Review:: Cantu Argan Oil Leave In

Review:: Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Shampoo

"Natural Hair" Review - Yes To Carrots Shampoo & Conditioner

Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque Initial Thoughts

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation: Initial Thoughts

When I first put on this foundation, I didn't like it at all.  It doesn't offer the level of coverage I'm looking for, but still somehow managed to look caked up with a pretty light application.  I probably could have built it up until I had more coverage, but I didn't want to risk it. It was also a little too "dewy" looking for my taste.  I already have a naturally oily t-zone so I don't want anything adding unnecessary shine in that area.  

By the way, I did prime my face with some primer by Revlon that I can't remember the name of right now, so the foundation had something to stick to and my skin was supposed to be more evened out and whatnot.  I've never had a problem with that primer so we're not going to focus on that. After applying the foundation I concealed with Maybelline Dream Mousse concealer, and finished with Loreal Hydra Perfect translucent setting powder.  For my eyes, I did a simple winged eyeliner with black gel liner by Pixi, and applied Hard Candy's Lash Call lengthening mascara to my upper and lower lashes.

After all that, I had to stop and look at my face to decide if I really liked how it looked.  I decided, this foundation isn't absolutely terrible, but if you have any issues with your skin, whether it be oily, dry, broken out, or anything more severe than slight discoloration, this foundation will probably be a disappointment.  The coverage and blendability just isn't there.  I don't buy department store makeup, so I know there are plenty of drug store foundations that have this one completely beat.  I just really think Maybelline could have done a lot better.

I don't think I would ever be able to wear this foundation by itself so I don't see myself reaching for this very often.  I may end up just selling it on the blog or something.  I'll post pictures in a little while, so check back and don't forget to click follow at the top left corner of the page, next to the search box. :)

I've Found A New Love

Ok, so I seriously never thought I would say anything like this... But I have found a gel that I like even more than the Eco Stylers!  I know, I know, that shouldn't be possible.  Everyone pretty much raves about the Eco Styler gels and how they provide excellent hold and never fail them, blah blah blah.  You might get an occasional negative or just not so great review every now and then, but the Eco Styler gels have a pretty solid reputation.  And my thoughts on them were no exception to the rule.  So no one is more surprised than me that there's a gel I prefer over them now.

I first heard about La Bella styling gel on the forums of naturallycurly.com.  As might be expected, I was a little skeptical of the rave review given to the gel.  I thought, "Well I've already found my Holy Grail gel, so I don't really need to try anything else."  But then I was browsing through the beauty aisles in Target and I happened upon a huge tub of the stuff.  40 ounces for under $3.  When I realized it was the gel I'd heard about on the forum, I thought "Why not try it?  The worst that can happen is I won't like it and then I wasted less than three dollars."

So I took it home and used it just like I use Eco Styler, over Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and under extra virgin olive oil...  Loves, when I say this is the best gel I have ever used, hands down I am not exaggerating.  First, let me start with the smell.  This gel has a watery, fresh smell that isn't offensive in the least.  It can be mixed with probably any product and do just fine.  The texture is also kind of watery to me. It isn't the thinnest gel on the market by any means, but when you're used to the rather thick, sticky consistency of Eco Styler gels, almost any other gel is kind of watery by comparison.

As for definition, this gel gives me definition - dare I say it - even better than that of the Eco Stylers.  Now, I should be fair and mention that since I first tried La Bella gel, I haven't reached for either of my Eco Stylers once.  But that wasn't just because of the great definition this gel gives.  This gel also leaves my hair very soft, even though it claims to have a hold of 10.  I can use a hole bunch of this stuff on my hair, and with the Curl Enhancing Smoothie, and the extra virgin olive oil, my hair is never crunchy with this.  I can't always say the same for the Eco Stylers.  There have been plenty of times that my hair felt like a bunch of hard, curly noodles after using them if I accidentally over did it.  But with La Bella, my hair has consistently been soft to the touch.

The only area this gel doesn't do so well with is slicking my hair back.  If I want to wear a ponytail or all of my hair to one side, Eco Styler is the gel I'm going to reach for every time.  The sticky-ish consistency of this gel works really well for holding all of the hair down as it dries.  With La Bella, when I tried to slick my hair back, all of my shorter hairs would pop up and give me flyaways. If I wanted to use La Bella to slick my hair, I would have to wrap it with a scarf or something until it dried to keep all of the shorter hairs from popping up.

This review might have come off like an Eco Styler bashing, but that's really not what it was at all. I still love my Eco Stylers and think they do their job very well.  La Bella has become my preference because it's: 1. Cheaper (<$3 for 40 oz). 2. Easily accessible (Can be found in most drug stores). 3. Leaves my hair very soft.  I hope some of you try it out. If you do, share your thoughts too. :)

Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Moisturizing Conditioner

So, a really good friend of mine was in Marshall's a couple weeks ago and she saw a huge bottle of Giovanni conditioner, which I've been wanting to try for months, so she picked it up for me. Of course, because it was purchased from Marshall's she got it for a great discount which made getting the bottle even better. The first thing I did when she gave it to me was unscrew the cap to see what it smelled like. This stuff honestly reminds me of lotion. It smells like maybe Jerkins or something. I can't put my finger on it, but lotion was the first thing that came to mind when I smelled it.

She paid $10 when the original price was $26!!

So far, after using the conditioner a few times, I like it. But I wouldn't say I'm in love with it. You guys know that I regularly use regular conditioner as a leave in to style my hair. This particular conditioner might work as a really moisturizing leave-in, but for my particular hair it pretty much fails as a styler. It leaves my hair feeling sort of funny and my curls don't clump together nicely with this product. But as a rinse out, co-wash, and detangler, this conditioner is really nice. I can feel how moisturizing it is for my hair as soon as I apply and it and it leaves my hair feeling really nice once it has been rinsed.

I don't necessarily think I'll purchase this product in the future because there are much cheaper and more readily available conditioners that I can buy that also excel at co-washing, rinsing out, and detangling. Plus I tend to like the smell of those more. The lotion-y smell of this product just really didn't do it for me. But I'm not bashing it at all. I do honestly like it, so if you want to try it please do so and let me know what you think. Later, loves. :-*

Final Results of Goddess Curls Gel Experiment

Ok guys. You can probably tell from the pictures that my hair looked nothing like it did when it was wet once it actually finished drying. I was so disappointed! When my hair was still wet my curls were nice and clumped, my hair felt moisturized, and it just looked good. But once it dried, it didn't even look or feel like I had any gel in my hair at all.

All of my hair was insanely soft, but there was a slight difference between the two sides. The Curl Enhancing Smoothie side wasn't quite as soft as the Curls Creme Brulee side. Both sides felt like they were very moisturized, but I didn't like the way my hair looked because there was barely any definition. I feel like my hair should have some kind of hold and definition if I'm using a gel to style it, no matter what gel it is. If I want no hold at all, I'll just use conditioner. And even then, my curls won't separate and make it look like I decided to wear a half-assed afro. 

Honestly, I think the Goddess Curls Gel didn't work for me in the beginning because it's just not a good gel. I have tried it enough times that I feel like I can make this assertion with confidence. The only good thing about it is that it is formulated with organic ingredients, but I don't think that matters if those organic ingredients can't come together to do the job they were designed to do. I do not recommend this gel, and I'll probably be swapping it on NaturallyCurly.com.

If any of you try it and have a different experience, let me know in the comments. Later, loves. :)

Product Review for Kinky-Curly Curling Custard

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Finally, My Review of the Curly Girl Handbook!