My Top 5 Fav Hair Products

Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you all had a good weekend. We are LOVING this spring weather. We spent most of the weekend playing outside!

Today I am talking about one of my very favorite things to buy- hair products! I got a job as a receptionist at a salon and beauty supply when I was 16 and worked there for about four years. A big part of my job was helping customers find the right products for their hair. The salon carries over 50 different product lines so when we weren't busy, I would read the backs of bottles to learn what each of them did. I soon became a product junkie! There are so many awesome products out there. I could go on and on and on. I will have to do seperate posts for specific needs such as men's hair, curly hair, fine hair, etc. Because trends are always changing and new products are always introduced, what I love also changes frequently. This is a list of what I am currently diggin'.

Shampoo and Conditioner:

Redken all soft. This shampoo and conditioner is awesome for dry hair. I bleach my hair, use hot styling tools on it, and live in a very dry climate. Because of this, my ends get really thirsty. This shampoo and conditioner rehydrates it and makes it look so smooth and shiny. It is very reasonably priced and it smells soo good. I only wash my hair about every 3 days. If you are washing everyday, I would rotate this so it doesn't become too heavy on your hair.

Styling spray:

Scruples blow dry spray. I just tried this for the first about a month ago and it blew my mind (and my hair lol). It cuts down your blow dry time which is awesome because we're all busy and the last thing we want to do is spend all morning blowing our hair dry. It also protects hair from heat and sun damage. Did you know that just like our skin, our hair can get burnt as well? Hot styling tools and UV rays can burn holes into our hair making it super brittle. This spray has sunscreen and other protectants for hair built right in. All you do is towel dry your hair, comb it out, and spray this in. Then follow with any other products you use and dry as usual. This spray is good for all hair types.

Polishing oil:

Morrocon oil. This stuff is great for adding shine and taming flyaways. As the name suggests, it is an OIL so you only need a tiny bit. It can be applied to wet or dry hair. I usually apply it to wet hair the day I wash it and apply from mid-shaft to ends. The next two days, I just apply it to my ends. I really only use a dime-size amount. If you have fine hair, I would stray away from this one.

Texture powder:

Osis Dust It powder. I think this might be magical fairy dust because of what it does to your hair! It comes in a tiny jar and is just white powder. You can use it two different ways. The first is for volume. After you have styled your hair and you are ready to backcomb, you take the partings that you make for backcoming and you sprinkle this right at the root and then you backcomb. This gives you so much volume I can't even believe it. It also holds your backcoming in place. I don't know what is in it, but it's amazing. The second way to use it, is for texture. If you have choppy layers that you want to bring emphasis to or you have curled your hair and want to piece it out, sprinkle this throughout the hair and it will give you that funky texture you're trying to achieve. Whichever way you use it, follow with hairspray. Now listen closely- I cannot emphasize enough that you do not want to over do it. If you get too much, your hairnis going to be a yucky, gritty, hot mess and there's no turning back. You will have to wash it. So, experiment with it when you're not going anywhere to figure out how to get the right amount. Once you do, you will love it.

Hairspray:

Kenra Volume Spray. I saved the best for last. This is my hairspray BAE. I try others but I always go right back. Why do I love it? Because it smells like heaven and the hold is so on fleek. It has a strong hold but is not sticky at all. Win, win. Am I right? This hairspray is so good, it won the stylist choice awards 10 years in a row. 

Because I love this hairspray so much, I am going to give it away to one lucky winner. All you have to do is follow my instagram account and tag 3 friends on the giveaway picture. For 5 extra entries, follow me on my blog and then comment that you did. I will announce the winner tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 1st at 9 pm. Good luck!

-The Red Brick Blondie

Pulp Lifestyle Kitchen

There's something you need to know about me. I love food. Like, a lot. Chance and I have this thing where we try to eat at a restaurant we haven't been to each time we go on a date. We like small, locally owned places. Well I am trying to get healthier and I felt like the only way I was going to do it was if Chance joined along in the fun. Every time I've tried before, I cave after the first day because I'm trying to do it alone. So I made Chance join an 8 week "biggest loser" challenge with me! So now we're trying to find healthier options for date nights. We heard of a new restaurant in Salt Lake called Pulp lifestyle kitchen and decided to try it out. My first impression was really good. I like the modern atmosphere and the people working there were really nice.

I got the "Buy the root" salad. It was easily one of the best salads I've had. It has spinach, arugula, roasted beets and sweet potatoes, carrots, red onion (I got mine without), raw pistachios, goat cheese, sour apples, pear, honey balsamic reduction, and fig vinaigrette.

Chance got the "Sano" bowl. He loved his as well. It has honey-jalapeno chicken, brown rice, roasted sweet potato, corn, black beans, avacado, cilantro, and salsa. 

We both agreed that we'll be going back soon. They have so many things that I want to try. They have a kid's menu which is nice if you have kids like we do and want to go as a family. I heard that it gets super busy for lunch so plan for that if you go during the day. If you try it out, let me know what you got and how it was. 

-The Red Brick Blondie

#MOTD

Oh hey again! I got to do something super fun and totally out of my comfort zone today. I have always been fairly good at styling hair and doing nails. but makeup, NO! It's not for a lack of wanting to be good. It just hasn't come naturally for me. I'm the girl who in high school wore foundation in the completely wrong shade, lined my whole eyes in thick, black liner, and had black shadow from my lash line to my crease and white shadow from my crease to my brows-YIKES! Here's a picture for your viewing pleasure-

If I was trying to look like a clown, I would have had it spot on. Thank goodness we all grow out of those awkward years. 

Like I said, I really do want to be good at makeup. So I've been watching lots of youtube vids and hangin out with all the cool girls that have some tricks up their sleeves. After practicing 2,479 times, I decided I was going to do my first before and after on someone. I asked my sister because she has flawless skin and the perfect facial features, aka those chiseled cheekbones that we all have to fake with contouring. She was so self conscious of these pictures so I want you all to tell her how stunning she is. I mean, really. Now, I'm no pro, in fact I'm far from it. But it was really fun to do and I think for my first time it turned out pretty good. 

Thank you so much for letting me practice on you. Love ya.

XoXo, Kimmy

Products used- foundation: Smashbox Camera Ready BB Water in fair. Bronzer/blush/highlight: Urban Decay contour pallett in "Native". Lips: Buxom Full Bodied Lips in "Hooligan". Eyeshadow: Buxom Shadow Trio.

Marley's new 'do and giveaway WiNnEr!!!

We got to do our very first perm at school today. I had to bring my own model in for it and finding one was a task I don't want to repeat! Apparently people aren't into perms nowadays. Guess what everyone, 80's hair is comin' back so we'll be seeing lots of perms in the near future. Well, what do you do when you can't bribe anyone to come get some curls? You make your seven year old be the lucky girl! I'm actually really glad that I brought her in because it turned out soooo cute and it's going to make the mornings that we just can't wake up so much easier. Her hair is stick straight and hasn't ever had a chemical service so I didn't know what the outcome would be.

The whole process was really long for a seven year old to sit through and because she was doing me a favor, I put up with all the complaining and "are we done yet's"!! 

I think she would agree that having to sit still, getting soaking wet down her back {oops}, and smelling that yucky perm smell all paid off because it turned out awesome!!!

Now, onto the giveaway!!! I want you all to know that I wrote down every single entry and Miss Curly Sue herself drew a name. Thanks to everyone who entered. And if you're not the winner, keep your eyes open for my giveaway coming next week! And the winner is Meredith from semi balanced mama. I will DM you to get you your prize. Congrats!!

XoXo, Kimmy

Dining room decor and a giveaway!!

Hey guys, I'm excited to show you the other half of my great room, my formal dining room, today. I use the word "formal" loosely because there isn't anything formal about it! Read on to get all the details and to find out how to win the cutest sign from the cutest shop on etsy.

I bought this rusty "junk" sign from my friend Michelle. She goes picking in Texas every year and brings back the coolest stuff to sell. Before I got it, I went back and forth trying to decide if I really wanted it because I know a lot of people would probably think it was really strange, ha. But I love junk and I love this sign so I decided I should do what makes me happy and not worry about what other people think. Cute, right?

I have a current obsession with Hobby Lobby. My designer friend, Jenn, who I've talked about in the last two posts (she's going to be famous soon) kept telling me how everything is so cute and so affordable. So I went and now Im addicted. Don't ask me why it's taken me so long to figure this out. Anyways, I got the mirror, heart, and frame there. I got this most adorable wood sign from The Swanky Plank and I am giving one away to one of you! To enter you need to follow both of our instagram accounts here and here. Once you are following us, tag 3 friends on the giveaway pic! I will announce the winner via instagram on Tuesday, February 23 at 5pm.

I got my dining table from Michelle as well. You can follow her here to get your own vintage junk as well as order the yummiest gluten free treats in Utah. When I saw all of the white, chippy goodness of this table, I was sold. I get more compliments on my table than Jennifer Aniston gets on her hair. 

I got the chairs from Downeast Home. I seriously do not buy furniture new or ever spend a lot of money on it. So these chairs are the most expensive thing I have ever bought as far as furniture goes. It killed me a little bit, a lot actually. But I haven't had one regret about them. 

These windows are another one of my favorites of my house and one of the first things I noticed. They add so much charm and character. I love all of the natural light that floods in and I have the best view of the mountains. I couldn't get a picture during the day because of the natural light so you'll just have to take my word about the view!

I hope you all have the most fabulous week ever. Now run and enter my giveaway, and good luck!!

XoXo, Kimmy

The Bestie's baby shower

I absolutely love to host parties so any time I get the opportunity to do so, I take it. My best friend from high school just welcomed her first baby, a gorgeous little girl, last week. So naturally, I called dibs on throwing her a shower. She was planning on doing the nursery decor in pink, black, and gold (it turned out darling) so I decided I would run with those colors and do the same for the shower theme.

This is the invite I ordered for the party. I used the image off of etsy so that Jenn doesn't have any crazies showing up at her door! If you are planning an event and need invites, I highly recommend checking out this shop. She has tons of designs to choose from and it is totally affordable. Before I go on, I have to give a huge shoutout to Jenn. I got super sick, like have to be taken to the emergency room by ambulance sick, the week that I needed to customize and send the invites. So Jenn customized, printed, and mailed her own invites for me. Bless her heart, haha.

For the refreshments we did chocolate dipped pretzels, oreos, popcorn, and rice crispy treats. I think we ate half of them before the party even started! I think they turned out super cute and they were really easy to make so they were a win-win for sure.

Is Jenn not the cutest pregnant woman you have ever seen?! She was all baby and so cute! This baby shower turned out to be a huge success and this little lady is going to be the most fashionable baby of 2016! She got SO many darling outfits and more Juicy Couture than all of the Kardashian's combined! Thanks for giving me the pleasure of throwing your shower. I can't wait for Scout and Lu to be as good of friends as we are!

Living Room Decor

We just moved here in June of 2015. We had been living in a two bedroom townhouse and I had my third baby in January and we had just outgrown it. We decided we needed something a little bigger and we really wanted to have our own yard for our two oldest children to play in. When I was looking at places to rent, I was specifically looking for old homes. There is just something about them that draw me to them. When I saw this house, I immediately fell in love. My landlord did an AMAZING job at restoring it to it's natural beauty and charm.

When she gave me the tour, we entered through the front door which leads into the living and formal dining room. When I saw the original hardwood floors, I died a little inside. SO pretty. I wanted to have a very funky, eclectic, "anything will go" vibe and I am really happy with how it turned out. My favorite thing about this room is the fireplace with the built in cabinets and darling little swing-out windows with textured glass. LOVE.

I didn't waste any time decorating! I ordered these cute, gold, metallic, vinyl polka dots off etsy about a week after we moved in. I put them up right when they arrived. The hardest part was hanging the very first row. I sat and measured over and over again to make sure it was going to look good. Once it was done, It went a lot faster because I already had a pattern going. Chance built the coffee table out of an old door from my cousin's 1950's home. He cut the door so that it was the regular length of a coffee table and then he added the legs. My cousin is super talented at refinishing furniture so she came over and helped me paint it as well as the pink sofa table under my T.V. She has a page on facebook called Simply Beautiful Creations where she sells her refinished furniture. It is all gorgeous and her prices can't be beat.

I turned 28 two months after moving in. I had been looking at accent chairs for this space and Chance went out and got this one as a surprise for my birthday. He chose it all on his own and he did pretty freaking good if I do say so myself! My best friend, Jenn, is an interior designer so anything she gets me is always totes adorbs. She got me the pillow for my birthday {they didn't plan it} from Nordstrom Rack.

The last thing I wanted to show you was my mantle. This is where the decorating really got fun for me. I love photography of my kids. I try to get their pictures taken once a year. I can't bring myself to take the old ones down so I just keep adding to what I already have. I love my mantle because there is plenty of room to put lots of pictures and still throw other decorations up as well. I usually switch things around for different holidays but right now I just have things that work year round. I have a thing for skulls. I don't know why, I just do. After the gold polka dots went up, I got this skull to match. He usually sits on my mantle but I will move him around if I have holiday stuff to put up. The fox is actually a cookie jar! I saw it at Target and thought it was really cute. I can't find the exact one but here is a cute doggie from the same line. Everything else is stuff that I have had for a really long time. If there is something you are wondering about, let me know.

I hope you like my living room as much as I do! Connected to it is the formal dining room and I will be showing that to you next.

XoXo, Kimmy