After the Poof: {Your Questions Answered}

I hope y’all enjoyed the poofy ponytail tutorial yesterday! I really enjoyed recording the video and would LOVE to do more of these. I feel like I can recreate hairstyles so much better when I watch someone do it versus reading it step by step, so that’s why I did it!

I got a few follow-up questions via email and Twitter yesterday, which I’ll tackle here:

-What kind of brush did you use to tease your hair and where can I find it? That brush is called the Centrix Sculpting Brush 390 and you can get it here for $6.49! It is THE BEST for creating massive poofs.

-Did you use the rat tail comb in the video? I actually didn’t use it, because I did a BIG poofy ponytail. The rat tail can be used the same way as the Centrix brush to create a more subtle (read: less massive) poof. I change it up depending on what mood I’m in. Tough days call for big poofs.

-Did you say you had a style for shorter haired girls? I do! And it’s poofy and awesome, too! I’ll be recording that demo this weekend and plan to show it next Thursday! Even girls with longer hair can rock it too, so you don’t want to miss it!

-Do you really carry hairspray in your purse?!- Yup. See Exhibit A, below.

-Could I use a Bump It to make my poof like that? Sure, you can wear a Bump It. Or a soup can or a tennis ball or a 5 pound bag of sugar. But you may want to avoid going out in public. Your best bet is to stick with things that don’t require wearing hard plastic arch thingys in your hair. Best to stick with a teasing comb, my friends.

-Will you do a make-up tutorial? Short answer, YES! Make-up is also my passion and I’d love to share my tips and tricks with y’all! I’m no expert, but I have a pretty solid routine that works for me. Warning: I’m NOT one of those girls who throws on lipgloss and goes. I wear it all; foundation, powder, bronzer, eyeliner and more, so I’ve picked up quite a few tricks over the years.

So yeah, if you ladies have any other tutorials you’d like to see, let me know. Or if you’d like me to turn the camera off and stick to just writing posts, I’d appreciate your honesty too : )

Again, this was SO much fun and I dearly loved hearing your thoughts, feedback and comments. I love you all to the moon and back!

If you have a picture of your perfect poofy ponytail (or really any poof in general) please send them to askblondeambition{at}gmail{dot}com and I'll post them on the new Poofy Hall of Fame. I'm starting a new page to feature awesome poofers and I'd LOVE to get some pics from y'all!

Like everything else in life, there are a couple simple rules though:

1) Please don't send me nudie pics. Not only will I not post them, but I'll be completely icked out. I love y'all to bits, but I don't really wanna see everything the good Lord gave ya.

2) The photo must clearly show off your poof!

That's it, simple enough, right? Thought so. Alright, get to poofing and send some pics!

Oh, and happy weekend.

Be blessed, lovelies-

It's Here- The Poofy Ponytail Tutorial!

Oh me. Oh my. The day has come, y'all.

Today, I shall finally divulge my poofing tips for creating a great bouffant ponytail, my favorite hairstyle of all time. Well actually any hairstyle that involves teasing one's hair to it's near death is perfection in my book. But one must practice careful discipline when perfecting the art of poofing.

It ain't easy, ladies.

We girls here in the South are trained from a young age to wield a rat-tail comb and can of aerosol hairspray. Why, even a few Yankees have gotten the hang of it ; )  But for those of you who are unpoofed, badly poofed or afraid to poof (but really want to), today's little video aims to helps you out a titch.

And for those who are unwilling to be poofed...well...I pray for your souls. And for the lack of volume in your hair.

Note: We had a little mishap with the camera battery going dead, so to watch the tail end of the tutorial, you'll need to click on the second video.

Another Note: I got a tweet while ago saying the videos weren't showing up for them. They look ok here, but I know tech things can work differently depending on what server you use. If you can't see 'em, shoot me an email and I'll send them to you that way!


Here's hoping this tutorial brings you good fortune and great hair.

Be blessed, lovelies-

Featured on the Wedding Post of AR + A Hair-tastic Announcement

Exciting stuff today, y'all! So first up, today mine and Stephen's engagement pics have been featured on The Wedding Post of Arkansas! Such a big honor!

Whether you're a former bride, bride-to-be, or just a single gal planning her future walk down the aisle, you'll swoon over the gorgeous pics and posts on their site. Please go check out their blog (and our post) and give it some Blonde Ambitioner love!

Now....a video announcement...

I love that my face on the opening screen is frozen in this confused, almost angry look, haha! I never said I had a face for TV : )

Be blessed, lovelies-

Bridal Shower Pics...Finally!

Did everyone have a great holiday weekend? We sure did! We did lots of nothing which, in my book, is the BEST thing to do. We did catch an amazing fireworks show on Saturday at Beaver Lake. It’s funny, I used to HATE fireworks when I was little because they were so loud and hurt my ears. Now that I’m older though, I love them!

I'm not one for wearing obscene amounts of red, white and blue. I mean, I love my country but would prefer not to look like a walking jello mold. Instead, here was my attempt at Fourth of July style...ya like? The top is from a local store called Belle Boutiqe and the brand is Cierce. The jeans are by Joe's Jeans in the Muse style, from here.

I also did some very, very loose waves with my new Hot Tools curling iron. You can see by the pic above that it fell pretty quick in this terrible Arkansas humidity, but this pic was taken (and Tweeted) right when I got to work Friday morning:

These are a week late, but I still thought y’all might like to see them. These are pictures from my first of two bridal showers. This one took place in my hometown where I grew up, Heber Springs, AR! We started the weekend on the lake in Heber...Greers Ferry lake, to be exact. We took my parents out on Stephen's boat and it was SO pretty!

King Stephen on his skis...showing off

Sunset on Greers Ferry Lake...God painted us a beautiful picture that night : )

This picture cracks me up because you can see my brother Matthew bobbing on his skis in the background, haha!

The next day, it was on to the shower! I was so taken aback by how pretty the church kitchen looked when we arrived. The hostesses really outdid themselves on decorations...so pretty!

Me with all of the hostesses!

One of my dearest and most longtime friends Sarah was the hostess. She and her mom and several other ladies did such an amazing job putting everything together.

Me and  beautiful Sarah

One of our good family friends Cathy made the cupcakes. She is so professional and we always tell her she should quit teaching (she is a schoolteacher) and open a bakery. They tasted as good as they look!

YUMMMM!

Funny story, my cousins in Denver, CO couldn’t be at the shower, so they mailed my gift. They packed it in a diaper box as a joke and it was SO funny to open it up! There were so many confused faces in the crowd…haha! Don’t worry, it will be a few years before we’ll be having THAT kind of shower, haha!

Oh my!

Opening up my KitchenAid mixer!

The food tables were just so pretty!

 

My grandma (Claudia), my mom, me, Stephen's mom (Frances), my Memaw (Loretta) and Stephen's grandma (Geraldine)

Me and my mama, Isn't she pretty? I love her : )



Sarah's precious little girl, Emmalynn (how much do y'all love that name?)



 
Anywho, hope y'all had a great weekend! You'll get to see more bridal shower pics in a couple of weeks after my next shower in Fort Smith hosted by Stephen's family! Ha!
 
Be blessed, lovelies-

Eleven Month Anni + Pics!

Happy Friday, Blonde Ambitioners! I'm super jealous of those of you who are off work today...sadly, I am not : ( But, I'm making the best of it and trying to focus on that fact that I have a three day weekend. Woo and hoo!

Yesterday Stephen and I celebrated our 11 month anniversary. 11 months ago yesterday, we went on our first date here in Northwest Arkansas!

Last night we celebrated by getting all gussied up and going to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Abuelo's. We believe that special moments in life are to be celebrated with copious amounts of cheese dip and salsa : ) We ended the evening by playing with our furry son, Ari. We figured 11 months should be a family affair, haha.

We cracked up at this pic...he looks pitiful!

I know this is riveting stuff, but y'all gotta understand, I am so utterly grateful for the turn my life has taken in such a short time.


(I treat this blog like a personal journal, so I'm going to get a little deep and sappy....feel free to skim down to the pics, haha)

I never knew one's life could change so drastically in only 11 months, but I'm living proof that it can. In fact, I was thinking of where I was at this time last year. I was actually headed to Memphis with a friend for a fun girls' weekend. We did have a great time, but I remember thinking of how much I would love to have a special someone to watch the fireworks with the next year.

Well, I guess God decided it was time to send a fireworks watching companion my way. A mere 15 days later on July 15, 2010, I learned of S's existence and he of mine. On July 30, we went on our first date.

My life has never been the same since.

This weekend we intend to take the boat out, eat some burgers and....watch some fireworks.

Together.

Be blessed, lovelies-