Girl with Curl

Cleaning up the cob webs...

2012-01-20T14:19:00.024-05:00

Hello..helllooooooooo!!! Anyone still out there?? Yes, it's been awhile...a very long while. Many things have changed since I've last written such as:

1. The boyfriend was ugpraded to the fiance and finally promoted to the HUSBAND! We got married back in September 2011.

FIANCE

HUSBAND

(I just learned that fiancé is a man engaged to be married and fiancee is a woman engaged to be married. The whole time I thought they were the same thing and you used the double "e" when you didn't make the acute accent. I just found this out and that the accent mark above fiancé is called acute accent. I google everything)

2. The husband and I have happily expanded our family. Introducing "The Baby". Names may have been changed to protect the identity of those who can't hold their head up or stay awake long enough to protest. I may be biased but, he's pretty intelligent. Just the other day I promise he said my first name. Even some grown people have a hard time pronouncing my first name.

3. Our family did not expand by just plus one. Introducing...Mochi. (She has agreed to use her real name.) I forgot how crazy the puppy stage is. Mochi turned 1 this past Christmas. I'm hoping she'll calm down soon. I don't know how much more Korina, her older sister, can take. Mochi is a full bred maltese. I have the papers to prove it. Korina on the other hand - I'm slowly doubting each day that she's a full bred maltese. I don't think malteses are supposed to get as big as cocker spaniels.

And then there are some things that have not changed such as:

- my makeup obsession and growing collection as a result of this obsession
- quest for long HEALTHY NICE hair (just because it's long doesn't mean it's nice)
- my battle to become fit

I'll have some upcoming posts related to these.

Engagement and wedding images courtesy of Scott Hayne photography.

Curl Junkie Products

2009-05-21T13:06:00.009-04:00

I had the opportunity to test out a variety of Curl Junkie products. Once again, I started off with the smell test. It's always the first thing I do with a new product. Two thumbs up for the scents, especially the Coffee Coco Curl Creme and Hibiscus and Banana deep fix - moisturizing conditioner. I already had the Sulfate Free Gentle Shampoo and Curl Assurance Daily Hair Conditioner which came with a My Pretty Pink Box I had ordered a couple weeks ago. Marsha, of Curl Junkie Hair Products, was nice enough to send me Curl Theory Moisturizing Hair conditioner, Hibiscus and Banana deep fix - moisturizing conditioner, Coffee Coco Curl Creme, Curl Assurance Aloe Fix Hair Styling gel, and Curl Assurance smoothing gellie.

Whenever I review products, I try to keep and open mind even if I've already read reviews on those products but, I still can't help but have certain expectations for products that have a lot of positive reviews. I figured I would test out three different combinations of styling products, each time using the the Sulfate Free Gentle Shampoo and Curl Assurance Daily Hair Conditioner.

I really like the Sulfate Free Gentle Shampoo. Its consistency, which is similar to just plain water, is kind of unusual for a shampoo. I usually expect shampoos to be thick and creamy. I was pleasantly surprised to see that you still get a lot of sudsing action even though the shampoo is not thick at all. As for the Daily and Moisturizing hair conditioners, both did condition my hair, but the results were average and typical of other conditioners I have tried.

Test#1 - Hibiscus and Banana deep fix - moisturizing conditioner + Curl Assurance Aloe Fix Hair Styling gel

This combination didn't really do much for my hair. I didn't get good clumps and using a gel to hold the non-clumping just left me with limp semi-wavy hair. It also made the more straighter sections of my hair even straighter. I might have to try this combination again but, use different amounts of each product and see if my results differ.

Test #2 - Coffee Coco Curl Creme by itself

I was expecting this to be my favorite of the bunch because of how heavily it's been discussed on naturallycurly.com. It's also supposed to do the job of both a leave-in conditioner and a gel which I love because it cuts down on the amount of products I have to buy and apply. The Coffee Coco Curl Creme moisturized my hair and gave me good clumping, but the clumps were falling towards the end of the day. I think next time I'll have to use more product. I used a light hand this time thinking too much would weigh my hair down.

Test#3 - Hibiscus and Banana deep fix - moisturizing conditioner + Curl Assurance smoothing gellie

This was my favorite combination of the three I tried. It gave me lot of clumps and good hold without the crunchiness. I even tried it out at a birthday party picnic with high humidity and temperatures close to 90 degF. By the end of the day, I did have some friziness but, this combination still responded better to the humidity than other products I've tried. I'm still searching for a product that totally protects my hair-do from humidity.
Sooo..in order from my most favorite combo to my least favorite combo..I would have to go with Hibiscus and Banana deep fix - moisturizing conditioner + Curl Assurance smoothing gellie, Coffee Coco Curl Creme by itself, and finally Hibiscus and Banana deep fix - moisturizing conditioner + Curl Assurance Aloe Fix Hair Styling gel.

I spoke to Marsha of Curl Junkie about the results I got (she's really great about discussing issues you might have with Curl Junkie products and giving recommendations) and she said she normally doesn't recomend the Hibiscus and Banana deep fix - moisturizing conditioner as a leave-in for people with my hair texture because it's usually too heavy but she's happy it worked for me. She also suggested trying the Curl Assurance Aloe Fix Hair Styling gel alone on wet hair or Coffee Coco Curl Creme + Curl Assurance Aloe Fix Hair Styling gel. If you have these products and you aren't getting the results you want, you might want to try Marsha's recommendations.

Another thing I really like about these products, other than the scents, is that some of them are multi-purpose. For example, the Hibiscus and Banana deep fix - moisturizing conditioner can be used as a rinse-out, deep or leave-in conditioner. I'm definitely one for saving money and getting the most out of a product.

I also mentioned to her that a lot of people, including me, dislike buying products online because of shipping costs. She said she's "slowly but surely" adding retail locations where Curl Junkie products can be purchased. Currently, they can be purchased at Back to the Lands Natural Foods in Brooklyn, NY, Lin's Beauty Supply in Little Elm, TX, and Honeyfig in Ontario, Canada but, be on the lookout for a retail location close to you in the near future.

AG Hair Products

2009-05-08T13:50:00.011-04:00

I had the opportunity to test out AG Hair products. I have heard of them before because many of the members of naturallycurly.com use and love the Re:coil Curl Activating Balm. I was sent the Re:coil Curl Activating Shampoo, Re:coil Curl Activating Conditioner, and Re:coil Curl Activating Balm to review. The shampoo is sulfate-free. The conditioner contains some of the heavy silicones such as cyclopentasiloxane and dimethicone. It also contains Amodimethicone which is a slightly water soluble silicone. The balm does not contain silicones. Because the conditioner contained silicones I wanted to test out the balm by itself then test all three together.

Experiment #1 was the Re:coil Curl Activating Balm by itself. I cowashed with Suave Naturals conditioner then conditioned with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner. The way this balm works is similar to how Kinky Curly Curling Custard works which made me think the Re:coil balm would work better if I had applied a leave-in conditioner before the Re:coil balm.

The reason I say that the Re:coil balm works similar to Kinky Curly Curling Custard is because as it dried it seemed like it would dry crunchy but, once it was fully dry you were left with defined, NOT crunchy waves. However, I still thought it would have been better layered with a leave-in conditioner.

In this picture, my hair wasn't 100% dry but fairly dry. I get too lazy to blowdry my hair and I figure the warmer weather is perfect for air drying my hair.
Experiment #2. In the next pictures, I used Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in before applying Re:coil Curl Activating Balm. I figured since Kinky Curly Curling Custard works well with Knot Today leave-in conditioner and is similar to Re:coil balm then the Re:coil balm would work well with Knot Today leave-in. I actually prefer this combination to just using the Re:coil balm alone.

Experiment #3. This time I used the shampoo, conditioner, and balm together. I also used the Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in. I liked this combination also but, it wouldn't work for those who are strictly following the Curly Girl method because the conditioner does contain silicones as I mentioned above.
In summary, the AG Hair products worked well with my hair but, I also needed a separate leave-in conditioner in order to achieve the results I wanted. The Re:coil balm alone just didn't give me the defintion that I was looking for but, once you added a leave-in conditioner, it worked really well. It worked as well as Kinky Curly Curling Custard which is a favorite among the wavies and curlies. The shampoo is sulfate-free which is a definite plus. For those of you who don't fear the silicone, the conditioner also works great.

Nine Naturals Giveaway winner

2009-05-08T13:44:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Courtney Yarberry - winner of the Nine Naturals giveaway which includes a Nine Naturals set of shampoo and conditioner! Thank you Courtney and everyone who participated. I have another giveaway lined up and this time it may possibly have multiple winners so stay tuned.

I smell a giveaway...

2009-05-01T09:12:00.009-04:00

Contest is now closed. Winner will be announced shortly. Thank you to everyone that participated.

The founder of Nine Naturals hair care line, Nicole Shariat, has generously offered to give away a Nine Naturals set of shampoo and conditioner. Her products are tailored towards moms-to-be but, if you look closely, many of her products are what most of you are looking for - products that DO NOT contain pthalates, parabens, sulfates and DEA. All Nine Naturals products contain nine or fewer truly natural ingredients, not "psuedo-natural" products that try to hide their chemicals behind words such as botanical, natural and organic. All Nine Naturals products are also certified vegan.

You don't have to be expecting a baby to enter this give away. You just have to want hair care products that are 100% natural that DO NOT contain harsh or harmful ingredients and chemicals.

Check out the Nine Naturals website for more information.

Contest rules:
1. Any reader that posts a comment AND sends me an email with the subject line saying "Nine Naturals giveaway - [insert name that you used to leave a comment here]" This allows me to track down the winner easier. My email address is mamendoz@gmail.com.
2. Contest is open to US and Canadian readers.
3. Winner will be chosen randomly.
4. Contest ends at 12:00 PM EST on Friday, May 8, 2009.

Let me break out the Pledge...

2009-04-28T13:57:00.030-04:00

And dust off my blog. I have so many posts in my head that just need to get written down. I have some product reviews, including AG hair products (most known for AG recoil), Curl Junkie products and Arrojo products, that I have to get around to. I have the products, tested them out, taken the pictures but, I just need to sit down and actually write it out. I also have another giveaway coming either the end of this week or beginning of next week.

Blended Beauty sent me a cute sample bag which contained most of their popular products. One of the first things I do when I receive products is smell them. I'm very sensitive too smells. Blended Beauty products have that natural, woodsy scent going on a la Carol's Daughter's and Ojon products. The scent is strong and will linger in your hair the whole day. I categorize scents as perfumey, fruity, natural, and food-like (usually products that smell like desserts such as cake). There are probably scents that I haven't encountered yet that don't fit those categories but, a majority of the products I've smelled do fall in those 4 catgeories.

In my sample bag I received the Soy Cream Shampoo, Curl Quenching Conditioner, Light Styling Lotion, Kicks for Curls, Silkshake, Curly Frizz Pudding and an instruction booklet. I haven't had a chance to try some of the products because some of them are used on 2nd day hair and I usually wash my hair everyday. I cowashed with Suave Naturals, conditioned with Curl Quenching conditioner, and styled with the light styling lotion and Curly Frizz Pudding.
My hair was a bit tangly when I took this picture. The day I tested out some of the products was the day of my friend's "winging" for the Navy. Keep in mind this picture was taken at night. I think my hair held up pretty well for a warm day where I was sweating and running around (the room where they held the ceremony was kind of warm) and I also had my windows down when I was driving.

Blended Beauty products are very moisturizing. They don't have a lot of hold but, do give me some definition. I wouldn't call it heavy clumping though. If you want to style your waves or curls but, want them to have looser definition, these products would work for you.

Since I last blogged, I've past two milestones in my life. One being my 29th birthday and the other completing a half-marathon.

I felt like I celebrated my birthday all week. It might be the most I've ever celebrated my birthday. I celebrated at work twice (once actually at work and once at a hibachi restaurant), at Cheesecake Factory, at my boyfriend's mom's house, and at a bar and club on the weekend. I even had two birthday cakes. I'm not writing to brag about how much I celebrated my birthday but, to talk about how much all of that meant to me. I don't like to talk about my personal life that much on public sites but, some days, especially during holidays or special occasions, I feel kind of alone. I have a really big family but, my parents, brother, aunties, uncles and cousins are all out of state and not really at driveable locations either. I'm not close to the family that I do have nearby because of drama that I won't get into. When I say "not close", it's pretty much like we're strangers. My grandparents are close by also but their favorite past time is staying at home. I've been lucky enough to basically be "adopted" by one of my best friend's family and my boyfriend's family. My best friend's family is my 2nd family and her parents have always been there for me like my own parents have. My boyfriend's family is forever feeding me. If you see how much I eat, you know that can be costly. I have a couple close friends nearby but, again as life does to everyone, most of my close friends are miles and states away. I can't seem to find the words to end this rambling but, basically my Facebook status that I had posted up during my birthday week should sum it up, "[I'm] grateful for all the blessings that God has given me but most grateful for all the people He has brought into my life." I can't express how happy and thankful I was for everything that was done for my birthday. Thank you to everyone who celebrated and made me feel that I do have family here. Thank you to my family, who are some of the nicest people you'll meet, my boyfriend, who never ceases to make me happy, all my friends - new and old, both sides of my boyfriend's family who are always taking care of me, and my coworkers. Let me end this with some birthday pictures before someone offers me some cheese with that whine.

Celebrating at work. Yes, I know I'm dressed like a mechanic and No, I can't fix your car. The other day, someone in my neighborhood asked me if I was a professional dog sitter because I was always walking my dog at the same time dressed in my work uniform.
Celebrating at my boyfriend's mom's house. We had no idea she was planning anything. My boyfriend even took me out to dinner to Cheesecake Factory and his mom just told us to stop by. When we got to her house, there was all this food. I wish I could have eaten more because everything was so good but, we had gotten an appetizer, main meal and dessert at Cheesecake Factory.
My final celebration which happened to be the same day as the half marathon. I had to take a nap before we left that night. Blowing out my "candle" that was actually a steak knife.
Look at the size of this carrot cake that the restaurant gives out for birthdays.
The ladies. I was cracking up hard in the first picture.
I had fun that night but, took me a long time to recover.

Like I said above, I completed my half marathon earlier that day. That's the longest distance I've run so far - 13.2 miles. I started struggling at mile 10. It was also the first time I ran with an Ipod. The night before I had just dumped a bunch of songs on a playlist that I thought would be good for running. I might have to reevaluate my playlist though. Stay by Lisa Loeb doesn't hype you up as much as you think it would when all you feel like doing is rolling yourself into a ball and resting for a bit on the side of the road.

Here's a pic of me and my boyfriend at the halfway point, between miles 6 and 7. I look rough.
I think my pose for my next race will be one of these two.

Now that I've completed the half marathon, I've come to realize that I went about my training the wrong way. Forget building up your endurance and speed and increasing your mileage by 10% each week. All you need to do is keep your adrenaline up the whole race. That rush will enable you to complete your fastest mile EVER. Take for instance what happened to me. I'm running the half marathon, staying on the side of the road closest to the trees. Of course, because you are close to the woods, they are required to put up signs warning you about surrounding wildife, including bears. I'm getting in the groove, listening to my T.I., reggaeton and occasional soft rock songs, when out of nowhere this bear comes out of the woods ready to attack me.
I jumped, said "Holy Crap, Oh shoot", and sprinted with the quickness only to find the other people running next to me were laughing. (I like to think with me not at me). That's when I realized the bear was actually a very realistic, very life-like statue. I really think I'm on to something here. Imagine if you're running a race where you are constantly fearing for your life. Don't you think you'd end up with your best race times?

My goal was to a.) Finish the half marathon without having to be carried over the finish line and b.) Complete it within 2.5 hours.

Here are the details of my race sent to me by the race officials.

Your time 2:23:29.06 gave you a 10:57 pace per mile.

Your 3M time was 32:06.57 for a pace of 10:42 per mile
Your 6M time was 1:02:16.25 for a pace of 10:03 per mile
Your 10M time was 1:46:10.59 for a pace of 10:59 per mile

They really aren't impressive times especially considering when I was at 3.5 miles the winners of the race were on the way back to the finish line but, it was just a personal goal I can finally check off my list and I'm happy to have completed it without hurting myself. The boyfriend and I are planning on running a full marathon this year. I will definitely have to train for that.

Images courtesy of:
http://kara.allthingsd.com/files/2008/06/austin_powers_mike_myers_as_dr_evil.jpg
http://events.clowningaround.com/images/Lookalike%20Photos/Austin%20Powers%20shagadelic.jpg

I don't mean to brag but....

2009-04-17T16:09:00.005-04:00

I'm addicted to the Scramble game app. I just recently discovered that you could play against other players online. I have a somewhat competitive streak in me. Something just comes over me when it comes to games - kickball, baby shower games, tetris, my company volleyball game, dodgeball, buffet eating, etc. It doesn't even have to be against other people. I'm always trying to beat my own score at most games.

In Memoriam

2009-04-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to take a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives during one of Virginia Tech's most tragic days two years ago on this date.

Please take time to read the biographies of our 32 fallen Hokies here.

When I read these biographies, all I could think was how sad, senseless and selfish an action it was that took away someone's father, brother, sister, cousin, friend, classmate, etc.

My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those who have been affected.

We will always remember. WE ARE VIRGINIA TECH!

And the Blended Beauty winner is......

2009-04-15T13:39:00.005-04:00

Congratulations to Jess! She is now the lucky owner of 3 Blended Beauty products of her choice. Congrats again and hope you enjoy your products.

I chose my winner a little bit more technologically advanced than last time. I made a numbered list of everyone's name and used a random number generator to choose a number which in turn was my winner.

Huuurcuut!

2009-04-15T09:25:00.002-04:00

I did end up getting my haircut yesterday but, didn't go for the short cut. The picture I showed the hair stylist was a picture of someone with long hair, long layers and shorter layers in the front. I just couldn't part with the hair. On the same page of the haircut I liked was a picture of a really short cut and the stylist thought at first that was the cut that I wanted. She said in her head she was like uh oh she's gonna chop of all that hair.

The stylist did a wet cut as opposed to the dry curly cut. I told her I do style my hair different ways and want that option to switch between curly, wavy and straight styles. It didn't look like she took off that much but, my hair feels different when I run my hands through it. My boyfriend was able to tell a difference.

I'll post up pics of it wavy the next time I fix my hair.

Yes, yes I know the angry face again but, it's the only decent hair shot I could take. I should have taken a picture of the back so you could see more of the layering.

Now is the time to get Curl Junkie Products and Possible Haircuts

2009-04-10T11:41:00.015-04:00

If you've been wanting to try Curl Junkie products but, didn't want to spend a whole lot on shipping, Curl Junkie is currently doing a $5 USPS Priority mail/$6 UPS Ground flat rate shipping special on all orders. Don't forget to check out all the goodies on sale under the "sales & trial set" link.

I may possibly be getting my haircut soon. I probably won't be getting a "curly haircut". This will be a good experiment. I know there have been a couple questions about whether or not a "straight haircut" would look just as good once you styled your hair curly. I'll be finding out the question to this soon. When I go to the hair salon, I'll probably go there with my hair curly, which I don't usually do, and mention that I'm trying to wear my hair curly more often.

I'm really contemplating bangs and a haircut because it's almost my birthday (I usually like to get my haircut near my birthday), it's been a while since I got a cut, and because these two pictures influenced me.

The first picture is a wig sold by a Japanese company called Mod's Hair. You can read more about this on Jillipoo's blog. I don't think I would get my hair cut as short as the wig but, I just thought it was a cute cut and I liked the bangs.

The second picture is of course Rihanna who I love so this may be making me biased towards the haircut. I showed one of my friends though and she liked it a lot too. This cut isn't too too short but, will still be taking a lot of length off my current hair length. And even if I ended up liking the cut a whole lot, I'd probably still regret it. I have a weird attachment to my hair when it comes to change. I always like getting my hair done but, at the same time I usually end up regretting changes other than minor ones.

I'm planning on getting it cut either this weekend or my birthday next week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and wonderful Easter!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

2009-04-08T10:50:00.001-04:00

Contest is now closed. Winner will be announced shortly. Thanks to all who participated.

Blended Beauty

The nice folks at Blended Beauty have graciously donated any 3 items that one of you fine readers will pick from their website http://blendedbeauty.com/.

Blended Beauty hair care products were designed specifically for the needs of those with dry, wavy, curly, kinky, and relaxed or heat-straightened hair.

Their main goal is to provide superior quality products that beautify the look of the hair but also nourish the hair from the inside out, promoting healthy growth and diminishing breakage. All our products are formulated with naturally derived ingredients and are between 98%-99% natural.

Their mission is to encourage those with curly hair, to realize its beauty and embrace it. Whatever your hair type is, you can wear it natural and love it. Chemicals, petroleum, mineral oil, and relaxing can be a thing of the past, on a Blended Beauty regimen. Our suggestions for promoting great hair have been laid out on the hair tips page for the benefit of our customers.

Some of the natural hair care ingredients included in their products are Shea Butter, Chamomile, Horsetail/Shave Grass, Marshmallow Root, Aloe Vera, Sunflower Oil, Volcanic Clay, Vegetable Glycerin, Seaweed, Grape Seed Oil, Avocado Oil, Witch Hazel, Keratin, Silk Protein, Soy Lecithin, and Rosemary Extract. Blended Beauty will always remain paraben-free.

For those of you following the Curly Girl Method, their products are Curly Girl Method approved.

Go ahead and check out their site. Pick out the three products you would want to win because you just might get lucky. There are also before & after pictures, demo videos and hair tips on the site.

Contest rules:
1. Any reader that posts a comment AND sends me an email is automatically entered to win. The only reason I ask you to also send me an email is because it is easier for me to contact you when I pick a winner. Most people are not comfortable leaving their email address on a comment which is entirely understandable. You don't have to write a fancy long email. Just put Blended Beauty giveaway on the subject line and then your name that you used to leave a comment. My email address is mamendoz@gmail.com.
2. Winner will be chosen randomly.
3. Contest ends at 12:00 PM EST on Wednesday, April 15, 2009.

Curl Junkie + Mixed Chicks

2009-03-31T15:00:00.000-04:00

I had ordered March 2009's Pretty Pink Box with my main motivation being the Curl Junkie products. When I received it, I didn't have any Curl Junkie products. I wasn't sure if I was missing them or if that was just the way products were distributed among the boxes. I asked Linda, who operates Pretty Pink Box, and she replied that she usually tries to distribute the products evenly among the boxes but, each box is different. She kindly offered to check if she had an extra Curl Junkie products, which she did, and sent them to me.

On the same day I received the Curl Junkie products, I received a package from Mixed Chicks. They had sent me a box full of samples of shampoo, deep conditioner and leave-in conditioner to review.

For my first experiment, I tried Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Gentle Cleansing shampoo then conditioned with Curl Junkie Curl Theory Moisturizing Hair conditioner. The cleansing shampoo lathered up more than most sulfate-free shampoos which was a plus because sometimes I do miss the suds. The moisturizing hair conditioner was light but still moisturizing. I knew my hair was going to squish when I applied products after my shower.

The only product I used after my shower was the Mixed Chicks leave-in conditioner. I didn't use any other gel, creme or mousse with it and was happy about the results. It gave me pretty good clumping and hold without any crunchiness. It was so easy to only have to apply one product too. My hair was still slightly wet when I took these pictures.
My second experiment was with the Mixed Chicks shampoo, deep conditioner, and leave-in conditioner. This shampoo does contain a sulfate so I was expecting the suds. The deep conditioner was very moisturizing also but, I would use it solely as a deep conditioner not as a rinse-out conditioner. I'm really liking this routine of only having to scrunch in one product after my shower. Once again I used only the leave-in conditioner and no other products.
My hair is completely dry in these pictures. I don't like the way my hair looks as it's drying but, I'm too lazy or don't have enough time to diffuse my hair and would rather let it air dry.

Ingredients for Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Gentle Cleansing Shampoo:
Water, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, CocamidopropylBetaine, Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate, Glycerin, Lauryl Glucoside, PE G-150 Pentaerythrityl tetrastearate, PE G-6 Capric/Caprylic Glycerides, Laureth 4,Hydroxypropyltrimonium Honey, Panthenol, Matricaria Recuitita (Chamomile) Flower Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Sambucus Nigra (Elder) Flower Water, Quaternium-79 Hydrolyzed Silk Protein, Sodium Chloride (Dead Sea Salt), Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Oil, Citrus Aurantium (Neroli) Oil, Citrus Aurantium (Petitgrain) Oil, Brown Rice (Oryza Sativa) Powder, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Disodium EDTA ,Tocopheryl Acetate.

Ingredients for Curl Junkie Curl Theory Moisturizing Hair Conditioner:
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol*, Glycerin, Behentrimonium Methosulfate*, Glyceryl Stearate*, Panthenol, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Seed Oil, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Honey, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Matricaria Recuitita (Chamomile) Flower Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Sambucus Nigra (Elder) Flower Water, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance, Tocopheryl Acetate, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA. *Vegetable derived

Ingredients for Mixed Chicks Shampoo:
Water, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Tea Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Glycol Disterate, Panthenol, Avocado Oil, Silk Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Ginger (Zinglber Officinale) Extract, Malvasylvestris (Mallow) Extract, Borage (Borago Officinalis) Seed Oil, Cinnmidopropyl Trimonium Chloride, Polyqatermium 10, Allantoin, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance, FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C Yellow #6.

Ingredients for Mixed Chicks Deep Conditioner:
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Octamethylcylotetraxiloxane, Safflower Oil, Cetrimonium Chloride, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate and C14-18 Perfluoroalkyethyl Thiohydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride and Benzoic Acid and Glycereth - 2 Cocoate, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance

Ingredients for Mixed Chicks Leave-in Conditioner:
Water, glycerin, Amodimethicone, emulsifying wax, hydrolyzed wheat protein,/pvp crosspolymer, methylgluceth-20, hydroxypropyl trimonium choloride, octyl methoxycinnamate, hydroxyethyl celloluse, jojoba oil, safflower oil, primrose oil, wheat amino acid, crosilk, hydrolyzed collagen (marine), phenoxyethanel, methylparaben, proplyparaben, butylparaben, FD&C red #40, FD&C yellow #5, fragrance

You can order Mixed Chicks products from http://mixedchicks.net/ (make sure you go to .net NOT .com. Dot com will take you to a much more different website) or from http://www.curlmart.com/

I liked all of the Curl Junkie and Mixed Chicks products that I tried but, the Mixed Chicks leave-in conditioner takes the cake for me (you know I had to throw in a food reference). I like how it's like a curl creme that encourages clumping and gel all in one but without the crunchiness. Both of the Curl Junkie products listed above do NOT contain silicones or harsh sulfates for those following the Curly Girl Method. The Mixed Chicks Shampoo is NOT sulfate-free. Both the Mixed Chicks deep and leave-in conditioner contain Amodimethicone which is a slightly soluble silicone that some have found a cowash can remove.

All the products had subtle fragrances. I remember liking them but, can't remember exactly what they smelled like. When I get a chance I'll have to take a whiff of all these again and edit this post.

I think it's time for a haircut too. I can tell my ends are getting a bit stringy.

P.S. I finally ran 5 miles yesterday and was only in a slight bit of pain so I was happy about that. I bought some of those shock absorber insoles which seemed to help. I'm still waiting on my Kinesio tape. I've been taking a break from running for the past couple of weeks so it felt really good to finally run almost pain-free.

Carol's Daughter - Straight Version

2009-03-27T16:01:00.006-04:00

Just as I suspected, Carol's Daughter products worked well with heat styling tools. I shampooed with Giovanni Invigorating Tea Tree shampoo (I meant to cowash instead but forgot) and conditioned with Carol's Daughter Tui Hair Smoothie. I used Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Protective Spray and Carol's Daughter Hair Milk. I blow dried with a round brush and used a big curling iron to straighten it a bit more. I was going to add Carol's Daughter Lisa's Hair Elixir but, found I didn't need any more moisture after I was done. In fact, I think I may have added too much hair milk. Once again, a little goes a long way. My hair did not feel dry after and looked smoother than it usually did when I would straighten it.
The first picture is a weird angle but, it was the only way I could really get a shot of my layers.

We are Family..I got all my sisters with me

2009-03-26T07:48:00.009-04:00

I'm a sister of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Incorporated. This past weekend I had a mini reunion with my sorority chapter sisters. It was just nice seeing everyone. I haven't seen some of them in years. There was also a stroll competition held by United Council of Fraternities and Sororities (UCFS) that we attended. I know I'm getting old though because the one day and one night I was actually at my alma mater wore me out. The 5 hour drive tired me out too. I got home and slept for more than 12 hours and was still tired when I got up.

One of my sisters was the host for the stroll competition

Some of the participating Sororities and Fraternities

Third Place

Second Place

First Place

This was one of the highlights of the stroll competition for me. If you can't really hear the music, it's Beyonce's Single Ladies.

Carol's Daughter

2009-03-24T14:20:00.005-04:00

If Sephora is your second home like it is mine, you would have noticed Carol's Daughter products. I've wanted to try them since I've experimented more with silicone-free and natural products so this is actually perfect timing. I've been lucky enough and very grateful to test out and review some Carol's Daughter products. I felt like I received an early birthday gift stuffed with Carol's Daughter Hair Milk, Tui Hair Smoothie, Lisa's Hair Elixir and Lip Butter. The first thing I noticed was the strong fragrance of all the products except for the lip butter. If you've ever smelled any Ojon products, it's pretty similar in scent strength.

I used all three hair products together. I shampooed with Giovanni Tea Tree Invigorating shampoo. For my rinse out conditioner I used Tui Hair Smoothie. On the container it says you can use it as a rinse out or deep conditioner. I think with my hair type, using it as a rinse out conditioner would be too heavy but, definitely moisturizing enough as a deep conditioner. The hair smoothie smelled a little bit like the yellow Brach's Butterscotch hard candy. You know I like to eat so you'll have to get used to me using food as a point of reference. I can tell if a conditioner is moisturizing enough by how my hair feels after I rinse out the conditioner. I mentioned before that I can tell a conditioner isn't moisturizing enough if my hair doesn't make a squishy sound when I scrunch in products. It's like the back of my hair dries really quickly before I can even add in products, which I like to do soaking wet, if my conditioner doesn't do its job. My hair definitely squished when I was adding products to it after my shower. If your hair is crying for some moisture, this is the product for you but, may be a better deep treatment conditioner as opposed to an everyday (or whatever day you wash your hair) rinse out conditioner.

Ingredients for Tui Hair Smoothie
Water, Corn Oil, Emulsifying Wax, Soy Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Wheat Germ Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil, Fragrance, Chamomile, Marigolds, Lavender, Nori and Vitamin C, Tetradibutyl Pentaerithrityl, Water, DMDM Hydantoin and Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate and Phenoxyethanol. Paraben Free. No Petroleum, Mineral Oil, or Artificial Colors.

I scrunched in both Lisa's Hair Elixir and Hair Milk upside down. I think I was a bit excited and put too much of both the Elixir and Milk. When it comes to these two products, a little goes a long way. That's a plus for the wallet.

I skipped the gel because I wanted to see how the products would work alone. I noticed that the three products mixed together produced a piney, woodsy, minty, creamy, milky scent. Yeah, took me half a day to figure that out. It reminded me of the way a Girl's Scout Cookie aka Thin Mint shooter smells like. The scent though fades away and you get a subdued version as the day goes on which I prefer. I tried these 3 products with gel the next day and didn't like the way it turned out. I think your hair looks better as your hair dries when you use these products but, if you add gel it kind of freezes the way your hair looks in the beginning.

Ingredients for Lisa's Hair Elixir
Soy Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Corn Oil, Essential Oils Of Peppermint, Sage, And Rosemary And African Gold Fragrances. Contains No Mineral Oil.

Ingredients for Hair Milk
Water, Soy Bean Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Vegetable Emulsifying Wax, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Apricot Kernel Oil, Beeswax, Essential Oil Or Lemongrass, Fragrance, Jojoba Oil, Wheat Germ Oil, Vitamin C, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Bicarbonate, Phenoxyethanol, Tetradibutyl Pentaerithrityl, Hydroxyhydrocinnamate. Paraben-Free.

This is how my hair turned out with the products and no gel.

I know on some days, curlies out there with real tight curls prefer wearing their hair in looser waves. These products would help you achieve that looser wave pattern.

If you're looking for moisture and soft, touchable waves this is for you. If you're seeking more clumping, this won't do the job.

For those of you trying to follow the CG method, the Hair Milk, Tui Hair Smoothie, and Lisa's Hair Elixir are silicone-free.

I'm excited to try them out when I use heat styling tools. Heat styling tools dry out my hair but, I think these combination of hair products would give me better results. I'm hoping to try that out later this week.

By the way the lip butter is GREAT. I have very sensitive skin and eczema so I'm always wary of lip products I haven't tried before. Even some of my favorite brands, such as MAC, will give me a reaction if I overdo it. I've been using the lip butter continuously since I received it. I wear it all day and over night. It's light weight but very moisturizing. It has a slight scent but, not very noticeable. I LOVE this lip butter.

Images courtesy of:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/candywarehouse_2041_192920616&imgrefurl=http://www.candywarehouse.com/brachsbutter.html&usg=__P6V0vIi5yruVOaZD38aguk8O8T0=&h=138&w=200&sz=10&hl=en&start=10&um=1&tbnid=EWhhryGDa8E7hM:&tbnh=72&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbrach%2527s%2Bhard%2Bcandy%2Bbutterscotch%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1

Knock, Knock

2009-03-20T13:52:00.003-04:00

Knock, Knock
Who's there?
Irish?
Irish you a Happy Birthday!

This was on one of the cards for Christle's gift. I thought it was the perfect card for her since her birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day.

We celebrated her birthday at this seafood restaurant Rockafellers. I liked the location where it was. It wasn't off the strip but, it was near the water. It's probably nicer during the summertime when you can actually eat outside.
Image courtesy of http://www.vbrestaurantguide.com/images/Rockafellers1.jpg

My boyfriend and I split everything so we wouldn't overeat but, then we ended up hungry by the time we left. We had split some calamari and a steamed bucket. We got some McD's fries and a vanilla cone after we left haha. Anytime we go to a restaurant we've never been to before we always try the calamari if it's on the menu. So far my favorite calamari has been Shucks in Norfolk and Red Star Tavern.

The product experimenting carried on. I used Giovanni Invigorating Tea Tree Shampoo, Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner mixed with L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss for medium to long hair curly/wavy hair, and a little bit of Generic Value Product Matrix Bioloage Conditioning Balm. I didn't do the upside down rinse.

I scrunched in Goldwell Curl Definition Revive Cream - Intense and Giovanni L.A. Natural Styling gel upside down. The Goldwell Curl Cream doesn't really give me any definition just softness. It's one of my products that I use when I know I'll just be staying at home but, don't want to leave my hair product-free. The first time I tried Giovanni gel I thought it didn't have enough hold. I thought the same thing again today. When I got home, it didn't look like I lost some wave. If you already have this product, I think mixing it with something that has a bit more hold like Biosilk Rock Hard gelee or Herbal Essences Set Me Up gel would work better.

I think the Biosilk gelee would actually be perfect to mix with the Giovanni gel because Biosilk gelee has too much hold for me. The first time I used it I used to much and I felt like my hair turned to glass.

After I applied all the products, I plopped to get my hair off my back, and diffused my hair until it was completely dry. While I was diffusing I could tell the Giovanni gel didn't really have much hold and felt like the back was getting a bit frizzy.
You can kind of see parts of my hair where it's frizzy or where the wave is falling. You know I had to bust out the green dress for St. Patrick's Day.

I'm hoping to go for some longer runs outside since the half-marathon I'm running is less than a month away now. I'm nowhere near where my training schedule says I should be. My shin splints were really bothering me and now they're manageable so I don't want to overdo it and be even more hurt closer to the race. I find that my shins hurt me when I run on the treadmill or pavement so I've been trying to run only outside but, we've been having some rainy weather lately.

Ice works miracles too. If I feel like my shins are hurting, I ice them when I get home while I'm watching The Wire (which I'm currently addicted to but, that's another post) and the pain really goes away.

I ordered some Kinesio tape two weeks ago and still haven't received it. I finally emailed the company and they said they were back ordered and expected date of shipment is April 1. I'd be more annoyed if my shins were hurting me more but, since I'm managing now I can deal with that shipment date.

And the winner is.....

2009-03-19T15:46:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Inna! She is the proud new owner of a set of Curls Like Us curl cloths. Please email me at mamendoz@gmail.com with your mailing information. Ironically, Inna was the first person to leave a comment (which had no influence on my decision).

To pick a winner, I used the highly advanced technique of putting all your names in a box and drawing out a winner. Thanks to everyone that participated.

I already have another giveaway in the making so ya'll come back now ya hear!

And the product testing goes on..

2009-03-18T07:30:00.000-04:00

I went to a Christening reception for my coworker's daughter's baby. It was at this Japanese Sushi Buffet that I've never been to. I definitely went over calories that time. (Remember I'm using my Iphone Lose It app to lose weight?) It was worth it though. I have a new ice cream love now - Red Bean aka Munngo bean aka Mung bean ice cream. For those that have tried halo-halo, it's the same red beans that are in that. I've seen Red Bean ice cream at the Asian stores before but, never found it appealing. Now that I'm on the hunt for it, I probably won't be able to find it anywhere.

I'm still experimenting with products that I already have. To get accurate results, I should actually be only changing one product at a time instead of using all different products everytime I do my hair.

I decided to use Suave Naturals for cowash, L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss for Medium to Long Curly/Wavy Hair for rinse-out conditioner, Garner Fructis Sleek & Shine leave-in, and L'oreal Vive Pro Glossy Curls spray gel. I didn't do the upside down rinse this time either.

For my rinse out conditioner I usually use the L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss mixed with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner. This time I only used the L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss conditioner and didn't like the results. My hair didn't feel as moisturized so I ended up having to spray my hair with a spray bottle that contained a little less than 1/4 of Suave naturals conditioner and the rest water (well mixed together) before I applied my leave-in and gel.

If my hair doesn't make a squishy sound when I scrunch products in, my hair isn't conditioned/wet enough. My conditioner/water concoction comes in handy for times like that. This has only happened to me when I used L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri-gloss by itself and Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious conditioner.

I srunched Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine leave-in in my hair upside down. I scrunched in the L'oreal Glossy Curls spray gel upside down too but, instead of spraying it directly into my hair, I sprayed it into my hands then scrunched it in. I'm sure that defeats the purpose of a spray gel but, I wanted to make sure the gel was distributed evenly.

I plopped with my microfiber towel until I was done putting on lotion. I currently plop not to achieve better clumping or waves but, to get the hair off my back while I'm getting ready. All my life I've had my hair twisted up in a towel while I got ready and can't seem to break the habit. I figure plopping is better for my hair than just wrapping it up in a regular towel.

After I was done getting ready, I removed the microfiber towel and scrunched out excess water with the same towel. I don't plop for that long so there's still a lot of water in my hair. I diffused both upside down and right side up for about 5 minutes then got bored and just let it air dry. The spray gel dried a bit crunchy and you couldn't really scrunch out the crunch. I've had worse in the past, though, when it comes to some crunchy hair.
Once again ignore the expression. Once I get a semi-okay picture I'm like OK that's it...tired of picture taking..this will work.

If you plan on using Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine leave-in, keep in mind it has Amodimethicone. It's one of those silicones that people are iffy about when they are CG. Some say it washes out with a cowash or low/no poo and some won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. My own personal experience? I haven't had a problem with it and will continue using slightly soluble silicones.

The L'oreal Glossy Curls spray gel does NOT have silicones.

Totally Twisted

2009-03-16T16:10:00.000-04:00

I've been neglecting my hundred other products and sticking to my Kinky Curly hair stuff so I decided to switch it up today.

I used Giovanni Tea Tree Invigorating Shampoo, Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner, Giovanni direct leave-in, and Herbal Essences Totally Twisted curl boosting mousse. I decided NOT to rinse upside down since my hair got tangly (is that a word?) doing that the other day. I still left my hair sopping wet before applying products. I scrunched in Giovanni direct leave-in and Herbal Essences Totally Twisted mousse while my head was upside down. Then got most of the water out of my hair by scrunching upside down with my microfiber towel. (I'm hoping to buy one of the curl towels soon to help with the frizz.)

After I finished my hair, I fell asleep while it was still wet. Yup, took me a nap right after I finished doing my hair. I tried to position my hair so that it was all above my head and I didn't flatten it while I slept. It was kind of messed up in the back when I woke up but, not that noticeable. After I got up from my nap I didn't really have to mess with my hair.

Strayin'

2009-03-14T21:08:00.002-04:00

The company my boyfriend works for had an employee appreciation dinner the other night. It was at Otani's, the same place his Christmas Party was. We got lucky and had the best entree that comes with shrimp, steak, and lobster and of course fried rice and vegetables.
I mentioned in earlier posts that I have no kind of picture taking skills when I know my picture is being taken i.e., driver's license pictures or if I'm taking a picture of myself. I can only seem to take candid pictures.

Here I am practicing with a smile then a no smile.
I did the upside down rinsing technique again with the usual products: Suave Naturals (cowash), Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner and L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri Gloss conditioner (mixed together for my conditioner), Kinky Curly Knot Today (leave-in conditioner), Kinky Curly Curling Custard and Herbal Essences Set Me Up gel (gel for hold).

Some parts of the back of my hair were tangly, probably from going back and forth between upside down and right side up.

I tried to part my hair differently this time. Next time I get my haircut I might get some shorter, angled layers in the front.

I'm also wearing my favorite lipstick at the moment - MAC Hello Kitty Strayin'. I don't like Strayin' by itself. I always mix it with MAC Prrr lip gloss or Sonia Kushak Lip Glossing with No-Feather pencil in Vivacious (from Target).
Prrr is on top and Vivacious is on the bottom. In the picture above, I'm wearing Strayin' with Vivacious (my fave combo at the moment). Vivacious looks kind of bright but, it actually tones down bright colors and makes them more wearable. Vivacious is a pretty color to wear alone too. The no-feather pencil connected to the other end of Vivacious doesn't really do anything for me. I don't ever use it.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Curls Like Us Give-away

2009-03-12T13:50:00.017-04:00

Contest is now closed. Winner will be announced by Friday, March 20, 2009.

Curls Like Us has graciously donated a set of two Curl Cloths (retail value of $24) that one of YOU lucky readers will be able to win.

The Curls Like Us™ Curl Cloth™ is a smooth-textured styling cloth designed to gently wick away excess water from hair while encouraging “curl clustering™” for beautiful definition, without the frizz.

Features

The smooth texture wicks away just the right amount of water and sets curls, without introducing frizz

The ergonomical, tubular shape of the Curl Cloth™ makes it easy to rotate during use

The brown color does not become discolored by residual hair dye

Includes a convenient loop for hanging

Benefits

Makes your favorite curl-friendly styling products work better

Sets curls and encourages “Curl Clustering™” for improved definition while reducing separation

Unlike terry cloth, they do not introduce frizz or cause split ends and breakage
Great, earth-friendly alternative to using paper towel.

Competitive Advantage

The inherent coarse texture of terry cloth roughens up the hair cuticles causing split-ends, breakage and ultimately frizz

Although paper toweling is frequently recommended by Curl Experts, most women prefer using an earth-friendly alternative

While an old t-shirt certainly works , it’s not nearly as user-friendly or as aesthetically pleasing

“Don't dry your hair with a terry-cloth towel --the fibers can roughen up the cuticle and cause frizz.” – USAWeekend.com

“Dry your hair with a T-shirt or paper towels in stead of a bath towels, which can cause frizz”, Caring for Curly Hair March, 2007 – Real Simple

“Stop drying your hair with a towel. The nubs tear apart the curls. Instead use a smooth surface like a paper towel or t-shirt.” -Lorraine Massey, author of Curly Girl, The Handbook (Workman 2002)

“The Curl Cloths do exactly what they promise. They wick away excess water, curls clump together and hair is not left frizzy at all. -Feedback found on NaturallyCurly.com CurlTalk Forum

Every Curl Deserves to be Happy!

Contest rules:
1. Any reader that posts a comment is automatically entered to win a set of Curl Cloths.
2. Winner will be chosen randomly.
3. Contest ends at 2:30 PM EST on Thursday, March 19, 2009.

Totally Random Question of the Day

2009-03-11T11:47:00.006-04:00

Usually questions come to my mind and first thing I do is Google an answer no matter how ridiculous the question is.

I had to go to the ATM today to withdraw some money and wondered how come the bills you get from the ATM are always fresh and new.

Do they get the bills straight from the US Treasury/Mint? I know you can't just just make bills without monetary backing (don't know if that's the right word) because it would be as worthless as a regular piece of notebook paper. So are bills destroyed before they are manufactured? Are new bills made just for ATM/bank use?

I tried to google this topic and could only find the history of the dollar bill.

Image courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/United_States_one_dollar_bill,_obverse.jpg/800px-United_States_one_dollar_bill,_obverse.jpg

And here is your random picture of the day. My boyfriend and I tried this restaurant Finn McCool's in a relatively new shopping center. It's an Irish themed restaurant. I bet it'll be crazy up in there on St. Patrick's Day. After we had dinner we went into this store next door that sold mainly spices but, also had some out of the ordinary stuff too. It's a neat, quirky store. One of things that caught my eye was this coffee. For those who aren't morning people, this might help you out. (I censored the picture but, the actual bag is not in case you were wondering.)

Uh uh..you know that has to hurt..

2009-03-09T08:47:00.013-04:00

That's just one of the things that I overheard while I was getting my eyebrows threaded. Along with "Oh my gosh, that's so crazy. I'm just going to stick to waxing" and "Do you think her eyebrows will come out okay? to "What in the world is that?" A mall near me finally got a threading booth so I was excited to try it. The booth is in the middle of the mall so of course curious crowds were expected. There were 2 girls ahead of me. I waited about 15 minutes for my turn.

I asked my boyfriend to take my picture while my eyebrows were being threaded. Being the comedian that he thinks he is, he took a bunch of unflattering armpit pictures and like two post-able pictures.

My before picture. (I never noticed how bushy my eyebrows were. Plus I was waiting to get them threaded so I was letting them grow out.)

Caution: This is a mega close up picture.

BEFORE:

DURING:

The lady who did my eyebrows had the thread tied around her neck. In the Youtube threading videos I had seen, the lady held the thread in her mouth. That seemed to be the only difference from the videos and what the lady actually did.

AFTER:

The whole process took about 10-15 minutes. She was very supportive of me taking a "before" picture. When I told my boyfriend to take a "before" picture, she said "Oh yes, yes definitely, yes go ahead, it will be a very big difference." She seemed eager to dig into my eyebrows. The lady had to break out all her tools - thread, comb, tweezers and scissors.

You know what's kind of ironic. A couple days ago I posted that I was planning on getting my eyebrows threaded. And included this clip art:
I said I hoped after I got my eyebrows threaded I wouldn't look like this. The ironic part is that I look like this anyways because my left eyebrow has always been higher than my right eyebrow. No kind of shaping can change that but, I'm glad as it's not as drastic as my clip art friend here.

Pros:
- Not painful at all. I heard mixed reviews on how much threading hurts. I found it did not hurt at all. There were a couple hairs where I felt it more but, still not painful to me. I think waxing is definitely more painful than threading.
- Achieve a better eyebrow shape/arch than waxing. You saw how bushy my eyebrows were before they were threaded. I guess because waxing is done in strips, you can't really precisely control which hairs you want to remove like you can using thread.
- No allergic or after waxing reaction. Sometimes when I get my eyebrows waxed I get bumps after. I'm not sure if this is a reaction to the wax or not. With threading, you don't have to worry about any chemical reacting with your skin. They also recommend threading to those suffering from acne. Waxing and laser hair removal is not recommended while using certain acne medications. Threading is also good for with sensitive skin, such as those suffering from eczema, which I have.
- Longer lasting results. This I can't vouch for quite yet. Supposedly, threading lasts longer than waxing and tweezing. I'll keep you posted.
- Inexpensive. Cost for eyebrow threading was $12. Not too bad, especially if it does last longer.
- I only got my eyebrows done but other areas you can get threaded are your chin, sideburns and upper lip. I'm guessing if it hurt less than waxing my eyebrows, threading will hurt less in these areas too.

Cons:
- This con is more specific to the booth I went to rather than threading in general. Because it is a booth in the middle of the mall, you'll definitely get a crowd like I mentioned. Plus, it's a new booth so a lot of people still haven't seen it and are curious when they pass by. My eyes were closed when my eyebrows were being threaded but, I could hear everything. I felt like I was having surgery awake and people were hovering me making comments like I was asleep.
- You have to hold your eyelid down and forehead up while your eyebrows are being threaded. I'm assuming (even though you know what they say about assuming) this is being done to spread out your eyebrow area making it easier to thread. Don't spend a lot of time on your eye makeup if you plan on getting your eyebrows threaded because it will get smudged.

I'm excited to try threading again. This might be my new go-to method for eyebrow shaping. The cons really weren't that bad. It was the only cons I could think of. My first threading experience was definitely a positive one.

I felt like I looked different after. It took me about a day to get used to it. Kind of like getting used to a haircut.

Conclusion: I definitely like getting my eyebrows threaded better than waxing or tweezing. If you want to try a different way to shape your eyebrows and you have a place that does threading near you, I say go for it. Two thumbs up for threading.

Upside Down Rinse Take Two

2009-03-06T23:29:00.007-05:00

A couple of posts ago, I talked about this new technique I learned - rinsing your hair upside down. I had the opportunity to try it again tonight and this time I let my hair completely air dry. I didn't even have to scrunch out the crunch. There was no crunch at all, just soft waves. I usually like my hair better when I diffuse it but, I actually like the definition I got tonight without diffusing my hair.

I'm still not satisfied with the front of my hair. I don't know what I want - maybe bangs or more layers. I feel like the front of my hair doesn't suit my face. I always like the back of my hair better than the front. The picture below on the right is the same as the left but a close-up. I dyed my hair dark brown with one of those dyes than rinse out in 28 washes. My highlights that I was trying to cover up were coming back and about every 6 months I have to dye it until I grow out my old color. The color lasts way past the 28 days it says on the box.

I feel like my hair looks different in pictures than what I see in the mirror. Probably the same issue as makeup bloggers that feel their makeup looks washed out when they take a picture of their FOTD (face of the day).

Products I used were Suave Naturals (cowash), Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner and L'oreal Vive Pro Nutri Gloss conditioner (mixed together for my conditioner), Kinky Curly Knot Today (leave-in conditioner), Kinky Curly Curling Custard and Herbal Essences Set Me Up gel (gel for hold).

I wish everyone a great weekend. I'm so excited because we're supposed to be having weather close to 70 degrees.

My plans for the weekend include:
1. Get my eyebrows threaded
2. Hike and enjoy the beautiful weather
3. See the movie Watchmen

Unibrow Be Gone

2009-03-05T07:03:00.001-05:00

I don't have a unibrow quite yet but, the eyebrows are getting a bit out of control. I'm waiting until this weekend to get my eyebrows threaded at the mall. Most of the places that thread eyebrows are a couple hours away from me so I'm glad there's one finally near me.

I don't know anyone yet that's gotten them done there. I hope my eyebrows don't get messed up and I end up looking surprised for a month and a half.

Or like this.

I don't know if they want credit for it but, images courtesy of:
http://scubadate.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/ugly-unibrow.png
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/Forseye/Eyebrows.jpg
http://www.clipartof.com/images/clipart/xsmall2/19284_pleasantly_surprised_yellow_smiley_face_man_smiling_and_raising_one_eyebrow.jpg

I want to be in the doghouse if ...

2009-03-03T19:50:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for a new type of towel. The microfiber towel I currently have does dry my hair quickly but, tends to make my hair frizzy. I had to of course check my favorite store Bed, Bath and Beyond. I found that they do carry the Curlease towel (pictured above). The other brand I'm looking for is Curls Like Us cloths but, I'm still searching for a store that carries it. (Remember I hate shipping costs.) From the feedback I've researched, both brands are gentler on wavy/curly hair which reduces frizz.

On the Bed, Bath and Beyond website, I came across some interesting furniture and such. I want to be in the dog house if it looks like this.
According to the website, your dog will love this "adorable dog house ... constructed by aligning half logs together giving it that great, rustic look. When you add the porch, your pet will not only have a place to seek shelter, but also a spot to relax in the sun." I wouldn't be surprised if the house had hard wood floors too.

The extra storage underneath the dog bed will come in handy when Korina's dresser becomes too stuffed with her current wardrobe, toiletries, MAC makeup, curly girl method products, etc.

Images courtesy of:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&sku=118269&
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/Product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16482617
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14166831

Special thanks to Korina for modeling, at location, in the dog house with porch and dog bed.

I'm a sucker for peer pressure when it comes to hair

2009-03-02T20:00:00.005-05:00

When it comes to hair, I'm easily convinced into trying a new technique or product when a majority of the curlies on naturallycurly.com rave about it. What has caught my eye thanks to Icequeen's explanation on Naturally Curly, Laura Lee, and Beauty Hits & Misses, is basically rinsing and scrunching your conditioner out with your head upside down while you're in the shower. I was already warned about the possibility of water going up your nose with this technique. I hate that feeling of water going up your nose while you swim so I was extra careful trying to avoid it now.

I cowashed with Suave Naturals. Added Loreal Vive Pro Nutri Gloss conditioner to my hair and combed it through. Scruched upside down and left it in my hair until the end of my shower. When I was ready to rinse, I put my hair in the water with my head upside down while trying to avoid water getting in my nose. It wasn't that bad, just different. After I was done rinsing, I shut off the water and continued scrunching, still with my head upside down until I got some of the water out. When I turned my head right side up, I was a bit disoriented from being upside down. My hair was still soaking wet. I scrunched in Kinky Curly Knot Today, Kinky Curly Curling Custard, and Herbal Essences Set Me Up Gel.

This technique seemed to give me softer waves that started closer to my roots and volume. I think next time I'll have to add more gel because I felt like my waves were too soft that they would eventually go straight.
I'm also wearing my favorite lipstick at the moment. Most Popular from the MAC Hello Kitty collection. The other color I'm currently in love with is Strayin' lipstick from the same collection.

Woe is me.

2009-02-27T08:04:00.008-05:00

I've been sidelined. For the past week, I've been running with some painful shin splints. I haven't had a good run since the Valentine's Virginia is for Lovers 14K. I started having pain when I ran 3 miles in my Under Armour cross trainers so I was thinking once I switched to my new running shoes I'd be fine. That day I ran 3 miles, I ran on a treadmill, with an incline, which I never do, and tried to up my speed. I think my body just wasn't ready for it and that's what's causing the pain in my legs, not running 3 miles in the cross trainers.

I was going to keep running through the pain because I didn't want to fall behind on my half marathon training. The half marathon in April will be here before I know it. After asking my wise, fellow running enthusiasts on the Purse Forum and Krystle, a Body Step instructor at Golds, what I should do, I have decided to take at least a 1 week break from running. I don't mind running through pain but, it seemed like running through shin splints without trying to recover, could lead to worse injuries, such as stress fractures.

Here is some of the great advice I've received thus far and am trying to follow:
(Thanks again Krystle and Purse Forum running thread friends, especially Ali, Frankie, Cristina and WestEndGirl.)

1. Verify you are wearing the correct type of shoes. I never used to think buying the right shoes made a difference but, now that I'm trying to run 15-20 miles a week, I can definitely feel the benefits of having the correct shoe. I'm no expert when it comes to running shoes but, there are various types of running shoes for overpronation, underpronation and neutral pronation. The first time I was fitted for shoes I was told I overpronate slightly and was recommended stability running shoes. Two weeks ago when I was fitted for shoes, I was told that the stability running shoe was over-correcting and switched to a neutral shoe. I haven't been able to determine if the neutral shoe is better because the shin splint pain is all I can really focus on during my runs.

I've also read that running shoes should be replaced after approximately 500 miles. Old shoes with inadequate cushioning could also be a cause for shin splints.

2. Avoid high impact activities until your shin splints are gone. Some low impact activities you can try are biking, swimming, walking, hiking, elliptical machine and weight training. You can do step aerobics but, limit yourself to one or no risers and keep the intensity low. For the week that I won't be running, I will still try to cover the mileage in my half marathon training but, I'll be doing it through walking, hiking, and the elliptical machine. Yesterday I was scheduled to run 3 miles but, biked to the park instead and walked 3 miles.

2. Apply ice for at least 15 minutes to areas where you are in pain, preferably within 30 minutes of finishing up your run. I did this for the first time last night (while watching America's Best Dance Crew), even though I didn't run. I'll try to be more diligent about applying ice as I increase my running.

3. Increase your intake of Potassium and drinks with electrolytes. Some common foods that are high in Potassium are bananas, milk, cantaloupes, oranges, meat, poultry and fish. Those with diseases, such as diabetes, should not be increasing their Potassium intake drastically.

4. Apply Kinesio Tex tape. According to the Kinesio tape website, Kinesio tape "gives support and stability to your joints and muscles to prevent over-contraction without affecting circulation and range of motion." Basically, Kinesio tape will assist you as you try to go through your normal physical activities and prevent you from injuring yourself further as you try to recover. I've been told that it is extremely important to watch the videos on how to apply this tape. If applied incorrectly, the tape will be useless and a waste of money. I want to check out the running store before I try to order this online. You know I hate shipping costs.

Four great tips I hope to be following as I recover and try to stay injury free.

It's frustrating because I was starting to really enjoy running. I've always been into sports but, hated running by itself. I'm just grateful that physical activities aren't completely out of the picture.

Okay, end sob story.

Have a great weekend! I will hopefully be going to Joe's Crab Shack tonight and finally get to order the steam bucket. I don't want to get too excited because last time I did there was a last minute change of plans.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

2009-02-22T21:24:00.019-05:00

This weekend we celebrated my boyfriend's, his brother's girlfriend's birthday and his nephew's birthday. Whew, that's a lot of birthdays. It's a long standing joke between our friend Chelle, Josh and his brother about all of them having big heads. Chelle and her daughter made this crown for Josh, haha - perfect fit.

We actually had to go to his cousin's birthday too before we went to his mom's house. This was us at China Buffet, ignoring our diet for the weekend. We sort of matched on purpose.

Yummy cake before and after

When my boyfriend and I went to dinner for Valentine's Day, I had a drink called Snickers Bar Martini. I decided to try my bar tending skills for his birthday and try to replicate the drink. I found a pretty good recipe here.

Snickers Martini

4 Parts ABSOLUT Vodka
2 Parts Hazelnut Liqueur
2 Parts White Cacao Liqueur
1 Part Cream Liqueur

I even bought one of those cocktail mixers so that I'd feel like a professional. I lined the glass with Hershey's Syrup. Adding a lot of it made the drink taste not as strong.

It was a really fun weekend. Happy Birthday again my Juicy Doubles, Rosalee and Roshan!

Hair-wise, I used a mix of CG approved products and products with silicones in them. I cowashed with Suave Naturals and conditioned with GVP Bioloage conditioning balm. I used Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Protective Spray, Ouidad Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel, Giovanni Frizz Be Gone, and a tiny bit of coconut oil. I let my hair partially air dry and then dried it with a blow dryer the rest of the way. I didn't worry about getting my hair straight because I knew I was going to be using my flat iron to make my hair wavy.

Silicones Ahead

2009-02-20T22:00:00.009-05:00

The more I try to do the Curly Girl method, the more I'm convinced that silicones are not that evil but, harsh sulfates are. So, I've started experimenting with silicones again. Even though it makes sense that non-soluble silicones will build up in your hair, I haven't thoroughly experimented with silicones to see it for myself. I am still staying away from harsh sulfates and currently use Giovanni Invigorating Tea Tree Shampoo when I do shampoo my hair. I alternate between this and cowashing. I haven't been using silicones long enough this time to really report on buildup. I'm hoping that the Giovanni shampoo or cowash will be enough to remove buildup if I do experience it.

Tonight, I cowashed with Suave Naturals and conditioned with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner. I sprayed Sunsilk Waves of Envy Sea Mist then scrunched with Nexxus Gorgeous Curls Enhancing Foam Styler. Both of these products contain Cyclopentasiloxane. I let it air dry for about 5 minutes then scrunched a small amout of Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Finally, I scrunched with my microfiber towel to help with drying. My hair is still a bit wet in these pictures.

I'm really itching to do something drastic with my hair - either with the color or length. I just don't want to regret it which I probably will no matter what I do unless I get a trim. I'm always up for suggestions. Should I keep my hair dark or go light? Maybe even go darker. Cut it short or just an inch or two? Leave it alone and just get a trim again?

My daughter was having a pretty good hair day today. She just got finished getting her hurr did at Posh Pooch so she thinks she's all that now.

Edited Curly Girl Product list

2009-02-18T16:52:00.002-05:00

I don't normally make a post when I edit the Curly Girl Product list on the left because I usually just edit it to add products. This time, however, I made a change to the actual format of the list. I broke down the styling product section down further into 8 categories: cream, gel, heat protectant, mousse, pomade, serum, shine enhancing/moisture products (non-spray) form, and styling/shine spray. Previously, I had just one general category for styling products then a separate category for heat protectants. Hope this makes it easier!

Pay attention to directions!

2009-02-18T07:00:00.002-05:00

I finally got to try out my new Under Armour cross training shoes. According to my half marathon schedule, I was scheduled to run 3 miles this past Monday. Usually on the days, that I run 3 miles, I like to do one of my Gold's classes so that I can hurry up and fill out a card for the fitness challenge and hopefully win the raffle for the free massage. So, this past Monday I ran 2.25 miles on the treadmill. I figured I could finish up my 3 miles after my step class. My boyfriend already warned me that I shouldn't use my cross training shoes for running long distances. I said, "I'll be fine, 3 miles isn't long." My face even looked like this.
(Note: I just wanted to use this picture so I figured I'd try to incorporate it any way I could. This is actually me imitating what my dog looks like when she lifts her head up and her hair on her face is all messed up.)

Anyways, back to when I was running my 2.25 miles on the treadmill. Right when I was at 1.5 miles, I said to myself, I feel like I'm getting blisters on the arches of my foot. But like a solider, I trudged on and went to my step class. While I'm waiting, another girl who is doing the step class asks me how I like my new Under Armour shoes because she was looking at the same exact pair. Do I tell her other than the blisters that are forming, the shoes are fantastic? I told her I would let her know after step class to give more accurate feedback. I continue with step class and can honestly say that the shoes were really great at absorbing the shock of continually jumping up and down on the platform. My knees, ankles and lower back all felt great. I usually had issues with them after step. I meet up with the girl after class and I tell her that the shoes really did their job but, don't tie the shoelaces too tight, a reason I had been contemplating was the cause of the blisters. We'll see next week if she shows up with the same shoes.

I finish up my 3 miles, running the 0.75 miles that was left. (See, I'm not letting the Tech math classes go to waste.) But this time I try to run more on the outside of my foot as not to put more pressure on the blisters on my arches. I may have just invented a new running style.

I get home from the gym and tell my boyfriend he was right about not running in the Under Armours. Then he goes on, I believe to rub salt in the wounds, and says, "Remember the Dick's Sporting Goods manager said don't run more than a mile a day in those shoes because they aren't made for running." I don't know how I missed that but, I wish I would have listened. The manager must have said that while I was busy admiring the shoes in the mirror, picturing myself jumping more powerfully during step, kicking higher in kick boxing class, lifting weights twice as heavy as last week - all of this due to my new Women's Under Armour Proto Speed II trainer shoes.

The next day, I broke out my Band-Aid blister block. This has helped me on many new high-heeled occasions. It's like a small deodorant that makes a barrier against your skin and whatever is rubbing on it. I apply the blister block to the blister on my left arch. Then decide to read the directions.

Directions: Do not apply on already formed blisters or broken skin.

So, I wipe it off my left foot and never apply it to right foot.

Moral of my very long story: Pay attention to directions!

Note to self: Do not run longer than a mile in your Under Armour CROSS TRAINING shoes. Read directions before you try to medicate/fix yourself.

Images courtesy of:
http://images.eastbay.com/is/image/EB/00280161?wid=300&hei=300
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51sxuW4F8TL._SL500_AA280_PIbundle-4,TopRight,0,0_AA280_SH20_.jpg

Weekend of Love

2009-02-16T09:04:00.008-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Mine was pretty eventful.

It started with me waking up at 545AM for the Virginia is for Lover's 14K that I was running with my coworker. I think that might be the coldest weather I've ever run through - low 40s. Good thing I had my Under Armour cold gear on. There was a point, though, where I was like, I might just pass out because it's getting a little too hot. I tried to push my sleeves up but, like I said before that running stuff is tight so I felt like it was constricting the blood in my arms with the sleeves pushed up. Since it was a relay, the 14K was split. I ran 4.5 miles and my coworker ran 4.1 miles. When I get home, I ended up sleeping for a couple hours until it was time for dinner.

Me and the boyfriend had late dinner reservations at 9PM at Alexander by the Bay. We had been there once last year and loved it. This year the food didn't seem as good. Maybe we hyped it up too much. I had a Snickers Bar martini. It took its effect after two sips. Very strong but delicious. Then we met up with some friends and family at a club called Guadalajaras. One thing I really like about Guadalajaras is it's big and spacious so everyone isn't all up on each other. Plus it's a non-smoking club so I don't have to smell like smoke when I go home.

For Valentine's Day, I had made a picture book for my boyfriend. It had pictures from various stages of our relationship. In between pictures I wrote reasons why I love him. This picture was the front picture. He was watching TV in this weird position when this picture was taken.

Belated Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

What Would have been my MAC Hello Kitty and Creme Team haul

2009-02-13T07:00:00.001-05:00

I've been avoiding the MAC counters on purpose. I know whenever I go to a MAC counter I usually end up getting at least one item. Sooo, I've just been appreciating the MAC Hello Kitty and Creme Team collections from afar, mostly through everyone else's blogs and hauls.

Another reason I haven't bought any MAC items is because I'm on this workout gear kick. Whenever I get into a new hobby, I tend to go all out, wanting to buy everything related to my new hobby. For example, when I started getting into MAC again, I would buy something from MAC almost everyday to build up my collection as fast as I could.

Without further ado..drum roll please..the following is why I cannot go to the MAC counter:
I ordered the Garmin Forerunner 50 bundle (pictured on the right) from Costco because it was being offered at a very good price. However, I was disappointed to find out that the calories you burn were calculated through your footpod, which attaches to your shoe, that measured your distance not by the heart rate monitor. Basically the heart rate monitor on the Garmin was useless to me. Yeah, great, I know my heart rate while I'm exercising but, I would have rather known what were my calories burned at different heart rates instead.

And that is why I also have the Polar F6 watch pictured on the left. That's actually a heart rate monitor that calculates your calories burned by weight, height, gender, and heart rate. Both the Garmin and Polar heart rate monitors use a strap that goes around your chest while you workout. Not too inconvenient but does take some getting used to. In the beginning, I kept on adjusting the tightness of the strap to a point where the strap isn't falling while I'm working out or leaving indentations on my body because it's so tight.

So, there was my dilemma. Which one do I keep? You want to guess which one I picked...BOTH! I'm so bad. I told myself I NEEEEDED both. I need the Garmin to measure my running distances outside and help me improve my running time, especially since I'm trying to run longer distances. I need the Polar for when I do the classes at Gold's. I'm so envious after class when everyone's doing a roll call of all their calories they just burnt during class. I tried to wear my Garmin to Turbo Kick class and was freaking out because the heart rate monitor wasn't working. Come to find out, it didn't matter if it was working or not because calories weren't being calculated by the heart rate monitor like I said above.

This also brings me to my next argument for my workout gear haul. I NEEEEED two different types of shoes - one for running and one for the classes at the gym, usually Step class, Body Attack, Turbo Kick, etc. Basically classes that cause a lot of impact and shock on your body that running shoes aren't really good for. So, my generous boyfriend, bought me Under Armour Proto Speed II Trainer shoes. Under Armour just recently released their line of running/training shoes this past January. In the picture, you'll also see my gloves and headband for running in the cold. I'm hoping to get new running shoes next weekend.

To complete by cold weather running gear ensemble, I bought the tightest outfit ever. And by tight I don't mean "cool", I mean actually physically tight. I've never tried on cold weather running gear before. My, is it snug. I ended up getting black Under Armour tights, long sleeved blue Under Armour shirt, and a lightweight grey Under Armour jacket. Under Armour is quickly becoming my favorite brand.
And that folks is why you aren't seeing my MAC haul and my reasons why I NEEEED all that workout stuff. I feel a little bit less guilty about buying workout gear. It's for my health right? Even if if I don't do well in my upcoming races, at least I'll be a well dressed runner with some high tech running gadgets crossing the finish line last.

P.S. Next on my wishlist are running shoes, insoles that the manager at Dick's Sporting Goods was showing me, and Oakley sunglasses.

Happy Monday!

2009-02-09T06:34:00.002-05:00

I feel like this calorie counting and working out is turning into a part-time job that's taking away from my hair experiments. I didn't get a chance to take any new hair pictures but, I did use a new technique this weekend. I wish I had taken pictures because I know I enjoy posts that have pictures more than words.

My new technique included the use of this microfiber towel that I purchased last week from Ulta.
I've been using the Kinky Curly Knot Today (KCKT) leave-in and Kinky Curly Curling Custard (KCCC). I really like these two together because they give me good curl definition without the crunchiness but, if I don't put enough KCCC my curls go limp and if I put to much I get the crunch. There's definitely a learning curve as mentioned by some of the members of naturallycurly.com.

I now have 3 techniques for when I want to style my hair naturally wavy.

Technique 1. After washing my hair, wrap my hair in a towel until I'm done applying my body lotion, moisturizer, etc. Then apply KCKT and comb through then scrunch KCCC through hair. This I usually do when I'm stubborn and don't feel like changing my old ways because this was they way I used to style my hair.

Pro: Easiest of the techniques. Drying time is decreased. An old routine that I'm used to.
Con: Gives me the least curl definition. Sometimes it makes my hair look dry because products are applied to my hair after it's been drying a bit in the towel instead of products being applied on soaking wet hair like the other techniques below.

Technique 2. After washing my hair, I leave my hair dripping wet and kind of try to gently separate and lift my hair with my fingers so that my hair isn't completely flat on my head and apply KCKT while scrunching then apply KCCC while scrunching. I plop with a turban for 10-45 minutes depending on how much time I have while I get dressed and do my makeup. I discussed this technique here.

Pros: Hair is not on my back while I do my after shower routine. I can do other tasks while I plop. I get pretty good curl definition and hair looks shinier.

Cons: Increased drying time. I usually end up diffusing my hair when I do this technique. Sometimes the front and top of my hair end up squished.

Technique 3. After washing my hair, I leave my hair dripping wet and gently separate and lift my hair like I do in technique 2. I scrunch in KCKT then srunch in KCCC. After I have applied both products, I turn my head upside down and take the microfiber towel and scrunch all the water out. I would say after scrunching with a microfiber towel my hair is 75% dry. I don't usually diffuse after this technique. This is my favorite technique right now because I can kind of guide and shape my hair while I scrunch and I don't have to have wet hair for that long. When I went to Imago Salon, this was how they styled my hair after my haircut except they used an old t-shirt instead of a microfiber towel.

Pros: My roots aren't flat on top and I can easily style the front of my hair. My hair is mostly dry by the time I leave the house even when I don't diffuse. I get good curl defintion but, the shininess varies depending on whether or not I put the correct amount of product in my hair.

Cons: My slightly damp hair is on my back while I do my after shower routine. Not that big of a deal except my whole life I've just been used to having my hair wrapped in a towel while I did this part. Why is it so hard to change your habits?

When I get a chance, I'll add pictures or videos showing techniques 1 and 3 since technique 2 was already discussed in a previous post.

She's a Maniac

2009-02-05T07:00:00.007-05:00

She's a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she's dancing like she never danced before
She's a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she's dancing like she never danced before
by Hall And Oates (I had to verify was who really sang it because I was corrected in one of my previous posts.)

Anywho, I've been feeling maniac-like lately with my workouts. Instead of dancing though, I've been exercising. I guess sometimes I am dancing during some of my classes like step. Currently, I have three things motivating me:

1. My Iphone "Lose It" app
2. Training for the half marathon in April
3. Fitness challenge at Gold's Gym.

I talked about this Iphone app called "Lose It" that I'm real hyped up about. I even talked about this app on my status message on Facebook. Being able to see how many calories you consume has really regulated my eating. Before there was no holding me back when I ate. Now it's like, dang how many calories are in that tiny sorry piece of cake. The true test, however, is the weekend. I messed up last weekend when I went to a baby shower, out to a club and then the next day was the Super Bowl. I finally stopped counting calories those days after I reached my allowable calorie intake but, I'm sure I went way over, like 1000 calories. Then this past Monday, I really started sticking to my recommended daily intake of 1512 calories. I've been doing pretty good with not going over my target.

As you can see I don't always eat the healthiest of food (note the ice cream cake, spinach dip, hawaiian bread, and fried chicken) so I usually end up hungry because what I eat isn't satisfying. Kind of like splurging on makeup when I should be paying the electric bill. On the left hand screen capture, where it says shells, those were actually these mini-shells that you put chicken salad in. I haven't gotten desperate enough to eat seashells if that's what you were thinking.

If it wasn't for my workouts after work, I would have been over on my calories everyday this week. With the half marathon training, I'm running on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. For this past week, I've been running 3 miles on those days so that's about 300 calories lost for each of those days. Plus I'm doing the Gold's Gym fitness challenge. It's basically a punch card and you get a punch for every class you attend. Once you get 10 punches on your card, your name goes into a drawing and you can win a variety of prizes including a heart rate monitor. During those classes I usually burn between 400-500 calories.

I'm actually glad I have the half marathon and fitness challenge to motivate me. All those calories give me flexibility during dinner. On Tuesday, I went to the gym to "earn" more calories so we could eat at Panchero's, this Mexican restaurant we wanted to try and Skinny Dip, a low-fat frozen yogurt place.

I'm hoping I can keep this up without getting burnt out or frustrated enough to quit. I haven't weighed myself because they took the scale out of the women's locker room at Gold's. I'm thinking about buying a scale tonight.

I also purchased the Garmin Forerunner 50 bundle so that I know exactly how far I've run. It comes with:

USB ANT stick
Heart rate monitor
Foot pod
Owner's Manual

I was excited about it because when I was researching it, I found the watch retailed for $99 by itself and the foot pod was about $119. I was able to find this bundle for $80 at Costco.

If you're interested in purchasing one, I got it here. I was hoping I'd get it by this Saturday when I plan on running outside. According to the tracking number, though, I won't be getting it until Monday.

I'll be running a relay called Virginia is for Lovers with my coworker on Valentine's Day Morning. It's a 14K so one of us will run 4.1 miles and the other person will run 4 miles.

Kinky Curly Knot Today

2009-02-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

As much as I hate shipping charges, I love the feeling of coming home and finding a package. I finally got my Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in. I can't wait to use it. I'll probably end up using it the next time I go out which will be Friday. At work I just throw my hair into a ponytail because of safety regulations. I don't really fix my hair unless I'm going somewhere.

Long time no see, Curling Iron

2009-02-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to take a break from my natural wave. I blow dried my hair and used a 1.5 inch curling iron to curl my hair.The night before I had gone to a baby shower and then to a bar. My hair smelled terrible like smoke and fried food. I shampooed with Herbal Essences Shampoo for Color, Permed, Dry and Damaged Hair to really cleanse my hair. It contains Sodium Lareth Sulfate but, no silicones. I conditioned with Back to Basics Pomegranate Moisturizing Conditioner. Before I blow dried, I used Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Protective Spray, Giovanni Frizz Be Gone, and coconut oil. The Tresemme Spray contains Amodimethicone (slightly soluble silicone). The Giovanni Frizz Be Gone contains Cylomethicone (slightly soluble silicone) and Dimethicone (non-soluble silicone). Even though it contained Dimethicone, I hoped it being an "organic" product, the build up wouldn't be so bad. I like the smoothness and shininess it gave me. I can't really report on the build up yet because I haven't had an opportunity to use it multiple times yet.

I believe cutting out the frequent use of harsh sulfate shampoos from my hair routine has helped with the health of my hair. I think it's been about a month, before today, since I used a shampoo that contained Sodium Lareth Sulfate. Before I used CG products and straightened or curled my hair, my hair always looked so dry. It definitely looks a lot shinier than before.

The Great Debate

2009-02-01T09:21:00.008-05:00

If you do a search on whether or not silicones are bad or good for your hair, you'll come across some heated discussions believe it or not. The rest of this post will be purely my opinion from researching online, discussion on forums such as Naturallycurly.com, and my own personal experiences. I don't think silicones are that bad. It's the removal of silicones with harsh cleansers that seems to cause the most damage to hair which is why silicones that are not water soluble at all should be avoided.

Silicones fall into 3 categories: water soluble, slightly water soluble, and not water soluble. Just a few minutes ago I updated this list:

Silicones

Not water soluble (Will buildup in hair)
1. Cetearyl methicone
2. Cetyl dimethicone
3. Cyclopentasiloxane
4. Dimethicone
5. Dimethiconol
6. Stearyl dimethicone
7. Trimethylsilylamodimethicone

Slightly soluble (May cause buildup in hair but some have found will still wash out with cowash)
1. Amodimethicone
2. Cyclomethicone
3. Bis-Aminopropryl Dimethicone
4. Behenoxy dimethicone
5. Stearoxy dimethicone

“CG approved” Water Soluble (Will not buildup)
1. Dimethicone copolyol
2. Hydrolyzed wheat protein hydroxypropyl polysiloxane
3. Lauryl methicone copolyol
4. Silicones with PEG listed before it

I moved Cyclomethicone to the slightly soluble list for a couple reasons. First, some have found that Cyclomethicone can be removed with a mild cleanser or conditioner washing. The same goes for Amodimethicone, which is found in DevaCurl One Condition, a product developed by Lorraine Massey. Lorraine Massey is the author of Curly Girl - the handbook that started the whole curly girl method revolution. Kind of ironic that she has a silicone in her conditioner. Secondly, having three categories opens up various prodcut possibilites for you. When I first started using CG products, I felt so restricted. When I was able to see I had more options product-wise, shopping for CG products became fun again. I was actually finding products without non-soluble silicones and with only slightly soluble and water soluble silicones. Some Garnier Fructis products, for example, contain the sole silicone Amodimethicone. It was actually the leave-in I tried the first time I attempted the Curly Girl method and was the best Curly Girl hair day I've had since. At that time, all I knew was only water soluble silicones were good. I didn't know about the other secret hidden category of slightly soluble silicones. I stopped using the Garnier Fructis leave-in and tried other leave-ins with less success and strayed from CG products because I was getting frustrated.

Then I learned more about slightly soluble silicones and picked up products that had them. Now, I have fun experimenting with my hair and trying out products that were closed off to me before. Even on the days I want to use heat styling tools, I have options. For the days you want to use heat styling tools and want a heat protecant without the hard core (non-soluble) silicones, you can turn to Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Protective Spray and Sunsilk Thermashine Detangling Shine Spray which both have Amodimethicone.

I hope this helps anyone reading this that has been trying to follow the Curly Girl method and is thiiis clooose to giving up - hanging on by a thread. For those using the product list on the left hand side of my blog, I indicate which products contain soluble and slightly soluble silicones, for those that do not want to dabble in the slightly soluble products.

For the Twilight fans: The whole time I was reading this I felt like I was talking about the Cullen family. There are other options to killing people even if you are a vampire. To all the people out there trying to do curly girl method but about to give up, there are other options besides the hard core (non soluble) silicones.

June 9, 2009

2009-01-30T13:11:00.012-05:00

According to this Iphone app I just downloaded, I will reach my goal weight by June 9, 2009. This app is really neat. If you are trying to lose weight and you have an Iphone, it will really help you. It keeps track of your calories consumed and burned and what your calorie intake should be throughout the day. It also lists a lot of restaurant foods and activities that burn calories, allowing for easy searching and logging of calories.

I put in what I've already eaten so far. Geez, I eat a lot. I only have 182 calories left that I can consume, unless I work out, and I still haven't eaten dinner. At least it's opening my eyes too how many calories I consume. It's so easy to keep eating and not worry about the amount of calories in each food and drink.

Find these images and others plus more information on the "Lose It" app here.

America's Best Dance Crew - Season 3

2009-01-29T21:05:00.008-05:00

Beat Freaks all the way!!

Images courtesy of:
http://www.mtv.com
http://www.myspace.com

Easy to find Curly Girl Method Products

2009-01-29T20:40:00.004-05:00

I found myself continually updating my post about CG products so I decided to just make a list on the left hand side of my blog. Easier to maintain and find. You can also cut and paste into a Word document and take the list to the store for easier shopping.

When I was checking on products on this list, I actually found differences in ingredients listed on websites and the actual physical bottle of the product I already owned. I wish ingredients on websites and on the bottles were more consistent. Sometimes you don't feel like going to a store just to check ingredients. Sometimes the products are sold in stores hours, even days away from you. If there are any products you would like me to add to the list, just let me know. I hope this list is helpful.

Conclusion to my Richmond Trip

2009-01-29T15:23:00.009-05:00

After my Imago haircut, my boyfriend and I went to Ruth's Chris Steak House. Thanks to Christle and Christine, we had a very generous gift card to use. I've only been to one other Ruth's Chris but, I was surprised at the outside of this particular Ruth's Chris. It reminded me of the Southern type mansions from a long time ago.

The inside of it reminded me of the movie Titanic. I'm sure the interior of the Titanic was way nicer but, that's the first thing that came to mind as we were being seated to our table. Our waitress brought out some bread while we waited to order. I think what makes their bread so good isn't actually the bread but the butter. It's like a whipped butter. For our appetizers, my boyfriend and I got Caesar salad and jambalaya. The Caesar salad had these tasty crackers. Our waitress said it was actually fried parmesan cheese. I would have expected fried parmesan cheese to be softer. We both ended up ordering the Mixed Grill for our main course. It's my favorite entree there. You get a crab cake, petite steak and stuffed chicken. We also had mashed potatoes and mushrooms. Dessert was mint vanilla ice cream. I didn't really see anything I wanted on their dessert menu. I think I was still thinking about that cake from Maggiano's I had seen earlier and nothing on the Ruth's Chris dessert menu could compare.

After Ruth's Chris, we went to Chesterfield Mall because it was right around the corner AND I had seen an Ulta there too. The Ulta seemed a bit bigger than the one back home and they carried more curly hair products such as the Deva line. I ended up getting clips to pin my hair up while it dries so it wouldn't be flat on top, Back to Basics Pomegranate conditioner, and Redken Fresh Curls Curl Boost spray gel. I looove the scents of most of the Back to Basics conditioners. I'm so happy it was suggested to me by readers on naturallycurly.com when I was ready to completely go back to silicones because I missed the fragrances of products with silicones.
The Redken Fresh Curls Curl Boost spray gel does not contain any silicones but, has glycerin and PEG 40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil which may give people some problems. Actually with the castor oil, I'm assuming it may not be too bad because of the PEG. However, you know what they say about assuming. I haven't had a chance to try the spray gel yet.

The Kinky Curly Curling Custard, my current love, and Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner were my purchases from Whole Foods. I also purchased Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in online. Oh....how shipping costs hurt. I guess I shouldn't complain since shipping costs were $12 and I know others out there who are much farther pay 3 times that much. The Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in will be my last purchase for a while. Well, maybe - Everywhere I go L'oreal's new hair product line, Everpure, is like "bam in yo face, come buy me now".

My Imago Haircut

2009-01-27T21:40:00.004-05:00

Tonight I used Avalon Organics Shampoo, Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner, Giovanni Direct Leave-in and my beloved Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I still can't get the front of my hair the way I like it but, the thing is I don't even know how I want it to be. I just know it bothers me. I just included the first picture because it looked kinda neat even though it was a mess up because the flash wasn't on and you can't really tell what my hair looks like.

Now that I'm looking at these pictures. I think my hair does look different. I don't know if it's the products I'm using or my haircut. I have a hard time taking pictures too. My left eyebrow always goes up when I'm looking at myself in the mirror or if I try to take a picture of myself. You can even sort of see in this picture that my left eyebrow is going up. I can only seem to take good candid pictures, not pre-planned pictures. I tried to get all artistic with the look away poses too.

Next pictures are with my daughter (yes, she's a dog) and the usual back of the head pose. These pictures were taken after I got home. It was kind of sprinkling outside so I'm surprised my hair held up pretty well and didn't end up in a frizz ball.

Richmond, Virginia

2009-01-27T05:18:00.001-05:00

My boyfriend and I had a fun weekend in Richmond. I wish we would have had more time to visit other sites and places there. First thing we did when we got there was eat - of course. We decided to eat at Short Pump Town Center for lunch. We usually like to eat at non-chain restaurants but, since we didn't have a Maggiano's close to home and we've never eaten there, we just decided to eat there. We ended up splitting the lobster ravioli and side of fettucine alfredo. We didn't want to both get meals since we had reservations for Ruth's Chris later that night. The waiters and waitresses kept on passing by with what looked like a quarter of a huge chocolate cake and big cups of ice cream. Took all my strength not to order it. I liked the bread and fettucine alfredo but, I've had better lobster ravioli. I would still go back to Maggiano's to try a different entree and the chocolate cake and ice cream.

On the way to Short Pump, we passed a Whole Foods. I knew we were going to definitely have to make a stop there before we left to go back home. My curly cut appointment at Imago Salon was at 3PM and according to our GPS the salon was 18 minutes away from our location. After we finished at Maggiano's, I figured I could spend 20 minutes at Whole Foods and still get to my appointment on time. I was surprised at how many people shopped at Whole Foods and how big the store actually was. The parking lot was pretty packed too.
I walk into Whole Foods and look for the organic/CG beauty product section. My eyes almost fell out..I was so excited. I'm used to having a small section on a shelf of CG products when I go to a store. At Whole Foods it was a couple aisles of organic makeup and various hair and skincare products. I was also very happy to see that they carried Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Before we had gone to Richmond I made a pact with myself. I wouldn't buy new products until after the products I already had were at least half way empty. After seeing all the products at Whole Foods, I moved the pact to after I left Richmond. I ended up getting Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner and Kinky Curly Curling Custard - both recommendations from the friendly people on naturallycurly.com when I asked about CG products that smelled good. First thing I did when I got to the car was tear open the top to the Kinky Curly Curling Custard and it smelled oh so good like marshmallows and vanilla.

We then hurried to my hair appointment. We had about 30 minutes to get there. I ended up being a little bit late because Imago Salon is located in this cute little town called Carytown with backed up traffic due to narrow streets and an abundance of stoplights. You won't find any chain stores there. It definitely did not have a big town feel like I was expecting. I wish we could have explored more there. When I first heard of Imago Salon, I pictured it to be located at an uppity (is that a word?) section of Richmond. After my experience at Imago Salon, Carytown was definitely the right place to open that salon. It fits nicely with Imago Salon's motto - "Where the fun people go."

Right when I walked in I was greeted by two small Yorkies. I knew this was going to be a different experience from my normal haircuts. My stylist was a tall girl named Stephanie with a short, straight pixie cut. She was really nice and patient with me. I hadn't found a hairstyle I liked so I just asked her to suggest what would be best. She ended up cutting off 2 inches from the bottom layer of my hair because "it was getting stringy" and then just started cutting like 1/2 inch pieces randomly around my head (all while my hair was dry). That bottom layer was bothering me so I'm glad she was able to fix that.

Stephanie then rinsed my hair with water (no shampoo) and conditoned with DevaCurl One Condition conditioner while using her fingers to comb through my hair. She then made me sit so that my hair was upside down and she scrunched in DevaCurl Arc Angell gel. She told me all I really needed was gel for my styling product. I didn't need a leave-in conditioner. She scrunched my hair with an old cotton t-shirt until my hair wasn't dripping wet. Went back to her stylist chair and showed me how to clip up the top of my hair so it wouldn't be so flat. After she was done clipping my hair, I stayed under a heat lamp for about 30 minutes. She parted my hair so I had a deep part. Usually I wear my part down the middle and just move it all around.

My hair was still a little wet even after sitting under the heat lamp so she diffused it for like 5 minutes with a DevaFuser. I felt like she was high-fiving my head everytime she diffused a new section.

After being able to experiment with my hair for a couple days now, I honestly can't tell if a curly cut is any different for my hair type as a straight cut. The curly cut included cutting my hair dry, not shampooing, only conditioning, pinning my hair, drying my hair with a heat lamp and hand shaped diffuser, reading the Curly Girl handbook by Lorraine Massey while my hair dried, and overhearing a customer say "So, do you cut straight hair too?" A straight cut for me includes getting my hair cut after it is shampooed and conditioned with sulfates and silicones then blow dried straight with a blowdryer and round brush. Sometimes they run a flat iron through my hair. The two processes are different but, seemed like the end result for me was the same. Maybe my hair didn't drastically change because I don't have a tight curl pattern and my hair is more wavy than anything else.

I was still happy I got a chance to experience my first "curly" haircut (thanks again Laura Lee) with a nice stylist in a homey salon with two cute puppies running around. If I wasn't always on naturallycurly.com, I would have forgot a lot of what Stephanie taught me. She reinforced a lot of what's already said on naturallycurly.com such as not using harsh sulfates or insoluble silicones, using a microfiber towel or old cotton t-shirt to scrunch out the water or plop with, etc.

I'll post up pictures tonight of my hair since I didn't get a chance to take a picture right after my haircut. I'll also continue the rest of my Richmond adventure then. This post is already too long. I'm sure you guys are holding your eyelids up with your fingers by now. Until later...

Images courtesy of:
http://cavecibum.blogspot.com/search?q=maggianos
http://www.capitalregionusa.co.uk/virginia/hires/vshoppingrichmond.jpg
http://a1604.g.akamaitech.net/7/1604/33/ad28673e612680/images.citysearch.com/advertorial_profile/eb/9e/V-RICVA-55107387_ID209528_guide_inclusion.jpg
http://store.devachansalon.com/Detail.bok?no=25

Curly Cut Time

2009-01-23T05:13:00.002-05:00

I'm excited. I'll be getting my first "curly haircut" this weekend. I've never had one before but, I believe they cut your hair dry so that your cut will be more in sync with the way your curls fall when your hair is dry. Thanks to Laura Lee, I'll be getting a free curly haircut from Imago Salon.

I'm going to Barnes and Nobles tonight to find a hair magazine with a curly cut that I like. I haven't decided at all what kind of haircut I'm looking for. I've always wanted long hair and now that my hair is to the middle of my back, when it's straight, I want to cut it. Long hair just isn't me. It's hard for me to manage, sometimes I don't like the way it looks, and it makes me hot, especially at night. I could put it up but then what's the point of having long hair if it's always up. I think growing my hair long was just another challenge I wanted to complete and I've done it. I may end up with a trim or a haircut a little below my shoulder, right at my shoulder or maybe even above my shoulder. I haven't had hair above my shoulders in like 2 years.

Next on my list ..... Olympics

2009-01-22T04:48:00.003-05:00

Well, I've done it. I just signed up to accomplish one of the goals on my "Things I would like to Conquer" list. I'll be running the Dismal Swamp Stomp Half Marathon this April. I need to start running ASAP so that I won't end up crawling past the finish line.

If anyone would like to join me, just follow this link.

http://dismalswampstomp.kalerunning.com/

I started looking for a half marathon beginner schedule and I liked the quote they added at the end.

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian

In case you missed the free beauty products..

2009-01-21T05:56:00.000-05:00

Go back to participating department stores today. You may still be able to get an item for free. I was at the mall today. There was hardly any line. Their stock of products was a lot lower than yesterday but, they had Clinique moisturizer, Euphoria body wash and Estee Lauder night serum left.

Get your free beauty products! Get your free beauty products!

2009-01-20T06:30:00.001-05:00

This is true too. I just got back from the mall with my free products. Woo hoo! I love free stuff.

Welcome to the Information Website for the

In re Cosmetics Cases
(Azizian, et al. v. Federated Department Stores, Inc., et al.,
Docket No. 4:03-CV-03359-SBA)

(updated as of December 1, 2008)

As part of a class action settlement, $175 million worth of free cosmetics products will be distributed to members of the class (see below to determine whether you are a member of the class) for a maximum of seven days, while supplies last, on a first come, first served basis, beginning on January 20, 2009. No rainchecks will be issued. The products will be distributed at stores owned by the Retailer Defendants (see list immediately below).

The stores owned by the Retailer Defendants that will be participating in the settlement product distribution are the following:

Bergdorf Goodman
Bergner’s
Bloomingdale’s
Boston Store
Carson Pirie Scott
Dillard’s
Gottschalks
Herberger’s
Macy’s
Neiman Marcus
Nordstrom
Parisian
Saks Fifth Avenue
Younkers

A class member will be eligible to receive, while supplies last, a maximum of ONE free cosmetics product from one of the Manufacturer Defendants from which he or she purchased Department Store Cosmetics¹ during the class period, May 29, 1994 through July 16, 2003, from the list of products below. If a class member has only purchased products, during the class period, from one of the Manufacturer Defendants listed below, then that class member is only entitled to receive a free product from that Manufacturer Defendant. If a class member has purchased products, during the class period, from multiple Manufacturer Defendants, then that class member must choose the ONE free product he or she wishes to claim from one of those Manufacturer Defendants. Again, these products are only available while supplies last, and no rainchecks will be issued. If your store has run out of settlement products from the Manufacturer Defendant(s) from which you have previously purchased Department Store Cosmetics during the class period, then you may claim a product (again, while supplies last) from another Manufacturer Defendant.

The following is a list of the Manufacturer Defendants and their products that will be distributed, while supplies last, through the stores listed above:

Boucheron (USA) Ltd.:

Femme Eau de Toilette (1 ounce/30 ml)
Chanel, Inc.:

Coco Mademoiselle body lotion (3.4 fluid oz)
Christian Dior Perfumes, Inc.:

J’Adore Eau de Parfum (15 ml)
Clarins U.S.A., Inc. (customers will have a choice of ONE of two products, while supplies last):

Clarins Energizing Morning Cream (30 ml) OR

Clarins Beauty Flash Bomb (30 ml)
Conopco, Inc. (distributed by Coty, Inc. on behalf of Conopco, Inc.) (customers will have a choice of ONE of three products, while supplies last):

Calvin Klein Euphoria Bath and Shower Crème (6.7 oz)

OR

Vera Wang Princess Body Polish (5 oz)

OR

Lovely Sarah Jessica Parker Shower Gel (6.7 oz)
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (customers will have a choice of ONE of two products, while supplies last):

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair (15 ml/0.5 oz)

OR

Clinique Moisture Surge (30 ml/1 oz)
Guerlain, Inc.:

My Insolence Eau de Toilette (15 ml)
L’Oréal USA, Inc. (formerly known as Cosmair, Inc.) (customers will have a choice of ONE of eight products, while supplies last):

Lancôme UV Expert 20

OR

Lancôme Cils Design Pro Mascara

OR

Lancôme Fatale Mascara

OR

Lancôme Courbe Virtuose Mascara

OR

Lancôme Primordial Skin Defense

OR

Ralph Lauren Romance Shower Gel (6.7 oz.)

OR

Giorgio Armani ACM Shower Gel (6.7 oz)

OR

Lancôme Hypnôse Shower Gel
Parfums Givenchy, Inc.:

Very Irresistible Givenchy Eau de Toilette (15 ml)

These are the only products that will be distributed, while supplies last, as part of the settlement product distribution. Not all products are available in all stores; rather, stores will be distributing products from the participating brands that the particular store ordinarily sells.

¹Department Store Cosmetics are products which are the full range of high-end, “prestige” or specialty beauty and cosmetic products and product lines, including color products (such as foundation, eye shadow and lipstick), treatments (such as skin creams and moisturizers) and fragrances, and which are sold primarily through department or specialty stores. Cosmetics and fragrance products sold through mass distribution channels, such as drug stores and warehouse outlets, are not Department Store Cosmetics.

To Determine Whether You Are a Member of the Class, Please Read the Following:

You are a member of the class if you are currently a resident of the United States who purchased Department Store Cosmetics in the United States during the class period, which products were made, distributed and/or sold by the Manufacturer Defendants or Retailer Defendants listed below. You are not a member of the class, even though you bought the covered products during the relevant time period, if you fall into one or more of the following categories: all employees, officers, directors or agents (including attorneys) of any defendant, as well as any judge, justice or judicial officer presiding over this matter, and each such person’s immediate family.

The following is a list of the Manufacturer Defendants and the brands sold by the Manufacturer Defendants during the class period as well as the Retailer Defendants and the stores they owned during the class period. Not all brands and retailers listed below will be distributing products as part of the settlement product distribution. The only stores that will be participating and products that will be distributed, while supplies last, as part of the settlement product distribution are listed ABOVE.

Manufacturer Defendants and brands sold by the Manufacturer Defendants:

Boucheron (USA) Ltd.: Boucheron, Sonia Rykiel, Christian Lacroix, Paul Smith, Issey Miyake, Jean Paul Gaultier

Chanel, Inc.: Chanel Colour, Precision Skincare, Chanel No. 1 Collection, Chanel Le Corps Actif, Allure, Chanel No. 5, Chanel No. 19, Chanel No. 22, Coco, Coco Mademoiselle, Chance, Allure for Men, Platinum Egoiste, Cristalle, Egoiste, Pour Monsieur, Technique Pour Homme, Anateus Pour Homme

Christian Dior Perfumes, Inc.: Christian Dior Perfumes

Clarins U.S.A., Inc.: Clarins, Thierry Mugler, Azzaro Paris

Conopco, Inc.: Calvin Klein, Obsession, Eternity, Escape, CK One, CK Be, Calvin Klein Color, Contradiction, Truth Calvin Klein, Calvin, Crave, Latitude Longitude, BCBGirls, Vera Wang, Chloe, Narcisse, Karl Lagerfeld, Lagerfeld Classic, Lagerfeld Man, Lagerfeld Woman, Lagerfeld Jako, KL, Photo, Sun Moon Stars, Cerruti (or Nino Cerruti), Cerruti 1881, Cerruti Image, Cerruti 1881 Amber, Valentino, Very Valentino, Valentino Gold, Vendetta, Elizabeth Arden, 5th Avenue, Blue Grass, Red Door, Sunflowers, True Love, Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls, Elizabeth Taylor Passion, White Diamonds, Jean Louis Scherrer, Indian Nights/Nuits Indiennes, Visible Difference, Ceramides, Millennium

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.: Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique Laboratories, Inc., Prescriptives, Origins Natural Resources, M.A.C., La Mer, Bobby Brown Cosmetics, Tommy Hilfiger Toiletries, Donna Karan Cosmetics, Aveda, Stila Cosmetics, Jo Malone, Kate Spade Beauty, Laboratoires Darphin, Michael Kors Fragrances

Guerlain, Inc.: Guerlain

L’Oréal USA, Inc. (formerly known as Cosmair, Inc.): Biotherm, Helena Rubenstein, Kiehl’s Since 1851, Lancôme, Shu Uemura, the Designer Fragrances, including Cacharelle, Giorgio Armani, Guy Laroche, Paloma Picasso, and Ralph Lauren

Parfums Givenchy, Inc.: Parfums Givenchy

Retailer Defendants and stores owned by the Retailer Defendants:

Dillard’s, Inc.: Dillard’s, Maison Blanche, Gayfers, J.B. White, Castner Knott, Bacons, McAlpin’s, Lion, Root’s, The Jones Store Company, Joslins, Hennessy’s, de Lendrecie’s, Glass Block

Federated Department Stores, Inc.: Macy’s East, Jordan Marsh, Macy’s West, Bullock’s, Rich’s, Lazarus, Goldsmith’s, Burdines, Bloomingdale’s, The Bon Marche, Stern’s, Broadway, Emporium, Weinstock’s, Abraham & Strauss

Gottschalks Inc.: Gottschalks, Gottschalks Inc., Harris-Gottschalks

The May Department Stores Company: Filene’s, Kaufmann’s, Lord & Taylor, Hecht’s, Strawbridge’s, Famous-Barr, The Jones Store, Foley’s, Robinsons-May, Meier & Frank

The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc.: Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus Direct, Neiman Marcus Online

Nordstrom, Inc.: Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Façonnable

Saks Incorporated: Saks Fifth Avenue, Parisian, Proffitt’s, McRae’s, Younkers, Herberger’s, Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner’s, Boston Store

Target Corporation: Hudson’s, Dayton’s, Marshall Field’s and Target

I Remember Now Why I Dislike Pigments

2009-01-20T06:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T05:51:00.000-05:00

In honor of Inauguration Day and President Obama, Krispy Kreme is giving away one donut of your choice for free. Let's all go to Krispy Kreme, hold our donuts high up in the air, and toast to this historical event.

Image courtesy of http://www.junkfoodnews.net/KRISPY-KREME-WHOLE-WHEAT-400.jpg

N-O-T-O-R-I-O-U-S

2009-01-19T05:59:00.000-05:00

This weekend I was able to watch the Biggie movie "Notorious". I thought it was a good movie. It reminded me a lot of Selena which is one of my favorite movies. Of course, you knew the music in the movie was going to be good too.

The casting was done pretty well especially for Puffy and Biggie. Derek Luke aka Antwone Fisher nailed Puffy's dancing perfectly. Jamal Woolard sounded like Biggie and recreated many of Biggie's mannerisms. Angela Bassett was also a good choice for Biggie's mom.

I was surprised to find out that the actress that played Lil Kim was Naturi Naughton of 3LW (pictured on the right). Let's just say you get very well acquainted with her in the movie. I can see why Lil Kim didn't like how she was portrayed in the movie. If the movie is accurate, I really think that Lil Kim and Biggie were each other's true love. I think Biggie was infatuated with Faith Evans and did love her but, I think Lil Kim was the one he'd always go back to and never stop loving.

One thing that was sad was the breakdown of Biggie and Tupac's friendship and how the unnecessary rivalry ended. You could see how close Biggie and Tupac were. They seemed to genuinely care and respect each other as friends and artists.

When Biggie and Tupac passed away I was 16 years old. I didn't realize until I saw the movie the other night, how young Biggie and Tupac really were when they were murdered. Biggie was 24 and Tupac was 25 when they died - two tragic, senseless deaths.

Images from:
http://www.mtv.com/movies/photos/n/notorious_movie_exclusivepics_flip_052208/biggie.jpg
http://soulbounce.com/soul/blog_images/notorious_cast-thumb-473x283.jpg
http://www.hiponline.com/images/100236.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/Biggie_and_Tupac_still.jpg
http://www.diverseimages.com/gallery2/d/615-2/Biggie-+World+Trade.jpg

Ooh la la Ouidad!

2009-01-16T05:31:00.006-05:00

To prove once again that I have no self control when it comes to beauty products, I finally received my order of Ouidad hair products. On naturallycurly.com, I saw an ad for Ouidad saying you get two free deluxe samples with any order. When my two sides - product junkie and bargain hunter - collide, it's no stopping them. I ordered the smallest of the Balancing Rinse daily essential conditioner and received Botanical Boost conditioning and refreshing spray and Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel. The driving force behind my order was actually the Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel. I kept on hearing a lot of good reviews on it and have been wanting to try it for a while.

I believe the Botanical Boost conditioning and refreshing spray is CG friendly. The Balancing Rinse daily essential conditioner has Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein which might give some people difficulty. The Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel also contains Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, dimethicone copolyl (water soluble silicone) and dimethicone (a silicone that is not soluble in water). If it's any consolation to those who are CG, but want to try this gel, the dimethicone falls in the middle of the ingredient list so buildup may not be as bad.

Balancing Rinse daily essential conditioner ingredients:
Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Cetrimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Disodium EDTA, Lactic Acid, Benzophenone-4, Sodium Benzoate, Methylparaben, Diazolidinyl Urea, Fragrance, Annatto

Botanical Boost conditioning and refreshing spray
Water, Panthenol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Centella Asiatica Extract, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Rosa Canina Leaf Extract, Spirulina Maxima Extract, Methyl Gluceth-10, Butylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Benzophenone-4, Benzalkonium Chloride, Fragrance, Polysorbate 20, Sodium Hydroxide, Disodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin.

Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel
Water, Tocopheryl Acetate, Retinyl Palmitate, Panthenol, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Extract, Actinidia Chinensis (Kiwi) Fruit Extract, Lawsonia Inermis (Henna) Extract, Wheat Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein/PVP Crosspolymer, Propylene Glycol, PEG-60 Almond Glycerides, Dimethicone Copolyol, Dimethicone, Polyquaternium-28, Glycerin, PG-26-Buteth-25, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, PVP/DMAPA Acrylates Copolymer, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Methylparaben, DMDM Hydantoin, Fragrance

So, last night we went out to dinner and I was able to try out these products. I cowashed with Suave Naturals conditioner in Ocean Breeze. Conditioned with Balancing Rinse daily essential conditioner. I didn't leave my hair dripping wet after my shower, I squeezed out some water and just wrapped it in a towel for about 5-10 minutes while I put on lotion, moisturizer, etc. I used the Botanical Boost conditioning and refreshing spray as my leave-in. Applied coconut oil to some of the drier parts like the ends of my hair. Used a wide tooth comb to comb my hair. Scrunched with the Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel. I was surprised that the consistency of the gel was closer to that of a frizz-free serum than a gel. I was kind of worried that it wouldn't hold any of my curl. I let it air dry for 5 minutes then ended up diffusing it for about 10 because it was too cold outside to leave the house with wet hair.

It dried pretty quickly. I was surprised how much hold the Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel actually had without the crunchiness. I've been trying to find a gel just like this. It gave me a lot of volume too. When I was diffusing, I was thinking I was channeling Mufasa a little too much. I thought the Balancing Rinse conditioner and Botanical Boost spray were okay. I'll have to try using them again. Maybe the combo of the 3 is what actually gave me the volume. I really liked the Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel. Only con is that it has dimethicone. I still see myself using this in spite of the dreaded silicone though.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I may be checking out the Biggie movie with my boyfriend.

I am a PRODUCT JUNKIE

2009-01-14T04:15:00.000-05:00

I have a hard time not rushing out to buy something when I see a good review about a product. I used to try to stay away from blogs and forums because by the end of the day I had a list of stuff I had to get like RIGHT NOW. I've gotten a little bit better and I have a wish list where I just add products that I'm curious about and maybe at a later time buy it. Sometimes I forget about these products which is a good thing financially. A couple months ago most of my must have products were makeup. Now it seems to be hair and skincare products.

Last night, instead of going to the gym, I found my coconut oil. I had found coconut oil last week at the Vitamin Shoppe but, wasn't sure if the cooking type of coconut oil was the same oil I could use for my hair. I was told it was. I even picked the coconut oil that I did - Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil - because it listed cooking, skincare and haircare as some of its uses. Before I got to the Vitamin Shoppe I had actually stopped at Walgreens, Bed Bath & Beyond and Target looking for coconut oil. Somehow I ended up getting two mousses, Herbal Essences Totally Twisted mousse and Giovanni Natural Mousse - Air Turbo Charged, after going through those stores. I wanted to try a mousse because I wanted the hold of a gel without the stiffness and crunchiness. Giovanni mousse was definitely an impulse buy. Or a "surprise" buy. I didn't know that Giovanni made a mousse and was "surprised" to see it so I bought it.

I tried out all three products last night. I used the coconut oil all over my hair, not too much on the roots. Then I used Herbal Essences Totally Twisted mousse on the left side and Giovanni Natural mousse on the right side. There wasn't a real big difference between the two sides. I liked the results right before I went to sleep but, I'll have to see how I truly like it when I can actually get out of the house.

Bad versus Good silicones

2009-01-13T06:25:00.002-05:00

On naturally.com, I noticed there were a lot of questions about how to identify whether or not a product was curly girl (CG) approved. I looked at my old post about identifying which silicones were bad and good and thought it could be clearer. I condensed the old list even more and tried to break them down into more understandable categories.

If you are going CG, I would definitely avoid category 1 (not water soluble) because you need harsh sulfates to remove them. Category 2 is kind of iffy. Some people report buildup that is hard to remove while some say that these silicones can be removed by just washing with conditioner or shampoo with mild cleansers. If you really want to use a product that has silicones from category 2, I would just try it out and see how your hair reacts to it (if you do or don't get buildup). Category 3 has the silicones you don't have to worry about because they are water soluble. If you find these in a product, it is still a CG product even though it is a silicone because it washes out easily.

Silicones

Not water soluble (Will buildup in hair)
1. Cetearyl methicone
2. Cetyl dimethicone
3. Cyclopentasiloxane
4. Dimethicone
5. Dimethiconol
6. Stearyl dimethicone
7. Trimethylsilylamodimethicone

Slightly soluble (May cause buildup in hair but some have found will still wash out with cowash)
1. Amodimethicone
2. Cyclomethicone
3. Behenoxy dimethicone
4. Stearoxy dimethicone

“CG approved” Water Soluble (Will not buildup)
1. Dimethicone copolyol
2. Hydrolyzed wheat protein hydroxypropyl polysiloxane
3. Lauryl methicone copolyol
4. Silicones with PEG listed before it

Weekend update

2009-01-13T05:00:00.006-05:00

This past Saturday I think I got 5 minutes of outside air. I woke up at around 10AM, ate some breakfast, then started watching Property Ladder on TLC. Property Ladder is about flipping houses and is usually done by people with limited flipping experience. I also ended up watching the House marathon that was recorded on my DVR the week between Christmas and New Years. There was probably about 6-8 episodes. Each episode was about 45 minutes because I fast forwarded through all the commercials. That's all I did. Watched House all day. I stopped watching House to eat twice. Then around 9 at night I got the urge for Nacho Bell Grande from Taco Bell. Any time I have a craving, I have to have what I'm craving. So off my boyfriend and I go to Taco Bell. This is where I get my 5 minutes of outside air - the walk to and from the car. Ate the Taco Bell at home and continued watching TV. It was a very slow day but, I enjoyed it. Some days I just want to sit around and really do nothing at all.

My Sunday was a little bit more active. Got up for Church, went to a chinese buffet, then a shopping adventure. I had no plans to really buy anything except for tea tree oil and coconut oil. I heard tea tree oil was good for breakouts and I've been trying to get my skin under control. Coconut oil is supposedly good for your hair and really penetrates your hair for good conditioning. I also wanted to return a Denman brush and coconut moisturizer from Sally Beauty Supply. I didn't like the bristles on the Denman brush and the coconut moisturizer contained a lot of ingredients that would build up on my hair really quickly. I should have double checked the ingredients before I left the store. When I returned my stuff to Sally Beauty Supply, I noticed a section for Elizabeth Arden skincare products. I hadn't been into a Sally Beauty Supply in a while so I'm not sure if this is something new or not but, I know in the olden days those products weren't being sold there.

I've been wanting to go this one Health Food store for a while to find some organic skin and hair products. We drove all the way there to find it was closed on Sundays. Another organic store down the street though was open. It was called "Herbal Farmacy". The outside of it is modeled after a log cabin. You walk in and you're greeted with jars full of I'm guessing um herbs and then even more shelves of herbs or herbal medicine. My boyfriend said he felt like he was in a witch's lair. We were about to leave when this one hair product caught my eye. It was called Nature's Blessings Hair Pomade. It's second from the left in the picture. It's a conditioner, restorer and rootbuilder. You apply it to your hair after you've washed your hair and don't rinse it out. Ingredients include Nettle, Rosemary, Sage, Peppermint, Thyme, virgin Olive Oil, and pure coconut oil. Pure mineral jelly is listed at the end which means there is not large amounts of it in the product. I'll still be watching for possible buildup.
After we left there, we went to the mall. I still wanted to find some tea tree oil. The tea tree oil was $21 at Herbal Farmacy for a little itty bottle. I ended up stopping at Bath & Body Works too. I got Tropical Passionfruit and Japanese Cherry Blossom body washes and Cotton Blossom body lotion because it smells like laundry detergent to me and I really like the smell of laundry detergent. They are 1st, 3rd and 4th, respectively, from the left in the picture above.

I finally bought my tea tree oil at the Body Shop. I've probably been in 3 Body Shop stores in my life. I was packing up my tiny tea tree oil when the sales woman at the Body Shop starts talking about the best way to prevent breakouts after I tell her the reason I bought the tea tree oil. She shows me this travel kit with different skin care products. She really knows how to hype up this stuff cuz I get hooked. Plus, her skin was really nice and she wasn't wearing makeup. She said she consistently used the Body Shop products. I hope she wasn't lying. So I end up buying the Seaweed skincare line travel kit. I have no will power. The kit included Seaweed deep cleansing facial wash, Seaweed clarifying toner, Seaweed mattifying day cream, facial blotting tissues and a facial brush. I started using it this morning. I'll try it out for a week or two to see if it helps any. The tea tree oil is on the left.

Other products I've recently bought, from left to right, are Herbal Essences Shampoo and Conditioner for Perm/Color treated/Damaged hair, Sunsilk Waves of Envy Shampoo and Conditioner and Generic Value Product (GVP) Matrix Bioloage Conditioning Balm. I also bought the Sunsilk Waves of Envy Sea spray but forgot to include it in the picture.
I've always loved Herbal Essences Shampoo and Conditioner for Perm/Color treated/Damaged hair because of the scent and it does moisturize my hair pretty well. Even though it doesn't consistently give me good curly results, it's the one shampoo and conditioner I've bought more than once.

The Sunsilk Waves of Envy Shampoo, Conditioner and sea spray moisturizes my hair well and made it softer but, provides no real curl definition. The Herbal Essences Shampoo and Conditioner for Perm/Color treated/Damaged actually gives me better curl definition than these products. I also like the scent of the Sunsilk Waves of Envy products. I think it has a powdery smell. My boyfriend thinks it smell like carpet cleaner. I guess along with this and my Cotton Blossom laundry detergent smelling lotion I'm on my way to smelling like a very clean house.

The GVP Matrix Bioloage Conditioning Balm is a CG approved product. I've only used it once so I can't give any good feedback right now. I'll continue to use it and see how it works. This can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply.

Oy, this was too many products when all I wanted was some tea tree oil and coconut oil. Anyone know where I can find coconut oil? I saw some at the Vitamin Store but, it was for cooking. I'm wondering if it's the same kind of oil that can be used for your hair.

Free Suze Orman book download

2009-01-12T05:32:00.001-05:00

You can download a free copy of Suze Orman's book Action Plan 2009 - Keeping Your Money Safe & Sound. Offer expires 1/15/2009.

Baby come back..

2009-01-11T20:55:00.016-05:00

ETA: Thank you to Patti, the webmistress for the band Player's website, for pointing out incorrect information I had posted. I had written that "Baby Come Back" was by Ambrosia but, it was actually by Player. My apologies about the mistake.

I'm sure you've seen the Swiffer commercial where the mop and broom want to be used again and the song "Baby Come Back" by PLAYER is playing in the background.

Video by TheMacaroniBand on YouTube

Well that's how it's been with me concerning silicones and sulfates. I tried my hardest to stick with the curly girl routine but for the following reasons I strayed:

1. I started getting too worried and paranoid about whether or not a product was CG approved. I'd read labels like a madwoman making sure I wasn't using any silicones. I even have a note in my phone listing all silicones for reference. All the worrying turned something fun, shopping for hair products, into a task.

2. I didn't like missing out on products that caught my eye while I was shopping. When I would be near hair products and I saw one that I really wanted to try I'd put it back because it wasn't CG approved. It almost felt like I was on a diet.

3. I prefer the fragrance of silicone products versus CG products. Most CG products are organic. I can't say 100% natural because a lot of them still include human-made chemicals. I still have not found a CG product whose fragrance I really liked. The call (or should I say smell) of most sulfate/silicone shampoos and conditioners, Herbal Essences Shampoos and Conditioners especially, is just too good. The first time I shampooed my hair with sulfates, after cowashing for a couple weeks, just felt so satisfying. Maybe that's why the girl in the Herbal Essences commercials really enjoyed her "organic" experience - she was stopping the CG method and reverting to her pre-CG ways.

Video by nastyplayboy69 on YouTube

4. The whole CG routine can be a lot of work. From picking the right products, plopping, diffusing and long drying time (during which you shouldn't touch your hair). I wanted a routine where I didn't have to apply products dripping wet and I didn't have to plop. I may do the CG routine every now and then but not all the time. Even though I use silicones, I still cowash. When I feel I may have buildup, then I use a shampoo with sulfates.

Soooo..lately I have been using both CG and non-CG approved products. Today I finally came across a pretty good combination.

Shampoo: Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious Shampoo for fine to medium hair
Conditioner: Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious Shampoo for fine to medium hair
Leave-in: Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious curl creme
Mousse: Nexxus Gorgeous Curls Curl Enhancing Styler
Gel: Herbal Essences Set Me Up gel

I washed my hair. Combed conditioner through my hair. Continued with my shower with conditioner still left in my hair. Rinsed my hair at the end of my shower. Squeezed the water out of my hair but not handling my hair roughly and wrapped it in a towel. After I was done with my after shower routine, I removed the towel. Added curl creme throughout my hair and combed to distribute the product. I added mousse to my hair scrunching the whole time. I even scrunched with my head upside down. I let my hair air dry for maybe 5 minutes while I did my makeup. Added a little bit more of mousse while scrunching. Continued finishing my makeup then added a little bit of gel while scrunching for more definition. I actually liked how it ended up and my hair was pretty much dry by the time I got to Church 30 minutes later. My waves aren't usually as defined as this unless I use a diffuser but, I let my hair air dry the entire time. The waves held up good too. This picture is from when I got home later that night.
The products I used:
The Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious Products were part of a kit that I found at the Cosmetics Company Outlet in California. I was glad I found it because I wanted to try the Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious line without spending money on full sized bottles. The kit also comes with a shower cap and instructions on how to use the products which of course I didn't follow.

When I did my CG versus non CG product experiment, I should have done more experimenting before concluding that CG products were better than non-CG products. I just hadn't come across the right non-CG products.

There are still more products I would like to try both CG and non CG. They include coconut oil, Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose conditioner, Beyond the Zone Noodlehead Curl creme, Redken Ringlets or Fresh Curls line, Biolage daily leave-in tonic, Tigi Curls Rock creme, and Garnier Fructis Curl Scrunch gel.

Getting rid of debt

2009-01-09T05:58:00.001-05:00

As you can tell, I don't always like sticking to only beauty or hair related topics. I think that's why I frequent the Purse Forum and Specktra.net so much. Both forums are based on their main passions, purses and MAC makeup, but so many other topics are discussed as thoroughly as purses and MAC makeup too. I actually heard about Dave Ramsey from the Purse forum. Kind of ironic because many of the sought after purses are expensive.

If you want to find an effective way of reducing your debt, follow Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. One of the key strategies to the Total Money Makeover is the "debt snowball." Debt snowball is basically listing all your debts from lowest to highest balance. Pay off your lowest debt as quickly as possible while paying the minimum on all your other debts. After your first debt is paid off, start putting those payments toward your second debt in addition to what you were already paying down on your second debt. Thus, beginning your debt snowball. Follow the same routine with all your debts. Some may argue that you should pay down your debt with the highest interest first. The satisfaction of seeing results faster by paying off lower balance debts quickly with the Total Money Makeover is why it is so successful. When people don't see results fast enough, they get discouraged. It's human nature.

Dave Ramsey states you can take control of your debt using these steps.

		$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
		Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
		3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
		Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
		College funding for children
		Pay off home early
		Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate

Did I follow all the steps exactly? Of course not. I think if I followed the Dave Ramsey plan strictly, which I didn't, I would have so much money saved up but, I have no regrets on where my money has gone this year. Well, maybe some. There are some unused hair and makeup products at home that would have been better used as payments toward my debt. Even though I don't follow the Total Money Makeover step by step, I do incorporate a lot of it into my lifestyle. Because of this, I have paid off my first debt during the Holidays. I was surprised that I paid off my first debt during a time when I usually spend the most. When I started the Total Money Makeover, I wanted to pay off my first debt before the end of the year. I ended up paying off my first debt completely on December 30, 2008. Very close to my deadline but still achieved my goal.

I just can't seem to do a routine or method exactly how people tell me to do it. (MODIFIED curly girl method anyone). I think I just can't be that strict because life itself isn't black and white. So many things come up. Other things I would rather do or spend my money on. What may work for someone, may not work for me so I need to change it up so that it WILL work for me. At the same time, I still can't do everything in excess. Any beneficial lifestyle change, no matter how small, is good. Even if you can't change everything all at once, positively tweaking how you live little by little will bring you success without feeling so overwhelmed that you want to give up.

Free 10 sample skincare bag from Sephora

2009-01-07T05:00:00.004-05:00

Lately I've been trying to find the magic cure that will make my skin clearer. This offer from Sephora would be perfect. It's for all Beauty Insiders and it's free to become a beauty insider. You can sign up online or in person. If you redeem online, you must purchase something to receive the skincare bag. If you redeem it in stores, no purchase is necessary. I wish I could make it to Sephora today. If I do try to redeem the skincare bag, I would need to go today because quantites are limited. All the samples are more high-end than drugstore products so this offer is pretty nice for being free.

The 10 sample skincare bag include:

Bare Escentuals RareMinerals Purely Nourishing Facial Moisturizer (0.6 fl oz)

Bliss FatGirlSleep (0.2 fl oz)

Cosmedicine Opti-mologist Eye Cream with Light Diffuser (0.03 fl oz)

Frederic Fekkai Glossing Cream (0.03 fl oz)

Fresh Soy Face Cream (0.07 fl oz)

Kinerase Clear Skin Regulating Mask (0.07 oz)

Murad Essential-C Eye Cream SPF 15 (0.03 fl oz)

Philosophy The Microdelivery Peel Duo (0.3 oz and 0.17 oz)

Sephora Brand Smoothing Primer (0.05 fl oz)

Tend Skin (0.25 oz)

My New Years San Diego Trip

2009-01-06T21:32:00.010-05:00

I am still trying to recuperate from my trip to California. I went back to work today and was tired all day. Took me forever to get through all my work emails and I had to finish writing my self-evaluation.

On my way to San Diego, I had two stop overs - one in Detroit and one in Minneapolis. All week long I was worried about my flight getting delayed due to snow. I made it through both Detroit and Minneapolis just fine but then 30 minutes before we were about to land in San Diego the pilot says our flight is getting diverted to Los Angeles because of fog in San Diego and they can't land. All this time I'm scared of getting stuck in Detroit and Minneapolis and not worried at all about landing in San Diego, the city known for its almost perfect weather. I finally get to Los Angeles and buses were arranged for all the passengers. It was about a two hour bus ride from LA to San Diego. I was starving by the way too. Even though I had two stop overs, both of them didn't leave me enough time to eat. I was rushing from gate to gate. My family kindly took me to Denny's even though it was 3AM. It was weird eating a meal with three other people not eating and just staring at you.

The next morning my brother woke me up to go to the mall. Usually the roles are reversed but, he had some shoes he wanted to exchange. We went to the mall and saw this ad on the wall of this girl happy to be carrying shopping bags. So we did what most normal people would do.
New Year's Eve was at my parent's house. It was a fun-filled night of Bingo, eating, drinking, Donkey Konga and of course throwing coins all over the place and chasing them like you aren't civilized. It's a great tradition.

The rest of my vacation included going to Church three times and a chapel once, doing limited shopping, going to Valley View casino and lots of eating. Sometimes I did both at those places, even Church. One of the times that I went to Church was for an older couple that was renewing their vows for their 60th anniversary. All during Christmas and New Years masses, I kept on hoping someone would sing Ave Maria in Church, especially someone with a more soprano voice. I was happy when it was finally sung at the 60th wedding anniversary.

The priest also said that marriage included three rings - an engagement ring, wedding ring and suffering. (Cue drum sound after joke). It was nice to see a couple still celebrate their love for each other even after 60 years.

My family went to Vally View casino twice, not for gambling but for the buffet. The first time we tried to go the buffet was sold out. You have to reserve a certain time slot and have at least one person physically stand in line for your party. So the second night we tried to go again and we were able to try the buffet. Very delicious. Just to name a few of the things I ate: lobster, 3 of them, shrimp tempura with rice and ketchup, chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and macaroni and cheese, chocolate covered strawberries, bananas, biscotti, chocolate cake and ice cream. Pictured below are a few of my conquests.
I also dominated the slot machines with total winnings of $35 dollars. Take that Valley View casino. You've been hustled.

I had previously fallen in love with the tres leches cake. Can you imagine how happy I was when there was a tres leches Oreo cake for my cousin's 13th birthday party? Why can't they sell cakes like that here?
My vacation went too fast. I'm actually feeling liking I'm still on west coast time. On the way back home, I had a red eye flight. I only had one stop over this time in Atlanta. Don't think I'm weird but, the bathrooms in the Atlanta airport smelled good. Maybe I had just come at the right time when they were just freshly cleaned. It was 530AM after all when I got to Atlanta. The bathrooms smelled more like the perfume section at a department store not typical bathroom smell mixed with air freshener.

Belated Happy New Year to everyone and I hope the Holidays were wonderful for all of you!

Not Curl Girl Today

2009-01-06T05:20:00.000-05:00

I haven't straightened my hair in about month which is a pretty long time, especially since I always used to straighten my hair. I tried to straighten it silicone free too. I think my hair needs silicones though to look shinier. I straightened it and then used a big curling iron so that it could get straighter but not flat. When I use a flat iron it gets too straight and I don't think I look right with really, really straight hair which is probably why God didn't give me straight hair. I'll have to find a better silicone free heat protectant and try it again.

Half Man, Half Tree

2008-12-28T22:03:00.008-05:00

Warning: Post contains graphic video and pictures.

I'm watching this documentary on TLC about an Indonesian fisherman named Dede with an unusual skin disorder. His body is covered with warts and his hands and feet are covered with so many warts that they are starting to look like branches. Hence, the nickname "Tree Man" that Dede is usually called. I had read an article about him a couple of months ago and was shocked by the pictures but, watching this documentary really made an impression on me.

Watching him trying to live a normal life with hands and feet so weighed down by warts makes me feel so shallow. I worry about trying to get rid of a couple pimples on my face or why my hair is limp and not curly from the curly girl method. His number one worry is providing for his family including his son and daughter. He provides for his family by participating in a freak show with others that have similar skin disorders.

Another man in Romania named Ion had the same condition. He underwent surgery to remove a layer of warts on his hand and skin was taken from his thigh for his hand. One of the first things he said after recovering from surgery was that he couldn't wait to shake his friends' hands. I'm always self-conscious of my sweaty palms, especially during the Lord's Prayer at Church when everyone holds hands, and here's this man who can't wait to shake people's hands because his fingers finally look like fingers even though the surgery damaged numerous nerves and his sense of touch is barely there. He also couldn't wait to return to work as a tractor driver. He was so excited he could finally drive a tractor again. Me - I'm disappointed when the weekend goes by too fast and Monday is right around the corner. I should be excited like Ion to be returning to a great job, especially in comparison to his, and working for a strong and wonderful company.

There's a scene in the documentary where Dede, the Indonesian fisherman, and his other friends that perform in the freak show, are eating lunch. They have a discussion about how hard it is to even split a boiled egg because they can't really use their hands for anything. Then they talk about how God made them like that so God will know what to do. So many other people in their situation would be angry with God. Then they talk about how it seems like all of them are always calm and never get mad. I know if I'm already having a bad day, one more bad thing would just ruin the rest of day or week for me. These people have been having bad decades and they can still laugh and joke around. You don't get the feeling either that they're hopeless or that they've given up on life.

Whenever I see or hear about situations like this, it always brings me back to reality and what SHOULD be in important in life. Being healthy is one of things I easily take for granted. I should be thankful I can get up in the morning by myself, brush my own teeth, leave my home and drive my own car to work. I should be thankful I'm strong enough to finish a step or weight lifting class at the gym. I shouldn't be focusing on the extra pounds that I've gained because of all the food I easily have access to, which is a blessing in itself. I should be thankful that there's a Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Rite Aid, and shopping mall all within 5 minutes of me and not be all sad if they don't have my leave-in conditioner or limited edition MAC lipstick in stock. Dede didn't have a hospital closer to him than the one located four hours away.

Even though I should be packing for my upcoming trip, I don't feel like this time was wasted. This reminds me of what's important but, easily taken for granted. A lot of the things I worry about now probably won't even matter to me in a year. I should have that hunger for life like Dede and his friends and Ion. I was worried earlier about obtaining travel size products for my trip like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. Instead I should have been packing with no worries and just be happy that in the next few days I'll be reunited with my family for the New Year. When I look back at this time, I won't be thinking about that great travel size lotion I bought, but the time I was blessed to spend with my family.

Video from mrblogged on You Tube and picture from http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rMOLZ17Mmzg/SVhE6Hnj7vI/AAAAAAAAAWw/HEGSyGptq_Y/s1600-h/20071121_treeman.jpg

Going out vs. Staying home products

2008-12-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

I have a ton of beauty products at my house. I have an assortment of shampoos, conditioners, body washes, lotions, moisturizers, styling products, lip balm - the list could go on and on. I have a shower stand that's overflowing with stuff. It's so full I've started putting products on the sides of the tub, which is the whole reason why the shower stand was installed in the first place.

All the products get used eventually. I use them according to what I've categorized them as. I have separate "Going Out" products and "Staying Home" products. We'll refer to them as GO and SH products from now on. GO products aren't necessarily more expensive than SH products but, they are more effective. It's kind of like you reserve your best stuff for when you're actually leaving the house and other human beings are going to see you. The SH products you'll use and won't really care the outcome of it too much. I've never had my dog say anything about the way I look when I use my SH stuff. Some of the products are both GO and SH. Am I making sense?

My hair product inventory used to be a lot worse. It used to be broken up into 3 categories - straight hair, curly hair and staying home. (I'm getting Monica - from Friends - flashbacks right now.) Now it's only the two categories GO and SH.

My Current Going Out (GO) Products:

Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo
Giovanni 50/50 Balancing Conditioner
St. Ives Elements Microdermabrasion face scrub
Sephora Birthday Cake bodywash (Remember that one I got for free? It smells so good.)
Dove Soap
Neutrogena Deep Clean Invigorating Dual Action Toner
Aveeno Daily Moisturizer with SPF15
Blistex Lip Balm
Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner
Herbal Essences Set Me Up gel

My Current Staying Home (SH) Products

Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo
Nexxus Humectress Moisturizing Conditioner (more expensive than the Giovanni 50/50 balancing conditioner but, I think the Giovanni conditioner works better)
St. Ives Apricot Cleanser/Mask
Caress Bodywash
Dove Soap
Neutrogena Deep Clean Invigorating Dual Action Toner
Oil of Olay moisturizer with SPF15 (I need to pick up another one of these. I just ran out the other day)
Blistex Lip Balm
Giovanni VitaPro Fusion Leave-in Hair Treatment

So folks, is this normal behaviour?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T00:38:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays (for those who don't celebrate Christmas). I hope everyone spends time with their loved ones and receives everything they could ever need and some of the things you want.

I love when dogs are dressed up for holidays like Christmas and Halloween. I always like that Halloween email entitled "Why Pets hate Halloween."

Happy Holidays!

Images courtesy of:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/cm/goodhousekeeping/images/FX/hercules-santaclaus-de.jpg
http://www.anniemayhem.com/blog%20pics/ChristmasPuppy.jpg

I modifed my Modifed Curly Girl Method

2008-12-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

Curly Girl Method isn't perfect, at least not for me, so I ended up having to change my already modified Curly Girl method. My hair is wavy not really curly. I'm guessing conditioner washing AND using a leave-in conditioner was starting to weigh my hair down.

This weekend I decided to try using a sulfate/silicone free shampoo- Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo. I then carried on with my normal shower routine using Giovanni 50/50 Balanced conditioner for my rinse out conditioner. After my shower, I did not use any leave-in conditioner. Just skipped that step entirely. Then I just continued on with scrunching and applying gel to my hair.

I plopped for about 15 minutes. I think I get better results when I diffuse my hair with a blow dryer instead of letting it air dry but, sometimes I'm just in a rush that I don't have time to blow dry all my hair. I think I'll be sticking with my new routine for a little bit.

This was by the end of the day. I can't wait for the products that I have now to run out so I can try some new products.

Trying to take this picture really reminded me of the infamous Myspace bathroom picture. You know what I'm talking about. You've posted up at least one bathroom pic.

I'm going to be a Jabbawockee!

2008-12-22T05:00:00.002-05:00

Orrrrr maybe I'm trying to clear up my skin with Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. I've never tried a mask before. I'm starting to have a couple problem areas in between the middle of my eyebrows and near the right side of my chin. I've been using Mario Badescu drying lotion but, I want something to work STAT.

After reading Ailene's post about skin care, I decided to try a mask and Clean&Clear Persa-gel 10. I'll let you know if it works. I won't gross you guys out buy posting a before picture with pimples galore. I'll definitely post an after picture if my skin clears up.

By the way, that picture above was my best attempt at smiling. Those masks harden up quick. I feel like this mask makes my lips look bigger and really enhance (might not be the right word for what I'm about to say) the unevenness of my eyes. My left eye looks bigger than my right eye. This is not a spot the stuff wrong with Marjorie's face game either, haha. I'll be getting comments like it's not JUST your eyes that look crazy but also your (insert other facial feature here)....

Season for Giving

2008-12-21T00:07:00.006-05:00

Today I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Salvation Army. First off I would like to thank everyone who participated. I will definitely have a team name made up for us next year.

You've probably seen the Salvation Army in collaboration with the Marines collecting items for Toys for Tots and the Angel Tree. Our task today was to help the families who qualified "shop" for these items. The toys were set up in this huge warehouse. It used to be a store called HQ, a store similar to Lowes and Home Depot.
My job was to be a "shopper". Basically, I would have a cart, usually with some extra toys already in it, then I would be assigned a person, who would be picking out gifts for their children. The aisles were divided by gender and age groups. As we would go down the aisle, volunteers and Marines would be putting in freebie gifts into the cart. By the time we got to the end of the aisle, the car would usually be stuffed full. Then if they had an Angel Tree gift available we would pick it up before we checked out. After checking out, they even received canned goods and other food. Then I would assist another person with picking out gifts all over again.

Most of the others in my group were shoppers but, some had to also assist families to their cars and call out the numbers for people waiting in line to pick out toys (and there were a lot).

Even though the Holidays may be a hard time for the individuals that came today, seeing them leave with carts full of toys made me hope that the Toys for Tots and Angel Tree program brightened their Christmas season at least a little. I wish I could have taken a picture of how many toys there were. Every toy you could imagine was in there including nice bikes. They were quality toys too, not just toys you can purchase at the Dollar Tree.

A million thanks to my group! Thank you for coming out and giving up your Saturday afternoon.

Thank you Josh #1, Marie, Jenessa, Megan, Josh #2, Tin, Suzie, Christle, Danielle, (not pictured) Andrew, Andrew's sister and friend, Rosalee, JR, Norma, Tarsha, Jovie, Darlene, Morgan, and Marivic.

Birds Are Kinda Scary

2008-12-18T20:00:00.007-05:00

Does anyone else get freaked out when they see hoards of birds together? I don't know what it is but, when I see a lot of birds hanging out, like 100 or more, it kind of creeps me out. I'm not scared of birds either, just a large population of them all in one spot.

Christmas Shopping

2008-12-17T21:27:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I bought gifts for almost everyone on my Christmas list. I have a couple people left to buy gifts for. I was proud of myself too because I didn't spend money on myself. Well except for food but I had to eat. Even though I didn't spend money on myself doesn't mean I went home empty handed.

The Queen of coupons used her skills. I was able to get two items - Very Sexy makeup remover and Sephora Happy Birthday Bath and Shower Bubbles (basically body wash). I used a $10 coupon certificate at Victoria's Secret to get my Very Sexy makeup remover which was priced at $10 - you do the math. I actually prefer Clinique Take the Day off makeup remover and had run out but, I really didn't feel like spending $17.50 on makeup remover while I was trying to budget for Christmas presents.

The Sephora Happy Birthday Bath and Shower Bubbles is actually a gift that all the Sephora Beauty Insiders receive on their birthday. When I had tried to redeem mine at a Sephora located in a JC Penney (this is when I didn't have a real Sephora store near me yet) they told me that only the actual stores carried the body wash. Sephora sent me an email reminder this past weekend to pick up my birthday gift since I couldn't get it before. Well I finally got my hands on it and it smells YUMMY..like cake!

My wimpy lashes

2008-12-16T18:45:00.001-05:00

I only recently (within a year) started using mascara. I never used to bother with mascara before because my lashes were nonexistent. I felt like I had to start wearing mascara since I was doing a full face worth of makeup anyways. When I did start curling my lashes and using mascara, I did notice a difference.

Currently, I use (from left to right), Maybelline XXL Volume + Length Waterproof Microfiber Mascara, L'oreal Full Definition Voluminous Mascara and Shu Uemura eyelash curler.I always heard good things about the Shu Uemura eyelash curler. I ended up getting it with my $15 Sephora coupon. I haven't had the chance to try the Shieseido mascara base but, wanted to purchase a mascara base for my work Christmas party. I ended up getting the Maybelline XXL Volume + Length Waterproof Microfiber Mascara. It's a two-sided mascara. One side is a white base and the other side is black mascara. I think the base works well. I haven't tried other mascara bases so I can't truly compare but, compared to my lashes without a base I notice a difference.

I didn't particularly like the black mascara side of Maybelline XXL Volume + Length Waterproof Microfiber Mascara. The black mascara side didn't do anything for my lashes which is why I had to buy a separate black mascara.

My wimpy lashes. There's nothing on my lashes in this picture. You can see I'm wearing a Turbie-twist too. I like to multitask.

After curling my lashes with the Shu Uemura eyelash curler. I'm sorry this picture is kind of blurry.

After two coats of the white base side of Maybelline XXL Volume + Length Waterproof Microfiber Mascara.

The next pictures are the final pictures including two coats of L'oreal Full Definition Voluminous Mascara. These pictures may freak out people who are grossed out by eyes. The angle is kind of weird too but, I couldn't get a good eyelash shot.

I like the length that these products give my lashes. Not bad for the price either. Both products were about $6 each. The Shu Uemura eyelash curler was $19. I like the length that I get with these two prodcuts, but I wish they made my lashes appear thicker. I know DiorShow mascara has received good reviews for making your lashes thicker. I had also purchased that with my $15 Sephora coupon but, returned it because it really irritated my eyes. Any other suggestions for mascara besides DiorShow that would make my lashes thicker?

Proof Curly Girl method works

2008-12-15T05:23:00.003-05:00

This post should have been the second entry of my blog, following my introduction. I did an experiment this weekend. I wanted to see if the curly girl method really does make a difference. In one of my earlier posts, I discussed why sulfates and silicones were so bad and not CG method approved. Chemically, it made sense. Silicones that were not water soluble prevented conditioner from penetrating your hair and silicones could only be removed by sulfates which were too harsh for your hair so sulfates and certain silicones should be eliminated from your hair routine.

This weekend, I did my hair as usual, EXCEPT I used products with sulfates and silicones. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that using CG method approved products DO indeed make a difference. When I used products with sulfates and silicones, my hair did have a slight wave to it but, nothing like the results I got from the CG method. Products with sulfates and silicones weighed my hair done and my curl didn't hold. My hair was limp and by the end of the day I barely had any curl definition.

Day 1 - I used Pantene Hydrating Curls Shampoo and Pantene Hydrating Curls Condtioner. For my leave-in conditioner I used Frederic Fekkai Glossing Creme. Frederic Fekkai Glossing creme is a more high-end product. It's usually found at salons, Sephora and Ulta. For my gel, I used my usual Herbal Essences Set Me up gel.
These two pictures were taken right after I was done fixing my hair. My hair looks a little weighed down. This was right before I left to go Christmas gift shopping.

The next two pictures are after I got home from the mall. I barely have any curl left and I feel like my hair looks drier.

Day 2 - I used Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Shampoo and Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Conditioner. I used the same leave-in conditioner and gel - Frederic Fekkai glossing creme and Herbal Essences Set Me Up Gel.

Before I took a shower, I noticed my hair felt drier. It took me forever to comb my hair after I put conditioner in it during my shower. It was actually hurting me to comb through it because my hair was so dry, tangled and knotty. Another thing I noticed is my body felt waxy by the end of my shower. I'm guessing the waxiness is from the Herbal Essences Totally Twisted conditioner which contains silicones that are not water soluble. Even when I rinsed my self really well, I could still feel the waxiness. I never noticed that waxiness before I started doing the CG method.

These pictures were taken at the end of the night. I had just come back from eating at a Mexican restaurant. My hair was limp and some parts weren't even curly.

Conclusion: Curly Girl method definitely works. You don't even have to do the CG method step by step either. I mentioned before that I actually do a modified version of it. A plus side to the CG method is that a lot of CG method approved products are easy to find and cheap. Even when I used the more expensive Frederic Fekkai glossing creme (which has silicones that are not water soluble), it was no competition for my $7 Giovanni Direct Leave-in Conditioner.

I was going to do this experiment for a week but, I really disliked how my hair looked and felt. I will be starting CG method over again, getting rid of the silicones with a clarifying shampoo, the next time I wash my hair.

I've been tagged!

2008-12-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

"Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with sixteen random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose ten people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment (“you’re it”) and to read your blog. You can’t tag the person who tagged you. Since you can’t tag me, let me know when you’ve posted your blog, so i can see your weirdness."

Janelle and Ailene have both tagged me. I think I'll have to steal something similar like this that I already had on Myspace. I now tag Christle.

If you're reading this and you haven't been tagged, feel free to fill it out - I tag YOU!

1. I love eating. I mean really love eating. Especially cheeseburgers, ice cream, chicken - just as long as it's not too healthy. At work, everyone sends food my way like I'm a garbage disposal. One of my good friends always says that I say everything is the best - I just had the best cheeseburger, the best ice cream cone, the best chinese buffet (props to Red City), the best pizza - no matter where I eat. I don't pick up on it but, she even noticed it on my Hibachi (boyfriend work Christmas party) entry. I talked about how good the food was. I can't help it. I LOVE food. I don't think I could ever be a food critic.

2. I used to be obsessed with changing my hair color ALOT. It would keep going back and forth between light and dark, many times within a week. And now I'm trying to go more natural. Not so much color and embrace the curl more.

3. I really do consider my dog to be my daughter. I even like to dress her up with coordinating top and hair bows. I even hold her like a baby and try to put her to sleep like one. I've had her since August 2004. My grandmother named her after Korina Sanchez who's famous in the Philippines.

4. I love makeup, hair, or anything to do with beauty products and had dreams of working for a makeup company (hence the Chemical Engineering degree). I was allergic to MAC at one point then tried it again and wasn't so I started buying MAC once a week. You can find me at your local Sephora, Ulta, MAC counter, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Target, Walmart - anywhere they have makeup and hair products.

5. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and that God has everything planned out for me. When I miss out on something that I really wanted, I try to reassure myself that God doesn't want me to have it now because it is not the right time or He has something better in store for me. Or if I happen to be in a bad situation, I try to go with the flow and know that God is planning something great for me even if I don't understand the way He's doing it. Or something has to be taken away from me to benefit someone else, someone who is in more dire circumstances than myself but, God would never put me through anything I can't handle.

6. I miss playing sports especially tennis and volleyball. Going to the gym isn't the same as being on a team.

7. Some people tell me I have an accent but, they can never tell me what kind of accent it is. Maybe you can decipher it from my hair tutorial.

8. When I get out of the shower, I walk on my tippy toes because I don't like my feet touching the floor when they're damp. My old roomates will agree and called me a name when I would do it.

9. My grandmother, mom and me all do this twirly thing with our thumbs when we're sitting down. I don't even notice when we're all doing it at the same time. When we used to all go to Church together, you could see us in a row twirling our thumbs simultaneously.

10. I am a sister of the finest Multicultural Sorority in existence. ONE love! I was the deuce of my line - so 2's represent. I pledged Fall 2001. I am very much into diversity and meeting people of various ethnic backgrounds. I'm not into the whole I don't see color - I don't care if you're white, black, brown, green, blue blah blah blah. I recognize that everyone is different but, I choose instead to embrace all those differences. What is so wrong with being different? The world would be a very boring place if everyone was the same. I went to this one "Improving Relationships in the Work Place" kind of seminar. The only thing I remember from it was that diversity was necessary in the world. If two people were exactly alike, there would be a need for only one of those two people to exist.

11. This is hard. Finding 16 interesting facts. My all time favorite TV show is Friends. Right now I also currently like Desperate Housewives, Real Housewives of Orange County, Real Housewives of Atlanta (dang it Bravo, got me hooked on all your shows), and What Not to Wear. I also like the Saved by the Bell and Wings reruns.

12. I get kinda cranky if I'm tired AND hungry. I think it's the hunger part that makes me more crankier. I think I get cranky because I get nauseous and have a headache when I'm hungry. My dad's the same way.

13. I have unusually large, muscular calves. I even had to get boots from this one website that made boots for huge calves. Us big calved girls want to be cute and tuck our pants and tree trunks into boots too you know. I used to be very self conscious about my calves but, now I've learned to accept and appreciate them 100%. Fashion-wise sometimes it is difficult. I really liked this past summer's look of gladiator sandals but I just couldn't pull it off.

The look I was going forHow I ended up lookingPicture courtesy of https://www.alexanderscostumes.com/store/images/Roman%20Gladiator%20Costume%2015007.jpg

14. I'm weird about sleeping in beds not my own. I can't sleep right - at other people's houses or hotels. Even if the hotel is a nice, 5 star hotel. I'm always relieved to get back to my own bed. There's no place like home. (The tag said interesting facts right. Can you tell I'm struggling?)

15. I dislike running but, this year I started running in races as a challenge to myself. So far I have done a 5K, 8K and 10K. I would like to do a 1/2 marathon and full marathon before I turn 30. I *dream* of doing a triathlon except I'm not that strong of a swimmer unless I swim on my back. Does anyone know if official triathlon rules will allow me to swim on my back? As you can tell from the picture on the right, I've modeled my running form after Phoebe from Friends.

Team Spice Girls

16. Last fact. I love bargains, coupons and sales. I even have a coupon organizer that takes up a lot of room in my purse. I'm always clipping out coupons. Some of my favorites websites are blogs dedicated to coupons and bargains. I have to get a new Entertainment book. You know what book I'm talking about right? It's usually sold as a fundraiser and it's a book of good coupons. They were selling it at Bed, Bath and Beyond, where I purchased mine, so I used my 20% off coupon to purchase that. Smart, ehh? I think my blog can be used as a drinking game. Take a shot everytime I mention Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Curly Girl Method tutorial

2008-12-11T20:47:00.030-05:00

I never knew video tutorials were so hard. (I'm actually waiting for the video to upload on youtube right now and that's taking forever. I'm definitely doing pictures from now on. It is taking soooo long. And I didn't even do any kind of editing or adding music.) I have new respect for the bloggers out there who do video tutorials. I was about to give up and just do pictures. My boyfriend was the one taking the video so of course he made me laugh a couple times.

Remember this video is not professional i.e., it's shot in my bathroom and it got accidentally cut off at the end when my boyfriend pressed the stop button. I made the video because the written instructions just seem a lot more complicated. I wanted to show people how easy it was so they wouldn't be discouraged about trying the curly girl method.

Video 1 - Applying products and plopping

Video 2 - Diffusing my hair

I didn't diffuse my hair all the way. I got lazy. That's the beauty of curly hair though. Air drying is just as good. Even if you think your hair is straight, try it. You might be pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind two important things: use a clarifying shampoo to rid your hair of buildup and apply the leave-in conditioner and gel when your hair is soaking wet. Don't even towel dry a little bit after you wash your hair.

Do not read if you LIKE pimples!

2008-12-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm older I seem to be breaking out more. I thought you were supposed to have your acne issues during puberty. I seem to break out in the worst places too. The other day, I started getting this big pimple right between the middle of my eyes, prompting my coworker to ask if I was transforming into a unicorn.

Seems like I always break out anywhere up and down the middle of my face. It's weird. Maybe my pimples think it would be unfair to my face to stay just on the left or right side of my face so it chooses the middle.

Anyways, what seems to really be helping me is toner that I've added to my usual skincare routine. Currently I'm using Neutrogena Deep Clean Invigorating Dual Action toner. Now I wash my face, use toner, then use a moisturizer. You'd be amazed how dirty that cotton ball is when you use toner after washing your face. Don't judge until you've tried it. Makes me wonder what I'm actually doing when I wash my face.

The other product that is helping me out a lot is Mario Badescu drying lotion. You apply this on your pimples when you know you won't be going out because it's definitely not clear. The lotion kind of reminds me of calamine lotion and has a slight but bearable scent. I usually apply it before I go to bed and I always notice a difference the next day. The only con is the price. It's $17.00 for a 1 oz. bottle. This 1 oz bottle has lasted me (and my boyfriend, but you didn't hear that from me) for 3 months so not too shabby even if the quantity is small. I don't see having to buy another bottle anytime soon either.

I started using St. Ives Elements Microdermabrasion face soap. I was a big fan of the original St. Ives Invigorating Apricot scrub so I figured newer is better right? Incorrect. I prefer the original Apricot scrub. The Apricot scrub was a bit rougher but, I liked that because it seemed to get my face cleaner and softer. The Microdermabrasion face soap has "fine mineral crystals". The fine mineral crystals are a little too fine though. They somehow get into my eyes even when they're closed and my face doesn't seem as soft after. Lesson for the day folks - newer is not always better.

Ehhhh?? Oooohhh!!!

Busted Tees - Funny T-Shirts

2008-12-11T04:00:00.001-05:00

If you're into witty or funny t-shirts definitely check out the site Busted Tees.

http://www.bustedtees.com/?utm_medium=Affilaite&utm_source=CJ

Some of the shirts are on sale for $7.77 until midnight tonight. I'm sure there's at least one person on your Christmas list that would like these shirts.

Here are some of my favorites (I think I'll be getting the Hungry Hippo one):

I know no one can forget that episode of Saved by the Bell when Jesse had her breakdown. Balancing school and being in a singing group as prestigious as Hot Sundaes can make anyone turn to caffeine pills. I can't laugh though because I can recall some "I'm so excited, I'm so scared moments" while I was in college. Actually yeah I can laugh, that's one of the most memorable episodes of Saved by the bell.

For this next shirt you definitely have to watch these youtube videos first. The words are hard to read but, the shirt is a pageant sash and the words written on the sash are Miss South Carolina's answer.

Then watch this funny paraody.

Happy Shopping!

15% off at Sephora

2008-12-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

Thanks to a member of the Purse Forum.

15% off at Sephora

Enter the code FYP96 when you checkout.

Offer is valid through December 14, 2008, at 11:59 pm PST/PDT on online merchandise orders only (excluding tax and shipping) - not available on gift cards. Not valid in Canada, retail stores, Sephora inside JCPenney stores, or on previous purchases. Cannot be used in conjunction with other promotion codes.

I really wonder if this is a sign of bad times for the economy. I've never known Sephora to give such good discounts. First the $15 off certificate and now 15% off.