SheaMoisture Purification Masque

When I got the news that ULTA was opening in my town I was ecstatic! When I got a job with them I was on cloud nine! There were so many products I wanted to try and play with!!! And this baby has become my golden goose!

I grabbed this hair mask on the off chance that it would work. My hair is the weirdest I know of. It's oily, coarse, thick, wavy and curly, with a sensitive, dry scalp that is very prone to dandruff. I can wash my hair and have dandruff the very next day. But with this mask it's about four days before my hair starts showing signs.

This mask has a very mild "grit" to it that I'm assuming is to exfoliate the scalp. (The package doesn't really say anything about that.) It has a base of Shea butter, coconut oil, and avocado among other moisturizing creams, oils, and butter. For medicinal purposes, it has salicylic acid, willow bark extract, and tea tree oil. It is extremely natural, and it says "homeopathic remedy"! It's made without a lot of icky things like parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and a lot of other crap that's bad for you.
It says to: "Apply generously to dampened hair, leave for 5-30 minutes and rinse thoroughly."
What I typically do is shampoo my hair and use this as a conditioner in rotation with my actual conditioner. My hair stylist has me using Paul Mitchell's tea tree line with lavender. She says it's clarifying yet soothing which is good for dandruff prone hair. The results with my conditioner isn't as long lasting as it is with the mask, but it still works.

The tub says it "Conditions hair while relieving dry, itchy and flaking scalp while regulating sebum production. Plantain Enzymes, clarifying Tea Tree Oil and Willow Bark Extract removes product buildup and strengthens hair by sealing in natural moisture." It does all that and more for me! Since I have a very sensitive scalp I have to be careful with the products I use on my hair. Certain things aggravate my dandruff, and some will even clog hair follicles and cause "acne" on my scalp. I've been using this mask for almost a month and nothing bad has happened! Only good!
Now, I know very little about hair care, but I would highly recommend this product, and line, to anyone! I haven't tried anything else by SheaMoisture, but I will be in the future! I'm always happy to find new products that are natural and work amazingly!
Until next time!
Abby

Hair Extensions for Beginners, Pt. 2 | Getting My Extensions Blended

Hey there! Sorry it's been so long since I posted Part 1!! I was being kind of paranoid about taking my extensions to just anyone to get them blended. And they needed to be blended let me tell you! When I first got them they came just above my butt, and they didn't blend very well with my hair natural.

(As stated in Part 1 my hair is naturally thick, coarse, and a mix between curly and wavy.)

I tried straightening my hair...and it worked a little better! But not much.

(My hair straightened. A little more believable, but not much more.)

So, I'd kinda been holding out for ULTA to open in my town. I'd gotten a job with them, and I was curious who would be working in the salon. When opening came my niece got her hair cut there by a stylist from Washington, and she did an amazing job! As soon as my niece was done with her hair cut I booked my appointment! And I'm so glad I did.

MacKenzie did an awesome job with my extensions. She told me to straighten my hair and extensions, clip them in how I would like them to be, and she would blend them into my real hair. She's got me going in for a regular trim at the end of the month, and she told me to come in the next day with my extensions in so she could see how it all looks, and she would fix anything that needed to be touched up!

(A little hard to see, because of the angle, but I can definitely tell it looks like my actual hair!)

All in all, you pretty much have to get extensions blended. I swear the girls on YouTube that claim they can just order them and clip them in..no. Not possible. My stylist even said so. There's no way a company can cut extensions to suit everybody's hair. Especially because they're pretty much cut straight across. My extensions now sit just a little bit above where they were before my hair cut. I told MacKenzie I wanted the least amount possible cut off, but if a little extra had to go to ensure a realistic blend, then so be it!

I love my extensions and would recommend them to pretty much anyone!! My only suggestion towards Bellami would be more of a shade range.

Again, the set of extensions I got were the Magnifica 240g 24" Hair Extensions in Mochaccino Brown (1C).

I hope this was informative for anyone as much of a beginner as myself, and a nice read for anyone else!

Until next time,

Abby.

Hair Extensions for Beginners, Pt. 1 | A Rundown of the Company and MyHair

Hey Everyone! Hope 2015 is going great for all of you!
To start with, this is not sponsored. I'm not being paid for this. I am a customer, and this is my honest opinion. I'm a complete beginner here as well. I've never tried extensions beyond those 1 clip wefts that Hot Topic and Claire's/Icing sell for little pops of color here and there.

I'd been contemplating buying extensions for a while now. My hair is very thick, and naturally an in between of wavy and curly. When I was a little girl my hair grew naturally in ringlet curls until is got too thick and weighted down. Today my hair is about mid-chest length. My want for hair extensions is partially for a costume idea I have, part for special occasions, and just an all around want of long hair. I did a lot of research online, websites and YouTube, and finally settled on Bellami Hair.

I didn't really need them for volume, but when it came to it for length there was only one option for it. The Bellami extensions are 100% natural, Remy human hair, and the wefts are thick all the way from top to bottom. They don't go all scraggly and thin at the ends.

I was a little wary when it came to the color choosing process because it's my natural hair color. I have extremely dark brown hair with a lot of red highlights and some (but not much) gold highlights. I was also a little apprehensive because the people I saw that ordered the color I did, it seemed like their extensions were so much darker than my hair. I kept going back and forth between 2 different colors before finally settling on one color. (Bellami also doesn't have the widest color range when it comes to choosing either.)

The really nice thing when it comes to choosing the right color for you is you can email a picture of yourself in natural lighting to the company, and they will evaluate it and tell you the closest color match. And even if it's not, when you get your package there's a "tester weft" that you can see if it matches before opening the larger package (which voids your return policy). If it doesn't match, then wrap up the "tester weft", contact the company, and mail it back for an exchange for the next color. If it does match, then keep the tester weft (because it's actually part of the set) and open them on up!! Not very many companies offer this testing service. So that was a definite pro when it came to choosing which company to go with.

I ordered them on New Years Day (that night), and they were shipped out by the next morning/afternoon. If you order before noon PST (Pacific Standard Time) they will ship your order that same day. It took 4 days total to get to me from California all the way up in Alaska!

So, that's it for now. I will post Part 2 after playing with my extensions a little more. (I've only had them for 2 days!) Photos included! Stay tuned!

Abby

Better Late than Never

I finally ordered myself the Sleek "Vintage Romance" palette and blush!! And my, oh my - it's SO PRETTY!
As promised, here's my swatchy swatchy :)

So far I haven't used very many of these eye shadows. I've only used Court in Cannes, Lust in L.A., and Love in London. Those three mixed together made a really lovely bronzed smokey look. I was really impressed with it, and I can't wait to use more! I'm especially in love with that cranberry color that is Honeymoon in Hollywood! I was also pleasantly surprised that Forever in Florence was a beautiful purple shade!

This is the blush in the shade "Antique"

My only dislike with this is the glitter. I haven't tried it on my cheeks yet, but it IS a beautiful color. I'm just not too sure about the glitter. We shall see.

Sleek Vintage Romance Collection (Fall 2013)

Because, who isn't excited for this collection?!

Pretty in Paris
Meet in Madrid
Court in Cannes
Lust in LA
Romance in Rome
Propose in Prague
-------------------
Vow in Venice
Marry in Monte Carlo
Honeymoon in Hollywood
Bliss in Barcelona
Forever in Florence
Love in London

"Antique"

I mean, honestly! From the packaging, to the colors! I'm in love with this so much! I can't wait for it to get here already! It's supposed to be released in September, so it's only a matter of days!

You can guarantee that I will post a swatchy-swatchy review once I get my paws on them! And then, makeup possibilities!