I bought the Clarisonic Mia 2 on the recommendation of my BFF Ashli, a coworker, my sister's begging and the Sephora rep who was helping me the other week. At first, i totally regretted my purchase but after watching countless YouTube videos and pouring over hundreds of reviews, i decided to stick with my new purchase. I waited until Christmas to open up my Clarisonic and tonight I used it for the very first time.
For starters, the Clarisonic is insanely easy to use. It is portable, lightweight, waterproof and rechargeable. If you're ready to get cleaner, healthier skin, then the Clarisonic is for you. I chose the Mia 2 for its automatic timer and travel case. I purchased the acne brush set for my sister as we intend to share the Clarisonic. I am using the sensitive brush head that comes with the unit. The instructions recommend using a normal cleansing facial wash or an exfoliating wash with round beads, any jagged particles in the sugary scrubs could damage the brush head and cause buildup within the head attachment. The timed cycle pauses briefly to allow users a chance to move to the next area of their face. The recommended time for each part of your face is: 20 seconds each for your forehead/nose and chin and 10 seconds per cheek. I did not work fast enough and had to run the cycle again (which I totally didn't mind doing). The Clarisonic is insanely soft and doesn't even feel as harsh as a washcloth. I will be providing weekly status updates over the next eight weeks so stay tuned!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Terressentials
I didn't jump on the Terressentials bandwagon just to say that I'd tried "yet another" natural hair product that does or doesn't work. Rather, I tried Terressentials because it was finally a natural product for my natural hair. I liked the results but the process of getting there were a little less than desirable to say the least...
For starters, Terressentials is messy! It is mud after all but I didn't expect the splatter and residue it would leave on the walls of my shower and on my shower liner. It's a good thing I'll only be using the product once or twice a month to cleanse my hair and scalp! This product required that I thoroughly wipe down the shower and tub when I was done rinsing it out of my hair. I sectioned my hair into four sections and applied the product using my fingertips only and massaging it into my scalp. I worked my way from root to end of each section, twisting each section and leaving the product in as I moved to the next section. When I finished applying the mud wash I went about my shower business leaving it on my hair for about 5-7 minutes. I then rinsed out the mud section by section until the water ran clear. This took about another 3-4 minutes.
My hair felt clean and light. My curls were extremely springy and very tightly coiled. I guess not having the mineral oil to weigh it down caused my hair to shrink up but I didn't mind knowing that I had rid my hair of the parabens and sulfates found in other products. I finished off w/ some Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner for dry hair and styled w/ my Denman brush.
It was a quick process that I will make a few adjustments to next time. I will no longer apply the Terressentials with just my fingers but rather slightly diluted with water in an applicator bottle which insured full coverage and no product waste. This is a product I will continue to use.
Terressentials can be purchased at: www.terressentials.com -- Remember, it is USDA Certified Organic!
For starters, Terressentials is messy! It is mud after all but I didn't expect the splatter and residue it would leave on the walls of my shower and on my shower liner. It's a good thing I'll only be using the product once or twice a month to cleanse my hair and scalp! This product required that I thoroughly wipe down the shower and tub when I was done rinsing it out of my hair. I sectioned my hair into four sections and applied the product using my fingertips only and massaging it into my scalp. I worked my way from root to end of each section, twisting each section and leaving the product in as I moved to the next section. When I finished applying the mud wash I went about my shower business leaving it on my hair for about 5-7 minutes. I then rinsed out the mud section by section until the water ran clear. This took about another 3-4 minutes.
My hair felt clean and light. My curls were extremely springy and very tightly coiled. I guess not having the mineral oil to weigh it down caused my hair to shrink up but I didn't mind knowing that I had rid my hair of the parabens and sulfates found in other products. I finished off w/ some Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner for dry hair and styled w/ my Denman brush.
It was a quick process that I will make a few adjustments to next time. I will no longer apply the Terressentials with just my fingers but rather slightly diluted with water in an applicator bottle which insured full coverage and no product waste. This is a product I will continue to use.
Terressentials can be purchased at: www.terressentials.com -- Remember, it is USDA Certified Organic!
What's Been Up w/ My Nails?
Gel manicures! With summer halfway over and in full swing (in terms of my schedule) I've opted to protect my nails w/ the bi-weekly gel manicures I've been getting done at my regular nail spa.
So far, I've had neon orange, white, and pink gel manicures in conjunction w/ regular pedicures that my feet love. My nail spa, which is located on Long Island, charges $20.00 for a gel manicure and $13.00 for a regular pedicure, I always get the $5.00 upgrade which includes a better salt scrub and a five minute foot massage. It's heaven for the twenty-something minutes I spend getting my in-chair Shiatsu massage and soaking off the old gel in anticipation of the next application.
I have about another 4 gel manicures to go before its Wicked polish fall/winter color time...I love the fall months, from the fashion to the weather, it's all good. Did I mention the fall fashions?! :)
So far, I've had neon orange, white, and pink gel manicures in conjunction w/ regular pedicures that my feet love. My nail spa, which is located on Long Island, charges $20.00 for a gel manicure and $13.00 for a regular pedicure, I always get the $5.00 upgrade which includes a better salt scrub and a five minute foot massage. It's heaven for the twenty-something minutes I spend getting my in-chair Shiatsu massage and soaking off the old gel in anticipation of the next application.
I have about another 4 gel manicures to go before its Wicked polish fall/winter color time...I love the fall months, from the fashion to the weather, it's all good. Did I mention the fall fashions?! :)
Friday, July 27, 2012
Let's Talk Natural Hair...
So let’s talk natural hair…
For starters, I thought I should let you know that I’ve become a total natural hair geek and I refuse to ever use non-natural products in or on my hair, ever again. What brought this about? Well, for about two months I’ve been really working on getting my hair healthy – it gives me something besides length to focus on. In so doing, I’ve been diligent in deep conditioning my hair weekly, not using any products containing sulfates and only co-washing when needed. I’ve been moisturizing my hair w/ a spray bottle mixture of water, tea tree oil, Giovanni leave-in and EVOO. My curls have never popped more, I have ZERO frizz, crazy thickness and mega shine.
What ultimately made me decide to leave all non-organic / non 100% natural products alone was a combination of two things:
1) Naptural85’s YouTube vlog, and
2) The fact that I was using a highly recommended deep conditioning treatment alleged to be “all-natural, 100% organic, amazing, blah, blah…”
Ok so I use it, over half of a 20 oz. jar of it, deep conditioning my hair over the past several weeks and all the while, believing the hype. My hair was softer, shinier and in a way my curls were more manageable. Last week I had some downtime and decided to start at the beginning of Naptural85’s hair journey on YouTube and watch every single video she’s ever posted. Fast forward a year into her journey…she was really getting going at that point and came across the ingredients to the allegedly 100% organic Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa Conditioner she had been using since big chopping. She found out that there were parabens in her “organic” CONDITIONER. Now, for obvious reasons she was furious and anyone making that discovery would be as well. Her on camera revelation prompted me to go home and check out my deep conditioner ingredients. The topic of this blog should tell you what I found…
Well, the worst of the ingredients are the bulk of the product, content wise. The worst of them are Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Behentrimonium Methosulfate, and Cetearyl Alcohol – That’s right, Mineral Oil, Sulfates and Alcohol.
I honestly wanted to cry. No, I’m serious – I wanted to cry! I cannot begin to describe to you the love and care I’ve been giving my hair only to realize that my deep conditioning hair mayonnaise contained products that were COATING my strands and giving off the APPEARANCE of healthy hair... It is a disguise and I encourage you to read all of you product ingredients carefully and if you don’t know what something means, Google it.
I was so bothered by what I found my deep conditioner to contain that I have decided to retire all shampoos and use the only USDA certified hair cleanser on the market, which isn’t a shampoo or conditioner but actually a mud/clay that you use to clean you hair and scalp. I will be doing the Terressentials detoxification beginning this weekend (posts to follow) and then once my hair is completely detoxified in a week or so, I will be continuing to do the Terressentials once a month along w/ my weekly co-washes, hot oil treatments and homemade ALL-NATURAL products. A lot more to follow so stay tuned!
For starters, I thought I should let you know that I’ve become a total natural hair geek and I refuse to ever use non-natural products in or on my hair, ever again. What brought this about? Well, for about two months I’ve been really working on getting my hair healthy – it gives me something besides length to focus on. In so doing, I’ve been diligent in deep conditioning my hair weekly, not using any products containing sulfates and only co-washing when needed. I’ve been moisturizing my hair w/ a spray bottle mixture of water, tea tree oil, Giovanni leave-in and EVOO. My curls have never popped more, I have ZERO frizz, crazy thickness and mega shine.
What ultimately made me decide to leave all non-organic / non 100% natural products alone was a combination of two things:
1) Naptural85’s YouTube vlog, and
2) The fact that I was using a highly recommended deep conditioning treatment alleged to be “all-natural, 100% organic, amazing, blah, blah…”
Ok so I use it, over half of a 20 oz. jar of it, deep conditioning my hair over the past several weeks and all the while, believing the hype. My hair was softer, shinier and in a way my curls were more manageable. Last week I had some downtime and decided to start at the beginning of Naptural85’s hair journey on YouTube and watch every single video she’s ever posted. Fast forward a year into her journey…she was really getting going at that point and came across the ingredients to the allegedly 100% organic Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa Conditioner she had been using since big chopping. She found out that there were parabens in her “organic” CONDITIONER. Now, for obvious reasons she was furious and anyone making that discovery would be as well. Her on camera revelation prompted me to go home and check out my deep conditioner ingredients. The topic of this blog should tell you what I found…
Well, the worst of the ingredients are the bulk of the product, content wise. The worst of them are Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Behentrimonium Methosulfate, and Cetearyl Alcohol – That’s right, Mineral Oil, Sulfates and Alcohol.
I honestly wanted to cry. No, I’m serious – I wanted to cry! I cannot begin to describe to you the love and care I’ve been giving my hair only to realize that my deep conditioning hair mayonnaise contained products that were COATING my strands and giving off the APPEARANCE of healthy hair... It is a disguise and I encourage you to read all of you product ingredients carefully and if you don’t know what something means, Google it.
I was so bothered by what I found my deep conditioner to contain that I have decided to retire all shampoos and use the only USDA certified hair cleanser on the market, which isn’t a shampoo or conditioner but actually a mud/clay that you use to clean you hair and scalp. I will be doing the Terressentials detoxification beginning this weekend (posts to follow) and then once my hair is completely detoxified in a week or so, I will be continuing to do the Terressentials once a month along w/ my weekly co-washes, hot oil treatments and homemade ALL-NATURAL products. A lot more to follow so stay tuned!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
I'm Back!
Florida was great and I'm tanned and feeling so rested and relaxed. Sorry for the hiatus but I have a lot of awesome new content coming soon! In the meantime, I'll be reviewing the June Birchbox that arrived today! Until later, stay pretty!
Friday, May 25, 2012
curlBox Photo Inspirations, Part I
I follow curlBox on Instagram and recently I have been screen snapping all of the photos that continue to inspire my natural hair journey. Please enjoy them...
My Super Chunky Twist Out
I've always had much appreciation for the natural hair twist out but I never quite "loved" it until I tried 'Mae's Super Chunky Twist Out' on my my own natural hair. To achieve the look, it is necessary to blow dry your hair straight and start with mostly dry, straight hair. For my best look using Mae's technique, I don't apply any leave-in conditioners or styling products prior to drying my hair.To begin, you will need the following products or your favorite similar products. Note: I've tried this style with one of my absolute favorite products, Cantu Shea Butter, but I found that it didn't work as well as a creamy gel/pudding like Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding.
Blow dry your hair using a comb attachment nozzle from its naturally wet state until it is mostly dry. I use my Yellow Bird dryer that came highly recommended by stylists at my local Beauty Supply store.
Step 2:
Part your hair where you normally wear it and section it into large sections that will be your chunky twists.
Step 3:
Apply the Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding to each section, root to end, prior to twisting and then twist and if needed, secure your twist at the end w/ a Goody rubber band. Some people won't need to do this but my hair never stays twisted in the front without first securing the ends.
Step 4:
Work your way around your entire head, twisting the large sections and securing them as necessary. Apply your scarf and remove after several hours, usually overnight.
That's all folks! Four simple steps for an amazing style that gave me three full days of wear before I repeated the process. Hope it works for you! As always, leave you questions and comments below.
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