Snow Teeth Whitening

Teeth whitening is one of those things that I've always thought about but hadn't tried for myself until recently. I've had pretty naturally bright teeth, but as the years have gone by and my tea and coffee habit has grown, I've noticed that my teeth are starting to stain a bit. 

Turns out, the ladies of yesteryear were also concerned about that! 

Perm & Haircut Talk

I've gotten a few questions from you guys about how I do my hair each day.  Well, it was about time for me to get a perm, so I figured I would photograph the process to show you guys the "base" of my daily hairdo.  

I LOVE having short hair.  I know it's not as common in the vintage community, but this "baby" cut was the military standard for women in the U.S. in WWII, and it's super easy to deal with.  I just pin curl my hair at night, and it takes 5-10 minutes to brush out and hairspray in the morning.  I highly recommend it!  This is what it takes to get this 'do:

First off, the haircut!  My hair is pretty short, about 4-5" long all the way around, and naturally VERY straight.  I forgot to take a picture before my perm of what it looks like in its natural straight state, but the picture below is pretty close.  I think the only differences are that my top layers are a bit shorter and my part is on the side.  

source

The stylist called my layers "round layers," should you need that information in getting your own cut.

In a previous trip to a stylist, I took the 1940s baby middy chart that I had seen floating around the interwebs.  An older stylist with a lot of experience said the chart was not very helpful and was missing some important info.  He said, though, that most haircuts had a similar technique in shaping and layering up until the 1980s, so... basically I've found the phrase 'old lady haircut' quite helpful in describing what I want, ha!  It never hurts to bring in more sources to help your stylist, though, especially if they may not be used to vintage looks. I will oftentimes bring the chart and a bunch of reference photos to help.

These are some of the photos I brought in to help my stylist understand what I wanted in a cut and style:

Next is the perm!  Here is all the relevant information I have about the type of perm I get:

- I use the gray rollers; these are the second smallest size, I believe.  I have a lot of baby hairs, so the stylists used whatever perm paper technique on each roll that kept all the little hairs in.

- The set is a basic one with all the rolls going downward.  Nearly all of the rolls are the normal length with a couple half-size ones used where necessary.  
(For this particular set, there was a bit of "contouring" at the side back sections just to accommodate the necessary tightness needed on the roller to get a good curl.)

After the perm, this is what my hair looked like:

It was really curly and already started to show the shape that I wanted: volume around eye level and at the top, tapering down to the neck, with a side part.

After getting a perm, you aren't supposed to wash your hair for a day or two to help it really set in.  I just wet it a bit and set it in flat pin curls.  (I'll have a video about my pin curl set in a couple days!)

After the pin curl set has dried and I have brushed it all out, this is my finished style:

The perm makes a huge difference to the longevity and volume of my style.  Before this perm, my hair wouldn't cooperate at all.  Curls wouldn't set well, my hair wouldn't wave properly, and that's why I have been wrapping my hair so often lately!  The perm does wonders! 

I also asked the stylists about which kind of perm would work well for those of you vintage ladies with highly textured hair.  They said that it depends strongly on the texture and coarseness of your hair, but you can do one of three things to achieve this same kind of look:

- A perm, like what I got

- A relaxer then curly-perm combo

- A curl reformation

A professional stylist should be able to help you determine what would be best for your hair texture in creating a vintage 'do.

Okay, one last bit of insight about my haircut: the length of time since a perm and trim makes a big difference in the "bounce," volume and longevity of my hairdo.  Since my hair is short, even small trims can have a big effect on how the hair falls around my face.  It just takes a bit of getting used to after long hair, but I roll with it and it's okay!  You may see subtle differences in my upcoming pin curl set tutorial and post photos in how my hair lays even though it's the same set, and this is the reason why.

Have you ever gotten a perm?  Does your hair routine require any special work to get your locks into a vintage look?


Other vintage hair posts:
Lavender & Twill: Middy Plus cut
Bobby Pin Blog (vintage hairstyle blog)
Vintage Current: My Middy Cut
Styling Coarse and Curly Hair

Prim Goods Beauty Products

There are few things I love more than buying items I already want and need and knowing the profits go to a good cause.  When people from Primrose Hill contacted a blogger group I'm in to see if anyone would want to review their beauty products, I jumped at the chance!

Primrose Hill is a faith-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation center here in Missouri.  It's special, though, in the fact that it's one of only a very few centers in the country where a mother can bring her young children to live with her in the center for the twelve month program.  Their resources and training are centered on healing and recovery for both a mother and her children.  The family stays in a giant house and works through issues together in a loving environment.

  
Since most of you readers are women, I was sure that you would be like me and appreciate this female-specific type of care.  In many centers, although they do wonderful things, they don't always take family and children into consideration.  This is a consideration that especially affects moms on their way to recovery, and it's wonderful to see Primrose Hill making family care possible.

Prim Goods Beauty Products also play a role in all of this!  You see, the products don't just fund the center, they are also made by women living there!  Each item has the name of the woman who made the product on the label.  Women are taught a trade that they can take with them back home, they grow their work ethic, and they learn to believe in themselves and their abilities again.  How beautiful is that?!  Their tagline is "Made Better by Our Story," and these items are a true reflection of that.

I was sent a complimentary beauty bundle that sells for $38.00 on the Prim Goods website.  It contains chapstick, liquid hand soap, a bar of soap, a body scrub, and body lotion.  I tried each of the items, and they are great!  The body scrub, soap, and chapstick are all made of easily pronounceable ingredients like natural oils and lye.  There are several scents available for each product.

My personal favorite item was the body scrub.  It's a pretty abrasive scrub, but I used it on my winter-dry legs, and it helped remove dry skin and left a coconut oil moisturizing layer that has really helped my skin stop itching and look better.  I have sensitive skin, and none of these products bothered it at all, but Prim Goods also has versions made specifically for sensitive skin, which I'm sure would be really good for those of us with a high-maintenance epidermis! 

Mother's Day is coming soon in the U.S., and spring and summer is the time for bridal showers, new babies, and all sorts of events.  Beauty products like these would make awesome gifts, and instead of funding a giant corporation, you're helping women and children get their lives back after addiction.  THAT is worth it.

- Learn more about Primrose Hill.
- Check out the other Prim Goods products on their website.
- Read some of their stories on their blog.
- Donate to this great cause!

I received free product in return for this post, but all opinions expressed are honest and my own.  For more information about my sponsorship practices, check out my policies page.

Old Fashioned Beauty Tricks - Ice, Egg, Orange

The idea of starting fresh in January put me in mind of things I can do to start fresh every day, especially when it comes to skin care.  My skin is high maintenance, so my beauty routine has been evolving to try to find something that is optimal for it.  While I'm on the search, I'm always intrigued by the beauty tips and tricks I read about in vintage sources.  They use things I would never think to use these days, and I wonder about their effectiveness.  Oftentimes they're coming from movie stars whose skin does, indeed, look radiant, so can it be that these things really work?

Here are three vintage tricks I decided to try out for myself and share my experience with you!

Ice
On the Glamourdaze site I ran across an old article that described a movie star's solution to large pores: ice!  (I can't seem to find the page for the life of me, I apologize.)  This made sense to me, since we've been told to use warm water to open the pores, the opposite must be true to close them!  I have large pores, especially on my cheeks around my nose, so I tried it a few mornings in a row before I put on my makeup.  It's not like my pores completely disappeared, but I did notice a difference!  It also seemed to help keep my makeup just on the surface of my skin.

Orange and Lemon Tonic
I found a recipe for a 1930s orange and lemon tonic (facial), and I made it and tried it out.  The milk and the citrus mix strangely while cooked, and it was a very clumpy texture to spread on my face.  I put it on and let it sit for a bit, and while my skin did feel a bit tingly, it was only marginally softer when I rinsed.

Egg Shampoo

I don't have an exact source for this, but I do remember reading several stories as a kid that talked about getting an egg shampoo (perhaps in an American Girl book?), and I knew I had to try this one!  The things I do for you guys.

It felt weird, very weird.  I shampooed with an egg, left it in for a couple minutes, then rinsed and let my hair dry.  It might be a little shinier and softer... but I can't say that it is by much, if any. It might work well for other hair types, though.

Would you be willing to try any of these?  Have you tried any old school tips?  Did they work or not?