Eyeliner That’s Not Too Expensive

Posted on August 22, 2014 by BackToNaturalHair

Hi Folks!

Wanted to take a couple of minutes to provide a quick review of an eyeliner that I tried for the first time today.  A little background…for years, I’ve purchased the department store gel eyeliners that you apply with a brush.  The problem I always run into is that the gel eyeliner dries out long before I’ve used much of the product.  I usually purchase it for an upcoming event but it eventually dries out before my next event rolls around….ugh.

Anywho, I finally sat down the other day and read a couple of reviews from some reliable beauty bloggers and came up with what I think will be a winner.  The product is Eye Studio® Master Precise™ Ink Pen Eyeliner by MAYBELLINE.  I purchased it today for about $6 and immediately applied it – I was very pleased with the application.  The package states 12hr wear so hopefully this one works out.  I’d much rather spend $6 than $20+ periodically so keeping my fingers crossed that this one works out.  I will be monitoring the application for the remainder of the day to see if it smudges, etc but so far, so good.

Update 9/25/2014
Sooooo…I tend to forget that I have extremely sensitive skin. My eyes became VERY irritated after using the new product a few times. Took me a while to figure out what was going on. Initially thought my allergies were kicking in then realized it was the new product that I was applying to my eyelids. I ended up purchasing Opcon-A® eye drops as well as applying some of my eczema med cream to my eyelids to calm things down.
Oh well, at least I gave it a try. Went a few weeks without applying any eye makeup after my reaction to the new product. This past week, started back on my department store gel eye liner that is dried out. No allergic reaction so maybe if the product drying out is all that I have to worry about, it’s not so bad after all LOL.

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Not Too Bad

Posted on February 15, 2014 by BackToNaturalHair

Hi Folks! I wanted to share my recent success story with natural hair and hopefully provide a few words of encouragement. I attended a gala a few weeks ago. As usual, hair was one of the first thoughts that came to mind when I found out about the event. What will I do with my hair? Followed by what will I wear? In that order lol. My plan was to flat iron my hair for the event. I knew that I had my faithful wig as a backup if we had bad weather on the day of the event. I went all out for the event – applied semi-permanent color to my hair to give it some pop. I must say that I was satisfied with the end result. I washed, colored, pressed and flat-ironed the night before the event. I wrapped my hair overnight and used the curling iron the next day to bend the ends before heading out the event. The timing of the event worked out well since I was attending a super bowl party the next day. My hair held up for the super bowl party as well. That was a rare and successful weekend for me 🙂

Check out my pics from February 1, 2014 to see the results.

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Good to Know

Posted on February 14, 2014 by BackToNaturalHair

Hello All!  It’s been a while.  Thought I’d take a few minutes to post about a news story that I saw this week on TV – well actually I only caught the end of the story but I got the gist of it.  Allegedly, an anti-frizz hair product containing two ingredients (cyclopentasiloxane and dimethiconol) can cause hair to catch fire at a particular temperature.  I searched the internet and found a few articles that provide a recap of the new story that I saw on TV.  Based on the date of some of the articles, this is old news but thought I’d share it anyway.  It’s new news to me LOL.

http://www.americanownews.com/story/21388945/popular-hair-product-blamed-for-causing-fire

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Nude Lipstick

Posted on December 18, 2013 by BackToNaturalHair

I’m following up on the ‘Don’t Forget the Face’ post that I shared back in July.  I did get around to trying one of the M·A·C nude lipsticks that was mentioned in the article.  I remembered that M·A·C offers a free lipstick as part of the ‘Back to M·A·C Program’ when you return used products in their original packaging.  Although I have purchased M·A·C products for years and saved the old packages with the intention of returning them to get free lipstick, I never did until a few months ago.  I returned six old/used M·A·C containers and received a free lipstick.  I decided to try the ‘TOUCH’ shade that was mentioned in the article.  I really like it. I throw it on to give my lips a little extra when I don’t feel like being bothered with a lip liner and gloss.  Next, I plan to return six more used items and hopefully try the ‘COSMO’ shade.

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Rain, Heat and Humidity Pack a Powerful Punch

Posted on December 17, 2013 by BackToNaturalHair

I have some downtime this week while on vacation so I’m reflecting back on my hair journey the last 6 months or so. I started a new job this past April so blogging has taken a backseat to the other things that I had going on. I’m remembering back to this past summer and the challenges that I faced. On a couple of occasions in particular, my straight hair didn’t stand a chance against the rain, heat and humidity. I’ll share a couple of humorous episodes from July and August and include a couple of pics on my ‘Photos’ page (2013.07.11 and 2013.08.31).

Here’s a recap of the first humorous episode from this past July. I was wearing my hair straight (probably a bad idea for a naturalista in the South in July LOL). It was not raining when I went to work that day. I was working from one of the company’s other facilities, not my home office, for a project team meeting. Since our team is rarely all in one place, we decided to head out as a team for lunch to take advantage of everyone being in the same place. It was not raining when we went to lunch but it did look like an overcast day. The restaurant was crowded and the only table that could accommodate our large group was on the covered patio. I thought nothing of the location of the table until after it started to rain while we were seated and I casually reached up and touched my hair towards the end of my meal. I could tell from the texture that ‘something’ had changed. It certainly didn’t feel like it did when I left home that morning. We ended the meeting shortly after lunch and I headed home. I decided to snap a few pics of the transformation – quit amazing. All I could do was laugh.

The second humorous episode that I recall from this past summer happened on August 31st. Again, I foolishly was wearing my hair in a straight style in August in the South. We decided to head out to dinner at P.F. Chang’s on this particular rainy Saturday evening. There were people waiting to be seated but surprisingly they seated our small party of two very quickly. The real surprise was that the hostess led us through the restaurant to a covered (including clear plastic surrounding the sides) outdoor seating area. There were several people seated in this area that I didn’t even know existed. I knew this location meant trouble for my hair but decided not to request an indoor table at that time since it would likely be a long wait. An important lesson was learned…always ask for an indoor table on rainy days, a covered outdoor seating area will not suffice. I could feel the impact throughout dinner and snapped a pic when I returned home that evening. Again, all I could do was laugh.

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Follow Directions

Posted on December 16, 2013 by BackToNaturalHair

Hello Everyone!  I’m on vacation for a week at a mountain resort so I have a lot of time to catch up on my blog. This is forced relaxation.  We ‘went to town’ earlier today to do a little shopping and picked up a few Christmas presents.  Not sure what I’ll find to do tomorrow…maybe snow tubing.

Thought I’d take a few minutes to post about a product that I tried a while back and liked the results.  The product is Black Opal® Even True Tri-Complex Tonecorrect Fade Gel.  In the past, I’ve used prescription strength fade creams.   During my last dermatologist visit, the doctor let me know that the last fade cream that I was prescribed was no longer available.  He said that I could purchase a product that they sold in the office but it wasn’t prescription strength.  I decided to do a little research before purchasing a non-prescription strength fade cream. 

I came across the Black Opal® product after doing some online research and reading some reviews.  I decided to give it a try and figured non-prescription strength is probably best for my sensitive, eczema/acne prone skin anyway.  The product contains 2% hydroquinone and I believe this is the max allowed for over the counter products.  I made a commitment to follow the product directions exactly to get the best results and sure enough I was pleasantly surprised after about 3 or 4 weeks.  The very visible dark spots that had developed on my face did fade after using the product (I failed to address the acne breakouts early enough which resulted in the scars/dark spots).   It’s not asking too much of me to apply the fade gel to dark spots at night after I wash my face.  I have also promised myself to address any acne breakouts as soon as I notice it to assist with keeping the dark spots at a minimum.  I think that’s the least that I can do to try to achieve a clear complexion.

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Rediscovery

Posted on October 8, 2013 by BackToNaturalHair

Greetings All! I wanted to take a few minutes to post about my rediscovery. I’ve been very frustrated with my hair for the last month or so…even teetering on returning to a relaxer. Since straight hair is much easier to maintain in my opinion, I typically go with flat-ironing to make life simple. My hair just hasn’t felt ‘right’ recently – not sure how to describe it. The ends didn’t seem to want to get straight, entire strand reverting back quickly etc etc etc. After analyzing the situation a few weeks ago, the pressing comb came to mind. That was my rediscovery – the electric pressing comb. About a year ago, I determined that the 400 degree range works for straightening my hair. It was around that same time that I stopped using my electric pressing comb since the flat iron was doing the trick in the 400 degree range. The flat iron seemed to be easier to use and faster. What I didn’t realize or appreciate at the time was the fact that the electric pressing comb is able to more thoroughly apply heat to more strands with each pass. It makes sense since the comb’s teeth get between the strands. I used a combination of the electric comb and flat-iron the past couple of attempts and have been pleased with the results. I posted a couple of pics of the recent results. I will be incorporating the electric pressing comb into my routine more often going forward. I will also be identifying a hair stylist that specializes in natural hair – doing it myself is getting old LOL.

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Way Too Much Work

Posted on August 27, 2013 by BackToNaturalHair

I feel exhausted as I sit here and just think about having to re-twist my hair tonight.  The upkeep on the two strand twist hairstyle requires a lot of effort in my opinion.  As I’ve stated in the past, I tend to twist fairly small sections of hair to get the max curl definition from the curl defining cream.  I suppose that the phrase ’small section’ is relative – my definition of a ‘small section’ is about a square inch or less.  My arms are tired and too much time has passed after I twist my hair.  Untwisting the sections isn’t exactly a day at the beach either. 

All I can say to anyone just embarking on the natural hair journey is to be prepared for the extra work associated with maintaining two strand twists.  I can certainly see that a flat-ironing session is in my very near future even though I hate to have to apply all that heat to my strands.  Oh well, guess that’s where the heat protectant comes in LOL.  Flat ironed hair is much easier to maintain than two strand twists in my opinion.

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Always Seeking Good Information

Posted on August 11, 2013 by BackToNaturalHair

Hi All! I was surfing the internet this evening looking for general maintenance tips for type 4 natural hair. I’ve mostly been flat ironing my hair for the last few months as this style has turned out to be the lowest maintenance option for me. When I do flat-twists, I make each twist so small that it’s VERY time consuming to re-twist at night before going to bed…I’ve been avoiding the twists. I’m still not comfortable rocking the wash and go style so that leaves me with flat ironing. I’ve been feeling a little guilty about applying so much heat to my hair the last few months so I was online looking for tips on maintaining healthy natural type 4 hair. I ran across an article that features a few type 4 naturalistas who are successfully maintaining length. Thought I’d pass the article along in case there are some type 4 naturals who are seeking advice on achieving and maintaining length.

http://blackgirllonghair.com/2013/03/3-youtubers-with-type-4-long-natural-hair-and-low-manipulation-regimens/

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Don’t Forget The Face

Posted on July 18, 2013 by BackToNaturalHair

Hello Naturalistas!

I just read an article on nude lipsticks posted by Faz on xoVain and thought I’d pass it along. Going to a makeup counter and trying to find a new lipstick can be frustrating. I appreciate being able to see these nude shades mentioned in the article applied on another person to give me an idea of what to expect. I will be trying some of these suggested shades in the future for those days when I want to tone it down.

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