Introduction to Flat Irons

Hi Shine and Sparkle Readers,

Back to non-holiday posts and back to beauty blogging!  I wanted to throw out a quick tip on flat irons based on an inquiry from my wonderful Aunt!

I made this image, if you'd like to use it please ask ;)  Honestly, I don't know why you would want it, it's just a paint image of my mommy's guinea pig...

1. Heat Protect: Before use of any hot tool, use a heat protector!  I love my TRESemme's "Heat Taming Spray"* for curls, affordability, and lazy-ish days.  But for straightening, a heat protecting lotion has a bit more weight and works better to aid in taming friz and holding the style ( I also think it protects a bit better).  My favorite all around hair conditioner and lotion for healthy hair is It's a 10 "Miracle Leave In".  If you have colored or damage hair, I suggest the It's a 10 "Miracle Leave In +Keratin".  Just spay 2-4 pumps (depending on your hair length) into your palm, rub hands together, then smooth into damp hair concentrating on the ends.  Blow dry or air dry, then you are good to straighten. Same works if your hair is dry already!
2. Never straighten wet hair:  You will sizzle, burn, and basically boil your hair.  EEEK!
3. Hot and fast:  I know that sounds scandalous, but really, you want a very hot iron, gliding through about a 1" section of your hair once.  Not a low setting over and over again.  This is actually much healthier for your hair.  Brush out your hair, then take a 1" section, run a comb through the section then straighten with a hot iron steadily down the strand.  Repeat.  Mini Tip: Start straightening the strand about 1" from your scalp to prevent burning yourself and maintain some volume.  
4. Try not to do it too often:  Try and stretch out how long you can last between heat sessions (or save straightening for special occasions).  Dry Shampoo is great to absorb hair oils and make the style last (favorite dry shampoo post coming soon!)
5. Use a good quality iron:  To adhere to tip #3, your typical Conair Iron from Target isn't going to cut it.  Yes they do get hotter now than they did in the past, but the plates that heat up are pretty low quality.  This means you might not get the press you want, have to go over it slower/multiple times, or worse, snag and break your hair.  Not to mention that low quality irons break....quick.  So all this means investing in an iron but how much do you need to spend to get good quality and value?  
6. Buying Tips: For best control, go for a 1" width iron.  As for price, you are probably looking at $50+.  I know it seems like a lot, but it is worth the investment.  Trust me!! Having gone through more than $50 of cheap ones, I know from experience that investing a bit more has been great!  I haven't gotten a new one in over 8 years since I got mine.  Options like different material plates (I prefer ceramic) and adjustable heat settings (best if your hair isn't crazy curly and you might need a bit less heat) are all personal preference. Below are brands that I trust to give you a great product no matter which iron you pick.  I wouldn't sweat about the details as long as you are using these brands. 

•  Most Affordable
• Chi
• HotTools
•  Moderate:
• NuMe
• HerStyler
• Luxury:
• GHD

P.S.  If you want to go all researcher on which iron to buy, Flat Iron Experts is my favorite resource.

Shine & Sparkle!


*I am not paid or contacted by any of the companies mentioned in this post.  These are my honest feelings and opinions.

Let's Talk Self Esteem and Beauty

Happy New Year Shine and Sparkle Readers,

This is going to be a pretty mushy post, but January is the start of a New Year and a good time to do some internal reflecting.  I know that many people right now are thinking "It's New Years Resolution time.  Need to drop x pounds."  More of you (I hope) are thinking about that in a "I want to get healthy and fitter and if x pounds go away as a result, hooray!"  But realistically, a lot of people are motivated to lose weight at the new year because they just don't feel that attractive.  Some of them might get down on themselves and think they are fat, ugly, and all sorts of other hurtful words.  Maybe the words were said by others.  Maybe they were said by perceptions based on what "beautiful" is said to be by society.  I think there are moments in everyone's lives when they feel down on themselves, but nobody should feel that way all the time.*

No matter what, I want all my readers to know that you are beautiful no matter what size you are or how you look.  As beauty bloggers, sometimes I think we have a tendency to forget to stress that while make-up and other beauty products may change your appearance, nothing will matter if you don't love yourself and feel beautiful on the inside.   So here are a few things that I want to remind my lovely readers:

1) Feel free to wear make-up and engage in the fun world of beauty, but don't let make-up or the beauty industry wear you.   Use it however YOU want, to empower yourself and be the best and most confident you.

2) It's not the years in your life, but the life in your years.  Remember, no matter what, live life to the fullest!

3) Don't say anything to yourself you wouldn't want others to say.  If someone came up to you and said "you look like a total lard ball today you lazy butt.  You should lay off the cookies fatso."  I (hope) you would be really angry at them.  So why do we say these things to ourselves?  If we can't say empowering things to ourselves, who will?  Tell yourself "I love me, just the way I am today." and other kind things to yourself.  You will be amazed how right you are!

4) Your life is your own movie.  Yes, you are writing the script of the movie.  How you chose to interpret the events is up to you.  There will be ups and downs, but you have the power to control how that effects the main character--you! 

5) True friends are the ones who know everything about you, and love you anyway.  Nobody is perfect.  True friends love not only when you are being you, imperfections included.  You don't need friends who put you down or don't make you happy.  The flip side is, that none of your friends are perfect either.  If you want to be a true friend, you have to love their imperfections too (unless they are serial killers, or generally bad people, then forget them *wink*).

6) The standard of beauty should be what makes YOU feel beautiful.  To stand behind all I've been preaching, here is a before and after make-up of Ms. Sparkles. See? These aren't even photoshopped.  Imagine what those crazy magazine/media people do?  This is why we have to take responsibility for what we consider beautiful.  I will always be transparent with my audience.  I still break out with acne at age 27, and probably will continue to for the foreseeable future.  I wake up with bed head hair and dark circles under my eyes.  I will get older.  I will get wrinkles.  I will get grey hair.  No matter what age we are, we all have things we perceive as flaws, the key is to not make the flaws the center of our lives.

I made this image myself, so if you want to use it for anything, please contact me if you are going to re-post it. I suppose it's copyright of me as of 2014.

I hope this little talk helps you guys go into 2014 in the most shiny and sparkly way possible!


Shine & Sparkle


* I am not a professional psychologist or clinician of any kind.  If you are facing depression, thoughts of suicide, or any other things that make you sad please consider talking to a professional.  They know what is up and can help way better than little me.

(Semi) Healthy "Taco Bell" Bean and Cheese Burrito Recipe

Hi Shine and Sparkle Readers!

Happy New Year!  I know we are all starting to think about being healthier at the beginning of the new year so I thought I would share a recipe that I have been loving lately.  I admit that I am totally guilty of loving simple bean and cheese burritos from Taco Bell.  Even though their beans are powdered and everything about them is probably bad for you.  So I have created this recipe that seriously tastes like a Taco Bell Bean and Cheese Burrito (TBB&CB).  Am I weird for wanting to replicate fast food at home? Let me know in the comments *wink*.

I wanted to create a recipe that was healthier but ACTUALLY tasted like a  TBB&CB for my lovely readers.  Something that would actually more healthily satisfy that craving.  Not something in a cardboard tortilla with steamed beans, a bunch of veggies, and tasting NOTHING like the original.

I also love this because it is very easy to make lots of them, wrap them in tin foil, then stick them in the freezer. So easy to grab one to take to work or have dinner in 2 minutes.  So just in case you were thinking about giving up on that New Years Resolution and cruising through the Taco Bell drive-thru, give this a try!

Squiggles thinks burritos should be made with hay, pellets, and carrots?! I disagree.  Like all my images, (such as Squiggle's hat) I'll gladly give someone credit for their image or take it down if someone throws a hissy fit.

Taco Bell Bean and Cheese Burritos:
(makes 10 burritos!)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of re-fried beans (I have found that non-fat or full fat kinds that include some kind of chili work best to replicate Taco Bell flavors.  My Favorites are Trader Joes Refried Black Beans with Jalepeno Peppers or  Rosarita No-Fat Refried Beans Green Chili & Lime) 
• 1 white onion (diced)
• Red Hot Sauce (I find Cholula hot sauce lends itself to the Taco Bell Taste)
• 10 Flour Tortillas (I know, whole wheat, brown rice, etc. tortillas are healthier.  But this part really makes it feel like Taco Bell, so I splurge on this part.  I find that Trader Joes classic burrito sized flour tortillas taste remarkably Taco Bell tortillas.  I have also had good success with Mission's Fat Free Flour tortillas. )
• 1 pack Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese (you can go lite cheese to be healthier too.  I find using less sharp cheddar is more successful for me than not tasting pounds of lite cheese...)
• 3/4 cup of water

Steps:

1.  Heat beans, water, and a dash or two of hot sauce (to taste) on the stove.  The water helps the beans have a slightly thinner consistency (like the TBB&CB).  Once boiling, turn the heat OFF then add the diced onion and remove from heat.  This will take the sharpness out but still leave the raw feel and taste that happens in the TBB&CB.
2. Microwave each tortilla in the microwave for 10-15 seconds between 2 damp paper towels.  Do this one at a time so that each tortilla is flexible to the max!  You could heat them on the stove, but lets be real, super soft steamed tortilla is the TBB&CB way.
3. Put tortilla on appropriately sized tin foil so it is easy to wrap after assembly (if freezing).
4. Assemble the inside of the burrito cheese first, bean/onion mix on top of cheese (to melt cheese) then a nice layer of hot sauce to your liking.
5. Fold in ends or tortilla, then roll.  Someone else already has cornered the market on "How to Roll a Burrito" so I will not re-invent the wheel.  Then wrap up that TBB&CB in foil.
6. Repeat and freeze burritos in a freezer zip-lock bag and keep one for munching immediately!)

Reheating Tip:  Nuke a the frozen burrito (take it out of the foil first if you don't want to have a lightning storm in your microwave) for approximately 2 minutes (1 minute a side) wrapped in a damp paper towel.  I promise it tastes even more authentically like Taco Bell after that (how scary right?).

Health Disclaimer: 
A) Obviously you can add more onion, salsa, meat, veggies, cardboard-like health tortillas, eliminate the cheese, or grow your own beans and make re-fried beans from scratch.  But this is the best way to create something that feels like cheating on my diet but actually isn't too bad.  I mean, this recipe simply cannot be worse than powdered re-fried beans and chemical rich tortillas in the original TBB&CB.
 B) I'm not a nutritionist. if you have special dietary needs or restrictions, I do not guarantee that this is appropriate for you.  Use your common sense. Common sense is your friend.
 

Shine & Sparkle