Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Best Hair Product for color treated hair? Joico color balance blue review

First, let me start off by saying I've been wanting to color my hair for a LONG time. My husband so lovingly told me he loves my hair just the way it is, without color. But, I read between the lines and know in reality, he just doesn't want me to spend $200 every 4 months (Let's get real).
Recently I was given the opportunity to get my hair colored while doing a shoot for a magazine, and lo and behold, my husband loved it (granted the costs were covered) but since then hes come to terms that coloring my hair is probably enevitable and we've both agreed that it would be a fine investment.

Look at me using words like investment! Well, it is in a sense. I spent a decent amount getting some color done. I normally have dark dark brown hair, and I chose to lighten it up, no easy task for most brunettes. I had an amazing stylist here in Richmond that did a beautiful job. Hair color can change due to a lot of things like heat, the sun, cleansing products, chlorine, and I needed to follow up and care for my investment with a great shampoo and conditioner. I didn't want to spend a great amount but I knew I had to up my product (and definitely not use the $1 shampoo my husband swears by).

After much searching I purchased the Joico color balance blue shampoo and conditioner. First off this line has specific product for the coloring you have had done to your hair. This blue line was for lightened brown hair to keep it from turning orange/brassy in color. This was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted my light brown and blonde color to stay that way for as long as possible.

The product is very interesting. The shampoo is dark blue and the conditioner is light blue. The shampoo had a light smell that was very pleasant (I usually like strong smelling shampoos) but that was fine because the conditioner smells great and has a stronger scent. For some reason I thought it smelled like strawberry bananas, it was nice!

The shampoo is a really bright blue color. This I guess makes sense because I'm sure there's a pigmentation correction going on with the lightening and the blue. I'm not a scientist, but it made me think there was some scientific reason for this. It left some blue pigmentation on my hand after, but nothing an extra hand wash wouldn't take care of for the most part. (So if you've just gotten a French manicure, I'm not 100% sure how the blue pigment would react to that).

I lightly blow dried my hair and I can honestly say I like the results. Now this is a toner shampoo so it can be drying, but I used this with the conditioner and my hair feels great! It's definitel not super sleek/soft, but there's some texture. I truly feel like the color of my hair is defined but in a softened way (in a good way) it looks great in lightening, and no brassy undertones. Granted, this is just one wash, but all in all I'm very pleased!

I would totally recommend this product line. It's definitely important to protect the investment you put into your hair, and if you can do this without it costing you a small fortune, that's nice too!

Update: I waited 2 weeks before posting this and I still love how my color is lasting! Definitely repurchasing!

Friday, May 1, 2015

Simplifying Life: Closet Hacks- Outfit Organization


Laundry and clothes seem to consume my world every week. I like getting the clothes organized and clean and put away. With a 3 year old and a 1 year old, I feel like I"m going through the closet every month to organize what's in season, what's not, what is too small, and what they don't have.

My dear husband who is so wonderful in so many ways, sometimes struggles in the matching clothes department (for the kids at least). I've tried many things, like hanging outfits together, giving him some examples, but it never fails... the kids come downstairs in camo pants and a striped shirt. Again, I'm not complaining (okay maybe I am). I appreciate his desire to get the kids up and dressed, but I wanted to find a better way that would make mornings quick and easy for all of us. So I decided to pull something together that will make morning dressing time easy while keeping the closet organized. I bought a $6 shoe organizer from Wal-mart, and broke out the cricut cutter and some vinyl for labels, and it was complete.

We are in an akward season right now where its rainy some days, but kind of sunny and hot others, so for now I've organized it by type of top and bottom. "long sleeved and pants" or "short sleeves and pants." I ball up a pair of socks, and voila an outfit! Hoodies and jackets and dressier clothes I still hang up, but the main outfits are organized into pockets. I decided for now to only do this for my 1 year old. My daughter loves picking out her clothes and I want to give her the opportunity to express herself each morning, however my 1 year old isn't quite into that yet. It is fun every morning to have him point to the pocket he wants to wear, so in a sense I'm giving him some options, but I don't have to think about it.




when putting away laundry I put together an outfit (with socks)....
pile them together.....
and roll them up. They stay unwrinkled too!

 So far I love this set up! As we pack for vacation it makes it so simple, and everything is rolled and ready to go into luggage. Heck I might roll the whole organize up for longer trips and put both children's clothes into pockets and make getting ready on vacation a breeze!

As the weather irons out and is more stable, I may switch it to "daycare" and "weekend" outfits. (Life at school can be fun and messy, so sometimes I get selective on what gets sent to school) My daughter right now is learning how to cut with scissors.. but she keeps cutting towards herself, which means lots of holes in her shirts....*sigh* she'll get it one day!

How do you organize your children's clothes, and what system works for you?
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