Sensational Sunday –esalon hair color

Most women eventually get to the point where they start to color their hair unless they want to have the natural grey look. I have been coloring my hair for several years. It is such a costly habit!!! Usually anywhere from $80 to $130 for me. Being a family of 7 on one income, in kills me to spend that much on my hair! I also don’t feel like I can do it as often as needed because it costs so much. About a year ago, I saw an advertisement for esalon, but hadn’t actually tried it. Last week, I finally did and I am thrilled with the results!!!

Esalon has an easy survey that you answer and then it shows you the colors that are best for you. You can even include notes and a picture for your stylists. When you receive the color it has color and developer for your roots and color and developer for your length. It also comes with gloves, a brush, shampoo, conditioner, and two bottles. All of this for $20 ($10 your first time). I also bought clips, a bowl, a timer, and a cape. My total was a little under $30. The second and third shipments will just be for your roots, then the fourth will be roots and length again. They automatically send out your color to you as often as you request.

This is my before shot. As you can see I have dark brown hair. I have quite a bit of grey at the top and in the part which has also been difficult to color at the salon. My hair is naturally darker than this, but I had blond/caramel highlights. The color I ordered did not include highlights. They offer them and I may get them for summer, but I wanted to go back to one color.

I have to admit that I have an amazing husband who strives to bend over backward to make me happy! He offered to help me color my hair. (He basically did it for me.) For my roots we used the bottle and brush method. The color went on great and didn’t have a strong odor. For the length we did the bowl and brush method to paint the color on. The odor was a little stronger. The color was easy to do. The instructions that they sent were simple to understand and even came with a sticker to stick them to your mirror for easy access.

As you can see, we were a little messy and got it on my face and neck. I was a little concerned, but it all washed off in the shower and with the removal wipe they sent. My grey was covered even the difficult spot that stylists struggle with. I am VERY happy with the product.

Right after I washed and dried it the same day.

My hair was soft and smelled great!! I have naturally curly hair, but I dried it straight so we could see the color coverage.

The next day when ready to go to church.
One week later with my hair straightened.
Picture on the left one week after and picture on the right the day that I dyed it.

My experience with this product has been so positive!! I imagine I will continue to use it for a long time. You can go to the below link and get your first order at a 50% discount for only $10!!

https://www.esalon.com/

Or if you would like to let them know that I referred you, you can click on my personal referral link. Either way I hope that you visit them and find a less expensive way to beautifully color your hair!!!

https://www.esalon.com/invite/lcochran12

Sensational Sunday -Power Cooker

Several years ago, my mother in law bought me a Christmas gift that changed my life! She bought me the Power Cooker XL.

This is an electric pressure cooker, but it is not an Instant Pot. I have a friend who had another brand and she couldn’t put frozen food in it, which completely defeats the purpose of having one!

The particular appliance never leaves my counter top! I use it at least 4 times a week. I LOVE that I can put frozen chicken breasts in it and 25 minutes later they are completely cooked! When I make chili, I cook the frozen, ground venison, chop it up, then add the beans and tomato sauce. I have chili that tastes like it has been cooked all day in 45 minutes. Many recipes can be prepared in one pot.

As a homeschooling mom and a working mom about 9 years ago, I have always had trouble remembering to lay out frozen meat to put in the slow cooker or I would think of a slow cooker recipe at 4:00pm. Most slow cooker recipes can be easily converted to pressure cooker recipes. This has added an ease to my life that I cannot explain. This is by far my very favorite cooking appliance. It even outranks my kitchen aid mixer! If you have never used one, I highly recommend a pressure cooker!

Sensational Sunday –Lip Tint

Remember that I am a self-proclaimed make-up reject. So when Amazon posted an article about ten make-up items that you might love on Amazon, I read it. And when it mentioned the lip tint Ink Velvet by Peripera, I thought, “Why not?” The article said that this particular lip tint didn’t dry your lips out and was very affordable. I ordered two: Wow Pink and Hip Beige Pink.

I have found that the best way to apply it, is to put it on with the wand and let it sit for about 1/2 an hour. Then I blot it and wear. It took a little bit of trial and error since the instructions are all in Korean. I have found that I only have to use lip balm about twice a day with this product. It has also amazed me how it lasts ALL day! I documented wearing it all day.

When I first applied the Wow Pink.

After breakfast and lunch and two glasses of water.

5:00 after a snack and two more glasses of water. My face is showing absolute irritation with my kids. Hahaha! Life!

After dinner, drinking from a straw, and using a napkin. I did not reapply this product.

In the morning close up. At night close up.

As you can see, the product has lasting power. It truly does not dry out your lips. I have really enjoyed it. The Hip Beige Rose is a more natural lip tint and I use it on days that I want a more natural look. I LOVE this product. I paid $8 for one and $10 for the other. You can purchase the product at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=peripera+ink+velvet&crid=23HYUKOKDALB0&sprefix=peripera%2Caps%2C179&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_8

This is a Vlogger Video that I watched before purchasing:

If I walk outside without lipstick, I feel naked. — Sofia Vergara

Sensational Sunday–My Favorite Kid Apps

I have several different ages of children. For this post, I am just going to talk about a few of my favorite apps for my littles. These are apps that are great for the 3-6 year old range.

Learning apps: One of the newest apps that I found recently is Khan Kids. It is made by the creators of Khan Academy and is gear towards kids 2-5. I love this app. It is great for my kindergartners and it is a free app! Here is a video:

I also love the app Kiddopia. My kids really enjoy this app. It incorporates learning with very fun activities and super cool graphics. You can download a free version that has some activities. You can get the whole app for $60 a year. It really is a great app and has activities for ages 2-7 or 8.

The final app that I am going to recommend in this post is Hoopa City. It is in the Dr. Panda series of apps. It is a very fun app geared towards children 4-7, but my older kids like it too and will play when no one is watching! This app is similar to sim city for youngsters. You get to build your own city. By combining more than one of various items and you get new and bigger items. For example, if you combine 4 windmills, you get a power plant; 4 power plants and you get a nuclear power plant. We got this app for free through Amazon, but it is now $3.99 and worth every penny!!

These are three apps that my younger kids love! I hope that you enjoy them. I love that they make learning fun and that I can give my kids some screen time without the guilt.

Sensational Sunday –Maybelline eyestudio eyeliner

Truth be told, I am not a makeup person. I only wore makeup for special occasions until I was probably 35-37 and decided maybe I should do it everyday. Even then, I feel like a makeup reject! I wasn’t a teenager that spent hours perfecting my makeup and I am not an adult who watches makeup tutorials on YouTube. That being said, I was out with some of my girlfriends one night and we stopped by Target, the holy grail of shopping stores! While we were there, one of my girlfriends suggested that I try Maybelline eyestudio eyeliner. It comes in a pot with a brush for application. It looks so much more complicated than the regular crayon type pencil I normally use, but I decided to give it a try.

It is so much easier than the other pencil/crayon applicator! I LOVE it!! With most of the pencil type applicators you have to press fairly hard and I never felt like the eyeliner actually came out well. With the brush, you control how much eyeliner is on the brush and it always go on smoothly! I highly recommend you try it.

Sensational Sunday–Exclusive Offer

The KiwiCo found out about my blog post on their fantastic Tinker Crates!!! They are such a GREAT company that they gave me a special offer: my followers can get their first months subscription for free!!! Thanks KiwiCo!!! Check out the link for a free month when you subscribe! Let me know in the comments if you take advantage of this offer and how you like your crates! If you haven’t already, follow my blog so that you can take advantage of this great offer!!!

https://www.kiwico.com/layingdownthela

Sensational Sundays Tinker Crates

I have wonderful in-laws who, for the past two years, have gifted my children with a 3 month subscription to Tinker Crates for Christmas. These are some of my kids’ favorite gifts, and I love that they last for 3 months! This year each child received a different subscription. In the above picture from left to right: Tinker Crate, Kiwi Crate, Doodle Crate, Koala Crate, and Eureka Crate. The crates are divided by age of the child and interest level and come with a STEM project.

The Koala Crate is for 3-4 year olds. It comes with 3 projects and focuses on 1 theme. This month’s theme was bugs. In this crate, you make a lady bug bag to hold a bug’s eye viewer, a bug matching game, and felt bug wings and antenna. It also comes with a booklet that tells all about bugs in a story format.

The Kiwi Crate also comes with 3 STEM projects. This month’s theme was mirrors and kaleidoscope puzzles. In this box, the child will make three different types of kaleidoscopes. The age for this crate is 5-8. My five year old required a little help, but not much. The instructions for each project tell the level of parent help that is required. It also comes with a story magazine that explains the science behind the projects.

For my artistic child, we ordered the Doodle Crate. It has one art themed project every month. This time it came with the materials to sew your own portfolio or satchel. It comes with excellent step by step instructions and the many pieces are divided nicely. Doodle Crate is for ages 9-16+, but we purchased it for our 7 year old. He LOVED it! He did require a little help, but not much. The kit also came with a sketch pad that he carries in the portfolio along with his colored pens. It goes with him everywhere. It seems to be quite durable and I think that it will last a long time.

The Tinker Crate is for ages 9-16+ and it comes with one STEM based project. This month’s theme was space and it came with everything needed to build a planetarium. The child had to punch holes where the stars are and then assemble the dome. It came with a base and light bulb to project the stars onto the ceiling. I love that these kits come with blue print type instructions and tons of information on the science behind the project. My son is nine and only required a little assistance assembling the dome.

The Eureka Crate is for ages 14-104. It is by far the most complex of the crates and focuses on engineering. This month’s crate came with a build your own electric pencil sharpener. It comes with specific, step by step instructions that walk the child through the assembly. It also comes with plenty of scientific explanations and facts. We bought this crate for my 12 year old, figuring that we might have to help him some. That didn’t prove to be the case. He had no trouble following the instructions and building his own sharpener that now sits on his desk. He has even gone back to using real pencils instead of the mechanical ones that I purchased this year.

These crates are priced from $20 to $30 per month. The longer the subscription, the more you save and many times you can find a coupon code if you search for it. Over Christmas, they ran a special which was 3 months for $40. We took advantage of that sale! As a home educator and the wife of a science educator, I LOVE these crates! I love that they are centered around education, but are so fun that kids can’t wait to complete them. I LOVE that each kit comes with everything that is needed for the projects. The only thing you may need to provide is a pair of scissors. My boys count down the days until the next crate box arrives and they are always sad when the subscription is over! The company is also great to work with. Last year, one of the kits had a piece that stopped working after a week. They sent out a duplicate crate, not just the damaged piece, but a whole crate free of charge. I have also been impressed that the crate contents are durable. My kids are all still playing with crate creations from last year.

I LOVE this product!! If you would like to check out this SENSATIONAL SUNDAY product, check out the link below!

http://www.kiwico.com

***Update****

KiwiCo found out about this blog post and wanted to offer my followers a special offer. You can get your first month free when you subscribe to any tinker crate line!!!! So if you haven’t already, follow my blog by clicking the follow button and entering your email. Then click on the link for the special offer!! Leave a comment and let me know what you think of your first tinker crate!!

https://www.kiwico.com/layingdownthela

Sensational Sundays

Each Sunday I am going to try to highlight a few items that I think are sensational and that I LOVE!! These may be products, recipes, books, movies, or activities!

Today, I will be highlighting some Natural Oil Rollers that I use. These come from my friend’s store, Natural Cures and Creations http://naturalcuresandcreations.com/ . It all started with my horrible insomnia. My friend Ariel heard I was having problems and brought me a “Liquid Ambien” essential oil roller. It kicked my insomnia’s tush and I use it pretty much nightly now! Since then I have branched out and use many of her rollers: I have one for headaches, one for stuffy nose that I use with the kids a lot, and a “Happy Mama” roller that I love so much I use it as my perfume!! My personal experience with the natural oil rollers is that everything that I have tried has worked. They smell wonderful, don’t have harmful chemicals, and they are small enough that you can easily carry them in a purse, pocket, or glove box.

Natural Cures and Creations is a lovely shop and Ariel offers oils, specialty t-shirts, herbal teas, and many other natural products! If you’re within driving distance, I highly recommend the trip to see the shop. If you aren’t, then check out her online store. You won’t be disappointed!!

Nature itself is the best physician. -Hippocrates