L'Oreal recently added a new line of haircare designed for curly hair called
L’Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil Curls
Described as:
"L’Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil will reinvigorate your dry & curly hair. The shampoo, conditioner, and treatment regimen eliminates dryness in just one wash (compared to one wash with a non-conditioning shampoo) using a formula with 6 luscious, lightweight oils. "
As a member of Crowdtap's L'Oreal Crowd I got to participate in a sampling of L’Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil Curls line, and received these complimentary:
1 sample of Full Size L’Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil Curls Shampoo
1 sample of Full Size L’Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil Curls Conditioner
1 sample of Full Size L’Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil Curls Re-Nourish Mask
I've been using Extraordinary Oil Curls Shampoo for 1 week and like it a lot.
It smells good, lathers well, rinses out easily, and leaves my hair feeling clean.
Overall it's a great shampoo. I will continue using this and recommend it.
I've been using Extraordinary Oil Curls Conditioner for 1 week and like it a lot.
It smells good, distributes easily through my hair, rinses out easily, and leaves my hair soft, more manageable, defines my curls, and doesn't leave any residue or weigh-down my hair.
Overall it's a great conditioner. I will continue using this and recommend it.
I absolutely love the L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil Curl Re-Nourish Mask.
It smells nice, distributes easily through my hair, feels luxurious, rinses out easily, and leaves my hair soft, hydrated, more manageable, defines my curls, and doesn't leave any residue or weigh-down my hair.
Overall it's an awesome mask. I will definitely continue using it, and I highly recommend it.
Learn more about Extraordinary Oil Curl collection here
**I received a free sample of Extraordinary Oil Curl Shampoo, Conditioner, and Re-Nourish Mask in exchange for my honest review. Opinions are my own.
I love trying new skincare products, especially anti-aging multi-taskers like serums I can add to my night-time skin routine that revitalize my skin while I'm getting my beauty sleep. The newest addition to my nightly skincare routine that works in tandem with skin's natural overnight recovery process is a new serum by one of my favorite skincare brands, Valentia Clear Lift Revitalizing Serum.
It's a potent and luxurious lactic acid serum that supports natural circulation and reoxygenation, provides needed hydration, renews skin texture, reveals a brighter more youthful and radiant complexion, and leaves skin resilient to future damage.
This Revitalizing Serum Will:
- Renew texture and tone
- Deeply moisturize
- Minimize fine lines
- Increase elasticity
- Brighten and Plumps Fine Lines
- Evens Hyperpigmentation
This serum is infused with a unique blend of botanicals, essential oils, and vitamins, specially selected to work together to achieve optimum results.
KEY INGREDIENTS:
- Wakame Bioferment (Seaweed): Increases skin oxygen consumption to detoxify and boost antioxidant defense.
- Gotu Kola: Lessens the appearance of scars and increases skin firmness.
- Lactic Acid: A natural Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) that increases skin cell turnover, for healthier renewed skin.
- Licorice: Lightens unwanted pigmentation and corrects skin discoloration.
- Argan Oil: Naturally rich in Vitamin E, this oil reduced water loss and protects skin's resiliency and elasticity.
And as with all Valentia products, this serum is made with natural and organic ingredients, cruelty-free, made using sustainable energy, vegan-friendly, and made in the USA.
MY EXPERIENCE
I've been using this serum as part of my nightly skincare routine for nearly 2 weeks and like it a lot. This milky-colored, light-weight serum is packaged in an amber colored glass bottle with an easy to use pump dispenser – which I like because it keeps the serum air-tight, germ-free, and dispenses the right amount of serum with no waste.
It's quick and easy to use. Each night after I cleanse my skin, I apply 2 pumps of the serum to my face and neck, let it absorb for a couple minutes, then follow it by applying a light moisturizer.
The serum is light-weight, non-greasy, absorbs fairly quickly, and has a refreshing citrus scent that I absolutely love because it smells so good. It feels nice on my skin, and it leaves my skin soft, smooth, moisturized , and less dull, and gives it an overall healthier look and feel. And as someone with skin that tends to be oily, I was happy to find that it doesn’t add to my oiliness or clog my pores,
I'm happy I tried Valentia Clear Lift Revitalizing Serum. It's become part of my night-time skincare routine, and I plan to continue using it.
I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a high-quality, effective anti-aging, multi-tasking serum.
Valentia Clear Lift Revitalizing Serum - 1.18 fl oz / 35 ml - $35 -
(I ordered mine on Amazon and it arrived via standard shipping in 4 days.)
** As a special thank you to all of you who read my review and read my blog, Valentia has graciously given me an EXCLUSIVE 20% OFF PROMO CODE MDNTEAT3 to share which gives you 20% off the purchase of any Valentia product(s). Valid through 5/13/2016. **
CONNECT WITH VALENTIA:
To learn more about the Valentia Clear Lift Revitalizing Serum, the Valentia Skincare brand and all of their products, visit: http://valentia.com
Join Valentia's free Members Club to enjoy special member benefits, including discount promo codes, exclusive offers to try new products for F-R-E-E, and Natural Skin Care recipes, tips, and more: http://www.valentia.com/pages/join
Connect with Valentia on social - they offer generous giveaways, exclusive deals and discounts, free product offers, inspirationals, skincare tips and recipes:
"Luxurious natural and organic anti-aging solutions combining the purity of nature and the power of science."
"The Roman Goddess of healing, Valentia, relied on nature’s gifts to heal the citizens of Umbria. Whether matriarchs seeking to maintain their youthful look or farmers seeking help for sun damaged skin, Valentia used berries, herbs, barks and other natural ingredients. We also rely on all natural ingredients due to their protective, preventative and corrective powers.
Just like our namesake, Valentia Skin Care products have been formulated with natural and organic cosmetic ingredients that will repair and protect the skin.
After performing extensive research into what skin care customers find most important, we found an overwhelming demand for skin care that is natural, free of toxins and paraben-free. Natural ingredients with an organic base have proven most effective at repairing skin damaged by sun or wind, preventing signs of aging such as wrinkles, dark spots, and reversing the effects of oxidative stress on the skin."
**Disclosure: Valentia provided me with a complimentary bottle of Valentia Clear Lift Revitalizing Serum in exchange for my agreeing to use it and give my honest and unbiased review. As always, my opinions - positive or negative - are 100% my own, honest, and based on my experiences using the product.
The line is designed to transform dry, lifeless hair to soft & lustrous with Oil Complex – a combination of Coconut, Argan, Chamomile, Amla, Soja, and Sunflower oils.
These hair-friendly oils provide deep nourishment without the weight for incredibly lustrous, touchably soft hair.
I have long, curly, brown hair. And I tend to have normal to dry hair and scalp, and oily roots.
So since these products contain oils, I was unsure if they would perhaps make my hair greasy or add oiliness to my roots. However, I found them to work pretty good for me if I alternate every other time between using this Extraordinary Oil collection and using a clarifying shampoo & light conditioner.
With the shampoo, a little goes a long way and it lathers up easily into a nice, rich lather - I've never experienced a luxurious lather quite like this, it made my hair feel like fingers were gliding through strands of silk. It smells good, rinses out easily, and leaves my hair feeling clean.
After using the shampoo, I apply the conditioner, comb through my hair, leave it on for 5 minutes, then rinse it out. The conditioner smells good, distributes easily, helps me comb out knots quickly and easily, rinses out easily, and leaves my hair soft, shiny, frizz-free, and more manageable.
I rub a spritz of it between my hands and apply it to the ends while my hair is wet, then style it. My go-to style is usually a french braid. I find this serum good to tame fly-aways, too.
~*~
As far as prices go, these products are quite affordable -
I do not receive any financial compensation for joins via my referral link, but it will help increase my Influenster Impact Score. So if you do join using my referral, thank you, I appreciate it.
Garnier recently introduced a new line of natural, paraben-free, high-end-quality, affordable hair care called Garnier Whole Blends.
It's a wholesome line of hair care that's crafted with a signature natural blend of select ingredients and unique fragrances that gently nourish, hydrate, and repair hair, and help restore the health and natural beauty of hair with every use.
There are six paraben-free, nurturing, gentle formulas in this line -
Honey Treasures - Repairing formula containing Royal jelly, Honey, Propolis Extracts - Strengthens and Heals Damaged Hair
An added plus is that they're good for this world we live in:
This product is enriched with select ingredients that give back: our Argan, Coconut Oil and Cocoa Butter ingredients are purchased fairly and sustainably to support local farmers & communities
Made of recyclable PET plastic with 30% Post-Consumer Recycled waste
Produced in a facility committed to sustainability, reducing its waste and water consumption per unit by approximately 58% and 47% respectively, since 2005
Partnered with TerraCycle® to keep beauty products out of landfills
As for Price -
Considering the quality, amount of product, with prices ranging from $4.49 - $6.99, these products are very affordable
MY EXPERIENCE
Of the 6 formula varieties, I received shampoo and conditioner samples of 3....
Honey Treasures - Smells good, Shampoo lathered nicely, rinsed out easily, and left my hair & scalp feeling clean but not stripped or dried, Conditioner distributed easily, I was able to get my long hair combed & knots out faster than I have in a long time, rinsed out easily & completely, didn't leave any residue on my scalp or weigh my hair down. My hair felt so soft, looked shiny & healthy, my curls were defined, light, & bouncy, and my hair was easier to manage. One of the things I was most impressed with and excited about was that my usually dry scalp wasn't dry, flaky, or itchy - which I hadn't experienced during Winter since before Aveda discontinued my favorite conditioner.
Coconut Oil & Cocoa Butter - Smells nice - coconut creamy. Shampoo lathered nicely, rinsed out of my hair easily, and left my hair & scalp feeling clean but not stripped. Conditioner distributed through my hair easily, rinsed out easily & completely, didn't leave any residue on my scalp or weigh my hair down. It left my hair feeling soft, looking shiny, my scalp fairly hydrated, and my hair healthy and manageable
Coconut Water & Vanilla Milk - Smells nice - a light coconut, vanilla scent. Shampoo had a rich lather, rinsed out easily, and left my hair & scalp feeling clean but not stripped. Conditioner easily distributed through my hair, it rinsed out easily & completely, didn't leave any residue on my scalp or weigh my hair down. My hair was left feeling soft, looking shiny & healthy, and manageable. My scalp felt slightly drier than with the other 2 formulas I tried, but not flaky.
Overall, I liked all three formulas.
Prior to trying them I anticipated that one of the two coconut formulas would be my favorite because I love the scent of coconut and because I figured coconut would be more hydrating and better suited for my hair and scalp.
However, I was surprised by Honey Treasures, which ended up being my favorite and seemed to give my dry Winter scalp and hair the perfect amount of hydration. I'm especially excited that the conditioner is comparable and delivers the same results as my favorite (now discontinued) Aveda Deep Penetrating Revitalizing Conditioner did. I was devastated when Aveda discontinued that, and have been trying to find a comparable conditioner ever since. So I'm super excited that Garnier Whole Blends Honey Treasures seems to be just as great!
I will definitely continue to use and purchase Garnier Whole Blends - especially Honey Treasures. I'm also curious and want to try the other 3 varieties.
And I highly recommend the Garnier Whole Blends line to anyone interested in affordable, natural, high-end-quality hair care.
**Disclosure: I was sent single-use sample packets of Garnier Whole Blends Honey Treasures, Coconut Oil & Cocoa Butter Shampoo & Conditioner, Coconut Water & Vanilla Milk Shampoo & Conditioner from Garnier and Crowdtap in exchange for my agreeing to use it and give my honest and unbiased review. As always, my opinions - positive or negative - are 100% my own, honest, and based on my experiences using the product.
I love trying new skin care products. And when I find one of those rare gems that I love everything about, look forward to using, know without a doubt I’ll continue using and repurchasing again and again, and would be disappointed if the product was discontinued…. I get excited and want to share the scoop with everyone. Valentia Royal Rose Hydrating Serum is one of those gems!
Made by Valentia Skin care - a brand committed to creating high-quality skin care products that are made using natural, organic, toxin-free, paraben-free ingredients, are cruelty-free, vegan-friendly, made using sustainable energy, and made in the USA - Valentia Royal Rose Hydrating Serum is a lightweight serum that boosts moisture and resilience while soothing and calming the skin.
This Hydrating & Nourishing Serum Will:
- Deeply moisturize skin
- Provide antioxidant protection
- Soothe & nourish dry skin
- Smooth skin tone & texture
- Boost skin radiance
It contains specially selected, natural, skin friendly ingredients like essential oil of Damask Rose petals known for its natural antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and moisturizing properties, and Bearberry, Lavender and Primrose, chosen to soothe and brighten the skin.
* Rose Damascena: One of the most nourishing and skin friendly natural oils, providing balance, moisture, and a variety of vitamins and minerals to the skin.
* Niacinamide (Vitamin B): This potent vitamin has been clinically proven to fade away hyperpigmentation, sun spots, and acne..
* Rosehip Seed Oil: Naturally rich in Vitamins C & A, these essential fatty acids work quickly to lock in skin's moisture.
* Evening Primrose Oil: Provides light, non-oily moisture to the skin, never clogging or irritating the skin.
* Bearberry: Reduces melanin production, thereby lightening the skin, revealing a brighter complexion.
* Lavender: Heals the skin, treating pimples, wounds, and sores.
This combination of natural ingredients work together to protect, prevent, and repair signs of aging & damage to skin, leaving it softer, smoother, more supple, refreshed and youthful looking and feeling.
MY EXPERIENCE
I’ve been using this serum as part of my nightly skin care routine for a week and absolutely love it.
The serum is a milky colored, non-greasy, non-oily serum with a light, natural rose scent that I love.
It’s usage instructions say “Apply 1-2 pumps evenly to face and neck each evening after cleansing skin thoroughly. After absorption, follow with moisturizer and eye product of choice.”
I’ve found that a little goes a long way and 1 pump is enough to get the job done. So I wash my face with my favorite bar cleanser, then apply 1 pump to my face and neck. It’s easy to apply, feels nice on my skin, isn’t greasy or sticky, absorbs quickly, and leaves my skin feeling so soft and smooth and looking hydrated and healthy.
I have oily skin and was happily surprised that it doesn’t add to my oiliness or clog my pores, and I’ve noticed my skin actually is less oily after using it. (Hooray!) And it hydrates my skin enough that I don’t necessarily need to apply additional moisturizers afterward.
I also love it’s packaging. It comes in an amber colored, glass bottle with an easy to use pump dispenser – I like this because I prefer glass for containers for skin care products, and like pumps because it dispenses the right amount of product with no waste, keeps the product air-tight and germ-free.
I'm so excited to have tried this serum! It's become part of my nightly skin care routine, and without a doubt I will be using every drop of this serum in my current bottle. and continue to purchase and use it again and again!
I highly recommend Valentia Royal Rose Hydrating Serum to anyone interested in a high-quality, hydrating serum that leaves your skin looking and feeling soft, smooth, hydrated, healthy, and youthful and helps you age gracefully.
One more great thing about this stellar serum is it's affordable price and generous amount.
It comes in a 1.18 ounce/35 ml bottle that costs $35. (Compared to other high-end quality serums, this contains 5 ml more serum and costs $15 to $65+ less)
Valentia Royal Rose Hydrating Serum - 1.18 fl oz bottle - $35 - can easily be purchased on
** As a special thank you to all of you who read my review and read my blog, Valentia has graciously given me an EXCLUSIVE COUPON CODE BELLA020 which gives you 20% off the purchase of any Valentia product(s). Valid through 4/08/2016. **
**Disclosure:Valentia provided me with a complimentary bottle of Valentia Royal Rose Hydrating Serum in exchange for my agreeing to use it and give my honest and unbiased review. As always, my opinions - positive or negative - are 100% my own, honest, and based on my experiences using the product.
While I've been moisturizing my face with anti-aging products for several years, I'd never thought about anti-aging for my neck and chest until I recently discovered a new moisturizing cream specially designed to moisturize the face as well as the chest and neck area called RoC MULTI CORREXION 5 in 1 Chest, Neck and Face Cream With Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 30.
It uses RoC's exclusive HEXINOL Technology and Vitamin E, and claims to deliver noticeably visibly smoother skin in just 4 weeks. Helps restore elasticity and firmness Hydrates thirsty, dry skin Boosts overall radiance of skin Helps smooth the appearance of fine lines Protects against sun future damage when used with other sun protection measures
I'd never heard of Hexinol, but learned on RoC's website that "Multi-action HEXINOL Technology was developed to target the visible signs of aging from a different path than other anti-aging ingredients. It can give visible improvement in as little as 4 weeks by restoring firmness, smoothing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, improving the look of discoloration and overall radiance of skin, and hydrating dry skin."
Whenever trying new skincare products I check to see INGREDIENTS they contain. I found that this cream contains KEY Ingredient: HEXINOL, ACTIVE: Avobenzone 2%, Homosalate 4%, Octisalate 4%, Octocrylene 2%, INACTIVE: Water, Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Isononyl Isononanoate, Dimethicone, Steareth-2, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Hexylresorcinol, Steareth-21, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/VP Copolymer, Behenyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Sclerotium Gum, Chlorphenesin, Fragrance, Disodium EDTA, Tocopheryl Acetate, Maltodextrin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Butylene Glycol, Peucedanum Graveolens (Dill) Extract, Rubus Fruticosus (Blackberry) Leaf Extract, Xanthan Gum
I received and tried it, and also shared some with my cousin Stephanie - both of us are in our mid-40s and trying to age gracefully by caring for our skin with anti-aging skincare products. While she and I didn't notice dramatic changes in our skin over the past 2 weeks, we did notice it leaves our skin looking and feeling soft, smooth, hydrated, and radiant. We also like its light, fresh scent, that it's not greasy, feels nice on the skin.
**I received a complimentary jar of RoC MULTI CORREXION 5 in 1 Chest, Neck and Face Cream from RoC and CrowdTap for testing purposes. As always, my opinions - positive or negative - are 100% my own.
As someone who loves to bake and cook, and loves using Parchment Paper to do both (and also to use it for wrapping & crafting), I was excited when I was offered a complimentary package of Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Parchment Paper (25 Count) to try and review. As soon as I received it I began using it!
First, I used it to make homemade noodles, which were easy to make using Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Parchment Paper to roll, cut, & dry the noodle dough out on. They turned out great and tasted super yummy in a batch of Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.
Second, I used it to make Cheddar Bread, which was much easier to make using Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Parchment Paper to cut the dough on and to line the loaf pan I baked it in. It turned out absolutely delicious!
Third, I used it to make my recipe that makes my favorite Cut-out Cookies. I used it to roll out the dough, cut out the cookie shapes on, line the cookie sheets I baked them on, and wrap the remaining dough in to store in the freezer. It made the entire process easier and the cookies turn out great! I will definitely continue using and buying Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Parchment Paper! And I highly recommend the Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Parchment Paper to anyone! Cut down on scrubbing and enjoy the fruits of your labor with Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Parchment Paper!
**I received complimentary Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets from CrowdTap and Reynolds for testing purposes. As always, my opinions - positive or negative - are 100% my own. #Reynolds #ReynoldsCookieBakingSheets #ParchmentPaper #CrowdTap
