The Best Way To Curl Stubborn Hair

I have NEVER been able to hold a curl in my hair! I've tried different size barreled curling irons, different kinds of hair spray and product, the flat iron curl, and just about every other way to attempt curls with and without heat.  Nothing ever worked.... UNTIL NOW!!! :)  I am SO excited! Let me introduce you to my new favorite curling tool!! The Goody Heat Wave Creator.

Look At Everything this Bad Boy Has to Offer!!

• Wave Barrel - creates loose natural waves
• Professional 410-Degree Heat
• Ceramic + Ionic for smooth frizz-free waves
• 30-second heat-up
• 10 Heat Settings
• Auto Shut-Off
• 360 Degree Swivel Cord
• Easy Curl Clip
• 3 Year Performance Guarantee

 Okay, this last picture isn't the prettiest, but its purpose is to show you that the curls held and lasted through their fair share of activity!! It might not seem like a big deal, but let me tell you what I put them through! I curled my hair, used ZERO hairspray or any product for that matter! Then, I combed through them easily 100-150 times (literally).  When I was done playing, tousling, and combing the curls, I went to bed! After a long nights slumber, where I'm sure they were smashed and tangled; I woke up and combed through them again, only to find that they were a little more relaxed, but basically unfazed! I put them in a cute curly ponytail and started my day. I continued to abuse them, which included being outside multiple times in the heat and humidity. Finally by 5 o'clock I took my ponytail out, brushed one more time, and took this picture!! I never once used hairspray or re-curled a single strand. That, my friends, is IMPRESSIVE! Especially for someone like myself, whose hair has never managed to hold a single curl!!

If you'd like to see this magnificent tool in action, just watch my tutorial video on it! :)  I bought mine at Target and it was reasonably priced for $29.99. Good Luck. :)

Long lasting curls, Allie Be

The Two Best Sunless Tanners

I have tried a lot of sunless tanners in the past few years, and a lot of them have failed and gone to waste!! Don't you just hate that!! Well, I have finally found my TWO favorite self tanners... so far!! Let me tell you ALL about them so you don't have to deal with streaks and stinks ever again! :)

The first is a lotion.  It's made by Sun Laboratories.  I've been using it for close to 2 years now and don't have anything negative to say about it other than, it is a little pricey.  However, mine lasts me months! I only apply it to my entire body on rare occasions.  Otherwise, I only apply these to my face and neck when I'm feeling a little colorless. haha!  You can buy this in a kit online; it that comes with extending lotion, an exfoliant, a loofah, and of course the tanning lotion.  It sells for $39.50 + shipping & handling. (http://www.sunlabsonline.com/index.html)  Here's my opinion on that.  I have bought this kit before,  I personally never used the 'extender lotion' and I felt that the 'exfoliant' didn't have enough beads in it, so really it was kind of pointless for me to buy it in this form.  However, it is a better deal, price wise, if you are going to use all the products.  I can only find this tanner at the Ulta in my area (Sephora and Beauty Brands did not carry it).  The "Dark" was retailed for $36.50 and the "Ultra Dark" was $48.00.  I do not know why there is such a price difference!?  This doesn't have your typical yucky sun tanner smell either, it smells like cherry almond or something kind of sweet. I would suggest applying it with gloves to make it go further, but if you don't have gloves, just wash you hands right away afterwards, as they will be very dark!

This is the first time I have purchased and tried the St. Tropez bronzing moose.  I am very pleased with the application, color, and price.  You can buy this online (http://www.sttropeztan.com/), but I bought it retail at Sephora (Ulta and Beauty Brands did not carry it).  It was $40 and the application mitt was $6.  I thought the mitt might be a rip off, but I HIGHLY SUGGEST getting the mitt!! It made application very easy and kept my hands clean.  By using a barrier like gloves or a mitt, this prevents the tanner from soaking into your hands while you apply it to a body part, which in turn makes the product last longer! :) This also does not have a yucky smell, to me it smells like flowers or potpourri. 

I will continue to use both products.  The lotion might last a little bit longer than the moose before needing another application.  However, this is also all dependent on the color your going for. I really like this products because they both come out very dark, so you can see exactly where you are putting them, which helps prevent streaks and dark splotches. I hope this blog has helped save you some time from hunting for a good sunless tanner! Let me know if you've found a good tanner that you love!! :)

Check out my video to see the application process and hear more tips and tricks to apply them!

To healthy tan skin, Allie Be

Restaurant Style Tea Recipe!

A couple years back, my friend showed me a recipe for some delicious tea that her mother always made for her family.  It's very simple and reminds me exactly of restaurant style tea! Yum!!

Depending on how strong you like your tea, you can add or subtract some packets.  Technically, boxes of tea say, one tea bag per 1 cup of water.  I always make 1 gallon of tea.  With that being said, if you like your tea very strong you could use up to 16 packets in the mixture, since there's 16 cups in 1 gallon. :)  I never make mine quite that strong since the "Constant Comment" adds so much flavor, with just a few packets.  Play around with ratio and see what intensity you like best. :) You can always add more water if it's too strong, or add more tea bags if it's not quite strong enough. The Constant Comment is what gives off that subtle spice flavor that restaurant teas always seem to have!

For today's brew, I used 8 packets of the Lipton Natural tea and 2 packets of the Constant Comment.  You can add sweetener to the pitcher, I prefer to leave it unsweetened so the consumer can decide if they want to add anything to it. When I do add sweetener, I personally prefer Stevia.

I hope you enjoy this simple and refreshing version of a Summer classic.

Sipping on some sweet tea - Allie Be

White Egg Yolk???

The other day at lunch, I bought a salad from my work cafeteria, which I do quite frequently.  They are chef salads so they usually include meat, cheese, tomato, black olive, and an egg.  Pretty typical, right?  However, there was something about this particular salad that wasn't typical. My egg had a white yolk!?!? 

I have never seen or heard of this before, neither had any family or friends that I asked.  I tried to scrape away at the top of it to see if there was any color deeper into the yolk; nope there was none.  Of course, I did what most people do when faced with something unusual, Google. ha ha.  Expecting hundreds of result pages to pop up, with unlimited amounts of information, (like on most searches) I was surprised to see there wasn't really any!? I found ONE site with decent results, but not facts, just shared experiences! The site was another blog that had discussed how the blogger ran into the same strange anomaly.  It had many comments of people turning to Google for an answer about this oddity, but finding nothing concrete to explain it.  From the comments, I gathered that its pretty rare.  Some people had guessed that it had to do with what certain chickens are fed.  Another commenter guessed it was some sort of genetic disorder, like albinism. There was also people from some different countries that mentioned that you can specifically buy colorless/white yolk eggs, but that they are more expensive, and even they didn't know how or why they got to be white.   

 

(Picture from Andy B, http://johnsadventures.com/archives/2007/07/i_thought_egg_yolks_were_yellow/)

The majority of people that ran across them didn't eat them, especially since they couldn't find much information on why they were that color.  I didn't eat my egg! ha ha!  No one wanted to risk it and get sick!  There was a commenter that did eat it and said he didn't get sick or see any side effects of it, just mentioned that the flavor wasn't as good. My egg was already hard boiled, but the people that encountered a raw white egg yolk said that it was much tougher and had a thicker membrane. Eww! That does NOT sound appetizing. 

Has anyone else ever ran across this? Can anyone tell me facts on what causes the egg yolk to be white?

Eggs-tra curious (hehe) - AllieBe

Pure Syrup Vs. Imitation Syrup

 I've been on a bit of a health kick lately.  Don't get me wrong, I still have my weak moments and I keep a "candy bucket" in my pantry! ha ha  Perhaps, I should clarify what I mean when I say "health kick".  I  mean I am paying more attention to what ingredients are in my food.  I am constantly reading the ingredient list and comparing foods before I buy them.  So, here's my latest experiment/discovery. :)

  

I have never had "100% Pure Maple Syrup" (at least not to my knowledge, who knows what they give you in restaurants but for multiple reasons, I'm thinking its not the real stuff).  I decided to give it a try, because if you've ever looked at the back of a syrup bottle (doesn't matter what brand) the ingredients are anything but healthy.

I was a little scared to taste the "Pure" syrup,  only because throughout our lives we train our taste buds.  Of course my taste buds enjoy and are used to the infamous imitation syrup.  Anyways,  I popped some waffles in the toaster and put my apprehensions aside.  I put on some butter (there's another "food" I could discuss but we'll save that for a different post) on those hot, delicious, little cylinders and started pouring away, with the "Pure" syrup.  I anxiously took my first bite, and.... "hum, not bad, not bad at all."  It tasted very similar to the imitation syrup.  Not too surprising, I assume that's what the makers of the imitation stuff strive for.  It was very sweet, but in a natural way, if that makes sense. ha ha  It didn't taste like high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, sucralose, or any other commonly used artificial sweetener.  Just the way an apple tastes sweet, naturally, that's the way this syrup tasted, naturally sweet.

So, with all that being said, what are the pros and cons to each syrup?

Pure Maple Syrup 

Pros                                                                                                           

1.     It has many health benefits.

a.     Contains Manganese (good for energy production & antioxidant defenses.)

b.     Contains Zinc, which is good for your heart & cells.

c.     Zinc & Manganese increase your immune system function.

d.    Especially beneficial for men, the zinc aids in reproductive health and helps prevent prostate cancer.

e.     It has anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, and anti-diabetic properties.

f.      ¼ cup has more calcium than ¼ cup milk, and has more potassium than a  banana.

2.     1 tablespoon is only 52 calories (I think that's good, but I don't calorie count.)

3.     It tastes just as good, if not better than imitation syrup.

Cons

1.     It’s more expensive. (However, if you can find it in bulk, you can save up to 30% buying it this way.)

Imitation Syrup

Pros

1.     It’s cheap.

2.     It tastes very close to the “real” thing.

3.     Many varieties/brands.

Cons

1.     Primary ingredient –high fructose corn syrup.  (if you buy the "sugar free" or “lite” versions they are then using aspartame or other artificial sweeteners.

2.     They have no genuine maple content.

3.     They are produced to be much thicker than the consistency of true maple syrup.

4.     Flavored with sotolon, which imitates the maple syrup taste.

5.     High in calories. (depending which kind you buy.)

6.     Many of the artificial ingredients have been shown to lead to much more serious health problems including cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and liver disease.

  It's everyone's right to decide what they put in their body.  I can't point fingers, I bought another bottle of the imitation syrup just in case I didn't like the "Pure" syrup.  However, now after tasting it and seeing the benefits, I think the pros out-weigh the cons, FOR ME. :) This is simply to share with you what I have found in my research and taste testing. ha ha Now, you decide! :)

On a related topic, Eggo waffles aren't "healthy".  I never thought they were, but lets face it, they are fast and easy!  However, I had been buying the Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat waffles thinking they HAD to be better than the regular, I was wrong.  After reading the ingredients I found that these two waffles are almost the exact same thing!? The first listed, primary ingredients are the same! Later down the list they change a little, but not by much. Basically, don't let marketing trick you, check the back of the box when you THINK your getting the healthier alternative!

"Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness." - Edward Stanley

-A full tummy and a sweet tooth, Allie Be

http://www.puremapleproducts.com/health_benefits_maple_syrup.html

http://www.getrealmaple.com/why-you-should-try-pure-maple-syrup/health-and-lifestyle.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup

  

My FIRST Official Blog Entry!

Welcome to my blog!! I am so excited to finally have this up! I hope you check in to see my daily entries!! This will let you get to know me a little bit better and give you a peek into my daily life!

For the past week or so I've been having things happen where I thought to myself "If I had my blog up, that would be something good to put in it!" So, I guess that's a good sign. I kept putting it off because I always dread doing the 'introductory' entry of anything.  It seems so boring to me, and I never know how much, how little, or even what exactly to say!! Hopefully it's not boring for you though! ha ha

About a year ago I started a Youtube channel, AllieBeTv.  When I was younger my brother, sister, and I would always make homemade commercials, music videos, etc... well, being the baby I was never really 'cool enough' to be in very many of their videos, but I made a lot of my own, or made some with friends (when I could get my hands on the "off limits" camcorder). ha ha!  I never thought that I would be brave enough to make the videos and put them up for all to see.  I am now trying to get new viewers, people I don't know! Which is why I am starting this blog! It's kinda scary! The more people means the more criticism, negativity, and disapproval.  I have only encountered a couple negative comments so far.  I try to not let them bother me too much, its hard, but you really just have to develop a thick skin.  Overall, I've been fortunate to have a very supportive family and friend base to get me going and stand behind me!

I have also come up with a new series on my channel called "Producing Pinterest".  I have a lot of fun with it.  I hope my viewers are having fun watching and like getting involved with the suggestions.  If you haven't seen them yet, here's what its all about. I ask people give me suggestions of  "Pins" that they've seen, usually, they are ones that they haven't tried and they're curious to know if they REALLY turnout or how hard or easy they are to accomplish.  I then put them to the test and you get to watch! It could be anything from food, to crafts, to hair or makeup, etc.  I like to take on projects that are out of my comfort zone or things I've never tried before; I feel this makes my videos more entertaining and gives a true first-timers experience. This is especially helpful for those wanting to know if its really as 'simple' and 'beautiful' as displayed. (In my experience, it's usually not! LOL)

If you're reading this, I appreciate your time and support being here and I hope you check in daily! Please share this and all my sites with anyone you'd like!

Until Tomorrow! - Allie Be