New product line alert: Aunt Jackies curls and coils

 Look what i saw when i went to the hair shop. Another addition to the curl products currently being cranked out at a fast pace by the mainstream hair company's years after the independents have trail blazed.

Aunt? Miss?  What next granny? Nana? Madame?

Hmm these products look strangely familiar???
http://www.missjessies.com/shop
These mainstream companies are cloning harder than the Samwer brothers!!!!
And about 5 years too late! Better late than never eh?
If the price point is good and the product works does it matter that its been "inspired"?

Well i like the names, there is the oh so clean shampoo
knot on my watch detangler
in control conditioner
and curl la la curl custard


http://www.auntjackiescurlsandcoils.com/

I would try if they had a deep conditioner or moisturiser.

Nice and curly same day repair creme conditioner review and ingredient list

Nice and curly same day repair creme conditioner

The ingredients look good the effect, not so much. I really wanted to like this. The ingredients look good, it smells like sherbert dip dab, the packaging is nice its cheap £2.99, what is there not to like?

Alas it just really didn't do anything. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad. I tried it a few times and the effect was meh.

Maybe it would fair better with heat???

 What they say:

Same Day Repair Creme Conditioner is designed to nourish, repair and condition your curls to

bring out the fab in your naturally curly style. Enriched with Aloe, Sea Grape Extract and Argan Oil,

Same Day Repair Creme Conditioner hydrates and nourishes each curl from root to tip, restoring

hair's natural moisture balance, elasticity and shine. Used daily or as often as you need Same Day

Repair Creme Conditioner will instantly love your curls back to life and back to fabulous! Same Day

Repair Creme Conditioner.... fabulous served daily

The directions say: After shampooing, massage a liberal amount of Same day repair creme conditioner throughout the hair. Massage into scalp and comb through with wide tooth comb. For more intense conditioning, let sit for 15 minutes with a plastic cap. 

as a co wash: Wet hair thoroughly. Distribute throughout the lengths of the hair and massage into scalp. Rinse and repeat.

It is most probably a dupe of the III sisters of nature conditioner since they are essentially the same product range  Want evidence? Click here!

If i can be bothered I'll use it with heat and get back to you.

Bye xxx

Revlon ColorBurst lipgloss Rosegold

A very pretty shimmery peach that I've layered on top of my lipstick today ( i never wear lip gloss alone)

What revlon say

A pop of weightless colour with vivid, mirror-like shine. Outshines everything but you!
•Micro-crystal formula for 5X the shine of patent leather
•Plush applicator shaped to curves of your lips for smooth, even application of colour
•Revlon ColorBurst’s Elasticolor™ technology for rich colour with a weightless feel
•Moisturizers and anti-oxidants such as sweet almond oil and vitamin E conditions and improves lip texture
•Available in 14 vibrant, on-trend shades 

I guess.
Its just lipgloss.

  
Lip pics soon!

The troubling Imagery of Sleek's new 2012 Collection.

Sleek makeup has been around for nearly two decades. It started off as a brand that catered to  non white women. It was mostly sold in Afro hair shops and was a budget brand. The brand then launched in Superdrug. It got a lot of online fame with its pallettes which lead to it rebranding itself to be for "everyone" whilst discontinuing many shades of lipstick and foundation that suited darker skins.
They began to change their advertising to include this new demographic of "everyone" aka white, by using more and more "ambiguous" models and catering to beauty bloggers and collaborating and certain events.

Was I becoming bitter then? To be honest it left a sour taste in my mouth, but its something that has happened is happening now and will continue to happen. The only British brand to cater to dark skins became "mainstream" which often means us darker skinned people get in a word shafted. Whatever. It happens. Its business. I see many non white women buy from the likes of Rimmel, Bourjois and Max factor etc and they neither advertise with anyone with skin darker than white and certainly do not create any products for us! But i suppose their reasoning is  white women will not buy from a brand that heavily features ethnic minorities.

I had already said see ya to Sleek after their ridiculous "natural collection" where the blush did not even show up on my skin. But today i stopped dead in my tracks.

As you know 2012 has been the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics. The best of British etc etc etc. Well Sleek have a 2012 collection to coincide with this. A pout polish named  glory, an eyeshadow palette named pride and a blusher named Glory.

Hmmmm.

Anyway nothing wrong with that. What i find disconcerting is the choice of Imagery in conjunction with the language  used with this.

The model is blonde and blue eyed ( her eye colour is actually "enhanced")

she has the British flag in the background. A crown on and Jewellery entwined on her wrist with royal imagery as well. The blusher has a statute on it and a little cute button saying "i love GB". With Glory, Pride and Honour is the tag line.

Now i have no problem with patriotism or Nationalism.

What i dislike is this.  Britain  is a nation full of different peoples. Due to the UK's Policy of empire building and Imperialism. For a Brand that claims to be for "everyone", that was even able to expand due to ethnic minorities lining its pockets,  this collection's imagery and language is a farce. In a time when Devolution is a hot topic, where the riots of last summer actually revealed things that people did not want to see, where we even have a 2012 Olympic team that is multicultural, this is what Sleek Makeup have come up with. Really??? Sleek. Really? You couldn't show all the peoples that makeup this Sceptered isle?? Coming together in a positive way?

I guess you're not really British unless....................... *giggles*

I'm not even going to go deeper down the Rabbit hole with what i could say.
Suffice to say me and My sister will never purchase another product from Sleek.

African Pride Shea Butter Miracle Buttery creme

I di not have high hopes for this product. I had used Beautiful Textures Curl Control Defining Pudding and  HATED it. So since i found out these very may well be the SAME product (Click the link for more info) CLICK ME TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH. THE RED OR THE BLUE PILL?

I was mad. Anyway i was messing around on the weekend and decided to give this product a whirl. I was looking really for a hair moisturiser and something thick and heavy, not really a styler since i don't wear wash and go's and hairstyles of that nature.  I also do not mess with my hair when wet so all pictures are of DRY hair.


Lets go!

 Ingredients: ( i spy a cone.)

( if you can't see the pics and want the full ingredient list, leave a comment or go to the contact me section of the blog and ask me on twitter or email me and I'll write it out for you )


Anyway on hair that had been moisturised with rosewater glycerine, i applied the buttery creme. My hair was dry and just taken out of a braid

Before

 After ( sorry about the pic quality)

I then was bored and put it all over my head in a bantu knot for maybe half an hour.

If you already have a curl pattern blah blah blah it does define it. Here's another random pic

Sorry my other pictures are all really BAD.

The product does not elongate like it claims, but it does define hair when added and also when used for  twist outs( my twist out pics were worse than these!) I don't wear my hair out like these pictures but if somebody does wear  wash and go style i would probably use this and then maybe some sort of gel on top. It is quite good. I think it would be fab on a nice short cut.

I however wanted it for its moisturising properties and its just OK. I feel like it leaves a residue/film and my hair does not feel properly moisturised if you get  what I'm saying. It has a nice smell.

Its claims:

African Pride®’s Shea Butter Miracle™ Butter Créme gives amazing manageability, softness and shine to naturally Curly, Wavy, Kinky-Coily Mixed Textures, plus perfect for Transitioners.

Benefits:

• Nourish & Soften Curls, Coils and Waves
• Stretch & Elongate Curls and Kinky-Coils
• Smooth and Tame Frizz

I would say it does smooth and tame frizz but any elongation properties are temporary. 

It was £2.79 for a 6oz jar and i think its very good for the price considering its performance and the ingredients( apart from that cone) don't seem to be bad at all.


Thumbs up as a styler but since i wear my hair in "in styles" i may not repurchase.

Seeing Double AKA The curious case of African pride, beautiful textures, nice and curly AND III sisters of nature.

My Sherlock Holmes Icon is warranted. Over the past couple of months I've seen curl products pop up in the Afro hair shop. Dr Miracles have come out with a line ( yeah really, after the curls are yuck, straight is good advertising line they've been peddling for the past couple of years) ORS curls unleashed, sofnfree nothing but curls, III sisters of nature, beautiful textures and I'm sure many more will reach our shores.

Well last week i spied that African Pride have come out with a "back to natural" range for mixed textures. I opened the bottles and immediately the smell and texture of the products harkened back to the beautiful textures products i had used. ( with not great results)

Today i spied the "nice and curly" range and the gel of that range smelt suspiciously like the III sisters of nature products. Which i used to disastrous results!

Well silly me bought them anyway. I bought the Shea butter miracle moisture intense buttery creme from African pride and the Nice and curly same day repair creme conditioner.


At the shop i was convinced that maybe the products that smelt and felt the same were perhaps using the same base ingredients, so when  i got home some internet sleuthing was needed.  The results are turned up made me realise what an idiot i had been!

The African pride back to natural range and the Beautiful textures range have the same product design! The only difference is the African pride packaging is made up of orange yellow and green and the beautiful textures is red orange and yellow. They even have the same circular flourishes and language.
DUH!!!!

Anyway they are both produced by strength of nature. The only difference is African pride products are cheaper than beautiful textures. Even the photography and makeup of the models is the same! Oh more fool me.


Now onto III sisters of nature who i found out fall under the umbrella of the rastagroup. They make the Jamaican mango and lime stuff amongst others. Well nice and curly is made by them too! Again i don't know whats going on in terms of performance and I'm not sure about the price point either. The products had just come into the shop today and the guy just made up a price for me.

Anyway I'm not sure why this whole same product in different packaging shenanigans is going on for, but I'll tr out both products this week.

Clarins Rouge Prodige 110 Litchi Lipstick review/swatch

I really like this lipstick. Its a pinky brown lip colour that glides on smoothly is very moisturising and smells lovely. In terms of packaging and texture the revlon lip butters look like  a direct rip off to me , however for someone like me with naturally dark pigmented lips the colour pay off of the clarins is better.

Its a lovely shade and a great pink for darker complexions if you don't want to go bright or neon, but understated and pretty.

Does it last? It claims to, but in my opinion all lipsticks have to be reapplied and to be honest I'm always eating when i go out so i can't really gauge its long lasting claims.