My Top 3 Hair Masques

Growing long, healthy hair has always been a huge struggle for me. Because my hair is so naturally curly I'm constantly heat styling it and I always feel like I'm doing so much damage so I regularly turn to hair masques to give my hair that extra TLC it really needs to stay healthy despite so much styling and processing. So here are my three favorite products that have really helped transform my hair.

Beyond the Zone Last Call Hair Masque for Battered and Abused Hair

After my DIY dye disaster my hair was toast, I had processed the hell out of it and I was scared it was never going to be healthy again…but then I found this. The name says it all; when nothing else has
helped and your hair is just completely fried this is the “last call” to get it healthy again. After one
treatment I noticed an unbelievable difference in my hair. Frizz is smoothed, the dry brittle feeling is
gone and my hair actually feels like HAIR again. This product seriously rejuvenated my hair after I had sucked the life out of it and now I use it about every two weeks or whenever my hair needs a little pick-me-up! Added Bonus: it smells like grape candy!

Ion Solutions Reconstructor Repair

This product is much more of a protein treatment, meaning there are some pros and cons. If your hair
doesn’t NEED the extra protein, it can actually make it feel drier. But I have thin AND fine hair that is also relentlessly heat styled and over-processed, so it really works wonders for me. I typically use it after I dye my hair and it feels as though it balances out any of the damage you do through heat and chemical treatments.

Biotera Ultra Moisturizing Conditioner

This one is more of your standard deep conditioners but I decided to try it after using the Biotera Long and Healthy Shampoo with wonderful results, prior to that I actually hadn’t tried any products from this line before.  (FYI there is a Long and Healthy Masque as well) I like to always have kind of a go-to product that I know will get the job done; having such fine hair it’s difficult for me to find conditioning products that don’t also weigh my hair down so I find this conditioner to be a great overall detangler and moisturizer.

All of these products are salon brands but they can also be found at Sally Beauty Supply in the small, sample size packages (pictured) and all of the ones are mentioned are under $3 so you can try them all out and see which ones you like!

What are your go-to hair care secret weapons?

xox oxo

Books To Read in 2016

Now that I am finished school forever (yay!) I have recently been able to re-discover my love for reading that I lost in university. I got so sick and tired of reading only because I had to, not because I wanted to and now that I have time I'm finally able to read for pleasure once again and it is awesome! So I put together a short list for you guys of some books that I'm super excited to read in 2016.

Fiction: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Adultery, murder, betrayal, obsession; the perfect psychological thriller for men or women. Now this isn't typically a genre I would normally read, but the story sounds so intriguing I don't think anyone could put this down!

Non-Fiction: Binge by Tyler Oakley 

As one of YouTube's biggest personalities, Tyler Oakley has not only made a name for himself as a hilarious pop culture commentator, but as a voice for LGBT youth. I'm sure his book will have us all laughing 'till we're crying and I don't know about you guys but I always love to see online celebrities branching out into other ventures like this!

Guide: Celebrate by Lauren Conrad

The third instalment of Lauren Conrad's "guide" books, after "Style" and "Beauty" comes "Celebrate." It is essentially a how-to guide for entertaining and throwing a fantastic, yet budget-friendly party for any occasion. I absolutely love her taste in just about anything she does. Everything is simple, chic and timeless, just like her. I will be sure to scoop this up when it is released in March!

What are you guys reading??

xox oxo

MIRACLE MOISTURIZER

Hey guys! Now I know for myself, living in a super dry, cold climate skincare can become such a problem during the winter months. If your face isn't getting chapped from the freezing wind then its dry, itchy and flaky all over your body. I know, gross… And every lotion you find claims to completely moisturize and revive your skin, leaving it soft and healed. But how many of them actually deliver on this promise? Well guys you can stop the search, because this lotion is the one and only I've ever come across that actually works to not only moisturize but it can cure just about any skin ailment out there. It is called George's Special Dry Skin Cream (after the pharmacist that developed it) and it can help heal sunburns, cradle cap on babies, and even more serious skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

With it's super short ingredient list it contains no irritants, it is fragrance free and hypoallergenic. Its also not tested on animals and super affordable (about $6 for the 90g bottle pictured above). I give this to all my friends, even when they just want a quick hand cream and everyone gets hooked because it just works SO well, trust me there is no other product that compares to this formula and I would recommend it to anyone.

You can find it in most pharmacies and even some grocery stores. But you can also check out their website for other products, how it works and where to buy it.

Just give it a try and see what a difference it can make for your skin. Happy Moisturizing!

xox oxo

Homemade Dog Treats for the Picky Puppy

Hey guys! So if you have a picky puppy like me, you know how frustrating it can get when you spend a ton of money on healthy, high quality treats for your dog, just to get them home and find out that they won't even touch them! This has happened to me so many times I gave up trying to find treats my dog liked. He only likes meat, meat, meat and more meat, which can get expensive fast! But having treats your dog likes is absolutely essential for training reward purposes (or to just spoil them!) So I finally attempted just making my own treats at home and they turned out so great, my dog LOVED them and they were so easy to make so I thought I'd share them with you guys today.

What you'll need:

2 jars baby food (I used chicken, beef & mixed vegetable but you can mixed other flavours such as liver as well)

3/4 c corn meal

3/4 c whole oats

2-3 strips crispy bacon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350
Mix together baby food, corn meal and oats
Crumble the crispy bacon as small as possible, mix in
Form into small, biscuit sized balls, gently press to flatten slightly
Bake 10-15 mins, or until centre is no longer soft

As you can see, all the ingredients are human grade, can easily be found at any grocery store and I know that there is definitely an added bonus to knowing exactly what is in the treats that you're giving your dog. Give them a try and let me know what you guys think!

Hair Dye Disasters: How To Avoid Them

When it comes to hair dye I have pretty much made all the mistakes you can possibly make. I’ve gone brown to blonde to red to black and basically every shade in between (some of them intentional and some not!) So I’ve created a guide for you guys on everything NOT to do when deciding to change up your hair color, whether you’re doing it at home or by a professional

1) Don't Make a Drastic Change

Now I know, the whole reason why you would dye your hair is to make a change, but I’ve learned from experience, doing it all at once is a bad baaad idea. I went from a medium natural brunette shade and jumped straight to a light strawberry blonde and guys...let me tell you, the results were not cute. The color clashed so badly with my skin tone, it completely washed me out, and my eyebrows were way too dark. Just disastrous all around. And I had gotten it done professionally with a very experienced colorist and it still turned out horribly. If I had gradually lightened it I would have been able to stop at a shade better suited to my coloring and saved my hair all the damage from bleaching. 

2) Know the BASE COLOR of the Dye

On to mistake #2 that I made in my hair color journey. I hated the blonde that I had just gotten so much that I decided I couldn’t wait even one more day to get in with my hairdresser so I decided that I was going to dye it again myself. Now, silly me, not knowing anything about base colors, chose a dark reddish auburn color. Suffice to say it did not turn out as expected. Because I mixed blonde with a color that had a red + violet base, all the red tones came out with essentially no brunette so I looked like Rihanna circa 2011, and not in a good way... If you are attempting to dye your hair at home, make sure you’re aware of which bases mix well together and when in doubt, go with a neutral!

3) Have Someone Help You

I have been dyeing my own hair for years now (the Rihanna incident is now thankfully long behind me) and although I usually get great results I STILL manage to miss spots occasionally. No matter how many mirrors you use, or how carefully you think you’ve saturated each strand, somehow those little guys get missed. Having someone help you ensures that your dye job will turn out even and professional looking.

For those of you interested in trying at-home dye, I’ve listed some of my favorite kinds that I’ve gotten great results from over the years!

Loreal Preference from Sally Beauty  **Don't forget to purchase a developer with this one!

Loreal Paris  **This can be found at most drugstores, I LOVE the conditioner that comes with it!

Garnier Nutrisse  **This can also be found at most drugstores, I've only used this a couple times though

I hope this is helpful to those of you thinking about changing your hair color, it can be fun and inexpensive if done right! 

xox oxo

Comparing Splurges: When is it Worth It?

I'm going to start off by saying, I know to some of you reading this, the amounts I'm talking about may not be considered a "splurge" per se, but for me, at the the time, they were HUGE purchases.

The two pieces I'm comparing are jackets, both beautiful, both high quality and both cost approximately $700.00. But ultimately, I found that one was worth the money and one definitely wasn't.

First is a brown leather jacket that I purchased from a Barney's Warehouse Outlet Store in Florida. It was so soft and supple I barely believed it was even real leather. It was absolutely beautiful, I didn't have anything else like it and who knew when I would be back at that store again (I was on vacation at the time!) So I decided to shell out the small fortune and bought the luxurious leather jacket.

The second item, which I'm sure most of you have probably heard of, was a black Canada Goose Chilliwack Bomber jacket. I had spotted it in a very expensive department store in my hometown in July. I loved it already then, but it was mid-summer and I hadn't been seriously shopping and so I left without purchasing it. But as the months went by I couldn't get this jacket out of my head; the cozy big hood,  the soft fleecy pockets. As autumn creeped up I searched high and low for weeks looking for somewhere that I could buy it on sale. After having no luck I decided to return to the original store and finally buy it where I had seen it months before.

Now can you guys guess which on ended up not being worth the money? Well if you have any idea where I live it'll be pretty obvious. I live in Canada… Still don't know? It was the leather one.

I am actually embarrassed to admit that I bought that leather jacket in June of 2010 and I have worn it…twice. Yes, TWICE! It doesn't go well with basically anything else that I own and there is only a super short season where I live where this kind of jacket is useful.

Now the Canada Goose one on the other hand, I bought that in November of 2012 and I have worn it every single day of winter for the last 4 years. So to save you guys from making the same costly mistake as I did, I've listed a couple questions to ask yourself before splurging.

1) Do I really need this? I mean really?

2) Am I buying this impulsively?

3) How much use will I get out of this?

4) Does it go with anything else I own?

5) Do I already own something similar?

6) Would I be able to find it at a lower price somewhere else?

7) How long will it be in season/style?

I know its easy to get caught up in an awesome sales pitch, or to buy something for a special occasion, even knowing you'll probably only wear it that one time. But to me, the only time a splurge is worth the investment is if the amount of use you'll get out of it can justify the hefty price tag. But we all need to treat ourselves to nice things every once in a while right? ;)

What's something that you guys have splurged on? Did you regret it later or did it end up being a great investment? Let me know in the comments!

I hope this is helpful!

xox oxo

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