October is Here!

Goodness!  It's October already and hard for me to realize that the year is almost over.  I know these last three months will go by fast because 3/4 of the year literally has.  Halloween is so much fun and I look forward to it all the time.  Not so much for the dressing up but more for the fun makeup things you can do to make those costumes POP!

Here I wanted to share a few family photos of some fun times.

2010

Decided to dress as a pregnant witch in 2010.  Inspired by this video by Julia Graf.

2011

The following year it only seemed right to dress Tink up as one as well.

The cutest baby witch I have ever seen.

2012

Mommy and baby cat.  Daddy even dressed up as the Cat in the Hat to fit in (sorry no pics of Daddy in the costume).

Love, love, love this makeup look.  Also inspired by Julia Graf.  She has some pretty awesome tutorials.

Looking forward to this Halloween because I have two little ones to dress up.  If I can I will also do something for myself.

Lovely Curly Locks

My daughter has inherited my thick, curly head of hair.  Lucky for her, her mom knows the issues that can happen when trying to tame the lovely tresses.  My son may also be on the same route but I am hoping that trips to the barber shop in the future might be able to help him and if not, mom has you covered son.

These are the items in my curly hair kit and my best tips.

- detangler or spray bottle with water
- extra virgin organic coconut oil
- wide tooth comb or prickly brush (see picture)
- smoothing brush
- no snag soft hair ties

These are my all time favorite hair ties.  I can only find these specific ones at Walgreens.

I have used them for years and if they stretch out too much I put them in the wash and they go right back to how they were out of the package.

Scunci makes them but these specific ones have no metal to snag in your hair and are a continuous loop (no seem to accidentally pull apart when tugging on them hard).  

I keep this itty bitty smoother brush in my purse for an occasional touch ups.  It's better than carrying around the big bulky one.

Tip #1:  Never detangle or comb curly hair when dry.  To avoid major damage, always spray with detangler or water.  Then start to comb starting at the tips moving your way up little by little.  Doing it this way will hurt less.

Tip #2:  When detangled, add tiny bit of coconut oil to the ends.  Take smoothing brush and gather hair into desired ponytail, pigtails, etc.  Use no snag hair ties to secure.  Using the smoothing brush lays those tiny stubborn baby hairs.  Never use rubber bands or anything like that because it breaks the hair and it hurts when you try to take them out (unless you cut them off).

This is how Tink's hair looks after air drying.

Lots of hair to tame!

Freshly groomed hair in the morning.

This is about 2 hours into the day.  I don't like putting products in her hair so I let nature take it's course.

And this is what happens when she doesn't want me to do her hair.  Little brother gets  a nice handful when she least expects it.  

New Month, New Do ...

Finally got enough nerve to chop it all off!  It's been a while since I last visited my local salon.  I think my daughter wasn't even one yet and now she is two.  After debating with myself I just went and got it drastically cut.  I cannot remember the last time it has ever been this short.  Needless to say, I love it!  Just to give you an idea, this is how much was cut.

I will definitely be sending this little bundle to Locks of Love which is a non-profit organization that helps children under 21 who are suffering from long term medical hair loss.  I know it will make someone really happy.  Check them out if you are interested in donating www.locksoflove.org . 

I myself feel 10 pounds lighter and am looking forward to the rest of the summer without the weight of all that hair.