My Current Obsession - Innisfree Camellia Shine Hair Essence

Anyone who knows me knows that I still have very long, virgin hair. The reason for that is because I am looking to donate my hair, but I am so obsessed with taking care of my hair that I did a mini blog on Hair 101 and how to prevent split ends when I first started the blog. For the most part, I really care for my hair and have minimal heat damage as well as minimal combing. 

I recently found a product that I have been obsessed with because it promotes healthy hair. The Innisfree Camellia Shine Hair Essence is one of the best sellers in Korea for hair care. It is enriched with camellia oil from Jeju island. It's for all hair types and promotes a healthy shine which can be used daily. Simple run the product through your hair (I suggest running it through your ends only if you are on a budget). After doing so, you can simply pair with your regular products. Because I do not use any, I just use this as a nutrient to keep my hair healthy.

Like many other products that claim to help keep the hair healthy, the Innisfree Camellia Shine Hair Essence is one product that actually works. It keeps my hair healthy and reduces the number of split ends. Although it claims to provide the hair with some kind of shine, there isn't great shine behind the product, but it works in maintaining. For those who do not have the time to care for your hair by conditioning and using olive oil to soak the hair, this would be a great product thats quick and easy to use. 

Product Review - Tony Moly Hug Me Hair Removal Cream

Equivalent to the American Nair product that is difficult to find in Korea, either that or it is extremely overpriced, like many other American products, the Tony Moly Hug Me Hair Removal Cream is one product that works as a hair removal cream. Used the same way the Nair product is used by washing the area with hair to be removed and pat dried, glide on the cream and leave on for 5-10 minutes and wash off. Scent just like the Nair product, but the only bonus is the blue scraper that helps to scrape off the remaining product and remove hair. Although this product is originally priced for $7, Tony Moly occasionally has sales where you can pick up this product for half the price. No better way to safe on money than picking up a product on sale!

Food Goods - Strawberry

Recently, I've hopped on Beach Body Insanity and started a new diet which includes a great amount of strawberry. Being in Korea, strawberries are extremely fresh and a lot sweeter than those in America. Although it is a lot more expensive than those back in America, the taste definitely overrides the price. In addition to the great test, the variety of beauty uses for strawberries support why strawberries are my favorite fruit!

For starters, strawberries have an extremely high concentration of Vitamin C which helps to also act as a carbohydrate, protein and even fat. With just one cup of strawberries, you are receiving a great amount of vitamins, water, and even your daily fiber. In regards to skin, strawberries are a great anti oxidant which helps to clean your body from waste. It also helps to boost the immune system and help your skin glow. Therefore, it should be incorporated in your daily diet, even with these few simple ways to help your skin.

• Smooth skin in just a few minutes! There are two ways to do this, one is to cut a strawberry in half and rub it all over your face, just the same as you would with a kiwi. Another is to mash it up and scrub in circular motions all over your face and let it sit for a few minutes. This quick strawberry scrub will leave your  glowing after rubbing off those dead skin cells. 
• Acne remedy with 1/2 of sliced strawberries and 1 tablespoon of sour cream. Mash, combine and apply on the face for 10 minutes. Rinse and repeat every few days. 
• Reduce puffy eyes by placing a few slices of strawberry under your eyes for 10 minutes and relax in bed, just that easy. Remember to moisturize after!
• Pedicure scrub with just a handful of strawberries, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt to give that scrub texture. Simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl, massage into the feet and rinse. 
• Hair shine can be achieved with just a handful of strawberries and a tablespoon of mayonnaise. Sounds disgusting almost to put mayonnaise in your hair, but it acts as a hydrating oil just like extra virgin olive oil. Mash to combine, apply into damp hair so that it glides easily, cover with a shower cap and warm towel. Rinse after a minimum of ten minutes and you will see a healthy head of shine. Remember to wash your hair as your normally would!
• Tooth whitener like the lemon, but all you have to do is mash up some strawberry and brush away. Your new toothpaste will even taste delicious! 

Beauty Splurge - Korean Beauty Products

First off, HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEARS! For those of you who celebrate this special day, I wish you and your family the best of health and a prosperous new year. Because it is the week of the new year, I have been busy prepping and planning for the year. Best of all, there's been a lot of shopping included.

I haven't be sharing my beauty splurges in Korea which is a constant thing. Therefore, I decided to share this week's shopping splurge! For starters, I had to pick up a lemon scented bar soap from Lush along with their bar conditioner for the hair. I thought it would be great to finally experiment with the bar conditioner that I have been dying to try. 

For the more Korean brands, The Face Shop is one of my favorite stores back at home with my constant splurges. Finally visiting the Korean Face Shop, I picked off where I left in America with the blemish treatment. Four items to help my random break out here in Korea: the Blemish Zero Bubble Foam Cleanser, Anti Trouble Healing Spot, Anti Trouble Blemish Patch, and the Pomegranate face mask.

Next, I made a stop at Skin Food, an extremely popular organic store that uses a bunch of food goods to develop beauty products from head to toe, literally. Just to experiment, I picked up the Green Tea Boots Fresh Spray, Lychee Essence Mist and Cherry Tomato Wax.

Last stop for this weekend is Holika Holika where I picked up a few of their top sellers which includes the Honey Canola Overnight Mask, the White Wine Therapy Sleeping Pack, the Baby Silky Foot Treatment packs, and a face mask with one of the cutest boys ever. Talk about a great marketing tactic!

Stay tuned for the many beauty reviews on these products! I am definitely excited to try them all out and share my hones opinion. Be sure to subscribe to the blog to win the New Year Giveaway which will include a few of these products as well!

DIY - Oscar Blandi Pronto Colore Root Touch-Up & Highlighting Pen

A new product on the market that is safe enough for pregnant women is a plus on my books. The Oscar Blandi Pronto Colore Root Touch-Up & Highlighting Pen is a great DIY at home to touch up roots that are always a no no and to provide highlights. It is a plus on my books because the amount of time it saves dropping in and out of the salon and the best part about it is the price. For a little over $20, you will have your roots colored in the comfort of your own home. 

Hair 101 - Less Split Ends, Less Tangle

Building off of my blog about Hair 101, I’ve got a few inside tips on less split ends and tangle. I threw a few tips on that blog, so do a little recap before reading this one! This blog is meant to compliment that one :]

I recall my grandmother yanking my hair so hard with a comb when I was younger because I had so many knots in my hair. Being that I have fine straight hair, I didn’t think it was possible to have so many problems, but it sure was. A few daily tips when caring for your hair:

Run your fingertips through your hair when conditioning. After conditioning your hair from the bottom up, with the leftover conditioner in your hands, run your fingertips through your hair from the top down with a constant motion to separate any knots. Its best if you section off your hair in three or four parts.This will separate your hair and provides a better condition.

Sleep with your hair up. I don’t know how many girls have complained about waking up with a messy head because of the way they sleep. My mother’s doing since I was younger was to pull your hair as if you are tying a pony tail on the top of your head (where Alphalpha’s hair sticks up), lay down on your pillow and let go of the hair over your pillow. Your hair will stay out of your way as you sleep and won’t be as crazy in the morning. This has got to be the best thing for preventing knots and tangle in the hair. It's also a way to keep your hair from getting in your way while you sleep, especially if you're cuddling with someone.

My Current Obsession - GVP Smoothing Serum

With this damaging sun and weather so hot and humid, I am pretty sure your hair is out of control. I practically never wear a hat because my head is so big, it just looks weird on me. Although a hat is your best friend this summer, you may be like me and ditch it. I suggest throwing on something over your head to protect your hair, but I found a great product to help my hair.

I was looking for something to hold down my out of control frizzy hair when my cousin threw me over a bottle of GVP Smoothing Serum. It was the day after I washed my hair and with this summer and all the sweat build up from walking, you know my hair was grossed out already. It felt so dry, so lifeless—that is until I smoothed on some GVP. I am not a fan of hair products so I try to use as little as possible. I used maybe a quarter drop of GVP Smoothing Serum, rubbed it from the top of my head down and I could not believe it.

My hair was so smooth from just a drop of serum! I have the long black Asian hair, silky smooth on a normal basis. My hair is an attract magnet for many, with or without any product. Although I never knew why my hair was so nice to others, I fell in love with my hair after the GVP Smoothing Serum. I could not stop touching my hair! Trust me when I say my hair was silky soft. My fingers ran right through my hair, no knots, nothing! This is my ultimate recommendation for you, especially during this heat where the sun is damaging our hair. On sale at Sally Beauty Supply for just $5 a bottle, you cant go wrong!

I suggest stacking up, you can even save it for Christmas as stocking stuffers because all of your girlfriends will love it.

Hair 101

A woman's hair is a crucial aspect of her beauty. Based on the natural flow and color of one’s hair, you are able to tell how healthy your inner organs are. I don’t know about you, but the healthier my hair is, the more confidence I have in myself. I feel that working out gives my hair a healthy shine, less split ends and even is a darker tone. Working out isn’t on everyone’s schedule, so I have a few tips that can help you achieve a healthy head of hair.

• Try to wash your hair with cold water. If you can endure a cold shower, you are on your way to healthier hair. Hot water is not good for your hair because the heat from the water will only damage your hair, causing more split ends. This is even worse when you have colored hair because it will lighten your color quicker than just using cold water. Of course I don’t suggest you to use cold water throughout your whole shower, try switching your water to be cooler than normal and if you can, pull off the showerhead and run the cold water through your hair.
• Wash your hair every other day. Try not to wash your hair daily because you are washing away a lot of nutrients in your hair. This prevents your hair from becoming thick and strong. I know it may be hard to not wash your hair every day because of the summer sweat, but you should try! Plan around your schedule and organize activities that require you to wash your hair in order to refrain from washing daily.
• Condition your hair. Conditioning your hair will prevent split ends and reduces tangling in your hair which makes it easier to take care of. Be sure to use the same conditioner as your shampoo. Many people do not think it makes a difference and tend to use a different conditioner because they haven’t finished a bottle. Try not to do this because when you use the same shampoo and conditioner, you are throwing more goods at your hair which will keep your hair balanced. If you don’t have conditioner or not the same kind, soak your hair with olive oil and use a shower cap to condition for 30 minutes or so prior to washing.  
• Condition from bottom up, not from the top down. When you condition your hair, you do not want to pop a blob of conditioner on the head of your hair. Being that I have long hair, I use a heck of a lot of conditioner and when I used to condition my hair starting at my scalp down, I ended up losing a lot of hair as well. I thought I was stressed, but it turns out that I was just washing my hair the wrong way.
• Do not comb your hair when wet. In general, a comb isn’t good for your hair because you are forcing knots to separate and tugging on your hair. When you run your comb through your hair, it may not be smooth and that is where the problem is. After you shower, your hair is sensitive when it is wet so combing your hair will only cause more split ends. I suggest running your fingers through them if you really want to straighten it rather than using a comb. If that doesn’t work, remember to use more conditioner at the ends next time—just remember to condition at the ends.
• Let your hair air dry. It is much better to let you hair dry naturally than running a blow dryer through it. Like I mentioned before, heat is extremely damaging to your hair which will cause more split ends. Therefore, it is important to not blow dry you hair too much. I don’t really blow dry my hair anymore, maybe once or twice in the winter because I’m dying to go to sleep and it’s just so cold that my hair takes forever to dry up. Yes, I don’t even blow dry in the winter. Just plan enough time to hang around before you sleep for your hair to dry up, sleeping with a wet head will only lead you to have severe headaches later on.
• Use cool wind to blow dry your hair. If you want your hair to dry quicker, I suggest using the cool option on your blow dryer. This will take a little longer to dry your hair, but it is better than the air dry method. Be sure to wipe your hair as dry as you can with a towel before blow drying. If it gets too cold for you, you can switch over the heat to low for a few seconds and switch back to cool air.
• Use a thermal protector before applying heat. If you must blow dry, straighten or curl your hair, remember to use a protective spray or gel that you can run through your hair to prevent any further damages. Heat is bad for your hair and when you’re constantly throwing heat at it, it will only damage your hair more and kill any life in your hair.
• Wear a hat. When you’re outside for a long amount of time try to wear a hat to protect your hair from the sun. If you have a scarf around your neck, throw it on your head. You may look like a fool, but it’s worth the look for flawless hair—especially the compliments.