Influenster: Kérastase Discipline Curl Idéal

Honestly, March and April must be “hair months,” because people keep sending me hair products…and I am not even remotely mad at it! Heeeeeeey! 🙂 Influenster sent me their Kérastase Discipline Curl Idéal VoxBox for review, and let me tell you, I am all about it!

Included in the VoxBox were the Cleansing Conditioner Curl Idéal, and the Discipline Oléo-Curl Cream.

The Cleansing Conditioner Curl Idéal is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a cleansing conditioner. It is silicone-free and sulfate-free, so I was surprised when it did suds up a little bit. But only a little. This product is so incredibly lovely! I figured that it would just feel like conditioner, which is what cleansing conditioners usually feel like to me. But not this one! It was so creamy, and if you can describe this type of product as delicious, well, that’s where I was at when using this. It felt so wonderful, and it did not leave my hair feeling stripped or dry in any way.

My hair is chemically relaxed, but I told myself that after January, I would not relax my hair at all for the rest of the year. My hair also grows quickly, so I had enough new growth to be able to see if this would work on the part of my hair that is naturally curly. Let me tell you something – those curls were popping! Right after a wash, with no additional product. I can’t wait to see what this product is like later on in the year when I have more curly hair to work with! 😀

The Oléo-Curl is also quite nice! I don’t typically use a lot of products after I wash and condition my hair, because my hair is fine, and tends to reject a lot of products. This one seemed to work just fine on my hair, though. So again, I am looking forward to seeing how I can use it later in the year!

Hair with the cleansing conditioner:

Hair after:

Curls, dangit! CURLS! I love it! I would definitely recommend those with curly hair (of any texture!) to at least give the Kérastase Discipline Curl Idéal line a try. You might find yourself a new favorite product!

Kérastase Discipline Cleansing Conditioner: 400ml – $48.00

Kérastase Discipline Oléo-Curl Cream: 50ml – $20.50; 150ml – $42.00

#MyIdealCurl

DIY Coconut Oil & Honey Conditioner…Semi-Fail?

My DIY life is still full of the fail, I see. Everything was going so well! But I’m out of my favorite conditioner at the moment (Essential Rich Premier Ultra Honey and Shea Butter Mask), and I’m waiting awhile to stock up again, as I want to buy it in bulk. And it’s made in Japan, so yeah, shipping fees will be out the wazoo! But it’s totally worth it! So what did I do in the meantime? I mixed up some hair goods!

And it didn’t work out so well.

What I used:

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp honey

A liberal portion of regular conditioner…just because.

Now, I thought that I’d taken photos of this, but apparently I didn’t, because I can’t find any of them anywhere! But the consistency was that of a slightly runny conditioner, and when I applied it the first time, it seemed to make my curly new growth just pop! I was excited, because the front section of my hair doesn’t really like to do that on its own! Fine hair problems, yes? I rinsed it out, pulled my hair back to air dry, and went on about my business. My hair was just fine.

The second time that I used it was a different story altogether, and there are plenty of things that could have contributed to this being a semi-fail for me. First of all, I wash my hair every two days. Three at the most. If I go any longer than that, my hair will rebel. It will not respond to ANYTHING. Moisture, oil, a comb, life, you name it, my hair doesn’t care about it. But when it’s under the water and is all clean? It loves me again. My hair is a living entity with its own mind – and it has an attitude. So, of course, I went to use the DIY conditioner again on day three. Big mistake. I couldn’t even get a comb through my hair, not even while under the water in the shower. It was so tangled, and then it was so dry – it felt like straw! And then I remembered…coconut oil.

There’s a reason that I don’t use coconut oil in my hair unless it’s one of the last few ingredients in a product. My hair doesn’t really respond well to it at all. Plus, I was using it a few days apart, as opposed to a week or so. Coconut oil = protein. I’d just put my hair under protein overload, so of course it rebelled. Of course it did.

The lesson? Don’t use coconut oil so closely together, unless you have a good moisturizing plan in place. Don’t be like me. 😉

Hair Musings: The Undercut.

You know, I just cannot seem to decide what I want to do with my hair these days. First, I wanted to cut it all off into a short cut. Then I wanted to keep it long and just cut bangs. Then I wanted to grow it out and go natural. Then I just wanted to keep it long – period. Now, I’m looking at what may end up being a happy medium. That’s right, I’m thinking about getting…an undercut.

Mind you, I want to keep it long on top until I feel like I’m at a point where I can cut it shorter. Also, this would give the sides and back a chance to grow out after being shaved down, and I have a root iron that would keep the short hair straight until I figure out what I want to do with it. It’s definitely something different. And let’s face it, it’s hair. It grows back. 😉 Now to get someone that I can trust with my hair to take the clippers to it!

Maybe it’d be good to start off slow…

…and gradually work my way up…

…and up…

…and then cut the top? I don’t know. Let me try to get to step one first! 🙂

* all photos found on Pinterest.com

Birchbox July 2013

And…here it is! This month’s box is pretty good! I forgot to post last month’s, but it wasn’t too shabby either. 😉

What’s in the box:

Dr. Jart Ceramidin Cream: Repairs damaged skin and hydrates for up to 26 hours.

Curly Hair Solutions Curl Keeper: Serum that keeps your hair curly, and keeps humidity at bay!

Birchbox Beauty Extra – Bobby Pins: Um…it’s a bobby pin! 🙂

DDF Acne Control Treatment: Overnight treatment with salicylic acid – fights inflammation and blemishes.

theBalm cosmetics InStain Long-Wearing Powder Staining Blush: Long name. Sheesh! This is a blush that stays in place – no smudging or budging!

 

What’s in your box? 🙂

 

Nuance Salma Hayek

I received an email from Birchbox last month about a special box for May (in addition to the regular box) that would have several products from Salma Hayek’s Nuance line, asking if I would like to receive this box for free. *looks around* Of course I signed up for it, are you kidding? Products. Free. Salma Hayek. FREE! It’s never a guarantee that you’ll actually get the special boxes, but if you get an email asking if you want one, it’d probably be in your best interest to say yes! And I am so glad that I said yes to this box. I am really liking these products so far!

 

What’s in the box:

AM/PM Anti-Aging Super Cream – I am loving this one so far. It makes my skin so soft, and gives it a little bit of a glow! The main ingredients touted in this cream are something called Tepezcohuite, which is a Mexican tree extract that is rich in antioxidants, plus vitamins A & E, which are always good.

My Secret Super Moisturizing Body Cream – There was a full sized tube of this in the box, which was perfect! It’s made with shea butter, macadamia seed oil, and…honey. I love the scent – it’s light, it almost smells like tea, and you can smell the honey! This body cream is absolutely lovely.

Mamey Fruit Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner – This actually works. I noticed more volume for sure, but I also noticed that my hair was not frizzy at all after blowdrying. Literally zero frizz. I didn’t really need to flat iron afterwards, that’s how smooth my hair was. I flat ironed anyway, but that’s because I have issues. Ha! This may be a keeper, at least during the summer months!

Lights, Camera, Action Eye Trio – I haven’t tried this one yet, but I plan to do so soon. The color shown is called Bronze Gold Shimmer. We’ll see how it goes!

Overall, I would have to say that I’m impressed, and I also love the fact that instead of going the Sephora/Ulta/Major Department Store route, she chose to have her products only sold at CVS, and at prices that everyone can afford. You don’t have to spend ridiculous amounts of money to look (and feel) good, and it’s great that she incorporated a lot of her grandmother’s beauty secrets and ingredients into her line. I love learning about “new” ingredients and the science behind them, and this has given me even more reasons to dig deeper into the Nuance line.

If you received this box, or if you’ve tried her products before, leave a note in the comments section – let me know what you think of them! 🙂