Uncategorized

Sexy Hair Soya Want It All 22 in 1 Review

Sexy Hair Soya Want It All 22 in 1 Review

Sexy Hair Soya Want It All 22:1
Do It All Leave In Treatment 
Aerosol spray. 5.1 oz.

You wash it too much.  Blow dry every day.  Highlight.  Curl.  Straighten until it can be straightened no more. Whatever your favorite damage method is, this hair saving leave-in treatment can fix it all. The Sexy Hair line has great products and I use quite a few of them in my professional hair kit on clients when I am styling hair for various gigs in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

 

 

Soya Want It All 22:1 is a leave-in conditioner that is made from a soy, cocoa and argan oil blend.  What are the 22 things that it helps with you may ask? Thermal protection, humidity resistance, moisture, nourishment, bodybuilding, repair, shine, smoothness, color protection, detangling, elasticity, environmental protection, anti-static, anti-frizz, anti-aging, soothing, strength, style control, damage control, lightweight, priming and damage prevention. 

Along with the long list of benefits, it also smells divine.  Like a fruity cocktail that you drink from a coconut while lying on the beach in Hawaii. Mmmmm…..Hawaii……

If you don’t over use it, will leave your hair soft, shiny and healthy looking. Start out with a smaller amount and see how much your hair needs.  I like to use a few spritzes of Soya Want It All in my hair before blow drying or doing a blow out with my John Frieda Hot Air Brush.  I keep it in my professional hair kit for clients who have unruly hair that is damaged, frizzy or dry and they always comment on how wonderful it smells.

There’s my Sexy Hair Soya Want It All 22 in 1 review for you.  Do you use it and love it as well? 

May your hair be gorgeous and smell like the tropics!

 

All photo rights:  http://www.tracysotirakis.com

Beauty Boxes

Birchbox August 2015 Review

Birchbox August 2015 Review

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Birchbox, it’s a monthly beauty subscription service.  For $10 a month with free shipping you get 4 to 6 beauty, grooming and/or lifestyle samples.  You fill out a beauty profile when first signing up, letting them know what your preferences are.  Birchbox also has a rewards points system.  You will earn 1 point for every dollar that you spend in the Birchbox shop, 10 points for every review that you write on samples that you have received in your box and 50 points for every person that you invite who purchases a Birchbox subscription.  100 points = $10 in the Birchbox store.  The points can add up fast!

Here’s what I received in my “Soak it up!” box this month:

Air Repair Complexion Boosting Moisturizer
Full size, $20.  “Packed with antioxidants and humectants, this rich cream hydrates and revitalizes dry or dull skin.”

I wanted to save this sample for an upcoming plane ride so I don’t feel like a lizard during my trip, but I decided to test it out beforehand. It absorbs easily and really sinks into the skin, refreshing and hydrating it.  Very nice for skin that is on the drier side or needs some TLC. 

dr. brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant
Full size, $78.  “Breakthrough at-home treatment for a glowing complexion, no pricey derm appointment required.”

I love microdermabrasion scrubs in general and the dr. brant one is no different. It smooths over the face easily and doesn’t fade away quickly like other scrubs. The strong lemony scent is refreshing but a little overwhelming, reminding me a little of lemon floor cleaner.  My skin does look and feel wonderful afterwards. However, there is no way that I can justify paying $78 for a scrub.  I like the Derma E Microdermabrasion scrub better because it has less scent to it.

LAQA & Co. Charm School Kit
Set of 3, $20.  “This creamy crayon delivers a rich, easy-to-apply color for both lips and cheeks.”

I received the color Cray-Cray, a matte peach. First, I tried it on my lips and it was a little scary. Too matte for me, rather chalky looking. After blending a few dots on my cheeks, I was in love. It blended into my skin well, didn’t clump or look patchy and looked awesome all day. Definitely a “love” product for cheeks.

Macadamia Professional Style Extend Dry Shampoo
Full size, $25.  “Weightless, translucent spritz that instantly absorbs product build-up and excess oil to refresh your ‘do.”

I love that this dry shampoo is made with translucent powder. Even though my hair is a light golden brown, I hate the white cast that some dry shampoos can leave. Not this one. My hair was shiny and refreshed after using. The scent was fine, not too strong or overwhelming for me. I will definitely toss this into my pro hair styling kit for work.

R + Co Park Ave Blow Out Balm
Full size, $16-$28.  “This smoothing styling cream adds bounce to your blowout while protecting hair from heat damage.”

BirchBoxAug15-1000268This product is not greasy, slightly on the drier side for blow out balms/creams. I worked a small amount into my hair and did a full blow out with one of my favorite tools of all time, the John Frieda Hot Air Brush. My hair was shiny and bouncy afterwards without the oily feel that other blow out balms can leave.

 

That’s my Birchbox August 2015 review for you.  My personalized box really didn’t reflect the “Soak it up!” theme, but I don’t really care.  I’m not disappointed with my samples this month, I actually really like everything and will use all of them either for myself or my pro makeup and hair kit.  What did you get in your box?

If you would like to sign up for Birchbox, please use my referral code and I will receive 50 points.  Thanks for helping with my beauty product addiction!

All photo rights:  http://www.tracysotirakis.com

Uncategorized

Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream Review

Yeah, sometimes I cart this much around.

We have all been hammered by the beauty and fashion magazines lately about BB Creams.  BB stands for Blemish Balm, as they are sold in Asian markets, or Beauty Balm as sold in Western markets.  They are supposed to multitask and be a primer, foundation, sunscreen, moisturizer and serum.  You can wear them alone or with your other favorite moisturizer, foundation or powder.

Are they really worth the hype or are they just another sales pitch for one more product that we can’t possibly live without.  I have so much makeup it’s frightening (or drool inducing), but that’s my job.  See picture to the right and you’ll see what I mean.  Is a BB Cream really going to change my life?  Probably not, but I had to try one anyway.  Those magazine ads really do work.  I had received samples of different brands and I liked them but they always made my skin look a little shiny after a few hours.  For my personal use, I usually like more of a matte look to my skin.  I don’t wear a full coverage foundation, maybe just a tinted moisturizer or a very light coverage foundation.  Too many freckles to cover up and then I just look weird.   BB Creams seem to be marketed to gals like me.


In a beauty magazine recently, they had an ad for Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream for Combination to Oily Skin.  My interest sparked.  The ad came with a coupon and a handy color chart.  Most of us know what color spectrum we fall in when the cosmetic companies group us into only 3 different skin tones.  Although, light may not be light enough for you or deep is not deep enough.  Trial and error is sometimes the only way to figure out which color is appropriate for your skin tone.  I went with the Light/Medium for combination to oily skin.  I purchased it at my local gigantic one stop shop for $11.97 and used my $1.00 coupon.

Garnier’s BB Cream Skin Renew for combination to oily skin is supposed to control shine, minimize pores, even skin tone, and hydrate.  It also has SPF 20, which in my opinion is not enough for daily wear (SPF 30 is recommended), but at least it’s something.  It also has “Mineral Perlite + Mineral Pigments”.

I have been wearing it for a few days now and here’s my opinion:  OK, not a life changing “miracle”, but I kind of like it.  The color is a tad dark and a little too beige for me, so I have to use it sparingly and blend well down my neck.  Most BB Creams are supposed to be used very sparingly anyway.  I do really like the fact that it is not dewy like other BB Creams.  It does feel like more of a light coverage foundation.  My skin looks very pretty with it on and I did set it lightly with a loose translucent powder.  I wore it out one day and got caught in a rainstorm and it seemed to hold up pretty well, my hair was another story.  My only note of caution is that some users with very sensitive skin have reported that this product was irritating to them.  I haven’t experienced any blemishes or itchiness.

The texture is not thick at all, not what I would call a “cream” but more of a liquid.   You have to be careful when dispensing it from the bottle, a lot can come out at once.  The smell is alright, it doesn’t really bother me.  After it sets on the skin I can’t smell it.

While this product may not be technically a true BB Cream like the real ones sold in Korea, I will continue to use this bottle of Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream for combination/oily skin.  Are you going to be sucked in also and try a BB Cream for yourself?

** Update:  I have been using this product now for a while and I have come to completely love it.  I even put one in my professional makeup kit and intend on purchasing the darker colors as well.

D.I.Y

Make your own Glow Lotion

Spring and Summer are here and it’s time to show the parts of our bodies that have been covered up by sweaters, scarves and long pants.  If you are anything like me, you probably have several broken or unused powdered eye shadows, blushes or bronzers taking up space in your makeup drawer that you just can’t bring yourself to throw away.  Why not find a new use for them?

I love making my own products and I always have tons of broken or unused makeup items that I save for later use.  Now that it’s time to bare our shoulders and décolleté, let’s make some Glow Lotion.

Items that you will need for your project:  (As always make sure your containers and utensils are clean and sanitized.)

Lotion:  If you are making something to go on your face, use a face lotion.  For the body, use a body lotion. You will need to use a good amount of lotion in your blender.  If it’s not enough, it won’t blend.  Body oil could also replace the lotion if you want a Glow Oil instead.

Broken or unwanted powdered eye shadow, blush or bronzer:  These can be a variety of colors, depending on what color you want your Glow Lotion to be.  Good colors to gather are browns, peaches, pinks, bronzes, taupes, golds and beiges.  Think “glowing skin” colors.

A Container:  If you don’t have a fresh container or bottle, you probably have a used bottle laying around somewhere that only has a tiny bit of product in it.  Clean it with soap and hot water to sterilize it and peel off the label if necessary.

Scent:  If you want your product scented, feel free to mix some essential oils (very few drops) or perfume oil into your personal blend.

Blender:  A blender is necessary to thoroughly mix your blend together, making sure there are no solid pieces of product left.  I will be using my trusty Magic Bullet, which normally cranks out smoothies.

Miscellaneous:  A funnel, small spatula, paper towels or napkins.

I will be making two different Glow Lotions because I can never just make one:  Face Glow Lotion, a nice pinkish highlighting color, and Body Glow Lotion, a bronzy color for the anywhere on the body, scented with “tropical coconut”.

I made the Face Glow Lotion with a light face moisturizer that I had and wasn’t using.  The shadow colors here are frosty light pink, very light neutral taupe, a beautiful busted rose gold and another rose gold cream stick eye shadow.  I did not use any scent in this mix because it will be primarily for the face.

Everything was scraped out of the containers and put in the Magic Bullet.  I already had the lotion in the bottle, so I just poured it out into the blender then washed and sanitized the lotion bottle.  Make sure that you have enough space for both the lotion and colored products to fit in your container or you will have extra.  It took a few times of blending and scraping the the sides of the blender to make sure that everything was incorporated, but the end result was beautiful!

For the Body Glow Lotion I made a large batch because I had some very pigmented products to work with.  The colors here are light orange bronzer, medium taupe eye shadow, dark reddish bronzer, medium copper bronzer and a bronze eye shadow stick.  If you are making a lightly tinted Glow Lotion, just use one or two powdered products.  You can always add more if you want to deepen the color.  Everything was blended and the result was a very nice bronze lotion that actually made me look tan, which I am not.

Oh how lovely!

The fun part about making your own cosmetic creations is that you can make them exactly how you want, light or dark, sheer or highly pigmented and whatever color you desire.  Now all you have to do is make a cute label and tape it on.

I hope you enjoy all the compliments that you get on your glowing skin!