[EmViVi]

Thanks Autumn Sky, I’ve asked around a variety of message boards about this. Logically speaking, i don’t think sanding it should hurt it and it might actually make it even grippier. If I can come to some resolution I’ll definately be storing it differently from now.
BTW, I saw that you’re from Raleigh, NC. I’m from Nashville TN so i think we’ve got a similar climate here (ie. hot and heck’ humid).

[EmViVi]

@NorthFLNewbie

It was actually my doctor who suggested I get the IUD to stop my periods because I travel all the time and during the first day of my cycle I often get extremely nauseous.  For a while I was using birth control pills without stopping but then I lost my health insurance and its too expensive.  An IUD in the long run is cheaper.  Also I'm deathly afraid of needles so the depo shot isnt really appealing.

Did you ever try using a cup with the IUD?  Online I read a horror story about a girl who did and had, uh, complications but you cant believe everything you read online for sure!

[EmViVi]

hi jennyjenny, I see youre from Fayettville.  I used to be a Dickson, TN girl myself before the travel bug bit me good.  Anyhow, I've got both a lunette cup and a lady cup and I'm just OK with them.  I think they're better than tampons for sure and miles better than pads but I'm still not exactly raving about them.  Once you get them up in there they dont leak unless they overfll but they are a lot less conveniant to change than tampons.  And no matter what people say, I can feel them. I've switched to cups for my last 5 periods and I feel I'm using them right just still not happy.  Now I'm considering getting an IUD and just being done with the whole mess for 5 years.  My 2cents

[EmViVi]

I 2nd/3rd the ColorFix stuff.  I talked about this in another post but here's my 2 cents: I had died my hair totally fire-engine red for 4.5 years.  I mean as red as I could possibly get.  Then I eventually got tired of it and decided to go blonde.  I did this by using 2 boxes of the colorfix stuff which was 4 treatments in total.  i spread them all about 3 weeks to a month apart and just conidtioned and protein treated the heck out of my hair in between.  i'd literally sleep in the protein masks.  during those 3 months my hair was an ugly bright orange that was SO unflattering to my skin tone but it still felt quite healthy. 

at the end I dyed it "medium golden blonde" which took away alot of the brassiness but my hair was still kinda dark.  i did that for a while in the hopes it would lighten up but it didnt so i finally just grabbed the palest non-lightener dye i could find (lightest ash blonde) and put it on.  Viola: totally platinum hair!  hell, it was almost white, too pale even for my garish tastes.  but it did the job of lightening to where i wanted and now i put on very light golden blonde and i get a nice platinum with golden highlights.

  it's only slightly damaged, too.  i have some split ends but my hair is actively growing longer (started off at red by my shoulders, now is about bra length) so it must be healthy enough to grow longer.  in total it took me about a year to go from cherry red to absolute platinum.  natural color is dark "dishwater" blonde but ive been dying for so long it doesnt really matter.

i guess the message is: colorfix + lots and lots of protein + take your time + pale ash blonde = really pale blonde happiness.

 

just dont rush it!

 

 

[EmViVi]

Sorry, it doesnt look like the pictures came through.  Im typing this using free coffee shop wifi so I'll try again later with them  🙂

[EmViVi]

Hi, I'm not a professional hairdresser but I have been dying my hair every 1-2 months since I was 11 so I've got a lot of experience with it.  About 2 years ago I had cherry red really bright hair and then decided to go platinum blonde.  I was able to do this without once using any bleach lightener product (or going to a salon, I did it all on my own) it was just a really gradual and slow process.

I've uploaded a couple of photos so you can see what I did.  First with my red hair before I started:

 

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=4iiwbt&s=7

I was on vacation then and the humidity was crazy, but you can see that it was really red then.

First I suggest you use a protein filler or repair product.  I swear by the Sally Ion Reconstructor:

http://www.sallybeauty.com/damaged-hair-treatment/ION25,default,pd.html?cm_vc=SEARCH

I use it now twice a week and it's wonderful.  But to actrually get the dye out I used that Color Fix stuff ember suggested.  The trick i found with it (at least with my hair) is to put it on as the directions say, then wait at least a week before putting it on again  if it doesnt first come out light enough.  During that week I found that my hair kept get lighter (some sort of oxidation? again I'm not a stylist).  I used that color fix for about 8 treatments over 2 months and it got most of the red out.  Beware that it totally will turn your hair this bizarre orange color but I just tried to ignore that.

Once that was done I put on a medium golden blonde color and ended up with thisL

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2wdnb6c&s=7

which wasnt bad but not what I wanted so over the next year I was using lightest golden blonde dye every 6 weeks (conditioning like crazy in between) and got it pretty light blonde. 

Here it is now

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=wrcbi9&s=7

It's not quite the platinum I wanted but close enough and really is in decent condition considering all the abuse it's gotten.  I condition it in olive oil (yep) and use that Ion Reconstructor stuff a lot and I'm really pleased with the DIY results.

Again this is just my own experiences for my own hair, but I say it's highly possible but may take a very long time.  Hope this helps.

 

[EmViVi]

I've been using clip in extensions from http://www.hellogorgeoushairextensions.com/ and I've been very happy with them.  They're real human hair and I think a very good value for the money.  Unlike a lot of clip ins they're very thick and dont shed much and they have high qualty clips so theyt dont slip out.  The only real downside to them is that they take a very long time to be made and shipped, I think I waited about 2 months!  The woman who runs the company is very nice, though.

 

[EmViVi]

Hey, thanks for the quick reply.  Yeah, i can do the inverted crucifix fine (though have yet to find a way of coming out of it with any degree of grace).  So I need to be pulling up with my legs instead of the arms?  Kind of explains why i found this so exhausting.  Is the leg position the same as with the crucifix?  It looks like it is with the vids on youtube but when  I try it myself I just get kind of confused (and can't look at the laptop screen successfully when I'm upside anyhow ).

[EmViVi]

My favorite general yoga is "Ali MacGraw – Yoga Mind & Body".  It's kind of an old one, from the early 90s I think, but it finds its way into my dvd player at least twice a week.  If you want a more beginner-ish one try "Hemalaya's Yoga for Young Bodies" which has 3 routines on it.  For a more intermediate challenge I like "Hemalaya's Yoga for Urban Living" but if you're not used to yoga take it easy with this one at first(I ended up hurting my back the first time I tried it with too much enthusiasm).  Hope that helps!