Baking Soda As Shampoo- Friday Fun and Announcements

As requested here’s my video on using baking soda as a shampoo!

Here’s a link to my Bergamot Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/VioletLeBeaux?ref=si_shop

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Music: Garageband .
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A blog and Youtube channel about a girl and her quest to make everything sparkle. New craft, hair and beauty tutorials every week!

Violet LeBeaux spends most of her time trying to think of ways to make life prettier, posting said ways on her blog and drinking very strong tea. She writes about big hair cute things, girly fashion, beauty finds, sometimes Hime Gyaru fashion (姫ギャル) and crafty tutorials.

She lives with her adorable boyfriend Jimmy, fluffy puppy Miss Lottie and Bergamot Bunny in Melbourne, Australia.

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Music: Garageband unless otherwise credited

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Hello and welcome to Friday video number 2.
Today I’m gong to be talking about using baking soda as shampoo.
So baking soda.
Firstly, is baking soda the same as baking powder?
No. Not the same thing at all, only use baking soda also known as bicarb soda.
I use mckensie’s because it’s the cheapest one. You really don’t need to use much each time so for $1.50 you’ll probably get a whole month or more’s worth.
So step by step, how do you actually use it as shampoo?
#1 don’t use shampoo obviously.
Instead of shampoo you would get a little cup of water. I use the lid from James’ shaving cream. Put a couple of spoons in there and then fill the rest up with warm water.
Then I mix it around with my finger until it’s mostly disolved and put it through your hair.
Massage it to the roots like your would a normal shampoo and make sure to get it really close to the roots because that’s where most of the oil and grease is.
Then I leave it on there for a couple of minutes, maybe 3 minutes? I don’t really have a clock in my shower so.
Once I’m satisfied that my hair is clean I wash it out.
So that’s really it.
Afterwards if you want to you can use a conditioner. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.
And if I do, I avoid the roots because again that’s usually where my hair gets oily.
Using the baking soda took me a while to get used to because it really doesn’t feel like shampoo.
And honestly until you get out of the shower and completely dry your hair it doesn’t feel clean, not even a little bit.
When it goes in it’s kind of grippy, I guess is the word, like when you rub two pieces of velvet together and all of the little fibres catch on each other.
When you shampoo you get a lather, this doesn’t lather at all. Also when you shampoo your hair and you dry it it had that light airy feeling, you know you feel like you’re in a Pantene commercial and you’re flipping your hair around and you’ve got a big fan blowing in your direction to get the perfect hair flick off to the side.
This isn’t like that.
Once you dry your hair it feels amazing.
It’s really soft and smooth. The texture of my hair feels a lot better now than when I was using shampoo.
I could totally do the commercial with the fan and the wind blowing.
It takes a bit longer to dry than traditional shampoo, I imagine it’s because that has special ingredients to quicken the drying time or whatever and this is just baking soda, nothing fancy.
And that’s pretty much it.
With baking soda I don’t seem to was as often because it doesn’t seem to need it.
I think that’s probably to do with the fact that some shampoos strip the natural oils out of your hair and that’s stuff you want in there.
So your scalp maybe overcompensates and makes extra. Again I’m not an expert so I haven’t no idea the science behind this, I just know it works for me.
This seems a bit more gentle though and I don’t have to wash as often.
As I mentioned in my previous video on using it as dry shampoo, there were a lot of comments asking whether it was the same as using talcum powder.
Or baby power. Yes and no. It’s the same in that they do both get the job done.
But when you wash it out it comes out a lot easier than talcum
For the full transcription take a look at the blog post or turn on captions.

Ebook Review- Living Frugally Without Sacrificing Your Style

My lovely friend Vanessa of NessBow.com just released her latest ebook and she sent me a copy to review! I was really excited because it’s topic is “Living Frugally Without Sacrificing Your Style”. Why yes, that is completely up my alley.

From her Etsy listing:

I’m a thrifty, canny young lass who hates paying full price for anything. I’ve never had a huge income, but I’ve always managed to live stylishly on the money I have. I’ve compiled all my money-saving tips into one 42-page e-book for your reading pleasure.

The e-book covers topics such as:
-Setting a budget
-Clothes shopping on a budget
-Resisting impulse buying
-Cutting your household costs
-Avoiding money traps
-Saving for that special something
-Recessionista beauty tips
-Overcoming the stigma of frugality

And much more!

This e-book is a must for anyone who is looking to save for something special, or who just wants to cute down on their spending, without giving up their style.

Of course Vanessa knows I don’t play favorites in my reviews so here are my honest thoughts on it step by step.

Value:

The book is $5 and 42 pages long. Considering that’s all text and no images I think that’s fantastic value. The fact that it was completely text was both good and bad because it was *a lot* of information but I also felt that being a visual learner I may have absorbed more of it had there been some break with images.

Every single page is filled with tips and tricks for budgeting and making the most of your money for your lifestyle. I’ve read way too many books on this topic and to be honest they do all tend to blur together because they use the same general ideas, this book actually had some I hadn’t heard (like keeping muesli bars in your handbag to avoid impulse expensive snacking) so I was quite surprised and will be incorporating them into my lifestyle.

Style of writing:

Vanessa writes with the voice of someone who has experience in the topic of being on a strict budget. I know that voice well because I’ve been in the same boat as her since moving out of home at 17. She writes very positively and gives real ideas that are actually realistic for young people who are for whatever reason strapped for cash. The book tries to lift the negative image of being “frugal” which I think is really positive. I know I’ve been teased for not having money to splash around so it was very easy to relate to. She includes anecdotes from her time growing up as a student too which were really cute.

Topics covered:

All of the basic money topics were covered (budgeting, cutting down expenses, shopping tips etc) but there were also chapters dealing with lifestyle issues such as fitness, treating yourself and saving up. I liked that approach because it while style was a big focus I felt like it didn’t leave behind other aspects of life. It was a good round list of topics.

I liked that she suggested cost effective ways to pamper yourself rather than just cutting out luxuries. Obviously being a book about living stylishly on a budget there were lots of suggestions for that including shopping advice and ways to save up for dream items.

There is definitely a big emphasis on financial responsibility with advice on saving money for a rainy day as well as being able to save and shop for the present. Honestly it always astounds me how little many people of my generation save money even when they are on good incomes. I’ve always been the kind of girl who would put away money just in case and that’s saved me many times!

Giving gifts was another topic that I thought she covered very well, I know I’ve been in the situation when there are several birthdays around the same time and I panic trying to find things within my budget and this is a topic often forgotten in these kind of guides.

Overall:

While some of the topics covered are basic tips the book goes into detail for many other topics and as someone who has been living on a small income for many years I still found things new to me. I think it’s good value for $5 as I could see the tips inside it saving far more in the long run if you’re unfamiliar with budgeting or living on small means.

Definitely worth checking out if you’re on a small budget and looking for ideas on how to stay stylish.

I enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to Vanessa’s next book.

Check it out for yourself over here in Vanessa’s Etsy store and while you’re there check out her other books too.

 

 

Extreme Make Over- Shoe DIY Tutorial Edition!

This shoe make over was a multi step process, in fact it took me around a month of doing part of it then forgetting the rest to actually complete them!
VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70741_18849

Worth it thought because they are pretty damn cute!

VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70740_18848 This is how they started out life: VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-60727_17691

They were cast offs from my Mum who bought them but decided they didn’t fit very well. I’m not so big on snake skin pattens or brown so I thought I could use them to experiment with new ideas. They were completed in 3 steps: 1. Painting 2. Glitter Soles 3. Decoration.You need:

  • Shoes
  • Fabric paint/puff paint
  • Glitter
  • PVA or fabric glue
  • Paint brush
  • Ribbon
  • Hot glue
First thing to do is paint the entire shoe. I decided to try out puff paint that I had left over from window decorations.
VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-60729_17693
It worked really well but took several coats.

VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-60735_17699 Having such a sheer colour was actually good because it was easy to get the colour I wanted. The snake skin pattern still showed through in a really interesting way too so I didn’t keep going to make it opaque. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-60807_17771 I used 3 coats and left it to dry overnight between each. Next up the glitter soles. These techniques have been all over the internet recently and Wookie Wife did a fantastic version of it over on her blog with bright blue glitter that looks amazing! Anyway the basic idea is the same thing I did with the red glitter sneakers except that I was out of PVA so I used fabric glue. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70400_18512 Add the glitter to a container and add a good helping of glue. The more glitter you use the longer it will take to dry but the less coats you have to do. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70404_18516 Mix it all into a paste. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70405_18517 Paint the paste all over the soles of your shoes! VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70406_18518 You can tape off the edges if you want but it’s fairly easy to stay in the lines. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70409_18521 When it’s dry it looks like this… VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70427_18539 You can do the entire sole if you want but I figured it was a bit of a waste of glitter and I wanted to keep as much grip on the toes as possible because they are slightly too big for me already. Obviously you need to do the other shoe too XD VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70431_18543VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70435_18547 Now this step is important. Both the fabric glue and the pink puff pant dry with a slightly sticky texture, if you don’t seal them in somehow they will pick up every speck of dirt on the streets and the finish will become darker and dull. To get in before the dirt does just lightly dust them with some translucent make up finishing powder. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70439_18551 I used a make up brush that I was planning on washing that night anyway. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70441_18553 Because it’s translucent it doesn’t dull the finish at all but it protects them from having dirt stick there. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70445_18557VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70446_18558 Now they’re pretty cute but they needed something else. I decided to use up some thick ribbon that came on a present. VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70727_18835 A couple of bows and some hot glue later they were finished! VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70729_18837 I have to say they have come pretty damn far from their original form and I love them! VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70730_18838 They are low enough to be comfy and the pattern showing through the pink makes them so much more interesting! VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70733_18841VioletLeBeaux-Painted-Shoes-Tutorial-Glitter-70738_18846 What do you guys think?

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