Revitabrow Test: Week 4

Here is a side-by side comparison of Lacey's eyebrows - Week 0 and Week 4.

Full disclosure, I tinted and waxed her eyebrows last week. And she's using a different camera so that's why the pics look a little different. Don't you love how you can tell I'm a wannabe scientist since I want to control as many independent variables as possible? Yeah I totally had to look that up. Hey, it's early on a Saturday!

I think I see a real difference. They definitely look filled in. The issue is that Lacey wants them filled in at the center part of the eyebrow. I'm starting to see some movement inward, but I'm not sure if Revitabrow can regrow eyebrows where you didn't have them. We will just have to wait and see the full 12 weeks!

Lurkely!

My friend Cassandra made up the most awesome word today so I needed to blog about it, of course. Lurkely. Adverb form of "lurk". As in someone who reads content on the web but doesn't comment. Lurk is definitely a web word, although I'm sure that it entered the English language long before Al Gore invented the internet. A quick check of Merriam-Webster confirms that it came into existence in the 14th century. Although it came into prominence with the advent of message boards.

My point is not disparage the lurking, it's to praise it. Writers today are in such a unique situation - immediate feedback! Online discussion group! Comments galore! The power of the internet is that writers can now use the written word to not only communicate what we are feeling but also to have an active two-way discussion. Which is nice. Don't get me wrong. I love when people comment. But I'm sure if I had thousands of followers or if I posted a controversial article, I wouldn't be as excited about the comments.

Sometimes not commenting is just fine. I'm just glad you are taking time out of your busy day to spend a moment and read my thoughts. Knowing how much information competes for your attention, that makes your moment really mean something to me. So feel free to lurk away! Lurkely! (TM Cassandra)

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Product Review: Batiste Dry Shampoo

I have been on the hunt for the perfect dry shampoo for a while now so Sheila decided to send me a product called Batiste to review. I told her I needed a couple of weeks to play with it but after just a few uses I am hooked. It has a great smell that isn't too heavy but does a good job of neutralizing the smell of dirty hair. I tested both the Original and the Blush versions. Blush is just a different sweeter smell not a different color. The thing that I love the most about the Batiste is that it does a great job of getting rid of the heavy feel I have when I don't wash my hair and also doesn't dry it out too much. My hair feels much softer than when I use other dry shampoos.

That brings me to the biggest complaint about Batiste: you gotta work hard to get the powdery residue out of your hair. Hard as in after brushing the heck out of it you still see some of the powder. But that's my only complaint. The smell is awesome and the price is great. $8.29 for 5oz ($1.66 per oz) makes it one of the cheaper dry shampoos that I've tried. I'd still splurge for my favorite dry shampoo TiGi's Rockaholic because I feel like it lasts better throughout the day and it's easier to get out but if you are on a budget the Batiste makes a great substitute. Check out the pic below of my Batisted hair:




I still haven't gotten up the courage to pay for the Bumble and bumble dry shampoo. A friend at the salon bought some of the red dry shampoo after going red and she absolutely loves it. The first day she uses it her hair feels just like how it does after shampooing. The second day she uses it, the dry shampoo gives the hair a little extra grip so she is able to style it, tease it and add volume without using any hairspray. She told me the main thing she loves about it is it makes her feel like she can actually style her hair.



The only downside is she noticed red flakes on her hair by the end of the day and a little bit of redness near her hairline. I was surprised that the fact that she had gone with the dry shampoo customized to her hair color had turned out to be a bit of a problem since I was thinking that would be the main selling point. I also pressed my friend on the price. She really loved the product so she was willing to pay the price so she could save time on washing and flat ironing.

I'm still going to go with my original recommendation, the TIGI. But the Batiste is a close second!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod Touch

Confessions of a chronic nail biter

Yeah I'm a nail biter. And I'll admit that I am a tad bit defensive about it. People still judge nail biters. As if there is something wrong with us. Psychologically wrong with us. Which is kinda true. Part of the nail biting is a nervous thing. Part of it is boredom. And part of it is just that I don't like how long nails look or feel on my hands.




The picture came out funny but at least you can see that I don't chew off my fingers like some nail bitters. I just bite the nails off.

I've tried lots of tricks throughout the years. Nasty tasting polish that doesn't taste that bad. Getting hard as rock acrylics that I was still able to bite through. Hynosis. No I'm kidding. I never tried that. At least not for nail biting. And no, hypnosis didn't help the million other problems I thought it might help.

Truth be told I would get a manicure once a week if I ever won the lottery. That's part of the problem that I have with nail polish. It just doesn't last. If you have your hands in water it really doesn't last. And the best manicures really do come from professionals. I put manicures into the beauty category of things that you can do yourself but turn out better when the professional does them (bang trims, brazilian waxing, single process hair color).

Then I read about Shellac, a new gel overlay that claims to give you chip free nails for up 14 days. Seems like a miracle. Until you see the cost. One salon advertised it at $40 dollars a service. I'm not quite ready to splurge on my nails. Beauty is all about spending priorities. I will spend $60 for someone to color my hair or $30 on a great moisturizer but nails have never been high on my list. So $40 seems crazy and $10 for a manicure that gets chipped in a week seems like a waste. My friend Bianca has the nail hookup so she's going to get the expensive Shellac manicure at a discount and let me know how it is.

Here's a short video about the Shellac gel nail polish from CND:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqg_axyAW6k

I do feel the need to put something on my naked nails though. Right now my favorite thing is Sally Girl glitter polish. 99 cents at Sally's and you can reapply as often as you like. There are never any chips since you are just putting a clear polish on with pieces of glitter. And it lasts pretty long even if your hands are in the water. I usually reapply once a week and keep it next to the computer so that I remember.




I would love to hear from you what your favorite nail tricks are. Have you gone for the expensive polish? Ever worked out a trade with your girlfriends? That's what I find so frustrating about DIY polish. It never goes on as well as someone else doing it. So I've always dreamed of a sister that I could trade manicures with. Until that day or I win the lottery, I am going to just stick with cheapo glitter polish.




UPDATE: I got silver polish in a press gift bag when I went to IMATS and on a whim I just threw it on my nails. They look cyberific and futuristic and kinda cool so I'm gonna try out this new look. My favorite part of the polish, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Spanglemaker is that I just needed one coat and I was done. That's probably my biggest complaint with other polishes that I have to pile it on. But with this OCC polish, blamo after about a minute I was good to go. Also I've noticed that stylists at the salon throw on their nail polish whenever they have down time so I think I'm going to be less of a perfectionist about polish.

The Search For The One That Got Away

We've all had it. That one product. That product that we loved and then lost because the manufacturer discontinued it. For me that product, that lost love of my life is L'Oreal Pumping Curls. For some reason it was the only product for curly hair that turned my kinda curly hair into something amazing. Every time I pumped a couple of sprays into my hair it was like magic. Soft well-defined waves curled around my face. It was one of those products that made you look like you could style your hair even when you couldn't. Plus it smelled delicious.

When it disappeared about 10 years ago I started the elusive search for the replacement product. The problem was that all my friends suggested spray gels which added the dreaded crunch to my waves (curly haired girls know what I'm talking about). Curl creams usually made my hair too greasy, weighing down my wavy hair. Mousses did nothing for my curls. Pumping Curls did resurface a year or two ago in a new package but it's not easy to find (I think the closest store that carries it for me is Wal-mart).

Recently I started thinking about the sprays that are supposed to give you that "fresh from the beach" look. They are sprays that don't have gels in them but are curl activators. Because they sounded similar to my beloved Pumping Curls I decided to give them a try. First up was one from Joico, the Design Collection Texture Spray. I sprayed it on my half dry curls, scrunched them with my hand and let it air dry. The curls were defined and held throughout the day. But the smell of the product was weird and my hair looked pretty frizzy. I could have used a defrizzing product too but in my vision of the perfect product it's perfect because I don't have to use multiple products to achieve my multiple needs (well defined frizz-free curls).

Next I tried Bumble and bumble's surf spray. The curls were defined and the smell was weird but in a good way. I guess you can't avoid the weird smell with these beachy products kinda like how silk sweaters always smell funny. The defrizzing properties weren't fantastic. And I found that the best curl came after my hair dried which means that I probably need to carry it with me. Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

Pic of my Bumble and bumble curls:




I guess it's back to the drawing board. If anyone out there has some suggestions on a spray curl enhancer without gel let me know!

Revitabrow Test: Week 1

This weeks picture from Lacey. She doesn't see a difference but I do. BUT... it's more important that she sees a difference. Because that's the only way you'll keep using a product if you see the difference!

Revitabrow Test: Week 0

Eyelash and eyebrow conditioners have so much potential if they really work. And isn't that the question for all beauty products, that is, do they really work? My favorite go to website to answer that question has always been Make-Up Alley. The wisdom of the crowd letting me know whether or not I should drop my hard earned cash on the latest miracle beauty product.

I read mostly positive reviews of the Revitalash eyelash conditioner over on Make-up Alley before I decided to buy it. http://www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp?ItemID=87293. But I didn't see anything for Revitabrow, a similar product for your eyebrows. So I decided to conduct my own totally unscientific, sample size of one, Revitabrow product test using Lacey as my test model. Lacey has complained about her sparse brows for years. She dutifully powders them in every day but she would love to show off her natural brows.

Here's a picture of her eyebrows, unpowdered and right before she started using Revitabrow.

For the next 12 weeks, Lacey is going to be dutifully using Revitabrow every day and then sending me a picture of the progress. I'll post the pics and her thoughts once a month so you can see if she goes through a dramatic brow transformation.