Lifestyle: Live the Lovely Life

Lifestyle: How to live a lovely life ... in style!

Fashion and beauty trends, home dÃ©cor, food, and recipe ideas, travel and reviews.

Product Review: Cassani Fogless Shower Mirror

February 4, 2016 · Leave a Comment

I was recently sent the Cassani Fogless Shower Mirror for review. It comes with a razor holder, a hook with a sticky adhesive side to hold the mirror and the mirror itself.

At first I was disappointed that the mirror was not a heavier glass mirror, but the reflection is actually very clear and crisp. Legitimately, it is better to not have an actual heavy glass in the shower, especially considering the fact that I’m a bit clumsy in the morning (well, all day, but especially the morning) and I can see myself reaching for my shampoo and knocking a heavy glass mirror and it shattering on the floor, which would really not be good. The adhesion is excellent, once it is placed on the surface, I don’t think this is going anywhere even when exposed to moisture (but apply it when the shower surface is dry when installing). This is superior to so many of the shower mirrors out there that just have a suction cup to adhere it to the wall. And it took less than a minute to set up, which is a lot better than shower mirrors that install with hardware!

FOR THE GUYS: The benefit of a fogless mirror in the shower for the guys is obvious to be able to shave in the shower for both convenience/speed and to take advantage of opening the pores and softening the hair shaft for a nice, close, smooth shave, and it keeps the sink clean from shaving cream and shaved off hair clean-up. It is also nice to have a razor that becomes warm and hydrated in the shower and can air-dry on its holder and stay clean, sanitary, and rust-free.

FOR THE LADIES: Some benefits of a fogless shower mirror for the ladies are being able to tweeze eyebrows or any unwanted facial hairs while the follicles are steamed and opened, making tweezing easier, to be able to see your face during any product applications such as facial masks or scrubs, to check thoroughly for unwanted armpit hair that needs to be shaved, and my personal favorite, using it with my Clarisonic skin care brush. Since the Clarisonic can be used in the shower, I like to be able to see that I am using it evenly and assess areas with blackheads that could use another once over.

Now here is my favorite part: from the point of turning off the water in the shower, as a rule of thumb, one has three minutes to capture that optimal window of applying moisturizer to skin before skin starts drying out, so I like to apply my face moisturizer before I step out of the shower and having a fogless mirror in the shower is a nice way to do that.

The Cassani Fogless Shower Mirror is a great choice as a shower mirror as it stays clear and fog-free, is shatterproof, and strongly adheres to the shower wall. I’m really glad I to have tried it!

Find it at Amazon.com.

After steaming my pores open with some fresh Eucalyptus under the shower stream, I took my trusty Clarisonic to my face in the clear view of the Cassani Fogless Shower Mirror

Disclosure: I was sent this product for free in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Number 4 High Performance Hair Care What to Know

December 22, 2015 · Leave a Comment

So now that it has been almost seasonably chilly for a whole three days now, I am rather jealous of my friends who are going on holiday to warmer climes. If you are headed off for a well deserved trip, it’s a great time to check out an excellent hair set we were set for review.

Number 4 Haircare Hydrating Holiday Jet Set

Number4HairCare Hydrating Jet Set comes with Hydrating Shampoo, Hydrating conditioner, Super Comb Prep & Protect and Fleur de Temps Body Lotion and Mini Darlings plus L’eau de Mare Brush (specifically for wet hair).

Number 4 High Performance Hair Care Holiday Jet Set

Ingredients

There are many quality ingredients in the Number 4 L’eau de Mare Hydrating Conditioner. Some ingredients are commonly seen in small doses even in drugstore brands shampoos, but many of these ingredients are only found in higher-end products. Some notable ones that caught my eye:

Vitamin B5 for shine
Gooseberry Oil is one of the ingredients in their Liquid Purity complex cocktail – if you haven’t used a hair product with Gooseberry Oil in it, you are in for a treat. And if you have used Gooseberry Oil products in the past and can’t find a good one (such as all us fans of the discontinued Neil George Gooseberry Oil hair care line) you will really like a shampoo with Gooseberry in it.
Jojoba similar in structure to the hair, fills in tiny cracks in the hair and makes it smooth and not crunchy feeling
A bunch of good anti-aging ingredients. Don’t just think of anti-aging ingredients if you are over a certain age think of it as if your HAIR is LONG then it is OLD. If your hair is longer than your shoulder, and it grew that long at the average rate of half an inch a month, how old does that make the last few inches of your hair, plus all the abuse your hair has taken during that time with styling, flat irons, swimming, sun, chemicals, highlights and coloring. If your hair is long, it can use anti-aging ingredients.
Color protecting ingredients that are also good for scalp health. These include algae, soy, tea.
Hydrating and Strengthening Ingredients: such as Burdock Root, Oolong Tea, Irish Moss, and Vegetable Protein (Vegan).
There is also Silicone, smoothing to be sure, but FYI if you are attempting to avoid Cones of any kind.

Scent. Spa like scent, Fragrance Notes: Ylang Orchid, Jasmine, Vetiver and Patchouli. I really primarily smell Ylang Orchid, Jasmine, Vetiver and NOT the Patchouli once hair is dry.Very nice experience while lathering, hair is still scented when dry, but not so strongly as to compete with your chosen fragrances but noticeable when hair is in motion. Smells clean.

There is a very nice, rich lather, very thick and full feeling. The instructions say to wash twice, but my hair felt clean with one good head massage and wash, working up a nice lather throughout my hair. (NOTE: I did NOT have styling product or hairspray in my hair before washing, if I did that might indeed require two washes) The instructions indicate that if you want more lather; add more water not more product. A quality shampoo and conditioner like Number 4 Hydrating doesn’t require as much product as some shampoos and conditioners to get a good result. I advise using less shampoo and conditioner than you think you might need and adding more if necessary. For example, I decanted just enough conditioner to apply to one side of my hair, then once I massaged it in it was really enough for both sides. I used it throughout my hair and left it in a few minutes. It absorbs nicely and washes out clean. My hair is past the small of my waist but not hip length and it is a rather thick, so I tend to need more product than some to coat my hair. The bottles seem somewhat small, but based on how little is needed; it is a good deal and a nice size for travel without having to skimp on product use.

Even wet my hair felt different than usual after washing and conditioning, soft of expanded and strong feeling, not quite left with a coating of product per se, but the surface felt different, as if I already applied a leave-in product to smooth the surface. To find out what this affect was, I opted NOT to use any additional product while styling my hair.

ON PRE STYLE ROUGH BLOW-DRY

After using the brush designed for wet hair that comes in the kit (which while my hair did NOT have tangles post conditioning, it is nice to have a brush that is gentle enough for wet hair, especially when you do have to detangle or comb through styling product) I did a quick rough dry“ no real styling and LOVED LOVED LOVED the shine and bounce. Without any additional product my hair was soft with just a tiny bit of flyaway, but it is the first few days of real cold here in New England this week. Not bad for no product added.

The bounce in my hair was a pleasant surprise since I am overdue for my regular trim, and they are pretty lifeless the week before a trim, so I will be remembering to use Hydrating Shampoo & Conditioner the week before a trim to get some life back in dull ends. The shine and bounce remained with hot roller styling.

The Fleur de Temps Body Lotion is a solid lotion, but the Patchouli scent was much stronger than in the shampoo and conditioner. If you work in a fragrance-free work environment, it might be a bit of a strong scent, but otherwise it is a lovely consistency of lotion.

And if you are headed off on vacation (and even if you aren’t) – the Super Comb Prep and Protect is a great UV/Color Polar Shield – don’t let the sun wreck your color! It also contains the Liquid Purity Complex so you will be conditioning your hair with that great Gooseberry Oil as you protect your hair. Nice multitasking combo.

VERDICT

SHINE SHINE SHINE!!
Softness, bounce and swing
Nice lather, just a bit of product goes a long way.
Light scent once dry
My really dry ends that badly need a trim don’t look so dry
Hair color was not stripped or faded after use
The brush is incredibly gentle and far less hair is left in the bristles after brushing vs other high end brushes.

Find the Number 4 High Performance Hair Care Holiday Jet Set Pack at Number4Hair.com for $25.

After using Number 4 Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner and styled with Topganic Style & Go Moisturizing Cream with Keratin from Brazil

Tea Tuesday: Teami Skinny Tea

October 20, 2015 · Leave a Comment

I am always a little hesitant to review weight loss products, but when the folks at Teami sent a sample of their Teami Skinny Tea and adorable infuser, I was pretty enthused. As a constant tea drinker for years, I know what is healthy and what isn’t when it comes to teas. Skinny Tea has an excellent blend of teas and natural ingredients that all work to aid in fat loss on their own, and together they work even better. First off – green tea gets a lot of press for fat burning, and with good reason. It boosts metabolism and gives the body more energy to burn. Teami Skinny Tea contains Yerba Mate, which is an excellent and tasty form of green tea. I was reading an article the other day that noted that polyphenols, one of the antioxidants in green tea, breaks down before it hits your bloodstream, but it stayed stable if you added a citrus like lemon or lime to your green tea. Teami Skinny Tea has Lime leaf extract in it, so that gives a more powerful boost of antioxidants. And antioxidants do the body a lot of good, but they also make your skin glow, so bonus points on that. I still added a squeeze of lime juice to my cup just for flavor, which smelled amazing.

Another (in my opinion, unsung hero) metabolism boosting tea variety is Oolong, which is the first listed ingredient. It works by burning fat, boosting metabolism, and blocking the fat-building enzyme. Oolong gets less press than green tea, likely because it isn’t as readily available, but I personally really love it, and it is a nice combo with the Yerba Mate. I did a quick check and several studies showed that oolong boosts your metabolism by up to 10% for two hours after drinking a cup. Which makes it a fantastic pre-workout drink for a little extra fat-burning boost.

The other ingredients are excellent and synergistic as well. Lotus Flower also has metabolism boosting properties (in addition to being a gorgeous flower.) Ginger root boosts metabolism – I love slicing up fresh ginger and simmering it for an anti-inflammatory and fat burning boost – and also acts as a diuretic, as does Dandelion Root.

Teami also makes a completely adorable tea infuser. Teami Teas are loose-leaf (which is a far superior quality of tea in general), so you need an infuser to steep your tea.It is sturdy, dishwasher safe, and will make you smile every time you look at it. I am impressed with how sturdy it is as well – many strainers let small pieces of tea into your brew, but I didn’t see any with the Teami Tea Infuser.

So just to sum up, no tea will burn fat if you sit on the couch and don’t eat right. But as part of a healthy lifestyle, Teami blends have quality ingredients that will boost your metabolism in a tasty way.

Find Teami Skinny Tea at TeamiBlends.com. Also, during October, they are offering an October Awareness Detox Pack, and all proceeds go to supporting Breast Cancer Awareness!

What to Know About Kurious Lip Tattoo

September 2, 2015 · Leave a Comment

If you follow Style Chicks at all, you know that we love, love, love lip stains. So after reading an article about new and fantastic Korean beauty products, we were thrilled when Kurious Mall sent us their Kurious Lip Tattoo lip stains to try out.

why it is special

Kurious Lip Tattoo isn’t your standard Lip Stain. The application process feels a whole lot more like a luxurious ritual than the usual 15 second application before I head out the door of other lip stains. Instead of just applying it like a lipgloss, like most lip stains, Lip Tattoo lets you take a breath in the morning and prepare yourself for the day, while adding a gorgeous color to your lips.

The Experience

The application process is this: apply a thick layer of the product out of the tube (basically the look of a Juicy Tube). I thought this would be a huge mess and I’d have to use a cotton swab to clean up around the edges, but it goes on quite precisely, and any goofs are easily cleaned up with a dab of your finger. And when I say a thick layer, I mean a THICK LAYER. After that, sit back for five minutes and relax.

So, I hope I’ve built a decent amount of anticipation up as to what you do when five minutes is up. Get ready:

You. Peel. It. Off.

Yup, not only does Kurious Lip Tattoo give you gorgeous color all day (and I mean all day), it also serves as an exfoliating lip mask. You lips are smooth, supple, and stained.

Now the peel off process: just rub a bit at the edge of your lip and it will start peeling off easily. It won’t hurt at all, in fact you don’t feel anything – and I’ve used it when my lips are pretty raw.

After peeling off the application layer, you will need to decide if you want to add their absolutely fabulous lip gloss or go for a matte, lightly stained look. I’d recommend using the gloss, mainly because I absolutely adore the clear gloss. Despite looking incredibly glittery in the tube, it really just looks clear when applied, and has a lovely bubble gum scent. It is light and not at all sticky (and I field tested it on a very windy day to see if hair would stick to it – not a strand got stuck.) Even if you are timid on lip color, the gloss doesn’t make the look over the top, in fact, it just adds a glint to your smile.

As you will see in the 5 different colors in the slideshow below, the colors are great. Even Passion Orange seems to make teeth appear whiter, which is impressive. There appears to be a blue-base to all the colors, which is great. While picking a favorite is like picking a favorite child, I’ll say this: Foxy Red reminds me of my favorite, long discontinued Body Shop red lip stain that was basically “my lips but better.” So I’m thrilled to find a replacement. If you are looking for a daytime red, this is it.

Where to Find It

Kurious Lip Tattoos are really impressive. Find them at KuriousMall.com for $18.00 in Foxy Red, Passion Orange, Sexy Pink, Shy Pink, and Vivid Wine.

And be sure to follow them on Twitter @KuriousMall for promotions! Currently they are running a special for 50% off Lip Tattoos which makes them an absolute steal!

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