How I Grew Out My Hair

Something I've talked about a lot on this blog is my hair- how it's long, how it's oily, how it's color treated... you guys know the story. But what you don't know is how I grew out my hair, and my own personal recommendations for both growing and taking care of your hair once it reaches your desired length.

I started "officially" growing out my hair in 2008- that was the last time I really had a drastic cut, or cut off more than a couple of inches at a time. And, yes, it did take about 5 years to really achieve the length and health I have now. It is a process you have to be patient with, and every once in awhile you'll have to trim off more than you'd like.
If I had wanted instant results, I would have bought extensions. But I wanted my own hair, and for it to be healthy.




This picture was taken in 2008, my hair was red, and this is the shortest I had it. I really liked the cut, but I wanted long hair. I also wanted the red out, so....



I had to bleach it. (I cut my friend out of this pic because I wasn't sure how she'd feel being on the blog.)
I do miss being lighter blonde, but not this blonde. I think I had my hair this light for about a month, and then I started darkening it. 



My hair was a little past my shoulders here, and this was taken in late 2009.



No other really good pictures until 2010, bu you can see how long it got, and quickly! 



A better picture, this was in 2011.



A pic I found of me attempting a hairstyle I saw on pinterest.



And finally, this is the length of my hair today (though this was taken back in February and I had about two inches chopped off shortly after this, my hair has reached this length again)! 



So how did I do it?
Well, first, I paid attention to my hair. If it felt dry, I'd give heat styling a few days off. As a matter of fact, unless I'm doing something on the weekends, I will let it air dry. I always use some kind of heat protectant or leave-in.
I use a deep conditioner or hair mask about once a week, and sometimes twice a week if I feel like my hair needs it. 
I know my hair is oily, and I would try to stretch my hair to two day hair, but most of the time, I was washing it every day. This is what works for me, and also what I believe kept my hair healthy, because I noticed my ends would be so dry second day.

I read countless "how to grow out your hair" articles for weeks, and all suggested coconut masks, egg masks, aspirin in shampoo, and all kinds of other stuff. And I'm sure that stuff all works great- but for me, the above really did work for me just fine.

My biggest tip, though? GET REGULAR TRIMS. 
Every 6 to 8 weeks, I was getting at least an inch trimmed off my hair. I set reminders in my phone and planner, I'd ask my hair girl how my hair looked, and if she thought I needed a couple inches off instead, I did that. 
It sounds counter productive, but really you're just getting rid of all that dead length- the scraggly stuff that really weighs down hair and makes it look crappy.

And yeah, it took awhile, but now my hair is long, and beautiful. And it is all mine.

It's Not Just For Babies: Uses For Baby Powder

There are so many uses for baby powder, other than on a baby's bottom, and quite a few of them are "beauty" related. Here are some methods I've found online, or heard about from friends, that I have tried.


1. In Your Hair As a "Dry Shampoo"
This is my favorite method. You can either sprinkle some on your hands and rub it into your roots, or put it directly on your hair (just be careful not to use too much!). This also makes the hair more voluminous.
I have extremely oily hair (usually if I take a shower in the morning, I already have oils by the evening, so if I'm going somewhere, I just use a little baby powder and it absorbs everything. If you have darker hair, I would suggest using a light touch and add as needed.

2. Fuller lashes
Using a dry mascara spooly, coat the wand in baby powder and coat over your lashes. Then apply mascara. Repeat as necessary. It really does make a difference! (Just be careful not to put too much so you don't get it in your eyes!)

3. Remove Grease Stains from Clothes
I first read about this trick here. I used this on one of my favorite shirts that I had a Taco Bell grease stain on. I dabbed some baby powder, let it absorb, and continued. It completely removed the stain!

4. Sweat Absorption
Okay, let's share something real- I sweat. And it's not always pretty, and sometimes my deodorant doesn't do what it's suppose to be doing. So I put some baby powder under my arms and between my boobs, and it really helps absorb the sweat smell. You can also put some baby powder in your shoes as well to absorb that nasty feet smell.

5. Chaffing
Another real thing- put some baby powder in places that would get chaffy (cleavage if you have really big boobs, or between your thighs), and it helps things slide on easier. It also makes putting tighter pants on easier, too!

6. Untangle those necklace chains
Put some baby powder on a necklace that is tangled up- the powder makes it easier to untangle!


There are so many more great uses for baby powder, but these are my favorites! Hopefully these help you, too!

How to make your own Nail Polish rings

Awhile back, I was browsing Pinterest for nail polish ideas, and started seeing Nail Polish rings and jewelry. I immediately thought to myself "Now that is something that I can probably do!" And I have a ton of nail polish! So I started researching online more about how to make Nail Polish jewelry, and came across this blog post on Sweeter Lemon's blog, explaining step-by-step how to make your own nail polish jewelry. Then I started researching where to buy the supplies, and I turned to Etsy.

I knew I would need both the settings and the cabochons, so I started looking for a seller of both, and found the shop RingEarringPendant. I purchased this set, which came with 5 ring bases and 5 cabochons.

Once I got the jewelry, I set out to make my first ring, and it didn't go well. I didn't let the polish dry enough between coats, and all in all, it was just a disaster, so I tried again, and I think it came out pretty well!


(I used China Glaze Rare and Radiant for this ring.)

Now I am sharing how to make these rings with you! For me, I start mine in the evening when I'm just hanging out watching TV, let it dry over night, and then put it together in the morning, This ensures I don't mess up the polish in any way.

To start, I get my supplies together.



For this ring, I decided to use one of my newest OPI polishes.


 (You can find swatches of this polish on The PolishAholic's blog.)

I start off doing one coat that covers the flat side of the cabochon completely. This is the top of the ring. If you were to do something with more than one color (like a glitter of some kind), you would start with what you want to see, and then go from there (basically, opposite of how you would paint your nails). I am just doing one polish, so I don't really have to worry about that.





As you can see, the first coat of this polish is extremely sheer, so I'm going to need quite a few coats to get it to look like I want it to! And, again, I'm going to let the polish dry completely before moving on to the next coat.

I think you get the gist of this process, so here are my photos of all the coats. And I tried to keep the coats as thin as possible.







At this point, it was starting to look pretty good, so I turned it over to see what it would look like looking through it.



This isn't quite what I was looking for, so I went for another coat.



And one last one for good measure.



Then I flip it over again.



That's better! You can see around the edges are a little lighter, but that will be hidden when you put it in the actual base.

I put a topcoat over the whole thing, and then let this dry overnight.

The next morning, I went outside to check my ring.



 I then put it into the base to make sure everything looks the way I want it to before committing to gluing it down.



Looks great to me! You can't see any streaking, and everything looks good!

Now I'm going to glue it down. I personally like the E-6000 crafting glue. It is recommended to use this outside, and I would suggest doing your own research before choosing this glue.  The fumes are insane, and you definitely either want to use it outside or in an extremely well ventilated room. And on a surface you don't mind messing up. That's why I do it outside, and on a paper plate.



You barely need any glue, at all. I actually kind of regret buying this huge tube. But I digress. You can either get a tiny bit straight from the tube, or use a toothpick to get what you need.



As you can see, I barely use any. At all. Then super, super carefully, I pick up the cabochon, and put it glue side up into the ring base.



I then turn it over, wait about 5- 10 minutes for it to dry, and then try it on!





I really, really like the way this one turned out! And I really love making these, and definitely want to get some different bases and different sizes. I think it's a fun way to make a unique piece of jewelry (most likely, no one else is going to have exactly the same one as you), and also a fun way to keep a favorite nail polish forever!

I really hope this helped some of you! I'm going to be trying out some other fun crafty-type things and will definitely post about my experiences! I am not by any means crafty, so it might end up being a bunch of huge fails, but it might be fun and I might surprise myself, too!



FTC: I made these nail polish rings on my own, and am not in any way affiliated with the any of the brands mentioned, or the seller mentioned on Etsy.