I'll be heading to NYC soon... but before I do I wanted to get photos up from my last trip. I was recently there in November for a friend's wedding. I wanted to have a polished look for the black tie event, so I went to one of my favorite beauty studio's in New York, Wonderland Beauty Parlour. Jeb did my hair in a classic Veronica Lake side sweep. With my bright purple color, it was a real contrast!
To achieve this look, Jeb barrel curled my hair with a 1.25" curling iron and pinned it to cool. Each lock was sprayed with Oribe Soft Lacquer spray (my new secret weapon for hot tool looks!). Then it was brushed out. Voila!
Before look
Goofing
Ok, going to be late.
End result.
Not bad.
Have you gotten your hair done recently? What kind of look do you go for? Have you ever tried this look at home?
I love this formula, and the scent is divine. However, the bottle is just ridiculous. A really unfortunate design.
I use about two pumps on my ends.
I rub the smoothing cream into dry hair.
Bed Head's After Party doesn't weigh hair down and sets hair very softly.
Twist the length of my hair.
Key step. I wrap it in a scrunchie. Yes, I know that scrunchies are about as fashionable as knee high nude hose with white nurse shoes; however, scrunchies damage hair less than rubber bands or elastics. Also, they don't leave that dent in your hair after you've had your hair up in a bun or ponytail.
I twist my hair and put it in a bun holding it all together with a scrunchie. Then by the time I'm at my desk, my hair has set and I have soft waves or at least some body in the hair.
More body the longer you leave it in.
Though there is always the temptation of just leaving your hair up all day.
What do you do as your quick fix for looking polished at work?
I couldn't figure out what the brand, line, product was on this. So many words all over the bottle. However, a few things jumped out at me. "Keratin," "Straight," "coconut oil" all sounded good to me, so I picked up a bottle of this serum.
I am not an expert on 'cones, that's referring to ingredients based off of silicone. I know there are good 'cones and bad 'cones. For example, products like John Freida Frizz Ease, which were all the rage when I was in high school and college for my frizzy friends carry 'cones that may in fact do the exact opposite of what you want. The deflect moisture, clog the scalp and can cause build up. However, I also know that not all 'cones do this.
Organix Ever Straight Brazilian Keratin Therapy Anti-Breakage Serum has 'cones, but I feel as if they must be the good kind. I have been using this product for a couple weeks now on and off, and I think that the days I do use it, my ends seem silkier and less frizzy. Plus there is the added benefit of the smell. It's just delicious. A rich cocoa and coconut without being overly heady or gourmand. I am a fan of his serum, though it does need to abbreviate its name. What do you think would be a good nickname for it?
The ingredients. 'Cones included but also yummy things like cocoa butter, coconut oil and avocado oil.
The clear serum.
I noticed less frizzies myself.
I liked how smooth it made my hair.
Shiny face, but also shiny hair! :) Where's MAC Blot when you need it?
With summer coming up, there is nothing I love more than tousled, beachy waves. We all want to be Gisele, but my natural hair is more like Naomi's (well her extensions?).
Anyway, we all want what we can't have, so I wanted to test out Bed Head's Deep Waver Wave Artist before we were in full summer swing. I purchased mine from Ulta.com a while back, but I had only tried it once and was convinced I did it wrong. So after air drying my hair with some Herbal Essences Volumizing mousse, I heated up my Deep Waver and starting getting beachy.
My regular hair. Just air dried with some mousse. Straight. Flat. Meh.
This rippling crimper(?) creates waves in hair.
This tool isn't a curling iron. It actual more resembles a hair crimper. Remember those? But instead of crunchy, angular pyramids, the idea is that these three rounded barrels give you soft, mermaid waves. The heat time is very quick, and I appreciate the lock system for when it's cool for neater, cleaner storage.
Feed me! :-O
I took 2 - 3 inch sections of hair and worked the Deep Waver down the length of my hair. It worked best when not taking too much hair at a time. Many of my girlfriends love wavy hair, but they aren't as handy with a curly iron. The Deep Waver would probably be an excellent choice for them. It's super easy just to clamp down the length of the hair to get your wavy look.
Is this how Shakira does it?
Mermaid waves. Fin not included.
All in all, I think it did deliver a nice wavy style to my hair. However, I do believe that I could have achieved a similar and less frizzy look with a regular large barrel curling iron. I found that sometimes my hair looked too "clamped" and not soft and natural. Running my fingers through, helped soften these spots, but overall, I think I prefer a regular curling iron. This tool would probably work best on those with at least shoulder length to long hair (probably best on longer hair)
To review: if you are good with a curling iron, you can probably do without this. If you are bad with heated tools and want something easy to work with, give this a try (but make sure you have long hair).
I used to go to great lengths to deal with my long hair. Pricey products, tedious treatments (e.g. hair mask that say leave in for 20 minutes... who has that kind of time?!). Can't a girl with long locks have it all?
Inside, the conditioner was infused with treatment in one rich swirl! Now even more interesting. But, I had to try it on my hair. I have long straight hair, and without proper conditioning, the ends can get ratty, frizzy and frayed, but with too much conditioning, my hair can look oily and flat.
I have been using this for a week now, and Dove's Nutritive Therapy Nourishing Oil Care Daily Treatment Conditioner definitely beats my old conditioner. The moisture really saturates my hair in the shower, and then out and after drying, my hair seems smoother and softer in comparison with my old brand (hint: it comes in a green bottle and starts with G). What I also like about this is that it's not so heavy that I can't use it everyday. I love hydrating hair masks, but daily use can cause buildup and make hair greasy, heavy and flat. This conditioner leaves my hair soft but doesn't weigh it down too much. This will definitely be a repeat purchase. I may also check out the shampoo.
Happy Tuesday everyone! I have been looking forward to Tuesday all week. There was a cliffhanger on a favorite show of mine last week, and I can't wait to see the next episode. Also I'm going to check out a viewing party for MAC's Wonder Woman collection tonight. I will report back ASAP.
I'm also excited to share with you Beautyburg's second video on our YouTube channel. I wanted to share a new product that I'm really enjoying with you guys. Batiste Coloured Dry Shampoo in Black is my new favorite product to freshen my hair after the gym or between washes. Prior to trying this, my go-to for dry shampoo was either Ojon ($24 for 4.5oz) or Oscar Blandi ($23 for 5oz). Both are excellent, smell fantastic and perform well. However, both are over $20 and spray on white. My blonde or fair haired friends swear by both brands, but me with my dark hair, I always ran into the danger of overdosing and ending up with chalky head. I had tried other drugstore brands like, Pssst! and TRESemmé, but I didn't think either worked as well as the expensive brands. Pssst! was way too white and not finely milled at all. It also smelled like baby diaper. The TRESemmé had a nice mist and fragrance, but it left the hair with a tacky finish.
I saw Batiste on another blog and decided to give it a try. At about $8 for 5.05z, it already was at an advantage from the two O brands. But what really intrigued me was that it came in two colored versions, Black and Brunette. I picked up the Black option from www.folica.com. When testing it on my hand, I was surprised at how powerful the sprayer was. The scent was light and fresh without being over the top or overwhelming. This dry shampoo is tinted a grey color. On the hair it still looks almost white. I was worried initially that I was still going to end up with chalky head, but after rubbing the product in with my fingers, I was happy to see that that the white part had dissepated and I was left with fresh, non-greasy hair.
Cheap. Good performance. Nice scent. Better than high-end. What's not to like. If you have dark hair, definitely check out the Black or Brunette versions. If you have lighter hair, I would try one of the many other options from Batiste. They have an arsenal of fragrances. See our video below to see me spray it on.
Day old hair.
Greasy bangs.
Even though it's colored for black hair, it applies greyish-white.
After! Refreshed! Byebye greasy bangs!
Here's a video demonstrating how to use Batiste Dry Shampoo.
