Hair Care Collection 2018

I have a ton of hair care products in storage. I am obsessed with having healthy shiny hair, so I have a lot of different products that do different things.  I have fine, thin hair that is hella oily at the scalp and dry on the ends. I haven’t found anything that makes my hair less oily. I only wash my hair once to twice a week, so from what I heard it should be less oily than when washing it every day. If you know something the gets rid of oily roots, let me know. Dry shampoo only works so much.

I have two hair oils. The Moroccan Oil is a definite repurchase after I finish it up and open up the Ghost Oil. I love the scent of the M oil so much. I will see if I can finish the M oil this year, but I also have a few shine sprays that I need to get through as well. I have two thirds of it left and a little bit of oil goes a long way. Not sure if I can meet this goal this year, but I am going to try.

I have a love hate relationship with mousse. If it works, I love it. If it makes me greasy, I hate it. My hair has fallen out of love with TRESemme and it makes my roots greasy and crunchy. The Herbal Essence smells amazing, but I am not sure that I see any difference whatsoever. I just recently got the eSalon Above The Clouds Volumizing Mouse, so I can’t say too much about it yet. The Big Sexy Hair Root Pump I have yet to try. I would like to use up the TRESemme and the Big Sexy Hair can this year.

I have four dry shampoos here and I know that I can finish off the Drybar Triple Sec and my favorite, Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo. I have TRESemme Waterless Foam Shampoo that is just ehh…..I don’t care for it, so I’d like to use it up. I have been using Lush No Drought on the weekends as deodorant. I don’t like it for dry shampoo, but I’m going blonde, blonde. So, maybe I will then.

I have a backup matching set of Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner, A Deva Curl Melt Into Moisture Matcha Butter Mask, and a John Frieda Frizz Ease Daily Nourishment Conditioner. I should have no problem getting through all of these this year. I wash my hair once to twice a week, so it takes me longer than most to use this stuff up. Still, these are small containers, so it should be all gone by the end of the year.

I have two aerosol shine spray and one manual spray. I want to finish off the manual spray and then probably the Rusk spray this year. I have the Rusk Elixir Mist, L’Oreal Glass Shine, and Nick Chavez Starlet Shine Spray. I love these silicone hair coating products that give my hair shine and strength. I have an oil I want to go through, so hopefully I can balance out these products to use them up.

I have two leave in products that I like to use on freshly washed hair. I will probably only get through one of these this year, since I only use them 52 to 104 times a year. Hmm….maybe, I will get through both of them. We shall see. I have the Nexxus Pro Mend Split End Binding Leave-In Creme, Infusium 23 Moisture Replenish Leave-In Creme.

I have a few miscellaneous products. I will finish the B&BW True Blue Spa Malibu Wave Spray and the TRESemme hairspray. The TIGI Bed Head After Party Smoothing Creme will not be used up. I am trying to use up a lot of shine sprays and an oil. I won’t have enough time to use this one up too. I have plenty of hair care products for next year and this year will be a learning process of finding out what I really like in my hair.

I have a huge hair collection, because I like to invest in my appearance. First impressions are everything.

With Love,

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Invisible Oil

For Bumble & Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Primer

I just used this as my leave-in conditioner and it was a great detangler as well. My thin hair needs a leave-in to give extra moisture to the ends and to detangle my knotty hair. I really enjoyed spraying this into my hair and the scent was amazing. I would not purchase though, because I already have my holy grail leave in treatment. This was nice to try, but I wouldn’t splurge on it. It is very hydrating without weighing my hair down and my hair was always very soft after using this. I almost never heat style my hair, so I cannot speak for how it performs as a heat protectant. Since it says primer, you might want to spray a normal heat protectant on top of this one. It may only be for the sun.

With Love,

❤ Selena Hannah ❤

June Sephora PLAY!

I really liked that Sephora did something different from their store brand design on the play cards. This beach design is very festive and true to the June Theme: Summer Starters. All of my products fit with the theme of an easy breezy summer. I will be using everything that I received in my box this month. The past two months, I have set one thing out of each box aside, because it wasn’t something that really fit for me.

I will tell you up front now that my box is a 5 out of 5 stars, because I will use each product. It gets 4 personal stars for me, because two products I’m just meh about. Still will use them though. This box just doesn’t excite me that much.

Benefit The Porefessional 3ml for $4.50

This is a small sample, but a little goes a long way. It is a pore filler and not meant to be used all over the face. I use this on my chin, forehead, nose, and the pores that are around my nose on my cheek area. I tend to have large pores in these areas. I like the way this makes my face look, but I am unsure that I would buy a full size. I’m still looking for that holy grail primer for my face. I feel like primers just don’t do that much for me. Maybe, I haven’t found the right one yet.

IGK Rich Kid Coconut Oil Gel 15ml for $2.70

This hair product smells nice and you put it on wet hair and let it air dry. I am all about air drying my hair, so I couldn’t be happier with this sample. I am currently using a split end mender, so I’ll probably not use this sample for a bit. I will definitely use it though,  because this is the kind of product that I like for effortless hair that has texture without a blowdryer. Maybe someday I’ll have time to heat style my hair again. Once in a while would be fun. I enjoy balmy leave in hair treatments rather than cream. I feel like cream makes my hair shiny/greasy looking, but balms really absorb into my hair.

Ouai Rose Hair & Body Oil 9.2ml for $2.90

This has a sweet, floral rose scent that I really enjoy. I am using this strictly as a body oil, because I am very picky about the oil that I put in my hair. I have a ton of hair products right now as well. I’m on a nobuy for hair products specifically. I’m fine with using this as a body oil for after the shower or bath. I can see this being really luxurious. Maybe, I’ll add some to the bath and soak in it! The ideas are endless, but I think I might just stick to using it as a body oil the old fashioned way. 🙂

F.A.B. Coconut Skin Smoothie Priming Moisturizer 0.34 for $5

This moisturizer is tinted and I haven’t tried it yet. I’m almost done with last month’s moisturizer, so this one will be tested soon. I’m going to see how well it performs as a primer as well. Moisturizer is not that exciting to me, but I love trying out skin care. I’m not mad at it. I like that this is a decent sized moisturizer sample. It is almost half of the size of the travel version. FAB is also supposed to be gentle on the skin and since I use a lot of acids on my skin, I really like that about the brand.

Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium 1.2 ml for $2.80

I really like this perfume. It is sweet, candy like but musky as well. It isn’t powdery at all and smells familiar to me like I have smelt this scent before. It smells like B&BW Twilight Woods!!! I thought this smelt very familiar. I will be buying this in the full size. I really like Twilight Woods for the fall and B&BW no longer makes the scent. I’m so glad that I found a dupe, even an expensive one. It’s about $100 for a full sized bottle, which is not that bad. I’ve seen worse and I’m too in love with the scent to care.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in K-Dub 3ml for $9

I didn’t think that I would like this liquid lipstick, but I actually really enjoy the color. It is long lasting and I don’t think that it is overly drying on the lips. It fades on the lips as it wears throughout the day and at the end of the day, there was still lipstick to remove. I’m adding this lipstick to my project pan, because I want to enjoy it all summer long. It is a summer color for sure. I like that it lasts all day without touch ups through eating and drinking. It is also transfer proof. I can wear lipstick and kiss my little boy, too. I will buy this lipstick in a nude shade, when I have used up some more stuff in my stash. I love the formula and the drying is something that an overnight lip treatment can fix. I notice no lasting drying effects with this lip stick.

My box totals $26.90, rounded up to $27. That is over double of my subscription box. I am very pleased with the value and the selection of products.

With Love ❤

Epic Fail: Balanced Guru

For Balanced Guru No Frizz Oil

What it is: A nourishing oil that controls frizzy hair without leaving a sticky residue.

Key Ingredients: All the lovely oils that make up this hair oil are soybean, sesame, olive, castor, argan, grape, jojoba, pumpkin, tamanu, sunflower, lemongrass, eucalyptus, and rosemary. I only see oils and extracts, nothing else. It is certified organic and against animal testing.

How it feels/smells/looks: The oil smells strongly of lemongrass and rosemary. I hate the smell of rosemary, but I tolerated it since it seemed to quickly dissipate after I applied it. The oil is yellow and not very visually appealing. It does come with a dropper, which makes the oil less messy. The oil feels nice and silky. It is not watered down like some oils, but very pure and potent.

Why I like it: I really liked it the first few times that I used it. I applied it to my ends to nourish them and I used it while my ends were wet and fresh from the shower. The oil applied smoothly and I brushed my hair with my wet brush for detangling, a curly girl’s best friend. I usually put my hair up in a bun or in a braid when it is wet. After a while, I noticed that my hair was frizz free, but it was also hanging limp and lacking any volume. This oil really weighs down my fine hair, so I will be giving this away. This was a nice product to try, but it just wasn’t right for my hair type.

I am still working on my Ipsy post and a few other projects that are in the works. I will have these posts up as soon as I am able to do so. I have so many exciting things planned for my blog and something to share with all of you in the weeks to come. Stay tuned!

With Love,

Selena Hannah xoxoxo

Fresh Picks: May Ipsy

Heya Aspiring Gurus!

I have been subscribed to Ipsy for 5 months now and I can absolutely say that the bag just gets better and better with my feedback on the things I liked and the things I didn’t care for. I love that the bag comes predictably on the same day every month. When it gets close to the Saturday it gets delivered, I get super excited and hope that it gets to my apartment a day earlier than expected. Last month, I got my bag super late, because it got lost in shipping. Has this happened to anyone else? So, I got May’s bag just two weeks after I received April’s bag. I didn’t mind, though. It was like getting two presents! I do wish that Ipsy had added something special in my April bag to “makeup” for the incident.

Now, onto my May Fresh Picks:

The Bag:

A beautiful burlap canvas bag with greenery accents. The bag was spot on for a fresh face for May. It fits with their Fresh Picks theme. I really love the bag. I cannot wait to use it at the beach to hold the few essential items that I do take with me. (ooh! That should be an upcoming blog post: Beach essentials! I love inspiring ideas from Ipsy.) Anyways, this really is a quality little bag to stash my goodies in.

The Contents:

Pacifica Natural Beauty Eyeshadow Duo in #2, 0.07 oz:


Based on other products on the Pacifica, I would guess that the value of this eyeshadow is $10, since it is as full sized item. So, counting only this, I did get my bag’s worth of product on this eyeshadow alone. This compact has the prettiest highlight color in white gold and a nice semi-matte smoky purple for a crease color. I will definitely get some good use out of these colors, but I will doubt I would purchase it. I rarely buy makeup and when I do, it is hardly ever eye shadow. I just can never use them up and Ipsy allows me to stock up on them without breaking the bank.

Boo-Boo Cover-Up Concealer in Medium, 0.34 oz:

Based on the Boo-Boo site, this concealer is full-sized and it cost 19.99. So, this is worth 20 dollars basically. I am super excited to try such a high end concealer! I am not sure that I would purchase this even if I really liked it….who am I kidding? If it is a miracle worker, I will be repurchasing. This is the perfect medium color for my skin tone. It blends nicely and seems to cover well. We will see in time just how well this performs for me. I cannot judge it by wearing it once for like ten minutes.

Eau Thermale Avene Eau Thermale Thermal Spring Water, 1.76 oz:

I looked this up online and the sample that I have is worth around 2 dollars. The full-sized is worth 18 dollars at 10.58 oz. I will be purchasing the full-size version of this as soon as I am out of my current facial toner and the new Lush one that I recently purchased. Maybe, I will buy with in June or July by the earliest. I am in love with this! This super cooling water is a great alternative morning/night toner for when my skin is irritated. I am really excited about this one. Is anyone else excited that they got this in their bag?

Hang Ten Classic Sport 50, 1 fl oz:

This sample is around 2.50 USD based on the full-sized product. This stuff smells good, not great, but good. It smells like my childhood at the lake with my family, chasing the family german shepherd. It dries to a glowy (not greasy) finish and leaves skin feeling moisturized as well as protected. I would not purchase this, because I really love Hawaii Tropics so much and this does not hold a candle to how I feel about that sunscreen.

Balanced Guru No Frizz Oil, 0.5 fl oz:


This size retails for 13 dollars on the Guru Balanced website. I love how this stuff is USDA organic and cruelty free. It also smells like candy, (with a bit of lemon grass after scent) the lemon starbursts kind. I haven’t tried this on my hair yet, but even if I did, a single use is not enough to make a proper judgment for a hair or skincare product. I will definitely review this when I finish it though.

I give this bag a strong 4 and a half stars. The half star is for the sunscreen, because I wish it was either bigger or could have been used on the face, instead of body. The overall price of this Ipsy bag was 47.50 USD for the subscription price of 10 USD. I have to say that it was really worth it.

With Love,

Selena Hannah xoxoxo