I’m 20 again and I’m also a mermaid!

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Beautiful mermaid artwork from Charles Santore, for The Little Mermaid

Every girl wants wavy mermaid hair!  Or I would assume.  One way I hear to get it is with sea salt spray.  I am late coming onto this trend, but I wanted to investigate it for myself.  Is all this hype about “texturizing” your hair with the spray true? Or is it the cosmetic industry’s newest gimmick, making millions off of  this hair product when hairspray, gel, or mousse and a curling iron can do the same?  So I started reading about it.  What does it do to hair when you spritz it in?  Does it automatically give you waves worthy of  the beach?  Does it make you feel like you just came back from one?  How does beach hair look like anyways?  So after reading many internet articles about it, I found out two really important things about the “beach wave” look, and how it is achieved with sea salt sprays, aka surf sprays.

1) “Beach hair” is another way of saying loose, bohemian  waves, with the gritty, messy texture one might get from dunking your head in the sea and letting it air dry.  Basically a dirtier, messier surfer chick wave!  Photos of people that used it had hair just like that which I described.  Some may like it some may not, but you can decide.  But don’t let the trends pressure you into thinking you love it it you don’t!  Respect your own opinion on style.  But if you do, read on!

2) Now the second thing I learned was that sea salt sprays were exactly that.  Water mixed with salt.  Why was the make-up industry charging so much for bottled salt water?  I had no clue.  Sure, they put a nice fragrance in it, but so could I with little to no effort.  So what was the deal?  I even read countless articles on how homemade sprays yielded same if not better beach hair results.  So I decided that if I wanted to try these sprays, I was gonna make my own.  After  experimenting a bit, as well as having a botched attempt, I feel I’ve settled on a great recipe and I’ll share it with you all.  I added rosewater, which makes it smell more like anEnglish Garden, in contrast to the athletic, tropical image of a surfer babe, but I think it makes it more moisturizing and it smells so fresh and healthy.

Roses in the Sea Beach Spray Recipe

2/3 cup warm water (for the salt to disolve)

1 teaspoon salt (more than that doesn’t seem necessary to be visible in hair, but if using dead sea salt, double the amount!)

1/3 cup of rosewater (find it at your local grocery store, or make it if you know how!)

2 teaspoons of grape seed oil (gives your hair more moisture, can also use coconut oil, or something else)

1 teaspoon of alcohol (for preservation)

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my basic, easy to find everyday ingredients, minus the water of course!

Add all the above ingredients into a clean bottle with a spray nozzle.  Shake it up, and then spritz all over your hair!  The more you put in, the more hold you can get.  I like more waves, since my hair doesn’t seem to be that wavy unless I help it out. So I twirl them in them into four little buns and let it air dry for a few hours.  Then I release it while it’s still a bit damp.  The curls are too severe, so I soften them by blowing them out with a hair dryer until they are dry and set.  I get loose waves with texture, while not looking too done up.  It’s seems effortlessly pretty, which is trendy these days!  Surprisingly my hair feels really soft.  I think it’s the rose water.  Give it a try and let me know if you love it too.

My results.  It was nice and soft, even the day after! yay.
My results. It was nice and soft, even the day after! yay.

Oils, elixirs of youth…

These pretty bottle contain crazy potions and elixirs!
These pretty bottle contain crazy potions and elixirs!

I’ve recently been re-watching The Lord of the Rings movies, and am just reminded of the large scale of human imagination and creativity.  All this time and artistry put into retelling Tolkien‘s epic story about good over evil in fantasy middle earth times has left me feeling like talking about magic elixirs…and I’d like to talk about a few. Natural oils are unprocessed and pure, and when using them as a skin care aid, they really do wonders!

I first discovered Jason’s vitamin E oil, in 2009, when after sleeping over at my then boyfriends’ house and waking up early to come back home, I felt stretched and tired, and so did my skin.  I went to my local health food store and thought, there must be something I can put on to rejuvenate my face, and I stumbled upon a small bottle of vitamin E oil. I didn’t know what it could do, but my face felt like it needed a bit of moisture, so I bought it and slathered it on.  I immediately saw a difference in the texture and quality of my face skin.  Since then I’ve been using different brands of vitamin E oil to ward off stress and dryness on my face,  before I put on night cream, and I’m proud to say I’ve barely got a wrinkle…

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There are so many cosmetic oils out there on the market now, and I’m glad to say that it’s nothing new for me.  Argan oil looks divine, but its price point is not.  Other oils that I’d like to boast about are olive oil and grape seed oil.  Olive oil is nice and thick.  It covers the skin and hair nicely and doesn’t let up on it’s moisturizing properties.  Although it is a bit greasy, whenever I use it as a make-up remover, I can feel my face thanking me the next day when my skin looks so soft.  I don’t recommend Olive oil for the skin everyday, though.  I recently put some olive oil in my conditioner and it’s really put back some resilience to my colour treated hair.

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Grape seed oil is my newest experiment. And so far, I’m loving it.  It’s not as heavy as vitamin E oil, or olive oil.  It spreads nicely, and absorbs quickly.  I’ve been using it as a body moisturizer after showers and it makes my skin so smooth.  Just wonderful. The best thing about using oils is the simplicity of it, of knowing what you’re putting on your skin and just the reassurance that no preservatives are in them. It is skin nourishment.  The fact that you can cook with any of these oils are testimony to their gentle goodness.  Enjoy!

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