Even though I LOVE the Mixed Chicks product for my hair, I couldn’t help but spend some $$$ on Ouidad products. The reason for my splurge: I had a gift certificate code for $5 off on my order of $50 or more (which you can receive when you sign up for their mailing list), their Love Your Curls Starter Kit is back in stock after being out for months, and they’re offering Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel trial size FREE with any purchase over $25. Great deal, huh!?!?

Here’s what I ordered:

Love Your Curls Starter Kit $30.00
Five essential products for all curl types. It’s a great way to try out our products, and makes a great travel companion too!
The kit includes 2-oz Deep Treatment Intensive Conditioner, 2-oz Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel, 2-oz Clear & Gentle Shampoo, 2-oz Balancing Rinse Conditioner, 2-oz Botanical Boost Spray Conditioner

Ouidad Clear Control Pomade 4 oz. $26.00
A finishing touch pomade, made from vegetable proteins, that removes the stiff feeling styling products often leave and replaces it with softness and shine. This hydrating formula is a good choice to help thin, fine and dry hair to help form uniform curls.

Duckbill Clips $4.00
3.5″ Professional size metal clips are great for positioning and holding curls in place while hair dries. (pkg of 12)

Climate Control Gel 2 oz. FREE
A revolutionary design in styling gels. Climate Control protects curls from humidity by absorbing moisture from air to hydrate each strand of hair and help prevent frizz. Great for using in place of Tress F/X by all hair types in humid conditions, summer or winter. Winner of “Best Defrizzer” by Allure Magazine.

The starter kit is great way to try out their products before comitting to purchase something that’s full size, plus they’ve included some award-winning products in there and they’re only available for a limited time, so I had to have my hands on that. Oh, and the pomade… $26… ouch! LOL I think it’s a bit steep for something that’s 4 oz. For that much, that shit better be worth it!

After placing my order, I received an email for another gift certificate for 10% off my next order that’ll expire in 30 days. Makes me wanna go back and buy some more Can’t wait to have them delivered to me.

Update 8/29/2008 @ 3:00pm: WHOA!!! I just got my package! Can you believe it??!! Can’t wait to try it!!!

Of course, I had to buy bronzers and blushes to go with my new coastal scents brushes. I recently went to Rite Aid for Jane’s Blushing Cheeks in Blushing Glow and Blushing Baby Doll, and CVS for Milani Powder Mosaics in Honey Kissed. They all gorgeous colors!

left to right: Jane’s Blushing Glow and Blushing Baby Doll

left to right: Milani’s Honey Kissed, Sunset Glow and Sunset City.

Hey Guys!!! Sorry for the lack of post. I have a new position in the company I work for, so my focus has been mainly on work. I’ve been slaving my ass off at home in the past week and haven’t had time to do anything else during the day. But that didn’t stop me from shopping online and 24/7 CVS and Rite Aid at night. So I have alot of catching up to do

I recently bought two brushes from CoastalScents.com trying to get my hands on something natural.

Flat Mineral Bronzer Buffer Large - $4.24

The same brush sold by the nations leading retailer at an affordable price!
This brush will give you an ultimate application, use with foundation, blush,shimmer powders, especially works wonders with veil & bronzer.
Made with natural  pony hair, hand cut for precision application. Set in a seamless nickel ferrule with wood handle. Made to last a lifetime with proper care and cleansing.
Length from top to bottom 6 1/4 “

I LOVE how this brush is soooo soft!!! My intention on buying this brush was for applying my Everyday Minerals foundation but since I prefer bigger, more poufier brushes, I felt that this brush wasn’t big enough to apply my foundation. So I’m using this to apply blush or bronzer. The only thing about this brush is that it sheds like a mofo. See? How many can you count?

Prior to using this brush, I washed it probably about five times with anti-bacterial soap cuz it stunk like no one’s business. OMG, the smell *BARF* It smelled like a wet dog and it took forever to dry. Even at the last wash, the smell was still there but I let it dry hoping that the smell will go away and thankfully it did. I tested on the back of my hand to be sure that the smell won’t transfer to my skin and it didn’t smell. I’m just afraid for the next washing that the smell will come back to haunt me.

Pink Kabuki Brush - $4.99

Our pink essentials kabuki brush is an absolute girlie girl addition to your makeup tools set. The hairs are firm and supple allowing for a flawless application.
Pink Metallic Handle, goat and sable hair blend.

Not only does this kabuki brush give me great application with my mineral foundation, it’s small, cute and PINK! It doesn’t smell as bad when I washed it and it sheds too, but not as much. I got this to replace my stand-up powder brush from Essence of Beauty, which felt scratchy when applying my mineral foundation. The Pink Kabuki Brush is soft and I’m glad I got it! I just wish they have it with longer handles.

First off, let me tell you how much I love/hate my hair when it’s curly. On rare occasions, my hair is gorgeous with cascading curls, and other times, it would be frizzy as hell, dry and AARRGHHH. Wtf?? I hate using gel, cuz if I use too much, it would feel crunchy and stiff, but if I use less, it won’t be enough to hold and define my curls. Mousse? Forget about it. All it does is leave flakes in my hair. I’d use Frizz-Ease Hair Serum, but with my long hair, I’d probably have to use the entire bottle. I just wanna be able to wear my hair curly and touch its softness, let it flow in the wind like in commercials, na’mean? I can never find the right product for my hair.

For the past years, I’ve been wearing my hair straight, but lately it’s taking its toll. From the pulling with my flat iron, I’m losing hair. Sometimes I get a handful of hairball in the shower and when I run my fingers through, I’d find a few loose hair. It’s kind of scary if you think about it. Sometimes I don’t worry about that cuz I have thick hair, but it’ll catch up to me when I get older. I just hope the reason for my hair loss is the need for a trim, stress or whatever, other than the weekly use of my flat iron. So I’m cutting down on straightening my hair and start wearing my hair curly again.

courtesy of mixedchicks.net

With that said, I stumbled upon a site called Mixed Chicks. Upon entering the site, I assume they were selling hair products catering to African-American, Latina and bi-racial hair type. The name alone just threw me off. Do you have to be ”mixed” to use this product? Or can this product be applied to curly hair even if you’re not “mixed”? Anyhow, after searching and researching on all the hair products for curly hair I could find online, I kept coming back to Mixed Chicks and after watching the how-to video on the product, I was sold. I bought the Trio, which came with shampoo, deep conditioner and leave-in conditioner for $38.33.

Upon receiving my package, first thing I did was open the cap and took a whiff of the products. WOW… I never smelled anything like that! I loved how it smelled. It’s got a very clean scent, but very faint. I jumped in the shower the minute I opened the package!

Shampoo: I LOVE this shampoo, it worked amazing! I dunno how to describe it, I’ve never had a shampoo that cleaned my hair the way this one does. It removes build up and UV blockers to protect color. A quarter-sized shampoo is enough for my thick, long hair, leaving it soft and smooth. And of course, I desired to repeat

Deep Conditioner: I feel this is much lighter than my Pantene Daily Moisture but it does the job. It detangles and moisturizes, leaving my hair soft and I can already see my hair forming into nicely shaped curls as soon as I got out of the shower.

Leave-In Conditioner: I liked how this product defined my curls but it didn’t last long. My hair felt a little bit dry and frizzy towards the end of the day. So when it does, I apply a hair serum. I like to use Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti-Frizz Serum.

Would I buy these products again? YES! I LOVE what the shampoo and deep conditioner did to my hair. I’m not too crazy about the leave-in conditioner. Maybe I’m not using it correctly or I may need a trim. Yeah, I think it’s time for a trim. My hair is too long and I think it weighs down my curls. We’ll see after a trim, whenever that’ll be. Here’s a few result pics I’d like to share. Thanks for reading!

Gotta love curls! I can’t help but touch it all day long.
Smells great too!

Me in the evening. See how it’s a bit frizzy and dry?
Maybe I’m just exaggerating.

Armand after using Mixed Chicks. He gave it a two-thumbs up!
He’s a VERY Mixed Kid

Do you have curly hair? What other products have you used and what worked best for you? Have you tried Mixed Chicks? If so, what do you think about it?

As part of my 101 in 1001 challenge, I’m listing the 50 things that makes me happy… Enjoy!

1. New Yorkers - I’m glad to be a part of the diversity it has to offer
2. shopping - nothing better to releive stress than retail therapy
3. a nice weather with clear skies and sunny
4. having lots of pillows on my bed
5. music - it gets me through the day during work
6. body lotions that smells clean and fruity
7. makeup, especially lipgloss and blushes
8. nice fitting jeans that fit my body type
9. silver jewelry, esp. anything silver with hearts
10. nice compliments
11. when people smile and say “excuse me” and “thank you”
12. a cool night, laying on a sofa under a blanket with that special someone watching a movie
13. vanilla candles lit in a dark room… oooh, how romantic
14. donating things knowing that it’ll be put to better use
15. spending quality time with friends and family; Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays…
16. FRIDAY’s
17. when I’m done with work
18. having my boyfriend around

I wanna update you guys on my MUA experience. So I didn’t get swaplifted Both MUA members were very nice and made it very easy with the whole proccess being that it’s my first time swapping. They both sent their packages as soon as they got mine.  I must say, it was fun and their xtras were very thoughtful too. Swapping makeup sure beats spending money… haha! Here’s what I got from Charnel.

Cover Girl Tru Blend Foundation in Soft Honey, Jane Eye-Zing in Hi Ho Silver & Enchant-Mint and Sephora Keep Khol Waterproof Liner in Black. The wrapped items were extras.

Extras: Back to the Earth mineral sample in Fireflies, sample conditioner & facial soap and an eyequad in different shades of blue.

This is the swap item from reenie42; Cover Girl Eye Enhancer Trio in Cafe Au Lait

I’ll be adding some items to swap, including some NYX Round Lipsticks that I know for sure I won’t be wearing anymore. So check my profile for my swap items, or view my wishlist if you want to swap with me. I won’t bite