Fashion Trend! Coloured Pearls and How to Buy Pearls

Hallo everyone!

My apologies! I was not expecting to get so busy at the store! Wow! It’s been crazy; especially because of the Black Friday/ Precious Gift Limited Edition Charm for Pandora.  However, I am back and hopefully I will be able to update this and my recipe blog more often.  I got a fancy new smart phone and have set a weekly alarm to update on here once a week. Let’s see if that will kick my butt in gear.

Today I will be talking about a newish fashion trend.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this was going to catch on or not, but apparently it did.  I am pretty happy it too. Today I will be talking about coloured pearls! They are really pretty and a good spin on an old classic. Also, I will be giving you some important information on buying pearls! This will help you when you go into your local jewelry store to buy.

First things first, as a person in the jewelry business will give you some helpful tips on buying pearls. The first thing you need to know is that there are different types of pearls. The four major groups are: Freshwater, Saltwater, Cultured, and Faux.

·         Freshwater pearls are quite a bit cheaper, but are genuine pearls. They are made inside of freshwater dwelling mollusks usually found in lakes and rivers. River pearls, for example, are a type of freshwater pearl.

·         Saltwater pearls are quite a bit rarer and are fairly expensive if you are buying a good quality set. They are usually found by pearl divers in what are called “pearl oysters” Sometimes, if you are lucky, you might find a pearl inside of your oyster at a restaurant or in the cans of oysters at the store that was missed.

·         The last of the genuine pearls is what is called a cultured pearl. These are the most common type of pearl sold in the United States. They are inexpensive when it comes to real pearls and can be dyed numerous colours, that isn’t to say that other natural pearls cannot be coloured or cannot be naturally coloured. I will discuss coloured pearls here in a moment I promise!  Cultured pearls are created by putting a piece of what is called “donor oyster” inside of the mollusk to grow. They look like other pearls, but are not fake!

·         Faux pearls are the cheapest pearl that you can buy. They are not real pearls and can be made of numerous materials. The most common ones are made of glass or plastic with an opaque “pearl” coating. Some can look incredibly real. That is where people often get taken advantage of at non-jewelry stores. They look real and if you do not know what you are looking at you may end up paying genuine pearl price for plastic beads.

Next you need to know about pearl shapes. Their seven basic pearl shapes. These are Round, Oval, Circlé, Button, Baroque, Biwa, and Mabé.

·         Round pearls are just what it says they are. They are round and are the most desirable shape. They can be fairly rare. However, they are not as rare as an internally flawless and completely colourless diamond. Typically the only place to buy round pearls is at a jewelry store. These pearls come with knots between each pearl.

·         Oval pearls are more oval shape than round. Most non-jewelry stores sell these. You can find them at jewelry departments at retail stores. These pearls will come with knots between the pearls.

·         Circlé come in several shapes, but they all share a common feature. All Circlé pearls have rings on their surface.  They are fairly uncommon and usually used for pendants and earrings. Circlé pearls will be knotted between each one.

·         Button pearls are similar to a round pearl when viewed from the front and this is how they are set. When you look at them from the side they are more oval. You can buy these at retail stores where they are sold as “round” pearls. These are usually used in earrings or rings. If used as a bracelet or necklace they will be knotted.

·         Baroque and Biwa pearls can both be classified irregular pearls. No two of these pearls are shaped the same.  The difference between these two shapes is that Baroque pearls are usually larger than Biwa pearls. Also, Biwa pearls are named so because they come from Lake Biwa in Japan.  These pearls may or may not be knotted between each pearl.

·         Mabé pearls are formed on the inside of the shell rather than inside the oyster “meat”.  They are basically half rounds. When they are removed from the oyster shell they affix a mother of pearl backing on them. These are used in rings and earrings. They are not suitable for stringing. The only time you find them in a bracelet or necklace they will be set in a Mabé mounting.

There are numerous other things that will have an effect on the price of the pearl. However, those are mostly used for jewelers when they are pricing them. These include the Complexion, Size, and Luster of the pearl. If you are curious about them you can ask your local jeweler in relation to the pearls you are interested in.

Now we come to the fun part! Coloured pearls! Pearls come in all colours and not just white. I had a friend that when she got married she wanted orange pearls and had a hell of a time finding them. Thankfully, the store I work at was able to find just the shade of orange she was looking for. Currently my store has cranberry, brown, black, peacock, lavender, white, and cream pearls in stock. My personal favorite is the cranberry which is a pinkish red. The coloured pearls are graded differently than the white and cream pearls. They come in all sizes and shapes. 

This is a picture of "loose pearls". This means that they have not been strung into a proper necklace or put in a propper setting. This picture shows the orange pearls that I was talking about earlier. There are also strands of pale pink, white, and cream.

If you are looking for something that will match most everything you wear then white, cream, or black would be the way to go. However, if you are looking for a fun fashion statement to match your favorite dress then coloured pearls would be the way to go. Also, if you are looking for something to add a bit of colour to your LBD or LWD then coloured pearls are perfect for this!

Something to keep in mind with coloured pearls, and all coloured gems really, is that certain colours do not look good with certain skin tones. It is the same way with make-up. I do not look good wearing brown pearls for example. However, I do look okay with the cranberry pearls. It all depends on skin tone.

Coloured pearls are fun and are in fashion right now! As are coloured diamonds! Just go into your local jewelry store and check out the different colours of pearls they have. They may not have them in stock that day, but more often than not they have the ability to order them in for you in whatever length you need.

When it comes to length there are some things you should know. Rather than saying you want a 16 inch pearl strand, each of the standard lengths has a special name that it goes by. They are as follows.

·         10 inch to 13 inch necklaces are called a collar length. These are commonly made up of several strands rather than one strand. They also do not hang down at all.

·         14 inch to 16 inch necklaces are called pearl chokers. They hang right at the base of the neck.

·         17 inch to 19 inch necklaces are called a princess length necklace. These are the most popular strands. They are not too long and they are not too short.  Also, they go with pretty much anything from scoop neck dresses and blouses to plunge neck dresses and blouses.

·         20 inches to 24 inches are called matinee length strands. These look good with a lower cut dress or blouse.  

·         28 inches to 35 inches are referred to as opera length necklaces. These were traditionally the length that one would where when going to the opera when doing so was considered a special occasion.  However, today they are worn with a variety of dresses and blouses. These look particularly cute with turtle neck dresses because they stand out and add depth to your dress.

·         45 inches and longer are called a pearl rope. These typically do not have a clasp of any kind, but rather go over the head and longer strands may be wrapped around several times.

Hope this helps you when you go out to buy your pearls! Pearls are classic and no girl should go without at least one strand of pearls!

Stay lovely and happy!

Product Review! "Walk the Line" Eyeliner by Hard Candy

Hallo neue Preußen!

It is product review time! Today I will be doing a review for a liquid eye liner. The particular eye liner being “Walk the Line” by Hard Candy. This is the stuff that I talked about in my previous post. Well, let us get to the review shall we?

First things first, putting liquid eye liner on is a holy terror of a job! I spent a great number of hours practicing with a cheap dollar brand. That being said, I discovered that if I was sitting in a chair with arm rests or had something to rest my elbow on I could get it on with few mistakes since my arm/hand was stablelized. After putting this technique into use and having practiced getting it right, I felt comfortable moving up form dollar junk to the good quality stuff. I tried several, but in the end I settled on my favorite animal loving brand that also makes my favorite pencil liner, Hard Candy.

So, “Walk the Line” liquid eyeliner. What is so great about it anyways? One thing that I love about Hard Candy is that none of their products are tested on animals! They also have bright and fun colours in addition to the basics. However, the thing that sold me on this product was that it did not run or even smudge during my dancing. For those of you who do not know, I do tap, jazz, contemporary, ballroom, and jingle dress in terms of dance. If this stuff can last through jingle dress dancing in 105⁰F heat, it is amazing! See!

 

When it says it is long lasting, it means it. Also, the colour is pretty amazing. It stays true to the colour in the bottle when applied. I just cannot say enough good things about this product. The applicator makes getting good lines really easy and does not have bristles to get in your eye or out of shape.

Alright, so what are the bad things about this product? Well the first thing that pops into my mind is that it is really hard to get off. I mean really hard. I have problems getting it off with waterproof make-up remover. Some evenings, I do NOT recommend this at all, I wash my face and all that jazz only to have it still on so I leave it. I pay for it the later so, like I said, do not do it. The other bad thing is that the little applicator tip is, as mentioned above, one piece and is not a brush. That means that if it breaks you are pretty much screwed and have to go buy a new bottle of it or spend a long time trying to get the little thing that helps remove the extra liner from the applicator off of it so you can stick a different brush in it.

Other than that, it is wonderful. Would I recommend this? Yes! If you are looking for a long lastly, easy to apply liquid eye liner, this is the product for you! As long as you leave yourself time to scrub the stuff off your face in the evening, you are as good as gold. Gold is also one of the colours you can get. Just you all know. The good thing about this product is that you can get it at Walmart! Also, if you are lucky, sometimes you can find it on Amazon. 

I hope you all have found this review helpful! If you would like a review on any product you would like to try feel free to drop me a note!
Stay beautiful and sweet everyone!

Fashion Trend! Bright Eye Liner!

Grüße Glorious Neue Preußen!

I have been so busy with work, school, and vacation to Vegas that my blogs have suffered a lack of attention on my part. I am very sorry!!! Anyways, I am back and have so many topics to write about! Vegas is a great place for fashion. If you have been there you know this is true. Today I will be writing about a fashion trend that will lead into my product review for next time; brightly coloured eye liner!

Most ladies at some point in their life will wear eye liner. Some wear it every day. I am not one of those people. I need a break from waking from waking up early every day for work and school. It is good to always have the standard black, black-brown, brown, and white in your make-up case.  However, some people do wear navy and eggplant to spice things up. Things have been getting really spicy in terms of eye liner colours lately. For example, I am wearing bright turquoise right now. It looks good with my eye and skin colour.

Bright eye liner was popular when I was a little kid and Mutter wouldn’t let me wear it except for dance recitals and on All Hallows Eve. Vater did when Mutter was at work though. Of course then about an hour before Mutter got home he had to scrub my face clean. I think the main problem was that I was a little kid and I didn’t know how to put it on. I actually didn’t learn to put on make-up properly until my first year of college when my friend Kevin taught me. Thanks to Kevin I have been hired to do make-up for weddings and what-have-you events, but back to bright eye liner.

The key to putting on bright eye liner, or any eye liner really, is knowing how to put it on right. Part of it is practicing on getting lines straight and the other part is getting it applied correctly for your eye shape. For example, I do not look good with winged eye liner. It makes me look funny. I also can’t pull off thick lines or ultra-thin lines. I just look odd beyond all reason. My friend Ayaka, for another example, can do winged eye liner and ultra-thin lines. She, like me, does not look good with thick eye liner. Eye shape and how the liner is applied is really important! It is also the first step in getting this look right.

Back to Kevin for a moment. Not only did Kevin teach me how to do hair and make-up, he taught me about colour when it comes to fashion. Make-up colour depend on skin colour. Eye make-up depends on that AND eye colour!!! My eyes are hazel so I can wear numerous colours well. However, my sister has blue eyes. She wears browns and pinks well. My friend Ayaka has brown eyes and wears pinks and blues well. People with green eyes wear browns and purples well. People like Kevin, whom I am incredibly jealous of, that have purple eyes wear greens and pinks well. Gray eyed people like my friend Brennivina can wear pretty much any colour they dang well please. Lucky girl. Bright colours need to follow this guide too. A helpful tool that I have found is my colour wheel. I actually bought it for my quilting, but it comes in handy for matching make-up colours as well! Rejoice fellow crafty nerds! Colour wheels may be purchased at almost any craft or fabric store. I purchased mine at a little quilting shop in Ponca City called Completely Quilted. You can click on that and visit their site and do some shopping. It is pretty awesome! I love that store!

Well, now that I have told you all about it and how to pull the look off properly, what do I think about it? I love this fashion trend! I love it to pieces and then some. Bold colours are really cute if you know how to pull it off. Lots of bright colour on one’s face is not appealing though. Keep that in mind. However, a little bit is super cute!

Until next time!

P.S. I got new charms for my Pandora Bracelet! Check it out! That dice came from Vegas! Also, that little Union Jack is actually a double decker bus. You just can't tell from the top. :P

7 Helpful Tips for Losing Weight

Hallo fantastische Neue Preußen!

I hope you all are doing quite well. My school is almost out. We have nine more days of class. I am so very excited. You all know what that means. Days out at the beach, lake, and being out and about in general. For those of you who do not know, I recently went on a diet to lose some weight. Not that I am horribly overweight, but I could drop some pounds.  One of my friends, James, has also gone on a diet and I am so proud of him! He has lost so much weight by going on a healthy diet. You know one of those ones where you do not take a bunch of diet pills and starve yourself. He is such an inspiration to me and such a great guy.  So, today I am going to share with you some tips that have helped me lose some weight.  I hope you all find these helpful!

•A friend of mine recently took a job at a hospital and a cousin of mine is just now finishing up nursing school. Both have told me that the key to any diet is this: DO NOT MAKE SUDDEN CHANGES IN YOUR DIET! By this they mean, do not suddenly stop eating or shrink your potions drastically.  This will cause your body to go into starvation mode and you will actually put on weight because it is trying to compensate for a drastic change in its calorie intake. Instead, you should slowly decrease your portion sizes to give your body time to change.  This also makes it easier on you since you are changing a part of your lifestyle. The easiest way to shrink portion sizes is to cut out a snack or choose a more filling one like a handful of unbuttered popcorn.

•Strange as this one sounds, drink coffee and not the decaf kind. The caffeine helps with metabolism.  When I say coffee I mean plane black coffee with nothing added.  Not only this, but coffee has a bunch of really good benefits for you.  It has antioxidants in it that help fight cancer. Not only that, but it is a good pick me up when you start to feel tired.

•If you already drink coffee, but insist of having sugar and creamer in it a good way to slim down is to take out the sugar and cream.  However, if you just have to have your coffee sweetened and flavoured Splenda has you covered. They have flavour packets for coffee that have sweetener in them.  They are quite tasty actually. That is how I got myself off of drinking coffee with my cream and sugar. That being said, I am actually quite fond of European coffees. They brew them so dark and rich that I am not really sure you can really call it coffee.

•If you are not fond of coffee, then drink green tea! It is really tasty and has a bunch of antioxidants as well.  A really good way of brewing this is by filling a sun tea pitcher or jug with water and two small tea bags, or one large tea bag. Take some fresh peach slices and put them in there with the tea so that as the tea brews it flavours the tea and sweetens it naturally.  After the tea is brewed you can take the slices out and eat them.  Peaches also help you slim down! You can add any fresh fruit to your tea while it brews to flavour and sweeten it.

•Eat yogurt this includes the sugar free and non-fat frozen yogurt. Not only is it tasty, but it helps with digestion and helps you slim down.  That means treat yourself to some of that delicious stuff at your local frozen yogurt bar. Keep in mind that you should not pile on all those extras to the extent of mostly having toppings. Personally, I like the espresso flavoured frozen yogurt with almonds and kiwis at Cherry Berry. You can also replace ice cream during the summer with frozen yogurt! Regular yogurt comes in so many flavours it is not even funny. I like Greek yogurts.  I find that the texture of it is better than regular yogurt. I guess that comes from being European though.

•For the gamer nerds out there, this is for you! Do not feel bad, I too am a gamer nerd. I know we love to sit there in our super comfy chairs and play, but there is a fun and easy way to lose some weight while gaming. Ready for this? Sit on one of those giant exercise balls when you are playing. For this to work make sure that you are sitting up straight and have your feet directly in front of you. This makes you work to stay up right. So, not only is it good for losing weight, but it also helps with your posture.

•This is a very easy and helpful tip that helped me a lot. Drink less soda or cut it out altogether. I gave soda up for Lent last year and lost 15 pounds! Awesome! Because people drink so much soda today, cutting it out or reducing your  soda intake will help you slim down. Do not drink diet sodas! It contains ingredients that are known to cause muscular dystrophy. That is not good and you do not want it.

I hope this is helpful to you! It has helped me quite a bit. These are very simple changes to make. This is a great way of jump starting your diet or keeping some of the weight off once you have lost it.

Until next time!

Fashion Trend! Hatpins

Guten Morgen schöne neue Preußen!

I hope you all are doing well. I have been doing a lot of school work and work at the store lately. As such, I have not had a lot of time to blog. No worries though! I have not forgotten about you all. Today I will be talking to you all about a trend that I have seen coming back into style. In Brittan it never went out of style. I say Brittan, but it is really most of Europe that still has this trend. In American women do not wear a lot of hats. That is because we all want to be tan! I really do not have a desire to be tan as it brings out my awkward skin tone. I am Native American and Prussian. *Sigh* It is Baltic Prussian not Germanic Prussia so I have that almost faire, almost tan skin tone. When I tan I do not burn, but I get this interesting almost olivey tint to my skin and then I look Mediterranean. Oh well. 

Lately I have been seeing a lot of sun hats being stocked in stores. No, I am not referring to those hideous things that are made of straw that people wear when gardening. I am talking about the pretty white ones that you tie various bows around to match whatever sun dress you are wearing. When it is windy outside this becomes a bit of a problem. Thankfully there is help for this! It is a wonderful thing called a hatpin. Hatpins are kind of hard to find in America. The jewelry store that I work at carries them though! So, if you live in Kay County Oklahoma you can come in and see our selection of hatpins. Some people collect hatpins and the more expensive ones are made by hand. Handmade hatpins are amazingly intricate and look like a fancy flower or a bow usually. They are very pretty.

Hatpins were not originally used as an ornament for one’s hat though. Originally they were very plain and looked like a regular stick pin that was about three or twelve inches long. Hatpins keep your hat from flying off your head or keeping it in place. They are very useful when used right. There are some tricks to getting them to stay in though. I will post some instructions and tips for hatpins later and post a link here when I do. Hatpins will add something special to your hat if you buy a plain hat. Most of my hats are fairly boring except when I wear a hatpin or a ribbon with it. Sometimes I put both, particularly when it is windy out. When I do this I place the hatpin in the middle of the bow. That makes it look really cute.

If you decide to start using hatpins I must warn you that if you go online to buy them about 90% of all hatpins that claim to be antique are not in fact antique. If you must buy online make sure that what you are getting is the real deal if you are spending a lot of money on them. A good place to buy hatpins that are new and unique is on Etsy. If you want the whole experience of buying a hat pin buy them at a jewelry store or an antique store with a good reputation. If all else fails, buy a hatpin collectors book and take it with you. Remember that hatpins need to be taken care of and wiped off when you are finished using them. They are just like every other piece of jewelry that you own and if they are highly ornamented with various jewels you should take it into your local jeweler to have the prongs and settings check. Many jewelers will do this for free especially if you buy the pin from them. There are special cases you can purchase for your hatpins to keep them nice and undamaged.

Hope this is interesting to you and you find it helpful!

Until next time, stay wonderfully snazzy.

Medieval Fair Time!!!

Hallo schöne neue Preußen!

I have been so incredibly busy with this last quarter of the semester.  This past weekend was the Medieval Fair and I had so much fun! Now, I know a good deal of you probably think that Medieval Fairs are full of nerds I am here to tell you that that is indeed the case.  However, that being said, I am a nerd. I am a major nerd. That does not mean that we are a bunch of people that sit in front of the TV and play video games or have our head in books all day. The Medieval Fair is when we get to show off how nerdy and awesome we are. This year my college’s Medieval Society went out and showcased our studies of the Byzantine Empire. You know what that means don’t you? Awesome costumes!

That is me holding a battle axe, you cannot see the top of it though. Oh, well. I was a Byzantine Turk. This year we had a wide range of “nationalities” in our group this year. Here are some more pictures of me and my fabulously nerdy friends!

 

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. Go out and support your fellow nerds and go join them at Medieval Fairs, Renaissance Fairs, and Comic Book/Anime/Star Wars/Star Trek Conventions. We spend lots of time doing what we love and we are good at it. Parental Figures, look at it this way, would you rather have a kid that is a huge nerd that becomes the CEO of a company or gets another high paying job, or would you rather have a kid that is super popular that drops out of school and become a drug addict that flips burgers for a living? I know that is a little extreme, but what can I say? I am an academic after all.

Abschied für dich! Halten schön zu sein!

Fashion Trend! Pandora Bracelets

Guten Morgen neue Preußen!

Today I will be talking about a wonderful line of products that are super popular at the moment. I know a lot about these products because in the store where I work, I am the main sales lady for this brand. Most people already know what this line is all about. Today’s post will be about Pandora Jewelry.

That is my newest bracelet that I am working on. I have a bunch of discontinued charms on my other bracelet. This one has a few of them. So, for those of you who know nothing about Pandora Jewelry, I introduce you to it.

Pandora was started Danmark and has since grown into a international company. There is a wide variety of charms that you can buy to make your bracelet exactly the way you want it to look. Not only do they have charm bracelets in several different styles, they also carry earrings, necklaces, rings, and watches. The best thing about all of this is that each line is completely customizable. There are several different stores you can go in to. There is the full blown Pandora Store you can go to that carries all of the lines. The “gold stores” carry less than the full line, “silver stores” a minimum of 4 parts of the line, and the “white stores” carry between 1 and 3 parts of the Pandora line. I work in a white store. We carry the stackable rings, bracelets and pendants, and earrings.  Anything less than a full Pandora Store is called a “store-in-store” It is basically a part of the main jewelry store that is set aside for Pandora. Theoretically the fixtures and walls in these “store-in-stores” will be white with wooden floors. Sometimes, this is not possible because of the size of the store though.

Now these charms are actually called “moments”. You bracelet is supposed to tell a story. For example, on my bracelet I have the “Happy Fish” bead to represent my childhood. That fish looks exactly like the fish in my Norwegian fairy tale book that my mother used to read to me. My “Viking” bead represents my time in my college’s Medieval Society. My music note is because I play so many instruments that it is not even funny. My “Scarab” is to bring me luck. Scarabs are considered lucky in Egypt and that bead represents my mother because she loves Egypt studies. My orange bead represents Oklahoma State University because they do not make an OSU bead and they are my favorite college team in my state. The red bead is to represent my birth month. Carnelian is an alternate birthstone for July and I hate rubies so there you have that. Here is a link to the Pandora website so you can learn where your closest Pandora Store is:Pandora Site

The great thing about Pandora is that nobody will have a bracelet like yours. There are so many different charms and styles of bracelets that you can purchase that the chances of someone having one exactly like yours are slim to none. You have a greater chance of getting struck by lightning and then getting ran over by a train than having a person with the exact same Pandora bracelet as you. Also, the moments range in price from $20 at the cheapest all the way up to several hundred dollars. The most expensive moments are 14 karat gold. There are two-tone moments that are really pretty. I have one on my other bracelet. Having Pandora makes shopping for you really easy for others if you keep your wish list up to date because they can just buy you a new charm.

Hope this has been helpful to you all!

Bleiben Sie charmant!

Fashion Trend! Pendant Watches

Guten Tag schöne Neue Preußen! I hope you are all doing well today. Today I will be talking about a fashion trend that is coming back into style. The Victorian in me is very happy about this. I will be talking about pendant watches! How exciting!

For those of you who have no idea what a pendant watch is; think a tiny pocket watch to wear around your neck. This is a pendant watch.

Now, I do have pocket watches. I have lots of pocket watches actually and I know several of my friends that do as well. Pendant watches were at one point worn by women as part of a necklace. Over time they fell out of fashion.  However, with Victorian fashion coming back into style the pendant watch has returned. They can be rather pricy, or not so pricy. You can actually buy the stuff to make them at Hobby Lobby or other craft stores I imagine. You can also find antique ones on eBay. If you are looking for a pre-assembled pendant watch be ready to spend at least $20 for a really good one. You can buy one of the cheap ones and then revamp it with better parts, but if you are going to do that you are looking at making a $5 watch into a $50 watch if you want a really good one. It is worth it though if you want a good watch.

Pendant watches are super cute! I love the way they that they look good with almost everything you can wear them with. If you want a fun and new way to check the time without having to buy a new cell phone then this is defiantly a fashion trend you will want to invest in and follow.

Hör nicht auf, schön zu sein!

Purity Made Simple Review

Hallo schöne neue preußische!

It is spring break where I am. I will be doing some traveling and going to meetings. That does not mean that I will not be blogging. Today I will be reviewing a wonderful product made by Philosophy; this product being Purity Made Simple. I hope this review will be useful for you all!

I am a girl that is very particular about how her skin looks. I do not like putting harsh chemicals on my face. I also have some allergies to some of those harsh chemicals. Even the stuff that is made for sensitive skin sometimes bothers my skin. What is a girl to do? Well, the good news is that there are products out there for you and me! Philosophy makes several wonderful face cleansers that do not have harsh chemicals in them. Purity Made Simple is just one of these great products.

Purity Made Simple is a great place to start if you are looking for a gentle facial wash. It removes your make-up and also has the benefits of a toner right in the blend. It works phenomenally well! I do not have as many random breakouts due to stress and various other things as I did before. That means less concealer wearing and the clogged up pores that come with that. It spells pretty pleasant as well. Actually, it does not really have a smell. Also, it is really easy to use. All you do is get your face wet, wash, and rinse. That is it. Nothing more required. Basically, you just wash your face like you usually would. I have never had better skin. Fantastic!

While I can sing nothing but praises for the product, I cannot do the same for the price of it. That is the only real downfall that I can find. It is fairly pricey. The price ranges from $12 to $65 The 16 ounce bottle that I have is $32. For comparison, the $12 bottle is only a 3 ounce bottle, so basically you are getting a sample size. That being said, I feel like it is worth the money. I have never known anyone that has had an allergic reaction to it.

Thankfully there are ways around the pricing issue! Signing up for the Philosophy website’s newsletter will earn you exclusive discounts and promotions not found by the average shopper. Also, Philosophy products are sold in several stores that are found in most malls. Dillard’s, Sephora, and some J.C. Penny’s sell this line of products. That means that they have sales and coupons that you can cash in on these expensive products. I have bought the $65 bottle for half price before at ones of these sales. Awesome!

Hope this has been helpful to you all! Until next time!

Bleiben Sie schön!

Hydrating Keratin Masque Review

Guten Morgen!

Today I will be doing a product review of a hair care product. Since it is getting to be spring and with spring comes humidity I figured that it would be good to review a product that says it will smooth your hair and reduce fizziness.  The product is Hydrating Keratin Masque made by Organix. This product will have different results depending on your hair type. Please keep this in mind. I am writing from what I have experienced with this product. That being said, on with the review!

I have curly hair. By this I mean I have stereotypical Jew-fro when it gets too humid, I am part Jewish so I say this in light. Anyways, I also have really, really thick hair. It’s ridiculous. I mean look at this. It is at its worst in this picture.

That is with high humidity. It is ridiculous. My hair is usually not that bad. Usually it just has some curl to it. However, with humidity it frizzes out. I had been looking for a product to help tame that mane without spending hours on end using a straightener which is horrid on your hair if you use them too often. After watching the news and reading about it in  various newspapers and medical journals, I have been a little afraid to try most things that have the words “Brazilian” and the “straighter” in the description. However, I have used several other Organix products before, I will review those a little later, so I decided to give this product a try.

Tada! OMG! That is me without taking a hair straightener to my hair. There is a little bit of wave to it, but wow! What a difference that made.

This stuff is really easy to use, if you have the time to not just hop in the shower and wash your hair. What you do is after you have washed your hair with your regular shampoo and conditioner, take some of the masque and rub it into your hair. Make sure that your hair is completely covered or you might get some random frizzy sections. Wait for between 3-5 minutes with it in your hair. So, shave your legs, or whatever during this time. Rinse the masque out of your hair. Make sure it is all out! I cannot stress that enough. If you do not, your hair will look greasy and heavy. Dry your hair or let it dry on its own. That is it.

This stuff works wonderfully. Keep in mind that if you have super curly and thick hair, it will not be straight as a pin. However, it will keep it from being unfrizzy and help smooth it. It makes straightening one’s hair significantly easier.  It is not a straitening product. It just helps it along the way. If you have fine hair it will defiantly be straighter. My friend that has super fine and super curly hair tried it and her hair was pin straight after she used it. Plus, it smells good in a coconuty way. My mother insists that it smells like tanning oil. I do not think it does, but oh well. It is really easy to use which is a plus. It does not require any complex instructions since all you do is use it like you would conditioner. Also, because of the oils in that it contains, it helps with dandruff and itchy scalp. This is wonderful during the winter or if you live in a very dry climate. In fact, I have not had a problem with an itchy head since I started using it. I find that great since where I live we usually have cold and dry winters. Another great this is that it is not horribly expensive for what it is and there is quite a bit in the jar. I still have the first jar that I purchased a couple of weeks ago.

That being said, I do have a couple of problems with it. My first problem is this: it says to leave on your hair for 3-5 minutes. I left it on my hair for three minutes and did not see any results. So, I left it on for five and had the same problem. Because my hair is so ridiculously thick I had to leave this stuff on my hair for a whopping ten minutes for it to have any effect on my hair. That seems a ridiculously long time to stand in the shower. This means that even if you just wanted to use it in the shower you really can’t unless you want to stand there for about half an hour or so. Some people might not have a problem with that. I do because I work and go to school all day. If you do not, well, that is great for you. My second problem is that there are some ingredients in it that I cannot pronounce.  That does not seem like a good thing. From the research on the product that I have done, it does not contain formaldehyde or any of its cousin chemicals. The fact that there are ingredients that I cannot pronounce makes me a little leery of how pure and organic-like this product actually is. I checked the website and could not find any information about what these unpronounceable ingredients are. I did eventually find out what they were after a ton of research. Behentrimonium Methosulfate comes from rapeseed. No, that is not a misprint, it is called rapeseed. Glyceryl Stearate comes from palm, vegetable , or soy oil. Cyclopentasiloxane is a silicone fluid that one finds in sunblock and deodorants.  Cetearyl alcohol works as a stabilizer for the product. Dimethicone makes the stuff not foam up when you use it. Ceteareth-20 though is what worries me a little. It is known to increase ones risk of cancer.  I am just going to stop with that one. That just kind of kills the deal for me. That and that it does have artificial colouring in it. However, one must ask the question of what does not cause cancer today? I mean they just told a couple of soda companies that they had to change their ingredients or put a cancer warning label on their sodas.

So, would I recommend this product? Ehh…Yes and No. Yes in the fact the fact that it does help smooth hair and make it straight. No in the fact that it has known carcinogens in it without a warning label on it. That being said, if you do decide to try it, use it wisely. Only use it as directed. Most things today have something that will increase the risks of cancer.  You see on the news almost every day that scientists have found something in some commonly used product that causes cancer. Even the sun causes cancer. Being alive increases your risk of cancer. If you are looking for a product that helps with your hair during winter or really dry weather then go ahead and use it. If you are just looking to straighten your hair, I would just use a flat iron and heat protecting spray made by Dove.

Hope you find this helpful!

Abschied!

Herzlich Willkommen!

Guten Tag Neu Preußen!

Welcome to the Neu Preußen Bewertung! This is a fashion and product review. For those of you who have never read either of my other blogs, I will introduce myself today. You can find my other blogs on my profile.  I also have an Etsy that I will link below.

 My name is Becca. I am a Cottey College graduate. I am still a college student and am working on my second bachelorette degree. My first bachelorette is in science and the one I am working on is in philosophy. I work at a jewelry store. The store that I work at is not a chain store, but is very high end. I wear a dress to work every day. We are the only jewelry store in our county that sells Pandora jewelry and we are the oldest jewelry store in our county. It is tons of fun.

As for my style, I have a wide range of things that I wear. Personally, I prefer an old fashioned look. When I say old fashioned, I mean what has become called Steampunk. I love it. That is not to say that I do not like modern fashions as well. I judge thinks on Æsthetic quality. As for make-up, I mostly wear Hard Candy brand. I do not wear much. I usually just wear eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. If I go out in the evenings I will put on a little eye shadow.

I am involved in several organizations on my college campus. Like the true nerd that I am, I am a member of the chess and games club and medieval society. In medieval society we make our own garb. Our biggest display of our talents is at our states Medieval Faire and yes, I will post pictures for you all when that comes around. I am also in our philosophy club and when I have time, fencing club. In terms of civic organizations, I am a member of The Order of the Eastern Star. If you have any questions about Eastern Star, I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you information for joining if you wish to do so.

Well, that is me in a nutshell. If you have any other questions for me feel free to leave me a comment!

Abschied und guten Tag!

Happy Cicada Jewelry (My Etsy Store)