EYES.LIPS.FACE

So, I had never used E.L.F products until last week. I am a department & drug store make-up chick. But, I saw how inexpensive they were and I HAD to try them. I purchased a few of the essentials line: brightening eye shadow quads,tinted moisturizer,a concealer/highlighter, a zit zapper, a brow wax/powder kit, bronzer, a liquid lipstick called ruby slipper, and a lipstick called voodoo.  

THE VERDICT:

Most of these products were not over $1 so overall they are nice cosmetics. I will go ahead and say on my medium to darker skin, they do not have much pigment.The bronzer I could have done without because it does give my face a "sun kissed" look after application. In fact it has no bronze shimmer at all, it only darkens my face. Other than that, the products are nice. I used the shadows without an eyeshadow base, and they did not have much coverage but I am okay with this purchase b/c for $1 each, they are fine!

COILING UPDATE

I am giving a very brief update on my coiling routine. I think this time it was more successful. I used the Tresemme  Naturals conditioner as a leave in and twisted or coiled my hair fairly dampened. The twist/coils took about 30-45 mins. The AIR (very important) drying was a little over two hours.

I wore this style three days. The first day  I wore it all out, second day I pinned my the front back   (like a 1/2 up,1/2 down style. The third day I separated the curls with coconut oil,(you can do this before day 3, of course),pinned my hair to the right, so that I had all my coils on the left side. I used shea butter and eco styler to smooth the right side.

To Straighten...or Not to Straighten...that is the question? HELP

I need help!!!!! I LOVE my curly hair. But I get bored very quickly. I enjoy being able to wear my hair straight and curly. In January I had a small amount of heat damage in the front of my hair. Now, when used to flat iron my own hair I never used a heat protector. I used to blow dry and flat iron without any protection. It was not until November and December that I began flat ironing my own hair but I really think the damage was caused by the use of heat without protector for my hair.


When I get my hair straightened at the salon. There are usually two ways I get it done:

(1) Wash, Conditioner, Blow Out, & Flat Iron (Now that I recall, there is always a heat protector used.

(2) Wash, Conditioner, Rollers under hood dryer, brush out with round brush, and (optional) flat iron- this is also know as a Dominican Blow Out.

Now, I have been told time and time again that the second way of straightening hair is no healthy. Yet my hair grows long and healthy when I am going to Dominican Salons. Recently, I have made a deciding not to have my hair flat ironed after the blow out because honestly, you do not need it. 

I cut my hair in February but I want to grow it out again,and I know heat application (if not properly used) can slow down the growth process. I do not straighten my hair often. Maybe once a month, if that.

***I FLAT IRONED MY HAIR A FEW DAYS AGO AND I DID IT ON A LOW HEAT (320 degrees), with a IC heat protector, and Hair Rules 'Blow Out Your Kinks'.***

Thoughts and Opinons welcome and needed?

Larger Soft Curls

I tried a(kind of) medium/large spiral curl style. Tell me if you like it? Now this is a "straighted" curl. I co-washed,deep conditioned, blow dryed the hair, and flat ironed on lowest heat setting. I used IC 'heat protectant' and Hair Rules 'Blow Out Your Kinks' 

I used: rollers, a little Jane Carter leave in conditioner (just on the tips of my hair), pure coconut oil, and My Honey Child's 'O' Honey Mist'. I sleep over night but as long as you leave the rollers in for a few hours, you should be good. Just do the one curl test (take one roller out to check the curl).
ROLLER TYPE I USED:

              
                                                                      RESULTS:

Preserving this style: I simply pin curled the hair/curls

CrAzY cOiLs

This is my first attempt at coilng my hair. My hair type is a natural 3C (and my curls are a bit larger than the circumference of a pencil). I used two different products on each side to compare the hold, structure, and moisture of the style.

                                                         DRY COILS

The left side is Kinky Curly Curling Custard. The right side is Shea Moisture Curl Smoothie. I can tell a dramatic difference in the two sides. The KCCC side is very controlled, soft, and defined. The SMCS is soft but it is not very defined, or controlled- it actually looks alot like my everyday wash and go, so for this particular hair style I would use the KCCC in additon to the curl smoothie.

What I did:            
                                           WET COILS

• Co- Wash (with Tresemme' Naturals Conditioner)
• You may want to deep conditioner, just so the hair can be very soft (optional).
• Applied leave in to full head, and separated air into four clips.
• Applied a soft hold styling agent to each section right before twisting it.
• I keep a water bottle close by, just in case I need dampen my hair.
• Take desired amount of hair for each coil from each section.I start twisting at the root, then I curled the hair around my finger and held it there for a 7-40 secs (depending on how loose your curl pattern is)
• When hair is dry, you can leave hair tightly coiled, or separate coils with oil.
• You can seperate while the hair is wet but my hair gets really frizzy and I try not to touch it, when I dont have to.

"What am I?"

People are always asking me, "what are you?" My first instinct is to always answer, "HUMAN", "WTF kind of question...?" or something else that would make me a smart ass since I know they are usually referring to my nationality, race, etc

ANSWER:
I am Arabic (S/O to Saudi Arabia) and Black. It has also been speculated that my father was Dominican but for all intensive purposes we will omit that!

I have not been to Saudi, in many years BUT I plan to make a trip in the very near future. So, stay tuned for that.

Small Soap Box

Maybe someone can shed some light on this....but WHY are people so concerned about other people's lifestyles?!?!? They gotta know if your gay, straight, single, married, do you have children, what are you drinking, do you smoke, and why? I think it is just noisy! lol. Listen, if we are not having sex or you not trying to have sex with me, you have NO reason to be asking me about my sexual preference, relationship status, and lifestyle choices. Until you start taking care of my responsibilities there is no reason for you to have any questions for me (end of story).

MY favorite mascaras right now!!!!

I am IN LOVE WITH THESE TWO MASCARAS right now. Maybelline Falsies and Maybelline One by One. They are both great mascara formulas, and the brushes are fantastic. The brushes are strong enough to apply several coats.

                                                        AFTER APPLICATION
                                                                             

Application

• Apply Maybelline Falsies first. I usually apply 2 coats to each eye.
• Drying time is abt 40-50 secs.
• Definitley, apply additional coats while lashes are WET.
• Apply Maybelline One by One, immediateley after the Maybelline Falsies. (again, 2 coats)
• I suggest you do one eye at a time to avoid lashes from drying before second mascara application.

                                                                   MY NAKED EYE

I do not use a primer or any base nevetheless, my mascara stays on so well!!!!