Beauty

How I’m Using the InStyler Max 2-Way Rotating Iron to Straighten My Hair (Before and After Pictures)

December 5, 2014 by Sandra 2 Comments

Thanks to Vocalpoint for the InStyler tools and for partnering with me on this review.

When it comes to my hair, I keep it simple.

If you’ve watched any of my YouTube videos, you know this is true. 😉

It’s not that I don’t want to spent a lot of time fixing my hair every day – it’s just that as a mom of five, ~~kids start banging on the door~~ I don’t have the time to spare. But I don’t use that as an excuse to walk around looking frumpy day-in and day-out. (And I KNOW my husband appreciates this!) Nope. After I wake up, I get ball rolling, put on some makeup, and fix my hair.

InStyler Hair Tools

Most recently, I’ve started using the InStyler MAX 2-Way Rotating Iron to straighten my hair. Someday, I’ll learn how to curl my hair like a pro. For now, I love the ease of straightening my hair and having a put together look in a short amount of time.

InStyler actually offers three different hair tools: the TULIP Auto Curler, the Ionic Styler Pro, and (my favorite) the MAX 2-Way Rotating Iron.

Back to the MAX 2-Way Rotating Iron, you can see that it has a built-in brush, and the barrel easily rotates in two directions depending on which side of your hair you happen to be working on. You can even curl your hair with the MAX, but I’m sticking to its straightening features for now. Of them, I like that the InStyler MAX straightens my hair while giving it body and volume.

It doesn’t leave my hair super flat like some flat irons do.

Extra Features on the InStyler MAX

While you can certainly use the MAX 2-Way Rotating Iron out-of-the-box, it comes with two additional pieces that I definitely recommend using. First, there’s the removable cool tip, which allows you more control as you use the InStyler MAX.

Then there’s the thermal guard. It protects your scalp and fingers from the hot barrel. At one point, I decided to use the MAX without the thermal guard. Bad idea! Lesson learned, and I won’t be doing that again! 😉

The Part Where I Step Out of My Comfort Zone

So… I don’t normally post pictures of myself like this here on the blog, but I want to show what the InStyler MAX can do. However, I wish I would’ve taken these BEFORE Thanksgiving and the five extra pounds that have decided to stick around. That’s what I get for procrastinating!

Even so, I think they turned out okay. 😉

Here’s what my hair looked like BEFORE I used the InStyler MAX 2-Way Rotating Iron:

And here’s what it looked like AFTER:

I liked the ‘after’ so much so that I decided to switch out the profile picture on all of my social media accounts to that image.

And now I’ve crossed one more thing off my to-do list. 🙂

Which one of the InStyler hair tools would you be most likely to try? Or, straight or curly, which do you prefer for your everyday look?

P.S. You can visit the InStyler website and enter the code SAVE30 for a 30% discount on the line of InStyler tools. This code is good for the purchase of two tools through 1/31/15.

JORD Wood Watch Review and Giveaway!

June 24, 2014 by Sandra 20 Comments

Thanks to JORD for partnering with me on this review and giveaway.

My husband is a special guy.

He handles so many things for our family — even most of the errands and grocery shopping. So when JORD (pronounced “YORD”) asked if I’d like to review one of their gorgeous wood watches on my blog, I knew I wanted Ruben (my husband) to have it.

Ruben hasn’t owned a watch in a very long time. I believe the last watch he bought for himself was before we were married, and I was probably around 17-years-old.

I’m in my thirties now, so that was ages ago. 😉

So Many Watches, So Hard to Choose

JORD has so many beautiful watches to choose from for men and women that selecting the right one wasn’t easy. After visiting the JORD website and taking a peek at pictures and even videos online, Ruben decided he preferred the Cherry & Maple Sully Series JORD Watch.

I think he made a great choice.

I know it’s hard to tell from the pictures, but this watch is truly lightweight and not clunky at all. I love the colors and the intricate design, but most of all, I’m happy that Ruben finally has a new watch that he enjoys wearing.

That’s the best part.

And…It’s Giveaway Time!

Now that you know more about JORD wood watches and how delightful they are, let’s talk about this fabulous giveaway! JORD has generously offered to give one of my readers a JORD wood watch of their own! 🙂

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until July 1st at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents ONLY, ages 18-years-old and above. The winner will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winner an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winner must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner.

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do you wear a watch?

Breastfeeding 101: Tandem Nursing

April 15, 2014 by Rachel 2 Comments

Written by my contributing writer, Rachel

When we learned we were pregnant with our second child, my daughter had just turned 1 year old and was still nursing strong. She showed absolutely no signs of letting up on nursing. At my La Leche League (LLL) meetings, I had heard about tandem nursing and that women could breastfeed two children (and sometimes more!) at the same time, but I didn’t know if that would work for me.

I could not imagine nursing a toddler and needy newborn at the same time. I would NEVER get anything done. Nursing TWO children would be a lot of work, time-consuming, and a bit of a juggling act. However, I was not ready to end my nursing relationship with my daughter.

tandemlogo

I decided to talk with other tandem nursing moms through my Facebook LLL group, and I read several LLL articles on the subject. I also bought Adventures In Tandem Nursing by Hilary Flower – such a great resource!

Just like deciding whether or not to nurse is YOUR decision and no one else’s, so is deciding to tandem nurse.

Here are the reasons I decided to tandem nurse:

1. I Wasn’t Ready to Stop
My daughter and I were not ready to end our nursing relationship. She has been an on demand nursling since birth. Even now at 26 months, she would nurse all day long, if I let her! I try to limit her to one morning, one noon, and one night nursing session with a few times in between if she is in need of some calming mommy time. It is amazing how nursing can change her attitude – a lifesaver for those terrible two tantrum moments!

2. Continued Health Benefits
I wanted to give my daughter the health benefits of extended nursing to two years. In mainstream media, the idea of nursing past the 1 year mark seems absurd. However, the World Health Organization recommends nursing to 2, if desirable for both you and your nursling. Your toddler is still receiving wonderful health and emotional benefits by doing so – and so are you!

3. Sibling Bonding
This has been one of the most amazing benefits of tandem nursing for me. Getting to witness the bond develop between my daughter and newborn son is beautiful. They gaze lovingly and inquisitively at each other while nursing, she helps him out by squeezing my breast and expressing more milk for him, and she strokes his hair while they both nurse. These are precious moments that I will hold dear for a long time.

Ben and Meah bonding

Though it can be time-consuming and demanding, I find that tandem nursing has been worth the effort and has been a good decision for myself and my little ones.

I’d love to hear your nursing stories! Maybe you are currently pregnant and considering tandem nursing now, or have tandem nursed before. What effect has tandem nursing had on you?

Click here to read more Breastfeeding 101 posts.

DIY Hair Tutorial: Using the Infiniti PRO Conair Curl Secret

November 6, 2013 by Sandra 3 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and their client. #ConairCurl

Let’s talk hair today.

I tend to straighten my hair when ~~I’m going out in public~~ I want to look put together.

I don’t immediately reach for my conventional curling iron to curl my hair instead, and that’s for a few reasons. For one, it doesn’t always create the type of curls I want, and secondly, it gets insanely hot, and I often have little ones in the vicinity when I’m fixing my hair in the morning. I don’t want them to reach for a hot curling iron. And finally, it just plain takes too long to curl my hair with a regular curling iron.

A New Way of Curling Your Hair
It’s 2013, right? And that means that things have changed when it comes to curling irons — a lot. I’ve found a revolutionary new curling iron that has changed my perspective on curling my hair. This new iron is the Infiniti PRO Conair Curl Secret…and it’s amazing.

For these reasons:

It literally does the work for you.
It’s a time-saver and easy to use.
It creates long-lasting curls.
It doesn’t burn you! Even young teenage girls can use it on their own.

DIY Hair Tutorial
I created a video tutorial to show you just how easy it is to use the Curl Secret to create a simple, yet elegant hairstyle. (Side note: When you’re watching the video, you’ll notice a long streak of gray in my hair. Sometimes I forget that gray streak is there, but I hardly ever dye my hair anymore, so it’s here to stay. ;))

Here’s another shorter video that shows you how to use the Curl Secret:

Where to buy the Curl Secret
If you’ve just watched the videos and are wondering where you can find the Curl Secret, you can purchase it at Walmart for $99, which is a deal compared to what you’d pay if you purchased it online for $150.

Do you curl your hair on a regular basis? What’s your favorite way to style your hair?

Connect with Conair
You can find even more hairstyle inspiration when you follow Conair on Pinterest. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter for their latest updates.