Week of Beauty * Day One: Brands I Like Right Now

Welcome to my impromptu, slightly tongue in check, Beauty Week!

I say impromptu because I did not plan to do a whole week dedicated to beauty until I started going over what I had to review and write about over the weekend and realized - hey, I have a theme!  And, thus was born iNeed a Beauty Week! 



I figured I would jump right in with brands I all ready use but with a twist... they arrived or will arrive at my doorstep and one I get to share with 5 people!

About six months after baby was born, my head started to itch and then my hair started falling out.  I was expecting the whole shedding process - hormones living your body, hair falls out, yada yada yada but the whole itchy, irritated scalp was something completely new.

Besides being irritating, it was painful.  My sister-in-law, who is a beautician, checked my scalp and recommended a product to use which worked brilliantly!  It had tea tree oil in it and it cooled and soothed my scalp.  Now, because it was a product from her salon, I searched for an equally good product and came up with Nature's Gate Tea Tree Calming Shampoo.  I used it for some time but felt my hair needed something more and discovered Yes to Carrots Nourishing Carrot Juice Shampoo and Conditioner which I have been using daily for the last several months... yes, I am one of those people who wash my hair every. single. day.

Well, everyday that I am expected to be around those who are not birthed from me that is... I have the oiliest hair - I am good till about noon and then whoosh, oil field.  Sure, I could "train" my hair but after 30 + years... not going to happen.  Besides, I like the process of washing my hair and because it is long I don't have to do much... but I digress...

I have been very happy with my carrot shampoo and not really looking for a change, that was until I won a twitter contest from @Dove for my #badhairday tweet.  My bad hair day tweet went something like:

on the day of my brother's wedding, no a/c in limo and my ironed flat hair frizzed! Ugh!  

So...they sent me two full size bottles of  Dove Damage Therapy Shampoo, Nourishing Oil Repair and Conditioner!  I was shocked to see two full size bottles, but none the less they where there!  See it pays to respond to tweets! 

All though I am a fan of Dove and especially their soap, I was skeptical about the shampoo and conditioner but started to change my mind when I smelled them after opening the box.  This stuff smells so good!  I could not wait to try it but wait I did, because it was packed away, sigh.  So after a long, weekend of unpacking (and not showering) come Sunday night I was so ready for a long, hot shower and to wash my hair (I was unpacking all weekend, no time to wash hair).  

Not only did this stuff smell good, but my hair felt super soft and manageable - even after sleeping on wet hair all night.  It was so great I took another shower and washed my hair again in the morning to see what it would do under normal circumstance and let me say... if this keeps up I have a new shampoo and conditioner at half the price of my beloved carrot shampoo.  My hair looks amazing!  Okay, maybe I will dived the time between the two brands...

Winning a twitter contest is something new and very unexpected because I never win things from twitter parties much less from random tweets.  I am, also, always surprised when I am approved for anything in the promotional department and when I got an email saying that my Klout score earned me a perk that I did not even have to apply for it well, I was simply beside myself.  Okay, that was w a y more dramatic then I meant it to be but I am being offered something for free?  Heck, yeah I am there to see what it is and would you believe it is something I all ready use!  Secret Clinical Strength Waterproof Solid.  I take that back... I have never used the waterproof version but I do use the clinical strength. 

I am not saying I am a smelly girl but...  I sweat.  Even more so since the baby and I can get behind a good deodorant.  Secret has a great deodorant that, unlike this embarrassing confession, won't let me down in odor protection.

Secret and Klout are sending me a year's worth of Secret Clinical Strength Waterproof protection and I get to pass along this unique link to hook up five of my friends with a one year supply, too!  How cool is that!?!

Secret is supporting Diana Nyad (her story is here) achieve her fearless dream as she swims from Cuba to Florida. She is 61 years young! I have to admit - I had no idea who she was until this Klout campaign and her story is amazing.  The most fearless I get these days is wading into Lake Erie and here she is swimming to Cuba!  So amazing!


If you clicked on some of the links - you may have noticed that I am a fan of Soap.com.  It started with Diapers.com when my first grader was born.  I have very, very rarely bought diapers from any where else.  Then Diapers.com opened Soap.com that sells just about everything else.  It is easy and I usually pay about the same if not less then the box stores in my area.  If you sign up, feel free to use the referral code: CoreysMom and they will make a donation in my name to American Red Cross.  When I have an order under $50 I usually use Alice.com.  Both sites are wonderful in their selections, ease of use and sales.  The bonus for me is that I don't seem to do a lot of impulse buying and I keep to the necessities.

So there you have it... a few of my favorite brands and I did not get paid for this post nor did I actually get protect to specifically blog about - I just got lucky.

Thanks for reading!