I've been using Brilliant Glossing Cream from Frederic Fekkai for a couple years. I comb a marble size amount through my hair right after a shower because I love what it does for my texture. Although it's not mentioned as a benefit, it thickens my flat hair. The main attraction, however, is the glossiness. It makes my hair look so shiny and healthy, even right now with all the split ends I need to cut off. I also love the smell too! It does not smell like typical hair cream at all; it's more of a perfume scent. It's not drying at all though.
The benefits of using it daily are great. My hair is thicker and healthier looking even though it's currently brittle and thinning from a nutritional problem. The price tag may be off putting but Fekkai is so worth it. I've tried a sample of the Brilliant Glossing shampoo and conditioner as well, and let's just say if I could afford it, I'd probably be using that. I don't have a before picture, but this is how shiny and glossy my hair is and I attribute it to Fekkai's Brilliant Glossing Cream!
I'm almost finished with the Kindle book The Dark Monk. I received it and its prequel The Hangman's Daughter from BzzAgent. It's a website where members are chosen for BzzCampaigns where they receive BzzKits containing free items to try and share. This particular BzzCampaign consisted of two totally free Kindle books! I finished The Hangman's Daughter, the first book, in two days and I'm almost done reading The Dark Monk. These two books are fast paced, historical thrillers that take place in 17th century Bavaria.
What I love about these books is how easy it is for me to relate to. My mom is from Bavaria, and I've visited cities that are mentioned in the book and been very close to Schongau, so it's very easy for me to visualize, but Mr. Pötzsch is a fantastic writer and Lee Chadeayne does a great translation and I think even somebody who has never been to Bavaria would be able to picture the setting. At the end of this post, I'll actually include some pictures of the area.
One detail from the first book I loved is the superstition about redheads. I'm a redhead and my grandparents were stunned when I was born. In Germany historically red hair has been a sign of a witch and that is a part of the story, as one character is a redhead and concerned that her hair will mark her as a witch.
It's also cool that the books were inspired by the author's genealogy. I love working on my own family tree and I've had story ideas based on stories I've found about my ancestors so that angle adds extra charm. Obviously it's purely fiction, but just knowing that genealogy was an inspiration made it that much neater to read.
Both books are easy reads. They fly by so fast. In this case, however, easy read doesn't mean a bad story at all. The story in both books is very engrossing and it was usually hard to put my Kindle down when it was time to go to sleep. One morning I almost missed a doctor appointment because I lost track of time!
Check out The Hangman's Daughter and The Dark Monk by Oliver Pötzsch and translated by Lee Chadeayne and sign up for BzzAgent if you haven't already. They've got new campaigns frequently so there's always something to do! As promised, here are a couple pictures of Bavaria to help set the scene.
Landsberg, where Benedikta is from
a Bavarian village church, possibly similar to the church in The Dark Monk
an inside view of a Bavarian church, with a balcony on the right
Bavarian countryside and a village
the Lech river that is mentioned frequently. This view is in Landsberg
a Bavarian farm. This is very typical architecture through the region
a picture of girls dressed similar to the time The Dark Monk is set
boys reenacting the war that is mentioned frequently. This is similar dress to what the characters would have worn
Influenster is a website where members are chosen based on demographics for VoxBoxes, which are boxes filled with amazing goodies to try and review. I've received two boxes from them already. Although I wasn't chosen for their Summer Beauty VoxBox I noticed it had Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color in it. I've wanted to try this nail polish for a long time, but with the cost, I wasn't sure if it would be worth it. As member started receiving their Summer Beauty VoxBoxes, the pictures started posting. And I was stunned. So I decided to take a chance and try it for myself. It works. It's very easy to use. Just a thin layer, let it dry, then apply a really thick layer and hold the magnet over it for ten seconds. Yes, it takes only ten seconds for the design. It's so simple even a spaz like me can do it and make it look good.
Yup, it works and it takes no more effort than regular nail polish. So although I did not receive it for free, I saw the photos from other Influensters and decided to try it for myself. I spent my own money on this, and it was worth it! Sally Hansen has quickly become my favorite nail polish brand. Check out my post about Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips and check out the gorgeous colors in Sally Hansen's magnetic collection!
Check out my video tutorial to see how easy it is to use!
As a BzzAgent, I was invited to join the recent Be. Wines campaign! I'm an occasional wine drinker, so I don't know much about the different varieties, but Be. Wines actually makes it fun and easy to figure out what to try. BzzAgent sent me a BzzKit containing a booklet about the brand with a fun quiz to discover my mood, a high value rebate for myself, five rebates to share with friends, and fun goodies like lip gloss, a mirror, a nail file, and delicious mints!
Now, Be. has four types of wine and they each correspond to a mood. You can choose based on the mood or if you already know what you like, just pick that. The quiz was helpful since I don't know much about wine. I bought the Riesling and the Pink Moscato. I took the Riesling to our father's day dinner to share withe the family since my mom is German and loves German wine. The Pink Moscato I shared with a couple friends at a get together. As a woman who only drinks occasionally, I really loved both of them. The Riesling was a great sweet wine and went well with the fish we ate for dinner. The Pink Moscato is definitely aptly named. It was indeed a flirty drink and I wouldn't hesitate to order it (or bring it with me) for a date. One of my friends drinks wine quite frequently and is what I'd call an expert. She knows the lingo and she's picky but she loved Be. Basically, it's a wine any woman will love.
While I'm on the subject, Be. is definitely marketing toward women, but my dad and brother loved it too. I think they are just trying to make wine seem more fun for the female demographic and less boring. It's definitely got a lot of appeal to a young professional woman. The names of each variety are fun and the bottles have a nice clean design. The goodies that came in my BzzKit were really fun too and great for a young on the go woman.
In short, Be. wine was enjoyed by both occasional and frequent wine drinkers. The marketing targets the younger professional female demographic but my middle aged father and 23 year old brother enjoyed the Riesling as much as I did. Be. is worth giving a try and it's perfect for people who feel a little intimidated or overwhelmed in the wine aisle, like I always have! Sign up for BzzAgent here and check out Be.'s website here for more info!
For the last few years I've been missing John Frieda's Radiant Red Glaze. I finally wandered into my local Ulta store and noticed they have an Ultimate Red haircare line. I decided to give it a shot but I honestly wasn't that optimistic since I was so in love with John Frieda's red glaze. I've been using the shampoo, conditioner, and color restoring glaze for about a week now and the results are so impressive! My hair went from this:
to this:
What I love about the Ulta redhead products is they work the first time. There's no need for it to gradually deposit and build up in your hair! It's also easy to use just like the John Frieda products, but with Ulta's you get instant results. Just leave the glaze in for five minutes, wash out, and you're done. I like to put my hair up in a bun while I'm using it so I can multitask and not waste water for that five minutes. It will stain your skin and any fabric it comes into contact with, but you can wash it off skin with soap. Overall, I'm so thrilled I found this. It's not just a substitute, it's an improvement over John Frieda Radiant Red Glaze, so if they never discontinued that, I probably wouldn't have found Ulta's. As long as Ulta keeps loving us redheads, I'll keep coming back for more!
Skincare can be a complicated subject. Every person has different needs, and I think each person has products that work best for them. This is a review of what works best for me. I have oily skin which is acne prone and I have tremendously large pores.
This is the Olay Professional Pro X Clear kit. It's a 3 step system (cleanser, skin clearing treatment, and a moisturizing lotion) that I use daily. It's the only thing I've found that really helps control both my pimples and my pores. The lotion (step 3) is a great moisturizer too, which is important with oily skin.
I follow the Olay Pro X Clear kit with Physicians Formula Intensive Wrinkle Corrector Eye Cream. I'm only 25 and hopefully I'm not even close to having wrinkles yet, but it's certainly time to work on preventing them. My mom has amazing skin and she's always advised me to take care of it before it ages. It's much easier to prevent wrinkles and sagging skin than it is to undo it. While I'm on the subject of prevention, I neither smoke nor get sun damage. I always use sun protection and I'm lucky enough to have avoided picking up a cigarette habit.
I use two different masks. I use the Olay Pro X Clear Intensive Refining Sulfur mask twice a week. It works wonders for my oily skin. When I wash it off, my face feels hydrated and I swear it doesn't turn into an oil spill for a day or two. It can be a little drying, so if you have dry patches avoid it. I love this mask for spot treating. The Boscia Luminizing Black Mask I use once a week. It's a peel off mask and it feels amazing. My skin is radiant after I use it. I think Luminizing is a great name for it!
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I use the Dickinson's Witch Hazel Pore Perfecting Toner in the middle of the day as a touch up. If I get sweaty or dirty but don't have the time or motivation to wash my face, I just swipe this toner over my face and it's an instant improvement. It helps clean sweat, dirt, and makeup, and like I said it's a great midday touch up to get your face feeling clean again.
I'm a huge fan of Biore pore strips! They are so great my fiance's started using them with me. Just stick them on for ten to fifteen minutes, peel them off, and check out what's no longer in your pores! Between the Olay system and the Biore Pore Strips, my large pores are actually looking better. There are no quick fixes, but with time I've seen so much improvement.
The final product I use is Burt's Bees Doctor Burt's Herbal Blemish Stick. This is a roller ball filled with an herbal treatment. Spot treat any blemishes and they will disappear overnight. The Burt's Bees is the only product I've found that actually does shrink zits overnight. That's great because it keeps me from picking at them.
It may be a complicated routine I have, but the results speak for themselves.
I'm a member of Influenster and last month I received the Spring Beauty VoxBox! VoxBoxes are filled with free goodies to try and talk about and one of the amazing products in this box was Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. Here's a summary of my thoughts:
Pros: professional results, easy to use, long lasting (Sally Hansen says up to 10 days, I got 12 days before the first chip)
Con: the only negative is the price. It's worth it for special occasions, but probably not for everyday use
Tips: a top coat might extend the life even longer, with the Frock Star design I was able to use the leftover strips to seemlessly patch spots I missed
I want to stress that this product is real nail polish! They aren't nail stickers which means you will get amazing salon quality results! I got to try Frock Star which is an awesome glittery design that would be perfect for parties and festive occasions. I'm looking forward to trying Hear Me Roar, Wishful Pinking, and Fly With Me soon but they have 40 gorgeous styles and eventually I'd love to try them all.
The strips are so easy to use. The first two fingers didn't look that great but I don't have a very steady hand but I was able to use part of an extra strip to patch it up! It probably won't work too well with some of the patterns, but with Frock Star being a random glitter design, even I couldn't tell the difference, so that's something to keep in mind if you end up with any bare spots on the edge of the nail.
The directions are very easy to follow and the package even includes a cuticle pusher and nail file/buffer! The only thing you will need is nail polish remover. I also recommend using a top coat to prolong the manicure, but that's entirely optional and mine didn't chip at all for 12 days (the info says it lasts up to 10 days)
And now for the results:
Visit Sally Hansen's website to learn more about Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips and all the other amazing products they offer and look for them in Walgreen's, RiteAid, Target, and other stores.
