Tuesday, July 31, 2012

A Great DIY Hair Treatment

I would like to share a DIY hair treatment that I have recently tried and really like. It's not my creation, but it does do a really nice job of treating hair, especially color treated locks. This treatment was created by a woman named Carrie using a user name carekate. There are a number of her DIY skin, hair, and other treatments on a notepad in MakeupAlley.

The following is carekate's recipe:

"Recipe for Dr. Holland's Hair and/or Lash Protein Treatment:

 
 What you'll need:
  • Small, clean plastic or glass bottle (4-oz in size, or less)
  • Jojoba oil
  • Avocado oil
  • Grapeseed oil
  • Coconut oil
What you do:
  • Fill bottle up 70% full with Jojoba oil, then
  • Add 10% Avocado oil and another 10% Grapeseed oil, then
  • Add 10% of liquified Coconut oil, then
  • Replace lid on bottle and shake well to ensure all of the oils blend together.
How you use it:
----------------------------------
Boil some water then submerge bottle containing homemade protein treatment in this boiling water for a few seconds in order to warm the treatment. You can also place the bottle of protein treatment in the microwave and nuke it for a couple of seconds, but be very careful as you don't want to microwave it so long that the bottle melts!
If you are applying the protein treatment to your hair, you want to wash your hair and then towel dry then work a small amount of the protein treatment through your hair from scalp to ends, ensuring that all of your hair is completely saturated -- the longer your hair is, the more protein treatment you'll need to use. Leave protein treatment on your hair for at least 30 minutes or as long as possible -- personally, I sleep on mine and shampoo it out the next morning.
If you color your hair, apply the protein treatment to freshly washed hair and apply the hair dye mixture directly over the protein treatment for spectacular results!
Please note: coconut oil solidifies when it is cold so you have to heat it a bit for it to become liquified. Therefore, I always scoop out a bit of the coconut oil solid and place it in a microwave-safe dish and nuke it for a few seconds until it becomes runny and liquidy at which point I mix it with the other oils which help prevent the coconut oil from hardening back up into solid form."


It cost me about $25.00 to buy all the ingredients (they could probably be purchased for less than I paid at a local health food store), but I still have a lot of everything except the Jojoba oil and will be able to make quite a bit more of the treatment. I haven't even used up all the original batch. Also, the coconut oil is food grade and can be used for cooking or anything else coconut oil is used for. I bought a plastic hair color bottle at Sally's. It has markings on the side that allowed for easy mixing of the ingredients.

I bought some 4 for a dollar shower caps at the Dollar store and used one to place on my head after I applied the oil so that I could leave it in overnight. Although carekate said you should wash your hair before applying, I did not and my hair looked beautiful after I shampooed it the next morning. The thing I really like about this treatment over those commercially available is that it has almost no scent. So many of the oil treatments I looked at purchasing were quite scented.

I hope that this helps someone else who is trying to find a homemade natural hair treatment.  Let me know if you try it or if you have some other great concoction you use.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Visible Monday Maxi Take Two

It is so unbearably hot here (111F)  that I spend as little time outside as possible. Consequently, my outfit was photographed indoors yet again this week. You are probably groaning and saying "not another maxi!", but they are so comfortable on hot days. Lately, they seem to be my go to outfit. Are any of you embracing the maxi dress or skirt more this summer?

This dress is one I purchased at the Salvation Army Thrift store for $6.99. The SA thrift is a bit more expensive than Goodwill, but still quite affordable. This dress proves the adage that you should look outside your size range. Believe it or not, it is a size 10! (At least that is what the tag said.) The top is puckered with elastic thread and looks just like some of the dresses that I have seen in retail stores. The denim shirt is the same one I wore last week. It has a better fit over dresses than a denim jacket and it is much lighter weight. 


Dress: Thrifted
Denim Shirt: Consignment
Shoes: Think! Sandals
Handsome Harry Airedale
I accessorized with colorful beaded bracelets and a Chico's necklace with an orange enamel flower.
Purchased at different stores.

I hope you will join me with the everyone else at Visible Monday on Not Dead Yet Style and Monday Mingle with Glamamom. Have a great Monday.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Visible Monday - Too darn hot for woman or beast

When we got ready to take the pictures for today's Visible Monday and  Monday Mingle post, Harry got wild, wild, wild when he heard the camera. He was running back and forth down the hall, shaking his big teddy bear from side to side. We had to get out of the way or be mowed down. He was so excited to hear the camera. We got several photos of him, but most of them were blurry because he was moving so darn fast. We had to take them inside as it was so horribly hot outside. Most of our days have been over 100 degrees F and it is miserable to be outside for any amount of time.

My outfit for today is a simple one that I wore on Sunday for breakfast out with my husband and then doing laundry the rest of the afternoon. I purchased the maxi dress at the 1/2 of 1/2 price store and the denim shirt was a consignment store purchase. (If it hadn't been so hot, I would've worn a white jacket with it.) The dress has silver and black cord trim and also plastic shiny jewels. I kept my accessories to a minimum because the dress is pretty blingy.
Mr Harry with his tongue hanging out after his morning exercise.
I have certainly embraced the maxi dress this summer. I didn't care for them much last year. I probably wouldn't have purchased any this summer if not for the excellent prices I have gotten at the 1/2 of 1/2 store. I have a lot of fun looking through the racks there and finding bargains. This past week I got a Lane Bryant linen jacket for $2.99. It was missing a belt, but my first thought was to use a scarf as a belt and I think it will be a more stylish outfit than if it had the belt.

Do any of you watch Longmire on A&E? It is my summer favorite TV show
and is based on books by Craig Johnson. As I was writing this post, I was reminded of a character in the books and on the show, Henry Standing Bear, who speaks without using contractions. I have to force myself to write more casually and use contractions. I think that is because I spent so many years writing technical documents. Do any of you have to edit your writing to make it  sound more conversational and less formal? Probably not, because so many of you are such gifted writers.

Please visit Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday and The BonBon Rose Girls for Monday Mingle.


Monday, July 16, 2012

Visible Monday - Sequin and Snake edition

First, I would like to thank everyone for their expressions of sympathy in our loss of our sweet Jada. It helps to know others understand our loss. I think that the reason this hit me so hard is that I have been with her for so many hours every day since I retired. She became a big part of my every day routine. I still find myself thinking I have left her outside or that a I need to give her her medicine.  It will take a while to get used to her being gone.
Thank you all for your kindness.

I need to get back into a routine and spend more time with my blog and viewing all of your blogs. I certainly enjoy Visible Monday and Monday Mingle and seeing what everyone is wearing. Today I received an email from Saks titled "Leather is now a year round option." Really? When it is 104 degrees in the shade? Who would really want to wear it now? That is what I like about our linkups--we get to see what is really being worn in different parts of the world. I don't think a $2400 perforated leather dress is what I would wear even if I could afford to purchase it.

My outfit for today is certainly visible. In the sunshine the sequins really sparkle! I did decide that I needed to wear a cotton tank rather than a synthetic tank. It is just too warm to layer two synthetics.


Top: Chico's
Tank: Catherine's
Jeans: Chico's
Sandals: Think! Julia
Me and Harry
Lately, Harry has been more interested in chasing flies than in having his picture taken. I was surprised that he came over and sat down with this rear on the step.

I just realized that I forgot to show my accessories!

Left side of Pic: Chico's bracelet
Right side: Michele watch and a mix of artisan
and Silpada bracelets.
The new Ross store opened here over the weekend. I was not too impressed with it. I was so looking forward to it opening, but it just did not meet my expectations. I prefer the 1/2 iof 1/2 store even though it does take a lot of time to go through everything. Last week I purchased an Avenue short sleeve jacket in orange for $2.99. This week they are supposed to have Not Your Daughter's Jeans. I am hoping that means plus sizes as well as regular, but you never know what is going to be there and that is part of the fun of it.

Please join Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday 55. I hope you all have a lovely Monday.

Monday, July 9, 2012

A bittersweet Visible Monday

Wow, Visible Monday #54! It just does not seem possible that so much time has passed since the first VM.

Today's outfit is one of my favorites. I have worn this same combo several times. It is probably not the typical summer outfit, but I certainly feel like I am a "hip 60 year old" when I wear it. I wish the pictures had come out better. My photographer decided to change the lighting and it just did not work well as you can see. We took the photos inside because over 100F degrees was a bit too much warmth for taking them outside.


Jacket: Chico's
Top: KMart
Jeans: NYDJ Cheetah
Sandals: Think! Julia
The top is one of the K-Mart LYS (Love Your Style) Plus-size tops I got a while back. It is sleeveless and has pleather accents on one shoulder and for a faux pocket. It's made of a double layer of sheer fabric and I think it looks a lot more expensive than it is. I think it will work for year round wear. I am so thrilled with this top. I have quite a bit of pattern mixing in this outfit. The jacket has very subtle stripes and of course the jeans have the cheetah print. I chose to go with bold gold jewelry.

Necklaces: Ax + Apple
The necklaces have layered chains. The shorter one has acrylic tubes above the layers and the longer one has a coin. Many of the Ax + Apple pieces feature real old coins. The bracelet has a British coin featuring Queen Elizabeth.  You can also see the pleather accents on the top in this photo.

Bracelet: Ax + Apple
Please stop by Not Dead Yet Style and visit all the other participants to see what they feel makes them feel visible on this 54th Visible Monday.

Goodbye Sweet Jada

Two weeks ago today, my husband and I helped Jada cross the Rainbow Bridge.  She had reached the point where she was having trouble breathing and walking was very difficult for her. We did not want her to suffer any more. We stayed with her as the Vet gave her the medication and sat with her for a while afterward. She passed quickly from this earth but will never pass from our hearts. She was such a sweet, good girl. We had her cremated and now have her ashes in a lovely oak box. Losing a being who was such a part of each and every day of our lives brings to mind that all of us have a limited amount of time on this lovely earth and we should treasure each and every moment of the time we have. Thank you to those of you who contacted me during the time I have been away from my blog. This has been a rough few weeks and it means so much to me that you have been so kind.