Hair

How To: Preserve Blonde Hair

by

I’ve had blonde balayage highlights for almost two years now. I have the distinct pleasure of having hard water as well, which means two years of preserving blonde hair by navigating brassy wasters with various purple-tinged potions. Even though I decided recently to discontinue undergoing the process with the salon I was working with, the jury of one is still out on whether I’m done-done, or just done with that salon for now. Regardless of whether I continue, I still have many months of preservation ahead so I don’t look like a clown.

Step One: Squeaky Clean

Good news – clarifying shampoos can be found in the drugstore away from the premium, salon brands. I use this inexpensive one from TRESemme ($0.16 per ounce); in spite of being a clarifying shampoo, it is gentle and does not lead my scalp to mutiny. I’ve had good luck with Suave’s ($0.06 per ounce) too.

Using a clarifying shampoo is like any other shampoo. Lather up, then rinse. Done!

Read more

Beauty Hacks & Tips

by

This legacy post has been given a facelift. Content has been edited for flow and some updates have been added, but the essence is the same!

After comparing my list to so many top hits from Google from silly magazines, I’m confident that MOST of these are not cookie-cutter tips. So many of these, “beauty hacks,” are old hat to me just because I’ve been doing them so long – but it’s come to my attention that some of them are apparently, “sneaky beauty hacks.” I figured, “Why not share?” We’re all trying to streamline our life and make time for other things – even as someone who enjoys beauty, that doesn’t mean I have an hour or two to throw at it on a daily basis – in fact, writing that made me laugh.

Let’s get on with it!

Before I had highlights!

Hair Hacks

  • Maximize efficacy of your dry shampoo. It will absorb oils as you sleep so you aren’t in such a rush in the morning. As much as I love dry shampoo, sometimes I want it to do what it does faster than it does. Solution? Use your dry shampoo at night before you go to sleep. I like Batiste and Psssst!  [2022 update: Skip conventional dry shampoos; many of them are being found to contain cancer-causing benzene. Use tapioca starch instead!]
  • If you buy large bottles of shampoo and conditioner (such as Tresemme’s 39oz monstrosities [2022 update: Screw Tresemme, they repeatedly sell and resell formulas that lead to hair loss]) and transfer them to smaller bottles, you will be pleased to learn that the caps for Dawn dish soap fit on a lot of bottles that take pumps. Pumps aren’t the best for transferring thick product to other containers, but swapping one of those caps makes life a LOT easier. (2018 Update: These bottle couplers are nice too if you need to combine contents a lot – but I still use Dawn caps for all sorts of things. Reduce, reuse, recycle, save money etc.)

Read more

Unpopular Opinion – It’s a 10 Miracle Leave‑In Product

by
It's a 10 Miracle Leave‑In ProductIt’s a 10 Miracle Leave‑In Product

At some point, leave-in conditioners stopped being quite as cool and therefore stopped being marketed quite as heavily (until recently-ish). For me, although argan oil is lovely for my hair, I don’t achieve the same results with it as I did the leave-ins of yore. My lightened ends are a bit drier than the rest of my hair, so I like to help them out.

In January, having stalked sales and armed with a gift card, I purchased a small bottle of It’s a 10 Miracle Leave‑In Product. Stylists I respect rave about it. Regular ol’ non-beauty-educated folks I know in, “real life,” rave about it. Bloggers I trust that fall on either end of that spectrum rave about it. Can that many people be wrong?

In a Word? Yep

Read more

March 2018 Favorites

by
March 2018 FavoritesMarch 2018 Favorites
1. Scunci Stay Tight Barettes; long & short, $4.50 / 2. Wet n Wild Walking on Eggshells, $3 /
3. CND Solaroil, $8 / 4. Aveeno Stress Relief Body Wash, $7 / 5. Sensationail Express Gel, My Cherry Amour, $6

Without a purpose in mind, my March 2018 Favorites shaped up to be accessible in terms of where you can purchase (drugstore! Target! Online!) as well as an awesome <$10 each month. I shudder when I see favorites posts and videos where all the products are $25+; for most people, that just isn’t realistic. Details on my favorites after the jump.

Read more

Balayage Update

by

Balayage Prep

Having delayed and rescheduled my last appointment, I was due to have my next balayage session on St. Patrick’s day. I don’t treat myself to salon treatments very often (balayage just twice a year, and rare mani/pedis aside), so I was looking forward to it.

In spite of that eager anticipation of a few hours of very girly, “treat yo self,” time, my uncertainty about my hair has continued.

I enjoy having my hair a bit lighter than its virgin state, but

  • Salon visits are time-consuming and inconvenient
  • Salon appointments are expensive
  • I wasn’t thrilled with my most recent results

I’ll call a spade a spade – I’m a demanding customer. When you spend so much on a service, you expect to walk away feeling more than just, “okay,” with it.

Other Goals

I’ve had a shift in priorities in the last six months or so. Our financial goals shifted and we decided to decrease discretionary spending. We didn’t eliminate all of our, “fun,” and had made room for certain planned things – like this. Ultimately, though, I came to question the idea of this splurge in the face of the other things (less expensive/impactful towards our goals) that I limited or eliminated.

Balayage Appointment Reminder

The Wednesday before, I received an appointment reminder that revealed the colorist I was booked with was the same one as before. I visited their site to see if they had any specials running (sometimes they did a free bonus service with a certain amount spent) but instead found that they increased their price for the balayage service by 50%. WHOA.

Coupled with my uncertainty about continuing, I decided to interpret these things as a sign to cancel. So I did.

So Now What?

Read more

Worth it? Beyond the Zone Last Call Hair Masque

by

Beyond the Zone Last Call Hair Masque

After three rounds of balayage highlights and more heat-styling than I’ve done consistently…ever, some of my hair can use an extra boost of hydration. Last time I was in Sally’s (a while ago at this point – before Christmas for sure), I picked up their Beyond the Zone Last Call Hair Masque ($2.49). I love Aussie 3-Minute Miracle and use it regularly, but figured it was worth investigating.

The Claims

Beyond the Zone Last Call Hair Masque claims that it:

Read more