Go beyond “Lather, rinse, repeat” with Goldwell Shampoos

Though the majority of shampoo bottles simply read “lather, rinse, repeat,” in their directions, there are a few additional guidelines that you can follow if you’d like to enjoy professional quality results every time you wash your hair. Though it doesn't need to be a complicated process, there are some little steps that you can take that can make a big difference to the results you achieve. 

The first step is to use professional quality hair care products for your hair type, like Goldwell shampoos.  

Next, use the following tips to get the most out of every wash with your Goldwell shampoos: 

• Comb your hair: Before you wash your hair, use a wide-tooth comb to work through it and gently remove any tangles. This makes it much easier to massage the product into the scalp and along the length of the hair more evenly. To prevent breakage, start combing ends and work your way toward the roots until you can glide the comb through the entire length.  
• Lather, rinse, repeat: Though this is the most commonly printed instruction on a shampoo bottle, there are very few people who actually follow it to the letter! Most people wash their hair only once each time. However, repeating the process does provide additional benefits. This is why your hair stylist will typically shampoo your hair twice when you have your hair professionally washed. The first time you shampoo your hair, it will remove excess oil and product buildup in the hair. The second washing removes additional dirt and dead skin cells.  
• Use warm water: When washing your hair, choose warm, not hot water.  Hot water is the fastest way to dry out your hair and scalp, leaving it tight, flaky, and uncomfortable. It can even promote excess oil production, leaving hair looking greasy in patches. Warm water, on the other hand, is far gentler.  It eases the hair cuticle open so that the shampoo can penetrate and remove any buildup from styling products, excess oil, or other impurities.  After shampooing twice, rinse carefully to remove the product completely.  
• Splash with cool water: To retain the benefits from Goldwell shampoo (or the shampoo of your choice), splash your hair with cool (not cold) water.  This will cause the cuticle to seal again, retaining moisture and preventing damage. 

These easy tips will help you get professional results every time you shampoo.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. Compensation was provided in exchange for it, but who doesn't love a good Goldwell shampoo, right?!

[Photo Courtesy Beauty Encounter]

Tweet

Candela, Take Me Away

Ok, fine. Celeb obsession much? I have a slight girl crush on Alessandra Ambrosio - her beauty amazes me! Not to mention, she's a mom of two and can work those cutoffs like nobody's business. Le. Sigh. But, really...who would've thought to pair white with, um, white? It makes a great tan pop, but on myself I'm afraid it might fade into the rest of the paleness as one white sheet of ghost. But...

Can a girl dream? I would hope to look juuuuust like this photo, my hair blowing in the breeze in Cannes, of course. This Aimee sweater by Candela is so, so pretty and even has a lace back...gasp! I would totally wear it on my next boat outing in Cannes. And it's a cotton blend so it's light as a feather (I could hear you mouthing the word sweater to yourself as if it was a dirty word.)

Now, instead of daydreaming of it with me, you can actually buy it here...for $230. So worth it to look like Alessandra though, right?

[Photo Credit: AKM-GSI]

Tweet

How I Wore My Heels: Weekend Wedge Edition

Let's let the shoes make their grand entrance on this one, shall we? I can't think of a single pair of wedges I love more in my closet right now. (shaking my head) Coach, you've outdone yourselves. Really. The Gemma is everything you could ask for in a wedge. It's got that chic strap across the top everyone's raving about (it's trendy, so what...I've always loved it). But the woven pattern on the wedge is just extraordinary...it's a standout, for sure! I'm packing for the beach and these babies are on the checklist. 

I feel like I never wear red (ok, I don't), but these shoes bring out a flavor of boldness in me like never before. Instead of playing it safe and wearing a navy dress with them (which I plan to do next time), I went with a vibrant red with an asymmetrical hemline and paired it with distressed slim-cut jeans. I never in my wildest dreams would've thought I would love a slim cut (this is Paper Denim's version of the boyfriend jean), but hold me back, y'all. It's happening! This jean fits in all the right spots...it's baggy where it should be and fitted in the perfect places...like the ankles and the waist. So amazingly comfy for such a slender design, and looks great with a heel or wedge. I rolled them up just one more time to show off that strap! I brought along a handbag from Linea Pelle's newest Venice collection and I couldn't be more obsessed. If you see me and I'm not carrying this handbag lately, well, then I must be at the gym...shrug. I carry it everywhere and the "wood" color truly goes with it all!

I'm counting down another week until I leave for our annual beach vacay and every bit of this outfit is going with. 

Here's how I wore my heels:
- Red v-neck shirt by Kenneth Cole 
- Gemma red/blue wedge gifted by Coach (these wedges might look tall, but they're very walkable and scream "look at me," obvi. I heart them to pieces.)
- "EZE Relaxed 5 Slim" jeans gifted by Paper Denim & Cloth (yep, they're relaxed, yet slim...best combo ever. And the best part? You get to size down an entire size...whheeee!) 
- "Venice" tote gifted by Linea Pelle (such a go-to bag...I reach for it every morning lately! use the handles or the strap on your shoulder...it's got so much room for all your junk, too.) 
- "little C" gold cuff gifted by Rustic Cuff (this was my Mother's Day gift to me in case you didn't read the blog post. I just love it to pieces!)
- Handmade gold earrings via Bang-up Betty (these were a gift from a friend who makes amazing jewelry...these are crafted from 40 caliber shells! creative, right? You can see a tiny glimpse of them in the bottom photo...but to see them close up click on the link just above. I blame my enormous hair that day...ugh!)    

P.S. Yes, these are the same wedges I gave away the week of the I Heart Heels 5-year anniversary! See how our winner wore them, too. ;)

I mean, this wedge is on fire. Click on the image to purchase it!

Tweet

Whiny Wednesday: Easy Eating

When little C. was actually baby C. (remember that?!), I used the Bumbo seat all the time to get the little guy used to sitting up on his own...not to mention to give me a free hand or two. Sigh. (I used to blog with one hand...such talent.) So now Bumbo has brilliantly come up with a new booster seat ($39.99) for the dining room table (and we were lucky enough to be sent one to try out). It's made of the same low-density foam construction just like the popular floor seat - and comes in this amazing lime green!

 Although we have a high chair that was supposed to act as his seat and grow with him until he was old (yada, yada), he still considers said high chair to be a high chair. Which means, it's for babies and he's "not a baby." I mean, duh mom. So this booster seat actually works out great because it serves the purpose we need of reaching the table at mealtime, yet it doesn't make little C. feel like he's still in his baby phase of using a high chair. 

And what's more is it's really easy to use. There are a couple of straps that snap under the chair, and then a three-point harness to snap the little guy in the seat. It's easy to clean...and how do I know? Let's just say we took that aspect of the review for a test drive as well. little C. thought the seat was for drawing...silly guy! Now that it's clean (hand sanitizer does wonders) we love to use this seat because it's just so much more comfy than him kneeling on his knees (which he does otherwise); the indentions in the seat for his little legs are perfect. 

If I can just keep my little busy body from taking off the seat and putting it back on (he seriously tries this every other meal), we'll be good to go. Maybe Bumbo can start making a lock for these things? ;) 

P.S. You can easily buy them at Target! 

[Photo via Keen Distribution]

Tweet

Whiny Wednesday: Ruching is Our Friend

If you're expecting, no doubt one of the essential pieces in your wardrobe should be this ruched maternity tank dress by Isabella Oliver. Malin Ackerman wore the same dress (tons of expecting celebs wear it, duh) back in January with leggings and a moto jacket, and now Ali Landry wore it most recently with a lightweight blazer and a fun pair of strappy heels. It just goes to show you how versatile the dress really is, and how you can wear it pretty much throughout your entire pregnancy from season to season. It's $155, but since you can wear the entire pregnancy, what a deal, no?

It looks like one of those slinky dresses you could just live in, and let me tell you, ruching is one of a pregnant lady's best friends. It hides it all and makes it look so chic! (I like to use this trick on my swimsuits and I'm not even pregnant, ha!) I love how Ali used a pop of color on her heels and added a fun accessory like this tassel necklace (gotta love a good tassel, right?!). Ali's such a fashionable southern mama...I really just adore her to pieces. (Here's an interview I did with Ali, in case you missed it.)

So basically Isabella Oliver is one of the highest quality maternity lines on the planet, and I found when I was expecting little C. and comparison shopping that buying cheap, poor quality maternity wear was one of the worst things you could do. Not only is it a waste of money (just buy a few really nice pieces like this one!), but it never fits properly, which in turn does nothing for the pregnancy self-esteem. Obvi when you're pregnant, you wanna continue to look amazing, and you have to work a little harder (to be honest). So really by sticking to a few really great brands you know won't let you down, it just takes the guesswork out and voila! Hot mama coming through. ;)

[Photo via SplashNews]

Tweet

Whiny Wednesday: Puppet Show, Anyone?

You can never outgrow a good animal puppet. I must admit, I'm having a great time myself playing with our new kangaroo Cate & Levi sent us. I mean, isn't he cute?! While there are tons of adorable animals, I just couldn't resist the mama kangaroo with her little joey. Swoon. 

The Cate & Levi artisans used reclaimed wool to craft everything from kangaroos to sharks, elephants and dragons. And because it's a smaller company that cares, the toys are 100-percent eco-friendly and no two toys are ever alike with unique color combos. The puppets are just $25 each, so they make really good birthday or special occasion gifts! This is actually our second one, so I plan to have a puppet show with a kangaroo and a firefighter soon (won't that be interesting?). 

But, I really do love how hands-on (ha, literally) puppets can be. It's all about turning off the iPad and the electronics sometimes and just playing. Have fun changing your voice and creating difference scenarios and then let your kid do the same. Being a right-brained kid myself, using my imagination has always been my forte and I hope to bring up little C. the same way. Using these hand puppets really brings out the kid in all of us again and it helps when the puppets are this adorable! 

[Photo via Cate & Levi]

Tweet

Win JAX Headphones!

Happy Monday, chic little darlings! I hope I don't bore you to tears by talking in-ear headphones (aka ear buds), but JAX has some amazing (pretty, pretty) ones and we must continue to look our best even at the gym. Wink. The brand sent me a pair to give a whirl, and I'm sorta smitten. I mean, the blue is my color.

These aren't just some cheap, flimsy headphones you'll find anywhere (you can find these at places like RadioShack and Best Buy). They retail for $39.99, and I can def tell the sound quality is much higher than the ones that came with my iPhone. Jax features SOL REPUBLIC's all-new i2 Sound Engines, a tangle-free cable and a 3-button remote control and microphone, making them a great choice for both playing music and...hands-free phone use! I'm really going to give this a try because I think if I could get used to not having my phone up to my head all the time, that would be optimal. I mean, right? I bet it's pretty life changing, if I had to guess. So far I've only used them on the treadmill and elliptical and they worked like a charm.

So I love the color (but if you don't, there are 15 new colors planned throughout this year!), the sound and I love the fact that they included two different sizes of ear tips, so I don't have to deal with them falling out of my ears (as is common with others I've owned). Hey, when I get my cardio going, I don't wanna worry about my music. 

Ok, and this is really cool. Like all other SOL REPUBLIC in-ear headphones, Jax are part of an exclusive Ear Tips For Life program so you never have to worry when you lose your ear tips. SOL REPUBLIC is the only manufacturer that will replace your ear tips anytime they are lost, misplaced or if you simply want a different size. Love. That. 

Now to win your own pair, simply leave a comment below and we'll draw a winner at random next week. Good incentive to step up that cardio, eh? Good luck, lovelies! xoxo

[Photo Courtesy JAX]

Tweet