My Horrendous Henna Experience

Okay, so I needed to talk about this because, well, I've been trying to turn a lot of people away from chemical hair dyes. And so you should. One alternative I was excited to try was henna. Light Mountain has a suprisingly long list of henna hair colors you can choose from (and they also have amazing box art) and I was looking forward to trying. So I went online, ordered myself a box of Red henna, and waited impatiently for it to arrive.

When I finally got it, I couldn't wait to slap it on my head. It had been months since I'd dyed my hair with chemical color, and my roots were looking a bit ... well, we'll say "shabby," but that's being nice. I had heard from reviews and other websites that henna isn't exactly the easiest way to color your hair, with one of the keywords being "messy." Well, "messy" didn't even begin to cover it.

The directions had me dump a bag of this greenish powder into a bowl with 12 oz. of boiling water. Easy enough. Until the smell hit me. No one ever told me that henna has a very similar to smell to ... uh ... cow manure. Yes. Cow manure. I suppose it makes sense, being botanical and all, but I suppose I wasn't prepared for that.

So, after completing the recommended strand test and carefully following the rest of the directions, I started slapping the stuff onto my head. Let me tell you, not only did the stuff smell of cow manure, but it also had the same unfortunate texture. Kind of like lumpy, green yogurt. So basically, the stuff kept sliding off my head and plopping onto my sink, giving me more disturbing visions of a cattle ranch. I had put a ring of Vaseline around my hairline to keep the henna from dyeing my skin, but that didn't seem to help too much. The second that stuff touches your skin, it's dyed, even if it's only very lightly. Luckily, I have a mass of freckles, so a little splotch here and there wasn't as noticeable.

One other note: I have very short hair. Pretty much a pixie cut. And I had to use nearly the entire box on my head. So ladies, if you have long hair, you might want to buy a few boxes of henna dye for full coverage.

Once I finished putting the stuff in my hair (which took about 20 minutes), I wrapped my hair in plastic as recommended and waited for 45 minutes. Just enough time for my hair to completely absorb the smell of it, even after I rinsed it out (which was also a feat in its own). It had also leaked all over my scalp and my skin was a lovely shade of pizza-sauce orange. However, the color in my hair was nearly non-existent. Just a very small hint of orange-ish highlights and that was about it. At least it dyed my roots, though. Beggars can't be choosers.

Now, I'm sure lots of people use henna to dye their hair. Cleopatra used it, for crying out loud. And I'm sure many of those people have had much better experiences than yours truly. But I think I will be staying away from henna for awhile and just let my hair do its own thing. Smelling like manure for two days isn't exactly my cup 'o tea.

xo
Piękny

Happy Holidays, All

So Christmas has passed and everyone (including myself) is a little ho-ho-ho'ed out. But you know, I love Christmas and I really enjoyed handing out homemade Piekny Cookie gift bags to my friends and family. Hopefully they can get some good use out of their sugar scrubs, perfume oils and lotions!

Speaking of making products, I have a whole bunch of new items I'm about to add to my Etsy shop. Just a couple of days ago I added some yummy-tasting Very Cherry and Skinnamon Spice lip balm, my new line of eight ounce bags of bath salt, shimmery Orange Nilla body oil (AWESOME for after baths) and Monkey Farts (yeah, that's right) perfume oil. Please check them out if you get a chance.

Oh, and ALSO .... in honor of the cold, dry weather we're about to get into, I've put my CITRUSH and LAVENDERP dry shampoos on sale for $4, plus discounted shipping, until midnight on January 1st! Dry shampoo is ideal for the winter months because the more you use wet shampoo, the drier and more static-prone your hair gets. And don't even get me started on the damage it will do to the ends. Ugh. With dry shampoo, all you have to do is rub a little bit of the powder into your scalp and roots, let it sit for a few seconds, then brush out. The cornstarch and baking soda in the shampoo sucks up all the grease and keeps nasty smells away. Not that I think any of you lovely cookies smell, mind you. ;)

Anyway, I hope you all have a great New Year! I'm planning on taking at least 20 pounds off my ass this year (my New Year's resolution), but I'm also going to work on keeping my skin and hair healthy and away from icky chemicals.

xo
Piękny

Cyber Monday!

So all weekend I've had a 20% off sale on Piękny Cookie products on Etsy for Black Friday weekend. Well, I'm also going to extend that sale into Monday!

Plus, if you purchase an item, be prepared to receive another full-sized surprise item in honor of Cyber Monday! Obviously, only my cookies who subscribe to my blog will see this, so make sure to tell your friends, family, mothers, aunts, sisters, uncles (hey, some dudes might be into it) and anyone else you can think of! I'm just a small-town girl livin' in a small-town world and -- okay, so that might be too much. Eh hem.

But anyway, don't forget to enter the code BLACKFRIDAY20 at checkout to receive your 20% off any of the items in my store! And look forward to your holiday surprise ....

Piękny Cookie Etsy Shop

xo
Piękny

The Horrors of Hair Color

Okay, so I admit it ... I'm a hair color addict. My hair hasn't been it's natural color -- a delightful shade which I like to call "poopy brown" -- since I was about 17. I've tried pretty much every boxed color known to man, and have had my hair colored professionally once (and it will be the last time, too ... UGH). My hair has gone from long to short to mid-length back to short again to asymmetrical and has been a rainbow of colors. It's great fun coloring your hair; until you start to suffer the consequences.

When I was growing my hair out -- before I chopped it all off Spring 2011 -- I noticed something awful: no matter what I did, no matter how much deep conditioner I applied to my hair, I couldn't get rid of split ends. I found a few products that worked well, namely Renpure Amazing Miracle. But guess what, ladies? Split ends aren't something you can just "cure" with conditioner. Once the hair is split, that's it. The only way to get rid of it is to cut it off. Hence why my hair is now only about four inches long.

My concerns started to get a little more serious when I started making my own beauty products. I picked up the book "The Green Beauty Guide" by Julie Gabriel and let me tell you, it opened my eyes. I just so happened to open the book to the area about hair color. According to the book, researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York found that hair dyes increase the risk of breast cancer. Not only that, in 2005 another study concluded that coloring your hair for 20 years or more increases the risk of glioma, a type of brain tumor. Uh, I don't know about you, but risking a tumor just to look good isn't exactly ... let's say, practical.

What Gabriel suggests in her book is to avoid hair color altogether. What causes awful things to happen to your body are the main ingredients in many hair dyes. Those ingredients include:

Phenylenediamine
Aminophenol
Ethanolamine
Hydroquinone
2,4 - Diaminophenoxyethanol

If you think those are hard to pronounce, you should read about what they can do to your hair and body. These are all cancer-causing ingredients found in home hair color kits. Besides this horrifying shit list, you can also expect a plethora of ingredients that cause breathing difficulties and dermatitis.

So the real question is ... what do you do if you want to keep coloring your hair? Lucky you! There is an alternative, albeit a messier alternative: henna. Henna has been approved by the FDA as a safe hair colorant, which is always a nice thing to hear. Cleopatra used henna thousands of years ago to make herself look gorgeous. So why shouldn't you feel like a queen, too? You can choose from three different types of henna (there aren't many color options, unfortunately): red, natural and black. Both red and black henna will dye your hair, while natural henna will nourish your hair without coloring it. You know those glossing kits you can buy at the store that are chock full of chemicals? Natural henna is kind of like that, but without the irritants. It can increase the volume of your hair, relieve scalp irritation and make your hair more manageable overall, according to Gabriel.

Of course, there are some downsides. Henna is kind of messy to use and you have a very limited color palette. You should also wait a couple of months for the chemicals from your previous hair dye experience wash out before using henna, since this can mess with the color and leave you with a splotchy head. And of course, of course, of course, ALWAYS do a strand test before splashing the stuff all over your hair. It may be natural, but that doesn't mean some people can't be allergic to it.

Gabriel recommends Aubrey Organics Color Me Natural™  hair color or Light Mountain Natural hair color. I love Light Mountain Natural products because of the artwork on their boxes, as well. So artistic. Rainbow Research also has a line of products for relatively cheap.

So if you can't let go of the bottle, but want to live a healthier lifestyle, ditch your Revlon or L'Oreal and go for something that doesn't contain cancer-causing ingredients. Even if those store-bought boxed dyes use words like "natural" or "herbal," don't fall for it. Leave your hair shiny, manageable and your body healthy with all-natural henna dyes.

xo
Piękny

Affair of the Arts

Besides creating beauty products, I'm also an illustrator. I'll be attending Affair of the Arts in Spring Grove, IL on November 13th, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. And guess what ... Piekny Cookie lip balm will also be there being handed out at super discounted prices! Here's another kicker: if you buy a print of mine, you'll get your lip balm for FREE. Oh, yes. I said it. So if you like free snacks, great art and a really nice environment (with wine, of course!), check out Affair of the Arts.

xo
Piękny

Etsy Shop is Up!

The official Piekny Cookie Etsy shop is UP! It's about time, too. Right now I'm offering several yummy-smelling lip balms, bath salts, dry shampoos and dusting powders. There will be many more products in the near future, but for now I'm starting small and going with the basics.

Check it out at Piekny Cookie's Etsy Shop.

For those of you who browse my store, a big THANK YOU to your from yours truly. I obviously won't go far without all of you beautiful cookies, so all the credit goes to you for giving me a reason to get this shop started. Offering you guys great products without nasty chemicals is a goal of mine that I hope to achieve. The next goal is that you will love those products!

Stay tuned for upcoming products ... and as a special THANK YOU to anyone who purchases from my shop, I'll be offering free shipping! Just enter the code "cookieship" at checkout.

Thanks again, everyone! Love.

xo
Piękny

Getting Crafty

Well, I've gone and done it. I just ordered 12 bottles of fragrance oils from Amazon.com. And you know what? I feel pretty stinkin' good about it.

Okay, let me fill you in.

It's been months since I last checked in to Piekny Cookie. I'd pretty much abandoned the idea of blogging, since I'd had a pretty nasty experience with an online content publisher that I'd worked for for a couple of years. Let's just say I lost my taste for instructional writing.

Well, since then, I've started getting creative. I mean, I'm an artist, so I suppose being creative is just part of the job. But this is the type of creative where I start to feel alive ... all that expressing myself has really made me feel better about myself and what I do for a living. Here's what I did: rediscovered Etsy.

After posting several prints on Etsy for sale, the mounting interest in my work has kept my spirits high for the past month. Oddly enough, it has also sparked my interest in other things. Namely, creating my own natural beauty products. From art to cosmetics? Sounds like a big leap, right? But listen; I feel that creativity is the same no matter what you're doing. Whether it be painting, baking, perfuming, playing the piano ... it really all does the same thing. It makes you feel like a real person, the person you want to be.

And everyone knows that I LOVE makeup. I love it. I am constantly purchasing various vials, tubes, tubs, bottles and sticks of things that'll make your cheeks rosy, your smile glossy and your face dewy and fresh. I'm simply not content with finding a "favorite" makeup and sticking with it for years and years and years. I'm always on the lookout for something fresh, something new.

Among the "new" things I've tried recently -- and I don't want to sidestep here, but this deserves a mention -- cosmetics by Noella Beauty Works really have stood out. I recently purchased a premium coverage mineral foundation as well as a sassy peach-colored mineral blush that I absolutely love. Just the right amount of shimmer and such a juicy delicious color! I even went out and splurged on a good kabuki brush so I would get the best blend possible. And I love the stuff. The coverage is really light and non-drying and it blends into my skin tone perfectly. I highly recommend it. You can check out the website at noellabeautyworks.com, but there is also an Etsy page where you can shop.

Anyway, so my excursion in natural beauty products begins. After years and years of making avocado face masks, mayonnaise hair moisturizers and yummy sugar scrubs, I've finally decided to put all my research to work. I'm going to start off with some great dusting powders and possibly some lip products as well, so stay tuned!