Monday, January 3, 2011

LORAC Private Affair Palette

Another day another post loves!

Palette: LORAC's Private Affair Palette <~~ Click this link if you want to check it out on Sephora's website.

I have had plenty of time to use and familiarize myself with this palette and now it's time for the review =D 

Feel free to read on and enjoy the pictures.

General description:
This palette comes in a faux wine crocodile palette entailing 6 beautiful colors. This palette reminds me of an abridged version of Urban Decay's "Naked" palette (BUT if you can get the Naked Palette, I say go with that. It's a better deal, you get more colors, and it's only $6 more for twice as many colors). It comes with Lorac's Eyeshadow Primer and a double ended brush (they say blender and smudger).
The palette itself comes in and attractive faux wine crocodile exterior

To see more pictures, expand this post by clicking on its title.



Characteristics:
  • The shadows are "soft" - this means that you really need to be light handed when dabbling into the shadows otherwise you end up picking a lot of colors and can experience much fallout
  • The colors are wonderfully pigmented ( Yay- Factor)
  • The colors are very pigmented when swatched with your finger

On the side, there is a compartmentalized drawer that contains 0.19 Eye Primer and a double ended brush
Another look
Pros:
  • Highly pigmented colors
  • The eyeshadow primer is GREAT! Highly effective and it doesn't show up as an ashy  peachy color on darker skin ( Yay - Factor)
  • Even though the palette entails only 6 colors there are several shadow options
  • The shadows are easily blendable
  • Perk for dark skinned beauties - the shades are pigmented enough for our complexions.

Brush on top and the primer on the bottom

Another look
Cons:
  • The brush that comes with this palette is DINGY. IT's a FAIL as in F+! After the first use, this DINGY brush fell apart. In terms of its quality, it is not up to par with the eyeshadows nor the primer. Honestly, it should not have been included in the palette. The only bit of credit I will give this DINGY brush is that second picture of the looks included below was entirely done with this dingy brush. 
  • IF you don't know how to dabble in with a light hand, this palette will not be your friend as you will waste a lot of shadow and experience much fallout
  • Not an issue for me, but some people are disappointed in how well this palette swatches by hand in comparison to how it swatches via brush..but what shadow swatches the same via brush in comparison to ones finger?
  • Aside from dingy brushes, my second biggest pet peeve is palettes inclusive of plasticy fake mirrors...as the one in this palette. It's useless and I do not plan on creating any looks in using the included mirror.
From left to right: Creamy beige with pearl, champagne rose with shimmer, soft taupe with pearl, platinum grey with pearl, deep wine with shimmer, black with sparkle.
Another look!!
Is this palette Kai approved?
  • HECK YES! It's lovely. This palette would make a wonderful gift and the colors are great for the autumn and winter seasons. 
  • Enjoy!

Look #1

Look #2
Look #3






Loc'd Man: AJ


Meet AJ and his GORGEOUS LOC'S!
Read his Loc story below.

Tell us a little about yourself? (ex. name, age, state, school)
My name is Aj Kimpson and I am from Clinton Maryland. Currently a senior at bowie state University, majoring in Psychology.  

How long have you been growing your locs?
Growing locs for 4 years of love and hate, LOL.

What do you use on your hair, product wise, to maintain it?
The woman who does my hair uses the Jamaican mango and lime products but it is washed and conditioned with Dove’s shampoo

How often do you have to wash and re-twist your loc’s and who styles them? 
My hair is for the most part washed and re-twisted every month I’ve waited longer at times but a month is the ideal time being that the grain of my hair cancels the longevity of “fresh locs.” 

What do you think about women with natural hair? Do you care if your woman is relaxed, natural or loc’d?
I honestly just ask for a woman to take care of herself whether it is natural or with weave, as long as you’re presentable and not showing off damaged hair you are alright with me.

Do you think women who choose to loc their hair are sexy?
I find some woman with loc’d hair sexy, but it’s all on how you present it.

What are the pros and cons about having your hair loc’d?
The pro’s of having loc’s is being free willed and not conforming to anyone’s set rules of how I should wear my hair. I’ll get a haircut when I feel as though that’s what I want to do or any other style of hair.  The con’s are being negatively profiled with others who don’t share the same goals or morals as me, and it also gets in the way at times like showering brushing teeth and things of that sort


What made you decide to loc your hair? Have you always had hair or did you start your loc’s from “scratch?”
I was about 19 when I started my loc’s still stuck on trends and not wanted to be the last man standing with twist or corn rolls; a lot of people won’t admit that. I cut my hair down to a good start size so they would lock faster.
What makes a woman’s hair beautiful to you?
Beautiful hair stands out to me, when its noticeable and done well. I observe a lot of things and I barely miss anything so if it’s a track slipping chances are I seen it or if a girls scalp is dry I probably didn’t miss it, but everybody has bad hair days so I don’t judge the first time. As far as what’s beautiful hair, I would say anything that’s done nice and not trashy natural or permed or even the invisible part when it’s not gaping wide.

Do you have any advice for my readers who are considering loc’ing their hair?
If any readers are thinking about loc’S, ONE word patience . Do the time don’t let the time do you

 Where can we find you on the web?
You can find me on twitter.com/staxxisback 


2011 Hair

Thank you all for participating in the 2011 NYE hair style post! I am super excited to see what this year has in store for our NATURAL HAIR! Happy growing! :)




























Sunday, January 2, 2011

Simply:

You give me shivers when you brush past me...

Plans for 2011: Hair & Beyond...

Happy New Year wonderful Naturally Leslie readers! I hope you had a super safe and fun holiday season. I tried not to eat too much or spend too much but I must say I definitely indulged with the family when I could. It was so great to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday as well as my first Christmas with the hubby. It was also fun to see snow back in NC and I got to spend a lot of time with mom and some old friends.

I don't know about you all but 2011 promises to be a big year for me! I'll post some pics below to see if you can tell what's in store...

Maybe you can see in the puffy cheeks...
Or the expanding girls (ahem) and gut!!
Noooo it's not too much holdiay food. I am excited to share that the hubby and I are expecting our first little bundle of joy! He'll be making his debut in early March and I can't wait. I feel blessed to have had a great pregnancy thus far including the typical nausea at the beginning and feelings of uber chunkiness here near the end. In the pic above I'm painting letters to hang on the wall behind his crib. (I'd forgotten how much fun arts and crafts can be...not to mention soothing!)

With all the thoughts, fears, worries, anxieties, etc that come with impending motherhood, one thing I don't want to zap my time and energy is my hair! I posted earlier about the changes to my regimen and while they are working wonders for my hair, I can't imagine having a spare moment for my strands immediately following the birth. I would rather be cuddling my little boy than detangling and twisting!

In thinking about what I wanted to do with my hair for the delivery and first months of his life I thought back to my afro twists from 2009. I LOVED them but I also remember they were a bit bulky. That was cool at the time but I think I want to go with something a bit sleeker. When I was in 7th grade, I got box braids a la Janet Jackson from Poetic Justice. I think that is what I'm going to go with, albeit updated for 2011, for the birth and some time beyond.

I'm inspired by these looks:

I loved Jada's braids that she sported back in '09.

Solange recently rocked long braids for New Year's Eve. I love the look but won't go this long:

I plan on using the crown and glory method to take care of my hair while in the extensions. I will post more about that routine along with pics once I get my hair done a few weeks before my due date.

As for posting, I still want to share my trip to the Oyin store in Baltimore as well as my review of the products I purchased while there. Also, I would love to hear what is on your mind! There are so many blogs about hair and beauty nowadays that I would like to know what topics you all interested in. I am open for suggestions and ideas!

Finally, what are your plans for the new year? Did you make any resolutions for hair or beyond? Do share!

Love you guys! ;-)

~Les

Gingerbread Krispy Treats

I'd never seen gingerbread flavored marshmallows before this year, but I hope they bring them back because these krispy treats were a hit.

Back After A Brief Interlude

Why hello there!
It seems like forever since I have posted here; these past days have been so hectic with Christmas Day, seeing relatives and other such excitements.  Unfortunately, just before Christmas I had to have my gorgeous black labrador put down, which put a bit of a downer on things. It was for the best though, and she fell asleep in my arms.

I loved having a quiet Christmas Day, it meant that I could shamelessly wander around in my Kigu Red Panda Suit:


This all-in-one is just so comfy and despite what the haters say, I think it looks awesome!

Santa paid me a visit and left some incredible gifts under the tree (obviously I had been a good girl in 2010).  These included:


Tom Ford Black Orchid Perfume


Purple Skullcandy Headphones


Ridiculously comfy cashmere socks

I hope Santa treated you well too.  Keep your eyes out for my "New Year's" post!

Lottie
xxxx


P.S. I've really been enjoying finding an odd 20 seconds to shove inspiration up on my "Scrapbook", take a look at the links on the right to have a peruse.