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Do The Lilla Rose Flexi Clips Hold During Activity?

Let’s face it. Lilla Rose flexi clips look awesome in the professional model photos. No Stylist is going to post the not so beautiful hair style photos, right? A common question, of course, is “Yes, but do they hold during physical activity and exertion?” Clearly they do for model photo shoots.  Let’s see what happens when the rubber literally meets the road.

For a bit of evidence that they do hold during activity, I put my flexi clip to the test. I did a fast French twist messy bun, popped in my medium clip which is almost getting to be too small now that my hair is longer, and I put on my walking clothes. I used no styling products in my hair, as is clear in the photo. This isn’t exactly my best hair do, or my best color coordinated outfit, but I was in a hurry to get my walk in before April the Giraffe had her baby. I’ve only been watching her progress for a month, and I don’t want to miss the main event.

Yes but how do they hold 4

Quite a fashion statement, no?

Yes but how do they hold 1

This is as we start our walk.

I went my normal 4.5 mile route in the square of the country roads around my house, with my son and our dog for companions. The difference is that I ran intervals totaling 2650 steps, and I pushed myself a little harder on a couple of them.  I conquered some hills I not so fondly call “Kicking My Tush Hill” or “I Might Die On This Hill” hill. I did get my tush kicked as I ran the hills anyway. Every day I walk/run, I push myself to a go little farther than the last time. The weather was a bit blustery, damp, and misting rain. I had to put my fleece sweatshirt hood on, and I had my winter coat trailing behind because, you know, what isn’t stylish about a middle aged person learning to run again wearing a winter coat, alternating between freezing and shivering, and being over heated from exertion?

In spite of all conditions, and my painting a not so beautiful picture of myself, or even sharing my not the greatest photo ever, here is my after run/walk photo:

Yes but how do they hold 2

Except for static wispies, the clip held the hair in place. Honestly, my flexi clip held up better than I did.

Yes but how do they hold 3

Trying to breathe. Needed the wall for support.

In short, Lilla Rose flexi clips are perfect for formal styles, casual styles, active lifestyles, and exercise. They even hold better than the average claw clip or elastic scrunchie.

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Edited 4/17/17 Giveaway has ended. Mary Beth E of St. Louis, MO was the winner and has already received her clip. Don’t forget about the Review and Giveaway over at Mom Life Chronicles. It ends Sunday. You could win a flexi clip of your very own to test and put through the paces.

Someone, pass the Ibuprofen and a glass of water, please.


It is now April, and there is a beautiful new Flexi of the month, new releases, and a new customer special being released this morning. This is no joke! I’d love for you to check it out. 17620108_10154938179561352_7848055114245954274_o

April Customer Special


It is now 12:48 am EST on Saturday morning, and April’s calf is not born. In fact, April is sleeping and I am not. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy your families! 

Blessings,

Deb

 

Three Tools We Use For Stronger, Healthier Hair

I’ve alluded before, especially in my Lilla Rose video, that our family has had various not so pretty hair issues in the past. In a live Zoom interview that I did recently with Kristie McCollum, from both the CEO Mom blog, and the Mom Life Chronicles blog, I shared one of those issues with her regarding my youngest daughter, A-Grape.

When she was 3-5 years old, A-Grape was trying to stop sucking her thumb, and in order to self soothe while sleeping, and never in the day time, she would twirl her hair with her fingers and break it off in large chunks. We were trying everything we could think of to help redirect her sensory issues away from her hair, and employed such ideas as a sensory texture blanket, sleeping in a hat, or wearing socks on her hands that went up to her shoulders so we could pin them to her pj’s. But, if she wanted or needed to twirl her hair, she managed to find a way. She reached a point where there were large chunks of hair on her pillow in the morning, and she had multiple bald spots on her head that we were trying to cover over.

Her regrowth of hair was very fragile hair. When we used elastics or clips with bows, the hair would easily be broken off as if it had been strangled, recreating bald spots. Her hair brush was pulling large chunks of the hair she’d begun to twirl, and my guess is weakening the follicles. We were keeping her hair short as we waited for new hair to grow, and our wonderful hair stylist offered some tips and tools for healthier hair, and to help us prevent further damage.

One of the tools he suggested was to begin using a Wet brush to gently remove tangles. This tool turned out to be a lifesaver for more than one of us with our other hair struggles, as it is for all hair types! The Wet brush glides through the hair as it detangles without pulling out a lot of hair with each stroke. It also works well for those with hair extensions and wigs.

Original Wet Brush (contains an affiliate link)

Another tool was to use It’s a Ten detangler spray after washing A-Grape’s hair. We use the spray with keratin in it. A-Grapes hair began to get stronger and grow stronger since we weren’t yanking it out from snarls and tangles! And for the other girls who were having a hard time managing their waist long thick hair, this was a lifesaver for them as well. No more rats’ nests in their hair! No more arguments about keeping their hair combed and neat was a definite plus for our relationships!

It’s a 10 with Keratin (contains an affiliate link)

And, of course, our third tool was the amazing Lilla Rose flexi clip. A-Grape was using a mini when we first started using flexi clips to pull back that small amount of hair that would cover over her bald spots, but the most amazing thing was that, unlike with elastics, when we took the clip out, no hair was pulled out or lost. The pin slides out of the figure 8 part of the clip, and literally just pops off hair with no damage.

A Review And Giveaway (2)

We had to gently twist A-Grape’s hair back in July/August of 2013 in order to hide a bald spot and she only had enough hair to gather into a mini clip.

As her hair has grown back, now long and healthy, she uses an extra small for a pony tail, but even those are getting too small for her! She uses a medium for a round braided bun, or she uses u-pins to secure her hair.

A Review And Giveaway (1)

How amazing is it that at her last hair trim we opted to have several inches cut off the bottom just to keep her long hair looking healthy after such a struggle to get her hair healthy again!

Half UpKnot

We have since learned during a training on natural hair by a Sister Locs Stylist that Lilla Rose products are also ideal for those with natural hair. Hair damage is minimized, and because Lilla Rose has flexi clips in extra large and mega sizes, those with Locs or braids are served well by those sizes without worry of damage.

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Shared by Cathy Thomas, Sister Locs Stylist.


I mentioned a live interview on Zoom with Kristie McCollum of The Mom Life Chronicles. I sent her several clips in sizes mini to large, as well as a hair band and u-pins to try out. She likes the color pink, so I sent her some pink things, as well as items that pick up different colors, and some classic pearls styles! She is doing a review and giveaway here for Lilla Rose/LoveLeavingLegacy. My readers, followers, customers, family, and friends are welcome and encouraged to enter, unless they are also Lilla Rose Stylists. Those lovely ladies understand that they cannot enter the giveaway. But, YOU could win the Daisy Freestyle dangle in an extra small!

A Review And Giveaway

Enter away! Enjoy! We’ll be announcing the winner on Monday, April 3rd, 2017 one week from today.

Blessings,

Deb

Three Tips For Success In Exercise And Growing A Small Business

Running is on my bucket list of things I would never do, just like homeschooling, grinding wheat and baking bread, or doing direct sales.

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If you recently saw a woman dressed in pink exercise clothes with a gray sweatshirt and black and teal sneakers running near your house, it wouldn’t have been me. I don’t run. I. Do. Not. Run. I might run if a bear were chasing me, or a large German shepherd, or creepy bad guy. If you didn’t see any of those things chasing the woman in pink and gray, then it wasn’t me. I do not run.

If you saw a middle aged woman dressed in pink exercise clothes with a gray sweatshirt and black and teal sneakers running near your house looking like she might be ready to pass out and die, or standing by the side of the road hyperventilating and trying not to cry…that might have been me.

That was me.


I’ve done the thing I said I’d never do, and I’ve attempted to run during my 11,000 step walk.

Hilly Rd I often walk

Google Maps tells me this entire route is 4.5 miles. And, yes, I recognize this only totals 10000 steps. I’ve been doing the final 1000 steps pacing up and down about ten times in my driveway, or I retrace a little bit of the circuit for a cool down.

I’ve been running intervals, but only about 300 steps at a time, and then I have to stop to catch my breath. Each time I try to go a little further than I did the last time, just like when I was building up to my 11,000 steps.

One particular day, on a last hill on Country Rd B, I decided to try one last hurrah, went 300 steps, and actually did feel like I was going to pass out. I felt terrible and nearly cried. My throat was welling to tears, but I fought them because I knew I was beginning a panic attack, and if that happened, then I wouldn’t be able to breathe. Our dog sat right at my feet and Artistic A held me while I pulled myself together.

Later, as I was telling this all to a friend who holds me accountable, I began to feel a new burn, and it wasn’t just the one in my lungs! Last year at this time, I could hardly walk 2,000 steps. Now I walk 11,000 steps, albeit more slowly than I like, taking more time than I like.

But I can do it.

And, apparently, I can interval run nearly 2,000 of those 11,000 steps.

Where will I be in three months? Six months? A year?

Suddenly I have new ideas and new walking/running/health goals. The immediate goal is to walk/run these steps nearly daily to be on track for my weight loss goal with a deadline of July 29, 2017.

What about when I’m at that goal? Will I maintain that? What do I do with my progress from there?


On one particular day right as I went for my I’m Not Going to Run walk, one of my team leaders had posted a graphic with the words “Keep the End Goal in Mind.” I was pondering this while I walked and began to ran.

When I started running, I was looking at the line in the road. Some might say that I was just staying in my comfort zone, not really challenging myself. Some might say the line is what was giving me direction. I started looking up, because frankly after Michigan winters, our roads are in rough shape. There could be potholes and I could twist my ankles. I needed to anticipate the problems or dangers up ahead for course correction. And, I did look at that first hill for which I need to reach the top. It was the goal. At that moment, getting to that first hill running WAS the end goal.

What should we look at: the line, what is just ahead, or the top of the hill? Was the top of the hill the goal? What is on the other side of the hill? Was that the end goal?

I do know what my leader actually meant when she offered this advice, and that it might seem like I’m totally overthinking this.

When I started with my Lilla Rose business, I had no business related end goal for which to strive. Joining Lilla Rose was strictly to provide tools to teach my own daughters how to care for their hair and to do pretty, modest hair styles. Within days, though, once we had the product in our hands, our end goals morphed from just for fun, to an opportunity to give back more to causes, to something fun and relationship building and academic for our own family, to where I am now. This is a real, viable, ground floor opportunity. I can be a tool to empower and train other women to be work at home moms, rather than outside the home working moms. I myself could advance in rank within Lilla Rose and earn a full time income!  Obviously that was not a large hill I considered 3.5 years ago!

There is wisdom in keeping one’s sights on an end goal. But, there is also something to the idea that the end goal might not be what one is thinking it will be. We always need to stay open to the idea that circumstances change, policies in our companies change that affect the direction of our businesses (the white lines in the road), a lot of life happens (the Michigan winter potholes) , and as is my case, as we learn, grow, and stretch, God might actually have something bigger than what we think the end goal is. It’s not necessarily that first, second, or third looming hill!

The immediate end goal is probably not the end goal.


For reaching an end destination

See? No cute pink running clothes here! NOT Running.

1) Be willing to start with the smaller, attainable goals, allowing the Lord to direct your path to targets bigger than what we currently conceive, or even very different than what we initially think the goal is. Be open. Be honest. Be willing to be led and directed.

2) Have accountability partners and encouraging cheerleaders who are going to be honest with you about your progress, or even your lack of direction. Stick with those people who are encouraging you to be the best that God is asking you to be in your business. Sometimes that might mean listening to things you don’t like to hear. Sometimes that might mean disregarding well meaning advice that goes against your personality or ethical standards. We all need course correction from time to time! Know when to stay in your comfort zone, and when to try something new. Use wisdom and discernment about which pieces of advice or accountability are best for your integrity, business, and future.

3) Stay up to date with latest business methods. Pay attention to those who will train you with integrity from both inside your company, and from the outside. Never stop trying to learn, to read, to listen to podcasts, or to inspiration.


 I did it. For the first time since middle school, I ran a total of 2000 steps in one day.

My lungs hurts, my calves hurt, my stomach hurt. The thoughts running through my head were “At this time last year, I felt horrible after walking 2000 steps. I don’t feel horrible walking it, but now I feel horrible running it!” and “My only goal right now is being healthy & looking nice for Equine J’s wedding. But what happens after that???”

Other ideas began to flow, like “Maybe I could run a 5k as a fundraiser for orphans with Down syndrome. Would people sponsor me?” or “Maybe I would train for a marathon!” I’ve got to say that I like the fundraiser idea much better.

Ideas in business flow too, like “Unit director is a possibility for me!” “Maybe I can build my business via this blog to be sustainable. Could I get knowledgeable enough that people would trust my wisdom? What more do I need to learn?”


Right now, I can walk daily or increase my running.  I can take each hill as it comes, and adjust for each pothole as it comes. I can run my business with the best integrity, honesty, ethics that I can while I am still homeschooling and raising children. I can learn alongside my children.

I Said I Would.I Am. I'll Keep Doing It.Keep Watching.

So can you!

Pick your hills, choose your routes, adjust for your potholes. Conquer those goals, one hill at a time, knowing that the next hill will probably be bigger, and still not the end.

I hope you continue to join me in this quest for better practices both in health, in exercise, in business, in faith, and in life, using THE Compass Rose!

My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared. ~Proverbs 3:21-26

Blessings,
Deb

PS. Announcement  coming made at the end of this last post is still in the works. 

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