Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Leave-In Conditioner: A Review

I just want to say that I have NEVER finished a hair product. Barely finished any of my makeup. But if my memory serves me right, I've never finished any of my beauty products especially all by myself. This stuff is AMAZING.

Product: 5 out of 5!

Packaging: 5 out of 5!

Quality: 5 out of 5!

Price: $ 11.50 @ Sephora

My JKNM Stamp of Approval is for all items that are 5 out of 5 in all categories!

The Claim:

“Infused with lavender, rosemary, and super-conditioning marigolds, this leave-in is ideal for dry hair. The scent is a lovely warm complement to the fresh Rosemary Mint Shampoo with Sea Moss. What it is formulated WITHOUT:
- Parabens
- Sulfates
- Synthetic Dyes
- Petro-Chemicals
- Phthalates
- GMO
- Triclosan"

- Sephora

The Good:

I cant say enough about how good this product is. Its amazing. I used it daily and it conditions my hair wonderfully without weighing it down. Its light, but you can definitely feel it working as soon as you put it on. Its great for ALL hair types. And it smells sooo good. Black Vanilla. Its really subtle too and not overpowering at all. With continued use you can feel your hair getting softer and softer. I usually use it in the morning when styling my hair, but admit, sometimes I even used it throughout the day just to give my hair a little pick me up. I have super thick hair and it just sucks up moisture and this definitely was a great moisturizer for me.

The Bad:

I have NOTHING bad to say about it.

Overall:

Its great for ALL hair types, that's one thing I love about this brand. It just caters to keeping hair healthy. There's so many things we don't know much about when it comes to additives, but we're becoming more and more aware of them as this knowledge is put out there. Carol's Daughter products specifically leave out certain harmful ingredients that can strip and dry out your hair, doing more harm than good. I'm definitely going to be reordering soon!

xoxo,

Jaimie

Camila

I'm in the midst of doing a massive laundry overhaul so I'll be brief. Got a few shots back of some work I did with the always lovely LK, Camila Damas, and Fly Couture. I have a few more but I have NO idea where they've gone off too. I'll post them when I find them. Till then, enjoy! These were taken for Fly Couture's new ad campaign. Next post, the Cake Contest Winner!!

xoxo
Jaimie

Beauty Rêverie: Do You Use Powder After A Shower?

As a baby, my sister and I were always powdered all over after baths. Somehow along the way I kinda forwent that during my my after-shower routine and I want to get back into it. My mother on the other hand is a powder wearer to this day. I still see it peaking over the top of her night gown on her chest an shoulders.

After doing a bit of researching here are some reasons and uses that people find for using body powder:

• On their manly/womanly bits or underwear to help keep them cool and dry all day (only non-talc powders)
  
• On their feet and inside socks to help with moisture
  
• Under arms to keep dry and combat odor
• Helps comfort when in high temperatures and summer months
  
• Helps clothes glide on smoother
• For an all around smooth and luxurious feeling
  

What do you guys think? My question today is: Do you use powder after a shower or just body creams? Scented or Unscented? I want to know! :)

xoxo
Jaimie

Zoya Nail Polish Review - Casey

Okay so back in the day, I was an avid OC watcher. It was my favorite show and I loveddddd me some Seth Cohen! My fave seasons where the first 2, after that it kinda went downhill. But ever since Marissa was going through her Volchek (mmm) dark and moody phase, I've been searching for the perfect dark color.

It was this unspecified dark and sexy color, not exactly black, there was a hint of color, but what I couldn't tell. All I knew was that I wanted my nails to have that perfect effect. Fast forward like 3 years later, and my once favorite show is off the air, but I haven't stopped searching for that perfect color. I knew as soon as I saw swatches of Zoya's Casey that it was a wrap!

Product: 5 out of 5!

Packaging: 5 out of 5!

Quality: 5 out of 5!

Price: $ 6.00 @ Art of Beauty

The Specs:

Tone: Cool
Finish: Cream
Color Family: Purples
Intensity: 5 (1= Very Shear to 5= Very Opaque)
Original Collection

The Good:

I LOVE THIS COLOR. Its so sexy!! I love the way it makes my hands look. They're just hot! I actually went to get my nails done at the salon with this color yesterday and I got stopped by this nice lady inquiring about my color. I gave her the stats and told her to keep an eye out for my review. If you're reading now, hi! This color is that show stopping. I love deep dark purples and grays and this is totally fitting my mood and my new fall wardrobe lol. All you need is two coats, hit it with a sealant and you have perfectly shiny lacquered nails.

Indoors its this dark almost black color, but in the sunlight you can see its blacked plum color. I'm in love and can't stop looking at my nails.

The Bad:

The first coat can be a bit streaky so take your time.

Overall:

This is a MUST HAVE polish in my opinion, looks great on all skintones. Just do your first coat, let dry for about 3 minutes, then do your second coat. So nice I even put it on my toes!

I'm giving away a Casey polish in the contest so don't miss out on your chance to win.

xoxo,

Jaimie

Zoya Nail Polish Review - Stephanie

As I'm sure most of you girls did, I cashed in on Zoya's 5,000 follower giveaway. I think it was if they reached 5,000 followers on their Twitter page, that they would be giving away $18 credits, that's 3 free polishes, per order. All you had to pay was shipping. One of the colors I was dying to get was Stephanie. I'm really weird regarding color, I'll first go to something something deep and dark or really pale before I go with bright colors, Maybe its my inner emo kid or somethin, I dunno. But as soon as I saw swatches of Stephanie I had to have it.

Product: 4 out of 5!

Packaging: 5 out of 5!

Quality: 5 out of 5!

Price: $ 6.00 @ Art of Beauty

The Specs:

Tone: Cool
Finish: Cream
Color Family: Purples
Intensity: 2 (1= Very Shear to 5= Very Opaque)
Original Collection

The Good:

Zoya describes this as the palest purple pink cream. I'd agree with all that but the purple part. I think its more baby pink with a milky cream mix. Either way I love it. I know it says the sheer factor is about a 2 and that is what I was expecting, but honestly, with a good two coats, like in the pictures below, the color is great and a little opaque.

I'm super hard on my nails and so my polish is usually always smudging or chipping within a week. But what I found with Zoya is that they really stay a lot longer than a lot of the other nail polishes I use. They also have this color lock formula, that I'm sure will help make it last even more.

The Bad:

My only qualm with Zoya polishes and the only reason I gave the product a 4 out of 5, would be that in some of their formulas, like this one, they can go on a little thick and its a little hard to smooth onto your nails. Other than that I like everything about it. Some of their other formulas don't have that problem.

Overall:

I love it, it definitely makes my hand look more delicate haha. Its been on my nails exactly a week now and just starting to chip, I think that's good for me! Its a gorgeous color and I think every girl should have it :)

I'm giving away a Stephanie polish in the contest so don't miss out on your chance to win.

xoxo,

Jaimie

Beauty Rêverie: Do You Wear Dark Nail Polish in the Summer?

I don't know about you guys, but I'm a dark nail polish freak! I think I just love the way it looks against my skin. Since my favorite color of all time is dark pewter gray, I always had some variation of that shade near by. I'm a weirdo like that and don't care when I wear it. Usually, that the trend is to wear darker colors in the fall and lighter in the summer.

But lately more and more ladies are letting their love of dark colored polish show anytime, including these summer months. Especially paring them with bright funky colors.

What do you guys think? Do you wear your polish whenever you feel like or do you strictly follow the seasons? I want to know! :)

xoxo
Jaimie

Ms. Kendall - Ace Boon Coon Extraordinare

Kendall came down to ATL for her family reunion and we got to hang out! She's such a fun girl! First we went to Hooters where she ordered this..weird tator tot thingie lol then we destroyed and mashed it up. Such little kids.


I'm hijacking some of her pictures since I left my little Kodak at a photoshoot! The next day we went to lunch at Carrabas. I was trying to take her to places she'd never eaten at before and Atlanta sure does have a lot of places to choose from. After that she came over and I did her makeup!

Pam says I look like milk next to Kendall! This is me with a tan!! lol


This is my friend Ke'anna who hung out with us too. She's a new blogger so check her out and show her some love!


After, we went to Perimeter mall to go to the only free standing MAC store in the whole state! Ugh it sucks, anywhoo. Kendall got a bunch of goodies and got me a Porcelain Pink MSF. Thanks sweetie!


And then we got stranded at Bloomingdale's!! My car was smoking and trippin up a storm, so we rode to a Wal-mart and picked up some antifreeze/coolent and Ke'anna put it in the car.



We had such a fun time. We get a long really well, like we've known each other for years! I can't wait till she moves here!

xoxo,
Jaimie

How I De-tube and Melt My Lipsticks

Being a makeup artist, sanitation is the MOST important thing. You never want to spread germs from client to client so keeping a clean kit is very important. Regular cleaning of brushes, spraying of alcohol on your tools and pencils, and wiping down of powder products. Also, using separate lip brushes and scraping your lip products on a palette.

My lipsticks were seriously overpowering my kit as far as space goes so I decided to find a way to save space and help keep things more sanitary. I "de-tubed", as I like to say, the majority of my lipsticks. It was a hard decision because I love the little tubes and found them so portable, and I especially loved my limited edition tubes. Plus, think of all the Back 2 Mac you can do!

I have found that it is a whole lot easier to just use my palette knife and scoop out a little lipstick onto my palette and then to use a lip brush on clients.

The lipstick I am going to be de-tubing and melting today is Fleshpot. I've decided to put it in my Pink Palette next to Bubbles. I am using a little jar set from Joann's. You can find it here.

So lets start!

1. Get your tools together! I usually use my palette knife, but any item that can help you scoop is acceptable.

2. I use the lighter to remove the lipstick label...

...and stick it on the bottom of the empty jar.

3. Using your cutting tool, slice your fully rolled up lipstick at the base and into the jar.

4. Using then end of your spoon or scooping tool, slide it into the lipstick tube near the edge.

5. Slowly scoop out the lipstick and put it in the jar.

Fleshpot I found was very ...stiff. Maybe it was just the tube I got, but it was a little hard to cut through, it also made this process a little messier than usual for me. When getting all the lipstick off the spatula, i got a lot on the side of the jar which isn't usually the case.

6. Get all the excess you can out of the tube.

7. Your jar of lipstick should look like this.

8. Next Place it in the microwave. I have found that warming it up in the microwave for no more than 45 seconds at a time is perfectly safe for the lipstick as far as color, texture, and preservation. It still has that vanilla scent when solid again!

9. Slowly remove your jar from the microwave and it should be fully melted. If not, reheat for 15 second intervals until fully melted. Then let it cool off on a flat surface.

Here is the lipstick 45 seconds after microwave removal.

And here is the lipstick 5 minutes after microwave removal, completely solid.

Place in your palette and you're good to go!

I only cut down half of St. Germain, Fresh Brew, and Bubbles (not shown) for my kit and saved the tube for myself since I use them often.

The ones I didn't detube at all were Pure Rose from Ungaro, Fashion Mews from HK, Hi Top from Fafi, and Strayin from HK. Cause who says you have to de-tube everything!

I hope you enjoyed reading this step by step tutorial on how to de-tube and melt your lipsticks. Don't be afraid to try some new fun things with your makeup.

xoxo,
Jaimie

Sweet Tooth

Sugar is sweet. And so are these photos.

My photographer Svetlana and I got together this weekend to capture this idea I came up with. I've been so excited to do it. I was supposed to do it last weekend, but due to model issues it didn't work out. But fortunately I picked another model and I have to say she is better than my original choice, Stefanie pulled it off spectacularly!

Teisha Alston did great things with her hair. Yes that is cotton candy in her updo!

Products used:

Face:
Cinema Secrets Foundation
MAC Beauty Powder in Flower Mist Dew
MUFE Star Powder
MAC Eyeshadow in Parrot
MAC Pigment in Mutiny

Eyes:
MUFE lashes
Stila Kajal Liner in Onyx

Lips:

Mac Lipstick in Show Orchid
NYX Liner in Fushia
Clear Gloss

Also, Publix Icecream and Sprinkles! Yum!