Teach Me Something Thursday, Volume Twelve.

The twelfth installment in the TMST series comes from someone who has become dear to my heart over the last year. She is Kiley Miltsch, the founder of Kouture. While they were shooting for the online store, Kiley was often coloring her pal Paulina's hair - she's the adorable gal with the violet hued 'do that you see throughout the site [she has also gone rainbow + most recently, green]. Kiley + Paulina reveal their secret of how they got Paulina's hair the perfect shade of lavender.

Supplies:

Manic Panic in Virgin Snow & Ultra Violet

(Thicker hair may require 2 cans of Virgin Snow)

Mixing bowl, tint brush, comb, and gloves.

Step 1: Combine one can of Virgin Snow with 2 generous spoonfuls of Ultra Violet.

Step 2: Mix together.

Step 3: Completely cover hair with mixture and then comb through until the hair dye is frothy.

Step 4: Tightly wrap head with saran wrap and let it sit for at least 30 minutes - we usually wait an hour.

 Step 5: Wash out the color with cold water and then condition hair and rinse. Don't use shampoo!

And Voila! The perfect shade of ultra violet lavender. 

Be sure to head over to Kiley's store, blog + Facebook. Don't forget to sign up for the Klique list - you will receive special offers + perks available only to the Kouture Klique!

Blog + Instagram Pre-Sale!

I've been working on something for the last week, but didn't want to post about it until I was sure that I was going to be adding them to my Etsy store. I have decided to add elastic hair ties + headbands to the store! Before they are listed, I am offering a sale on the blog + Instagram.

I chose these three colors after checking out the Pantone Fall 2012 color chart. For the moment, I will be selling Charcoal, Light Olive + Deep Pink. They look super cute + you will definitely see them in my hair this autumn! Here are the special blog + Instagram prices, including shipping:

Elastic Hair Ties: $1 apiece; 5 for $4; 10 for $7.

Elastic Headbands: $2 apiece; 3 for $5, 5 for $7.

Hair Ties for Tots: 3 for $2 or 10 for $5.

If you want to do a combination of both hair ties + headbands, let me know. Depending on how well these go, I will start stocking additional colors throughout the year. Feel free to comment below or email me with your order. Thanks!

My Latest Obsession: The Twistband.

I have a lot of hair for being such a small person. If you haven't seen my beast fro in all its glory, check it out here to get an idea of what I'm working with. At the beginning of the summer, I had discovered the Twistband. I was intrigued by the concept - a soft elastic hair tie that claimed it wouldn't leave unsightly bumps in my hair or cut off circulation if I left it on my wrist (I often wear an extra hair tie on my wrist, as there have been times where one that was in my hair had broken). The real question was, would a Twistband be able to handle all of my hair? The folks over at Twistband sent me a few to test out.

 In order to give the product a fair assessment, I used the same Twistband in my hair every day for over a month. I piled my hair onto my head in a messy bun and put it in ponytails (high and low). I used it in the shower to hold up my sopping wet hair as it was being deep conditioned. Basically, I abused the life out of it. Like I said, its been over a month, and I am still using the same Twistband.

The picture above has two Twistbands - an unused Turquoise Tie Dye Twistband and the Lavender Twistband that I have been using for the last month. You can tell that it has been used, but it isn't really stretched out much, and you can tell its still in great shape. I really put that puppy through the wringer, too.

It still fits nicely on my wrist, and actually looks pretty nice - much more aesthetically pleasing than ordinary hair elastics. I must say, I am thoroughly impressed with the Twistband. They are a bit pricier than traditional hair elastics (a solid 6 pack will cost you $10, whereas a 17 pack of Goody hair elastics will run you $3.49 per pack), but for comfort level, Twistband takes the cake. I have been a loyal Goody gal for the last fifteen years, but I have converted to Twistbands. Seeing as I was sent a few hair ties, I gave one to a coworker to test out. The next day, she asked where she could get more, because she loved it. She also commented on how it doubled as a bracelet - I'm not the only one who thinks it doubles as sweet wrist candy.

You can snag these tressy-worthy ties from Twistband and Birchbox. The company has an array of products, such as headbands, hair clips, custom items and crayon rings. Yes, crayon rings. I totally want a set, but I might just have to wait til the holidays and request a set in my stocking.

Here, There, and Everywhere.

Recently, I have been MIA on the blog. Things have been pretty hectic over here, but in a good way. I finally snagged a part-time job, which means I will have income rolling in. Its not what I thought I would be doing, but its close to home and its money. One school starts up I have to find a month-long student teaching placement. The hours will collide, so I don't know how that will pan out. I'm really not concerned at the moment, because I need to figure out what the academic deal is on the first day of class. Speaking of class, I started summer classes: part deux. Same professor, less classes, but much longer hours. I love the professor and the course, and my classmates are great - definitely makes a five-hour classes bearable. Next week is the final week, but due to the holiday vacation, I will be in class 25 hours next week. Not to mention I still have to go to work, put in some hours at my internship, plus do required schoolwork. I can't wait until the weekend is here, and this weekend isn't even over already!


Lets see, what else is new in my neck of the woods. Oh, I colored my hair again. I decided that before I head back to the classroom, my mane needed some fun colors. My friend Christina redid my highlights, then added some pink, purple, and teal. The teal (which was a mixture of a green and blue hair dye) wound up spreading all over my head, so its a unique shade at the moment, but it looks pretty cool. She plans on adding more pink into it, so she can enter a color contest this summer. 

Lazing around on July 4.

I keep forgetting to post about this, but I met Tony Lucca! He played a free show at Tanger Outlets in Deer Park at the end of June (told you I was behind on posts). I wound up running the merch table and met some really nice local fans of his, which I will see at the NYC show in November - the show is during the week of my 30th birthday, so if you dig his music you should definitely join me! Like I mentioned in a previous post, Lucca sounds phenomenal during live performances, and now I got to experience it in the flesh. It was pretty hot out, but that didn't affect him or his bandmates. Vocals were on pitch, guitars were in tune, and the audience loved it. Seeing as the venue did little to no promotion for the event, there was a decent turnout. Had they actually promoted it, even if it were just a week prior to the show, the turnout would have been at least double. I took my photographer, Avalon, with me. This was her first show, and she was a bit nervous. I told her to just go for it, and I think she did pretty well, seeing as this was new territory for her. Sometimes you need to be thrown into the water in order to learn how to swim. While slinging merch, a lot of folks came up to me and said they had never heard of Tony Lucca before, but they really enjoyed his music. Every single person who said that to me bought at least one CD, which was awesome. 

Soundcheck.

 I didn't speak to Lucca until after the show, but he's a really nice guy. His bandmates, Steve and Mic, are pretty awesome as well. Definitely folks you could sit down and bullshit with over a cold beer or three. Too bad there wasn't time to catch another interview over a game of darts. Maybe next time. 

Me and Tony after the Tanger show.

One of my best friends since childhood came for a quick visit on Friday. Sean came to New York on business, but caught a flight to Long Island so we could hang for the earlier part of the day. We feasted on bagel egg sandwiches at Corey Beach, lunched with my friends The Rachel's (they are both named Rachel and they are best friends, its awesome) at C'est Cheese, and Sean had his first taste of Ralph's Famous Italian Ices. It was a fun-filled afternoon, and I was sad to see him go. Hopefully I will be able to see him after he gets back from London - he will be at the Olympics this year!

C'est Cheese in Port Jefferson = insanely delicious!

I wish I could write more, but I have an overabundance of schoolwork to complete before class tomorrow. I had planned on getting some done during the week, but I decided that enjoying myself was a bit more important. Sometimes you just need to live a little. When it comes to academics, I perform best under pressure anyway, so getting everything done in one day is a challenge I enjoy. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and have a great week!