DIY Salon Quality Deep Conditioning Treatment

I've posted before about diy conditioning treatments using products around the house, but this is different. These products are similar to ones that would be used on you if you were to go to a salon for a conditioning treatment, the only difference is you can do it yourself for super duper cheap. Depending on how long or thick your hair is, each treatment will cost you between $2.50 and $5.00!

All of these products were purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply for just under $10. If you don't have one of those near you, try checking out your local beauty supply shop and see if they offer similar products.

There are three products here because they all offer something different. The hot oil offers softness and shine. The brand is Queen Helen and there are actually a couple different types of oils but the one you want is Placenta. If the name weirds you out, just pretend like you don't know why it's called Placenta. It's better that way.

For moisture, grab a packet of Argan Oil Moisture Repair Conditioner. I actually love this whole line of products.

And the last element you need is protein. This is especially important for anyone with chemical or heat damage. I am normally pretty loyal to my professional brands when it comes to protein treatments but I wanted to give something different a try and I was pretty pleased with the results of this one. Since this is the only brand at Sally's that I tried, I can't really say how it compares to their others. You can definitely experiment though and see if there are other that work also.

The first step and one that you don't want to skip is to heat up the oil. I just filled my sink with hot water and let the tube sit in there while I got everything else ready. Then, in a plastic bowl, mix up equal parts of all three packets. I did half of each for my own hair which brought the cost of the treatment to $5.00, but it was definitely over kill. I could have done half that amount and been just fine.

If you are doing this in the shower, which I would recommend, make sure you are ready to hop in as soon as everything is mixed together so it doesn't cool off. Heat opens up your hair shaft and allows the treatment to penetrate deeper.

Once you have shampooed you hair, squeeze out as much water as you can and then grab a towel and squeeze out even more. Since your hair is like a sponge, the more water is in it, the less it can soak up anything else.

Leave the treatment on for 3-5 minutes and then rinse it off. If you want to get really serious, throw on a shower cap or tie a plastic bag around your hair. Please note I said hair NOT head!!!! This will really heat things up.

Like any conditioning treatment, this isn't a one time fix forever. Although you will see and feel a significant difference after just one treatment, I always recommend a second treatment a week later and then continue to follow up occasionally when your hair starts to feel dry or you've had any chemical processing done.

Really, the best thing you can do is not wait until the signs of damage are there. Take steps to prevent damage by getting regular trims, using heat protectants, and doing the occasional deep conditioning treatment. Your hair will be much happier!

JoyFolie, I love you

Have you heard of JoyFolie? I don't know how this company has been kept hidden from me for so long, but no more! Between myself and my three girls, I want pretty much every shoe they have.

After having just spent a frustrating weekend shoe shopping for my girls, I am so happy to find a company that sells sophisticated footwear for my little ladies! I'm completely smitten with these. Classic. Red. Love!

And these... Sassy and cute!

And these are the beauties that I am coveting right now. Husband are you reading this?!!!

They also had a few pairs of boots that I wouldn't mind slipping my feet into either, but I'm trying to control myself...for now. Fall is already at my doorstep, so I just might need a new pair to keep my feet warm.

Natural Beauty

Probably my most favorite thing to do as a hairdresser is style teenage girls for special events. They are always so giddy and fun to work with. This gorgeous girl came over last week to get her hair done before her senior pictures. Talk about a natural beauty, she isn't wearing any makeup!

 

Gorgeous face and gorgeous hair!

And this one I snagged off her photographer's Facebook page. If you live in the Provo Utah area you should check her out. Her parents are in our ward at church so she comes to town every once in a while. I will have to plan our next family pictures around one of her visits.

Twisted or Braided in Headband

Back to school means a lot more hair doing for this mom and today I thought I would share with you my trick for getting those cute headbands to stay in my girl's hair. This was actually supposed to be one video, but we had some technical difficulties and then Macy wanted to introduce her own hairstyle, so it's two instead. Oh well. Everyone is happy and that is all that matters.

 

Tell me, which style do you prefer? Twisted...

 

Or Braided

 

 

Beachy Hair Wave Spray and Burts Bees for Your Hair...

I'm pretty much a hair product junky. I try and justify it by saying I need several different products for all my clients, but really I just like to try new stuff all the time. And some of the bottles are just so pretty! These are two of my latest favorites and neither of them came from the beauty supply store, which means you guys could easily run out and get them for yourselves, which you should!

 

Type 2 Tuesday {What I Wore}

What's a Type 2? Find out here!

Watch out people, I'm getting crazy today...Straight Hair and Ripped Jeans! A piercing might be next... Kidding of course. That would never happen! I'm terrified of needles.

I really don't ever straighten my hair, but I was kind of feeling it today so I went for it. I loved it all morning, but now I'm over it. Back to curly tomorrow for sure.

What I am for sure in love with right now are loose blousy tops. They are so comfortable and feminine. This one is Robin K. I grabbed it at a second hand store not too long ago so I'm not exactly sure where you would find it, but I think that brand is available at TJ MAXX.

And once again Samm was my awesome photographer and this was her suggestion for my pose. Love that girl! Not sure what I'm going to do when she goes back to school

Make your own bracelets

I Love bracelets! I love wearing them, I love stacking them, and I really love making them! Do you have any idea how easy it is to make your own bracelets? So easy! Let me show you a few that I made recently and how they are the perfect way to add that extra sparkle to any outfit.

These shell bracelets are probably my favorite bracelets ever. All I did was buy two strands of beads (I got mine at JoAnn's, but any major crafting store would carry something similar) and some stretchy cord like these (also found at any major crafting store) String the beads, tie a knot and done!

This bracelet was even easier if you can believe that, but also one of my favorites, because not only does it make a statement, but you can change up the ribbon for any outfit. All you need is some large chain, also in the jewelry section at JoAnn's and ribbon of your choice. Measure a cut the desired amount of chain and then tie the ends together with ribbon. Just make sure you melt the ends of your ribbon with a lighter so it doesn't fray. And make sure you have someone to help you tie the bow. I haven't yet figured out how to do it on my own.

 

 

My awesome photographer for all these photos! She was hysterical telling me how to pose and where to stand.

 

 

Linked up here and here



Top 5 Beauty Secret Weapons

You guys, I seriously got eaten alive by mosquitos when I shot this video, but I'm so glad I was able to get it done. These five products make a huge difference in my daily and weekly beauty routine as a busy mom and I hope at least one of these products can help you out as well! Enjoy!

DIY Hair Mask

Healthy shiny hair doesn't have to cost a ton of money. There are so many great all natural ingredients out there and you probably have most of them already in your kitchen. Next time your hair is feeling dry or damaged try out one of these hair mask recipes! 

Avocado Mask (Looks and smells horrible, but works great!)
1 very ripe avocado
2 tsp of honey
1 Tbs olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth and apply to slightly damp hair. Leave on for 30 min and shampoo as usual. (This might be a good time for lather, rinse, and repeat)

Banana Mask
1 very ripe banana
1 egg
2 tsp honey
2 Tbs coconut oil
2-3 drops orange oil- optional
Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth and apply to slightly damp hair. Leave in for 30 minutes and shampoo as usual. (I would again recommend shampooing twice as you don't want food particles drying in your hair)

 Those are two of my favorite recipes, but you could also whip up a few eggs as a straight protein treatment. You could soften a chunk of coconut oil and apply that directly to your hair for moisture or add just the honey for shine.

Lace Belt Tutorial

 

Are you ready to make the easiest belt ever? Here is what you will need. A buckle. I found mine at JoAnn's right next to the elastic. Wide elastic to fit the size of your buckle. Mine was 2 inches. Fabric of your choice and lace.

 

One small note about the lace. You will notice that most lace has one straight edge and one scalloped edge. You don't want that. Look for some that has either two scalloped edges like mine, or two straight edges. That way your belt won't ever be upside down.

 

I didn't want white lace so after I got home I took out a few boxes of Rit dye I had laying around and...

15 minutes later I had some pretty charcoal grey lace. Except where the stitching was, it was more off white, but I actually liked having the dimension to it.

These are the lengths and amounts of fabric that I used for my belt, so of course you will have to adjust for your measurements, but it won't be hard. For the elastic I just measured it around my waist, added a tiny more for looping through the buckle and cut. My fabric was 6 inches wide ( I meant to cut it 7 inches wide though so I ended up just having to use a smaller seam allowance) and 8 inches longer than my elastic. If you want it bunchier than mine just add a few more inches. And you may have to sew two strips together if the standard 45 inch fabric isn't long enough, but that is totally fine. My lace was already somewhat gathered so I cut it only 4 inches longer than my elastic.

First step is to fold the fabric in half with right sides together and stitch along the raw edge. I also did a zig zag stitch to finish it off.

Turn the fabric right side out and then press so the seam is in the middle.

Attach a safety pin to your elastic and feed through the tube, just make sure the other end doesn't go up inside the fabric and get lost.

When you get to the end, center the elastic inside the tube and pin. Repeat on the other end. (Actually, what I should have done here just to have a more finished look is to tuck the raw edges in 1/4 of an inch, but I didn't. I won't dwell on that though.

Now stich across both ends and finish with a zig zag stitch.

When you are done, it should be nice and scrunchy looking, like this...

Now lay your lace fabric on top of the side without the seam and sew across each end.

You should have something that looks like this

Now pull your elastic taut and pin in the center. It would be very helpful to have an extra set of hands at this point, but if you don't then just do what I did and use your knees! Now hold it in the center and pull one end taut and place another pin in the center of that section. Repeat on the other end. You should have 3 evenly spaced pins. This will make sure you lace gets evenly distributed.

Now, starting at one end, somewhere to the right of the center, sew a few stitches and a couple back stitches and then pull out from your first pin until the lace is all the way stretched out and sew down the elastic. When you get to the first pin, pull tight from the next pin and sew down, repeating until you get to the end. Then go back to the beginning and do the same thing all the way down the left side. The lace will lay down better if there are two sets of stitches instead of just one down the center.

Once the lace has been sewn on, just loop your ends through the buckle, pulling them until it fits snug around your waist and then hand stitch the ends to the back side of the belt. I also pressed my finished belt with a warm iron when I was done because my lace was popping out just a little more than I wanted.

 

And your done! Can you believe how easy that was?

 

Easy French Pedicure

This was a guest post I did over at Bloom on how to do an incredibly easy French pedicure (also works for manicures) Video tutorial coming soon...

Basic Hair Rope

For me, this hair style is as basic as a braid. And I'm pretty sure my mom taught me how to do it right after she taught me how to braid. I kind of assumed that everyone knew how to do a rope, until last week when I was talking to a friend. I had done my daughter's hair for church in THIS cute Valentines day hair style and she was telling me how she thought twisted hair was really cute, but it always came untwisted. So, I shared with her this quick little trick and it got me thinking. Remember when you were in school and the teachers would say "if you have a question, then most likely someone else has the same question." Well, even though a lot of you may already know how to do a rope, there are probably others like my friend who have never seen it done, so I'm going to give you the very basic how to...

I started this morning with a simple hair wrapped pony tail. The best idea ever, for doing a wrapped pony tail is also HERE.


Next, divide the hair into two sections and twist them both in the same direction. I always twist mine to the right.



After that, twist your two sections together in the opposite direction. Sorry about the blurry picture. That's what you get when your photographer is a six year old using a camera phone!



Tie it off at the end and your done. Basic and simple, but can be used in so many ways. I've actually tried doing a french rope before and it can be done, but it's pretty tricky. If I can ever get the technique simplified I'll post a video of it.

How I Got Rid of The Red Bumps on My Arms

Across The Back Tucked Under fFrench Braid {no bobbi pins needed}

And here is what my daughter's looked like before she ran around all day!