Avon: Keri’s Powerful Plum

What is your opinion of Avon and specifically there lip products? I have a couple of the glazewear products and I like pairing them with other lip glosses because they pack a lot of color. Sometimes I feel that they do not apply even but otherwise no complaints (hence mixing with another lippie). I also own a couple shadows and polishes, again no complaints overall.

The reason I am asking this is because of a tweet that caught my eye. I like Keri Hilson, not love but she is really pretty. Well I do follow her on twitter. She sang the National Anthem at the Atlanta Hawks game March 31^st. Here is her tweet:


Here are a few of the twitpics she sent, also from the 31^st, showing the lip color Powerful Plum!




Well I checked out Avon.com and found the lipstick Keri was talking about: Ultra Color Rich Mega Impact Lipstick by Avon - Powerful Plum


The picture on the website (below) is very computerized : /. But the product definitely looks fantastic on Keri.


  


<3 Val

Triple Nutrition: My Hair is Eating This Stuff Up!

While being rushed into a decision by my boyfriend while in Walmart, I decided to make him buy me a new line from Garnier Fructis called the Triple Nutrition System. All of these products are "FOR DRY TO OVERDRIED OR DAMAGED HAIR". I got :

• Triple Nutrition Fortifying Shampoo
  
• Triple Nutrition Fortifying Cream Conditioner
  
• Triple Nutrition 3- Minute Undo Dryness Reversal Treatment ( a MOUTHFUL lol but a simple deep conditioner)
  
• Triple Nutrition Nutrient Spray Dual Action Nourish + Shine
  

First of all, let me say, I tried Garnier Fructis products in high school and I wasn't overly impressed. I think this had more to do that my grandma stockpiled it and I don't think it was using the correct formula for my hair type. Did that make sense lol? But I switched hair care products like crushes in high school lol.

There is one other product in the line, it's a nourishing cream shampoo. I didn't pick it up because of my experience with build up from leave in conditioners. When I do not use a good, cleansing shampoo my hair will feel lifeless and look dull. If I were to go back and pick up this shampoo, I would definitely pick up a clarifying shampoo. I would use the clarifying shampoo once every two weeks ( or once depending on how it feels) in place of shampooing or co-washing that day and still use and conditioner and other products as normal. So, if you feel like your hair isn't holding a curl as well as it usually does OR it is taking more product than normal to make your hair beautiful… I would definitely try using a clarifying shampoo. My favorite was one from a salon I go to in my local mall. I also liked Pantene's Classic Care Clarifying Shampoo.




The shampoo and conditioner work okay. I wouldn't say that I am in love with these products. I do like them better than the Pantene Pro-V Relaxed and Natural Line.

I love the 3-Minute Undo and the Nutrient Spray. The 3-Minute Undo, I feel, makes the nutrient spray work much better. The only thing about it is I would suggest only using a dime to quarter size amount. If you use too much, it will be very difficult to wash out. I must say I have tried millions (LITERALLY, as many of you gals can relate too) of deep conditioners and this is one of the best.

I originally didn't use the Nutrient Spray after the first time using the other products. I used my usual leave in conditioner, Optimum Oil Therapy's 3-n-1 Crème Oil Moisturizer. I felt like my hair was moisturized and healthier, seriously, after the first use. The next day I used the Nutrient Spray in the place of my leave in conditioner. WOW. I really loved the extra volume because the product did not weigh down my curls. It reminded me of a when I use Paul Mitchell's Skinny serum (I think that's what it is called), except lighter and less oily.


That is one of the pluses of the Nutrient Spray – None of the product ended up on my hands or face later in the day!


Today my son had a doctor's appointment so I didn't wash my hair in the shower. No time to dry and style . So the Nutrient Spray says you can apply to damp or dry hair. I used it today on my dry hair. Below are the before and after pictures. The day before the only product I used was the Triple Nutrition System. This morning I did not add any other products but the nutrient spray. All I did was spray it all over my hair and then comb with a wide tooth comb.


First of all – to "activate" (I'm still not sure what it is activating) you must shake it first





BEFORE




AFTER





Overall I give it a 3 with 5 being fabulous. I do LOVE LOVE LOVE the 3-Minute Undo. I also think I will continue using the Nutrient Spray. I am okay with the shampoo and conditioner. They aren't the best I've used ever.

Have a great weekend. And for all my fellow Texans – I hope ya'll get it in for Relays. Oh --- Happy Easter all!



<3 Val

TKO Mulatta's First Giveaway

TKO Mulatta is having her first giveaway (the prizes are shown above). Please check out her blog for full details on the prizes.

<3 Val

Cash or Charge's First Giveaway

Show Emily some love, check out her blog, and enter her very first contest.

Check out the contest here.

EWWITSNIKKI 150 Followers Giveaway.

EWWITSNIKKI is having an awesome giveaway to celebrate 150 followers. Head over to her blog to show her some love and enter. PLUS-Check out her youtube channel.

There are more prizes but I was having trouble linking it : (. So def go check out her page to get the full details.

I hate my skin!

Skin. OMG. Let’s talk about it. First of all I hate mine. No, not my skin color.  I have very sensitive skin. I have broken out in hives since…Well I can’t remember life without them. I must be allergic to everything. I have tried Aveeno – PEOPLE this is not for true sensitive skin. A good friend’s daughter has eczema and various allergies. She said the Aveeno for eczema prone skin made her daughter’s skin worse. I mean seriously how do company’s get away with selling basically the same product under different more expensive names. FYI- Johnson & Johnson produce Aveeno products as well. If you look at the list of ingredients on the back of Johnson & Johnson Head to Toe (baby soap), Aveeno, and “creamy” Aveeno : they are all the same products listed in different order. Since we know they are in order of amount, this simply means they are all the same ingredients in different amounts. I used my son’s Aveeno when I was experiencing hives. Yea, made it worse.

I use this only as an example of what all major brands do with our body products. I’m at my breaking point. I do not feel I should have “bad skin” because I am obviously allergic to chemicals. I know it is not this simple (I am in nursing school). I just want to be able to find something that will make my skin clean and smell beautiful. Right now, I am using CeraVe’s lotion when I am having a particularly bad few days. Great stuff. I totally recommend this for dry, sensitive skin; especially if you are allergic to fragrances. That is just it though. It smells like my son’s formula spit up, and formula stinks going in. Yuck.

                

So on my search I found this website LuxNaturals.com and I read there frequently asked questions. Basically they say that they use the natural process to make soap, saponification.

Saponification occurs when a alkali base breaks down a fat. This fat can be vegetable or animal, which Lux Naturals claims to only use vegetable oils. They claim to use no animal products and perform no animal testing. : ) when the fat is broken, a salt made of fatty acids and glycerol remain = SOAP.

I took upon myself to investigate the animal products used in soap. Well, I found a website guys and it is not pretty. This is a website called Teach Soap and it is dedicated to making your own soap. Under there “Basics” section, there is an article titled “Rendering Tallow”. Here you will see how to take suet  (animal fat generally from around the loins and kidneys of cattle) and melt it into tallow to be used for soap making. 

Geez. That’s really gross. It’s enough to make me never want to make that type of soap but what is the difference between animal versus vegetable? What companies use animal oils? This is what I will be looking into on my skincare ”quest”. Finding quality products that work has become my goal after seeing that my son may have the same problems that I do.

Needless to say, I think that I am going to try out Lux Naturals. Shout out to Abby, since I did see it on your blog! I will update with a yay or nay for Lux Naturals and my skin type.

By the way, Lux Naturals isn’t some large company. It is a man and woman, who state on their website,  were looking for a product her husband could use on his psoriasis prone skin.

<3 Val

Under Construction

Sorry for the temporary changes guys!

I am trying to make my blog space bigger, so I will not have to reduce the size of the pictures I post.

Bare with me. It is all for the greater good :).