Prom ideas!

I was out to dinner last weekend with my hubby and friends, and noticed proms had already started. I thought I would go over some tips to great prom hair and some trends.

If you decide to get your hair done at the salon, go to a stylist your familiar with. It's so much easier to do a updo on someone, when you know them. If you don't have a regular hair stylist, then ask for a referral from a friend. Make sure that the hair stylist is comfortable doing updo's. Not every stylist does them so call and ask them if they do updp's and make appointment right away. The best time slots fill up quickly.

Funny thing is dirty hair stays better that freshly shampooed hair. I don't mean filthy! Please don't shampoo the day you get your updo. Wash the night before and use a mousse or gel. This will help hold the style the next day. Where a button up shirt! You would not be the first girl who had to be cut out of her shirt, so as not to mess up her new do.

  Some of the trends this year could easily be recreated at home. Soft waves with a braid, a low side bun, these things are all pretty easy.

 Prom is a big event and that can require a budget bigger than what you might have. Deciding to do your own hair or trading with a friend will help control some of the spending.  Try experimenting with some of these looks leading up to the big event and you might be surprised how much fun you and your girlfriends can have getting ready together!

Here's a link to some great hair tutorials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sPcJJb6BHDk

Lady Bug Nails

My daughter loves to paint her nails. I have been polishing them since she was about 4 months old. Yesterday we decided to try something new. Lady bug nails! This is what I used:

Nail Tek Ridge Filling Base Foundation II
Venique Nail Lacquer in Dr. Feel Good
Art Club Color Nail Lacquer in Black
Orly French Tip in Pointe Blanche
Orly Polished 3 in 1 Top Coat
2 tooth picks

Here are the steps:

1) Apply a thin layer of the ridge filler.
2)Apply one even layer of the red polish
3)Paint one thin solid black line down the center of the nail and 2 or more dots on each side of the line.
4)Color in a small half moon at the tip of the nail.
5)Dip your tooth pick in the white and make 2 little dots for eyes in the black half circle.
6)Apply thin layer of top coat.
7)Voila you have your lady bugs!!

Lady bugs for my lady!

All the polishes that I used dry fairly quickly and last too. My daughter was so happy with how they turned out. They weren't perfect but we had fun doing it and we'll always remember that:)

I think I'm in love with.... a new nail polish

                           I think I'm in love with a new nail polish. It's called Venique.

I tried it out last week and wore it for 5 days with no top coat. I polished my nails Monday, worked eleven hours Tuesday, during the week did dishes, laundry, moped and hardly any wear on the color! I bought a beautiful red today and this time I finished it with a top coat.
 This polish is made in the USA.It is made with a product called Sil-Tek witch allows the polish to bend with your nail and not chip off. I read lots of great things about it and heard lots of good testimonials to how long it lasts. One thing I loved about it was how fast it dried. A tip when polish your nails with Venique is to make sure you pull the polish down the free of edge or your nail. I noticed that the color does not chip but its wears away a little, by painting over the edge of you nail you prevents that from happening. This polish is available through your local high quality nail salon or on Amazon. The links is below. Try it out and let me know.
http://www.veniquenail.com/images/spring_display.png

What happens when you perm your hair

PERM.To some hair dressers it's a four letter word. Have you ever noticed that their face scrunches and they say ”you don't want to do that to your hair”. Why? Perming is still one of the harshest things you can do. Lets compare it to spaghetti. Your hair is the spaghetti, the  boiling water is the perm. When you toss the dried pasta in the water, the heat softens the pasta. That's what the perm solution does to your hair, softens it around the perm rod. You could take the cooked spaghetti and form it into new shape. When it dries it would stay in the shape you formed but would not be as strong as the uncooked pasta. It would be brittle and dry. The neutralizer part of the perm hardens the hair around the rod. Like the cooked pasta your hair will be drier and brittle. You can get a perm, but know that some damage is unavoidable. Consider trying different products to add more volume. Perm curls never look like natural curls. If you color your hair consider not perming. Maybe this will explain some of the reasons hair dresser don't always love perms and what happens to your hair when you do.

Has this ever happened to you?

I am from Canada, I have lived in the US for 19 years. I sill have some very good friends back home. A few times a year they come down to see us. Well they came this weekend. So on Friday the kids and I were busy getting the house ready. The way my home is, you have to clean up within hours of friends coming because my family can destroy it in a 1/2 hour. At 5:30 I just about had things wrapped up but the vacuum was out, I was getting ready to mop and the beds still had to be made and they showed up! I thought they were coming on Saturday! I couldn't believe I got the days mixed up! I like to give the impression that I have my act together and my house is "always in order", but now I was caught red handed. Unprepared and forgetful.Thankfully my wonderful friends pitched in to help out and even made us dinner. It's tough being a super mom and it's a real treat to be able to throw off my cape, take off the mask and admit I'm not perfect...(once and awhile)

Christine 

What's for dinner?

I try to grocery shop once a week. The day before I go is usually slim pickings. I had to come up with something quick. So I started to rummage through the fridge,this is what I came up with. It was so yummy and a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies!
You'll need:
-2 bunches of asparagus
-1/2 red onion
-4 cloves garlic
-5 baby red&yellow peppers
-1/2 container of grape tomatoes
-1/2 small jar of artichoke
-1 teaspoon of oregano
-1jar of low fat alfredo sauce
-1 box of pasta(your choice)
-1tbls of olive oil
Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the chopped onion first, cook for a minute or 2. Add minced garlic and chopped peppers. Cook them down for a few minutes more. Toss in  your cut  up asparagus,grape tomatoes and artichoke. Pour alfredo sauce over everything. Turn the heat down to low. Add oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low until asparagus is tender. Gently toss  with your pasta. There will be enough for 5 people plus leftovers. Hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did!

My pedi day

I have been going to get my nails done for many years now. You know those little nail shops mostly run by vietnamese women. They do a
great job at a good price. Well I walked in today and there was middle aged caucasian man working on a woman's toes. I'm sorry but,my first thought was wow this guy is pitching in to help his girl get her toes done! It turns out that he works at the salon. He seams to have  completely acclimated to working there. It's so cute! He is also married to the owner. I guess being one half of a bi-racial marriage I can appreciate the work it takes to feel comfortable immersed in another culture. It's nice to see that in more and more areas of our lives it doesn't matter your race or gender you can do what makes you happy:-)

How to be happy with your hair dresser

I am the first to admit, I am not perfect! Sometimes when you go in to get your hair done, it doesn't come out the way you wanted. What should you do? Call your hair dresser. Give them a chance to make it right. I would much rather take the time to make my client happy, then have them never come back. Every good hair dresser is this way. If they don't make every effort to make your hair right, then don't go back to them again.

No one can make everyone happy with their hair. That's why there is thousands of hair dresser. A good idea is to have a couple of pictures with you. Be open to what your stylist says. Everyone has different texture, thickness and color of hair. Your hair will have it's own unique style based off the pictures you choose.  Understand that you might not get the exact result you want today but that you have something that you can work to.

Please give your stylist a a few times with your hair. It takes time to get to know you and your hair. I do hair because I love to make people feel good about how they look. Find someone who loves what they do and you will be happy with your hair!

A caricature of a French hairdresser at the Académie de Coiffure, working on a large hairstyle, fashionable of the time, in the 18th-century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairdresser
Interesting facts on hair dressing and it's history as one of  the worlds oldest profession.