Bath and Body Works True Blue Spa Malibu Wave Spray

I feel like it has been forever since Bath and Body Works has offered hair care products and I have very found memories of using them in college so I always keep my eyes open for them in the current product assortment.  The new Malibu product line from True Blue Spa contains both body and hair products to help create a beachy, relaxed look for the summer season.  I have tried other products like this in the past and the only one that has done anything positive for my hair is the Beach Waves product from Fekkai, the original beach hair product and the one that still continues to set the bar for this type of product.  I have purchased this product and have been using it over the past few days to help refine my curls in loose, beachy waves.

"Have bombshell, beachy hair with our new Malibu Waves texture spray.  With mineral-rich sea salt to boost texture, a stunningly sexy, wonderfully windblown look is yours instantly.  With a UV absorber to help protect hair against environmental damage.  Irresistibly creamy, tropical citrus fragrance."  This product is recommended for use as follows: "Use on dry or damp hair.  Work through hair and use fingers to scrunch and twirl hair for a tousled, un-done, beach-blown style." 

I use this product on wet hair, it performs better on hair that is damp and therefore easier to finger style.  I have a very hard time finger styling my hair when it is dry already, maybe this is easier for someone who has hair with a finer texture than mine.  I have found a very easy way to make this product work and I am so excited to use it when it is very humid in the summer months.  I wash and condition my hair at night and then spary on a leave in conditioner before twisting it up in a bun.  In the morning, I get it out of the bun and then spray this product all over it, scrunching each area of my hair.  I leave my hair to dry naturally and continue to scrunch and refine it over the next hour or two, completing the wavy look. 

The sea salts in this product create a very different texture than most traditional curling sprays, it helps to create and hold the piecey, wavy look.  This product does create volume that I don't really need and I have to watch my scrunching style to make sure that I am not adding too much volume to my hair.  The salts also help to control the volume and I can see this product working very well on anyone with medium to thick hair, I don't know how well it would help to create the beach waves look on someone with fine hair.  One of my favorite aspects of this product is the fragrance, it is a strong tropical scent that I love but may be off-putting to others.  I do wish that certain types of hair and skincare products wouldn't have such a strong added fragrance, it adds little to nothing to the product performance and has the ability to annoy more people than convert them to the product line.

This is a good formula hair product to create loose, beach waves.  This is one of the only formulas that I have ever found that is close in performance to the original product from Fekkai.  I recommend this product be used on damp hair before finger styling, I can't see how well it will really work on dry hair.  I love tropical scented products so the fragrance is a plus for me but this may not be the case for everyone.  Overall, this is a fun, easy product to use in the warm weather and will help to cut out the amount of time that I have to spend on my hair during the heat of the summer months.

photo courtesy of Bath and Body Works

Rooney Mara's Curls

Happy Thanksgiving week ladies!  This will be a crazy week for me so updates might be a bit more spaced out than usual so I apologize in advance.  However the holiday season and end of semester craziness is coming quickly so I will post as much as possible but I can't promise a new post every single day for the next few weeks.  One thing that I am most looking forward to in the ext month is the opening of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, being a huge fan of both the books and the Swedish movies. 

The star of this version is Rooney Mara, normally a fair haired and pale skinned redhead is turn into Lisbeth Salander, a top level computer hacker with a punk sense of style.  This is one of the biggest movie makeovers that I have seen in years and it makes me even more excited to go and see this movie.  This picture is of her normal look, I love those curls and might consider test driving a look like that when my hair gets a bit longer...

photo courtesy of Google

Amika Tourmaline Clip-Free Curler

I feel that this is the first time that I have reviewed a curling iron for my blog. Normally, I grumble about my wavy hair and am already trying to coax it perfectly straight. However, summer and flat irons don't seem to get along very well and so I have to either wear a ponytail everyday until Labor Day or investigate a new hair style. I was emailed several weeks ago by a PR company and the Amika line of tools was explained to me and some pictures of the results of use were provided. I decided that I liked the pictures of the loose, wavy curls the best and the tool that was used to create that look was then sent to me.

Amika is a brand that provides salon quality tools that can be used in the comfort of your home. I found some background on the brand that I would like to share with you. "Amika creates professional, sophisticated styling tools and accessories designed to perfect your hair styles twice as fast as traditional tools. Amika uses hot technologies like nano, tourmaline and far-infrared heating to help care for your hair. With regular use, Amika products may even improve your hair's condition. So go ahead, show your hair a little love."

The curling iron that I was sent is unique in that it has no clamp to hold the hair, it comes with a heat resistant glove to do the job. I found the following as the product's description from folica.com, a seller of the items. "The curler features a tourmaline barrel fused with ceramic. Tourmaline is a natural source of negative ions and far infrared heat, which provides faster styling. Negative ions eliminate frizz and close the cuticle to create smooth, shiny hair. . Far infrared light easily pentrates hair for faster styling with less damage. High power, instant heat for consistent, dependable results on any type of hair".

So how do I make this work? I wash my hair at night, put it up in a clip to sleep, then when I wake up in the morning, I make sure that it is totally dry and start curling. I was a bit nervous about this at first since the product gets very hot and I was having visions of disaster with using the glove and getting my hand so close to the product. But no worries, the glove is the only protection needed. This iron does not have the clamp so that no marks are left on the hair from when it is brought down and then the curls look much more natural.

So how I did fare with this tool? So far, I am doing great with creating loose, beachy waves. The first time that I used it, I had a bit of a difficult time working with the glove and not having the hair come off while I was trying to get my hand up. Within the next few tries, I got a routine down and was able to get my timing right to clamp down on the barrel before I lost any hair. To create loose waves, I started with my air dried wavy hair and curled individual pieces that dried somewhat straighter than others. It usually takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to create the beachy, loose look. With this iron, I have found that I need to go in smaller sections than I might have done with a traditional iron so I will leave more time to use in the morning. However, the results totally justify these few minutes. I have gotten many compliments on my hair when using this product, in fact, I had a close friend tell me that she prefers my hair curly to when I flat-iron it (ouch!).

I am currently trying to create tighter curls with this product. This a much longer process and I really don't prefer myself with all the tight curls but I still want to see how it works out. I really recommend this curling iron to create loose waves and refine exisiting curls. I am also curious as to how well it will work if my hair is already straight and I decide to change my hairstyle before going out at night. Oh and I have the pink curling iron...of course!

photo courtesy of Amika

Beachy, Wavy Hair My Way

I have been told that I look really pretty when I allow my natural curls to go wild. However, I vastly beg to differ and will continue to reach for my straightening iron until I can find a way to get beachy hair that only look semi wild and out of control. However, in my version, it is carefully under control and style to perfection...while still be allowed to move. This is one of the few pictures of any celeb that I have ever found that shows exactly how I want my hair to look. Bonus points that it's Jennifer Aniston (and yes...the photo is from 2004 but I still love it).

Sexy and loose but still styled and controlled...will I ever figure out how to make my hair this amazing?!

photo courtesy of Style.com

Hoping For Twilight Hair...

For the first time in ages, I have to admit that I am getting sick and tired of always straightening my hair. Maybe I am just getting stuck in a hair rut because right now I really just hate everything about it, the texture after its straightened, the color, the length, and the process that I have to go through every morning to style it.

Then I saw the Twilight movie and the way that Bella’s hair is styled is EXACTLY what I want my hair to look like. The major problem is that I have no clue how to work with a curling iron. In fact, I don’t even own one or have any clue what I am looking for in order to buy one.
As an answer to my prayers, the new issue of Allure has a section all about creating naturally beautiful, wavy hair. Without products and chemical treatments. I just need a one-inch curling iron and some practice.

I will be reporting back in the next few weeks with my progress in finding and working with my natural texture. If I can’t get this look to work, then something drastic will be occurring when I go to my haircut appointment next month. When I saw drastic that is exactly when I mean, like getting my five or six inches shorter. As in something that I might end up regretting about two days after I do. Oh yeah, if you haven’t guessed the photo here is Bella from the Twilight movie. Like? Dislike?

photo courtesy of http://www.filmgrenade.com/