balanced by nature to match the needs of the human body”. 

Potent leaf. Pure Beauty.
In other words, you’ll notice a difference in the quality and versatility of cosmetics made with hemp seed oil because:

  •         The non-greasy formula absorbs fast yet moisturizes quicker than any other product
  •        Extremely gentle and non-irritating on sensitive skin
  •   Hemp seed oil is a perfect ingredient for a variety of cosmetics: lipsticks, lip balms, nail treatments, after-sun products, powders, liquid makeup, massage oils and glossy hair conditioners that strengthen or prevent splitting and thinning, just to name a few.
Hempz Sun Care: The effects go straight to your tan
Wouldn’t you much rather spend a little bit more money on a product that actually works than on a product you tested solely based on advertisements? Try Hempz products http://www.hempzproducts.com/, with four different collections: Hempz Couture a salon hair care line, Hempz Herbal Extracts, and delicious flavours of lotions under Hempz treats. Hempz products are available at Toronto Hemp Company http://www.torontohemp.com/among many other hemp seed oil cosmetics.

Know of any other hemp-based cosmetic companies, please feel free to share your information and reviews on favourite products!


Always look to the bright side of the sun,
Puffy

Friday, January 14, 2011

Stoner Style

Talking with someone about their own personal fashion could very well be the next best high to actually smoking weed. Everyday that I am at The Lounge, I see someone with true unique style. Just because their outer-appearance intrigued me enough to ask them about it, they definitely deserve a Stoner Style profile.

To get the ball rolling, and display some of my own fashion, I decided I would be my very first Stoner Style profile.

Vapor hits and crafts: Sun-Maid Raisins
are Christopher Robin's favourite snack.

Puffy Pash:
What’s your favourite strain? To date, Jack Herer
How would you describe your style? 1970’s wet dream, or a glamorous Kurt Cobain.
What are you wearing? Neon hot shorts, eggplant thick knit tights, polka-dot sequined hat, and black basics to balance it out.
What’s your best piece of fashion advice to share? Have fun and don’t forget to experiment.


Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy

Pot Culture: Style HIGHcon

There are many trends throughout history that inevitably repeat themselves, because fashion is ultimately a cycle. When an iconic decade like the 1960’s happens, imaginative artists and designers are bound to invent groundbreaking unique looks. Simple sophisticated mod shapes, body conscious silhouettes, black opaque tights and mini skirts, exaggerated chandelier earrings, and psychedelic drugs are all memorable elements of the time, made famous by the “youth quake”.

Experimenting with many highs, including pot and fashion, style HIGHcon Edie Sedgwick did a flawless job at being unforgettable in fashion history. Her bravery in comparison to others was noted, for she was no one but herself. 
As Andy Warhol's muse, Edie was always having
a blast, and forever will be remembered for it.
Gerard Malanga and Edie smoke up together in October 1966,”I’ve never seen her more beautiful. She puts on a pair of red leotards and a red tight cotton top. I weed out the seeds and twigs from the pot and fill one-eighth full Camel with the Acapulco Gold. We get extremely high. She tells me how she wanted to run away from the mad publicity for an entire year, how it all frightened her, how transparent it all was…” he describes in a trip report.
Pack that pipe with some Acapulco Gold
and channel your inner Edie!
Unfortunately, Edie lived a little too fast and died of a speed overdose. From a fashion perspective, I believe that drugs, the very thing that killed her, is also what kept her spirit alive.
Forty years after choosing Edie as her first model,
Betsey Johnson is still incredibly successful for
funky ready-to-wear collections.
Without her experimenting with drugs, would these fashion styles even exist for the sober world to wear? Betsey Johnson answers that question while describing Edie in this video:



Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Lightheaded

Stuck in a brainstorm of successful highdeas, I remembered an article I read about a new concept hair salon in Toronto, Lightheaded. The idea stayed with me, because I was curious about the outcome of it. In NOW magazine months ago, the owner of Lightheaded explains that you pay $30 to use her vaporizer, and she’ll cut your hair while you enjoy the effects of marijuana. 

Valcano Vaporizer: a little robot does
a great job at getting me baked daily.
Can't help but note the Louis Vuitton
monogram "inspired" background.
Googling the salon lead me to their facebook page, which wall comment’s praising the salon end in mid August. Even their blog, with really impressive “before and after” photography stops all updates in September.
Before and after shots.
This is actually a fellow
I knew from school!
Although a hairstyle isn’t exactly fashion, it is apart of your entire look you put together for yourself. Getting your hair done is a relaxing experience, a form of self-renewal. When I first read the article, I thought Lightheaded was charging $30 for clients to use the vape, which is well overpriced. It’s a brilliant idea I would love to eventually try, and I hope they haven’t been able to blog lately, for they are too busy with stoner clients.

My other successful suggestion is to toke up at home or The Lounge, and then go see the hairdresser. Last time I did this, my hairdresser thought that getting dreads would be a really great style for me.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Did you know...


9. Approximately 50% of all chemicals used in American agriculture today are used in cotton growing. Hemps needs no chemicals and has few weed or insect enemies-except for the U.S government and the DEA. 

Mountains of the Moon


As we really begin brainstorming screen designs for t-shirts, Christopher Robin and I plan out all the fine details. A certain element of our designs involves contrasting materials, and I suggested using hemp fabrics. Christopher Robin reminded me that hemp isn’t available in the bright hues we esthetically want. My defense about using hemp was that prohibition actually stunted the growth in any real innovation for hemp fabrics, thus making them undesirable in comparison to other materials.

Understand that hemp would be the most sensible form of fabric, and only prohibition has decreased the availability and increased the costs. Before reading The Emperor Wears No Clothes, I didn’t fully comprehend how resourceful and sustainable of a plant hemp is, and supporting and wearing hemp clothing is important. My newfound admiration of hemp as a textile has ignited an entire new research topic that I have never personally explored.
A screen shot of a quote from Calvin Klein
  from the film
Emperor of Hemp

One of the only stylish hemp-friendly clothing companies I was able to find online, Mountains of the Moon is a clothing company based out of Chicago with a main focus on style and sustainability. Their site has an entire page dedicated to sustainability, which they describe as, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Using iconic muses throughout pop culture history as inspiration and different hemp blends, they achieve their very own goal. 

What an incredibly
warm colour story.
This company’s enthusiasm for hemp is fully appreciated, for they explain that, “Hemp is the ultimate eco-friendly fiber.  Hemp fabric is one of the longest-lasting and most resilient fabrics, becomes softer with time without breaking down, and grows well naturally without the need for pesticides.”
The Edie Dress
The Audrey Dress
Can’t you just see Jodie Emery doing a speech in The Audrey Dress already? From The Jodie Emery Show on Cannabis Culture, it looks like we both dig wearing berets. Mountains of the Moon should definitely start making hemp berets for us!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Surprises From a Nug Pornographer


For my last post, I wanted an image of a scarf with weed leaves on it. Searching google images of a “puff puff pashimna” wasn’t successful, yet I stumbled upon something even better. On his Cannabis Culture blog, Matt Mernagh mentioned my fashion participation on The Mernahuana Show. http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/node/25747 

This is fantastic!

Although I have been falling behind on sharing my fashion information on the show, I continue to brainstorm. A pro-weed t-shirt contest and a live-from-the-lounge stoner style interview are among my top ideas.
Nug porn + visual merchandising
accessories is my dream.
Matt is definitely one of the most productive potheads I know, check out his awesome nug porn at http://www.mernagh.ca/ and his blog http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/node/25779

Silkscreen Sativa


Before I even started smoking pot, I worked a shitty retail job where ordinary scarves were being sold as “pashminas”.  Ever since that, I have always had a clear visual image of what a pashmina is, and the garment actually inspired the title for Puff Puff Pashmina. 
Puff Puff Pashminas
After learning a vast amount of new information and techniques for silk screening, Christopher Robin and I both agreed that by taking that class, he has gained the most valuable superpower. Using the toxic emission warnings from the side of a pack of cigarettes, Christopher Robin covered a bright yellow t-shirt with that design in black ink. Such a small font made entirely of letters and numbers, and the results are professional, yet easy.
Toxic emissions warning label
printed on paper as a test.

The possibilities and messages are endless when you have a great silkscreen connection. Luckily enough, Christopher Robin got along with Model Citizen’s owner, and silkscreen teacher. After the class, the teacher gave Christopher Robin a gift. As soon as I met up with him for a session that night, I noticed the kind gift of a navy pashmina wrapped around Christopher Robin’s neck.

When a t-shirt is used as silent activism, a positive advancement is gained for the anti-prohibition movement. Without even knowing anything about Puff Puff Pashmina, Model Citizen’s owner will have a huge impact on all of our artivism projects. Anything that can be silkscreened can have a positive fact, symbol, or image about marijuana sends a strong message.  

Always look to the bright side of the sun,
Puffy

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Did you know...

8. One-hundred-twenty to 180 seeds to the square yard are planted for rough cordage or coarse cloth. Finest linen or lace is grown up to 400 plants to the square yard and harvested between 80 to 100 days.

Hemperette


When I was introduced to how wild fashion could be with the aid of drugs in the film Party Monster, immediately I dug the designers Heatherette. Eventually, their ready-to-wear club kid collections fell back into the loop like every other fad. It’s been years since I have heard much about the design duo Richie Rich and Traver Rains, just about when they backed out of Fashion Week for financial reasons.  Daily, I find positive connections between cannabis and fashion, and Richie Rich is my most recent discovery.
Incredibly fucked up costumes from Party Monster.
Reading The Emperor Wears No Clothes has really opened up my eyes to the fabric innovations that were possible before prohibition and DuPont stunted the growth and value of hemp. Desperate to find at least a few designers who appreciate the benefits of working with hemp as a textile, I find myself continually searching until I find a line that I am impressed with.

At the beginning of the month, plenty of eco and style conscious celebrities attended the Global Green 11th Annual USA Sustainable Design Awards. Held in New York, this event highlights individuals who have demonstrated a bold and courageous approach to creating an innovation to improve the environment, and social awareness on a variety of topics.
Richie Rich attended the event and told media that, “I love fabrics that are made out of hemp. I mean, I don’t smoke them but I love making things out of them.” Finally, a neon-hued clothing company that recognizes hemp as a valuable textile has mainstream exposure.
Richie Rich of Heatherette
Unfortunately, there is nothing else connecting Heatherette’s clothing to cannabis, yet. Events like the Global Green awards encourage designers to think outside of the box, carrying the message’s influence, thus creating necessary change.

Frequently, I will be checking in with Heatherette’s commitment to hemp fabrics to see if they held up their end of the relationship.