LOTD - Pink & Green Dreams

Face:

Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Almond 7
MAC Mineralize Powder in Dark

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Mehron Precious Gem Powder in Periodot - lower lid to crease
MAC Hello Kitty Too Dolly Palette - Romping E/S - Crease
MAC Brown Down E/S - Outter V
MAC Pigment in Naked - Brow Bone
Random black eyeshadow to line eyes
Voluminous Mascara

Lips:
MAC  Lipgelee in Amber Russe

Cheeks:
MAC Blush in Raisin

~HG

I Want to Know My Hair Again

Lately I've been all about my hair. Fussing with it, putting weave it in, taking weave out of it, contemplating what to do next. I want to manipulate my hair as little as possible this summer, so I've been anxiously trying to decide what to do with it. While browsing the internet looking at natural hair posts, I came across this and it really touched me. I hope it touches you too.

By Paulette M. Caldwell
I want to know my hair again, to own it, to delight in it again, to recall my earliest mirrored reflection when there was no beginning and I first knew that the person who laughed at me and cried with me and stuck out her tongue at me was me. I want to know my hair again, the way I knew it before I knew that my hair is me, before I lost the right to me, before I knew that the burden of beauty -- or lack of it -- for an entire race of people could be tied up with my hair and me.

I want to know my hair again, the way I knew it before I knew Sambo and Dick, Buckwheat and Jane, Prissy and Miz Scarlett. Before I knew that my hair could be wrong -- the wrong color, the wrong texture, the wrong amount of curl or straight. Before hot combs and thick grease and smelly-burning lye, all guaranteed to transform me, to silken the coarse, resistent wool that represents me. I want to know once more the time before I denatured, denuded, denigrated, and denied my hair and me, before I knew enough to worry about edges and kitchens and burrows and knots, when I was still a friend of water -- the rain's dancing drops of water, a swimming hole's splashing water, a hot, muggy day's misty invisible water, my own salty, sweaty, perspiring water.

When will I cherish my hair again, the way my grandmother cherished it, when fascinated by its beauty, with hands carrying centuries-old secrets of adornment and craftswomanship, she plaited it, twisted it, cornrowed it, finger-curled it, olive-oiled it, on the growing moon cut and shaped it, and wove it like fine strands of gold inlaid with semiprecious stones, coral and ivory, telling with my hair a lost-found story of the people she carried inside her?

Mostly, I want to love my hair the way I loved hers, when as granddaughter among grandsons I stood on a chair in her room -- her kitchen-bed-living-dining room -- and she let me know her hair, when I combed and patted it from the crown of her head to the place where her neck folded into her shoulders, caressing steel-gray strands that framed her forehead before falling into the soft, white, cottony temples at the border of her cheekbones.

Cotton. Cotton curled up in soft, fuzzy puffballs around her face. Cotton pulled out and stretched on top of her head into Sunday pompadours. Cotton, like the cotton blooming in August in her tiny cotton field. Cotton, like the cotton that filled the other room in her house -- the cotton room -- the storehouse for September's harvest, a cradle to shield her pickings from wind and rain, to await baling and ginning and cashing in. Cotton, which along with a cow, a pig and a coop of chickens, allowed her to eke out a husband-dead, children-gone independence in some desolate place, trapped in the bowels of segregation. Here, unheard, unseen, free, she and her beauty and her hair could not be a threat to anyone.

~HG

Friend Friday: Let's Talk About Nails Baby!

It's Friend Friday! This is part of a blogger group with Modly Chic. If you're a blogger that would like to participate, go to her blog for the details.

Q: Do you keep nail polish on your fingers and toes year round?
A: No. I'm really bad with nail care maintenance. I must admit that I've stayed on top of my nails a little more than I did before I was engaged because people always seem to ask to see my ring when my nails are nice and raggedy, but yeah, my nails are not my best accessory.
Q: What are your go-to colors for the fingers and toes?

A: Any grey polishes with sparkles like OPI's DS Coronation

Photo courtesy of Nailed.

*swoon*

Q: Any tips for strengthening your nails?
A: Yes. My nails are in horrible shape right now because I was wearing diamond nails (softer than acrylics, but you still have to get all the filing/drilling done) so in order to help them recoup and become stronger I have started using the Axxium Gel System by OPI again.
Q: Do you have any nail 'rules' you abide by?
A: Never ever ever bite my nails, and they must always be roundedly square bwahahaha.
Q: How often, if ever, do you get a manicure and/or pedicure?
A: Every two weeks...for now. I usually drop off around October :~(

~HG

Bee Mine 15% Off Sale

Here's something to make us natural ladies happy. The wonderful folks at Bee Mine are having a 15% off sale!

I heart their Bee Hold Curly Butter, so I'm off to buy a couple of jars. Happy shopping!

~HG

An Update

Hello ladies and gents:
On top of being under the weather lately, my home computer is acting janky, hence the reason I haven't posted a new LOTD lately. No worries though, I'm hoping to get it fixed this weekend. In the meantime, if there is a look you would like to see, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email. I would be happy to oblige. Stay beautiful!

~HG

Why I Love Horchow

If I could just outfit my whole home in items from Horchow I would be in design Heaven!

~HG

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Duos on Sale!

Available here.

~HG

New Product Review: Covergirl Smoky Shadow Blast

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a bit of a makeup snob. I don't really go cruising down my local CVS drugstore cosmetics aisle looking for makeup to try. However, if there should happen to be a contest to win a certian drugstore cosmetic, I'll enter. Hey, I'mma sucka for free stuff! However, I must say I was pretty excited to win a set of Covergirls Smoky Shadow Blast.

The Smoky Shadow Blast eyeshadow is a double ended stick that you can use to create a smoky eye. One end is a more neutral, allover color while the other end is a darker version of that color to use across your lash line and in your crease.

This product? Was a fail!

I loved the concept, and it would be great if it weren't so incredibly oily! Within 5 minutes of applying it my eyeshadow had creased. Me no likey makeup that crease.

If you feel like you just aboslutely must buy this product, then please remember to wear a good base and powder your lids so that the product can at least last an hour.

Product: 3/10
Pricing: 8/10
Packaging: 9/10

~HG

LOTD: Orange and Turquoise

Face:

Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Almond 7
MAC Mineralize Powder in Dark

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Mehron Precious Gem Powder in Turquoise - lower lid to crease
MAC Rule E/S - Inner Corner
MUFE Flash Palette, Dark Blue - Outter V
MAC Shadowy Lady E/S - Outter V
MAC Brown Down E/S - crease
MAC Pigment in Naked - Brow Bone

Lips:
MAC  Lipgelee in Amber Russe

Cheeks:
Mehron Cheek Cream in Berry Blush

~HG

NRW: Chicken Salad

Monday I had the taste for Chicken Salad, but had never made one before. So I thought back to the best chicken salad I had ever had. It was made by my Aunt Elaine. I knew it contained cranberries, mayo, and the obvious, chicken, but figured I would just have to wing the rest. What I came up with was so yummy that hubby had eaten half of it by the next day! Hope you like it.

INGREDIENTS
1 cooked rotisserie chicken, cubed
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cups dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 cup chopped celery
1 onion, chopped
ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise with paprika, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and seasoned salt. 
2. Mix in dried cranberries, cherries, celery, and onion.
3. Add chopped chicken, and mix well. Season with black pepper to taste. 

Enjoy!

~HG

New Product Review: Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner

Last week I was on the hunt for new conditioners to try. I felt like my hair was getting to use to my regular ole Olive Oil conditioners and it needed something new. So I ran to Ulta to see what I could find. That's when I ran into the Neutrogena product line. I've never used any Neutrogena products so I was a tad bit skeptical, but I thought at $5.49, why not.

When I got home I co-washed my hair with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner, then rinsed and finger parted my hair into four sections. I then added the Neutrogena Triple Moisture to each section from root to tip. Since I don't cover my hair nor sit under a dryer, I left it on for an hour - an hour and a half, then rinsed with cold water.

My hair has NEVER felt this soft! It was as if I visited a river of moisturizer and bathed in it all day. The best part is that it is now 4 days later and my hair is still superduper soft. I am now a believer and will buy every product in that line.

Word of caution - This product does contain sulfate so if that is a concern for you, you may want to skip it. However, it makes my hair feel so amazing that I will happily use it again and again.

Product: 10/10
Pricing: 8/10
Packaging: 9/10

~HG

LOTD: Experimenting with Artifacts

I am so sorry that I have been MIA. I have been under the weather and dealing with some changes in my life that I hope to write about it in the near future. However, I got off of my butt long enough to bring you a new LOTD. I hope you like it!

Face:

Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Almond 7
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Dark

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC Artifact Paint Pot - lid to crease
MAC Patina E/S - lid
MAC Shadowy Lady E/S - crease
MAC Naked pigment - brow bone
A sable colored E/S - btwn Naked and Shadowy Lady
MUFE Flash Palette, Black - line eyes
DiorShow Extase - Mascara

Lips:
MAC lipglass in Sweet Strawberry

Cheeks:
MAC Mineralize blush in Superduper Natural

~HG

New Product Review: Ecostyler

As summer approaches I've found myself wearing my hair out more and more. It's already too hot for any extra hair (aka wigs) to be on my head, so I needed to start finding products that worked for me. One of my big problems was that it was super duper hard to pull my hair into a pony tail. My edges wouldn't lay down and my head just looked like one big poof. So, I scoured the internet for something, ANYTHING that would work. That's when I stumbled upon Eco Styler Gel. My.hair.loves.it! This is my hair 3 days (yes, 3!) after using Eco styler:

This product is awesome! I never sleep with anything on my head (sorry, I just can't do it), so I'm really amazed my hair was laying down like it was 3 days later.

I co-washed my hair, applied a lot of leave-in conditioner, then applied the Eco styler gel. I had my hair separated into 4 sections, then I ran the gel through my strands with my finger tips.  I brushed my hair back, slapped on a ponytail holder, and went on about my business.
This gel does wonders. The greatest thing about it is that it does NOT dry hard. My hair wasn't crunchy or dry. The second greatest thing about this gel is that my edges remained slicked back, which my hair has never been able to do up to this point.

To top it all off i only paid $2.50 at the BSS for the gel. Cheap and it works? This is definitely a rockstar product!

Product: 10/10
Pricing: 10/10
Packaging: 10/10

~HG