I Love Autumn

Fashion-wise Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I love layering and wearing jackets and boots and thick wool tights!

I also love the feel of the crisp cool air and the crunch of the leaves under foot. I love the way the air smells of decaying leaves and ripe apples. Autumn feels magical but it also fills me with sadness... because where I live, Autumn seems to only last 3 weeks! It goes from being 80 degrees to 50 in 3 days then 3 weeks later it's 14 inches of snow that lasts until April.

Meh... I love it any way. The colors, the air, the fashion, Halloween (but of course), apple pie, I could go on and on but I won't bore you any further.

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Moroccan Sleek Oil Treatment Review

Could that product name be any longer?

This is an argan oil treatment but it also contains apricot oil and carrot oil (and a bunch of other ingredients that are not oil). It comes in a 3.75 fl oz bottle, which is perfect for storing in my purse and half of why I bought it. I need something to tame frizzies on the go because my hair hates me! LOL not really, but my scalp refuses to produce any oil of its own (probably because my forehead has enough to join OPEC) so my hair is very dry.

This product claims to be instantly absorbed and that it will condition with out leaving your hair oily. I agree with those claims, this stuff is absorbed FAST- I have to move quickly to keep my hands from soaking it all up. It also doesn't make my hair feel greasy, just smooth and shiny.

I must note however, this product has enough fragrance to down a horse and kinda smells like "old lady". The scent does fade but not as fast as I'd like it to.

My Favorite Nude Lipstick

Maybelline Colorsensational in 815 Tenacious Taupe

 It's a warm nude that's not as pink as L'oreal Sultry Raven's Pout but much warmer and a bit darker than MAC Myth and MAC Creme d'Nude.

The finish is satin, but not like MAC Myth (which in my opinion is more of a matte). This is a true satin finish.

It wears well even through eating and drinking. It's a tad drying but not obnoxiously so like MAC Myth.

One thing I do not like is the ugly packaging. The Colorsensational line comes in cheap looking square transparent plastic cases. The lid goes down the majority of the length of the tube leaving this odd square base. They are very lightweight and just feel cheap and fragile in my hand.

Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream Review

Finally, it's here...

Real Hair- Black Berry Juice

From about the age of 12 I wanted to dye my hair blue but my parents would never allow it. Then, around the age of 16 I wanted pink hair, but again, wasn't to be until I could move out. At 17 I enlisted in the Air Force so even though I was now out of my parent's house Uncle Sam wouldn't allow me to dye it any unnatural colors. Since then my hair has been various shades of dark red and brown and black. BORING.

Cut to last year when my enlistment ends and I'm finally free to dye my hair- or not. My other job won't allow it either! Now in addition to not being able to dye my hair anything fun I have developed an allergy to PPD. I thought I was going to be stuck with my dull brown-black hair for life.

Recently I was struck with an idea- what if the unnatural color was so dark that nobody would notice enough to say anything at work... With pink and blue out I decided to attempt a color I once tried to get from a box dye and failed (it turned candy apple red): black berry juice, purple-black!

But wait--- how was I going to get black in my hair with out PPD!? CRAP! Cue sad face. I began a search for a PPD free black that lead me down a few dead ends, everything just made my hair several shades short of black. I wasn't going to attempt henna and indigo either as a renter in a stark white apartment. Like a moron I forgot about what I knew all along- Manic Panic makes a black dye that's PPD free! 

Here's how I achieved my purple-black hair:
I started with my "virgin" abused but unbleached dry hair and applied a nice thick coat of Manic Panic Raven. I left it on for 30 minutes and then rinsed. I did not used heat or a plastic cap because I did not want my hair to become jet black.

Once my hair had dried I was please to see it was the soft black I was aiming for. *insert success meme here*

The next day I applied a nice thick coat of Manic Panic Ultra Violet, the blue based purple. I originally wanted Special Effects Deep Purple but I just grabbed Ultra Violet when I got Raven.  Any way, I left Ultra Violet on for 2 hours. I was going to apply heat but decided not to since my hair is damaged and I'm trying to avoid heat. My hair did came out the color I wanted with out using heat.

One thing I love about Manic Panic (and similar veggie dyes) is how conditioning it is. Unlike dyes that need to penetrate into the hair and thus rough up the cuticle veggie dyes are basically tints and sit on the outside of the hair. This type of dye is non damaging and really makes my hair feel soft due to the extra conditioning ingredients. One more thing I love is my hair is STRAIGHT again and I didn't need to use a flat iron. Not sure if this effect will last since the "hair gets wavy in your mid 20s" gene runs in my mom's side of the family.

My hair is just purple enough to not be boring black and hopefully not so purple that I'll get in trouble at work.

Tape Manicure Tips

Regular ol' scotch tape (and some other types of tape) can be used to create designs with nail polish. You can do simple things like this little triangle or french tips or you can cut out more complex designs.

1. Don't stick the tape to matte polish! The tape will cling to the matte texture and tear the polish off.

2. Make sure the tape edge is pushed down completely. I find satin finish scotch tape makes it really easy to see when the edge is smooth.

3. Let the polish dry completely before removing the tape.

4. Don't fold the tape down around your fingers, it will make it harder to remove. Also not pressing the tape down on the nail except at the edge you will be painting over makes removal much easier.

5. Unless you are doing a contrast between finishes apply a good top coat over the design to make it last longer.

6. Last but not least make sure the polish is completely dry before putting tape on it.

Inspiration!
Chloe's Nails
Lacquered Love
Sugar Nails
The Nail Polish Project

NOTD- Matte is Muder, Glitter is Glam