DIY Winter Princess Flower Headband

I am obsessed with all different kinds of headbands.  I prefer to not buy them at stores because I know I can make one that's just as good, if not better in quality.  So I decided to make a simple beaded headband using beading wire.  Since beading wire is sturdy it will stand the test of time.  I also use a bead crimper a lot during this tutorial.  I know it may seem like a pain to buy a bunch of supplies for a headband, but if you love headbands as much as I do, you will soon find many uses for a crimper. I bought all the supplies for this project at JoAnn Fabrics.  To avoid paying outrageous prices for a bead crimper, use the online coupon as much as you can.  There is always a coupon online for one regular priced item.  ALSO it is JoAnn Fabrics black Friday sale today, so GO CRAZY!! All the string beads are 60% off.  String beads are my favorite and they are not cheap so I tend to stock up when beads are on sale.

Supplies for Headband

• 2 Darice oval connectors with rhinestones on them (I found these on clearance)
• 2 packs of Bliss Beads, so a total of 6 white flower slider beads
• Soft Flex Beading Wire Medium Diameter 0.019 inches
• Wire cutter
• Flat needle nose pliers (or any flat plier you can find)
• Bead Crimper
• Crimping Beads
• 30 Mini Crystalline Glass Beads (you can choose any type of crystal beads, it doesn't matter) 
• Simplicity Elastic Headband Connector 
• Tape measure

Here's what most of my supplies look like, except that I'm missing the needle nose pliers in this picture (the pliers became a last minute decision).

Flower Centerpiece

Step 1:

Cut 11 inches of beading wire with the wire cutters and bend the wire in half to form a loop at the end.

Step 2:
Take the ends of the wire and string it down thru the oval Darice rhinestone connector so that the loop is sticking out thru the top of the connector.

Step 3:
Bring the two ends of the wire and slide it through the loop. Pull the ends and make the wire taunt so that the wire is looped around the connector's hole.  (This will create a "lark's head" knot.)

Step 4:

Flip the connector upside-down and separate the two ends of the wire. Take two of the clear beads that the white flower beads came with and run one down each of the ends of wire

Step 5:

Now take the two pieces of wire and string them through the white flower slider bead.  

Step 6:

Take two more clear beads and string them through both ends of the wire on the other end of the flower bead.

Step 7:

Put the two ends of the wire together and string two glass beads on them.  **Ensure to keep the wire running parallel throughout the whole headband.**

Step 8:

Now repeat steps 5-7 until you get to the last white flower slider bead and then stop.

Step 9:

On the last flower, only string the wire through the first two holes 

Step 10:

In between the holes for the white flower bead, place a crimping bead on each end of the beading wire and drag the crimping beads down, but DO NOT CRIMP THEM.

Step 11:

Now string the wire through the final two holes of the flower bead and finish with two clear beads on each wire end.

Step 12:

Take the other oval connector and lay it face down along with the rest of the headband.  Take both ends of the wire and string it through the oval connector bottom to top so that the two ends of the wire are sticking up.

Step 13:

Now wrap the wire around the hole like you did in step 12. Tighten the wire so the headband is not loose.

Step 14:

Now double knot the wire.  Place a crimping bead at the end to secure everything in place, and then crimp the bead with the crimper.

Step 15:

Using the needle nose pliers, feed both wire ends back through the top and bottom line of beads and pull the ends of the wire to make the wire straight and secure.

Step 16:

Since the crimp beads are really close to the other beads, you are likely going to have to crimp them down with the needle nose plier rather than the crimping tool. If needed, trim the ends of the wire with wire cutters.

Now flip the front piece of the headband over and look at your beautiful creation!  All we have to do now is attach the front of the headband to the headband connector.  

Front of the Headband

Headband Connector

Attaching the Connector

Step 1

After taking the headband connector out of the bag you are going to have to take the needle nose pliers and take off the silver claws that are attached to the end of the connector.  **Since we will not be using the silver claws in this project you can always save them for future use.**  

Step 2

Cut 7 inches of beading wire and string it through one end of the oval connector.  Stop once the wire is in halfway, and fold the wire in half. Do this for the other oval connector as well.

Step 3

The number of beads that will be placed on the folded wire will be determined by the size of your head. Place the headband connector behind your head, and visually mark where the ends rest.  Now mark where the front flower piece of the headband rests on your head. Measure the distance between both points.  For me, the distance was 1 3/4 inch so I ended up needing 10 beads to cover that distance.  String whatever number of beads you've determined for the size of your head.  String these beads on the folded wire from step 2.

Step 4

At the end of the beads string a crimper bead and again DO NOT CRIMP.

Step 5 

Separate the ends of the wire and sandwich one side of the headband connector.  Then put another crimp bead through both ends of the wire. 

Step 6

Now use your crimper to crimp the last crimping bead you just put on.

Step 7

Take the needle nose pliers and fold both ends of the wire.  Now feed it through the other crimping bead and the last glass bead you put on.

Step 8

Crimp the last crimping bead and cut off any access wire thats hanging off (if there is enough wire left you can also feed it through more glass beads).

Step 9

Repeat this process on the other end of the headband connector.  

Now that everything is finished, you can bring out your inner winter goddess and blaze through those snow storms in style!!

TBT: Halloween 2015 Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas

So Halloween is my favorite holiday and since it's gone and past I figured why not celebrate it again by sharing this frickin' amazing costume I made.  I decided of coarse the week of Halloween that I wanted to be my favorite character of ALL time, Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Since all the costumes you can buy are either sexualized or super cartoony, I decided to make my own.  

The Dress

So I went to Goodwill to start the process.  I picked out 5 plain colored shirts that looked close to the color of the patches on Sally's dress.  Next I went to Hobby Lobby for some retail therapy (some people go to the mall I go to craft stores lol). The items I bought for the costume were Aleene's Fabric Fusion fabric glue, black fabric markers, two medium plane white t-shirts, a large sewing needle, and some 40 cent black cotton embroidery floss.  If you are going to ever use fabric glue I highly recommend  Fabric Fusion.  I found that the Fabric Fusion glue is the best because you can dry clean it once it's dry, it's permanent and it adheres/dries really fast.

So after I gathered all my supplies it was time to begin.  I sketched out what Sally's dress looked like so I could plan out how much fabric I needed from each t-shirt.  Then I started making the base of the dress. I took the two plane white t-shirts and cut the top off one of the shirts.  I cut right below the sleeves so the shirt looked like a skirt.  After that I busted out my very rusty sewing skills and sewed the two shirts together to make a dress.  Once I put the dress on my assistant (aka my husband) helped draw out the neckline to mimmick Sally's.  I then took the dress and cut out the collar and the neck line.  Now the fun can begin.

So I then took my sketch and started mapping out the 5 Goodwill shirts.  Once I had the basic layout of where all the patches should go I had to really look at pictures of Sally to figure out the shapes of the patches.  This was the hardest part of the whole process because the patches each have their own shape.  Once I had the patches cut out I started drawing all the different designs with black fabric marker (never use a permanent marker because the design will bleed if you wash it and it might fade to unflattering undertones).  One of the patches on the right side has a design of 3 circles over lines.  The lines were drawn on with fabric marker but the circles were part of the green t-shirt I cut up.  Once I was good and ready with all the patches I glued them on.  I even glued the sleeves on.  I wasn't worried about covering the white dress all the way to the bottom or to the sleeves because I was going to cut it off any ways to give that tattered look.  

I let the dress dry overnight so I could put the finishing touches on the next day and not have to worry about anything getting messed up.  So after all my hard work I took a very thick sewing needle and threaded black cotton embroidery floss through it.  I went through the entire dress with the needle and thread making accent stitches so it looked like the patches were stitched together.  

Makeup, Hair, & Accessories 

To do Sally's makeup I decided to keep it more on the simpler side.  First I covered my arms, neck, and face with really light liquid foundation.  I used DermaBlend Leg and Body Cover in Ivory because it has full coverage and it will stay on all night.  To set the foundation use a white powder. I used it Cosmetics Airbrush Illuminizer to set the leg and body cover.  This actually worked out really nice because the illuminizer gave my skin a ghostly glow.  Then I used black liquid eye liner to draw the stitches on my face, neck, and arms.  For the lips I wanted a nice deep red color so I lined my lips with MAC lip pencil in Vino and filled them in with Dare You from MAC's 6 Editorial Reds Pro Lip Palette.  Last but not least the eyes. I put light blue eyeshadow on my lids, under my bottom lashes, and then I used the blue for my cheek bones.  It's hard to see in the picture though.  If I were to do it again, I probably would do the blue a little bit darker.  To top off the Sally look I used fake eyelashes that were very long, and I didn't use any mascara on the bottom lashes because Sally's top lashes are so long and accentuated. 

So now when I went to make my legs pale with stitch lines I went to trusty ole Pinterest for ideas.  I saw a pin of someone drawing stitch marks on white stockings for a Sally costume.  So of coarse I said "perfect!!" Well this actually ended up being a MAJOR Pinterest fail.  I bought too shear of tights so when I went to draw the stitches with the fabric marker, the ink transferred to my skin and faintly showed up on the stockings.   SO thank goodness I bought an extra pair because my legs looked really goofy with both my skin and the stockings marked up.  The stockings were just sheer enough so that in the end you could see the stitch marks on my skin, and I looked really pale like how Sally does.  I would not recommend using marker on your skin.  Instead the liquid eyeliner would have worked just fine with the stockings over. Lesson learned.  Then to finish off the legs I wore white black striped tube socks with black booties.  

The last piece to this look is Sally's hair.  I went to amazon.com and bought two packs of $10 hair extensions.  The hair was good quality for being super cheap but they gave me two different colors, what's up with that? I had no time to return one of the packs so I said whatev's and used both colors.  I bought a Large Band Wig Cap from Sally's Beauty Supply and tied my hair back and put it on.  Once the cap was on I clipped the extensions to the cap and BAM I was Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas!!!

Liquid Gold: Argan Oil's Beauty Benefits

It seems like every where you look face creams, cuticle oils, and hair products are all starting to add argan Oil to their ingredients.  This dry oil has so many beauty benefits I am not surprised it is in such high demand.  Argan oil is naturally full of Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, linoleic acid, vitamin A, and vitamin E.  Argan oil's versitile components come together to form what some beauty experts would consider to be liquid gold.

The Benefits for Skin & Hair

• Omega 3 Fatty Acids: The skin's elasticity is replenished from the fatty acids and the hair is left shiny and moisturized. 
• Anitoxidants: This has anti-aging qualities by reducing the production of free radicals, and free radicals age the skin. The antioxidants can also stimulate the hair follicle for hair growth. 
• Linoleic Acid: Skin inflammation is reduced from linoleic acid. This is good for acne and razor burn. Another great quality of linoleic acid is that it's moisture retentive, so hair stays healthy and less likely to have breakage.
• Vitamins A & E: This will fight wrinkles, smooth the skin, fade brown spots, and is also good for stretch marks and scars. The tocopherol from the vitamin e also helps the skin's elasticity. Vitamin e is also another great component of argan oil that helps the hair to grow.

Using 100% cold pressed argan oil is the best.  This will ensure that you get all the benefits argan oil has to offer in it's purest form.  You can use pure argan oil by itself as a mouisurizer for the hair, skin, or nails. If you already have a favorite moisturizer you can always take a drop of argan oil and that moisturizer in the palm of your hand, mix the two together, and apply the moisturizer like you normally would.  You can even add argan oil to your favorite shampoo, conditioner, or hair cream.  The possibilities are endless with argan oil!  

Test Before Use

**When using any type of pure oil, always do a test patch somewhere on your arms or legs 24 hours before use.  You want to make sure you don't have a negative reaction.  If you have a negative reaction where you did a test patch discontinue use.  Since argan oil is derived from Argania spinosa tree fruit, the tree's fruits are considered to be tree nuts.  So if you have any tree nut allergies argan oil is probably not for you.**

Wet Brush: A Hair Must-have

The Wet Brush is my go-to hair brush for when I need to get the tangles out.  This brush was specifically designed to gently glide through snarls and knots without adding stress onto the hair's cuticle which can cause breakage.  

The Benefits of Using the Wet Brush

The hair is very vulnerable when it is wet so you want to be gentle.  The Wet Brush designed the Intelliflex™ bristles and the SofTips™ to ensure that your hair is detangled the right way.  The Intelliflex™ bristles are thin, durable, and flexible.  The bristles are thin so that you can comb through the smallest knots. They also bend with ease so that you aren't ripping through the hair, because ripping through the hair is a BIG no no. The SofTips™ are the little balls at the end of the bristles.  These are specifically designed to massage the scalp and stimulate circulation at the hair's follicle which is good for healthy hair growth.  

I honestly believe that the Wet Brush works well.  My hair feels healthier than ever and looks shiney.  I recommend this brush for ALL hair types.  This gentle brush can be used on wet/dry hair, extensions,  and wigs.  Remember healthy hair starts with your brush!

April's Birchbox

April's Birchbox review is here ya'll!!!!  I really enjoyed my box this month, perhaps even a bit more than normal! It was floral, fun, and keeping me pampered for Spring.  My two favorite samples were; Cynthia Rowley Beauty's Brightening Illuminator and Beauty Protector's Protect & Oil.

Cynthia Rowley Beauty gives us a great liquid illuminator that gives a natural pearl glow.  I love the Brightening Illuminator because it is easy to apply and it looks so soft and radiant on my face.  I also love that on the inside of the sample holder there is a face chart that maps out all the areas on your face where you would apply the Brightening Illuminator.  I have tried a lot of different face highlighters and I would have to say this is one of my favorites.

I also work with a lot of different high end hair brands, and I love trying Beauty Protector's products because I haven't had the chance to work with them. (thanks Birchbox!)  Since I have very porous wavy dry hair,  my hair drinks this heat protectant up and loves every bit of it.  The Protect & Oil serum is great for my hair type and it doesn't leave my hair feeling greasy or heavy.  I love using this when I curl my hair because not only does my dry hair look silky smooth but it smells good too.  The Protect & Oil serum has a warm sugary scent which makes me feel all happy inside.

My next favorite samples are Supergoop!'s Advanced Anti-Aging Eye Cream and Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream in blueberry.  

Since I am not a fan of eye creams I was skeptical to try this one.  I find eye creams to be greasy and they never seem to make a difference.  So my expectations were low for Supergoop! Advanced SPF 37 Anti-Aging Eye Cream.  After I first applied the cream I was happy to find that there was no oily film left behind and I also liked having UV protection there.  It wasn't until an hour later I looked back at my skin and noticed my eyes looked brighter and tighter. Awesome!

On to my next fav, Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream in blueberry.  I have actually received the Shave Crave Shaving Cream in acai grapefruit from a previous Birchbox.  At first when I saw that I had received another shaving cream I wasn't too impressed since your not suppose to get the same sample twice. I got over it though because I do enjoy using this shaving cream. My skin feels so luxurious and smooth after I shave with it.  So I guess it ended up being nice to receive another shaving creme sample, since there are those special occasions when I would like to whip out my fancy shaving creme.  I am also in love with the fruity scents because they don't have a cheep smell to them. 

Which brings me to my least favorite sample just because of the scent.  It's Temple Spa's Peace Be Still Calming Face & Body Balm.

Temple Spa's face and body balm is not my favorite body balm.  Not because of the way it feels but because of how overpowering the scent is.  There are blends of essential oils such as lemon, nutmeg, orange and lavender in the balm which to me is a little overpowering.  It kind of reminds me of what a cleaning product would smell like, but hey if you like lavender and citrus this is the body balm for you.  The nice thing about this product is that it is free of any harsh ingredients that may harm you such as SLS, SLES, PEGs, and parabens.

So while I go and use up all my samples, stay tuned in for this May's Birchbox review.  I can't wait to see what goodies will come knocking at my door!

Birchbox Review

What is a Birchbox?

Holy beauty samples, it's Birchbox time! If you watch TV you've probably seen countless Birchbox commercials or maybe you heard about it from a friend, or maybe you're thinking to yourself, "what is a Birchbox?"  Well here it is! It's a monthly subscription where you receive 5 samples (and sometimes a bonus sample) of beauty, grooming, and/or lifestyle products.  Every Birchbox comes with a postcard which explains each sample in depth.  It's $10 a month for women and $20 a month for men.  The price is double for men because they tend to receive more expensive and full size products in their Birchboxes.  To sign up go to www.Birchbox.com, pick which box you want to receive, fill out a beauty profile (so you get samples that fit your needs), and then wait for your first Birchbox to come in the mail. 

Birchbox Points

I have had a good experience with my Birchboxes so far.  I have received 8 boxes and have been pleased. Customer service is always there in case you have any questions.  Which is great for me because I am full of  questions, LOL. I love that Birchbox only sells quality items, because this way you can try out different prestige brands.  When you do fall in love with your samples and you want more, just go to Birchbox.com and purchase the full size product. Since the products are expensive there are ways you can get a discount.

For every dollar you spend at the Birchbox store you receive 1 Birchbox point.  You receive 10 Birchbox points for your first Birchbox, but after that if you want to accumulate points you have to either spend money at their online store or write reviews for the products you sample in your Birchbox.  After receiving your monthly Birchbox, you have 30 days to write a review on each product received.  For each written review you will receive 10 Birchbox points.  I love this because once you accumulate 100 Birchbox points you get $10 toward their online store.  Besides getting beauty products from the online store you can get wine glasses and all types of fashion accessories.  Birchbox really has a large selection to choose from. 

My Birchbox

The beauty products I have received in my Birchboxes are really good for the most part.  The only downside to Birchbox is that you can't choose the products you want, and that's why you make a beauty profile.  So there have been a few occasions where I wasn't happy with a perfume (example: both the Harvey Prince perfumes smell like strong air freshener) or face wash, and sometimes I don't want any more hand lotions. The products I do like definitely make it worth my while though. So overall I really like what I get, and if there is something I am not too found of I am not bothered. My friends and family will benefit from the samples I don't use any ways.

So here are all my Birchboxes thus far. This will give you a good overview of what Birchbox has to offer.  What I really liked was that in my first Birchbox I got a full size Noir Cosmetics long wear eyeliner. This eyeliner is $15 on Birchbox.com, which is awesome considering that the Birchbox was $10.  I would definitely recommend subscribing to Birchbox, especially if you are a product junky like me!! Stay tuned and I will give a full review on all the products I got in this April's Birchbox.

March

  

Mirenesse Glossy Kiss (lip crayon for lips and cheeks); Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentrè (moisturizer that works as primer and makeup remover); Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle; Jelly Pong Pong GLOW GETTER Highlighter; Harvey Prince Sincerely 

February

Benefits Cosmetics Roller Lash; Miss Jessie's Original Super Sweetback Treatment; Evologie Intensive Blemish Serum; Paula's Choice Clinical KP Treatment Cloths; Juicy Couture Hollywood Royal

January

Neil George Shampoo; Harvey Prince Hello Body Creme; Neil George Conditioner; Miracle Skin Transformer Treat & Conceal Eye & Face; Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner

December

Tocca Crema da Mano- Cleopatra (hand lotion); Coola Tinted Matte SPF 30 for Face; Real Chemistry Luminous 3-Minute Peel; Lord & Berry Paillettes Glitter Eye Pencil in Black; English Laundry Signature for Her

November

Harvey Prince Petaly Noir; Number 4 Hair Super Comb Prep & Protect; Birchbox Bonus* chuao Chocolatier Pop Corn ChocoPods; Camille Beckman Platinumè,Gold Imperial Repair Hand Therapy; Eyeko Fat Eye Stick in Satin Taupe; Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint

October

Number 4 Hair Clarifying Shampoo & Reconstructing Masque; Coastal Scents Revealed 2 Eyeshadow Palette Set; Dr. Jart+ BB Black Label Detox; Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips; Vasanti Cosmetics BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator

September

Curl Keeper Gel; Suki Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser; Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm in Honey Nectar; dr. brandt Pores No MoreVacuum Cleaner; Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream

August

Catherine Malandrino Style de Paris Fragrance; LAQA & Co. Sheer Lip Lube Pencil- Bees Knees (Coral); K6 Skincare Clean Antioxidant Facial Cleanser; Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream - Acai Grapefruit; Noir Cosmetics Long Wear Eyeliner

DIY White Flower Headband

Time to bring in Spring with flower headbands! This step by step guide will show you a fun and easy way to create your own white flower headbands.  To get this elegant look you will need to go to a craft store and get:

• 7.32 mm suede lace cord 
• a bouquet of fake white flowers
• metal accent beads
• 5 bobby pins
• a hot glue gun
• scissors

Step 1

Cut the suede lace cord so that it measures 41 inches long.

Step 2

Tie a knot on both ends of the cord, and then slip the metal accent beads onto the cord. Once the beads are on tie another knot at the end so the beads do not slip off.

Step 3

Cut five white flowers off the bouquet of fake flowers.

Step 4 

Line up the five flowers along the middle of the cord. 

Step 5

Use the bobby pins as place holders for where you want the flowers to be glued.

Step 6

Take the bobby pins off the suede lace cord one by one and hot glue a white flower in the bobby pins place.

Step 7

Cut off the leaves from the fake flower bouquet.

Step 8

Cut the leaves so that they cover the back of the white flowers.

Step 9 

Take the leaves you just cut and glue them to the back of the flowers so that the cord is sandwiched between the flower and the leaf. This will complete the headband.

Style Tips

Just like the cherry on top of a sundae, headbands are such a fun way to finish a hair style.  I love wearing this headband with my hair curled away from my face.  The curl adds great texture to the style and compliments the white flowers with an elegant look. 

*When I tie my headband I like to use a double knot.  A double knot will ensure that the headband stays on your head, and the suede lace cord can easily be untied.*

my dedication

As I start my new blog I can't help but think of my late and great friend Christie. She had a beautiful soul and was a beautiful person.  This past year we planned our blogs together. She was going to write a fitness blog and I a beauty blog.  She wasn't able to post anything before she passed, but I know if she were here right now I would be featuring her healthy recipes and fitness routines. So I dedicate LoudBeauty to Christie.  Without her I would be lost. 

Love you baby girl! I know your beautiful spirit will always be with me, writing every step of the way.