EcoTools review

My Target store recently had some EcoTools body and foot sponges on clearance for under a $1 so I scooped up a few.
I've used their earth-friendly products before and like them.


The bath sponge is made from plant pulp and doesn't contain nylon and polyester.


The foot sponge is made from crushed walnuts and natural cellulose.

Both bath buddies are soft and gentle on the skin. You can order them here.

Photos from http://www.parispresents.com/EcoTools_s/36.htm.

New Amerykah Part 2 is out today!

So my fave singer Erykah Badu's album is out today.
I'm not going to review it because of my obvious bias, but you can purchase the album here.
Enjoy!!

Photo from amazon.com.

Glamarazzi Weekly Round-up!

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Edited by Keedah

This week it's all about beauty! The Glamarazzi ladies are bringing you everything from how to get gorgeous curls to the latest nail trends. 

• A guide to the best products for gorgeous curls by Obsessions Isnt Just a Perfume


• Vex in the City shares her progress with Mega-Tek, known to reduce hair breakage and encourage faster hair growth
  


• Temple of Glam is offering up the New Bath & Body Works Collection to the goddess of spring. Too hokey? OK fine: Enter to win the ENTIRE Moonlight Magic Collection...Ends Tomorrow!!
  


• Makeup Music Money Me asks What beauty products are you lovely ladies using while you're working


• LiAnn at Sparklecrack Central is breaking out the UV-colorchanging nail polishes now that the sun's finally here


• Hot Beauty Health shows you how to revive your hair with 8 homemade hair conditioner recipes!!
  

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Erykah Badu's "Window Seat" video

Erykah Badu's new video for "Window Seat" debuted on her Web site early this morning!
It's been getting major buzz on the net because Badu walks through what appears to be Dallas taking her clothes off.
And she's looking dam lovely for someone who's had three children.
At the end of the video, Badu gets shot and then the word "groupthink" appears in blue.
At first, I was like, "WTH??"
But upon further thinking, I took the video to mean that people fear what they don't understand.
I love it and I heart her.
Her new album is out on Tuesday.

Sally Hansen Natural Butter Lip Shine

I've been looking for a nude lip shimmer since I ran out and like to have a natural look while at work.
During a recent RiteAid haul, I found this Sally Hansen Natural Butter Lip Shine on clearance for 75 percent off. With a $1 off coupon, I paid $0.58 for it.
Was it worth the bargain??
I think so.
The shine left a nice sheen on my kisser.
And it goes great over lip balm or lipstick.

Photo courtesy of amazon.com

DIY fabric bow pin

Pins and polish.
I don't know what's been going on with me but those two things have been my weaknesses lately.
I recently wore one of my fave pink sweaters from the Gap and wanted to spruce it up.
So I took this piece of fabric that once was part of an old dress or belt(I think) and tied it into a bow on a small safety pin.
And here's the final product:


It added a touch of femininity to my sweater. I was happy with the look. What say you??

Beauty at Your Desk

While I'm typing away at work, I mainly use a bottle of yes to carrots hand and elbow cream that sits on my desk.
I don't like the smell very much but it works pretty well after I wash my hands or use the lemon hand sanitizer that the cream sits next to.
Plus, the cream was free. Can't go wrong there, right?
There's also a berry lipstick on my desk just in case I need a berry lipstick (because you never know when you'll need berry lipstick, right? Lol.)
The third beauty item on my desk is a small, cheap nail file.
I keep this around because I always seem to get a snag or break on my nails.
Those are all the beauty items on my desk.
What are you working with? What kinds of products do you have on your desk? What do you use while you're at work?

Photo courtesy of http://www.yestocarrots.com.

More music finds

My very generous neighbor Gilbert has been at it again.
Remember, this is the gentleman who gave me lots of records back in October.
This time around, Gilbert gave me tons of mainly country tapes and a tape player.
Some of the tapes include music fro Emmylou Harris, Don Williams, Perry Como and Roger Whittaker.
I'm still getting through all the records he gave me but this is still a blessing nonetheless:)

NOTD and weekend treats

I have wet n wild's "Sunny Side" on my nails.
It's a bright happy orange and looks lovely.

On Saturday, I went to the Baltimore Natural Haircare Expo.
I didn't spend a lot of money but did buy some natural shea butter ($3) and picked up several freebies:

NOTD: Lust

I haven't used wet n wild's "lust" in a long time. I love this pink and decided to paint my nails with it. What a lovely color.

Weekly Glamarazzi Round-Up

Edited By: Iggi
It's "Glamarazzi" roundup time and this particular roundup is filled with fab links... From spring makeup suggestions to sunglasses that will cost you almost a year's salary to Beyonce/Telephone inspired "Get The Look". Week after week Glamarazzi gets bigger and better and I am so thrilled. I realized today that we have bloggers from various countries, yep...Glamarazzi is global. So whether you're in Tibet or Texas, New York or the Netherlands, new members are always welcome to request membership. You can find out how to do HERE

Make-up/Music/Money/Me reviews Lush Mint Chocolate Bar Soap
Diary of a Style Addict recreates Honey B.'s look in Lady Gaga's Telephone video
Choosing the Right foundation: Makeup By Kim Porter teaches you how. Priceless advice.
Obsession Isn't Just A Perfume: Get all the gorgeous colors of spring in one makeup palette.
Her Goody Bag's Designer Spotlight: Cody Sai
Purging is good...when you're purging your makeup stash. ProjectDanielle lets you know when its time to toss it.
Sometimes there's a downside to being a newer makeup junkie...like when you're looking for new mascara and lip products. Any recommendations for LiAnn at Sparklecrack Central?
Hot Beauty Health ask her readers "would you use kool aid hair dye?"
$27,000 sunglasses? $15,000 garter and suspenders? Yup. Glamour Whore thinks you're worth it.

My first job

I've been many things in my young life.
Popcorn popper. Waitress. Journalist.
But my very first gig included working for myself.
Heavily influenced by my Girl Scout activities and a high tolerance for creativity,
I owned my own jewelry "business" when I was in the third grade.
Bracelets, rings, necklaces; you name it, I made it.
Now, I don't remember exactly how much I charged my classmates, but I was getting paid for a child. LOL.
After a while, things got so good that it became too much for me to handle by myself so I "went out of business."
But I loved the feeling of being self-employed and doing something that I loved.
What was your very first job?? Did you like or love it?

Is it March 30 yet???

Erykah Badu's "New Amerykah Part 2:Return of the Ankh" can't get here fast enough.
Badu has posted the cover to her long-awaited album on her Web site.
It's gorgeous.
And then there's some new music, most likely an intro. track playing over there too.
Badu said on her twitter page last night that the song is called, "Strawberry Incense."
The song features harps and is mellow and makes me mad that it's not March 30 yet.
And you can listen to snippets of the album on Amazon.
Oh Jesus.
Someone please call the paramedics.
I'm dying over here waiting on this album.

Photo from www.soulbounce.com.

$2 Haul

Went to Target during my dinner break just to peruse (as usual.)
I ended up buying this Revlon cuticle oil or 20 cents:


Yeap, this was 20 cents. And don't even ask about the nails. I swatch while I shop.

Then I headed over to Walmart where I got this Miley Cyrus (yeah, I know) T-shirt for $1:

Yeap, $1 buck. I think I'm going to wear it to work tomorrow.

Lush soap review

LUSH is my new beauty brand of choice.
I recently fell in love with their lotion bars and now heart their soaps.
I bought this mint chocolate bar for about $9 several weeks ago and have been using it ever since.
It smells like a baked good and works up a nice lather.
I love the way it comes wrapped, like a present:






The soap is made from natural ingredients, and is vegan and vegetarian-friendly. It goes perfect with my LUSH lotion bars and LAVANILA fragrance set.

Song of the Day: "My People Hold On"

Today's Song of the Day is "My People Hold On" by Eddie Kendricks.
The song appears on Kendrick's 1972 record, "People...Hold On."
Kendricks was a former Temptation who had a pretty solid solo career.
This tune is one of my faves from him.
It's therapeutic.
It's universal.
It's church without even stepping foot in a chapel.
When times are getting tough, I put this song on repeat, sit back and listen.
Enjoy!

Seacret salt scrub and body cream review

My big brother recently gave me some Seacret lemon body scrub ($49) and vanilla cream($49) that he said wasn't working for him.
I've been testing the products out for a couple of weeks now.
The scrub was less abrasive than I thought. I liked the smell and its gently exfoliating action.
I was also impressed with its oil to salt ratio. Wasn't too oily, which I like.
The cream, which is extremely thick, was the business.
I love thick creams and butters because my skin is super dry and I need that EXTRA thickness to moisturize my body.
It smells so good and moisturizes really well.
The products contain minerals from the Dead Sea which are known for their healing properties, cell metabolism and muscle relaxers.
Products from this company are pretty expensive but you deserve a treat every now and then, right?
You can get them here.

Photo from www.seacretspa.com.

Target haul

Last night, I went to Target with intentions of "just looking."
Well, we all know how that goes.
I ended up buying lots of stuff on clearance:
-an e.l.f. compact mirror ($0.70)
-Revlon lip gloss and polish in "Peach Nectar" and "Life's a Peach" ($0.48 for the gloss and the polish was free)
-L'Oreal HIP shadow pigments in "Striving" ($2) and lip gloss ($0.48)
-3 travel bottles of Weleda shower cream ($0.34 each)

The good thing is that I paid about $5 for all the items. I used coupons on the Revlon gloss and polish, and L'Oreal gloss and shadow.
The glosses, polish and shower creams will be given away in the form of gifts and giveaways prizes.
Expect reviews and swatches on the other products soon!

DIY Flower pin

I bought a set of blue floral earrings during my vacation to India several months ago.
I think I paid no more than $10 for the earrings.
I loved them and wore them with everything, until I lost one of them.
Since I haven't been able to find the other earring and I can't bring myself to throw the remaining one away, I thought it would be cool to make a pin out of it.
I just glued the lone earring to a pin back and let it dry overnight.
And voila!!
A new use for an old earring.

Weekly Glamarazzi Round-up!

  

Edited by Keedah

Spring is right around the corner! With all the prepping and  planning for warmer wardrobes and scoping out of spring trends the Glamarazzi list is a little light this week. But alas, it's quality and not quantity that matters and this weeks links will surely gear you up for spring.

Blaq Vixen Beauty has teamed up with Korres to giveaway their newest primer, the Quercetin & Oak Age-Reversing Face Primer!

From Makeup / Music / Money / Me Physicians Formula review and swatches

Obsession Isnt Just a Fragrance shows us Rare and impossible to get fragrances are just a mouse click away...

Her Goody Bag Spring Trend: HOT one shoulder dresses for under $50

The Style Aficionado has noticed a lot of models in sweat pants..... On the runway.

Bittersweet? Yes. MAGNIFICENT? Absolutely... Paris Fashion Week Fall 2010: Alexander McQueen

Hot Beauty Health shares the best products for oily hair!

sade music review

There's something effortless about Sade.
She wears minimal make-up, doesn't do many musical collaborations and she stays out of the limelight.
Sade just is.
And the Nigerian-born singer proves why in her latest effort, "Soldier of Love."
The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and sold over 500,000 copies in it's first week. It sold about 200,000 in its second week.
The album is soft, peaceful and very relaxing.
My favorite song is "Babyfather," where Sade tells her child how strong her father's love is. This song had me in tears and is therapy for me, since I lost my dad about a year and a half ago.
I also love "The Long Hard Road" and "The Moon and the Sky."
Overall, the album finds Sade in her comfort zone and you won't be pressing the forward button.
"Soldier of Love" is classic Sade and proves why she is the Queen of the Quiet storm.


Photo courtesy of amazon.com.

wet n wild and Sally Hansen swatches

As promised, here's a picture from yesterday's $5 RiteAid haul:



And here's a swatch of wet n wild's "Misty Rose:"



Here's a swatch of Sally Hansen's "Wet Cement:"

Physicians Formula Swatches and Review

I recently bought a whole bunch of Physicians Formula products with my tax refund.
I've used their products before and like the company.
The products are certified organic and free of parabens, synthetic preservatives and harsh chemicals.
They work well and are affordable.


Here's a picture of the new pop brown eyes palette. It's super bright and has lots of colors for different looks. They also have palettes for blue, hazel and green eye colors.


Here's the swatch. The palette was about $10.


Here's a picture of their new custom eye enhancing mascara duo in purple and black.


Here's the purple part. It looked really nice on my lashes.


And here's the black part.

Have you tried Physicians Formula products before? If so, which ones and did you like them?

Mini RiteAid Haul

I bought more goodies from RiteAid today:

-wetnwild's "Misty Rose" ($0.99)
-Sally Hansen's "Wet Cement" from her Xtreme wear collection ($3)
-Sally Hansen Natural Butter lip shine in "Nectar" ($0.58 with coupon)

Look for swatches/reviews soon!

Song of the Day "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else"

Today's Song of the Day is "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else" from the Jones Girls.
The Jones Girls was a trio of three sisters from Detroit.
They sang back-up for Linda Clifford, Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass and Aretha Franklin.
"You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else" is the group's biggest hit.
I love the song for its vibrant and thumping bassline.
Enjoy!

Weekend Nails

I've been super obsessed with nail polish lately.
The colors.
The textures.
The brands.
I want to try them all.
Call me crazy because I do have a problem:)
I know this and I'm trying to get help.
That's why I went on a little polish haul this weekend to try to tame my problem:)


I got polishes from wet n wild, Maybelline, Rimmel and e.l.f.

Here are the looks:


Burgundy Frost from wet n wild. Too old lady-ish.


Purple frost from wet n wild. I saw "Alice in Wonderland" over the weekend and felt like painting my nails purple. Don't ask me why. These colors were buy 1 get 1 half off from Rite Aid. I paid $1.50 for the two.


This is desert storm from Rimmel. It was $.84 from Target. Notice the little leopard design I tried to do on my middle finger.



And here's a mauve color from Maybelline that was $.87.

I knew she'd win.
Last night, Baltimore county native Mo'Nique won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Mary Jones in "Precious."
Her role and the movie received lots of criticism for its portrayal of negative blacks.
But I say Mo'Nique deserved the award.
She gave an honest, emotional and passionate performance.
Congrats to her.
Also, Geoffrey Fletcher became the first black to win screenwriting honors last night. He won for "Precious'" screenplay.

Photo courtesy of Bossip.com.

Song of the Day: B.T. Express' "This House is Smokin'"

Happy Friday!
This song "This House is Smokin'" from B.T. Express has been doing it for me lately.
It just makes me feel good and puts me in chill mode.
O, and do you hear that tight bass line??
I'm in love with it.
I have this B.T. Express album on vinyl and am going to review it one day.
Until then, I'll enjoy this song:)

Glamarazzi Round-up!!

Edited By: Iggi
It's Thursday...and you know what that means: Glamarazzi time!! Just in time for the weekend, it's the perfect day to read through this week's haute links to get some fab glam/beauty tips for your weekend look... And don't forget, we are always considering new members. If interested find out how to submit your blog for membership HERE

Make-up/Music/Money/Me FINALLY got her hair done. An interesting and funny story...
Obsession Isn't Just A Perfume has a makeup palette you can play with in the dark!
See Her Goody Bag's Top 5 Transitional Pieces for the Spring
The Style Aficionado teaches us how to fix a broken eyeshadow
Hot Beauty Health shares a list of the latest female fashion trends for Spring 2010!
Blaq Vixen Beauty reviews Dr. Miracles' Tingling Intensive Deep Conditioning Treatment
Makeup By Kim Porter has a fab tutorial: Celebrity Inspired Keri Hilson Look & Neutral Look using MAC Colors
Glamour Whore brings you DSquared2's AMAZING Fall 2010 Collection shown at Milan Fashion Week

New music from Jill Scott

Jilly from Philly, better known as the lovely Jill Scott is back with new music.
Scott performed a new song called "Hear My Call" at the NAACP awards this past weekend.
The song is raw, emotional and beautiful.
Scott's new album, "The Light of the Sun," is due sometime later this year.
She and Maxwell's sexy self will start touring in May, according to this Billboard article.
My ears are so happy right now that they're smiling:)

NOTD: Wild Blue Yonder

I'm currently sporting Nicole by OPI's "Wild Blue Yonder," as first seen here.
It's a gem of a blue. Dark. Bright and shimmery.
Me loves this color and my nails look puuuurdy.

Finally got my locs done!

I finally made it to Virginia last weekend to get my locs retwisted. (Cue CeCe Peniston's "Finally.")
It had been almost a year since I last saw my loctician, Michelle.
Why so long?
Well, I had been trying to go down for several months but the weather had been acting crazy on me so this was the first weekend where Mother Nature cooperated with my schedule.
Now, I've had my locs for about eight years. I got them because I was a long distance runner in high school and needed something conducive to my athletic lifestyle.
Michelle, a loctician at Black Butterflies in Chesapeake, Va., has been doing my hair most of that time. (My brother's ex-girlfiend's mother started them but when he broke up with her daughter, she stopped doing my hair.)
So anyways, Michelle does my hair for several reasons.
First, I went to high school with her, I know her family, we lived in the same neighborhood and rode the same school bus together. She's cool peoples.
And secondly, no one is certified to do interlocing in the Baltimore/D.C. region. I've made the phone calls and done the research.
So yes, even though I live in Maryland, I still travel to Virginia and pay Michelle about $100, usually two or three times a year, to do my hair.
With this most recent visit, Michelle dyed my hair a honey brown-ish hue, washed it and retwisted it.
I didn't feel like getting it styled because I wanted to spend much-needed time with my family. It usually takes her about four hours to do my hair.
My locs are getting further down my back and looking really pretty.
The wait was well worth it. And my scalp is thanking me.
What's the longest you went before getting your hair done? How often do you see your hair stylist? And how much do you pay?

Music Monday: Leaked track from Erykah Badu:)

This new Erykah Badu song, "Out of My Mind Just in Time," leaked last week on Gilles Peterson's radio show.
It flows in the vein of my fave Badu song "Green Eyes" from "Mama's Gun."
"Out of My Mind..." is much different from the first single off her new album, "Window Seat."
Also, here are two other leaked tracks from New Amerykah Part II, "Agitation" and "Don't Be Long." They also appeared on Gilles Peterson's radio show.
OK. I'm officially amped for this album.
My brain cells have been starving for some new Badu for a while now.
March 30.
Mark your calendars.
Yeah.


Photo courtesy of www.thisisrealmusic.com.