TIPS FOR GOING BLONDE

Recently, I decided to dye my hair blonde.  I have always dreamed of having long luscious silver locks.  The thought of being a seventy year old with long white hair delights me to the core.  Due to time and money constraints, I must admit that I am a box-job dyer.  I love the ease of going to the store and picking out a colour.  There are also those times when I get in a mama rut and the thought of changing up my look inspires me to make more positive changes in my life.  

With that being said, here is my little tutorial for going blonde at home from dyed dark brown.  Firstly, remember PATIENCE.  You will be removing colour from your hair.  In my case, I was removing all of the colour plus hoping to strip the natural colour as well.  This presents many problems if using a box bleach.  The hair is already damaged from colour dye.  Bleaching is very harsh.  The box dye also doesn't contain the bleach volume that is needed to whiten your hair in one go.  This essentially means you must strip the hair several times before achieving the look you want.  My natural colour also has reddish and brown undertones.  Achieving a silver, white look is nearly impossible (or so I've been told).

Knowing all these things...let's begin

Choose your hair bleach.  It has been suggested to me that you use the same brand.  This could be because the formulas they use to produce the product is created and tested in the same lab.  I chose Feria by L'Oreal (Note:  this is not a vegan product by any means.  There may be vegan bleaches, I just don't know of any.  So please, if you do know some, pass along the names.)

Prep your hair.  Do not wash your hair for a week or longer.  This is not a problem for me as I rarely add soap to my hair.  I'm a non-pooer really.  Allow the oils in your hair to naturally produce themselves.  Some friends have suggested melting coconut oil, allowing it to cool and then placing it on the hair, generously.  I skipped this step.

Leave your roots last.  I cannot emphasize this enough.  When I did my first bleach, I didn't read the box and did all of my hair.  It left me looking like a skunk.  The roots were bleach white and the rest of my hair an orange.  I had to wear a hat for 3 weeks.  

Saturate the hair with bleach.  I started from my roots down.  The tips are split and damaged from wear and dyeing.  Once saturated leave on for a generous amount of time.  Check OFTEN!  I looked every 5 minutes. Do not leave on longer than 40 minutes.  This is a process and you will do it again.  You will not get the desired result immediately so please do not fry your hair and end up with no hair.  YIKES!!!

Once at the desired lightness, WASH EVERYTHING OUT IMMEDIATELY AND THOROUGHLY.  After one of my bleaching treatments I woke up to find myself at three in the morning with the most dry, dead hair.  I forgot to get it all.  I raced downstairs to the sink and just worked at it until it was gone.

Condition and Toner.  A must!  Don't skip.

Wait 4-8 weeks between treatments, cutting the ends each time.  This entire process took me over two months.  In between bleaches I did not wash my hair at all, avoided heat and conditioned with a macadamia nut oil.  Coconut oil is the best!!!

And voila!!!

Stay tuned for my next hair post about adding vibrant colour!  If you want it you must achieve this look first or even blonder!  Hope it helped and please if you have any tips or vegan sources, I'm all ears.  Comment below.

PUNISHING THE TELE

We are a family that has one television.  I am sure by some people's standards it is small but it fits our family quite well.   This lucky device once had the privilege of having a room to itself.  But it was a bad little screen.  It seemed to distract the babes every time they passed it.  Mama and the Papa would wonder into the room after the babes were in bed and that sneaky little thing would steal our time from each other.  It forced us to eat copious amounts of junk food and stare aimlessly into the flashing pictures rather lovingly into each other's eyes. Its very presence seemed to call to us at every moment of the day.  We had enough of that tele and decided that she had to be punished.  So we made a decision to separate this anti-social gal from the rest of the members of the family.

In a desperate attempt to regain control, her plugs were pulled and hauled (by the Papa on my orders) to our room.  It now occupies a space right on top of dresser across from our king sized bed (you know because we bed share with four babes).

I decided to do this for several reasons:  

1)  the television was definitely a distraction during our homeschool days.  The girls were constantly wanting to watch a show and it became a bribing tool.  It sucked that they would only want to engage in homeschool if they knew that they could get a show.  I ended that thought quickly.

2)  Our littlest babe has never been a good sleeper and is in constant need of comfort in the night.  Our room has to be dark and I need to be by her side.  We would just get into a show downstairs, when I would have to leave to go calm her down.  The Papa would patiently wait for me to return.  We would never get through a show together.  I would be stuck up in the bedroom unable to read (because a light beside my side of the bed distracted little Ivy).  Now we can settle in and watch a show all the way through.  YES!!  And I can just whip out my boob to nurse or Papa can lay the little on his chest.

3)  Our room is sacred.  I know!  I know!  How can our room be sacred when we all end up sharing the bed at some point in the night?  Surprisingly, the girls respect that it is Mama and Papa's space.  They enter our room for comfort during the night or when not feeling well.  But they never enter without permission.  They don't rummage through our things, play with their toys, or make special forts unless asked.  Also our room is beyond boring.  So there really isn't a need to go in there, which leads me to....

4)  Out of sight, out of mind.  Our room is a dark cavern that you have to really think about and kind of go out of your way (well not really but the door is usually closed and I keep it dark like a bat cave).  Their rooms are much more desirable.

All in all, the movement of the television has worked wonders.  We have lived in this house for 2 and a half years and we are still sorting out where is the best places for things to make life more efficient and calmer.  This was definitely a hit.  In another post I will talk about our screen time rules for our house and navigating those but for now, I just love these photos of the girls.  They are watching a show they decided on together and not passive or zombies.  They truly do get entertained with the little shows they watch....And sometimes...they just entertain themselves.

NOT CAMERA SHY

My babes are stunners.  They stun me with their bright eyes, intelligence, endless love, smiles.  It happens on the daily.  I love just looking at them and capturing a beauty that exists in their innocent, pure hearts.  These shots are not posed.  They are them emanating their brilliance.

As the years pass, I look back fondly on these photos.  All to often we, as parents of girls, are told to dread that which is to come.  But we are living in the moment of their bliss.

A MAMA AND HER BABES

I am a just a Mama.  I have 4 babes.  And they just rock my world.  The end.

A BABE TURNS ONE

Two weeks ago, a babe turned one.  I have been so absent from this little space.  So I thought I would share.  My dear Ivy Adeline Jolliet.  You have graced my life with more beauty and love than I thought could ever be possible.  Each time you have a babe, you see, you wonder whether or not your heart could grow to accommodate space for new love.  You wonder whether the blood inside your tired mama body could circulate the love through your veins.  You wonder if with each beat you could feel that love and let it reside and remind.

Well, let me tell you.  It does.  Through a force of magic and the divine, my love for each of my babe's grew resoundingly full and equal.  I love you dear babe.  Your presence in our lives...oh it is sweet.  It is brave.  It is challenging.  It is blessed.  It is a blessing.

Thank you for a magical revolution around the sun.  Thank you for long gazes.  Thank you for late, milky nights.  Thank you for extending my mind to challenge and better my soul.  Thank you, dear Babe.