Bubble Veil & Big Hair

The 80's get no love in wedding planning. Everyone wants to go back to the 60's, 40's, or roaring 20's but where are the 80's at? The 80's were fabulous. New Kids on the Block, neon everything, Saved by the Bell, polka dots, shoulder pads---why wouldn't anyone want to go back? Okay, I get why no one would want to go back, but I want to in at least one way-- BIG HAIR! I saw a bubble veil used in a J. Crew catalog and fell in love. The model had slicked back hair but the Mr. hates my hair pulled back so I knew he wasn't going to let me get away with wearing my hair in an updo. I asked and his response was? "Don't you want me to look at you and be happy that I'm marrying you?" Ouch, but he's right. I have my hair pulled back every single day. It doesn't start off that way but the Florida humidity has my hair in a ponytail 10 minutes after I walk out the door. If I can't do an updo with my bubble veil then I am going to be super dramatic and have Super Big Voluminous Hair- inspired by the 80's but tamed by sanity. The problem? I don't know how great it will look on me.

My hair is thick so I know my hair will work but my face is very classic in the sense that it is boring. I don't know if I can pull off big hair primarily because it looks best on people who have at least one dominant feature. I have no dominant features- like none. My parents' genes got together and decided it would be best if they split everything down the middle, thus equaling out all features of my face. Plus, I'm not a female version of a hustler, of a hustler, of a hustler- I'm no Diva. If I was, my attitude alone would be adequate to fulfill all my big hair dreams and pull It off well.

I have a couple of days after my exams to rest and during that time I will make clip in hair extensions and do a hair trial. I'll post instructions and pictures of the clip-in hair extension making and application process but until then I'll leave you with pictures of my hair inspiration: Dior hair, Keesha Sharp, Aisha Tyler, and an awesome hair model. Last picture: First Lady of Cameroon Chantal Biya-- a little too crazy for me.







What is your wedding hair? What was the inspiration behind it?

Oh I can't. I'm on a diet.

Oh I can't. I'm on a diet.

In high school I was 103 lbs. After I had my son I stayed at a good 115 lbs, but then I met the Mr. and went to law school. I gained 20 lbs my first year of law school. I don't know the reason. Maybe it was a delayed "freshman 15" since it was the first time I had left home, maybe I was nesting because I was just really really happy with the Mr., or maybe it was the fact that I was holed up reading casebooks and snacking all day with no exercise at all whatsoever. I think it was a mixture of all 3.

I've never been the workout type because I don't like to sweat. If I start to sweat, I stop doing whatever I was doing until the moment passes. The only exception to this was when I gutted houses in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. My roommates last year dragged me to the gym and it was the first time I had ever worked out. Yes, I said ever. I did really well until I started to sweat and you guessed it, stopped. I did Bikrim Yoga for a while, and liked it. Even with all the heat I never sweated and found that I was pretty flexible. Unfortunately, Bikrim is only an occasional thing. Since I don’t workout, I decided that I needed to come up with a way to lose the extra weight before my wedding. Even though I'm 9 months away, I've already started.

Initially I decided that I could lose all my weight by getting rid of my coke habit. I drank about 6 cans of coke a day. Yes, I said 6 a day. I tried to go diet but yuck, I couldn't. In the end I went diet with other brands like Diet Dr. Pepper and diet Root Beer which has made all the difference. Diet Dr. Pepper and diet Root Beer are so good that they don’t taste like diet. I also started drinking more water, so now I drink maybe 2 cans of pop a day and the rest is water or hot tea, usually green, black, or constant comment. I didn't lose any weight though and knew more had to be done.

I am the first one to admit that I need to change my eating habits. I eat whatever I want, whenever I want. The problem is that now I gain weight when I do that. I wanted a program I could use that would be a) cheap, b) effective, and c) help me change my eating habits and I found one through Medifast.

Medifast is a series of shakes, oatmeals, soups, and bars that are low caloric and high in protein. In total you get around 800-950 calories a day. The catch is though, that you have to eat 6 meals a day: 5 medifast meals and 1 lean and green meal. The lean and green consists of something green like broccoli or a salad, and lean protein like select fish, chicken, or other meats. It is hard to eat 6 meals a day- like really hard, or at least for me it is. That means you have to eat every 2-3 hours. Medifast keeps me full so 2 or 3 hours comes and I'm not even hungry to eat anything yet.

The food isn't totally bad or good. The bars are good and so is the banana pudding. I'm a fan on the cappuccino and hot chocolate and the shakes aren't too bad either. Medifast guarantees a weight loss of 2-5 lbs per week. I lost 10 lbs during my first month.

After a month though, I went off of Medifast and resumed my bad eating habits even though I knew what I had to do- eat small healthy meals every 2-3 hours. Luckily, I haven't gained a pound of my weight back. Although the program is super easy to follow, I just couldn't limit myself to one normal meal a day especially because I'm encouraged to participate in networking opportunities where food is abundant and I swear, I have never been invited to as many lunches as I was while I was on my diet- my response: "Oh I can't. I'm on a diet". I want to get back to 115 lbs before my wedding day so I plan on going back onto Medifast until I lose another 10 to 15 pounds. I'll keep you posted on how well I do and if I decide to try anything else, like sweat.

What are you doing, if anything, to lose extra pounds?

Product Review: Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs

I have great legs. I get compliments on them all the time. My legs are super hott- when I have tights or stockings on. My bare legs however are another story. I sleep itch, which turns into bleeding, which turns into scarring. Sorry for the yucky mental picture.
I chose a great dress from Macy's to wear during the first of my 2 engagement pictures. It stops about an 2 inches above my knees. Originally, I planned on wearing cowboy boots with it but that trend is sort of disappearing so I may just do simple heels and pearl, brass, and gold accessories. Regardless of the shoe or accessories I still have an ugly leg problem. This dress doesn't look good with tights so my old standby wont work.

I thought about maybe getting away with wearing nude pantyhose. This was, and still is, a strong possibility. As long as I choose a color that is close to my own skin tone and is sheer, no one but me, my love, and my photographer will know my secret. Before I resign myself to hose I decided to try leg make-up.

I looked at online reviews of Sally Hansen's Airbrush Legs before I made the purchase. I am such a cheapo that I require myself to do research before I buy something, even if it’s a $13 can of leg makeup. I found many opinions online. Most people liked it and others didn't but most of the people who didn't confused leg makeup with sunless tanner. I try to reserve judgment before calling people dense but I really don't understand how someone could confuse the two, especially considering that the product has no mention of sunless tanning. It does come in different colors- but doesn't all makeup?

Anywho, based on the reviews I decided to fork out $13 and bought a can from my local Walgreens. I decided to do both legs- 1 by spraying on my hands and then applying to my legs and the other by spraying directly on my legs and blending in like some opinionates suggested. I think I got a better application by spraying directly on my legs and blending but you have to be careful because it gets harder to blend correctly if you wait a while so I suggest spraying and blending small sections at a time.

The results turned out like what I would expect from leg makeup. It was very light to the touch though and it didn’t feel like I was wearing makeup but I think I may need more coverage to cover up my scars. I think this product would work well for women who have very minor problems. I tried to apply another coat, like I would do foundation to get more coverage, but at that point it started to look like I was wearing makeup and I didn't want that. After 10 minutes or so I took a white cloth and wiped it against one of my legs to see if the makeup would come off- it didn't! Getting it off in the shower though wasn't pretty- I had to scrub and you could see the makeup run down the drain which is expected I guess.

All in all I think Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs is great for people who have minor leg imperfections. Since I need a little more coverage that what Airbrush Legs can provide me I think I will go back to wearing sheer panty hose with my dress and may wear the leg makeup underneath just to make sure no imperfections show through the hose.

What beauty products have you experimented with? How did it turn out?