Easy and cute semi-updo hair tutorial

One day my friend Cassidy was rockin this super cute semi-updo that looked perfect for either a casual day or even a special event. When I said I loved her hair, she was like, "Oh it's so easy and quick to do. It's my go-to hairstyle. I'll have to show you how I do it sometime."

So I not only took her up on that offer, but decided it needed to be a hair tutorial blog post, too. you're welcome!

What you'll need:
• about 5 minutes
• preferably semi damp hair
• a comb (if your hair doesn't part naturally)
• a hairband

See, it's already looking pretty easy!

Step one: After your hair is parted to one side, choose the side with the larger amount of hair and take a small section of hair from roots. You will then twirl this piece of hair back and then hold it with that same hand.

Step two: Use your other hand to take the next small section of hair underneath what you have already twirled back (which you are still holding). Wrap this new section of hair around and into what is already been twirled.

Step three: Again, you're taking your free hand that is not holding what you have twirled back and using it to grab the next small piece of hair at the base of your hairline and twirl it into what has already been twirled.

Step four: You continue this process of pulling new pieces of hair under the large portion that has already been twirled and along the base of your hairline, and then adding those pieces into the twirled hair.

Step five: Eventually you will have all of your hair twirled into one big piece and there will be a pretty "crown effect" going around the bottom of your hair.

Step six: Using a hairband, secure everything you have twirled together in one piece into a low bun.

Ta da! Now you're looking cute and put together, whether you're all dressed up for a night out at an upcoming holiday party or if it's just another day at work.

ps. HUGE thanks to Cassidy for sharing her tips and agreeing to let me photograph her for this post! 

Splurge on: Hair care

I've been just a tad bit consumed with the way my hair looks these past few months (exhibit A: yesterday's post, followed by this one!). Half the time I feel like it's not long enough and the other half of the time I think I should
cut it because it looks so damaged to me. And even though coloring it certainly helps, I think maybe if I had just a
few more products in my arsenal, I'd be a little bit more satisfied with my daily hair routine.

Since I am lucky enough to be able to wear my hair straight or wavy/curly, here are a few products I've got my
eye on. Some of them are tried and true and I know they are a success, while some of them just look like
something fun that I need to try out.

1. Curly Sexy Hair Shampoo, $13.03
2. Aveda Damage Remedy Daily Hair Repair, $22.00
3. Biosilk Silk Therapy, $18.38
4. Matrix Sleek Look Blow Down Extreme Cream, $7.60
5. Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray, $5.99
6. Remington TStudio Ceramic Pearl Curling Wand, $25.99

Do you have any hair products that you love and want to recommend? I'm all ears! Leave me a comment below.
I'd love to try out your suggestions!

DIY: Dye It Yourself

Ever since I've had such great success with coloring my own hair for the past three times in a row, I've decided
that going forward, as long as I am only doing an all over color, I will always color my own hair. I figure it saves
me at least $40, not to mention I can color it anytime I want. There's no appointment necessary!

So if you're in the mood to DIY (dye it yourself) here are a few tips that you might find helpful:

1. Pick a day or night to color your hair when you know you won't need to wash it for at least one day. I prefer
going two days without washing my hair after coloring it. I feel like this extends the color just a tad bit longer.

2. As mentioned before, I prefer Revlon Colorsilk. It's the cheapest on the market, I've never been disappointed
with the color and the conditioner that comes in the box is ah-mazing.

3. Remove anything white or light colored in your bathroom that you do not want stray hair color to get on.
Accidents happen and you don't want to ruin that pretty white shower curtain or rug!

4. Wear a dark colored top and/or something you don't mind getting hair dye on.

5. I follow the box directions almost exactly. I only stray from not "testing" a strand of hair and I don't part my
hair in four parts. I just pour it on top of my hair and lather it in.

6. Be sure that you fully saturate all of your hair. There's nothing worse than color streakage.

7. Keep a dark colored towel nearby for spills.

8. Also dampen one of the corners of this towel so you can immediately wipe away any color that smears
around the edge of your hairline and face.

9. Que up a TV show to watch or a book to read while you wait for the color to soak in for 30+ minutes.

10. If you do use Revlon Colorsilk, I like to use only half of the deep conditioning after I rinse the color out. Then
I use the other half when I wash my hair a few days later.

Do you guys have any tips for coloring your hair that I have left out? Or do you have a different over-the-counter color that you prefer?

Product pick: Revlon Colorsilk

After reviewing photos from a recent shoot, I noticed that my hair color had finally started to fade. But right now, my schedule just does not allow time for me to make an appointment at Aveda for a Saturday. So I figured I'd just take matters into my own hands.

Based on the price point, I had used REVLON® COLORSILK™ before and liked the results, so I decided to give it another whirl. Only this time I chose a shade just a little bit darker. Again, I loved the color and probably because it met my expectations. Usually when you color your hair, you base your expectations on the photo of the girl on the box and it turns out to be a disaster, but so far Revlon is 2 for 2 with me! And it's the cheapest on the aisle at Wal-mart, coming in at only $3.14 compared to $6.00+ of the other brands.

Oh and did I mention it comes with a deep conditioner that leaves your hair feeling ah-mazing and smells fantastic? Yep, this product is a win-win-win for me. So if you're in the need for a fast hair color fix, I'd cast my vote for REVLON® COLORSILK™. It's definitely my new go-to.

ps. There's still a few more hours left to enter my giveaway! Hurry while you can!

Happy Birthday Blog-giveaway!

I cannot believe it. My blog turns one today!

And while, yes, some weeks I have been a little more MIA than others, still...I have been blogging for one year. This means it's time to celebrate! Seeing that it is Valentine's Day, I thought it was only appropriate to "share the love" and celebrate with a giveaway. So I'm giving away all things Fashionplate Cheapskate approved that I love.

Here is a list of what one lucky winner will receive:
1. My favorite eye makeup remover
2. My favorite nail polish - Sinful Colors in Nirvana
3. My new favorite hair product - Suave dry shampoo
4. Sinful Colors nail polish in Rise and Shine
5. Flower cocktail ring from my mom's store, Oopsy Daisy
6. Sinful Colors nail polish in Purple Diamond
7. My current favorite accessory (thanks Em!) - Feather earrings
8. Sinful Colors nail polish in Unicorn
9. And not pictured is a set of 10 personalized stationery notecards designed by yours truly

Here's how to enter:
Simply leave a comment below with your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. It's just that easy!

For one bonus entry each:
1. Follow me on twitter and leave a comment to let me know

2. Follow me on bloglovin and leave a comment to let me know

Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. CST on February 28, 2012. Good luck!

**And so sorry gals, but this time you must be a US resident to enter**

Product pick: Suave Dry Shampoo

Recently I was at a concert with my friend Amy of To Do by Amy, when one of her friends let us in on one of her hair care secrets: Suave Dry Shampoo. I was amazed. First, that Suave had a dry shampoo and I didn't know about it. And second, that it worked so well. Because let me tell you, her hair looked amazing.

So of course, I had to investigate this one for myself and for $3.00 a bottle, I figured it was worth the trial investment. I have to say, I think it works! It's definitely a lot less messy than baby powder, and it doesn't show up like baby powder does. It's way cheaper than other dry shampoos on the market. Plus, it smells ah-mazing! You guys seriously need to try this one out for yourselves.

Bangs or no Bangs? That's the question.

If it were possible, I'd have bangs/fringe year round. But I have to accept that I have naturally wavy hair and attempting fringe in the miserable hot and humid summers in the south is just out of the question. I'm not sure what that would look like and I'm too afraid to try, so I have this cycle of cutting my bangs in the fall/winter and growing them out come spring.

I'm going on my third year now with this cycle, and it made me wonder if maybe I should just stop altogether and continue to grow the bangs all the way out. So I'm leaving the fringe debate in my reader's hands. So what should I do? Cut em or grow em?

Help me decide and take my poll below!

Should I cut my bangs again or continue to grow them out?

Buy this, not that: Frizz control

As a girl with naturally wavy/thick hair, I have long been a fan of hair serum, particularly John Frieda's Frizz Ease. But at almost $8.00 a (tiny) bottle, it became harder for me to justify buying it. So when I was recently at Wal-mart and saw the Schwarzkopf Zero Frizz hair serum that looked oddly similar, yet came in a larger bottle and was half the price, I figured it was worth taking a risk to see if it worked just as well as the more expensive "real deal."

Well, guess what. (drum roll please...) It does work just as well! And it also smells incredible, too. So now that I've been your guinea pig, you should try it as well. But word to the wise: as with any hair serum, avoid using too much, especially at the roots of your hair.

Happy de-frizzing!

Product Pick: Aveda Smooth Infusion

photo: Laura Menconi

I've mentioned before that I'm a huge fan of the Aveda Institute here in Birmingham. One reason is because it's so affordable, I always have leftover money to spend on products while I'm there. The last time I visited, I picked up their Smooth Infusion Style Prep Smoother and I have to say I've found a new product that has become imperative to my morning routine. I've noticed that if I accidentally forget to apply it, my hair becomes a flyaway hot mess in this crazy Alabama humidity. This product is exactly what my wavy hair has been missing.

The best part is that although the full size bottle is $24.00, I was able to purchase the trial size for a lot cheaper...I think it was somewhere around $5.99. Luckily, a little goes a long way with this magic potion! I'm still using my trial size bottle and I've had it since mid-March. So if you're like me and you have wavy/curly hair and flyaways have always been a problem, do yourself—and your hair—a favor and pick up a small bottle today!

Hair "Dos"

Ok ladies, I know we all love our hair stylists. I mean, we search relentlessly to find "the" hair stylist that is "perfect" for us and we never let him or her go, if we can help it. Am I right? I know I certainly fit this description. Even when I moved to Birmingham, I refused to quit driving almost two hours home to use my same stylist. Sounds crazy, I know, but I had been with her for 10 years!

But if the time ever comes for you (like it did for me) when those trips to the salon become too much for your pocketbook to handle, then I have a solution for you: student salons. Here in Birmingham I found out that I had two student salon options to choose from, one of which was Aveda. I couldn't believe it. My old stylist always used Aveda products on my hair and I loved them. There's something about the way they smell that make me immediately think of hair that's "fresh from the salon." Also, I knew that Aveda was well established and I could totally trust anything they did, so I knew my hair would be in good hands, whether those were a student or an instructor's hands.

So I'd say that one hair "do" is "do" try out an Aveda Institute! For my color, a haircut and style last Saturday it was just $45 - you can't beat that price anywhere! Since this was so cheap I could afford to leave a nice tip and also buy some products. And of course, like I said, it's Aveda, so it's totally professional and you walk away looking like a million bucks — just like you would at any other salon. There's always an instructor nearby if the student needs help and an instructor always consults before and after to be sure that the student is on the right track. I have personally never been unhappy with the past 4 times I have visited the Aveda Institute, but something tells me that if I were, they would no doubt fix a problem, should there ever be one.

As with most things that save you money, you tend to pay in other ways, like your time. Because they are students who are learning, it does tend to take them a little bit longer than it would at another salon with a seasoned stylist. To that I say, just bring a magazine! Lucky for me, I got Tiffany last Saturday who was just about to graduate this May and she got me out of there pretty quickly. She did an amazing job of course, but if things work out for her she'll be at the DL Salon soon, so hopefully if you're in the Birmingham area, you'll be able to visit her there this summer after she graduates. She was also very complimentary of and happy to work around another one of my hair "dos" — a feather extension!

After I saw my very cool rockstar friend Bekah with a feather extension in her hair, I just had to have one for myself. Luckily while out in Cali last week, there were two girls at Venice Beach who were putting them in girls' hair like crazy! If you don't know of a stylist who is currently doing feather extensions, Tiffany told me about finefeatheredheads.com last Saturday, so I'm sure you could purchase one from that site and have a friend or your own stylist put it in for you. They are easy to style and you can wash them with your hair as you normally would and they can last anywhere from a month to three months. I definitely love mine and hope that it lasts a long time! Otherwise, I will be on the prowl for a new one online!

Ok, wow, sorry for the long post, but please "do" check out Aveda for a student salon near you (if you don't have an Aveda Institute nearby, I'm sure there are other student salons in your area) and also "do" check out finefeatheredheads.com for your own feather extension!

The Aveda Institute here in Birmingham. 

My hair after Tiffany worked her magic - I am loving the new color!

Here's a better closeup of my feather extension.