Plucking and Waxing

I'm almost embarrassed to write this post, but I'm getting over it.  :)

There are several things I have figured out to do on my own so we don't have added expenses by paying professionals to do it.  One is cutting hair.  I learned how to cut hair in high school and have given all the male haircuts in our family and trimmed the girls hair since marriage.

This post is about the other skill I've taught myself.  Waxing eyebrows.  Now I realize that some of you women were born with naturally, pretty, defined eyebrows.  Others of us were not so fortunate and sport caterpillars above our eyes.  Interestingly enough is that it took me years to even realize I had big, bushy eyebrows.  When I was a young mom of 2 babies I got into a conversation with 3 friends over plucking/waxing/threading eyebrows.  (If you don't know what threading is, google it.  It's fascinating!)  Up until then I don't think I had ever noticed eyebrow shape.  Then I got paranoid.  Were my eyebrows defined or bushy?  My good friend (because only a good friend would do this) plucked my eyebrows for me and I was hooked!!  Wow - I did have huge, bushy eyebrows and now they looked so much better.

So for a few years I was a regular plucker.  Then another friend told me about waxing.  I went to a salon for the first time to have my eyebrows waxed and realized how much easier it was to wax them.  $12 later though.  My second eyebrow waxing didn't turn out near as good as the first and it was then that I decided I could do just as good of a job.  I bought my first Sally Hansen waxing kit and have never looked back.

For only $5 you can easily wax your own eyebrows over and over.  I will tell you that in my 11 years of waxing my own eyebrows, only once have I waxed one of my eyebrows almost entirely off.  It really was awful but became a funny joke with my close friends and family whom I disclosed this to....as if they couldn't notice I only had one eyebrow for a month!

First buy your waxing kit (sorry it's sideways but you get the picture).

Here's what the wax looks like.  Microwave it until it's pasty and warm, not runny and too hot.

Here's my beautiful "before" photo.  They don't look that bushy because over time of waxing, they actually never come in as bushy as they once were.  It's more touch-up waxing after a long time of waxing.

Using a popcycle stick, spread the warm wax just where you want it - CAREFULLY!

Cringe and yank in the opposite direction of the hair.  Then use tiny tweezers from the box to get any scragglers.  It also comes with a nice lotion that has some pain reliever in it.  Put your make-up on and voila!  You've saved yourself over $10!!  So easy!  Wanna see a photo of my bushy eyebrows?  I'll consider posting it....maybe.

Doing What I Said I Wouldn't Do

Well just when I told you that I wasn't going to post on fashion again, I do.

I just can't help it.

I've been having a fun time figuring out this fashion dilemma I had found myself in.

I found on Pinterest a website called Putting Me Together.  It's this young girl who remixes her wardrobe.  Remixing just means she takes what she has and mixes and matches her outfits.  Just like me, she found herself in a rut wearing the same outfits over and over just one way and decided to educate herself on changing things up. 

I am a total copy cat.  If you see something incredible that I have sewed, crafted or cooked, I promise you it was not an original idea.  What I had to do was take my iPhone to my closet, look at her step by step tutorial on what to do and look at her photos for ideas.  I started with her link called "Building a Remixable Wardrobe."  Knowing myself and my limited short term memory, I threw out outfits on the floor and took photos of them based on the photos of her outfits.  It was really fun and within 30 minutes I had about 50 photos taken.  I could have done much more, but 50 was good for me.

Now what I'm about to tell you might sound a bit OCD, and I assure you, I am not OCD, just extremely forgetful and visual.  I saw Walgreens was having a deal where you get 50 prints for $5.00.  I figured it was worth $5 to eliminate all thought in getting dressed each a.m. so I ordered prints of the outfits I had thrown together on my floor.

After reading through that blog, I also decided to run to Kohls and Goodwill and grab a few things that could increase the number of outfits that I can make in my closet.  At Kohls, I bought a few skinny belts that were on clearance.  They were about $3 or less each and I got a 2 pack of gold and leopard and a 2 pack of silver and black and white.  Then I went to Goodwill and found a wide woven black belt and a wide woven brown belt, for $1.99 each.  I also got a fitted, short blazer - one chocolate brown and one gray for $7.99 each. 

I'm stepping out a bit by belting it and it's been years since I've worn blazers, but her blog convinced me that I don't have to have an hourglass figure to try this remixing idea.  Check it out and let me know if she inspired you too.