Carnival Of Twenty Something Finances Feb 8.

Welcome to the February 8, 2010 edition of twenty something finances.

Lovelymary presents 50 Best Money Blogs for Women posted at Accounting Degree.com.

Peak Personal Finance presents 3 Things to Ask Yourself When You Refinance | Peak Personal Finance posted at Peak Personal Finance, saying, "Keep these tips in mind if you are thinking of refinancing."

MatthewPaulson presents Lending Club Announces New Logo and Brand Identityposted at Lending Socially.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of twenty something finances using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

How To Deep Condition Your Hair With Olive Oil

Hello Divas!

I know that you divas care deeply about your hair and if you are Black woman like me then one of your biggest issues is dry hair.

I recently read about using Olive Oil to deep condition your hair and thought I would try it out. I did it last week and I am doing it again right now so I thought I would share my experience with you.

I have used products containing Olive Oil and they still did not give me the results that I got from using plain olive oil on my hair.

This tip works for any kind of hair regardless of race because it works to retain moisture and deliver some protein to the hair shaft.

Step 1.
Get some olive oil. Go into your kitchen and pull out that bottle you have hidden away in the back. Pour some oil into a small container...don't worry, you don't need a lot of it.

Step 2. Apply oil to hair. The first time I did it I just dipped my fingers into the oil and applied to my dry hair. I only wash my hair on Wednesdays and Saturdays and did the treatment on Saturday before washing.

(image from http://www.buzzle.com/img/articleImages/314226-137-16.jpg)

Step 3. Apply plastic cap and heat. I put a cheap plastic shower cap on my hair and then used my hair drier to apply heat for about 5 minutes. The first time I did the treatment I used heat for 5 minutes then watched television for about 30 minutes then applied 3 minutes of heat again before rinsing out.

The second time I squirted a little bit of water into the plastic cap before applying the heat so that I could gain some additional moisture.

Step 4. Rinse, shampoo and condition. After my head cooled off I stepped into the shower to rinse the oil off. I then shampooed and rinsed again. After rinsing out the shampoo my hair immediately felt smoother and softer....before applying any conditioner. I conditioned and air dried and my hair felt great.

Step 5. Dry hair and style. I let my hair air dry and then used a flat iron to straighten it out. My hair felt softer and looked shinier through the whole process than before I used the olive oil. It remained looking and feeling great all last week and I think this is now going to be part of my Saturday routine to looking beautiful.

I have tried hot oil treatments in the past but never got the kind of results that I did with the olive oil in just one use.

I used Bertolli olive oil since that is what I had in the kitchen but you can use the cheaper one as well. Either way, you don't even need a lot of oil as you really only need to apply it to the ends of your hair. If your hair is really dry and shows it then you can even go halfway up the hair shaft as well.

10 Ways To Wake Up Beautiful

Hello Divas!

First off let me apologize for not posting regularly in recent times. I have been very caught up with work and although that is not an excuse it has really prevented me from blogging.

And now on to the tips for the day. Over at MSN you can find the article 10 Ways To Wake Up Beautiful which gives you some tips you can use to look your best in the morning.

The tips are as follows:
1. Get An Early Start. Wash your face at night so you remove makeup and toxins and give your face a fresh start.
I already do this one so I guess I am on the way to waking up beautiful already.

2. Sleep On Your Back. They say you should avoid sleeping on your face because it causes wrinkles.

I sleep on my side and sometimes on my back so I am halfway there.

3. Get A Lift. They recommend sleeping with your head elevated to allow the fluids in your face to drain so that you do not wake up puffy.

I sleep on two pillows when I sleep on my back but for side sleeping that is not very comfortable.

4. Save Money, Not Wrinkles. Put on your richest eye cream at night to thoroughly hydrate your face.

I do not use an eye cream but I guess I should start right now.


5. Sneak A Glow. Add some self tanner to your night cream and work on your tan overnight.

I do not use self tanners so this is not a useful point for me.


6. Avoid Carb Face. If you can avoid high carb food late at night this will ease some of the puffiness in the morning.

I need to work on this one....as I am sure we all do.


7. Wrap It Up. Tie your hair in a silk scarf to protect the hair from friction at night. The other alternative is to have a silk pillowcase.

I have a satin pillowcase and I always tie my hair up at night so this works for me.

8. Find Your Inner Ballerina. Along with sleeping on silk or satin it also helps to put your hair up on top of your head at night if it can reach.

I slip my hair up in two buns at night and clip them on the top of my head.


9. Turn On The Hair Conditioning. Apply an overnight treatment to your ends at night and rinse off in the morning to get well conditioned hair.

I have done this sometimes and it really works. Just be sure to secure your hair so that you do not get the pillow dirty.


10. Pop A Rooster Pill. This supplement supposedly helps you wake up better. A good night's sleep is essential to you looking great during the day.

I do not take anything to help me sleep so this tips falls flat for me.

Use A Humidifier To Keep Skin Moist

Hello Divas!

Once again it is time for another simple yet effective beauty tip. Most of us are still in the winter period and that means using heaters indoors to keep warm.

The good thing is that the heat keeps you nice and toasty but the bad news is that the combination of warmth and dryness means that moisture is being stripped from your skin.

While it is not practical to keep the heat off (and freeze to death) just to keep your skin from drying out..there is something you can do to retain moisture.

Enter the humidifier!!!!

A humidifier simply adds in moisture to the dry air and this is very simple to use. You can get a small one for about $15, fill it with water, plug it in and you are ready to go.

I sleep with a humidifier and I must say that it really helps. I no longer wake up with my skin feeling all itchy and tight and dry from being dried out overnight. It also helps to keep my nasal passages moist so I wake up with less irritation.

Go ahead and use your humidifier today and feel the difference in your skin.