Product Throwdown: Herbal Essences vs. Lush

It's time for our first Product Throwdown!

Blow drying. It takes forever, and let's face it; it isn't the most fun thing to do, but the truth is, it's necessary for a lot of us ladies. Being someone who has really thick, long, wavy hair, this chore has consistently been a gigantic pain in the you-know-what forever. It takes ages, and usually leaves the hair fried, too poofy, or just not looking right. I have always thought that I needed to add something to make it faster and get a better result, until one day it hit me...

What if what happens IN the shower affects it too?

This is where our first Product Throwdown comes in. I have tested two well known product lines, one dirt cheap, and one slightly more expensive, to find out which one results in faster drying times, better hair condition and manageability, and of course, the overall look.

Now, since I have such thick, wavy hair, I chose formulas specific to my hair needs. The two I chose were the Herbal Essences Touchably Smooth Shampoo and conditioner, and the Lush Solid Shampoo in Karma Komba, and Jungle Solid Conditioner. For both product lines I used my go-to styling cream, Lush's R&B Hair Moisturizer.

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!!

Ok, so here is what I did for the testing:

I used each product line for two weeks, and every time, I washed and conditioned my hair, brushed, wrapped it in a towel for 30 minutes, and then blow dried with the hair flipped upside down. Once dried, I ran my fingers through it, and then finished it off with the R&B.

ROUND 1

Drying time
Herbal Essences: I found that when I used the Herbal Essences, the average time it took me to dry my hair was about 10 minutes, which really isn't that bad considering how thick my hair is. I was pleasantly surprised.

Lush: So, I was very happy with how fast my hair dried with H.E., until I used the Lush products. After using them, my hair took all of 5 minutes to dry!!! I was SOOOOO thrilled with it. Right when I took the towel off my head, I could already feel that my hair had dried considerably more than when I used H.E., and it was much more lightweight.

Round 1 goes to: Lush

Score: 1-0

ROUND 2

Hair Condition
Herbal Essences: I really liked how this stuff left my hair so soft and shiny, which probably has to do with the silk they use in the formula, and the scent was really nice too, not too overpowering or anything. It's also one of the smoothing products that actually lives up to its name. My hair was really smooth without being greasy, and it stayed that way throughout the day. Impressive for such an inexpensive brand!

Lush: Again, this stuff left my hair super soft and shiny. The scent was a tad stronger than H.E., but it wasn't super chemical-y either, just really natural. It left my hair really smooth as well. I would say the only advantage it had over the H.E. in this case is the fact that my hair was almost weightless from it, which is a definite plus for someone with thick hair.

Round 2 goes to: Hmmm.... I don't know :(. Both did really well in this round, and while Lush does have the lightweight feel, H.E. left it really soft too.

It's a tie.

Score: 2-1

FINAL ROUND

Alright ladies, this one's for all the marbles. The big kahuna. The all important factor in this experiment...

Overall Look
Herbal Essences: It was soft and shiny... but it was also heavy. I liked the overall look, but I didn't LOVE it. I found that the overall manageability of my hair wasn't all that great using this. What I mean when i say that is, it didn't co-operate with me the way I had hoped. For example, if I put it up, it didn't necessarily stay up, and when I would take it back down, I would be left with the dreaded ponytail crease, which would not come out no matter how many times I brushed it. I also found that it was a bit harder to control my hair while I was blow drying it. I couldn't make it do what I wanted, and even if I got it to, it would soon rebel.

Lush: I LOVED how my hair looked after using this stuff! It was soft and shiny, but more importantly, the fact that my hair wasn't weighed down with silicon made it a million times easier to style, and it actually held the style I wanted. The Jungle conditioner and R&B use natural plant based oils to help keep hair soft and not weighed down. I have a hell of a time with my bangs, and this completely fixed it! There was no ponytail crease, and I could wait a bit longer between washes since my hair wasn't nearly as oily as quickly, which also meant that even my "second day hair" looked awesome! It's a MIRACLE!

The Final Round goes to: Lush

Score: 3-1


So, Lush is our overall winner in the first Product Throwdown! What makes this product group outshine the competition is that it doesn't have the heavy synthetics like Herbal Essences does. Herbal Essences isn't a terrible product by any means, and if you're on a tight budget, it is an excellent choice, however, while Lush may have the heftier price tag, the products do last a long time, and they're made with natural, quality ingredients and very few synthetics. For the results I got, it's definitely worth the investment.


Hope this was helpful to you guys! I really enjoyed doing this little experiment. Wound up with awesome hair from it, and learned something new!

Until next time guys!

Anita :)

Tutorial #2: Night on the Town Look- Neutral and Navy with Pink Lips

If you're anything like me, you are a huge sucker for dramatic eye makeup. Since the last tutorial I posted was a very natural, day time appropriate look, this time I decided to do something a bit more out there. I have named this a "night on the town" look, but to be perfectly honest, I would totally wear this look during the day :p. It's all about using the shadows in the right amounts and right spots for your colouring. I have darker features, so I can handle a bit of a heavier eye look. If you're a bit fairer or if you have a lighter eye colour, you can maybe opt for things like switching out a black eyeliner for a brown one, or maybe using some slightly lighter shades in some areas.
As usual, I have all the shades I used listed with all the steps but I will also describe them so you can see if you have anything similar. For this one, I used mostly MAC products, but that's not because I am sponsored by them or anything; I just really, really love their eye shadows :p. Hopefully you all enjoy this look as much as I did making it! :)

**Face**

Step 1: Use a tinted moisturizer all over your face. This will give you some coverage, without being too heavy with the heavy eye makeup this look has. I used the Smashbox tinted moisturizer in "Light"

Step 2: Use a fluffy contour brush and bronzer to contour your cheeks. This will give you a bit of colour in the face without competing with your eyes.

**Eyes**

Step 1: Prime your lids with your favourite eye primer. I used the MAC Paints in "Untitled". You can put this all over the lid and on the brow bone if you want, or just the lid.

Step 2: Using a stiff eyeshadow brush take a light, shimmery eye shadow and pat it all over the inner par of the lid, stopping about halfway across. I used MAC's "Phloof", a really pretty, shimmery, white-ish shade that has just a hint of pink to it. Haveig a shade like this on the inside part of the eye helps keep a dramatic look like this from closing off your eye area completely

Step 3: Wipe off that brush, and using a taupey, mid to dark shade, pat this onto the remaining part of the lid, without going too much into the crease. I used MAC's "Satin Taupe" for this.

Step 4: Using a crease brush, take a navy blue shade, like MAC's "Contrast", and put this on the outer V of the eye, being careful not to go all the way in the crease. You should so no farther than a third or a half of the way along the crease. This will smoke up the look a bit, adding some dimension and drama to the eyes.

Step 5: Ok, so by now you're probably going "OMG OMG OMG IT'S SOOOOOO DARK AHHH!!!!". Do not panic, this next step will help. Take a matte eyeshadow close to your own skin tone (I used MAC's "Brulé") and with a fluffy shadow brush, apply this to your brow bone and around the outer V, blending it with that line created by the dark shadows on the lid. This will immediately soften out the line and calm things down a fair bit.

Step 6: Take a black eyeliner and line the entire top lash line and bottom waterline.

Step 7: Take a pencil brush and smudge a bit of that black eyeliner into the bottom lash line.

Step 8: Use that same brush and the navy shade from earlier and smudge that in the bottom lash line on top of the liner. The liner will act as a surface for the shadow to stick to.

Step 9: Apply a generous coat of mascara to your lashes. I used The Body Shop's Big and Curvy in Black.

**Lips**

Step 1: Take a light pink lipstick and apply it to your lips. I chose to do a light pink so that it would still be fairly muted, but still be able to go with the eyes. You could do a nude lip, but I found it was just a little too pale in conjunction with the eyes. I used Bare Escentuals Buxom lipstick in "Vienna".


Alrighty! Now you look absolutely fabulous and ready for a night out with the girls, or even a hot date ;). Whatever you choose to do with this look, I hope you enjoy it! Even if you don't you'll still look awesome doing it :p.

Tutorial #1: Everyday Pin-Up

Hey everyone!

So I was playing around a bit and came up with a great everyday, sort of pin up inspired look that can work in pretty much any season!

A lot of women get freaked out at the idea of a red lip, and even more so when they contemplate it for everyday wear. This look solves that problem, and also answers the question of "Well great I have red lips; now what do I do with my eyes???".

Enjoy!

Step 1: Prime your face with your favourite face primer, and prime the eyes as well. I used the Gosh Classic Face Primer, and on my eyes, MAC paint in "Untitled"

** For the eyes, all the colours I used come from the Sephora Colorista Palette, but I do have alternative shadows and descriptions listed with each step. All colours are neutral, so they shouldn't be too hard to find :)**

Step 2: Using a shimmery white shadow and a stiff shader brush, go over the entire lid area, staying away from the crease. MAC shadow in "Crystal Avalanche" works really well for this. You don't need a lot, just enough so that the light catches the look of that shimmer to open the eye area.

Step 3: Take a matte, medium brown eye shadow and an angled fluffy crease brush, go in with the colour to define the outer v as well as a little bit in the crease. This will create a bit of definition to the eyes, without being overwhelming next to the red lip we're gonna be wearing. MAC shadow in "Wedge" works great for this step :).

Step 4: Using a small eyeliner brush, take a matte black shadow, such as MAC "Carbon" and line just the outer 1/3 or 1/2 of the top lash line, winging out slightly at the outer corner of the eye. For this, you want to use short smudgy motions so that the line isn't too stark against the light shadow you applied to the lid.

Step 5: Take what's left on that small liner brush, and smudge it on the very outer part of the lower lash line. This will bring out the overall shape of your eye without being overwhelming.

Step 6: Line the lower waterline with a silver or white waterproof liner, such as the Sephora Waterproof Eye Pencil in "Silver"

Step 7: Apply 2 coats of black lengthening mascara to top lashes. I used CoverGirl Lash Blast Length Waterproof

** Now you're all ready to do the rest of your face!**

Step 8: Apply your favourite foundation to your entire face, and concealer where needed. I used Bare Minerals foundation in Light.

Step 9: Using a big fluffy blush brush, apply a rosy or even brick coloured blush to the apples of the cheeks, blending out over the cheekbones in circular motions. Make sure you flick any excess off the brush to avoid applying too much colour; you just want a nice flush to the cheeks, nothing crazy!

Step 10: Apply your favourite cheek highlighter to the tops of the cheekbones.

** Now it's time for the lips!**

Step 11: Take your favourite red lip colour (I used MAC Viva Glam I, which is a really nice neutral red so it's not too overpowering). Apply this by dabbing it on the lips, then using your ring finger, blend it together to make it all smooth. This keeps the red colour from being too overwhelming, but you still get a gorgeous colour from it.

And there you go! You now have a wearable, pin up inspired look for day time!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy this look!

xox

Anita :)

Review: The Body Shop Big and Curvy Mascara (Non-Waterproof)

EEEEEE!!! IT'S MY FIRST REVIEW SOOOO EXCITED!!! Erm, yes ok. So, for my first review I decided to do something a bit different, with a product that hasn't gotten too much press, The Body Shop's Big and Curvy Mascara. Now, one might think that mascara is a fairly straightforward thing, and I suppose you would be right in some cases, but for me personally, I find it very tricky to find a mascara that does ANYTHING to my lashes. I am half Indian, so my lashes are already quite dark and thick as is (not bragging, this is actually annoying!). Anywho, I think I have just found an amazing mascara! Here's a picture of me with the mascara on:

As you can see, it isn't SUPER dramatic, but it is most definitely there! This mascara is amazing. It separates each of my lashes, lengthens them, and even makes them look thicker! It adds drama, without being obnoxious, which to me, is super important for an everyday mascara. 

I think my favourite thing about this product is the wand. All too often now with mascaras that seem to promise 400 MILLION TIMES the lashes, that seems to automatically mean you get a wand the size of your face, resulting in many a poked eye. Somehow, The Body Shop has been able to come up with a formula that provides volume and length, and still give us a wand small enough to get to each lash, on both the upper AND lower lashlines! (Which by the way is a fabulous way to really open up the eye area).

Now, with all this ranting and raving about how awesome this product is, you may think I have nothing bad to say about it. 

Wrong.

There are a couple of things about this product I'm not crazy about. The first thing is the smell. For whatever reason this stuff smells like mud. I wouldn't say that it's super noticeable when you have it on, but when you open the tube, it definitely is there. 

The second thing I'm not thrilled with is the price. As a contact lens wearer, I have to be especially careful to replace my mascara fairly often. No one wants little critters living in their mascara wand. Having said that, this mascara retails for about 18 bucks, which I think is a tad expensive. For 18 bucks, I expect a bit more drama than what this mascara delivers.

Overall, I would recommend this mascara. It's great for everyday, easy to use, comes from a company that doesn't test on animals, and is also available in the ever elusive brown, great for those who can't quite pull off darker mascaras.

Thanks for reading! Happy beautifying!

- Anita :)

The Body Shop Big and Curvy Mascara

Ease of use: 5 / 5 

Accessibility: 4 / 5

Price: 3 / 5 

Quality: 4.5 / 5

Overall:

 out of 5

Hello Everyone!

My name is Anita, and I am starting this blog as a way to give honest, unfiltered reviews and advice about hair and makeup products. I am absolutely in love with playing with makeup, and am always on the hunt for the next great product and trend, so I thought I would keep a blog to tell people about my findings. Roughly every week I will have a new product review or tutorial using hair and makeup products ranging from high end brands, to drug store finds. Hope you enjoy it!

Fun fact, the oleander flower is actually a symbol for beauty!

Anita <3