FOTD: Sugarpill Hysteric + MAC Crazy Cool

I've been using the Sugarpill make up I hauled from IMATS a lot and I've really been loving the colors and pigmentation of the shadow! I find that the pressed powders are way more pigmented than the loose pigments but all the colors are really pretty! I used Sugarpill's Hysteric on the outer v and it's a nice purple color. I didn't feel the need to smoke it out and it's light enough to be wearable during the day and you can always smoke it out and wear it at night. Sorry again for the picture quality, this is from my iPhone camera!

FACE
+ MAC Studio Fix Foundation in NC43
+ MAC SWEET WILLIAM Cream Blush
+ MAC DAINTY Mineralized Blush

EYES
+ MAC PAINTERLY Paint Pot [primer]
+ MAC SCANT Eyeshadow [highlight]
+ MAC CRAZY COOL Eyeshadow [lid]
+ Sugarpill HYSTERIC pigment [outer v]
+ Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in BLACK
+ MAC Opulash Mascara in BLACK
+ MUFE Aqua Eyes Liner in 0L

LIPS
+ MAC MIMMY Lipglass

Living large, just like who?

When I started college back in the early/mid 1990s, the student union was lined with tables staffed by employees from credit card companies. Every table was covered with cheap things emblazoned with company logos...Discover, AmEx, Citi, etc. etc. You couldn’t walk through the main hallway without getting pens, mugs, t-shirts, key chains, and Frisbees thrown at you, along with the application form to get a new credit card.  This phenomenon was relatively new at the time. We filled out applications, got our credit cards, and voila! You had money for those jeans you’d been dying to get since last year.

Colleges I believe have since cracked down on this practice of enticing young, impressionable cash-poor college students into getting credit cards they may never be able to pay for. I was in college when this practice was almost predatory. Then, many kids signed up for card after card, subsequently shopped (some paid rent with their credit cards, or bought books) but with no plans or prospects for paying it off.  Once, when I had a roommate, I realized how real the consequences were: she’d spent a ton of money on things she may otherwise not have purchased, could not pay the bills, and we lived with phone calls from credit card companies at all hours of the day and night. She simply dodged them, and I learned about what I did not want in my life: owing money on a credit card I cannot pay.

I succumbed to the credit binge by the way. I had been eyeing several cds (remember, this is the 1990s), and of course my little student job was not enough to cover both living expenses and cds. So Discover stepped in. But 300 dollars later, I started to panic, and I stopped spending. I gradually paid off this card slowly and painfully.  Ever since college, I have been particularly respectful of credit cards, and wary of the ease with which one could get carried away in the false sense of having resources for things we could have easily done without.

                                                             

I bring this up because I have seen a lot of people recently come to the brink or actually cross into filing for bankruptcy. Given the state of this economy, I am not surprised by this fact. What is absolutely shocking is how much people owe in credit card debt. I don’t know how one keeps going after exceeding $10,000, $20,000 or even $40,000 in credit card debt. This is on top of spending on expensive cars one could clearly do without, furniture, clothes, homes, you name it. There is some element of my bias here, but I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that a car payment of $900 a month is excessive for most people. (I suppose, if you have to drive a Mercedes, Lexus, Range Rover by all means necessary, then $900 is not excessive.) It is also excessive and wrong to spend money frivolously with no intention of ever paying it back. So that lesson I learned as a teenager in college, I now see 35 and 40 year olds who never learned them, and with severe financial consequences that far eclipse any damage one can do at 18 or 19 years old.

Just saw this on some web site www.zazzle.com Get it as a gift for someone in need of this little reminder.

 I will also go out on a limb here and say that the problem with spending is not always that people simply got caught in the bad economy. Many people simply wanted to live large, and take short cuts to getting there. Yes, a lot of people lost their jobs and have had a hard time getting back in to the workforce. But many people have simply spent themselves silly in an effort to not only keep up with the Joneses, but to be the Joneses. They have lived large with nothing to back it up. In the end, it was all a lie, a charade, and now their actions have caught up with them.

Great Slip with Vo5's Strawberries and Cream Conditioner

CVS, $0.89

Ingredients: Water Aqua, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Stearalkonium Chloride, Stearyl Alcohol, Steareth-21, Glyceryl Stearate, Fragaria Vesca (Strawberry) Leaf Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Tocopherol Acetate, Biotin, Niacinamide, Polysorbate 20, Ascorbic Acid, Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance Parfum, Red 33 CI 17200

Ingredient Attributes: silicone free, sulfate free, paraben free, glycerin free (via Naturally Curly)

My Experience: I have heard so many good things about Vo5's conditioners from fellow naturals. The product is cheap and provides great slip while detangling. I saw that it was on sale for $0.89 at CVS and I had to get a bottle to try for myself! Y'all know I love a bargain so a 15oz conditioner for LESS than $1 was an awesome buy. I've gone into a few different CVS before looking for the strawberries and cream conditioner but it was always sold out, so I was happy to get my hands on it this time around.  I used this conditioner while taking down the cornrows under my weave install. Every cornrow I took down, I lathered with conditioner, detangled and clipped off the the side to prevent matting and tangles. I was so impressed at how well my hair responded to it. My shed hair literally slid out very easily without snagging or knotting around my hair strands. I should have bought a few bottles of this stuff because I love it.  It smells like a great, like strawberry ice cream and it gets the job done.  I have also used it to co-wash and I was also very satisfied at the results. My hair was soft, moisturized and easy to comb through once the conditioner was rinsed out. My experience with this Vo5 conditioner was good and I am glad I gave it a try to see what all the hype was about. 

Overall: I like this conditioner and I will be repurchasing when I see it on sale for just 89 cents! Such a great buy and it works very well. I would definitely recommend kinky, coily, curly haired ladies to try this out if you need a product that provided great slip at a affordable cost.

Captured Curls: Javania

Ladies meet Javania! I came across this natural hair beauty and her awesome hair via Twitter a couple of weeks ago. Once I clicked her avi picture and saw her hair I had to have her featured so I quickly shot her a DM to see if she was interested, she was!

 I liked reading her about her journey and I'm sure you will too! Click the jump to read Javania's story.

1.        Please, introduce yourself!

Hello gorgeous people!! My name is Javania M Webb and I am a fabulous woman coming into her own. I have my own business mentoring and speaking to women about empowerment, self-esteem/self-worth among other things.  I also work at a mental health agency in the crisis department helping people not commit suicide or homicide. I am also a Graduate Student studying “Non-Profit Administration” and have big plans for this master’s degree that I did not want to continue halfway through, but nonetheless I will be done May 2012.

2.      What is your current hair care regimen? 

I have my hair in mini-twists for the summer, I live in St. Louis and it is too hot to do my hair and put the extra heat on it.  During the other seasons, I wash my hair bi-weekly.  Before I wash I detangle with conditioner, then wash, then deep condition (suave conditioner with honey) after detangling again and either sit under the dryer for 30 minutes or keep it on for a hour or so, then rinse, towel dry, blow out in low heat with CHI silk infusion, then use hemp seed butter to twist.

3.      What is your hair type and what works best for your texture?

I love big hair, my hair is really tight with out blowing it out and I do not know the number, do not pay attention to that.  I am on a strict budget so I try different shampoos and conditioner that fit my money at the time.  I have tried shampoo from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Sally’s.  But the best is suave conditioner with honey.  Aphogee works well with my hair also.

4.      What reaction did you get when you first decided to go natural?

Not good. I went natural twice.  The first time I was transitioning but I got upset and one day went to my hair stylist and cut it all off and had a fade. Everyone hated it, I even had one “friend” talk me into getting a relaxer, which is why I went back to the creamy crack, and I hate that I listened.  I did not get another relaxer after I was talked into it.

5.      Did you BC or transition, if so when or for how long?

 I transitioned for six months the second time around I decided to go natural and then did the big chop because I was tired of the two textures. Now everyone loves my hair, but there are some who are still negative and I can care less. This is my head and my life!!

6.      What makes you love your kinks, curls and coils?

I love how my hair frames my face, I love how big my hair gets, I love how my hair is unique in it’s own right. 

7.      Where can we find you on the web?

www.javaniamwebb.com  (under construction) Email: javaniamwebb@gmail.com Twitter: JavaniaMWebb Facebook: Javania.m.webbInc (fan page) 

8.      Anything EXTRA you want us to know?

Anyone in the St. Louis area I am having my first workshop August 12, 2011 “Embracing Who You Are” $20 includes food and journals.  You can purchase tickets at http://embracingwhoyouare.eventbrite.com Thank you for your time! :)

I'm Back!!! No Camera LOVE... 100 Followers!!! No Love in the club...Jax Ale House!!!!

Hi Dolls!


So guesss what....I got a new camera!  BUT...I'm not sure if I like it.....might have to take it back.

 I was so excited to have a new camera that I haven't taken the time to read the manual so maybe after I do that and figure out why my pictures keep coming out blurry, I'll be happier.  For those of you who'd like to know, I got a Nikon S9100 HD camera....(Don't seem HD to me *pouting*)
Anywho...
I can't believe that I've reached 100 followers!!!!  Welcome!  I'm so happy you all enjoy reading my blog!


Last night my girl Bernie and I decided to go out.....here's what I was wearing:

I kept it really simple.....

• Dress: H&M
• Earrings:  Bealls
• Bracelets:  Random

So everything in this picture came out except for my blurry face...O_o. Im at Bernie's house by the way. Her two dogs are in the background! I love them, they're so cute!
This is my POW-POW shot LOL!!!

Shoes: 

Shoe Dazzle.com

Here's Bernie and what she was wearing!  Get it Girl!!!




































So we went out and the place was a complete DIVE!!!!  We saw it and made a bee -line straight back to the car.  "Never, Again!"is what we were saying LOL.  I remember now why I don't really go "Clubbing" anymore. 

We decided to grab some food instead....right up my alley!!!!

We went to the Jacksonville Ale House

We got my FAVORITE....Margarita's :  I had the Original and Bernie had the Strawberry.

The food was perfect for those late night cravings!!!  I had the mini-burgers and onion-rings.  The little burger bites were grilled to perfection and topped with grilled onions....mmmmmm.  The onion ring dipping sauce was delicious too!

Bernie ordered the "Zinger Mountain".  These are little chicken strips piled up on cheesy fries with scallions and bacon....YUM!!! 

Wondering why the food pictures came out better than the fashion pictures...hmmmmmmmm

Overall, the night was interesting, to say the least!  But I try to make fun out of every situation and I appreciated not having to go home smelling of smoke and my belly was full. :) Needless to say I slept like a baby! 

I hope I can figure out this camera, because I missed blogging this week.  Talk to you all soon!

~Trice

Twisted UpDo

The weave is OUT ladies and I am so proud to say that I kept it in for over 2 months! That's sooooooooooo epic for me, LOL. Taking the weave install down was a pain and it reminded me why I am not a big "weave wearer" but my hair did grow A LOT!  The shed hair was ridiculous but I made sure I detangled in sections with LOTS of conditioner before washing. That is KEY to avoid tangling, knotting and breakage during the detangling process. Overall, my kinky curly weave experience was super fun and I will be buying more hair in a couple of months. I want the 18" hair next time so I can wear buns and ponytails a little easier. The 12" hair shrinks a lot, FYI! For now I will continue to wear protective styles to achieve my APL hair goal. My hair is CBL (collar bone length) for the most part when stretched. My bang area, however is MUCH shorter because when I was wearing it pressed I had my bangs cut in a side swoop--waiting for them to catch up to the rest of my hair. Growing out a cut is a pain sometimes...

Any who the above style I did on my own *gasp* yes, I achieved my first updo all by myself! The video on how I twisted the bang area is under the jump. ENJOY!

xoxo,

Alex

NEW Sigma Brush Holder

It's funny how when one company has a new product, a lot of companies jump on to make the same one! I've been loving the MAC brush holder I got from IMATS and today I saw that Sigma has just released their brush holder!! I'm pretty sure it's the same one from their Make Me Up brush collection but just sold separately. I actually contemplated buying one of the sets just because I wanted the brush holder! For now, they only have the black brush holder up for sale, but maybe they'll release the different colors soon. The brush holder is $20, which is cheaper than the MAC one that I bought, and seems a lot sturdier. Use code HB2011 for 10% off your purchase!