Tired of heavy products weighing down your hair?

I’ve been having a bit of a rough hair month. I am in desperate need of a haircut but haven’t had time for an appointment, so for the most part, I’ve been pulling my hair back into a messy bun just about every single day. Not really cute but my hair is so thick that if I try to style it, the products add to the weight and make it super heavy if I wear it down.

So, when I was sent the new w8less spray gels by RUSK to try out, I was definitely looking forward to seeing if they’d help my heavy hair.

I was sent two versions of the RUSK w8less spray gels —w8less Plus Spray Gel Firm Hold (on the left) and w8less Spray Gel Medium Hold (on the right). The cool thing about these spray gels is that the formulation of RUSK’s Thermplex Technology makes them activated by the heat of your blow dryer to provide shine, control and condition, while giving your hair shape and body.

To use, you can start with either wet or dry hair. If you don’t blow dry, you’ll have a more slick look, but if you dry and style, you get a (duh!) dry look with tons of volume. I washed and conditioned my hair like normal in the shower and applied w8less Spray Gel Medium Hold evenly throughout my hair after towel drying.

The product felt really good in my hair — I can see how you’d be able to wear it without blow drying. It definitely does feel weightless! It’s also supposed to help with heat damage and split ends (which I have a ton of right now). After blow drying with a round brush, I was really pleased with how my hair looked down.

Tons of volume and a really pretty natural wave. I could have worn it just like that, but I wanted to style a little bit.

I just pinned it back loosely with bobby pins and added a bit of volume to the top. I really love how my hair looks and feels after using the RUSK w8less spray gel, and I think when I’ve finally had a good trim, it’ll look even better.

I’d definitely recommend trying this out. You can purchase at beauty supply stores, salons and online at StyleSource.com for around $13 — a steal of a deal for such a great product.

 

Shop Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

I’m sure you’ve heard that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and as a woman who knows plenty of women, this is a big deal for me, and I bet it is for you, too.

In addition to celebrating the women you know who have battled breast cancer and spreading awareness about early detection, did you know that something as simple as purchasing a beauty product can benefit breast cancer research?

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Sanitas Skincare will donate a portion of all PeptiDerm Eye Treatment sales this month to benefit Sense of Secuirty, a Denver charity that helps breast cancer patients with financial hardships. (I’m not in Denver, but what an awesome charity. Low income keeps lots of women away from the doctor and can prevent them from getting the care they need to detect a problem before it becomes life-threatening.) Sanitas has produced a limited edition pink labeled PeptiDerm Eye Treatment in honor of BCA, and the product helps to prevent the signs of premature aging, specifically the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the delicate eye area, using the newest peptide technology. Click here to purchase a product that will enhance your beauty and do a world of good for women with breast cancer!

You know I’m a RUSK fan — love their DeepShine Oil! — and this makes me like them even more. The RUSK Professional Group is partnering with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and will donate $40,000to the Foundation to support women’s health. You can help in the effort by going “W8less” with a professional styling tool from the RUSK W8less line — they’re extremely powerful yet incredibly lightweight, making them easy to hold during styling at home. And for a limited time, they’re pink! (availalbe at professional salons nationwide, ULTA, and Stylesource.com)

August 2010 favorites

Just like last month, I’m a tad behind on posting my blog about my favorite products and things from the month of August. Oh well, it’s still in the single digits of September, so I’m not that late, right?

Makeup: Purples & lavendars (nails, lips and eyes)
I’m super excited to hear that purple is trendy for fall/winter makeup this year because I’ve found a way to make it work for me! You know I love a neutral eye look, so I was sort of intimidated to try colored shadow. But, there are some amazing purple shades in the e.l.f. Beauty Book – Neutral Edition that I bought earlier in the summer, and I wanted to make use of them.

I’ve started using the lighter, more shimmery purple (3rd column, 2nd row) as an all-over lid color and sweeping a more midtone brown (like the medium matte brown in the Wet n Wild Vanity palette) in the crease, and then deepening the outer corner with a combo of a darker plum (like the one here in the 4th column, 2nd row) and a darker brown (4th column, 3rd row).

After I dipped my toe into the purple shadow waters, I was hooked and wanted to try more, like the Maybelline Stylish Smokes quad in 06 Amethyst that I showed you in a recent CVS haul.

This is a great, inexpensive palette. Upon first swatch, all the colors seem really pigmented, but after blending out the lid color (top left) is the one that really keeps its color. But, they’re all good to blend and define into a pretty eye look.

I love the unexpected pop of purple! You could go all out and do a really bold colored eye look, but I’m sticking with soft and conservative! Here’s the lid close-up:

I’ve been topping off all of these purple eye looks with the Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner in Powerful Purple on my top lash line (but still using Bold Brown on the bottom lash line).

Purple has also found its way into my lip products!

I love doing a light eye with a pretty pinky peach blush and a bold lilac lip. I’ve found a couple good options at the drugstore for purple-y lip shades:

• Sally Hansen Natural Makeup Inspired by Carmindy lipstick in Lilac (see this post for a swatch)
• Revlon ColorBurst lipstick in Lilac (see this post for a swatch)

I definitely plan on expanding this list over the fall and winter! I’ve also found what is quite possibly my holy grail nail shade in a purple tone:

This is Lucky Lucky Lavendar, from the OPI Hong Kong collection, and I’m in love! I first got a manicure with this last month and have since bought my own bottle. It’s definitely got a pink undertone, but there’s also that subtle, sort of quirky hint of purple that I love. Even though this was a summer color for me, I plan on wearing it into the fall and winter. Won’t that be unexpected and really pretty, to have a light lavendar nail when I’m wearing darker, heavier clothing?

Shopping: Target clearance!
Target put a bunch of its more high end makeup brands (Sonia Kashuk, pixi, Jemma Kidd, Napoleon Perdis) on clearance in August to make room for new products from each line. And I scored!

This was just Round One…I went back to different Targets many times throughout the month and built up a little stockpile of clearanced goodies! I also got some cosmetics — NP Set Lipstick (favorite is in Minneapolis, a creamy pink). I’ve only used the big powder brush from Sonia Kashuk above, not the brush set, but I’m really loving that particular one to set my foundation using the e.l.f. High Definition powder.

I’ve seen a few stragglers from this big Target cosmetics clearance in the endcaps along the health/beauty aisles, so be sure to check those out and you might be able to score, too!

Reviewing: All-in-one products
In August, I was really fortunate to review a ton of great products, and the highlight were a couple that I consider “all-in-one” products. Whether they’re intended or marketed that way, these two items have helped me to consolidate at least two products/steps into one, and that’s definitely a favorite!

I just posted a full review of the pixi Lid & Line, and it’s definitely one of my favorite all-in-one products of August. It’s a pen that has a matching shadow and liner, plus a smudger to make it nice and smoky — what more can you ask for? I’m also loving pixi’s YouTube channel where makeup artist Amanda Bell has videos about priming your eye and creating the perfect smoky eye. Really useful videos!

I’ve also reviewed (and loved!) the RUSK Deepshine Oil this month. For me, this was totally an all-in-one product because it gives me the benefits of two different products that I used to use as a hair treatment — argan oil and CHI Silk Infusion. It’s an argan oil-based product, so that takes care of that, and it gives me the same (maybe even better) results as the CHI Silk Infusion that I used as a styling aid to tame the frizz and increase shine when I blowdry. Love this stuff!

Fashion: Business dress with a twist!
I wish I’d been able to photograph more OOTDs for you guys in August because I had to come up with a ton of looks that were appropriate for business meetings and events, but I was able to style them so I still felt cute and comfy.

One standout for me was this awesome grey dress from Express Last Hurrah (an outlet version of Express) topped with a black blazer with 3/4-length sleeves and two buttons at the waist. I got the blazer at ROSS and love adding it to a really simple dress, like this one, to add that final element to tie everything together. It’s also good to top a summery dress or skirt to make it more business/office appropriate.

That’s it for August favorites. Thanks so much to everyone for sharing this month with me and reading my blog. I’ve been having so much fun posting about my favorite products and beauty finds. Stick with me in September. I’ve got tons of great posts planned, along with a giveaway or two!

 

Full review – RUSK Deepshine Oil

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that one of my tips for keeping long hair looking thick and shiny is to use an oil treatment before washing. For quite awhile, I’ve used what I call my holy grail hair treatment — a combo of argan oil (just a generic brand I get at Sally Beauty Supply) and CHI Silk Infusion. Those two products together have done the trick for me, but I’m always on the hunt for something even better …and I think I’ve found it!

I was sent a bottle of RUSK Deepshine Oil Advanced Marine Therapy a few weeks ago to try and review (see my first impression post here). I wash my hair every other day, and I’ve completely replaced my argan oil/CHI Silk Infusion treatment with this ever since I got it.

Here’s how I use it — I hop in the shower and get my hair wet, and then I wash and do everything you normally would in the shower except wash and condition my hair. After getting out, I towel off my hair and run a wide-toothed comb through it. Then, I apply around 3 drops of the RUSK Deepshine Oil throughout my hair (a little goes a long way). I pile it on top of my head with an elastic and let it set, usually for at least an hour (but once or twice it’s been less time, depending on what I have to do that day).

Excuse the no-makeup, but hey, it’s skin fresh outta the shower! As soon as I apply the RUSK Deepshine Oil, even before I wash my hair, I can feel it becoming softer and smoother. Even though it’s an argan oil-based treatment, and you might think oil would damage your hair or weigh it down, it’s super lightweight and makes your hair silky.

This product does everything the argan oil/CHI Silk Infusion combo did for me, and more. I love that it eliminates the need for two different products and gives me everything I want in one bottle. I used the argan oil for treatment and to make my hair softer, and the CHI Silk Infusion sort of as a styling aid, since I blowdry and round brush my hair after washing, to cut down on frizz and make it easier to work with. RUSK Deepshine Oil does both of those things. Plus, the bottle I have is 4 fl oz, while the CHI Silk Infusion is only 2 fl oz, and the argan oil is 3.4 fl oz!

If you have frizzy hair, this is definitely a must-buy product for you. And, if you just want a natural treatment to keep your hair soft and healthy, this works for that purpose, too. You can use it lots of different ways, not just as I’ve described above — it works on wet or dry hair, and you don’t have to let it set for it to work (that’s just how I use it).

Check out the RUSK Salon Locator to find a salon near you that carries this line of products. You can also search the web for an online retailer.

FTC – I was sent this product for consideration to test and review. These are my honest opinions, and I am not being compensated for this review.

Quick first impression: RUSK Deepshine Oil and pixi Lid & Line

So excited to get this package in the mail today because it included two products that could potentially become holy grail for me. I was sent RUSK Deepshine Oil Advanced Marine Therapy and pixi Lid & Line to test out and review.

Here’s the RUSK Deepshine Oil. Love the packaging!

And it gets better when you take it out of the box! You guys know I love using argan oil as a treatment for my hair, and this is a lightweight and alcohol-free argan oil treatment meant for all hair types. The oil seals your cuticle to keep your hair bright and shiny, eliminating frizz and making it all around more manageable.

Here’s how it looks out of the bottle…you need about 3 drops or so this size to apply, if you’ve got shoulder length hair or longer. I’m definitely going to try this RUSK Deepshine Oil out tonight in place of my argan oil and CHI Silk Infusion combo so I can give you a full review on how it works!

Here’s the pixi Lid & Line, which I’m super excited to try! I love all-in-one eye tools like this one, but too often, they don’t deliver on at least one of their promises. But, I’ve swatched this Lid & Line, which I received in Smoky Brown, and I like the possibilites here.

The shadow is on the left and the liner is on the right. The pigmentation is great, and the texture of both is really smooth and easy to apply. No wonder, because the Lid & Line has aloe vera, Vitamin E, candellia wax, and microcrystalline wax, which make the liner and shadow really moisturizing, smooth and hydrating.

The eyeliner comes in a retractable pencil form on one end of the stick.

The shadow comes in the middle section of the pen and has a sort of sponge tip applicator. You can use the applicator, but it looks like you can also swipe whatever eye brush you prefer over the sponge and apply that way.

And the other end of the pencil is a smudger. I think this will be great to help add level of color on the lid with the liner and shadow to create a really pretty smoky eye (and I love using brown for a smoky eye, rather than black!).

Thanks so much to April at Y Public Relations for sending these products to me to test out and review. I’m always on the hunt for the best way to add smoothness and shine to my hair, and an easy way to get the perfect eye look, so I can’t wait to let you know what I think of RUSK Deepshine Oil and pixi Lid & Line!