L'Oreal Is Looking For... YOU!

Just got an interesting letter from L'Oreal. Remember back when I scored this wonderful Thank You box full of goodies from them?

Yep.

I joined their consumer panel because I like the idea of letting brands know my preferences and opinions on products. Brands like that because, well, they want to market what will sell to their customers. Or that's my take on it.

L'Oreal's consumer testing site is where I go to apply via survey for the chance to test out various products: hair care, makeup, skin care, etc. Believe it or not, I received my Thank You box even though I have never been selected to test a product for them.

The other day, I got an email from them showing interest in attracting more consumers to the panel - especially consumers of color.

Wow.

How long have I been griping about not being able to find enough quality beauty and hair care products in the right shade or for the texture of my hair? I'm really glad that brands are taking notice of the diversity among all women. Even Caucasian women will tell you that it's often hard to find a flattering shade of makeup for their skin tone. None of us women, no matter our race or ethnicity, are dolls with a set skin color or tone, right? We are various shade of peach and pale, umber, amber, ebony, ivory... ~cue a song here~

Anyway.

This is the letter I got from them (minus some of my personal information):

Dear TRUDY,

Thank you for being a valuable part of our L'Oreal USA's Consumer Participation Program. We hope you are enjoying your experience.

If you have not had the opportunity to qualify for one of our studies, please don’t give up! Remember to log on often as we update our studies on a daily basis. Many of our studies have specific qualifying attributes to ensure that we produce the best skincare/hair care and cosmetics worldwide.

We are hoping you can help with referrals.....L'Oreal USA's Consumer Program is looking to grow our database for "WOMEN OF COLOR" to participate in studies.

If you know of anyone who is not in our database and would like to join our program who are African American, Afro Caribbean, or Hispanic/Latino, please forward the email for them to join by clicking on the link below to complete our "JOIN NOW" survey.

https://consumertesting.lorealusa.com/survey87.asp

To all NEW panelists joining our program: Once you click on the link below and join, please allow 2 - 3 days to receive a "Welcome" letter with your Panelist ID and Password to log on to our website to view available study opportunities.

We look forward to your participation.

If you have any questions, please contact our toll free number 1-888-866-4953 or e-mail us a consumertesting@rd.us.loreal.com and someone will respond to your questions or concerns.

Regards,

L'Oreal USA-Sensorial Testing
Terminal Avenue
Clark, New Jersey 07066

Nice, huh?

So, ladies - if you are interested, get over there and get signed up. Tell your friends about the opportunity.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** StaSofFro and L'Oreal EverCreme

Now that I have more length to my hair, I had to switch up my styling products. With the shorter hair, I used a lot of oils and creams to help the growth. Dry and damaged = enemies of growth.

December 2013

March 2014

July 2014

Today

For my shorter hair, I was using a lot of coconut oil, Jamaican Black Castor oil, plus just about anything that tamed the frizz. My hair has grown out quite a bit, so my big thing now is holding a curl, softness and conditioning.

The two products I'm using are ones I've talked about before, but I have a new appreciation for both:

The Leave-in is SO good

Sounds greasy, but it's not

I discovered the L'oreal EverCreme leave-in a couple years ago (according to my post). I like to use it first thing in the morning to add a shot of moisture to my hair. I follow that up with the SaySofFro for some softening and scalp moisture.

Most people think of StaSofFro as being greasy/oily like so many "wet curl" products, but it's a whole other thing. If you apply it and let it absorb for a few minutes, your hair is very touchable. The softening I get with this spray is amazing. After I wash and condition, I like to spray the StaSofFro on my roots and scalp. I massage it in a bit to work it through to my ends, then I spray the EverCreme just enough to get the outer part of my hair.

Since I've been using these two as my main hair products (about 2 weeks or so), I find that I have a lot less breakage and a lot less dryness. It's also nice that my hair is easier to "refresh" in the mornings.

What I like about both products is that they leave my hair very touchable and soft. Also, the price. I can get each for under $6. Can't beat that with a 5-speed blender.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Garnier 5 Sec Blur

As I mentioned before, I love the box of goodies L'Oreal sent to me. L.O.V.E. it all. I did have some favorites though. This is one of them:

Garnier 5 Sec Blur. Genius.

I probably would not have tried this if not for the gift. Not only did I try it and like it, but I let my sister try it and she went out and got some for herself.

PROS:

• Mattes the face after applying moisturizer and before applying the rest of my makeup. Mattes any shine without drying out the skin.
• Could be worn alone if the shade were slightly darker. My sister can wear it without foundation. 
• Has a really nice feel to it. Goes on like a spreadable powder. 
• Blurs surface imperfections and evens out my skin tone for applying foundation or my shaded powder makeup.
• Helps "set" my foundation. I noticed that my makeup wore better and longer if I used Blur.

CONS:

• Because I have such a dark complection, I can't wear it solo. I have to apply foundation or my tinted powder to get rid of the slightly ashy look.
• Though it does work as a "primer", it doesn't really do as much for my fine lines. I think this is only because of the pale shading. If it came in a brown tint, I think the blurring would work on fine lines.

This is really a great product. I'm hoping that someone will come out with it in a variety of shades for more skin tones. When I went with my sister to pick out hers at the store, I noticed that there were at least 4 other brands with a similar product. My sister is a few shades lighter than I am, and she is able to wear the Blur solo. Looks really good on her and saves her having to wear a foundation.

Very light against back of my hand
Powders as you blend in

This side, Blur-free                               This side, Blurred

This is a really good product idea. Going on the search for one in a better shade for me. 

Peace

--Free

Thank You, L'Oreal!

Have to do a shout out to L'Oreal. Because I participated in a survey on skin, hair and makeup (through their product testing site), they sent a lovely 'Thank You' gift in the form of this:

Just like getting an extra (belated) birthday gift!
(forgive the pic quality)

Wow. All stuff that I have been wanting to try.

What was included? Well, let's see...

• Garnier 5 Sec Blur
• Lancome Blush Subtil Palette
• L'Oreal HydraFresh Toner
• Lancome High Definition Amplifying Mascara
• Kiehl's Creme de Corps (all-over body moisturizer)
• Garnier Clean+ Balancing Daily Exfoliator

Boy. I am just thrilled to have gotten over $100 worth of products. I think the two that I want to try first are the Kiehl's and the 5 Sec Blur.

I wasn't asked to review anything. This was just a gift for my having taken part in the survey. Of course, I will be reviewing each and every one of the products as soon as I get a chance to try them out! What I appreciate the most is that they paid attention to my survey and tailored my gift box to my specific preferences.

Who is a happy L'Oreal fan? Me, that's who. Yes, ma'am, I am. Not sure how participants are chosen but, go here to see about signing up.

Peace

--Free

**About Makeup** Another Cream B.B.(bites) the Dust

I was completely on board with the lady who wrote this article a couple years back about B.B. creams. Not too much has changed since she voiced her thoughts.

With all the progress (maybe) in cosmetic offerings, you'd think there'd be more diversity in there somewhere. For some reason, most major cosmetic manufacturers think that all women come in shades of Gwenyth Paltrow to Sandra Bullock and Queen Latifah to Beyonce. I'm so excited about Lupita Nyong'o coming up in the entertainment world, I could just pee myself. She's so much closer to my shade of "brown" than the other women I see in the makeup adverts. Because I am deeply brown - not 'beige', 'light' or even 'medium'. If I were a cup of java, there'd be a lot of sugar but very little cream.

Today, in between some badly arranged appointments, I had a couple hours to kill so I hit Walmart and Walgreens in search of some makeup. (My current makeup hasn't really been 'current' since Bush was president. I know, right?)

This is what I saw at Walmart:

nice range, not dark enough

(not a BB cream, but) foundations are getting better...

but... nope, still no match

I found L'oreal's BB cream in 'medium' and 'deep' but I didn't like the grainy texture while applying. And it still was not-deep enough. I ended up with an ashy, un-natural look. My sister did well with the 'deep' shade, even though she is several shades lighter than I am. Cool.

Big sis likes this, but in the "Deep"er tone

I gave up on finding a BB cream (or a CC), and I didn't think to look at the DD creams. Why bother, right? None of the creams by Olay, Neutrogena or Aveeno came even slightly close to a shade suitable for my skin. (By the way, I think my problem is that I don't need a BB (balm) so much as I need a really good, lightweight foundation.

What I ended up with is this:

LOVE it! 

And I have a winna! Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam Foundation lives up to the "nude" and "air" in its name. (I was totally surprised at the poor reviews here, which is why I think you have to try things for yourself.)

I usually can't wear "Cocoa" shades, and that is not a consistent shade across the different cosmetic brands, but I like this foam. It goes on very, very light and smoothly. There aren't the streaks that I get with some liquid foundations. While, by itself, it leaves a little bit of a shine, I find that it pairs up just perfectly with this powder:

Maybelline, I might be in love with you!

That's the Maybelline The photo is not a good representation of the actual color, which is very deep and rich, with my reddish-brown (ocher) undertones. (Here is a better photo of the "Mocha" shade I got.) I haven't liked a makeup this much since I used to (occasionally) wear Flori Roberts foundation.

this is what the foam looks like**

seems like the color might be off a bit, but...

... blends in really well.

What I like most is that the makeup is not obvious and it doesn't make my skin feel coated.  I don't look like I have on foundation and powder. My sister said that my skin looked really natural and toned.

What I love about the powder is that I can, if I want, wear it alone. I don't really need the foundation, but it will help when I haven't had quite enough sleep. Even better, neither of the products is messy. Once applied, I didn't have to worry about transferring streaks of color from face to paperwork.

A funny thing about the foam: the first time you dispense from a new jar, the foam is going to be white. I didn't know this. I rubbed on white foam, expecting to see results, but all I got was a shiny look. I guess that initial foam is for the "practice" pumps the instructions talk about! (Yeah, I can be so silly.)

A bonus find (while cruising Walgreen), was this beautiful lipstick by Wet 'n Wild (for just under 3 bucks!):

Shade: "Cherry Bomb" (#918D)

It's such a gorgeous shade of brick red - which is so hard to find. I am returning the L'Oreal BB cream and getting another couple tubes of Cherry Bomb. You know how it is when you find that shade of lipstick you just love and all of a sudden you can never get it again. (I think that women of all skin tones can wear this. It may be a bit more dramatic looking against lighter complexions, but it's a nice day look with my dark skin.)

Anyway, I'm happy that I didn't have to spend more than $20 to get a foundation, powder and lipstick.

Peace
--Free

Lipsticks For Women of a Deeper Hue...

I've said it many times before and I'm saying it once again: It's hard out here for a dark chick! What I'm talking about is makeup in general and lipstick in particular.

If you are a darker skinned woman, like me, you know that it can be a little tricky finding makeup that doesn't clown you up or wash you out. I'm not hating because I rarely wear makeup. But I do always wear lipstick. Always. Made my teeth look whiter when I was a smoker; not it's just a habit: brush teeth, apply lipstick.

This is a really helpful link for figuring out your own undertone.  This talks about skin colors in too much detail. Gave me a little bit of a headache. This right here gets too deep into the subject for me. I just want to find a good palette of cosmetics, but in case you are interested...

Being a black woman with cool undertones (I look better in red and silver, and, yes, I can see that my veins are blue), I have trouble finding lipstick that suits me. I'm not like my sister or niece, who will look great in pastel lipsticks and clothing. I like my deep reds for my lips and white for my clothing. I have to say (and hope that it's not vain or ignorant-sounding) that I LOVE my dark skin. I love the way it looks and feels and... Okay, that's getting to a be both vain and ignorant so I'll stop.

Problem: Finding a red lipstick that doesn't look "orange-y" or too plum-like. Red, people, just gimme the red!

Solution 1: Buying a black lipstick (yes, I've done this) and blending it into one of the above "reds" to get a passable shade. That is such a freaking hassle - costly, messy to apply and really a pain to re-apply...

Solution 2: Find that one good shade once in a PINK moon and buy a bunch or hang the heck on to it for life.

(You've seen my pic over there to the right. That's me, no makeup -good lighting and a forgiving webcam- and in my fairly true skin color. I'm dark, yes ma'am. As James Brown said, "I'm black and I'm proud," but I can be pissed when shopping for lipsticks.)

In the past year and a half, the moon has shown shockingly pink twice and reluctantly rosey once. I found this one in (I believe) Walgreens...

Cute & simple case

By Prestige Cosmetics
Shade: Pinot Noir

...and this one (for sure) in Walgreens

RevLON!!!

Shade: Black Cherry

I adore the Pinot Noir shade. It's something I can put on with lip gloss for a subtle look or (and, face it, I'm not a subtle woman) just slick it on for that deep, deep, deep red that I love. Makes me feel all glamorous, amorous, hot-to-trot and just bad-to-the-bone. I also like that the texture is nice and smooth - not sticky at all. For a matte look, I just blot the first application and let it set, then apply and blot a second glide. I usually like the moist look. Actually, I really like to add this gloss to all my shades

L'Oreal's Color Riche Shade: 281/Queen's Shine

 That brings me to my tip for getting a shade right: if your liptick is almost-but-not-quite what you need in shade, trump it with a gloss. The L'Oreal gloss by itself is a nice day-look, but added to my other least-favorite shades, it kinda sorta balances things out for me.

This is a shade I do like a lot, when I want to look like I'm not wearing lisptick (and still want a polished appearance)

Shade: #37 Gourmet Coffee (by Milani)

It's great for church, interviews... that kind of thing. When I want to switch gears after church or the interview, I add some of that gloss. It's cool.

Shade: Blackberry.
Cost: $0.99 from Sally's Beauty Supply

This is something I keep in my purse all the time. Easy to put on and it's a lot more defining if you tend to (like me) be sloppy applying lipstick without a mirror. I always make sure to apply it over a balm. It can be a little bit drying.

Anyway, that's my little rant on lipsticks. I did a post some time back that had links for cosmetics for various skin tones  On a less serious, but more personal note, I did a look back at my Mama's days with cosmetics.

Let me know if you hear or know of any reasonably-priced cosmetics for those of a darker hue.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** L'Oreal's Magic BB Creme

Got my sample of this in the mail a few days ago from SheSpeaks (love those guys). Has only taken using it twice to know that it's not really for me. (BTW: My sample came in the "Deep" shade.)

Cons:

• The creme had a sort of gritty feel when applying it. Almost like a very fine-grained exfoliating cream. (That freaked me out because I almost never use anything exfoliating on my face. No. No. No.)
• The shade was a lot lighter than what most dark-skinned women would want. I would say it best suits someone with a darkly olive tone than someone with a dark red or blue coloring. (I'm just plain dark, with red tones.) I decided I could only use this as an under-eye brighter. ~shrug~
• Once on, the creme dried my face to the point of being uncomfortable. I was afraid to smile because I was sure my smile lines would look like cracks on the bottom of a dry lake bed. The drying effect also made my skin break out just a little. (I don't know what the hell the word "hydrates" is doing in the description on the tube!)

Pros:

• While not for my skin-color or type, this might be okay for someone with very oily skin. Matter of fact, I imagine it would be perfect for the oily skin type. Maybe L'Oreal should break this out (heh heh) by skin types - label this one for oily skin and formulate another that actually does hydrate.
• The tube is cute and will tuck nicely into a handbag. 

Seriously, those are the only positives I can think of for this product.

The one thing I envisioned when I heard about this and other "correcting" creams, is that I could get good effects with minimal coverage. I'm not a full-on makeup type of woman. There are just days when I think I could just use a little bit of help to look my "natural" best. 

No worries yet. I have heard of similar creams by Garnier (comes in only 2 shades, but bound to be reasonably priced) and those put out by Asian companies. See if you can get samples from several producers so you can find your best match. As for me, this one ain't it.

For the other brown gals out there (love that), this might help get you started on a search for your own.

Peace

--Free

Pssst Script:

In case, like me, you were wondering, the "BB" in the name stands for Beauty Balm or Beauty Blemish.

The creams are trendy. In other countries, they might be used differently, but here in the U.S., they seem to basically be tinted moisturizers. Olay is honest and cops to the description. (You know I will be all over the Olay one - depending on the price and shades.)

**DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample to review as part of my SheSpeaks membership**

**REVIEW** L'oreal EverCreme

Okay, it's that time again.  I have tried a new product & here's the breakdown:

Once again, I love belonging to the Word-Of-Mouth sites which allow me to try so many different products. I really needed something for my hair. Like a lot of women, I have been at war with my hair from way back when Mr. Leon used to do my press-and-curl every week. (As a teenager, I went through a period of using weird things like body lotion on my hair.)

This month has been a horrible one for my hair. First, I tried that Keratin treatment (which bombed), then, when picking up my usual treatment, I grabbed the wrong one (and actually used it) and ended up stripping out my natural curls. Right now, I am having to baby my hair to get it back in shape and back to it's natural texture.

Yeah. I needed serious help.

This EverCreme is wonderful. It's being pushed by L'Oreal as being "sulfate free." I should probably care about that but I don't. All I care about is the hydrating qualities. The Nourishing Shampoo is super gentle but very cleansing. Even before applying the conditioner, my hair felt not-as-fragile yet very soft. Remember, I had done some damage with the other products I'd used.  Usually, a good conditioner will leave the hair soft while still damp; this Nourishing Conditioner left my hair soft even after I let it dry.

The Leave-in spray is amazing. For a looong time, I (like a lot of women with a natural coarse-curly texture) have searched for a spray that doesn't leave my hair sticky or with a slightly hair-sprayed feeling. This is it. I sprayed on just a little bit and my hair felt soft all day. I have previously used sheen sprays, oil sprays, curl sprays and on and on. All of those were just "Too" something - oily, stiff, wet, etc. The EverCreme is spot on perfect.

After using the products for two weeks (one shampoo & conditioning and the Leave-in spray every day), I can tell my hair is "healing." I know that the scientists all say that the hair we see is dead, but at least mine is now not dead looking. Since I am staying "natural" and letting my hair come back into its original texture, the EverCreme system is working for me. It's keeping my hair moisturized and breakage-free. My natural texture is normally very tightly curled and over-dry. I use a light texturizer every now and then to loosen the curls. (I've given up on years of bone-straight "Oprah" hair that I achieved with relaxers.) This lineup of EverCreme products is going to be my new weapon in the war on my hair!

By the way, the products I used smell really nice. They have a soft, clean scent.

As you can see, there are 7 products in this line . I want to try them all, but will have to wait a while. I really want the Deep Nourishing Mask (or, you know, masque if you're French or rich). The Creme line also includes the Cleansing Conditioner, Intense Nourishing Conditioner and an Intense Nourishing Shampoo. Along with that new wardrobe, all are on my "Wish List."

I think that for black women and others with a kinky-textured hair, the EverCreme is the way to go, while for those with relaxed hair, the EverSleek might be the best. You can check out all the systems here:

EverPure - Color-preserving
EverSleek - Frizz-control
EverStrong - Strengthening.

For anyone in doubt about whether or not L'Oreal's products are suitable for black hair (and I know some of you), keep in mind that the Soft Sheen products are made by the same company. So put that attitude away.

Finally, I rate EverCreme a 10 of 10.

Peace
--Free