Raspberry Pink Ombre with Ion Color Brilliance Brights

I felt like shaking things up a bit, and decided to do something totally different with my hair. I wanted pink!

I haven't had pink hair in a few years. Last time, I bleached my entire hair and colored it a bright cotton candy pink. Then I did a darker rose pink, and purple, cherry red, and so on and so forth. I like to take chances with my hair every now and again.

I have mainly kept to my dark brown or henna hair color for the past year and a half or so. I was missing pink, though...

I'm a stay at home mom now, and I figured, why the heck not? Let's get some colorful hair again!

I decided on an ombre style, because I did not want to bleach all of my hair, and I didn't want it to be TOO vibrant. I figured if I get sick of the pink, once it washes out I will be left with a regular ombre style.

I went to Sally Beauty Supply and purchased the tools I needed. This is what I used:

- Salon Care 20 volume creme developer (here)
- Salon Care Prism Lites Blue bleach (here)
- Ion Color Brilliance Brights in Magenta (here)
- Ion Color Brilliance Neon Brights in Hottie Pink (here)

...everything cost me under $15.

To prepare for bleaching, I did not shampoo my hair for 3 days. I conditioned it, and used deep conditioner a couple times as well.

I bleached my hair into an ombre style - I wasn't overly meticulous about this, I just applied bleach here and there on the ends and rubbed upwards. I left it in a little over 30 minutes, probably. I chose 20 vol because I didn't want a HUGE lift, I wanted something that lifted a little slower and a bit more gentle. I have henna in my hair, so I wasn't going to be able to lift to a blonde (I'll blog about bleaching henna soon), so I had a pretty orange-y result.

I have never used Ion Color Brilliance Brights before. I've seen them in Sally's, but I usually reach for Manic Panic or order Punky Colour instead. My vote has always been for Punky Colour, it's the best semi-permanent dye I've found for funky colors. I decided to get the Ion because it was $5ish a tube and BOGO half off. Two tubes cost less than one jar of Manic Panic. Having never used Ion before, I was a little unsure what to expect since I've read a lot of mixed reviews.

The product itself seems fine, my first impression of it is okay. The scent of the dye reminds me of Caress soap, kind of a flowery powdery soap scent. Not as great smelling as Punky Colour (which smells like grape juice, mmm) but it isn't awful either.

The Magenta color is a typical fuchsia shade, and the Hottie Pink from the new Neons range, was more of a cool-tone pink. Not really neon, but I bet on platinum hair it's probably stunning. I mixed them together about half and half.

The color result? Dark strawberry/raspberry pink. I like it, it isn't exactly what I pictured in my head, but I do like it. It's quite a change from what I've had lately.

Putting the pink on top of the orange resulted in more of a reddish pink.

Before and after

A note about the Ion Brilliance Brights color - this stuff is THICK. Very thick, like toothpaste - it isn't super creamy like I'm used to using with other brands. Many people complain that there isn't enough in the tube because it's so thick. The trick to using this stuff is to ADD WATER. Add water to the Ion and stir, stir, stir! Do not add conditioner like with other brands. Adding water doesn't affect the pigmentation of the product, it only thins it out to make it easier to work with.



I'm not sure if I would repurchase Ion Brilliance Brights or not... I will update once I've shampooed my hair a few times to see how long it lasts.

Pinky goodness!

FOTD - Aqua and Bronze

Here's the makeup I wore today, to go out for some Mexican food with the hubby. :)

 

The Return of Tobias

We have four pets (two dogs: Sasha and Jiya, and two cats: Selby and Toby), and they are my little babies. I really love them dearly. In particular, I am very close to Toby, who is always glued to my side and extremely affectionate and sweet.

 My husband and I recently moved to a new town, a little over a month ago. On moving day, we were in the process of putting the animals in their respective pet carriers to transport them to the new place. Toby was NOT happy about being in a carrier, and before I could close the latch, he demonstrated some super-feline strength, busted open the carrier door, and ran outside. Crap.

Well, we figured it wasn't that big of a deal. We were planning on coming back the next day, and the day after that, to finish getting things throughout the weekend. Also, Toby often went outside during the night, and since we'd be back the next morning, we'd just get him then. We took our other 3 animals to our new home.

So, we came back the next day... and there was no sign of Toby. The day after that, again, no sign of Toby. I was extremely upset.

We continued to go back to the old place on weekends, to keep packing odds and ends (I hate moving) and of course, search for Toby. We went back at least 3 weekends, and there was no sign of him. We had friends and family look for him, to no avail. It's been a month... Toby was gone forever. My heart was devastated. My little baby.

I would cry every night, I missed him so much. Toby always slept with us, he'd nestle in between us, right under my arm. Whenever I would be quilting, Toby was always right there in my lap. Whenever I was sick or in pain, Toby was with me. If I were sad, Toby would try to comfort me. I've had cats all my life, and let me tell you, Toby was special. He was the best cat I've ever had. He was never standoffish or anti-social; he was honestly the most affectionate and friendly cat I've ever known. He loved to cuddle, he loved being pet, and he adored his belly rubbed (any other cat I've known would rip your hand off if you touched their stomach!)

He was very vocal, and when you'd enter a room, he'd meow as if to say, "hello!" He was just precious.

It had been a month since his disappearance, and I had tried to accept that he was gone. Pets get lost every day, and the chance of them returning after a month, especially if the owners had moved... it just didn't seem likely. I figured I'd never see him again. It broke my heart.

We went back to the old house one final time, we STILL had some odds and ends crap that we needed to bring before the month was up. I was in the back of the house, when I heard my husband say, "I think I hear a cat."

What?

Then I hear him exclaim, "TOBY!"

I rushed out to the door, and there he was. A month later, my cat had returned. How? I didn't think it was possible. We had left...the house was empty. There had been snow storms, and thunder storms, and yet he persevered and kept trying to wait for us.
I immediately started sobbing.

The day we found Toby again.

My husband is like, "honey, keep it down, you're scaring him!" LOL.
He looked great. His fur was still thick and beautiful, and he had no marks or scratches on him. He had noticeably lost a few pounds, and was a bit skinny. But he was alive... he wasn't dead. Tobias was back!

So, naturally, we couldn't wait to bring him to the new home. The dogs, Sasha and Jiya, were SO HAPPY to see him again. They immediately fell upon him with wagging tails and lots of puppy kisses. Selby, the other cat, however, seemed to not recognize Toby. She would hiss and hide from him. I was worried...they had always been so close, since we had adopted them as kittens at around the same time.

Toby and Jiya reunited

About a week later, though, Selby started to loosen up. It seems things are back to normal now, no more hissing or hiding.
All is well in our home, now. :)

New Blog Design + Retro Beauty Ads

I designed a new look for my blog today. I was inspired by looking at vintage beauty advertisements - I just love old glamor, vintage style, and pin-up girls.

What do you think?

Here's some cute antique cosmetics ads for your enjoyment:



I love looking at old ads like this. So much different compared to the advertisements we see today, which are more focused on selling sex appeal. Back then, it was more sophisticated, classy, and glamorous. It's fun to see the old styles of what was popular back then, compared to today's fashions. :)

FOTD - Green and Coral

I was playing around with colors today, and decided to use some green. Green isn't something I use very often, as I tend to go with neutrals with the occasional purple thrown in. But here's what I came up with.
(Somehow the lighting looks different in each picture LOL) ;)
 
 

Products Used:
Face

• NYC Smooth Skin Perfecting Primer
• Maybelline Cover Stick in Ivory
• Madison Street Beauty mineral foundation in Almond
• Madison Street Beauty mineral blush in Nectar

Eyes

• Milani eyeshadow in Snow Frost
• Madison Street Beauty mineral eyeshadow in Wintergreen
• Star Crushed Minerals mineral eyeshadow in Neptune Star
• Jordana Best Lash Extreme mascara

Lips

• Cover Girl Lip Perfection lipstick in Fairytale

FOTD - Before and After

Wow. Let me just say, it was weird seeing this side-by-side. You don't really realize how big of a difference makeup can make until you see a before and after like this.

I often go without makeup when I'm at home and have no plans. I feel like I look sick or something without makeup. I need a little color!

Here's a before and after comparison. I do always wear glasses, but in the after picture I'm not wearing them...

Before and After

Products Used:

Face

• New York Color Smooth Skin Perfecting Primer
• Revlon Age Defying Makeup in Nude Beige
• Madison Street Beauty mineral foundation in Almond
• E.L.F Baked Blush in Rich Rose

Eyes

• Hard Candy Foiled Again stick in Ecstasy
• NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in Nude Pearl
• Madison Street Beauty mineral eyeshadow in Chai
• Kiss My Sass eyeshadow in Fall Harvest
• Milani Color Brilliance eye pencil in Black
• Jordana Best Lash Extreme mascara
• E.L.F. Eyebrow Lifter and Filler in Medium

Lips

• New York Color lip shine in Pink Breeze

Trying to get back into quilting

Now that the semester is over, and I have a bit of free time, I'm wanting to start working on my quilt again.

I'm on my second ever quilt, so I'm definitely a beginner. I piece the quilt top with my sewing machine, and do the quilting by hand. I'm new to this and it's going quite slow lol. With school and everything I haven't had a lot of time to devote to it. I'm hoping to change that.

I've been doing it in sections, with the plan to attach the sections together at the end, thinking that may make it easy to handle.

I love looking at quilt websites and Pinterest for inspiration. Some of these quilters are absolutely amazing. I feel so inferior in comparison. But hey, we all have to start somewhere.

My cat Toby loves to snooze on lap underneath my quilting hoop...

Fall is finally here

Autumn foliage. 

It's time to get out some sweaters, boots, and hoodies. Bring on the pumpkin spice lattes!

Fall has finally arrived. I just love this time of year. I wish it lasted longer.

My husband took this photo before dinner this evening. That is the view from our deck. Look at those colors!