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beauty reviews

Current Obsessions: Hair Edition

December 5, 2023

There are few things I love more than finding a new hair product that I love. These are the products that I will *literally* take a spatula to and make sure I get every drop out of the jar/bottle/tube. Here are my current hair obsessions.

Plaine Products Rosemary Mint Vanilla Shampoo and Conditioner

Plaine Products is dedicated to trying to help solve the plastic crisis that is happening on our planet. Their hair products come in aluminum containers, which can be rinsed out and shipped back with a return label that they provide.

In addition to being planet-friendly, their products work beautifully. My hair is incredibly healthy because of the gentleness of their shampoo and the light, yet moisturizing conditioner. Their products are on the pricey side ($32), but you get a discount if you subscribe. And honestly, I would pay that much for hair products anyway, so not using plastic is a win-win for me.

Plaine Products also offers hair gel, body wash, lotion (which I have in several rooms of my house), travel sizes, and more.

Moroccanoil Treatment Hair Oil

For me, this is an oldie but a goodie. I started using Moroccanoil Treatment Hair Oil years ago, then stopped for a while. Once I started highlighting my hair again, this stuff became one of my current hair obsessions again.

I use Moroccanoil every time I wash my hair, whether I’m going to do a blowout or not, just to prevent split ends. It makes a huge difference when I blow dry, though. Before I started using it again, my hair would get super tangly during the blow dry process. Now, I can get a brush through easily.

Moroccanoil Root Boost

My hair has its unique challenges, one of them being that the individual strands are fine, but I have a lot of them. Therefore, I struggle with volume. Moroccanoil’s Root Boost offers an easy solution to this problem.

Before drying, I spray the root boost on just my roots. In addition to pumping up the volume, the spray also prolongs the life of my blowout for about a day more than usual (I wash my hair every two to three days).

Olaplex No. 3 Hair Repair Perfector

If ever there was a hair obsession for me, this is it. The Olaplex No. 3 Hair Repair Perfector is a pre-shampoo treatment that builds the bonds in hair and helps reduce breakage and improve hair health.

The instructions say to use the treatment weekly, but I use it every other week and alternate with a moisturizing hair mask on the off weeks. I can’t use both on the same day or my hair gets super limp. You can leave the mask on for as long as you like, but I usually do between 15 minutes and an hour for optimum results.

Bumble & Bumble Thickening Spray

Bumble & Bumble’s Thickening Spray has been a favorite of mine since I was in college 150 years ago. You can pick this up at Sephora, Ulta, or even drugstores (I believe).

As I’ve mentioned, my hair is fine, so a volumizer is an absolute must. I apply this after I put on the Root Boost and work it through the length of my hair before blow drying. Bumble & Bumble stylists call this their “secret weapon” because it gives volume without feeling sticky, and I 100% agree.

I will also use this spray if I’m going to put some waves in my hair with a curling iron on day two, and it helps my hair hold the curl.

Beauty, Cosmetics

Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow Palette

July 3, 2017

Today we’ll be looking at the Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow Palette. This has quickly become my favorite shadow palette, hands down.

But first, some weirdness, or else it wouldn’t be my blog. I woke up this morning and immediately smashed my shin on the corner of our bed. Now, I should preface this with letting you all in on a not-so-well-kept secret: I’m incredibly clumsy. Like, not in a funny way, in a did-that-girl-just-legitimately-hurt-herself kind of way.

Clumsiness has been as much a part of my life as my love of pizza, and I do not remember a time without it. I remember one of my parents saying to me at one point, “How are you so clumsy when you take so many dance classes?”

I don’t know. Maybe I grew taller than I was supposed to. Perhaps I have an undiagnosed inner ear problem.

At any rate, my husband is extremely familiar with my, um, ailment, so prior to moving into our current house, the bed had been, well, “Amy-proofed.” He put foam bumpers on all the exposed corners so that if *cough*when*cough* I ran into them, I wouldn’t hurt myself.

However, as we were moving the foam fell off, and it hasn’t been replaced. So this morning began with a super duper gash to my shin. And the day just kind of went downhill from there. My computer kept crashing. The internet was going down at pretty regular intervals.

The only saving grace for this day is that I managed to use the word “druthers” and the phrase “clap back at you” during some banter with my husband. And I ate a lot of chocolate Chex, which helped.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

So back to the Urban Decay Naked Palette. I have the original, but there are several other iterations of it, Naked2, Naked3, Naked Heat, and Naked Smokey. There’s even a smaller one, Naked Basics, which has only six colors. For the purposes of today, I’m referring to Naked…original.

The palette consists of 12 colors in gorgeous neutral shades, perfect for a natural look or smoky, if the mood strikes.

I was really late to the game on this one. Having tried a bunch of imitations, I finally decided to just spend the money and get the real Naked palette. Boy, did I waste my time with the others. There is something about the quality of this eyeshadow that really makes it worth the price. I think UD refers to it as their “Pigment Infusion System.”

Each palette comes with double ended brush, fluffy on one end and stiff and straight on the other. The colors included in the Urban Decay Naked Palette are:

Naked Color Swatches - Beauty Chaos — All the colors listed below, with Virgin at the top and Gunmetal at the bottom

Virgin: cool pale beige shimmer

Sin: pale nude shimmer

Naked: nude matte

Sidecar: beige shimmer with silver glitter

Buck: fawn brown matte

Half Baked: golden bronze shimmer

Smog: deep coppery bronze shimmer

Darkhorse: deep mocha shimmer

Toasted: antique copper penny shimmer

Hustle: plum-brown satin

Creep: black shimmer with sparkle

Gunmetal: dark metallic gray shimmer with silver glitter

Most of the time, I use Naked in the crease, Sin on my lids, and a light line of buck under my eyes. I finish with some brown gel liner on my upper lashes and occasionally blend Darkhorse over the line.

Cost and Where to Buy

You can pick up the Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow Palette on the Urban Decay website, Sephora, or Ulta, and it’s listed on all three for $54. I know, it seems a little expensive, but think about this: a) you’re getting 12 colors and b) as I said, I’ve tried the knockoffs. This is the best quality. Plus all three of these sites have free shipping over $50.

Just briefly, since I haven’t tried them but they are similar, here are breakdowns of the other two palettes’ colors, courtesy of the Urban Decay website.

Naked2

Foxy (cream bisque matte), Half Baked (golden bronze shimmer), Bootycall (cork shimmer), Chopper (copper shimmer w/silver micro-glitter), Tease (creamy pale brown matte), Snakebite (dark bronze shimmer), Suspect (pale golden beige shimmer), Pistol (light grayish brown shimmer), Verve (oyster shimmer), YDK (cool bronze shimmer), Busted (deep brown shimmer) and Blackout (blackest black matte)

Naked3

Strange (pale neutral pink matte-satin), Dust (pale metallic pink shimmer w/iridescent micro-glitter), Burnout (light pinky-peach satin), Limit (light dusty rose matte), Buzz (metallic rose shimmer w/silver micro-glitter), Trick (light metallic pinky-copper shimmer w/tonal micro-sparkle), Nooner (medium pinky-brown matte), Liar (medium metallic mauve shimmer), Factory (pinky-brown satin), Mugshot (metallic taupe shimmer w/slight pink shift), Darkside (deep taupe-mauve satin) and Darkheart (smoky black matte w/rosy red micro-sparkle)

Naked Heat

Ounce (ivory shimmer), Chaser (light nude matte), Sauced (soft terra-cotta matte), Low Blow (brown matte), Lumbre (copper shimmer w/gold pearl shift), He Devil (burnt red matte), Dirty Talk (metallic burnt red), Scorched (metallic deep red w/gold micro-shimmer), Cayenne (deep terra-cotta matte), En Fuego (burgundy matte), Ashes (deep reddish-brown matte), Ember (deep metallic copper-burgundy)

Naked Smokey

High (pale pink-nude shimmer w/ micro-sparkle), Dirtysweet (medium bronze), Radar (metallic taupe w/ iridescent micro-glitter), Armor (metallic silver-taupe w/ tonal sparkle), Slanted (light metallic gray), Dagger (medium charcoal w/ micro-shimmer), Black Market (jet-black satin), Smolder (deep plum-taupe), Password (cool taupe matte), Whiskey (rich brown matte), Combust (soft pink-taupe), Thirteen (light beige satin)

If you’re looking for a great palette of neutrals, Urban Decay’s Naked Palette is definitely the way to go. I love mine and I can’t wait to check out the others.

Have you tried a different Naked palette? Got a different favorite eyeshadow? Leave me a comment or message me here!

Beauty, Cosmetics

Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Mascara

June 13, 2017

I have always been drawn to Benefit Cosmetics.

The packaging speaks to me. The bright pink with all the cool retro-looking photos – I dig it. So trying out the Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Mascara was a no-brainer.

There’s even a Benefit Cosmetics vending machine in the Burbank Airport. I’m sure there’s others in other airports, but Burbank is the only place I’ve seen one. Every time I have down time at the airport, I inevitably end up circling the Benefit vending machine, the products winking back at me like expensive bags of chips or candy bars. I usually have to pry myself away.

The first thing I ever purchased from Benefit was their Kitten Sparkling Body Powder.

I loved it. This was back in college when I was still wearing things like sparkling body powder, and I used to dust myself with it every time I went out. Unfortunately, Benefit has discontinued the Kitten, but they bring it back for limited offers every once in a while.

Now, before I get into the review, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately. Maybe it’s because I’m doing too much. Maybe it’s that a spider tried to assassinate me this morning as I was waking up. One of the foster cats, Moonshine, thwarted his attempt, but he’s now lost in my bedroom waiting for his next opportunity.

Oh, and the foster cats are still with us. The people who were interested apparently lost interest. Their loss – these girls are amazing and they are welcome here for as long as they like. Or at least as long as they’re saving me from spider assassins.

Now, back to Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Mascara.

I came upon a display at Ulta with a bunch of different mascaras, several of which were “fan favorites.” Since I had already tried a few of the ones on display, including Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, I decided to try Benefit.

The packaging, of course, is adorable, with the signature Benefit script screaming “They’re Real!” in orange and red across the black box. Copy on the box says that 94% of users saw dramatic length and volume and visible lift, and 90% saw base to tip curl. Apparently 100% of users saw long wearing results, which is a pretty hefty claim for any company as it leaves absolutely no margin for error.

The tube itself is this futuristic looking dark chrome color, really cool. And the brush is specially designed for Benefit to give ultimate results.

The reviews on Ulta.com are mixed.

Benefit Cosmetics They're Real! Mascara - Left Eye Only — Mascara left eye only

I’ve seen some products where the feedback is overwhelmingly positive, and those products usually are shoo-ins. While They’re Real! has a good amount of five star reviews, there are also a pretty significant number of two and one star reviews.

The reason I’m mentioning this is I find this mascara…underwhelming. It works fine, lengthens a bit and darkens my lashes, but not nearly to the extent that some other mascaras I’ve tried do. I’m a little disappointed, to be honest. With the packaging boasting such amazing claims, I thought for sure I’d found my next favorite. Unfortunately not, especially for the price tag of $24.

Cost and Where to Buy

Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Mascara can be found at Ulta, Sephora, and the Benefit Cosmetics website for $24. On the Benefit site, there are three colors to choose from: black, brown, and blue.

Summing Up

Benefit Cosmetics They're Real Mascara - Beauty Chaos — Top: Naked
Middle: One Coat
Bottom: Two Coats

By all means, conduct your own experiment with this one. I’m kind of spoiled when it comes to mascara; I expect a lot, and if my lashes don’t look like I’m wearing falsies, I’m not happy. Based on the five star reviews up, and many claiming it’s their favorite, I imagine there are plenty of women out there for whom this mascara works magically.

Got a mascara you want me to try? Leave me a comment or message me here!

Beauty, Skincare

Cherioll Suck Out Blackheads Face Mask

June 12, 2017

So I’m very, very excited. Despite still grappling with this hideous cold, while I was in the shower this afternoon my Amazon package came! And that means delivery of my first-ever charcoal mask. I can’t remember where I heard about the Cherioll Suck Out Blackheads Face Mask (loving the name, BTW), but if it’s on my Amazon Wish List, I probably read about it in a magazine.

I have been just jonesing to try one of these. Especially one where the packaging makes little sense in English. This mask says, “Penetration ability and stubborn blackheads pores absorb dirt, astringent improve dull rough skin.” Yep. Amazing.

As you can imagine, I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this package since I ordered it on Thursday. Seriously, what did I do before Amazon Prime? Now I’m so spoiled, when I order stuff from anywhere else it feels like it takes forever. Plus, my copy of “American Gods” is in the package and I need to get a jump on it because I’m hosting book club in a couple weeks.

That’s right. Crazy cat lady and book club? How much sexier does it get?!

First Impressions

Other than the labeling is amazing, my first impression is that this stuff is black. Like, staring into space black. When I open the tube it immediately starts oozing out of the package, so I frantically start scooping it onto my face. It smells kind of like the peel off face masks I remember from my teen years…I think they were orange flavored or something. Not entirely unpleasant, but it does feel like I’m slathering latex on my face and need a pair of leather pants and possibly a whip to complete my ensemble.

As I write this, I am sitting waiting for the mask to dry. The package says to wait 15 to 20 minutes, peel off, then rinse with water. I will follow with my 30 seconds of icing and light moisturizer.

Experience

Peeling the Cherioll Suck Out Blackhead Mask is a little bit gross, but a little bit satisfying. For the most part, it comes off in a sheet. Although at some moments it feels like it’s taking my skin with it. I rinse my skin and assess. Unfortunately, the mask seems to have done nothing except tighten my pores slightly. Any blackheads that I hoped to get rid of are still regrettably intact.

Cost and Where to Buy

If you’d like to try the Cherioll Suck Out Blackhead Mask for yourself, Amazon has it for $13.98. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else.

Summing Up

Unfortunately, I didn’t really like this product. I’d give it a 4 out of 10. Not only did it not do what it promised, I now have black stuff all over my towels. I hope it comes off with a wash. I don’t think the peel-off mask did anything to necessarily harm my skin, but I probably won’t be breaking it out and slathering it on again. If you decide to try it, I suggest cleaning up with a towel that you won’t miss, just in case the black stuff doesn’t come out in the wash.

And now, your blog-ly dose of cuteness.

Got a comment? Question? Suggestion? Shakespearean insult? Comment below or message me here!