(Starlight sits in Twilight's library, about to start reading Popularity's chapter of The Book Of Friendship, while Trixie lounges on the nearby couch. Starlight casually takes a sip of her tea, then begins.)
The Rules Of Popularity (An In-depth Thesis by Popularity)
Hello, my dearies. I am Popularity, and welcome to my chapter of The Book Of Friendship. In case you had no prior knowledge, Omni has asked each one of us to write our own personal chapter in our Book Of Friendship. (I am also aware that Surprise has already done so. How she knew about it before me, I'll never know.)
Each chapter is written by each one of us, and can be about whatever subject medium we choose, so long as it contributes to helping or teaching you in some way.
For my personal chapter, I will be teaching you a few easy steps to making your day to day more fabulous!
Let's begin!
Rule I: Appearance
Appearance is NOT everything. Rather it is just one more thing meant to help you feel better about yourself. To be comfortable in your own skin so to say. There are of course no official rules to one's appearance, as everypony is unique and is therefore beautiful in their own way. But one of the most common factors associated with appearance is one's hygiene. When you wake up, do you make sure your mane is tidy? Or your hooves are polished and well groomed? Taking steps to make sure you are clean, prepped and ready for the day can lead to significant improvement in your overall esteem!
I myself actually have a routine that I follow every morning!
First, I get up every morning at around 7 am, and take my morning shower. I use my own blend of natural herbs and oils for my strawberry melon shampoo, which I wash my mane with up to 5 times per rinse. Then I repeat. (I'll go into more details on mane care in the next step, don't worry!)
For breakfast, I have a pomegranate and berry smoothie with a melon infusion, as well as perfectly cooked quinoa omelet with avocado toast. I usually enjoy a grapefruit on the side. (The avocado toast is simply to DIE for! I will be sure to list the recipe in my chapter for you, if you would like to try it!)
Next, It's time for my morning yoga. Yoga is remarkably spiritually cleansing, as well as helps with one's flexibility and agility. I stick to basic poses, but occasionally I'll try for a more, em...expressive pose from time to time.
Lastly, I do my makeup which can take anywhere from an hour to several hours (if you want to do it right.)
Now that I'm finished my routine, I'm ready for the day! Having a morning routine is a great way to be sure you are ready to take on even the gloomiest of mornings with a smile! Now then, let's move on to the next step!
Rule II: Mane Care
I have been told by everypony that my mane is one of the most beautiful sights you could ever hope to see, as well as the most fabulous mane in the entire empire (Omni excluded of course.) However, maintaining such a work of mane care perfection takes quite a bit of hard work. Luckily, it's not hard for your mane to look fabulous with just a few simple steps!
Depending on your mane style, there's a routine for properly caring for your mane.
Straight: A Straight mane falls smoothly, and has a glossy consistency since the natural oils from the scalp easily work their way to the bottom. Straight manes don’t need much conditioning since it’s typically soft and smooth. But that doesn’t mean you can’t suffer from common problems like flatness at the top (since volume isn’t typically there), and your mane getting greasy more quickly. (Which is just TOO horrible for words!)
Cleaning: Comb your mane with a small-tooth comb daily to distribute the sebum to the ends of the shafts. Wash your mane every other day to ensure that, it remains clean and looking beautiful.
Care: Deep condition your mane once a month to keep it soft and supple.
Style: When your mane gets flat, try teasing it at the crown and adding in mane spray. Use a blow dryer to dry it, and then repeat steps until you get ultimate volume. Also try blow drying your mane upside-down with a round brush.
Wavy: Wavy manes have s-shaped curls down its length, it’s the perfect blend between straight and curly. Sometimes the mane can appear straight with slight bends towards the ends of the hair, or it can have consistent waves throughout the shaft. This mane has ultimate flexibility, and is easy to straighten, keep wavy, and curl. However, sometimes it can get greasy on the top and dry at the bottom, and is much more prone to frizz than other types.
Clean: Wash your hair two to three times a week, and use dry shampoo for in-between days.
Care: Use a deep conditioner twice a month to keep your hair soft. You can also use a dime-sized amount of leave-in conditioner or a couple of drops of argan oil to keep your hair from frizzing during the day.
Style: Since wavy hair has many choices, you can choose whether you want to straighten it, leave it wavy or curl your hair more. We suggest keeping it natural and spritzing some texturizing or salt spray to give you a beachy look.
Curly: A Curly mane is bouncy, playful, and full of volume. The strand thickness can range from fine to coarse but is most often fine. The greatest challenges for curly mane types are frizz, lack of curl definition, shrinkage, and worst of all...dryness!
Clean: Wash your mane just once or twice a week. Shampoo can strip the moisture out of curly manes more quickly, so make sure to apply some leave-in conditioner or argan oil.
Care: Use a deep conditioning treatment once a week (before the day you wash your mane) to keep your mane silky and smooth, and your curls bouncy.
Style: Use a heat protection spray before you run your mane through a diffuser, and spend some time styling the individual curls. If your mane gets frizzy, take a spray bottle and spray your strands again to give the curl a chance to re-form.
Coily: A Coily mane has the tightest curls ranging from fine to coarse, with s-shaped and z-shaped curls. It is the most fragile of mane types. This type of mane is filled with texture, so you won’t have to worry about your mane slipping out of a braid or style. A common problem with a coily mane is that it is dry and fragile, but that doesn’t mean it can’t look beautiful!
Clean: Wash your mane just once a week with a cleansing conditioner.
Care: Seal your mane with heavy oils and coating butters (like shea butter), right after the shower, and put it through a pre-treatment with a hot oil treatment to make it easy to wash.
Style: You can wear it natural, braid it, or put it up in a bun. You decide. If you want to give yourself a voluminous fro, use a diffuser to dry it 50% of the way, then let it naturally air dry. The less heat you use on coily hair, the better.
And there you have it! Four mane types and four mane care routines to go with them. Add these extra universal rules of hoof to help your mane stay its most healthy and beautiful:
- Always use heat protectant before styling.
- Investing in a silk pillow to prevent breakage.
- Eat healthy foods and drink water to help your mane grow beautifully.
Now that we've covered Hygiene and caring for your mane, let's cover the next step!
Rule III: Eating Right
Eating healthy and nutritious food is one of the most fundamental steps to improving and maintaining a fabulous lifestyle! Foods like salmon, red bell peppers, spinach, coconut, avocados, eggs, garlic and pineapple are all amazingly good for you, and can be very delicious when made in a good recipe. For example, my go to breakfast: Avocado Toast! (You'll have to forgive me if the recipe isn't as detailed as you may need it to be. I'm afraid cooking is more Omni and Surprise's skill set.)
Ingredients
- Avocados
- Coconut Milk
- Rosemary Bread
- Red onions
- Red wine vinegar
- Agave syrup
- Sesame seeds
First, mash the avocado with a fork in a shallow bowl until chunky. Season with fine salt and black pepper.
Toast the bread until browned and crisp. Lightly rub 1 side of each slice with the cut side of the garlic until fragrant then discard the garlic. (Quickly so as not to stink up the kitchen!)
Lightly brush the toasts with oil, and season with fine salt and pepper. Divide the mashed avocado evenly among the toasts, and top with more flaky sea salt, more black pepper and red pepper flakes if using. (Red pepper helps with blood flow, but is of course spicy. I enjoy it, but you may not want to add it to your own recipe. Enjoy!)
Now that healthy foods are covered, we can move on to the second to last step!
Rule IV: Dress For Excess Success!
Your appearance and the way you dress go hoof in hoof with one another. Everypony has their own sense of style and what appeals to them, so again, I can't tell you to dress a certain way. But I can give a few tips to help you always look fabulous!
First off, don't be afraid to branch out of your comfort zone. Adding a scarf or a pair of leggings or even the always acceptable bow (or bow tie) is a great way to ascertain what sense of style you are comfortable with.
Second, never be afraid to wear something that you know someponies may not find appealing. So long as you like it, that's all that matters!
And finally, there is no such thing as a bad outfit choice. Even if something looks absolutely atrocious to you, it can always be improved or taken with another design that may surprise you in how much it improves the overall look!
I hope these few steps help you, and now we can move on to our last step in The Rules Of Popularity.
Rule V: Confidence
Having confidence in yourself is the single most important step. If you have confidence you can take on the day, then you will! Always go out with your best expectations, as you never know when the day will surprise you! Always stride to looking and feeling your best, because if you look good, you'll feel good! And if you feel good, then others will feel good too.
Trust in the Rules Of Popularity, and yourself! Now go out there and shine for all the world to see!
Yours,
- Popularity