ANOTHER ATTEMPTED OMBRE

I've been meaning to throw a toner on my hair for a while now... The last time I had it colored was when I went home for a weekend in March. March! That was four months ago. I cannot remember the last time I made it a month without coloring my hair, so this is sort of a big deal.

Fun posts to read before you settle in for this adventure.. if you don't understand my hair coloring problem fascination:

• A STUDENT STYLIST + A LONG MORNING = AN EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTED ME
• PART TWO of my HAIR SAGA
• THE HAIR FIASCO of JUNE 2011
• THE BLONDE IS BACK
• GOING FOR IT: OMBRE HAIR. AGAIN

Back to the adventure at hand..

I was recently introduced to the color wizardy of Johnny Ramirez. After perusing his blog, I found his youtube channel, and this video in particular made me oo and ahh. Ever since, I've been itching to try his technique.

THIS VIDEO from Clairol is great too... I used a lot of their techniques as well.


But I have also been SO GOOD at not screwing up my hair. And I've been SO PROUD of myself for letting it grow out and figuring out what my natural hair color even is.

Well, you know where this is going. I caved. After touching up Lauren's hair last weekend, and then highlighting Hollie's hair last Tuesday.. I was feeling the makeover vibe and picked up a few essentials on my way home from work last Friday. And I'm pretty pleased with myself. And I took photos! Who doesn't love a good before and after? You're welcome.

DIY : HOW TO OMBRE YOUR OWN HAIR

...or at least how I did it

01. All over color
This step isn't necessary IF you're happy and satisfied with the color of your roots. I had a distinct line where my 4 month old highlights were growing out, and needed to either blend them in, or make the ombre start a lot closer to the roots. My preference would have been to not do this step. But, since that wasn't the look I was going for, and now that my hair is growing out I remember how mousy it is/why I colored it in the first place, I chose to do an all over semi-permanent color (7A) before putting in the highlights.

(note: I didn't buy enough dye for this step, apparently my hair soaks it up, and had to send the spaniard out to the beauty supply store mid process to pick up some more.. TIP: always have twice as much as you think you need! also. it might look like you're dying your hair AUBURN. don't freak out. the red washes out. I still don't understand why.)

02. Highlight
This was the fun/new/terrifying part of the process. The next morning, I tried to follow a combination of the two methods shown in the above videos. I broke my hair up into segments, teased the roots, and applied highlighting powder (mixed with 10 vol. developer on the top, and 20 vol. towards the ends, thank you Clairol) starting around 3 to 4 inches from my scalp. This whole process was the most tedious, but it didn't take as long as a full weave would have. After letting everything sit for another 15-20 minutes, I rinsed it all out and applied a toner.

03. Tone
Again, you probably could have gone with or without this step.. but I chose to use a toner (Wella T11 Lightest Beige Blonde) to soften and blend the roots and lifted areas of my hair together. I applied it to my hair when it was still wet, starting at the tips and then working my way up to the roots, letting it process in total for no more than 15 minutes. 
And that's it. It's a little more extreme than I was expecting it to be, and sometimes I can hardly tell at the same time, but it's fun. And, it was a great learning experience. Who's next?!

GOING NATURAL | ACTIVATED CHARCOAL

Arguably, these are the worst photos that I have ever posted of myself on the internet. But, they also make me smile, a lot, and hey, this is real life.

Last week, I read Crunchy Betty's post: Dazzle! Whiten Your Teeth With Activated Charcoal and was inspired to try it out for myself. And after reading up on the adsorption properties of activated charcoal, I spent a little time researching how it can be used in other applications, most specifically as a facemask. I found a few different tutorials and recipes, and sort of combined them all together to make the one you see me modeling above. It was interesting, I guess. I was half terrified that I was staining my face black, while the other half was equally optimistic and curious. Honestly, I don't know if it even did anything, but perhaps these things take time.

The photos below are of us testing out Crunchy Betty's whitening method.. we laughed so much, and I spit the charcoal mixture out of my mouth a few times. Unfortunately, there wasn't any noticeable whitening of our teeth. Granted, neither of us has especially stained teeth either, and the process may require a few repeat applications to see results. 

The good news is that it doesn't taste bad, or stain. It's more like holding a grainy, sandy mixture in your mouth, which is strange also, but nothing off-putting. And it will make you laugh. Good bonding activity, right there.

And I'm sure we'll I'll try a few more times before giving up on the idea completely.. Someone also mentioned they use activated charcoal as a gel eyeliner.. using a wet brush dipped in the capsule. I don't know how I feel about having it so close to my eyes, but maybe it's worth looking into? The possibilities are endless...

// P.S. Just this morning, I was perusing my reader and saw that Crunchy Betty is back with ways to use this magic powder "for bug bites and other itchy situations". It's pretty messy though, if you ask me.

DON'T WASTE TIME, CREATE MORE.

quote from Promise Tangeman, lettering by Lindsay Letters

Convicting. And totally on point. I couldn't have come across this print at a better time.. After opening my society6 shop on Tuesday, and seeing/hearing so much positive feedback from so many of my friends and family, well, I'm overwhelmed, and encouraged, and excited to really dive back in and see what I can make of this.

I don't make any promises, yet. I can't. It really has been awhile since I've sat down with a brush. But, I'm feeling really inspired, and I'm not as afraid of the end result anymore. Instead of just "producing" great pieces of work, I realize now that it's a process of uncovering and discovering them as I go, as I create, as I mess up.

So.. small goal: sit down and pull out my supplies once a week, probably over the weekends, and just make. Just draw. Just paint.

And if anything good ever comes of it.. I'll share it here. And maybe even let you put it on your iphone. xo

SOCIETY6

I was introduced to Society6 from Moorea Seal yesterday.. and I'm smitten. I went a little crazy. It's a pretty amazing system for artists. After perusing the site a bit and learning how it all works, I went through my external hard drive and found a bunch of prints and paintings from college, and put up what I could find. It's sort of an eclectic mix at the moment, but I am so excited to see what I can make of this.

What is so amazing is that it takes all of the business management and the grunt work out of the whole equation. All I have to do is create and supply the artwork, and they do the rest, and they do it well. It is so fun to see your artwork on iphone cases... I mean, c'mon.

It's been a strange struggle. Well, struggle isn't the right word. Lull, perhaps.. in creating art. Looking back at these images, they are all a few years old and they take me right back to my time in college. I never did anything with them then. But I can now, I guess :)

It's rejuvenating. And fun. And motivating. And I have a really good feeling about this.

More coming. Lots more coming.

See the "shop" HERE.

// P.S. It hasn't even been 24 hours since I "opened the store" and I've already sold three cases.. THANK YOU! and keep up the good work ;)

EXPLORING OC | THE FAIR

We took our second annual trip to the OC Fair last week.. Click through to see the photos from last year's trip.

Wednesday night after dinner, we took a walk over to see what we could see and get our fill. We managed to show up just in time for the hypnotist show, break for funnel cakes before sitting in to watch the chinese acrobatic show (it's unreal what those kids can do).. and then we walked around for a bit, drank lemonade and tried a "cheese on a stick" for the first time. American cheese, dipped in batter and deep fried like a corndog. It was a melty gooey delicious mess. Though, James swears it tastes like plastic, and the only reason we like it is because we were raised that way, and it tastes like childhood. Maybe, I suppose.



The hypnotist was really pretty amazing though. I don't know what I think about it all.. or how it works. But the way he described it to us, is that really you're just in a very deep state of relaxation, and it's not that you are coerced or that you don't remember what is going on.. but, in that state, you just don't care. It was a lot of fun.



This year, we were "neighbors" of the fair, and were able to get up to twenty tickets for just a dollar each. We bought all twenty, and gifted several to friends and family.. but, we still have a few left. I anticipate at least one more night at the fairgrounds, maybe two, before they pack it all up and peace and quiet and available street parking returns to our little neighborhood.

OUR FUTURE:

He will probably kill me when/if he finds out that I shared this little gem with the internet. But, I think it's pretty great. The other day, I came home from work to find out that he'd drawn out a picture of "our future" on the white board in our kitchen.

It reads... OUR FUTURE: our home, children, nature, electric car, close to the city, community, art, dance, fun, parks (with waterfalls)

Can you see it? The "city" on the far left, right next to our "electric car" beside "our home" (complete with solar panels on the roof!) And the front walk apparently leads you straight into a tree filled park, at the base of a waterfall.

Above that, is the man himself, our someday curly haired daughter and our eventual son in a baseball cap, and me (with long hair, apparently, dancing with my family and reaching out for the easel on the other side of me, to paint). To the far right, is our community of friends and family, and it appears that one (or all?) of them are singing.

So. I mean, that's a pretty great life, right?
I'm looking forward to it :)

OUR WEDDING | THE RECEPTION

all photos are courtesy of Layne Haley Photography

Ohh I don't even know where to begin with our reception. I love it all. I'm so thankful for everyone who contributed, who kept things going, who offered their time to make sure everything went off without a hitch. For all of the surprises! They just kept rolling in.. 

First, I didn't think we'd even have a first dance, because we didn't have a dance floor. But my cousin made it happen. We danced to Lucky, by Marc Broussard. LISTEN HERE. P.s. Never was I so happy to have decided to wear leggings under my dress at the last minute than I was at that moment.. Always better to be prepared :)

And then the toasts? They were wonderful. And also, unexpected.. especially my father's. At the end, he surprised me with a father daughter dance.

If you knew my dad, you'd know that he doesn't dance. That he won't dance. That he is not a dancer. That he doesn't enjoy dancing. That a father daughter dance was entirely, absolutely, positively out of the question, and never something that I ever considered having.

But my dad is a special man. And he knows that I love to dance. So, he spend the three months before the wedding, learning how to west coast swing (our partner dance of choice) from my sister. They kept it a secret (ps. wcs is not an easy dance to just "pick up") and practiced and practiced.. and he made his dancing debut in front of all of our friends and family, because he wanted his daughter to have that moment. We danced to Father and Daughter, by Paul Simon. LISTEN HERE.

I cried about it for a few days, really. Anytime I sat and thought about the magnitude of the gift he gave me that day. It still brings tears to my eyes. Thank you, Dad.

And then the Divine girls... they just couldn't let me off the hook. They snuck out to the front of the house to rehearse and then put me on the spot and I had to sing. Luckily, I love them. Luckily, singing is not a huge fear of mine. Luckily, it ended up being a huge success. 

Thank you thank you. Again. To everyone. 

// ps.. all the photos are up on facebook HERE...
// visit Layne Haley Photography on fb or peak through her blog and leave her some love. She deserves it!