Makting it is easy, and actually pretty quick for infused alcohol… heres how you do it:

You need:

a bunch of skittles

empty/clean water bottles or jars (one for each color you plan on making)

cheap vodka (Svedka)

12 oz measuring cup with pour spout

coffee filters

large funnel

bottles or jars for packaging

Start by separating out the skittles by color. Decide how many ounces of each color you want… Then collect 8-10 skittles per ounce of vodka, so for an example I did 8 ounces of each and used about 80 skittles of each color.

Next put the skittles with the correct amount of vodka in each water bottle/jar and shake a bunch.

Let them sit over night

Once everything is dissolved and it looks kinda murky/thick but nothing big still floating, it is time to start filtering. This part gets MESSY so do this in an easy to clean location. After giving the a bottle one last good shake, put the funnel into the measuring cup and line it with a few coffee filters. Pour the vodka through the filter… this process takes patience and gets easier as you figure it out a little. Then transfer the funnel to the decorative bottle and line it with one filter. Pour the vodka through again and fill the bottle. Cork the bottle, clean out the funnel and measuring cup and repeat with all of the colors. I choose to freeze mine and mix it with sprite or club soda (less sweet).

Enjoy!

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Tip: Don’t use too much alcohol or the newspaper will merge with your fingernail polish.

1. Sprinkle your roots

Sprinkle a bit of baking soda into oily areas of your hair as a dry shampoo, if you don’t have time to wash with regular shampoo. Comb the baking soda through your hair gently to avoid clumps, and then blow-dry with cool air for several seconds.

2. Super-glue a split nail

Instead of tearing off your nail when it breaks, put a tiny dab of Super Glue over the split, and paint a generous layer of your favorite nail polish shade over it. Go for an opaque option (like red, purple, or coral) to camouflage and seal the crack.

3. Fix calluses with Vaseline

Slather petroleum jelly over rough spots on your feet, and put on socks before bed to dissolve tough calluses overnight.

4. Spot-treat smudges

Dip a cotton bud in eye-makeup remover, and trace it along your lids to quick-fix any slipups or smudges when there’s no time to redo your whole look.

5. Fix foundation overload

If you apply too much foundation, simply press a damp facecloth over you face to stop it from looking like a make-up mask!

6. Soften your skin with avocado

Take a ripe avocado, remove the pit and skin, and mash it up in a bowl. Slather it all over your body, let it sit for 20 minutes, then rinse off. Your skin will be sooo soft as avocado is a natural moisturizer.

7. Scent your hair with perfume

Spray a light shot of fragrance into the bristles of your brush. Brush your hair from roots to ends and your hair will smell amazing throughout the day.

8. Use makeup remover on stubborn lipstick

Don’t try to rub off red lipstick (which makes it smear across your mouth — not a good look). Instead, take a cotton ball or tissue, dip it in makeup remover, and just dab to erase the dark stain fast.

9. Tame eyebrows with your eye cream

Pat any kind of rich eye cream over brows to help keep them hydrated and stop those icky white specks that look like dandruff.

10. Fade away fake tan

If you find yourself streaking (not glowing) after applying self-tanner, put some baking soda on a loofah, and buff away the stripes.

11. Brush on hair spray

For the final step of your blow-dry, spray hair spray onto your brush, and run it through strands from roots to tips. This way, your hair isn’t so plastered and stiff but still holds volume and shine.

12. Boost your body lotion with baby oil

If your skin dries out in winter, blend a drop of baby oil into your normal body lotion to add  extra moisture.

13. Dab essential oil on neglected cuticles

Put on apricot oil, the kind found in health-food stores, to protect cuticles from turning rough and raggedy.

photo by bellaMUMMA

14. Freeze your eyeliner

If the tip of your eyeliner pencil crumbles and smears all over your eyes, store your eyeliner in the freezer for 15 minutes before use so the tip is firm and goes across your skin smoothly.

15. Use toothpaste on a zit

Use just a pea-size amount. Let sit for 15 minutes to absorb the oil so the pimple won’t get more clogged, then wash off.

16. Heat up your curler

If you have stick-straight lashes, try blasting your metal eyelash curler with a hair dryer for a couple seconds to heat it up so your lashes bend more easily. And use a waterproof mascara. The formula dries faster than other mascaras, so it sets the curl better.

17. Use soap without water

You know those cute soaps that are actually too pretty to use? Toss them in your underwear or tee-shirt drawers to make your skin smell delicious.

18. Groom your eyebrows with a toothbrush

Mist an (unused!) toothbrush or eyebrow comb with hair spray to help flatten and tame and shape your eyebrows.

19. Put nappy-rash cream on dry spots

Slather on a thick layer of nappy-rash cream to heal cracked elbows and feet.

20. Lubricate your lashes

If you’re not a fan of wearing mascara every day, comb petroleum jelly lightly through the tips of eyelashes to get a subtle sparkle.

21. Steamroll frizzies and flyaways

Spray on hair spray, then roll the hairspray can over your hair. The round bottle fits the curved shape of your head, locks in the spray, and flattens out frizz.

22. Plump your kisser

Cinnamon is the active ingredient in many expensive lip plumpers — add a few sprinkles of cinnamon to your gloss or use cinnamon oil on your lips, which you can get at natural-food stores. It’s a lot cheaper and does the same thing.

23. Press a teabag on splotches

If your skin is sensitive or just looking irritated and puffy for some reason, steep a bag of green tea for a minute or two, let it cool down, and dab it over your face. The antioxidants in the tea take down inflammation.

24. Shave with conditioner

Apply a thick hair conditioner to your legs before you shave. It acts like a shaving cream and softens the hair so it’s easier to shave off and makes legs feel amazingly silky.

25. Boost your hair’s shine with vinegar

Mix one part vinegar with four parts carbonated water, and soak dry hair. Leave on for 15 minutes before you shampoo to lock in shine and combat dullness.

26. Customize your lipstick

When you’re tired of a lipstick shade, melt a few old ones together. Just cut off the stubs, pop them in the microwave, and pour into a little tin. Rub it on like lip balm.

27. Use every drop of perfume

When you get to the bottom of your scent and it won’t spray out anymore, pour it into your body wash or an unscented moisturizer to get more use out of it

28. Make an egg-white mask

To revive tired, dull skin try this: Crack open an egg in a bowl, separate the yolk, and use the egg whites to make a face mask. The proteins help to heal and restore skin’s moisture. Leave it on for five minutes, and rinse off.

29. Dry sensitive skin with toilet paper

Instead of drying your face with a scratchy towel, pat with toilet paper-it’s ultrasoft on delicate skin (and bums!).

30. Treat your feet

Add Epsom salts to a foot bath to soothe tired feet and reduce swelling after a busy day!

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Move over, argan oil and shea butter. Stylists are all abuzz about the latest miracle hair treatment: bull semen.

After reading about sperm-based facials, one British stylist began chatting away with her clients.

“When a client asked where she could get a sperm-based hair treatment done to feed her protein deprived locks … I was speechless,” the stylist said on Stylecaster.com.

She did some research and came across a “Aberdeen Organic Bull Semen Treatment.” Hari’s, a salon in London, is offering clients a conditioning treatment made out of bull’s semen. Hari’s has been one of London’s top salons for over 30 years and prides itself on offering some of London’s most exciting new treatments sourced from around the world.

It has become the most talked about treatment in London. Touted as “Viagra for Hair,” this 45-minute treatment ranges from £55 to £85 ($90-$138 U.S.) and uses semen from Aberdeen Angus bulls. Hari’s combines the sperm with the root of the protein-rich plant Katera. The protein-enriched potion is massaged into the client’s hair after it has been shampooed. Then the client is put under heat so the treatment penetrates the hair. The final step is the blow out, which gives the hair an awful lot of body, as well as shine.

“I have been searching for an organic product with a lot of protein because that is what hair is made of and that is what it lacks when it is dry,” says salon owner Hari Salem. “The semen is refrigerated before use and doesn’t smell. It leaves your hair looking wonderfully soft and thick.”

Salem told media that he tried hundreds of products—including wild avocados and truffle oil—before hitting on bull semen as the elusive element in a formula for making hair look gorgeous. His salon also offers such treatments as Kerastase Hair Rituals and mind-soothing Indian Head Massage.

Salem says the treatment repairs, restores and brightens any hair. He says he has no shortage of customers.

“It will be an ongoing treatment as long as the bulls perform,” he says.

According to CosmeticsDesign.com, the trend may actually have started with Norwegian based company Maritex, which stated that it was the main producer of Cod sperm for use in cosmetic products.

The company suggested that the sperm successfully binds water in body lotions and make-up, with the company said to have sold seven tons of processed cod sperm for use in cosmetics in 2002.

However, the motive behind the Hari’s salon’s decision to use the controversial ingredient was more scientific, with the protein in the semen thought to actively complement the protein contained in hair molecules.

Bull semen may be the latest attempt by hair manufacturers to find pure forms of protein that match the hair protein quantities in order to create the most effective hair care treatment. With the bull semen and Katira plant extract mix giving an almost instant and odorless finish, the treatment may be the start of big things to come, says CosmeticsDesign.com.

Because semen has to be refrigerated in straws until use, it could be a while before it becomes a staple in hair-care products. And with its high cost, the ingredient would be aimed at the premium hair care market.

According to Mintel data, other unusual animal ingredients are being used in Asia and Latin America, with many companies incorporating placenta ingredients into skin care products, according to CosmeticsDesign.

Sofface cosmetics, based in China, has created a make-up base that contains sheep placenta, while the Guangzhou Sisder Health & Beauty company has based an entire skin care and body line using the same ingredient.

And that’s no bull.

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Won’t you be my neighbor?

Courtesy Of BlackHairInformation.com

Daily

• Moisturize and seal daily or at least every other day depending on your hair’s needs. Fine strands may want to go with light oils like coconut oil but coarse strands should go with shea butter or other heavy oil.
• Drink water daily, this helps with optimal skin and hair health.
• If you have opted to include vitamins in your regimen take them daily for maximum effect.
• Style your hair with your fingers only but try and make your styles last all week without restyling!
• Green house effect (GHE) some people add this to their regimen daily to increase hair growth, remember though that as a natural GHE will encourage shrinkage and shrinkage is not a good friend of a hair grower.
• Accessorize daily to avoid getting bored with protective styling!
• Cover your hair nightly with a satin bonnet or sleep on a satin pillowcase.

Weekly

• Naturals are not as prone to hygral fatigue as relaxed hair but pre-pooing is a good practice anyway because it prevents excessively dry strands after your shampoo.
• Choose sulfate free shampoos to wash your hair wherever possible or skip the shampoo step all together.
• Deep condition with heat while alternating your protein and moisturizing deep treatments. Naturals who don’t color their hair will not need a great deal of protein.
• Steam treatments – These will soften very coarse strands better than any conditioner so invest in a good steamer if you can afford to.
• Optimally you should include scalp massages into your regimen daily but if you are too busy at the very least give your scalp a good massage while you wash your hair every week.
• Naturally your wash day should be the only time that you use combs and brushes and even then very minimally. Detangle GENTLY from ends working your way up to the  roots.
• Do your twist/braid outs on wet hair so that you can get maximum staying power from the style. This allows you to go all week without having to restyle your hair.
• Diffusers on a COOL setting can also be used weekly without any negative effects. These are especially useful in colder months when you don’t really want to be walking around with wet hair!

Monthly

• Protective styling is very important for natural hair growth. Try to keep your hair away for a least 3 weeks out of every month. If you are not into weaves or wigs, you can do this by twisting your hair and wearing the twists for two weeks before releasing them for a twist out on the third week. That way you are keeping your detangling sessions to just 1 a month!
• For weave wearers, I would strongly suggest that you take them down and re-do them monthly. This allows you to give your hair and scalp a good cleaning, get rid of shed hair and prevents matting which inevitably leads to more breakage when left unchecked.
• Do your hot oil or other treatments like the caramel treatment or henna.
• Naturals tend to be quite heavy handed with oils and also tend to avoid shampoos in favor of co-washing so if you start noticing a flaky scalp you may want to clarify your hair at this point.

6-8 Weeks

• Hard protein treatments for naturals are on a ‘needs must’ basis. Black hair in it’s stucture is inherently weaker than other hair types so it does tend to need a helping hand in the strength department. Some naturals may be able to maintain a good moisture protein balance just with alternating their conditioners weekly but others will find that they do better with an Aphogee every 8 weeks or so. If you have every lifted color from your hair with bleach or peroxide however, protein treatments are a must!
• If it is too time consuming or expensive to re-do braided styles monthly don’t let them go over the 8 week mark because matting will almost certainly happen which could lead to a major setback.

12+ Weeks

• Hair color – If you are using box colors that contain peroxide/ammonia, for the same reason as with relaxers you will want to have a fair bit of hair growth before retouching them obviously to avoid double processing the hair. Of course if you are using herbal colorants like henna, you can touch up your roots monthly.

Occasionally

• Although I am pro-choice when it comes to how you want to wear your natural hair, and some natural ladies prefer to wear it straight, I am also well aware that it is counterproductive to give the green light on regular use of heated tools. If you are a veteran and you have conclusively demonstrated an ability to retain length while using heated tools regularly, then carry on! If things start to go a bit wrong in your regimen though, heat should be the first thing you should remove.
• It’s also worth a note that although I have mentioned heat training in the past as an option for natural hair, I think in the wrong hands it has the potential to cause more harm than good for the beginner and that’s why I don’t include it i this pyramid.
• A final word on heat, (and you are going to have to take my word on this ) you will find that as your hair grows longer, it will become harder and harder to go through the process of straightening your hair with any form of regularity. Eventually for the sake of saving time (and sanity) you will probably find that you want to use heat only a few times a year to check length or for a special occasion.

Starring @biglotv Written by @MotivatedDame Edited by @PointsideProductions.

http://twitter.com/MotivatedDame (Red T-Shirt)

http://twitter.com/PoppinMedia

http://twitter.com/NutchPoppinHiphop (Blue T-shirt)

My Hair Type: 3C/4A

My Hair Color: 1B and Turquoise in the front

My Hair Goal(s):  Bra strap length 15″

Natural Since:  2000

My Hair Length:  12″

Preferred Protective Style:  Box braids and wigs

My Hair Inspirations:

HairCrush

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AliciaJames

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Teyana Taylor

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Kelis

Too many good dudes out there are giving their precious time, their hard earned money and their hearts to females, that to be frank with you, simply don’t deserve it. I’ve met countless dudes who have inadvertently or purposely chosen to fall in love with a whore…a tramp…a ho. Some have even chosen to marry such females.

But its a true saying indeed: You can’t make a ho into a housewife!
Read More…

Alicia Keys and Maxwell on a record together sounds like pure joy. “Fire We Make” is the latest single to drop from Alicia’s forthcoming Girl On Fire, and it sounds exactly like its title. Alicia opens the track with breathy vocals. It’s airy almost to the point of a whisper, only her voice is anything but quiet. Maxwell takes over the second verse with his beautiful high pitched range–his signature.

After they individually belt out the sweet sounds of passion the duo combine their pipes for a few runs. The sensual track is magical and alluring. The blaring trumpet and piano guiding their soulful voices makes for a heavenly song you could play on repeat for hours. The song ends with a divine solo guitar riff. Alicia and Maxwell seem like obvious collaborators because their voices mesh so well together. “Fire We Make” is going to get a lot of lovers in trouble.
 

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Don’t you hate it when you’re looking for a new hairstyle and can’t seem to find anything to show your hairstylist? I’ve done many searches on hairstyles and was left empty handed.  My hair is nappy/curly and I don’t want it straightened often.  It’s usually some funky color and I want it to stay that way. With my hair being the way that it is, its hard to find inspiration photos so I figured I’d hopefully  be an inspiration or reference point for someone else.  And since everyone else is posting their hair journeys, why shouldn’t I?

Here’s my journey to turquoise hair:

My hair is approx 14″ when straight. I have a triangle starting from the top of my head and ends at my temples that’s bleached blonde.

(The Triangle)
Process:

My hair was lightened to a platinum blonde color using L’Oreal Quick Blue Powder Lightener.

I bleached this section twice. This is not normally recommended because it leaves the hair brittle but I’ll bleach until I get the exact color I want.  Bleach at your own risk or have it professionally done.

I kept it blonde for about 6 months and then decided to dye my hair blue (I’ll show some blonde hairstyles later). Everybody’s calling my hair “Thunder Blue” after the OKC Thunder.
Next I used Ion Color Brilliance Brights Semi-Permanent Hair Color Turquoise.

The only reason I used this brand was because it was on sale. I usually browse the hair dye section until I find a color I like. Right now I’m really into blues. The Ion hair color holds up nicely and I haven’t had a problem with it fading.

I wanted it straight for my birthday.

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Blue kinky twists done by Bruque

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Blue Afro

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Turquoise & Midnight Blue Braids

I ordered the turquoise braiding hair from IkickShins.

I usually keep my hair braided because I work in a factory-like environment and an afro can get HOT in the summer.

midnight blue and black braids

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Saw this on Vh1Soul and had to share this artist.

Allen Stone is a Soul musician from Chewelah, Washington. Although people describe him to be a Soul and R&B singer, he sees himself as a hippie with soul.