My new hair!

Hi hi!

A month ago I dyed the tips of my hair purple and pink. After researching the matter, I realized that in order to achieve the most vibrant results....I would have to bleach my hair. Not really something I was overjoyed to find out.

In the end though, I didn't bleach my hair and I achieved pretty good results considering I didn't bleach it!

Here's what I did! 

I first used a coconut oil treatment. I put coconut oil all through my hair, and once I was done I put on a shower cap and slept with it (glamourous right?). Coconut oil really helps moisture and protect your hair from the damage of hair dye and bleach, so I highly recommend it if you're going to dye or bleach your hair, or if you just want to give your hair some nourishment and shine~

The next day, I dyed my hair, with the coconut oil still in my hair, using Revelon's Colorsilk Hair Dye in 03(Ultra Light Sun Blonde). Unfortunately, I have really stubborn dark brown, almost black, hair so the hair dye only lightened my hair to a light brown. The following week, I re-did the process and my hair lightened only 2 more shades (stubborn hair!! grr). 

With my unconditioned and clean blondish-brown hair (this dye doesn't stick as well if your hair has any oil residue in it), I began to dye it purple and pink. I used Splat's Lusty Lavender for the top part of my tips, and Spalt's Pink Fetish for the bottom part. Where my purple dyed hair ends and my pink dyed hair starts, I mixed a bit of the purple hair dye into the pink part, to create a gradient from purple to pink. I then wrapped my hair in a plastic bag (you don't want the dye to dry out or else it won't absorb into your hair), and waited 5 hours for the color to sink into my hair before washing it out. You want to wash out as much dye as possible.

And that's it! 

The purple in my hair has faded a bit, but I actually think that the fading has made it stand out more! I'm really happy with the results and I'm thinking of keeping it this way for a while! It's nice to try something outside of my comfort zone once in a while and this has definitely been an exciting process :)

Hope you liked this post and found it at least a little bit helpful! 

--Andrea 

(P.S. when you dye your hair a funky color, like pink or purple, your hair might drip pink water....so avoid wearing anything nice when your hair is wet!!! and stay away from anything that might potentially stain! I didn't realize this and messed up a good blouse! Thankfully it washes out pretty well...but still!!)

Vegan Brownies!

So, turns out I almost never have eggs when I actually need them. And so the only way to go when there are no eggs, is vegan!

Don't be scared.

I know the word "vegan" is usually a huge turn off for most people, but rest assured! These are actually a whole lot better than you'd think. I would even dare to say that I prefer these brownies to the regular type of brownies (whoa! I know right?).

They're just as fudgy, moist and rich as any other kind. None of that crumbly business that we sometimes associate with vegan baked goods. They're full of ooey gooey chocolately goodness and can be totally adjusted to include a variety of toppings and mix-ins.

Without further ado, let's get into the recipe!

Ingredients:
(original recipe)

1 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
3/4 cup of sugar (you can add less or more depending on your sweet tooth)
3 tsp of instant coffee powder
1/2 cup of water
1/2 of oil
(optional) 1/4 cup of walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

2. Sift together all the dry ingredients

3. Make a well in the center, and pour in the water. Mix until all the water is incorporated. You may have to use your hands to work it in. Once it's all combined, set it aside for 5 minutes.

4. Combine the oil into the dough. This may take awhile but keep on stirring until it comes together.

5. Place the batter onto a buttered pan.

(OPTIONAL)
6. Sprinkle the walnuts onto the batter and press a little until they've made sufficient contact with the batter.

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes.

And now you're ready to indulge in all the yummy goodness! oooo! Makes me want to get up and bake some more brownies but I won't go down the road of midnight baking tonight!


I hope you liked this recipe and I hope you give it a try whenever you're in the brownie kinda mood ;)

-- Andrea

Hi Everyone! and Welcome to my blog!

As a proud homebody, I've learned a thing or two about occupying your time between the tv, internet and the occasional book. And during my extensive professional career as a homebody, I've delved into some dangerous DIYs (you know the ones that look super easy but end up turning into a nightmare and before you know it it's 1 in the morning and you have tye-dye all over your hands. yup. I've been there. And maybe I've done that....multiple times).

Although I've experienced a few DIY mishaps, I can safely say that through various mistakes and do-overs, I've learned how to make a large majority of creative projects, simple and easy. Or as easy as they can possibly get.

Whether it's taking an old dusty lamp and re-vamping it to bring a bit of sparkle to your room, or baking a batch of vegan brownies because eep! there are no eggs!, I've got you covered. 

All in all, I hope my blog can be a place where we can openly discuss our creative ideas and learn from our mistakes. And maybe in the process we'll create some amazing things ;)

So, Welcome to my blog! and I hope you enjoy the posts to come! 

-- Giggleprince (or you can call me Andrea....although being called a prince isn't all that bad)