I love the teal, green, and blue sparkles in today’s manicure! It reminds me of a peacock or a mermaid’s tail. The base coat is Marion by Julep which is a metallic turquoise that is beautiful on it’s own but I think is enhanced by Sally Hansen’s Mermaid Tale which is a navy blue jelly with small royal blue glitter and teal and green large glitter. High-res

I love the teal, green, and blue sparkles in today’s manicure! It reminds me of a peacock or a mermaid’s tail. The base coat is Marion by Julep which is a metallic turquoise that is beautiful on it’s own but I think is enhanced by Sally Hansen’s Mermaid Tale which is a navy blue jelly with small royal blue glitter and teal and green large glitter.

I happened across a pin on Pinterest for DIY Vick’s Vaporub and I decided to make it. Ever since moving to our new apartment in December, I have noticed that I suffer from nasal congestion much more than I used to. I attribute it to the trees around our new apartment that seem to cover everything in a layer of yellow-green pollen. I was using Vick’s and raw local honey to try to combat the issue until I ran out of Vick’s. Now I have my own natural Vick’s modified for my preferences and not sticky or goopy like the store bought stuff. I ended up modifying the original recipe based on what ingredients I had on hand, but the original recipe can be found here. My recipe is as follows: 1 cup coconut oil 1 tsp beeswax 50 drops eucalyptus essential oil 40 drops rosemary essential oil 20 drops lavender essential oil 15 drops tea tree essential oil Heat the coconut oil until it changes from a solid to a liquid. I used a Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave in 20 second bursts though the original recipe calls for a saucepan over low heat. Either way will work great. Then add the beeswax and continue heating, stirring occasionally, until the beeswax is dissolved. Remove from heat and add in essential oils, stirring to incorporate them. Pour into desired container and store in a cool, dry place. High-res

I happened across a pin on Pinterest for DIY Vick’s Vaporub and I decided to make it. Ever since moving to our new apartment in December, I have noticed that I suffer from nasal congestion much more than I used to. I attribute it to the trees around our new apartment that seem to cover everything in a layer of yellow-green pollen. I was using Vick’s and raw local honey to try to combat the issue until I ran out of Vick’s. Now I have my own natural Vick’s modified for my preferences and not sticky or goopy like the store bought stuff.

I ended up modifying the original recipe based on what ingredients I had on hand, but the original recipe can be found here.

My recipe is as follows:

  • 1 cup coconut oil
  • 1 tsp beeswax
  • 50 drops eucalyptus essential oil
  • 40 drops rosemary essential oil
  • 20 drops lavender essential oil
  • 15 drops tea tree essential oil

Heat the coconut oil until it changes from a solid to a liquid. I used a Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave in 20 second bursts though the original recipe calls for a saucepan over low heat. Either way will work great. Then add the beeswax and continue heating, stirring occasionally, until the beeswax is dissolved. Remove from heat and add in essential oils, stirring to incorporate them. Pour into desired container and store in a cool, dry place.

My boyfriend and I celebrated our five-year anniversary this week. We are both Apple nerds and both work in the technology industry so naturally this iNecklace was the perfect gift! It’s designed to replicate the look of the PowerBook power button and the LED pulses like the Sleep Indicator Light on most Macs. I’m so glad my boyfriend bought me such a quirky, thoughtful gift! If you want to check it out, it can be found here. High-res

My boyfriend and I celebrated our five-year anniversary this week. We are both Apple nerds and both work in the technology industry so naturally this iNecklace was the perfect gift! It’s designed to replicate the look of the PowerBook power button and the LED pulses like the Sleep Indicator Light on most Macs. I’m so glad my boyfriend bought me such a quirky, thoughtful gift!

If you want to check it out, it can be found here.

I just ran out of my dry shampoo, and since it is expensive and only comes in aerosol, I decided to make my own. One of my friends said that she uses arrowroot powder in a bag as her dry shampoo and I really liked the simplicity of that. I got some arrowroot powder from my local natural foods store and was surprised at how inexpensive it is by the ounce. Clearly this will be what I make my dry shampoo with from now on! In case you aren’t familiar with arrowroot powder, it is a starch powder.

A lot of the recipes from Pinterest call for cornstarch or arrowroot powder, essential oils for fragrance, baking soda, and for people with darker hair cocoa powder. So using a variety of different recipes as guides, I made up my own recipe and I think it works great!

For redheads: 

  • 2 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp ground cinnamon (I suppose any reddish spice would do, but I liked the smell of the cinnamon over paprika for example)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 5-10 drops of essential oil for fragrance (I used ginger)

For blondes:

  • 4 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 5-10 drops essential oil for fragrance (I used Clary Sage and Lemon)

-OR-

  • 2 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp ground ginger (for color)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 5-10 drops essential oil (for fragrance)

For brunettes:

  • 2 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder (for color)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 5-10 drops of essential oil (for fragrance)

After you’ve got all your ingredients combined in your bowl, mix them together until the color distribution is fairly even. Then you can keep the dry shampoo in a bag and apply with a makeup brush, or in a salt shaker, or anything else you can think up!

We go through a lot of Neosporin at our house. I’m always getting cuts and scrapes while at work and my boyfriend seems to always have a scrape or seven that he doesn’t remember getting. So when I saw a pin on Pinterest for a healing salve to use instead of Neosporin I thought I’d give it a try. I was able to get the supplies I didn’t have, the calendula and comfrey, for about one dollar per ounce from my local natural foods store.

Head on over to Mrs. Happy Homemaker for the recipe and instructions. The step-by-step instructions on her site include pictures to help you along.

Metallic manicure today! Zelda by Julep from my May Julep Maven box. It’s an amazing champagne metallic that only really needs one even coat. So far I have loved every color from my May Julep box. Three down, six to go :) #julep #julepmaven #zeldabyjulep #metallicmanicure #shortnails #naturalnails #nails #DIYmanicure #nailsofinstagram #nailstagram #nailpolish #nailobsessed High-res

Metallic manicure today! Zelda by Julep from my May Julep Maven box. It’s an amazing champagne metallic that only really needs one even coat. So far I have loved every color from my May Julep box. Three down, six to go :) #julep #julepmaven #zeldabyjulep #metallicmanicure #shortnails #naturalnails #nails #DIYmanicure #nailsofinstagram #nailstagram #nailpolish #nailobsessed

I had to cut my nails much shorter because they were preventing me from being efficient at my job :( I’m wearing Clara by Julep for this manicure. It’s a creamy, apricot shade that I think works well as a spring and summer neutral. It applies beautifully and is opaque in two even coats. Topped with Seche Vite it is amazingly shiny! #julep #julepmaven #clarabyjulep #creamsiclenails #DIYmanicure #nails #nailstagram #nailsofinstagram #naturalnails #shortnails #nailpolish #nailobsession High-res

I had to cut my nails much shorter because they were preventing me from being efficient at my job :( I’m wearing Clara by Julep for this manicure. It’s a creamy, apricot shade that I think works well as a spring and summer neutral. It applies beautifully and is opaque in two even coats. Topped with Seche Vite it is amazingly shiny! #julep #julepmaven #clarabyjulep #creamsiclenails #DIYmanicure #nails #nailstagram #nailsofinstagram #naturalnails #shortnails #nailpolish #nailobsession

Today’s manicure is a sparkle explosion! I just received my May Julep Maven box and just had to use Paris, a multidimensional holo glitter topcoat, in my next manicure. I used Zora, a frosted pink pearl, as the base coat and topped each nail with a combination of Electric Lane by Nails Inc and Paris by Julep. It’s definitely one of my favorite manicures! High-res

Today’s manicure is a sparkle explosion! I just received my May Julep Maven box and just had to use Paris, a multidimensional holo glitter topcoat, in my next manicure. I used Zora, a frosted pink pearl, as the base coat and topped each nail with a combination of Electric Lane by Nails Inc and Paris by Julep. It’s definitely one of my favorite manicures!

Yesterday’s manicure. Etta by Julep with one coat of Electric Lane holo glitter. I really like the shimmery, spring green of Etta and the extra pop of the Nails Inc glitter is fun. #nails #DIYmanicure #naturalnails #ovalnails #glittermanicure #springmanicure #greenmanicure #hologlittertopcoat #nailsinc #julep #nailsofinstagram #nailobsessed High-res

Yesterday’s manicure. Etta by Julep with one coat of Electric Lane holo glitter. I really like the shimmery, spring green of Etta and the extra pop of the Nails Inc glitter is fun. #nails #DIYmanicure #naturalnails #ovalnails #glittermanicure #springmanicure #greenmanicure #hologlittertopcoat #nailsinc #julep #nailsofinstagram #nailobsessed