Saturday, December 27, 2014

Pin Review: Cocoa Cornstarch Dry Shampoo


Hey everyone! I hope you had a good Christmas. I love how acceptable laziness is in the days after the holiday, and this dry shampoo I am reviewing today is perfect for days full of lounging around the house.

I  usually have to wash my hair every day because it tends to get greasy. I would like to be able to wash it less often, but I don't want to go through a gross period of greasy hair while my scalp gets used to being shampooed less often. So, I turned to dry shampoo. On days that I don't have too much going on, especially in the evening, I'll skip washing my hair and use dry shampoo instead.
I love using natural products, especially when they're DIY. I found a wonderful pin for homemade natural dry shampoo that I love. It only uses a few ingredients, and they're ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. Here is the link to the dry shampoo "recipe": 

She mentions using an essential oil, but the cocoa already makes this dry shampoo smell great! Since I know my hair tends to be greasy, I didn't want to risk adding an oil to the dry shampoo.
To apply the shampoo, I use my large kabuki face powder brush. I put a little on the brush and tap it onto my hair at the roots. Then, I comb it in. It's so quick and easy!

This dry shampoo does such a great job, and you can adjust the shade of the powder by the amount of cocoa you put in it. This keeps you from getting that gray-ish shade in your hair that some dry shampoo causes.
I read a useful tip for using dry shampoo that said to apply it the night before as well as in the morning. This has helped absorb more oil on my scalp and stop my hair from getting greasier through the night.

A huge plus to this recipe is that it works really well as face powder too! When my face is a little shiny, I sweep some of this dry shampoo on my face. It's sheer and takes the sheen away.
I love how easy this DIY was, and it solved two of my beauty problems! Don't you love when a pin is just as great as it sounds?!
Do you use dry shampoo?

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Birthday Freebie Bonanza


How often do you get to use the word bonanza? It's a great word that doesn't come around very often.
My birthday was a few months ago, which is hard for me to believe since the time has flown by since. I had been brainstorming fun ideas for it for a month (okay, probably two months) beforehand. I knew you could get freebies on your birthday, and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity because, as my hubby will tell you, free food tastes the best. I signed up for a lot of email lists (this would be a good time to make an email that you use solely for email lists and online accounts). I did this about a week before my birthday. Most of the freebies I signed up for were food. I used this list to find the deals: http://www.heyitsfree.net/birthday-freebies/.

On my birthday, K and I went to Caribou Coffee for my free coffee, and then to Krispy Kreme for my free donut and drink. I had the coffee, and K had the drink from Krispy Kreme. We bought an extra donut for K. Then, we watched "You've Got Mail" at home, which is one of my favorite movies (daisies are the friendliest flower!).

We also went to Moe's Southwest Grill, which is so delicious. I got a free entree with the purchase of a soft drink, and K and I shared it. Then, we went to Firehouse Subs to get my free sub, which we saved for lunch the next day.

That night, we went out to eat (and paid full price) at a whimsical local place and sat out on their patio.
Later, I got an offer from Zaxby's in the mail for some free food for my birthday. It took a few weeks to get to me, but it was worth it!

K and I had a lot of fun running around town for our free food. I recommend doing this for your birthday. Some companies also give you a reward when you sign up for their email list as well.

Do you have any tips for getting free stuff for your birthday? Let me know!