Ion Color Brilliance: Take Two

Spurred on by how much I loved the Ion Color Brilliance Brights in Red this summer, I decided to try out the Magenta. Before I dyed my hair, though, I decided I need to take a bit of length off. So I ran to Supercuts, and got it cut.

Fresh cut hair, but not yet styled.

There are many reasons why I've been digging the Ion Color Brilliance Brights line, not the least of which is the fact that the color is cruelty free (in addition to be ammonia and peroxide free).

When I squirted it out of the tube, I could tell that the Magenta was different in more than just color. Colorwise, it was more purple-y than the Red had been. It also didn't stain random surfaces in the same way as the Red. It also rinsed out SO MUCH EASIER. Of course, this reduced pigmentation resulted in a much subtler color.

Not the best picture, but I was trying to get what it looked like under sunlight. (You can also see my purple scalp.)

 It doesn't have the punch of the Red, but my hair definitely looks dyed in the red/magenta family. It didn't do as good a job of covering the roots vs previously dyed bits to an equal intensity, but that's to be expected.

Indoor shot- this one shows the color a bit better.

I feel like the color looks a bit more red than either of these pictures show. I was a disappointed when I first did it, but it has been growing on me. It's not the crazy color I got before, but it's actually a really lovely color nonetheless. I can't decide if this makes me more or less hopeful to try the fushia or another similarly odd color. On the one hand, if they blend like this, then even if I don't love the color, it doesn't scream. On the other hand, I do want the option of crazy hair. I have another box of the Red already bought, so when this fades, I'll just have to decide it I want to do that again right away, or try the Fushia.

New Orleans Style Bread Pudding

On Saturday, I bought a day old French baguette as part of my dinner. Sunday, I used some of it to make open-faced grilled cheese slices to go with tomato soup (SO GOOD!) But I still had about half a loaf of bread that was getting more and more stale. So I decided to make some bread pudding. I've never had a bread pudding I really loved, but I couldn't think of anything else to make with stale bread of such a small circumference. I looked up a recipe on Food Network, and decided to go with Emeril's New Orleans Style Bread Pudding. I modified/simplified the recipe a bit to make use of what I had. It turned out to be delicious!

New Orleans Style Bread Pudding
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup bourbon
1 1/2 cups milk
4 cups stale bread (cubed)
1 cup rasins

1. Beat together eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and bourbon. (I used Jim Beam.) Add milk.
2. Stir in bread and raisins. Let sit for approximately 2 hours in the fridge (stirring once) so that the bread really soaks up the custard.
3. Grease a large loaf pan and preheat oven to 350F. Pour the bread mix into the pan and bake for 55 minutes or until custard is cooked.
4. Let cool 5 minutes in pan.

So what did I change? I swapped milk for half and half and reduced the overall liquid content (eggs and milk) by 25%, but I left the spices and sugar as it was for flavor. The reason being, bread puddings I've had in the past were too soggy. By reducing the amount of custard, the finished product had a much more pleasing texture. I also skipped making the Whiskey Sauce, mainly just because I didn't feel like making it. And I don't really miss it. The pudding is quite good by itself. I had some of it shortly after it came out of the oven, and I also had some re-heated tonight. It was of course better right out of the oven, but it wasn't half bad tonight. I have to say, the bourbon flavor really does make the whole dish more palatable.

Treasures from Grandma's House

I don't think I put this on my blog, but my Great Grandma Settle passed away in July, just after a visit the rest of my family had made to Oregon. She was the last one of her generation on that side of the family. Since then, my Aunts and Grandma have been sorting through the contents of her house, deciding what to keep, what to sell, and what to throw away. As a part of all that, I was sent a box of little things. Aunt Abby had let me know she was sending me something and I received the box last Friday right before work. I definitely got all teary eyed going through it. The best part was, there was a letter enclosed explaining what everything was. I decided to take pictures of everything and blog it, to have a record for myself.

Two books- one is to teach your shorthand, the other is about words. 

 The books are both pretty and something I'm excited to read through.

The brush belonged to Grandma Fisher. The coin purse wasn't on the list, but contained something else that was.

These are both really cool. I haven't decided whether or not to use the brush, or keep it in it's mint condition. I probably will end up using the coin purse at some point as it's just so cute.

Military handkerchief belonged to Grandpa Granville (two or three greats), the smaller handkerchief was embroidered by Great-Great-Grandma Fisher for her mother Abigail Granville. The little rectangles that say Yale are cigar or cigarette silks. They used to come in the boxes, and apparently Grandma Fisher collected and played with them.

These items were some of the things that made me tear up the most. It's so nice to just have old things from your family. Once I get my cork boards up, I think I'm going to hang the cigar silks on them.

This fun Americana/Pin-up apron was Grandma Settle's.

One can never have too many aprons. :)

Thank you note that I sent Grandma and Granddad years ago.

 This was the other thing that made me tear up. Aunt Abby said that Grandma saved every thank you and letter from her great-grandkids. She sent me this particular one of mine.

Turtle from Grandma Fisher's collection.

 Grandma Fisher collected all sorts of little animal figurines. I have a couple with my things in Maui. This little guy came in the box though. He's adorable! And I almost missed him too. He was hiding in the packing peanuts. Thank goodness I double checked the contents before throwing out the box!

Grandma Fisher's costume pearls (blush with a gorgeous clasp) and Grandma Settle's bird brooch. 

 I loved both of these so much that I knew I had to wear at least one of them right away. I decided the pearls went best with what I'd picked out, so I wore them to work. I got one compliment in person, and then a TON of likes when I posted this picture on Instagram/Facebook.

I'll admit it, it's heavily filtered. ;)

The last two things in the box I've already gone and re-purposed.

Grandma Settle's crystal vase/cup.

Mal's Mug which belonged to my great-great-grandfather Malcolm J. Fisher.

I realized that both of these would work excellently as beauty storage. I've been needing to add some storage, but was hesitant to use more tin cans. These are much cuter and I wanted to put them somewhere I'd see them a lot.

So. Much. Stuff. But at least it's organized!

Here you can see the mug and vase in their new home. Did I mention that I can't wait to move and have somewhere better to put my make-up than my dresser?

Enclosed in the box was also a slip from the USPS saying that "The enclosed has been damaged in handling in the U.S. Postal Service." Fortunately, nothing in the box was broken. And based on the explanation of contents, the only thing that seems to be missing as one of Grandma Settle's doilies. I'll be checking with Aunt Abby to make sure nothing else fell out. The post office says they'll try and recover anything that's missing if you tell them what it is, but I have a feeling that's an arduous and somewhat fruitless process. 

Budget Haul: Amazon and CVS

I mentioned in a post that I'd ordered a bunch of body butter off Amazon. Well, I finally got to pick it up from the post office on Monday. It was a box of awesome.

That's a lot of body butter!

On top is Tree Hut's Shea Body Butter in Coconut Lime. From left to right on the bottom is Village Naturals Aromatherapy Energize Orange and Grapefruit Body Butter, C. Booth Olive Oil Body Butter, and Burt's Bee's Cranberry & Pomegranate Body Butter.

Never forget, I got all this body butter for $35. Ridiculous. I've been using the Tree Hut one so far, since there are three of those, and I've really been liking it. The texture isn't super smooth and the scent isn't quite as delightful as I could have hoped, but it is by no means off-putting. And none of that really matters long once you've put it on. And it certainly does the job of moisturizing! I'll report back once I've tried some more of them.

I also thought I'd share a couple things I got at CVS today. I needed some more face wash, so I got the CVS Oil Free Acne Foaming Scrub Pink Grapefruit, which is the generic brand of Neutrogena's Grapefruit Scrub. I've been wanting to try the Neutrogena one, and CVS usually does a pretty good job at duplicating products. I also got some CVS Exfoliating Apriocot Towelettes. They seem to be similar to the ones from Target that I love, but are more convenient to go get (and they were 50% off because they were the second CVS facial product I bought). I also found these really cool soaps that were on sale for 69 cents each. The brand is Yardley. They're a UK brand and seem kind of awesome. All their soaps are paraben and sodium lauryl sulfate free, as well as not tested on animals. I have a ridiculous stock of soap already, but I couldn't resist the draw of what seemed like really amazing soaps for such a crazy price. So I picked out the Yardely Soap Oatmeal and Almond and the Yardley Naturally Moisturizing Bar Lemon Verbena with Shea Butter.

I also went and found a bunch of fun stuff for sale at Michael's, but most of that is gifts, so I can't tell you about it!

Outfits of the Week!

When I was in Maui, Lilly gave me a TON of clothes. So many clothes, in fact, that I realized I could wear a new outfit every day for the first two weeks of rehearsal and not repeat anything. To that end, I took way too many selfies this week. But behold, my outfits of the week!

I apparently was not at all consistent with how far I was away from the mirror, but you get the idea! I also unfortunately forgot to take a full body photo on the first day of rehearsal, but I did take a head shot when I got home. :)

Tuesday and Thursday were both shirts I got from Lilly. The dress I wore on Thursday was also from Lilly. The shirts I were on Wednesday and Friday were actually from Mum. Sunday we went to 10 o'clock mass at the local Catholic church, so I wore one of my tried and true dresses for that, rather than wearing something new.

I may do a similar thing for this coming week since there are still plenty of new clothes for me to wear! It also helped keep my spirits up and motivated me to lay out my clothes the night before, which makes my morning just go so much better.

Combating Eczema: Products I Like

If you follow my blog, you know that I battle against dry skin, especially in the winter time. It's one of the many reasons I learned how to make lotion bars (find my recipe here). It's also the reason I bought four different kinds of body butter off Amazon two days ago. And both those things are great and lovely and moisturizing. I find the lotion bar, especially, is great for extra, targeted moisture where I have actual eczema and not just general dryness. However, I found that I still hadn't found a great solution for when I'm at work, or doing stuff at my computer. Because, while they are incredibly moisturizing, lotion bars and body butter tend to be a bit on the greasy side, which is not ideal when I'm at work or touching electronics. I have also been having an eczema flare-up for the past few weeks, and on my dominant hand of all places, which is just driving me batty. So I really needed something to put on my hands multiple times a day that I wouldn't have to worry about letting soak in after I applied it. So, after a thourough internet and in-person search, I decided to buy the following two products:

First is the Up & Up Eczema Moisturizing Cream. On the package it says to compare to Aveeno Active Naturals Eczema Therapy Moisturizing Cream. I really like this lotion. It has an ever so slightly oatmeal scent and soaks in nice and quick. But it also moisturizes very deeply, makes my hands stop itching, and I can still feel the moisture in my hand over an hour later. I've been keeping it on my desk and using it every time after I wash my hands or whenever I feel I need more. I've also been using it at night before I go to bed and put on my lotion bar.

Second is the Up & Up Hand Cream Skin Repairing. This one says compare to Eucerin Intensive Repair Cream. It has a simple lotion-y scent and also is incredibly moisturizing, while also soaking in quickly. This one is a much smaller tube, so I threw it into my bag and have been using this one at work. I've been quite happy with it.

Sort of boring and mundane, but my hands were just driving me nuts and I was really happy to find a couple products that have been working well for me.

Quest for body butter and a BOGO surprise

So I have been on a quest to find a quality, but inexpensive body butter. My favorite body butters of all time are The Body Shop body butters, but regularly priced at $20, that's almost $3 an ounce. It does go on sale, but you've got to catch it when it is. The Trader Joe's body butters (Coconut and the seasonal Pumpkin) are delightful and well priced, but they are more or a mouse than a butter. I find that they don't moisturize for quite the same length of time as the body butters from Body Shop. After a bit of research, I decided I wanted to try the Cranberry and Pomegranate Body Butter from Burt's Bees. Online, it gives the impression that CVS carries them. However, after going to THREE different locations, I can tell you that they do not have them in store! It was imensely frusterating. In the end I had to order it online. I'll let you know what I think of it once it gets here!

But since I was going to CVS anyways, I picked up a few other things I needed. My pressed powder was almost out, so I picked up a wet n wild Coverall Pressed Powder in Fair/Light. I used to buy the pressed powder from their "Naturals" line (trying to get in on the market that Physician's Formula occupies), but it seems that they're fazing it out. I'm not picky about my pressed powder, as I only use it to even out and mattify whatever foundation I've used. And since CVS was doing BOGO 50% off, I also picked up a nice Coloricon Eyeliner in 650D Purple/Violet.

I also needed to get some dry shampoo, because my Garnier Volume Extended Instant Boost Dry Shampoo ran out yesterday. I wasn't dissatisfied with it, but I hadn't loved it, so I decided to try another brand. I almost got the CVS generic one, but ended up going with the Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Refreshing Dry Shampoo. I'd read some positive reviews about it, and it was also very reasonably priced. All the Not Your Mother's products were also BOGO 50% and they had an awesome deal on the Short Order Fiber Glaze Cream, where you can send in your receipt for a rebate of your purchase price. Which meant I got the Dry Shampoo for half off and the Fiber Glaze Cream for free! The cream isn't something I would necessarily have splurged on, but it was free! I used it this morning and will report back on how I like it. If nothing else, it smells delightful. I'll also do a review of the dry shampoo once I've used it.

And finally, the cherry on top of my day was the Spearmint and Tea Tree Pit Putty Deodorant I'd ordered waiting for me at home. I was starting to get desperate!