eSalon DIY Hair Dye Review

Note: This post is in no way affiliated with eSalon and they do not know I am posting it! This is a true personal experience.

Today I got a little package from eSalon with my personalized hair dye [I have it on automated mail … a good and bad thing, as you will find out]. I have now used eSalon twice to home-dye my hair. Without throwing a crazy amount of pictures of myself on this blog, I will try to explain both of my hair dying experiences with eSalon and why I recommend it. Here is a link to 50% off your first dye! For only $9.95 you can try it!

Hair BEFORE the first time using eSalon.

Hair AFTER the first time using eSalon.

1. First of all, it’s pretty cheap for hair dye [$25 after shipping without a discount code] and is salon quality hair dye.  I have been pretty poor for many years and can’t remember the last time I could afford to pay a professional to dye my hair. Oh wait, a few years ago I did go to a beauty school to get highlights… I looked like I was from 2001 with chunky blond highlights. Being cheap and going to a beauty school can sometimes work out, or sometimes you end up looking like shit! At least with eSalon you have some control.
2. They really did pick a great color for my hair. On their website they say that the color is crafted for each individual, and I believe it. The color I got was had some red hues, but didn’t turn my hair maroon but more of a chestnut. I speak from personal experience here — when I was 17 I dyed my hair auburn and it turned bright maroon. I rocked it for a while, but at 26 I don’t know if I could pull that off.
3. They put your name on all of the orders [which is just so damn cute]!
4. It is mailed directly to your house with all the supplies you need. Yes, it includes the dye, 2 pairs of gloves, the conditioner, everything.

How to Use eSalon

1. Go online and order your color. It was ask for the state of your hair, last time colored, gray issues, the look you want, your skin tone, eye color, the color you like, and leaves room for an additional description.
2. Get the dye in the mail. I love getting mail!
3. Put on an ugly shirt. Move your bath mats out of the way. Put old rags on the bathroom counter and the floor. You will ruin anything in your path with this hair dye! One of my bathmats was already sacrificed to the hair Gods.
4. Section off your hair into 4 sections.
5. Mix together all of the ingredients as said in the directions.
6. Start dying! Start with your roots. I like to use my hand [with the gloves of course] rather than a coloring brush. I just feel like I have more control over it. Be prepared to make a mess.
7. Each person using eSalon has their own directions for the order of dying and the duration of time you need to wait. The first directions I got were amazing and I followed them to the T. The second time I was told different directions and I don’t totally buy it. The directions said to just do my roots and then add water to the remainder of the dye and “wash my hair with the dye” leaving it in for only a few minutes. I didn’t follow these directions, but now I wonder if there was some logic to it. I wish eSalon explained the timing. The directions basically say, “trust us blindly.”
8. You can now take off your gloves while you wait for it to process. I didn’t realize there were multiple pairs of gloves in the kit and tried to re-use my original gloves. It was a fucking mess!
9. Wash out the dye. Make sure you clean the shower/tub before it dries. I feel like it would for sure stain the tub.
10. Clean up the mess you inevitably made.

4. Sectioning off my hair in 4 quads.

6. Applying the dye to the first section.

Final Thoughts and Review

• I am happy with the results. I feel like for the money the color stays well and keeps my hair healthy. Most of all, I love the color and I think it really looks natural.
• I would much prefer to pay someone to do my hair, but unfortunately, I do not have this luxury.  This is a great alternative to buying a box at the store or going to a beauty school.
• They have automatic shipping and payments. This had it’s benefits. I automatically got it in the mail and felt obligated to actually dye my hair since I already paid for it. My fiancee was not so happy to see it in the mail because we are really cutting back month because I am in between jobs, but this happy accident allowed me to get my hair did. I also got a email warning me of the shipment and charge with ample time to cancel if needed – I am just lazy and didn’t cancel it.
• For the next time, I will call them ahead of time and make sure I am coloring my hair correctly post the initial dye. I am sure they will be responsive and change my directions accordingly.

ESalon was mentioned in my beauty post called Real Girl’s Beauty Must-Haves. I am constantly looking to update this list and add more beauty loves. Check it out!

love, Sarah

My Thoughts on Staying at Home

Hey my friends! I am sorry I have been so MIA. I am taking a very needed, and unusual, month off work. I have had a ton of changes in the last few months with jobs and thought it was time for a little update.

I was going to start work as a prison librarian, but unfortunately [and fortunately] the initially salary they offered me was dropped significantly when I received the official offer. Bastards! I was a total mess, cried for about 3 days straight, and then bucked up and started applying for more jobs while I allowed them to think I was excited to start work for them. Since I already had one real job pending, I felt comfortable putting in my 2 weeks notice to my current job. My last day of work was September 11th and I was suppose to start at the prison on September 16th. In the meantime, I got a great job offer at a corporate office doing data management. I took it without even trying to negotiate. Yeah, I know that is pretty dumb, but the offer was exactly where I wanted to be out of graduate school while my previous offers were fit for someone just out of college — actually I made the same right out of my bachelor’s degree that I was being offered after a masters. Bastards!

So, I took the corporate job and can no longer say I am a real librarian. Do I need to change my blog name to The DIY Data Manager?

In the meantime, I can’t start the corporate job until October 14th because of paperwork and background checks. I have a month to be a housewife and homemaker! Since we won’t get a paycheck for me for a month, I am pretty much stuck at home taking care of our life on a strict budget.

Now, my thoughts of staying at home. It is hard and I give stay at home wives/moms/husbands/dads way more credit. I knew I wasn’t domestic, but this experience has taught me I am not a good homemaker! There are days when I don’t get dressed and days where I realize I have spent an hour just walking around my house and have accomplished nothing. There are other days when I kill it and redo a whole room. I am super grateful to have this small time to wear the domestic hat because it has changed my whole perception of how I see this role. It has allowed me to spend time with my family, take care of things around the house that were on the “to-do” list, and I have been able to take care of my fiancee and put him first. Yet, the drawbacks are huge. Others [like my parents] think I am doing nothing and can assist them in any moment. My fiancee and I have already had the “I have been working all day, what have you been doing” fight a few times and it sucks because I am doing stuff but it isn’t measurable like working is. Personally, I feel like being the one who stays at home is actually more of a sacrifice than working. I am too selfish and undomestic to do it properly. With that said, I have so enjoyed it because I know I will never do it again.  I have found dressing up like a 50s housewife makes it more fun!

To all you stay at home people, you have my respect. I thought it would be such an easy job and I am happy to have been proven wrong.

love, Sarah

DIY Vintage Inspired Printable Bookplates

I have been trying to find the perfect bookplate to accompany a favor at our wedding. I have found some amazing bookplates but cannot decide what to do! While I go crazy with bookplates, why don’t you all take a look and see if anything strikes you!

Incase you don’t know what a bookplate is, shame on you. No, my goal is not to scold my readers but a bookplate is simply a label you put on all your books in your personal library. So when friends borrow your books, you can say, “Hey bitch. It has a bookplate on it with my name. Don’t pretend you thought you bought the book.” As you can see, I don’t like loaning out my books. I am a stingy librarian!

Free Bookplate Printables

Besotted Natural History Bookplate

Besotted Vintage Bookplate

Benign Objects Vintage Bookplate

Lunagirl Images Vintage Labels

Design Sponge Made with Love Bookplate

Just to add a few other options that I love [but I have to pay for], check out this Etst store Oiseaux.  I am also considering buying these from Zazzle because they are very art deco. Do you think some of the free ones are better than this? Please share your opinion! I am stuck.

love, Sarah

L’Chaim, לחיים, TO LIFE

I am Jewish and around this time of the year we have the high holidays, or high holy days. I am the kind of Jew who goes to temple on these holidays… sometimes. I really do love being Jewish, but see it more as a part of my heritage, story, and lineage than a religion.

Friday sundown to Saturday sundown was the high holiday Yom Kipper. It is my favorite services but by far the most depressing “holiday.” On this day you fast and atone for your sins. Yippee! This year I tried to fast because the purpose of fasting is to break down your walls, become a bit weak so you can let faith and God into your heart.  The last time I successfully fasted was in college and I have vivid, almost pornographic, dreams about chicken nuggets. This time when I fasted it did make me extremely emotional! I don’t know if it was God entering my heart, but I will say that being empty and weak elevated my emotions.  I felt overcome with tears at moments and unable to stop myself from laughing at others. Two embarrassing moments of the service: (1) in a moment of silent prayer, my stomach started yelling at me in a way I have never experienced! It was gurgling loudly for long stretches at a time. My mom turns to me and whispers, “Is that YOU?” (2) In services for Yom Kipper they have an amazing list of everything you could possibly do that needs atoning for — they really cover all bases for you. One of them was sexual immorality. The entire synagog reads aloud these sins in English after the Rabbi reads them in Hebrew. I said quite loudly, “Please forgive us for my sexual immortality.” My mom started giggling and I lost my composure. If you can’t tell, me [and my mother it seems] were those kids in class that talked, whispered, and giggled. Nothing has changed!

All in all, the day was a success and I ate a sandwich right after services. It was very nice to reflect on the year and remember times I was less than perfect. It also felt nice to know I wasn’t alone and that it is ok to have faults. The Jewish New Year, year 5774, is a time to celebrate but reflect and make this next year a better, healthier, and fuller year. To that I say L’CHAIM! That means “TO LIFE” and usually is followed by a lot of routy drinking.

love, Sarah

Britney and Miley’s Collaboration on “Bangerz”

A lot of people have things to say about Miley Cyrus. I personally don’t really get the big deal! Am I the only one? I do feel uncomfortable when she sticks her tongue out, but I think she wants us to feel uncomfortable. She is for sure trying some different things out and, all in all, I thinks it’s pretty funny and awkward. Plus, I love the music coming out of Miley’s album.

Since I am a crazy Britney Spears fan (and it is Britney Spears Wednesday) I had to address Britney doing a duet with Miley! The track list was shared yesterday and their song together is “SMS (BANGERZ).” If it is anything like Miley’s other songs, and the new one “Wrecking Ball,” I am sure it was will catchy and amazing! If they do a video together, it will be like Miley twerking on Venus — because Britney is Venus, obviously.

From the brilliant mind of Jen Lewis on Buzzfeed.

For more art history ridiculousness, check out the Buzzfeed post Miley Cyrus Twerks on Famous Paintings. It really will make you smile.

love, Sarah

DIY: Change Your Bathroom Faucet

Top right is the old faucet, remaining photos are the new one.

We did this project a few weeks ago all by ourselves! It was not the easiest home DIY, but it really made a big impact on our little bathroom.

We bought the faucet at Lowes. It is by Glacier Bay called the Teacup Bath Faucet for only $36. I have included the actual video we used as our guide. I just love that we can do DIY home projects by accessing YouTube and not having to call my dad.

What I learned from this is that having a pedastel sink makes changing the hoses lines a bitch! I ended up doing most of the tightening because my fiance’s hand couldn’t fit.  When you have a normal sink with cabinets it is much easier to gain access  to the supply lines. Did you even know there are little hoses that connect the water from the pipes to the faucet? As you can see, I am a super beginner but I did it! It isn’t leaking and it looks all vintage and cute.

So, some tips we learned along the way:

• Have lots of rags. It look us a few times to get the faucet working without leaks from the hose lines. We made a mess!
• Use hose lines that have easy to tighten ends. I am not using the correct terms here, but the ones we had were metal and we had to tighten them with a wrench to connect to the pipes. This is why the pedastel sink was such a bitch! It is very hard to get a wrench into a place your fingers can barely fit. In the end, I ended up hand tightening them. OUCH. They have ones with plastic connections that are really easy to tighten by hand and secure.
• Spend the extra $1 on plumber’s putty that is is stain-free. The old faucet was definitly held in place with a cheaper plumber’s putty and it took us a long time to clean it up.
• It will probably take 2 hours more than you anticipated and result in a few fights with your partner. In the end, your bathroom will look brand new for under $50 with a bit of time and sweat!

love, Sarah

Getting Reacquainted with Robyn

Remember Robyn from the 90s with that amazing song “Show Me Love?” Well, I am about 3 years behind, but Robyn released an album “Body Talk” that is totally incredible. I just had a craving to hear “Call Your Girlfriend” and have listened to it about 4 times already this morning. So, I thought: why not share it with you all? The video is pretty simple and amazing. It is one long shot and Robyn just dances with everything she has. I don’t know, it just feels honest, sad, and improvised. Different!

And another great song from “Body Talk” called “Dancing on my Own.” I do not miss these days – crushing on a guy to only turn around and he is making out with someone else.

Lastly, her original “Show Me Love.” Timeless pop!

love, Sarah

Lines aren’t so Blurry in “Defined Lines”

I am sure many of you have heard of this parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” called “Define Lines.” Well, just in case you haven’t you must check it out. Though “Blurred Lines” song [and video] really doesn’t get my feminist blood flowing like others out there, this girl power video really makes me want to throw off my bar and strip down those stereotypes us women face all the time.  Such a funny and crude parody men and women can appreciate. So, a big YAY to these Auckland law students for coming up with witty lyrics and nailing what most women are thinking. Woman are real people with real needs and desires that go beyond being beautiful and being objectified #notfuckingplastic. But OMG, that girl in the naked Robin Thicke “Blurred Lines” video does have the perfect boobs. How is that possible?

love, Sarah

Curly Interview Hair: How to

Hi y’all! So, a little warning: I have had a little wine and I am feeling pretty Awesome. Awesome with a capital A (thanks, iPad). I had a fucking bomb interview today, I looked and felt amazing – so I thought I would share with you my easy and put-together hair style. If any of you actually follow the blog and read it (cuddos to you, my friends) then you know I accepted a job as a Prison Librarian. Well, job lesson #398: no job is solid until you receive a contract. In a nut shell, the job offered me a “conditional” offer that was financially exactly where I thought I would be after a graduate degree. I accepted and thought it was conditional upon me proving I was a goodie-two shoes and clean on my drug test. Well, after WEEKS of waiting, I passed all this (thank the Lord) and was officially offered a salary $12K LOWER THAN DISCUSSED. Yes, that is a shit load lower than expected and I cried for about 3 days. I had no choice but to accept as I hate turned down other opportunities and put my faith in this job, like a naive duffus. So, low and behold, I find myself accepting a job and interviewing for others. If you fuck me, my loyalty is gone. Isn’t this how job hunting is rewarded after all? Cheap tricks work and the naive, trusting, just-out-of-school peeps get the lowest offers because they have to take it.

Back to the hair. Well with curly hair, looking put together and professional can be a bit of a challenge. So, after looking on YouTube for tutorials, I came across this one from The Small Things Blog. It is called “Easier Than It Looks Updo. “And it IS! So, here is what my curly hair looks like with the updo, and the actual video tutorial.

l will, of course, keep you updated on the job hunt. I feel like I am on a horrible roller coaster that is making me nauseous but won’t seem to stop. You get to a point where it looks like the ride is winding down, and then it shoots to an upside down flip! I actually love roller coasters, but the analogy works. Or is it an metaphor? I think analogy. Yes, the ADHD become amplified with liquor. Fun for me, hell for everyone around me. Unless they are drunk, then I am the most entertaining (and interesting) person. Speaking of drunk, I feel like throwing an adult rager. Everything is so serious with job hunting, bills, and weddings. Maybe a kegger is just the cure? 

love, Sarah 

Starbucks Inspired Egg Salad Sandwich

I didn’t know I loved egg salad sandwiches until recently.  I was on vacation and we stopped in Starbucks to grab coffee and a bite to eat. The egg salad sandwich there was just calling to me, so I bought it. I seriously could not stop thinking of that damn sandwich! I even bought it again the next week. $7 for a little sandwich is just too lavish for my life, especially when it must be cheap to make.

After much research, I found this recipe from 101 Cookbooks. It really is a replica of the Starbucks egg salad sandwich. The recipe is below, and I have made it a couple times. It is so easy and can make several sandwiches.

Starbucks Inspired Egg Salad Sandwich from 101 Cookbooks – link here.

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise (or Greek Yogurt)
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 Stalks celery, washed and chopped into small peices
• 1/2 bunches chives, chopped
• lettuce for the top
• 8 slices of whole grain bread, toasted

Directions

1. Boil the 6 eggs per the directions on Make the Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs
2. After the eggs are peeled, put them in a medium bowl.
3. Add the mayo to the bowl, keep it by you because you may need to add the mayo to keep it moist and together.
4. Put in some salt and pepper, personal preference here.
5. Mask with a fork. You want to keep it pretty chunky and textured, no need to mash it into a creamy egg salad. This is what makes it so yummy!
6. Stir in celery and chives.
7. Make your sandwiches! It should make 4 in total.

I used sourdough bread for this sandwich!

Interesting to note: I hate almost all the ingredients in this egg salad sandwich. I hate mayo and celery. But together, it is just divine!

love, Sarah