Category Archives: the Hair stuff.

the Hair stuff.

Scalp food! Om nom nom nom!

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Lately I’ve received a lot of questions about hair masks. I’m not sure what’s spawned this recent interest in hair masks, but I think it may have something to do with all the Pinterest insanity that seems to encourage the use of anything and everything as a “beauty trick”. I’ve seen one particular pin floating around proclaiming the wonders of scrubbing your face with baking soda for an other-worldly glow. Now, I’m not sure if this is actually harmful in any way but for some reason I just don’t feel comfortable using the same substance to scrub my face that I use to get cat barf stains out of my carpet.

So how about the hair? What’s good for it? Well, let’s be clear about one thing- It’s easier to treat hair from the inside-out than the outside-in. Your hair needs protein and a healthy amount of natural oil and fat to stay vibrant and strong. Working out and a high-protein diet are both huge benefits to your strands. As for the outside-in method, look to the following: avocado, mayonnaise, and any combination of edible oils including olive oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, and coconut oil (oh, and I recently had a friend try vegetable oil with allegedly incredible results). Now, I’ve also been asked a couple times lately about straight-up cracking an egg over your head and using that as a mask. Have I tried this? Nope. Do I plan to? Not really. There’s something particularly eewwy about that to me. And I always have a fear of not getting it entirely washed out. If I don’t get all the coconut oil washed out of my hair, it’s just oil. But left-over egg in my hair … I couldn’t tell you how that would turn out. However, considering how high eggs are in fat, protein, and cholesterol (all things that your hair craves), I could see this turning out well. I’d perhaps mix the egg with something else like Greek yogurt. That’s another good one- Greek yogurt. It’s great for the face, too.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when I speak specifically of using oils as hair masks, I’m not suggesting using something like MoroccanOil as a deep-conditioning mask. Products like MoroccanOil these days are huge, with every major cosmetic company coming out with their own versions of “magic hair oil” as I call it. Keep in mind, however, that these products (like Bumble&bumble Hairdresser’s Oil and Kerastase’s Elixir Ultime) are first and foremost styling products as opposed to treatments. They’re highly potent and typically silicone-based anti-frizz potions that work to smooth your hair and give it luster, but their main purpose is not necessarily to mend your split ends or fortify your tresses over time. Or, such products may claim that they’ll improve hair health, but don’t be mistaken- the effects are temporary. You will ultimately need a trim no matter how much “restorative oil” you use over the months.

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This is why I go to actual food items and pure oils for hair treatment masks, because they’re the most heavily-armed with “scalp food”. You always have to ask yourself when you’re looking into trying a new hair product, “What is the purpose of this? Is it to feed my hair, or to style my hair?” You certainly wouldn’t style your hair with mayonnaise, but you can try “feeding” your hair with it. Your hair won’t grow strong because of enough gel or anti-frizz serum, but you can certainly style your hair with these things. Now, some products claim to be able to both “feed” and style your hair, but I’d stay skeptical. The amount of actual “fruit oils” in a bottle of Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition shampoo pales in comparison to the amount of detergents, foaming agents, and silicones it contains. This is yet another reason why I like natural shampoos, because they contain a plethora of natural oils, making them more likely to actually be able to clean your strands and nourish them at the same time.

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My favorite kind of styling oil to use these days is Davines’ Oi/Oil Absolute Beautifying Potion, and for a conditioning mask I like using TIKI Tahiti Tiare Monoi oil. It smells like vacation and is completely natural, so you can even slather it on your skin. You can buy it at Mother’s Market or Whole Foods, along with pretty much every other kind of natural oil you can imagine.

Let me know if you have used anything mentioned or not mentioned above with awesome OR terrible results! Hair fiascos are my absolute favorite, so you know I wanna hear about it! xo, MR

the Hair stuff., the Me stuff., the Review stuff.

Ode to Salon 9 feat. Justin Kamm. And no, this is not a song I wrote.

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This post has been a long time coming. I mean a loooooong time coming. In fact, I’d argue that it probably should’ve been one of the first posts I’ve ever published. I’ve talked about my hair stylist and the salon I go to quite a few times, but let’s face it- I owe a lot to Justin Kamm and his home base at Salon 9.

Salon 1

In the summer of 2006, I needed a change. I’d been going to the same salon and same stylist as my mom for all my life. It hadn’t been bad, but I just felt like I wasn’t owning my hair. And perhaps I felt like I just wanted someone closer to my age managing it with me (not that this stylist was particularly old or anything, just a difference in generation). So a friend recommended Salon 9 to me, and she recommended the name of a female stylist there that she liked. I called, tried to book said stylist (and I’ve completely forgotten her name- she may not even be there any more), but she was unavailable. And so I was offered an appointment with Justin at the salon instead. BAM! Destiny.

Salon 2

The salon changed locations from an awkwardly-located shopping strip near some train tracks to the incredible Old Town Orange area in Orange, California around over two years ago. I can’t emphasize how enviable Salon 9’s spot is compared to where they were, but what really blew my mind was that the salon moved just as I was, in fact, moving to Orange too. BAM! Destiny. It couldn’t have worked out better. I’ve also watched the salon transition from one that relied on Bumble&bumble products (overrated, in my opinion) to the lesser-known lines of Arrojo and Davines. I’ve loved that the salon has sort of gone off the beaten path recently and taken on these extremely effective product lines as their mainstays. I’d been reading about Davines in various magazines for some time but could never find their product anywhere. Now I know where to find the whole line, five minutes away from my home. I am all about the Oi Absolute Beautifying Oil (works better than MoroccanOil) and the Momo conditioner for dry hair these days. In the future summer days I’ll probably be looking into the SU Sun Oil when I want to condition it as I lay on the beach.

Salon 3

Salon 4

For the past coming-on-seven years I’ve relied on Justin as my “hair mechanic”, as I call him to my friends. He fixes things. He improves things. He suggests things. He says when I don’t need things. He says when I do need things. He makes my hair such that I receive compliments from others. And the most awesome part of it is that he executes it all with precision and professionalism. I know that word ‘professionalism’ can seem a bit stuffy and distant, but I use it because Justin has continued to invest in his education and trade over the years. He instructs at workshops, attracts crowds at conventions, and is garnering more and more attention as his relationship with Davines has grown. He and a fellow hairstylist recently developed a start-up called LoveTHECraft, a creative space meant to encourage stylists to come together and share their visions, learn from one another, and be creative in a profession where it sometimes can be a lot more mundane than the average folk (like myself) would think. Oh, and he has a family. And he just Instagrammed a picture of his homemade stuffed portobello mushrooms. So basically, he isn’t any I-mindlessly-cut-your-hairs-and-then-I-go-home-and-derp-around stylist. He’s got serious chops, and if you’ve ever liked anything about my own hair whether in cut or color, you can credit that to Justin. Oh HAYYYY, Justin!

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I know I spend money on makeup and skincare (though not as much as some of you may imagine), but there are ways that I can justify cutting corners and saving a buck in these areas. The same goes with clothes. However, I never have a problem forking out for the cash for my hair at this place. Ever. You wear you hair every day. It’s the accessory that you can’t take off and will still be there where you’re sixty, so invest in it. I will say, however, that what I’ve been consistently charged at Salon 9 for cut, color, and styling has been extremely reasonable when I’ve compared it to other rates. I don’t want to name an exact price because I don’t want to create particular expectations for other possible clients that may take in more expensive services, but let me insist that whenever I’ve revealed to my friends how much I pay for hair services, the most common reaction has been eyeballs popping out of their sockets followed by, “That’s reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally goooooooood”. I mean it. And I ask around to compare, too. I’ll put it to you this way: At a different salon, I got charged more for a blow-out than what I’ve been charged for a blow-out and color at Salon 9. And no, I didn’t get this blow-out done by Chris McMillan in Beverly Hills (and just so you know who he’s responsible for…). I got it done at a salon in the same city as Salon 9, which happened to be open on a day when Justin doesn’t work and I was feeling adventurous. It’s a high price that Frodo had to pay for adventuring off to Mordor, and it was a high price I paid for that little adventure of my own. Frodo and I should’ve known better.

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I can’t encourage you enough to visit this place in you’re in the Orange County area and if you’re interested in cultivating an awesome head of hair (or heck, get your butt out here even if you’re in Delaware … WORTH IT.). And of course, I also can’t encourage you enough to ask for Justin when you do visit. It pays off to invest in your local salons and invest in a stylist, because have no doubt- it is their job to make you look your best, it supports the free enterprise of individuals, and they invest in you. xo, MR

the Hair stuff., the Me stuff.

Oh, hair.

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Have you ever gone through pictures and looked at how your hair has changed through the years? I recently perused through my photos that I’ve had uploaded to my drive, and holy smokes– I only went as far back as 2008, and I am a completely different person. Completely. I know I’ve done posts on my hair journey before, but there’s something to seeing it and chronicling it in pictures. I’ve become so much more educated on how to take care of my hair and I’ve become so much more aware of how I like it within the past couple years that I’m not quite sure what I was doing with it everyday beforehand. Was I in tears every day? Was I cutting my own bangs out of a deep need for control in my life? Was I expressing a constant struggle with anxiety by curling every half-inch strand around a small curling rod until I looked like I just had a pile of springs on top of my head? What was any of this accomplishing?! I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND!

October 2008 hair

This was when I thought I was cool. Well actually, that’s a problem I consistently have so that could likely be said for each picture here. But this was when I thought I was really cool. This was one of the first times when Justin colored my hair (a couple shades darker), and my cut was super-razored, super-layered, and super-textured. I wanted stick-straight hair back then, but I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t like it so much when I achieved it every once in a while. I finally realized that flat-against-the-head straight just isn’t flattering on my face shape, which is somewhat narrow. I look best with a little volume.

November 2008 hair

BUT NOT THIS KIND. This was maybe one or two months after the last photo, and I would trim my own bangs in little fits of impatience. Oh God. WHY?! I would rough up my hair at the top because I thought it looked edgy. Just … no.

May 2009 hair

Maybe six months later, and we’ve landed on this in May of 2009. The curl in my hair really came out with all the layers, clearly. My bangs are growing out slowly here, and so I would try to brush them to the side, but I’m pretty sure I was employing the dreaded “curly hair with straight bangs” look. Bad. But I had fun with this hair; I’d finally started using tools besides a straightener and so that was exciting.

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This is my hair in October of 2009. I remember this being the first time that I felt extremely proud of how I’d done my makeup and my hair. I’d been skilled with the makeup brushes for quite some time by then, but this was one of those days when I set aside the time, I knew I was going to be in front of an audience, and I wanted it to look perfect. I also had Justin put in my first set of highlights that summer, and I’d wanted them to look grown out a bit by this point (a preview of my love for ombre’, all the way back in 2009!). This was probably when things started to take a permanent turn for the better …

February 2010 hair

… but apparently I still had an obsession with curling my hair with a one-inch iron. I’d gone back to a single-process color by this point, which was February of 2010. I liked the look at the time, but such curling madness without at least a little brushing out would be a no-no these days.

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Ah, summer 2010 hair. This I loved. We cut it shorter and put in some new, sunny highlights. This was also the first year that I started actually enjoying summer. I’d always considered myself a fall/winter girl, but some trips to the beach alone along with tracking my severe dip in mood and energy during the winter lead me to realize that the sunshine may actually be quite good for me. The hair matched.

Fall 2010 hair

And then I went dark again, just for autumn of 2010. This was a rough season for me and for some reason, and the hair just brought me down. I should’ve kept up with the highlights, but I wanted “fall hair” and I felt that that meant it needed to be darker (and Meesh, you were blonde!!). I still wasn’t the greatest at styling it on my own, though (and I don’t know what was up with my eyebrows or face either– I look funny and I’m not sure why). However, hope was on the horizon- Jessica Biel had debuted an incredible hair style that became known as “ombre” during her press tour for “The A-Team” during that past summer. I’d been trying to go for something similar about a year beforehand and had adored the natural “roots” look, and here was a celebrity showing off the very look I’d wanted for so long (and all before it literally EXPLODED and devolved into the strange dip-dyed Pinterest-pandered look I see everywhere now). And so, in late December of 2010, Justin and I put our heads together and he gave me my first ombre’d hair.

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I loved this. I LOVED this. It came out perfectly, and he placed the highlights closer to my roots so they could grow out and blend even more with time. This is one of mine and my husband’s kick-butt engagement shots by my amazing bridesmaid Kara Lackey, and there are few un-Instagrammed pictures of me in which I truly love my hair. This is one of them.

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And this was the goal! Grow it out, keep up with the ombre’d color, and do a half-and-half look for the wedding in June of 2011. Achievement unlocked! My friend Kat Thompson styled my hair for the day and I probably sent her such a weird combination of pictures for inspiration that made absolutely no sense. How she managed to know what I wanted through all of that mess, I’ll never know. And speaking of my wedding, I still need to do a post on my hair and makeup just for that day.

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During the autumn after the wedding, Justin cut some blunt bangs for me. I liked it, but they were difficult to style everyday. I don’t think I’ll do bangs again until I’m much older (because they make you look younger), but they were good to try just for a season. And I got to do this fun shoot thanks to the fabulous Laura Licata and her talents!

August 2012 hair

The ombre’ adventures culminated in long, wavy, grown-out beach hair by August of 2012. This was good. Very good. A lot of oil masks and a lot of tender, cautious care with natural products and little washing, but it was worth it.

Fall 2012 hair

And then we chopped it! And went back to fully brunette! I think I finally felt confident enough to style it and Instagram it myself by this point. I employed the use of larger irons and, ironically, just started caring less over all. Less became more in 2012. It was a good year for hair.

More Fall 2012Winter13 hair

And here we are today, basically. A little grown out (and I’m going for long again!), and my natural color. I’ve been wearing it straight; I’ve been wearing it wavy. I like to sleek it up, and I like leave it down. Who knows what I’ll say in a couple years, but for the moment I just feel like this works. Justin recently put an ashier single-process color that took out any red and put me back at a basic, natural brown that’s probably the closest thing I’ve had to my natural color in years. It’s good to be back, but the sun’s been out a lot lately and I just don’t think I’ll be able to resist some ombre’d highlights for long. We’ll see. xo, MR

the Fashion stuff., the Hair stuff., the Makeup stuff., the Me stuff.

Best of the 2013 Academy Awards. Or, WOMP womp.

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Ok ok ok. So, I’ll admit that I’m going to try to calm down a bit when it comes to my criticism of tonight’s Academy Awards red carpet even though I feel ROBBED and want to SLAP whoever put that thing on Anne Hathaway. If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’ve been very underwhelmed by the fashion and beauty turn-out of this year’s awards season, and tonight was frankly no exception and I just KNEW this was going to happen because whoever has been styling these people lately still needs to wake up from their fifty-year NAP and get QUALIFIED already. However, I don’t want to be so negative but really I do. I think I’m just not easily impressed when it comes to red carpet styling, but here are a couple things I’m trying to keep in mind:

1. A lot of my favorites were missing entirely from tonight’s festivities. Marion Cotillard (who was too busy KILLING IT at the Cesar Film Awards in THIS … check those shoes!), Diane Kruger (only to be found later at the Vanity Fair party in THIS awesomeness), Angelina Jolie, Keira Knightley, Kate Bosworth, Rachel Weisz, and Cate Blanchett–each of them were missing and each of them are favorite players of mine on the red carpet (though they may have shown up at some of the after-parties). This gave me the sads, so I had to bear in mind that my frustration with tonight’s red carpet would probably have been tempered with the appearance of one of these ladies. And I think I’ve finally picked up on something– I not only favor how Europeans do beauty, but I also prefer how they do red carpet gowns. But there’s hope for me! This week is Paris Fashion Week, and I’ve a feeling I know exactly where I might find Marion …

2. Gowns that initially look boring actually look way better in Hi-Def. The texture and bounce of Jennifer Lawrence’s Dior Haute Couture gown really stood out as I watched her on T.V. in HD, but at first glance online, the gown looked structurally nice but perhaps aesthetically dull. The color and sparkle of most gowns really stood out much more as I watched them move on T.V. as opposed to when I just checked out shots of them on the web.

Alright, so I admittedly have very few gowns that I’m featuring in this post, but there were still a couple that got me doing the happy dance. I’d rather be brief and to the point than ramble on about how so-and-so looked … so-so. Let me know what you think!

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Kerry Washington showed up in the kind of dress that I’d wear to an event like the Oscars- hands down. The coral-red-pinkishness of this Miu Miu gown was unexpected and feminine, and it stood out in a sea of beige and muted tones. If I had to choose a style champion of the 2013 awards season, it would most certainly be Washington.

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This scarlet and gold Marchesa gown couldn’t have been a better choice for Olivia Munn. I love a dress with drama, and this delivered (score ten points for premium use of alliteration). I also love that this gown works so well with Olivia’s coloring. Celebrities so often seem to make the mistake of choosing a gown that doesn’t complement their skin tone or physical features to their best advantage, but this color and design make the very best of Olivia’s look.

Charlize

Do I still miss Charlize’s longer hair? Yes. Do I still think she looks amaze-balls regardless? YES. The woman is the picture of goddess-like beauty in Dior Haute Couture, structured to perfection with a sparkly peplum bodice. And because I’m such a sucker for minimalism, this one quickly found a special place in my heart. I love the lack of jewelry and utter simplicity to the whole look- I compare it to last year’s Tom Ford caped look that Gwyneth Paltrow stunned in.

Aaaaaaand that’s it! Yep. That’s it. Octavia Spencer also looked gorgeous, and Amy Adams’ gown was, of course, a real princess moment that Giselle herself would be proud of. But Anne Hathaway’s Prada apron gown was a huge let-down for me. No joke, the glorious red Valentino gown that Sally Field wore was the exact gown that I had hoped to see Anne in, but instead we got a pink apron with funny darting at the nips. I had also really looked forward to seeing more color in general from Jennifer Lawrence or Zoe Saldana, but whatever. I’m over it! The MET Ball is only a couple months away! I’ll survive! And I mean, like I said, there were others that were lovely, but the three mentioned above are the ones that felt like clean wins. Oh, but I do have one more thing to discuss. After all, this is, first and foremost, a beauty blog.

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That makeup and that hair!! Get outta here! Adele has never, ever looked better than she did tonight performing Skyfall and accepting her Oscar for it. Those false eyelashes! That contouring! That eyeliner! The bounce in her hair! The sensational glittery black gowns and the way she moves with such conviction when she sings! Forget Jennifer Aniston (and I mean it- her look was a snore tonight) — I want to look like Adele. xo, MR

the Hair stuff., the Me stuff., the Skin stuff.

In praise of Whole Foods … or, I blame the hippies.

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Long have I praised the good name of Whole Foods to my friends and on this blog for its wealth of natural resources when it comes to beauty, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’ve felt somewhat judged for my devotion to the establishment. But I get it- Whole Foods can be a real hotbed of pretentious bobos. I find myself throwing massive shade at the folks wandering around the place every time I visit. Wealthy forty-somethings driving their nice cars, fresh from their CrossFit workouts, making a quick stop at Whole Foods to pick up their certified organic produce that costs ten dollars per pound, or their preservative-free kale chips, or their Vegenaise, and other things that make life not much fun. Buuuut my allegiance to Whole Foods, or at least the health and beauty department, cannot be denied. Like the need for a tax increase on Bod Man body spray for men, it cannot be denied.

I didn’t exactly stumble into a Whole Foods one day and then just fall in love with what I found there. In fact, I’m sure it was quite the opposite. I recall health food stores in the nineties being more associated with the blue-haired folk, trying to preserve the last signs of life and vitality (along with their colon). But then something happened with the turn of the century, and I think it was Al Gore (which kind of spoils the fun), but suddenly “green” became the hip thing to do. Green was everywhere. Green cars, green food sourcing, and green beauty. I can’t remember exactly what started me down my journey of green beauty, but it’s come to my attention in recent years (I’ve been trying to go green for about five) that Whole Foods is thee mecca for effective green beauty brands. Here, a look at my local (and HUGE) Whole Foods:

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My particular store that I go to is pretty big, but that’s good news for all of us because the selection is overwhelming in the most awesome way. There’s every kind of “green” brand that you may find in Target or a drugstore, but keep in mind that a lot of these brands suffer from what folks call “green washing”, or the appearance that the product is safe and natural but doesn’t contain a list of truly trustworthy ingredients. The packaging or container might be biodegradable, but perhaps the actual product isn’t. Or there maybe are a select amounts of organic oils within the product, but the rest of it is made of synthetic crap like everything else. Your best strategy- learn to read a list of ingredients and educate yourself on some of the most risky ingredients found in body and beauty products. This kind of information is available easily with just a Google search. I also highly recommend reading The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel. I love brands like Weleda, Dr. Bronner’s, Desert Essence Organics (at least for their face products, but not for hair), and John Masters Organics for their very clean ingredients.

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Some of the skincare brands found at Whole Foods (and Sprout’s or Mother’s Market, too) can be pricier compared to, say, an eight-dollar bottle of Neutrogena moisturizer, but I’m convinced it’s worth it. Some will argue that their skin does just as well with a drugstore brand and that there isn’t a need to switch to greener products, but I say if you can cut out any shady chemical ingredients (with links to early-onset Alzheimer’s and various cancers) while maintaining great skin for a few dollars more, why not?!

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If you do enough reading on blogs or in magazines associated with beauty, you’ll begin to memorize the names of a few cult products that celebrities and artists swear by (but I’ve still yet to understand why Maybelline’s Great Lash mascara has such a stellar reputation … I hate that stuff!). One such product is this stuff called Egyptian Magic, a pomade kind of thing loaded with honey and different kinds of oils that treats the skin beautifully when slathered on regularly. However, a jar of it will set you back somewhere close to forty bucks! But check out the product that’s always sitting right next to it- Medicine Mama’s Sweet Bee Magic. The ingredient list is exactly the same and it costs half the price of Egyptian Magic. So while you’re foregoing the idea of owning the Egyptian Magic cult-favorite elixir, you’re getting a way better deal with Sweet Bee!

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And here, the one product that I swear by for every use under the sun- Dr. Bronner’s Magic Castile Soap. This stuff might be one of the most trusted brands among all green health and beauty names, and what’s awesome about it is that it’s truly all-purpose. We use it for body wash, but just yesterday I scrubbed my tub with it, used a bit to wash some dishes, and have even used a bit for washing my clothes when I was low on detergent! You can use it on your baby, your car, anything. And it comes in multiple scents, every one of which you can find at Whole Foods.

Like I’ve said, you can find some of these brands elsewhere (and possibly for a higher price), but you hit all the bases at a Whole Foods. I think they have Burt’s Bees there, too (which has a great reputation) and a whole slew of other lines that I haven’t even tried. If I can convince you to even just change one thing in your routine (and my vote is to start with Dr. Bronner’s), I’ve won! xo, MR

the Hair stuff., the Makeup stuff., the Skin stuff.

The weird, the helpful, and the not-so-weird: Some practical and perhaps unconventional beauty tips

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“Best beauty tips ever”. This is a commonly-used headline splashed on the covers of women’s magazine nearly every month. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it. Typically it’s all the same stuff: turn your head upside when you blow your hair out for volume, wear sunscreen every day and reapply constantly (which, please, no one does unless you’re Nicole Kidman), prevent early signs of ageing by not smoking, drink plenty of water. It’s all pretty intuitive stuff, but none of the typical advice we find in magazines is … I don’t know … new?

I like weird-but-practical beauty tips. I like hearing about the strange little habits that seem to make all the difference in someone’s beauty routine. That’s where the good stuff is- when you find out that your mom used to use an iron to flat-iron her hair. You think I’m kidding? How do you think everyone managed to copy Cher’s pin-straight locks in the seventies? It warn’t no Brazalian blow-out, that’s for dang sure. So here, a list for you of some of the most helpful and somewhat-odd beauty tips or snippets of advice that I’ve actually found to be effective in their intended purpose. Some of this may not be new at all for you, but have at it anyhow:

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1. Keep your hair in better shape by keeping your nails in better shape. What do these two have to do with each other? Well, I tend to bite my nails, which causes them to tear and have tattered, uneven tips. But if there’s anything I do more than bite my nails, it’s run my fingers through my hair. Run those tattered nails through fine, fragile tresses and riiiiip. I can practically hear the strands of hair gettings caught and torn by my nasty nails. And you don’t even have to bite your nails for them to be uneven; it just happens when we work with our hands. So my advice? File those nails and keep them painted and even. That way, you can run your fingers through your hair all you like without the risk of ripping your strands. Speaking of hands and nails …

2. Use sunscreen as hand lotion instead of, well, hand lotion. We’ve gotten increasingly better at hiding signs of ageing on our faces, but there’s one commonly-forgotten part of our body that’s always a dead giveaway when it comes to age, and it’s the hands. Seriously, you may not be able to tell a woman’s age by her face so much these days, but see if you can get a look at her hands. Sunspots, wrinkles, dry and leathery skin … it’s all usually found there. The easiest solution I can think of is just using sunscreen for hands instead of common hand lotion, which moisturizes temporarily but offers no sun protection.

3. Cold showers. Not the most relaxing experience, but I swear they improve circulation and wake you up more efficiently, your skin tends not to dry out so much, and they’re great for adding shine and decreasing frizz in your hair. Which leads me to my next bit …

4. Treat your showers as if they’re traumatic for your hair, not therapeutic. So many of us go all lather-crazy when we wash our hair, and we pile it on top of our heads and just start to scrub away as if our hair likes it. The harsh detergents found in most shampoos, combined with rough scrubbing and hard water, tend to promote breakage over time and do more to exasperate our hair than replenish it with lost moisture and nutrients. There’s no need to saturate the ends of your hair with shampoo; just try and keep your shampoo product on your scalp and then gently rub it in a circular motion around your head. Any shampoo run-off will take care of cleaning the ends of your hair. Additionally, there’s also no need to condition your scalp and the top of your head. Your ends are typically in most need of the benefits that conditioner offers, and covering your scalp in conditioner creates build-up that you then have to scrub out, which will probably leave your scalp dry and flaky, and so on and so forth.

5. If you have a zit, you have a zit. There’s pretty much no overnight fix for a pimple. It’s there to stay and will probably be visible for at least 48 hours, and there’s nothing you can do about it. No amount of vigorous scrubbing or picking will make it go away, so do what I’ve been doing these days: Leave it. Leave it completely exposed and deal with it. Don’t cover it with makeup, don’t touch it, don’t spend an extra five minutes washing it cleanser. Just carry on as normal, let it live its short life and, whenever you can, cover it in Mario Badescu’s Drying Lotion. It’s the most effecitve stuff in the smallest amount of time.

6. Turn up the heat on your flat-irons and curling rods. Turn it up, you ask? We’re always getting screamed at by magazines and hair-care companies for using too much heat! True, and you should always apply some kind heat-protective product before blow-drying or anything like that. However, what do you think is more damaging: Passing a flat-iron over the same section of hair five times at 300 degrees, or passing a flat-iron once over a section of hair at 400 degrees? If you’re thinking the former, you’re probably right. Turn up the heat as high as possible (at least for flat-irons) so you can get the heat-styling over with faster without pushing your strands through the damaging process over and over and into oblivion. Oh, and if you truly have damaged your locks? There really is no other solution for getting rid of the damage other than trimming.

7. Salty snacks late at night = puffy eyelids and face in the morning. Trust me, I’m a champ at this. What’s great for depuffing and debloating by morning? Have a cup of fennel tea at night or some grapefruit. Or, if you have time in the morning, put some cold, wet black tea bags on your puffy eyelids and let them rest. The tannin and caffeine in the tea work a small miracle.

8. Bright pink is a more flattering lip color than red, believe it or not. Hot pink makes you look tanner and your teeth look whiter. One of my favorite shades of hot pink is actually a drugstore find- CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipstick in Spellbound. It’s a phenomenally gorgeous shade of fuschia and it’s perfect for spring.

9. Certain eye makeup looks, like Dianne Agron’s winged eyeshadow and cat-eyeliner, are difficult to pull off without a robot-kind-of-steady hand. For a cat eye, take a credit card and place it at the outer corner of your eyelid, and tilt it slightly upward. Trace along the credit card to create the outer “wing” of your eyeliner once you’ve finished lining the rest of your lid.. This is way easier than trying to do it free-hand. I find this technique is executed most easily with an angled eyeliner brush as opposed to a liquid eyeliner pen. For the punk-rock winged eyeshadow look, go ahead and first apply the eyeshadow all over the lid until you achieve your desired level of color saturation. Don’t worry about being precise. Next, take a concealer brush or a small sponge and dab some concealer on it (and use a cream concealer for this, not a liquid). Starting at the outer corner of your eye, stroke the brush or sponge outward-and-upward, shaping and covering any outlying eyeshadow at an angle. This is a pretty advanced technique a MAC makeup artist taught me, but before I’d always thought that with a look like Dianna’s the eyeshadow actually had to be applied that way with freak levels of precision. Not so! Concealer truly works wonders, doesn’t it?

10. And speaking of makeup brushes … please clean them. Please, please clean them. You can use a little Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap and some water, or a brush cleaner like Japonesque’s Parian Spirit. Once you’ve applied whatever cleaning agent you’re using, brush them gently on a fiberless towel to rub out excess makeup and let them dry overnight. And whatever you do, do not use those sponges they give you in foundation compacts to apply your makeup. Or at least, use that sponge once, throw it out, and then use a different one every time. Using the same sponge over and over just transfers all the dirt and oil from your face into your makeup, and then back on to your face when you use apply again, and so on. Brushes are always a better bet because you can clean them.

Let me know of any other weird, not-so-weird, or practical beauty advice you’ve found to be helpful over the years. I’m always curious if someone has covered their hair in mayonnaise or something like that and gotten fantastic results. Cheersies! xo, MR

the Friends stuff., the Hair stuff.

I’m into this.

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So, my last post accrued a lot of good attention and feedback.  However, it took a ton of consideration and editing.  It’s been a long week without much sleep, and I’m not currently in a frame of mind to produce something like that just 72 hours after finishing the last product.  And yet some things, and some posts, can turn out just as well without a ton of consideration and editing.  They’re awesome in a straight-forward kind of way.  The same goes for some haircuts.

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Now, what with my whole bias toward long hair and all, you may be surprised to see a short cut appearing on here.  Well, yes, I continue to proclaim my undying affinity for long that you can braid and brush and all that, but there are still short cuts on some gals that just werk.  I’d have a difficult time picturing Caley here without her short hair.  It’s perfect.  She styles it so many ways, with this being one of her more haphazard whatever! days, if you can believe it.  I’m all about this.  I don’t know if there will ever come a day when you’ll see the same on me, but who cares?  Caley’s too busy owning it anyways!

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Terri’s another woman that I could not ever picture without her hair as it is.  It’s messy and amazing, with blonde highlights that never go to her roots for that great beachy look (and who knew beachy could happen without long California-surfer-girl waves?).  It’s funny how Terri’s hair is so quintessential to her character.  It’s her trademark- undeniably fun, modern, happy, maybe even frazzled.  She’s been my  boss at the coffee shop I’ve worked at for almost seven years, and I literally think I’d cry if she did anything different to her hair, ever.  It would seriously feel like losing a mom.

With the first day of February arriving tomorrow, I’m anxious with anticipation over the coming season.  Next month is Fashion Month and we’ll be seeing what’s in store for Fall 2013, but even more so I’m looking forward to just celebrating the spring that we’re about to usher in.  I’ve started my own tradition of changing up my hair a bit during each bi-annual Fashion Month (once in September and once in February), and so I’ve got my images all set to show my wizard in a just couple weeks.  I’d encourage you to do the same, and if you’re feeling extra bold I dare you to give one of these kick-butt looks a shot.  xo, MR

the Hair stuff., the Magazine stuff., the Makeup stuff., the Me stuff.

Oh now THIS is the kind of thing I LIVE for!!

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Oh how thoroughly disappointing the SAG Awards were tonight.  The Golden Globes had been somewhat of a bore for me as well, and so I’d truly been looking forward to tonight’s red carpet with the hopes that someone … anyone … would put on a dress to make my jaw drop.  But alas, my jaw remains fully closed and in fact a little clenched in frustration.  Nights like this kill me.  I mean, yes, it’s great to look all boring kinds of sexy in a column dress so everyone can see that you can work your curves and blah blah blah, but let me tell you- I will continue to throw this at you until someone tops it.  When you, as a celebrity, have access to literally every great designer’s atelier on this planet and each one of those designers would give their right leg to dress you, thou shalt NOT waste my time with another monochromatic mermaid gown on the red carpet.  Grow a pair and actually take advantage of the fashion that’s at your over-privileged, perfectly manicured fingertips.  I mean seriously!  Do I have to rely on mah boo Marion for EVERYTHING?!

And so we’re moving on from this discussion to something else that’s fascinated me lately.  Oh, and how!  So, I purchased the latest issue of Self magazine for the purpose of motivating myself into a more regular gym routine.  I’d initially inserted about a million jokes here when first writing this, but I have to admit this is a completely true desire, void of any irony.  No, I’m not looking to Instagram pictures of my Fergie abs while I frolick around in a bikini at Stagecoach.  But I am looking to take seriously the idea that man cannot live on Cheetos alone, and if one does, a price must be paid in copious amounts of running and veggie consumption.

But I stumbled upon something funny while perusing this latest issue of Self, and it did nothing short of fuel the fires of Mount Doom in my Fergie tummy.

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Well, well, well, what have we here?!  The kind of article I live for- the kind that asks what guys really think of the stuff we do with our hair, face, and body, and how we should take such opinions into account when we get ready to bring our ugly selves out of our Hobbit holes and into daylight for presentation!  Excellent!

So, I guess the deal with these is that you’ve got some panel of highly qualified dudes (guys that know lots about the wiminfolks, cause they haz a Y-chromosome and eyeballz) that look at various celebrity photos and rate YEAH, BRAH! or NAH, BRAH! while throwing back a can of mildly-flavored pee Coors Light.  Totes fersh, breh.  And so above we have our first exhibit- Jessica Biel demonstrating nail color and ombre’d hair.  The verdict on nails?  Well Lord bless ’em, the lads say they don’t care!  Sweet relief for us!  “That’s something only girls notice”, dude-breh-number-one says.  Oh, but notice that dude-breh says those nails had BETTER NOT be chipped, lest we be perceived as someone who has a life doesn’t have time to keep her nails perfectly manicured!

And the verdict on ombre’d hair?  A resounding “Hell, no!” from dude-breh-number-two.  His reasoning?  “She looks like she didn’t make it to the salon for a year.”  Right.  Because like the dude-brehs always say, they definitely don’t want a girl who looks like she “tries too hard” or “wears makeup”, but we can’t be having a woman looking like she doesn’t try hard enough either.  MAKES SENSE.  I’m sorry Patrick Bateman, but it’s been hard trying to find that right balance between J. Lo and Jennifer Garner for you, or excuse me, that right balance between CAN’T and CAN’T for you.  If Jessica Biel’s hair looks “un-maintained” to you, look forward to seeing me looking nothing short of BEAT next season when I get mine re-ombre’d.  Consider it my gift to you.

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Let’s see, the next victims- Blake Lively with her fishtail braid, short-haired girls, the how-much-makeup question, and a few others.  Of course, that braid is a no from the dude-brehs because “it probably took three hours”.  No, you dum-dum.  It took three minutes because the thing’s probably a bloody extension.  And even if it isn’t (considering Blake is known to have Rapunzel hair), bear this in mind the next time your girlfriend has nice, blown-out, shiny hair that’s left down and casual with soft, “effortless” waves- that probably took three hours.

Oh and take note- NO SHORT HAIR.  DUDE-BREH WILL NOT APPROACH YOU AND OFFER YOU A JAGER BOMB FROM HIS ED HARDY-ADORNED SELF IF YOU’VE GOT THE SHORT HAIRS.  But we are told, quite graciously, “If you look like Halle Berry, then you can go short”.  Oh thanks man!  I mean, I know that Halle spends literally thousands of dollars to maintain her looks each year alone and that if any of us did that you’d immediately judge us for being “too high maintenance”, but it’s a free pass for Halle and all her look-alikes!  Oh wait, there are no Halle look-alikes?  And even Halle doesn’t look like Halle without her Revlon to make her Photo-Ready?  Woops.

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Here are a few more.  We’re given the green light for glossy lips because  apparently they say “a girl wants to make out”, and we’re given a thumbs-down on sleek hair with this astute observation- “Bet she’s wearing really uncomfortable shoes”.  But have hope!  Here’s what we’re finally left with as a conclusion:  We’re told in the Editor’s note on the right that “Confidence trumps all, and they want to sleep with you no matter what.  Like what you see in the mirror.”  Oh, I see, so back-track on this entire article because you know it’s the most misogynistic thing you may have ever published in your sorry magazine, but be SURE to validate us in the best, most helpful way possible- by reassuring us that every guy wants to sleep with us just because we’re … girls.

I can’t even begin to delve into the devastating moral and spiritual implications of this article, but I’ll attempt to be brief in my commentary.  Magazines like Self claim to celebrate you as you, and yet they’re fraught with quiet-yet-somehow-explicit suggestions on how to make yourself better, more desirable, more worthy of that celebration.  Some of these suggestions, as in ones pertaining to diet and health in general, are genuinely helpful and sometimes necessary in our lives.  Others, however, are backwards and hypocritical to a degree that has the potential to lay waste to anything helpful a publication may previously have done.  It is frustrating that this article was found in a magazine written for women, and by women, but features like this truly do a disservice to both sexes.  Women are once again subjected to depthless, crude evaluation that leaves them insecure and anxious, and they’re fed the lie that the ultimate compliment a guy could possibly pay you is wanting you physically.  Men, on the other hand, are portrayed as animalistic, thoughtless jackasses that could not care less about the content of one’s character because they’re solely interested in sex.  It’s a bloody shame, it is.

Here’s what I’ll leave you with- Try the weird hair-do.  Put on the red lipstick that may cause a couple guys to say you look like a clown (true story in my life).  Wear no makeup.  Wear too much makeup.  Make “mistakes”.  And extend the same grace to the dude-brehs when they wear too much Tim McGraw cologne, when they’ve got an awful case of the neck-beard, or when they think it’s cool to look like this.  We’ll all keep up with our same weird beauty and grooming habits, and I’ll keep blogging about all of it.  Do this for fun.  Do this because you like it.  And if it bothers you that I don’t like your sock-bun, just do it anyways.  You know you love that hairy donut on top of your head.  Don’t let me take that love from you.  xo, MR

the Hair stuff., the Review stuff., the Skin stuff.

Chronicles of the Amazon Shampoo Hunter

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I haven’t posted in well over one week.  That seems like forever ago.  A LOT has happened within this past week, but I’m feeling quite cozy and pleasant now that it’s Friday and the week has come to its end.  It was finals week for the kiddos at school and the Friday after is always a day off for them,  and therefore a day off for me too.  So what does one like me do on a rainy Friday off?

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DRIVE FAR TOO MANY MILES IN PURSUIT OF THE GREATEST NATURAL LUXURY SHAMPOO!!  DUH!  WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS? A BLOG ABOUT SPENDING TIME WISELY?!

No but really.  I don’t have kids yet, and I’m not the one grading the finals yet, so you can bet your mother’s rump that I’m going to suck the juice out of this free time while I can.  No excuses.

So I’ve been using my John Masters Organics Evening Primrose shampoo for quite some time now, and as happy as I’ve been to find a truly safe, plant-based shampoo for my precious locks, I’d been hearing through the grapevine that I could do even better.  It’s been particularly dry out lately (I mean like lips-cracked-and-bleeding-dry), and so while I know that dry scalp may be a consequence of this, I’ve been noticing that the John Masters has been leaving my own scalp feeling, um, stripped at times?  Of course, that’s nothing a healthy dose of conditioner can’t help, but you know me.  If I can do one better for my hair, you know I’ll try anything and you know by “anything”, that includes the possibility of going all Rambo on a few choice endangered plant and animal species.

The latest rumors have it that the very best in natural hair care (and don’t get me wrong- John Masters is still up there) is a name called Rahua (pronounced RA-WA as far as I know).  The key to this line is a potent restorative oil previously known only to the women of the Quechua-Shuar tribe in Ecuador’s Amazonian rainforests.  CAN’T MAKE THAT UP.  A couple blogs that I keep up with every twenty minutes have frequently boasted the name of Rahua, and so my itchy scalp and I decided to get along down south to the only location I know of that carries the line- a Planet Beauty on Bristol and MacArthur just off the 405 freeway in Newport Beach (or am I in Irvine?  Where am I?  We’ll just say I’m in a rich peoples’ shopping center).

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This Planet Beauty is huge.  It’s a legitimate planet.  Apparently it’s the original location as well, and to my surprise it had no shortage of the rare, luxury brands that I’ve been reading about for years now.  Many of them I still cannot afford and dare not spend the tuppence on, but it was still weird finding them.  It was like meeting a celebrity, like running into Alan Arkin at a Souplantation or something.

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Rodin’s Olio Lusso is the stuff of the gods for celebrity skincare.  It is literally thee product that famed makeup artist Tom Pecheaux massages in Victoria’s Secret models’ faces before applying makeup for their annual fashion show (because I’m sure they all need more pampering … dem poor widdle models!).  Rodin’s site lists the special oils that the stuff is comprised of, but at $150 per 1 fluid-ounce bottle (make sure to clean up the floor now that you’ve spit up your lunch), I have a funny feeling that there’s some other ingredient Rodin ain’t letting us in on.  TINY BITS OF JERKED SNOW LEOPARD, RODIN?!  OR THE TEARS OF THE JOLIE-PITT TWINS?!  You can’t keep secrets from the American public for long!

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Here we have the full line of Tata Harper skincare, sitting right at the front entrance like it’s no big deal.  I once used a free sample of her Reparative Moisturizer and I have to say, I got a nice case of Doutzen Kroes face for the day.  It was great!  What was even better?  Wasting my Doutzen Kroes face on five classes of freshmen who literally could not care less because they’re too busy popping their own zits.  I’ll be saving that sample for when I do something swank next time, like when I go to Mother’s Market and order a juice.

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This Planet Beauty location also carries the full lines of Sonya Dakar and Dr. Hauschka skincare, with the latter known for being very natural and very potent.  Jennifer Aniston is known to use Dr. Hauschka’s products, along with various other celebrities that can do things like buy horses for fun (unlike us lay-folk, who buy horses for transportation).  Even Madonna itself uses Dr. Hauschka’s line, and look how well-preserved that thing is!

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And finally, I happened upon this- the full line of Kerastase hair products, save for the one product from the line that I use.  Of course!  But I was still quite overjoyed to see the rest of the full spread here, which is typically so hard to find.  And this photo doesn’t even cover the whole selection they had!  I will also say that I got to feel like quite a professional for one minute as I gave a customer the run-down on the whole line and what each color family is for.  But what product did I ultimately sell her on?  My amazing Rahua shampoo harvested straight out of the rainforest!  Let’s hear it for the natives!  Did I tell her I haven’t used the stuff yet?  No!  Did I tell her it’s awesome and she’ll be amazed by the glorious Kate Beckinsale-like results?  Yes!  Who loves lying?!  ME!

There were countless other luxury brands crammed into this tiny little gem of retail space- Philip B., Mustela (a line of great baby products that make Johnson & Johnson’s look like chemical waste), Kai, Juliette’s Got a Gun, the entire Davines line, Rene Furterer, and a billion more.  I would have to say that it’s been a Friday afternoon well-spent (and fear not- I’ve balanced out my super fun times by doing a little work and reading for my thesis). I’ll be letting you know how my Amazon shampoo turns out, and hopefully it’s a success and I don’t have to fear the wrath of that stranger I sold it to.  xo, MR