Sunday, September 25, 2011

Product Reviews Mode Cosmetics and KMF Conditioners

Before these reviews:

I. had. an. AWESOME weekend!!!
It was CBC week here in DC, I had a good friend in town from CT (hi Kim!) and I partied until my feet fell off.
They are off.  Like on the floor, next to the door in my shoes.
Here is fellow natural Kim and I and then natural Dionna and I- grainy iPhone picts lol



Anywhoo

So I want to tell you about Mode Cosmetics.  I know it's makeup but check out their byline:
"CREATED BY SECOND GENERATION COSMETICS PURVEYORS WITH A FORWARD THINKING CONCEPT- FUSE BENEFICIAL NATURAL INGREDIENTS + CONTEMPORARY STYLE + HIGH PERFORMANCE FORMULATIONS. MODE'S UNIQUE APPROACH ORIGINATED THE WORLD'S FIRST SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE COSMETICS DERIVED FROM THE FINEST POTENT NATURAL AND ORGANIC INGREDIENTS, HOUSED IN CHIC NON-WASTEFUL PACKAGING, AND ALL MADE IN THE BEAUTIFUL USA."
Sounds cool right?  I read about them in my Real simple magazine like, a year ago now.  I purchased a nail hardener and two Glide and Glow blush sticks (Glaze and Glitz). 

That clear nail polish does not come off until u take it off and it does harden nails.  And it does not smell like normal polish and it is only $3.50...  I mean... come on. I love it.  It's just thin, clear nail polish but it makes top coat polish apply better, it makes my nails better, it makes the color on top of it stick.  It's just dope.  The only clear polish I pick out of my box of many now and it is almost gone and the bottle is even faded from me traveling with it. AND they have colors.  I am going to go crazy next paycheck and replace all my faves with their versions of my colors lol.

So the blush sticks are also the best thing ever.  They are uber portable, easy to apply and versatile.  They are also creamy and don't break my skin out at all (even though there is evil coconut oil in them)- so no dry ashy look. I am getting "gusto" and "glam" next. OH and they are $4.25.... sigh.  I can buy ALL of them if I wanted to lol

On to HAIR!! 

I already have professed my love for KMF gel over and over, and many of you have co-signed :-)
I am giving it a permanent first class ticket to all of my trips to the shower. But the Kiss My Face Conditioner always looks at me from the shelf as I remove its cousin, raises its little conditioner arms to come with, but I turn my back.  I finally picked  up the little over-priced bottle and decided to give it a try about a month ago.
This is not your typical conditioner.  It does not provide much slip nor um... sudsyness nor co-washness... but stay with me.  Instead it is buttery. It's not like a deep conditioner where it makes your hair soft, instead it makes it feel like noodles lol.  At first I was like what is this?  I can't comb through, it feels weird.
But then I was like ooohh I like it.  My hair clearly loves it. And then I immediately made the connection to the gel and the silkyness it encourages.  It is just a very different product line.  The natural ingredients work differently on my hair than their synthetic peers.  and I can get with it.

I left some in one day and my hair was soooooo supple.  I have not yet tried to do a true wash and go using it as a leave in, but the ingredients are so good I don't see why I can't leave it on. There are two kinds I have tried now- the Miss Treated and Whenever.

I prefer the Miss Treated feel and scent- a bit more herby and buttery.
I'll let these ingredients speak for themselves but I think the protein and the combo of the oils and herbs make a very stable and beneficial mix for my fine hair.

Aloe Barbadensis*, Lavendula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract*, Hibiscus Sabdariffa (Hibiscus) Flower Extract*, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Extract*, Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) Extract*, Rosa Canina (Rose Hips) Extract*, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Extract*, Rubus Idaeus (Red Raspberry) Extract*, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Leaf Extract*, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Glycerin, Stearalkonium Chloride, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil*, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract, Helianthus Anuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolized Wheat Amino Acids, Rosemarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Tocopherol, Lecithin, Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus) Leaf Oil, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, Panthenol Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Oil, Caprylic Acid, Glycine, Cymbopogon Martini (Palmarosa) Oil, Cyamopsis Tetragonolobus (Guar) Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Benzophenone-3, Citric Acid. *organic
I'm not saying to rush out and get any of these things but next time you need to re-up on staples like conditioner or nail polish, these are certainly worth their weight in quarters. I have given them a fair trial and I am impressed! 

Things I do not cosign but have tried recently are Trader Joe's conditioners and Queen Helene's royal curl cream. I have nothing nice to say yet, nor can I confirm anything totally negative, but I will let the bottles play out and then fill you in!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

I got braces!


I got ceramic braces with clear bands :-) 
I have a severely deep bite, and have known I needed braces for almost 2 decades lol.  But for various reasons, mostly aesthetic in my 20s, I put it off.  Well this past year a few trips to the dentist confirmed that I needed to hurry up and correct my bite before any more damage could occur.  So TA DA.  Here I am.  I will have them up top for 6 months to open my bite enough to get them put on the bottom.  So far they don't hurt and I'm tolerating them well! No speech impediment lol

Here is a quick, silent vid about what I am having correted.  My bite is over 100% and looks similar to the teeth below :-( 

My hair?  Bang and bun again lol- but I added a flower headband. KMF gel :-)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Little Circle Coils

I love it when my hair coils! Sometimes my hair forms little circle shaped coils on the ends after I have had it shingled and stretched for a few days.  I also notice that the Kiss My Face Gel seems to encourage this behavior more so than the other staple gels I like (eco styler and Fantasia). KMF is fast solidifying its place as the front runner.

Personally, I really love the way the little coils look.  I'm not sure if other people "get" it but I feel like it's really pretty lol.  I try to wear it out and show them off when I get the little circles.  Here are some pictures of them- they are pretty easy to see in the picts.  perfect little circles at the ends of most of my hair:



So me and my little circles were going out to a birthday party last night.  And here is the easter egg in this post for my regular readers- Goku is gone.  So aside from having more free time, when I go out I put on make up and stuff now lol.  Sooo here I was for the night.  I had a red stain lip and a red flowy shirt with a short and tight black&white striped skirt. I stretched my hair out a bit more with my small blow dryer and wore it big and proud :-)




Had such a great night I didn't get any more pictures lol

Thursday, September 8, 2011

bang bang bang

You all know how I am about wearing my curly bang, like, almost all the time :-D

Most of this summer I have been wash and going, or shingle and going, and wearing my hair for 3 or 4 days before co-washing and starting over. Nothing spectacular. I am experimenting with beeswax as a sealant, and I am working on some product reviews that I have tried on my wash and goes. Have to give it a few tries before I can speak on it lol.

Anyway- I have trimmed my hair again about .5 inches and cut the bang a bit shorter.  My goal is just to kept my shag shape as exaggerated as I can as the back grows out. My only caveat is that it all still has to fit into one ponytail. But meanwhile I am loving my bang, especially now that it's shorter. So much so that I wore just the bang and a "bun" yesterday. I co-washed and left in some Kiss My Face Organic Miss Treated Conditioner for Damaged Hair (♥♥♥♥♥- reviewing soon)and put some aloe vera gel and castor oil over that.  That's it.  (the beeswax from daaaaays ago is definitely a player here- more on that when I can assess the risks more thoroughly)

Picts!










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