How I Went a Whole Week Without Washing My Hair

I have always been a wash my hair everyday kind of girl and honestly used to feel really impressed with myself if I managed rock second day hair once a week. However, with my wedding coming up in June, i’m REALLY trying to grow my hair longer. All of the bridal styles I love require super long hair. I’ve been trying to grow it out for a few years and was convinced it had reached “terminal length” … a kind of morbid term meaning it had grown to it’s longest possible length. I  was taking biotin and prenatal vitamins, avoiding the blow dryer at all costs, deep conditioning and using heat protectant spray when I curled or straightened… which i tried to do only once or twice a week.. I felt like I had tried it all. Except… cutting down on the frequency of shampooing. I really didn’t even think that was an option, because my hair gets too oily too fast. I started looking for alternate wedding styles that didn’t require such long hair. I didn’t love them… but I could make it work.

Then, as facebook does... it read my mind (and my search history). All of the sudden, every promoted post on my feed was about hair care. I stumbled onto a bunch of blog posts and BuzzFeed articles about healthy hair and the benefits of washing less often… or not at all.

I was very skeptical… but figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. And honestly, I’m obsessed with what my hair looks like on the 5th day of this experiment.

Day 1: I let my hair air dry and left it down for the day at school, mostly because I was lazy and didn’t want to style it... I pulled it into a scrunchy to sleep that night.

Day 2: This was a snow day… so I decided to try out a new way to curl my hair. In short, I separate my hair into a few scrunchies, curl the hair in the scrunchies with my THEORIE Saga flat iron and release the curls.  Refer back to my “5 Minute Curl” post if you want to know the details.

Day 3: I woke up with one of those really bad parts in the back of my head. For some reason, in my brain, I call this a “butt part” but really it’s more like a “bedhead part”. I got that little spot wet and used my blow dryer to fix my part. Then, I lightly sprayed my roots with my favorite OGX dry shampoo. I didn’t brush it, just ran my fingers through it. The style lasted all day. That night, I applied dry shampoo before bed, hoping it would have time to “soak in” and lose any weird texture overnight.

Day 4: My trick worked! When I woke up my hair had enough texture to easily style, but didn’t feel stiff or gritty like it can with fresh dry shampoo. It was getting a little tangled so I brushed just the ends. It pulled some of the tight curls a little looser. After a very busy day of working and cleaning the house… my hair still looked great for Valentines Night. I added just a touch more dry shampoo before bed again, but I don’t even know that I would have had to.

Day 5: Best hair day of the week. All I did was roll out of bed and run my brush gently from root to end. To set my style I sprayed my hair with usmooth flex finishing spray. Seriously, I got so many compliments on my hair today. To the right is a picture of my “day 5 hair". I am going to wash my hair tonight, mostly because I want to use my evanyc hair therapy session hair mask. Honestly, though I might have been able to rock this hair through the weekend.

I’m pretty impressed with how much I liked how my hair looked and felt throughout a week of not washing it. How many days do you go between washes? Got any tips or tricks for me?

#GalentinesDayVoxBox

#GalentinesDayVoxBox

I got the happiest of happy mail today. 

I got the #GalentinesDayVoxBox from Influenster ... and it's filled with THE BEST collection of pampering and beauty products. 

Since i'll be spending Valentine's Day alone this year... Derick has to work. One of the not so great parts about being At least I know i'll be able to pamper myself! Valentine's Spa Night, here I come! 

I tried this shower gel tonight... and LET ME TELL YOU. My whole bedroom smells like Apricot. I'm not complaining AT ALL. I also have been having the worst time with dry skin after a shower. After using this tonight... I LOVE the way my skin is feeling.  I'm definitely going to need to try the rest of the "flavors". 

I also gave this hair mask a whirl. I usually hate, hate, hate hair masks. I can't stand when my hair has buildup. Thats usually what I get from a hair mask. This one is light and leaves no residue. My hair feels silky smooth. I'll have to see how it feels tomorrow, but so far i'm impressed. 

Okay, I obviously can't review this yet. I'm super excited to add it to my daily supplement regiment and look forward to what this might do for my skin over the next month. I've never seen a supplement solely focused on a clear complexion, so i'm pretty pumped. 

Not gonna lie... I have no idea how i'm going to use spray glitter as a 25 year old. Considering bringing it to school tomorrow for students to decorate their valentines? Haha! I tested some on my hand and it's really pretty and not too messy, but I really just can't see myself using this.... like ever. 

Where has this mascara been all my life? It reminds me of Better Than Sex by Too Faced, but it doesn't get dry and flakey like BTS can. It goes on smooth and gives my lashes length and volume. Plus, it's cruelty free. What's not to love about that?

Five Minute Curls

I have A LOT of hair. I also love having my hair curly... but it takes me forever. Or at least it used to. I would clip it up and curl it one thin layer at a time. It turned out nice, but took like 45 minutes to do my whole head.

I needed a faster way to curl my hair.

This is my new, 5 minute style:

1. Divide hair into 5 scrunchies. Place scrunchies near the part and tight to the scalp.

• You might only need to or three... I just have an ungodly amount of hair. I like to use scrunchies because they don't leave a kink like a regular hair tie would. 

2. Split each of the scrunchies of hair into two equal sections and curl each of those sections, moving from the back of the head to the front.

• I make one of the curls in each of the scrunchies a little tighter and one a little looser to give the curls a more natural look. For more volume you can alternate the direction of the curl as well. You can do this with a wand or a straightener. 

3. Carefully remove scrunchies.

4. Spray dry shampoo at the roots of your hair for volume and to extend the style.

5. Shake out curls and separate with fingers.

6. Smooth your flyaways with a finishing spray.

• The one I use by usmooth is amazing for keeping down those little hairs that stick up around your part. 

Here's a (slightly embarrassing) before and after pic. I really hope this lasts me though the week. If not, at least it's super quick and easy! This style only took me five minutes total... the makeup is a different story. 💁

My Favorite Products:

Straightening Iron: THEORIE Saga

Dry Shampoo: OGX Extra Strength Refresh and Revive

Finishing Spray: usmooth flex finishing spray

My Must-Have Makeup

So, on those mornings that I actually wake up in time to do a full face of makeup... it's one of my favorite parts of the day.

I LOVE doing my makeup because I can't be doing the laundry, or my grad school homework, or the dishes, or lesson planning or sending emails or checking my phone or even thinking about those things.

Because honestly, i'm not that good at makeup...  and I NEED to FOCUS on what i'm doing.

I'm gonna start with my favorite part of my makeup routine... EYES! I always do my eye makeup first because I usually make a mess of the rest of my face. If I do my foundation AFTER my eyes... problem solved.

Mascara: Urban Decay Troublemaker and Mary Kay Lash Intensity
Do I do this first? Well... no. But it's the one product I wear every. single. day. EVEN when i'm rocking  a "natural look". Think of a mascara... i've tried it. My lashes always get clumpy or are practically invisible. Troublemaker by Urban Decay and Lash Intensity by Mary Kay are my ride or die picks. Ulta has Troublemaker on sale for $15 right now and i'm legit panicking... I feel like I should buy them all in case it gets discontinued! Grab one while you still can.


Concealer: Tarte Shape Tape (Light)
Before I even think about eyeshadow, I create a base with my favorite concealer. I  cover my lid as well as my undereye with a thin layer. This stuff is AMAZING for covering dark circles and doubles as an eyeshadow primer. Win-Win!

Eyeshadow: Too Faced Chocolate BonBons 
and Tarte Tartelette In Bloom
I have collected quite a few beautiful eyeshadow palettes, but there are a few that I reach for time and time again. They are of course... neutrals. Chocolate BonBons has some really fun pink shades that I like to add to bring some color into a look. When I want to add a little sparkle, i'm obsessed with the coin shade in my Armed and Gorgeous Jaqueline Hill palette from Morphe.

Seriously though, lately I've been having the most fun scouring the shelves of Marshalls and TJ Maxx for steals on high end makeup. I have tried tons of well known brands, and have narrowed down my routine to a list of must haves that I can't do without.

Primer: Mary Kay Foundation Primer 
To start, I'm in love with Mary Kay's primer. It is a pore filling primer, which sounds bad. It's not, I swear. Its light and easy to apply and evens out the texture of your skin, so your foundation goes on smoothly, but doesn't clog your pores.

Foundation: BECCA 24 Hour Ultimate Coverage Foundation (Vanilla)
I'm OBSESSED!!! Sometimes, when I want to add a bit of a dewy look, I add a tiny bit of the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector, in Rose Gold.

Setting Powder: Airspun
I'm in love with this setting powder. I've tried all of the high end ones... and I always come back to this. It stays on ALL day and is less than $6. Can't beat that price.


Setting Spray: Pearlessence Rosewater
Honestly my VERY favorite setting spray is  Rosewater. It works great and its affordable and good for your skin. There are tons of brands out there and I always find it in the skincare area at Marshalls. Mario Badescu has a variation of this that I also love!

Highlight and Contour: Morphe 8L Lo-Fi Sculpt and Shimmer 
Take the word contour with a grain of salt... I can't figure that out no matter how hard I try. But highlights? Give me ALL of the highlights.

Lippies: Jeffree Star Liquid Lip Gemini and Hi, How Are Ya?
I'm a Gemini... and this shade is my absolute FAVE. It was also a gift from my favorite human. Hi, How Are Ya? is for those going out, feeling bold nights and it never fails to make me feel like a million dollars. I love liquid lipsticks and Jeffree Star's are definitely the best ones I've tried. For Only $18... they're a steal.