Kerastase Cristalliste

Let’s give you all a little brief run down on my hair history.

This was the longest my hair was, I was going through old photographs the other evening and found this photo of my friend and I taken in 2003.

And another, just for good measure. Too bad my friend is blinking. Whoops!

I remember chopping it off a few months after, simply because I wanted a change. I also would like to know why it looked so thick in those photos. Of course my hair looked bomb-diggity when I didn’t care about it.

After that I discovered hair straighteners, and curling irons and just abusing my hair ever since. Last August I decided that I didn’t want to damage my hair any further and stopped using my flat iron on a daily basis. Slowly I kept getting my hair cut off shorter and shorter, mainly because of the dead ends after straightening my hair every 24 hours.

Sure my hair isn’t at my ideal length yet, but it’s the healthiest state it’s been in years. All because of a good relationship with my hair stylist, knowing what to tell him, knowing how often to go in and get a trim, and of course – taking care of my hair at home.

I wash my hair 2-3 times per week. I even found out from my latest trip into the salon that it was okay to wash your hair multiple days in a row, and you’re not “starting from scratch” when you do that again.

I always like to have multiple shampoos in the shower with me at all times, but ever since I started this whole regimen of healthy hair, I’ve only used my LUSH shampoo bar.

A few months ago, the folks at L’Oreal / Kerastase sent me a few things to try out from the new Cristalliste line. The shampoo, conditioner and hair serum.

Love that when I see my hair stylist he tells me to “keep doing what you’re doing” and nothing more than that. I’m finally taking care of my hair with good quality hair products from Lush and Kerastase.

But getting more into the Kérastase Cristalliste end of things, these products are all free from silicone, parabens and colorants! This line is lightweight and moisturizes my hair, while locking in moisture without stripping the hair of it’s essential oils. I can use Cristalliste and still just shampoo a few times per week and my hair is smooth sailing the whole time.

The set, has a nice scent to it. Don’t ask me to describe how it smells – I’m terrible at descriptions. But it’s pleasant. Nothing earthy like Aveda’s line. This one just has a fresh sort of scent to it. Not overpowering either. I’m prone to dry hair due to the fact that every strand of my hair is fine, so it’s very delicate and can break fairly easily. The Cristalliste line doesn’t make anything difficult about washing my hair like some shampoo’s can. It’s not drying at all on  my hair. I think my favorite part of the set is the conditioner. It leaves my hair with that slippery feeling when rinsing it out.

As mentioned above, the shampoo, conditioner and hair serum is silicone, paraben and colorant free which means that it is perfectly safe for you to use if you color your hair.

The Kérastase line of professional products are available in salons. I also still use my Kérastase Elixir Ultime in conjunction with the shampoo and conditioner shown above. I don’t like to mix up a good thing so I haven’t used the hair serum shown above on a regular basis. Though from what I can tell it’s similar to the Kérastase Elixir.

Have you found any new shampoos worth talking about lately? What one’s do you use?

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Become a Tweezerman Ambassador

Are you a beauty blogger and want to become a Tweezerman Ambassador?

Tweezerman has recently created the VIP PRO Program. A selected few of Beauty Professionals will receive a complete Tweezerman brow, or nail kit. New products will be mailed out to those select people every quarter.

You will also receive invitations to exclusive events, and exclusive special offers

As you guys know, I’m in Canada, so they’re not excluding us folks up north either!

My goodie kit came in the mail on Friday. Right after I reviewed my waxing kit by waxing my eyebrows. How inconvenient.

Tweezerman ProCurl Eyelash Curler
Slant Tweezer (Stainless Steel)
Satin Etched Zebra Slant Tweezer
Point Tweezer
Pointed Slant Tweezer (Stianless Steel)
Special Edition of Pop of Op Mini Slant Tweezer
Eyenhance Pencil and Sharpener
Browmousse
Folding ILashcomb
Brow Shaping Scissors & Brush

SIX tweezers. Moses. What the heck am I going to do with six of these?

So, stay tuned for an update on how much I’m going to love using these tweezers. I better have some fabulous eyebrows after this. Either that, or I’m going to have none left. We’ll see how it pans out.

Become a Tweezerman Ambassador.


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Parissa mini wax strips

It’s been quite a number of years since I tried waxing strips. I’m not sure why I stopped because I remember them working quite well.

In this case, I tried out Parissa’s mini wax strips which you can find literally anywhere. I’ve spotted them at Walmart, Shoppers Drug Mart, and even the grocery store. This particular box of brow shaper wax strips retails anywhere from $7-$9 Canadian.

Parissa Brow Shaper mini wax strips, straight out of the box.

I had to remember how to use these strips of wax, so the first strip was immediately garbage. It barely took off any hair. I simply pressed it onto my lower eyebrow and ripped it off too soon. Danget!

They come in perfect sizes for brows, and I even chopped mine into half again once I opened one strip to fit under certain parts of my brows. Four times the use in one of these little dudes!

There’s plenty to go around too. Don’t you love apartment living with retro counter tops? Lovely isn’t it.

On the instructions (which are so cute by the way) it says to never put the wax strip onto a freshly waxed area. I don’t know why, but I never listen to instructions (and lord knows I’ve learned my lesson — read instructions! Hey, I’m a taurus, we’re known to be stubborn). Plus my first sheet didn’t work out and obviously missed a lot of hair on my brows.

I got the hang of things on my second strip. Note to all users! Place the wax strip where needed, and press on the strip with your warm fingers which then heats the wax up. Leave your finger on there for 20 seconds or so, and then rip the bugger off as quickly as you can.

Be careful not to go too wax-happy otherwise you’re left with a thin penciled in look and that’s not pretty. Big eyebrows are in! Plus, eyebrow hairs take forever to grow back. Trust me on this one, I ended up taking the whole “tail end” of my brow when I first got into plucking them. No photos will be posted  on this blog, I don’t need anyone to blackmail me ;)

Obviously these wax strips aren’t going to be as accurate as hot wax on your brows. But it’s definitely a cheaper alternative, and who cares if you have to go in with your tweezers to get those stubborn hairs after wards? It’s more money in your pocket, or… less time spent in front of the mirror if you plucked them before.

I love the smoothness of freshly waxed skin. The blue azulene oil removed any excess wax that was left over on my skin.

Have you ever tried out at home wax kits? Whether it be mini wax strips like these Parissa ones, or hair removal cream (Omg remember my nair disaster?? SO painful!).

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