DIY: Hair Masks

Anyone who knows me well knows I have an obsession with hair. I have had long thick hair all of my life, here recently, I decided to cut a lot of it off. (My friends like to call it my Brittany Spears 2K16 moment) I was having a stressful week and decided it was time for something new. I have always been too scared to try something new but I absolutely love it now! The change was a really good one but I think I am going to start growing my hair out again (although I still have a while I can enjoy having short hair!) I am almost always trying new hair products and trying out all sorts of wacky combinations trying to find the perfect hair mask. So what was the perfect hair mask? To be honest I don’t think I have found “the perfect mask”.  Through trial and error I have found a few masks however, which did seem to stick out a lot to me. Like I said I have tried out MANY different masks but lets start out with just a few!

Coconut oil:

Okay so this is not only one of my favorites, but probably the easiest one as well! This is the only mask which I use on a regular basis. Now I have a whole post dedicated to coconut oil, (which you can check out here: http://montanashairandstyle.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-many-uses-of-coconut-oil.html ) so I really don’t want to go into too many details but I have seen such amazing results from this mask! I only do this mask about once a week, but it works amazingly! After I do the mask my hair feels amazing! When I had my hair long hair, it would almost look like the hair on one of those girls from a shampoo commercial. You know the ones with the unrealistically smooth, thick, shiny hair? I mean not really, but as close as I will ever come to that! The coconut oil makes my hair look silky and soft and I just can’t stress enough how beautiful it makes my hair look!  I have also used it on my scalp when it is flaky or sun burnt, when it is burnt I also add a little vitamin E oil and it makes a huge difference! So like I said it’s super easy, I take a little in my palm, you don’t need much, and I massage it into my scalp, slowly making my way through my hair. I then tie it in a bun (although it’s not quite long enough anymore so I just wrap it in an old towel) and I let it sit for a while. Generally I would say to do it for at least thirty minutes to give the oil time to work its magic! I then wash my hair and voila, beautiful, sexy hair! I promise you it works like magic! 

Honey and olive oil:

Okay so this one works really well too, although it can be a little messy! When I do this (once a month-ish) I take a microwave safe bowl and pour enough oil in it to cover my hair. I generally use olive oil but you could really use any oil you want. I then add a tablespoon or so of honey and mix it in before putting it in the microwave to heat up. Now you’re going to want to be VERY careful as it can get extremely hot very quickly. I usually set the microwave for a minute but take it out periodically to stir it and make sure it is not too hot. Once it is warm and it is mixed fairly well, I flip my head upside down and work the mixture through my hair, massaging it into my scalp with my fingertips. Again I like to let it set as long as possible while my hair is in a bun or wrapped in a towel. While the last mask was meant to make your hair soft and shiny, this mixture works really well if you have dry, brittle hair or dandruff. It does a really good job of creating stronger, healthier hair, which can reduce breakage. My hair used to be extremely dry and I would do this about once a week and it helped sooo much! Like I said this mask works well, but be prepared for a sticky mess!

Avocado, mayonnaise, almond oil/milk and banana:

Okay so I know what you’re thinking; that’s absolutely disgusting! And yes, you’re right it can be pretty gross but I love this mixture! This mask came a result of many failed masks I found online, I decided I liked these four ingredients in other masks but I hated all of the combinations I ever found, so I took matters into my own hands! Honestly, this mask and the coconut mask are probably my favorites! Each ingredient serves its own purpose, they all work together to make your hair look gorgeous! The mayonnaise is mainly just the base ingredient, however it is still helpful as it can make your hair softer! Now I strongly recommend making sure you get all of the tangles out of your hair before beginning, yes you should do this with any hair mask but this one especially because if it is not mixed properly, you could end up tangling your hair with clumps of some of the ingredients. So I pour enough mayo in a bowl to cover my hair and then add the banana. I take a fork and mash the banana until it is completely broken down into mush and then mix it into the mayo thoroughly until it is completely mixed and there are no lumps of banana. The banana is amazing for dry, brittle hair. It can moisturize your hair and help maintain frizz, which is a HUGE plus for me! It has vitamin B, potassium, and iron which all work together making a huge difference in your hair! Next is the avocado which you essentially just repeat the same thing you did with the banana. Mash it thoroughly until there are no more clumps and mix it into the mixture. Avocado is said to stimulate hair growth which is always a big plus but there are other benefits as well! The avocado’s main purpose is it makes your hair look and feel soft and silky. Anytime my hair is looking dead and flat it makes such a huge difference! My hair will look much healthier after this mask and a lot of that is thanks the avocado! It is full of vitamin B and E. Much like the banana, the avocado promotes hair growth thanks to its high level of vitamin E. Almond oil is a better option in my opinion but I generally use almond milk instead. Now don’t get me wrong I loveeee almond oil! I just don’t always have it lying around, I don’t use it all that much and let’s face it, I’m a broke college student it’s pretty darn expensive! It still has a lot of benefits though! I do prefer adding almond oil rather than the milk but as I don’t drink regular milk (perhaps a future post on the reasons why?) I do often times have almond milk and use that instead. Again much like the other ingredients, it has a lot of vitamin E (see why I choose all these items? Great for hair growth!) It also has a lot of proteins and potassium which is amazing for creating stronger hair!

Hopefully you guys enjoy these different hair masks, believe me I love them! If you have any other hair masks you enjoy tweet me (@thatonebloggger) or drop a comment below and maybe I will try it out! Thank you guys so much for reading and I will see yall next time! 

Until next time, stay lovely!

-Montana Sky XoXo

Short Update!

    I feel like it has been such a long time since I have had a chance to sit down and write! This past year has been absolutely hectic! I had a lot of really good things going on and a lot of not so good things but life has finally seemed to calm down a bit. I have had so many changes lately including chopping off most of my hair! Let me just say that was much harder than it should have been!! I also started a new job a few months ago where I finally have a set schedule which makes things much easier! I am finally working somewhere I have wanted to work at for a long time and things couldn't be better! I am so excited to be writing again, so much has changed and I have so many fun things planned for this page! With my first year of college behind me I am now able to enjoy my summer break and I will have so much more time to write and get in to a better schedule for writing! It took me a while to truly be able to find my own sense of writing and my own style, I think I felt I had to write a certain way and I was scared and unsure of how to write about many things but I am so excited to expand more on my blog, I have so much to write about! In a few short months I will be moving (either in a with a friend or to another city, but thats a whole other story!) I am so excited to try out new DIY's for my room and redecorating! I want my blogs to reflect me and show what I am all about! Within the next month I want to write a post to let you guys get to know me a little better along with a DIY and the first post of something new I wanted to start!
     I am still going to be writing my DIY's and plan on starting a new series of posts on Ipsy. For those of you that don't know, Ipsy is a monthly subscription which sends out a few products from a wide range of beauty brands! I am really excited to begin testing out these new products and letting you guys know what I think!  Also, as I mentioned before, I cut A LOT of my hair off! It was to my belly button and is now to my shoulders. I decided to try something new and now that all of the dead ends are off I am going to be trying so many new hair masks and hair products! I'm really excited to be sharing these tips and products with you guys! I have so many posts coming up and I hope you guys like it and continue to enjoy the different things I write about!
    I know this was a short post but I just wanted to let you guys know what is going on and plans for the future! Thank you guys so much for taking the time to red my post and my next one will be within a week! Either a DIY or a review on a new product!

Until next time, stay lovely!

-Montana Sky XOXO

The many uses of: Coconut oil!

Coconut oil is a girls best friend, I mean it has so many benefits and its cheap! I have been using coconut oil as a part of my daily routine for about a year now and I love it! It has so may different uses some you may have never even thought of. The coconut oil I use (Pictured below) is an organic oil made by Natures Way. Now when I say it can be used for everything, I mean it can be used for ANYTHING. From nutritional benefits to hair and skin benefits.

I use coconut oil almost on a daily basis and I use it more and more I have found more uses for it. As I have used it I have seen the results so I wanted to write a post talking about a few of the ways I use it and and talk about many of the benefits I have found with using it so enjoy! :)

Skin:

Okay so I have never been a fan of putting anything other than facial soap on my skin. While I do tend to have dry skin, my face is prone to breaking out and I have to be externally careful as to what I put on my face. Coconut oil however, makes a great moisturizer and many even be used as sunscreen. Now let me stress from the start, if you are prone to breaking out be VERY CAREFUL! The only time I put it on my face is when my face is more dry then normal and even then only on specific areas. My forehead is what tends to get the worst of my breakouts so for the most part I avoid putting the oil there. Now on the area just above my nose between my eyebrows, my skin tends to dry out horribly, along with the creases on the outside of my nose. Those are the only two sections of my face I will even consider putting it on my face. Because both areas of my face tend to be so dry, it is usually safe to put a little bit of the oil there as long as I don't do it too often. Now if you have dry skin and you don't usually break out, it's probably safe to say you could even use this as a daily moisturizer. My mom puts it all over her face every night before she goes to bed and uses it like a regular moisturizer. In the end no one knows your skin like you do, you probably can tell if you can put it on your face without a major breakout. When in doubt, try it on one section of your face and test it out!

This is the Coconut and vitamin E oil I use
Along with a leave in conditioner I like to
spray in my hair after made by It's a 10.

Hair:

So I've never been a stranger to hair masks and trying random oils in my hair but I have never loved an oil in my hair as much as coconut oil. I use it in my hair about once a week and over the course of a month I saw results. A while back I cut off about 8 inches of my hair in layers. I wanted to get as much of the dead ends off as I could. After I cut it my hair was already much softer and healthier but why stop there? I began using coconut oil as a hair mask and fell in love with the results. So what do I do? When I am ready to wash my hair I take a little coconut oil and melt it. In the summer it is usually hot enough in the house that simply putting a little in my hand will make it melt. In the winter however if your house is pretty cold you probably will need to pop it in the microwave for a few seconds (Or you can do what I do and rub your hands together until they produce enough heat to melt in your hands) After, I do a deep part as far on the left side of my head as I can. I take a finger or a skinny brush (I use a makeup brush which I only use on my hair) and I evenly spread it over my part. Then I just continue to repeat the process parting new sections of my hair and working my way through my hair. (I also occasionally add Vitamin E oil as well) Once I have done the roots of my hair, I then take what is left in my hands and run my fingers through my hair, paying special attention to my ends. When the oil is spread through my  hair I then put my hair in a tight, high bun and leave it in for a few hours before washing my hair and continuing with my normal hair care after all is said and done my hair feels so soft and healthy and looks soft and shiny, I love it! Because the oil is rich in antioxidants, it promotes growth, reduces hair loss, and overall improves the health of your hair.

My hair is parted all the way on
the far left and I continue parting
it further and further as I go along.

Again you really don't need very much, a little
goes a long way!

Oil pulling:

Okay so I will admit I was skeptical at first to even try oil pulling but let me just say, its worth the try! So if you don't know what oil pulling is, you basically take a small amount in your mouth and swish it around for a bit (I usually do it for about 20 minutes). So what's the point? Oil pulling has so many amazing benefits but I mainly use it to whiten my teeth. Yes you can use it to whiten your teeth, I told you it does everything! Along with whitening your teeth it also pulls the toxins out of your body improving your overall health. This works best on an empty stomach so in the morning I take a spoon and scoop a small amount (you need less than you would think, start with a very small amount you can always add more!) and I swish it around my mouth for 20 minutes while I get ready before spitting it out into a trash can. Spitting in down the sink can be bad for your pipes as it can later thicken. And that's it! I saw whiter teeth in about two weeks and now its something I have just added to my normal routine and I love it. I will say while I am a fan of coconut, I do not like the taste and it definitely took some getting used to.

In the end coconut oil has so many uses but these are just a few of my favorite uses. It is also often used as a makeup remover, in DIY lotions, deodorants, shampoo/conditioner, sunscreen, and even toothpaste, Many even use it in there everyday diet mixing it in smoothies or even using a replacement for butter when baking for frying. The possibilities are endless! Let me know your favorite use of coconut oil in the comments down below! Thanks so much for reading!

Until next time, stay lovely!

-Montana Sky XOXO

DIY: Hair Lightener!

One of my favorite things is DIY projects! I love making my own face and hair masks and trying out new ideas that I can easily make with the ingredients found around my house instead of paying money to buy some at the store. It is so much better for your hair and cheaper to make your own! So I have been trying for a while to grow my hair out. I went over two years without cutting my hair in hopes that it would grow out longer. BIG MISTAKE! After the first year my hair had grown very little because I would put heat on my hair everyday. I realized how dead my hair was and decided instead of doing the smart thing, cutting my hair, I would just cut out using heat on my hair. Now don't get me wrong that was a smart move! Not using heat has made my hair much healthier but, I still needed a cut! Finally after another almost year and a half, I cut it. I cut off about two to three inches. Now I am doing everything to make sure I don't damage my hair and I keep it healthy and continue to get trims fairly regularly.

Now I have very dark brown hair and I really want to lighten it! Dying your hair is awful for your hair! I'm not saying you should never do it, if your hair is healthy and you want a change, there is nothing wrong with adding color to your hair as long as you care for it properly after. After I cut my hair I did not want to do anything that could potentially damage it until I grew it out just a little longer. I decided to look into ways to naturally lighten my hair. The thing about DIY hair treatments is many don't work or they barley work and only a few people have luck with them. I tried to find a DIY that would work to lighten my hair and I found one that works pretty well. So this is my DIY to naturally lighten your hair. Enjoy! :)

Ingredients:

• Chamomile Tea
• 1 Teaspoon Honey
• 2 Teaspoons Coconut Oil 
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
• Optional Olive Oil (This isn't to lighten but it is good to keep your hair soft and prevent it drying out)

The first thing you will need to do is brew your tea and let it steep for around five to ten minutes. After your tea is finished, pour the tea in to an empty spray bottle about half way or even a little more if you have enough. Next add the honey, coconut oil, lemon juice, cinnamon, and optional olive oil if desired. After you have everything in, place the lid back on and shake to mix the ingredients. Once everything is mixed, on second or even third day hair, dampen your hair and brush out before even distributing the spray throughout your hair. Then go soak up some sun! The lemon juice acts as an amazing hair lightener but only if activated by the sun. Stay out in the sun for a bit but I don't suggest more than an hour and a half and then just wash your hair! I did this once a week for about a month and saw results! I would just say to do it between once and twice a week until you see a difference. The darker your hair is the longer it will take to see much results, but like I said I had very dark hair and saw results in about a month. Give it a try and let me know your results! I hope you guys enjoyed and let me know what you think or if you have any requests! Thanks for reading!

Until next time, stay lovely!

-Montana Sky XOXO

August Review!

Hey guys! Today I want to start something new. Once a month I want to start writing reviews on 3 different products each month. I won't have a set day but I will post once a month. I love trying new products so now I'm going to start writing reviews. These reviews could be about anything. Hair tools/ products, makeup, fake nails, anything I decided to try. These will just be three products I tried that month so some will be positive reviews and some will be negative. If you have anything you would like me to try, leave me a comment and I would love try your guy's suggestions!

Product #1

• Naked: 3 by Urban Decay
  

I first tried this product for my brothers wedding. I wore "Nooner" as the base and put "Liar" on over the bottom part of my eye lid. Now first off I'm going to address the brushes. I love the brushes! It comes with a double sided brush and it is the softest brush I have ever used! I love the way it feels when I put it on. Now moving on to the colors, they are gorgeous! You have so many possibilities with the pallet. You could do anything from a sweet innocent look to a little bit more of an edgier look with black heart, darkside, and mugshot. This is an amazing product and I love it! Now lets continue on to what I don't like about it. This product is really pretty expensive in my opinion, for eye shadow. It's about $55.00. As I have said in previous posts, I refuse to pay a lot of money for any products so to me this is wayyy too much! The only reason I tried it was because it was my moms so I borrowed it from her. While I do love this product, I'm not too sure its worth the money although I would possibly consider purchasing it if it where to be on sell because I did thoroughly enjoy this product.

My makeup with the colors "Nooner" and "Liar".

 

Product #2

• Clearasil

You may have seen those commercials with the kid that breaks out and says they need something that works fast to which the other person responds with "Clearasil's fast". The commercial goes on to explain how fast Clearasil is. The bottle says "Rapid action, visibly clearer skin in as fast as 12 hours". Now I never expect something to work overnight but I was hopeful I'd see results in maybe a week, especially because they say that it works so "fast".  I tried the product and saw no results. I gave the product a chance and used the entire thing anyways. It made no difference in my acne at all. I got surgery on my jaw for my sleep apnea and I was told not to wash my face but only pat it down with water. After about 2 weeks I could use soap and water once the stitches were out. I had to give them another week to heal before moving on to any kind of facial wash. Because of all this I was breaking out like crazy! It was awful! My chin was covered with painful acne and along with the sides of my nose. I was hoping that the Clearasil that I had left would help but after a week I had no results. I still had pretty bad acne. Every ones face is different so I don't want to say it completely does not work, but for me it did not make a difference and I would not recommend it. The only thing I did like about it was the smell, (I smell everything lol!)but obviously that's not an incentive to buy it. It wasn't a bad price, I got it from Walmart for about $8-$10 but I would not purchase it again.

Product #3

• Vitamin E Oil

So normally I wouldn't really review a product like this but I wanted to talk about this one. So going back to my surgery, I had stitches on both cheeks, leaving a small mark on both sides. These marks basically looked like blemishes left from a pimple. While I can cover it with makeup, I still wanted to get rid of them. For the first 2-3 weeks after I could only use Neosporin so I would not get infected but, after this time period was over I would wash my face, apply Neosporin, and wait a few minutes before applying a little bit of vitamin E oil. Literally overnight, I noticed a HUGE difference. It helps so much with scaring! I would definitely recommend trying this. I was surprised it did not brake me out because that was my biggest concern. I really liked this product and saw significant results! It;s not just for the face, but for any place that you are experiencing any scaring!  

I hope you guys enjoyed my first montly review! If you did be sure to leave a comment/ suggestion for next month! Suggestions and feedback are always welcome and appreciated! Thanks for reading!

Until next time, stay lovely!

-Montana Sky XOXO

The Many Uses of: Vaseline

Hey guys! Today I want to talk about Vaseline. I absolutely love Vaseline. It has so many uses and it is so cheap! You can buy a jar of it anywhere from $2-$5 and it lasts forever! I have a 7.5 ounce jar of rich conditioning cocoa butter Vaseline for about $4 from Walmart. It smells amazing and seriously has so many uses! I use it a lot when doing my makeup and at night. I have a list of its many uses, that I find helpful, broken down in to categories. I hope you enjoy it and find this helpful!

Makeup 

• Makeup remover- Usually when I take off my makeup I wash my face with acne wash and then I either use a cold cream or Vaseline to remove my makeup. They are both cheap and work just as well as makeup remover. 

• Longer lashes- I have extremely short eyelashes so I have tried everything to make my lashes look longer. One day I read online about using Vaseline so I thought why not? And it works amazing! At night before I go to bed I wash my face and make sure to get all my makeup off. I then take a brush (I just saved one fro an old mascara and washed it and now I use it for this.) Take the brush and dip it lightly in the Vaseline. I then spread it evenly across my lashes, applying it as I would with mascara. The next morning I l put my mascara on normally and my lashes look so long! I've also read that over time it can make your lashes grow but I haven't noticed any growth in my lashes.  You could even use the Vaseline as a clear mascara for longer, natural looking lashes. 
• Fake eyelash remover- One last thing you can use Vaseline for on your eyelashes is to use is to take off fake eyelashes. I've always heard this works but because I do not wear fake eyelashes, I would not swear by it.
• Shimmery eyes- Vaseline looks amazing with eye shadow if you do it right. If you add just a little to your  eyelid and rub it in, the boom! You have a primer! Once you apply your eye shadow, it will look shimery.
• Smeared makeup- When I get home from school I always rub my eyes and end up smearing my makeup but then if a friend texts me to hangout I'm a mess! I always use Vaseline to clean up! I take a cuetip to clean smeared makeup and to touch up.
• Eyebrows-  Messy and/or thick eyebrows are a pain! You can buy brow gel which will work just as well or you could just dip a brow brush in it and gently comb over your brows for an instant fix!

Dryness

• Moisturizer- Vaseline works great as a moisturizer, just add a little to your dry knees/elbows/heels and it helps so much!
• Chapped lips- I put on a little before bed and it helps so much! I also wear it before I put on lipstick and it prevents drying as well as helping the lipstick to stay on.
• Bloody noses- I recently had surgery on my jaw about 3 weeks ago and needed to have a breathing tube put in during the surgery.  When this was done they cut my nose and for the first two- two and a half weeks I was getting massive bloody noses. The first week and a half was awful! My nose would be pouring blood and I would be choking on it because of how badly it was bleeding. I started adding Vaseline a couple of times a day and they began occurring much less frequent. My nose was dry and it couldn't heal but the Vaseline made it much better. It helped a lot and when it was a smaller nose bleed, if I applied it right away it would usually stop.
• After shaving- After shaving if you have sensitive skin, you can apply a little bit of Vaseline and this can prevent irritation due to shaving. (I find this especially helpful on my armpits, gross I know, but it really does help!)

Hair

So I only have one tip for this category but I find it sooo helpful! Vaseline is great for hiding split ends. I only do this when I straighten my hair because I find that on my hair, it really only looks good on straight hair. All you need to do is get a little on the tip of your fingers and add it to the tips of your hair. You don't want to use too much or your hair could come out looking greasy. A little goes a long way! Doing this will make your hair loook shiny, sleek, and healthier!

That is all the tips I have for today but, there are so many more! These are the main things I use it for but maybe one day I will write a part 2 that will be written as more of a list? Not sure yet but let me know what you think! Next week is my brothers wedding so I'll write a short post about my outfit, hair, and makeup when I get back! If anyone had any ideas or requests comment and let me know! Don't forget to comment and subscribe! Thanks for reading!

Until next time, stay lovely!

-Montana Sky XOXO

DIY Sea Salt Texturizing Spray

So it is summer and during the summer I hate putting heat on my hair. It's already hot so why contribute to that that? During the summer I generally like to do my hair either natural or wavy. (My natural hair is a curly and wavy mess!) I either go natural or braid my hair the night before and let it out the next day. To me wavy hair is just a cute summery and beachy hairstyle. Now when I decide to go out with my natural hair, my hair never looks quite how I wanted it, it just ends up looking messy and random pieces start to go flat and loose volume. (Of course when I am staying home doing nothing my hair looks amazing cause that's my luck) I tried putting moose and gel in my hair but that did not really work. One day I read about something called sea salt texturizing spray. I googled it and tried to find a little more about it. I noticed that most of them were $7- $15. After I looked at the ingredients that just seemed like too much! I realized I could make this at home for much cheaper! So I experimented a little until i found the best results. Now when I make it, I tend to just start adding everything in without measuring but this past time I tried to measure it out to have a more precise post. There is an extra ingredient that is optional, which is the lemon/ lemon juice. This added ingredient is good for lightening up your hair. Normally my hair gets lighter during the summer but this year my hair looked so dark! If you want to lighten your hair this is a good, natural way to do it! There is one thing to keep in mind if you use the lemon juice. It will only work if you are out in the sun. The mixture of sunlight and lemon will naturally strip your hair of the chemicals making your hair darker. I use this spray anytime I will be outside for a while, even if I am only going for a run. So here are the ingredients for this spray! :

1 Spray bottle filled about half to three fourths of the way with warm water. (This will help dissolve the salt.)
1 1/2 Tablespoons sea salt (more will add more texture and less for less texture)
2 Teaspoons gel
2  Tablespoons leave in conditioner
3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or bottled juice (Optional)

       Now like I said I normally don't measure this out so you can add more or less of anything to your liking! :) The first thing you are going to want to do is find an empty spray bottle. You can either recycle an old spray bottle from an empty hair product or buy one. I had one from Walmart for about $2-$3. Next I took warm tap water and filled it about three fourths of the way up and then added the salt, lemon juice, gel, and leave in conditioner. I like to use a coconut scented one for this to have a beachy smell. Some people use regular conditioner for this product which is totally fine but I usually either only use the leave in conditioner or I will do half and half of the both of them. If want just random wavy natural hair then I take a shower and blow-dry only the roots to add volume. I then take the spray and evenly distribute it through out my hair and running my fingers through it to make sure it is distributed all over your hair. The other thing I love to do with my hair is spray my hair damp with the spray the night before and braid loose braids and go to bed. In the morning I take out the braids and run my fingers through my hair to loosen the waves. If I will be outside and I want the lemon juice to kick in I will lightly spray my hair once again with the spray and I am left with cute summer ready hair! I hope this helps some people out and you enjoyed! Let me know if there are any specific DIY recipe you would like me to try.  Remember to shake the bottle before each use! Thank you for reading!

Until next time, stay lovely!

-Montana Sky XOXO