L'Oreal Professional Paris -- Age Supreme

First off, let me begin by stating that I have not spent a dime on the products I will be reviewing unless otherwise stated. Let it be known that I actually work for a salon chain and we often get freebies. Chiefly samples of stuff that we've been given as a company to see if it will pique our interest and sell them in our stores.

These have not made the cut. Either they did at one point and we no longer carry them, or for one reason or another our CEO has chosen not to use them. That is not to say that we don't use the brand in general, these are just products that we've chosen not to use.

Such as L'Oreal Professionals Paris. We use their color line in our salons but the shampoos, conditioners and other bits have not made them. I think, I may have figured out why. Sort of. I'll explain.

I absolutely *Adore* the Nature line. It is low in sulfates and absolutely paraben and silicone free. But, that's not the review (I'll do that one tomorrow.)

No, no, we're talking about the Age Supreme Integral line. More specifically, the shampoo.

First, let us go with the GOOD stuff.

• The line is meant for *aging* hair, so, for my Renegrays or ladies who color but find themselves suffering from gray-hair effect, such as porosity, dryness, kinkiness and stubborness, this shampoo (and conditioner, but more on that later) is for you.

 While my hair may not be porous nor kinky (and by kinky I mean a rather curly or uneven texture.) it is stubborn and prone to dryness. That is because it is naturally a 1b/c texture. Meaning, it is not quite straight but not quite wavy. I have some random places where I get some spiraling and well defined S waves but by no means, is it an even texture. (Gods, I feel another blog entry writing itself.) Anyhow, I digress. Because of my stubborn hair and dry nature, I figured "Its free. Why the hell not?"

So I grabbed a bottle, and two of my favorite.

• Because of its hydrating properties, it does promote amazing shine. Though I'm pretty sure the amodimethicone has something in it, as well as the glycerin. 

• After a single wash, I did notice my hair has amazing manageability. I can't tell a difference in the shine but that's because I take such good care of my hair to begin with, it is pretty damned shiny on it own. Hubby's hair did look significantly shinier. 

The bad stuff:

• High on Sulfates. 

 What does this mean to me? Scalp irritation. I've been low-sulfate to sulfate free for quite a while. I try to avoid these pesky things once I realized that upon my moving from SoCal to the PNW, my body went hay wire. The humidity and irritants in this area are horrendous. My already dry-prone skin just dries to the point of PAIN and flakyness. For the longest time I thought I had the most persistent case of dandruff. Turns out I just had really dry scalp. (Yeah, dandruff shampoos are pretty high up there on SLS. It just was a vicious cycle.)

As I was drying my hair, I saw flakes. They were a few, not terrible, but enough for me to see them stand out against my dark hair horribly. It was a kin to a single shake of a salt shaker on a black surface. Small, but white, and fucking irritating. -.-

Thankfully I didn't break into hives and persistent itching (Yes, I'm looking at you Kerastase. And no, we don't get that for free. This is just another entry on its own.)

•  It. Stinks. Holy Hell does it fucking stink. 

Again, back to my sudden Delicate Lily of the Valley constitution, I have been even more sensitive to smells than ever before. I think it has something to do with the humidity. Studies have shown that the 'rain smell' people love is not really a smell attributed to the water that falls from the sky itself, but to the fact that the moisture in the air makes the smell of the asphalt, grass -- the world, really -- more pungent. So the truth is your neighborhood smells the same way all year long rain or no rain, but the extra water in the air makes it easier for our 'blind' noses see the smells at long last.

So. Yea. I smell shit more keenly now. Figuratively and literally. Add this fact onto the fact that I also have more tastebuds than the average human being (yes, I am a mutant freak) and my olfactory nose is a double edge sword. In one hand, I am keenly aware of the scent that belongs to my husband and smelling his pillow or a shirt he's worn a day ago not only makes me feel like he's in the room with me, but make me feel all fuzzy inside. I can also crack recipes with the help of my nose. If I'm interested in a dish enough, I will make it a point to memorize the notes in both palate and nose then go home to replicate. I may not get it on the first, fourth or even seventh time at trying to prepare that dish, but by god, I'll figure it out. I have done so on many occasion and I shall continue to do so.

On the other hand, my shnoz is so sensitive that I can tell when milk is getting close to spoil, I taste 'weird stuff' -- particularly the sweet notes. Some of them are so strong in my palate that all I can taste is rubber cement. (No, I haven't actually licked it, but I've been around the stuff plenty of times to recognize the smell. Some smells are so pungent that it coats one's tongue and it is possible to 'taste' a substance. Rubber cement is one of these things.) This last bit is NOT fun to discover when I bring home a good bottle of dessert wine that cost a pretty penny. While *everyone else* gets to taste the delicious notes of apple, peach and honey all I taste is dirty socks and rubber cement.

Smells, particularly sweet smells make me sick. In various ways. One of those problems are migraines. The others is the urge to vomit. Usually the two come hand in hand. Something about Misery and Company...

Anyhow, hubby thought the stuff stunk. I thought he was exaggerating. I mean, the boy has the nose of a plant. I should've known better. While his olfactory senses are dull, he has his peculiar scents.

Yeah. I got a migraine. And as I was rinsing it out, I kept gagging. It has this horrid 'musty old lady' smell. Which is kind of sad, especially considering that this shampoo is geared for an elder demographic. You would think that out of sensitivity to their brand, L'Oreal would make sure their shampoos would not smell like rancid, musty perfume.  -- Now, I am willing to give them the benefit of the chance and believe that the shampoo could've been badly stored/stored so long the perfume went rancid. If anyone from L'Oreal would like to provide me a free bottle to contest this theory, go on right ahead. I don't shy away from free hair stuff.

The smell was so strong that it is still present two days after wash day. It is not as pungent, but pungent enough to bother me. While not enough to make me go wash my hair earlier than I should, it was enough for me to grab some perfume and spritz it into my hair.

• Texture. While my hair is soft and silky, perhaps moreso than usual, it is also heavier.

 Back to my usual low SLS or SLS free washes, my hair has a very floaty movement. While it is heavy in nature, it does have volume, bounce and depending on humidity, I'll have some super loose wave to a more pronounced S. I consistently loose and gain weight due to the level of wavyness. This is something I discovered during my length journey and have come to *love*.

Not with this shampoo. I blame the glycerin and amodimethicone. I could be wrong, but I have noticed that silicones tend to weigh my hair down more. Now, to me this is a negative. But if you have similar texture to my hair and you *like* the pin straight look, then by all means, this shampoo will give it to you!  This shampoo has made it more difficult for my hair to hold a curl.

I've worn my hair in a cinnabun for two days now, the first night, damp. It hardly held a wave. This is a bun that gives me lots of volume and uniform, deep waves when done on a damp set!


All in all, this shampoo is not for me.

The scalp irritation and the migraine/nausea combo just rules this out the window. The fact that the same size bottle I got for free retails for $16.19 on sale  in Amazon (Regular price $24.99), you bet your average-nosed, not so sensitive ass that I will not be buying this thing again.

In fact, the cheap bastard in me is thinking about keeping the bottle in the bottom of my bathroom cabinet for the day that I run out of shampoo (It happens. We go through a family  sized bottle of shampoo in six months. I can't say the same about conditioner. I stock one more than the other and next thing I know, we got no shampoo.) but the practical side of me hates this stuff so much I am willing to waste an expensive bottle of high end shampoo into the land fill before I use any more of this again.

Smell : -----
Consistency : ***-- (It lathered nicely, but it felt filmy afterwards)
Next day texture: **---
Price: *----
Over all score: YUCK

Ps: I just took my hair down from its bun. I got a headache again. I'm really, really, really tempted to break my schedule and wash my hair two days early and right before bed. Seriously. -.-

Of Buns and Honey

So far, I've seen results on the honey mask. At least on my face, where the spots are lighter. The texture of the bumps has gotten smoother. The only downside is that I end up *hungry* when doing this mask, as it smells oh-so- good.

I also discovered a new bun of sorts. It happened when I learned to crochet a braid with my hair, except I don't keep going to the tail end. I basically chain one and stop. I insert the toy of my choice in the loop formed by wrapping the tail end about the chain, and the loop by the first chain. Tuck in the tail and done. Here's what it looks like :

Onward to the masks and scrub! Honey Regimen day 3. 

I started with a dirty face. 

Note the darkness on my right cheek (left to you).
The darkness is only made darker with blush.

I cleansed my face with baby wipes. I was far too lazy to get up and wash my face with my MK cream cleanser. I'm so low I'm having to run a butter knife along the body to squeeze some out. I should be getting a new cleanser by tomorrow. (Thank you, Darlene! I miss you!! I hope you're having fun in Cali.)

I didn't realize my nose was still chapped from
the two week long snot fest. 

I then mixed my honey and lemon juice. Excuse the extra cinnamon. I didn't wash the dish from last night. LAZY DEMISE!!  Anyhow, note how it is much too drippy. You want to have a thicker consistency.

Apply to areas of concern. I went on to slather this stuff on my legs, my left elbow (I keep resting it on my desk at work and the constant rubbing of clothes and skin, or bare skin on desk edge has darkened my elbow horribly.) and face.

I AM A DRIP MONSTER!!

Let it sit for an hour and THEN, clean off with a warm towel. Or baby wipes. I'd stick to the warm towel. The baby wipes got super sticky really quick and I went through four. -.- (Learn from me, use them as a last cleansing effort to get rid of sticky residue.)

Mix fresh honey (or what is left from the mask) with ground cinnamon.

Apply to previously honeyed-body parts.

My honey mustache and beard are tasty!

Let it sit for five minutes. Rub it in for about a minute, then wipe off with a trusty warm towel.

Its 2 am. I want sleep!

And follow with your favorite moisturizer. Again, I'm too lazy to stand up and go to my bathroom and use my night cream so I'll just use my organic, home made body butter.

mmm.. ylang ylang coconutty goodness!! 

I rub it in, get distracted by another documentary and finally go to bed once I realize the damned thing has already been absorbed like.. an hour ago.


Next up: L'oreal Professional Paris review for the Age Supreme shampoo! 

Cinnamon, Lemon and Honey

Last May, I was eaten alive by flying/jumping leeches. I'm allergic to both mosquitos and fleas. I also have terribly sensitive skin and I scar easily. While my arms are easy to deal with and scars fade quickly there, they are an exception. A picked pimple on my cheek leaves a scar. A scratched itch virtually *anywhere* leaves a scar.


I've become so self conscious I'm having a hard time wearing short skirts or dresses. I asked for help at LHC and as always, someone had an answer.

Spook Sister (WE NEED TO HANG OUT DAMNIT!) advised me that a mixture of honey and lemon help fade scars and lessen inflammation. I knew about the honey, as I've used it on break outs and have had friends with acne use honey masks per my instruction and the cystic pain has gone away quickly, along with redness and swelling. I somehow forgot all about this over the last month.

Anyhow, here I'll show you my worst leg. The left one isn't that much better.

There are so many scars, not all of them are pictured.
Behind the knee, on the side of the calf, my foot, MY TOES. >.<

And my fugly face. As you can see I have a rather uneven skin tone (okay, perhaps not that well in this picture.) I have vitiligo on my brow and cheek, as well as hyper pigmentation right above the white spot on my cheek. I also have a few fresh break outs and a few pox marks.

I did not over tweeze/wax. Its a spot that
would frustrate Lady McBeth!

Use more honey and less lemon, so it'll be less drippy! I kept eating the drips that oozed onto my lips.

I didn't picture it, but after wearing this mixture for an hour, I slathered a bit of honey and cinnamon over the mask and rubbed it in. It smelled fantstic and while this one wasn't drippy at all, I couldn't help but lick some of it off as I washed the stuff off.

It looked rather tasty and brown!

Once I rinsed off the mask and scrub, I could feel a huge difference in the texture of my skin. The worst bites   are almost flush to my skin. The best ones are already flush and all that is left behind is the color of the scars.

I'm to keep this up for 30 days. We'll see how it goes. I'm rather hopeful.

Tools of the trade update 1

This long hair journey thing is an evolutionary tale. Things change along the way based on knowledge, trials and errors.

So here's my updated bunch of tools (rather, very few now) that I use every day in one shape or another.

L to R: Tangle Teezer, dye brush, hair stick (any), rat tail com, TT2 and Hair Bean.

The original TT was bought last year when I saw Torrin's YT review on it. I had been pretty anti TT just because of the *sound*. She explained that it was simply because it was hollow. Still, I avoided it like the plague until the day my carpal tunnel became so severe I could no longer hold a comb. Turns out a) Torrin was right, the sound is horrible but the damned thing is GENTLE. I have more snags and more tearing from combing my hair in the most delicate of fashion than I ever had from a Tangle Teezer. 

The pink one got absconded by the cats. The dark purple one is my current one and the hair bean is what goes in my purse for travel. 

I use the brush, comb or stick for sectioning. 

Onward to the travel kit!! (and more tools)

The work horses of my regime should I not be wearing a stick or a fork.

 Here I have U pins, large bobby pins and small bobby pins as well as an O ring full of elastics. The ring keeps the elastics nice and tidy so I don't have to struggle with pins sticking to them. I also take a single small pin and thread the other pins to it. I'll show this in detail later.

An empty Altoids can holds it all in place. 

Bobby pin threaded through other pins for security.
It keeps everything tidy in the box.

Simply unhook and slip a band out to use!

The assembled kit, complete with the mirror that was inside the
Hair Bean lid. Also pictured, fingers. Most accessible tools of all!

This kit lives in my purse. So should a stick break or a fork be misplaced I *always* have something to use to secure my hair up and away.

Plant Growth

Holy moly, it is insane!

I don't remember if I posted the picture of the potatoes back when I posted my manicure, but if I didn't, the buds were tiny. They were just that, buds, no larger than my pinky nail. Thursday, we had a downpour. I wish I could say I was exaggerating since its the PNW but I'm not joking. We had thunder, lightning, the whole kit and kaboodle.

I forgot about the plants. I didn't cover them.

Anyhow, I walked out yesterday night for a smoke. (I know, I know, I keep falling back off the wagon. At least I'm not a heavy smoker, and its more like a 'once a week' thing now instead of the 'omg, I need one every day!' status.) I look over at my plants, half expecting them to be dead.

First, I see my onion. The sprouts are about six inches and beautiful.

Then I looked down at the planter/tub on the floor and just about shat myself.  Because of this:

I'm worried the planet will not be big enough for the potatoes now. Mind you, this is all from a single, red potato that I had in the kitchen that had begun to bud. I cut it up into three, stuck it in the ground and walked away. I've wtered them like once a week. 

Yes, that is a water bottle in the back. I cut the bottom off, capped it, drilled holes around the shoulder of the bottle and shoved it into the ground. That's how I water my plants. I just pour about half a pitcher worth of water once a week and walk away. The dirt is garden variety dirt, easy to drain and the tub has a bunch of holes drilled into it for more drainage. I found this way is easiest to water the plants without disturbing the seeds.  I have two bottles, one on each side for easier water distribution. 

Onion from scrap and a dormant carrot that decided to sprout after a year of hibernation.

Summer Solstice Trim

Long story short, I wanted six inches off. My stylist told me I was nuts when I explained I wanted all that gone due to damage and excessive layering. 

I somehow forgot my hair had been thinned 4 years ago... and that my ends are bleached... and that like, um.. the lighter color makes everything look thinner than it already would be. I really love this girl. She refused to let me do something so drastic because *she knew* I'd regret it, go home, cry, and be miserable. 

So, the sad part is I am no longer at tail bone. But like, Jacque says, I'll regain those two inches come October and they'll be healthier than before. Then I can go back to my regular 1/2 inch every other month trim. 

DIY Gel Mani thoughts.

Alright, its been a few days.

The previous post was a bit of a misnomer. While it felt like Monday to me, I'm still pretty sick and loopy. Turns out it was really Tuesday (or was it Wednesday? As I said, LOOPY). Anyhow, I had decided to change the mani because a) I really wasn't feeling the Inkwell and Asphalt scheme. b) I had a huge chip on my left forefinger. Despite all the abuse I put my right hand through, its always the left forefuckingfinger that chips first. -.-

Anyhow, I did my mani, dried it with the OPI Dry Drops (thank god, because Gelous takes FOREVER to dry otherwise). The next day I then put my hands through some brutal deep cleaning in the kitchen. I don't even know why the hell I forgot to put on gloves, but I didn't. Here's what I did:

1) While I ran a dishwasher full of dirty dishes through on a cycle, I hand washed sink full and a half of dishes   in the hottest water possible. The house really gets dirty as fuck when BOTH members of the Clean Team get sick.

2) Wiped down the counters with bleach to remove stains. Actually, I lied. It wasn't bleach. it was Lysol tile cleaner. I think that's stronger than bleach. -shrug-

3) Swept the floors.

4) Put all the dishes away.


I did all this before going to bed at 2 am.

Today, I found one, teeny, tiny little micro chip on the forefinger and another on the thumb of my right hand. I filed those suckers down with a regular emery board while at work. Then came home and washed my hair.

I got another micro little chip. More like a tiny little lift that I quickly filed away with a regular emery board then buffed away with a four-sided block buffer.

I then proceeded to slap on another coat of Gelous, dry that off with OPI dry drops and then proceeded to give my husband a pedicure. In which I (I am so sorry I am telling the whole world this, my love) removed the pearlescent pink polish I put on his toes about three weeks ago with pure acetone.

My manicure is still perfect. His toes? A lot less girly and with all the snarls filed away.

I adore my otherwise metrosexual husband whose fabulousness and girliness overshadows my own, (I swear that man can take LONGER than I do in the bathroom getting ready and frets more over his clothes than I do.) but fuck, he has some gnarly ass feet unless I do something about it. You would THINK he'd be more hand and foot orientated considering his mother is a nail technician but all that stuck out of her beautician days  have been all about hair, skin and overall grooming.

Oh well. I can't win them all. Again, I have a man with impeccable fashion sense, fantastic hair, perfectly groomed face and a delicious smell. But then again, there is something to say about a man who is so secure in his masculinity that he is willing to waltz around town wearing flip flops and letting the world see his pretty pink little toes.... all because his wife had a whim to test some polish on him since she already had a manicure  that was not ready to be demolished.


Anyhow, back on track.

DIY Gel Mani results? Fabulous. I think I can save myself a bit more money and not bother with the gel polish kit for a while yet.

But seriously.. the first time I tried it, I had considered it a failure because IT TOOK SO LONG TO DRY.

Mani Monday?

I usually do my Mani's on Friday but I got a horrible chip on my fingers, the colors were 'blah' (Its summer, damnit, I'm done with the greys and the blacks and the almost-blacks. My inner goth weeps!)

Also, my nails have gotten pretty long and pretty... and long. I'm not used to them being anything longer than flush to my nail beds. I *have* a free edge now

Finally, all those vitamins I've been taking, the oil swabbing and what not is finally paying off. Its amazing.


They're still bendy, but not so much. And they still flake the moment I get lazy and don't oil/moisturize them.

Anyhow, behold my pretties. These were inspired by LOVE4NAILS from Youtube. I did a pinterest mani and it was taking so damned long for things to dry, that I said 'fuck it' on the nail art.

Used: Gelous Nail Gel from Sally's as Base and Top coat
Essie's True Love for the pink, Sally Hansen's Mellow Yellow (27) for tip
Sinful Colors Call You Later (green) and Pearl Harbour (White) glitters.
Topped with OPI's quick dry drops. (That Gelous would not dry otherwise.)

We'll see how this DIY gel mani compares to Shellac. I'm seriously thinking about shelling out the cash for the at home kit.

It also was the first time I tried to do any form of 'gradient' with the glitter polish. Epic fail... but I like the yellow and the green. Its perfectly cheerful for this time of year. 

Oh, and BONUS!

Container Garden Experiments. 

White onion from scrap AND French Carrots. The carrot actually germinated from *last year's* epic failure of a carrot crop. I had planted those suckers in March, took care of them ALL summer and got nothing. This time I didn't even plant any carrots from seed and now I got sprouts!

And more bonus, a lovely bird I caught on camera on my birthday a little over a month ago. 

I really need to figure out how to play with my camera for optimal pictures. I'm using it as a point and shoot right now. :(

Nail Experiment

This happened on accident.

I got shellac about a month and a half ago. My nails grew magnificently and upon removing the shellac, there was no peel in sight. I'd been diligent in maintaining moisture on my nails as per Miley's strict instructions.  So twice a day I rubbed me some sweet almond oil on all ten nails twice a day.

Then I removed the shellac a month after the original application when I experienced my FIRST chip. I came home, did a mani, and that's when shit happened.

I somehow kept forgetting to moisturize my right hand. Adding the oil concoction is easy for me as I work at a call center. I kind of keep my bottle at work, do my thing between calls, blah blah. But we'd been so busy and I'd been trying to baby my right hand (carpal flare up) I kept using my left hand the most. I was hyper aware of what my left hand was doing while my right hand rested.

I often keep my right hand in its brace and on my lap when it gets this bad.

Anyhow, that meant I forgot to moisturize the right hand nails.

Two weeks later, lo and behold, SPLITS and cracks. I managed to file off all the damage on the pointer finger. I also patched up my middle finger from a break  (It actually cracked, then gave way at work.) and I had a pretty bad peel on my thumb.

So they're all patched up and now I'm working on nursing those babies back to health.

the more I look at my hands, the more obvious it is that my left hand is doing so much better. The cuticles are  sleek, smooth, not a hang nail in sight. All five nails are nice and strong, no peel in sight.

Right hand? Split cuticles, a few hang nails, peeling. -.-

Again, I should know better. After all, this is all basic hair care just on the nails instead!

Crochet Braid and Bun

Oh man, I am so glad I found this. Another LHC/Youtube find.  (I lost the video at the moment)


It is pretty much the same technique used on yarn, but with hair.

I can essentially get three loops out of my hair right now.

So you start by gathering the hair in a low or high pony, wherever you want the bun to sit essentially. Do not tie off with a hair tie, just hold on to the hair. If your'e holding onto the pony with the right hand, grab the loose ends with the left, twist the ends into a coil, counter clock wise (this is to just keep thing tidy). Take the  coil and wrap it around the hand clock wise. With the fore fingers of the hand holding the pony, thread the loose ends into the wrapped around coil, essentially making a knot.

DO NOT PULL THE HAIR THROUGH.  You don't want a knot, you want to simply create a chain loop.

Pull the hair through enough to create a second loop. Thread the loose ends through this loop. Repeat until all hair is gone. You can pull the last bit through to finish the chain just like you finish a crochet project. You can wear it down or you can coil it into a bun.

I'm going to have to do visuals on this aren't I?

Well, to those who can both crochet and the most basic of buns, let me put it into a pattern using my hair length as an example.

The Crochet Braid Bun.

Row 1:

Chain 3. pull through

Assembly:

Coil chain into a bun tucking in excess. Pin in place.

Congratulations, you're done!


Next up, the Long Hair Beehive! :D

Horrible blogger me

I consistently give myself some goals and deadlines but fail short of keeping them. I wonder if I'm afraid of success or I'm just simply too easily distracted into doing other things.

Probably a little bit of column A followed by column B.

I blame my current distraction in the form of LARPing. I fell into it back in March and look forward to each game. I'm missing this weekends event due to my allergies. Damnable, insufferable allergies that would be no issue if I were a responsible adult who stayed on top of her medication.

If only for the sole reason that doing so prevents hair sheds. -.-

LTDR; I was dumb. Didn't take either my thyroid medication or my allergy medication for about two months. Lots of things are kicking me in the ass right now. I've become quite a symptomatic hypothyroid. Starting from the alarming hair shed, to the inflamed carpal issues, dried skin and horrible allergies.

I'm sitting here with what feels like a horrible cold. The flu even. Except... there's no fever. Just the damanble cough, the congestion, the MIGRAINE that comes with the sinus pressure and the voice loss because of all the damned coughing caused by the nasal drip form the inflamed sinuses. (See, its a horrible cycle of suffering!)

I know its allergies because of the color of my phlegm. It is colorless and odorless. For a second there I thought I had strep again. (Yes. Again. I got tonsilitis to boot so I get strep throat yearly pretty much.) So. There's that.

I wish I could sleep. Everytime I lay down, I can't breathe and the cough gets worse... I actually fell asleep sitting up last night. My neck is sore.

Anyhow, the good news means since I have no character creation/work to distract me, I have been a little bit of a busy bee with my hair.

I'll let the following post explain.