DIY Nourishing Hair Mask

No Thursday update this week because I pretty much told you all the highlights of my week as they happened... 'they' being St Paddy's day and working my face off, both at Brooklyn and at school. I had big stuff every day of school this week! a five page paper here, a final paper proposal there, and a big fat midterm to finish it off yesterday. It was overwhelming to have all that facing me immediately after spring break, but now the next few weeks of school should be relatively calm and even-paced.

Today I am working on something that I literally have been avoiding and procrastinating for just about a year- my retroactive medical withdrawal from the spring 2012 semester. Big fat stressed-out sigh. I stopped attending school when it all became "too much", realizing that despite my efforts I had tried to resume my normal life too soon. Due to the conditions of my withdrawal I can blame it on medical reasons but I have to write a whole statement explaining my situation, as well as go around to the 4 professors whose classes I stopped attending and ask them to fill out a form supporting my withdrawal. Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, it is very difficult for me to take my thoughts back to those troubling times, let alone write at length about them and present them to other people to be judged for their worthiness or whatever. Blah. So I didn't do it for months and months. But I only have until the end of this semester so today I'm just going to do it.

On top of that, I'm going in to work today at 4 and it's the spring 4th ave street fair this weekend... which means lots of hungry people that have been walking around in the sun all day demanding slices. I like working the counter but street fair is always pretty high intensity.. so we'll see how that goes.

To take the edge off a bit on my busy and stressful day, I'm going to do at least one of my weekly beauty categories... probably face today. A nice steam and facial should ease the tension, I hope. Yesterday I did my hair and I whipped up this simple little hair mask that I wanted to share with you guys! It's full of protein in the form of Greek yogurt and egg yolk so it is very nourishing and strengthening for your locks. The olive oil is moisturizing, softening, and adds to shine, while the honey is conditioning and also contributes shine and luster to dry, limp hair.

Greek yogurt and honey is one of the most delicious things ever and making and using this mask reminded me of drizzling gobs of golden honey onto cold, super-thick, creamy bowls of yogurt in Greece a couple summers ago. It certainly smelled the same! The honey and yogurt I had wasn't as nice as that stuff but it still made my hair look and feel great and was a nice mid-week boost.

You will need:
Olive oil
Yogurt
Honey
1 egg

Start by separating the egg yolk from the white. The yolk is high in fat and protein which makes it great for your hair while the egg white is super low in calories and great for your waist ;) You can discard the white or use it to make a healthy omelet, meringues, or a number of other yummy goodies.

Put the yolk in a small bowl and use a fork to break the membrane and mix it up real quick. Did you know an egg yolk is one cell? I learned that in like 7th grade science and found it fascinating.

Drizzle in about 1 tbsp olive oil. Since I was doing my full hair treatment yesterday, I had some leftover olive oil from my hot oil scalp rub so I just used that.

Squeeze in some honey next, about 2 tbsp. If you have raw honey, use that! I just had this Kroger stuff on hand. Whisk the oil and honey thoroughly into the egg yolk.

Finally, a healthy dollop of Greek yogurt, about 1/4-1/2 cup. Mix it up real good and you have your mask!

To use, moisten hair with a spray bottle full of HOT water. use your hands, a comb, or a combination of the two to apply the mask to all of your hair but particularly to the length and ends. I like to get mask all over my hands and rub/rake it through my hair, then use a wide tooth comb to distribute it evenly. Twist your hair into a bun on the top of your head, wrap your whole scalp/hair in plastic wrap (you aren't going anywhere, right?) and then wrap it all up in a hot towel. leave on for 10-30 minutes, whatever you have time for, and then rinse it out well and wash normally in the shower. Tada! Revitalized, nourished, shiny hair :)

It's the weekend! YAY!

DIY Lavender Vanilla Body/Face Scrub

Today I'm doing my skin/face portion of my weekly beauty regimen. I whipped up a deliciously fragrant, soothing scrub this morning to use as my skin exfoliant! This scrub is ideal for the whole body and can even be used on your face! It's chock full of great, natural ingredients that are AMAZING for your skin, AND you probably have them in your kitchen right now (and if not, they're definitely at the grocery store or natural foods store). The best part is it will cost you only a few pennies and minutes to make!

The scrub contains:

Sea salt, which is a natural detoxifier, exfoliant, antiseptic, and stress reducer. It is softer and more gentle than normal salt, which can sometimes tear at the skin when used in scrubs.

Sugar, which is another exfoliant that is much softer and gentler on the skin than salt- the mix of both sea salt and sugar in this scrub gives all the benefits of both with an end product that is gentle enough to use on your face. Sugar also contains glycolic acid, which conditions and moistens the skin while protecting it from toxins.

Olive oil, which is well known for its moisturizing and soothing properties. Olive oil also contains vitamin E which has been proven to have anti-aging effects.

Grapeseed oil, which is hydrating like olive oil and also is chock full of antioxidants which work against skin-damaging free radicals in the environment. It also lessens allergic reactions on the skin, protects collagen, and evens skin tone. All of these things result in more anti-aging effects.

Lavender essential oil, which can fight against acne and stimulate new skin cell production (helping to heal scars and burns more quickly). It also has calming and pleasant aromatherapy effects.

Vanilla extract, which along with the lavender makes this scrub smell absolutely amazing! Like a delicious floral cookie. If that makes sense.

Lavender VAnilla Scrub

2/3 cup sea salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 drops lavender essential oil

Optional aesthetic add-ins: scrapings from one vanilla bean, dried lavender flowers.

Combine salt and sugar in a bowl. Drizzle in grapeseed oil while stirring constantly (to help avoid clumps and unevenly dissolved salt/sugar). Grapeseed oil is a light yellow while olive oil has a distinct golden hue. This will make your finished scrub a definite yellow color. If you want it to be lighter (for instance, if you want to add food coloring later for aesthetic appeal without the oil altering the color) use all grapeseed oil.

just grapeseed oil

Add olive oil, once again stirring constantly. Add vanilla extract and lavender essential oil until you reach your desired scent/combination.

with olive oil added

Spoon the mixture into a mason jar or other airtight container and enjoy your new scrub!

To use, just massage onto moistened skin in circular motions to slough off dead skin. Concentrate on particularly dry/rough areas like knees and elbows. Then rinse off! It's perfect for using in the shower. The oil is a natural moisturizer so you wont even need to use lotion after.

A little goes a long way so this scrub should be good for several uses!

Making your own Light Tent for under 25$

When I was considering opening up an Etsy shop, one thing that I thought about was being able to take good, high quality photos of my products. It's so important to have clean, professional looking photos of products for advertising- especially when the customer is expected to purchase the product without ever getting to see it, touch it, or try it on in person! Dark, fuzzy camera-phone pics will just not grab the eye of any potential buyer.

I already have a very nice Nikon D40 DSLR which takes great photographs. However, without proper lighting and backdrop, the photos still wont look like "professional" quality. If you've ever wondered how photos of products with a smooth, bright white background like these pictures are taken...

...It's with a light tent! A light tent is typically a box large enough to hold small-medium sized objects for photographing. It is covered by fabric on the top and three sides, with one side left open. The back wall of the tent can be covered in fabric or paper, and curves smoothly into the floor to create a seamless backdrop with no edges or creases. The tent is the lit anywhere from one to all sides to get the lighting effect desired.

On amazon and photography shops, light tents can cost a pretty penny, sometimes up to a couple hundred dollars. This is not exactly a feasible option for someone starting a small online business! I decided, after a bit of research, to try my hand at making my own light tent for just a few dollars and about 45 minutes of construction time. Turns out it was really easy and the results were awesome!

The tutorial I used can be found here, but here's a basic rundown of the supplies and cost:

You will need
- a large, square-ish box. I got mine from work so that was free.
- 2 yards of white muslin fabric from Joann's or another fabric store. this was $1.25 a yard so only $2.50!
-2 large sheets of white bristol board, found near the yellow bristol drawing pads in the craft store- mine was a dollar a sheet. 2$.
-masking or packing tape, a ruler, a sharpie, exacto knife and/or scissors- assuming you already have these on hand, free.
- lighting fixture. I bought a clamp-on work light at home depot for $8.50. it's sturdy and works perfectly for what I need it for.
-light bulbs. I bought a pack of 4 100 watt "daylight" (provides bright white, rather than yellow light) bulbs for $8, also at home depot. 4 bulbs should last me years!

Total cost: 21$. Note that you can also purchase fewer bulbs, and if you already have an adjustable desk lamp (or any small lamp that can be moved around easily) you can omit the work light cost!

I'm really happy with how my light tent turned out. The quality is great! Here are a few example from when I was testing it out:

And here's the first product photo I took. It really helps the image appear clean and bright!

I'm really looking forward to continuing to use my light tent as I build up my shop. If you're interested in photographing products for a store or otherwise I encourage you to consider making your own light tent before you splurge on something you find online!

Have a lovely week!

Love, Em

Shampoo? Toothpaste? Face wash? Who needs 'em!

I am all about the semi-recent movement from fancy, expensive store-brought products to healthy, cheap alternatives. It turns out most of the things we are raised to believe are absolutely essential to personal hygiene are actually doing the opposite of what we want them to! One by one I've ditched my once-beloved products and moved on to things that not only feel better, save the environment and save me a whole lot of money.

1. The first things to go were shampoo and conditioner. I stopped washing my hair with them about a year ago and I haven't looked back. I wash my hair maybe once every two weeks with baking soda and vinegar, and other than that I just rinse it well when I shower. Shampoo is designed to strip our hair of it's natural oils, which is not only irritating to the skin but is completely counterproductive. These natural oils are responsible for shiny (not greasy), healthy, protected hair. When they are stripped away, our scalps overcompensate and create too many oils, leading to greasy hair that needs to be washed more often. Conditioner is just there to replace the oils that Shampoo takes out... so really it's entirely unnecessary if you leave the oils alone in the first place.

 When I wash my hair, I use a combination of a couple tablespoons of baking soda (because I have verrry long hair) and hot water, poured over my head in the shower and lightly massaged in. This gets rid of the dirt and grime without irritating my scalp or stripping away too many oils. I follow this with a mixture of a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and hot water, which acts as a natural conditioner/softener and leaves my hair shiny, soft, and voluminous.
To read more about washing your hair without shampoo and condition, you can look here.

2. I just ditched toothpaste about a week ago. That might sound absolutely appalling, but toothpaste is actually a pretty modern invention. One of those ways corporations trick us into paying money year after year when we don't really have to, you know? Instead of toothpaste, which is full of all kinds of fancy chemicals that I can't even begin to try to pronounce, I use a combination of baking soda and sea salt. Baking soda. It's just so useful, isn't it? Not just for the back corner of the fridge anymore. I made a mixture that was probably about 75% baking soda and 25% sea salt and I store it in a quarter pint sized mason jar in my bathroom. The mason jar helps keep the mixture air tight and moisture-free. I just wet my toothbrush, shake out the excess water, then dip the tip into the powder. 

When I first tried it I was pretty worried about the baking soda flavor- I am not a fan of the whole baking soda/warm water heart burn relief method- but I pretty much just tasted the salt. This was no problem for me because lately I've tended to prefer savory over sweet anyways. The baking soda cleans and whitens teeth (my teeth are whiter than they're ever been with "whitening" toothpastes), and the salt gently scrubs and promotes the production of saliva which keeps gums healthy.

Honestly I didn't research this nearly as much as I first researched using BS and ACV on my hair, but I felt pretty confident today when I went to the Co-op grocery store on 4th ave today (a haven of all things super healthy... and overpriced) and found a small bottle selling for 5 bucks called "tooth powder". The ingredients? baking soda, salt, and a small amount of peppermint to give a minty flavor. If the co-op is selling it and touting its health benefits, I feel pretty good about doing it for cents in my own home. For more info, you can look here.

3. I haven't officially tried this one, but it's getting hype all over the blogosphere. The idea is to ditch your fancy shmancy 8$ face wash (or 30$ if you use proactiv, like I did when I was a teenager) and wash your face with oil. Yes, oil. It's the same idea as the shampoo thing. Face wash basically strips your face of oil, which contrary to popular belief is NOT the cause of acne. Acne is caused by changing hormone levels and dirt and bacteria that clog the pores. Face wash gets rid of the grime, but also the naturally created oils that keep our skin radiant and soft. Thus, our skin over-produces oil, making our faces greasy and more likely to get clogged. Washing your face with oil dissolves the grease and grime and replaces it with clean, healthy oils. Also, it's apparently a great makeup remover.

When I stopped by the co-op today, I picked up a bottle of castor oil. I already had a bottle of grapeseed oil from some beauty products I made my mom and sister for christmas, however, I've heard extra virgin olive oil, sunflower oil, and several other types work well also. When I got home I mixed the two in a bottle I used for icing cookies last year (75% grapeseed, 25% castor). I plan on using it tonight for the first time. Here's what you do: put a small amount of oil in your hand. massage it onto your DRY face for about a minute. Get your tap water as hot as you can, and wet a washcloth with it. Put the washcloth over your face and just wait until the cloth reaches room temperature. Doesn't that sound like a great way to start/finish the day? Like a mini spa. Anyways, then rinse the washcloth and wipe the oil off your face. And that's it! Soft, smooth, radiant skin. Or so I hear. I'm super stoked to try this. Supposedly you only need to do it once a day (tops) for results. For more information, look here. 

Do you guys have any diy beauty products that you swear by? I'm pretty sure the next thing to go is going to be my deodorant, and then probably my volumizing mousse and hairspray. Let me know if you have any other suggestions!