Monday, July 29, 2013

The Beauty of Nature


Hello Everyone,

A couple weeks ago I discovered this beautiful butterfly resting on a leaf in my garden. Of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a picture. I did a little research and apparently this is called a "Tiger Swallowtail" Butterfly. I just thought this was so beautiful I had to share this with everyone!

Sunday, July 28, 2013

E.L.F. Makeup Palette

Hey Everyone,

 I know I've taken a little hiatus from blogging and I apologize for this. July has been a very busy month alot technical computer issues. But now I'm back! So on to my review. I recently picked up some E.L.F. makeup palette and some other great E.L.F. makeup for an awesome price. I've been looking for a make palette of good quality for an affordable price for some time now. I was thrilled when I came across this E.L.F. Essentials Makeup Palette at my local T.J. Maxx. This palette includes 83 essentials.
  • 64 eyeshadows (32 warm shades & 32 cool shades)
  • 8 lip gloss shades
  • 4 blush shades
  • 4 bronzer shades
  • 1 eyebrush, 1 lip brush, 1 blush brush
I really love the beautiful shades of the eyeshadows especially the shimmer colors. The colors go on smooth however they are not as pigmented as I would like them to be by themselves. The colors are much more intense when I use eyeshadow primer before application. the primer really makes a huge difference in intensifying the color and resisting creasing while providing all day wear.

In my opinion the blush shades are not the best quality.All of the blushes are shimmery and I prefer a matte shade when it comes to blush One of the blush shades looks more like a bronzer. The other blush shades are too light for my darker complexion.

The lip glosses are not very pigmented either, but lip gloss tends to be pretty sheer anyway. The lip gloss are very moisturizing and non-sticky.

The browsers in this palette are rather good. They are great for contouring my face and providing a slightly shimmery glow. This palette is very good quality for the price. The eye shadows and the bronzers are the best part of this in my opinion. I'm very satisfied with this makeup palette.



Monday, July 1, 2013

Battle of the Heat Protectors


Most of us heat style our hair very often. Sometimes on a daily basis. Unfortunately heat styling can be one of our hair's worst enemies. Excessive heat can cause breakage, dryness, brittleness, and dullness. to help protect your hair from the damaging effects of heat styling it's a good idea to use a heat protecting product. Heat Protection products such as sprays, creams, and serums create a protective seal to shield against the intense heat of blow dryers, flat irons, and curling irons. I have tried a number of different heat protection products throughout the years. I have done a review on four of the most recent heat protection sprays and creams that I have tried.

Tresemme Keratine Smooth Heat Protection Shine Spray: This is one of the newer editions to the Tresemme family. Although I'm not a frequent user of this brand I was excited to try it out. On the bottle it says " Helps shield hair from the damaging effects of heat styling and seals in shine". Well... I can't say this product did that for me. I sprayed this in my hair in sections prior to blow drying. I  blow dried while pulling sections of hair taut with a round brush to straighten. This made my hair feel sticky during and after the blow drying process. This also made my hair look dull, not shiny like it claims to do. I'm not sure how well this spray actually works at protecting my hair from the damaging effects of heat since this left my hair looking very dry and dull. For some reason my hair was even difficult to dry while using this product. The blow drying process took a lot longer than usual. This didn't work well for my hair at all.

Silk Elements Megasilk Heat Protection Creme: This is a lightweight non-greasy creme that glides on very smooth. This makes my hair more manageable and makes combing and even distribution easy.This actually made my hair very silky, smooth, and soft to the touch after blow drying. I really like the way this creme works and my only complaint with this is the smell. I don't care for the scent at all. I smells sort of sweet with a bitterness to it like earwax or something. I know that sounds crazy but, I'm really picky about smells. Sometimes if I don't like the scent of a particular product I won't use it even if it works well. This is really a good product but I do not like the smell.  

Suave Keratine Infusion Heat Defensive Leave-in Conditioner: This leave-in conditioner is a little on the heavy side, When I say heavy I mean it's thick and rich, yet non- greasy in texture. On the bottle of this product is says "Infuses hair with keratine for ultimate moisturization while protecting against heat". The bottle also states that it controls frizz for up to 48 hours and smooths for manageable and easy to style hair. I can honestly say this heat protection conditioner definitely lives up to it's claims. This product really detangles my hair very well and makes combing and distribution a cinch. It really made the whole blow drying process a lot smoother. This gave my hair a smooth and shiny finish. The scent of this cream is kind of heavy and prefumy. This is a really great smoothing heat protection cream, but the scent may be a bit much for people who are sensitive to strong scents.

Suave Heat Protection Spray: This is the best heat protection spray that I've have used in a long time. It contains a light thermal dense serum that protects hair from heat while adding a glossy shine and smoothness, This doesn't leave behind any sticky residue like some other heat protecting sprays I have used. Plus I love the scent of this spray. It kind of smells like a candy apple. This is a light and simple spray that gets the job done. This leaves my hair looking and feeling healthy and moisturized after I blow dry.