2015 Resolutions!!

Hi Pals!!

Oh my word....
I am the worst blogger in history! Sorry for being away for so long folks!! Life has been crazy, you know when you are so stressed and you have been so busy but you have no idea why you are stressed or why you have been so busy....? no...? Well this is awkward!
I think for the most part I have been battling with my health a lot so that stresses me out but I won't go into detail because ya know~private~ anyway enough babbling, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year!!

Can you believe that it is twenty fifteen already?! Crazy.
I have no idea where 2014 went. Seriously.
I think 2014 was a very crucial year for me. I felt as though I grew a lot as a person and that the strength and bond of my relationship with my partner Josh became so solid and that we both grew together and our connection was made a whole lot deeper. I think moving country with someone will do that, I feel it is one of those make or break things and we made it!

Moving country was a huge milestone for not only our relationship but also our lives. Australia is great! I have been loving the difference it has made on my life. I have been able to take a step back and really review myself as a person. By moving I realized that a lot of things I thought were really important to me just weren't actually important at all. Friends for example, I realized after I moved that I really don't have many! Honestly 4 people kept in contact with me after I moved. One of those people was my mother.

That really hit home for me, I mean I knew a lot of the people I called my "friends" didn't really give a damn but moving away really highlighted that. I had around 800 friends on facebook and I only kept in contact with a miniscule amount. This oddly enough  makes me happy, I was able to rid myself of any "toxic" relationships and get rid of the fakes and the leeches and really apply myself to the people who do matter. In fact I had one of the most magical moments of my life in 2014 and that was getting to celebrate the union of two of my best friends getting married! And that's what it is all about, I really learnt that friendships are about quality not quantity.

I learnt self respect, that I had to put myself first more often, that it isn't my sole responsibility to always be the one in control to maintain relationships or to have everything organized for everyone else. I was allowed to be a little selfish and put my feet up and say the forbidden word; "no"
No is a word I had always shied away from saying "no" doesn't make you popular to toxic people but it does keep you sane. I think sanity should always come before popularity and its a shame so few people don't realize this. I have seen far to many people ruin their lives from their inability to say that simple two lettered word. Just say it and save yourself some braincells and the need for premature burials.

In 2014 I learnt just how I cope under pressure and I honestly surprised myself. It really was a year for trials for us. We had a huge list of things go wrong right from the get go and somehow managed to pull through every time with very little tears.

I learnt just how big the capacity of love is and that sometimes a cuddle is all you need.

I learnt that your body the single most important thing you have and it needs respect. That in order for your mind and body to stay happy you need to put only the good stuff in, Healthy food, Plenty of water, exercise, good thoughts and love.

I learnt that "beauty" is a marketing ploy and that you don't need the latest fashions or to spend a billion dollars on silly pore clogging products to be beautiful because that isn't  what beauty is. Beauty is your personality. Beauty is your smile. Beauty is your ability to look past someones flaws and see them for what/who they truly are. Beauty is appreciating your surroundings with childlike wonder. Beauty is kissing with your eyes closed, Beauty is staying up late and talking about nothing just because you want to fall asleep with their voice being the last thing on your mind. Beauty really is more that what the eye can see. It is all the little things that make you tick, that make you, you the beautiful person that you are, so unique, this amazing bright shining light that without you this world would be that slight bit duller without. I learnt that although I have never been happy with how I look that I to am beautiful because I can see the beauty in others.

At the start of 2014 Josh and I wrote down our goals for the year:

• Get Fit and Healthy
• Find Job, house and car.
• Finish sleeve (josh)
• Save $100 per week
• have date nights
• Get pet/s

• enjoy our new chapter together.

I personally feel we did really well with all of these except the saving $100 and date nights. We struggled to stay on our feet financially for the last part of the year. From October onwards was tough for us. The trip to Rarotonga was a huge financial blow for us (we wouldn't have missed it for the world though!) as we spent all our savings on the trip and right before we left both the cars broke down and then we got FLOODED with bills and it has been a struggle ever since to get back into the comfort zone we had ourselves in. As for the date nights I think that goes hand in hand with the whole being broke things although to be fair we do spend all of our down time together and to me that is a lot more special than blowing all our money on wine and dining!

For 2015 we also sat down and wrote this years goals. I think it is important to set goals together, it gives to something to work towards together and really ensure you include each other. So this years goals are as follow:

• New Jobs 
• Puppy/Kitten ;)
• Keep up with YouTube ( I have a channel now that you can view here!)
• Get new car
• New houseware
• save money
• Holiday

So those are our joint goals and as a private goal for myself I am to continue to improve myself and listen to my body.
 I would love to hear your goals or how you found 2014.

I hope you are all staying happy and safe!
Stay crafty you foxes!

Serena
xx

Happy Hair

Hi there bloggy pals!!!

I am so super sorry!! It has been WEEKS since my last post!! How slack!! But I can tell you it has been a crazy few weeks!
But I am here and back and will have yet another post for you on the weekend involving some crafty goodness so for the mean time this will have to tide you over ;)

So as per the title today's blog is all about hair!! Woohooo! As of a few months ago I started to cut out chemicals from our home which also included chemical hair dyes..... Now I have to tell you this was a scary thing to do because true fact I am 21 and going gray.. Seriously genetics why???!
So the thought of being in my twenties and being completely grey didn't really appeal to me but I also didn't like what chemical dyes were doing to my hair which I am desperately trying to grow out!

I started googling like crazy to find natural alternatives and I found a whole bunch of information on the most magical plant in the world; Henna!!
Henna is seriously the work of wizards, its incredible stuff. Created from the dried leaves of the henna plant, it is a natural dye which works in an entire different way to that of chemical dyes. Henna actually bonds with the inside of your hair and colours from the inside out mending your hair as it goes. Henna comes in one colour only and that is RED! It also can not lighten hair as it fuses with your natural colour and enhances it. For example; my natural hair colour is a mid brown, so henna gave me a lovely auburn colour which is different shades of red in different light. If you have really light hair you will get more copper/orange hues, and if your hair is black your hair will still be black but with red highlights in the sun.
So if you don't like red then henna is not for you, but there is an alternative called indigo which will have you with gorgeous raven locks :)
I would also be a bit of a research freak and be 100% certain that henna is for you because it is very permanent as in you have to wait for it to grow out as colouring over top of henna'd hair can do some serious damage to your hair, so always do a strand test first and be sure to check out this Henna website for all the information you need :)

Let us begin on my third application of henna :)

So to start be aware henna is a whole lot messier that box chemical dyes! So when you get to the actual dying process be sure to wear old clothes and put down some news paper, and also scrub away any drops left in the sink or workspace as henna will stain everything!

You will need:

• Henna (body quality works best as it is the most "pure". I get mine from the local Indian grocery)
• A plastic container you don't mind staining, I use an ice cream container :)
• A spoon
• Something acidic such as lemon juice or lime
• plastic cling wrap
• GLOVES!!! (This is super important if you don't want fluorescent orange hands for the next week). 
• 3-4hours to spare.

So to begin you will need your henna. I use one packet which is plenty for my shoulder length hair, but if you have long hair you will need two packets. Here is the henna i got this time:

As you can see it is also so much cheaper then box dye or going to the salon at only$2.95 a pack what a steal!

 Henna powder to me smells like cut grass, It is a refreshing change to the pass out smell of normal dye.

 Add lemon juice, or in this case lime juice to the powder and mix in as much as you need until you reach a nice thick paste with a sort of Greek yogurt texture as pictured below:

 Once you have the desired texture you will need to cover your container and store it over night to allow the dye to release ( The acid from the lime juice releases the colours from the powder and leaving it over night will give you a nice vibrant colour)

So this is my hair colour pre-henna. As you can see there is still a nice red hue to it but I have a decent bit of regrowth going (Loki is always so photogenic while I am slumming it in my PJs haha)
After your henna has been sitting overnight it is all ready to be slathered over your pretty little head.
I always brush my hair to make sure there is no knots and then section up my hair to ensure even application. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the process as my little helper was at work :(  and its all a bit messy to be taking the gloves on and off to snap some very unflattering pictures hehe. It is a good idea to apply some sort of barrier cream to your skin around your hairline such as Vaseline, I personally like coconut oil.
I found the best way to apply the paste is the same way that I would usually colour my hair just working with sections until the entirety has been covered generously, and if you have a bit left over just slap that on too and you will have a seriously sexy look a bit like this:

 Looks a bit like cow poo but that is ok! I use a bit of coconut oil on a cotton pad to tidy up any bits of henna on your skin. Now you will need to put cling wrap over your head to keep all the goodness in an develop a rich colour.

Extra for the conehead sequel.

Leave the henna in for 3-4 hours. I used the time to clean the house and get a bit of reading done.
Rinse out the worst of the henna over the bath or sink to avoid getting it on your skin. Once the bulk of it has been rinsed out jump into the shower and wash your hair as per usual with shampoo and conditioner (my personal favourite is Sukin it is 100% vegan with no animal testing or nasty chemicals, you can buy it online here). When you get out of the shower do not freak out! Your hair will be very orange at the roots! but as your hair dries the colour will settle:

Mega orange roots!

Colour in bathroom overhead light

Colour in sunlight.

So there you have it a nice pretty chemical free colour :)
Let me know in the comments below if you have ever tried henna or you are wanting too!

Until next time!
Stay crafty you little foxes!
Serena
xxx