Hair -Unlisted Brand - Unrefined Shea Butter
ladysonoma 5/8/2013 1:27:00 PM
Wow! This is great. I bought it for my feet because I was tired of buying brand name over scented shea butters and body butters, like from Victoria's Secret and The Body Shop and Bath and Body Works. I wanted something that works as well as Shea but without all the perfume, so I tried this. I must say this is amazing. First, for those who want to try cooking with shea butter as an alternative, this stuff doesn't have any taste, and it does "wet" your food. As I read, I tried it on pancakes, bread and made eggs with it and was very pleased. Next, I scooped out this stuff, which was hard as a brick, but as soon as I set it in the sun, literally within a minute, it got soft and runny! Scooped it up and tested it on my feet and hands, and it was easily absorbed. Next, I did some research, wondering if I could whip this myself in my kitchen for easier application. While there were a bunch of elaborate and wild recipes online, I wanted to be simple. I put the half pound of shea in the sun a few until it softened; then I scooped into the bowl, and added an 1/8 cup of olive and whipped it until it was like butter. The results were fabulous. It absorbed so easily and my feet feel great. One application of this lasts an entire week; an entire week of soft heels. Additionally, I have curly hair. I tried it in my hair, both damp and dry, and the results were pretty good. It definitely left a shine to it and softened it. I blow dried and straightened my hair, and the results were alright. Well, anyway, this was a lot of fun. I will continue buying raw shea and having fun with it. This stuff works so thoroughly that this little half pound will probably last at least 6 months, maybe longer. Although our summers here get pretty hot, so I might go through it much faster.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Styling Products -Unlisted Brand - Wild Growth Hair Oil
ladysonoma 3/31/2013 7:29:00 PM
I'm not sure if this works or not, but I like the smell. I know a lot of people didn't, but I thought it was great, especially the peppermint in it. It was warming and made my scalp so nice. This oil made my hair so soft and nice, and moisturized. No wire like hairs sticking up. This is great, and just in time for spring/summer frizz time! I would recommend this but don't use a lot. It is very oily.
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Fragrances -Michael Kors - Island EDT
ladysonoma 3/29/2013 5:59:00 PM
This fragrance is very peculiar. It's very wood-like. It smells almost exactly like a hoodia pop. Hoodia is a plant that is used as an appetite suppressant, and it's pollinated by flies. No joke, Google if you don't believe me. Anyway, these hoodia plants are made into suckers for adults who want to lose weight. Well, this island fragrance smells just like those pops.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Misc Beauty Tools -Unlisted Brand - Nose Secret
ladysonoma 3/15/2013 12:28:00 PM
Like a few others, this made my nose look huge, like a pigs nose. I though it was halloween. This would be great for FX makeup, but not for taking photos, which is what I was hoping for. With a softer nose, good angles are to get without a lot of light, so I was hoping a slimmed, more angled nose would work. Alas, it was a waste of $14.99. I think this might be good for someone who already has a well defined bridge, but this doesn't work on a bulbous tip. Not in the least. Unless you want to look like a pig or Michael Jackson or a monkey.
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Shampoo -Unlisted Brand - Nisim FAST Shampoo
ladysonoma 3/12/2013 8:58:00 PM
The shampoo's second ingredient is sodium laureth sulfate. This shampoo is very gentle, and it acts as a clarifying shampoo. This is great for me because i needed a gentle shampoo that would clean my scalp and hair shaft without killing my hair and leaving it like straw. The Nisim will dry out your hair, but it's much easier going than most clarifying. The conditioner is pretty nice but it's nothing special.It does not replenish the moisture that the shampoo removes. This will be a great shampoo and conditioner to use before my organix BKT. Does it make the hair grow faster? Uh.... I don't think so. It made my hair soft and manageable, and on the third day dry, but I don't see anything special about this. If I do, I'll come back and post. I bought a large packet of samples on Ebay, and I still have enough left for a months use. However, I'm not gonna be able to use this every single day because it's too drying. I'm a very wavy/on the verge of curly hair type. Plus, my hair tends to be dry, so it's just not going to work.
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Conditioner -Neutrogena - triple moisture deep recovery hair mask
ladysonoma 3/10/2013 2:18:00 PM
I must add my voice to the choir. Yes, this was a great deep conditioner for me. My hair has been pretty healthy lately, but just a little wiry and dry, static like because of the weather. Anyway, I put this in my hair a few, and when I got out of the shower, my hair was easy to comb and dried nice and soft. After my hair dried, I looked at my hair strands and ends, and they were completely smoothed down and my hair felt silky. Very nice. This product is made with ceramides. Perhaps I might try a few other items, but yes, I'm so glad I bought this! I would recommend it. My hair is extremely wavy and prone to dryness.
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Fragrances -L'Occitane - Neroli EDP (L'Oranger line)
ladysonoma 12/19/2012 12:02:00 PM
I'm a fan. I love this scent. It's very different and exciting! Not your typical perfume that is sprayed all over the department stores. Men especially like it for some reason. It's a man magnet spray! No joke! When they can't stop sniffing around you, or stop sniffing your skin, you'll laugh! Just watch the way they do it: they breathe in fast, and slowly release. A clear sign of pleasure. Normally, I can tell if a person doesn't like it because they're incline breathe in and out quickly. Also, the jaw and face muscles will tighten. Not with Neroli. Instead, their faces relax and they seem mellow, as if they are getting a massage through their nose.
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Hair Color -Unlisted Brand - Pravana ChromaSilk Vivids in Violet
ladysonoma 12/4/2012 9:12:00 AM
This purple is amazing! I've been using these guys for years, and after dying, my hair is always super moisturized and shiny - and looks like a million bucks. It's got tons of keratin and it smells so much better than other hair dyes - some of which smell like pesticides. Best, Pravana lasts a long time. I had been using red vivids a long, long while. I decided to go purple, and while I wanted something extremely bright, I though my red had faded enough. I was wrong. When I put on the purple, it came out extremely dark purple, almost black. But I couldn't be happier. It's a real inky purple black that looks natural but extremely purple once I step into the sun. Like with people auburn or red highlights - they step outside and the colors show, well, mine show up the same way, just purple instead! It's so much softer than pure black, and I'm gonna keep trying to do it this shade, although I did go back and bleach my bangs, which are long and to the side. Then I reapplied the purple. It's still a dark purple but much more noticeable. Anyway, love Pravana! I'll be a fan for life! UPdate: I have to note that as this purple fades, it becomes more brilliant in color. It was dark purple black, and it's been over 4 weeks. I'm now looking at a bright, noticeable purple. Like a grape jolly rancher color. Very noticeable in or out ofthe light. Each wash, it becomes more noticeable. This is great! If it weren't for my new growth - which I plan to touch up, I could go another month without reapplying the Pravana.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Skincare -Skinfood - Honey Black Tea Cleansing Milk
ladysonoma 11/9/2012 3:10:00 PM
This stuff smells like Johnson and Johnson's baby lotion, except 1,000 times more powdery. The number ingredient in this product is mineral oil. Not that I needed to read the ingredients because you can smell the mineral oil a mile away. If you have acne prone skin, stay away. Skinfood is supposed to be the adage: food for your skin that you can eat, roughly. Well, this face wash is made of major chemicals in some lab. Skinfood has done well at keeping their products good and wholesome. Could it be that new bump in their success is turning them into a cheap corporation?
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Treatments -Unlisted Brand - One n' Only - Argan Oil Treatment
ladysonoma 7/30/2012 11:32:00 PM
I'm torn on this one, which is why I give it a 3. I can't decide if I like it or not. The smell is my least favorite about this. It's kind of manly and strong, sits with me even after my hair is dry. No doubt it's moisturizing, but it didn't really smooth down the flyaways.It wasn't humidity resistant, but it's nice. I just bought the Garnier version of this. It has a lighter smell. It seems to work almost the same, and only cost $4. I'm really torn. The One n Only is nice, but I'm not sure it's worth the price of $10, approximately. I'm not sure if it is meant for people with frizzy hair. I should also note that this is really hard to wash out of my hair.
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Styling Products -Garnier - Garnier Fructis Survivor Tough It Out Glue
ladysonoma 7/24/2012 1:53:00 PM
Wow! This stuff works. I have should blade length wavy on the verge of curly hair. I put this in my hair when it was damp, and it immediately dried my hair in exactly the places that I put it. One side pushed slightly behind the ear; the other side slightly bent over my shoulder. It did not move after, lol. I never used a product like this before. The only critique is that it must be smoothed in if you use it on dry hair, or you might get white stuff looking like lice in the hair, or clumping. But on damp hair? The results were amazing. There a lot of crunch but I got great second day hair. I used a bit of Yanagiya to soften it. Also, it's true that you can re set this with water. This stuff stands up against the elements. It's the most amazing thing. I've never considered using this on my hair, until a friend of mine suggested it to help with humidity. I'm surprised. I might try other kinds of ... I don't even know what this is, really. A glue? paste? pomade?
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Styling Products -Suave - Black Raspberry and White Tea Leave in Conditioner
ladysonoma 7/21/2012 10:54:00 PM
This product has tsubaki oil so its great on dry hair too! Tsubaki is camellia sinesis, what westerners call tea oil. Not to be confused with tea tree oil which is anti bacterial oil from an entirely different plant. Tea tree oil is not the same as camellia sinesis. Camellia sinesis is oil from the same tea people drink. It makes green tea/black tea, and is used in many beverages. The only thing I don't think it makes is matcha, which is a different leaf, but I could be wrong. Also, the camellia sinesis can be used for cooking and the skin as a moisturizer. Anyway, tsubaki oil is very moisturizing. Yes this one id buy again because its lightly mixed with water. This makes it lighter and not too oily. Also, it works well on dry hair. Like with other spray in conditioners, it turns to crunch when used on dry hair. Not with this, and it's because of the tsubaki oil in it. It actually just gets really soft. So this is great for the ends when done styling. Or at night on dry hair, so that its nice and smooth by morning. This product may have been discontinued, and it was so cheap. I'm bummed about that. It was a good deal. Tsubaki isn't cheap in the U.S.
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Blush -NYX - Rouge Cream Blush - Hot Pink
ladysonoma 7/19/2012 4:02:00 PM
I love everything about these blushes. They blend well and have ample color. They're true to color. A little goes a long way, but leaves a healthy glow on the cheeks. You can really achieve the moist/dewy/sun kissed or pinched cheeks/peaches and cream look. The criticism I have is of the color Rouge, which is a deep red. It's so heavily pigmented. One finger dab is too dark, and you have to blend for ages. It's a beautiful color. I never thought I'd ever be one to say "too much pigment." I'm using the Rouge cream blush as a lipstick now. It goes on just like an NYX lip cream. It's a beautiful, beautiful color.
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Styling Products -Organix - Macadamia Dry Styling Oil
ladysonoma 6/23/2012 10:39:00 AM
I'm torn on this one, that's why I give it a 3. I can't decide if I like it or not. The first thing is it's a heavier oil than I expected.. In the grocery store, I've purchased Macadamia oil for cooking, and it's a much thinner oil. I know they have to add stuff to make it more suited to hair styling, but it was much heavier than I thought it would be. Contrary to a heavy oil, I flat ironed my hair with this, and the ends were dry and more split end looking. I'm not blaming Organix for the state of my hair, as I'm guilty of heavy styling, but I'd expect a heavy oil like this to smooth my ends. Other Organix hair serums smoothed my ends wonderfully, and so does the Got 2 B smoothing serums. Maybe this isn't meant for a person like myself. Maybe it works well for someone who isn't a heavy styler, and hasn't bleached their hair more than once. I might buy it again, but only to use on damp hair. I would, then, add another product for heat protection on top of the dry styling oil. Maybe I'll use it to smooth the ends after I've styled.
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Treatments -DHC - Acne Spot Therapy
ladysonoma 6/10/2012 12:21:00 PM
This is an on the spot treatment. Reading other reviews, I don't think everyone gets that this is not to treat an area of breakouts, though it may help. As I've used topical sulfur creams that were meant for the entire face before. However, this one is meant to make swellings go down. This should not be put all over a persons face, or on a large area. It's heavy duty. It's not meant for black heads and your average white head, but this is for real pimples. White heads are the white blood cells, puss, etc. No point in putting sulfur treatment to a white head, it's pointless. Unless the white or black head has a swelling under it, this product isn't meant for that. So that said, anyone looking for on the spot treatment, this is good. For me, swellings go down in a matter of hours. Others, maybe a day or so. This stuff works. Don't pay attention to most of the neg reviews; they aren't using it right. Why else do you think it comes in such a small size? Because it's not meant to be applied that way - it's not meant to be applied copiously.
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