Eva NYC Hair Care

eva nyc hair products

Eva NYC kindly sent me a selection of products from their hair care line and over the past few months I’ve chronicled my favorite Eva NYC-assisted hairstyles.  There are two stand-out products that I liked best.

The first product is the Speed It Up Blow-Dry Spray (6oz, $24), which just works. The first time I used it, I couldn’t believe how fast my hair dried. I like use about 3-5 sprays on freshly washed hair, then comb through to distribute the product. Then five minutes with a hair dryer produces sleek, dry hair. It’s basically a miracle product.

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5 Summer Beauty Favorites

five summer beauty favorites

I hope your summer is off to a fantastic start! June feels like spring to me any more, so I usually don’t start to feel like it’s actually summer until July. I always switch up my beauty products a bit when full summer is upon us. I always know it’s here when my hair grows to twice its size and I start going through five oil blotting sheets before the end of each day.

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April Rifle Paper Co. Birchbox

april rifle paper co. birchbox

How beautiful is the Rifle Paper Co. Birchbox? I actually have a pretty serious love of floral prints, especially ones in this illustrated style. I’m planning on saving the box to store extra lipsticks or notecards.

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What’s In My Influenster XO VoxBox

john frieda beach blonde collection

In my latest Influenster VoxBox, the Beach Blonde products from John Frieda ended up being my favorites. They remind me of this peppermint shampoo the stylists used at the salon when was a little girl. I haven’t used that shampoo in fifteen years, but I’ve never forgotten it.

The Beach Blonde™ Cool Dip™ Purifying Shampoo and Smooth Seas™ Detangling Conditioner make my hair and scalp feel really clean, and also slightly tingly (in a good way). The Sea Waves™ Sea Salt Spray and Luxurious Volume 7 Day Volume In-Shower Treatment also worked really well for me. The volume treatment gave my hair a big boost.

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Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Collection Review

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Skincare Collection

These products were provided to me by Neutrogrena. #gotitfree

As I get older, I’ve noticed my skin tending towards dry and sensitive. Neutrogena products work well for me (the sunscreens are my favorite!) as they don’t irritate my skin or cause breakouts. I received these full-size samples of Neutrogena’s Rapid Wrinkle Repair line and have been using them diligently since I got them during the summer. I can honestly say that they are the best drugstore skincare products I have ever used. In fact, I like the serum so much that when I ran out of it I went out and got two more tubes.

In the summer I always end up getting closed comedones, which are those non-inflammatory small bump type of acne that make your skin texture appear rough and uneven. A good treatment is retinol, although most products with retinol are too strong and irritate my skin. The Rapid Wrinkle Repair collection is marketed as anti-aging but the improvement I noted most was on my blemished summer skin. I will say that I think my skin texture looked worse before it looked better, but that’s always been my personal experience with retinol products. My skin improved rapidly once it adjusted.

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Skincare Collection

Left to right: serum, eye cream, daytime moisturizer.

The full collection includes a retinol moisturizer for daytime and moisturizer for nighttime, but my two favorite products are the eye cream and serum. You can pick up the Rapid Wrinkle Repair line at most drugstores, but they tend to be priced lower online, especially at Target and drugstore.com.

Karolyn Pho Fall 2014 Backstage

A model having her makeup done at Karolyn Pho Fall 2014.

The Spring 2015 collections were great (plum lips! creative braids!) but fall is in the air here, so I’m sharing one of my favorite Fall 2014 beauty trends. Metallic shadow with emphasis on the lower lash line was popular on the runway, although I would definitely want some Skyn Iceland Eye Gels on hand. I got a few samples at a party earlier this year and absolutely love them. They can be worn even if you’re wearing foundation.

I also like Fall 2014’s clean, no makeup look. Keeping the skin simple always looks great. I’m not planning on giving up my red lipstick, but I’d like to incorporate a neutral lipstick, too. Just need to find the right one for my skin tone!

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Recent Empties | Beauty

recent empty beauty products

Dear Laura,

Since I was so busy with school this year, I haven’t had much time to seek out new beauty products. I have strong loyalty to my favorites, but occasionally I try a new product that I end up really liking. I’ve finished all of these products lately. Some are old favorites and always repeat buys, others were completely new to me. …

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Things You Didn’t Know: Beauty Blogger Edition

red lipstick | Delayed Missives fashion and beauty blog

Dear Christine,

Except for a slight two-year hiatus in college, I’ve been blogging in some form or another since 1998. First, it was Xanga. Then I started building my own websites on Angelfire.

It’s a common misconception that I started out as a personal style blogger….

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City of Angels Nail Polish Review | Lauren B. Beauty

IMG_2695 IMG_2698

This pretty pink polish from Lauren B. Beauty showed up in a recent Glossybox of mine and I thought it’d be a nice color to wear this spring. The color is called City of Angels and is a bit more punchy in real life– the vibrance is somewhat dulled through the camera. I needed three coats to get the opaque look you see in these photos.

I’m a fan of 5 free polishes and Lauren B. Beauty happens to be vegan friendly as well. This polish chips easily, like many other 5 free polishes I use.  I observed noticeable wear by the end of day 2. I also found that it was difficult to remove from the skin around my nails. If you’re someone who likes to change your polish frequently and 5 free/cruelty free products are important to you, this would be a great product. I actually dislike painting my nails (though I do like the end result), so this isn’t the best polish for me. I love it when I can get ten days or more out of a manicure.

 Lauren B. Beauty polishes are called Nail Couture and retail for $18. You can find the City of Angels color here at laurenbbeauty.com