Something like this…
Jipaban!!
What is it? Well, that’s Jipaban (obviously) and it’s the largest online mall in SE Asia. Since online shopping is becoming so popular, someone got smart and decided to capitalize on it. It has a very interesting concept of bringing together social networking and shopping.
Basically, stores/companies pay to rent a shop space on Jipaban, just like they would in a real mall (only at considerably smaller prices than to rent a physical place). Then people create accounts and select their favourite online retailers to be in their personal mall. The thing I like most about this is that then all of your online stores are in one place and it’s way easier to keep track of everything, not like now where you have to track down each website and create accounts for all of them.
The social networking comes in because you can add friends on the site, and then your friends can look at your wishlists and stuff. You can also do something like “try on” stuff (not actually trying stuff on, but that’s what it’s called) and your friends can look at the things you are considering buying and vote yes or no.
So, interesting concept? Too bad it’s nowhere near as cool as actually going to a store and shopping, but it’s still interesting!
I’ve been making a bit of progress on the jewelery front. I wasn’t sure how things were going to go because I’ve only ever made jewelery once before and it was quite a while ago. I had also been following instructions (it was a kit) but this time I was going off my own creativity.
Am I anywhere near becoming the next big jewelery designer? Hell no!
I don’t think anything looks bad, and I had tons of fun. 
I started off with this red ribbon that I bought because I intended to make a festive necklace. I liked how bright the colour was, but it was in a plastic package with cardboard and I didn’t realize until I started working that the ribbon is actually quite stiff (notice how it’s bent) instead of soft like I hoped.
This chain is actually quite strong and sturdy. I love it! I planned to weave the chain around the ribbon, but because the ribbon was stiff and the chain quite long, I abandoned that idea. Instead I made some adjustments to the chain and added findings, so now the chain is actually a necklace on it’s own.
Now the chain can also connect to the ribbon as a separate piece. I reduced the length of the ribbon by removing the findings, trimming the ribbon, and then replacing the findings (biggest pain in the world… trust me!). When you wear it, it looks like this…
So the ribbon is a choker and the chain hangs down. Of course, I then decided to change this. I adjusted the chain so that they weren’t the same length and then attempted to add a pendant between them.
That was the result. I had also planned in the original design to include glass pearls, so I attempted that next.
It turned out alright… but I felt that the crown pendant hung oddly due to how it had to be attached (something I could not change), so I ended up taking it off and using it by itself on the ribbon to make a choker, and the chain is now a chain and pearl necklace.
So there you have it! I feel that it makes a fun statement piece. Definitely not something you would wear all the time, but fun for a party or a ‘princess’ day. Unfortunately, no photos of the other one yet. I also ended up making a set of earrings out of some of the leftovers.
So for now, I’m content as a jewelery designer.
So, I’m super tired and developing a dry cough, but because I promised someone I would, I’m writing this post (better be thankful!).
I promised to write about this first topic and ask for opinions from the masses.
At work today, we fell into the odd discussion of when it’s acceptable to punch someone. We’re talking about a full-blown, teeth shattering, nose breaking, cheek bruising, wound up punch. Long story short, we got on the topic of punching because one particular co-worker enjoys abusing ‘punching’ me. He will tell you that it’s ‘a light tap with a closed fist‘. It’s a punch dammit!! Anyways, he attempted to defend his pride in front of the other staff by explaining that he wouldn’t punch a girl unless she was to jump out of a bush with a knife, because punching is the only natural thing to do when your life is being threatened. Also keep in mind that he justified trying to dig a hole in the ground with your bare hands and hide in it over running away from a bear because… what else… can’t outrun a bear.
So, I have to ask the question. Is punching the first reaction that you would have if your life was threatened?
Another staff member feels that trying to rape the attacker is a more appropriate response… of course, when asked this question I was used as the example. I can no longer sleep safely at night.
Now to more normal things, today I bought a bunch of crafting stuff to make myself a necklace for a holiday party. The goal is to have it finished by December 14th so I can wear it to a formal dinner event that takes place on December 15th.
These are the supplies that I will be using (ignore the ugly carpet 
). I’m using red ribbon, metal chain, glass pearls, Swarovski crystals and metal crown charm. I have a vision in my head, so now I need to try and make it a reality. Can you guess what I’m planning to do?
Today I made my first ever online purchase. Well… second I guess. You know what? I’ll just go through both of them right now!
The thing that I just purchased is a cute handmade necklace. I have Puricute on my Facebook (I’ll profile that website later). Puricute posted an image link to a blog about cute stuff, and the blog featured the Etsy of a girl/woman who makes adorable cute things! I encourage you to browse through her shop here.
I purchased the “Guardian Star Necklace”. Actually, you won’t find the necklace there anymore. When I purchased it said there was only 1 available, and when I went back to get a copy of the image so that I could show it here, the item wasn’t listed in the shop anymore. Through my browser history I was able to track down the page for it, and it said that the item was sold. Yay!
Isn’t it adorable!! I love star necklaces. I bought a silver star a few years ago in Mexico, but I wore it into a chlorinated pool once and it tarnished the silver really badly. No matter how much polishing I’ve done, I haven’t been able to restore it to it’s original brilliance, so I give up .
Now I have to anxiously wait for the necklace to arrive. I’m not very good at waiting games…
The next thing I wanted to show you (my first online purchase actually!) was a gift that I bought for my mom and myself. My mom refuses to tell me what she wants for Christmas because she wants me to save my money. My argument to her is that I no longer have school bills (unless you count paying off the tuition) and I’d like to be able to contribute to Christmas a little more because honestly… I’ve been saving hard and paying my bills and it brings a little joy to my life to be able to make her smile on her birthday or Christmas instead of wasting my money on silly things for myself. So I made a donation on her behalf to the Metro Toronto Zoo.
I also purchased one for myself (my package is the one that’s pictured). I love animals, and I visit that zoo every year. This year they were offering a special donation package for $65.00 where you choose an animal from the list, they send you an adoption package, put your name on a special display at the zoo and you also get a puzzle piece for the website. For the puzzle piece, you get to put a message of your choice, and whenever people hover their mouse over the puzzle pieces it displays the message on the website. Super cute and awesome! I picked out endangered species for both of us (did I mention that I purchased one for myself as well?).
So, that sums up my online shopping experience. The whole event makes me want to open up my own web shop full of little handmade goodies. I think that for a career, I would have to have one that allowed me time off so that I could keep up a crafting hobby. With my current job, I work 5 days a week (something I’m perfectly fine with!) but I’m always being called at home with questions or issues, and all my friends work there too so they always talk to me about work… and I CAN’T escape from work, literally!!
*EDIT* So the necklace isn’t one of a kind, as I noticed that more were put up later, but who cares? It’s still super cute, and I’m sure I won’t see any of my friends with it so I’m happy anyways.
Just like many girls, I like to change up my hairstyle to suit my mood, statement that I want to make, or just to break out of a boring routine. I have very curly hair (I’m half Jamaican and half Caucasian), and I’ve always had trouble when it comes to hair straightening. This is a bit unlike other girls of my heritage (I know a few others), my mother (who is Caucasian) has naturally curly hair. The result is that my hair has very, very tight corkscrews (the space in one of the rings would be able to fit a pencil… very tiny!). Not only that, but my hair is quite fine and actually delicate, something which many people don’t imagine when they see how full and thick my hair appears due to how curly it is.
In my younger days I tried chemical straightening (or relaxing). It was probably one of the worst experiences of my life. The chemical ended up burning part of my hair to my scalp, and it took weeks of excruciatingly painful brushing with a boar bristle brush to loosen the MELTED strands (and flakes of my poor dead skin) one by one. FYI, this wasn’t done by us, we actually hired someone to do the relaxing. I was so terrified by it that I ended up letting my hair go back curly (again something horrible as the chemical made my hair thin out, so when it started to grow there was a very obvious difference) and it took YEARS for my hair to recover.
I determined then that I would never ever try another permanent solution. I’m even to afraid to try a Keratin Treatment as I’m afraid of the results, even if my hairdressers claim that it actually helps keep hair healthy. Maybe it’s something for the future, but definitely not something that I am ready for yet.
I switched to a new hairdresser and she was kind enough to straighten my hair for me after a haircut. I was astounded by the results. I had owned hair straighteners before, none of them did much. Sure the hair went straight, but it also got so frizzy that I always ended up washing it again so it went back curly. But this girl, when this girl did my hair, it was silky smooth!
So since then, I’ve been determined to figure out how to do it for myself, but do it without damaging my poor hair. Unfortunately, in my very stupid logic that the hotter the iron, the silkier the hair, I ended up burning my hair slightly. 2-weeks later, it’s been making a recovery. It ended up going ‘permanently’ straight along certain lengths and got frizzier. I’ve been ritualistically washing it every couple of days, making sure that it gets thoroughly conditioned both before and after the shower. The curls are starting to travel back through the straight parts and the frizz has cut down by half. Overall, it looks like it will be much better in a couple of months.
I wanted to write this post so that other girls wouldn’t make the same mistakes as me. I’m going to try to be thorough about it, because I’ve never been able to find a proper guide that applied to my type of hair. I may have burned my hair a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve definitely learned my lesson the hard way and have now found the secret to silky yet healthy hair, all the while helping my hair recover from it’s damage.
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First up, before and after photos. Here’s what my hair looks like normally, and then what it looks like after I straightened it today.
Not bad huh? I admit, I could have put a bit more effort into the roots, but it was getting late (hence the uber cute pj’s) and I wanted to finish up.
Here’s another close up view of the straightened hair.
See? Super shiny!
So how did I do it? It wasn’t that hard actually, there are tons of Youtube videos with some variation about how to straighten your hair. The only thing that I would say I didn’t see in these video’s very often was product information, as well as CRUCIAL information about how to properly take care of your hair and avoid damage.
The first step for me when straightening my hair is to give it a very good wash using moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. The key when using wash-out conditioners is to make sure that the conditioner has had enough time to properly soak into your hair and work it’s magic. It won’t do anything for you if all you do is rub it in and then rinse it out right away. For me, I always put in the conditioner and then I’ll do something else in the shower such as shaving, or using a pumice stone. Most conditioners will have instructions including how long they need to be left in, I recommend 3-5 minutes. Rinse out the conditioner thoroughly and then when you’re done in the shower, apply a leave-in conditioner while your hair is still damp. Use a comb to gently work the conditioner through your hair while removing tangles.
Next up is a good blow-dry treatment. First, I apply a good straightening cream or gel. Trust me, you don’t need much, it’ll just help. Here is a drug store product that I felt worked well.
*note the super cute Dixie cups in the background!*
Rub a small amount of the cream/gel through your hair, and then get to work with the blow dryer. Blow drying shouldn’t take too long, just be careful of the heat. My blow dryer only has 3 settings (Hot, Warm, Cool) and I use Hot, but I’m careful to never concentrate on one area. You don’t want to burn your hair, and by focusing your hair dryer on one section for long periods of time will still cause the hair to burn. You should also use the concentrating attachment for your dryer (the one that blows the air through a slot). This will help you have more control. I recommend using a round brush, preferably one that’s also ceramic.
I purchased mine for $7.00 at the drug store and it’s ceramic. The ceramic will heat up while you are drying your hair and help speed up the process. Also keep in mind that the larger the brush is, the straighter your hair will be. Mine is probably 2-3″ diameter.
A good blow drying technique is to split your hair into two main sections (top and bottom). Pin up the top section, and you’ll work on drying the bottom first. Then dry your hair small sections at a time. Using your round brush, brush out all tangles. Starting as close to your head as possible, brush your hair from the underside all the way to the tips, then twist the brush (downwards) so that you curl your hair around it all the way back to your head. Now use your hair dryer and get to work! You should always be pulling firmly on the brush so that the hair isn’t able to recoil. Make sure to keep the dryer moving, don’t focus on one tiny patch, dry all around the brush. As your hair gets dryer, slowly unroll the brush. Don’t forget to make sure that the ends get dried too. I found that the more thoroughly I was with the dryer, the softer my hair turned out when I used the hair straightener.
Once all of your hair is dry, you’ll be using the straightener to give it a nice smooth finish. First, don’t forget to give your hair a good coating of a heat protecting product. They are available in many forms, serums, creams, and sprays. This spray is one of my favourites because it’s a convenient aerosol and smells great.
Make sure that you get even coverage all over your hair, this product will help protect your hair from the high heat of the straightener.
Now, here is the most crucial thing that I learned about straightening. Before I learned how to straighten my hair, I was under the impression that the hotter the straightener the better because while my hair would come out straight it was also incredibly frizzy. I was told that this is because I needed to use a hotter straightener, and that was that, no explanation. So I set off to find the hottest straightener that I could. That’s when I ended up damaging my hair.
I did some research and found information about straightening temperatures and what it does.
0 – 150C (302F) – Water that is bound in the hair will be lost.
160-175C (320-347F) – Glass transition phase (hair will flow like hot glass). When hair becomes hydrated it can return to it’s original state (plasticity), and styles like curls and twists are possible. Sometimes the plasticity isn’t temporary and the hair will appear to return to normal, but it won’t be exactly the same.
215-235 C (419-455F) – Alpha helix structure in the keratin found in the hair melts.
It’s important to have a straightener that has a digital temperature display, like mine! If yours doesn’t, find out as much information as possible such as the temperatures on the different settings.
When I straightened my hair, I used a setting of 310F. My hair came out silky smooth and returned to normal no problem. This setting is 10F below the temperature where the hair plasticity could become damaged, so I recommend it. Of course, you should always work at lower temperatures and work your way up, something I didn’t think of before. In fact, when I first used my straightener I used a setting of 420F. Yes! The alpha helix melts at that temperature . The result is that part of my hair looks like it’s perma-straight and was really frizzy. After a lot of hard work conditioning it and being careful to brush it gently, the frizz has reduced and some of the curl is starting to return (although not nearly as much as natural). I read that the melting of the alpha helix is irreversible, but it seems to be reversing for me, so maybe it wasn’t damaged too badly because I use the straightener really fast.
When you straighten your hair, do it in small sections and work quickly. You never want the straightener to rest on a spot, it should be gliding smoothly. If you let it rest, you risk burning the hair, and you’ll also get lines in your hair from the edge of the straightener. I also use a comb to hold my hair, just to protect myself. You don’t want to burn your fingers on hot hair! It should only take 1 or 2 passes for your hair to be super smooth and silky.
I like to finish up my hair with a glossy/frizz reduction spray. I find this only amplifies the healthy shine in my hair, and also helps prevent it from becoming frizzy when exposed to the elements. I took a shower once with my hair tied up and the humidity from the hot water didn’t make it frizz up, and I was also caught in a sudden drizzle and my hair hardly curled.
Well, I hope that helps out all you girls who are looking to straighten your hair. Many people believe that you should live with what you have naturally, but many of us want to have flexibility and options which is why I opt for home straightening rather than any permanent salon treatments.
If you have any questions, or need anything clarified, feel free to ask. I know this was a really long piece and I’m sure that somewhere along the line I got lazy or distracted haha.
Here is another cute picture I found. I’m working on some other posts right now, one about how to properly straighten your hair without damaging it, and then I want to get started on a makeup tutorial. So for now you’ll have to be satisfied with this fillers .
Today’s cute picture comes from here.
Makes me want a hammy!
Ok… so whether or not I’m actually cute is entirely subjective (you’d better think I’m cute!! T_T). I’ve chosen this picture because it was simply a glorious fall day with lots of wind and my newly straightened hair was whipping me in my face, but the cute little bow managed to stay in place! If you remember, I bought the bow a little while ago which you can read about here.
I’m amazed that it stayed in place. When my hair is straight, usually everything tries to fall out unless it’s tied really tightly!
Oh blustery days… reminds me of when I was a kid and watched Winnie the Pooh (like every good Canadian child should ^o^). There was an episode just about windy fall days!
This picture definitely makes me want a kitten. I’d make him wear that headgear too! Found on a fellow WordPress blog.
Look at his chubby little belly!
Too bad the image is fake. I think it looks obviously photoshopped, especially if you look at the shadow behind the kitten and the area of white fur above the kitten’s right arm.
I’ve only ever been to Marble Slab Creamery once. For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s the latest thing in ice-cream! Their ice-cream is freshly made (with actual cream I might add). It comes in many flavours and is so rich because it’s made with cream and not milk.
As if that wasn’t enough, the place gets it’s name due to it’s signature technique of mixing whichever ice-cream you choose with a wide array of different add-ins. Everything from chocolates to nuts and candies is available. As a result, ice-cream here is a truly personalized experience!
It is a bit pricier than most places ($6.00-$8.00 per cone I believe) and you have to pay extra for more add-ins. It’s well worth it though!
Watch this video here from Singapore to get an idea of what it’s like, then search to see if there is one near you!
I think that I’ll start posting a cute picture of the day! Here’s what I found on Google today, it’s a free wallpaper.
