Suave Professionals-Moroccan Infusion Moroccan Argan Styling Oil Review

3 Posts in a month! Lucky S+SR readers!

Today I just wanted to shoot you a quick review of Suave Professionals: Moroccan Infusion Moroccan Argan Styling Oil.*  I got a sample in the mail when I bought a unnecessary  pair of shoes. I have to admit I was skeptical.  Silicone was a yes, and almond and coconut oil were more present than argan oil, but it was free...

Where is Squiggles?!  Can't you see him?  He is dyed white and in a snow storm in the back.  Haha, no, he's actually hiding in his pigloo (igloo for guinea pigs) and does not look like he wants to be bothered for a photo.  Hopefully, he will be in a better mood for next month's post.  Like all my images, I'll gladly give someone credit for their image or take it down if whoever owns it throws a hissy fit.

I loved it!  I was really surprised!  While I don't know if it really compares as closely to the expensive Moroccanoil Salon brand, as Suave would like you to think, but this is by far the best hair serum for sealing moisture into your hair (for the price) on the market. 3 Oz of product is between $4-7 in drug stores, but on Amazon, the oil is only $3.50!!! That is such a great deal considering you will only use a drop or two because it is so good.  Forget the instructions to use a few pumps.  You will be asking for grease city.  A few drops was all I needed for my almost waist length hair, medium thickness hair.  If you have shorter or fine hair you'll need even less.

Because of it's affordability and effectiveness, I highly recommend this as an entry hair serum for those who are interested in trying one, but not entirely sure if hair serum is for them.  For those who have way too many serums (like me), for $3.50, why not add it to your collection?  Win-win situation here! 

Before I go, it wouldn't be and S+SR report if I didn't give you some background of hair serum:

What does hair serum do?  
It contains silicone and oils that you put onto your hair when it is damp.  The silicone essentially saran-wraps each strand of hair to seal in the moisture, add shine, and protect the ends from splitting. The oils help restore moisture and shine while the silicone seals.  Side benefits include faster drying time and less tangles throughout the day.  Hooray!  It can also be used on dry hair to add a bit of shine (best used on straight hair for this function). Simply put a super small amount on your hand and rub your hands together then apply on your hair starting and the ends up to your ears. What is left can be applied to your root area if your hair is not prone to being weighted down, or you are going for a super sleek look.

Serum Warnings:
While I love serum for my hair, there are a few things you should really keep in mind.

• Using too much serum can weigh your hair down and make it greasy.  Different formulas are heavier than others so adjust your amount for your hair type/condition and serum formula (you seriously might only need a drop). 
• Silicone cam build up on your hair.  This means day 1 you use it it could work great, but over time you can find your hair looking weighted down or dull.  In order to strip the silicone off so that new moisture can get into your hair shaft and you can start anew, you need to use a sulfate-shampoo.  That's right, sulfate free shampoo is great, but to avoid build-up, use a sulfate containing shampoo at least once a week.  Try to find ones with "coco-sulfate" or more gentle sulfates if possible. 

Shine & Sparkle!

* I am not paid or contacted by any of the companies mentioned in this post.  These are my honest feelings and opinions.  

Meeting Founder and CEO of O.P.I!!!

Hi Shine and Sparkles Readers!

I just quickly wanted to chat with you about this super exiting beauty event I just went to! I'm so excited I'm even going to break my "one picture" rule... and my "try and pace out your posts" unofficial rule.  Heck, I might break all the rules and give you readers 3 posts this month.  Getting totally crazy up in here! So the inside scoop is that O.P.I* has launched a new nail color collection called "San Francisco Collection by OPI".  There was a super cool event and it was easy for me to get to Peninsula Beauty, where the event was!  I am bubbling over with excitement because being from the Bay Area, I love all the cute name references (the names are one of the most awesome parts of OPI polishes) and colors inspired by my city!  I will try to give you an inside look into the collection and my experience at the event.

Side Note: You might wonder about why I'm so excited since I have often talked about some cheaper nail polishes that are as good, some times better in lasting power than O.P.I (like in this post).  While I always stand behind my posts and reviews, the sheer "coolness" factor of O.P.I can never be denied.  They hands down have the best quality for the color selection.  O.P.I runs like a clothing line with different collections by season. Which for the beauty junkie like me is equivalent to putting a "limited time only quadurple artisan bacon wagyu burger with locally sourced cheese on a hand ground wheat bun" in front of a foodie..wait...I'm a foodie too...I digress...

The pretty flyer for the event!

At the event, George Shaeffer (Founder and CEO of O.P.I) was there in person.  I think it is wonderful that he decided to hold the opening at Peninsula Beauty, which has 12 locations but has been family owned for three generations and is very much the epitome of successful small business. FYI, I adore Peninsula Beauty Stores.  It's so nice to support local businesses. There was a cute table set up with all the new polishes and a raffle to win 2 polishes per month for a year.  I was kind of uncomfortable snapping a lot pictures at the event, but this is a picture of him taken at another event by another blogger with more guts than me:

This picture was taken by "Nail Magazine Blog" if they want me to remove the picture at any time, I'm more than willing.  I think this also demonstrates how personable and down to earth Mr. Shaeffer is.

With purchase of any one nail polish, you got a little mini sampling of the new collection nail polishes.  I didn't see the point of buying a polish that wasn't from the featured collection, so I picked up the pretty color you see on the far left below.

From left to right: "First Date at the Golden Gate", "Muir Muir on the Wall", "In the Cable Car-Pool Lane", "Peace & Love & OPI" and "Embarca-Dare Ya!".

The color is called "Embarca-Dare-Ya!"  It's a gorgeous metalic orchid/magenta color with a rose gold shimmer.  It was my favorite when I tried the swatch in-store.   Both "Embarca-Dare-Ya!" and "Muir Muir on the Wall" (a metallic rich dark purple) were inspired by "the flower gardens at Golden Gate park." Below is "Embarca-Dare Ya!" on my nails.

Yes, I was too excited to wait and do a proper manicure, so I threw it on top of my existing nail polish.  Not too bad a job considering the circumstances.

 Want know how to get salon perfect nails at home? Follow that hyperlink!

Continuing on, "First Date at the Golden Gate" is a red-orange that somewhat approximates the bridge's International Orange, but is less orange in my opinion.  "In the Cable Car-Pool Lane" is a matte burgundy.  These two colors along with "Lost on Lombard" (a matte red) were inspired by the "East meets west coast reds of China town".

The last shade I have is "Peace & Love & OPI" which is definitely a bit out there and psychedelic.  It is a holographic sage and eggplant which looks a bit silver from afar.  Remember those oily stickers as a kid?  It looks like those.  This polish is inspired by "Sky and Sea Shades" along with "Dining al Frisco" (a muted sky blue), "Haven't the Foggiest" (misty metallic grey), "Keeping Suzi at Bay" (a true hyperlink/ #0000FF colored blue--like my geeky reference?), and "Incognito in Sausalito" (an almost black blue).

The San Francisco Collection by O.P.I also has some "chocolatey hues of brown" in "A-Piers to be Tan" (chocolatey latte brown) and "I Knead a Sour-Dough" (warm brown with an almost pink hue).


Note: A lot of this information came with the hand out that explained how the Urban Inspired, Street Chic Style of the polishes were created by Suzi Weiss-Fischmann-- O.P.I Executive Vice President & Artistic Director.  She seems very inspired by strong, intelligent, creative, and highly capable women as well as the city of San Francisco.  I was quite impressed by the thought behind the line.  You know what's even more impressive?  Having a good 5 minute conversation with CEO George Shaeffer!  He was very nice and actually interested in what people thought about his product (not that anyone would say they hated it if they bothered to go to an event like this...)  Needless to say, below is the back of the promotional box of polishes where he was signing them with surprisingly personal messages. 

I was a bit more excited about this signature than a normal person should be....

Shine & Sparkle!

* I am not paid or contacted by any of the companies mentioned in this post.  These are my honest feelings and opinions. 

CreaClip (or the Knock off Version) Review

Welcome to August Shine and Sparkle Report Readers!

Is it me or is Squiggles getting even cuter?  I'm increasingly thinking he is much better at modeling than I am at cartooning... Anyway, like my last image, I'll gladly give someone credit for their image or take it down if whoever owns it throws a hissy fit.

August means back to school time and perhaps you are thinking that you could save some money this year by cutting your own (or your kids) hair.  If you search the inter-webz on how to do so, you are bound to come across the "helpful" Crea-Clip.  

Back in my Review of Tangle Teezer Brush*, I talked about reviewing my knock-off CreaClip*.  It is a do-it-yourself hair cutting tool which can only really be explained through visuals:

 

CreaClip Claims That:

Cut your own hair at home with professional results. For easy and precise cuts every time! Great for cutting children's hair, trimming bangs, creating layers, or just maintaining a hairstyle between cuts-anytime, any place! 

In a Nutshell:
Effectiveness: 4 of 10
Smell/Taste: N/A
Packaging: N/A
Economic: 5 of 10
Good for Sensitive Skin: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5 of 10


Full Report
 
Effectiveness is meh.  You might be thinking "But Ms. Sparkles, ."  My answer is that regardless of how "easy" the video and many youtube videos show, it is actually not that easy to get a good hair cut on yourself.

What does it work well for?  I have to say, it works really well in lieu of a comb for novice at home hair cutters (who watch tons of professional precision hair cutting classes online) to practice their skills on their friends--*ahem* like me .  It also is good for anyone to cut long hair in a straight line of someone other than yourself.  I'd even venture to say that the small clip is good for cutting your own bangs, at your own risk.  But easy to cut one's own hair in layers? Bob hair cuts? Short hair cuts? No.  I know it looks ok in a lot of the videos, but I simply do not find it precise enough for a complex cut.

Why?  Because even with a level, hair has a full range of motion. A level doesnt take into consideration pulling too far forward, backward, diagonally...so yeah, not too precise.  The oh so simple flipping your hair over, sliding the clip down, then cut?  Not so simple. Hair falls to the sides, you don't know if you should put the side pieces front or back, you dont know if you should angle it at the ground or the sky...just...no.  Also, simply using it as a straight edge to cut one's own hair straight across the bottom in the back would involve some sort of yoga epiphany that I have yet to see, even by the most skilled yogis. 

Now, if you looked down and the price, watched a lot of videos, and figured it might be worth trying the the cheaper knock off version here are a few things to consider:

• The plastic hinge is a bit stiff, and not going to last in the long run.
• The level is a joke.  The bubble doesn't come close to reflecting "level".
• The teeth inside the clip are subject to breaking off under pressure. Comb/detangle your hair very well before use.  If you have very thick or curly hair, don't even bother.

Packaging: N/A since I bought the knock off version, the packaging sucked.  But I'm ok with that for less money than a super carnitas burrito in a spinach tortilla with no cheese or sour cream.

Price: I purchased the knock off version for $2.73 + $3.88 shipping The original CreaClip which retails for between $19.99 and $44.00 (if you get it with a DVD and shears)


Overall, the knock off version is a classic case of "you get what you pay for".  The actually CreaClip is a good idea but inaccurate and clumsy in practice.  That being said, I have used it to do some really nice cuts using my actually knowledge of hair cutting and sectioning instead of a comb.  If you have a lot of people around you with long hair that need straight across hair cuts or have very low hair cut standards, I would definately invest in the REAL version of this product.  If you estimate $10 for a simple straight across cut or bad layers (which is what you will get with this product or a cheapo pro cut) you will probably save money with the CreaClip if you have enough demand for the results.

Shine & Sparkle!

* I am not paid or contacted by any of the companies mentioned in this post.  These are my honest feelings and opinions.