Oh Snap

As I've previously chronicled, my hair is super duper dry. It could be from all those years of coloring my hair or it could be genetics. I'd like to believe genetics, but know that my hair woes are really self-inflicted.

I got my hair cut a few weeks ago and noticed that it was the best cut I've ever had for less than $20. Why oh why am I so cheap with haircuts? Oh yeah, because I wait impossibly long between them and when I finally break down to get one, I have to have it IMMEDIATELY! So a place that can serve walk-ins is a must.

That being said the stylist in that "I have to recommend a product to you to help push product sales, but I don't want to appear to be pushing product" way suggested that I try a Redken leave-in product. She called is "Oh Snap" and said that it would help heal my broken hair and have people saying "Oh Snap" when they saw me walk in.

I didn't believe her.

The actual name of the product is Redken Extreme Anti Snap Treatment. And now it is my lover. I've given it a full two weeks and it has kicked Neutrogena's leave-in out of my life forever. This stuff has my hair feeling like it did when I was sporting my natural color. My boyfriend even loves how he can actually get his fingers through my hair now without ripping out part of my scalp.

Pros: Delicious smell, actually made my hair like a virgin again, works like it says it does.

Cons: None that I can find.

Price: About $16

Rating: Super fab fierceness

Always with a smudge

Have you ever seen those girls who go off to school or work with perfect make-up, never a run in their panty hose or a hair out of place?

Well, I'm not one of those girls. try desperately as I might, I always end up looking like a Picasso painting in the morning. I look good in my mirror in the bathroom but as soon as I hit the car, I begin to notice things in the fresh morning light.

Wow! I really missed a lot of stray hairs when I tweezed last.

Whoops! How did lip gloss get on my cheek?

Why does even a little bit of shimmer make me look like a stripper? It's not even GLITTER.

That's pretty much how my morning commute starts. Yes, I am one of those annoying women who uses their rearview mirror for touch-ups. . .just not while I'm in motion. It seems like no matter how I try, my biggest problem spots are my eyes. I've watched The Hills for a while (now I'm out of the closet about it) and can never figure out how Lauren can effortlessly blend her eye make up. Not for a second do I believe it's all mark by Avon, either.

If at try 1001 you don't succeed, try try again tomorrow.

How many Layers of Pre-make up do you wear?

As I was putting on my make-up this morning, I thought of a recent experience at Sephora. The saleslady there was taking off my make up to try some new stuff out on me. I have been using Bare Escentuals for about 2-3 years now. If not the actual brand then L'Oreal's Bare Naturale. Anyway, in some way shape or form, I've been wearing powedered foundation.

If you've used powdered foundation for a while, you'll notice a few things:

1. The coverage truly is great and very light
2. It doesn't cause oily skin to get oilier
3. The colors blend so you don't get the nice line of foundation that I, idiotic make up queen, always seemed to get
4. The powder gets everywhere and is a bitch to clean up.

I kept using it for the first three reasons and finally decided to take a break because of the last one. So, nice Sephora lady recommended that I try a tinted moisturizer to get light coverage and an easy look. Great! Show me and I'm sold. She took off my make up and then proceeded to add foundation primer (I thought it wasn't a true foundation) and regular moisturizer (I thought I was going to be getting a tinted moisturizer, do I need that much moisture?) before putting on concealer, the tinted moisturizer and then powder moisturizer.

It took me FOUR LAYERS of "pre make up" before I looked good enough to be in one of those "Stars Without Their Make Up" segments of US Weekly. I was a little scared. Then I realized that I normally use at LEAST three layers of primer, moisturizer and mineral powder at home.

So I guess what I'm asking is: How many layers of pre-make up do you need?

It's like Cauterizing Your Underarm Sweat Glands

Not really, but I haven't been moist for days. Last week before I spent two days moving furniture, I decided to try a new deoderant. I thought I was the only one out there that had to switch up my deoderants every few months, but then Julie told me that she has to as well.

See, every couple of months, I notice that at the end of the day, my arm pits are both sweaty and musty smelling. I get paranoid and start asking friends and co-workers if they can smell me. They swear they can't, but I can. That's when I know it's time to start working with a new deoderant to take the edge off the smell.

This time I decided to switch from Dove Cool Moisture to something a little more hardcore. I wasn't going to go all Certain Dri on my underarms because I wasn't sure they could take it. So, I tried Secret's Clinical Strength deoderant in powder fresh.

After a day of moving furniture, I noticed that I was sweating everywhere. . .except under my arms. And that I didn't smell. I didn't smell like powder fresh goodness, but I did not stink like a construction worker in July, either. Both of which are good things in my book.

Pros: Left me high and dry.

Cons: Leaves the typical weird skin feeling under your arms. That slick, smooth, no pores kind of feeling. Only comes in unscented and powder fresh.

Price: About $8- a little expensive for deoderant, but worth it.

Rating: Relatively fierce. I'll keep buying it until it stops working and then I'm on to another!

Guess it only works for the Barrymores

I want to let you know I will buy anything in an orange tube.

I am always on the lookout for a great, inexpensive mascara, and I think I am still on the lookout after Lash Blast. I was not a fan of the brush, most end in a nice point, but this was like the eraser end of a No.2 pencil.

What CG says: Get a blast of lush, volumized lashes! LashBlast's patented volume-boosting formula and patent-pending brush are designed to max-out each and every lash, leaving you with the ultimate big lash look. Now in waterproof, too!

Pros: I had no raccoon eyes, even after a rock star night. My eyelashes even looked fake!

Cons: My lashes were thick alright, but no curl whatsoever to them. Thick and sticking straight out. Odd looking.

Price:$7.65

Rating: So-So Fierce. If you curl your lashes first, then use this, it's all good. That's too much work for me.

Fab Frederick!

I have a new love in my hair care life. His name..Frederick. As someone who has adored Frederick Fekkai for years now, (I had the pleasure of seeing him work during awards seasons in LA) I was pumped to see he had released a new line of hair care sold at Sephora, Bath and Body Works and other fine retailers. Great hair for the masses...democracy at its finest. My fab mother-in-law was wonderful enough to get me his new Glossing Shampoo and I was sold. It smells so divine and leaves my hair noticeable shinier and supple. Check out my fierce four:
Pros: delightfully shiny hair with noticeable sheen, so soft I can skip conditioning
Cons: don't use everyday unless you have really dry hair otherwise you look a little greasy at the root
Price:$32.50- maybe a little more then your typical purchase but totally worth it! Put down those $200.00 shoes and remember you wear your hair everyday!
Rating: So Fierce-a must have for the dry winter months!

Not so Perfect 10, but not half bad

I'm a do it yourself kind of beauty gal. I'm either uncomfortable with someone scrubbing my feet or too lazy to make an appointment to sit in a salong for over an hour to have my hair colored. Or I'm too poor to have someone want to put in highlights and lowlights every 6 weeks at $200 a pop. For as many things that are cheaper in Nashville than in other metropolitan areas, professional hair care is NOT one of them (I blame it on the music industry).

That being said, I've been dying my own hair since I was about 16. Although I've tried other colors and brands on occasion, I've primarily been a Nice 'N Easy 103B kind of gal. A nice light ash blonde that is lighter than my natural dishwater blonde look, but not too far away that I glow under blacklight. (Side note: Back before I knew better and was just trying to be as blonde as I could be, I went to a college party where my hair actually did glow under the blacklight. It was simultaneously cool and embarrasing).

So with the onslaught of Nice N Easy's Perfect 10, I decided to mix it up a bit. I use Nice N Easy, so it's not that big of a stretch, plus if it looks better and takes only 10 minutes. . .bonus.

They say it smells good, only takes ten minutes, covers gray, adds high gloss, has an easier to use comb, and is better for your hair cuticle than normal coloring.

Fierce Four

Pros: It actually colored my hair in about 12 minutes. It did smell slightly better than regular Nice N Easy, but chemicals are chemicals. When you use more chemicals to cover the smell of other chemicals, eventually no matter how good it still smells like. . . chemicals. However, the after color conditioning treatment smelled wonderfully of coconuts.

Several people commented that my hair looked healthier the next day. I'm not one to ever think that coloring hair makes it remotely healthier, the conditioner did do it's job of adding gloss.

Cons: It left my hair brassier looking than Nice N Easy normally does. I used the color closest to my normal shade and the roots ended up having a reddish tint for the first few washings.

The color palette is pretty small in comparison to normal Nice N Easy or most colors, but I'm sure if the product takes off, the colors will increase.

The "easy to use comb" tip applicator was not so great to use. It separated the hair, but once it was coated, doing the next bit was harder than just using it all over. In the end, I ended up just using the comb for my roots and then my gloved hands for the rest.

Price: Less than $10

Rating: Not so fierce, but not a flop. I'd probably give it another try, but then I'll go back to Nice N Easy.