Wednesday 28 January 2015

Greener beauty treatments

 
Well I can say Im far from being green; I like driving my car, yoghurt pouches & water balloons a little too much. But I am working on greening up my beauty routine. Its all about balance & striving to do the best I can to minimise what chemicals are absorbed into my body.
 
 
I have neglected my hair for far too long so I went to the hair dresser & chopped off all my dead ends. Unfortunately this meant the collarbone length I was hoping for ended up a far bit shorter. (Oh well it could be worst one time I went to the hairdresser with a photo of Nicole Richie's hairstyle & came out looking like Carol Brady off the Brady Bunch. Not happy Jan!!!). After the initial shock of absolutely hating my new do I realised I could amp up looking after my hair. My hair type is wavy with oily roots, dry ends & dry scalp. Lucky me... but I have experimented with a few DIY beauty treatments that help maintain it to normalcy.
 
*Apple cider vinegar; this stuff is gold. I haven't touched conditioner in over 6 months as I use this instead. As a guide I use a capful to about 600ml water. I rinse it thru my hair & the vinegar smell pretty much disappears within a few minutes leaving my hair feeling soft.
 
*Lemon; once a week I squeeze some lemon thru my roots & rinse off after a few minutes. I swear this combined with the vinegar are slowly lightening up my roots & one day I hope they will catch up to my old dye job.
 
*Egg hair mask; my friend Kaysey (thanks!) gave me this idea. Any eggs that are close to use by date which we wont be eating, I massage thru my hair then wash off. I am careful not to leave it on too long that it goes stiff. I try to do this once a month.
 
*Saltwater; yes salt water. Next time you head to the beach, scoop up some ocean water in an empty bottle then spritz it on your hair. It gives my hair a bit of volume & keeps the waves bouncy.
 
*Jojoba oil; to moisturize my dry scalp I massage some jojoba oil once a week & leave it overnight (I sleep on a towel so no residue gets on my pillow) then wash it out with vinegar in the morning.
 
*Shampoo, I experimented with the no poo hair experiment for a month which the bicarb left my scalp extra dry (& itchy) & my hair stiff & smelly. Instead I have opted for Baby U goats milk shampoo (which Kobe uses also) for the time being.
 
And a few more treatments too...
 
*Yoghurt; any plain yoghurt nearing use by date, I cut up some mint & mix it up as a face mask. It leaves my face feeling fresh. Sometimes I add oatmeal which I find soothing. Apply it to a cleansed face. Its best to avoid this if you have an intolerance to dairy which my poor friend discovered after her feet swelled up straight afterwards, eek!
 
*Coconut oil; handy as a lipbalm if you run out. I do favour Sukin lip treatment. (Coconut oil also leaves my hair ends moisturized & shiny).
 
*I also tried this footscrub which was lovely & substituted the sea salt for sand (its a good exfoliator).
 
  *To relieve pms, I burn rose geranium oil in an oil burner to calm me (I also recommend staying away from men & eating Lindt seasalt chocolate in moderation- ha!)
 
 
 
Happy Wednesday friends!
Grace
 
 

Saturday 24 January 2015

Tunnel Vision

 

The other weekend I teamed up with the cool, calm & collected Brighita of fashion blog The kids are in trouble to shoot some photos of her. Here is a sneaky peek of one of the fashion shoots in a Fremantle tunnel.


A bit more about Brighita
Describe your style in 3 words?
Unfussy, classic & masculine.
Worst thing you ever bought/worn?
A very cheap pair of black heels that I thought could take the place of good quality leather shoes. How wrong I was!
Style icon/s?
Diane Kruger & Olivia Palermo.
Finish this sentence, "Perth is..."?
Perth is the quiet achiever.
Why did you start a blog?
Fashion is how I express myself creatively everyday. And blogging allows me to share that creativity.

If you want to check out the other photos you can see them at her website. Plus keep an eye on a further 2 styling shoots (styled by her, photographed by me).

Happy Saturday friends!
Grace

If your interested in a photosession with me, please message me here for the quickest response.






Wednesday 21 January 2015

Upcycling an old shelf

 
I finished this shelf quite a while ago (& its been sitting in my drafts for about 6 months, oops!). This year Im motivated by wasting less, so I thought why not publish it now to highlight how important upcycling is. I love a bit of upcycling, as most outdated furniture items just need a fresh coat of paint or a sand down & it eliminates the need to throw it out & buy a new piece.
 
 
This shelf was originally a standing shelf with legs which I removed as I wanted to hang it on the wall. I sanded down the ugly poo brown colour, then added a lick of primer, once that was dry I used some leftover black chalkboard paint. I sanded the edges raw to give it a slightly industrial feel, it came out bumpy in places but that seemed to go hand in hand with the vintage pieces I was going to display on it. Luke supported the shelf up with zenith brackets.
 
 
 
We had to make sure the shelf was high enough so this cheeky monkey wouldn't hang off it. Unfortunately he has had a growth spurt & can now reach items off the lower shelf. His old cot now moonlights as a couch, a storage area he throws his toys on, a hiding spot or a make believe rubbish tip.
 
 
 
 
I lovingly decorated Kobe's shelf with thrifted finds & things I wanted on display that I don't want broken (ie. the tin cowboy & icecream man) or special keepsakes like the thrifted Enid Blyton books I use to read him at bedtime (which I hope he enjoys reading when he starts reading on his own) & those kitshy animal blocks he use to mixmatch to form strange animals I cant bear to part with (yet). I threw in a picture card of rubbish bins I found at Many 6160 because he adores them.
 
 
Happy Wednesday friends!
 
Grace
 
 
 
 

Saturday 17 January 2015

Welcome to the world

 
"To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world".
Dr Seuss. 
 
 
 
 
 
Just a few of the photos I took of newborn Mr A (who was the sweetest little boy:)). If your in Perth & interested in booking a family/child photography session with me. Special pricing of a 2 hour photography session for the month of February & March is $30 (yes only $30!!!). Enquiries please message me here for the quickest response.
 
Happy Saturday friends!
Grace
 
 

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Tips on making ends meet

 
Its a new year so no better way than to get ontop of the finances so if you have overindulged in spending over Christmas than read on for some money savvy tips.
 
My friend Racheal pointed out this free printable budget sheet which is perfect to write down your monthly expenses. Im a bit old school so I jotted it down in a notepad, old school style.
 
Access your incomings to your estimated outgoings via month. If your over, its time to trim the extra luxuries. Mortgage & food are our big expenses & non negotiables. However after going over our expenses, its sad to say that daycare is being trimmed from our expenses & hopefully we can make way for a mini martial arts class for the lil one to help with his confidence instead. Don't forget to include a small sum for an emergency fund as you never know when you might need it. We also allocate some pocket money each (to which my craving for sushi, the occasional coffee out/dining out with friends come out of) & we make sure we don't overspend on that.
 
Sacrifice & go without. Sounds simple but its not in this consumer driven society. I like stuff but I prefer having a roof over our heads & to be at home with Kobe. I don't need the lastest fashion fad, Im content to get my fashion fix flicking over a fashion magazine or Instagram posts or I might pick up something cheap at the markets.
 
I save on food by shopping every second day & planning meals by what's on special in the grocery catalogue. I minimise wastage by composting fruit & vegetables scraps. And by also passing on excess. I had bulk lemons the other week so I gave some to neighbours without a second thought of getting anything in return. Kobe got a lovely surprise by a tin of freshly baked cookies on our doorstep (I may of ate all the gingerbread cookies ones...).
 
Why not save on shopping? By avoiding the big shopping centres & I also recycle catalogues that come in the mail without reading them (temptation averted). Or by starting small, instead of buying could you borrow from a friend? Kobes old bassinet has made the round to 3 friends babies. Plus now instead of buying books & dvds I either borrow from the library or a friend. I no longer go bargain hunting at the markets/op shops EVERY weekend to once a month to cut out temptation of buying something cheap for the sake of "getting a bargain" I didn't actually need. Im slowly changing my mindset from being thrilled from scoring that bargain to accepting what we already have is more than enough.
 
If something breaks, can you fix it before rushing out to buy the next model up. Could you live without it? If you do buy another model, it pays to look into the energy star rating.
 
If you have kidlets, I tend to choose activities that are FREE & outdoors such as a park. This site has a great list of Western Australian parks (with cafes nearby). If you cant afford to keep up with the lastest toy, there are toy libraries scattered about which charge a small annual fee which entitles you to borrow toys or you could do a swap for a week with friends. You could also gather up your mummy friends & pass/swap all the outgrown clothes/toys. Otherwise I suggest these babies markets, the stallholders have great quality baby stuff at a decent price.
 
And one last thing, if you have a mortgage. My money savvy friend who paid off her house in 10 years recommends having an offset account as it helped her to pay her loan quicker. (Note; she did purchase her home before the property boom, made extra repayments, stuck to her strict budget & sacrificed luxuries like overseas travel to pay her house off). What a superstar! (And yes I will be asking her for more money saving tips to share here at a later date).
 
 
Happy Wednesday friends!
 
Grace
 
(Sidenote; Im no money saving expert Im just happy to share how our household makes ends meet:))
 

 
 

Saturday 3 January 2015

Capturing the moments

 
Now that its a few days into 2015, Im itching to dive into my resolutions. One of them being "capturing the moments" & exploring photography a bit more. Now just to find some subjects to photograph... So Im putting it out there for the month of JANUARY, if your a blogger from Perth who would like some FREE help with capturing some fashion shots. Message me on my facebook page & lets organize a 2 hour photography session. A couple of the final shots will be featured here & shall be linked back to your blog & if you use any of the photos please link back to this space in courtesy. My preferred location of the photoshoot is south of the river. Photos once edited will be emailed to you. So what are you waiting for, give your friends & boyfriends a break from taking your outfit photos & lets talk!
 
 
Happy Saturday friends!
 
Grace