Tools for an at Home Sunday Spa Day! #DIY

Sometimes we all need a little pampering and what's better than a little R&R. Sometimes, I find that an at home spa day at the end of a week can give me just what I need after a stressful week or event. We don't all have the time or money to go to an actual spa, it would be nice, but it can be just as nice (if not better) to give yourself a little pampering at home.  Here, I'll share the tools I am using right now for my mini at home spa day (which I happen to be doing today!)

To start, get your favourite scented candle going or a diffuser with your favourite essential oils. Somehow, it always creates a more relaxing atmosphere.

Next, grab your favourite tea or some lemon and water. I like to choose a detox tea or a relaxing one. Some of my favourite teas for relaxation are Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer or Lemon Balm (which I'm currently out of.) If you feel you need a detox, try some lemon in water, it's a good idea to drink this daily anyways- your liver and skin will thank you. Or, choose a detox tea, there are  a lot of good ones. The one pictured is Organic Lemon EveryDay Detox by Traditional Medicinals.

An at home spa day wouldn't be complete without a nice bath. Grab some Epsom Salts for relaxation, your favourite essential oil (I like lavender) and your favourite bubble bath. To make it more detoxifying you can add a few drops of tea tree oil or a box of baking soda (which would also make your skin super soft!)

Our hair can usually use some pampering too, I know mine does. Get out your favourite deep conditioning mask and leave it on for at least 20 minutes. Another favourite of mine is to put organic coconut oil on my dry hair before shampooing and leave it on for 10 minutes or so.

Next, you'll want to pamper your skin. Choose an exfoliator to start with and depending on your skins needs, follow up with a detoxifying or hydrating mask. These are my 2 favourites to pamper my skin; Pure and Simple's Sensitive Skin Exfoliant + Face mask followed by Pure and Simple's Rejuvenating Rosehip Mask.

Don't forget your hands and feet! I like to use the Amope electronic foot file on dry feet before I bathe. I was lucky enough to get this for free from ChickAdivor for trial purposes and it really does a great job- because it's rotating it does all the elbow work for you! I also like to use a crystal nail file for my nails as these files seem to last a life time!  Next, choose whatever nail polish colours make you feel joy on this day.

Finally, grab your favourite magazine or book or anything you enjoy to kick-back and relax. Whether it's an audible book, a movie or maybe your favourite TV show. Take this time for yourself and escape for a little while.

What are your favourite things to do to relax and unwind?

ps. Please come join the fun at Fabulous and Fun Life! Lot's of great blogs to check out or join in!

Amy

At Home DIY Facial: nu-pore Cucumber Collagen Essence Korean Sheet Mask

A while ago a friend of mine gave me one of those Korean face masks to try. It's one of those creepy looking one's with the eye and mouth holes cut out. It's been sitting around in a box that I have that's full of samples to try out. With my skin feeling a little dry and itchy lately, I finally decided to break it out and give it a try.  This one is the nu-pore Cucumber Collagen Essence Mask.

Claims: Purifying, soothing and moisturizing. It also says on the pack that it contains vitamin E and collagen. It claims to make your tired skin moistened, elastic, clear and relieves your stress. Use 2-3 times per week.  The package also contains a number of warnings like not to use on blemished, irritated or sunburned skin.

Ingredients: Water, glycerin, butylenes glycol, hydrolyzed collagen, cucumis sativus fruit (cucumber) extract, methylparaben, PEG-60 hydrogenated castor oil, carbomer, sodium hyaluronate, ceteth-20, steareth-20, tocopheryl acetate, glyceryl stearate, cetearyl alcohol, neopentyl glycol, dicaprate, cetyl ethylhexanoate, phenoxyethanol, sodium hydroxide, fragrance, allantoin, panthenol, disodium EDTA

Out of the package comes 1 pre-moistened mask -pictured above. It is very saturated. It says to apply to clean and dried skin and then to soothe your face with a toner before applying, unfold the mask and leave on for 15-20 minutes. Then, peel off the mask and massage the remaining collagen essence into the skin. After that I applied my normal toner and moisturizer.

It's a dark an rainy day here so I tried taking pictures in different lighting but couldn't seem to get rid of the shadowing. Seeing close ups of your own skin isn't much fun (just look at those pores!) But, hopefully you can see that my skin is hydrated after using the mask (I'm wearing a lip balm so my lips look super shiny). I have a lot of sun damage, scarring and imperfections on my skin and I didn't expect this mask to get rid of those problems (I probably need lasers for that!) What I found was this mask really did hydrate and soothe my skin as it claimed and that's just what I was looking for today. This mask was extremely easy to use and there was no mess to clean up afterwards. I would love to use these types of sheet masks but I will definitely be on the hunt for some without parabens in them.

Have you tried any sheet masks? Please let me know, especially if you know of any that are paraben-free and cruelty-free. 

Xo Amy

DIY: How To Lighten Roots at Home Between Highlights- Bump the Base (in 10 minutes)

I wanted to share with you how I lighten my roots at home myself in between highlights with my stylist. I am not a hairdresser and don't have any training (although I often wish I did!). These directions were given to me by my Stylist when I asked how I could lighten my base between highlights when I just can't take anymore of my roots!

A bit of background first: Unfortunately, I don't suit my darker hair. I was a blonde kid and like many people my hair grew darker as I got older. I have been highlighting my hair for as long as I can remember. I used to do it at home with the cap with the holes in it- ouch! Eventually, I had to get it professionally done and the results are much better but highlights are pricey! from around $70 for partial highlights (the crown area) to $100 and up for a whole head (this isn't including the cut and style!) Not only is it expensive, but my stylist is pretty far from me so I only go every 3-4 months. I've tried some stylist locally but found the one's that I went to were either not consistent or over-processed my hair to the point of tons of breakage!  I've even tried going back to different shades of brown more times than I can count and I've learned that I look best blonde.

My natural colour is between a level 5-6 from what I've been told and although it's very ashy and dull, it pulls a LOT of red! If I was a true level 6, as many hairdresser think I am, I could probably get a nice blonde with a box of hair dye in the ash family without it pulling so red and having to resort to bleach. I have seen a few well known stylist who told me I was a level 6 and they could get me a gorgeous blonde with just one step (not having to bleach and then tone), but, it always came out some shade of orange!

So, when the mood strikes and I can't take anymore, I go to it with my Stylist's valuable instructions in hand! If you are interested in giving this a go, here are the deets....

Here is what you'll need: 

• 20 vol developer (Goldwell 20 volume)
• hair colour (Goldwell 10P)
• mixing bowl
• Tint brush (I got my mixing bowl and tint brush in a kit at the dollar store)
• shot glass (I use for measuring)
• gloves
• Towel and clothing you don't care about getting dye on
• a clock or timer

The colour I use is Goldwell Topchic in 10P (for"pastel pearl blonde" it's a cool tone to keep as much brassiness out as possible)

Mix a 1:1 ratio of dye to developer. 1/2 of the tube of dye is 30g. (I use a shot glass to measure the developer)

1:1 Ratio

Mix well:
Here is your product ready to be applied

Instructions for application:

• Shampoo hair and towel dry
• comb through hair
• put on gloves
• apply your toner (mixture) to roots with brush, sectioning with fingers or end of brush
• massage toner into roots throughout the hair
• leave on for short time, keeping an eye on it for desired results (approx 6-10 minutes) -this is the tricky part for me; if I leave it too long it does get lighter but I get more orange to it, if I get it just at the right time, I get a lighter, softer brown/dirty blonde look. (I don't have a trained eye for this so sometimes it comes out better than others, but it's always better than the super-dark roots) 
• rinse dye out thoroughly
• condition
• rinse 
• apply leave in conditioner if you like or other styling products and style

These are my roots from the top view (yuk, I know) and to make matters worse, I have a few grey hairs right where I part my hair! And a side view. This is about 2 months of growth since my last highlights:

Here are the final results (my hair has been dried but not styled.) It's not perfect, but definitely softened the look.

Here is a close up of the final product (again, just a rough blow dry, not styled.) As you can see, it really does soften the drastic difference between my highlight and my natural root colour, softening and blending it with the rest of my hair- it's def. an improvement from my original roots! I left the product on for about 8 minutes and it did come out with just a hint of orange to it this time, not as ashy as I would like, but it sure beats the dark roots. And, it will buy me some time before I have to go see my stylist and shell out $150 for highlights, cut and blow-dry. Note: I do have a few grey's where I part my hair and this volume of developer is not high enough to cover them, plus, leaving it on for only a few minutes is not long enough for grey coverage. Therefore, If you have a lot of grey's I wouldn't suggest this method, but if you only have a few this will help blend them in.

My stylist said it's better to leave it on for less time rather than more to avoid getting it too light or too brassy, and if it's not light enough just repeat the process another day.

Note: if your hair is even a shade lighter than mine, you should get great results!

You can purchase Goldwell 10P and other similar products linked here. Goldwell 20 volume developer is linked here.

I am so happy I asked my hairdresser how to do this. It may not be perfect but it really makes a difference for me, not only in how I feel about the way I look, but it saves me some time and money. The hair colour is only about $12 for 2 applications! The developer bottle is not expensive and will last a long time since you only use 1 oz. The gloves and mixing bowl with brush are only a few dollars and I reuse the same ones each time.

Let me know if you try this or if you need anymore details on how I do this.

xo Amy