Friday, December 31, 2010

New Year, New Monthly Hair Advice

Well, January is nearly here, and I've decided to start something new. For those who don't know, I've been a licensed cosmetologist for almost 5 years and have had a lot of people approach me with similar hair troubles. Each month I am going to post some practical hair advice that you can use at home without buying any extra fancy gadgets or creams.

January's Hair Advice:
Dry Hair, and Fly-Aways


Winters in Utah can be brutal on your skin and hair, and moisturizer is almost required! Conditioner is like moisturizer for your hair. But you need to use it correctly to get the most out of it. Here are my tips:



1. Run the conditioner through your ends first.
             A lot of people fill their palm with conditioner and plop it right on top of their head, rubbing it into their scalp. Your scalp does need moisture, but if you use the majority of the conditioner on top of your head, your hair might feel limp, you'll have a hard time getting "lift" or volume, and you might feel a little bit greasy. Also, your ends need the conditioner more than your roots do. I place the conditioner right where I would start to gather a ponytail and then run my fingers through the ends.You really want those ends to suck up most of the moisture. Then, I go to the scalp and gently run my fingers through once or twice. The conditioner left on your hands should be enough to moisturize the scalp and roots. 


2. Rinse with cool water.

Heat opens the hair cuticle. So when you have the hot water running on your hair it looks raised, like the cuticle on the far right in this picture. This is also what happens when hair dye is put on the cuticle. The chemicals raise the exterior of the hair strand, in order to get to the cortex which is located beneath it. Sorry to get all technical with you, but it's the only way I know to fully explain why this is important. When you run cool water over a raised cuticle in closes up, like the cuticle on the far left in the picture. So the best way to keep the most moisture in your hair is to shampoo and rinse with warm water, put in your conditioner, and then rinse with cool water. This will lock in the moisture and keep your hair feeling smooth. 

3. Don't completely rinse out the conditioner. 
This rule is hard for people to follow. I think they might be concerned about their hair feeling greasy if they can feel any conditioner still in their hair after rinsing. If you follow tip #1, this won't be the case. When you are finished rinsing, your hair should still feel a little bit slick. This is easier for people with water softeners. And that's where tip #4 comes in:

4. Wait until the end of your shower/bath to condition.
The reason I am telling you this tip, is  because it makes numbers 2 and 3 go a little smoother. You won't have to freeze in the cool water, and you won't be in for long enough to risk rinsing all of the conditioner out of your hair. 

If you are following all of these tips and still having problems with fly-aways or dry strands, I would recommend picking up a leave-in conditioner that you can use after you wash and condition your hair. And remember, concentrate on the ends. Thats the area that really needs the moisture. If you blow dry and flat iron your hair often, make sure you are using something to protect your hair. You can find inexpensive heat protecting sprays and creams and most drug stores. (Dove, Suave, Pantene, Aussie, Nexxus and Herbal Essences, just to name a few) Make sure you look at the ingredients though. Alcohol dries out the hair so avoid sprays, creams, gels etc. that have alcohol in the ingredients, or you might be making your problem worse.  

I hope this helps get you through the dry season without having to deal with pesky fly-aways! 

Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christmas Orders!



Hi Everyone!
Just a reminder:
All Christmas orders need to be in by tonight, Wednesday, December 15th. 
Any orders after that are first come, first served. I will do my best to get your order sent to you by Christmas.

Here's what's new:


Beanies with snowflakes and flowers. Any color!






New Character hats! 
Big Bird


Elmo 


To order your custom crochet item please email your request to: 
iloveapiano@gmail.com

Leave a suggestion for my next project in the comments section below! 

Some secret projects are coming soon! I can't disclose them until AFTER Christmas. :)


Saturday, December 11, 2010

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I apologize for the late post, I've been going all day!


The giveaway winner is: (drum roll)

Buttercup!

Congrats! I can wait to hear what kind of hat you want!

Monday, December 6, 2010

GIVEAWAY

***THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED***
Since it's Christmas time and I figure whoever wins probably already has something in mind, this giveaway will be:
A hat of your choice! 


What will it be

To enter: 
Follow the blog,
Share this giveaway with someone else,
Become a member of the facebook group: My Sweet Somethings,
and finally,
Leave a comment below with a favorite Christmas tradition or memory. 

The winner will be chosen RANDOMLY this Friday, December 10th at 11:59pm MST

Good luck to everyone!

**Note: Crochet question mark and photo credit goes to "Bananagans" from Etsy.com


















Larry, Snoopy, Piggy, and Panda!

.
Forgive the poor quality of photos... they were taken from my phone.

Here are a few of the latest creations! 

Larry the Cucumber
(From Veggie Tales)


Snoopy



Miss Piggy




Panda Bear
(with ear flaps and ties)





To order, contact me by leaving a comment, or by email: iloveapiano@gmail.com

You can also check out my facebook group HERE


Until next time....

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Character Hats





Character Hat prices depend on the amount of work and materials put in. 
For example, an Elmo hat won't cost as much as an Abby Cadabby hat will. 

Coming soon: A Larry the Cucumber hat (from veggie tales) and a Miss Piggy hat!

Put your orders in now for Christmas! If you have an idea for a character hat, run it by me! I can probably make it! You can buy these characters or custom order your own. 
Email your orders here: ashleyludlow@hotmail.com

When ordering, don't forget to specify the size you need.

Have a great day! 

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Custom Hat


Here's a recent puff hat I made custom for a friend. Christmas is coming! If you'd like a custom hat, scarf, legwarmers, or anything for a gift, contact me to order. 

Coming soon: Larry the Cucumber hat (from Veggie Tales)!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Fishnet Drawstring Bag

This cute bag measures approx. 18 inches tall (when empty and laid flat) and can stretch to approx. 15 inches wide when the drawstring is open. Good for holding produce (the first picture shows one carrying grapefruit), laundry, coats or blankets, plush animals, and pretty much anything that is not too small to slide through the holes in the fish net.




Puffy Beanie- Order





When ordering, if you include a head measurement, I can more accurately create a specific hat for you, however the hats fit most sizes in their categories :)




Custom Crochet Items

**Note
It seems a few of the photos are having trouble loading onto the page. I will try to upload more later.

Hello everyone :)

Finally some pictures of my crochet work. I am offering custom crochet bags, hats, scarves, legwarmers, mittens, baby booties, headbands, interchangeable flowers for the hats and headbands, and I'm working on getting some plush animals worked up. Here are a few samples of what I've been working on:

Hats


Puff stitch hats. Any color any size. 

 
 


Character hats

Elmo, also (not shown) Oscar, Big Bird, Zoe, Abby Cadabby, Grover, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Mickey, Minnie, other animals like Frog, Panda, Dog, etc..
If you have a custom request, just ask! I can probably make it.


Brimmed hats

Any color, most any size. 


Knit gathered hats

any solid color

Scarves



 Puff stitch scarf with tassels. 

Any color, width, length.


Knit Scarf

Any solid color, width, length. 

Purses

Your choice of handles or shoulder strap.



(These do not have the handles/straps on them yet)


Blankets
Blankets need to be ordered at least 2 weeks in advance (depending on the size)
Contact me for pricing. 
Any color, many different styles and sizes. 

If you have a specific project in mind, contact me and I will give you a price. 
Shipping is a flat rate of $4.00 in the U.S. 
Contact me for international shipping.


More photos and items to come. I will try and post more tonight. I have headbands and flowers coming too!