Mind Body Beauty for Elle See's // Favorite Curly Hair Products

Eeeek! I am really exited to have my blog post on Elle See's, right now. That's right! I am a guest blogger over there for the day! Elle is seriously amazing. If you haven't checked out her blog and love beauty blogs, what are you waiting for? I really mean that- When she announced she was looking for guest blogger's, I was all over it. I feel humbled - haha! Elle, I can't thank you enough!

Elle's Blog
 Here's my blog post

Ok so when I get out of the shower, I do not towel dry my hair {thank you to Elle for that tip} I dry my body, then wrap a towel around my shoulders after I wring my hair out of it's excess water. As soon as I do that, I use John Frieda's Frizz Ease Serum. I also really love Paul Mitchell's Skinny Serum, but Frizz-Ease is targeted towards extra frizzy hair/curly hair. Works like a charm to really tame any frizz you might have. It starts the foundation for sleek, soft hair.

Directly after that, I take a good amount of Miss Jessie's Quick Curl's Curl Cream. I got this in my Birchbox awhile back and at first, I hated it. It made my hair so sticky! It's because I wasn't using it right. The trick is to use it while your hair is really, really wet. Don't waste any time letting your hair dry. I use a tablespoon amount {or 2} and scrunch it through my wet hair. This is when waves start to turn into curls. The curl cream is sticky, but don't let that throw you off. If you apply it to wet hair, your hair won't feel gross once it dries. Did I say apply it to wet hair yet? (:

Big Sexy Hair Root Pump is my next step. I may or may not use this. It's really 50/50. I do think that the mousse's I use after really help to give my hair volume, but if I am feeling I want a little more lift, I apply this directly to my roots and scrunch my hair upwards. I don't like to use this in my hair when I am not blow drying it. It makes for some serious product build up and does nothing for my hair if I do not blow dry.

Paul Mitchell's Round Trip is my favorite of this bunch. When my hair wasn't bleached blonde, it worked even better than it does today. It gives me really pretty, defined spiral's. It isn't sticky like Miss Jessie's Quick Curl's Curl Cream either. It's pretty awesome. I actually use a bunch of this stuff. I don't think there is any limit. The more, the better. Again, I scrunch it through my hair.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Thickening Mousse. Anything that says thickening on it, I am sold. This mousse really helps to hold to curls in place and also builds a ton of volume. I use 1-2 palm fulls of it and start at the roots. Really work it in! Then start working it down my hair shaft in a scrunching motion.

Suave Mousse Extra Hold: I have been using this forever. Since the 8th grade for this hair style. Even though this hair style has changed dramatically over the years, I never do my hair like this without this mousse. I use 1-2 palm fulls and scrunch it through my hair.

Now I blow dry my hair upside down. But I don't blow dry all the way. I do it until it is 3/4 of the way dry. If you saw me at this point, you would think I did this all on vain. Then another half hour or so passes, and you see that my hair has actually gotten more voluminous and it dries to really nice tousled curls.

Here's some examples:

2nd or 3rd day hair:

Let me know if your inclined to try this out! I love it because it is easy, fast and fuss free. In the summer, I don't want to mess with hot irons only for my hair to get damp/wet or just fall from the humidity and heat. I never have to worry about my hair becoming flat or looking awful mid-day. I can even take it into a few days without washing it. After a while, you wont have to work as hard for tighter curls. It's the beginning of the summer {the start of when I do this hair style} and by the end of the summer, by curls will be even more defined. After months of styling my hair like this my hair starts to know what it is supposed to do, and will look better the each time I do it. I swear you can train your hair.

Thank you so much Elle for letting me take over for a blog post! Elle See's is one of my favorites yah no!
xoxo
Erica

HairOTSummer & FOTD- Smoldering Plums All Over My Eyes

So I thought it would be fun to do a look using just what I got from Clinique a while back so here we go!
I have been doing alot of natural/neutral looks. I wanna do like a pink/purple one - yes guys pink can be complimenting!! So yeah I have pictures for that FOTD so I will be posting that later. For now, heres my: Smoldering Plums from Clinique look

Face: (in order)

• Avon Healthy Makeup Mousse Foundation
• Maybelline Superstay Concealer 
• Maybelline Dream Matte Powder (I use the applicator it comes with! use it! not all applicators are useless!)
• Laura Gellar Blush n Brighten in Honey Dipped
• Mark. Just Pinched Cream Blush Tint in Peachy
• Mark. Shadow in Biscotti (for a highlight) 

Eyes: (in order)

• YBF Automatic Eyebrow Pencil in Universal Taupe
• Jesse's Girl Eyeshadow Primer
• Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk - under brows, inner corner and inner 1st part of eye
• Clinique Smoldering Plums palette's Twilight Mauve (lighter color) over where I applied Milk
• Clinique Smoldering Plums palette's Brandied Plum on the outer corner
• Almay Eyeliner Crayon in Black in waterline & on lid. I also tightlined with this.
• Mark. Get In Line Liquid Eyeliner to create the wing
• Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara

 Lips-

• I went with my favorite lip combo and lined my lips with a medium pink color
• Nyx Matte Lip Color in Tokyo right smack in the middle of top and bottom lip- its a lighter color so it makes my lips look bigger
• Maybelline Born With It lipstick

About my hippie braid- This was actually worn all morning and right before I took it out I wanted to capture the kodak/half fallen braid moment! lol, I used to work as a server in a restaurant and every day I was asked by every girl who worked there and had to have her hair up to do the hippie braid on them. I have found it is actually harder for me to do it on others. I do have a video camera, but its not the best- if you are interested in a how-to type thing I can set it up for you, because it's fairly easy- just have to practice
So there yah have it! I hope you guys like my look

HOTD: Party Curls

hey ladies! I hope everyone is having a really fun weekend! I know the weather is gorgeous & HOT here! These curls are so much fun, but they are for summer nights, at the bonfire once it cools down! These were inspired by the clipless iron which are a million dollars (well not really but like $100..which is alot) so I found a great way to achieve those curls with a regular iron.

Here's what I used (in order):


John Frieda Frizz Ease Hair Serum: I recently found this tucked away in a box, it used to be my favorite product, I remember why! I pretty much is the same thing as Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum which is also one of favorites. A serum you put in your hair while it's wet, although with this product you aren't supposed to towel dry your hair. Either way once it dries, its makes your hair really soft and smooth and prevents frizz...hence the name after I smoothed that through my hair, let it air dry for a few mins, considering I couldn't towel dry it which was annoying! I put in...

Paul Mitchell Round Trip Serum: This is another serum but it's instead for wavy, curly hair. Since my hair already is a bit wavy it adds lightweight detail & gives it a flexible hold and bouncier curls to to my hair type- which is great, because in the end I don't have to use as much hair spray. I recommend this serum for my wavy hair chicks, especially for days when you don't feel like blowing it out & you just wanna scrunch your hair...No crunchy curls allowed! You will get a perfect texture to your hair with this stuff, plus it smells freakin good!

Redken Guts 10: This is a volume spray-mousse foam...no kidding that is what the bottle reads.I spray this on the roots of my hair near and around the crown of my head, then kinda work it in by massaging it in my scalp/hair- Give it some oomph!

L'Oreal Studio Secret Hair Putty- It does the same job as the Redken 10 Guts, this one is a cream/wax (dont worry it doesn't feel wax, actually pretty creamy) why would you be worried? IDK, I just work this into the roots at the tippy-top of my head to give it even more oomph! You really dont need to use both I just had them both on had. Oh yeah, I don't use this until my hair is dry, & im ready to curl!

Then let it dry...I was on a kick the other day and was trying not to blow my hair out. It has been years since I haven't used a blow dryer so I threw curlers in and let my hair sit for a little- and then I did cheat and blow dried it for 10 minutes at the end, with the curlers still in my hair...oh well its better than nothing! my hair needed a day off....which is a contradiction because I am using a curling iron in this post..lol whatever dis-regard this - lets move on

With the curling iron (which is a 2" barrel) I open the clamp and holding it with my left hand, I take the hair on the right side of my head, turning the curling iron upside down, wrap my hair around the barrel (with the clamp still open). Did we follow that? Then after the hair is wrapped around, let go of the clamp and that will hold your hair for a few seconds.

While your curl is still hot right out of the iron take the strand of hair and cup it in your hand. Now take a bobbi pin and clip it to your head so that way when all of your hair is done and all of it is clipped up and cooled down- what I do is just give it a few spray's with the hair spray I had on hand. This generic hair spray was fine- my hair wasn't extra crunchy or anything and the hairspray says it also conditions, protects and holds- awesome, sounds good to me.

Wow long post, no? I hope everybody is having a good week-end. I am off to ride my bike and go swimming! I always feel like a kid in the summer time, playing outside and all. Me and Alex (BFF) found out about this really nice bike trail that I am thinking goes around the whole county if im not mistaken...I mean it's freaking long! We wanna be able to ride the whole thing by the end of the summer...wish me luck!

thanx reading too!

How To: Easy Fishtail Braid - Spring Trends

          

Instead of putting up a bunch of pictures on all the latest hair styles I just figured I would go a step further & post a video the latest hair style on how to achieve the Fish Tail Braid. Hope all you ladies enjoy!

Janurary Favorites! 2011

First of all im going to start with the makeup! 

The only reason for this is because the pics I took of them look so damn professional!! don’t you think? I took those in my bathroom! Love em. Anyways, first things first: Smashbox Off Set Shadow Converter. This I have had for a couple of years and I use it- I would say about once a week and seriously guys- I have more than ½ of it left. I got it for Christmas a couple of years ago so I don’t know how much it was but I am sure since it was SmashBox it was not one of the cheapest items. It comes with…IDK what the actual word is but I would describe it as a turkey-baster like top. How I apply it is I squeeze some of the Off-Set on the top of my hand (you only need a little bit) then I take my liner brush (I use the Mark. Liner brush which is angled. I have a non-angled one from Mark. & unless im applying shadow below my eyes I don’t use it. Its perfect for the bottom b/c when applying shadow there you don’t really want a perfect line and that is why I also only use the Off-Set for my top lash line, or my lid) With the angled liner brush I choose the color I would like and dip the brush into the shadow FIRST! If you dip your brush in the Shadow Converter first, make sure you only use a corner of your shadow b/c it changes the consistency of your shadow if you get it in your shadow. Also, it probably will create bacteria faster, not sure though I could be totally wrong! What I like to do after I dip my brush into shadow, then shadow-converter is wipe off my brush, then repeat until I have a little puddle on the top of my hand of my “liner” so I don’t have to keep mixing and wiping. Ill have just enough sometimes too much but no biggie. Like I said you don’t need a lot of this product. If you have too much of the Off-Set what I find happens is it is too liquid-y and it will irritate your eyes if you get it in your eyes.

Ok the next thing is from Mark. And I am the BIGGEST dork! The only reason I tried this product is b/c Kim Kardashian recommended crème blush so because I love Kim and Makeup and because Mark. carried it I decided to give it a try…and guess what? Kim was right! Its great! I got Mark. Just Pinched in Peachy and I just apply with the tube right on to my face, I skip the fancy stuff. No brushes or anything but honestly guys, unless your using a foundation or a concealor brush, I really don’t think they make a brush for it. I think that is why it comes in a tube or a stick. I smile, apply to apples, and sweep back/up.then with my ring and middle finger I blend it in and it really is a gor-geous color but that’s not even the reason its my favorite. I just really do like the crème consistency and I find it is easier to blend and stays on longer. So yeah, I recommend, and please click here to go to my Mark. Store and check it out if you would like. They also have lighter colors or if your into a bronzer-type color, which is going to be my next purchase.

The next thing I bought at Rite-Aid (I love my Rewards card!!- also one of my Janruary Favs!) Physician’s Formula shadow in Baked Sugar. I use the pink almost every day for my lid color and I just love it. It’s very shimmery so I don’t use each color all at once. Lately, Ive really love to do a matte dark brown for my crease and the pink on my lid. It looks really pretty.

 Anew Clinical Lift & Pro Serum. Considering im only 24 I felt as if the Lift & Pro Serum may not be the right product for me. The next day I look in the mirror and I have what looks like the start of what will be my first wrinkle!! **AHHHH!!!** and since I do smoke and since I pull my lid to put on my liner (they say it will cause pre-mature wrinkles) I thought maybe this product would be for me to stop what-ever it is I started. This product is highly anticipated by the Avon world, and I feel like it helped. Helps. 93% of women said they noticed a change in their wrinkles and felt, after using the product, as if their face was tightened. Since it does have inject able- grade ingredients its great to reduce the sign of aging. Also, it smells really good! I only use it at night and I got into bed last night and my boyfriend Phil told me how good my face smelled!! Haha! Sounded funny, but he wasn’t lyin’! If you want to more about this product please click here to go to my Avon Store! Holla!

Keeping with my make-up theme, the next is from Mark. again. (left) The Keep It Going Long-Wear Liner & Shadow in one and as you can see it, with 2 different colors. I use the black side for lining my top lid…it’s a gel liner. Yah no, with my angled brush- I use it, wipe off the access and start application in the middle of my lid then proceed to the end of my lid sweeping the liner up -Not down!- it will make you look older and there’s nothing a Lift & Pro Serum could do about it! With the white/silvery side I just put it on my bottom lid- for that POP- and in my tear ducts. All done. Moving on-

 

NEXT! (you guys remember that show?- I hated it but I think ive probably seen each episode twice! Not one of my Favs! ) But Paul Mitchell’s Round Trip Liquid Curl Definer absolutely IS! My hair is a natural wavy/frizzy mess and if unless I’m straightening my hair I need to take certain pre-cautions! Round Trip is one the pre-cautions! it’s a serum like substance if anybody uses Super Skinny (also one of my favs) by Paul Mitchell, then you will know exactly the feel, look, and scent (although Super Skinny is a little but thicker) If you have my same hair type and you like to go curly sometimes - TRY--THIS--PRODUCT! My curls were more defined then ever! Its equivalent would be a curling iron minus the heat! Much more healthier for your hair! I heart Round Trip!

 

Another Feb Fav is Redken Guts 10 - I just got this product the other day because I hear soo much about it from the beauty guru’s on YouTube that I had to try it- Fun Fact About Erica J. - Did You Know-- Before Snooki was even heard of, anybody that knew me called it the Erica Bump!? Anybody that is going to a wedding, or a function ,or going out for the night they would call me up to have me put some volume in their hair. So I am the volume queen! So when I did hear about this product I did have to try it and it’s a great product! How it works: it’s a foam you apply to roots before blow-drying it (IDK if this is how your supposed to apply it, but this is how I do it and it works for me!- There was no directions on the bottle! isn’t can strange?) Then just kinda rub it in the hair pulling the hair up, blow-dry and there you have it- volume!





Honestly the rest is kinda of like my back-to-basic’s favorites. Because this is my first favorite’s blog I feel like this part is important. Some of the above products they may not be for some people, some girlies may not get the best use out of them like the next lady. These following products tho, I have been standing by- some of them for many years. If your looking for the must-haves, these are mine:

Suave Mousse in hold 7 or 8. I have wavy/frizzy hair by nature and when I was in 8th grade (last bloomer, I know, you don’t gotta tell me!) that was when I really started to care about what I looked like! The cool thing back then was to scrunch your hair- that wet look. You guys remember!!! I know you do! And that is what I always used since then for scrunching my hair. Only back then I used hair spray to create that “wet” look. Now-A-Days I don’t go for the hair spray so the Suave Mousse really hold curls. Nicely. Honestly, you can just use this product (and I heat protectant) alone and it will do the job. With my head up-side down, I apply in a “scrunch” motion and then blow-dry (upside down) wait a little bit and then do those steps over and over until my hair is dry. And with that said, my hair is, dry, curly, and the frizz is nearly non-existent. If you start blow-drying and you see frizz, 1 solution: You need more Mousse! **Tip I also scrunch with a cotton tank or shirt! Don’t use a towel the fabric isn’t the best for frizzy ladies like myself.

The next thing is something I got at Christmas as a stocking stuffer. The crest 3-d whitening mouth wash and toothpaste. I used to the mouthwash a couple years ago and absolutely loved it. Im a smoker, so I am def. in need of a whitening agent. Crest 3-d was perfect. Now I use it along with the toothpaste with a mechanical tooth brush but I must say after using it for a couple of days my teeth became sensitive to hot and cold temps. I already have sensitive teeth but that still didn’t stop from using it b/c it works like a charm. Another thing that sux is - it burns while its in your mouth!! Ouch. But with that said , I do like it.