PERSONAL TIPS: Face Wash

Hey Everyone,

So one of my MAJOR concerns, skincare-wise, about moving back was: Would I be able to repurchase the items I love to use as part of my skincare routine? I was so pleased when I slowly discovered that majority of them were available in Lagos.

Although, one thing the stores in Lagos do suffer from is something I like to call 'Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Syndrome'. You might see something in a store one week, go back a couple weeks later and it's not there. You'd think "Ok, it's just not in stock yet".... NOPE... It's just not stocked ANYMORE. And then you'd have to go searching for it all over again.



Case in Point: I went to the store I bought my Neutrogena Visibly Clear Gentle Exfoliating Wash from in order to write-up this post, and it wasn't on the shelves. They did have other Neutrogena products in store, so I am keeping my fingers-crossed they'll be back in stock soon. Since I could not get the prices, my pricing listed at the bottom is more of a range, than an actual price.

Anyways on to the pictures

I use all four of these products on rotation within the week.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Gentle Exfoliating Scrub

I used to be faithful to the Clean&Clear exfoliating face wash, but I found the microbeads in it a little too 'scratchy' for me, so I switched to this. And I have no complaints so far. I use this 3times a week, or whenever I feel my face needs a good scrub

                   St Ives Warm Scrub

Also another exfoliant I use. As you rub this in you feel a warm sensation on your face,  which is quite nice. I switch back and forth between this and the Neutrogena within the week.

Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Facial Cleanser

I use this everynight once I've taken my makeup off with my 'baby-wipes&babyoil' combo.

Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash

This I use mornings I don't exfoliate. It's got a pump and the product comes out as foam which you just apply directly to wet face.I did not buy this here, but I did see it once in MedPlus pharmacy at The Palms.

PRICES AND WHERE YOU CAN BUY

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Gentle Exfoliating Scrub: Casa Bella at The Palms Shopping Mall - N1750 - 1950 (approx.)

Pink Grapefruit Facial Cleanser:  Casa Bella at The Palms Shopping Mall - N1560
St Ives Warm Scrub: Casa Bella, Health Plus, MedPlus and Shoprite at The Palms Shopping Mall - N850

Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash: MedPlus at The Palms Shopping Mall

What Exfoliators/Face Wash do you use?

Are they Available in Lagos?

Pls Share!

Laters,
Ez xxX

BARAZAHI - Hair Salon

Just a little post to share with you another salon I regularly visit in Lagos. I have always headed to Barazahi for their spa facilities; Massages, Body Scrubs/Treatments and Waxing, I hadn't ever gone in to the salon. Barazahi sits on a pretty large property that houses a Spa, Gym, Salon and even a Guest Chalet.

My visit to Barazahi salon was a 'last resort' scenario/situation. I'd been to my regular salon earlier in the day to let them know I was coming in later and had dropped off my hair extensions to have them washed and put in set-rollers. Came back much later in the day to "Sorry everyone is busy", "All these ladies are waiting, you'd have to join the queue". Asked for my hair extensions they were in a pan, wet and just left there. I was utterly disgusted, rang Barazahi  they were less busy and I went STRAIGHT to them.

My friend's been going to Barazahi for a while, and she strolls in for 5pm appointments. Whereas at my former CATTLE-RANCH of a salon, I'd have to be there at 9am! And won't be done till about 4pm... I know, Ridiculous. My hair-stylist even left them at the New Year, so I definitely have no reason to go to back.

So back to the lovely Barazahi. Went in there a few weeks ago to get a pedicure and my weave put back in. This was the day after I got my hair treated with the lush ObJ Minty Shea HairButter. My stylist, Eniola, is the best! She makes you feel at ease and welcome.

Those who are familiar with Barazahi would be pleased to see this. Yay! They now have pedicure chairs!

They use Orly polish for the manis/pedis and they also sell them there. Same price as Ebeano N1500

I love the Layout of the salon. It's not a large space, but it's perfect.

Barazahi can be a little pricey, so that might put a few people off. But is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY. The quality of service you get and the products used justify the pricing as far as I am concerned.




I also love that you can have a mini bottle of wine while you get your hair done, they've got a fully-functional kitchen where you can order a light lunch and snacks from a menu. Dishes on the menu include  pasta, wraps and sandwiches. Or freshly-squeezed fruit juices.



PRICES

Here are a few prices off their menu. Yup, the Barazahi pricelist is called a 'Menu', I love it! They did mention to me their prices were going up in the New Year, don't know if they've been applied yet. I'll tweet you guys when I know and would update this post with the new pricing.

Manicure: N2000
Pedicure: N3000
Change of Polish: N650
Blow Dry: N2500 (Natural Hair)/ N3000 (Weave)
Shampoo & Set: N3000
Retouching: N7000 (Fibre Guard)
 Retouching (Syntonic/Client's Kit): N5500
Wash & Set Weave: N2000

UPDATE**


Their prices have gone up. Went in on Sunday for my routine wax (underarms) and it's up from N1500 to N2500. So please call in to confirm prices first.

Checkout their website here! for more information

Where do you get your hair done in Lagos?

Laters,
Ez xxX

Vanity Oils

My lovely mother gave me a large tub of unrefined Sheabutter mid last year and I've still got it. Not used it much because it's the solid form, you know the one you need to rub between your palms to heat it up and therefore melt it a little so it's easy to apply like your regular body lotion. Yeah, that one. So I don't use it as regularly as I'd like to, because of the stress of warming it up and all that. So someone mentioned to me that a little bit of coconut oil mixed in would do the trick and make it easier to work with.

I thought to buy some off-the-shelf coconut oil, but no one knew where I could get that. So I thought I needed some 100% natural oil-vendor or something, much easier than checking the shops right?...lol. I was randomly going through my sister's followers on twitter (don't ask why, I have a legitimate reason) and I came across the account 'Vanity Oils'. I thought "interesting name, what do they do? Are they in lagos"... They were and they were EXACTLY what I was looking for!

I immediately followed them on twitter and sent them a tweet saying I wanted to order some oils. They asked for my email address, sent that over and they replied the email with their catalogue.

These are the items I ordered. I must say their catalogue is HIGHLY informative (so is their website). Like, I learnt SO MUCH about the different oils available and their numerous uses and benefits. There are two types of oils Essential Oils (active ingredients) and Carrier Oils (base oils used to dilute essential oils). After reading through all the different oils they had available I obviously became confused about what to pick.

I initially wanted just the coconut oil, but after looking through their catalogue I got this as well. (must be the ObJ MINTY Shea Hair-butter :s).

The cover of the little bottle doubles up as a dropper. As this is an essential oil I only need about 1-2drops mixed in with my shampoo, conditioner, hair cream or whatever I want to add it to. I love when a vendor puts a lot of thought into their presentation. Love!

Also the benefits and uses of this oil are right up my street.

Look at how much coconut oil is in that bottle! I'm sure I can find a lot more uses for it other than just to mix into my sheabutter.

They also sent me over this little tub of Sheabutter! I was pleasantly surprised, thank you Vanity Oils. Don't know if this is like their standard gift to customers, or if it's because I mentioned in my email to them the reason why I wanted coconut oil was to mix in with my sheabutter to get a cream-like texture. Either way this gift was perfect! The texture of this Sheabutter is exactly what I want to achieve with mine once the coconut oil is mixed in.

PRICES

Coconut Oil : N1000 (8 oz bottle)

Peppermint Oil:  N2000 (1 oz bottle)

Delivery: N500


I'm going to add a drop of peppermint oil in with my coconut oil and unrefined sheabutter. Is this a good idea?

Think I'm going to order some Olive Oil from them soon, because of the benefits one of you guys said when it's used as an eye-makeup remover. Longer eyelashes here I come! :D

Follow them on twitter and check out their website

Any other oil vendors in Lagos?

Laters,
Ez xxX

TOSÉKI VINTAGE - Outfit Of The Day (OOTD)

So, fairly recently I discovered another Vintage blog-store in Lagos. They are called Toséki Vintage. They don't hold monthly blog sales like Elsie Vintage, they just upload items whenever they've got stock available.

They followed my twitter account one day and I got the notification "Toséki Vintage is now following you on twitter.." and I thought "ooooh, interesting!" Browsed through their past posts and saw that they still had quite a few items available.

I was excited when I saw this item. It's similar to the piece I got from Elsie Vintage, i.e. high-waist flared shorts that look like a skirt. I wore it the other day and thought I'd show you guys.

I love them, nice and comfy.

I ordered at the start of the week and it was delivered within 3days I think, didn't have to wait a long time. I must say I am really loving these vintage vendors in Lagos!

Price: N3000. Delivery costs N500. So my bill was N3500.

Follow Toséki Vintage on twitter here! to know when the next set of items are available. Also check out their blog. there might still be a couple items available.

So that's TWO Vintage blog-stores in Lagos

Any more?

(ps: Don't know if I should apologize for the 'faceless' photos..lol. This blog isn't about me, but about letting you guys know where you can get girly stuff in lagos. So for now.... 'facelessness' - it's a real word!)

Laters,

Ez xxX

SHELLAC MANICURE - Blush Salon

Can I just say that I am SO impressed this is available in Lagos. This is the best thing that has happened to my 'nail-polishing' experience!

In my quest for lasting nail-polish I initially went down the 'wrapping' route. I used to get my nails wrapped, which is a process similar to the acrylic process, minus the extensions. My experience with that was HORRIBLE. My nail-bed was terribly weakened and my nails were left in horrific conditions. Goes without saying, I'll never try that again, EVER!. When my friend told me about the Shellac Manicure she got I was a little apprehensive, because she said she placed her hands under some 'light'. I thought they would have to file my nail-bed and make it coarse before they applied anything, that is the WORST thing anyone could willingly allow happen to their nails. All you ladies who love acrylic nails, I canNOT understand how you allow this. Anyways.....

In order to write-up this post, I had to do some minor research online, nothing tedious just a little 'google-action', just so I could get the right terms to use.

I'll describe a Shellac Manicure as awesomeness. If you are like me and your nails are pretty decent and you do not need any enhancements (eg.acrylic/gel nails), you would love this too! Shellac is a hybrid manicure, meaning it is  half nail-polish, half gel. The product is thin and strong enough to be applied just like a regular nail polish, but is cured using a UV lamp which makes it last for up to 14days. And it leaves a nice shiny, glossy finish!

A week ago I went in to Blush to meet up with my girls and as I was waiting around I thought I'd get a Shellac Manicure, since I wasn't doing anything. And I have got NO REGRETS. Here's a step by step guide on how it went down. The entire process took about 30mins.

First off I picked out a colour... No surprises it was PINK! :)

My nail polish was taken off and nails filed and buffed and then this was applied. It is the Shellac Base Coat.

After it was applied my nails were popped under the UV lamp, one hand after the other.

The first coat of the Shellac Colour was applied and it was back under the UV lamp for 2mins.

The 2nd coat aaaaaaand, repeat as before.

Then the top coat was applied. And then the final 2mins of UV and I was done.

This was the interesting part. The 99% isopropyl alcohol was used to wipe down each nail. When the technician was about to do this I was scared. I thought the colour would rub off. You know how it is, we all do the 'witch-hands' to avoid getting smudged polish after a manicure, then someone brings a WET cotton-wool in the direction of said manicure.... lol! But it was fine, this was the final necessary process.

Here's the finished product! I love it... I know, very bright! It's not this neon in real life, but it is a bold colour. It's taken me a little while to do this post, because I wanted to show you guys my nails 10days on...

Literally just took this now! Look at that.... Not a chip in sight and not much difference, except you can see my nails are growing and it's creating a gap at the top.

For me a Shellac Manicure is perfect, because my nails are long enough and I don't need extensions. During my research on Shellac I found these interesting facts I thought I'd share:

• Those looking to lengthen their nails, you cannot use Shellac to create a longer nail
• Shellac isn't for clients with extremely damaged nail beds, split or peeling nails
• It is best to get on a corrective program with your manicurist before thinking about Shellac
• If your nail is peeling off, it will take Shellac with it.

PRICE
You can get this amazing manicure at Blush Salon for N2000.

My only gripe is they haven't got a huge range of colours, but the lovely owner tweeted me that she's got new colours in soon. The technician who worked on my nails also confirmed this. So you know I'll be sure to tweet you guys when they're in. This isn't to say they haven't got any colours at all. Pop in and have a look, I'm pretty sure something would catch your eye!

I heard the Shellac Manicure is also offered at Nail Place in Victoria Island. Might give them a try since I'm due for a change this weekend. And also to bring you guys a review!

Anyone know anywhere else that offers Shellac Manicure in Lagos?

PS: Thanks Mo' for taking these pictures! Grumpy photographer lol..xxx


Laters,
Ez xxX

Ours By Juliada - Minty Shea Hair-Butter

Ours by Juliada (would call it ObJ for this post)! Where do I start? From the moment I discovered this brand at Le Petit Marche early last year, I was fascinated. Le Petit Marche is a little shopping event that holds once a month, amazing concept. Post for another day, back to ObJ  !

ObJ is a skin and hair care company that manufactures 100% natural products. It is owned by two good friends, Ada and Nicole. You can read the philosophy behind their company here!. This is actually my 2nd ObJ experience, my first purchase was also some hair treatment, but I cannot for the life me remember what I got. But it was good! I saw Nicole tweet about treating her hair to some Minty Shea Hair-Butter mix and I thought OMG NEED TO TRY THAT! My hair was due for treatment and I thought I MUST try this, got the details from Nicole and I penciled in Friday, 27th as my 'treatment day'

ObJ  is stocked at Blush Salon, amongst other places, Stockists Here!. So, off I went to buy my tub of goodness and get my hair treated

Yum! here's my tub of goodness

I know it looks like green slime, lol... BUT, it is amazing!

Interestingly, the stylist that worked on my hair mixed in these two with the Minty Sheabutter. The product can be applied on its own as well.

This is the oil. It had a menthol-y (yep that's a word) scent. From the bottle I think it might be Aloe Vera Oil, which is good for the hair. It prevents hair loss and reduces dandruff, amongst other things. I think this was used to work the shea-butter into a paste, so that it can easily be applied to the hair.

And some hair mayonnaise. We all know this is good for the hair.

I didn't use a lot of the product as you can see. So you can get 4-5 uses out of one tub. Nice!

My hair was washed as normal with Shampoo, skipped the conditioning and straight to the treatment. It was evenly applied to the roots of my hair using a dye brush, donned a plastic processing cap (essential a 'shower cap) and was popped under the dryer. You could go under the steamer as well. After 15minutes it was washed out and my hair felt so good! Hair was dried using a hand dryer and I was DONE! Something I noticed was my hair was moisturized. So, NOTHING was applied to my hair before, during or after it was dried. My hair felt nice and soft. And Moisturized. Sorry I have to keep saying this, didn't expect it to be at all. It was nice and not greasy at all

Can I just say that I absolutely LOVE the staff at Blush. I went in at a ridiculous time on a Friday, 6.30pm, because I got off work late (you 9-5ers feel my pain). And they happily took me in. I can say that has NEVER happened to me in Lagos.

Whenever I go in later than 5, I'm met with frowning, rude, unhappy staff. I have even been turned away numerous times (apart from Barazahi Salon, love them there too). But this wasn't the case AT ALL, kudos to them. Nothing like great customer service :)

ObJ  stock a whole bunch of 100% Natural Skin and Hair care products. From body butters and scrubs to hair treatments and oils. Visit the stores they're stocked in or follow them here on twitter for more information!

Ours By Juliada - Minty Shea Hair Butter - N2500

I recently found a company that sells 10O% natural oils in Lagos, from Peppermint oil to Eucalyptus oil. I just placed an order with them. Once I get my items. You can be SURE I'll share! :)

You guys know of any other 100% hair/skincare Vendors in Lagos?

Laters,

Ez xxX