Gel Eyeliner, how I love thee....

Hello my lovelies!  Today I want to talk a little bit about gel eyeliners.   I've found some really great ones for you... and you guys know how I love a bargain!!

Let's start with Makeup Geek's gel eyeliners.  These are such high quality... go on really well and have great staying power.  They have some really nice colors as well.  The black is one of the best black gel liners I've used and is a staple in my kit.  They run $8.99, and are better than some way more expensive liners I have.

http://www.makeupgeek.com/store/eye-products/eye-liners/gel-liner.html

They have a decent range of colors.  There are the standards such as black, dark brown, metallic dark grey, and a metallic brown/antique gold.  They also have some colors such as a metallic turquoise-y blue, a matte electric blue, vibrant purple, a shimmery mint green, a matte blood red (yes red and it is amazing), a shimmery white, and a metallic yellow (gold, but yellow).  I have a few of them and have swatched them here.  Ignore my messy swipes... this by no means is a reflection on the liner, just me being tired when I drew the lines.

In the shot above, you can see the metallic brown (Rave) on top, next down the metallic grey (Twinkle), the metallic turquoise (Fame) and a little bit of the shimmery white (Cotton Tail).  The colors are very vibrant, even if you can't tell so much by my photos.  I love Twinkle and Rave as an alternative for black.  I will say Cottontail feels a bit soft, but I find that with most gel liners that are light colors.  The softness also makes for a rockin' eye shadow base.  

Here is a little better view of Cottontail, it's a really pearly white.  Poison, the red is really fun.  I've worn it a few times and it just pops.  The black looks a little washed out with my flash, but don't worry, it is a wonderful deep dark black that is so smooth and silky to put on.  

When I ran my finger through them, the did smudge, but I rubbed a lot harder than anyone would rub their eye.  I would call them waterproof, as soap and water doesn't touch them.  You have to use an oil based makeup remover to get these suckers off.  

My next gel eyeliner loves are by BH Cosmetics.  They have some really fun colors that I enjoy and a great price point at $7.95... actually I always see them "on sale" for 50% off and a 3.95 price point.  Can you believe that?????  I haven't tried a whole lot from BH, I sort of prefer Coastal Scents and they are very similar.  However, Coastal Scents has really boring gel eyeliner colors, and only 4 or 5 of them.  Meh. 

http://www.bhcosmetics.com/products/gel-eyeliners

I picked up 4 to just try them out.  From the bottom: Fairy, a WONDERFUL green with gold undertones.  Really beautiful.  Next is Fresh, a nice metallic pop of minty green.  You guys know how I love pink eyeliner and Blow is a fantastic metallic pink almost fuchsia.   Night is an almost black indigo-ish eggplant color.  Great if you want something dark, but maybe not quite black.  

These are such fun colors.  The lighter colors are a bit soft as Makeup Geek's Cottontail is... but I'm sort of ok with that.  That makes them versatile as a shadow base or hell, just a shadow.  For $3.95 I'm going to be picking up a few more colors that were out of stock when I ordered.  These are a really great value.  

They did also smudge when I ran my finger through them.... but as above, I ran it through harder than anyone would ever rub their eyes.  The staying power is great, it doesn't fade by the end of the day.  I would call these water resistant, as just running water on them they were fine, but soap and water does take them right off.  But they are so inexpensive and the colors so great, how can you resist???

The next thing I want to talk about in the realm of gel eye liners is brushes.  Get a GOOD brush.  I have several ranging from an angled flat brush, all the way to a square flat brush.  My favorites are the bent liner brushes, and my favorite I've found is Makeup Geek's.  $6.99 ladies, yep, a quality brush for under $10 bucks.  Best liner brush ever.  The thing that makes it different is that instead of it just being a few brush hairs in a small ferrule, it is like a tiny pencil brush.  The angled ferrule makes it really easy to use as well.  You can kind of see the comparison in my picture below.  

Most bent eyeliner brushes (or non bent ones for that matter) are like the black brush I have here... just a bunch of straight skinny bristles.  Which is fine if you want to do a really skinny line along your lash line.  But in the brush with the silver ferrule (the Makeup Geek brush) you see how it looks like a little pencil.  I LOVE this brush.  It's so versatile and you get great control.   I really recommend this brush.  

Lastly, I wanted to link to a tutorial on how to do quick perfect winged eyeliner.  This is the easiest most precise way out there... Yes I can do my winged eyes freehand, but when I'm in a hurry I use this tape method.  So quick and easy.  

http://www.makeupgeek.com/tutorials/the-1-minute-winged-liner/

That's it for today!  Stay beautiful!!

No Poo Shampoo Experiment Wrap Up

Hi my lovelies!  I thought I would do a sum up so you guys didn't have to dig through all my posts for information.

I love the no poo thing.  Just this last weekend I had someone touch my hair (because it was shiny) and they gasped and said "Oh my god, your hair is so soft".  It is...but it still has good body.  I don't use styling products besides my natural leave in conditioner type product which I'll talk about below.  Ok, If I wanted to do an updo I would probably use my hair gel and hairspray... but I don't use any products with silicone in them.  This isn't the best picture, but it is from this weekend... you can't really tell how shiny and soft my hair is but trust me... it looked great.

It takes every bit of a month to adjust, I would say more like 6 weeks.  Your hair will suck for the first couple of weeks, but it will gradually get better then be amazing.  There is some mental road blocks you will have to get past.  Your hair will feel different in the shower.  You aren't using shampoo that strips your hair of all it's natural oils, then conditioners that lay down artificial silicone to coat your hair and make it feel slick.  Your hair will not feel slick in the shower, it sort of feels waxy... but that is your natural oils that are coating your hair so that is actually what your hair SHOULD feel like.  The slick silicone coated hair is not what your hair should feel like.... But that's what we've known all our life, so it is a little hard to get past that mental block.  

My recipe:
You will tweak things and find a formula you like.  This is what works for me.

BS = Baking Soda solution ("shampoo").  Mix 1 Tablespoon of baking soda with 1 Cup of water.  I add 5-10 drops of Liquid Castile Soap.  I like the Lavender and the Almond.  It just gives it a little bit more "slip" (I'll talk about this below).

ACV = Apple Cider Vinegar ("conditioner").  1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar to 1 Cup of water.

My routine:
Every 3 days or so, I use the BS to wash my hair.  They say to try to only get it on your scalp, but it gets all over my hair since it is short right now.  I use a squirt bottle and add solution to my hair until it feels a little slippery.  Then I use my fingertips and "scrub" my scalp.  I let the BS sit on my hair/scalp for a few minutes (while I'm washing my body in the shower).  Rinse thoroughly.  My squirt bottles are sort of small, but I mix up a couple of cups and that gets me through the week if not more.  Same with the ACV.

After the BS, you need to return your hair's pH to normal, so you rinse with the ACV solution.  This you should just get on your hair, not your scalp, but again... it's a solution so it just goes all over.  I work this in (no scrubbing) and let it sit while I shave my legs.  Rinse thoroughly.  The vinegar smell will go away when you rinse.  

In between BS/ACV "washings" I sprinkle my hair with a cornstarch/cocoa mix, I really work it in and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.  I then rinse it out in the shower.   The cocoa is supposed to make it less noticeable on darker hair than just plain cornstarch... but if I use this and leave it in my hair looks matte and powdery, cocoa or no.  So that's why I rinse it out.  It absorbs any excess oil and smells like cocoa (YEA!).

Things to note:
Clarify your hair before you start.  I just picked up Suave's Clarifying shampoo and used it as my last shampoo.  No conditioner... just shampoo and let dry naturally.  Remember, you hair is going to suck for a few weeks.  But I feel this helped the transition period because it got rid of all the gunk in your hair.

If you aren't ready to go no poo, you can go low poo.  Instead of BS, you can use liquid Castile soap.   Liquid Castile soaps are made with various oils, tocopherol (vitamin E) and Potassium Hydroxide (None remains after saponifying oils into soap and glycerin).  It lathers up, but is really quite natural.  It is a good alternative to BS, and what I use to wash the color out of my hair when I'm covering my grey.  (I love it as a shower gel!).  I like Dr. Bronner's, they have great scents and can be found at Target.  YOU STILL NEED TO USE THE ACV RINSE AFTERWARDS!!!!!
https://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/category/LIQUIDSOAP.html

My hair went through a dry period, and still can be a little frizzy if I let it dry naturally.  You have worked hard to rid your hair of silicone, so don't use a styling product with them!  Anti Frizz products and leave in conditioners are chock full of the suckers.  I LOVE Shea Moisture's Coconut and Hibiscus Curl and Style Milk.  The ingredients are all natural (Mostly different oils) but the texture is like a lotion.  A little goes a long way.  I run about a dime size dollop through my ends before letting my hair dry naturally OR blowing it dry with a hair dryer.   My hair texture is wavy and slighly frizzy.  This really helps, and helped with the dryness.  You can also find this at Target.  It is with the products for African-American Hair.  I really like every product of Shea Moisture that I've tried.  I'll eventually be trying their different hair products, just to see what else I like.  Good natural stuff.  It also smells quite good, and you all know how I like good smelly stuff.
http://www.sheamoisture.com/SheaMoisture-Coconut-Hibiscus-Curl-Style-Milk-_p_747.html

Speaking of smell, Since your hair just smells like nothing using this process...I wanted to fragrance my hair.  I found fragrance oils rated for use in soaps, lotions etc.  I put a dropper or two in with some distilled water and spray some on my hair before drying.  I find it works nicely, just shake the spray bottle before every use... oil/water... you know... don't mix.

This is my routine.  I have a few things I want to try, like an aloe and honey mixture to use as "shampoo", but this routine really works well for me now... so that's what I'm going with.  They say you should only have to no poo your hair 1x a week, but I'm finding 2x a week works for me.  Eventually I might get to 1x a week.

This is a commitment, but once you get through it, it is so easy and good for your hair.  I don't buy expensive shampoos or products anymore.  It's really great.  I had a friend tell me that she doesn't want to do it because she wears a helmet and gets sweaty and nasty under there... which is understandable, but just rinse your hair afterwards and you will rinse the sweat away.  You don't have to wash and strip your hair to get rid of sweat.  I have no problems working out and getting stinky hair, and I work out on days I don't BS/ACV.  I just rinse and it is fine.

I don't "do" my hair for work every day.  I dry it most of the time and am out the door.  On days I do "do" my hair, I have no problem drying and flat ironing.  As I mentioned above, I don't need any products to just straighten it, and my hair is super shiny and soft.

So that's it.  My No Poo formula in a nutshell.    

No Poo Shampoo experiment week 5ish

Hi Everyone!  I'm sort of losing track of what week this is in my experiment, but I think it is 5ish.  So I have a few things to share this week.  Let me start out by saying I feel like my hair is really well adjusted now, and I am enjoying no pooing.  So let me share with you some of what has happened in the last week.

1.  I had my hair cut.  My hairdresser knew I was doing no poo, and was very understanding.  I had "washed" my hair that morning with my BP/ACL routine, so she just sprayed it down with water and gave me a trim.  I will say this totally helped with my crunchy ends.  I'm going to let it grow out some, just do the collarbone length thing... Short is too high maintenance for me... I don't want it halfway down my back like I used to have it...but something that still looks stylish but I can throw back into a ponytail if I need to... so now I have 6 months or so of growing out to do.  Sigh.  The take away from this is still get your hair trimmed!!

2.  I colored my hair.  I still had some of my regular standard color that I've used for years, so I used that.  It took fine like it always has, but I did do something a little different when I rinsed it out of my hair.  I know you are supposed to just rinse color, but I can't stand that... it seems like if I do that I get color stains on my towels and sheets and it really hacks me off.  So I do like to shampoo the color out.  I did the color on Saturday, and it is now Thursday (keep that in mind).   So instead of my BP/ACL mix I usually use, I did use some liquid Castile soap.  The Castile soap is a great low poo method (I won't get into specifics here, but I've been using it as shower gel lately and I really like it).  You still need to do an ACL rinse to restore your hair's pH from the Castile soap, but it got the color out nicely.  My hair felt great afterwards, and not stripped of natural oils.  One note, I will say the new growth that I colored seems to have faded a little already.  I've read accounts that BP/ACV will fade hair color quicker and this may be the case.  It isn't horrible, but I did notice it is slightly lighter than my dark brown almost black color I've been using as of late. I low pooed on Saturday to get the color mixture off my hair, no pooed on Sunday (I had a date, felt like I needed fresh hair here.. I know... it's a mental thing) and no pooed Wednesday night.  I noticed the fading this AM.  

I am going to try the Henna/Indigo mix next... (I'm ordering today so I'll have it on hand when the bug to color my hair bites me).  I've heard that Henna does not fade.  Once it's on your hair it is on there.... so I'm hoping that it may not fade as the regular color seems to be doing.

3.  I tried an all natural leave in something.  It's not really a conditioner, or styling product.  But it is.  My hair is wavy/frizzy and I've been having some issues with that.  It has gotten better since the trim and my hair adjusting to no poo... but it still is a little fly away if I let it dry on it's own.  So I felt I wanted to put a little product in there, but something natural.  I know I have my coconut oil, but I wanted to try something that would be more portable if I wanted to travel.  So I found COCONUT & HIBISCUS CURL ENHANCING SMOOTHIE by Shea Moisture.  It is a nice creamy formula, about the consistency of hand cream.  Just a little goes a long way.  I put about a dime sized (or less) dollop of product on my wet hair and let it dry naturally.  I really loved how this made my hair feel.  Very soft, yet lots of body and waves.  I need to get rid of all my other unnatural styling products that have silicones and other bad stuff in them.  I need to do a serious purge.

So...... I do like how my hair feels now that it has adjusted.... When it dried last night it felt so soft yet has good body.  I'm looking forward to drying my hair with the Shea Moisture smoothie to see how it behaves.  I would say the dryness I was experiencing has subsided, and the trim helped that too.

My current routine that has been working VERY well for me is: BP/ACV (Shall we just call this no poo from here on out?) every 3 days.  In between no pooings I use the corn starch/cocoa mix and sprinkle that in my hair about 10 minutes before I shower.  I really work that in.  This soaks up any excess oil on my hair and makes it smell cocoa-y.  When I shower I rinse it out.  I don't like leaving the powder in.. personal preference.  My hair is looking really great with this regimen.  OH... I'll admit I've added just a bit of the liquid Castile soap in my BP wash. (Maybe 5-10 drops per cup) It gives it just a bit more "slip" and a touch of fragrance.  I know... I'm obsessed with how things smell.  The ACV rinse does kill the fragrance, but I like my mix.  The BP wash on it's own has a bit of slip to it, and they say to add BP till it feels slippery.  The thing to remember is try stuff, what works for me may not work for you.

My stylist said my hair felt "different".  And it does.  The natural oils that are SUPPOSED to be there does make it feel different than hair that has been totally stripped of it's natural oil and silicones added to give it that "slipery" texture.  When my hair is wet, it isn't slippery like we are used to.... at first I wasn't sure how I felt about it... but now I like it.  I think it is how it is supposed to feel.

I still need to try the aloe/honey "wash" but I'm having such good luck with my current regimen I don't know if I'll change.  BUT, I will mix some up this weekend and give it a try so you don't have to.  Hahah.

I did make my own hair scent.  I found some fragrance oil that is rated to be used in lotions/soaps/etc.  I figured that those were safe to get on the skin.  I added a dropper of the fragrance to distilled water.  I've been spraying it on my hair before I dry and I feel that it works really well.  Now I just have to fine tune the scent to what I want.  The generic almond/honey is too almond-y and the lavender/vanilla needs just a bit more vanilla I'd say.  So now I'll be trying to find my perfect scent blend (I LOVE how honey sent smells!!).
So that is my update for this week.  I'll let you know how the aloe/honey wash goes and just keep you in the loop of how everything is going.  I will say that I think this is such a great alternative to shampoo and conditioner.  BUT you have to give it at least a month I would say.  Your hair will not be at its best till it gets used to the regimen... It could be dry or oily... but it will be freaking out for a while.

Hit me up if you have any questions!