Hey There, Chelsie

3 Days of Curly Hairstyles

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RethinkYourColour #CollectiveBias

A couple weeks ago, I wrote this post and shared about my choice to change my hair back from red to brown. Although leaving my vibrant red hair behind has made me a bit sad, it’s been nice to let my hair take a break from all the chemical dying I was doing to maintain the color. I also shared how I was switching around my hair care products and bringing in the new John Frieda Brilliant Brunette® Visibly Deeper™ Colour Deepening Shampoo and Brilliant Brunette® Visibly Deeper™ Colour Deepening Conditioner into my routine, along with the Brilliant Brunette® Visibly Deeper™ Colour Deepening Treatment. I found these at Walmart a few weeks ago (although you can order them online, too!) These three products combine together to create a system that deepens brown hair up to one shade darker and allows you to skip frequent visits to the salon. Since I’m trying to get my hair to heal (and avoiding trips to the salon for a little while longer) this seemed like the perfect solution to keep my new hair color from fading without subjecting it to more chemicals.

I’ve been using these products exclusively for two weeks straight and have had great results! John Frieda has always been a tried and true hair care brand for me and I can honestly say that my hair color has deepened after my first application of the Visibly Deeper™ Treatment. Plus, these products have such a fancy, high-end salon scent to them, so I still feel like I’m getting a full salon service without the high price!

In an effort to continue to help my hair continue healing up, I have been also trying to put 2 days in between washes. One of my best girlfriends who is my go-to for anything hair related advised me to put more time between washes to prevent my hair from drying out. Sounds kind of gross, but I’ve honestly seen a huge improvement in my hair since putting more time between washes! So, I’ve been working hard to come up with different hairstyles to help get my hair through 2 days of no shampoo and I think I’ve finally gotten it down to a science. Today, I wanted to share three curly hairstyles I do in between washes!

Curly Hairstyles Day One: Curls & French Braid

I start with clean hair on this day and make sure it is completely dry before curling it. I always blow dry my hair upside down with a brush to get as much volume in my roots as possible and set my volume with cold air.

After I blow dry my hair, the first thing I do is separate my front bangs out from the rest of my hair and curl those with my curling wand. I always find that my bangs come out better when I do them first then when I try to save them for last. This is probably because I can pull all the hair out that I want to curl instead of having weird sections left over.

I separate my hair into two sections and put the top section in a messy bun on the top of my head.

I take my 32 mm curling wand and, starting from the back of my head, begin to curl my hair.

I vary the sizes of sections I curl and alternate which direction I curl my hair in to make it look more effortless and not as structured.

Then, I take the top section down and separate that into two sections, once again putting the top section in a messy bun at the top of my head. I continue to curl my hair in the same way as before.

Once I finish curling all of my hair, I let my curls sit as they are for a few minutes to make sure they have completely cooled down. Then, I flip my head upside down and run my fingers through the curls to loosen them up and give them more movement.

I take some texture spray (like the John Frieda Beach Spray) and spritz the ends of my curls to give them more of a beachy feel.

Taking a small section of hair right behind my bangs and separate it into three strands and start a small braid. I add a few sections of hair into the braid as I braid it down my hair to create a very effortless french braid and then braid it out. I then pull apart the braid to make it a little messy and pin it back!

I love this look because it’s simple but gives a bit more to look at then just curls!

Day Two: 20’s Inspired Flapper Look

This is one of my FAVORITE ways to wear day two curls! The night before, I brush out my curls a little bit to make them a bit softer and then gently pull them back into a loose ponytail to sleep in.

The next day, I wake up and re-curl my bangs if needed, but that’s it! I carefully brush my hair and bangs down to the way I want them to lay across my forehead and then I take a fun headband and slowly place it directly over my hair and across my forehead.

I adjust my bangs if needed and push the headband up a little bit to give my hair a bit of volume at the top.

Then, I take sections of my hair, twist them and wrap them over the headband and tuck them under. I do this around the whole headband, only leaving my bangs out! I sometimes put a few bobby pins to keep any flyaways in place and away I go.

This style is seriously so easy and looks so cute! This is definitely my favorite way to wear my day-2 curls!

Day 3 - Messy Updo

Now, sometimes I can get through day three without having to wash my hair and on those days, I usually put my hair up in a messy bun. However, on the occasion I have to look a bit more presentable, I will do this messy updo!

First, I douse my hair in texturizing spray and dry shampoo (John Frieda makes excellent versions of both) to remove any grease and to give my hair as much texture and grip as possible. I shake out my curls and try to get as much volume as possible!

Then, I take the top section of my hair and pin it back, but instead of pinning it in the center of the back of my head, I bring it over and pin it on the right side of my head.

Taking the bottom curls that did not get pinned back, I loosely gather them into a ponytail and twist them together. I then tuck the end of the twist up and under where the bobby pins are for the top section of my hair and secure it in place with two more bobby pins! (Yes, that’s right, this updo only takes 4 bobby pins for me!)

I sometimes add a little flower pin in the center for a little extra something, something!

I love each of these hairstyles because they are all relatively easy to achieve! I don’t pretend to be a hair guru, but each style takes me a short time to put together and I feel polished and put together! And, since my hair is recovering nicely from all the dye, it’s even fun to play with it (because it feels so great!)

I’d love to hear if you have ever tried any John Frieda hair products! Tell me which hairstyle was your favorite below!

How and Why I changed my Red Hair

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RethinkYourColour #CollectiveBias

Three days after I left the Dana-Farber cancer institute with the words “pediatric cancer” hanging over my head, my mom took me to the Walmart hair aisle and let me pick out any hair color of my choosing. Growing up in a very conservative household, I was only ever allowed to get highlights but after finding out that my hair would be gone in about two weeks, my mama bear said I could change my hair to any color I wanted. If I was going to lose my hair, I was going to lose it in style.

So, the little girl in me who always wanted to be a mermaid, choose fire-engine red. It was surreal, to be staying up until 11 PM on a school night with my mom applying red hair dye to my hair. I was going back to school the next day (my first day back since my diagnosis) to finish off the week before starting chemo. No one knew about my cancer and I knew that my bright red hair would be the ice breaker for me to tell my friends what was happening.

15 Year-Old-Me, three days post diagnosis with pediatric cancer.

What I didn’t know was how much I was going to love that red hair. And two weeks later, when my hair started falling out, I knew that if I survived and my hair grew back in, I was going to celebrate by having red hair again one day.

Fast forward to my (rather) impulsive decision to go out and buy red hair dye last September to change my blonde hair to red. Since I wasn’t teaching high school anymore and didn’t need to worry about keeping a conservative look and wanting to start our new life off in Arizona with a bang, I got up one day, took myself to the beauty supply store, picked out some red hair dye and went to town. A few hours later (and our bathroom looking like a war zone) I was a mermaid once again.

I’ll be 100% honest. I’ve never felt more like myself with my red hair. It just seemed to unlock a new level of confidence and empowerment in me. Not only did is symbolize the fact that I finally was coloring my hair back to red after promising myself I would do it over 10 years ago when I got sick, it also made me feel like I was finding a new level of self-love. I was rocking bright red hair and I didn’t care what anyone else thought; I LOVED it and how it made me feel and look. It was a reflection of all the self-healing I’ve been working on in the last few years. Red hair for the win.

Why I Changed my Red Hair:

But here’s the honest truth. Red hair is probably the hardest hair color to maintain. I had to color my hair every three-four weeks to keep it from looking like a bad dye job. I spent a ton of money on products to try and keep my hair healthy during the process, like deep conditioners and red shampoos. I told myself that putting the same color on my hair over and over again would be okay and not a big deal, but the quality of my hair (which is already funky after chemo) continued to go downhill. Because red fades so fast, I was going 3-4 days without washing my hair and the resulted in my scalp completely drying out (and it was disgusting!) My hair was breaking off, it was frizzy and it was a nightmare to brush through because of how damaged it was becoming. I noticed that I was developing thinned out patches along my hairline and I was shedding was more than normal.

As much as I love the red hair, I love having hair more. And although being bald had its perks (like never having to spend the time blowing it out) I don’t really want to lose my hair again. I made my peace that red hair is fun, but isn’t for me and decided it was time to go back to my roots.

Rethinking my Hair Color

Like I mentioned before, it’s very hard to maintain red hair. It’s also very hard to get rid of it. For my birthday, I treated myself to a hair cut and color and had my stylist match my color to my roots. 1 week later and my hair had already faded to a light brownish red and kind of looked like straw. Since I’m actively trying to NOT visit the salon and put more chemicals on my hair to allow it to heal, I knew I needed to find a different solution.

I was perusing my Walmart hair care aisle a couple weeks ago and saw that John Frieda had released a new line called Brilliant Brunette® Visibly Deeper™ Colour Deepening Shampoo and Brilliant Brunette®Visibly Deeper™ Colour Deepening Conditioner along with the Brilliant Brunette® Visibly Deeper™ Colour Deepening Treatment. I stood there reading the bottles for about 10 minutes, totally disbelieving that I had stumbled upon a solution to my fading hair. The new Brilliant Brunette® Visibly Deeper™ Colour Deepening line infuses color for a deeper and darker brunette shade when using the Visibly Deeper™ system of shampoo, conditioner, and treatment. This system will help me instantly darken my hair up to one shade deeper in the shower (with the treatment) without subjecting it to harsh and damaging chemicals from hair coloring.

I loved that this system would be so easy to transition into my every-day routine. I just had to replace my shampoo and conditioner with the new Visibly Deeper™ Shampoo and Visibly Deeper™ Conditioner and spend 5 extra minutes in the shower so I can apply the Visibly Deeper™ Treatment. It’s formulated with cocoa and evening primrose oil and is safe for color-treated hair, including highlights & lowlights, so I’m still getting all the things I want in a shampoo & conditioner! I love that there are no extra steps during styling or having to wait over 30 minutes for something to process during my morning, so no hassle. That’s my kind of hair treatment.

I’ve switched over to this line of products and will exclusively be using them for the next two weeks and plan on following up with a post to show the results!

Have you seen this new line of products in Walmart yet? (The in-shower treatment may be hard to find, but you can always order it online here) Have you tried anything from John Frieda before? Let me know down below!

 

 

3 Must-Haves for the Fashion Blogger

I am so excited to be partnering with Dove today to bring you this post! All opinions are my own (honestly!)

When I first started blogging, I thought I was going to be a good and craft Blogger. Even though I loves beauty and clothes, I felt like there was no way I was ever going to be fashionable enough to be a style blogger. Who would want fashion advice from little old me? Would people laugh at me for trying to tell them what to wear?

As my blog evolved (and I quickly found out that I was NOT meant to be a food or craft blogger) I started testing the waters with more fashion posts. I loved doing them. I love being challenged to get up and think about my clothes in my closet, to wear them in new ways and to share with others that you didn’t need to buy things every week just to stay on-trend. And, my confidence in myself grew: I wasn’t as afraid to get in front of the camera, scarred leg and all, to get my photo taken! In fact, I found it kind of fun and freeing!

Over the last year, as I’ve honed in on my style and worked to define my voice, I have found that these three tools have helped me step up my fashion-blogging game. I’ve learned that having clothes is one thing, but truly blogging about them is another. If you are thinking about including more fashion posts in your blog, here are my three absolute cannot live without tools that I use as a fashion blogger:

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3 Easy & Beautiful Springtime Hair Tutorials

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GoodyStyle #CollectiveBias

It was a bit quiet around HTC last week. My mom and my sister flew out to Arizona (from cold Boston and cold Utah) to spend the week in sunny Arizona. I could not have been more thrilled to have them here. My whole family got to be together for Christmas, but Dustin & I couldn’t fly home because of his new job and I was bumming MAJORLY. Thankfully, my brother-in-law bought my sister a plane ticket to come see me for my Christmas present (and hers) and my mom was able to fly out for the week as well. We were bummed that my youngest sister couldn’t make it down this time: we missed you, Boo! Anyway, I thought I would keep up with my blog during the evenings, but I decided that I just wanted to unplug and focus on spending the limited and precious time with my mom and sister for the week instead. I’m not sorry that I did that.

Anyway, I was stoked to have Ashley come down because growing up, I wanted to be a hairstylist, and always used her as my practice model. So naturally, one of the first things I did when she got into AZ was to sit her down and play with her long, gorgeous blonde hair (yes, both of my sisters are naturally blonde). She’s got such a natural wave and her hair is super thick, so it’s basically my dream head of hair to play with. My sister is such a beauty to begin with, but I love playing with her hair and making her feel even more beautiful! A new hairdo is the perfect way to feel refreshed and confident in yourself! So, as soon as she got to my apartment, we got to work right away to create some easy and beautiful springtime hair tutorials

Ashley wanted some help finding some easy spring time hair-dos to wear as the weather warms up over the next few months. I have been dreaming about pretty spring braids and soft curls with flowers for weeks now, so I was excited to try some ideas out finally. And, since I just got my hands on the new Goody Oval Clean Radiance Brush and picked up some new Goody Ouchless Elastics, I was dying to try them out. Ashley and I both have dry scalps in the winter time, and the Clean Radiance Brush has copper bristles that help reduce scalp buildup and add shine to hair. I was excited to put the new brush to the test to see if it really added shine to my hair and helped it feel cleaner.

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Everything you need to know about Irresistible Me Hair Extenions

PR Sample: A free product was sent to me in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.

My hair had a hard time growing back in after chemo. The doctors warned me that it would come back a different color or a different texture; that for some reason, chemo made hair grow back differently. During the year of my treatment, my best friend and I would spend hours talking about “Christmas in October” when my hair would start growing back in and make wild guesses at what color it might be. When my hair fell out, it was long (hitting the small of my back) and it was a sandy-brown with lots of natural light blonde highlights from the sun. It was as thick as it comes and naturally straight. When my hair finally came back in, it came back in dark, dark brown, curly and it came in really…wonky. It’s thin in some places, it’s thick in other places and I’ve got some bald patches along my head. Wonky. But it’s hair on my head, a symbol of my health and my life and I’ll take it.

But I’m not going to lie, I miss my thick, long hair. I miss being able to throw it up in huge floppy bun on the top of my head, or a long braid down my back. I miss being able to style it in 10 minutes instead of having to take 30-40 minutes trying to hide my bald spots. I miss my pre-chemo hair. And although I am insanely grateful to have my hair back, there are still days when I mourn for my loss.

I was beyond stoked when Irresistible Me said they would be willing to team up with me and send me some of their hair extensions to try out and to regain some of my pre-chemo thickness back. I’ve had hair extensions once before (when I was a brunette) and loved the idea of them, but hadn’t been able to find the right length.

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