The Daily: January 10th, 2023

I will be honest, today, I was not reeling the makeup my darlings. I woke up fairly well with no allergy sinus issues which was a really nice thing. With the weather bouncing up and down my sinuses have not been happy. The weather shifts and they clog up. Anyway, today the temperature dropped and there was (and still is) fog. I thought it would burn off by noon, but it hasn’t. I think it is because of the big temp drop and the high humidity. (If I am remembering my third grade life science classes correctly. Yesterday it was in the fifties and damp and today it is in the thirties and still damp. Hence the fog.

My brain felt a bit foggy too which I hoped my morning exercises would push to the side. They got my blood flowing but my brain still feels a bit foggy. And my muscles are sore. I’m still adapting to this new work out and my muscles are not exactly thrilled with me. By the time they stop being sore, it is time to go another round. in time they will adapt but at the moment, they are not happy.

Given the muscles soreness and the internal fog I decided to do something nice for myself today as well. I am working at my desk today with a mound of paperwork but there are no meetings and no scheduled phone calls. It is just me an my computer today. So I decided to do a hair mask. In general I love hair masks and while I often use them post shampoo as an extra bout of conditioning, or occasionally for twenty minutes before I step into the shower, I tend to avoid the overnight hair masks.

I just can’t stand the mask covered hair on my neck. I have tried sleeping in a cap with my hair bundled under it or tied in a knot but it never works. I don’t like wearing an overnight hair mask. It not only feels icky but my brain some how thinks of all of the calamities that could arrive in the night and how I could end up running from some sort of natural disaster with my hair in greasy mask filled hunks. And yes I know in a natural disaster there are much more important things to think about but somehow putting on the mask makes me think that now, NOW is the time disaster will strike.

And so what I do with the overnight masks is I use them during the day. Somehow my brain thinks I can see a natural disaster coming if there is day light. I know, it is not logical. But there it is.

So with overnight masks I chose a day (like today) where I don’t have to be anywhere and then I put this mask on and wear it while at my desk. It isn;t the most attractive look but it gives me all of the benefits without the ick. I put this one on after applying my morning skincare and will rinse it off after eight hours (between 3:30 and 4 pm). I love the results of the overnight mask, just not the overnight part. This is a mask I haven’t used before. It is the Amika Dream Routine Overnight mask. I really enjoy the scent. I let you know tomorrow how I feel about the actual mask itself. There is a clip holding my hair up off of my neck and a band keeping my mask coated bangs off my face. It isn’t a lovely look, but it gets the job done. And hopefully, the hair mask will be worth it.

As for me today, there was morning exercise, skin care and hair mask applied and then a day spent working at my desk. This afternoon will bring more of the same with the hair mask rinsed out mid afternoon. It is a quiet Tuesday but as last year had very little quiet about it, I kind of relish the nice quiet days. And if I can get a little self care in during them, even better.

Let’s talk about the Authentic Beauty Concept Dry Shampoo

Authentic Beauty Concept is one of those brands I have seen around but never really been drawn to. Perhaps it is the quiet unassuming packaging. Or perhaps I have just not heard too much about it. i have heard it mentioned but if asked I probably couldn’t name anything from the brand that I heard a friend or family member liked.

I was mildly curious when this dry shampoo came into my possession. I believe it was from the Glossy Box Advent Calendar. The description of it on the site is very simple…

Authentic Beauty Concept’s lightweight Dry Shampoo texturizes & refreshes styles. Performance driven vegan formulas free from micro plastics, mineral oil, parabens & silicones.
Authentic Beauty Concept

Pretty much what you would expect for a dry shampoo. I like that it is free from micro plastics and mineral oil especially. I am no stranger to dry shampoo. While I do tend to use it more in the summer time to refresh during the day when summer heat has caused my hair to look a little limp and greasy, in the winter I tend to use it for my bangs more than anything else. I have this bad habit of playing with my bangs while I work at the computer. Usually this just involves a quick run through with my hands while I am searching for a word or trying to figure out exactly how to answer an e-mail. But the touching adds up and my bangs often show the between washings wear because of it.

This Authentic Beauty Concept dry shampoo has a nice fine mist. The scent is like a powdery floral that some how reminds me of a hair salon. It is not a scent that occurs in nature, it is a salon scent. Personally, i enjoy the scent.

As I have dark hair it did make my hair a little on the white side as I sprayed it. The white wasn’t bad though and it brushed right out after I let the spray sit for a moment to absorb the oils. After spraying i waited two minutes and then brushed my hair. They white came out and my hair was left looking clean and much less oily. In addition,. my hair had a nice body to it and felt really soft and well nourished. I really enjoyed the feeling. It lasted all through the day and of course that night i washed my hair.

I was very impressed with this dry shampoo. It is not only a product that I will be picking up again in the near future but it encourages me to look into the other products that Authentic Beauty Concept produces. For me this dry shampoo was a clear winner of a product.

Five Fabulous Leave In Hair Products

I love a good leave in hair product, especially as I tend to use masks only once a week. So lets take a look at the five that made my top list this year.

1- Christophe Robin Daily Hair Cream with Sandlewood

This is a really great leave in conditioner that leaves hair soft and manageable, but not sticky or greasy. It can be used every day. And it can be used on both dry or wet hair. When i use it on wet hair I comb through a little of the product into my hair and let it dry. Usually I let it dry naturally and then find my hair is easier to style later. When I use it on dry hair I tend to use a lot less and I put it on my hands, rub my hands together and use it to smooth down my hair to eliminate fly aways. The schet is fantastic and definatlye in the spicky sandlewood realm. I really enjoy it.

2- Foxybae 12-in-1 Daily Leave in Hair Mask

I don’t remember what all twelve of the uses for this product were but I do know that if i am going to style my hair right after I get out of the shower then this is one of the two products I reach for. It hydrates the hair and protects against brakeage from hot styling. I notice i have fewer fly aways when I use this before hot styling as well.

3- Mane Club’s One Hit Wonder

This will always be on my favorites list. It is a great heat protector and it is fantastic at giving hair a little shine when it feels dull (like when you have put off redying your hair and it needs a little pick me up without looking greasy).It takes down fly aways and it my favorite detangler. It quite honestly is the one product i never run out of. I try lots of other things but there is always a bottle of this on my hair care line up. The fact that it is only $8 is just good for my wallet.

4- Klorane Nourishing spray for dry hair

Most of the year, my hair is not dry. At this time of year, my hair becomes dry. i use this sparingly but it is one of the few nourishing products I can use on my hair that gives it some much needed moisture without weighing t down or making it look greasy. Ine maybe two spritzes will do for me when my hair is winter dry. it doesn’t sound like much but it does help keep down the breakage and it smells fantastic.

5- Saints and Sinners Velvet Divine Leave in Conditioner

I love this conditioner. Which is why it is on this list. It conditions without weighing down the hair and it makes it feel like velvet. it is soft and manageable and has a scent like a high end salon. I love a light spray of this right after I get out of the shower. it only really works with wet hair, but it is well worth keeping just outside of the shower. it is also the reason that in this coming year i am going to look into more Saints and Sinners Products.

And those my darlings are my top five leave in hair care products. I know my favorites lists tend to be a little heavy on the hair care but it is one of those things that is not weight dependent. I can treat my hair to something luxurious and not worry if it actually comes in my size. not everything is a good fit, but that is just my hair type and nothing to do with size. So it is often where I treat myself. plus I just love experimenting with products. And these were the best i came across this year.

Let’s talk about traveling Hair care with Klorane

The season of family travel is upon us and in hair care products, I indulge in the travel sized items. While I do like the travel sized items throughout the rest of the year so that i can test the products out without committing to an entire fill sized amount of product, it is the holiday season where the travel sized shines.

Mostly because full sized items take up a lot of space.

Luckily Klorane has an entire section dedicated simply to the travel sized items. The masking foil packet was a gift with purchase, but all of the other travel sized items are $10 each. It is a great way to try out different items from the brand. For me one of the appeals is the fact that my hair behaves differently at my mother’s house than it does at mine. Partially it is the difference in water. Her water is a lot softer than mine which means that I don’t need any volumizing products as my hair tends to naturally fluff when I am there. Adding volumizing products tend to make me look as though i am going for a bride of Frankenstein sort of up do.

the second reason is that the air at my mother’s house is a lot drier than mine. Her, I go for shampoo for oily hair in the summer, and then just regular shampoo in the winter. Perhaps because she runs the heat so much more than I do, my hair always gets dry and crackly when I am at her house so I actually need moisturizing shampoo. By picking up the travel sized items I can get exactly what I need for the situation where my hair will be over the holiday.

I actually tried all of the items in the Mango line when they were first released. The mask is something that I can use on a regular basis (maybe once a month) So I was thrilled that it was included in my order. (I also ordered a travel size of the cornflower eye makeup remover because it is fabulous, but that is a different post). The Mango shampoo and conditioner I lover the scent of but are too moisturizing for me to use on a regular basis. (I tend to pick up a full sized bottle of the Nettle infused Shampoo for the summertime). This mango Shampoo and conditioner set is perfect for the time I will spend at my mother’s house.

So I get to indulge in the delicious scent without fear of it being too much moisture. It is one of the little holiday treats for me. I also picked up the travel sized bottle of dry shampoo. For me Klorane Dry shampoo has been my go to for a really long time. I’ll flirt with other dry shampoos,. but i always come back to it. While the shampoo and conditioner will be used up over the holiday trip, there will likely be some dry shampoo left over and this travel size will end up living in my purse to be taken out and used when needed. I actually used up all of the travel sized versions I had and am in need of a small one for my purse.

Over all I love travel kits and travel sized items at this time of the year. I can indulge in things I might not get to use the rest of the year because they work with where I am going, they are more compact and so take up less space in my luggage and with Klorane I get to choose the exact products I want form their list and build my own kit. That makes this a win for me.

Klorane Deluxe Samples + Free Shipping on Orders $40+

Let’s talk about the Scalp Massager

I have seen a multitude of videos touting the benefits of these toothy scalp massager tools. I’ll admit I was intrigued. When I saw that there was one for sale on the Shop Miss A site, I went ahead and bought it. Like most things on the Shop Miss A site it was $1. I figured that for a $1.88 cost I could try it out and see how I liked it. If I didn’t or if it proved to be something I wasn’t going to use, then, well, I only spent a $1.88.

The bristles are bendy silicone spikes. They are the same length, but the width varies. The thicker spikes are on the outside and the thinner ones inside the ring of spikes. The handle fits well around my hand and has grooves for my fingers. This is especially important as it is used in the shower with shampoo in the hair,. Soap and water make things a bit slick. This is easy to hold onto in the shower with shampoo lathered in my locks.

Over all it is a well designed tool.

But does it have a point or is it just another pointless bit of kit taking up space in the shower?

While the description on the Shop Miss A site was limited to Scalp Massager, it is identical to the Vegamour GRO Revitalizing scalp massager ($16) at least in the photos so I went with their description as to what I might expect from this tool.

Give your scalp the love and care it deserves! The GRO Scalp Revitalizing Massager features a series of bristles that stimulate the scalp and boost scalp health, providing both an exhilarating scalp massage and relaxing experience. Ideal for all hair types, this hand-held massager can be used on a dry scalp, or to work in your Vegamour hair growth serums, foams, or shampoos. Safe for color-treated, bleached or chemically treated hair, Suitable for all hair types, Can be used on both wet or dry hair
Vegamour

I’ll admit I have no way to really test scalp health but I do know that after I use a scalp scrub my scalp does feel good and my hair feels healthier and logically it makes sense to keep your scalp in good health. So I had high hopes going into this.

First I tried it with dry hair. I made certain to try it after I had several events where i did things to my hair (hot tools, heat protection spray, styling cream, etc) There was nothing in my hair at the time, product-wise, but my hair had been through a lot in the week of the dry scalp trial. I do not have an overly dry scalp and I have never had a problem with dandruff but I did notice that after I used it, there were tiny little bits of stuff. As I was using it to massage my scalp and I didn’t have anything in my hair at the time, I am guessing that it was knocked loose from my scalp.

As gross as that sounds.

I did try to take a picture, but the little bits were more things felt rather than seen. If I pulled my hair up to my eyes I could see little bumps of stuff on my hair (not a lot but enough that I could feel it with my fingers). I simply couldn’t get the camera close enough to pick up anything. it kept fuzzing the photo out. I will need a more intense lens. And to be fair it was something more felt than seen.

I did really enjoy the feeling of the bristles on my scalp though. It really was a very nice massage. It did tangle up my hair a bit on the ends. And the bits freaked me out so I went immediately into the shower.

while it clearly did something on dry hair, and I think if I was messaging a scalp serum into my hair, dry hair would be a fine use for this massager. For me however it was better on wet hair. Perhaps because I would use the teeth to comb through my hair periodically under the spray, I didn’t get a much tangling when I used it in the shower. The shape of the handle kept oit from shifting about too much and I didn’t slip or slide with it in the shower.

With shampoo it worked beautifully well. The lather was intensified in the shampoo and because I have thick hair, the action of the brush allowed both the shampoo to get right down to the roots of the hair and the water to actually get in and rinse out the shampoo more efficiently. It also felt amazing on the scalp.

It did nothing for me with conditioner or a conditioning hair mask, however paired with a scalp mask it was fantastic. I used it with my favorite Christophe Robin Sea Salt Scalp Scrub and it was utterly fantastic. I needed less product because the scalp massager helped get the scalp scrub deeper through the forest of my hair. It also drastically increased the foam. It was lather-tastic.

In truth it halved the amount of product I needed to use to get the best results. While I love this hair mask, it is not an inexpensive product. Full price for it is $53. which is why i tend to buy it on sale. (Incidentally, the Christophe Robin site has this mask for 40% off right now. So it is only $31.80 and yes, I stocked up.) The fact that this massager lets me get the same results with half of the product means my jar will last a lot longer. While I may need a microscope to see what is actually going on with my scalp and some sort of photo lens to see the microscopic bits that I’m pretty sure left my scalp, only needing half of the product to achieve the same great hair is a result i can stand behind. It also makes this $1 hair tool from the Shop Miss A website, far more valuable than it seems.

I picked this up thinking it was probably going to be something I tried a few times and then forgot about. Instead it has become a part of my hair washing routine and the means of extending the life of a product i like. While i will look out for long term benefits over the next few months, in the short term I can say, my hair feels fantastic, I use less product and more of the product I use gets rinsed out as the tool helps separated things so the rinse water can get in. On top of all that, I get a really nice relaxing scalp massage every time i wash my hair. For that alone I would repurchase this Scalp massaging tool. I would also pick it up at Shop Miss A. It is a great tool of good quality and $1.88 is really hard to beat.

The Daily: November 9th, 2022

Today my darlings has not gone as planned. We had a very large windstorm roll through last night. While we did not lose electricity, several of my neighbors did. However what we had were a lot of branches come down from the trees.

It isn’t actually that unexpected really. It was the first major wind storm of the fall/winter. While that sounds strange, it is always the first one that brings down any loose or dead branches and trees. Later in the season the storms may be more intense but with this initial one taking down a lot of the loose things from the canopy, they are oddly less worrisome. Sometimes we lose power but less things fall.

Which means that todays exercise involved moving and cutting up branches.

Actually a large chunk of the day involved cutting up and moving fallen branches. So there was no makeup and quite honestly I look a mess. Everything is now settled so I am jumping in the shower and then I will be spending the rest of the day trying to catch up on all of the things I had planned to work on this morning. Not exactly how I planned my Wednesday, but that is sometimes how things go.

So alas my darlings there is no makeup for the day. I will however be treating myself to a Christophe Robin Sea Salt Scalp scrub with my shower, and possibly following up with a Paradoxx Hair mask. I know I usually reserve such treats for Saturday, but today, it feels like I deserve a little bit of a mid week treat.

And so with a short post I will leave you and hope tomorrow is a more typical work day. Oh and if you are looking to stock up on Christophe Robin products, Look Fantastic currently has them on sale for 30% off. You can follow this link or click on the banner below to take you to the site. They have a lot of sales going on right now.

Holiday Gift Sets: Kerastase

And so the Holiday gifts continue. This year Kerastase Hair Care has several holiday bundles to choose from so that you can find the perfect one to suit your hair.

Each of these bundles is designed for a specific hair type or need and includes a shampoo, a conditioner and a serum.

Personally I love anything from the Genesis line of products. I have purchased the shampoo, conditioner and serum form them in the full size. I have stocked up on travel sets when i knew I wanted my hair to look spectacular for an event and I will admit anytime that there is a Kerastase sample in anything I have actually made extra purchases simply to get the samples.

Hair care wise it is one of the items that I will treat myself to as a gift to myself. While the Genesis line is my favorite, I have tried various other types including the color saving shampoo in the Chroma Absolu bundle (Pictured to the left). If you are looking for a shampoo that will help preserve your color while giving you silk soft hair, this is it. The Chroma Absolu Holiday Gift Set includes

Color protecting shampoo, conditioner, and gloss for color treated hair ($135 value, 26% savings).

The Resistance bundle, (Pictured right) is one where I have tried the serum. It is an amazing split end repair serum and even if your hair is in good condition it is a holiday life saver as it helps keep your ends from splitting. I don’t know about you but i always end up doing more hot styling to my hair around the holidays than I do at any other time of year. Having something to help keep my hair in good health around while I am actively working with it always helps. The Resistance Holiday Gift Set includes Strengthening shampoo, conditioner, and serum for damaged hair ($117 value, 24% savings).

The Nutritive Holiday Gift Set includes the Hydrating shampoo, conditioner, and primer for dry hair ($122 value, 24% savings). Last year the shampoo and conditioner set were a birthday gift option for the Sephora Insiders. I specifically made a purchase just to pick that set up and try it out. To be completely honest, I have no recollection of what I actually bought but I really loved this shampoo and conditioner. For me it is a little too hydrating to use on a regular basis, especially in the summer time. However once my hair starts dealing with the drying air of the indoor heat instead of sweating through the humid summer, this shampoo and conditioner rolled into my shower once a week helps combat the dry hair of winter without being too much. If your hair is naturally really dry or you live in a really dry area with low humidity, this is great. It smells fantastic and leaves the hair feeling like silk. With my hair I can only use it when the humidity drops low or it is simply too much moisture for me.

The Blond Absolu Cicaextreme Holiday Gift Set includes Blonde Color Protecting shampoo, mask, and oil for very damaged blonde hair ($154 value, 25% savings). While I love my dark hair I know several people who love their blonde locks and I would consider this as a give for them. While this specific set I have not tried out, I have tried shampoos, masks and serums from Kerastase and I have never been disappointed by any of them. I have used Cica based products in my skincare and liked them as well. If you are blonde, or shopping for a blonde, I’m sure this kit will be well loved.

Likewise if curly hair is your thing I should first off say, I envy you your curls. I love the look of curls. It is just not my destiny. Several bad perms of the past taught me to be happy with what the curling wand gives me. However Kerastase has you covers too. The Curl Manifesto Holiday Gift Set includes Curl defining shampoo, conditioner, and cream for curly hair ($124 value, 26% savings).

Essentially they have a kit with the key items needed to maintain and care for pretty much any specific hair type. I am a big fan of this brand as any time I have used anything from them, my hair has looked good. While the shampoos and conditioners are used at a regular rate, the serums last a really long time. One of my long term favorite products form them is the Serum Fortifiant Hair Serum. It is an amazing product and you use so little with each use that it lasts a really long time.

While I haven’t tried every products from Kerastase, mostly because some are simply not designed for my hair type, I have enjoyed everything that I have tried and found it well worth the price. These gift sets are not only great for gifting, but they are an excellent way to try a line of products to find out if it is right for you, while saving just a little bit of money. In addition to the lower bundled rate for products, Kerastase has a Thanksgiving sale that runs November 24th-25th. 2022. With the code THANKS22 you can get 20% off and receive a gift pouch (pictured to the right.)

It is a great brand with great products. And it you are shopping for someone who loves good hair products, or stocking up for yourself, these are some good bundles to look into. Happy Holiday shopping!

Let’s Talk about the Natura Murumuru Hair Mask

I have tried a lot of hair products over the years. A lot of them have been sample sizes. I love sample sized hair products, from masks to shampoos and conditioners. I do not mind spending a little extra on hair products if i like the product. However at the same time I have found some fantastic hair products that are relatively inexpensive.

If asked hands down what my favorite hair product was I would have to say it is The One hit Wonder by The Mane Club which costs a whopping $8 per bottle and is something i almost always have on hand. If i run out, then I have an order of it coming. Admittedly my second favorite product is the Christophe Robin Sea Salt Scalp scrub which retails for $53 (They actually have some great holiday bundles and sales, which is when I usually stock up.)

The truth is, some formulas work for me and some don’t, regardless of price and I like trying them out to see how i feel abotu them before I commit to full sized versions.

and then there is Natura. Specifically the Natura Ekos Restoring Hair Mask from the Murumuru Line. It is both vegan and fair trade and costs $34. I have tried products from this Murumuru line before. In fact i have tried the shampoo and conditioner set pictured above with the hair mask that is the focus of this post. The shampoo and conditioner of this set are quite honestly fabulous. The product has a light spicy but clean scent that I love. It is a real break from the floral scents that crop up so often in hair products. They work well, lather nicely and rinse out clean. When I use them the scent faded as my hair dried and once dry my hair felt like silk. I had no tangles and could run a comb through it easily wet or dry.

I know, you are thinking, what’s the catch? Why isn’t this a standard set of products?

Packaging.

The shape of the bottles in the samples are, well, bottle shaped. With the shampoo it is fine but it does make the conditioner really hard to get out of the bottle. I know what you are thinking, these are only sample sizes. I have tried the full size and while there is a little more give in the bottles when they are full size, the conditioner is still a bit of a struggle to get out of the bottle.

Enter the hair mask from the line. It is, all things told, a more intense version of the conditioner. It has the same lovely scent and it made my hair soft as silk and free of tangles. It did provide a little bit of moisture, bit it wasn’t overly greasy.

Hair masks I do use only once a week and this is no exception. While the conditioner would be fine to use every time I washed my hair, the Murumuru Hair mask is a little too deeply conditioning to be used more than once a week. I am however okay with that. Fr me though it does make an interesting pair. when i used the hair mak i decided to use the Murumuru Shampoo from Natura with the hair mask as I needed a shampoo and I had this set from a subscription box. Because the Hair mask from the line comes in a squeeze tube it is much easier to apply. To be honest i really like the formula of the hair mask enough to use it on a routine basis.

While I do have several hair mask samples to work through, this is definitely a contender for reordering in a full size. However i think I will order the Hair mask and the shampoo together. I enjoy both and as the scents are the same, there is no scent clashing between products. Even though I would happily use this shampoo on a daily basis, I know i wouldn’t want to fight with the conditioner bottle. Ordering the shampoo and keeping it to use with the hair mask would give me the best of the line. The same silky easy to manage tangle free hair, and no need to fight the shape of the bottle to get the product out. It would be a nice once a week treat during use. I think it would be hard to pair this scent with anything else, but keeping the shampoo and the hair mask as partners would work. And my hair would be very happy. I just need to skip the conditioner.

Balancing with the Grow Gorgeous Shine enhancing Overnight mask

I am a big fan of Grow Gorgeous. Their shampoos and leave in conditioners are some of my favorite and I tend to keep the thickening shampoo and conditioner (from the Intense Line) set in my hair care drawer for anytime i know I need my hair to look good.

that being said their scents can be a little on the strong side. Personally I love the scents. It reminds me of an upscale hair salon. I’m sure there is some sort of name for the variety of scents that make up the scent, but in the end they all merge into one and it is a high class salon scent.

This Grow Gorgeous Shine enhancing overnight mask from their Balance line has that same salon scent to it. According to the product description…

The Grow Gorgeous Balance Shine-Enhancing Overnight Mask nourishes hair from root to tip, deeply conditioning your locks. Working overnight, this mask deeply conditions, enhancing your hair’s natural shine, leaving your hair soft and frizz-free.

Thanks to skincare ingredients, this mask targets the scalp as well as the locks, with Hyaluronic Acid to smooth and moisturise hair, giving it a shiny finish. Tung Wood fights to keep frizz under control, whilst also targeting heat damage. Finally, Blended Green Tea Extract and Fruit Acid nourish hair from the inside out, smoothing the cuticles to enhance your hair’s natural gloss and shine. If you want to nourish every inch of your precious hair, this mask is a must-have.

Free from parabens, sulphates, silicones, phthalates.

Vegan.

mask in hair, clipped up and worn for the day (inside where no one could see me)

Here is the thing. I have tried overnight masks before. I just can’t wear them. It doesn’t matter if I put a cap on so that nothing reaches the pillow case. There is something about the feel of lying down with a hair mask in my hair that I just can’t do. The last time I tried it I made it about half an hour before I got up and took a shower just to be rid of the hair mask.

However i knew this overnight mask needed overnight to work whatever magic it had. So one Saturday when i wasn’t doing anything out side of the house, I put it in my hair at nine in the morning and left it there until five that evening. I did chores around the house but I didn’t go out. (You may have noticed in the pictures this is my hair before i had it cut). There two uses of product for me in this tube. I did try it a second time and I had the same results as I did the first.

So I did the overnight mask in the day instead of the night. Because the mask in my hair overnight kind of skeeves me out. During the day it was fine. I wrapped it up and used a clip to secure it. If I had to leave the house I could have used a head scarf i suppose, but i didn’t. It was a bit of bother but when i washed the mask out, it was worth the trouble.

My hair was soft and manageable and had amazing shine to it. Would I go through this every week? No. However once a month I would be willing to do. I would also be willing to keep this mask (full size $30) around and the day before a major event use it so that the next day my hair looked it’s best. My hair had shine, body, manageability and honestly I think it looked lovely. This mask from Grow Gorgeous was a bit of effort, but the results were definitely worth it. And if you don’t have the same over night issues I have, then it is even less work. Just remember to put on some kind of cap after you apply the mask so it doesn’t get all over your pillow and you should be fine. As for me, I’ll stick with my apply in the morning on a slow day application. And plan ahead to use this mask when i have somewhere to go where I want to look my best.

Trying out the Gloss Me Hair Serum by Design Me

This tiny little bottle of Gloss Me by Design me has been rolling around in the bottom of my hair care drawer for quite a while now. I believe it cam in an Ipsy Glam Bag a while back. While My version is only 10 mL the full size is 80 mL and costs $30. I have tried several products from Design me and they have always been decent products. I think the reason I didn’t try this one out sooner was simply that it was a smaller bottle and it just got buried.

Despite it’s size there was plenty to test as I only needed a few drops per use, but we’ll get to that in a moment. First let’s look at what the product is designed to do.

Weightlessly add high shine, hydration & eliminate frizz. Infused with the perfect blend of oils, vitamins & proteins for just the right amount of glossy shine, smoothness and strength. Apply small amount to damp or dry hair focusing on mid-lengths to ends, style as desired.
Design Me Web Site

There is an entire Gloss Me line. While i have tried other products from the brand they weren’t from this line so this was completely new to me.

I was actually quite impressed with this serum. It took only took a few drops to give my hair a healthy shine. To be honest, I didn’t see much difference in my hair when i put it on damp hair. It worked just like a leave in conditioner.

here this product really excels is on my hair when it is dry. We have high humidity here through out much of the year. The air dries out in December and stays pretty dry until about mid February and then the humidity rises again. What this Hair Serum from Design Me did was tame the humidity induced fly aways and gave my hair a smoother look without frizz and without weighing the hair down.

I ended up using it more like a hair oil and it worked really well for me. My one issue was the scent. The scent of this reminds me of the incense sticks my roommate freshman year of college used in our dorm room. It is not my favorite scent. It does fade back as the gloss is applied to the hair, but if I am wearing my hair down, it is still a scent that is present. I think that is one of the reasons that i would be hesitant to reach for it. I tend to be a very scent oriented person. I think though that given it has a fairly modest price and an amount of product that would last me a really long time, it is something i would pick up to keep on hand to use when I needed to have my hair look good on those high humidity days. If the scent were different, and something I liked just a little bit more I could see this Gloss Me Hair serum being a standard for every day use. With the scent, I can still see it being kept around for when it is really needed. Over all I was very impressed with this Gloss Me Hair Serum from Design Me.