How I Keep My Mermaid Hair Fresh

A few years ago, I said if we could raise $1600 for Unravel Pediatric Cancer that I would die my hair pink.  We were able to raise the money and I got a pink peak-a-boo ombre.  From there, it was a slippery slope.  I became obsessed with colorful hair and I haven't been back to brown for a few years because what kind of unicorn has brown hair?  Over the years, I've worked out a technique (with the help of a few friends) to keep my color looking fresh for as long as possible.

I will be sharing products (using affiliate links, meaning if you buy using the link I provide I get a very small commission) and techniques that work for me.  I've talked to my stylist and these techniques should work for most people even if your hair isn't colored a wild color.  If you have additional tips, please let me a comment!

Tips:
1. Only wash every few days.  I have oily hair and I try to only wash every 3 days.  I used dry shampoo in between washes.  My current favorite is Batiste Dry Shampoo.  I keep trying others but I go back to this one.
2.  Avoid sun.  If you're going to be in the sun for long periods of time, wear a large hat.  The sun fades your color.
3. Avoid chlorine.  If you're swimming in the pool, you can wet your hair with regular shower water first to help your hair absorb less chlorine.  If you want to really protect your hair, wear a swim cap.
4. Avoid dandruff shampoo, this strips color super fast.  If you're looking to strip color, I think this is one of the safer and more cost effective ways to do it.

Washing Technique:

1. Coat hair with Nexxus Color Assure Pre-Wash Primer.  I work this into the length of my hair until it all feels coated.  I avoid my scalp because I have an oily scalp and I want the shampoo to clean out the oil on my scalp.  

2. Put hair up into a bun while showering.  I do my typical messy bun.  Leave your hair in the bun while you shave, wash, exfoliate, etc... 

3. When you're ready to wash your hair, switch the water to cold.  I can tolerate pretty cold water but if you can't at least get it to lukewarm or room temp.  The cold water pulls less color out of your hair.  

4. Take out your bun and wash using color safe shampoo and conditioner.  I use Joico Color Therapy. I have used various kinds of color safe shampoo/conditioner and this is the only one that makes my hair feel clean while not stripping my color.  A lot of the other brands leave gross build up on my scalp.  

5. Towel dry and spray Privana Nevo Color Lock Leave-In Protectant.  Not only does this lock in my color but it makes my hair feel really smooth.  My hair feels a lot more course and rough after color treating.  This product makes it feel more like it did before I bleached it and made it into mermaid hair.  

6. Style however you like.  

Bonus: In the second smaller open bottle of conditioner, I'm showing you the tinted conditioner that I asked my stylist to make for me.  If you quick fading color (like baby pink) this is a MUST!  You ask your stylist to put your color into a conditioner and you use it like hair dye.  I leave mine in for an hour because I have really hard to color hair.  You can leave it on for as long as your leave boxed hair dye.  It's obviously not as precise and you'll probably lose any high or low lights BUT it keeps you from having to do back to get your color refreshed every couple weeks.  I usually only use it once before I decide that it's time to get my stylist to really give me a professional looking color.  

Do you have tips on how to keep your hair looking super fresh?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

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Makeup Tips For Family Photo Sessions (From a Pro!!)

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well!

Today, I have a SUPER exciting post to share with you!  My friend Jenn of Jenn Marie Makeup Artistry spent the time to give me tips on what I should do to look my best for my upcoming family photos.  I don't know about you, but we take photos every fall for our Christmas cards.  Jenn is kind enough to let me share these tips with you so that we can all look and feel our best for our photos.  Jenn demonstrated the tips on her (already gorgeous) face to show off the kind of look her tips will achieve.

Here's what Jenn says:

Doing makeup for photographs is a little different than every day makeup.  Some things look great in person but don't translate well in pictures.  Here are a few makeup tips to help you look your best when you are photographed for your upcoming family portrait sessions:

1.  Use matte colors - Although shimmer can look great when applied properly, if you are a little unsure about what to do, it's always safe to go with matte colors.  Matte makeup won't reflect light, making it easy to apply and easy to photograph.

2.  Fill in your brows - Even if you don't fill in your brows on a daily basis, fill them in for your pictures.  Your eyes and face will look so much more complete if your brows are looking polished.  This especially goes for blondes.  Blonde eyebrows will disappear in photographs.

3.  Makeup will photograph 2 shades lighter.  Makeup doesn't translate as vibrant in photographs.  I recommend doing your blush, eyes and lip color a little more vibrant than you normally would.

4.  Use powder - Even if your makeup is applied perfectly, if you look shiny in your pictures it can ruin your whole look.  Once your makeup is complete, use a finishing or setting powder to make everything more matte.  I recommend even taking some powder with you (or oil blotting sheets), especially if it's a warm day.

5.  Wear false lashes - I have never had a client who didn't like wearing false lashes, even if they were hesitant about them at first.  95% of the people in my portfolio are wearing false lashes, and they make all the difference!  If you want something more natural, buy the individual lashes and just put a few on the outer corners.

6.  Apply your makeup in natural light - When you put on your makeup, sit by a window or in a room with a lot of natural light.  This will give you the best idea of what your makeup really looks like, and how it will look in the pictures.

7.  Wax - makeup does not adhere well to peach fuzz.  Whatever you normally wax on your face, wax it before your pictures.  I suggest waxing at least 48 hours before your pictures to give enough time for any redness and swelling to go down.

8. Wear lip gloss- I, myself, never wear lip gloss.  I am a chapstick girl through and through.  But when it comes to photos, lip gloss is a must.  I consider my lips on the smaller side, so wearing lip gloss really helps them look full and plump in pictures.

9.  Wear black mascara - Some people think black is too harsh for their skin tone, but I promise that when it comes to pictures, black looks good on everyone.  Wearing black mascara will bring out your eyes a lot more than brown will.

I hope these tips will help your photos turn out even more beautiful!   

Huge thank you to Jenn for taking the time to give us these tips!  I cannot wait to try them out and see the difference they make in my photos!  You need to check out her Jenn Marie Makeup Artistry Page for tons of amazing tips and breathtaking before and afters!  If you are local (Sacramento Area), it's not too late to book Jenn for your holiday sessions!

Have a wonderful day, friends!  

Beginner Stamping Tips

Hi friends!  I hope you are doing well!  We are ok.  It's finally getting cold here.  And by cold I mean it's about 70 degrees as the high.  But it's cold in the mornings and at night.  

The other day, I helped my friend Madison make a card for a coworker.  While I tried to let her have her own creativity, I did give her a few tips here and there.  In the end, I think all I did was save her from making a few small mistakes that would have made her start over.  I've heard a lot from my "non-crafty" friends and my friends who do pocket scrapbooking or digi scrapping say that they don't know how to stamp, so I thought I'd give a couple BEGINNER tips.  I'm not an expert or anything.  I'm just thinking that if you knew how EASY stamping was you would incorporate it into any crafts that you might do.  

1. Buy a nicer ink pad.  I use Memento Tuxedo Black since I mostly stamp in black (i.e. sentiments and line images.)  The stamp pads from the $1 section might be ok but they will not give you the crispness that a nice stamp pad will.
2. Don't stamp sentiments on busy patterned paper.  The sentiment will not pop and it's just not good. If you want to emboss, that might make it pop but I don't emboss so best of luck to you.  ;)
3. If something seems too small for the scale of your project, just mat it.  Madison had that issue with her sentiment.  A simple mat will give you more area to work with.

I hope these simple tips will get you to pick up those stamps and add a little something extra to your projects.  It's so easy and so fun!  If you have a simple tip that you want to give a beginner, leave it in the comments down below.  If we get a few tips, I will write another post with tips from stampers as a reference.

Have a great day, friends!

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