D.I.Y. Bath Caddy

Ah yes and welcome back to the blog. Well today for you, I've got a post on something I wanted but don't have the money to need.

Now I have a Lush problem. A strong one.

Unicorn

Aesthetics

I post them to Instagram then search the hash tags I added and there are these people who use like 5 bath bombs in one tub. You've got too much money my friend but I digress. There are these people who know how to take a proper bath. I know it's probably staged but the romance of it had caught me.

Then when I went to a family braai and besides wanting to steel their oven and prawn sculpture:

they had these cute stainless steel bath caddy.

So started the search. Takealot.com had BUT when I had money it was out of stock. Then I saw again at Checkers in the home section and almost R400 it just that bit too much for a want. Walking past that to the section with the shelves and got inspiration. I thought why not but a shelf for a quarter of the price, cut and treat it and BOOM. If that happened, this post would be done BUT I did have a few things that I already have to make a cool bath caddy:

é Notice: The last time I did wood work I was 11/12 years old. It was part of Art and the male teacher did not care to teach girls properly because apparently girls don't need to know basic skills of wood work just like boys didn't need to know how to cook. School is sexist that way.

Wood (I had a pallet. Here and here are links from Takealot if you want to buy online)

Crowbar/ Pry bar / zombie smasher to take apart the pallet

Saw

Hammer

Nails

Note book

Tape measure

Pen or pencil to make notes and mark wood

The rest not pictured is:

Sanding paper (I had a Mouse I used)

Wood glue

Vinegar

Vegetable oil

Clean paint brush

First off I drew what I wanted and measured up the bath tub. I measured the width and the width of the edges of the tub:

Here I realised I should have taken wood work and technical drawing instead of art in High school

Then I took apart the pallet. Charlie had to be chased away a few times. As I'm taking apart the pallet I remove the nails. I don't feel like going to the vet or getting a tetanus shot. Too real for a cheap D.I.Y. today.

Charlie looking to go on a trip to the Vet

é Notice: I broke 2 planks while prying the pallet. Pallets aren't made with top notch wood and many stand out in the weather so be prepared for breaks and rotten wood.

Half way through I decided to deviate from my sketch and add a third slat (is that a term?) because I wanted the shelf a bit wider. I marked the wood with the measurements of how wide I wanted the caddy and started sawing:

I asked my ancestors why I was having trouble sawing and the answer I got is that I should let the saw do the work.

I used the off cuts of the pieces for the cross members.

I took out the Mouse and started sanding the slats. I used the 180 grit. I could go in with a finer grit but I didn't.

Now comes a more complicated part. Mark where you want the cross members. They keep the boards together and stops the caddy from freely moving around side to side. I glued it at the width of the edge of the bath at 6 cm. Then when it was dry I flipped it around and knocked nails through the top. I picked the the nail by sizing it so it goes through the cross member but not through the other side. Screws are apparently easier BUT I had nails

I didn't want to go to Builders to get a treatment for the wood. The one closest to me has staff who acted badly because of my hair (at the moment it is pink). (The security guard stared so hard at me he didn't even pay attention to what he was doing, then the ladies at the till points started screaming as they laughed at me which made me feel uncomfortable so I can only assume they don't want my money) So Home, DIY & Stuff had this easy solution. One part of vinegar to 3 parts cooking oil.

DONE!!!

rustic but I won't deduct points for that

I didn't fill the bath to stage because I took a shower the previous day. I also am too broke to buy new bath bombs, bubble bars or bath melts. So for this month we can just pretend. Also please note my Yankee Candle is also finished.😩😢😞

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10 Commandments for Coloured Hair Care

I have had every kind of coloured hair. Box, Salon, Powdered fruit drink. Pink, red, brown, black, ombré, opal, platinum, two tone blond and brown, two tone purple and blue and galaxy. Many people wonder how I still have hair on my head.

Me, for now.

My recent hair experiment lead me to type up this blog. I am a mixture of Jeffree Star and Kandee Johnson.

Here are my 10 commandments for keeping hair on fleek:

Thou shall take pre and post hair colour care.

Don't wash your hair 24 hours before bleaching and 48 hours after colouring. What? You heard me. Not washing before colouring makes sure that the hair gets less damaged. It's protected by it's oils. Not washing afterwards make sure the hair colour bonds to the hair. Yes even though it's dried and you already carried on with your life, there is still sciencey things happening. Even if you just bleached your hair you must wait.

É note: If you are planing to get fashion colour hair. Be prepared to spend a while in a salon/ bathroom. My galaxy hair took me 5 hours by myself and the Barbie inspired hair took me 2.5 hours in the salon. It may take longer as my hair was already like a Level 7/ 8 on the bleach scale.

5 hours of questioning every decision I've ever made

2 and a half hours of thinking of the final scene of Barbie in Rock 'n Royals

Thou shall cleanse hair sparingly. . .

I had to “train” to get my hair to need a wash twice a week. Mondays and Thursdays. See I can even tell you the days. The more you wash the more the colour fades. Over washing also causes damage to hair. For days I just want to shower, I bought a more robust showercap from Dischem. Other days dry shampoo is your friend.

é Note: If you are going the lighter or full on blonde route, purple shampoo is a must. It tones out yellow and lessens brassiness. I also suggest to only use it after the second/ third wash because depending how pigmented it is it can tint your hair purple. Not ideal.

. . . and with grace

Here is where you have to read labels. Not all shampoos are the same. Sulphites causes colours to wash out faster. I use Tresemmé Naturals. It has a low SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) content. It's a basic foaming agent you get in anything that bubbles. Toothpaste, Floor wash, face wash, dish soap, if it makes bubbles, it's in it. (Queue those Facebook posts and e-mails with factoids telling us how bad it is.)

Then when you wash, ONLY wash your scalp and condition ends. You don’t need to shampoo your whole head. As you rise it rinses over the length of your hair, which cleans it. Also the condition only the ends and the length.

Thou shall not do excessive mechanical or heat damage.

Don't rub your hair dry with a towel. I squeeze out most of the water and just wrap my head in a towel. Let the towel do the work by sucking up the moisture. (Also make sure to use a towel that you wouldn't care to get stained. Though it would be a conversation starter if your guests ask you why the towels are tie dyed pink.)

If you have long hair I think that the Invisibobble type hair bands are the best. I don't get as many tangles or breakage with them as with normal or rubber bands.

I also stopped using a hair brush and opted for a wide tooth comb. I'm less likely to rip out my hair with it. It's also the best for combing out wet hair.

I also stared embracing heat free styling. I let my hair mostly air dry. If I have to, I make sure to spray it with heat protection before styling it. Here is an educational film by Guy Tang.

I also switched up my cotton pillow case for a satin one. Here is mine from MrP Home. I also found them to be better for my skin. They also don't make those weird sleep marks on your face.

Thou shall maketh time for conditioning . . .

Once a week I super deep condition my hair. Bleaching is damaging and if it's not treated it will feel like hay.

B*tch stole my look!

I switch up between natural and commercial. Sometimes I smear on some coconut oil. This I leave on from a half an hour to unlimited. When I clean house I leave it on for 8 hours. I also like castor oil.

Commercial stuff I like Garnier's Honey Treasures mask. Or just normal conditioner. I leave it is for 30 minutes and my hair feels great. Also try Palmer's Coconut mask. That stuff changes chemically damaged hair like a boss.

. . . And useth finishing oils

It was a trend so most oils were phased out. Luckily in ZA most women have ethnic hair and ethnic hair love the moisture oil gives.

I usually use oil after I washed my hair. It makes the drying process faster and makes my type A1 hair more manageable. Sometimes, especially more in winter, my ends feel gross and dry so I just work in some oil on the ends of my hair.

Thou shall nourish thyself for hair in future

Now not all of us get those free blue gummy sweets for our Instagram. #Spon #ad. But there are things you can buy for a fraction of the price. If you have a good Multi-vite you are already good to go but because I know I put my hair through a special kind of torture: Bleach

I like Vital's Hair, Skin and Nails gel capsules. They are literally available every where. Dischem, Clicks, Checkers, PnP and even on Takealot.com . If you want to take the vegan route try Natura'sCombin Assist tissue salts Hair and nails. They are also available every where online at Faithful to Nature.

Looks may be easy to come, yet decide on how thy display

I started a hash tag to group all my hair selfies. #Kyknoudiehare. It was two old ladies who obviously didn't think I could understand Afrikaans: Look at the hair. Like I'm not a person. I had people physically stop and stare at me with their mouths open. (For me weird hair feels like normal hair as my Instagram feed normalizes this for me. I follow A LOT of fashion coloured hair women. When I see other unicorns, mermaids, mermicorns I always compliment them.)

Because my hair to so bright, I tend to lean more towards more “natural” coloured neutral make up. I'm not really going for pastel Goth, club kid, Harajuku, cos-player look that is normally associated with fashion colours. Fashion hair with other excessive colours (make-up and clothes) can quickly look like a costume. Even my eye brows are still their normal colour.

If you are not doing the fashion colours and you do a change like from brown to red/ blond or blond to dark you still need to change make-up. When I dyed my hair dark brown after being blonde for seven years I felt like I looked weird until I got a darker brow pencil and got darker lip stick.

Love they hair as is discolours or fades . . .

And it will fade. But not all colours fade equally. Blue and green become muddy but purple and pink become a cool pastel colour but then the roots come out. * eye roll *

Here I usually enlist the help of Platinum/ purple shampoo. Recently, since I coloured my hair with it, I would mix some of Renew's Perfect Colour with it's in-box conditioner with a few drops of the colouring. That is then tones out some of the weirdness.

. . . and know the one that will who will assist when if fails

Let's say it's been 10 weeks, by then your hair is going to be looking pretty real. You need someone to make you come right. I tend to mess with my hair on my own because I understand the basics of hair and hair type science but we can't all be our own Guy Tang.

Come though for us Guy

Now and then it's best to get in a chair of a professional. Look for someone who suits your needs. I had the worst experience at a more high end salon where I spent a lot of money and just got treated like someone they wanted out of their seat for the next one. The next time I went I got second rate service from the stylist because she double booked me with a bride so I got stuck with a junior stylist who couldn't stop complaining about how the other juniors should be helping her.

At the moment I'm at a more old school stylist wit a two chair salon where we judge people who think they can colour their hair blonde in one sitting with a home kit. We also laugh at people who mess up their hair at home and she has to fix it.

If you aren't confident colouring at home, buy the colour and most stylist will assist you with application. They are trained and have the knowledge and the right tools for the application.

That is my commandments for healthy coloured hair. Amen to healthy hair.

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Fry's Family Meatless Monday

 

So hey, I'm not Vegan or Vegetarian. Not even close. I don't have a private chef that sorts it out and can't really afford those Beyoncé-like food delivery services. (Interested tho'? Fitchef has options) I don't have time to go to the store/ market to buy fresh daily. So basically my vegetarian options are salad and Mac'nCheese.

A while ago I was wondering around the frozen food section and saw a fridge top to bottom filled with green. Nuggets, pies, Burger patties, sausages and schnitzel. I bought the Golden Crumbed Schnitzel and I was amazed.

Now, I don't have a problem switching up food. I like cooking and eating unusual things. But I'm not going to be the only one eating it. I have a meat lover husband. I don't know if you know Portuguese cuisine but it's nothing for them to have pork, beef and poultry in the same casserole. Add rice, potatoes and bread and you have a meal.

My meat stash for the month

So I scouted Fry's Website for a month planning delicious things and thinking of how to get bae to participate. Should I sit him down, send an e-mail, Whatsapp an e-card, idk? Eventually end of the month grocery shopping comes up and we are standing in front of the fridge. I asked him “What do you think of meatless Monday?” We picked up a whole lot of Fry's.

Please Note: I have not been paid to say these things. I also bought the products with my own money. Here is how it went:

Monday 1:

First meal was Chicken Stylestrips. In a wrap. I was sick with the flu cough thing everyone seemed to be sick with. I thought it was going to be an issue. New food, I feel like a walker. I was already making backup plans for KFC. I followed the cooking instruction (I just used a damn hot frying pan instead of a wok). Chopped tomatoes and lettuce and served with sweet chilli sauce in a wrap.

[NO PHOTO BECAUSE I WAS A WALKER]

My Feelings: I would try this again but make it with pasta. I don't like that it's suggested to be served with sweet chilli sauce but it help us omnivores eat it the first time.

What did he say: “It was good.” But I could see it wasn't excellent. I like wraps like this, he likes KFC's crispy type chicken wraps.

I give it 6 leaves out of a 10 salad. I'll try it again before I judge it harsher. Cough flu had too much in-flu-ence. (Ba-dum-dum-tish)

Ad-doc Meal – Saturday Fauxlony Breakfast wrap:

I was intrigued by the Polony. I think anyone who grew up in South Africa, your life got touched by polony. (Baloney for other places) Either a friend's school lunch or after school sandwiches, picnics or fried up with breakfast.

I like Breakfast wraps. Mine is usually Mexicorn's Whole-wheat wrap, turkey or chicken loaf slices, scrambled egg and spinach or finely chopped Swiss chard. Delicious, full of protein and fibre. Instead of my normal sliced chicken/ turkey loaf, I sliced some faux-lony.

My feelings: I dunno, for me it was not that great. On the packed it said 'or lightly fried' so I put some coconut oil in the pan and it was still weird for me. It's not so much the taste than the texture. It's kind of like a paste texture.

Monday 2:

A lot of my food choices is that of a child. As an adult it's frowned upon but I wish I had the option of eating of the kiddies menu at some restaurants. I think it's because it's uncomplicated. Cue Chicken style Nuggets. 

My baby gas oven doesn't have a grill so I lowered my oven rack and set my oven to its highest temperature. (295°C) then let it heat up for 15 minutes. Poured a film of oil on the bottom of a baking tray, arranged the nuggets and pushed them into the hot oven for 4-5 minutes. Flipped them and cooked for another 5-6 minutes.

Served with Oven baked wedges and a Salad. (Here it the dipping sauce recipe. I added a few drops of Tabasco).

My feelings: This is all I can think about. Delicious, fast and easy cooking, crispy. You know how some idiots say it, but this is everything. With or without sauce, it is just that good.

What did he say: He just enjoyed chicken nuggets. Until it was Wednesday we were talking and I said something about Meatless Monday, he was all “Meatless Monday?? But we had chicken nuggets?” BOOM! SUCCESS Fry's! You just became a BOSS in my books!

I give chicken style nuggets a 'I bought two boxes of these and I don't know if I should keep it for a dinner or eat it all myself' out of 10.

Monday 3:

I choose you battered prawn style pieces. It's going to be hard to follow the success of the nuggets but my hopes were high. The suggestion on the box was to deep fry. I didn't really feel like filling a pot with oil and waiting forever for it to come up to temp. I cooked it the same way as the nuggets.

I saw up scale ramen on my Pinterest suggestions. So that is the application I would use these for. I sautéed garlic, ginger and the white part of a few spring onions in coconut oil, just until they were soft. Then I added water (just enough to cook noodles) and flavouring packets of two minute noodles (I used Fatti's and Moni's Prawn flavoured ones) then cooked the noodles. I also boiled some eggs for 7 minutes.

To finish I just added the green of the spring onions, peeled the egg and dropped some soy sauce in and added the cooked prawn pieces on top.

My Feelings: I know it's maybe not full vegetarian as I do not know about how the noodles are made. So super delicious. I think any person these days (even if you didn't go to college/ university) between the age of 18 and 25 had gone through a time where 2 minute/ instant noodles was a staple meal. Dinner and/or lunch. So by the time you touch 30, the enchantment is gone. It's my emergency meal. This was next level of next level. It was a filling flavourful meal.

What he said: He thought it was good. He said he would have liked another egg. I'm sure I could make it again.

This gets a 'I want to eat this everyday' out of 10

Ad-dock Meal: Tuesday Lunch:

Country Mushroom Pie is something I wanted to try since I put it in the trolley. In South Africa we have a strong pie culture. It doesn't matter what language you speak or area you live in, there is a 100% chance that you've had a pie from a garage (petrol station). This product falls right into that line.

My feelings: Like any pie, even though it was baked in a civilian, everyday oven, the inside it like molten lava. So a check to that. The pastry is crisp and flaky. The sauce has the taste of traditional Chicken mushroom but the mushrooms themselves taste like freshly cooked mushrooms and they actually look like mushrooms. (sometimes, bits in a garage pies are suspect)

What he said (after making it that Saturday): Also a big garage pie lover this pie ruined other pies for him. After having this he had a garage pie and was very disapointed. All he could think of was that it wasn't a Country Mushroom pie.

I give it 'I'm disappoint that I didn't bake the other pie in the packet as well' out of 10.

Monday 4:

Golden crumbed Schnitzel was the first product I ever tried. Usually after I run errands it feels like a big deal to get home and make lunch. I didn't really feel like eating a sandwich or instant soup or deal with prep to cook something and there are days a smoothie won't cut it. I served this with an easy side salad and mash.

My feelings: It's a bit tricky to cook with a baby oven with no grill. The first time I was more successfully in cooking them. Second time was a bit not so great. It was still good though.

What he said: It was a just okay reaction. I thing next time I'll serve it with a onion or mushroom gravy.

In Conclusion:

The next Monday I made some meat dish and got scolded because it was Meatless-Monday. Since then, Fry's has always been on my shopping list. I've also bought the burgers but don't burger them. I buy bigger wraps or rotis and they are delicious with fresh lettuce tomatoes and a dollop of spiced up Mayo. Also bough the mince and made some Old El Paso Tacos. (Skipped out on the cheese but used cottage cheese instead of sour cream) 

Do you Meatless-Monday?

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February 2017 Favourites

 

NYX Professional Stations in Clicks:

Image Via NYX

 

 

This is where it's at! If you have any NYX products on your wish list, this is the place to get it. Some Clicks stores don't really care to restock. Many a time the racks are barely stocked. (I'd like to think it's because the items are popular and not because the staff DGAF.)

With the full store, there is also a professional make up artist. The woman that was at the store was super knowledgeable about the products and assisted with great tips. Everything was fully stocked (Angels sing wearing Angel Veil) If you are into dupes their Lip Lingerie line is straight up competitors for the reality TV personality's over priced lipstick line. We even found dupes for MAC. I bought Stockholm and Castle

Follow NYX za on Insta and FB. Shop online At Clicks

Blow out:

I normally just let my hair air dry but when hair is an unusual colour there is a 100% chance that it will attract attention. My hair is type A1. My straightener is the cheapest one ever: the normal hair brush. You know those middle of the mall kiosks that sell shit you don't really need? The ones that scream in your face while you are having a conversation with someone? Once one that was selling over priced straighteners was like: It must take ages for you to straighten your hair? _uck off NO!

My point is my hair has no volume. When my hair is wet I take R1 size dollop of gel and work it in my roots (I use Revlon Flex Extreme hold styling gel) and spray Tresemmé Heat Defence Styling Spray. I free dry it until damp then head in section by section with my big barrel drying brush. As soon as the section is dry I put in a big Velcro curler. Repeat on whole head. Spray with Perfect Touch Firm Hold hairspray (the green one). All the products are firm or extreme hold or else in minutes it will be flat.

Shoe City Wedge Platform booty Dasha:

I saw this shoe in January and it rolled out to my local Shoe City early Feb. As soon as I saw it I did not hesitate to buy it. This will be my new fancy shoe. I have been looking for a nice wedge for months so it's the shoe I've been waiting for. It's good with skirts, jeans, dresses. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY it feels comfortable. Now I won't run a half marathon yet but they don't murder my feet like high heels.

Cast iron grill:

Being a long time watcher of cooking game shows and food programs, as soon as I found out I'll have a gas cooker I so badly wanted a cast iron grill. And I can say that a year later it's probably one of the best things I bought.

It has two sides. A smooth and a grill. The grill I love for steaks or ribs and chicken. The smooth side for flapjacks and breakfast. It takes a hole pack of bacon and cooks it to perfection. When I make breakfast on it, it take half the time and I don't need two tiny pans.

Here and here is on Takealot.

Here and here on Yuppiechef

I bought mine at Checkers in the camping section.

Foodstate Thyroid Formula:

I don't really want to get real on my blog. I had issues and I don't really have the money to spend on the tests to find out what is wrong. So I got diagnosed by MOMmd and decided to self medicate. This stuff is bomb it you have hypothyroidism. If this stuff worked this well for me. I can't wait to try their other products

Here at Takealot

Here at Dischem

Pop Sockets:

I first saw Pop Sockets on Jenna Marbles' YouTube and found them in ZA. This made holding my phone easier. My hand feels more relaxed taking photos, texting and playing games. My Pop Socket is stuck on my case but it holds pretty well. They are available on their website or here is a list of retailers who stock them in store. (I bought mine at Pylones Mall of Africa)

Being with your Tribe:

Girl gang, tribe, squad. What ever you call it. It feels good to be with similar thinking people. I am a social introvert according this Buzzfeed quiz (Buzzfeed Quiz = truth of life). so even though I always question my social interactions (I usually have a play by play on all the stupid stuff I think I did for weeks afterwards) I still enjoy the company of strong independent women. Recently I got together with the women in my family for a dinner and spent a day with my best friend who was in the country for a vacation. It's always great to hear positive views on life.

Some social things wear my out. After most long interactions I feel like just scrolling through Pinterest or watching a Monster High movie from the safety of my bed . . . for a few days. But I feel that being with my group of people I don't feel all:

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