Towel Drying Tips

Q~Tip
A quick tip for you





When you get out of the shower don't rub your hair with the towel. This roughs
up the layers of the cuticle causing a weathered look and increasing your
chances for splint ends. Instead, blot or squeeze the water out with the towel to
keep the cuticle laying flat for shiny, truly healthy hair.

This vacuum really sucks!

Literally! My last vacuum was a $45 piece of plastic that did not really work past its second month of life. But, I pushed it for two years by dumping out its bagless canister every few minutes. Whenever my son used it it looked like he hadn't even vacuumed. Well, I will no longer have to deal with an un-sucking pile of junk because I bought me a Miele, the king of vacuums!




It is super light, super quiet, and super powerful! It is just plain super! It also came with a tile floor attachment and I was finally able to get up the clippings from my last haircut. No matter how much I swept and cleaned with the broom there was hair in the corners of my kitchen. But, not anymore!















The wand even collapases to half its length so little ones can help out. And help out they will ;) I've waited for this vacuum for over 3 years and I think it will make my house look beautiful!

TSD - Fantasy Before and After

Welcome to Elsa's Thursday Share-Day!

Check out the Guidelines before adding
your link and please don't forget to link back
to here in your post.

I know, I know. I'm a day late for TSD, but late is better then never, right? Right. ;)

Last week my friend Natasha Roos asked me to do the makeup for a photo shoot that she and her friend, Emily, were doing. They were wanting to recreate some scenes from the French movie Amelie and of course I jumped on it!

I forgot to take the before picture until Natasha reminded me, so she has some concealer on, but nothing else. (I blame it on the pregnancy ;))









Here is my after picture. We used the cover of the DVD for inspiration.










And here is Emily's picture. Isn't it awesome? This is why I love having friends that are photographers ~ they do a much better job of taking pictures then I do.

Stop by and check out more of the shoot on Emily's blog.

Now it's your turn to share!

Healing my sunburn

I'm fair skinned. I burn easily. It is painful. It is not fun!

Last week I spent a cool and beautiful day at the park with my daughter. I didn't think I would get burned, but my arms and chest got baked. With frustration I tried what I had in the house to cool the burn ~ lotion, lavender oil, and witch hazel. They didn't work.

My burn was bad enough that it began to itch and itch it did! So I went to my trusty friend, the internet, and found out that you should never put oils or lotions on a sunburn because it doesn't let the heat out. OOPS! The heat needs to be drawn out first and then you can replace lost moisture to the skin. Hey, I'm still learning!

So I started another experiment. Laying in a lukewarm tub I splashed water on the burns. It felt amazing as it cooled. The heat was gone from my arms by the time I got out and my chest was cool within a couple of hours, which was great since I was onto day three of being in pain.


Once the heat was removed I made a lotion of vegetable glycerine, water and lavender oil. Glyerine is a humectant, which means it pulls moisture (water) out of the air and holds it against the skin. The skin can then absorb the moisture and rehydrate itself. Lavender helps to repair skin cells and heal burns.


The result? My burn healed within one day with no peeling! I plan to try this again if I'm stupid enough to not think of sunblock. ;)

See what others are talking about with the Lazy Organizer
and what people are tackling at the 5 Minutes for Mom.

Peeling Polish

Q-Tip
A quick tip for you

If you find that your nail polish peels after a day or two, then the next time you apply it first wipe your nail bed with polish remover. This will remove any natural oils or lotions from the nail and help the polish to adhere longer.

Booking Through Thursday

Through one of my readers I found a great blog called Booking Through Thursday. And if you know me at all, you know I love books! So I've got to join in on the fun.

They have a question a week and last week's question is if you were granted $50 bucks what would you spend it on? How about $500? And of course you've got to spend it on books ;). Since I already have my Great Books and most of my classics, I would get these:














































And then I would complete my collection of these beautiful and captivating readers. Even my 8 year old loves them!

These books would make me feel beautiful!

TSD - Colored smokey eye for Spring 2009

Welcome to Elsa's Thursday Share-Day!
Check out the Guidelines before adding
your link and please don't forget to link back
to here in your post.

Maybe it's just because these ladies are gorgeous, but I love this spring's new look! It's a smokey eye that is done with color instead of the traditional black and it looks amazing. It's wonderful for a night out when you want a little more then just your everyday look. Purples, blues, and greens are the choice colors of the season.

To recreate the look follow these simple steps: Step 1 ~ Create a foundation for the color by applying a flesh colored shadow from brow to lashes. Step 2 ~ Tightline the inner lids.

Step 3 ~ Once that is done you can begin to apply the color. I chose a purple that was a little intense and I didn't want it over my entire lid. So I first took a neutral with purple undertones and applied it brow bone

down. Then I used Ben Nye's eyeshadow in Amethyst and outlined my entire eye, blending into the other shadow. I finished with mascara.

Choose pastel colors if you are blonde or fair skinned and jewel tones are if you are brunette or dark skinned.

And remember to keep your blush and lip color very neutral or else you'll look like you stepped out of a club in the 1980's. ;)







Here's my version to the right. I've already worn this a couple times and have loved it! But, since my hair and eyes are so orange I think I'm going to try blue next time. What fun!

OH~ I haven't officially announced it on here yet, but you should expect my freckles to get very dark over the next few months because I'm pregnant! And you won't be seeing any full body shots of me either, unless I get very brave ;)

Now it's your turn to share!