Friday, May 24, 2013

Temporary Hydrating Hair Color Mask

Despite what your parents said all the time when you were a kid, being an adult is awesome. If you want waffles, cheese and beer for dinner, you can have it. If you want to stay up until 4am on a work night watching Pretty Wild on Netflix (totally hypothetical), you can. It's great.

However, it comes with a few pitfalls too. Like, I can't just dye my hair purple because I want to, because I have a job where I have to fool people into thinking they hired a grown up, not this waffle-eating impostor.  But when I got a little extra vacation time approved, I started obsessing over having unnaturally colored hair for my week off. I've chalked my hair before, but it looks, well, chalked and gets all over everything.

This Water Color hydrating hair mask seemed like the solution to all of my problems. Temporary, non-damaging, fun colors. The only thing is, it was $24, and for it to arrive before my vacation, shipping would have been another $15. Plus, I couldn't find any good reviews online of people who had used it, or anything that said if it actually came out in 1-5 washes.  Back to the drawing board. 

I talked it over with some colorist friends, who mentioned that those Water Color masques were really just pigment and conditioner. So instead of spending $40 on one jar, I could probably whip up my own at home for under $10, right? 

I decided to go with a lavender color, because I figured it would compliment my blonde best as it started to fade, since my hair can get brassy and I use purple shampoo to tone it. I picked up a jar of Manic Panic Purple Haze and a $1 bottle of Suave conditioner. Make sure you get a conditioner that is white, not one of the ones thats blue or green or whatever.


The first time I tried, I was too conservative on how much purple I would need, and I added about a teaspoon to a half-bottle of conditioner. It was enough to tint the conditioner, but not my hair. I left it on for about 15 minutes and rinsed, and while it was soft, there was no color change. So I ended up doing a ratio of 2 tablespoons of dye to one half-bottle of conditioner, mixed together in a little tupperware. (When you are buying the dye, make sure to buy gloves as well!) It looks shockingly bright and a little dark, but the conditioner really dilutes it more than it looks like. Do a tiny test strip first, to see how it shows up on your hair and how long to leave it on for. 

My hair is bleached, so I left it on for literally about 3 minutes, just enough to stain the hair while I was running the hot water for my shower. However, on my roots where it is naturally blonde, I had to go back and let it sit for about 15 or 20 minutes, so again, test to see what works for you!



If you need it to come out quicker, take hot showers every day and use a clarifying shampoo. I was doing this to ensure it would be out before I had to go back to work in a week, and the purple was completely gone in three days. Perfect for if you want fun hair for this long Memorial Day weekend! To make it last longer, you can add a little more every day before you shower, just put a lid over the tupperware and keep it in your bathroom, it will store well. 

The jar of Manic Panic was $7 at Sally's, bringing this whole project to $8, which is way better than $40. Plus, Manic Panic has a wide range of colors, so you can make your own instead of being limited to the six colors Watercolor offers. This shows up best on bleached hair, but would be fun to play with if you have darker hair that is ombre-d, or just want a very subtle tint. 

And there you have it. Long-weekend friendly passes from adulthood. 

xo,
z


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Road Trip!


Sorry for a couple of days of silence! We decided to take a little road trip to Nashville, to take in some music and barbecue and southern livin. We've done the Opry, and Publix subs and Love Circle, but we have another 18 hours here if anyone has any other suggestions! 

Also, you may have seen on the r/p Facebook that I was painting over the chevrons...
Well, yes, I did. And I hate my first attempt at something new, so I'll be sharing that ugly monstrosity with you when I return.

xo,
z

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Radical Possibility- The Cliff's Notes

Hello, Apartment Therapy readers!

Thanks for stopping by! Great to have you guys here. You can leave your shoes on.

To make your browsing a little easier...

You can read more about this blog and the family behind it here...

Find a tutorial for the easiest chevron entryway wall here here...

Learn to build a pipe-rack corner closet here...


Get a step-by-step on this giant greeting here...

And find some of the art featured in the apartment here!


A few notes...
  • Our bed unfortunately is in the only place it works in the room. We have tried one million configurations, but  since one wall is closets, and the room is only 4 feet wide in some places, this is all that works! Luckily, we find it more cozy than clausterphobic!
  • I do make the Our Little Family portraits, but the shop is still on hiatus to catch up on orders. I will post in here when it opens again!
  • Thank you for the suggestion to hang the art lower! I'm still getting the hang of all this, so I'm going to try lowering it today! I thought hanging it high would bring the eye up in a small space, haha but I think it may have done the opposite :)
  • The wooden dining chairs are Ikea. As someone else mentioned, they aren't super cozy, but they are fairly sturdy and get the job done, plus are great for moving around when entertaining!
  • Yes, I will be friends with all of you. Sorry, I won't leave Andy and run away with any of you :)
  • The dining room table is from Brown Elephant on Clark! All 10 feet of it only cost me $20, so I highly suggest checking that place out.
  • All are welcome to come pet Lucille Austero. She would love it. 
  • The Riot Grrrrl banner is from Unicorn Parade, and everything I've gotten from her has been stellar. The bowl on the table is another Etsy find, from Della Morte ceramics and is so beautiful in real life, that four separate guests to my house have bought their own when they left!
And don't forget to like r/p on Facebook!

Thanks so much to Apartment Therapy for featuring our humble abode, and thanks to all of you, old and new, for reading and supporting this tiny little blog. It was a great relief to see others interested in seeing more "old school" AT homes. 

xo,
z

Monday, May 13, 2013

Forcing a Green Thumb & DIY Plant Markers


So as you guys may remember, plants are not my thing. Or at least, they weren't.

But since we talked about this subject last, I have made chlorophyll my bitch. I have grown (pun!) past succulents, and moved onto actual leafy plants, and even edible ones. I can't even really put my (newly green) finger on what changed. I have a super sunny apartment, so that helps. And I just really, really, really wanted to be good at it. I often freaked out to my friend Michelle, holder of all plant knowledge, pleading to get her secrets out of her. From time to time, I was even known to talk to my plants. In just a few short months, I went from the Jeffrey Dahmer of the plant world to being that woman with the long silver braid that says goodnight to her "babies". 


I also have a few fake plants mixed in around the apartment, permanently green and lush, to trick and inspire the real plants into being their very best. In other news, I've lost my fucking mind.

In my herb garden, I wanted some plant markers, but as always, the things I want cost more money than I wanted to pay, especially because I'm currently only growing three herbs. Ones that I can keep track of without markers, but hey, it was Sunday, I was feeling restless, and ABC Family was running yet another Harry Potter marathon.

Disclaimer: this plant is actually cilantro and will not give you the ability to breathe under water. Any reader who attempts such a feat does so at ones own risk and r/p assumes no legal responsibility. And you might want to address your increasing disconnect from reality.


To make your own plant markers, you will need barbecue skewers, cardstock and glue. You can decorate the markers before or after you cut, then adhere to the skewers with glue. A piece of tape after gluing helps keep them from rolling around while they dry. 

So don't listen to people when they say one can't just develop a green thumb, because one, fuck those people, and two, you can always learn something new. But I'd be lying if I said there wasn't some carnage along the way.

xo,
z

Friday, May 10, 2013

Friday Inspiration and Good Reads

I go through phases of being moderately obsessed with Pinterest to being totally obsessed with Pinterest, and lately I've been totally obsessed. I know it gets a bad rap sometimes for being a fucking wasteland of mason jars and melted crayons and weird dresses made out of flannel shirts and shit, but whatever I love it/can't stop, won't stop/only God can judge me. 

A little round up of favorite pins lately...



1/ looking for curtains for the office
2/ always searching for good prints
3/ if i can't live there, i'll fill my home with shit that just says the name of the city all over it
4/ look man, its just pretty. i cant only pin things i want to buy or i'd be broke
5/ this is not helping my succulent obsession
6/ but really, please do


If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, I promise I won't post any melted crayon art.

In other internet news...

Hey, have a lovely weekend guys. You all deserve it.

xo,
z
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