Ion Color Brilliance Liquid Hair Make Up

Hey y'all!

I'm so excited to share this video because this is a product I really like and works as advertised. One of my favorite YouTuber's, Naptural85, did a first impressions video on this product and I knew immediately that I had to find it. This is perfect if you want to have fun with some color but don't want the commitment or risk the damage. Hope you enjoy my first impressions and how I used this hair make up to style my twist out! Thanks for watching!

XOXO, 
Tasha

Little Girl Natural Hairstyle + 1st Impressions on NEW Eco Styler

Hola!

Today's video is a tutorial for that little naturalista in your life. You know that one who can't do her own hair, but always wants a say so in her hairstyle??? Yeah, her! Lol! Well she is sure to love this one. It is not only super cute, but it is super quick, which is plus for daughter and mommy! 
Thanks for watching!

XOXO, 
Tasha

Natural Hair Blow Out x Twist Out

Happy Monday Morning!

I'm back with another YouTube video! I'm slowly getting more comfortable in front of the camera and really learning to roll with the punches. I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times and this has definitely taught me that it's okay for mistakes and imperfections. While recording the dog will bark, the phone will ring and the kids will talk, cry and beg to be on camera and that's okay...IT'S LYFE!

Today is another twist out video but this time it was done on blown out hair. This is my favorite way to style my hair, but I don't do it often because I want to limit the use of heat as to not cause any unnecessary damage. But check out the video below and I hope you give it a try!!

P.S. Thanks for joining me on this journey and learning with me as I go. Thanks for your time and patience, I will only get better from here :)!

Products Used:
Shampoo- L'Oréal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil Curls Nourishing Shampoo
Conditioner- L'Oréal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil Curls Nourishing Conditioner
Leave-in Conditioner- Curls Blueberry Bliss Reparative Leave In Conditioner
Oil- DIY mixutre
Shea butter mix- DIY mixture with raw shea butter (shea butter purchased here)
Styler- Obia Naturals Curl Enhancing Custard
Brush- Tangle Wrangler
Blow Dryer- Infiniti Pro by Conair

Laters!

DIY Fall Trend: Jeweled Collar Shirt

I'm coming at ya with another easy DIY project that happens to be big in fashion this Fall! I'm not an expert fashionista but I like to stay on trend while putting my own touch on things also. I ran across this picture a few days ago of Tamara, 1/2 of my favorite 90's show Sister Sister! 

Other than the fact that she is beautiful in this picture, her jeweled collar shirt caught my eye. I absolutely love it!!!

So of course I figured I could make this myself with things I already have at home. I searched my closet for a collar shirt and found this white one. 

Of course you can use whatever color you like but I used white so I could pair it with lots of other colors. And if you don't have a collar shirt you can always hit up your local thrift store, I always find a ton in there :). I used a relaxed fit cotton polo shirt to have a more laid back look but if you have a button down collar shirt that you want to use that's fine as well. 

I already had studs and rhinestones at home from a previous project so I pulled those out and started playing with different designs. But if you don't have any, head to your local craft store and check the clearance section first! But here is the design I came up with...

And here is the final product!

I cut the sleeves off of my shirt simply so it wouldn't be so much bulk under other shirts. I tried it on with sweaters, a blazer and just a plain cotton shirt and it added a little jazz to each item!

Don't be afraid to mix with patterns along with solids!!

I really love how this turned out and it will inspire me to purchase more crew neck shirts and sweaters. But what I'm most excited about is this cost me $0.00!! Sometimes it pays to hang on to things :). 

What do you think?

DIY: T-Shirt Headband

Hola!

Nope, no baby yet so here is another quick DIY project for ya!

I love a good headband, it just puts a little spice and fun in your outfit when you don't want to do too much but look really put together. I came across this picture on FaceBook...

and it came at the perfect time because I just got a stain on a t-shirt I couldn't get out so I had one to try for this project. 

I followed the picture and cut six strips from the shirt. I know it only needs five to complete but I wanted the extra to tie off the ends. 

I simply stretched the strips by pulling on them to make them thinner and longer.

I tied off one end to get started and followed the picture exactly as described. However, after I got to step 12 and it didn't tell me which step to start at to repeat the process I got a little confused.  So I found my own technique and kinda winged it!

With my technique I just kept alternating the strip in the middle. So in step 1 above I have my middle piece that I just brought over from the far right. Next in step 2, I took the strip from the far left and overlapped it with the two pieces next to it to now make it the "new" middle piece. Lastly, I took the far right piece and overlapped it with the two pieces next to it so this strip is now the middle piece. To finish the headband, I just kept repeating these steps until I got to the end and used the other half of the extra strip I cut to tie off the finished end.

Here is the final product and I like it. Now, because it's made out of a t-shirt it means that it's really stretchy and the braided look can get really distorted if you pull it too much. So I just pulled it slightly and used the extra strip I tied the ends off with to make a bow in the back. I did braid my hair in anticipation for labor and delivery (c'mon baby!!!) so these are the best pics I could get. I don't really like the look with my braids, but I know it would be perfect to wear with my natural hair in a puff or a twist out!  Give it a try, it literally took me about 10-15 mins from start to finish.

 

DIY Lipstick

Happy Monday! 

Here is another DIY project for ya! I have to admit, I did try this over the weekend and it was a complete FAIL for me. I'm not sure where I went wrong or if was even me, maybe it was the brand of face paint sticks I purchased. I got a six pack of face paint sticks from Joann's for only $3.99 and I also used a 30% off coupon for it so it was super cheap. I followed her steps but it just didn't come out the same, the color was not as dark as I wanted and it did not apply well. Since it was so cheap and I have some leftover, I will try it again and report back. But I will also try another craft store to see if they have a different brand that may work better. Also after searching this on YouTube, I found that some people even made lipstick out of crayons! I haven't tried this............YET, but my toddler breaks crayons all the time so I won't have a problem finding material lol! Let me know if this works out for you, it's a great cheap way to make some unique lip colors for summer!

DIY Wire Headband

I have seen these bendable wire headbands around for a while now and while I do like them, I have been on the fence about how they would look on me so I have never purchased one.  Buuuuuutttttt, now my favorite natural hair guru has made a DIY video! Yaaaayyy! Of course being the crafty person I am, I already have everything at home needed to make this so I will be trying it this week and will report back.  I think they are super cute for Spring and will be making a couple for my daughter as well! Give it a try!

I can't wait to try this!

Nail Fun! Spring is almost here!

I can feel Spring coming..........don't be shy.........show Winter who's boss! Lol! With that being said it's time to break out the bright colors, glitter and get funky with your nails. I absolutely love doing my nails and do them at least once a week. I do them myself mostly because I do have a lot of colors and tools to do them. And plus if I end up not liking them, it's nothing to take it off and start over! But if this task seems too much for you, just take the picture along with you to your favorite nail salon for them to recreate :). Hope these pics provide you with some inspiration!

Which is your favorite? Which will you try???? You know I will try one and I will share pics!

Easy Nail Art Tutorials!

Good Morning Beauties!

I'm bringing you two easy nail art tutorials from one of my favorite YouTube channels MissJenFABULOUS.  She releases a new video every month and each video has three easy nail art designs.  I have tried a number of her designs and they are fairly easy and come out great. The sun is shining and Spring is near...have some fun with your nails! Hope you enjoy and try at least one :).

Natural Hair: 3-Strand Twist Out & Shea Moisture Product Review

Well, let's jump right in and start with the product review!  I've been looking for a deep conditioner (DC) for a long time now, but I refuse to pay $20 for 4 ounces and I also refuse to pay $30 for a conditioner full of "bad" ingredients.  I say "bad" because as you know I do follow the Curly Girl method so I do not use silicones in my hair so it's difficult to find DC's on the ground in my area that are CG friendly.  I have tried my fair share of Shea Moisture products and I wanted to love them so bad because I can find their products easily at CVS, Walgreens, or Target.  However, my hair didn't feel the same and the only product I like from that line is the co-wash conditioner.  So, I heard that they came out with a new DC so I decided to give it a try and headed to my local Target to pick it up. 

SheaMoisture 's  Tahitian Noni & Monoi Smooth & Repair Nourishing Hair Masque provides deep conditioning and infuses hair with a powerful dose of moisture. SheaMoisture's hair conditioning treatment smooths the hair cuticle, controls frizz and maintains straight styles.

• Made with natural and certified organic ingredients.
• Tahitian Noni with antioxidant Vitamin C helps maintain hair health.
• Monoi Oil contains reparative benefits that revive dry, damaged hair.
• Keratin smoothes and reduces flyaways while moisturizing hair.

My hair was a dry mess because of this cold weather and being indoors the heat just takes a lot of moisture out of my hair.  So I shampooed with EDEN BodyWorks Peppermint Tea Tree shampoo and used this to DC for about 40 minutes under my heat cap.  Once I rinsed this conditioner out my hair felt very soft and moisturized and today it feels great!  The only thing I did not like about this conditioner is that the smell lingers after it has been rinsed.  Now, don't get me wrong it does not stink (sort of like a mix between and floral and tropical scent) but I just don't like to smell my hair all day.  Personal preference.  But I will probably only use this conditioner once a month since it does have protein in it.  But it gets a thumbs up from me!

Now on to my hair!  After washing last night I wanted to revisit the 3-strand twist out since I haven't done it in about a year.  I didn't record a tutorial but you can check here to see an easy tutorial and the video I used to help me.  I only did 3-strand twists in the top because it does take a little longer to do than regular two-strand twist and I was doing my hair kind of late so I didn't want it to take very long.  But here is what they look like.

As you can see, they decrease your shrinkage a little and hang a little bit longer than two-strand twists.

Here are my results this morning and I'm really pleased!  They gave me great definition in the top and this should last me until Sunday or Monday of next week.  Because you use three strands you also don't have to separate and fluff (I didn't separate my hair at all) as much as you would a two-strand twist out.  So I would recommend this if you hair is prone to frizz like my hair.  Let me know if you have any questions!

My Face Care Routine

Let me start by saying I do NOT have perfect skin and I have not met anyone that does.  I break out when I get stressed, drink too much sparkling water (love it!), and when my sweet tooth has lost all control.  I wouldn't say my skin is sensitive but it is very particular and extremely picky!  While I do have to rotate my products every few days, I try not to introduce too many new products to keep my skin in check.  Listed below are the products I use most of the time after removing my makeup, but not an all-inclusive list of the only things I use.

Cleanser
Every 2-3 days I use Biore' Pore Unclogging Scrub to get my face extra clean and decrease break outs.  I have tried numerous other products even some from this same line and nothing works as well as this does for my face.  Because it is a scrub, I do not use it every day as it is a bit too much on my skin to use daily. 

On the days that I do not use the Biore' scrub I use L'Oreal go 360 clean deep facial cleanser for sensitive skin.  I use to use the little scrub that comes with it, but I recently got a new little gadget that I will discuss below that I use to deep clean my face.  This cleanser is not a scrub, is very, very gentle on my face, and really removes the dirt.  I only clean my face once a day (at night) and I know some people may not agree with this but it works for me. In the morning I just use my washcloth with some warm water to get my face clean.

Exfoliating brush
While I would love a Clarisonic Mia, I just refuse to pay that much for a brush for my face.  We have Sonicare toothbrushes (same technology as the clarisonic) so I know it would  be awesome but I just can't! Lol!  So a few months ago I bought the Olay Cleansing brush from Ulta (on sale and with a coupon of course) and it's very similar to the Clarisonic minus the $100+ price tag and it had great reviews.  I try to use it every day (doesn't always happen) and I have to say that I have seen an improvement in my skin.  I don't buy the fancy cleanser from Olay, I just use my usual products with it and it works fine.  

However for Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me the new Mary Kay Skinvigorate Cleansing Brush which is similar to the Olay cleansing brush.  They both use 2 AA batteries, is waterproof, and have two speeds.  The 3 things that are different between the two brushes are: the price, the Mary Kay brush does come with two brush heads and the Olay only comes with one and the speeds on the Mary Kay brush are a tad bit stronger than the Olay. 

Toner
I don't buy the fancy, high-end toners, I just use regular 'ole witch hazel.  Now when I first started using this I
felt like it made my skin break out more.  So I quit using it for a while and just recently started back the past few months and things have been going well!  After I have used one of the above cleansers to clean my face I simply apply some of this to a cotton ball and rub it all over my face.  This helps to reduce redness, reduce and control oil, refreshes my skin, and locks in moisture.

Moisturizer
I have also tried my fair share of moisturizers and these generally don't vary at all.  I use Ambi Even and Clear as my daily moisturizer in the morning and I love this stuff!!  I like this moisturizer because it evens out the tone of my skin over time, it keeps my face moisturized, and it has SPF in it.  Although this bottle only has 3ozs in it and cost about $10, depending on where you buy it, a little goes a very long way.  The bottle I currently have I honesty can't even remember when I bought it, but it was well over 8 months ago, so I usually only have to buy this once, maybe twice a year.  But I have been using this same product for at least 5 years now.

After I have cleansed my skin at night I use a Coconut Palm Whipped Butter that I purchase from my friend's Etsy shop.  This is a very light butter and I only need to use a little bit for my face.  If you use too much it can get greasy, but using the right amount keeps my skin very moisturized until morning.  

My skin is combination so I have to be careful of the products that I use and I have found that my weird combo and application of products work well for me.  I have especially found that rotating my face cleansers throughout the week helps tremendously versus using the same product daily.  

 

More than table decor...

I'm all about remixing and revamping things, so I love when I can find another purpose for an item.  While searching Youtube videos on how to make your own clutch purse, I caught a video title out of the corner of my eye...DIY: Placemat clutch.  This intrigued me of course because it's a DIY project, but making a purse from a placemat, really????  So of course I had to watch and it was super easy.  But then again almost everything on Youtube looks super easy and then somehow it doesn't transform for me that way in real life.  But, I figured this was a cheap project so if it didn't work out, no love lost.  

So on my next trip to the thrift store I went straight to the home section and found a ton of placemats.  Although there was plenty to choose from, I had to be careful to get ones that were fairly sturdy so they would hold up as a clutch.  I picked up a few at $0.99 each just to try and I couldn't wait to get home!  Got home, ran upstairs and got my iron and heat-n-bond no sew tape (looooovvveee this stuff)!  I folded them how I wanted them to look and ran the iron over them just to set the shape to make it easier to work with.  Of course I couldn't just leave them as is, I searched around my house to see what I already had that I could use and found some scrap fabric and studs that I actually bought from Ebay for another project.  Needless to say, once the wheels started turning there was no stopping it  and my creative juices were overflowing!  Since I was having so much fun and I thought they were looking pretty damn good, I decided to give these out to the women in my life as Christmas gifts.  No, they aren't fancy but I thought they would like them and they are all unique :).  I wanted to get this post out before Christmas but didn't want to risk anyone seeing them, but these can be used as a gift for any occasion...Valentine's Day, birthday, mother's day or even a personalized gift for your bridal party.  I have attached pics below of some of the clutches I made (I made about 15 in total), it was really a fun project.  Please let me know if you try and how it comes out!

 

 

 

We bought our daughter a Doc Mcstuffins Leappad2 for Christmas so I decided to make her a case to carry the game, charger, extra stylus, and her headphones.  I couldn't find any Doc McStuffins fabric so I had to go with the next best which for her is Tinkerbell.  I made this one out of a yellow placemat, added a piece of fabric for a strap (you fancy huh??? lol), and bought some iron-on letters from Hobby Lobby to put her name on it!

** For easy and simple closures with these, I simply bought some circular magnets from Lowes that were pretty heavy duty and used my hot glue gun to attach.  And to secure the sides close I used my sewing machine to sew them together!