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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, Hair Care

Madam CJ Walker Beauty Culture Wonderful Deep Conditioning Mask

August 10, 2017

In the immortal words of Eugene Levy as he sits in the dentist chair in “Splash,” what a week I’m having. I will get into it more later, but first, a review of Madam CJ Walker Beauty Culture Wonderful Deep Conditioning Mask. What is with these products and their titles lately? I feel like everything is a novel.

In all seriousness, between the Sephora Play! boxes and my Influenster box, I’ve tried some great products in the last couple of weeks.

The Madam CJ Walker Deep Conditioning Mask came in my Sephora July Play! box, and I have used it a couple of times. As a side note, as I write this the mama foster cat, Kiki, is sitting next to me on the couch purring and staring adoringly at me. It’s too precious.

Kiki - Beauty Chaos — How do you not just put that in a pita pocket?

Back to the Madam CJ Walker Beauty Culture Wonderful Deep Conditioning Mask.

This mask promises to deep condition and rehydrate dry, damaged, and/or color treated hair. It has notes of white flower and warm vanilla listed in the scent description and I have to say, it does smell delicious. It is free of all the parabens, sulfates and phthalates that clog up a lot of other hair products. But seriously, I have no idea what those things do. I just know that they’re bad.

For optimal results, the mask is to be used once a week. You’re supposed to section towel dried hair and saturate it from roots to ends. Then, you wait 15 minutes, rinse out, and voila! Perfect hair. I followed these instructions to a T and also applied some light heat from my hairdryer for deeper conditioning.

Afterwards, my hair felt amazing.

My hair isn’t in really bad condition, but I do blow dry it every other day because when I don’t I look like the Fear the Walking Dead kid (see Carol’s Daughter Leave In Conditioner Spray for an explanation). That coupled with the fact that I haven’t had a haircut since … I can’t remember the last time I had my hair cut. So it’s been a long time.

Needless to say, my hair needs some care and this mask does the trick. My hair felt silky and smooth even after a blowout, and that softness lasted all week. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Cost and Where to Buy

Madam CJ Walker Beauty Culture Wonderful Deep Conditioning Mask can be purchased at Sephora for $32. I got the little bottle in my Play! box, but I think the product is worth it and will definitely purchase a full-sized bottle when I’m ready. I also found the conditioner on Amazon, but it’s listed for $52.99 so, yeah, go to Sephora. I’m also interested in trying Madam Walker’s Pre-Wash Protein Treatment.

Now, onto my week.

Or I should say, last couple of weeks. Husband and I decided to rent out our guest room, which was always the plan when we bought the house. We didn’t want to get a permanent roommate, so we decided to rent out the room for temporary stints through a website. Let’s call it LandCoC.

These guests were supposed to be here for a month. However, we had to evict them after just under two weeks. They were awful. Two guys, they never left the house, didn’t follow our “House Rules” (which are not unreasonable. Just, you know, don’t eat our groceries and try not to die in the pool which means no diving because it’s shallow, dummies.) and were just generally rude.

I’ve been feeling kind of depressed as a result of being in the house with them. Since I work from home, there was no escape from the madness. Although it did get me back to Cardio Barre, so I suppose I owe them a thank you for that. Seriously, best workout ever.

The final straw came on Sunday.

One of the men left for a while and came back really drunk. He hit on me and was trying to get me to go in the pool with him. Husband was at work, but he was not pleased when I told him about this. We went out for dinner and frozen yogurt, and when we came home we discovered that the same man was running around our house in his underpants. Not modest ones, either.

I don’t know about you ladies (or gentlemen), but the thought of being in a house with someone who gets drunk, hits on me, and strips down to his underwear every day while my husband isn’t home does not sound pleasant. So I contacted AirBNB, who advised that they were going to remove him.

But did they go gently into that good night?

No. No, indeed. They had to be threatened with police intervention. Can’t make this stuff up, people. Finally we got them out, but that was a huge problem as well.

So yes, I missed Monday’s post. I also need all the wine. I’m still reeling from the experience as it was, you know, our first one. Not sure if we’re going to do it again.

Aaand that’s my story for the week! Got any horror stories of your own? Leave me a comment or message me here!

Beauty, Hair Care

Phyto Secret De Nuit

June 26, 2017

As I sit here with my wet head of hair waiting for it to dry, I am concerned. Fortunately, I have a bottle of Phyto Secret De Nuit in my medicine cabinet.

Let Me Explain

I have been sick with this horrible bronchitis-cold hybrid for three weeks. Three full weeks of coughing and wheezing, telling myself that it would just go away and that was normal. It wasn’t normal. I ended up at urgent care two days ago, finally, where they prescribed some lovely inhalers and an antibiotic.

Funnily enough, they also forgot about me while I was there.

This normally would have really frosted my cookies, but I was trying to finish “American Gods” for my book club and had brought it along. So two hours at the doctor’s office waiting for a breathing treatment was not all for naught (see what I did there? ;)).

What being asthmatically challenged for three weeks has meant is that I can’t work out. While this might be perfectly okay for some, I do not cope well with this. And it’s not for purely aesthetic reasons. Having struggled with depression for a lot of my life, a daily dose of exercise really helps with keeping me level.

Why don’t you walk, you ask? That’s a perfectly reasonable question. California is in the middle of a heat wave, and in the valley it feels like it’s 120 degrees. Fortunately I have a solution: I have a pool.

In a lot of the country, having a pool in your yard is a luxury. In the San Fernando Valley, it’s less rare, and if you’re ever flying over the Los Angeles area, I’d suggest you look out the window and observe the landscape dotted with little turquoise puddles.

So I’ve been doing a lot of swimming. I’ll either put on some music and take myself through a bitchin’ water aerobics routine (not just for senior citizens, I’ve discovered), or I’ll swim breaststroke laps back and forth. The pool isn’t big, but as long as I’m moving I feel like I’m doing well.

The downside of all this swimming is that: a) I have to wash my hair every day; and b) I’m concerned that, as a result, my hair is getting damaged.

Fortunately, I found Phyto Secret De Nuit

This nighttime hair treatment is designed to work on your hair while you sleep, leaving it “supple and hydrated.” Now, there’s conflicting instructions on how to use Phyto Secret De Nuit. The bottle says to apply a small amount, the size of a hazelnut, through hair before bed. In the morning, style as usual. The Ulta website says to use Phyto Secret De Nuit three times per week.

When I first got the Phyto Secret De Nuit, I was using it every night. While my hair didn’t seem particularly over-moisturized, I did find that putting it in my hair and trying to “style as usual” in the morning was a challenge. My hair felt greasy and, well, like I had put conditioner in it and slept.

However, when I began using the product as the Ulta website instructed, it worked really well. I feel like my hair is getting the extra boost that it needs after being depleted by chlorine and washing too much, but I don’t think I’m overdoing it.

Cost and Where to Buy

I bought my Phyto Secret De Nuit while I was out shopping at Sephora for around $40. However, when I was surfing around trying to find it, I discovered that Phyto Secret De Nuit is not listed on the Sephora website anymore. Ulta has it listed for $19.97 (obviously where I should have gone to get it). The next best price I could find was Walmart, which listed it for $21.99.

Summing Up

I think I’ll be doing away with my 1 to 10 rating system. But I love this product, especially at a $20 price point. For $40, it felt a little on the expensive side for my taste, especially when I was using it every night. All in all, Phyto Secret De Nuit is a great buy to help replenish and repair your hair.

Want me to keep the numerical rating system? Have another overnight treatment I should try? Leave me a comment or message me here!

Beauty, Hair Care

Batiste Dry Shampoo

June 8, 2017

Today, we’ll have a look at Batiste Dry Shampoo. But first…

Random Thoughts

I took Petunia, who I’ve taken to calling “Pet” or “Little Tuna” to the vet for her first round of shots today. Husband and I were joking that if it turns out that she’s a boy, we’ll call her Jim Halpert. The emergency vet that we took her to when we found her couldn’t *quite* tell her gender for sure, which is the reason for the possible switch. As it turns out, she is a girl, and sweet Petunia she shall remain.

Batiste Dry Shampoo Petunia — Petunia. No, those are not my legs ????

As I was sitting in the waiting room of the low cost vet clinic, an adorable older man came in with a little kid and a wriggling Yorkie. He sat down next to me and I, of course, could not resist the puppy. She happily hopped over into my lap (we were on a bench) and began jumping back and forth between the man and I.

The man pulled out his phone and, with a narration of broken English, began showing me photos and videos of his other dog. It was a lovely moment. A woman then entered, who was clearly with them, and began signing them in. As the Yorkie settled into my lap, however, I noticed something. She reeked. And not like dog. This pup smelled like some sort of doggie perfume.

Now, I understand that people don’t love the smell of “dog.” But putting a dog perfume on a dog to cover up the smell just makes the dog smell like perfume-covered-dog. It’s not great. T

They brought Petunia out and we settled up and left. Unfortunately, the Yorkie’s perfume was now firmly attached to my clothing, so I had to change and shower. Moral of the story? Please stop putting perfume on dogs.

Onto our topic du jour, Batiste Dry Shampoo.

First Impressions

I’ve tried other dry shampoos and liked them, for the most part. But Batista has a bit of a cult following going. Urban Outfitters is carrying it behind their counters, and I see it pop up in my Facebook ads from time to time. So when I ran out of my last bottle of dry shampoo, I decided to give Batiste Dry Shampoo a go.

First of all, the packaging is adorable. It reminds me of a ’60s mod party with a dash of hippie and a smidge of ’70s disco. I know, that’s a lot. But I see it all in that packaging. The spray has the typical fire-extinguisher-esque quality to it, as do a lot of dry shampoos. Why do they have to spray so hard? I should probably do some research into that; there has to be a reason.

Experience

I feel as though I should drop a disclaimer in here. A lot of articles have been popping up recently disparaging dry shampoo. People are saying it’s making their hair break, fall out, and causing permanent scalp damage. I feel very bad for these people. But I have been using dry shampoo fairly regularly for a couple of years without issue.

That all being said, I don’t use dry shampoo every day. I don’t even use it every other day. Dry shampoo, for me, is reserved for pretty specific occasions when I a) haven’t washed my hair in more than 2 days or b) need some extra volume on day 2 of a blowout before I set my hair in rollers.

By using dry shampoo fairly sporadically, I hope to avoid having my hair break off or fall out. Plus, I have a very oily scalp, and if I go more than every other day without washing it, my hair gets kind of greasy. I know you’re supposed to wash your hair as little as possible, so sometimes I make it to day 3. Very rarely, but it happens.

Now, there are some pros and cons to dry shampoo. It soaks up the oil really well, if your scalp is oily. And if you need texture for an updo and you just washed your hair, it works really well. But in my experience, it leaves hair feeling kind of…dirty. I prefer to use dry shampoo when I’m planning to wear my hair up. If there’s an occasion which requires my hair to be down, good old-fashioned shampoo and conditioner is my go-to.

If used correctly, though, Batiste Dry Shampoo is a stellar choice. And I’ve found if used sparingly, it can be a good sub for shampoo, in a pinch.

Cost and Where to Buy

This is the best part of Batiste Dry Shampoo. You can find it at Target or Walgreens for just $5.99! Or if you’re feeling hipster-ish, you can wander into your neighborhood Urban Outfitters and pick some up. Also, there are a variety of formulations of Batiste Dry Shampoo, ranging from different scents to Hint of Color formulations to Strength & Shine. Lots of options!

Summing Up

I’d give Batiste Dry Shampoo a solid 8 out of 10. It’s a great product at an awesome price. It does leave me feeling like there’s a sort of film on my hair, which is why I’m docking points. Overall, though, a solid brand and a solid buy.

Got a dry shampoo you’d like me to try? Leave me a comment or contact me here!

Beauty, Hair Care

Dr. Dennis Gross Anti-Aging Scalp Serum

May 1, 2017

As most women of any age can understand, I am slightly obsessed with keeping my hair looking nice. This has become even more true as I have left my 20s and entered my 30s, finding my first gray hairs and battling a general unruliness that I don’t remember having all my life. Of course, this could just be perspective. I remember thinking my hair was terrible when I was a teenager.

Looking at photos from that period of my life, I wish my hair looked as effortlessly good when I threw it up into a messy ponytail now as it did back then.

Fortunately, the hair care industry has a category solely designed to deal with aging hair. I have done a lot of reading recently regarding this niche, and how it is very important to care for not just your hair, but your scalp as well.

Enter Dr. Dennis Gross Root Resilience Anti-Aging Scalp Serum. Wow, that is a mouthful. This serum promises to “reinvigorate the scalp.” It is designed for anyone with aging hair, wanting fuller hair, and wanting more shine. Dr. Gross Anti-Aging Serum contains amino acids, peptides, and vitamins that are supposed to “nourish hair follicle and root” so the hair can resist breakage and counteract damage from heat styling.

First Impressions

Although Dr. Dennis Gross’ website had nothing but glowing reviews for this product, Amazon’s customers were a bit more discerning. Many complained about the scent of the serum, which didn’t bother me.

The instructions are to use three to five pumps on wet or dry scalp (ideally after using Root Resilience Shampoo and Conditioner, of course). The serum is nice and light, and does give my hair a bit of a boost when I massage the serum into my scalp. But this could also be from the scalp massage.

Experience

After using Dr. Dennis Gross Anti-Aging Scalp Serum for a few weeks, I’m not all that impressed. Although it does give my hair a bit of a boost right after application, that lift fades quickly. I have not seen a big difference in the condition of my hair. The serum is nice and light, so that’s a plus. It doesn’t weigh down my already oily roots.

Cost and Where to Buy

The serum can be found on the Dr. Dennis Gross website, on LovelySkin.com for $54. Overstock has it a little cheaper at $43.49 plus $4.95 shipping. There are several bottles listed on eBay as well at much cheaper prices, usually under $20.

Summing Up

I’d give Dr. Dennis Gross Anti-Aging Scalp Serum a 6 out of 10. The company is cruelty free and vegan, which is always a plus, but the product didn’t wow me. I expected more based on what was promised. At $54, I’d like to be impressed, and I wasn’t.

Got a product or beauty treatment you’d like me to try? Contact me here!