TBD

I am featuring a website today!

I have known about The Beauty Department for some time now and I am just getting around to doing a post about this awesome webpage. I found this website like how I find most of the other websites that I share with my viewers. TBD has some really amazing beauty tips. Anywhere from hair, to makeup, to just random inspirations, you can find great tips here. There are also loads of gorgeous hairstyles that the creators show you how to master step by step. I attached a link to the website, but I also have a link to it in (following/sites) section of my blog.

Watercolor Haircolor

Remember when I experimented with hair chalk?

I found something that may be even better when it comes to temporary hair dying. I was browsing around when I came across a blog post mentioning temporarily coloring your hair using a watercolor hydrating color mask. Basically, all you do with these masks is place them in your hair for an amount of time then wash them out. Supposedly, the color will stay in your hair for a short time, about a week or so, and then come out without permanently staining your hair.

Now, I can't afford to simply start ordering actual products to use just for testing... But I figured that if all it is comprised of is watercolor pigment and conditioner, hell I already have both of those. In this post you will get to see me experimenting with watercolors on my hair! First, I need to test out the colors on a small strip of hair that will not be too noticeable if botched. There is also a small list of things that you will need before you try this:

dirty, old shirt
moisturizing conditioner
non-toxic watercolor paints
paint brush
mixing plate/bowl
tin foil
rubber gloves

Lets begin!

It's probably best to start with hair that hasn't been washed for a few days. Here, my hair is three days dirty. I clipped back the largest portion of the top of my hair and sectioned off a small strip.
Next, using my paintbrush, conditioner and watercolor paints, I mixed the colors to my liking until they had a desirable consistency.

I decided that if I used really rich, deep colors that the pigment would stick better. I went with a deep royal purple, a teal blue and a rich, golden yellow tone.

After that I could begin painting the mixtures on my piece of hair. You will definitely want to use an old shirt for this step, you can see how I got it on my shirt and hand. I didn't have any rubber gloves but it was fine for such a small section. If I were doing a larger portion I would most certainly use gloves.

After I finished applying the colors to my test strip, I wrapped a small piece of tinfoil around the section and allowed it to sit for about 20 minutes. The tinfoil is mostly there to keep color from going everywhere.

After I had allowed the color to sit for a good bit, it was time to rinse and dry.

The test strip did not take at all. Literally, there was no color retention whatsoever.

Therefore, what makes better since than to lower the amount of conditioner and to amp up the amount of color!? Not much. Since the test strip didn't even take, I decided to take the risk and to just add a whole shitton of color to my ends. If worse comes to worse I'll just end up with temporarily purple ends anyway. After all, this experiment is for fun.

I ponytailed my hair directly on top of my head and began the application. Using my paintbrush, I gently applied the deepest, royal purple color that I could obtain to my ends. Lets hope that this works.

After I got the color all through my ends as thoroughly as I could, I added a little bit more conditioner to my ends to not only add a little more moisture, but also to help to more evenly distribute the color throughout. Once I finished applying the color, I carefully took an old, black tank top and wrapped it around the hair and then hairbanned it into place in a bun. I used a tank top rather than the tinfoil because a. that's way to much tinfoil and b. the tank top is more gentle on my hair. Now we wait.

Well that was a complete and utter waste of a blog post. I allowed the color to set for what seemed like hours and none of the color stayed during a cool rinse. I guess that I shouldn't be surprised considering that it is watercolor paint. However, if you were to try this without rinsing it would probably work. Although, the watercolors dry with just about the same consistency as hair chalk, so I will not be using my paints for an experiment like this again. 

Guess I'll just stick to hair chalk for temporary coloring.

Look#24

This week's theme: Leggings under ripped jeans?

I have been delving into the wonderful world of destroying a good pair of pants with a razor blade. Well honestly, if I never wear the pair, and the pair is so old that I could not possible re-sell them... Why not? And who is going to stop me... NO ONE! I took two of my black pairs of pants and began to go to work... I cut the first pair into shorts with plenty of runs and tears. Then, I cut a buttload of rips into the other pair all up and down the legs.

Then came a thought...

Why can't I wear a pair of leggings or tights underneath a pair of ripped pants? Okay, sure. It's suuuper 80's, but I think with the right pair of jeans, plus the right combination of accessories, and tights, this could be a new favorite cold season look for me.

(none of these images belong to me.)

I did a little bit of research and found that most of the tights/leggings+ripped jeans combos were pretty horrifying... The only ones that I found (that I thought were ok) all had either leopard print underneath, or they had very lacy, delicate neutral colored panty hose. I like both, but ehh, leopard print isn't so much for me... I'll have to try it out one of these days. Can you do pastel goth with leopard print? 

I digress. 

Anyway, here is my look for the week! Back to photos for you guys!

These are my newly destroyed black denim! I cut them up with ma trusty razor, then washed, and dried them. Underneath are my so called mountaintop tights. Even though they are actually leggings. That awesome, new, purple sweater was a gift from Joshua!

DUN DUN DUN
This is a blogpost-double-feature.
Oh yeah, did I mention that I tested out some of my Christmas hair chalks for this look too? I did. Just in case you didn't notice the purple hair. I also have a few tips for when you are trying out hair chalks...

(I am sorry about the crappy pics. I didn't have batteries.)

Before we begin I'm just going to throw this out there... Using hair chalk is going to make your hair feel like the same consistency as a bail of hay if you aren't careful. Actually, your hair is going to end up having the same consistency as a bail of hay, whether you are careful or not. However, there are a few steps that you can take in order to at least make your hair look ok, even if it isn't, or doesn't feel ok. First off, here is a list of things that you cannot go without when playing with your hair chalks.

- Two/three towels. Trust me, 
you're going to need them to stand on, 
place on your bathroom counter top, 
and to wipe those fingies with.

- Conditioner

- Hair slick

- Hair Texturizer (optional)

- Gloves (optional, I found that since
I was using so much conditioner that
the chalk would come off easier... And it did.)

- A COMB, not a brush. Brushing wet hair is
very damaging, not to mention with the
addition of thick hair chalk.

-  Hair Band

- Spray Bottle

- Old Shirt

Now, I decided that I wanted to go for an ombre look, of course. I decided that the best method for getting an even amount of color in the most effective way was to start by pony tailing my hair directly on top of my head.
 After that I placed a towel under my feet, one on the counter, and one hanging next to me, that way, I could easily wipe off my hands.
Next, I got out my spray bottle and filled it about half way with water. Then, I added a healthy bit of conditioner to the mix, about two pumps of hair slick, and a few pumps of my hair texturizer. I say that the texturizer is optional only because my hair is pretty wavy naturally, and when it dries wavy it holds curl really well. Mix ingredients together by shaking well.
After mixing my spray bottle mixture together I began to dampen the ends of my hair in my ponytail. You can decide how far up you want to go on your hair, but I only went about five inches, or so.
Now comes the application. I carefully decided on two color tones, a dark blue, and a light purple. After picking out my colors, I grabbed my handy dandy water color tray, filled a few of the cups with water, and allowed my chalk to soak in them. After soaking, I split my ponytail into two pieces, the front, and the back piece. I used the dark blue on the piece for the back of my head, and I used the light purple on the piece for the front. After applying the hair chalk by gently stroking the hair downwards until it was evenly coated, I added some more conditioner, and picked through the hair gently with my comb. Apply a little more hair chalk. I scrunched the hair with my hands a little bit and allowed for it to dry.
After my hair had dried a little bit, I began to curl a few stands with my curling iron. Not my whole head, but I selected a few strands that were kind of limp. 
The photos that you see above are pictures of my hair right after these steps. The photos that you see in the fashion look are after I carefully combed my hair with some hair slick, and then followed by thoroughly curling all of my locks. Here are a few more pics of the color after I styled! You can tell that a lot of the color came out, but I kind of like how subtle the color is. You can only see it in sunlight. I think that the next time that I try this, I will use black, I think that will show up really well. However, next time I use light colors, I will stick to slight peek a boo strands.

Next time I do my ends ombre I will definitely not comb the color after allowing it to set. I will have to straighten my hair, apply dry shampoo to my ends (because I don't put hair chalk on freshly washed hair), keep my hair down, wet the ends, then apply hair chalk. After it dries I will use my curling iron. I will definitely do another blog post on it when the times comes! :D Here is a link to the first blog post that I did on hair chalk:

Chalking Your Hair v1

Another post mentioning hair chalk!

Look #4

I love shopping. Some more of my haul.

     Yep, I got this new sweater, the bow, the ear cuff and of course the hair chalk when I went shopping and compiled this new look. I can't wait to actually wear it out somewhere!

     I got this sweater at a Ross and no, I don't care if I shop at Ross. They have gems sometimes. I got the hair bow clip and the ear cuff at Icing.I already owned the leggings, which were a gift from Josh's Mom and his little sister. The purse is from Target. Nothing really super glamorous, but I think that it's possible to dress Lookbook chic without the pricey tags.

     I really, really like my new ear cuff. It's a sea foam green bow. 

Thank you Joshua for helping me take pictures, as always I couldn't do it alone. I did this look after I made my Hair Chalk review, so you can see the chalk in action in a hair style. I love how the pink strands mix in with my bun. You can even see a little bit of the blue in there!

 

Chalking Your Hair

You are lucky cute little pixel girl...

     Would anyone think that it was possible to be envious of a pixelated drawing? Her hair is so cute and my hair is so blah.

     I've been trying some different styles lately, hair bows, accessories  things like that. I feel like I just can't ever seem to master that pretty girl look.

     As you know my birthday was last weekend and yes, I had a great day and yes, I went shopping. A lot. Among the goodies that I purchased one special item that I have sought after for a while now came into my grasp. Hair Chalk.

      I traveled with my Dad and Joshua to the far side of town to my favorite store, Urban Outfitters where I knew my quest would end... I purchased this set of 32 hair chalk pieces for about $15.00. The pieces themselves are pretty small, only about an inch or so long. They are itty bitty pieces, but if used sparingly they should last quite a while. Although I had hoped to have heaps of color, if I used the chalk in that manner if would be used up pretty fast considering the size. You can tell that I have already experimented with some colors...

      I love this chalk... However, there are some downsides. When you put it on your hair it makes your hair... Well, chalky. Of course it makes it hard to brush through, or style. So, that being said, I wouldn't want to use this all over your hair unless you had a larger set, but even then the texture isn't very pleasant, so I would only recommend using products like this for accents and peek-a-boo strands.

    Another downside is that the residue left over from the chalk stained the counter top in my bathroom a little... Nothing some alcohol or bleach wont get up, but it's still a pain. It also tinted my fingers a considerable amount, even if the majority did come off when I washed my hands. I had to wash twice. You can't see in the picture, but it also was all over my neck and collar of my shirt, so if you're thinking of doing this at home, I would advise wrapping a towel around your shoulders. And remember, it rubs off so I am debating even using this with only up-dos to keep from coloring my clothes.

     All in all, I do like the chalk, it washes out for me with one wash, but I have darker hair. Lighter hair tends to hold the chalk pigment for another wash, apparently. I will probably use this for various occasions and would certainly commend this product to someone looking for a more temporary hair coloring option. Just keep in mind that it does come with a few downsides.