Sweet & Sassy Saturday: Dandruff Drama

Hooray! It's finally Saturday! Okay, I know there's nothing sweet or sassy about dandruff but I really wanted to post about it so here we go. Dandruff has been a long time enemy of mine. It's been popping in and out of my life relentlessly. I've been plague by it again these past few months (since the end of 2011). I've been trying, in vain if I must add, to get rid of it.

Source: xpress.onlinegrocery.my

In December, I tried TBD's recommended Listerine treatment. My scalp becomes comepletely dandruff-free for a day or two, which is great until it comes back. The other drawback is that the baby oil component leaves my hair extremely greasy. It looked like I haven't washed my hair in months. It's not because I didn't rinse the treament off. It's just really hard to wash the baby oil off and it usually takes me up to three washes before my hair gets back to its normal non-greasy state. I only recently watched Andrea's video on Listerine treatment. She did it without the baby oil and maybe that's what I should have done.

Source: oliveoil-akash.blogspot.com

In January, I gave olive oil a try. I thought I might be flaking because my scalp was too dry. So everytime before I washed my hair, I would massage my scalp with olive oil and let it sit for about 15 minutes or more. Perhaps I didn't employ this treatment for long enough but I didn't see or feel any difference. My scalp was still itching and flaking, making second-day-hair unbearable. My hair was still falling out more than usual.

Source: growing-herbal-remedies.com

In February, I decided to use a garden plant. That sounds crazy but it isn't. I applied aloe vera gel straight from the plant to my scalp (this is as organic as it gets). I did this at least 15 to 30 minutes prior to washing my hair. It really soothed my scalp and reduced itchiness but it did not help with my dandruff. On a separate note, fresh aloe vera gel is very good for the hair. It gives me shiny and bouncy curls when I use it as a hair styling product. Just slice off a stem/leaf and you will get its gooey goodness oozing out from the cut. Peel it open as you use it. I apply it on wet hair and then blowdry. Don't forget to remove the spikes first or it's a one-way ticket to ouchville!

Source: beautydirectory.com

By the time March rolled around, I was too busy and lazy to bother with any treatments. I've been living with my horrible dandruff condition until about a week or two ago. I bought myself a Head & Shoulders Scalp Massage Cream for Anti-Dandruff Care. It's been keeping my dandruff and itchiness at bay so far. I will have to use it for a few more weeks before I can post a proper review.

So I have my fingers crossed for the H&S product. I'll post a review and a dandruff update in a months time (hopefully). You're probably thinking "why isn't she worried that she might be balding?" I'm not because I'm still growing hair; I have tons of baby hair sprouting out from my scalp, which is ironically annoying yet comforting to see.

Edit: Happy Easter! 

Have you ever had any dandruff dramas? What was your method of treatment?

Wicked Wednesday: Featuring Andreaschoice

Source: wmich.edu

Greetings! I hope everyone's been having a good week so far. From now on, I will be posting regularly. Expects posts every Wednesday and Saturday. "Why?" you might ask. Well, I think people generally love routine and consistency. By doing this, you don't have to constantly check my blog, wondering when my next post will pop up!

I chose Wednesday because it's in the middle of the week. I'm calling it Wicked because it's the most tiring day of the week; it's two days after the last weekend (when you got your fun and rest) and it'll be another two days before the next weekend (when you get more fun and rest). Hopefully, by reading my posts on Wednesdays, it'll help get you through the week!

I also chose Saturday because everybody loves weekends! And you're more than likely to have time to read blog posts. Okay, maybe you don't because you're probably too busy partying or out having fun on a Saturday (how was I supposed to know that?). If you're not doing anything wild but just winding down or resting at home, rest assured that my posts can help keep you company. I'm going to call it Sweet & Sassy Saturday or Triple S. Neat huh? Okay, not really. In addition to Wicked Wednesday and Triple S, I will be posting on other days, whenever I feel like it. They will be the extras. 

So for today's Wicked Wednesday, I'm featuring my newfound favourite Youtuber Andreaschoice. She's currently one of the stylists on myglam.com. I found her through a link on a friend's Facebook wall. She's really sweet and funny and, let's not forget, pretty! I love her DIY videos the most. I'm learning new things just from watching them.

Source: http://www.andreaschoiceonline.com

Videos by Andreas that I like:
Lighten your hair with honey! Who knew?
Pimples be gone! With a salt scrub?
Make your own hairspray! No, not the musical. 

Enjoy!

Pretty Pout

Source: lifestylelebanon.com

So if you read my recent haul post, you would know by now that I bought a MAC lipstick and I love it to bits. There's only a tiny problem in our lipstick-owner relationship. My lipstick doesn't love me back as much. My lips shrivel up within minutes of application. I don't know if its the ingredients/formula for Plink! in particular or if all MAC lipsticks will have the same effect on me. As much as I love the colour, it's causing me a lot of grief. There is no way I'm going to throw it out (it costed me a lot of money).

As I desperately tried to get my full pout back, I slicked on my Bobbi Brown Lip Balm religiously, day and night. It helped my lower lip but it couldn't save my upper lip. For a while, I thought I was doomed to have a shrivelled upper lip forever. I've done some reading and I learnt that there's a difference between lip balms and lip moisturisers. Some lip balms help keep moisture in but does not actually hydrate our lips. So if your lips don't have much moisture to begin with, those lip balms aren't going to do you much good.

I recalled reading a post on TBD some time back. It was on a DIY lip scrub. I even read on a number of websites (one of which was beautyheaven.com) that lip scrubs exfoliate your lips, removing all those dry and dead skin cells, and make your lips softer and smoother. I decided that I have nothing to lose, so I gave it a try. I followed the instructions on TBD's post (well, more or less). Here's what I did differently:

- Instead of a teaspoon, I used a tiny teaspoon (yes, there's such thing) for the raw sugar and honey.
- I did not leave the lip scrub on for a few minutes. Once I slicked some on, I started to scrub my lips gently in circular motions.
- Afterwards, I remove the lip scrub with water and pat my lips dry with a towel.
- I then apply a layer of Lucas' Papaw Ointment, if not olive oil.
- I stored it in a small container. The recipe is for multiple uses. It doesn't go bad because honey itself is already "too sweet" for bacteria to survive on.

The results are astonishing. I did this on alternate days and after a couple of times, my lips were no longer shrivelled. They're now smooth and soft, almost completely back to its former glory! Unfortunately, I did not take a before and after photo. You will just have to take my word for it.

There are some variations for homemade lip scrubs. The most basic one is the one I tried. If you are up for something more complex and even more beneficial here are a couple of good ones:
Deliciously Organized's Lip Scrub
Pink Pistachio's Lip Scrub

Want kissable lips? Michelle Phan shows us how to achieve it.

Enjoy!

Song for the post.

Grow It & Grow It Right

Image source: http://casarei.net/2011/06/ruiva/seaofshoes/

I've been a bit busy lately and so I have yet to do up my Clinique vs YSL mascaras post. I decided that to do this one first because I've planned it for a very long and would be able to whip it up within half an hour or so.

Currently, I'm embarking on a journey to grow my hair long. I've only ever had short to shoulder-length hair until last year when I decided to grow it long. Why? Why did I leave it till now to grow it out? It's because I attended schools that did not permit long hair. If you're one of those people who are taking on the challenge of growing and maintaining long hair like I am, you might want to read on because apparently, it's no easy feat! I've done a fair bit of research over the World Wide Web. So now, all you have to do it read or watch some of the Youtube videos that I've included.

Things that I have learned:
1. Wash your hair once every TWO days. You will hear this over and over again. It cannot be stressed enough. Even if you have and are keeping short hair, you should only be washing once every two days. This is because you don't want to completely strip your scalp of all the natural oils that it produces to keep your hair healthy.

2. Any form of heat damages your hair. You're meant to apply heat protectant on your hair when you blow dry to keep it from drying out. It goes without said that you have to do the same before straightening or curling your hair. You want to retain the moisture in your hair. I've included some links to blog posts that will teach you the technique of blow drying your hair.

TBD: Blow Dry Basics
ROH: Blow Dry Your Way To Beautiful Hair

3. If you wash your hair with hot water, STOP! It removes the moisture from your hair and that's how you get dandruff. Here's a little more on why. Be sure to check out "the cuticle" link that's in that post. The best is to wash your hair with cool water. If you're afraid of the cold, try this: adjust your water temperature until it matches your body temperature. You can tell because you would not be able to tell if it's warm or cool. Then turn your cold water up just a tiny bit more and ta-da! You have water that's just cool.

4. You should wear your hair in a braid to sleep. It doesn't have to be tight or proper. Just a loose braid would do. Otherwise, when you thrash around in your sleep at night, your hair gets tugged and pulled against your "rough" pillowcase. I find that ever since I started sleeping with my hair in a braid, I hardly find any loose strands of hair scattered on/around my pillow! How does that work, you might ask. Well, think of it this way: it's very easy of you to snap a single twig. But if you gathered and bunched ten twigs together, it's much harder for you to snap them all together. The same applies for hair. Together, they are stronger. Another option is to use satin pillowcases.

Here's an extensive guide to taking care of your growing hair. I know the web design looks a bit old but the content is still very much relevant.

5. You'll probably experience a lot more hair fall than when you had short hair. Don't fret, my pet! It's natural. Our hair has a cycle of growing, stopping growth, falling and regrowing. It does not mean that you are balding. Luckily, TBD's Kristin Ess has done all the research for us! Read her post to get the details on how/why hair loss occurs and how it can/cannot be fixed. Here's a simpler hair loss article. Just in case you're sick of TBD!

Lastly, if you want seriously lustrous and gorgeous hair. Follow Kristin's hair bootcamp! She's written out hair routines tailored to most, if not all, hair types. If you don't have the time, you don't have to do it. You can live without constant treatment. It's for those hardcore hair lovers out there. Here are some of her more general tips.

Another hair guru whom I love is Krista Bradford. Watch her videos for some tips on growing healthy hair. Krista's hair FAQ and foods for healthy hair.

If you want a list of hair products Lets Make It Up! has made a pretty good video about it. She also covers some basic hair care rules. So you can pretty much watch this instead of reading everything but you will miss some other important info.

Here are some easy DIY hair treatments!
TBD's version
Krista's version

Do you have any tips for growing long hair? Please do share it in the comments section below! I'd love to hear them.

Do It Yourself: Half-moon Nails

I know it's spring now (well, over here anyway) and I should be donning light, bright and fancy colours like pale blue (which is the "in" colour right now). But ever since I saw this tutorial on thebeautydepartment.com, I've been obssessed with trying to get my nails done that way. It's so cool you should try it too!

Follow the instructions and you should be able to "reproduce Lauren Conrad's nails"! I bought my transparent reinforcement stickers for about $6 from Officeworks, which works like a charm. As you can see, I haven't perfected the art yet. My hands are still unsteady when it comes to painting my nails in general. Going to need more practice!

I used a glittery gold from The Face Shop, which was given to me by a Korean friend, as the base. So don't ask me what the name of the nail polish is. It's in Korean. However, you should be able to find them in malls in Asia. Otherwise, there are plenty of other brands here in Australia that stock something similar. On top, I used Iris by Witchery. In the photo, it looks like navy but with the naked eye, it's a dark purple hue. My camera somehow picked it up as blue. It rhymes! Man, I sounded poetic! If you want other colour combination ideas. Check this out. And if you're feeling really glamorous and want to shake things up a bit, try this one, I dare you! Enjoy!

Coming up

Clinique vs. YSL
Who has the better mascara?

Grow It and Grow It Right!
Tips for growing and maintaining long hair.

Do It Yourself: Bookmarks

A couple of weeks ago, my dad handed me a few of his optical seminar freebies, this included a hand sanitiser (which I was happy to receive), a writing pad and a set of mini cardboard laminated pamphlets (I'm not sure if there exists a word to describe the thing). Anyway, my dad suggested that I use them as bookmarks. A dose of inspiration hit me. I decided that if I was going to use them as bookmarks, I might as well make them pretty ones!

Here's how I did it:

1. Remove the chain and separate them out. (Duh! Well, I just had to match the photo with a step)

2. Flip the "bookmark" over and use the end of another one to trace out it's "end shape". Do it just below the metal eye because you want to get rid of it.

3. With a pair of scissors, cut the "bookmark" following the line that you have just traced. This removes the metal eye and you're left with a rectangle "bookmark" that has rounded corners.

4. Select a card stock with the design/pattern/colour that you want on your "bookmark".

5. Flip your card stock over and lay your "bookmark" over it, faced down as well. Trace the shape of the "bookmark" onto the card stock. Tip: align the bookmark with the corner of the card stock so that there's less tracing and cutting to do.

6. Cut the shape out from the card stock.

7. Line the top side of your "bookmark" (the side with the advertising) with double-sided tape. You may use a glue stick but I find that they are not adhesive enough. They are many other types of glue that work as well. Align the cut-out and the "bookmark" at one end and then slowly smooth it down (just like how you would stick a protective film on your smart phone). It should fit perfectly... assuming that you did everything perfectly.

8. For me I didn't do it perfectly, so I had had to trim the edges a little afterwards. But that's no biggie. So voila! A pretty bookmark!

As you can see I made a few. I gave one to my mum and one to my dad. I did this a few days ago and yesterday, I made two more but I can't be bothered to take another picture and post it up here. After all, you get the picture already (excuse the lame pun). Enjoy!