Bea's Hair

This is old news for my facebook friends, but for my blog readers, here's something that happened recently. Bea's hair had become a monstrosity. It had a life of its own and would not be tamed. I had taken to calling her Tatterhood because she was generally disheveled and impossibly scruffy looking. I mean, look:

I did not add a vignette effect to this; The light naturally comes in that way.

It was starting to dread up and had inevitable foodstuff at all times lodged in it. De-tangling it was a long and screamful process that left us mad at each other for extended periods. So it just had to go. She was ok with it, surprisingly. I made the mistake of letting her see Tangled when she was 2 and she's wanted butt length hair since then. But lately she's been begging for an "Amby haircut."

This is what she got:

One of the best decisions of my life.

Nothing but BS

Baking Soda, that is. Bear with me.

So my sister Emma stopped using shampoo. She's doing the "No-Poo" method. I think that sounds like something gross. It's just baking soda for washing and vinegar for conditioning. Her hair looks amazing.

Now I've joined in. I read up on it. All about how the first few weeks are going to be hell, (so make sure you don't have any big events planned). I haven't noticed any difference except that my natural curl is more pronounced, a welcome change.

But it's weird in the shower. You have the baking soda in a container, right, I use a measuring cup. You get a little in your palm and add water, mixing it up until it gets... slimy. Then you wash, just the scalp. It's just to get the build up of oil away. I'm not sure what you do if you use a lot of product in your hair. I don't. I only wash when my hair gets flat on top from being oily after a few days. It's been a lot less oily since I stopped using shampoo. Anyway, you kinda just scrub and try to get that strong desire for lather to leave you alone.

Then you rinse out the BS and condition with vinegar. I started out using apple cider vinegar. You know that sour smell of laundry that didn't get put in the dryer soon enough? That's the smell that followed me around after the first wash. I'd read that there'd be no vinegar smell. But come on, common sense, folks. If you put vinegar in your hair and let it sit there while you wash? The smell is going to linger.

Now I use regular vinegar with a few drops of eucalyptus oil. It's a lot better.

If you want to try this method, do it! I'm really happy with my clean, fresh, healthy hair. No harsh chemicals (edit: Fewer harsh chemicals in the long run) and no pricey products. :)

Distraction

James and I are pretty stressed out these days. Parenting a difficult child is not for the faint of heart and it is taking its toll on the both of us. While James was away, I bore the brunt of the burden and now my nerves are more or less shot.

SO.

I am distracting myself by imagining a new look.

I wouldn't go pastel with it, but I think my natural chestnut would carry it just fine. I could let it swoop across my face, curl it and have it all wild on top, make a nice wave, slick it back like Tilda Swinton...

Thoughts?

(more images here)

It Doesn't Have to Be Reasonable

In fact, it shouldn't be. Fashion should defy logic.

"Vårens Nya Looks" ("Spring's New Looks") for Elle Sweden February 2013

Photographer: Marcus Ohlsson
Stylist: Lisa Lindqwister
Hair: Mike Karlsson
Make-up: Katarina Hakansson

Model: Stina Rapp Wastenson

via

Ka-Chow!

I've spent the last couple days working hard on my etsy shop. Y'all, this is hard work. It may look like a lot of fun and acting silly, but it is a lot of work, too!

Seeing a pile of awesome vintage clothes should be exciting, but to me it is daunting. Styling, photographs, editing, measurements, descriptions, listing fees. All that and then a little breather before packaging up (which just has to be pretty), shipping, customs forms, more fees, etc.

But all that aside, this part is fun.

Taking the pictures used to be the most daunting of all, but I got this cheap little wireless remote for the camera and, viola! Fun! What used to take hours, now takes minutes. Sheesh, Lily, get with the program sooner next time, ya?

Hair, Hair, Hair

I am growing my hair out and I want long hair, I really do. I can do fun things with it already, like this. I have a whole pinterest board of hair-spiration. But sometimes I think a quirky, actually ugly cut might be more up my alley...

Ok, so maybe not that last one, lol. But the others I could rock. 

via

Getting Ready

It really doesn't feel like Christmas is so soon. I mean, there's been so much hard stuff to deal with lately in the news and closer to home that it's difficult to feel like celebrating. But I have these children who know nothing of the dreadful things in this world and it is my job to spread around all the Christmas cheer. 

Tonight was the company Christmas party. So I got ready while the kids napped this afternoon. (Aside: We've had some great days around here lately. Lots of playing and cuddling and reading and talking and cooperating, thus good naps.) I got done with everything I needed to do (chores, etc.) and had time to curl my hair. After all this, I ended up with my old standby, the braid crown.

The Occasional Hair Post

You know how every few months I get on here and talk about how tempted I am to cut my hair? Well, that temptation never really goes away. Pinterest doesn't help. :/ Oh, man, I keep wanting to go, like, super short. Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby kind of short. And James encourages this! After all the months I've been growing it and growing and I still can't do an honest-to-God top-knot (I cheat by french braiding it up the back ;). Anyway, I saw this beautiful photograph the other day and can't get it out of my head.

via

I just have to remind myself of how gawky it would look with my nose/freckles/glasses. This would be the absolute perfect cut for my sister Isobel. Her hair is naturally about this color and texture.

You know, it might not look all bad with glasses. I'd just have to keep the fringe trimmed so it didn't get too busy like a traffic jam above the eyes.

Okay, I probably won't thrill you with another of these rambling hair posts for  a few months.

The Amazing Braid

I am so proud of myself for not chopping my hair off a few months ago when the urge hit! Oh, I was so close. Plus, James likes me best with short hair. BUT now I can do this ^ all by myself!

I think it is amazing and beautiful. James says it looks like a shower cap.

What do you think? Is it a DO or a DON'T?

Red

Hey, I did it! After a good deal of research and with the help of an expert, I took the plunge. 

Somehow, I feel like it's a better reflection of my charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent to have red hair. It is a wild, fiery red. It is more of a ginger, in-your-face redhead red than a mature auburn. My natural high and low lights remain so that it looks more believable. 

We (Lucy and I) used the L'Oreal dye for dark hair. I need to get some color safe products because now I feel like it's going to fade if I look at it...

Any tips for the upkeep?

What I Wore :: Use It Or Lose It

I am out of school for the summer, so no one is forcing me to practice. But I only have one semester's worth of Photoshop under my belt and I need to work on it. So I played a little with layers and adjustments to change this picture:

into this picture:

I think I might go back and give the dress a little more depth, but I think otherwise it came out ok. I kinda really like my hair that color...

The dress is from Asos and it is really shorter than I am comfortable wearing out. Maybe just for a date? 

I can't even believe how dorky I look in that last picture! And I don't care. 

A Completely Different Direction

I've done so many hair posts here on my blog. From pink hair, to all kinds of other pastels, long hair, short hair. Now I have a new idea: Punk and dark with light blue streaks. Like a combination of these looks:

via: one, two

I really like super short, choppy bangs. But my hesitation is Color+Summer. I want to be outside and in the pool All The Time. And not worry about upkeep of a 'do. KWIM? So many ladies in the blogisphere have colorful, fun hair. But do they go to water parks?

Pink Hair: Pastels and Peek-a-Boos

Someone said it seemed like I really want to go pink. I kinda do, but I don't want to upkeep or the limitations. I just live vicariously through my blog. :)

I've been getting these pink hair images form tumblr. You can find them easily by searching the Pink Hair tag -there are lots more!!. Are you on tumblr? I will follow you!

Pink, Pink Hair: Rich

via tumblr under pink hair tag