Carol's Daughter - Straight Version

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.

Carol's Daughter

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

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.

Totally Twisted

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.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

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.