Hair Magic! - Organic Root Stimulator (ORS) Edge Control

You guys that follow me on twitter would remember I tweeted about this and said I'll do a post on it well..... here it is!

This little 'tub of wonder' has been nothing but amazing for me. I first came across it at Blush salon, the stylists use it to tidy up your edges once they are done. My girls from the States are very familiar with it, seems like it's more popular Stateside or something, cos I never heard of it up until at Blush. But anyways this product does all it says on the tin!

The directions on the back should be followed exactly. I find that this product works better when applied with your fingers. I've tried using a little brush/toothbrush to apply and smooth it down and it doesn't work as well as I'd like.

It's a clear solid product in the tub, tried to capture it in this shot but I think I failed lol. I believe why this product works much better when applied with the fingers is because the heat from them while working it in melts it and makes it much easier to apply.

It doesn't smell like most hair 'jam' on the market these days, this has got a 'sweet' scent to it. I'm crap at describing scents, but just know this smells quite good. I have used this EVERY morning since I got it, which was about a month ago or so.

PRICE

I bought mine from Shoprite at the Palms Shopping Mall, N699

It's also sold at Blush Beauty Store (Blush Salon's store), N1200


Also before I bought this brand of Edge Control, I bought a different one by Syntonics which works just as good. If you want me to do a review of that as well just let me know and I will. Just incase you have a hard time getting your hands on the ORS one in lagos :)

What other Edge Control-type products are out there?

Laters,

Ez xxX

SLEEK COSMETICS COMPETITION: COLOUR-BLOCKING EYE MAKEUP

Nearly at the end of the competition series! And this is a colorful post, color-blocking eye makeup. 


I  hardly wear any colour on my lids. I like to keep it to muted colors or darks as opposed to bright shades. But as soon as I saw this title on the list of posts to churn out I immediately thought of the queen of eyeshadow(in my opinion) Jennie Jenkins. She is a UK beauty Vlogger (Video Blogger) and she's got a tumblr account where she posts stills of her makeup tutorials. I thought I'd share one of her Colour-Blocking eyeshadow creations.

www.jenniejenkins.co.uk

 I must confess, I think the reason why I don't wear bold color combinations on my eyes, is because I haven't got a clue what colors will work together

http://www.jenniejenkins.co.uk

STUNNING!

Jennie Jenkins CLEARLY hasn't got this problem. She's combined quite a few BOLD colors in this picture and she pulls it off easily! Amazing. The fact that her hair is dyed purpley-red in these shots and she manages to balance it out with bright shadows, no clashing... Gotta give it to this girl

Also as a little bonus check out this video where she creates another colour-block look: JENNIE JENKINS: 'LIKE CANDY' MAKEUP TUTORIAL


I decided to keep this post nice and short, as I felt the last two were a little picture heavy!  I've got just one more post left in the series!! :)

PLEASE Don't forget to Text ‘vote’ and 'BeautyInLagos' to 33382 now. Each voter gets 30% off any Sleek Hair purchase at the Sleek Studio V.I. shop 64B Anifowoshe Street (off Adeola Odeku). Just visit the Sleek Studio in V.I, show your text and get your discount. The poll closes at 6.00pm on the 1^st of May 2012.


Thanks!


Ez xxX

SLEEK COSMETICS COMPETITION: The UP 'DO

Hi everyone! So the competition continues and the topic for this post is 'The Up Do'. I am currently on a mission to get my hair nice and healthy, and one of the things I hope to achieve is a top bun. No really, I feel like I would've attained my ultimate hair goal if I can get my natural hair into a nice lush top bun. My really good friend and I started this journey together and she's got a top bun going already, I'm a slave to weave and extensions so I HARDLY ever rock just my regular hair lol. But I am making progress, my stylist, Lawrence, and I are in this together lol, he said I should be there in 6months if we carry on with what we're doing...... Winning!. Anyway enough of my rambling, on to the post....



What I have decided to do is talk you guys through my top 3 Up Do's and then let you in on a little secret. Well, it's not exactly a secret, seeing as it is readily available and sold EVERYWHERE, but you never know, one of you guys might be hearing about it for the first time.

On to my Countdown

The Messy Bun

www.messyhairstyles.blogspot.com

The effortless Messy Bun. The name says it all really.. Messy. I usually rock this when I have to run errands, or just cannot be bothered to fiddle with any 'heat' instruments aka Curling or Flat irons. You would typically need a few bobby-pins in there to keep all the stray hair in place, but I usually just let everything hang out... It's supposed to be messy.

www.messyhairstyles.blogspot.com

Lauren Conrad is like the QUEEN of the messy bun, and she rocks it well. I loved her on 'The Hills'

I always love to see the messy bun rocked with a brown smokey eye, lashes and peach lips. Lush.

The Chignon

Now I discovered whilst doing some googling that this hairstyle dates back to ancient Greeks and not just the ladies rocked this, the MEN as well. Weird.

http://www.coolhairstyles.info/

 I love this when I want like an elegant, 'clean' look. Some heavy black liquid/gel liner, several coats of mascara/falsies and a red lip! I dieeee for this look. It's soooo sophisticated.


The Top Knot/Bun
My 'hair' goal. I know I'll get there. Now, some people say not everyone can pull off a top knot. And I have to say, I agree. Even I'm not 100% I'd be able to pull it off, but I'll see.

www.meek-n-mild.com

I LOVE Shirley's (from Meek-N-Mild) top bun. And she even made a youtube tut on how to get this look. it's so simple and easy, literally less than 5mins. You can watch it here: Shirley's Top Bun


The Little 'Secret'

www.fabulouspastanotincluded.blogspot.com

Tada! Not exactly a secret right? This doughnut-shaped contraption is called a 'Bun-Maker'. It's really easy to use.

www.princess6.wordpress.com

All you need to do is get your hair in a ponytail. It can be a low, middle or high-ponytail; whatever floats your boat. And then you pass the ponytail through the middle of the bun-maker and just wrap your hair around it and hold everything in place with bobby-pins. Easy-peasy! :)


So I hope you guys enjoyed this post, don't forget the competition's still on! So vote vote vote!!

PLEASE Don't forget to Text ‘vote’ and 'BeautyInLagos' to 33382 now. Each voter gets 30% off any Sleek Hair purchase at the Sleek Studio V.I. shop 64B Anifowoshe Street (off Adeola Odeku). Just visit the Sleek Studio in V.I, show your text and get your discount. The poll closes at 6.00pm on the 1^st of May 2012. 

Thanks!!


Ez xxX

SLEEK COSMETICS COMPETITION - Smokey Eye

So remember I told you guys i had a role to play in the competition as well. Each blogger has been provided with identical schedules of posts to produce each week. Title for the First post? 'How to Rock a Smokey Eye'. I thought I'd share some smokey eye tips with you guys as well as show you a few pictures of some lush smokey eye makeup! Enjoy!



Now here's a little thing I've noticed. When people hear 'Smokey Eye', they automatically think lots of black eyeshadow. But, a smokey eye can be achieved without a SINGLE application of black eyeshadow. Let me let you in on the 3 most important factors (to me) that make up the most exquisite smokey eye.

1.) A Dark Base: This could be a black eye primer, soft kohl eye-liner, jumbo eye-pencils or in my case I use black gel liner. Yup, I apply the gel liner using the back of my ring finger and pat it all over my eyelid.

2.) Good Blending Brush: A nice fluffy blending brush! The smokey eye is ALL about blending. You have to blend blend blend all those colors in. And you can only achieve this with a good blending brush

3.) Transition Colour: Now here's the little trick, you know just above the crease where the heavy smokey eye seems to be fading? That's achievable by using what is called a 'transition color' eyeshadow. Transition eyeshadow of choice (with a black smokey eye) is usually a red-toned brown and this must be blended well into and just above the crease.

Now for some pictures. I'm using real people in these pictures, aka bloggers I love. And I actually used one of these bloggers' tutorials to achieve my very own smokey eye and I've got my picture to prove it! :D


Here's Zara from MouldyFruit. She is one of my favorite bloggers! Here she's created two different smokey eye looks from a palette she got. Love it!

Picture from: MouldyFruit

Picture from: MouldyFruit

Remember what I said about a transition color being one of the important pieces to a smokey eye. It can actually transform the tone of a smokey eye. Here's Zara again and she's used a PINK eyeshadow as a transition color. Loves it!

Picture From: MouldyFruit

Picture From: MouldyFruit

 Here's Shirley's (of Meek-n-Mild) take on a day-time smokey eye. Yup, you can rock a smokey eye in the day as well. It's very subtle, but very day-time appropriate. Loves it!

picture from: meek-n-mild

picture from: meek-n-mild

 Now for a smokey eye with a bit of Colour, Green to be exact. So lush! Again from the lovely Shirley!

picture from: meek-n-mild

picture from: meek-n-mild

So here's my Smokey eye.

I got this after watching one of Shirley's tutorials on youtube. I actually sported this exact smokey eye for my birthday festivities back in January, and I toned it down a little for this wedding I attended in February.

This was taken in a moving car using my phone. Hence the shoddy picture quality. But here's a link to the youtube tutorial if you wanna try it out: Raven Symone Inspired Look



I hope you guys enjoyed this post!! I must say, it felt quite nice doing a post like this. I am now excited to start researching for my next post and coming up with what angle I want to take on it! Fun!


PLEASE Don't forget to Text ‘vote’ and 'BeautyInLagos' to 33382 now. Each voter gets 30% off any Sleek Hair purchase at the Sleek Studio V.I. shop 64B Anifowoshe Street (off Adeola Odeku). Just visit the Sleek Studio in V.I, show your text and get your discount. The poll closes at 6.00pm on the 1^st of May 2012. 


Thanks!


Ez xxX

Vote BeautyInLagos Best Beauty Blog in Nigeria!

Yeah, so I've been on a little hiatus the past few weeks, don't know why... But I think this has given me the kick up the backside that I needed. When I received this email I was so excited! For two reasons, Firstly because it is SLEEK MAKEUP!! And I'm sure all you guys know how much I love Sleek. Their eyeshadow palettes are my favorite, so pigmented and stay on all day! Secondly, because you guys FINALLY get something back for reading my blog. So Sleek Nigeria's looking for the top five beauty blogs in Nigeria. Well, my blog's just a Newbie, so you can imagine my surprise when the email said I'd been short-listed. Don't know how many other Nigerian beauty-blogs are out there. But may the best blog win! :). Have a little read of what the competition entails.

                            Vote Me ‘Nigeria’s Best Beauty Blog 2012’! 

Top 5 blogs will win fantastic Sleek Studio products for readers

Each voter will receive 30% off Sleek Hair products!

 

Text ‘vote’ and 'BeautyInLagos' to 33382 now to take part in the official Sleek Studio poll to find Nigeria’s Best Beauty Blog 2012.  YOU DECIDE!!! 

Sleek Studio (www.SleekNigeria.com), the premier beauty brand in Nigeria, is sponsoring the official poll to reveal the top five beauty blogs in Nigeria, today!  Up for grabs for the top five is an enticing selection of premium quality Sleek Studio products worth hundreds of thousands of Naira, for distribution by the blogs to their loyal readers. It’s all in there - from stunning Sleek Hair hair extensions, Sleek lace wigs and Sleek wet and wavy braids, to striking Sleek Makeup blushers, eye shadow palettes, lipsticks, gloss and vibrant nail polish; plus the fabulous new S.Studio Skincare. Sleek Studio’s top model and ‘Face of Sleek Nigeria 2011’ winner Alex Nwokedi (pictured) will personally hand over the goodies to the winning five blogs!

Each voter gets 30% off any Sleek Hair purchase at the Sleek Studio V.I. shop 64B Anifowoshe Street (off Adeola Odeku). Opening hours 9am to 6pm Mondays to Saturdays. Tel: 08029429215. To take part in this poll all you have to do is text ‘vote’ and BeautyInLagos to 33382, and then visit the Sleek Studio in V.I. to show your text to get your discount. Don’t delay – the poll closes at 6.00pm on the 1^st of May 2012.  Winning blogs will be announced at a press conference at Sleek Studio V.I. in the second week of May.

Subject to terms and conditions including: the 30% discounts are available only from the Sleek Studio shop mentioned and cannot be applied in conjunction with any other offers or discounts. Maximum one text and one 30% discount per customer.

For further information, visuals and interviews with MD of Sleek Hair Ify Ugochukwu, and / Sleek ambassador Alexandra Nwokedi,

Please email pr@sleeknigeria.com and lucylucyphil@yahoo.com

 So as you can see you guys will get lots and lots of goodies IF BeautyInLagos makes it into the top 5. And for voting you get 30% off Sleek Hair at the store in Victoria Island.
The competition doesn't just involve you guys sending text messages to a number, I've also got a part to play. They have set challenges for us bloggers over the next few weeks up until the 1st of May, 2012. So look out for my posts on this.

I have to say this is all very interesting!! I have been reading beauty blogs (mostly UK blogs) for over 2yrs now and i love the engagement beauty brands have with these bloggers. They get the bloggers so involved in their products and new releases and I am pleased this is starting to happen over here!

 So Please Please Please vote BeautyInLagos!
 Thanks!

 Ez xxX