Urghhhhhhhhh

My hair is soo fustrating at the moment. It takes a lot of work to get it clean. I mean why is it so hard to have a clean scalp?????? Why? Why? Why?

Dear hair: No no no, you don't love me and i know now

Lashes of Fun

The   Snuffleupagus look.

If you live in South London you have spotted many of its adherents.

Have you seen it?  Its not a subtle look, nor one for the faint of heart. It involves no form of foundation, concealer,  blush or lipstick. It is a one ingredient look.

A pair of Big bold Lashes.  Preferably strip. Usually held together by black glue.

Packed tightly and dense. The lashes are all the same uniform length. There is no graduation in length.

Have you tried this look?

The Good, The Bad and the Buildup.

For  along time now, i have seen Cantu Shea butter leave in conditioning repair cream( yes the full title is that long) being recommended on the Internet. I finally relented and dug into my pocket for the fiver to purchase it. I am on a quest to find a leave in conditioner/moisturiser that doesn't leave my hair both greasy and dry at the same time, as the majority do.

First things first. It comes in a 473mL tub. The smell is very artificial and smells like fragranced talcum powder.  It looks quite thick, but the consistency is actually quite thin.

I began using this over a month ago and wore my hair in single plaits/box braids. After taking them down after around two weeks, i noticed buildup at the base of the braids, but i thought nothing of it. I then saw little gingery brown flakes in the front of my hair. Well i just thought my hair must be extra dirty then!

I washed my hair. Now i wash my hair in sections, twice and with a sulphate  shampoo. I have a dry/sensitive scalp and although i avoided sulphates for many years, i now find myself using them again with absolutely no adverse effect on my hair.

Well what do you know. I go into my bedroom and start plaiting my hair and the flakes are STILL THERE. At that point it had taken my hair so long to wash, i just couldn't. Not today. I was not going to wash my hair again, i just figured i'd brush the flakes out when my hair was fully dried.

I managed to get all the flakes out, but me and cantu shea butter are on a break. I still have half a tub sitting on my table, but who knows what i'm going to do with it. I am sticking to my rosewater/Glycerine mix  and bought Darbur Vatika Natural Hair fall control styling cream ( yes another long name, and this one don't even make no sense!) so i will be reviewing that later.

Two thumbs down Cantu! And i had heard so many good things about you! Boooooooo!

ETA: Would this work better on relaxed hair? I don't know. Maybe

Ingredients: Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Glycine Soja Oil (Soybean), Propylene Glycol, Polyquaternium 37, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, PPG 1 Trideceth 6, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Stearalkonium Chloride, Trimethylsilylamodimethicone, Panthenol, PPG 1-PPG-9 Lauryl Glycol Ether, Lanolin Oil, Cinnamidopropyl Trimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Acrylamidopropyltrimonium Chloride/Acrylamide Copolymer, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Benzophenone 3, BHA, BHT, Zea Mays Oil (Corn), Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, DMDM Hydantoin, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

I purchased this at a PAKS cosmetics store so go to their website if you can't find it.

Its been Magical........but i'm leaving

To the cherished few that read my blog, i am moving. Yes i am moving on.




To wordpress.
I've had a fantastic time on blogspot, but i just needed a change. New name, new focus



Come and see me on the other side!!!

https://swallowsandglamazons.wordpress.com/ 

The conditioner Chronicles- Herbal Essences Hello Hydration

Staples, staples, staples. Everyone should have a core group of products to fall back on in haircare. One of the most important elements to that especially for Kinky/Curly/Afro hair whether relaxed or natural is conditioner.
Here is one of my and many other people's- Herbal Essences Hello hydration. ( Formerly Herbal essences fruit fusions- Deep nourishment and shine). The old formulation had slightly different ingredients and is still knocking about pounds shops.

What can i say, it never disappoints me. I have fine natural type 4 hair and it leaves my hair so soft and moisturised. Its a thick conditioner and its also blue- blue is always good. If you google it, its used by loads of people and i will continue to buy until reformulated or discontinued. It is a moisturising conditioner

What the instructions say:
Massage me in. Soak for  as long as you like, then rinse and say hello to luscious hydrated locks.

There you have it, do as you like!
WARNING= .If you do follow a no silicone routine, it does have Dimethicone. Sowwwy

Ingredients:
Aqua, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl, Dimethylamine, Glutamic acid, Bis- Aminopropyl Dimethicone, Parfum, Benzyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, EDTA, Hexyl Cinnamal, Sodium Chloride, Propylene Glycol, Benzyl Salicylate, Limonene, Linaloo ( everytime i see this ingredient it cracks me up linalooooool), Magnesium Nitrate, Vanilla Planifolia Fruit, Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, CI 42090, Magnesium Chloride, Methylisothiazolinone, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate

Old Bottle

New Bottle

Doris Michaels Eyeshadow Palette

I reviewed the DM bronzer below and love it. Now to my next favourite product is the Doris Michaels 18 eyeshadow palette. There are 18 miniature shades that look like this

There are no individual names but the shadows or "eyepolish" as my two year old nephew calls them, are numbered from 1 to 18, in the first row the pale pink is No1, the yellow No2, the bronze No3 and so on.

My swatches didn't turn out the best. ( Camera Phone + No skills) I did however swatch my favourite colours and the ones that i think are worth purchasing the palette for. There are some chalky colours that don't go on well and are very faint. These are mainly the frosty white, orange, yellow and frosty pale pink. The best colours are the brown- which is a true dark brown and it is very hard to get a matte dark brown that looks good for a cheap price. The two bronze golds(they are above each other in the picture), the golden rose colour and the sea green are my favourites.

All of the colours in this swatch go on well, are pigmented enough to show up on dark skin and they do last.

Also two  looks  i did. I apologise again for camera quality.

 

L.A Confidential

Pastel/ Candy and coral shades are supposed to be "in" this Spring/summer.
Well I've been searching for a really nice mint green since i was thoroughly disappointed by Collection 2000's Button moon shade. Its a lovely colour, but it goes on streaky, the brush is bizarre its gloopy and just awful. I love the colour though. I have been looking for an affordable version, still haven't found it, but decided on these two polishes.

Turntable is the dark mint green and the coral orange is Dance Craze
L.A Girl nail polishes are in a lot of Afro hair shops and they have a massive range of colours and every polish is priced at £1.99 or around it. I bought these two from the "Disco Brites" collection, which are colours that apparently glow in UV light and they have cute 70s music orientated names.

The polishes are not too watery but you do need as you do with every nail polish to use a base and a top coat. A base coat will protect your nails from discolouration and make sure your nails last longer. Also when doing house work etc try and wear rubber or latex gloves to cut down on chipping.

L.A Girl polishes are available online and I'm not sure whether they are related to the L.A Colors brand. L.A girl has a website and the colour swatches are quite close to the real thing
http://www.lagirlusa.com/

Its been 3 days and no chipping. I applied two or three coats(oh my i can't remember)
What do you think of the colours? I did each hand, i say coral my sister says green.