through andi's eyes

Q&A

2010-04-28T12:16:00.000+02:00

Hi. Sorry for my little hiatus. Since the weather has been getting nicer I have been trying to spend my time out of the house during the days. Also I have made some friends, it's great. Last week I spent 3 of my afternoons having lunch or shopping with different friends. Who knew I would have a better social life in a foreign country in 4 months than I did in 6 months in Atlanta.

Through Andi's Eyes is my connection to the Fashion and Beauty world right now so it's really special to me. I am trying to thing of ways to revamp it. Maybe with daily themes and or a new layout. Yesterday it was suggested to me that I take questions from readers, either by email or in the comments and have one day a week to answer peoples questions. I think that is a great idea. If you want to participate, please email your questions to andiseyes at gmail dot com.

Thank you all for reading. As I close in to 100 readers I am trying to think of a giveaway to do. Maybe next week.

43 days until I see the ocean again...

Get more for your money

2010-04-21T00:46:00.000+02:00

Recently there was a discussion about the amount of money one has invested in their makeup bag. My number was huge. Of course this is because I am a non working MUA, and my entire kit has now become my own products. I estimated about $800 dollars would be down the drain if I lost my makeup bag. It might be more. That is a scary thought.

Although that is a large amount of money for an average person to spend on their makeup, for a professional makeup artist it is actually a low number. I do have a MAC discount which helps but I also have a few for using a minimal amount of products to achieve a large variety of looks.

Here are a couple of things that might help you save some money in your own makeup bag.

Have only two color eye liners, black and brown. If you want a colored liner you can set either of these colors with a colored shadow for the same effect.
Why buy 5 different shades of the same color? Instead buy a medium shade and use it with different techniques. You can do several layers of a color to make it darker. Try using it with a shadow primer for richer pigment, and without for a softer color.
The shadow that you use as a highlight color can double as the highlighter for the rest of the face, applied to the top of the cheekbones and the nose.
Use an eyeshadow to fill in your brows instead of using a separate brow pencil/powder.
Always apply moisturizer to your face before applying foundation. Your skin is like a sponge, when dry it will suck up anything you rub on it, therefore using more product. A moisturizer is not just good for the skin, but it will fill the skin, and just like a wet sponge can't pick up more water, your foundation will stay in place.
Instead of having a lot of different lipsticks (I don't own one), try using a combination of lip pencils (I have 3, one flesh toned, one pink and one red) and glosses. You can create totally different colors using different mixtures here.

Do you have any money saving tips?

Just because there were no pictures in this whole post and I hate that. My poor cat. He loves me though.

Why is it so fun to annoy cats?

Tea for two

2010-04-19T14:17:00.000+02:00

I drink tea a lot. I love it. It is a perfect cold weather pick me up. Now that the weather is getting nicer though, I don't always want to drink a hot beverage. Instead I have modified one of my favorite tea recipes for warmer weather. You can find the original recipe in this post. To make it more summery, instead of adding a squeeze of lemon I add the juice from a whole lemon or lime. Then after it's done steeping, I add some organic honey to cut the tartness, add it to your own taste. Then I stick it in the fridge to cool. Then I drink it later over some ice. It's really refreshing. This is also a detoxifying tea.

Even though I have stopped posting my healthy meals (let's face it, I eat the same things over and over, and that isn't interesting), I am still eating healthy as much as I can.

Also, JP and I have started the P90X program. One week in, I am loving it! I will probably do a post on it soon, but I want to get a few weeks under my belt first so I can give a better opinion.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Opps I forgot...

2010-04-13T15:52:00.000+02:00

I forgot to include the makeup colors that I used in my last post.

I used Bobbi Brown Shadow in Champagne from lash line to lid.

Then I used a MAC Shadow, Show Stopper, which I am not sure is available in the US. This color I put lightly in the crease and along the lash line. It is a warm grey color

Then I lined my eyes with my usual MAC Technikohl Liner in Photogravure (a dark brown) and went over that line with MAC Shadow, Typographic, and dark (almost black) smokey grey.

I also want to thank Mere and Taylor for their Sunshine Award that they gave me.

I know I am supposed to nominate my favorite blogs now but I think all of them have already been nominated. I love them all. If you want to see my favorites check out my blog roll. I have just added five new ones there!

Oh, man! I am so sore. It's actually hurting to type. JP and I started P90X last night. Let me tell you, it is a good work out. Round two tonight!

Natural looking foil pattern and LOTD

2010-04-11T20:17:00.001+02:00

A fellow blogger, Steph of Not Just Another Blonde, emailed me a question last night asking about natural highlights. I felt that the best way to describe the foil placement was to try to draw it. Notice I said try. I don't have a great program on my computer to draw pictures so I had to work with what I have and, well, you'll see.

I did two drawings, the first is to show you a basic foil pattern that a lot of people follow. This pattern is what creates highlights like this...

Ok this is an extreme example, but I just used this picture to illustrate the point.

A telltale Characteristic of this pattern is that you can see where the line crosses the part in the hair.

The lines represent the direction of the foil placement.

See how bad the drawings are? But you still get the idea.

The next drawing shows the most natural way to place the foils. It creates highlights more like this...

Where there are no definite lines in the hair.

In this pattern the foils should fall in the direction that the hair falls on the head. The top section is the most important. The foils in this section should lay perpendicular to the front and back sections and lay across the top of the head like a book.

On Friday night JP and I had a date night. We went to the best steak house in town, just the two of us and then came home and watched a couple of South Park episodes (one of the only English shows we can watch online). It was a great night.

Blazer: Banana Republic

Ruffle tank top: F21

Jeans: H&M

Shoes: Steve Madden

I did a look I don't normally do. I know this is shocking, I used a black eye liner. LOL

I hope you had a great weekend!

xoxo Andi

Are you looking for a new hair style?

2010-04-08T13:41:00.000+02:00

If you are in the market for a new style I have the perfect site for you. UKHairdresssers.com is a Brittish based site. They have thousands of pictures there that range from funky cut and color to more classic looks. When you get to the site just click on Style Gallery and it will take you to the different looks. I hope you find some inspiration.

Company: The Colour Room
Elite Collection
Hair: Sean and James Tetlow
Stylist: Peter Breen
Make-up: Chase Ashton
Photography: Trevor Leighton

Disclaimer: I am not being paid to promote this site. I just get a lot of questions about good sites to find styles and I thought I would share my favorite one with everyone.

Do you have any places that you look to find new styles? Please share if you do.

Bare faced and Fancy Free.

2010-04-05T23:06:00.000+02:00

From Tuesday of last week until Sunday morning (Easter), one of my best friends came to stay with us here in Germany. She and her beautiful family live in Copenhagen, only a 9 hour drive away. We spent the time with them just relaxing and doing whatever we felt like doing. This included chasing around a 15 month old around my non-childproof house, drinking beer and walking around the city. What it did not include was putting on makeup or blow drying my hair even once. It was very nice, but at the same time I can see where some mothers start to feel like they have lose their style. It is important to feel beautiful, and makeup helps us do that.

To tell you the truth, as a stay at home wife, one of the reasons that I blog is to give myself a reason to put on some makeup. Even wearing makeup once in a while can boost your self esteem. When you look good you feel good. Tomorrow I will definitely be back at it.

Oh man!

2010-03-29T10:59:00.000+02:00

I am sick. I've been sick all weekend but it usually takes me a while to admit it to myself. Yuck! It's just a cold but I slept like crap all weekend.

Hopefully I am feeling better by tonight, we are having friends over for dinner. And tomorrow my best friend drives down from Copenhagen with her husband and their 1 year old. I am really excited but I have a ton to do before then. So sorry for the meaningless and short post but I have a lot of stuff to do.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was great despite the cold. I won a Karaoke Contest on Friday. LOL.

Have a great week!

Hip Hop Horray! Hooo, Hay, Hooo! It's Friday.

2010-03-26T13:32:00.002+01:00

I feel like this week dragged on forever! One good thing this week, we meet some new Americans who were here on their house hunting trip. They will be coming back in a month for good, so it looks like we'll have some new friends. We liked them a lot.
Last night we went to dinner with them at our favorite place in town. We have to share it with all the newbies (like I'm not still a newbie myself). It's an Italian place called Lo Studente. Delicious food. Their specialty is simply amazing. They have this huge parmesan wheel and they scrape cheese from inside the bowled out middle. Then they come from the kitchen with pasta piping hot, still in the pan and dump it in the cheese. Next they mix it around until all of the cheese they scraped off gets melted all over the pasta. Then they give it to you on a plate with the sauce on the side. It is heavenly!

Ali, scraping the cheese.

The cheese waiting for it's soul mate, the pasta. LOL

DELISH!!!

Yesterday I promised to start updating the reviews of some products that I have been using for a while. Today I will do two, because they kind of go together.

I will start today with the Redken Real Control line. I originally started using the Real Control Intense Renewal Super Moisturizing Mask last Octoberish. I reviewed it here. I liked the mask so I decided to try the shampoo and conditioner. I bought the small bottles and liked those so before I moved I bought a liter of each of the shampoo and conditioner. Yuck!

It has started building up on my hair. It feels so gross. It was fine at first but after a few months of use it really built up. I hate it now. Luckily I had some left in a liter of Aveda Shampure shampoo and a Color Conserve Conditioner, that I usually used on clients in the US. So I decided to make the change when I colored my hair the other day...

Because I used the Malibu Pre-Color Treatment to remove the buildup off of my hair before coloring it. A product I actually had a contest to win. Now, this works. It completely removed any buildup that the Real Control had left on my hair so I was able to start with a fresh slate again. I will definitely be using my Aveda until the summer when I get back to the states and can pick up the new shampoo and conditioner that I ordered and sent to my mother-in-laws house. It's a product that I can't wait to try. Stay tuned to see if I like this one.

If I sent you one of these treatments have you used it? Did you like it?

Thank you all for reading. I really appreciate your comments and your reading my blog!

Love LoVe, LOVE,

Andi

The poll results are in.

2010-03-25T14:31:00.001+01:00

New ~~Same~~ Cut and Color

So the poll ended yesterday, and the results were to keep the same color. The problem was that ends that were colored had faded so much that the red color I used to have was starting to show through. Also I was beginning to get some split ends. I am embarrassed to say how long it's been since I cut and colored my hair, but let's just say it has been since at least ~~Thanksgiving~~ Christmas.

So to freshen up my ends I used Redken Shades. It is my favorite color to use. I always use a demi-permanent color. The only reason to use a permanent one is if you are covering up greys. Otherwise demi-permanent lasts long enough that your roots need to be colored anyway by the time it has started to fade. Also it does almost no damage to the hair.

I used

2oz 6N + 1oz 8N

The N series has a blue violet background that canceled out the harsh red and orange tones in my hair.

I only put this color on the ends where it was brassy in order to keep the new growth virgin.

For the cut I only trimmed the layers, taking about an inch off.

I recently realized that I have talked about a few products but not done a follow up of whether I liked them or not. Next week I am going to focus on this.

This weekend, if it doesn't rain, we might go check out Bamberg, the city with the highest concentration of breweries. Sounds like fun to me!

What are your plans for this weekend?

xoxo Andi

Spring is Finally here in Germany...I hope

2010-03-24T12:26:00.001+01:00

This being my first year here, I can only hope that the cold is gone and the warmth will stay. I love not having to wear a coat. I can't wait to see what German fashion is. In the winter, all you can see is the hair and makeup, which wasn't good. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt though, assuming the hair was messed up by the hats and the make up was skipped so it wouldn't get ruined in the snow and rain. Also, to be fair, I am sure, just like in the US, that the fashion varies vastly from one place to another. Who knows, they might have beautiful hair in Berlin.

I know Spring just started but I am started to get excited for summer. We are starting to plan trips now. I know we are for sure going to the US in July. We'll be there just in time for July 4th celebrations! My favorite holiday.

The other trip we are planning I am equally excited for. We are going with friends (hopefully, plans aren't totally set yet) to the Greek Islands, Crete to be more specific.

Hello Beach. Hello Bikinis. Hello Sunscreen.

I am so excited! Now I am in the market for a bathing suit and I need to stock up on my SPF's, 70, please!

Now all I need to do is get my bum in gear at the gym. My husband is talking about trying out the P90X, so we'll see if that happens. He's a lot of talk. LOL I love him anyway.

Do you have any fun plans coming up this Spring and Summer?

xoxo Andi

This week I welcome back an long lost friend.

2010-03-23T19:45:00.001+01:00

The Sun!!!

I actually left the house in a t-shirt today. No jacket. In traditional Michigan Spring fashion, I almost put my open toed shoes on too, but then I thought I might be taking it too far.

Yay for Spring!

More thoughts on this tomorrow. Now, dinner at a friends' house.

Munich in under 100 Euros.

2010-03-22T14:16:00.002+01:00

     Early Saturday morning we hopped a train to Munich, or München as the Germans call it. They have what is called a Bayern Ticket. This ticket lets you and up to 4 friends travel around Bavaria all day. It includes trains and public transportation in the city, busses, street cars, subways. Our travel total for the entire day was 28 Euros.

   Because we only had 5 hours to walk around before our train left back home, we ate on the go. At the train station we grabbed a couple of Bratwurst and started walking. A luxury of living in Germany. A delicious lunch for under 6 Euro, all together.

   We picked the perfect day to go. Das Wetter war schön, die Sonne gerichtet. (Are you impressed yet?) It was the first day we could walk around with out coats on all year. We had upper 50's to low 60's all day. It was beautiful.

Walking up to Schloss Nymphenburg

We took the street car over to Schloss Nymphenburg, the castle, and spent sometime walking around the grounds. I can only imagine how beautiful they will be in a couple of weeks once the flowers start bluming. The castle grounds are huge. It was full of people and dogs enjoying the beautiful weather.
This is completely free of charge to do. I saw a lot of people doing an afternoon run or bike ride around the grounds. I am totally jealous. I would love to have such a beautiful area to run or bike in everyday.

We even let Georgia run around with out her leash. She had fun.

Swans in the pond at the Schloss

The back view of the castle.

OK, my husband is a total nerd. So we had to go to the Deutsches Museum while we were there. It is Germany's science museum. JP, being an Electrical Engineer, was most excited to see the section about power there. I actually have a cool video of an electricity show that they did that I may put up. We'll see, don't hold your breath. We had fun there too, but after about an hour and a half I was ready to go. I wanted to do the Planetarium there, but since the weather was so nice we put that off until next time.

The Aeronautical section of the Museum

The entrance to the Deutsches Museum

We will definitely be going back in May, when we have a friend coming from the states. That time I think we will also stay the night in the city, in order to see more.

In my last post I mentioned a video I was going to put up, and I included a cute outtake from said video. Well, my husband so kindly pointed out to me that in the short outtake video that I look like I am pushing my chest out. He was right. LOL, I guess I get nervous about what to do with my hands, so I had stuck them in my back pockets. Anyway, I think I am going to redo that video. So I will put it up eventually, but not today.

I hope you all had a great weekend too. Did you do anything fun or exciting?

Bonus Post Today: My LOTD St. Patrick's Style!

2010-03-17T17:12:00.001+01:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe night. Please, no drinking and driving.

We are going out with some friends tonight. All of the Irish Pubs were full when I called for reservations so we'll be going somewhere else. The point of going out isn't where we're going, it's hanging out with friends. I am sure we'll have fun no matter where we go.

So I didn't want to cover myself head to toe in green, especially since I am doing a green eye, so I snuck it in with a scarf and Marilyn's lips.

The scarf is from ATL

The jeans from H&M

The jacket is from Forever 21, and I have had it forever (for all of you haters)

The Marilyn shirt is a hand painted piece that I bought at an art fair in Atlanta

Undies from VS, LOL

Please pay no attention to the state of my bathroom.

I had just finished doing a video and still had all of my stuff out. The video should be ready in the next few days.

Here is my makeup

Oh and here's a cute little blooper from the video I just did. My cat kept interrupting me, but in the sweetest way possible. Enjoy!

Have a great night! Thanks for reading and don't forget to look at my earlier post from today and vote in my poll on the side bar!

I'm stuck at a crossroads that I haven't been at in a while. Please help.

2010-03-17T12:33:00.001+01:00

I have no idea what I want to do with my hair. Color wise at least. For the last few years, I had everything planned out like a road map, but I have just reached the end of the road. I don't know where I want to go from here.

You are all probably aware that I have been growing my hair out for the last 2 plus years now, and I don't want to do anything too damaging. So blonde is definitely out of the running.

Ok, not my finest moment, but you get the picture.

Right now my options are to either go darker, red or stay the same. What do you think looks best on me?

Here are pictures from a couple of different times that I have had dark hair.

Yes, that is purple in my bangs.

The Pros

Going darker a healthy option for my hair.

It's my husband's absolute, hands down, favorite.

It's super shiny.

The Cons

When I do eventually want to go lighter, it will be more damaging, but maybe by then I will be ready to loose some length.

That's really the only con.

Here are some pictures from my red phases. Surprisingly this is my most common phase but am having a hard time finding good pictures.

Pros
I love red hair. It is to me the most beautiful color. I always go back to it.
While it's the most damaging of my options, it's still not that damaging. And once I get it red, it is just as healthy to maintain as the other options.

Cons
Fellow redheads please don't take this badly, but the redheaded girl is always the friend, not the star. I want to be a star. The positive redhead stereotypes don't work in my favor... I'm married. ;)
It's the most damaging of all of the options.

Now for the whole reason that I am lost as to what to do:
The color that I have now is so similar to my natural color that I could grow it out without coloring it at all. Why not grow out my natural color one last time, until I go grey and have to color it? (Because that's boring, but humor me)

Recent pictures of my hair.

Pros
The healthiest option, as it involves no color at all.
Very low maintenance.

Cons
Boring. Boring. Boring.
I do notice a little difference between the new growth and the previously colored area, but I don't know if anyone else does.

It is hard to be objective when looking at yourself. So please help me decide what to do. Which do you think looks best on me? Of course I am open to other ideas as well, but this is what I have come up with, in order to preserve the health of my long hair. I still want it a little longer.

Now I leave you with some wishful thinking. It's gotta get nice soon, right?

xo Andi

I Hate Jeans Shopping.

2010-03-15T19:28:00.001+01:00

     I love shopping. Styles change, my taste changes, sometimes you just want something new. But, if I could have one pair of jeans that fit me perfectly, and would last me the rest of my life, I would never go jeans shopping again. NEVER.
     I had found a great pair of jeans a couple of months ago. They fit perfectly, they were comfortable, they looked good (enough) on me. I figured they would last me a long time. They were NOT a cheep pair.
     Then couple of weeks ago, my thighs rubbed a hole right in the crotchal area of them. I was so mad. I don't own that many pairs of jeans because, like I said, I hate shopping for them. So my only other pair of jeans, is a couple sizes too big, but they would have to do. And they did, for a couple of weeks I wore only those and would wear some other pants when I was washing them, every couple of days.
      On the weekends I would go shopping for a new pair. The brands that I like back in the U.S. are either not here, or ridiculously expensive. Like, a pair that would normally be $150 there is $200-$250 here, easily.
     So I figured, 'Let me get a cheep pair here, to hold me off until I get to the states this summer and can buy a good pair.' That's what I did. This weekend I finally broke down and went to H&M, where I had already tried on a million and a half pairs of jeans on one of my many shopping escapades.

     I came home, after only spending 62 Euros, with a pair of jeans a shirt and a scarf. If you have read this far you probably want some pictures. So here you go. Sorry these pictures were taken by me, and I still don't have a full length mirror in my house.

Here are the jeans, a pair of skinnies, 39 Euro.

Here's another picture, my husband just informed me that the other one makes my legs look weird.

The shirt, and below a more detailed view. Around, 14.50 Euro

The belt is BCBG from last summer.

And the orange scarf. 7.95 Euro

It was the color that drew me to this scarf, but I had a hard time getting it to even look orange in the pictures. It kept looking pink.

Did you get anything good this weekend? What do you think of the top? I was debating taking it back. I am not sure I love it, but I finally decided to keep it. I am curious of what you all might think.

An Easy Up-Do How To, Part Two

2010-03-11T15:00:00.001+01:00

Here's the video tutorial of the up-do from yesterday. I hope you like it!

I hope you're all having a great day!
xoxo Andi

An Easy Up-Do How To, Part one

2010-03-10T14:08:00.001+01:00

Here's what I am working on for tomorrow.

We all have little events now and then that we want to look put together for. We don't necessarily want to go all out by getting our hair and makeup done for every little one, though. It's good to have a few easy up-dos in our repertoire. This is a great look for you ladies with curly hair, btw.

Here's my go to up-do for such an event.

When doing this video I was sad to realize that my hair has gotten too long for this look. I still did it to show everyone, but it looks much better with shorter hair.

So since I am looking for a new style myself: What is your go to look for a fancy evening out?

Ohhhhh Shiny! All you ever wanted to know about shiny hair, and probably more.

2010-03-08T11:53:00.001+01:00

Let's be honest. We all love shiny things.

After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend, right?

And, where would Lady Gaga be without a little bling?

I don't think there is such a thing as too shiny, especially when it comes to your hair. I have never had a client say to me, "My hair is too shiny, can we tone that down a notch?" It is a universally coveted trait.

So let's talk about how to obtain this holy grail of hair. There are two factors that determine the shininess of your hair.

The Color & The Cuticle

Why is the color important?

There are two types of pigment found in everyone's hair. One determines whether you are blonde or brunette, and the other whether you have red or no red. For now we are just going to talk about the first one, because that is the one that determines the darkness or lightness of your hair. The difference between a blonde and a brunette is not in the color of the pigment in their hair, it's in the amount of pigment found in the hair.

Blondes have very little pigment in their hair, where, the darker the brunette is, the more packed in the pigment is in her hair. Light bounces off of this pigment. So in a blonde, most of the light passes right through, where a brunette's hair bounces a lot more light back off. Voilà! There's your shine.

Q: I'm a brunette, why isn't my hair automatically shiny?

A: The cuticle.

The cuticle is very important when talking about shine. The healthier the hair is the smoother the cuticle will be. Obviously the smoother the cuticle the more light reflects off of it's surface.

So how does one get shinier hair?

There are a few options all which involve color. What the chemical in any color does is opens the cuticle, deposits the color, and then closes the cuticle again. If you hair isn't super damaged the cuticle will probably be closed tighter than before the color. Which is why your hair looks extra shiny after coloring it.

If you don't want to change the color of you hair at all or are blonde:

Blonde girls there is some hope. You can get what is known as a Clear Gloss, also known as a Celophane. This will just close the cuticle down. It doesn't deposit any color at all.

Color you hair darker:

Unless you have greys, use a demi permanent color. By darkening your color you will boost the shine there as well by sealing the cuticle afterwords. And demi permanent does little to no damage to the hair.

Last night, at the Oscars, Sandra Bullocks hair looked beautiful, and extra shiny. I loved her old Hollywood style.

So Sandy B's hair,

Brunette: Check

Healthy: Check

Colored: Check

Whose Oscar style did you love this year? I didn't get to watch because I am in a different time zone. Tell me who else I should look up.

Do you have any tricks to keep you hair shiny?

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

<3 Andi

Q&A with me

2010-03-07T16:45:00.000+01:00

So since it's the weekend I figured that I would do just an easy Q&A post. Thanks to everyone for the questions. I feel like it's been a get to know you kind of week, at least in my blogosphere, so I figured I would participate too.

Do you miss living in America?

I am really enjoying myself in Germany so far. I've been experiencing so many new things and meeting so many great people that I haven't had even a second to miss home. There are little things that I am starting to miss already, like, different foods that I can't get (they don't eat chicken here!), people looking you in the eyes and smiling when passing on the street, and, of course, I miss my family. So while I am not super home sick yet, I am sure by the time it's ready for me to come home, I will be ready. Right now, I am too busy being excited to be here, though.

Did you always want to be a hairstylist?

I did. When I graduated high school I wanted to go straight to cosmetology school but my dad told me that I had to go to college. So first, I went to school to be a Spanish teacher. After that I went straight to cosmetology school. I absolutely loved every minute of it.

Are there any other careers you would ever want to try?

I really love what I do but I think eventually I will try teaching. I figure when I have kids it might be better to have the same schedule they do. I plan to stay home with my kids while they are young though.

What salon did you work at in ATL?

I worked at Van Michael Salon, in Buckhead.

How can I rock black eyeshadow without looking like I belong on the Rock of Love bus?

Did you ever get nervous when you started doing how to videos?

I am still nervous. Originally, I was nervous because I am not the super bubbly girly girl type, like some of the other youtube MUAs out there. Hopefully there are people out there who like me how I am. Actually, all of the nice comments are the only reason that I am still doing them. I feel like it's a learning process though. The more I do the better that I will get at it.

What is your favorite movie?

I am a big comedy fan. I would say my all time favorite movie is Office Space. I also really like Inglorious Bastards and UP.

What color do you think you'll dye your hair next?

For the first time in my life (well, since I have been coloring), I don't know. I am really trying to decide what to do right now. It turns out that the last color I used faded pretty close to my natural color, so I am debating letting my natural color grow out. Just to see it again before I start getting greys and have to color it. If I start working, though, I will have to color it. So we will see.

Do you plan on cutting it anytime soon?

No way, Jose!

Do you think you want to become a mom anytime soon? :)

Andi, you and I really must be on the same wave length. We are talking about starting to try either after the summer or early next year... Fingers crossed.

Do you have any non-F&B related hobbies?

Oh, yes. I love cooking and come from a family of great Italian cooks. I am lucky to have that passed down to me. Still, no one can cook like my Grandma. I also love going out with friends, and we have been lucky enough to have met some great people here so far to do that with. I also love to learn languages. I am learning my third language now, here in Germany. I have classes 4 hours a week. I think French will be next.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

-Andi

OMG, There's a Man on my Blog Roll!

2010-03-05T14:50:00.000+01:00

Meet Tomik Dash, Brandon, Ari, whichever!

This boy's got his hands full. He is a fellow hairstylist, a model and the writer of a blog called Vintage Clothes + Designer Drug. I discovered his blog the other day and it is a hilarious take on a fashion blog. I love and admire his writing voice. I find it very hard to convey humor in my writing and he makes it look so effortless. I was dying, DYING reading his latest blog post. Of course I had to share it with you all. I really think you ladies will like it.

Tomik and I used to work together at a famous salon in Atlanta. He was one of my favorite people there. He is as funny in person as in the blog. I can tell you first hand that this is one talented human being. Not to mention gorgeous! Are you blushing yet, Brandon?

Really, check out his blog. It won't disappoint!

Ask me anything! I'm going to play along with Veronika, too. I am sure I will not get as many questions as she did, but I will also answer anything with in reason. I think it's fun to get to know each other a little more.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

xoxo Andi

Spring and Summer Runway Trends

2010-03-04T12:17:00.001+01:00

It's March! The sun is starting to shine a little more. The snow has melted (at least here in Germany). Is everyone gearing up for another Spring/Summer fashion and beauty season? I know I am.

I am really excited by a lot of the trends we were seeing on the runways for this upcoming season. Here are a few highlights.

A lot of the looks used very neutral colors,

like this look from Daniel Vosovic’s show. I love it, it's one of my favorite looks I saw on the runway this year. The golden and bronze shadows blend so well with her bronzed skin. It's really a beautiful look. I love the look of the hair from this show, also. Very undone, updo. Which was also a theme, but I will talk about that later.

Or this tawny look from the Cushnie et Ochs show.

Another popular look this year was barely there makeup. It was done in one of two ways. Truely, nude looking, like this look from Tankoon.

Or a bare face with one bold feature.

It was a great plum lip at Peter Som.

A striking cat eye at Devi Kroell

Or, my personal favorite of all of the trends this season, the bare face with bold lashes, seen at Marc Jacobs.

The past few years, François Nars (founder of Nars), has borrowed the more dramatic looks of the 80's and Japanese geishas. This year he toned it way down to this beautiful look, that perfectly sums up the look of the season.

You've heard it before, bigger is better. That was definitely a theme this year, along with the messier the better it seems. All of the looks were messy-done. A perfect oxymoron. They were thrown up, a purposeful mess. I love it.

Here's the look again from Daniel Vosovic.

This look, from the Adam show.

There was also a lot of loose texture and messy waves.

Some big beautiful hair from DVF.

In order to include some of these into my look for the upcoming spring/summer season, I snatched a couple of new shadows yesterday. One is the new spring color forecast palate, in color 4, from MAC.

I also got a new shade from Bobbi Brown called Champagne.

I am on a kind of vacation right now. I am crashing in on JP's business trip to Frankfurt. So I haven't even tried the colors yet. For the next week I am going to be replicating some of the great looks. I will keep you updated!

If you want to check out some of my pictures from this visit, check out my other blog. I actually am going to post them right after I post this, so if you look and they aren't there yet, just give me a few minutes!

So what do you think of the upcoming trends for the season? Are there any in particular that you are going to be getting some good use out of? Do you have either the MAC palate or the shadow that I just bought? If so, what are you thoughts on the colors?

Have a great day!

xoxo

Andi

Wedding Makeup Videos! Finally.

2010-03-01T16:19:00.001+01:00

I was a DIY bride only 7 months ago, and when I say DIY, I really did everything myself. Probably the thing I have gotten the most comments about from the wedding was my makeup. I figured I would share the look with all of you ladies. Whether you are looking to do your own makeup on your wedding day, looking for some wedding makeup inspiration or just looking for a full makeup look for an event, I hope you can find what you are looking for in these videos.

Here are a couple of pictures from my wedding to show the look in full wedding glory.

The videos are ready! It turned out to be so long that I needed to separate it into 3 videos. I think it's just over 20 minutes of video after I edited everything that I could out. It is an entire wedding look after all. I think it turned out really well though.

The Colors I Used
EYES
MAC Shadestick in Beige-ing
MAC Shadow in All that Glitters
MAC Shadown in Naked Lunch
MAC Shadow in Espresso
MAC Shadow in Typographic
MAC TechnaKohl Liner in Photogravure
BedHead Shadow in Champagne (Highlight)
CoverGirl Lash Blast in Very Black
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black
FACE
MAC Prep + Prime
Aveda Tinted Moisture in Beechwood 02
MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer in NW20
Aveda Powder in Cream 01
Aveda Bronzer in Bronze Glow (Discontinued)
MAC Sheer Tone Shimmer Blush in Spring Sheen
BedHead Shadow in Champagne- as cheek Highlight as well
LIPS
Clinique Quickliner in Warm Raisin
Lip Balm

I hope you enjoy this look and it gives you the help of the inspiration that you need!

xoxo Andi

Sorry still no videos.

2010-02-27T22:36:00.000+01:00

I am sorry everyone. My husband is been gone all week and just got home for this weekend. Then he leaves again next week so we have been busy this weekend going out with friends and things. I promise to post the videos on Monday. I still have a little bit of editing to do, as soon as that is done I will post.

I hope everyone is having as good of a weekend as we are!

<3 Andi

Coming up next: Wedding Makeup.

2010-02-25T15:39:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone! I just finished my wedding makeup video where I show the look that I did for my wedding. I have gotten a lot of compliments and questions about it. So I figured I would help all of you soon to be Mrs. ladies out there.

Here is a picture from my wedding day.

Please ignore the mess in the background, I was in a panic to get ready before the rain came again.

Here are some pictures from the look today.

I am really excited about this video. I will probably post it either later today or tomorrow early. It is actually pretty long, I mean it's a whole wedding look, so I am going to break it up in to sections. Man I have a lot of editing to do. Look for it later!

<3 Andi

Bonus: Why to Use a Shadow Primer

2010-02-24T23:13:00.000+01:00

This video was originally going to be included in the video from yesterday but I decided to make it it's own video. Here I show what using a shadow primer, such as a MAC shadestick or paint, does.

For my healthy meal today I made a homemade veggie soup. It actually didn't turn out that well, so I won't share the recipe, LOL. I just took all of the vegetables that I had at home and threw them in a pot with a liter of water and a couple of bullion cubes, and viola! Dinner, for the next 3 days, haha. It wasn't horrible, it just wasn't as good as I had hoped. I wish I would have had some carrots to add and maybe some celery, but oh well, maybe next time. Plus, I didn't have enough bullion cubes, so I added this weird Cuban spice that my husband uses to cook Cuban food.

What is your favorite healthy thing to eat?

New Video: A Fun Eyeliner

2010-02-23T21:30:00.001+01:00

Some days girls just want to have fun... with their makeup. Even days that you might not be doing fun things, like work for example. You want to wear something different than your normal look, but you don't want to look over the top.
In this video I show how to make a colored liner wearable for everyday life. The best part, you don't have to go out and buy a million different colored liners just to be able to wear different colors, because honestly how often are you going to wear a bright green liner. With the technique I am showing today, you can just go over a liner that you already have, like a brown, with a colored eyeshadow. In the video I use a navy blue but this look can be done with other colors that you have as well. I have done this with purple, green and blue.

The same look done with green shadow, MAC Eco Green.

Sorry I made the pictures so big. I wanted you to be able to see well enough.

A tip I forgot to add in the video: If you are using a lighter color like a green, make sure, after you put the green on, to go back with your brown liner again and just line the part right along the crease. You don't want a thick line at all, you just want a dark lash line to make your lashes look thicker.

You may notice I refer to a blue color that I had already showed, but I cut that part out. I was referring to Blue Calm, by MAC.

What I used for my eyes

The Navy Shadow- Sapphire by Bobbi Brown
The Flesh Colored Shadow- Modelette by MAC
Highlight Shadow- Champagne by Bed Head

Brushes
224- used to apply highlight and base shadow color
219- used to apply highlight to tear area
217- used to blend shadow
228- used to smudge liner
265- small angle

I hope you like the video.

So my healthy idea of the day today is to drink lots of water. There was a point in my life, a couple of years ago, where I drank almost a gallon of water every day. I know that was a little excessive, and there are some who say that is too much water. I honestly felt great during that time. When you drink a lot of water you feel better, it makes your skin better, everything just works better. You lose weight.
Here is what happens in your body when you drink enough water vs. not drinking enough. If you aren't constantly replenishing your water, your body starts to store it just in case. The water sits there in your body and fills with toxins. Just think of sitting water, it gets murky and gross. When you start to replenish the water regularly your body realizes that it doesn't have to store as much water so you lose all of that water weight. Actually, at first you may get sick, I got a pretty bad cold. Think of that dirty water again. All of the dirtiness settles when it is sitting, but think what happens when it gets flushed out. It gets all shaken up again. Well all of the toxins get shaken up in your body and make you sick. Once all of that dirty water is out though you start feeling great. You may not even think you feel bad now, but you can definitely feel a difference after. You feel great.

If I were...

2010-02-22T13:50:00.000+01:00

I first saw this questionnaire on my fellow Andi's blog, Saltwater Dreams. I have since seen it on other blogs as well. I am planning on doing a video today, but my cleaning lady is coming and I can't actually do it until after she leaves. Because of that it won't be ready until tomorrow anyway. I have been wanting to do this for a while and today seems like as good of a day as any.

If I were a month, I’d be August.

If I were a day of the week, I’d be Friday.

If I were a time of day, I’d be sunrise.

If I were a planet, I’d be Venus.

If I were a sea animal, I’d be a star fish.

If I were a direction, I’d be left.

If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be an big kitchen table full of food.

If I were a liquid, I’d be a wave in the ocean.

If I were a gemstone, I’d be an opal

If I were a tree, I’d be a Willow.

If I were a tool, I’d be the small screw driver, to do all of the detail work.

If I were a flower, I’d be a spotted orchid.

If I were a kind of weather, I’d be the calm before the storm.

If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a violin.

If I were a color, I’d be royal purple.

If I were an emotion, I’d be content.

If I were a fruit, I’d be a grapefruit.

If I were a sound, I’d be a Dave Matthews Song.

If I were an element, I’d be air.

If I were a car, I’d be a convertable VW.

If I were a food, I’d be Spaghetti Fra Diavlo.

If I were a place, I’d be Traverse City, Michigan.

If I were a material, I’d be cotton.

If I were a taste, I’d be spicy.
If I were a scent, I’d be the smell of something good cooking in the kitchen.

If I were an object, I’d be my husbands jacket, to keep him warm.
If I were a body part, I’d be the eyelashes.

If I were a facial expression, I’d be a smile.

If I were a song, I’d be Lie in Our Graves, DMB.

If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be a comfy, but cute, pair of flats.
What would you be?

If you are looking for a good beauty/fashion blog, check out Andi's blog, Saltwater Dreams.

Oh and I almost forgot. My healthy lunch idea for today is a grapefruit (my favorite). Yum!

See you tomorrow!

I am really excited.

2010-02-19T23:36:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I promised some youtube videos and I am delivering. I am really excited that I figured it all out. Today I did one hair video and one makeup video that are similar to the looks that I did in this post. These are just my first two, I promise that I will get better, but check them out! Of course if you have any looks that you would like to see me do or any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

So here is my video debut. Drum roll please.

and the second one.

I hope you all like it!

Just a Healthy Tip Today

2010-02-18T21:17:00.000+01:00

I had coffee with a new friend and German class today so I didn't have the time to dedicate to a makeup tip. Also, this is my off day for washing my hair. All I did this morning was brush it and I am sure no one is interested in seeing me do that.

But as promised (mainly for myself) here is a healthy lunch idea.
I cut up one cucumber and 3 small tomatoes and put them in a bowl. Then I added a small amount of olive oil and a bigger amount of red wine vinegar. I don't have exact amounts as this is done to taste. Then I salt and pepper it. I ate one bowl of it for lunch along with a fresh baked pretzel (the wonders of living in Germany), and saved the rest for a side with dinner. The longer you let it sit in the oil and vinegar the better it tastes. Usually, I would also add 1/2 an onion, but I was out of those today.

I also drank the same tea from the other day. You can find that recipe here.

The lunch was so delicious that even Georgie wanted some.

Strong brows

2010-02-17T21:11:00.000+01:00

My natural hair color isn't very dark so of course neither are my eyebrows. Right now my color is a little darker than I am naturally, but even when I am blond or red I darken in my brows. I don't like to color my brows with hair color when I do my color because, in my opinion, it looks strange. I would rather do it myself with eyeshadow.

Here my left brow is done but not the right. You can see how much more defined the eye is with it.

Start by brushing the brow into place.

I like to start with the color in the high point of the brow, in order to define it. Then i do the thicker part.

I use MAC Espresso Shadow and a small angle brush.

I connect the outer part to the high point and curve it around.

The finished look.

All you need is a brush that looks like this. It doesn't have to be a fancy one.

If you read my post yesterday, you saw that I am trying to keep motivated to eat better. I have decided that every post that I do I will include a healthy recipe or idea that I ate that day. This way I can help keep others motivated and keep give myself a goal to keep up.

Today for lunch I had a yogurt with fruit. I took a small container(150g) of organic plain yogurt and cut up 1/4 mango, 2 strawberries and 1/4 kiwi into it. The rest of the fruit I cut up into a fruit salad for dessert after dinner tonight.

Delish!

A Sign

2010-02-16T23:51:00.000+01:00

Today is Fat Tuesday. In honor of Fat Tuesday I had planned on eating a really fattening pasta for lunch, my left overs from last night. It was delicious and I was so looking forward to eating it. I figured that after today I would start a diet. I always find lent to be a good motivation to eat better.

Here are some pictures of my delicious lunch...

on the floor.

When I was walking over to the microwave it just slipped out of my hand. I don't know what happened but needless to say, I didn't get to eat my pasta.

So I took it as a sign. I was supposed to start my diet today. So instead I had a half of an avocado and a homemade detoxifying tea. It was actually almost as delicious as the pasta. Well, at least that is what I tell myself.

I am including the recipe for the tea here for anyone who would like to try it. I got the recipe from an Ayurvedic cookbook called, Eat-Taste-Heal. I have been making this tea every now and then for the past couple of months and I enjoy it a lot.

Here is what you need.

1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1tsp Fennel Seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander
1tsp Fresh Ginger, grated or pressed
A Squeeze of Lemon (put in while it is steeping)
Filtered water (makes up to 4 cups)

A Tea Press

A Garlic (Ginger) Press

Or you could use a grater, I think I get more of the juice this way.

You mix all of the ingredients in the Tea Press

And let it sit for 2-5 minutes, with the press half down.

If anyone is interested in being diet/workout buddies, let me know. We can keep each other focused. Also, is anyone planning on giving anything up for lent? I am not particularly religious but I always give something up. This year it may be chocolate... Don't quote me on that. I still have a few minutes to decide.

V-day Hair and Makeup

2010-02-15T16:12:00.000+01:00

Sorry I'm late. I am really annoyed at my computer/blogger/picasa right now. I put up two posts Saturday night and the pictures all worked fine. When I went to make my post yesterday before my company got here the pictures weren't working. So I spent all of the time redoing the pictures again, and had no time to post. This morning when I went to post again, same thing. So I finally fixed them for good this time. Fingers crossed. So if you checked out my posts yesterday or this morning, please try it again. I think everything is figured out.

There was a question in a comment from my last post about air drying my hair, asking what products I use to air dry. It really depends on how curly/wavy I want my hair to be. If I want a lot of hold or for my hair to be more curly, I use Aveda's Retexturizing Gel. If I just need a little hold or am wearing my hair more wavy than curly I use Aveda Confixor.

Hair

As you may know, I don't have a hairdryer yet. I think I have been doing pretty well with out one. I am planning to get one, but hopefully I will only use it when I need to leave the house in a hurry. I say hopefully because I will probably fall back into the habit of drying it each time, but for the health of my hair I will try not to.

Yesterday this is what I did.

Here is how you can get this look.

I used about a quarter size blob of Aveda Retexturizing Gel. Scrunched it through my hair and then brushed it through to spread it out and make sure it was even.
Next, I divided my hair down the middle (If you like your part to the side then you can do it to the side) and divided each side into about 4 separate sections.
Each of the sections I twisted tightly, away from my face. See image A.
Through out the drying process I keep checking the sections and retwisting them if I needed to. Also image A.
After the hair was dry I shook out the twists. First by placing my hand under the hair, at the scalp and shaking, see image B. Then on the outside, placing my finger tips on the scalp and shaking. See image C.
Then I scrunched a couple of times. Image D.

Make Up

Face

I used Aveda Tinted Moisture in Beechwood (yes I'm really white!)
Next, for my dark circles, I covered them with MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer in NW20.
The blush I used was a Bobbi Brown Shimmer Blush, Coral.

Eyes

I covered the entire lid with MAC shadow stick, Beige-ing.
Then I went back over it with shadow, All That Glitters, which is a peachy color, also by MAC.
Next I lined my eyes with a Tecknakohl MAC liner in Photogravure, a very dark brown, and smudged it with MAC brush 228.
I went back over the line with MAC shadow, Espresso, a dark brown, with brush 265. From the high point of the curve of the lid I feathered the shadow up a little on to the lid and out into the crease.
Using MAC brush 272, I blended Espresso into the crease.
Then I lined the outer half of my eye again with the same liner, as close to the lash line as I could.
I went over that line with MAC shadow Typographic, a very dark grey, almost black.
For the highlight, I used BedHead shadow in Champagne.
Finally I used a couple coats of Lash Blast in very black.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-13T23:51:00.000+01:00

     This year, for Valentine's Day, JP and I are having another couple over for dinner. We celebrated our anniversary/VDay a few days before. We have never been big on going out on such a Hallmark holiday to fight through the crowds anyway, and it's not big here in Germany anyway. Of course people still celebrate it, but not like in the States.
     Our new friends are coming over and we are going to have some chili. Yum! I actually made it tonight so that tomorrow when they are over all that I will have to do is reheat it. Plus, chili is always better the next day anyway.

     I guess I will take this time to tell you about my new blog. I wanted to have a place to write about my new experiences and share pictures with my family and friends. I also didn't want to crowd this blog with so many personal things that the fashion and beauty element of it was lost in the mix. Here is where I will keep you updated on my life as an American living in a foreign country and all of the craziness that goes with it. If you are interested check it out. At least check out the chili recipe that I made tonight. It was really good (we ate it tonight too).

Now on to the fashion and beauty then (:

I am planning on dressing up a little tomorrow, and since I am not leaving the house I don't have to worry about keeping warm. Here is what I am planning on wearing.

The dress and belt are BCBG and the sweater is ATL.

The shoes are L.A.M.B.

I am going to wear brown floral tights.

I will do another post tomorrow that shows the makeup and hair that I plan to do to go with the outfit. I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day.

Here is one of my Valentine and me, on our first Valentine's Day three years ago.

Air Drying

2010-02-10T16:33:00.000+01:00

So my hair dryer doesn't work here. It runs on the wrong voltage. So for the past month that I have been living here I have been letting my hair air dry. I have a couple of options when I do this, wavy or more wavy. If I don't do anything to it except for brush it when I get out of the shower it turns out wavy. By using a little product and scrunching through out the drying process it comes out extra wavy.
Today I am wearing it extra wavy, we are going to dinner for our anniversary.

I know a lot of people are interested in trying to let their hair air dry sometimes for the health of their hair, so here are my tips on how to do it.

You have to have the right texture of hair. If your hair gets too frizzy or doesn't have any curl this won't work for you.
Use a very light weight gel when the hair is wet.
As the hair dries, periodically, take the time to scrunch it with your hands.
This takes much longer than drying with a blowdryer, so make sure you have the time to let your hair dry completely before you need to be somewhere.
If part of your hair is curlier than another part, take sections of the straighter part and twist them into tight twists. This encourages them to curl more. You have to be observant of which direction the curl wants to go and curl it that way.

I hope everyone is having a great hair day!

Get Your Supplies Ready

2010-01-15T13:36:00.000+01:00

     Who's ready for some How-To Videos? I am, I am...well almost. Early next week we will finally be moving into our permanent home. We have been staying at a temporary place while they finish getting ours ready. Once we are there and unpacked I plan on starting the videos.
     I will be focusing on beauty. There are a lot of MUAs who do great costume make-up, and I really respect their talent. But I have never lived, and never plan to live in NYC or L.A. I do mostly weddings and sweet 16's and such. Where people are wanting to look like the best version of themselves, not like a completely different person. Also I want to do tutorials that anyone can do. Any one from people who already know how to do their makeup and just want to learn some new moves to people who have no clue about what they are doing. Of course, I will be sharing all of my tips on hairstyling too, and the same idea applies. I want to help everyone, from other professionals to people who are clueless.
     I don't really know, yet, where I am going to start. If you have any suggestions or specific things you want to see or know, let me know.

     I figured, that today, I would show everyone the tools that I use. Maybe it can help you to see what you are missing out of your own tool box, or give you an idea of where to start.

Make-Up Brushes

I have a couple sets of make up brushes, but these are the ones that I use personally.

From Left to Right

All MAC Brushes

150 Powder Brush

129 Blush Brush

190 Foundation Brush

252 Concealer Brush

Left to Right

All MAC Brushes Except the Top One

224 Fluffy Brush, Used to apply shadow all over the lid, and used for highlight

217 Large Flat Brush, Also can be used for the lid

272 Soft Large Angle Brush, Used for crease

228 Small Flat Brush, Used to smudge eyeliner

266 Small Angle Brush, Used for eyebrows and liner

219 Blending Brush, Used to blend shadows together

The Top Brush is a cheap Brow Brush, I only use the Right side. I use it to brush my brows into place.

Hair Brushes

Aveda Paddle Brush

Large Ceramic Round Brush

w/ a good grip on the end

Mason Pearson

I hope that everyone who entered my blog contest and then sent me an email received their gift. I know that a couple of you did for sure. Please let me know if you got it!

<3 Andi

A new year, a new beginning.

2010-01-02T23:14:00.000+01:00

     I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday, and a great New Year's Eve. I wish only the best to you and your family in 2010. It's going to be a great year.

     Believe it or not, we are leaving in less than one week. I am sure you believe it, I am the one who doesn't. When something like this happens to someone else it is very believable; it happens, then you continue your life unchanged. When these crazy, surreal things are happening in your own life it is hard to even grasp the concept, let alone go through all of the things that need to be done beforehand.
     It doesn't help that we have been floating around between Detroit and Miami for the last two weeks, with little routine other than my mother in law yelling to us that some sort of fried Cuban food is ready a couple of times a day. Pastelitos mean it's breakfast(ish), Cubanitos mean lunch(ish) and Friteritas mean it's dinnertime(ish). This traveling has let me live in denial of the inevitable move that is lingering in the back of my mind, and now less that one week away.
     Now that the week-to-go mark has past there are little things, here and there, that remind me of my reality. Mini panic attacks ensue; shortness of breath followed by my heart trying to leap out of my chest and then the need to sit down.
     Don't get me wrong, I am over the moon to be moving to a different country. I can't even begin to imagine all of the new experiences we will have. I have, probably, the same amount of moments during the day that I can barely contain myself, I just want to be there now. I really am very excited.
     I didn't make any resolutions this year because I feel like my life is going to be so different, that I don't know where to start. I have, however, made a list of goals that I want to achieve sometime in the future.
          LEARN GERMAN, that's the big one.
          TRAVEL, we have already started planning trips.
          GET MORE EXERCISE, this one won't be hard, we won't have a car so we'll be walking everywhere.
          EAT HEALTHIER, this will be very hard, but I will just have to cook mostly at home.
START TO MAKE HOW-TO VIDEOS FOR MY BLOG, self explanatory.

     Hopefully, my next post will be from Germany. I doubt I will get one in during the craziness of my last couple of days in Atlanta. I still can't believe this is really happening. I'll see you all on the flip side!

Lost in Translation

2009-12-03T15:55:00.000+01:00

   So after more than 12 hours of travel we finally arrived in Erlangen, Bavaria, yesterday morning. The rest of the day yesterday was spent trying not to fall asleep. When you are trying to adjust to the time change, the best thing to do is to sleep on the plane as much as possible. I got about 4 hours. Then when you arrive, it seemed like 6 am but it was noon here, stay up until a proper time in your current location. So we finally fell asleep around 10pm (German time), but we had only had about 4 hours of sleep in the 35 hour prior. Basically I was in a fog yesterday.
   Today is my first real day here. So far I have learned how to ask for still water instead of sparkling, Stillen Wasser, how to order a coffee, Milk Cafe (I know, this one is impressive), and that German pillows suck!
   I love learning languages. I think that is what I am most excited about. I want to speak German, like NOW! Obviously it isn't that easy. I think my love of language combined with my strict grammatical upbringing (my dad is a grammar nazi) has led me to strange love of finding mis-translations.
   Yesterday in Paris's Charles De Gualle airport, I found myself taking a picture of a sign written in both French and English, indicating the ingredients of a sandwich. I warn that I have a little 12 year old boy that sometimes takes over my sense of humor. I hope it was supposed to say duck. Otherwise the French have strange taste in food.

But this isn't my first time taking a picture like this. When I lived in Miami, finding a sign that was mis-written in English made my day. I guess I am easy to please. Here is my favorite picture of this phenomenon taken in Miami.

Out of Order :D

Tomorrow we go apartment hunting with an agent that JP's company is providing. Look for an update to follow that trip around the city. I will be sure to take pictures!

<3 from Germany,
Andi

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T20:31:00.000+01:00

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We all have a lot to be thankful for.

Here are a couple of things that I am thankful for.

Harles

Chop Chop

JP, my hubby

Margo, my sister

Georgia

My Parents

I am so lucky to have so many things to be thankful for, that I couldn't even list them all here.

<3 Andi

The Ball Has Started Rolling...

2009-11-18T04:23:00.000+01:00

   Picture me as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, with the huge round stone barreling behind me. The stone is the impending move that is coming whether I am ready or not, and it is rolling faster and faster. Maybe it's not this dramatic, but this is how I feel. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. It is just very hard for me to comprehend all of this at once.
   This is my crazy schedule for the next couple weeks. This coming Saturday I am driving down to Miami to see JP's family. Right after Turkey Day we fly out of Miami, leaving unassuming Georgie with my in-laws, to go to Germany. We will be there for one week, trying to find an apartment. This will be my first trip outside of North America. Then we fly back to Miami, pick Georgia up, and drive back to Atlanta. Then I have two weeks to finish everything I need to get done, packing things, donating things, selling things, throwing things away. Next we drive up to Michigan to see my family for Christmas and then it is back to Miami again to turn in JP's car to the dealership. Back to Atlanta, one more time, the movers will come the first week of January. Finally we will be in Germany for JP to start work January 11th! I feel like I held my breath the whole time I was writing that.
   The next couple of weeks will obviously be very busy for me. I originally was going to end my blog contest at the end of November but I am going to end it tomorrow night, November 18th, at midnight. That way I can send out the prizes before I leave for my house hunting trip. Anyone who still wants to get in on the contest should do so now or forever hold your peace.
   This won't be my last post of the year, (I hope) but I wanted to wish everyone a great Holiday Season! I can't believe how fast it has snuck up on us.

Saturday Night in the City

2009-11-16T04:33:00.000+01:00

Lately we have been spending Saturday nights at home, watching a movie and cooking in. This weekend we were invited by a couple in our building to go to dinner, we'll call them Mark and Angela.

Now I am going to be very honest, these aren't our favorite people. We met them over the summer, and between now and then we have gone to dinner with them a couple of times but every time has been just ok. No real connection to these people. Every time we see these two there is always just something strange about them, especially Mark.

So you are probably asking yourself, why would we even choose to go out with them? After weeks of just sitting at home, I jumped at the opportunity to get my husband to take me into the city. Not only that, they suggested to go to our favorite restaurant. So I figured, why not? Well I will tell you why we shouldn't have in a minute.

First let me get to my "Look" for the night. I decided to do something totally different than what I normally do with my make up and I curled my hair.

To curl my hair like this, I parted my hair in one inch vertical sections from the parting at the top to the bottom hairline. Then I took these large sections and wrapped them around the curling iron, away from my face, without opening the clamp. I did both sides and then the back. If there were shorter layers that didn't curl as well I went back over them, again, away from my face. At the very end I brushed my hair out with a paddle brush, and then took my hands, flat, one on the bottom of my hair, one on the top and smoothed the hair back down. That last step is hard for me to explain, hopefully you understand what I mean.

For my eye makeup, I used MAC. Parfait Amour and Vibrant Grape on the lid, Graphology in the crease and Phloof as a highlight. It is a little more complicated than that so I will go through step by step.

After applying my foundation, concealer and powder, I applied Beige-ing Shade Stick to my entire lid and a little above. Then I blend it in with my finger. This makes a good base for the colors to stick to and makes them more vibrant. Then I took MAC brush 224 and did a nice coat of Parfait Amour all over my lid. Then next step is eyeliner. MAC Pearlglide in Molasses very close to the lash line from the center of the lid to the outside. Then I take MAC Brush 228 and smudge that all the way out so it doesn't look like a line anymore. This then acts in the same way as the Shade Stick to help the next color to show up better. Then I used MAC 266, a small angled brush and the Vibrant Grape along the lash line and blended up and in the outer V. In the outer V, I used MAC Brush 272 to blend. Then I did another coat of the liner and went over that with the Graphology and the 266 Brush, and went up into the crease with the 272. Then finally I used Phloof as the highlight and applied it with MAC Brush 219, right below my brow and to the inner corner of the eye.

Back to the story. We got a call from the Mark saying that the restaurant we had originally planned on going to was closed for a private party that night, the whole reason I had agreed to go in the first place. Oh well, they said they were going to a different restaurant and we met them there. They had chosen to sit right next to the band. We hadn't seen these people in months and we sat there silently, all dinner, because in order to talk we had to scream. There was a whole other section of the restaurant where you could still hear the band but not as loudly. Then, any talking they did was to complain about the band.... Why did they sit there?

Another weird thing was that they kept leaving the table to go to the bathroom, not together but at different times. Mark was acting very different after the first time and after the last time Mark got back, he just started putting on his coat without saying anything. The band had just taken a break so speech at this time was possible. JP, my husband, said, "Where are you going?" Mark said, "Getting the eff out of here." (He didn't say eff) Angela finally said that they were going to a bar down the road where she knew someone. We decided to go with them, even after the awkward dinner. I guess I figured we had come all the way into the city we might as well stay out for a little bit.

We get to the bar and Mark makes a big deal about being a Firefighter when they make us pay to get in. JP and I just pay for everyone to end the scene. When we get in, they leave us to go find the friend in VIP. JP and I figure we just paid to get in here so we are going to have a fun time and we start dancing. I am secretly hoping they never come back and find us... Unfortunately, they did. They had obviously been fighting she was trying to hide that she was crying, he was trying to make small talk with JP. They finally went off to talk somewhere privately. We waited probably about 10 minutes and took that as our cue to leave.

We almost ran to our car. It had been such an awkward night... At least I looked cute. LOL

Two Reds Don't Make it Right... and new hair for me too!

2009-11-12T15:18:00.000+01:00

Last night at the CMAs, two beautiful ladies unexpectedly (to me) showed up with red locks. Kellie Pickler and Nicole Kidman both took a page out of Reba's book and warmed up their blonde hues. I think that it is no secret that I love me some red hair, but that doesn't mean that I love it on everyone.

Kellie Pickler

vs.

Nicole Kidman

Who wore it better, hair edition.

I think that a lot of blondes, whether they are natural blondes or bottle blondes, associate themselves with being blondes. This has nothing to do with your natural color and everything to do with the way you feel about yourself, and your personality. I am not talking about dumb blonde stereotypes either. There are many serious and very intellectual blondes, and they still consider themselves a blonde. Kellie is not one of those by any means.

As a hairstylist, I get plenty of blondes who want to color their hair for the fall and winter to a deeper shade. It is my job to talk them out of coloring their hair all over and into doing lowlights. Why? Because a blonde will always be a blonde, and more often than not, I will see that same person in less than a month asking for highlights again. That is traumatic for your hair. Even more so, if the person has decided to go red. Red is that hardest shade to keep in the hair, but also the hardest to get out.

While Nicole and Kellie both looked beautiful last night as redheads, I think there is one clear winner. Nicole. Not only is she comfortable being a redhead, she didn't change that drastically from what she had before. She is still a very light strawberry blonde. Even if she wanted to go back to blonde the process wouldn't be quite so hard. Kellie, on the other hand, went very dark compared to her old look, and I predict that the next time we see her she will be back to her usual self. I don't think she will last very long at all. Sorry Kellie. I blame the person that did this to you.

Last and very least, is me. I made a color change about a month ago but I never posted a picture , except for my profile picture. Now that I've had my hair cut too, I figured I should share. This is, after all, my Hair Blog. I figure now was an appropriate time, introducing two new redheads, and one who stepped away from red for now.... I will always consider myself a redhead, and it won't happen in a month, but I will always be back.

I am still running the contest in the post 2 below this one. You have until the end of November to enter!

Have a great hair day!
<3 Andi

Katie Holmes on the Cover of Elle

2009-11-07T17:28:00.000+01:00

Ok, enough people have asked, and, honestly, I am getting tired of typing the same instructions to individual people. Not that I don't love you all! I will just put it in one place for everyone to reference...

Obviously, I am talking about Katie Holmes hair on the her Elle cover. It is a beautiful picture, and her hair looks gorgeous, but how does one achieve that style at home? I am going to be honest, she has someone fluffing her hair every 10 shots to look like this.....but a girl can dream.

Still I will break it down, step by step, how to come as physically possible to this flawless look as possible.

Visual Inspiration

Besides your blow dryer, you will need,

A large round brush

A mousse

A flat iron

Start with wet hair and apply some volumizing mousse. I like Aveda's Phomollient, shown above.

Focus your attention with the dryer first to the bangs if you have them, just to be sure they don't dry funky.

Then, tip your head upside down, and blow the roots dry. Pulling them away from the head with your other hand.

Once, the roots are dry, get the ends mostly dry as well, with just the dryer.

When the hair looks dry but still feels damp, start using a round brush. I clip the hair up from about the ear, all the way around to the other ear, up with a clip.

When you are drying with a brush always make sure you are using tension and blowing the hair down the hair shaft. This helps close the cuticle and make the hair smooth and shiny.

Do the entire section that is not in the clip, just slightly under. If it isn't perfect don't worry.

Next run a flat iron over this section quickly, focusing on the ends to take most of the curl out. You don't want it stick straight, but slightly angled in towards the face. To do this hold your flat iron with a slight angle inward. This also helps to tuck under fly aways.

Let the clipped up section down, and again section away the crown area. From the crown to the front hairline and about 3 inches wide. Clip that mohawk section back up.

This section I would also blow slightly under but with this section as you are releasing the hair from the brush, sweep it to the back of the head instead of just straight down.

Now for the third section. This is the most important section. When I am doing this section of my own head I literally turn off the blow dryer and set it down in between each small subsection that I do. Then I take the next small sub section and get it positioned in the brush before I turn the dryer on to it.

Start this section in the crown and take horizontal sections all the way across the 3 inch section and only 1 inch thick. Then clip the rest of the section forward so you don't pick up extra hair in the brush.

Repeat the same as above, moving forward toward the hair line.

Once you get to the front, take the bangs and blow then back as well.

Now, run your fingers through your hair to finish the style. Rearranging the hair how you like it to fall.

If any pieces are too tucked under, quickly go over them with the flat iron to lessen the curl.

I am sure they also used some kind of texturizing product on the ends to make it more piecey, which you can do if you would like. I just hate the way those products feel in my hair.

I hope this helps!

Don't forget to enter my blog contest in the post below this one!

Have a good hair day!
<3 Andi

Contest!

2009-11-01T21:56:00.000+01:00

BLOG CONTEST ENDING NOVEMBER 18TH AT MIDNIGHT!!!

     Many things can cause your hair to accumulate build up, products, hard water, chlorine, etc. There are many ways to keep this under control.
     For the ladies who don't color their hair I suggest using a clarifying shampoo. Depending on your unique conditions you could use this anywhere from once a week to once a month. If you swim in a pool, have hard water, use a lot of waxy products or use a drugstore brand shampoo, you should use it once a week followed by a deep conditioner, preferably a salon brand that won't just start building back up on your hair.
     For those of us who do color our hair, and this is probably most of us, a clarifying shampoo can strip your color or cause it to fade too quickly. Using it a couple of times just before you color your hair is better than nothing, but it may not be enough. A better solution is to do a Malibu Wellness treatment on your hair no more than 3 days before your next coloring. They actually make different treatments for different situations, swimmers, blondes and dull hair just to name a few. This helps to remove build up that may inhibit the color from processing correctly, this enhances the vibrancy of the color and provides a more true to color result, among doing other things for the hair.

Here is the link to the Malibu Wellness site.

I have three of the Malibu Wellness Color Prepare treatments to give away. To enter this contest all you have to do is become a follower of my blog and comment on this post. If you are already a follower just leave a comment. Don't forget to include your email address in the comment so I can let you know if you win! The winner will be chosen randomly. The deadline to enter is Monday, November 30th at midnight. NOVEMBER 18TH AT MIDNIGHT!

Conditioning: Tips and Tricks!

2009-10-21T09:12:00.000+02:00

   I get a lot of questions asking about dry or damaged hair and what to do to help repair and or prevent it. I always give the same answer, buy a good weekly conditioner. If you wanted to take it to the next level, I would suggest going to get an in salon treatment. That's where they have the good stuff.

   Let me go further into detail about dry versus damaged hair. What to use for each and why one conditioner might be better than another for your particular situation.

Damaged Hair
   Usual causes are bleaching or highlighting the hair, or repetitive coloring. On this type of hair you need to use a combination of protein and moisturizer in your conditioner. Why protein? The molecules of protein go into your hairs structure and fill in any holes that may be there. There are different ranges of protein to moisture ratios in different products so you should pick one that is balanced to your needs. The more damage to your hair the more protein you need.
   Why not just use a protein rich shampoo to prevent damage? Well, although protein is good, it can also build up in the hair and cause the hair to become more dry. Think of it this way, for every molecule of protein that is in your hair, that is one molecule of moisture that can't be there. So you really only want to use protein if you need it.
   I have a couple of products that I will recommend, each of which I have used personally. The first, and my absolute favorite is Aveda's Damage Remedy. The reason for the favoritism is because Aveda discovered a new type of protein that does NOT build up in your hair. Once your hair is full of the protein the rest will just drop out. So that is a HUGE plus to not have to worry about using too much. Another one I really like is the Redken Real Control line. In a previous post, I reviewed the deep conditioner and I liked it so much that I am now using the shampoo and conditioner from the line as well. I will review the shampoo and conditioner from this line later seeing as I just started using it a couple of days ago and don't really have a good grasp of whether I like it or not yet. The good thing about the Real Control line is that it doesn't contain too much protein and it is still a good moisturizer. If your hair is very damaged, and you want to try Redken, the Extreme line is what they have. This one I have never actually used.

Dry Hair
   Most of the time when people think they have damaged hair, their hair is really just in need of some extra moisture. A couple of split ends don't need a protein conditioner, they need a haircut.
   Curly hair is one type of hair that is usually dry. So if you're a curly cue you will want a moisturizing conditioner.
   Dry hair is a little more simple, you don't have to worry about protein build up. Just get a good moisturizer like Aveda's Dry Remedy or Redken All Soft.

How to Apply
   Now I know everyone knows how to put conditioner in their hair, but to get your hair to really soak it up there is a trick.

1. Shampoo like normal and skip the regular conditioner.
2. Towel dry your hair as best as you can in the shower.
3. Now apply a generous amount of your weekly deep conditioner
4. Leave it on as long as you want/can.

Your hair is like a sponge, so if it is already full of water it doesn't soak up much more moisture. If you ring the sponge out before using it, it will soak up much much more. So just make sure you get as much water out of your hair as you can before applying the conditioner. Most times I do the steps above first and then wash my body and shave, etc. and then I wash out the conditioner. Every once in a while though I will leave the conditioner on to sleep in or for a longer period of time. If I sleep in the conditioner I take a dry towel and wrap it around my pillow before laying my wet hair on it.

I hope this helped answer any questions you may have had. If you have another question I will be happy to answer!

Healthy hair is beautiful hair!
<3 Andi

P.S. I am sorry if there are typos in this post. I started it much earlier but had to leave half way through. I have now been up for 20 hours and am too tired to go back and correct my mistakes. I hope I wasn't so tired that you can't understand. We'll see when I read it again in the morning! Goodnight!

Bye Bye Baby!

2009-10-11T01:44:00.000+02:00

    I dropped my husband, JP, off at the airport today. He is, as I type, on his way to Germany. After spending a week in Germany he is going to Paris for another week. Two weeks! I miss him already.
   He is going to interview with the same company that he works for here in the US, just for a position in each of the two cities that he is visiting. I am so proud of him to even be considered for this opportunity and I know he will do wonderfully! He is very professional and very good at what he does. I am sure they will be impressed with his knowledge and personality. I hope he gets a little time to relax and scope out the cities as well.
    I am very sad to be without him, but I know he is doing it to benefit the rest of our lives!

One of my favorite pics of us!

Let's talk about Hair Color.

2009-10-09T04:29:00.000+02:00

Most of us have, at least at one time, colored our hair. Probably going hand and hand with that, we all have hair color disaster stories. It may be because of a box color done at home, or a stylist that didn't exactly understand what you were trying to say. I am going to try to help prevent a(nother) disaster from happening to you.

Box Color Disasters

Your hair came out too dark/the wrong color/in the right light has a slight tone of puke green.

Hair Coloring Rule #1- Color canNOT lift color. In general terms, once you darken your hair with color, you can no longer lighten it again without using bleach, even demi or semi permanent color.

Solution- Run, don't walk, to a professional. You need to highlight your hair and then go over it then with the right color. You may want a conditioning treatment after this.

You have been coloring your hair at home a dark color and now want it lighter.
Same as above. See your stylist. This is not a disaster but trying this at home can actually lead to said disaster. You roots will color to the light color, but your ends won't lift very much. Obviously not a good look!

Your hair turns out too light.

This is not so much as disaster. It is much easier to darken hair than to lighten it. Just color your hair again, but I still recommend going to a professional.

Disasters are more apt to happen when color is done without a professional hair stylist. Once a disaster does happen it costs a whole lot more to fix the problem than it would have to just do it at a salon in the first place. At a salon the stylist doesn't just put one color on your hair, they mix several different colors to customize the color for each client. Box color is much more damaging to your hair than salon color, because they have to make it the highest strength to make sure it will work on everyone from a blond to a black haired person. Because of all of these reasons, I never encourage anyone to use a box color.

Disasters at the Salon

Lack of Communication

Usually a disaster that happens in the salon is the result of a lack in communication. Everyone has different terminology. For example, what a blond might call dark a brunette might call light. An easy way to prevent this from happening, is to bring in pictures of cuts and colors that you like. That way you both know exactly what each other is talking about. Check out Google Images if there is a specific celebrity's style that you are looking to find. Or go to ukhairdressers.com, one of my favorite sites to find different hair styles.

Something Goes Wrong

A) The highlights come out too ashy or too golden

B) The color is too dark or too light

C)Too red, to warm, to ashy, ect.

In any of these cases I suggest giving the stylist that originally did the color the chance to fix it. They will usually fix it for free, within the first 2 weeks after the original service. At least go to the same salon. Going to a different salon they will charge you for a whole other service. The original stylist should know the exact formula they used and will then know how to tweak it to make it right. If after this time they don't get it right, then try to have someone else fix it.

Your Hair Has Major Breakage

It is expected, that when you have certain services done, some breakage may occur. Your stylist should have warned you, before coloring your hair, that this may happen. If you choose to continue with the service that is at your own risk. But if you go in to the salon with perfectly healthy hair and have it severely damaged, talk to the owner/manager of the salon and ask to have a complementary deep conditioning treatment. Next time, in this case, go to another stylist.

If you experience a disaster at a salon that you really like, but feel bad going to another stylist, DON'T. You pay good money to get your hair done and you should go to a stylist that you like. If someone doesn't do your hair how you want it done, find someone who does. I promise that the stylist understands. It may feel weird to you but us stylists get over it.

I wish you all good hair days!

<3 Andi

The Plan

2009-10-06T01:00:00.000+02:00

People think I am crazy, but I plan my hair out years in advance. It helps me to keep my hair at its healthiest and not fall for the latest trends, but to be true to what works best for me.

I want it about this long.

My plan is this: The last time I cut my hair short, I did it so that it would have time to grow out for my wedding. It did. I also know that I will want it long when I have babies. So I am still growing. When I grow my hair I keep it dark to keep it healthy, when I cut it I color it blond. Then I usually keep it lighter until I decide to grow it out again. Then as it gets longer I gradually color it darker. So the "plan" is more of a common sense thing to keep my hair healthy since I want it long.

Not everyone has to have a plan but it is good to keep the health of you hair in mind before you make your decision to color you hair. Before you decide to be a platinum blond please consider the length and health of your hair. If you do decide to go blond from a dark color, also consider a hair cut. If you don't want to cut your hair just yet maybe the color should wait until you do. Your hair will thank you!

Real Control product review.

2009-10-05T06:43:00.000+02:00

    For the last month and a half, I have been using a deep conditioner made by Redken called, Real Control Intense Renewal Super Moisturizing Mask. This particular product gives a lot of moisture and a little bit of protein, which is a good combination for someone who is growing their hair longer. It also works well for someone who just wants to keep their hair healthy, but has minimal damage. The moisture keeps the ends from becoming too dry and the protein helps to strengthen the hair and prevent split ends. I really liked this product. It made my hair feel very soft and easy to brush through when I was out of the shower.
   For someone who is heavily highlighted and feels their ends need some TLC, I might recommend a product with more protein to help strengthen. The Redken line that would work in this case is called Extreme. For someone who is curly or just feels dry in general I would recommend a product with no protein, only moisture. The Redken line that works for this is the Smooth Down.
   This was my first time using this product and I really liked it. I would buy it again in the future. If someone has the right type of hair to use this product, I would recommend it to them.

If anyone has any specific hair or makeup questions, feel free to email me at pandi02a@gmail.com. I am more than happy to help!
I hope everyone had a good weekend!

<3 Andi

To All of My Beautiful Ladies!

2009-10-02T21:23:00.000+02:00

    Your outward apperance is a reflection of an inward self. If you look good you feel good. Two contradicting statements, which is true? I think that they both are. It's a cycle, when you look good you feel good and when you feel good you look good.
    So where does one start? Well there are somethings in life that you can change and somethings that you can't. I say forget what you can't change and do your best with what you can. You can change how you look but you can't change how you feel. We all have days where we don't feel our best.
    Start with your appearance. If you don't normally wear makeup start with just a little blush eyeshadow and mascara. This can freshen up any face. Put on some clothes that make you feel beautiful. Style your hair the best you can. If you generally do wear makeup but just aren't happy with how you do it or are stuck in a rut, watch some youtube for inspiration. My favorite is Kandee the Makeup Artist.
    Commit to yourself. You are worth it. A lot of women, especially mothers, spend so much time on their families that they forget to take time for themselves. You are important! If you are happy, you will be much better at making your kids and your husband happy! I know it is hard to juggle all of the things we women have to deal with, but remember to make yourself a priority.
   You are beautiful! There are people all around you who love you! Never forget these things, but if you do, just put on some lipstick and your favorite dress and you'll feel better.

Love you all. Let's lift each other up with praise! Remind someone today of how beautiful/meaningful/lucky/fashionable/kind/ect. they are. A few little words can make someone's day! A candle doesn't lose any light by lighting another candle.

What's in a name? An introduction.

2009-10-01T20:49:00.000+02:00

    I like the saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I think the concept that everyone and everything is beautiful when looked at through the right eyes, has a beauty of its own. I really believe that everyone is beautiful in their own way. I believe in the forgiveness of others who have wronged you and I believe in treating all living things with love and respect.
    I make my living, making other people look, but especially, feel their best. It makes my day to make someone else's day. But...
   I have some big changes coming my way. My husbands job is moving us to Europe. I figured now would be the perfect time to start a blog. Since I won't be working, it would give me a way to stay connected to my hair and makeup roots, by reviewing products and giving advice to those who ask. It will allow me to document the changes I am going through, moving from one country to another, for my friends and family to follow and also as reference for anyone else about to jump the pond. Also, it will provide a positive outlet and help to remind me and anyone reading, that, even at its worst, the world is a beautiful place.
    Come follow me on my journey through life and see the world through my eyes.