Natural Hair Parade Event at Carol’s Daughter + Pictures

 Natural Hair Parade Event at Carol’s Daughter + Pictures
Jun 302011
 

I still can’t get over how eventful my weekend was.  Almost a week later and I’m still taking it all in because I met so many wonderful people.  I normally just go to Target and a chain restaurant and call it a grand ol’ time but this weekend was different.  One of the events I attended was a natural hair even in Los Angeles at Carol’s Daughter (Culver City) hosted by Jasmine Powers of  The Natural Hair Parade.  L.A. doesn’t have many natural hair events, I guess we’re the weave capital of the world, but that’s all starting to change.  NHP put on a wonderful event!  The room was filled with love, inspiration, and encouragement.  We were all there to learn from one another and share information.  So many guest were in attendance…it was a 2 hour events that could have easily gone on for hours because we were all having so much fun.  CoilyHair.com, Celebrity hairstylist Felicia Leatherwood, blogger Ngozi O., actress N’Bushe Wright, and eco-chic cosmetic brand Lamik Beauty, as well as myself , were all speakers at the event.  Denise with Carol’s Daughter also gave a demo and talked about a few CD products.  I’m looking forward to the next Natural Hair Parade event!

Inglot “707″ Matte Bubble Gum Pink Nail Lacquer with Topcoat

 Inglot “707″ Matte Bubble Gum Pink Nail Lacquer with Topcoat
Jun 302011
 

This was the only polish I bought at IMATS this weekend..which I’m still a little surprised about. I’ve had good luck with Inglot in the past so I went back to what I know. Inglot 707 is actually a matte cool pink with blue under-tones. I did 2 coats and used Poshe as a topcoat and it made it shine but it didn’t last long because of the matte texture of 707. I planned on doing a touch-up coat to extend the mani but it wasn’t needed since as of right now it hasn’t chipped and I’m changing the color Friday night. Now I’m wishing I would have purchased more shades, so I see a road trip to Inglot in Newport Beach in my future.

Love Beverly Hills XX Fragrance Collection Review + Free Samples!

 Love Beverly Hills XX Fragrance Collection Review + Free Samples!
Jun 292011
 

Sexxy - The most mature and sensual fragrance of the collection.  Fruity, a hint of musk and makes for a nice evening date perfume.  Nice mid notes and dry-down, it mellowed out nicely.

Texxt Me – My favorite of the collection!  Clean, fruity and floral, soft musk with honeysuckle, jasmine, and sandalwood.  This is reminiscent of Reb’l Fleur.  This is a great everyday fragrance especially for spring and summer.

Exxpressive – This one was my least favorite, which was odd because the top notes were my favorite.  It was so bright and refreshing.  Very crisp and great for summer because of the grapefruit.  Exxpressive fell short when it came to the bottom notes– the creamy musk fell too soft and it didn‘t seem to blend well with the citrus top notes.  It wasn’t a creamy citrus, it blended from one to the other.

I’m from California and spent summers in Beverly Hills window shopping on Rodeo Drive, so this collection is a little personal to me.  Love Beverly Hills XX selected high school students to help create these signature fragrances and if I were in high school (and ___ years younger) I would have been breaking my neck for an opportunity like this.  I take that back.  If I were given that opportunity today, I would be breaking my neck to take advantage of it.  I can’t think of a time that I’ve ever seen a city officially endorse a fragrance, but I’m sure this won’t be the last.  I think the collection as a whole is great for young women! I wouldn’t mind purchasing all 3 fragrances for my collection.  It would have been nice to see a men’s and unisex fragrance in this collection just to broaden the selection and a bottle that really was a reflection of the city as oppose to it looking like a reflection of southern California as a whole.  I found myself pleasantly surprised by the quality.  They lasted during my entire workout.  I don’t wear perfume when I go to the gym, but the day I tested them I was on my way to the gym.  Best smelling funk ever :)

 

Availability:  Not sold in stores yet.  I’ll update this post when it is available.  Visit their Facebook page for free samples.

Price:  Free samples as of right now.

Rating:  A

MAC Cosmetics “All of My Purple Life” Lipglass (by Afrobella) Swatch + 3 Purple MAC Blushes to Pair it With

 MAC Cosmetics “All of My Purple Life” Lipglass (by Afrobella) Swatch + 3 Purple MAC Blushes to Pair it With
Jun 282011
 

Oohhhh look what arrived when I got off work today! Afrobella for MAC Cosmetics “All of My Purple Life” Lipglass is a mid-tone somewhat neutral purple gloss (with red tones depending on the pight) that can go from everyday bright sheer (with the help of clear lip gloss) to a nice build of vivid color.  It also has a small amount of purple/ blue toned shimmer which makes it stand out even more in low light and sunlight.  Great for the club but still nice enough to wear every day.  If you like pair your lip color to your blush..and I know many of you do, I’ve added swatches of 3 of my favorite purple blushes.  “Breezy” – a warm berry purple sheer tone shimmer.  “Gentle” – pink-toned mineralized blush with multi dimensional shimmer.  “Dirty Plum” – a true plum with muted luminance’s (think veluxe pearl, but not quite as pearly).

So for the bad news.  If you missed my first post about MAC’s blogger collection you missed out on “All of My Purple Life” because it has officially sold out!

UPDATE: According to MAC Cosmetics they’ll be re-stocking in the next few weeks and will allow back-orders to be placed. I’ll keep you updated.

What did you buy at #IMATS? Show off your hauls!

 What did you buy at #IMATS? Show off your hauls!
Jun 272011
 

IMATS was bananas this year! It actually sold out, I’m not sure if this is the first yet but on Sunday morning there were absolutely no more tickets left. I’ll be doing IMATS posts all this week so be patient with me. I was able to shop but more importantly attend some great classes, so I have a lot of information to share. I’ll update this post with my haul and swatches later tonight but in the meantime, I want to know what you gals purchased. If you have a link, video or pictures of your haul feel free to add it in the comments :)

Nail polish companies enlist a PR rep to review products for blog with 11 followers, and sets off firestorm

 Nail polish companies enlist a PR rep to review products for blog with 11 followers, and sets off firestorm
Jun 242011
 

UPDATE:
The blogger has now clarified her previous statement and confirmed that she doesn’t work FOR Essie’s PR team but works with them in the sense of blogging. Essie’s PR Rep also contacted me via Facebook and clarified this as well. She also stated that she’ll remind the blogger to give the FTC disclosure in the future. The blogger did receive the items via press from Essie and was kind enough to thank the PR rep on Facebook. Long. Deep. Sigh.
This is like a huge slap in the face to bloggers.

Let me fist just began by saying, it is not uncommon for beauty bloggers have relationships with people in the public relations field.  You rally can’t help the people you know or may meet later during your career.  Now if you happen to work in the PR department of the company in which you’re reviewing products for….that can become an issue since your loyalty is with your company– you’re to promote that brand.  Am I to trust that you can give an unbiased honest review of a product/ company you’re reviewing when there’s a clear line of conflict of interest?

This morning Twitter went crazy over news that Essie’s Fall 2011 collection was posted by a blogger (which also happens to do PR for Essie).  The blogger has been blogging for 3 months, has 11 followers, and mostly unfocused photos.  Her post failed to mention where or how she obtained the collection, until asked, in which she states her relationship with the brand.  As of last year bloggers are to clearly state if they received products for review.  The posts seem pretty hit and miss, and not all of them state that the products were free via PR (when looking in it’s clear because not everyone can get their hands on polish 3 months ahead of schedule).  The blogger also gets polish from Orly and Sally Hansen, and press information from other polish brands such as OPI, China Glaze, and Zoya.  It’s almost like a slap in the face to bloggers that’s worked hard on their blogs for years and have an strong following.  Oddly enough Essie, Orly, and Sally Hansen have a history of shunning hard working bloggers.

As Momma Evelyn Braxton would say “you know how to lay it low and spread it wide”.  Bloggers can be fined up to $11,000 for failing to disclose information like this…is it really worth it?

My New @SistarGirl Door Knocker Earrings!

 My New @SistarGirl Door Knocker Earrings!
Jun 232011
 

Months ago I published a short article on The Politics of ‘Poo and No ‘Poo (as in shampooing methods for hair).  In the post I used a beautiful picture I found on Tumblr of a young lady with colorful tattoos, dressed in all black but with that sickest pair of kene cloth pattern door-knocker earrings.  Makeup artist and Addicted to All Things Pretty blog reader Aisha (also known as @ICFaces on Twitter) even commented about the earrings.  I was never able to locate the original source of the photo or track down the jewelry designer, because those types of things happen on Tumblr.  Fast-forward 10 months later, the jewelry designer was located!  With the help of Twitter, Alicia of InnyVinny.com I showed her the earrings and she sent me Sistargirl’s information.  You know I jumped at the chance to place my order (while using my Android, since I couldn’t get to my laptop fast enough) just in-time for IMATS this weekend.  Since I knew I was pressed for time and really wanted to make sure I had them for the show, I emailed her to see what her turnaround time was.  Working with Leilanie was great!  She responded to my emails promptly and my order arrived sooner than expected…did I mention the earrings are great too?

Here’s the link to Sistargirl’s Etsy page: www.etsy.com/shop/sistargirl

Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Chamomile & Argan Oil Baby Healing Lotion…Ain’t Just for Babies

 Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Chamomile & Argan Oil Baby Healing Lotion…Ain’t Just for Babies
Jun 222011
 

Shea Moisture has expanded their brand well beyond the realm of just being a natural hair care brand.  The newest introduction to the Shea Moisture family is the Organic Raw Shea Chamomile & Argan Oil Baby Healing Lotion.  Since I have eczema I tend to frequent Target’s baby section more than most adults, but they have some really good products.  I treat it like a second health & beauty section– double the fun.  I’ve passed on the Shea Moisture baby lotion too many times to count– but it was because of my sticker shock.  $9.99 for baby lotion seems expensive, but it’s less expensive than other all natural baby lotions carried by Target and Shea Moisture has yet to let me down, especially when it comes to quality.  I immediately fell in love with the fragrance– it’s creamy with a hint of spice but the chamomile is the real show-stopper.  The consistency is comparable to Nivea (for dry skin) but richer.  A single pump is enough for the half my body, so you don’t need to go all wild and crazy.  Because of the consistency and quality, it forces your to really massage it into your skin.  Once its absorbed into the skin you’ll notice that it feels like your skin has a thin veil of oil…so decadent.  The fragrance is unisex, as I you would expect of a baby lotion, but nothing about this lotion says baby…maybe woman, or man….maybe even kid of dating age.  I just can’t imagine a baby smelling like frankincense, myrrh, and chamomile.  But it is gentle on my skin, so I would feel comfortable using it on a baby.  I’d love to see Shea Moisture expand this line with different fragrances (and at all cost avoid being purchased by Johnson & Johnson).

Ingredients:  Deionized Water , Raw Butyrospermum Parkii Oil (Shea) , Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter (Cacao) , Mangifera Indica Seed Butter (Mango) , Olus Oil , Argania Spinosa Nut Oil (Argan) , Centhera Biennis Oil (Evening Primrose) , Borage Officinalis Oil , Simmondsia Chinensis Oil (Jojoba) , Rosa Rubiginosa Seed Oil (Rosehip) , Tocopherol (Vitamin E) , Boswellia Serrata Oil (Frankincense) , Chamomile Extract , Myrrh Extract , Lonicera Caprifolium Flower Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract (Honeysuckle and Japanese Honeysuckle)

 

Availability:  Target and Walgreens

Price:  $9.99/ 12 fl. oz.

Rating:  A+

Shopping Tip: How to tell the difference between cream and jelly finish nail polish (without swatching it)

 Shopping Tip: How to tell the difference between cream and jelly finish nail polish (without swatching it)
Jun 222011
 

One of my many pet peeves is accidentally purchasing used/ swatched nail polish and seeing nail polish swatched all over store displays (here’s looking at you Wal-mart).  Outside of the obvious, this bothers me so much because it interferes with the integrity of the nail polish.  Once air comes in contact with the polish it starts to thicken and sometimes you’ll notice slight changes in the color.  This is going to happen naturally, but I want to be the one to do it lol.
So if you’ve been keeping up with my nail polish posts, then you know my favorite nail polish finishes are jellies, followed by creams.  A common question a lot of you ask is how to tell the difference between a sheer, jelly, or cream nail polish without swatching it.  A few things I do is look at how the color coats the glass in the bottle.  Spin it around slowly and wait about 30 seconds– it should be a good indication on how well the coverage will be.  If you absolutely must open the bottle u can look at remove the excess polish off the brush, just as you would if you were getting ready to apply it to your nails, and look at how it coats the brush as well as the inner rim (neck) of the bottle.  Think of it as comparing white-out (because of the opaqueness) to Jell-O or flan.  Remember jelly finishes can be very dark in shade but still not opaque and have some sheerness to it. Happy polish shopping, beauties.

 

So we’re going to play a little game.  Instead of me telling YOU the finishes for the shades above, you tell me in the comments.  I’ll be responding to everyone to let you know if you’re right or wrong.  Good luck!

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