Hair Care

 I've often been a "cheaper is just fine" when it comes to haircare products.  Trying various products and general brands over the years, I never quite found anything that caused significant improvement in my wavy/slightly frizzy hair.  I'd find short term fixes but nothing that made me confident in how my hair would look towards the end of the day. Enter, Olaplex. 

I'd read about Olaplex from bloggers for a while before I decided to try it out. I ordered the trial pack from sephora.com. It's $25 for trial sized products 3, 4, 5 and 6.  After trying them all, I really like products 5 and 6 the best. 

Olaplex 3 is a hair mask. It says to dampen hair (pre-shower) and leave on for at least ten minutes, so definitely try to meet the time requirement. Sometimes I leave it on for an hour. Then I hop in the shower and rinse it off. 

Olaplex 4 is a concentrated shampoo. I don't like this one as much. Since it's concentrated, I only have to use a small amount, then get a splash of water on it before lathering it into my hair. I just feel as though it's not slippery enough to reach my whole head of hair. I don't want to keep adding extra product to my hands because I know that's not the point of a concentrated product. I also feel like my hair can only go for 24 hours before needing another cleaning when I use this shampoo. I prefer to make my hair go two days between washes. Over time I've realized that it's okay to not like all of the products in a set. I think the Olaplex products work slightly differently on various hair types & the shampoo just doesn't jive that much with my hair type. So I'm fine using my Redken All Soft shampoo instead. 

Olaplex number 5 is a conditioner and I LOVE it! I feel as though my hair is much smoother and combs out well after showering. I liked this product so much that I ordered the full size which they carry on a variety of websites including Amazon! (It's also found on sephora.com, Nordstrom, and even Zulilly from time to time.) 

The 6th product is a hair smoother & I love this one just as much as the conditioner. I use a small amount & rub it through my damp hair right before I blow it dry or if I air-dry my hair then I'll rub this through before I straighten my hair. I concentrate it on the bottom half of my hair but when I'm finished rubbing the majority of the product through my hair, I'll run my hands quickly over the top of my hair to tame some of my fly aways. This product really helps smooth out my hair & it stays smooth all day. To be fair, I began using these products in the late fall when we weren't having 100% humidity. So my hair has stayed nice & smooth during these winter months, and the real test will be this spring & summer as our humidity rises. I love this product so much that I ordered it in its full size since the trial size was almost gone, and I don't want to run out. 

Here is my hair after air drying it, before the smoothing cream. 

Here's my hair after smoothing cream & straightening. 

Here's the way I normally wear it for work- half pulled back into a silk scrunchie with three bobby-pins keeping my fly aways laying flat. 

I use the conditioner & smoothing cream every time I clean and style my hair. I use the hair mask about once a week or so. I'll probably end up ordering the hair mask in the full size once the trial size is gone. Al of the products smell light & clean, and I am pleased that I've found the products that work the best with my hair type. I'm excited to see how they hold up in the impending southern humidity! 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Photo Compilation

We're zooming towards Spring Break & once we get to that point, I'll feel as if I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel that has been this school year. We have to get through the rest of this week, and two virtual days in the following week before we can officially be on break. I. Am. Ready. To help pass the time, here's an assortment of photos taken over the last month or so. 

The vase used to be in my Nana's house but she gave it to me and I've always loved the style of it. For now, I've situated it on my mantle for safety from little hands. The heart artwork was the Spring craft at a ladies craft night at church before Valentine's Day. 

Avery wanted microwave popcorn for an evening snack & was elated to watch the process from a stool. 

She loves taking my phone and leaving me photographic treasures like this one. 

After the boys & I get home each day, we go pick up Avery and usually enjoy a few minutes outside before heading back home. 

One of her main goals in life is to reach the pull down cords from the ceiling fan. She was hoping the extra height would help her on this day. 

Last week, we ended up in the bathroom for a couple of tornado warnings. After we emerged from the afternoon stint, Avery cured her pent up boredom by becoming a dinosaur. 

Noah cured his boredom by making a cowboy hat out of 5 other hats. 

Later that evening, we ended up in the bathroom again. The boys entertained themselves by looking through some yearbooks. 

Avery was already asleep and blessedly stayed asleep allowing me the chance to cuddle and hold her like a baby once more. 

When I went to pick her up one afternoon, she was displaying her newfound skill of pumping her own legs on the swingset!

Last night, the kids had a "workout contest" which consisted of seeing who could hold a bridge position for the longest amount of time. 

These are the days. :)

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Books in March

We recently hit up our local library for some new-to-us books to read. At first I checked out some best sellers but couldn't get into any of them and chose not to spend my time reading things I really didn't have any interest in. So I returned them and chose to pursue the autobiography route again since I had such success with that last summer. This time I went with two books by one of my favorite people-- "The Pioneer Woman," Ree Drummond.  

I knew she had some children's books and at least one other novel, along with several cookbooks (of which I have two or three).  I had never read her novel, so I set out to rent it and was delightfully surprised to find out that she had written a second autobiography in 2020! I checked out both of her books and loved both of them!

The first one I read was "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" and it's about her journey from city-dweller to wife of a cowboy. It's her real life love story and it was so cute. The story begins when she met her husband, and carries through her first year of marriage.  I loved every part of it. She's such a great story teller. 

The second book was "Frontier Follies: Adventures in Marriage and Motherhood in the Middle of Nowhere." This one is a collection of essays and memories from her college years all the way through the pandemic. It had me laughing out loud more times than I could count! 

I'd totally read both of these again and I might even buy them for myself one day because I liked them so much. I highly recommend both of these books. They're easy reads and can be read in little snippets of time here & there (which is all I could afford these last couple weeks!).

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Helpful Kitchen Tools

This is a super random post of some kitchen tools and/or items that have proven to be successful for us in the last few years, so I thought I'd share! 

First up is parchment paper! I LOVE parchment paper and use it every single day. I never ever worry about things sticking because it just doesn't happen! I use parchment paper for baking cookies and heating up biscuits, etc. Any time I have to bake something in the oven, you can bet I'm using parchment paper. I love getting it at Costco just for the sheer amount & low price, but when Costco is being weird and not stocking it, I use any store brand. 

Second is my favorite cookie sheet of all time. It's an "air cookie sheet" so it's very lightweight and apparently the air circulates between the bottom of the cookie sheet & the actual surface that the food item sits on. I'm not sure how it does what it does but it doesn't matter to me. I love it, and spread out a sheet of parchment on it and bake to my heart's content. 

Next  is "his" and "hers" can openers. Aaron uses the simple one on the left,  and I use the ergonomic one on the right. I'll use his for the "church key" pokey-ness when necessary for can aeration but I only use the plastic can opener to open cans because I simply can't get his to actually open cans. Likewise, he can't get mine to open cans. We discovered early on in our marriage that two can openers were an okay necessity. 

Get a good electronic thermometer. This is the only way I don't murder chicken upon cooking it. And also the reason why we don't end up with chicken tartare.

A sturdy kitchen spoon & a good silicone spatula are also kitchen necessities. Both of these are Target finds.

We recently bought a set of silicone coated tongs and added them to our worn out collection. We keep these in easy reach. 

Finally, find something in a color that makes you happy. Cooking things in this little pan brings me joy... and that's a necessity too!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba