L'Oreal Professionnel Mythic Oil Review

I received a sample of the L’Oreal Professionnel Mythic Nourishing Oil in one of my Birchboxes.  I can’t remember if it was November or December.  I found it in the drawer where I keep all my sample items and decided to give it a try.

According to L’Oreal, the Mythic Oil is:   beautifying oil enriched with a complex of avocado and grape seed oils to deliver unique benefits to the hair without weighing it down. Hair is nourished, repaired and protected from external aggressions and shine is restored leaving hair supple and soft to touch. Avocado oil, rich in fatty acids and Omegas 3, 6 and 9 nourish, while grape seed oil packed with vitamins and essential fatty acids penetrates quickly to nourish hair deeply and powerfully.

I washed my hair as normal and left it wrapped in a towel for a few minutes to soak up the excess moisture.  I have thick hair, so I put a nickel size amount of the nourishing oil in the palm of my hand and warmed it by rubbing my hands together.  The consistency of the L’Oreal Mythic Oil is a little thinner then the Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment I use.  I ran my hands through my hair to distribute the oil from the mid section to the ends and concentrated a little more on my ends.  It blended into my hair very easily and has a light, fresh scent.

I am so pleased with the results of this product.  After I dried my hair, I noticed immediately how soft and supple it was.  The ends of my hair looked smooth and less frizzy.  My hair had a nice shine and there was no greasy feeling at all.  The scent does stay in the hair, but it is very subtle and smells really nice.  I keep running my hands through my hair because it’s so soft!!!  When I have finished with my Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment, it will be replaced by the L’Oreal Mythic Nourishing Oil.  I highly recommend it.

You can purchase L’Oreal Mythic Nourishing Oil on www.amazon.com (sellers and prices vary).  You can also purchase 4.2 ounce bottle for $20.99 at www.sleekhair.com.   Birchbox (www.birchbox.com) sells it but just like all products sold by Birchbox, they charge more, $32.00 for a 4.2 ounce bottle.  The L’Oreal website says it’s available in fine hair care salons but none in my area sold it.  As a comparison, the Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment costs $39.00 for 4.2 ounces.

Have any of you tried the new L’Oreal Mythic Nourishing Oil?  Do you use hair oil treatments?  If so, which products do you use and how do you like them? 

I hope you're all having a great day!!

Kat

My First Glam Bag by MyGlam

Glam Bag is a monthly subscription service similar to Birchbox. It costs $10 a month and you receive a custom Glam Bag (actual makeup bag) filled with 4 or 5 full-sized or deluxe-sized samples of beauty products (cosmetics, skin care, hair care). Glam Bag started in December of 2011 and was created by several YouTube "beauty guru's".  It was so popular they sold out of their December Glam Bag and had to stop accepting subscriptions.  They opened subscriptions again in late December, so I was able to sign up then. When you first join the site, you take a beauty quiz to create your personalized beauty profile. Then every month you are sent a bag of goodies for $10 (includes shipping and handling)!  You can join by the month, or a year at a time.

My January Glam Bag contained:

• Wen Sweet Almond Mint Conditioner (2 fl oz)
• Freeman Cucumber Peel-Off Mask (6 fl oz - full size product)
• SheerCover Duo Concealer in Light/Medium
• The Balm Shady Lady Eyeshadow in Luscious Lani (full size product)　

Freeman’s Peel-Off Mask in Cucumber: This is fairly sticky when applying it to the face. The directions say it takes 5 minutes to dry but I find it takes much longer then that. Maybe I put too much on. It feels cool and tingly on my skin and once it dries it peels off easily. It leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth and looks a little brighter and firmer. I love facial masks and use several brands from high end to drug store and I really liked this Cucumber mask. I will most likely purchase it when this tube is gone.

Wen Sweet Almond Mind Conditioner: Please see my blog review below.  Didn't care for it....won't purchase it.

Sheercover’s concealer in light/medium: This has good coverage and a very creamy consistency. I did feel like I needed to set the concealer with a bit of powder.  I like that it comes with a light and a medium shade. 

The Balm Shady Lady Eyeshadow: I love this eyeshadow!!!  I love the color and the pigmentation is amazing. I would say this color is very similar to Urban Decay Sin - just not quite as shimmery as Sin. The container is very large and will last me a long while. I had never heard of The Balm cosmetics but I like this eyeshadow so much that I am anxious to buy more.

This Glam Bag was a great value.  Just the eyeshadow alone cost $16.00.  I like it better than Birchbox because the samples are from popular brands and the sizes are much larger than the "deluxe" samples you receive from Birchbox.  You can subscribe to the MyGlam My Bag at www.myglam.com.

Do any of you subscribe to the Glam Bag or Birchbox?  Which one do you prefer?

Take care and I hope you're having a great day!

Kat

Wen Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner

I’ve seen this product many times on QVC and was never really interested in trying it.  Except for my Macadamia Nut Healing Oil, I don’t spend a lot of money on my hair care products.  Wen products are rather expensive.  But, I received the Wen Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner in my January GlamBag (blog post on GlamBag coming soon), so I gave it a try.

The cleansing conditioner is a non-foaming formula and is free of sodium laurel sulfates and detergents.

The directions vary depending on your hair length.  Cleansing Conditioner should be applied in four sections: crown, nape, ends on the right, and ends on the left.  For my hair, (shoulder length) use a minimum of 16 pumps (four pumps per section). I didn't have a pump bottle, so I just took a guess on how much to use.  Massage the conditioning cream into scalp for 3 minutes and comb through to the ends.  Leave conditioner on hair for 3 to 5 minutes, then rinse.

 Wen Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner

Using the cleansing conditioner was a big difference for me.  It’s probably just mind over matter, but when I use regular shampoo and get a good head of suds, I feel like I’m getting my hair and scalp clean.  Using this conditioner, there were no suds and I just kept massaging and massaging my scalp hoping I got my scalp and hair clean.  I combed it through my hair and left it on for five minutes before rinsing.  I wrapped my hair in a towel for about five minutes and when I removed the towel and ran the comb through my hair I didn’t have any tangles.  The comb went straight through my hair, which was very nice because I usually have a lot of tangles.    After I dried my hair, it felt soft and smooth but it seems very heavy and weighed down, it's not as full as when I usually wash it.  I didn’t notice any increased shine, in fact, I think it looks dull.

All of that being said, I won’t be purchasing the Wen Cleansing Conditioner.  I feel like my regular shampoo, conditioner and Macadamia Nut Healing Oil does a much better job on my hair.  Wen is also a bit expensive for me.  A 32 ounce bottle costs $49.50 plus $7.95 for shipping on QVC.

Have any of you tried the Wen Cleansing Conditioner?  I'd love to know what you thought about the product!!

Take care,
Kat

Get Every Last Drop Of That Expensive Product!!

Since beauty products aren't always cheap, I like to get the most I can out of them. So, I'm going to share a great tip with all of you so you can get every last drop of that expensive product.

When using a product that comes in a tube, we all know that once you start to get down to the bottom of the tube, it's difficult to squeeze out the rest of the product. Most people don't bother messing with it and just throw the tube away. Well, thanks to this easy trick, you can get every last drop of product out of the tube.

1. Cut the bottle into two pieces. Simply take a pair of scissors and cut the bottle in half.

2. Scrape the product from the upper half of the tube and place in the bottom half of the tube.

Look at all that product!!!

3. Wash the inside of the top piece.

4. Use the top piece of the tube as the lid. The top section will fit nicely over the bottom section so the product won't dry out.

When you need to use the product, use your fingers to scoop out the product, or use a Q-tip. You could also put the product in another container if you don't like using the tube.

My Shiseido face cleaner was becoming difficult to get out of the tube, so I tried this trick and I was amazed at how much product was left that I would have thrown away. I probably have a good two weeks worth of product left.

This will work on a lot of different products that come in a plastic container. A lot of people do this with the Urbay Decay Primer Potion (the one in the bottle with the wand). You would need a knife to cut the container open and another container to put the product in.

Have any of you tried this trick on any of your products?

I hope you're all having a great day.

Take care,

Kat

Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Eye Pencil and Lip Liner Pencil

I've been searching for an eyeliner that doesn't start to slide a few hours after I apply it.  All the eyeliners I have tried seems to "feather" on the inner corner of my eye.  Sort of like a lipstick feathers when you have lines and wrinkles around the mouth area.  Well.......not all of you have that problem, but at my age, I do! 

I've tried several products, from high end to drugstore, and had the same results.  I heard a lot of good things about Estee Lauder's Double Wear products, so I decided I'd try the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Eye Pencil.  The color I purchased was Onyx.

This eyeliner is fabulous!  It is highly pigmented and glides on smoothly without any tugging.  Only the slightest pressure is needed to create the perfect line.  The color, once in place, lasts all day and looks good until I take it off.  It sets quickly, which might be a negative if you want to smudge it.  You'd have to smudge very quickly after applying the liner.  I don't smudge my liner, so it isn't a problem for me. It comes with a smudge sponge on the opposite end.  If you are looking for a eyeliner that stays put all day then look no further!!

I wanted to try some other colors so purchased the Bronze and the Black Plum.  They are beautiful colors. 

Since I had good results with the eyeliner, I decided to give the Double Wear Stay-in-Place Lip Pencil a try.  I have that "feather" issue on my lips! Not an attractive look.  I purchased the color Tawny (see color above).  The lip pencil is just as good as the eyeliner.  It goes on smoothly and stays on all day. It does not feather or smudge and it looks great by itself with just a touch of lip gloss. It comes with a brush on the opposite end. There is a nice variety of shades and I look forward to buying more of them.

The cost of the Double Wear Stay-in-Place Eye Pencil is $20.00 and the Double Wear Stay-in-Place Lip Pencil is $19.00.  These are not automatic, twist up pencils, they will need sharpened.  I purchased mine at Macy's.  They are also available at www.esteelauder.com and the shipping is free on any item!!

If you have "feather" problems with your eyeliner or lip products, give the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place products a try.  I think you'll be glad you did!

Take care,

Kat

Influenster Holiday Vox Box

I was chosen to receive a Influenster Holiday Vox Box.  Influenster is like a Birchbox, but it's free.  It is a website community and the more influence or reach you have, the more likely you are to receive the boxes. The idea is to use the products and then review the products via a blog, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, or word of mouth. You can sign up to receive their boxes on their website and the more "badges" you earn, the more likely you are to receive the boxes.  I have no idea why I was chosen to receive the Holiday Vox Box....I don't have a broad reach or much influence :).  Nonetheless, I was excited to receive the box. 

The contents of my box included:
* Larabar in Chocolate Chip Brownie (not pictured)
* Montagne Jennesse Mud Pac Mask (anti stress)
* Softsoap Coconut Scrub bar soap
* ImPress Press On Manicure in WinkWink
* New York Color (NYC) Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City
* Mentos Chewing Gum

Larabar
I tried the Larabar as soon as I opened the box.  I hate to say, I took one bite and spit it out.  I've had other Larabar products and liked them, but I didn't care for this one.

Softsoap Coconut Scrub Bar
This soap has a subtle, sweet smell.  It has crushed coconut extract that is infused into the soap.  It produces a good amount of suds and left my skin feeling soft and smooth.  The scent did not last on my skin, which I like.  I don't like my bath soaps to mix with my perfume.  I liked this soap, but I don't really care for bar soaps.  I prefer body wash in a bottle. 

ImPress Press On Manicure in WinkWink
I can't review this product because I didn't use it.  I have naturally long nails so I had no need to use the press on nails.  I gave the nails to my 16 year old niece who was thrilled to have them.  (Below is a picture from their website)

New York Color (NYC) Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City
This is my first NYC Liquid Lipshine product and I really like it.  The color is a sheer peachy nude with a hint of shimmer.  The only small negative is that it got a little sticky on my lips after awhile.  But, I will most likely buy more in other shades.

Montagne Jennesse Mud Pac Mask
I haven't tried this yet, but I am looking forward to trying it.  I have used other Montagne Jennesse masks and they are easy to find (drugstore) and very affordable.

Mentos Chewing Gum (Pure Fresh)
This gum is awesome....if you like strong flavored gum, which I do.  This would be perfect if you're on a dinner date and had spicy food, or a lot of garlic.

Sorry this post is so long, but I hope you enjoyed all the reviews.  I was really happy to receive the Influenster box and hope to receive more in the future.

Happy New Year to you all!  I wish you a 2012 full of joy, peace, health and happiness.

Kat

Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment Review & Rave!

I was a bit hesitant to jump on the hair oil bandwagon because my hair tends to be on the oilier side, but since it is winter where I live, and my hair is much less oily during the winter time, I thought this would be the perfect time to try one.  My main reason for wanting to try a hair oil is because it reduces the drying time.  I have shoulder length, curly hair, which is chemically relaxed, and very thick.  It's been almost a year since I had the relaxer treatment, so most of it has been cut off and the new growth is curly.   It takes a long time to blow dry my hair, pulling and tugging as I dry to get it smooth from the roots to the ends. By the time I'm finished, the ends of my hair are frizzy.

There are a lot of hair oil treatments to choose from and after watching a lot of YouTube videos on several brands, I decided I would try the Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment.

Macadamia Heating Oil Treatment

 I washed my hair and left it wrapped in a towel until it was damp.   I put about a nickel size of the product in the palm of my hand, rubbed my hands together and distributed the oil throughout my hair, working from the ends up.  It doesn't need to be applied to the roots. Remember, I have really thick hair, so adjust the amount you use accordingly.

This Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment is AMAZING!!  I dried my hair as usual and it actually did take less time to dry.   It made my hair feel super light, silky, soft and smooth.  It didn't weigh my hair down or leave a greasy feel.  I couldn't stop running my fingers through my hair after it was dry.  I am so impressed with this product.  

I purchased the Macadamia Heating Oil Treatment at www.Ulta.com. Not knowing if I'd like the product, I bought the small 1.0 ounce size bottle for  $13.00.  Yes, it's a bit expensive but totally worth it and I will definitely repurchase this once this bottle is used up.

If you want to learn more about different hair oils, I highly recommend you visit Tammy - uppiesbeads50 channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/uppiesbeads59). She did several videos comparing many different hair oil products. Her videos are great, and very informative!  I recommend watching all her videos!

Let me know if any of you jump on the bandwagon and try a hair oil product!  I'd love to hear your comments on it.

Talk to you all soon,
Kat