Treat Yo' Self! :: Pedicures

This is the only time I will ever, ever, ever say the following words: Tom Haverford knows what a girl needs.

And not just girl, generic, female person. MOMMIES. Especially mommies who get touched with grubby fingers and kissed with slimey mouths and wiped upon with what was that? In case you aren't following, that's EVERY MOMMY.

We need to Treat Ou' Selves. Yo' Self. Um...

We need to take a few minutes to climb out of the sticky, snotty puddle that we sometimes find ourselves in and do what makes us remember that we are beautiful human people and not tissues. So let's start TREATIN'!

We're starting with our feet, quite possibly one of the most overlooked parts of our body. Feet are kind of weird and they get shoved in shoes and they get sweaty and smelly and not a whole lot of love in general. Our feet have a tough, often thankless job (kind of like being a mom?) so today we're going to spend a little time appreciating them!

The best way is with regular pedicures!

SAVE - Standard Pedicure

You can get a standard pedicure at any local nail salon (and at beauty schools, too, if you want to be extra thrifty!). The traditionally include a nice soak, scrub, massage, toenail trim, and a coat of paint. They are relaxing and you leave with soft, lovely feet.
Expect to pay: $12 or more + tip

SPLURGE - Spa Pedicure

If you're feeling wealthy (or want to give a great gift!) go get a pedicure at a fancy spa in your city. Spa pedicures include everything that a standard one does plus a few extras! Depending on the spa, there may be hot rocks, paraffin dips or mud masks. Some places even serve a splash of wine or provide other tasty delights for you to enjoy.

Expect to pay: $30 or more + tip

DIY - Home Pedicure

But, if you don't believe in paying for anything you can do at home yourself... Try getting together with a few girl friends and giving each other pedicures! 

What you will need:

• A tub large enough for both feet, a bathtub, or you can invest in a special tub with jets and a massager.
• Essential oil 
• Sugar scrub (Olive oil and a bit of sugar is an exellent and easy option!)
• Nail brush
• Pumice stone
• Toenail clippers
• Cuticle pusher
• Nail file
• Moisturizer (Shea Butter and Whipped Coconut Oil are both great options!)
• Polish remover/cotton balls
• Nail polish

What you do:

1. Fill the tub with nice steamy water! Adda few drops of essential oil.
2. Let your feet soak for 5-10 minutes, you want them soft but not too pruney. 
3. Use the nail brush and sugar scrub all over those piggies! 
4. Use the pumice stone, focusing on the heels and balls of the feet where callouses are likely to form.
5. Clip those toenails, file them, and push back those cuticles!
6. Massage and moisturize your feet and legs with a healthy helping of your favorite lotion, foot cream, or oil. 
7. And to finish everything off, wipe those toe nails with a dab of polish remover to prep the toenail for polish, otherwise they may be a little filmy from the lotion, and then give them two thin coats of a fun end-of-summer color! 

I promise that if you can endure the bottom-of-the-foot scrubbing, you will feel wonderful afterward. Just remember these two last words of wisdom: Wear open-toed shoes to your appointment, and choose a color you're going to like wearing for a couple of weeks because polish on toes doesn't show wear as quickly as on your fingernails.

Now go Treat Yo' Self!

Do you have any tips for the perfect pedicure? 

Yea and Nay :: July

The first in what I hope with be a regular end-of-the-month (yes I realize I'm late) feature highlighting my a favorite and least favorite product of the month. I think personal recommendations are so helpful when it comes to beauty products so this is my little attempt.

Yea! :: Maybelline Eye Studio Color Tattoo 24 HR Cream Gel Shadow

I. Love. This. Eyeshadow.
I kind of got this by accident. David needed to round out an online order for free shipping and he offered to let me pick out a little something to add. When I sent him a note asking if this eyeshadow qualified he went ahead and ordered it. I would have probably spent another hour trying to decide what color to get, but the link I had sent him was for Pomegranate Punk 30, so that's what I got!
And it is the best oops I've encountered thus far.
The color is rich and vibrant, even on someone with medium tan skin like myself. The application is effortless and it truly is long lasting. It's not heavy or greasy. It looks great by itself for a quick splash of color or layered with other shadows for a more dramatic effect. After about twelve hours of wear I did have some creasing and it was just looking a tad worn but I wore it without primer and my eyelids are super crease prone.
I am so excited about this shadow that I want one in every color. Even the blues! Which I never wear!
$6.99 at Ulta

Nay. :: Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat

I picked this top coat up because I was in desperate need and it was on sale. I typically like to use the fast dry top coats, but was feeling extra frugal that day.
Siiiiiiiigh.
I wish I had spent the extra couple of dollars for a top coat that works.
Everything about this top coat seems great until you actually have to start using your hands and realize that it's No Chip promise falls short.
It's just not very good and I even feel like my polish is MORE chip-prone when I use this product. :(
$4.99 at Ulta

What products have you loved (and not loved) this month?

A hairy confession.

I miss shampoo and conditioner.

I was happy with this no-poo adventure until I colored my hair a month or so ago and was required to use a packet of sealing conditioner. It felt like silken heaven on my hair.

Since that day, my hair has felt waxy at the roots and straw-like at the ends. I've tried changing my recipe, brushing more to distribute the oil, even some leave-in oils on the ends....And it has yet to feel as nice as it did for the months leading up to my coloring.

Now I am seriously considering switching to some kind of crunchy shampoo (because I still don't want harmful chemicals in my hair), or even just a cleansing conditioner.

I don't know if coloring was my downfall, or if my hair's chemistry has just changed a bit with the summer weather we've been having, but I do know that I don't like the way my hair feels anymore. Thankfully, it doesn't look as unfortunate as it feels.

And some days I would just love to actually be able to run my hands through my hair in the shower, which I cannot do without painful pulling and that nasty feeling of oil in water.

So. I'm trying to decide if it's worth it for me to keep trying. David still likes it, and I'm so glad for him, but I miss having soft hair.

A little project.

Sometimes I make hand stamped jewelry as gifts. I'm no master by any stretch of the imagination, and until recently I've stuck to really simple initial jewelry, but it's a fun little crafty thing that I enjoy.

A couple of weeks ago a friend and lovely gal from my church recruited me to make a necklace for her mom for Mother's Day. I was thrilled, knowing her mom to be a really wonderful and fun lady. Plus, it was a lot of fun to get to do my best to make someone else's vision come to life.

Here's a quick shot of took of the finished product!

I think it turned out really nice and was so happy to hear that mom and daughter both liked it as well!

Three months free!

I started my "No 'Poo" journey at the beginning of February...and I will never go back.

I love not using shampoo. Love love love it.

My hair is soft and clean and healthy and free of frizz. And it's the most wonderful thing I've ever done. Here is a quick picture of my hair after a shower and partial blow dry because I'm lazy and my hair takes forever to dry (which is why the under part is flipping out like crazy).

A picture doesn't really do it justice so you're just going to have to trust me that it looks and feels great. Even better, so does David's! We lucked out and are able to use the same recipe for our "shampoo" and "conditioner" mixtures. 

Speaking of which...

I mentioned in my original post that the recipe is as follows:

1 TBSP Baking Soda to every CUP of water for the Shampoo

and

1/4 CUP Apple Cider Vinegar to every CUP of water for the Conditioner

That just didn't work well for me, so I did some tweaking! This is the recipe that works the best for my hair, using my "shampooing" method. 

Shampoo:

1-1/2 TBSP Baking Soda

1 CUP Water

1 tsp Tea Tree Oil 

Conditioner:

1/3 CUP Apple Cider Vinegar

1 CUP Water

This recipe works best for my thick, dense, drier-side-of-normal hair.  I also learned a few tricks that work best for me and my hair. 

• Invest in a good boar's hair brush and be sure to use it daily. It makes all the difference in my hair. If you have wavy/curly hair, however, I would only use it only right before your shower otherwise you're going to just get poof and no one wants that. 
• I don't use the Baking Soda mixture over my whole head, only at a few key locations: hair line, part, crown, nape. I rub it in until it feels slippery and then rinse well. 
• For the ACV rinse I first pour it on my ends, cupping them in my hands, then squirt some all over my hair, comb through and let it sit. I know a lot of people say only use it on your ends or use it very sparingly...but I found that it left my hair feeling waxy if I didn't use some over the length.
• I do not use very much of either mixture... I've never measured exactly how much I use, but David and I share two squirt bottles filled with approximately 2 cups of each mixture and it lasts us 1-2 weeks depending on our oily we get those days.
• I also use it cold...which I know some people hate, but it helps me to know where I have poured the mixtures. And it's not like it's icy cold. 

So...this has been a really great experiment so far. 

I have only two warnings for anyone wanting to try it. ONE...You are probably going to have to go through an adjustment period of tweaking and being generally more oily than you prefer; if you keep up with it and find your perfect recipe then you will likely move past that awkward stage. TWO...not for babies or some toddlers; both mixtures hurt when they get in your eyes, so I really wouldn't use it until your child is old enough to keep their eyes shut for a bit, and to properly tilt their head backward. (At this rate, S.G. is never going to get to use anything but all natural baby shampoos...that child does hate bath time...)

I started this all just to get away from unnecessary chemicals, but I've decided that it was worth it alone for the cost saved and how great my hair has been since I found my perfect recipe.

Getting there.

Someday I really hope I have content on a more than only highly sporadic basis. It's not that I don't have the ideas or time...it's that I haven't had the health.

See, my Grave's Disease did not go into remission as hoped and I wasted four months suffering through severe depression, overwhelming fatigue, and violent mood swings before I realized that my symptoms had returned. My experience this time around was much more mental and emotional than the physical signs that tipped doctors off when I was first diagnosed and it quite took me by surprise.

But I am on medication now and looking into alternative options that I hope will help my body settle into a full and final remission sometime over the next 18 months. Prayers are always appreciated and many thanks to those who I know are already asking for healing on my behalf.