Product Review - CVS Gentle Skin Cleanser

As a user of skin care cleansers since I was about 13; I can truly say that most products are crap! Either they dry out the skin too much, are too expensive, are too messy or just don't produce any results.

So imagine my surprise at finding this great inexpensive product that cleans and moisturizes!!!

I was in CVS when they were reducing prices on a number of their products. (Yes, I know, CVS again).

I stumble upon this skin cleanser that states on the label 'softens as it cleanses'. The label also states that it can be used on babies, is for sensitive skin and can be used on the whole body. For $1.20 for 4 oz. - I say why not? I'll try it.

Well, this is the number one product in my skin care shelf. I am so upset I didn't purchase more of this item.

A bit about my skin - for the past several years, I've just used witch hazel, soap occasionally and a moisturizer. Although the witch hazel is a bit drying it doesn't make my skin feel uncomfortable and it is a great toner. My skin is dry - very dry!! And I know I shouldn't use soap but I like to feel clean.

But this product actually leaves my skin so smooth. It is a light cream that evaporates on contact, i leave on for a minute or two and then rinse. It rinses off easily and my face feels great! My face feels clean, refreshed, soft and moisturized! Its effects are long-lasting too! This product is a miracle!

Usually I don't post my opinions about products until I've tried them well over several times. This way I can give a true opinion about a product over time and see if it produces results. Well, with this product I haven't used it over a week and a half and I had to write about it!

I will definitely buy this product no matter what the price!

CVS

I love shopping in CVS.

I love shopping in all of the retail pharmacies - CVS and Duane Reade are the best. They seem to get all the new products and keep a wide variety of makeup, hair products, soaps, vitamins, etc.

Also, these stores tend to stay very neat, bright and everything is labeled which makes it easier to shop.

But since living in upstate NY I can only get to CVS; which is fine.

Recently, CVS has been offering a lot of sales on a ton of products. I bought Crest toothpaste for under a $1.00 and a whole lot of other products that I might not have ever tried.

Check regularly I will be listing the items and my reviews!

So check out your local CVS, sign up for their ExtraCare Card, grab a circular and enjoy the bargains!

Product Review - CHI scentuals mango melon

Ok, so here I was in the mall back in November trying to do some early Christmas shopping. Well, all I did was make a couple of purchases for myself and this particular lotion was one of them. It was packaged as a gift set and was on sale.

CHI scentuals in mango melon (in the orange bottle) is a nice lightly scented lotion. Its a great hand lotion. I keep a small version in my purse for a quick hand moisturizing boost. This lotion then grew on me. At first, I didn't care for the scent. But I have gotten used to the lightness of it and that it wont conflict with my perfume. It also has a nice consistency. Not too thick but not too thin.

Now, don't get me wrong - this isn't the best lotion for all day moisturizing or for extremely dry skin. So as far as using it as a body lotion I would only consider this for normal skin types.

Review - Ghetto Survival Guide for Blacks & Latinos

Having a rough time in the ghetto?

You may need to check out this online book.

Its full of great advice for urban youth and adults. Lots of common sense tidbits and stories about living in the 'hood and most importantly surviving and leaving in one piece.

This is the type of book many people of color should check out because its seems that our youth and adults are a bit too wrapped up into certain negative images.

Its a fun read while you walk away with some really cool tips on what you need to do to get yourself out of the ghetto, stay out of trouble, focus on what's good and keep it moving.

There are also some really serious topics about racism, police brutality, keeping away from bad influences and using your instincts.

Check the link to order yourself a copy - and best of all the writer isn't trying to rob you so even in this recession you should be able to afford it - its just a buck, so tell your friends to get a copy too!

http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=224210

MLK - celebrate and be thankful!

I am glad to be celebrating this holiday.

I spent the time with my sons and had a great discussion about MLK. They were upset as we watched the footage of good people being hosed and having dogs attack them in the 60's.

My son told me he couldn't believe that teachers aren't teaching these things in school. When teachers teach civil rights they fail to mention the KKK, the hoses, the dogs, the continuing discrimination, the backs of buses, and the country just terrorizing black people. It seems as if the teachers want the kids to believe that it took a few marches to get things going.

I told my son that when I went to school all I learned about was good ol' George Washington and his cherry tree and Chris Columbus and his boats.

I then asked my kids if they knew the leading job for african-american women was up until the 70's.... they said office work. I said no - it was day's work or better known as maid. Yes, just ask your relatives how many of them or their mom's was a maid or mammy - it was ok for them to underpay us to clean their toilets and raise their kids - but then again, who would hire us?

Yes, although Lincoln, Kennedy and of course Martin made some strides toward seeing that we are all viewed as equal... we just weren't treated as such for many years.

This is why we must remember not only today but everyday - who we are, where we come from and what direction we need to be moving in.

We must tell our family, our kids, cousins, siblings, and so on that things are not nearly as bad as they were but we must always continue to work hard for what we want, stop shopping like maniacs for stuff we cannot afford, help each other out, support each other, be positive and keep our heads up.

Although it seems as if the struggle is over - it isn't. Many of our people live in sub-standard housing, have far less income than other races, are in debt more than other races, are less educated and have limited skills.

This is why as parents we must buy our kids books, puzzles, and keep the computer service on. Not blind our kids with nonsense like drugs, fighting, BET and exposing them to bad influences.

School does teach but we must also step up and teach, lead and discipline our babies.

Although I have been in Obama's camp since the very beginning. I am no longer feeling the excitement.

I think I just see too many people thinking that - ok, he is in the White House and he will save us. Or, we did it and then go back to their old routine.

No. He will not be able to save us from the bad cops, the discriminating employers or the neighborhoods that don't want us to move into them.

But what we can do is like Obama said - get involved. Coach a little league, teach a class, volunteer, take a second job, cut back on your spending, show your little ones how to save, give blood, visit your relatives more, etc.

Stop waiting for someone to hand you a piece of cheese! Be active and get your own! Be a part of the world, learn it, study it and grow. Take care of you and yours and if you don't like something complain - loud and in writing!

Like MLK did - let the world know about it!

Product Review - Pantene Pro V Restoratives Mask

As far as deep conditioners go - this is it!

My hair is damaged and dry. So at this point I am skeptical of every product that promises any improvement.

So I used up my organics deep conditioner. This stuff was lame and needed a mix-in of molasses to get it working.

Well, now that I've tried this - I will be getting rid of the molasses too.

So I've been sticking to my self-made promise - not to buy anything unless I need it. So I was glad to be done with that conditioner I couldn't wait to purchase something new.

So I was checking the Pantene relaxed and natural products which I've been hearing such great things about but there were no more deep conditioners.

But I spotted this and thought I'd try it.

I am so glad I did. I look forward to using Pantene's other products too in the near future.

I can even say good-bye to the molasses add in. This topped it.

So I shampooed, rinsed and applied this cream all through my hair - hairline to ends. I then put on my shower cap and got to showering. When done, I then rinsed this creamy stuff out and my hair felt great.

My hair was so soft I just put my hair in twists and let it air dry. No dryers today.

My hair is still soft and more manageable this evening.

Do yourself a favor and try this stuff. It's under $7.00 and worth more than that!

This will be a keeper!

Product Review - African Pride Herbal Healing S & C

I think it was about 1998 to 2000 when my relaxed hair was in its really healthy and growing stage. One of my key products was African Pride's no lye relaxer. At the time, I didn't have a stylist and I had to rely on myself to take care of my hair. So for some reason, I was struck by the design on the box and made the switch from my usual Cream of Nature relaxer. I became a big fan of their relaxer. I also believed that I used African Pride's grease too. Yes, I too was a big fan of hair grease. I did feel that their products were good quality and helped keep my hair looking, feeling good and growing. This was actually one of the few times in my life, where I was always asked who does my hair and what products do i use.

So when I was fortunate to have won a contest for African Pride's latest products I was very pleased.

I received their relaxer, shampoo and conditioner.

This review is about the shampoo and conditioner.

I've been using this shampoo weekly since November. Although it has the herbal specs in it - i do not feel it was a great shampoo. My hair felt dry after washing. I was expecting better results.

I feel the same about the conditioner. It is a leave in and I was expecting it to leave my hair moisturized. It did but just a bit. This conditioner has bits of herbal specs in it, too.

Both products have a pleasing light scent, light color and a listing of many herbs.

It took me awhile to get these reviews up because i just wanted to like them. I wanted to say that these were good products and I would love to buy them - but I cant.

The shampoo has been passed onto my sons. I asked their opinion and they said it was like any other shampoo.

Although these products retail for about $4-5 each, I would just get suave or vo5 for less than $2....

well, i'm off the ledge.....

yes, I've decided to come off the ledge and stop feeling sorry for myself.

after my last posting and numerous hair evaluations - i've held off on doing anything drastic such as grabbing the relaxer kit.

i had to refocus my thinking.

i had to realize that i want healthy hair. whether long or short. that is the goal.

i then checked a number of other hair blogs and realized that the sistas who have went from perm to natural... it took a while for them to get health and length. almost 2 years. the same with the stretchers - they didnt get the growth overnight.

so far i have 3 months in, so i kind of need to grow up and realize that the damage i did (the neglect more than anything) i will have to deal with and it will take time for the vitamins, water, rest, new hair regimen, diet, silk scarves, satin pillows, and everything else I've been doing to start to kick in!

any comments or ideas - hit me up...

i may be relaxing my hair real soon...

I've started to monitor what i was doing to my hair since June 2008.

My last relaxer was October 2008 and now its January 2009 - over 3 months. And guess what?

My hair looks terrible.

I had a lot of hair fall out over the past 2 years. This is the main reason why I decided to lay off the relaxers. But now I am miserable without it.... is this what withdrawals from drugs is like???

I've always had issues with the hair in the back of my head. So I really thought that this time i have to stick with the no relaxer route so i can get some healthy hair.

But I am so tired of looking in the mirror and seeing very little progress.

I was worried about my new job - but its a casual environment so I don't feel any pressure in that sense but I would still like to walk away from the mirror feeling confident.

I started taking biotin a few weeks ago. I will give it until my birthday in March to see if that made a difference. That will be 2.5 months.

I just ran out of deep conditioner so now I will allow myself to purchase another product - I will only buy new stuff when I use up or toss out something else.

I've added EVOO and I like it so far.

Also, I've bought a cheapie flat iron which I am only trying to use once a week.

Maybe since the weather is so cold here (upstate ny) - I will put off the decision until spring. That way it will be 6 months (in April) of transitioning/stretching and I can see if my hair has gotten any healthier and has grown.

if anyone has any ideas on what I should do or add to my routine let me know... I am desperate!

growing....

When I was growing up my Mom would just hot comb my hair. She always told me never to be like my Auntie in Brooklyn and put chemicals in my hair. All chemicals pull your hair out, even dyes.

I questioned this because although my mom's hair was a bit longer then bsl and although she could rock her salt and pepper hair... I just couldn't stand the thickness of my hair, hated the hot comb and the thought of not ever coloring my hair.

My friends all got relaxers and could keep their styles all day long. Their hair looked great. They also didn't suffer under the hot comb. Because with thick hair, washing and hot combing was a lengthy process.

I though of my mom as boring. All she did was put her hair up in a bun - day in and day out.

So at 19, I had a friend put in a relaxer. Because like everyone told me... my hair would sit and lay down better. I've been a slave to the relaxer and hair stylists ever since.

Also, I was tired of ponytails. My hair was past my shoulders and I found the ponytail to be a way of keeping my beastly hair tame.

But I listened to everyone that said that i need to wear my hair out, stop being boring, etc.

Well, fast forward to now. I'm 41 and my hair is in bad shape. I have breakage and my hair hasn't grown past my chin since I was about 2002.

As of September, I been on the internet daily and am seeking some serious help for my damaged hair.

And on every message board/blog - everyone is proudly stating how they are lessening the chemicals, going natural, learning to style their own natural hair, how to free theirselves from the salons and how to keep your hair in protective styles, etc.

Mom was right to a certain extent. I should have listened to her more than anyone else because...I was a bald headed baby and by time I was 4 had shoulder length hair because of her.

So now since I've been seriously concentrating on my hair for the past few months - it has been a task. I feel a bit like I am obsessing but then again... it matters to me. I haven't had healthy hair for several years and it shows.

So hopefully, I can check back here frequently to see my growth... hair and otherwise.

Please feel free to share your stories and comments.