Monday, January 28, 2013

My First Hair Extension Experience!

A few weeks ago I spent a fun afternoon with my friend Ashley dying her hair and making new extensions.  I have always been curious about extensions, but I haven't had anyone that I knew that wore them.  When Ashley asked me to help, I jumped at the opportunity and figured it would be a fun thing to write about!  Why not?  

Ashley decided to go with a dark chocolate brown color and she wanted to incorporate red into her extensions for added dimension and fun.  I have to say I absolutely love this color combination!  Not too many people are daring enough to get some red going in their locks and I think it is such a fun and bold color!  Heres what the extensions look like out of the packaging below....




After getting the extensions ready, it was time for the hard part.  Really these next steps took awhile to do and I can see how tedious of a process it truly is.  Next up, grab so wig clips (Ashley purchased the Sally's brand....but she said they ended up being pretty bad quality...just an FYI), needle, scissors and some thread.  Ashley already had previous extensions that she had already measured out, but basically you just want to measure the extensions from one end of your head to the next.  Once you have figured out the length that you want for your one piece of the extension, cut the extension and set aside.  Repeat this process until you have the desired amount of extensions.





After you have the extension pieces, grab two wig clips per extension section piece.  Grab your needle and thread and start sewing the clips (one on each end) and the two sections of hair extensions together.  For this part Ashley sewed the largest section with just the chocolate brown.  For the smaller extension pieces, she sewed one chocolate brown and one red hair extension piece together.  She did this so that the extensions would blend together much better.  You definitely don't want too blunt of chunks just showing up random places in your hair because we all know that look isn't all that cute.  LOL.  Here's what the extensions looked like after she sewed them together.  


Now that the hard part was over, it was time to do some dying! (Hair dying that is....not dying dying ha)  You want to obviously dye your hair the same color as the color you have as the majority color of your extensions.  Ashley has gone to beauty school, so she knew what she was doing on this part for sure.  She whipped up the dye mixture and handed it off to me!  This part was really fun, at least for me! 





After letting the dye set and washing it out, I watched Ashley style the extensions.  To me this was the most fun part of the entire process.  She had this old manikin head from beauty school that she clipped on each set of extensions one at a time and curled the extensions.  I would say this is any girly girls dream!  I could honestly sit and do that for a long time, I love playing with hair! LOL


 I work with Ashley and I have heard numerous times people ask her how she gets her hair the way it is ( loose waves).  Wrap your hair AROUND the barrel of a curling iron instead of clamping it.  Not only does this not give you as structured of a curl, I frankly think it just makes it look more wearable and everyday polished without trying too hard.  Also, wrapping your hair around the barrel instead of clamping just makes it so user friendly.  I think more people have trouble getting the hang of curling their hair when trying to learn how to clamp their hair.  

Here's how the extensions look on Ashley....



Doesn't it look amazing?!  I know I may be a little biased to dark hair, but I absolutely love how it turned out!

All in all, I had a great first experience learning about extensions.  Even though they are expensive, I think it is a great way to change up your look without having to commit to it being permanent like a haircut!  Hope you enjoyed reading this, and leave me a comment below if you have tried extensions and what your thoughts are!

Always,

Aimee xx

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Yes To Cucumbers Facial Wipes



I originally received a sample size (10 facial wipes) in my Ipsy glam bag a few months ago and it wasn't until recently that I decided to give them a try.  These wipes are 98% natural, biodegradable, oil free, non comedogenic and hypoallergenic; specially made for sensitive skin.  Reading the packaging I was really excited to try these, it sounded so awesome!  I have tried some Yes to Tomatoes products before and I loved them, so I was naturally expecting that I was going to like these as well.  I have never really gotten on the makeup removing wipes bandwagon because I just felt like it was an unnecessary product to be honest.  I thought that it was just a waste of money when I could just wash my face to take off my makeup.  I have to say that I am sold on the makeup wipes concept now; keyword the "concept".   I really loved coming home from work and just grabbing a wipe to feel refreshed before a workout or just because I wanted to give my skin a chance to breathe.  I do have to say however, I am not really sure why this is an Allure beauty product award winner.  I have no other face wipe to compare it to, but I did not like them and I wouldn't purchase them.  I liked the light and fresh cucumber scent.  It was very refreshing for my skin and it made me "think" I was clean.  This wipe by no means is a one stop shop.  I could feel sticky buildup on my face and I literally could peel off little balls or pieces from the wipe that was left on my skin.  It was not able to take off my eye makeup.  I shouldn't have even tried swiping it over my eyes, it just made even more of a mess.  I would definitely recommend that you wash your face after using the wipes, which in my opinion defeats the entire purpose of the product.  I shouldn't have makeup left all over my still after using a facial wipe.  Like I said, I liked using it to take off majority of my makeup when I needed to workout or just have it off my face.  I shower at night so that's when I would be able to do my nightly facial routine and get off the remaining product off of my face.  I do have sensitive skin and my skin wasn't irritated by this product.  When I did try and take my eye makeup off, it didn't make my eyes burn at all which was a nice feature of this product.  On the Yes to Cucumbers website it says that for a pack of 30 facial wipes it costs $5.99.  I do feel like that is a bit expensive for facial wipes, but then again I also don't have any other wipes to compare them to.  All in all, I think there are going to be better facial wipe products out there that will do a better job.  I enjoyed the convenience of the wipes, but maybe I will just stick to traditionally washing my face and save a couple bucks for something else.  Tell me what your suggestions for good facial wipes down in the comments section if you'd like to share!

Always,

Aimee xx
Beauty product




Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Movie Madness: Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook


Silver Linings Playbook


****NO SPOILERS**** 


 My heart was absolutely taken with this movie. I have been waiting about a month to see it. It originally came out in theaters in December but for some reason it wasn't playing where I live. Thank goodness it finally came to my town; I wasn't going to miss the chance to see Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence sharing the big screen. I had pretty high expectations for the movie because of all of the hype that it was getting, even though I try not to go into a movie like that. But I have to say, I was so surprised at the movie. It was on a different intellectual level. It wasn't one of those sit there and just hang out kinda movies. It had depth, emotion, silliness, and I felt sucked in to the characters; I was drawn to them. My roomie went to the movie with me and I told her maybe I felt more connected to the movie because of past life situations and people in my life but regardless, it was an excellent movie. I don't think I have been so emotionally connected with a movie since watching 127 Hours. I was quiet literally the entire drive home just letting it all soak in. I definitely recommend the movie to anyone looking to be intrigued by not your everyday Hollywood movie. Bravo Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.  It inspired me to find my "silver lining" in life. 


Excelsior.

Aimee xx

Monday, January 21, 2013

Classic Scent: Sweet Pea


Hello all you beautiful people!

In the past month of so I have become more and more conscious in how I smell.  No one wants to smell bad and I just think it's a fun way to show your personality through fragrances.  I did a haul before Christmas and I had bought myself the Sweet Pea lotion and body mist from Bath and Body Works.  This scent has been around since I think I was in junior high and let me tell you all, thats been a LONG TIME.  I always seem to go back to this scent and I seriously don't know anyone who really doesn't like this scent.  It is a nice sweet, floral scent without it being overbearing.  The other day I was cleaning out the trunk of my car and I happened to find another bottle of Sweet Pea lotion.  Can you say SCORE!!!  I was really excited to find such a gem underneath all the junk in my car.  What are your favorite scents from Bath and Body Works or any other store?  Let me know in the comment section below!

Always,

Aimee xx








Current Scent Obsession

Current Scent Obsession by beaimplified
Fragrance
bathandbodyworks.com



bathandbodyworks.com

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Mary Kay Eye Primer

Mary Kay Eye Primer


Mary Kay Eye Primer


Happy 2013 everyone!  Hope everyone had a fun holiday season and that you're all ready to tackle on the new year like I am!

Thought it's been about time to do another product review.  Today I'm talking about the Mary Kay Eye Primer.  I was given this product from a roommate of mine and I am pretty sure I have another tube of this stuff in my makeup collection.  Let's start off by talking about the importance of using an eyeshadow primer.  Eyeshadow primer is pretty much the essential first step before applying your shadows.  It helps to prevent the shadows from creasing, to last all day, and to make your eyeshadow colors more vibrant.  It's basically prepping your eyeshadows to live up to their full potential; I hope that makes sense.  I have had plenty of time to use this stuff and I have come to the conclusion that it bites!  Thumbs down! Don't buy this stuff....no matter what any Mary Kay consultant will tell you.  Luckily this product was given to me as a gift so I didn't have to waste my money.  You can purchase this product for $12 a tube for .3oz of product which isn't bad if you're going to compare to higher end primers that will cost you around $20 a pop.  I don't mind shelling out money for certain products,  as long as they work.  This product has been a complete flop for me.  It is a thicker, paste like consistency and it takes awhile to make sure the product is well blended.  Even with extensive blending, I noticed that the white-ish pigment never was completely gone.  The product is pretty sticky and even after waiting for the product to set before applying my shadows, it made blending my shadows more difficult and somewhat streaky.  The staying power of this primer wasn't very strong either.  I recently used this primer before a 15 hour work day and by the end of the night I had major creasing.  I don't mean for this to be a bash fest, but this stuff isn't worth much praise.  I do have to say that the packaging is very simple, convenient and the product dispenses well,  making it easy to keep sanitary.

Hope you found this short review helpful!  I would love to know if you have any requests of products you would like me to review.  (The Lorac Pro Palette review is in the works)

Be happy and start the week off with a smile!

Always,

Aimee XO