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Ulta Salon Review

I’ve been shopping at Ulta since they first came to town. I only recently started going to the salon. Taleah at the Waukesha, WI

Haircut 6-24-16 Before front

Before-frizzy mess

Haircut 6-24-16 After Front

After-smooth and pretty

Haircut 6-24-16 Taleah info

Awesome stylist!

Haircut 6-24-16 Before back

OMG! Before

Haircut 6-24-16 After

Wow! After

location is an amazing stylist. I have course, naturally curly hair, and she makes my hair look amazing. If you become a rewards member you will get coupons, freebies coupons, etc. sent directly to your email. I have gotten some amazing freebies lately just for being a rewards member. If you see Taleah, just mention that Stacy sent you and you will get $10 off your salon service! The phone number is 262-574-0387. Taleah works convenient hours Tues-Friday 10-6, and 12-8. This young woman is only 24, but she has some amazing talent. http://www.ulta.com/

Way to go Ulta and Taleah! Keep up the great work!

#ultapinkover

Ulta is currently having a Cut A Thon for Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Today from 11-6 you can get a haircut for $10, and a facial for $10.  I went first thing this morning. Loved my facial and haircut.  If you post anything pink with the #ultapinkover hashtag, Ulta will donate $1 for breast cancer research.

Thank you and happy Sunday!  www.ulta.comUlta photo

Middle age and frizzy hair WTF!?!?!?!??!

Why is it when you get older as a woman your hair gets frizzy? I’ve been in menopause for six years, and my hair just keeps going down hill. I mean I have naturally curly, fine hair, which blows in of itself, but this frizzy crap has got to go. I try to straighten it the best I can, which is ok, until I go outside.  I use to have pretty decent hair, now I feel like I should be staying up all night buying tons of crap I don’t need from QVC.

It’s depressing. Why just on Monday of this week, my hair was so smooth that the hair combs I had in were almost falling out. When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I looked like Albert Einstein! I swear it looked like a rat had crawled in bed with me and made a nest on my head! I’m trying everything I can short of shaving my head (which ain’t happening) to control this wiry mess. I recently bought some extensions, both curly and straight. The color was perfect, but my hair just doesn’t blend with them because of the frizz. I have a bathroom closet full of so many failed styling products. I was using John Frieda’s 3 Day Straight, which use to work really well, now not so much. I’ve done research up the ying yang trying to get some relief.  I guess I’m lucky my hair looks good up.

I swear my hair looks like three squirrels are having a menage a trois on my head.  If anyone can recommend any good products, I would be eternally grateful.Frizzy hair 10-7-15

On the upside, it’s a good thing I don’t smoke, as my hair is truly a fire hazard, and it lookAlbert Einstein 10-7-15s better than Donald Trump’s!

25 Tips for Never Having a Bad Hair Day Again

Good hair day 9-13-15I came across this article when I was looking for something  else on my lap top.  Great tips for good hair days.

If it were up to us, everyone would have a good hair day every day. Granted, we can’t all have our own personal glam squads following us around (and for most of us, such things don’t exist), but it’d be nice to walk out our front door every day feeling like we just stepped out of a hair commercial. Alas, we can’t have perfect hair all the time, but we can make sure one thing happens: Never having a bad hair day.

Because bad hair days are the worst, we’ve pulled together 25 tips to help you never have a bad one again. Read on below!

1. Plan ahead on days when you know you need to look especially presentable. Have an interview on Tuesday morning? Wash and style your hair the night before so that you’ll only need minimal touch-ups in the morning.

2. To tame flyaways, spray a toothbrush with hairspray then gently brush your hair into place. The light application of hairspray will give you hold without it being so stiff.

3. Invest in a good shampoo and conditioner combo. Much like your foundation, good hair starts at the beginning. If you use a quality shampoo and conditioner, you’re giving yourself a head start.

4. Learn how to do a sock bun. Even on your worst hair days, concealing your hair in a sock bun will give you a finished, classy look.

5. Carry dry shampoo with you wherever you go. Keep one in your purse, one in your bathroom, one at your desk and one more wherever you spend a ton of time. Dry shampoo is like an instant root lift and shower in one.

6. Keep up with your salon appointments. Trimming your dead ends on a regular basis will keep your look consistently refreshed, meaning you’ll never have to worry about your ends making the rest of your hair look bad.

7. Know your hair type. If you’ve got oily hair, the products you use should compliment that, not make it worse. The same goes for dry hair. Be sure you’re using the correct products for a dry scalp.

8. Always use a heat protectant. Forgetting to use it once is fine, but if you’re flat ironing your hair on a regular basis with no form of protection, your hair will become fried, leading to more bad hair days than good.

9. Utilize the cool setting on your blow dryer. While heat styles hair, cool air sets it. Spending 20 minutes blow drying your hair can go to complete waste if you don’t set the blowout with colder air.

10. Consider taking biotin or fish oil supplements. Typically used when girls want their hair to grow, these supplements help bring strength and shine to your hair on a regular basis.

11. Never be without bobby pins. Some mornings when you leave your house your hair can look amazing, and then a rainstorm hits. To make sure you’re never without bobby pins, stash 10 or so in the coin purse of your wallet.

12. Know what kind of maintenance you can handle before you get a cut. Those long bobs that are everywhere now? They take some work if your hair’s natural texture doesn’t work with the cut. The lowest maintenance hair is long, layered cuts. Short hair requires styling just about every day.

13. Find a headband that goes with everything. Whether you wear mostly black, brown, white or otherwise, find a simple, plain headband that can be used to jazz up your hair on a morning when you’ve got no time and a big hair problem.

14. Learn three hairstyles you can do in under five minutes. Whether it’s twisting hair back from each temple and securing into a bun, a fishtail braid or a sleek ponytail, having go to styles in your hair arsenal will cut down on stress when your tresses just won’t behave.

15. Go for deep conditioning. It doesn’t need to be at the salon, or even very frequent, but especially if you’re heat styling your hair, a deep conditioning treatment will help keep moisture in your strands, which will keep your hair looking healthy.

16. Use product before you style your hair. If you’re curling your hair, apply mousse first. If you’re straightening it, use a balm. For blowouts, use a spray. Applying a product before you style gives the end result a way longer chance of lasting, so you can either do your hair less frequently or just rest easy knowing your hair will make it through an entire day.

17. Get yourself a good serum. If you’ve got fine hair or thick hair, look for serums specifically formulated for your type. Frizz, dryness and generally unruly hair can be tamed with serum.

18. Unless you absolutely need to, don’t wash your hair every day. Shampooing hair every day can dry out your strands and, if you’ve got color treated hair, fade your color much more quickly.

19. Get into a routine. For ladies who never have a set time to do their hair, it may always seem like a chore. But, if you know that you’ll always be doing your hair every other night of the week, you’ll be less likely to get lazy about it.

20. Research styling tools before you buy. There’s a world of difference between a good blow dryer and an awful one, and learning which is which before the purchase is key.

21. Make sure you’re going to a good hairdresser. If you’re wasting your money on a bad cut, you’ll also be wasting your time on trying to style it so that it looks good.

22. Try a DIY hair mask at home to put some shine and hydration into your strands. For a fraction of the cost of a salon, you can treat your tresses to some major TLC.

23. Drink tons of water. Hydration starts at the inside out, and keeping your body hydrated will help your hair stay healthy.

24. Use a wide-tooth comb when hair is wet and a brush when hair is dry. Brushing wet hair causes major breakage, which can leave your hair looking dry and unhealthy.

25. Try texturizing spray. Textured hair (or dirty hair) is much easier to work with because it holds style better. On days when your hair needs to be put in a braid, bun or ponytail, the style will hold all day long if you use a spray first.

Clairol Shimmer Lights Shampoo-Review

Want to tone down brassiness in your hair? This is a great, inexpensive way to accomplish that.  I bought mine from Sally Beauty for $8.79 for sixteen ounces.  My hair is dark blonde with highlights, but pulls red because my mom was a redhead.  I also bought the matching Shimmer Lights conditioner at Sally’s for $11.79.  I don’t use the conditioner because it’s too drying. I mix half Shimmer Lights shampoo with my regular shampoo and leave it on for 3 minutes.  Not only does it do a great job of getting rid of the brassiness, but it refreshes my highlights. I deep condition my hair every time I shampoo. I have hard water at my house too, so that contributes to the brassiness.

 

I think the best thing I have noticed since using the Shimmer Lights shampoo; is that I have cut down on how often I have to color my hair. I have quite a bit of gray hair, and this is saving me a ton of money on visits to the salon.

 

http://www.sallybeauty.com/blonde-shampoo/CLAIRL3,default,pd.html#q=Clairol+Shimmer+Lights&start=1Clairol Shimmer Lights Shampoo 1-24-15

Quick hair styling tip

When styling your day after hair, instead of adding more styling product, simply mist your hair with water.  This will reactivate the product you already have on.  This only works if you are using heat on your hair. Otherwise you will just end up with a wet head.

Suave Professionals Volumizing Mousse-Review

This a great mousse if you have fine, curly hair.  I’ve been using it for several months and have seen a big difference in how full my hair looks.  I can wear my hair naturally curly, and it’s not frizzy at all.  Best part it’s only $2.88 at Wal-Mart.  I’ve tried so many mousses over the years, and this is by far the best.

Suave Professional Volumizing Mousse 1-17-15.jpg-1-17-15 Me

A retouched photo, only because the original was too dark. And I seemed to have lost an eyebrow in the process.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Suave-Professionals-Volumizing-Mousse-7-oz/16618906

Great Clips Review-Don’t let the price fool you!

I’ve been spending a small fortune on my hair the past eight years.  I was taking my son to my local Great Clips for haircuts; when I started going there for bang trims in between my overpriced haircuts and hair color.   I found a great stylist five years ago, but she effed up my hair eighteen months ago, so I went back to the overpriced salon. The thing that sucked was after spending so much money, my hair just looked ok, and I was wearing my hair up 95% of the time.

 I have naturally curly fine hair.  I usually straighten my hair.  If I do wear my hair curly people assume I have a perm. Really?? Do people even perm their hair anymore? Any who, after having Teri cut my bangs for the last eighteen months I decided to let him cut my hair. What a pleasant surprise!  He did a great job.  I had a photo with me, and I got exactly what I wanted.  The price?  A mere $13.  My old salon was charging $42 and they didn’t even style my hair.  I guess I was overpaying for the head massage I got when they shampooed my hair.  I gave Teri $25 for my hair cut. He was shocked.  I’m guessing most people don’t tip like that at Great Clips.  I assumed because he was working at a lower end salon that I wouldn’t get a good cut. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Now I can use all the money I’m saving to buy more make-up. Oh hell, who am I kidding?? I’m going to buy more make up anyway.

Conair Heat Waves Hot Rollers Review- They’re back!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year!   When I say the Conair Heat Waves rollers are back, I mean hot rollers never went away, they just did for me. I myself have not used hot rollers for many years. I had no need; I just had a vast array of curling irons.  My hair is naturally curly, but I straighten it.  In this past year I’ve come down with the dreaded ‘menopause hair’. It sucks! Of course I’ve been in menopause for almost six years, so I guess I should consider myself lucky I didn’t get it sooner.  Menopause hair is gray, wiry, frizzy, and generally uncontrollable.  It especially blows for me because up until June of 2013, I had the most amazing hair I have ever had in my life. It was long, blonde, very healthy looking. You know your hair looks good when people you work with (that you know don’t like you) compliment you on your hair. Then in June of 2013, my hair was changed forever.  I had gotten some low lights for my blonde hair that ended up being too dark.  I went back to the salon to get it corrected, and my stylist left the bleach on my hair too long. My hair was damaged beyond repair.  I had been seeing this woman for 3 years, and I always tip very well. I was crushed.  My hair broke off and I had visibly thin spots on my scalp.  I spent nearly $400 buying hair pieces to cover up the damage.

We as women are usually obsessed with our hair.  A good hair day can make a big difference on your outlook for the day. I’m middle aged, so having awesome hair was really a treat for me.  My hair finally grew back, but it’s never been the same since.  Luckily for me I look okay with my hair up. But I’ve been wearing my hair up for the past eighteen months. You kind of look like an old lady when you wear your hair up all the time.  I take pride in my appearance, by wearing make-up and having a stylish wardrobe.

I never did tell my former stylist how much she ruined my hair.  I was afraid I might punch her if I went back. It’s ironic because she was always telling me what great condition my hair was in, and I could go for a long time between haircuts and highlight touch ups. My dermatologist told me I shouldn’t put any bleach on my hair for at least twelve months, use Moroccan oil and take biotin supplements.

I went to back to a salon I had frequented in the past, but stopped going to because they got too expensive.  I was told that there really wasn’t anything they could do.  The stylist told me to go on Pinterest to look for cute up dos. Are you flipping kidding me? Nothing I can do?  I had spent over $300 at this salon getting partial highlights and hair cuts on several occasions.  The stylist told me she felt sorry for me, but really could not do anything about my hair.

Conair Heat Waves Hot Rollers 1-3-15
Pre Jacked up Hair  Jan 2013

Before hair disaster

Well, I tried yet another salon.  This time the stylist was older and was very knowledgeable. She was familiar with my ‘menopause’ hair and suggested hot rollers. What an angel!  I always use a heat protecting product when I style my hair, but the Conair Heat Waves rollers are flocked, they also heat up in 85 seconds.  What a great alternative to using a curling iron. I’m getting the same results but not damaging my hair.

I bought my Conair Heat Waves at Ulta.com for $15.99, the regular price is $33.99, but they were on sale and I had a 20% off coupon. Here is a link to Ulta.

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod540578&skuId=2050458&_requestid=189261