Reducing Chemicals

     While my first focus is fashion and sewing, I've recently started learning about greener solutions to products I use on a regular basis. It's a gradual thing, but so far I use natural ingredients for washing my hair, doing laundry, and washing my bathroom. It isn't everything, but it's a start, and I feel much better for doing it. 

My shampoo: 

I use equal parts coconut milk and castille oil soap, and occasionally add baking soda, depending on my hair's need. I found it foams more than the healthy shampoo you can get at Whole Foods, or even the regular shampoo from the grocery store! I feel nice and clean after using it, and I feel even better knowing I'm not putting chemicals I can't pronounce on my body on a regular basis. It's also a sulfate and paraben free recipie. There are quite a few scents of castille oil soap to choose from, as well as an unscented version, allowing you to add whatever essential oils you choose. 

Detergent: 

I've noticed that when I forget or run out of my allergy medication, I get unbelievably itchy. At first I thought it might be that I was having withdrawal symptoms or something, but at some point I realized that it might be a reaction to something in my every day environment that the medication was keeping me from having when I was taking it regularly. For some reason, I thought about my detergent. When I went to look for the ingredient list on my bottle of Tide, I was shocked to find that there wasn't one. I was even more shocked to find that it was a difficult path to find it online. Conveniently, something in the document sent up red flags for the internet security, making it difficult to open. Anyway, when I finally did find the ingredient label, I was not pleased to know all kinds of chemicals I couldn't pronounce were inside. I switched to using a bit of castille oil soap and some baking soda. It cleans my clothes, sheets and towels as well as traditional detergent, and with two ingredients. I haven't since felt like I was going to scratch violently at my skin when I skipped my allergy meds. Not only is it healthier for me, I'm pretty sure it's healthier for the environment too, because otherwise, all the chemicals in the Tide would go down the drain and get into the water somewhere. I doubt that's the best thing for the environment. It's also fairly affordable too. You don't need as much and it isn't as expensive. 

General housecleaning:

I won't spend as much time on this category, but essentially, baking soda and vinegar clean and disinfect surfaces. Remember doing the volcano project in elementary science class? Do that in your toilet, tub and sink to clean it. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, then wipe away as you normally would with other products. With my tub, I put a little bit of borax on a cleaning rag, and get it damp. Then, I scrub gentle circles around the walls and bottom of the tub. Rinse, and the surface is smooth and clean. Anywhere you would use soap, you can use some watered down castille oil soap if desired, for wiping off the counter, perhaps, but it isn't necessary. Yes, vinegar doesn't have the best smell, but it is very mild compared to all the bleach products marketed for the bathroom! 

I'll get back to more fashion/beauty/geeky related posts soon, but I've been thinking about doing a post on this topic for a while, and I finally had the time to sit down and write it. Enjoy! 

A week of curls!

I've been slowly getting better at wet sets, and the set from this week was the best one I've done so far. Letting my hair dry completely in the rollers is a difficult thing to do, but is very crucial to a good set. This week, I actually remembered to chronicle the cycle of the set. From still wet to the last remnants of the curl, I have pictures to document it. 

One: The set. With damp hair sprayed with Lottabody setting lotion, I rolled all of the top layer under with medium rollers, except for the two center most pieces on the right side of my head. Those were medium rollers I rolled up instead of under. I also rolled them all the way to the base of the hair instead of stopping at the top of my ear like the top rollers on the sides of my head. The top rollers on the back were gradually graded slowly lower than the ones on the sides. 

     The next row is made up of the small sized rollers rolled up. The row below that was made using the small rollers rolled under. I continued in this fashion until I ran out of hair. 

     It is also noted that I rolled my hair around 5pm on Sunday, giving it plenty of time to dry before I unrolled it at 7:45 Monday morning. 

Two: The curls were very tight at first, so I raked my fingers through the curls until I got this:

It was a little wild at first, but by the time I got to work it settled down to be exactly what I've been trying to achieve! 

Day 1 Hair:

By the time I got home from work and put a decorative bobby pin in it, it was even better:

A few hours after that, it was even better:

I felt very glamorous Monday night. This is exactly the kind of result I wanted most of the times I've been rolling my hair. 

That night, I wrapped my hair in a square scarf to preserve the curls. 

Day 2 Hair: 

I don't have many comments from Tuesday, other than I didn't even comb my hair or run my fingers through it Tuesday morning. 

Day 3 hair:

I don't have much comment on Wednesday's hair either, other than I was pleased with how it fell. I think I may have combed it slightly, but not much. 

Day 4 hair: 

I combed my hair slightly on Thursday and pinned it back. I also wore a very 40s inspired outfit too, but I forgot to get a picture. Oops! 

Day 5 hair: 

Instead of turning into waves like I expected it to, my hair actually reformed into ringlets. 

Side note, it was 19 degrees Friday morning, so I bundled up with a hat that reminded me of vintage advertising:

I really loved how my curls were the perfect height to pop out from underneath the tabogan. 

That is my week with the same wet set! My Saturday hair was really nothing to report. I just used a headscarf and pulled it back into a high bun. Tomorrow I'll start the process over again. 

A brief note:

Yes, you can totally shower or take a bath with your curls. Just make sure to wear a shower cap (or scarf if you're in the bath). 

In closing and how this came about:

I really like this setting pattern, and will probably stick with it for a while. I stumbled onto it by accident when helping a friend with her Halloween hair and makeup. The only pack of foam rollers she could find was a multipack, so I had to improvise my previous setting advice. What we came up with was this:

Shoutout and thank you to Mer for all her help. I loved how it turned out and couldn't help but try it too. This was how my first attempt turned out:

I really liked it, but I think I really improved this week. 

That's all for now! 

-Adventures of a Fashionista Geek 

I know, I know, I'm terrible at this!

It seems that I've either been too busy to post, or had time, but nothing about which to post as of late. There are a few projects that I completed that I wanted to get better pictures of before I posted here as well. Either way, I think I'm going to make sure I have a post at least once a week no matter what. Also, exciting news, I'll be going on a costumed adventure this weekend, so hopefully pictures will soon follow! I promise I'll get better at this posting thing. Really, this time.


Until the next post (hopefully containing real substance),

FashionistaGeek

Photoshoot for the hair

I got a haircut back in January, and it was planned, so I had a photo shoot to capture my long hair before it disappeared. I got the capelet when I was at the Ren Fest in the fall. I love it. The corset is from Orchard Corset.

Royal gown

Instead of actually catching up on old projects in order, I'm going to finish the purple and creme Ren Fest dress. There is an additional piece to the bottom, but I haven't gotten a picture of it yet. At least it's ready for the next Ren Fest!

Yikes! It's been a while.

So, I thought I had been posting, but apparently I'd only been posted on my Facebook blog page instead. This was from Ren Fest back in the fall. I didn't get my outfit finished in time so this is what I came up with. 

Corset!

I just about finished the corset. I just need to press the edges and sew in the panel that goes underneath the lacing in the back. Otherwise I'm finished. I'll post pictures of it laced up and on me when I get the last part done, but for now...