Bzzagent Buzzkit Unboxing Neutrogena Triple Repair Hair Care

I love trying products! Especially when they're free. Thanks to Bzzagent, I'll be testing out the Triple Repair Hair Care line by Neutrogena. If you're not familiar with Buzzagent, it's a social marketing company that matches products/services with consumers and gets a conversation going. Check out the video to find out a little more. And signup, for free, HERE.

Natural Hair Wishlist: Camille Rose

My natural hair wishlist just keep getting longer and longer because there are so many new/up and coming product lines launching. And I've been eyeing this Camille Rose Naturals line for a few months now. The website says that the products are "handcrafted using raw natural ingredients" which is something I'm always interested in. You can read their story here.  I've seen and read some pretty good review for their line. And though all of the items look really good, I'm most interested in the deep conditioners, leave-ins, and butters. Here are the one I plan to try once I come off of my extensive no buy:

Algae Deep Conditioning Mask

Curl Love Moisture Milk

Almond Jai Twisting Butter

Aloe Whipped Butter Gel

Ajani Growth & Shine Balm

photo sources: camillerosenaturals.com

Wen Healthy Hair Care System Review

I'm sure you've all the seen the infomercials for Wen by now. Maybe some of you have been itching to try it. Well, I haven't and I can't really tell you why. However my sister uses it and really likes it; she gets the system auto-shipped every month. This month she was accidentally sent two systems so she gave one to me . And I don't turn down free products so I took and tested them. The system is $29.95 for a 30 day supply and consists of a 12oz bottle of  Sweet Almond cleansing conditioner, 2oz of Re Moist Intensive Hair Treatment, 2 oz Styling Creme, and 0.35 oz texture balm stick.

I used the cleansing conditioner first (the bottle was slightly use 2/3 full) which is a substitute for shampoo. The directions suggested using 10-15 pumps for an entire head and more product for longer/thicker hair. I started with the suggested amount but needed more for my natural kinky/curly hair. I ended up using half of the bottle. So a little doesn't go a long way for me. And as far as how the product felt, it was a little meh for me. And it didn't aid that much in de-tangling. I guess I'm used to heavier and/or more slippery products that make make it easy to smooth my hair. I did notice a little less frizz though. Overall I thought that the cleansing conditioner did the job but didn't wow me.

Next, I used the Re moist Intensive treatment. I liked this product; it felt nice on and left my hair smooth. I used over have the jar though so...maybe I'll try what's leftover as a hair cream.
 I then continued with my normal routine which is adding a leave-in, moisturizer, oil/butter, and then braiding or twisting to air-dry.

A few days later I used the styling creme (not pictured) which seems more like a gel and serum hybrid. I thought it was ok. I used it to slick and smooth my hair back. And I used a tiny bit of the texture balm (not pictured) on top of the cream. The balm is like your standard oil and wax-like balm or pomade. It's a little less greasy than some though. I liked it ok but I have others that I like more.

Overall, I thought this system was good, not great. At least not for my hair. Granted, I have only used the system once and some people recommend using products for at least a month to see how they really perform. But I think I've got a pretty good idea of what my hair likes. Besides, these won't  last me a month  And I can't spend $29.95 on products that are going to barely last 2 washes.  I think this system is probably better for those with normal, fine, relaxed, wavy, and/or looser curly hair.
What are your thoughts?
Do you want to try Wen?
Have you used Wen? If so, do you like it?

Local Indie: Products Of The Earth!

Products Of The Earth is a local Chicago company that sells haircare and bodycare products. They were selling their items at an event that I happened to be vending at also. And since I am such a "product junkie" I had to stop by their table and take a look at their products. Needless to say I liked what I saw because here I am writing about them. All of the products are natural and full of oils, butters, and herbs that are great for skin and hair. So of course I had to buy something. And though they had many products I was interested in trying I finally settled on the Herbal Hair Revitalizer and the Herbal Body Lotion. I have been using both these products since I got them and I really like them. I would definitely buy them again and next time I'll check out some of their other products. I am particularly interested in the Revitalizer Spray. Maybe I'll try that next! Hmmm! We'll see and I'll keep you posted.












Note: All photos are from the Products Of The Earth website-I will remove all photos if requested by representatives of the company

How Safe Are Your Cosmetics and Beauty Care Products?

How safe are your cosmetics and beauty care products? Do you know? Have you ever given it a thought? I do now but that was not always the case. I used to buy lots of cosmetics, bath and body, products, hair care products and never really thought about whether or not they were safe. Although I did look at the ingredients, I never really paid that much attention to the chemicals. I would only scan for the new, hot, buzz word ingredients.
These buzz word ingredients often ranged from vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, and anti-oxidants to plant extracts, herbal extracts, and fruit extracts,tea and many more. And every year there was a new ingredient that popped up in many different products. The new hot ingredient was was often borrowed from the health and nutrition world. For example, if a fruit, tea, herb,vitamin,mineral, etc, was getting praised for it's health benefits, it would end up in the beauty world. Here is a list of some ingredients (from health care world) that have been popular in beauty care over the years:

Vitamin A

Vitamin E

Vitamin C

Panthenol (Vitamin B-5)

Green Tea

White Tea

Red Tea (Rooibos)

Pomegranate

Acai

Dark Chocolate

soy

Noni

Goji Berry

acerola

seaweed

Yerba Mate

Grapeseed Extract

This list could go on and on but I will stop it here.



If I saw a few of these popular ingredients in a product, I would basically disregard all of the other chemical stuff and buy the product. Besides, I figured that cosmetics companies would not really add unsafe ingredients to their products. Plus, the chemists who develop the products usually say that the chemicals are added in such low concentrations that the chance of them causing harm is minimal to none. So I continued to buy many products without thinking about chemical ingredients.



Then I started to pay more attention. I wanted to know more about what I was putting on my face and body-especially since I was starting to eat healthier. As I changed my diet from fast food, soda and candy to homemade dishes and fruit and veggies-I began to carefully read nutrition labels and ingredients of everything I ate. This then prompted me to examine the labels and ingredients of my beauty products. And this time instead of scanning for buzz word ingredients I scanned for chemicals. I began to research some of the chemicals and found out that they were mostly used to enhance the feel and look of the products. For instance, propylene glycol is a chemical often used in moisturizers as a lubricant. However propylene glycol is also used in anti-freeze and a variety of other products. And then there are other chemicals like parabens that are used as preservatives. Parabens have recently been the subject of much controversy because many believe that they can cause cancer.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, many chemists and some beauty experts have told us that most of these chemicals are harmless since they are used in such small concentrations. However, have they considered that many women use up to and over 16 beauty care products a day. Therefore, a woman could be applying hundreds of chemicals to her hair, body, face, nails, etc, every day. This equals to thousands of chemicals over a woman's lifetime. So do these chemicals have a cumulative affect? What if, in one day, a person uses a shampoo, conditioner, hair product, facial cleanser, facial moisturizer, toner, body moisturizer, body spray, sunscreen, foundation, face powder, mascara, lipstick, and lip gloss that all have parabens or other chemicals? Does this layering increase the possible negative affects of a chemical? How much of these chemicals are actually absorbed into the body? I don't know and I do not have any scientific proof, but my senses (now) tells me that layering on chemical laden products (no matter the concentration) can not be good for your body-inside and out. And the fact that there is even controversy about whether or not these chemicals are harmful makes me not want to use products that contain them.

Now I just try to make sure that all of products I use in my hair, on my face and body are natural or organic and free of chemical. And whenever I am tempted to try a new product I look up the product and its company on the Safe Cosmetics Database. This database has information on most cosmetic companies, their products and how safe or dangerous these product may be. It has been a great help to me as I look for more natural cosmetics and body products.