product reviews

  I was contacted through my business page about a new emerging hair care line named “Secret Styling”. Walter Smith, a representative I am assuming, reassured me that the products he was sending me could be used for natural and relaxed hair because I was a bit uneasy about the product line. After browsing through the online site, I realized that they have three different product types. One for “Straight look for Women”, “Texturized and Natural Styles” and “Braids, Twist and Creative Styles”.” Upon receiving the package, I was a bit astonished by the amount of products the company sent. The sample product sizes and names are listed below. Because I have been protective styling my hair, I tried the first few products on my Indian Remy 14inch full lace wig. I saw this as acceptable because this was actual human hair and it definitely tangled and became “nappy” as if it were my real hair. Secret Styling Hair Shinning Mist Spray Product 1 This was the first product that I tested and all I can say is WOOOOOOOOOWWWWW! I expected the product to be greasy and sticky but it was the exact opposite. The product sprayed on dry and still left a lustrous sheen to the hair that last throughout the day. Even after numerous applications for that week my hair did not become agitate by the sheen. My apartment mate was even impressed and used it herself! The smell was not to strong. Though I can not really describe the smell, it did have a a pleasant light floral scent. I would most definitely add this to my regimen if I ever needed a sheen to my hair. Premium Keratin Conditioning Shampoo  Product 3 I proceeded down the line to the shampoo. It had a soft scent, almost like baby laundry detergent. While I washed the weave I made sure that I checked for stiffness and moisture depletion that would be caused by the shampoo. After I washed the hair twice I rinsed it out with water. The shampoo was pretty good. In my eyes it got the job done nothing too amazing. After I washed out the shampoo I did notice the hair becoming lighter, meaning that the products I previously used on the hair was extracted. Premium Moisturizing Shampoo  Product 9 This shampoo did not really have a scent to it. I decided to use this shampoo on my natural hair despite my current non sulfate regimen. The shampoo lathered really well, and a little went a long way. And I really mean long because I have a rather large head. =) After using it, my hair felt a bit stripped of its natural oils however it did not feel excessively dry. I followed up with the conditioner. Premium Intensive Conditioning Product 4 I loved the way the conditioner added moisture to my hair while I had it on my hair. The consistency was very thick and my hair strands need a supple amount of product to really saturate it. I left the conditioner on for approximately 3 minutes and then washed it out. At first I still felt the moisture but as minutes passed the moisture began to fade. I am not sure what to think about that, but in any case it was not supposed to be a leave in so I would not hold all day moisture standards too high. Premium Moisture Retaining Lotion Product 11 I tried the hair lotion on my human hair and it wasn’t to great in my opinion. It made the hair feel waxy an life less. I used it because the hair I was a bit dry and I thought that the lotion would be the perfect product to spruce up its life. Unfortunately this hair was not receiving of the product. This is not to say that another person’s tresses wouldn’t like it. Perhaps the product is for more thick hair types. There was not a prominent smell to the lotion either. The consistency appeared to be on the jelly side, but a runny gel. Premium Instant Hair Detangler Product 2 The detanlger did just what it said it would do. It detangled the hair in a matter of seconds after applying the product. I let the product sit on the hair for a bout 5 seconds and used a wide tooth comb to detangle. I found that this product works best on slightly damped hair already. It does however work on dry hair but you need a little more product than expected. This detangler did not leave the hair sticky but did seem as if it took a while for the product to dry on the hair. There was not a scent left on the hair either which made it easy to apply any product over it without leaving a mixture of scents.   For the products that were not used, I will either be giving them away to my friends or holding a “Hand-Me-Down Giveaway” Please be alert and check out the site. These products are affordable and great to use if you are looking for a little more higher quality products that convenient store products. Website: www.SecretStyling.com   For more testimonies view the video below:

Beautiful textures is a new natural hair product line , released from Strength of Nature Global, that has been going viral throughout the natural hair community. Though it is not highly used as of yet, it is up and coming which makes it great to try. I was sent these four lovely products to review for you lovely readers. You may have previously spotted these products at the release on 2012 Fashion week but now you get a first hand review via muah!   Product 1: Beautiful Textures Tangle Taming Moisturizing Shampoo Ingredients: Aqua, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Cocamide DEA, Argania Spinosa Nut Oil/Argan Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract/Rosemary Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract/Aloe Vera, Panax Ginseng Root Extract/Ginseng Extract, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olive Oil, Cocos Nucifera Oil/Coconut Oil, Tocopherol/Vitamin E, Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit/Shea Butter, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter/Mango Butter, Glycine Soja Oil/Soybean Oil, Triethanolamine, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Glycol Distearate, Citric Acid, DMDM Hydantoin, Imidazolidinyl Urea, CI 15985/Yellow 6, Parfum/Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, d-Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Lyral, Methyl Ionone Gamma.   Claims: For Mixed Textures: Curly, Wavy, Kinky, Coily, & Frizzy Amazing Manageability Styling Versatility Get Gorgeous Tresses! Beautiful Textures Tangle Taming Moisturizing Shampoo helps to: detangle, restore shine and body, improve manageability, and soften and stretch natural curl pattern.  To help ensure your hair reaches its full growth potential, cleanse, detangle, and hydrate daily. Tangle Taming Shampoo can be the first step to achieving softer, more defined curls, healthier looking elongated coils, with unforgettable body My Review: When I first read the ingredients I was a bit iffy about the trial of this product. For one, it has sulfates and cones, and for those of you who follow nearly hair, you know that  I am doing the Curly Girl Method so that is a no go. Secondly, God knows how long it has been since I have actually used shampoo. To my surprise, the consistency of the shampoo was not to thick nor watery. It was just perfect to maneuver through my hair strands. This gave me my first love spark with it, especially because my hair was previously in an untangled afro puffy twist. Regularly I would apply the product and then just wash it out, however I wanted to put the product’s name to the test. While my hair was heavily saturated with the water and products I used a wide tooth comb to detangle. Though the task was daunting it was doable (Go beautiful textures)! I have never had a conditioner that allowed me at least a little slip. After washing out the product I thought my hair would be stripped, but it was still intact and soft. It even had a slight sheen to it. Did I mention the smell!? I usually hate strong scented products but this smelt like coconuts and cream in my opinion. Would I recommend it? Oh yea baby! Rating:  4.25/5   Product 2: Beautiful Texture Rapid Repair Deep Conditioner Ingredients: Aqua, Glycine Soja Oil/Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Argania Spinosa Nut Oil/Argan Oil, Cocos Nucifera Oil/Coconut Oil, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olive Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit/Shea Butter, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter/Mango Butter, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract/Rosemary Extract, Dimethicone, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract/Aloe Vera, Phenyl Trimethicone, Panax Ginseng Root Extract/Ginseng Extract, Polyquaternium 37, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/ Dicaprate, Steareth 2, Steareth 20, Lanolin, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Polysorbate 20, DMDM Hydantoin, CI 15985/Yellow 6, Parfum/Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, d-Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Lyral, Methyl Ionone Gamma.   Claims: Restore Hair’s Natural Moisture Balance Control Damage from Transitioning, Heat, and Color Treated Hair Restore Elasticity to Prevent Breakage Get Gorgeous Tresses! Dryness and breakage prevent healthy looking hair growth. To help ensure your hair has a fighting chance against daily styling stresses use Beautiful Textures Rapid Repair Deep Conditioner to help strengthen, rebuild, protect and hydrate. Beautiful Textures Rapid Repair Deep Conditioner allows you to embrace more versatile styling options, while protecting your hair from the inside out. To achieve softer, more defined curls, healthier looking elongated coils and simply silky smooth hydrated hair use this feather lite deep penetrating conditioner. My Review: I used this product directly after my shampoo experience. I used the shingling method to make sure that each strand was evenly coated with the product.   I then covered my hair for 20 minutes with a heating cap, the product advises 15 minutes, and washed it out with cold water. My expectations were probably way too boisterous for this product after my high off of the shampoo. My hair was still soft but a little brittle at the same time. And as it dried the moisture seemed to have disappear into the air.   However I loved the consistency, it was really creamy, and my hair always needs a heavy deep conditioner. I just wish that the moisture that it was supposed to provide for my hair was immense. Because the consistency was creamy it allowed for great and I mean great slips.   The smell was in comparison to the shampoo. Would I recommend it?  I am going to say yes. If you are looking for adequate moisture and great slip   Rating:  3/5 Products 3: Beautiful Textures Curl Control Defining Pudding Ingredients: Aqua, Glycine Soja Oil/Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Argania Spinosa Nut Oil/Argan Oil, Cocos Nucifera Oil/Coconut Oil, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olive Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit/Shea Butter, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter/Mango Butter, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract/Rosemary Extract, Dimethicone, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract/Aloe Vera, Phenyl Trimethicone, Panax Ginseng Root Extract/Ginseng Extract, Glycerin, Polyquaternium 11, Steareth 2, Steareth 20, DMDM Hydantoin, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Sodium Carbomer, PEG 150 Distearate, PEG 12 Dimethicone, CI 15985/Yellow 6, Parfum/Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, d-Limonene, Hexyl Cinnamal, Lyral, Methyl Ionone Gamma. Claims: For Mixed Textures: Curly, Wavy, Kinky, Coily, & Frizzy Controls Frizzies Boost Shine Get Gorgeous Tresses! Who says your curls, kinky-coils, and waves can’t be luminous and versatile… Get the frizz control you desire with Curl Control Defining Pudding.  Transform and stretch your tresses to the

About a month ago I was contacted by BuildASign.com to do a review on their merchandise. Out of the vast selections of advertisement materials they carry I choose to try out their business cards. Although they supply companies and personal users with advertisements tools such as bumper stickers, license plates, magnets etc, their main focuses are banners and signs. When I first decided to take on the opportunity to help BuildASign.com gain notability within the online world I initially was overwhelmed, in a good way, at the amount of sources they offered to aide in the success of advertising. Not only did they have a good selection they also had easy accessibility and structure on the site. Though it is not a fancy high scripted site it is easy to find everything you could possibly need. Simplicity is sometimes best in situations as these. In producing the business cards I was given the option of either having the cards face glossy or matte. Me being the glizty gal I am, I chose the gloss. There are plenty of designs to select from ranging from fancy to simple. There was also an option where you could “start from scratch” to design your very own. And again, me being the creative person I am, I went with the latter. In the start from scratch mode there are still templates/designs and guides that can assist you in your original making. I would have to say the best part of the start from scratch mode is the upload feature. Though there is a size limitation, being capable to include your photo or outside creation gives your business card more originality. In creating my design I did run into a few kinks. At first I started to create my business card using the browser google chrome. It ran fine until I had to resize images. Boy oh boy I literally spent two hours trying to work with the stunts in the  creator. I finally decided to switch browsers to Firefox and it ran smooth as a baby’s bottom. If I had known from the beginning that the program was most compatible with Firefox I would have been a happy camper but the lack of disclaimer made me a little perturbed. Now granted I could have missed that notification however with something as big as that I would have loved that to be in big writing. Now the rates blew me away! For my set of hundred glossy cards they were priced on the site for only 17.99! Now I may not know anything about business cards but that sounds like a good deal. The matte cards were priced at 14.99 for 100  with a respectable increase  in price with card quantity. In my overall opinion I would definitely recommend this site for those who have either an online business to promote or relatively small business.  The reason being…I haven’t found an option to make the cards two sided which would seem more professional and reputable for larger business. BuildASign.com is also partners with another site where paintings/canvases and home interior can be purchased which I urge you to check out custom canvas prints. The big question…Will I ever use this site again?? Oh yes I will!! Signs & Banners