New Haircut! - Salon 1219 (Phoenix, AZ)

I know...it's crazy that I actually grew hair to my butt.  I never really wanted my hair THAT long, but with all the stuff going on, I just didn't have a chance to cut my hair.

You can kinda see how I had ombre in my locks.  It had originally started around my ears, and just grew out a little longer.  I've always hated how your tips get so thin your hair is extra long.  I think it looks kinda gross...especially of the girls who have hair down to their knees, but it's like 10 strands that are that long, lol.

The main reason I wanted to cut it, is because I am now doing my own housekeeping.  People who have had to work my hair getting everywhere have often complained to me, but I've just ignored it.  But now that I have to clean it up myself, I have seen the error of my ways.  My hair was getting caught up in EVERYTHING, especially the vacuum.  I would only be able to vacuum for about 3 minutes before I would have to clean out the brushes from my hair.  And I'm only talking about a week's worth of hair!!  Jeez.  So I decided it was time to chop it off and make it easier on everyone (especially me).  When I look at this pic, I kinda miss my longer hair, hahaha.  I need to stop.

Sooooo, I asked my friend where she gets her hair cut, since I have no clue what is good out here in Phoenix.  She pointed me to Crista @ Salon 1219.  Since I had been referred, she gave me 50% off my first appointment with her. WIN! Lol  I decided to cut off about 8 inches.  I know that's not exactly dramatic or anything, but I wanted to keep my ombre!  I also wanted to go lighter, in case I could do a cool color.  Unfortunately, my work only allows for "natural" color hair.  I may do a red later on, but I kinda wanted Teal or Pink.  I wonder if I could get away w/ pink....It's a natural color, right? LOL

I haven't cleaned my condo up yet this week (it's a Sun/Mon kinda thing), but hopefully my hair won't keep messing with the vacuum.

Anyhoo, back to the actual haircut.  I think it turned out really nice!  And the ombre is also blended pretty smoothly.  Some people don't understand what ombre is...one girl, who works at one of those flat iron booths in the mall, asked me if I was growing out my color. WTF, she works in the hair industry!  She should be up to date on stuff like this!!!  Can you tell I'm bitter? LOL  I told her it was ombre and she asked what that was.  JEEZ, not buying anything from her, that's for sure!  (Sorry, moving back to my hair...) I also liked the way Crista curled my hair with a flat iron.  I tried to dupe this back home and it just didn't work right, lol.  Going to stick w/ a curling iron for now.  =)  The pics speak for themselves: long, old, thinning hair to medium, fresh, healthy hair. Hehehe

So yes, I am very happy with how my hair turned out.  I might even go back and get it dyed red in the near future. =)  If you are in the Phoenix area and want to give Crista a shot, just tell her that I referred you so you can get 50% off your first appointment.  Here's the Yelp link: http://www.yelp.com/biz/salon-1219-phoenix

Hmm...next plans hopefully include more nail designs and my Flash N Go review.

Till next time!!

Disclaimer:
1. I paid for my haircut & color myself.
2. I am not affiliated with Salon 1219.
3. I was not paid to write this blog.
4. These are my honest opinions.

Where did April Go? - Ciate Velvet Nails Review

No seriously, where did April go?  I guess with all the moving and travelling, time just flew.  I can't believe we're in May, and I'm ready to make a post about stuff I've been doing the last few weeks.

This pic on the left is just a random manicure I did.  I used Zoya's Evvie as a base, and just used striping polishes to make a weird plaid effect.  I didn't really have a plan, so it's not as cool as I'd like, but I did have fun.  What's that on my ring finger you ask?  A Totoro...no really, that's what it's supposed to be, lol.  So...what I did was striped two stripes across the nail in Black, and then one stripe in white down the nail and one stripe in silver glitter.  Now....if I had a plan, I would've alternated the black stripes with the ones going down, so that it had a cool layered effect.  Ahhh, hindsight.  LOL  I still like the Totoro though. Hahahha.  I'm sure I got it from someone's nail video, but I did these so long ago, I can't remember who's.  You know I'm usually pretty good about where I get my ideas from...so...yeah.  If you know where this came from, just leave it in the comments below. =)

NYC was so much fun!  I went there for a friend's wedding and decided to dress my nails up a little bit.  I didn't realize this pic was blurry, but it's the only one I have!!!  So here, I properly alternated the stripes so that it has a cool layered feel to it.  Here, I used Zoya's Reagan as the base.  I just used Reagan on the tips in a Chevron pattern, and then completely covered the ring finger.  Then I used a Silver Glitter Striper to make an X along the edge of the Chevron.  Then I used the White Striper to draw another X a little highter than my silver X.  I think it turned out pretty cool and fancy for a wedding. =)  YES, these stripers were new...that's why I wanted to use them for everything!!

And finally to the review!!  I'm not sure if you can see the velvet on the nails in the pic to the left.  They are really hard to take a picture of, but I can tell you that you can totally feel them on the nails.  Let's back up to the beginning.  So last month, Sephora had their 15% off coupon circulated.  Usually, this is the time I buy all sorts of stuff that I want, but didn't want to pay full price on (like tools and stuff).  I ended buying a cartridge for my Flash n Go (I know I promised a review on this too! It is coming, I swear!) and the Ciate Velvet Nails in the Berry Poncho color.  I know they look all magenta-ish in the pic, but it's the flash that makes the colors all wonky.  Anyhoo, I was very excited to get this, and I'm fairly happy with the results.

The kit costs $19 and comes with a bottle of polish, a container of crushed velvet, and a small brush.  After some trial and error, I was able to get the results show.  I think my next time trying it out, I will be able to have much better results.

Following the instructions, they don't mention a base coat, but I used one anyway. Then you are supposed to put on one coat of the polish on all the nails.  When you start applying the 2nd coat, you only want to do one nail at a time.  You apply the 2nd coat, sprinkle on some crushed velvet, and then tap it onto your nail, and use the brush to gently remove the excess.

Where I ran into problems was the "sprinkling" part.  I could not get a nice layer of crushed velvet on my nails before the polish started drying.  Instead, I took off the entire cap of the container and (more or less) poured the crushed velvet on.  This was SUPER messy...the velvet seriously got EVERYWHERE.  I don't have any recommendations at this point on how to keep this procedure neat (besides just trying to get the crushed velvet through the holes!).  I hate wasting product, but I ended up vacuuming most of the mess away.  I tried my best to recapture all the crushed velvet I could, but, like I said, it was EVERYWHERE.

And why is it that polishes dry faster when we need it to stay wetter longer?  LOL  Maybe I'm just slow.  Once I had done a few fingers, I kinda got the hang of it.  Try to gently pat the crushed velvet all over the nail.  I noticed I had less on the border of my nail bed.  And once you are done with all the nails, that's it.  You don't need to apply a top coat (that would defeat the purpose, lol).

Hmm, so the manicure lasted about 4 days pretty nicely.  Then the tips started wearing thin and the velvet didn't have the same furriness as the first day.  You can still feel that there is texture on the nail, but it definitely does not feel like velvet on the 7th day.  The fact that I can still sport this manicure on the 7th day is pretty cool.  Like I said, just some wear and tear at the tips, which is natural.  I'm actually surprised the texture lasted this long, with all the times I've washed my hands or showered or washed dishes (yes, I know...I should wear gloves!).  I remember being very skeptical the first time I washed my hands after the manicure.  I was very gentle about it, and wiped my hands dry gently as well.  I was happy to note that my nails felt exactly how they did before I washed my hands.  I think I was extra gentle only the first couple of days...and then it was normal handwashing from then on.  I would treat this manicure as any other manicure...regular handwashing, but maybe a little extra gentle when dishwashing.  And no angry typing, lol.

I absolutely loved the feel of the nails.  I showed it off to everyone I could, and they felt impressed (I think?) LOL.  At first I was thinking this would be a fun going-out manicure, but the fact that it lasted a few days makes me rethink that.  I think it's a fun every day sorta manicure. =)  And I'm sure your co-workers and classmates and friends will enjoy feeling it too.  Hahahha

So, onto the break down:
Pros: Feels awesome, stays on for a few days, and relativity easy to apply.
Cons: $19 may be a little pricey, it's messy to apply, and the colors are limited (2 atm).

If you've tried this, let me know what you think!  I plan to do a small post really soon about my new haircut. =)

Till next time!

Disclaimer:
1. I bought all the products mentioned in this blog with my own money.
2. I am not affiliated with any of the companies of products mentioned in this blog.
3. No one paid me to write this blog.
4. These are my honest opinions.