Oh wherrreee is my HAIRBRUSH!

Hi girls!  This is crazy huh, two beauty blogs so close together!  Anyhow I have a special review today that I'm really excited to share with you because I have high hopes that you guys will find it useful!  Before I show you guys the exact product, let's talk paddle brushes!  (That kinda gives it away...it IS a paddle brush :)

Paddle brushes are used to create a smooth, sleek style (especially for longer hair, but it works well for short hair too).  It's good for curly/wavy or coarse hair, because the "paddle" is so much larger than a regular brush.  So when you run it through the hair with your blowdryer, the hair is drying against a FLAT surface, and it has less opportunity to fly all over the place from the force of the air.  Some would argue that it's not for layered hair because layers are for VOLUME and the paddle brush would strip it away.  Well....if you have a lot of hair, you don't really need to worry about stripping away volume, and sometimes you don't really want a lot of volume around the lengths of your hair.  To some of us (me) it's more important in the roots!  So I use a root lifting mousse (Big Sexy Hair brand...you can get this anywhere.  I got mine at Nordstrom Rack for 10 dollars), and I make sure that when I dry the roots of my hair, I lift UP with the paddle brush.

So about the brush (I|M Tourmaline Ceramic Paddle):  See that metal looking base?  It's tourmaline ceramic!  And it's like many other paddle brushes, lurking below the ceramic surface, the bristles are attached to an flexy convex rubber piece (so if you press the bristles against your head, it WILL give).

This brush worked REALLY well.  What else can I say?  So I'll let you see for yourself; the pic I took was IMMEDIATELY after finishing drying my hair with NO flat iron applied!  It's not perfect, but it's a LOT less frizzy than using any other method to dry it!  Plus, I dried it with my head upside down (which created a lot more volume).


Right now it's still on clearance at ULTA (for $9.99 it's $30 on the manufacturer website!)

And if you want to google it..look for IMStudios :)

Tip Tuesday!

Hi girls!!

Today I'm going to share some tips and experiences with you related to two ugly, ugly words; BACNE and ACNE!

Let's proceed alphabetically...shall we?

With acne, I've found that it's good to change ONE thing from your skincare routine ever so often (and by that I mean...every 6 months or so).  It's BEST if you can use a combination of Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide.  My favorite SA based spot treatment is this Neutrogena Rapid Clear 2 in 1 Fight and Fade Gel.  I swear, the first night I bought this I used it and the next day the blemishes I had on my face had reduced in severity of appearance AND sensitivity...because you know, sometimes you get those ones that kind HURT!  I've only been using it for a couple days, but so far, I REALLY like it.

For Benzoyl Peroxide based treatment, I use Clearasil Ultra Vanashing Acne Treatment Cream.  To be honest, this worked REALLY well at first, and over time it kinda stopped working as GREAT, even though it still works!  So I decided to combine it with a Salicylic Acid based treatment.  Now...I have a couple recommendations when it comes to using Benzoyl Peroxide; high concentrations of this stuff WILL bleach your towels, pillow cases, pretty much anything it comes into contact with after an application.  What I do to combat this is I use it ONLY in the morning!  At night, I use my fabric - friendly SA gel.  I also don't touch the BP cream with my hands, I use a q-tip to apply it on the spot!  I think this is a good idea also because as everyone knows....touching your face with your fingers is not the greatest thing...and touching zits is even worse!  Oh so on that note...another thing I do is before I wash my face, I wash my HANDS.  Just a really good idea to make sure the things that are touching your face are going to be clean :)

One other important part of keeping your face clear is to EXFOLIATE! A good drugstore brand exfoliant is Neutrogena's Oil Free Acne Wash Daily Scrub.  You could use this everyday, or designate a couple weekdays where you use it.  I really like to alternate exfoliating in the morning  with exfoliating at night.  This is because most of the bodily functions that pertain to taking care of the skin take place at night.

ON TO BACNE!

Bacne SUCKS!  I started getting it when I really started working out regularly.  But first let me share my shower routine advice!  You'll see why...

1.  Shampoo, first thing.
2.  Lean your head over and apply conditioner (so the conditioner coated hair does NOT touch your back!)  Keep one of those metal free hair elastics in the shower and TIE your hair up!  This does two things: keeps pore clogging conditioner OFF your back, and lets the conditioner soak into your hair while you do other showerly things.  I think it's best if you put it in a little bun, because it keeps the hair close to your head, and since your head is so warm, keeping it close to that heat source helps open the pores in your hairs to absorb nutrients from the conditioner!

3.  Cleanse the body!  Every other day (or everyday) I like to use Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash in Pink Grapefruit foaming scrub.  This one runs a little more expensive than the other Acne Body Washes from Neutrogena, but it smells better.  The other ones (gold in color) are unisex and don't really have a scent at all!  Let this stuff set on the affected area
4.  Do other showerly stuff...pumice your feet...shave...wash your face...
5.  Rinse your head free of conditioner!  As mentioned before...lean your head over so it doesn't run all down your back/body.
6.  Rinse the rest!  You're done!

Another thing, if you work out a lot is to try and use a tank top..and it works well to use moisture wicking shirt/tanktop and/or bra.  If it's not moisture wicking, its just holding all that moisture against your skin creating conditions that bacteria (think: acne) love!  You can find this stuff at Ross for pretty cheap :)  If you feel so bold, look for a tank top that has less material on the top!

Okay..I think that's all I can think of (for now!)  If you guys have any questions or anything, post it and I'll be sure to get back to you!  Hopefully you all found something that you felt was useful from this blog :)