Seeing Red

While I play with my hair color pretty often, I get a lot of compliments on the blonde and frankly I love how I look with light hair. I've stayed blonde for the last year or so, though in years past I tend to go darker in the colder months.With my brother-in-laws wedding in October and then our family vacation to South Carolina last week, I decided to keep the blonde and even go pretty platinum for a while. BUT after some pinterest tempation (ugh can you relate?) and some major swooning over red heads, I decided to take the plunge into strawberry blonde goodness. And I am loving the result.

I decided to color my hair at home after doing some research (ahem, pinterest obsessing) and found this tutorial on how to get strawberry blonde hair without going too brassy (meaning carrot top) and really liked her results. So I tried her suggestions and feel pretty happy with mine! 

             

                    

So, if you're feeling like a new look, be it srawberry blonde or otherwise, I seriously love the Wella Color Charm line. I purchased my color from Sally's beauty supply. I am not a professional, and the store is open to the public. I paid less than $30 for 6 tubs of color (three each of two different colors), one large bottle of developer, two pairs of resusable gloves, two brushes and some cute nail polish 'cause cute nail polish. That's the orignial color and several touch ups for less than the price of a salon visit. Just sayin'. 

So! Here's what I used:

1. One tube each of Wella Color Charm in 8G-light golden blonde and 8RG-titan red blonde (you can get both here) 

2. 20 volume developer (I used Wella) 

3. A brush, bowl (I really suggest a colorist's bowl with measurements, it makes things easier!)

4. Gloves. Wear gloves. 

5. I always lay down a shopping bag (like a plastic one from target or somewhere) to protect the surface I'm using. Then I throw the trash  in that bag!) 

6. Coconut oil 

7. A fine tooth comb.

Here's What I do:

1. Prep your area. Lay down a towl or table cloth you don't need to look pretty. 

2. Prep your hair. Slather some coconut oil on your ends to keep them soft and from color over developing them. Put on your gloves. *don't wash the oil off for soft hands afterwards!

3. Mix two parts developer to one part color gel. I combined the two tubes of color, so I needed double that in developer. Really mix it completely. Start a timer (used my phone) for thirty minutes. *forty if you have a lot of greys.

4. Start on the roots. Focus on your hairline first. Then work the color from roots to tips using your comb to push hair over and then paint color on using your brush.

5. Massage color into scalp with gloved hands until every strand is saturated, then allow to sit until timer goes off.

6. Rinse hair, massaging scalp until the water runs clear. Use a color safe, sulfate-free shampoo and deep conditioner. 

7. Clean up yo mess!

8. Admire your strawberry gorgeousness.

To make the color look less harsh against my naturally ashy light brown hair, I also dyed my eye brows. This part is pretty simple, just dab a cotton swab into the leftover color and paint into onto your (clean and dry) eyebrows. Let the color sit for ten to fifteen minutes (no more!) then wipe clean with a damp wash cloth or facial wipe. * Save this step until after your hair is completly dry (and styled, if you style it more often than not) in order to get a better idea of what your color will be. 

xoxo, Lauren 

Lately

Hiya! We're still coming down from the ah-ma-zing vacation we took to South Carolina last week. My in-laws have a time share on Hilton Head island and we took day trips to Charleston and Savannah. Thought I would share some pictures from our adventures and also show you some new stuff going on around here. 

So we drove down to SC last Sunday night, left around 5:00pm. Took us nine-ish hours to get there and we only stopped ONCE. Pretty impressive right? I think it was because it was so late, so there was a lot of napping. The condo was so adorable, three bedrooms, great balcony and full kitchen. We went with my husband's brother and his new wife, meeting up with our in-laws who left early Sunday morning. The first day we went to the Coastal Discovery Museum, which was a whole lot more than a museum. There was a small building with exhibits and an art gallery, but the really cool stuff was outdoors. We walked the grounds for a few hours! Went into the butterfly enclosure, out onto the dock to look at the gorgeous water (like a bagillion herons hang out there) and even saw some carnivourous plants! 

These guys eat bugs! So creepy and cool. 

There were awesome trees like this everywhere you looked. 

View from the back of the museum 

The hubs and I on the pier 

Walking the grounds 

There were a few flowers left in bloom, like these lovlies 

SO much spanish moss

Sister-in-law being all adorable 

We went to a town called Bluffton, SC and let me tell you, it was the cutest town I've ever been to. Historical homes, antique shops, local bars, cafes and coffee shops; ADORABLENESS. 

Very cool historical church called the Church of the Cross in Bluffton 

Found some pre-WWII mason/atlas jars at this place, one was priced at $15 and one was unmarked, so I had this big plan to haggle the guy down to $20 for both, but when I went to him to ask about the price he just said "Take 'em both for $15." So I said "TAKE MY MONEY." And that's how that went down. 

Aren't they cute? 

I was such a creeper about this coffee shop. They have a bar and offer dessert cocktails during happy hour every day. I mean come on, I could live there. 

This place had a sign calling it an "on-going art gallery without walls" Loved it. 

Guys, I went kayaking. If you know me at all, I'm not a real outdoorsy kinda girl, but I would definitely go again. The views were so beautiful and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be! 

Look at the moon!

We visited a plantation house called Dayton Hall in Charleston, really beautiful place 

Here are a few more random photos from our trip! 

View from the top of the Harbour Town light house in Hilton Head. There was a live webcam feed from the top, I called my mom and she logged into the website provided and saw us live! Pretty cool experience. 

Trying some new beers in Charleston. We liked RJ Rockers Son of a Peach the best. NOM. 

Spent the evenings reading, playing cards,  swimming in the pool, hanging in the hot tub and drinking lots of good beer and yummy cocktails. This one is my fave, a pineapple upside down cake (shot of pinnicale cake vodka, shot of ameretto and fill the glass with pineapple juice) 

We went on a haunted pub crawl in Savannah (did you know that it's the most haunted city in America? Me neither.) We were met with a guide dressed as a confederate soldier who led us from bar to bar, each with a story of hauntings in the past. Also, Savannah, that wonderful city, has an open container law. When I ordered my drink at the first pub and was asked if I wanted it "for here or to go" I argued like they didn't realize what they were saying. Lolz. I didn't take any pictures really, because I was too busy having fun. But here's one of Brian being grumpy, hooray! Overall, great week. If you ever go to Charleston, check out Market Street Sweets and order pralines in cinnamon. Savannah? Get dinner at Moon River Brewery (order the bacon wrapped dates with almonds and drink a Twishted Monkey!) and drinks at the Hangfire and Poor Larry's. 

This week I'll show you how I made these yarn tassel curtains in my kitchen!

And here's a fun update, I'm a red head now! I took a stab at coloring my own hair using the Wella Color Charm line (purchased at Sally's beauty supply). Tutorial coming tomorrow! 

xoxo, Lauren