Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
I thought this stuff was going to change my life. I really did. When you haven’t slept in a week and the paper pile on your desk has somehow erupted into a non-stop lava flow of things to do I guess you vulnerable to the enticements offered by a can of powdered dry shampoo. [Continue reading…]
I got back from my fun-in-the-sun Hawaii vacation and found that frolicking in the saltwater, sand and sun did a number on my skin and hair. So last week I was all about skin and hair repair! I found these lovely products helped to get my post-vacation self scrubbed, moisturized and glowy.
Origins Incredible Spreadable Scrub & Exfoliating gloves from Parissa
Here’s your math for the day: Incredible Spreadable Scrub plus exfoliating gloves from Parissa equals skin smoother than a baby’s butt. Seriously. Incredible Spreadable Scrub is a salt and olive oil based exfoliator, so if you have open cuts or just got waxed don’t use it cause it will hurt like a mofo. But if your post-vacay skin is need of some serious scrubbing then this gets the job done.
The one thing that I’ve found that takes this scrub from good to great are the white exfoliating gloves which come “free” in Parissa’s waxing kits. I wax at home, so I accumulate quite a few of these gloves. And even though I’ve used other brands of exfoliating gloves in the past, for some reason the ones from the Parissa kits get the job done really well.
Don’t be surprised if you end up leaving a ring around the tub. I’m serious ladies and gents … it works.
Ocean Potion Aloe Gel
This is the best aloe gel I’ve ever used. It’s light, absorbs easily, doesn’t feel sticky and is super hydrating. I hardly ever peel but when I get the sense that my skin has had too much fun-in-the-sun I slap a layer of this on at night on my arms, shoulders, or wherever it feels dry and tight and my skin is as good as new the next morning. You don’t need to use a lot and at seven bucks a bottle it’s quite a steal.
Bumble & Bumble Super Rich Conditioner
The price tag is steep on this conditioner but it is well worth the price if you’ve got hair that’s dried out from saltwater, chlorine and sun exposure. The texture is thick but not goopy, and it sinks right in. I use a small dollop and concentrate on the ends and voila — soft and shiny hair! And did I mention the smell is divine? It’s light and floral, like honeysuckle.
I’ve got a bad case of post-vacation blues. I think I miss being in the water more than anything else. If you live somehwere where the ocean temperature is 70 degrees take a dip or go surfing for me today so I can live vicariously through you!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Alberto VO5 Tea Therapy Clarifying Conditioner in Vanilla Mint Tea
It’s usually standard operating procedure to wash your hair with shampoo every day. While this may work for many women, it doesn’t work for me because my hair is thick, wavy and dry. No, I don’t walk around with a stinky head of hair a la Pig Pen. I “shampoo” using a cheap drugstore conditioner!
Why Skip Shampoo?
I started skipping shampoo when my hairstylist noticed my hair looked and felt overly dry. She asked what my routine was, and I told her I was coloring my hair, and then on top of that washing and blow drying it straight every day. She suggested skipping a day (even skipping two or three days if I could handle it) between washing and blow drying. That way, my blow out would last longer and I wouldn’t have to subject my hair to the daily abuses of heat styling. Another alternative she mentioned was to skip shampoo entirely a few times a week. She suggested using water to rinse my scalp and hair and then following up with a conditioner.
I did this for a few years until I realized that I hated spending so much time with my hair dryer. If you have thick, long, curly hair and wear it straight, you know it can take from 45-60 minutes to blow it out. If you’re blowing it out at least four times a week that’s four hours spent with your blow dryer! When I had this epiphany I realized, holy crap, all that time I spent fighting to get my hair straight I could’ve been doing other things like learning French or building a better mouse trap.
So about a year ago, I decided to stop fighting nature and embrace my wavy hair. That’s when I learned about the world of conditioner washing.[Continue reading…]
Product: Garnier Nutrisse Permanent Color
Use: At home color to change your current color or cover up grays
Price: about $7.00 for a one application box
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
I can justify spending $75 on a haircut because I have naturally wavy hair that’s really hard to tame — I’ve had so many bad haircuts resulting in everything from the poofy mushroom to the rats nest look at, so I never skimp on getting a good haircuts.
Throughout my 20s and early 30s, I was also willing to spend money on salon color. I went through all sorts of hair color phases, changing my naturally brown-black hair with red highlights, light brown and blonde highlights. It’s so much fun to change your hair color, but now that I’m living on a writer’s paycheck it’s really hard to part with $120 every three months to get those roots done, especially when the do-it-yourself color boxes at the store are $7.00.
During my year of living cheaply (wait, what am I talking about, I’m still living cheaply) I gave up getting my hair colored at the salon. I was a little nervous about doing it at first because the last time I did at-home hair color was in high school. I mean, what if my hair turned orange? Or what if I accidentally fried it somehow and it started breaking off? Or what if I ended up with scary too-dark Halloween hair that looked like an Elvira-Mistress-Of-The-Night wig? The mishap possibilities were endless.
I wish I could say that it all went perfectly from the get-go, but I can’t. Like with any new skill, I made a few mistakes along the way but thank god it didn’t really result in anything too horrific. One time I started from the roots because I got really freaked out about seeing gray hairs at the front of my head, so I piled on globs of dye on the roots like a crazy person and I ended up with light roots and dark ends. And another time I used a too-dark color that I left in too long which resulted in scary dark Elvira-Halloween hair for about a week until most of the color washed out. But in the grand scheme of things, these mistakes weren’t *that* bad. They weren’t noticeable to the majority of bystanders, unless I pointed it out (which of course I didn’t).
Now I color my hair every month, and it’s as easy as pie. I use Garnier Fructis Permanent Hair color. The smell is pretty strong, but in comparison to other at-home dyes, it’s not bad. It also doesn’t dry my hair out, which is one thing I hated most about Feria, the dye I used in high school. If you have dark hair like me and want to go a few shades lighter, Garnier is a good choice, because it does a pretty good job of lifting your hair color a few shades.
Here what I do to make at home hair color work for me:
2. I then let my hair air dry during the day so that I can dye my hair in the evening.
3. When it’s time to dye, I put on an old t-shirt and sweatpants so I don’t ruin any nice clothing. I also grab an old wash cloth and wet it. I use this to immediately wipe any dye that accidentally gets on my face or my neck. I don’t have to use this as much now, because I’m getting less messy with practice.
4. Garnier gives an estimated time of how long you should leave the color in. I start the clock the moment I being the coloring process. If the box says 35 minutes, then I take into account total dye time from start to finish. I do not dye my hair and then wait for 35 minutes, and the one time I did, the color ended up being too dark, which resulted in the Elvira-Halloween hair mishap. Ugh!
5. If I’m using a new color, I always start from the ends and put the color on the roots last.
6. I never pile the hair on top of my head while I’m coloring. I just let it hang down (hence the wearing of the crappy t-shirt).
