{Hair} Full Side Braid

With LB being sick for the last few weeks my hair experiments have fell to the side. But I did have time to experiment with one. Sorry the pictures are not the best. I was trying to take them during nap time.

How I did it: I parted my hair deeply to one side. Then I loosely french braided it to fall to the opposite side of the part and wrapped a hair tie around it. Hair-spraying the whole thing once I finished.

Time investment:  5 minutes.
Product: hair tie, hairspray

Longevity: a few hours. Shortly after I took these pictures pieces started falling out. I didn't mind a few loose hairs here and there about after a couple hours more than half my hair had come loose.

I think next time I will start the braid much tighter knowing that my layers will gradually loosen it up throughout the day. I also think I will add a little product to my hair before I begin just to help the final style stick.

I loved the front view of this style but the back on I didn't. I will definitely be experimenting more with this one!

{Hair} Nape bun

Okay, so I tried this style 3 times. It never worked in my hair but the fabulous Lisa, who I got the idea to do this experiment from, had the cutest hair with it. I wanted my hair so badly to look like this but it just didn't do that. Anyways, I wanted to show it to you all so you can see some things I have been working on and maybe lend some tips to get it to look good.

How I did it: I put my hair in a low side pony and then pulled the pony tail thru the middle. Then I pinned the loose pieces inward and hair sprayed it. 

Time investment:  5 minutes.
Product: hair tie, bobby bins, and hairspray.
Longevity: about 20 minutes. This style did not stay in my hair the bobby pins kept popping out and flying everywhere. Not sure why but they just wouldn't stick to my hair.

So what do you all think? Try again or give up on making this one work? Any fun fall styles I should try?

{Hair} Clipped

Seems like everyone is wearing these cute flowered hair clips these days. So I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and rock one myself. Lucky for me my best friend just opened an etsy site,  ARC Creations, and she gifted me with one. So I did the no-heat curl to my hair, much tighter this time, and added a little flair to it. Who knew a flowered clip could make a style look so much cuter?! If you get a chance head on over to Amanda's etsy and browse around. She has the cutest little girl model rocking out these adorable flowered headbands.

Front view

Side view

Back view

How I did it: I did the same method used for my first no-heat curl experiment except this time I washed my hair right before letting it dry 80% then wrapped it tight. In the morning I let it down then added a little curl enhancing product. After that I shaped a few of the curls around my hand and pinned my bangs back with the flowered clip. Then hair sprayed it all

Time investment: 10 minutes. (30 minutes if you count the night before, but again I have really thick hair so the wrapping took a long time)
Product: Flower clip, curl enhancing product, and hair spray.
Longevity: 3 days. Seriously this is the easiest hair style to do that last until you wash it again. Don't judge too harshly that I went 3 days without washing my hair, I was washing it everyday then my scalp started to burn from over washing so I've cut back a lot. I did use dry shampoo though on the third day and pulled it back into a loose ponytail.
I love how easy the no-heat curl is to do. My hair is naturally wavy so it takes to this style really nicely and I don't have to spend time "working" my curls to get them to look pretty. I just go to sleep and wake up with this. I liked it better the 2nd day as the curls were looser, but the tight curls would be nice for a night out with the hubs or a summer wedding.

{Hair} Ponytail swoop

I have a confession. I get the Allure magazine. {Insert judgmental looks here} I love looking through all the fashion, hair, and makeup tips. And it was free with our credit card points...it was about the only thing we could get so why not. Anyways, as I was looking through the latest issue there was all this buzz about the bang swoop being the hot thing on the runway. Back in college I rocked a mean bang swoop. So I figured if it was popular now I was either way ahead of the fashion trend or didn't have a clue what I was doing, I'm going with the first option ;) And since it was in a magazine I figured I'd give it a shot for this experiment here. Without further ado the swoop.

Front view

Back and side view (W's artsy picture)

LB "helping"

How I did it: I straightened my hair and then pulled it back in a low loose pony tail, leaving my bang section out. Then I teased that section to give it a little more volume and swooped it back pinning it so that it wouldn't fall in my eyes. I then hair-sprayed it all to keep the frizzes down.

Time investment: 30 minutes. (including the time it took me to straighten)
Product: Bobby pins and hairspray
Longevity: All day. Well, almost all day until LB got a hold of my hair and yanked the ponytail out. But I'm sure if I wasn't on the floor wrestling him it would've lasted.

Not sure I can still pull off the swoop. Think i will need to get a new haircut that gives me a little more volume in the bang area to really pull this off again. I did like how quick and easy this style was to do so that is a big plus in my book but it wasn't really too much of a swoop.

I do have a confession though, I tried a different hairstyle and it was a MAJOR flop. W tried to be nice when he saw it but even he couldn't keep a straight face. So I may muster up the courage to give it a try again and take a picture, hopefully it will turn out better the second time around. I wasted about 45 minutes trying and trying to get the style to work but there was no hope for it. I'm hoping if I try it a second time I will be able to fix the mistakes I made the first time and hopefully yield better results and if not, we will all just get a big laugh about it :)

{Hair} No Heat Curl

Quite a few of you asked for me to try out this style so your wish is my command :) Take a moment to view the YouTube video to get the full tutorial on how to complete this style correctly. 

Front view

Side view

Back view

LB wondering what mommy is doing ;)

How I did it: Watch this video to see how I did it..it isn't hard to do but not easy to explain unless you watch the video.

I didn't follow her directions to the T which is why mine is not as curly as hers ended up to be. I had washed my hair in the morning so I just sprayed it wet and didn't add any product to help the curls stick. I also didn't use a mirror to wrap my hair I just sat in bed and did it as I talked to W on the phone (he was out of town for almost 2 whole weeks!) In the morning I took down my hair and then hair-sprayed it.

Time investment: 30 minutes to wrap my hair and then take it down the next morning
Product: Stretchy head band, hair-spray
Longevity: All day and part of the next. If I had done it correctly I'm sure it would've lasted a few days with the first day being super curly. But I liked it being more flowly curls so I didn't mind only having it for a day and half.

I really liked this style. There are so many options on what to do with it once you get the curl AND it was quite easy to do with no heat. I will definitely be doing this one again.

What do you think? Any other styles you'd like me to try?

{Hair} Messy Bun

Anyone who knows me knows that 9 times out of 10 my hair is up in a messy bun. But this weekend I decided to try something different and instead of just throwing it back I would actually work to make the messy bun workable. If that makes sense. Basically I wanted a messy bun that looked pulled together. I didn't get a good side picture this week so you'll just have to imagine that angle.

Front view

Back view

How I did it: I let my hair air dry. Then teased it a little to give it extra volume and pulled it back in a loose pony tail. I then went through and bobby pinned sections of it all around the pony and tucked some of the hair in. I also bobby pinned back my bangs and fly-aways then hair-sprayed everything to hold it together.
Time investment: 5 minutes
Product: Bobby pins and hairspray
Longevity: All day.
This is definitely a hairstyle I enjoy. Easy to do and last all day. I liked that this one looks cleaner than my usual messy bun and kept my hair out of my face all day long. I may be converted into working a little harder each day to make the bun more manageable.

In other news LB started walking! He is still only taking a few steps here and there himself but he definitely is on the move. It is so cute to see his big smile form across his face when he takes steps and makes it where he wants to go. My baby is growing too fast. 

Oh and he also discovered his belly button. Here is what he thinks:

 

Happy Monday y'all! This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad.

{Hair} Poof

Yesterday I tried out a poof. I've decided Sundays will be my day for a more time consuming do. LB wakes up at 6am now so we have 3 hours before church starts if we go to the first service or 5 hours if we go to the second, so I figured daddy can watch him while I work on my hair. So without further ado...the poof ala curl.

Front view

Top view

Side view

Back view

How I did it: This one was definitely more labor intense. Luckily, the night before I washed and blow-dried it straight. That morning I put my hair in 3 sections and curled smaller chunks until my whole head was curly. Once I finished that I ran my fingers through my hair to make the curls more defined and hair sprayed it like crazy. Then I pinned back the top section and teased through the crown to give it a little extra volume to achieve a nice poof. After it was pinned in place I finished with a nice long spray of hairspray to ensure the poof didn't move.

Time investment: 30 minutes. (an hour if you count the night before, but again I have really thick hair so the curls took a long time)
Product: Bobby pins and hairspray
Longevity: All morning. Then we decided to go to the zoo, it was so humid and hot out that I had to pull all my hair up. Then LB and I ran through the spray stations throughout the zoo and my hair officially became a big ball of frizz. I'm sure this style would've lasted all day had I not went to the zoo.

 

I really liked this one. It was fun to get all dolled up. Though, I'm not sure I will do this one often since it took so long but it is a fun little change up for sure. Maybe I'll save this one for date nights.

{Hair} Side Braid

I am just loving braids right now. So probably a few of these hair experiments will have some form of a braid in them. They are just so quick and easy to do and make my hair look un-boring. I went and purchased some bobby-pins so now I can have more fun with my hair. Ready for the pictures? 

 Front view...i never know how to look full smile, half smile, no smile. So hard to choose.

Side view

Backish view and a lion {or as LB would say roar}

It is so hard to take these pictures myself. I should wait to have hubs take them but I am afraid it will be all messed up by that time. So instead you get my arm and some other objects in them. Self-portraits are fun :)

How I did it: I let my hair dry naturally. Then pulled half of it back in a loose pony, french braided my grown out bangs with some of my layers and pinned it around the pony. I then took sections of my hair and pinned it up around the base of the hair tie to form a messy bun. I probably did about 5 sections and then hair sprayed it all in place.

Time investment: 5 minute.

Product: Hair band, bobby pins, and hair spray

Longevity: All morning. Then the bobby pins started popping out. I have really thick hair so things don't tend to stay in unless I use excessive amount of product. I still left the braid and just pulled it all back in a ponytail instead of the bun. 

Not sure what I think about this one. Part of me really likes it and the other part doesn't. Maybe it will grow on me. I liked having my hair out of my face but I wanted it off my neck too. It's so stinkin hot out that I need all my hair up. Maybe I'll like this style better when its cooler out.

What do you all think? Try it again or no? Next up, some big texas inspired hair.

Monday Miscellany

Busy weekend calls for a little miscellany recap. Summertime seems to be the busiest time of year. I think all the daylight makes me more productive and motivated. Probably doesn't help that all the sunlight beaming in the house makes me notice every speck of dust that needs cleaned up. But for now I will ignore the dust and recap the weekend :)

Link on up with Carissa and join in the randoms.

~1~This weekend I tried about 5 different things on my hair and not one of them worked. I think its because I own a total of 2 bobby-pins. Looks like its time to take a trip to Target and stock up on a few hair essentials so I can really do this challenge. Here is the one thing I did do that worked.

I just added a little curl enhancing foam to my hair after it hair-dried a bit. Think I may need to do it for a few days in order for it to really get those sexy-been-on-the-beach-curls without actually going to the beach.

~2~ Hubs took his hand at my camera this weekend to shoot LB doing his favorite activity. Playing under our table.

Apparently I didn't feel the need to move out of the way of the shot and not lay on the chair myself.

~3~ Its been over 100* here the past few days with awful humidity. So of course I decided it was time to pressure can some tomato sauce. Seriously y'all I don't know what I was thinking besides that I was craving pasta in a bad way. If you have never pressure canned just think about boiling water and letting the steam fill your house for about an hour. Nothing like adding more humidity to the already humid air. Oh well, we now have 8 quarts of sauce ready to go. I made 10 but one didn't seal and the other one I used to make up homemade lasagna. I figured if the house was already a sauna why not turn on the oven. ;)

~4~ Lately for breakfast LB and I have been eating this.

Fresh raspberries, plain vanilla yogurt, and sweetened with just a bit of raw local honey. So good. 

~5~ I've picked up running again. Well let me rephrase that...I want to start running more. Now that LB wakes up at 6am almost everyday I decided after breakfast we would take a run to his favorite park, play on the swings there, and run home in time for his morning nap. Again, I don't know what has gotten into me that makes me want to do really hot things when it is blazingly hot and humid outside. But something about summertime motivates me to do things. Call me strange but I actually like running when it is hot out.
That's all I have for this Monday. Hope you all have a blessed week.

{Hair} French Braid

I know I said I would just do my hair different on the weekend but I couldn't wait to try this one out. My hair has been driving me crazy now that it is longer and I really wanted to do something more than a messy bun, which I sport every day.  That in part is why I am taking on this challenge. So that I resist the urge to cut it all off.

I actually really liked wearing this french braid but to be honest with you all it didn't last long with a little munchkin who insist on pulling my hair at every turn. So I thought it would be fun to not only give you a play by play on how I did my hair but also a longevity test.  Because let's face it as mamas if we are going to do our hair we want it to last longer than one minute. Okay so here are some pictures:

View of the back:

Top view:

Front view and some cuteness:

How I did it: I let my hair air dry and just before it was fully dry, I sectioned a small piece at the top of my head and braided then continued to add sections and braid until I was out of hair. I think it probably would have looked better if I used a mirror and a smaller hairband to tie it back but I was doing it while LB played trains so I did with what I had.

Time investment: 1 minute.

Product: Hair band. 

Longevity: About an hour. I think it would have lasted longer if I wasn't rolling around wrestling with LB but that is his favorite thing to do. Roll around,  have tickle fights, and blow raspberries. Rough life ;)

Do you guys have any suggestions on what you think I should do next? I'm up for anything! :) Anybody else up for the challenge??