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Beauty Products I’m Excited To Get My Hands On This Summer

Summer is almost upon us and just like the weather changes up so should your beauty routine. The main beauty themes are bright-faced, bronzed glow and getting it as natural as you can. Below are some of the prods I’m looking to get familiar with the summer.

summer beauty items

1. Since the NARS Cosmetics tinted moisturizer came on the beauty scene I’ve heard AMAZING things about it. The only downer about it (for me at least) is the SPF. Kind of allergic to it. But whatever, I’m still going to try it out. In the swealtering heat who wants to pile on serums, moisturizers, concealer, powder or foundation? This product describes itself as cutting out all the steps since its all-in-1 and thats perfect! And it promises to improve the skin’s appearance over time…need I say more?

2. So this Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay mascara will definitely be a staple in my cosmetics routine. It supposedly delivers a 406% increase in lash volume and long-term reparative, rebuilding, and strengthening benefits with each swipe. Natural, with no parabens, sulfates, nor other harsh ingredients. I’m zero’d in on these.

3. You guys are probably tired of me talking about this conditioner but I love it so much. Nothing gathers my curls together like the Hair Rules Curl Quench conditioner . The aroma is alluring, it leaves the hair shiny and healthy. Its actually perfect for those mornings when you want to run conditioner over your hair and just let your curls air dry as the day goes on.

4. The LORAC TANtalizer Lipgloss is infused with antioxidant açai berry, pomegranate extract, and vitamins C and E. Not only will it help to nourish the lips, the formula will also protect lips from the sun and keep em supple.

5. Deborah Lippmann’s latest collection has the perfect palette of hues for summer. Simple.

6. Mixed Chicks leave in conditioner is another one of the great natural hair must-haves. The formula in this conditioner is another good choice for the hotter months.

7. Shu Uemura cleansing beauty oil is one of the top-rated cleansing oils on the market. This product contains gingko leaf extracts, green tea extract and depsea water. Its strong anti-oxidant and micro circulation properties act to deep clean and enrich the appearance of the skin.

8. Ojon’s Rare Blend Oil bottle automatically makes me think of the tropics so it falls right into place on this list. Basically its a triple blend of special oils from tropical Tahiti to Kalahari Desert in Africa, remote rainforests of Central America and beyond.

9. Guerlain By Emilio Pucci Terra Azzurra Bronzing Powder & Blush combo is quite luxe and was added to the list because like who doesn’t like bronzer? This hybrid bronze and blush powder offers a universal harmony of four shades, which is perfect when you’re trying to build up your tan.

How To Reduce & Prevent HEAT Damage The words “heat damage” send a resounding chill throughout the bones of even the most resilient natural. I am an active user of gorgeous weaves; remy, remi, virgin, malaysian, brazilian etc and I love them. I am the kind of weave wearer that likes to keep a small amount of my real hair out in the front section. Think of a horse-shoe formation. Yeah, like that. Blending my naturally kinky-curly hair with kinkish-curly weave is no problem but the straight hair that I’ve been rocking lately always left me wondering about the heat I put my strands through in times of blending the real with the faux. I’ve noticed, however, for some reason every time *knocks wood* I’ve washed & conditioned my mane back into its curly place its curl is just as bouncey as it was before I straightened. Upon getting my hair straightened at Hair Rules and when trying to blend natural hair with weave hair I’ve kept a couple of tips that I’ve learned with me. And I will share them. Give yourself a good protein treatment prior to installing your weave/extentions/clip-ins. Any deep conditioner with silk proteins, keratin, hydrolized silk, etc is great for your hair before straightening. But well if you’ve noticed your hair acts funny with protein treatments add it with your regular moisturizing conditioner. Anything that’s giving your hair extra strength before being straightened is key. Also give yourself a protein treatment again when you’re ready to go back to curly hair. Make sure your hair is REALLY clean before straightening! If you only co-washed and deep conditioned, you have a higher chance of heat damage than if you were to shampoo and deep condition your hair. The reason, being that even though you’re adding conditioner again after you shampoo’d, that shampoo cleansing you’re giving yourself will remove any and all product build-up from prior uses than just co-washing. Any product build-up invisible to the naked eye will be picked up by the flat-iron and will add to the burning. Its also easier to get the hair straighter when its stripped of product. This is not the same as being stripped of moisture. As long as you’ve deep conditioned after shampooing your hair and added a leave-in you’re good. USE A HEAT PROTECTANT! This is self-explanatory, really. Some people use shea butter or grapeseed oil as a leave-in. That kind of qualifies as something that will be extra-product since shea butter’s kind of heavy. No thanks. Here are some heat protectants/serums that have either worked great for me or I have heard great things about. 1. Carol’s Daughter Macadamia Heat Protection Serum, 2. TRESemme Heat Tamer Protection Spray, 3. Pantene Pro-V Normal -Thick Hair Style Heat Protector 4. CHI Silk Infusion 5. Bumble & Bumble Concen-Straight Serum. Hope this helps!! *Photo at the top is NOT me btw lol.

How To Reduce & Prevent HEAT Damage

The words “heat damage” send a resounding chill throughout the bones of even the most resilient natural. I am an active user of gorgeous weaves; remy, remi, virgin, malaysian, brazilian etc and I love them. I am the kind of weave wearer that likes to keep a small amount of my real hair out in the front section. Think of a horse-shoe formation. Yeah, like that. Blending my naturally kinky-curly hair with kinkish-curly weave is no problem but the straight hair that I’ve been rocking lately always left me wondering about the heat I put my strands through in times of blending the real with the faux. I’ve noticed, however, for some reason every time *knocks wood* I’ve washed & conditioned my mane back into its curly place its curl is just as bouncey as it was before I straightened.

Upon getting my hair straightened at Hair Rules and when trying to blend natural hair with weave hair I’ve kept a couple of tips that I’ve learned with me. And I will share them.

Give yourself a good protein treatment prior to installing your weave/extentions/clip-ins.

Any deep conditioner with silk proteins, keratin, hydrolized silk, etc is great for your hair before straightening. But well if you’ve noticed your hair acts funny with protein treatments add it with your regular moisturizing conditioner. Anything that’s giving your hair extra strength before being straightened is key. Also give yourself a protein treatment again when you’re ready to go back to curly hair.

Make sure your hair is REALLY clean before straightening!

If you only co-washed and deep conditioned, you have a higher chance of heat damage than if you were to shampoo and deep condition your hair. The reason, being that even though you’re adding conditioner again after you shampoo’d, that shampoo cleansing you’re giving yourself will remove any and all product build-up from prior uses than just co-washing. Any product build-up invisible to the naked eye will be picked up by the flat-iron and will add to the burning. Its also easier to get the hair straighter when its stripped of product. This is not the same as being stripped of moisture. As long as you’ve deep conditioned after shampooing your hair and added a leave-in you’re good.

USE A HEAT PROTECTANT!

This is self-explanatory, really. Some people use shea butter or grapeseed oil as a leave-in. That kind of qualifies as something that will be extra-product since shea butter’s kind of heavy. No thanks. Here are some heat protectants/serums that have either worked great for me or I have heard great things about.

heat protectants

Hope this helps!!

*Photo at the top is NOT me btw lol.

My Influenster Holiday voxbox arrived today…so as we all agreed to do, here’s my review upon opening this product-filled box. Basically, Influenster is a cool merging of two marketing trends of this era: who can “influence” and what is “trendsetting”. 

Community of trendsetters invited to share their lifestyles and show their influence to qualify for personalized product shipments, special rewards and exclusive deals from the brands they love. Members love testing the latest products, giving insightful feedback, and spreading the word on their favorite finds!

You basically can “play the game” of taking surveys and unlocking badges based on your specialties, interests and reach and will receive beauty products to review. Did I mention that its free? They select based on blogging/social lives on & offline and the hopes that your recommendations spread like wildfire…thus is the name Influenster.

So here goes it…

This Holiday voxbox included imPRESS press-on manicure by Broadway Nails, Softsoap Coconut Scrub bar soap, Montagne Jeunesse Face Mask in Cucumber, New York Color Liquid lip shine in Nude, Mentos Pure Fresh Gum & Larabar in Chocolate-Chip cookie dough.

The Mentos gum is almost finished as I type! I might use the Softsoap Coconut scrub…the aroma from it is kind of strong though. I’m kind of down for anything that exfoliating in this harsh winter weather. I never tried any of the Montagne Jeunesse masques before so this will be a first and a break from my Origins black clay and bentonite clay masks. Kind of nervous to do so because my skin is incredibly sensitive! iWill be trying it out regardless.

Usually I feel like people are either a lipgloss or a lipstick person. I’m a bit of both but I’m extremely particular. For example, if I’m wearing bright lipstick it has to be matte, on the other hand if I’m wearing a gloss it has to be nude. I feel like my sometimes-duck-shaped-lips look strange (or too distracting) with bright glossy fuschia lips. So this nude gloss is perfect for an everyday glosser. The quality doesn’t feel cheap either. Not bad.

Honestly, the one thing that really stood out in this package was the imPRESS press-on mani set. But perhaps I’m being biased since I need a mani and I’m already obsessed with anything nail polish-related. It gives you about 2 solid manis in one set. and I love the fact that its packaged like a little OPI bottle. Not bad. I’m glad I got this animal print and not the bright pink colour that I’ve been seeing online in other voxboxes. I’m probably going to apply these over the weekend and see how long they last. Looking forward to more “voxboxes” from Influenster.