Cranberry + Gold: Festive, Ethically Made Cocktail Dress

Ethically made in the USA red lace cocktail dress by Mikarose from The Flourish Market. Perfect holiday party dress! | Fairly Southern

Real talk: Finding an ethically made cocktail or semi-formal dress is HARD, all caps.

Earlier this fall, I came up dry when trying to find a new dress to wear to semi-formal weddings. Many ethical fashion brands are on the casual side, and I just didn’t find anything I loved in my size at my favorite consignment stores. It was probably a good thing, because it forced me to re-wear things already in my closet. But if my friends have to see me wear that same navy dress one more time, they may forcefully shove me into a department store dressing room until I come out wearing something different.  Read More

Small Joys: Volume 6

Small Joys: Cultivating gratitude for all the small things in life. | Fairly Southern

Y’all, I think I could write an entire post about the little joys from this weekend alone. I love this time of year! Twinkly lights, holiday parties, festive desserts, and cheery drinks are my jam. It’s been an easy season for finding joy!

Specifically:

1. Christmas lights. I’ve already mentioned it, but it’s worth saying again. All of these twinkly lights have made me so excited! I’ve put shots of some of my favorite neighborhood lights up on Insta stories, and y’all seem to be loving it, too!   Read More

Oak City Bridal: Eco-Friendly Consignment Wedding Gowns in Raleigh, NC

When you think about it, the bridal gown industry can be pretty wasteful. A lot of time, money, labor, and materials go into these stunning dresses, which are worn for one day and then shoved into a box under someone’s bed for several decades.

Stacia Wilson of Raleigh, NC, has a solution to this problem. She recently started Oak City Bridal, a consignment bridal boutique featuring designer gowns. Y’all know I love the idea of purchasing an already loved wedding gown, so I sat down with Stacia a few weeks ago to learn more about Oak City Bridal and the heart behind her business.

Stacia Wilson of Oak City Bridal in Raleigh, NC | Fairly Southern

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Social Justice Sunday: Honesty for the Dying

It’s been a longggggg time since I’ve done a Social Justice Sunday post! I am going to try to regularly add them back into the mix here on the blog in honor of my social worker roots.

Today’s social justice tidbit is coming to you thanks to a TED video from earlier this year. All people, including the dying, deserve our honesty and authenticity. It may not be nice news that we’re sharing, but it’s disrespectful and misleading to people when we hide the truth from them in a misguided attempt to “protect” them!

And, as a bonus to make you smile (and/or happy cry) since that was a pretty heavy topic, here’s an adorable kid + puppy video to make your day:

xoxo Laura

Clean Beauty Switch: Deodorant

Schmidt's Natural Deodorant - Clean Beauty Switch! | Fairly Southern
by Still Being Molly

Everyone here in the hot and humid South knows that once you’ve got a good deodorant, you don’t mess with it. As long as you’re smelling nice and not experiencing any irritation, you’re golden. That is, until you learn about the nasty ingredients lurking in your favorite deodorant!

Deodorant was actually one of the first clean beauty switches I made. Two years ago or so, I noticed natural deodorants for sale on Thrive Market. I assumed that if these deodorants were natural and good for me, that must mean the Secret deodorant I had been using for 10+ years was NOT good for me. Sound familiar? This was my same line of reasoning when I first decided to venture into the land of natural body washes.

So, I ordered some natural deodorant. I was excited to find that it smelled pretty good! At least, for a few minutes. After a few hours, however, things were starting to smell less-than-nice. I was a little startled, because I’ve never been a person to struggle with sweat or body odor issues. But, I figured that maybe this particular brand wasn’t the greatest, and I ordered a different natural deodorant to try. Read More

Tips for Eating Gluten-Free in Italy

Tips for Eating Gluten-Free in Italy | Fairly Southern

When I traveled to Italy earlier this year, I was pretty nervous. As someone with a gluten intolerance, the prospect of navigating restaurants full of pasta, pizza, and bread in a foreign language was more than a little daunting. To my amazement, however, Italy proved to be the most gluten-free-friendly place I’ve ever been! I had an amazing time, ate some great gluten-free food, and was not inadvertently “glutened” a single time. Read More

Small Joys: Volume 5

For the most part, this fall has been pretty good so far. But, there have been a few crap things that have happened in our family. This can take a toll on my spirit, as I am an empath who tends to feel others’ hurts and a spiritual searcher who is constantly bothered by and trying to make sense of the fact that bad things happen to innocent people and animals. Consciously cultivating gratitude is a good way to also acknowledge all of the goodness around me! Here’s what’s bringing me joy lately:

Small Joys | Fairly Southern

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Clean Beauty Switch: Body Wash

I really enjoy a good hot shower. I love the feel of the water pounding down on my back, the way the steam warms up even the chilliest of fingers and toes, and that clean, floral smell that lingers on my hair and skin afterward from my body wash and shampoo.

But, you know what kills shower euphoria pretty quickly? Finding out there are yucky, cancerous chemicals lurking in your body wash!

A couple of years ago, I joined Thrive Market, which is essentially an online, Costco-esque Whole Foods. They have a warehouse model, offering low prices on eco-friendly, ethically made, health-conscious products.

While browsing the website one day, I noticed they had a section of beauty and body products. A friend had recently recommended natural body care brand JĀSÖN, and I noticed that Thrive Market carried JĀSÖN body wash. The label boasted that the body wash contained no parabens, SLS, petrolatum, artificial colors, or phthalates. I honestly didn’t know what most of these were, but I figured they couldn’t be good. And, since my favorite Suave body wash didn’t make similar claims, I assumed that it must contain bad ingredients.

Clean Beauty Switch: Body Wash | Fairly Southern

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