Smooth Viking Hair Care Pomade

*I received these items free for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own*

While my hair is growing in nicely, I'm just now leaving the awkward mullet stage. Since it is not in fact 1992 a mullet is the last thing I want to wear, but I guess it's better than being bald again. I've been using and trying out lots of different hair styling products, some with good results, some with not so good results. Smooth Viking was kind enough to send me two different pomades to test out and review for you guys.

The first one is the super hold, which is kind of super glue for your hair. And the second one is the medium hold, which is more of your average level of hold. You can use them on either wet or dry hair, though I always used it on dry hair. My personal preference is to use products like this on second day hair to wrangle it into submission.

The actual product is clear, which was interesting since 99% of them seem to be white. It applied well and held my hair pretty well. Not as well as a straight gel, but enough that I'll continue to use them. I think my biggest issue was the scent. It's kind of a patchouli herbal scent, which can get a little overwhelming sometimes. I understand these are targeted at men primarily, but still. If you would like to purchase a tub for your own personal use they are $11.95 with free Prime shipping.

Rapunzel Rapunzel Let's Keep Growing My Hair

*I received this item free for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own*

I've been trying to grow my hair back out, and while that is going well I really need a boost to get past the David Hasselhoff stage. Luckily Rapunzel Hair Care has come to my rescue with another awesome product to help with my hair woes. This time their help comes in the form of a hair growth boosting shampoo.

First, this smells amazing! Floral and citrus and maybe minty? And the scent lingers in your hair so my hair smells really nice throughout the day. I've been using this basically every day since I got it and I have noticed a difference in my hair. I'm shedding less and it feels like my hair is growing in thicker and stronger. It will probably take a full month of use to decide if it is making my hair grow faster but I'm happy with it enough right now that I would totally buy another bottle when this one runs out. A bottle is just under $18 with free Prime shipping, so not the cheapest shampoo on the market, but you can alternate this with your regular shampoo to stretch it out. Or have super short hair like I do, then it'll last you forever and a half. I really super love this and totally recommend it.

Rapunzel Rapunzel Let's Grow Your Hair

*I received this item free for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own*

My hair is actually growing in now that all the chemo is out of my system, but we've reached the awkward "looks like an extra from a 70's porno" stage of post shaved head. It was really cute a month ago but now I just look ridiculous. I even got called Sir the other day, this hair no longer works for me. So I'm in a hurry to grow it out to a less weird length. Biotin is one of the best things you can take to help with nails and hair growth, and for the last week or so I've been testing out a liquid Biotin from a company cutely called Rapunzel.

This is a liquid supplement as oppose to the chewables I've tried in the past. You are suppose to place two droppers full under your tongue and let it get absorbed that way. I'd guess two droppers full is maybe a teaspoon, so your not going to have a whole mouth full of this stuff. And it tastes like cream soda, which is a big plus. Last time I had to take something under the tongue like this it tasted like battery acid. I figure one bottle will last you about a month, which seems to be the size choice of most supplements. I don't know whether a liquid will absorb better than a solid, but it is a different way to get your daily Biotin if you don't like the other options available.It looks like a serving is 300 mg of Biotin as well according to the bottle.

I feel like these sorts of items take the whole bottle to decide if they are really working or not, but I think my hair is growing in nicely right now and I haven't seen a ton of shedding so I like to thing it's working. Would I choose this over the NeoCell ones I love? This item is $18.99 with free Prime shipping. which isn't bad but the NeoCell chews are a few bucks cheaper. So unless I'm noticing a huge difference between the two once I finish the bottle I'll stick to my chews just because of the price difference.

December Birchbox #2 2015

I love the months that I get two Birchboxes, it just makes me so happy for some reason. And if I get a bad box or a few items I don't like between the two I'm guaranteed to have a box full of stuff I like typically. I reviewed the Winter Essentials box the other week, and it was a decent box for me minus the screw up with my eyeshadow color, so I was excited to see what was in my regular box. I'm always hoping to get two fabulous boxes, that's my ideal situation. Instead I got a groan worthy box that was full of stuff I can't use.

While it is a nice full box, you can probably see why I'm disappointed in it. First, two hair care items NOT designed for short hair, and two repeats from my Winter Essentials box. Granted, the eyeshadow wasn't suppose to be a repeat, but since they sent the wrong color in the other box this is a repeat. The breakdown of the box is two makeup, one skincare, and two hair care items. Since I reviewed the Juarra nail balm and the green/gold shadow duo in the other box I won't talk about them again. They are getting passed onto a friend and I'll keep the green/gold one I swatched already.

This is the duo that I was suppose to receive in the other box, and as luck would have the replacement Birchbox sent arrived a day or two before this box so I though I would do the review now. The shade on the left is a matte pale pink color and the one on the right is a shimmery metallic pink.

This is a quick swatch with my finger on bare skin (no primer), and I'm already in love with the right color. The left color is a bit chalky and I have similar colors in my Revealed 2 palette, but that shimmery pink is gorgeous! I will be comparing it to my Revealed 2 palette though since it seems a bit familiar. I'll be buying the set of three palettes these duos are from no matter what, but I want to see anyways.

I was really surprised to see a L'Oreal product in my Birchbox, they're more of a drugstore brand and not what Birchbox usually carries. This is from their Professionals line, which is suppose to be like salon quality hair care items. Normally I'd be all over a decent sized sample of a hair mask, but my hair is literally an inch long right now. I'm really not using deep conditioners right now, maybe twice a month max. And I'm side eyeing some of the ingredients, like rubbing alcohol. Why is there rubbing alcohol (a very drying ingredient) in a deep conditioning hair mask? A full sized tub is also $37, which is batshit crazy you guys. A tub of Amika deep conditioning hair mask is only $24, and Amika is a really nice brand. I'd rather buy a nice brand than a drugstore brand pretending to be nice.

Ah, the major fail. Pre-chemo me would have loved this to pieces for sure. This is the Serge Normant Dream Big Instant Volumizing Spray. What exactly am I suppose to volumize? My inch long hair? Not going to happen, unless the q-tip look is in fashion right now. This will go into the box of stuff I can't use yet and maybe next December I'll have enough hair to justify using this.

While this isn't a fail it did earn an eye roll from me. This is a new product from Benefit, I'm not actually sure if you can buy it yet or if we are the first to use it. It's a tinted mascara primer. Yup, you read that right, a tinted mascara primer. Supposedly you can wear it alone for a "natural" look or wear it under your mascara for added length and separation. Here's the problem I'm having with it, shouldn't the mascara I use do that? Like I buy specific mascaras because they make my lashes into the drama queens they deserve to be, so why do I need to add yet another step into my beauty routine to do what my mascara already does? Granted, I haven't tried this yet and it may be a fantastic product, but I'm a little over the whole "everything needs a primer" trend of 2015. Primer for my face and eyeshadow makeup sure, but my hair does not need primer, my lips do not need primer, and my primer does not need primer.

At least my other box was pretty decent, otherwise I'd be really upset. This box for me wasn't even worth the $10 I spent and I'm not excited to try a single thing from it. The only winner was the eyeshadow that didn't even come in this box. Hopefully my January box will blow this one out of the water and I'll be less cranky.

Winter Essentials 2015 Birchbox

Winter is that time of year where everything is decorated, music is playing on every speaker, and cold, dry air to dry out your skin and hair. Nothing quite like below freezing temperatures to make you stock up on lotion. The editor box from Birchbox this month is called the Winter Essentials box and is full of products to help keep you looking and feeling good this holiday season. I love these themed boxes, they always have the best curating I think. And since the weather here has been super cold (well below freezing some days) I was more than ready for some Birchbox help.

This box has 6 items in it, though the sixth item is more of a treat than a beauty product. There are two beauty items, two skincare items, a hair care item, and the bonus treat. That's a nice ratio of items, I hate getting boxes that seem to be all one thing. The box itself is pretty, but a bit plain compared to the November box (which is in my top 5 designs for sure). And as a bonus I got this box ridiculously fast. As in two days after I ordered it, even though I used standard shipping. So kudos to Birchbox for being awesome.

Let's start with the eyeshadow duo I received. Some of you may be looking at the picture and thinking "that's not the shadow that comes with the box." And you would be right, I was sent the wrong one by mistake. I've already contacted customer service about it and they have the correct one being shipped to me as we speak. All the boxes this month are getting an eyeshadow duo from Coastal Scents's new palette set, you just had the option to pick which duo you got. I actually picked this green and gold duo for my regular box and a pink set was suppose to come in this box. I'll be gifting the extra green/gold duo to a friend when it arrives.

Aren't these gorgeous swatches? I LOVE how pretty they are and I know my picture doesn't do them justice. Coastal Scents has great eyeshadows so I know I'll be picking up their new palettes after all my Christmas shopping is done and I have money again.

Chuao is a tasty chocolate company that makes some super unique chocolate bars, like this one. It's a chocolate pod (aka individual sized bar) with pieces of cinnamon toast cereal in it. I don't like cinnamon cereal but that's my son and husband's favorite so they split it. Hubby said it was alright, the kiddo loved it though. I've had other bars from them and I do like them. If you don't want to order them online I have seen them at Target. This was a fun little perk for sure, I love it when we get bonus items.

I normally love getting things like this, but my hair isn't quite to the length I need to really use and enjoy a leave in conditioner. I haven't tried eSalon before, or even heard of them to be truthful, but I'll stick this into the box of stuff to use as my hair gets longer. It is a decent sized tube though and does smell nice, so it can't be awful.

This was the one item going in I knew I'd have to pass on. Juara makes some great skincare items, but I'm dealthy allergic to coconut so this coconut hand and nail balm is getting passed onto the same friends who are getting the extra green shadow duo. I'll let you guys know what they thought of it, but I'm expecting good things for sure.

How adorable is that little tube? I put a regular sized tube of lipstick next to it for a size comparison. It is soooo cute!

This tiny little baby is by Jane Iredale and is their Just Kissed Lip and Cheek stain in Forever Peach. I haven't tried it on my cheeks yet, but it did give my lips a nice and bright glow to them. And it smells so good, I want to eat it.

There's just a nice peachy tint to it, and according to the info card it will adjust to your skin for a natural, customized shade. This is a very Spring/Summer feeling color, which makes it a nice little perk up in dreary December. And since it's a baby sized lippie I can probably actually finish it before 2017 rolls around.

And last we have one of the items I was most excited about. Derma e is an awesome skincare line that I pick up from time to time at Marshalls for pennies on the dollar (love their clearance section) and I've been wanting to try their microdermabrasion scrub forever.

While the jar looks pretty nicely sized the bottom is false and there is really only two uses in their. I hate when companies do that, it just feels like they are lying to me. And at almost $33 a pop I want to know if it actually works before I buy it. I'm testing out a bunch of other skincare items right now so this will have to wait for a bit. But I'm going to enjoy using it even if I did get lied to.

Overall I really liked this box. I thought the curation was great, the items picked were perfect for a winter essentials box, and I'm really happy with my items minus the few hiccups. And for $10 the value is there for sure just in the lipstick and face scrub. Add in everything else and the value goes up fast.

November 2015 Birchbox

I adore getting a Birchbox every month, even if I really don't need more beauty stuff right now.Oh who am I kidding, I always need more beauty stuff! Most of my boxes are pretty great, though lately I feel like they've been kind of "meh". My October box was one of those, I couldn't even bring myself to review it. The stuff was fine, it was just really....boring I guess. I used it all, but I wasn't excited about it. Maybe I'm getting old and jaded, but I'm becoming harder to wow I've noticed. Let's dive into the first November box and see if it wows me a bit more than October's did.

First, can we talk about how pretty the box design is this time? I love darker tones, especially this time of year, so this pattern was a total hit with me. I'd love a notebook with this pattern on it, or something similar. If you know of one please link it to me down below in the comments.

5 items is a pretty standard box, but this one had a really good mix. One hair, one skin care, one perfume, and two makeup items. If the perfume had been another skin care item this would be the perfect item ratio for me. Only one "full sized" item this month, and you'll probably be super surprised which one it is.

Let's start with the hair care product first. My hair hasn't grown out enough to use anything I've received lately, but I did adjust my profile so I'll be getting short hair items only. This is a moisturizing fluid, to help make your hair more manageable and nicer looking. This sample is huge too, so I'm super excited about this. I'm kind of on the fence about Davines so I'm hoping I really like it. A full size is 125 mL (this is 50mL for reference) and only $26, so if it works like I think it will I'll probably pick one up. I'll post about this again in 3 months or so when I can actually use it.

I love a good body scrub, so I was really excited to receive one this month. Until I saw the size. Seriously, could it be any smaller? I'll get one use out this max.

And as you can see from the picture it isn't the grittiest thing out there. I haven't tried this yet, I've been to busy to take longer than 5 minutes in the shower lately, so I'm saving this for the weekend. It smells ok, not a scent I would choose on purpose but I don't hate it. A full sized is $25, so no matter how it works I won't be buying a full sized. I'd rather make my own for a fraction of the cost.

Another theBalm product! I've been fascinated with this company and their adorable vintage packaging but they're a tad expensive for my budget so I never buy them. I received a bronzer from them over the summer that I like, and now I have a blush. This is the Frat Boy shadow/blush (who wears matte pink eyeshadow?) and is a super pretty matte light peachy pink color.

This is such a wearable color, I really like it right now. I haven't actually worn it on my face, just swatched it repeatedly. I'm working on a blush right now so this hasn't made it into the rotation, but I'll use it starting in December for sure. A full size is $21, so I probably won't buy one after my teenie sample is used up. I'm still cranky about the small pan sizes of theBalm samples, but they are cute and I'm a sucker for that.

I HATE getting perfume as a sample, I'm so damn picky I almost never like them. They also feel like such a cheap sample, you can get these tubes for free a lot of the time at various stores. This is Joyful by My Daughter fragrances, and it does actually smell really nice. I think it smells grape-ish, my friend said it was super floral, the packaging says citrus and flowers. But at $85 a bottle I don't care how good it smells, I'm not buying it. I'm waaaay to cheap to spend that much on anything beauty related, especially a perfume I'd wear once a week tops.

And last is the much anticipated item, a lipstick from Birchbox's very own brand new cosmetics line! I was actually going to order the whole line but then I saw they were the sample choices for this month. I got a lipstick in this box and the eyeshadow pencil in my other box (being reviewed tomorrow), so this was a good way to try before I drop $50 on the whole set. These are billed as an affordable and travel friendly cosmetics line, which actually means tiny ass items at regular prices. This lipstick is TINY, only 0.6 grams of product in it. And guess what, according to Birchbox this is full sized. Is that not the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard? A deluxe sample sized item being called a full size product. $8 isn't bad for a full sized lipstick, but for this tiny little stick? I don't think so.

The shade I picked was Glam Life, which is a matte plum shade. It's pretty enough but I think they could have tweaked the color a bit more. I've heard rumors that the red shade in the line makes you look like a clown, so I'm SUPER glad I didn't pick this one out. It's a matte lipstick, so I expected it to be drying but man, this thing sucked all the moisture out of my lips. They felt like the Sahara desert after I applied it. And it did not hold up as well as I'd prefer after eating some pizza. If you are going to be that drying you better stick to my lips like glue. I'll use this up but I'll pass on buying the rest of the lipsticks from this line. Oh and as a packaging complaint, my lid does not go on all the way, there's a little gap between it and the actual tube that's driving me nuts.

I didn't hate this box, but it was another "meh" for me. The blush is a thumbs up, and I do like the scent of the perfume, but I either haven't tried the other products or didn't like them at all. I did get the editor box this month so hopefully that one will make up for what I didn't like about this one. If you received a Birchbox this month what did you think of it?

Follicleanse Hair Solutions Shampoo and Conditioner

*I received this free for testing and reviewing purposes. All opinions are 100% my own*

As someone with rather short hair (and not a lot of it anymore), hair and scalp care has become increasingly more important to me now than when my hair was down to my butt. Thanks to my current treatment routine I have to be very careful or my hair comes out in handfuls and my scalp becomes raw and itchy, which then makes more hair fall out. A hair care system that promises to not only help my hair stay looking shiny and smooth but to help keep my scalp in tip top shape is pretty high on my wants list right now.

The Follicleanse haircare system that I received is designed for oily hair and scalp, but they also make a system for dry hair and scalp in case you fall into that category. A 16 oz bottle is $20, so on the higher end for shampoo and conditioner for most people, myself included. There is a shampoo and a matching conditioner for each system, and just like most hair care products they work best if you use them together.

The shampoo surprised me the first time I used it, it is quite liquidy compared to every other shampoo I've used. And it was green in color, as opposed to the clear shampoo I've become use to. You're suppose to massage it into your hair and scalp for 1 to 3 minutes, then rinse it out. I was concerned about the lather with how liquidy it was, but this stuff lathers like crazy. Massaging it into your hair and scalp for as long as recommended not only helps to make sure your hair is super clean, but increases blood flow to your head which is good for your hair and scalp. There wasn't really a scent to it, maybe vaguely herbal? But not enough to really notice, especially once you put it in your hair.

The conditioner is pretty standard in color (white) and thickness, and with most conditioners you put it in, leave it for a bit, then rinse it out. It left my hair really soft and fluffy, which is nice. My hair is still to short to tell if it increases the shine but I'm not concerned about that aspect right now. And as with the shampoo, the scent was light enough that once I put it in my hair I couldn't really smell it at all. This scent was vaguely floral, kind of your standard conditioner scent.

Despite the hefty price tag I actually really liked this shampoo and conditioner combo. I can totally see myself buying more once I run out, I've seen a huge improvement in my scalp since I started using it. Less dandruff and itching and it just looks healthier. Whether or not it will help to counteract the damage the chemo is doing is yet to be seen, but right now it is helping. If you are interested in purchasing some for yourself you can find it on their website here. And in case you want to save a bit of money you can use the code FC15 for 15% off your entire order. Or if you want to win a set for FREE tell me below in the comments what is your biggest hair frustration. I'll pick a winner at random Wednesday at 9 AM PST.

Knit Style Headband, Fashionable and Functional

*I received this item free for testing/reviewing purposes. All opinions are 100% my own*

Fall has come to my neck of the woods and with that come the cooler weather. Keeping your head warm can be necessary at times, but a hat isn't always the right choice. A cold weather headband will not only keep you warm, but won't leave you with a horrible case of hat hair. I was sent one from Dealzip Inc to review, which I managed to do before I had to shave my head and no longer had hair.

These headbands are a braided style, acrylic yarn based, knitted, and come in a variety of colors. Mine is fairly wide, as you can see in the picture, which means they cover part of your forehead and a good chunk of your ears depending on how you position it. I think they run a little small, mine fit my son better than me. I found it tight enough that after a few hours I'd develop a headache.

The thing that makes it stretchy is the elastic cording that's the base. While this obviously helps the product, the manufacturer used white elastic on my black headband, so you do gets bits of white showing through here in there. I have no idea if this is a problem with the other colors, but it did annoy me with my black one. I do like how the design looks, it kept my head nice and warm while allowing me to wear a bun, and allowed me to easily cover up the patches of hair loss I was experiencing. And for around $5 including shipping, they are a great deal. If I had planned on keeping my hair I would have bought one in red and one in purple, I may save them to my wish list for a few years down the road.

September 2015 Birchbox: The Anniversary Edition

Can you believe Birchbox has been around for 5 years now? Congratulations to them, that's incredible! And this box marks my one year anniversary with Birchbox as well, so that's pretty awesome too. For those who don't know, Birchbox is a beauty subscription service, for $10 a month you will get 4-5 deluxe sized (though sometimes full sized) skincare, hair care, and makeup items tailored to your beauty needs. And right now, if you use my link you can get your box for $5!

The box this month was actually designed three Birchbox subscribers, Debbie Savage, Sara Qadeer, and Angela Coppola. If I remember correctly there was a competition to design this box design, and I think it looks great. They even made tote bags with this design on it you can purchase from the shop.

That's a nice, full box this month. Technically none are a full sized since the eyeshadows are from a larger palette, but they are full sized pans so I kind of want to count it as a full sized item. There are two makeup items, a skincare, a hair care, and one perfume, so a pretty good mix. I like boxes that lean more towards skin and beauty stuff, so this looks like the perfect box for me.

The Pop Beauty eyeshadow trio was my sample choice for the month, I'm a sucker for purple eyshadows. I've actually tried a trio from them before that was black, grey, and silver that I didn't like so this was a chance for Pop Beauty to redeem itself for me.

As you can see there's a silver, a plum, and a gunmetal shade, all metallic. These apply so well and feel really creamy. These are part of a larger palette that has almost 40 colors in it and retails for $26, which isn't a bad deal at all.

While not crazy pigmented if you use primer they really stand out. This swatch was just over bare skin. I've worn it out and about already and I really love how they look. These are the perfect fall shades for people with brown eyes.

Another Benefit item, a company I really want to like but so far have been really unhappy with. This time I received their Gimme Brow, which is a brow volumizing fiber gel, so basically a brow mascara.

I swear, Benefit sends the teeniest samples ever. The tube is the size of my pinky finger, so I'm guessing there's maybe a few week's worth of product in there if I'm lucky.

I received the Light/Medium shade, which might be just a bit to light for me. I did like the size of the brush and the formula, I just felt like it didn't fill in my brows as much as I wanted it to. If you just need to tame and unify you brows this would be perfect for you for sure. I'll probably use this to top my brows after I use my wax and powder on them.

I got another sample of the Harvey Price Hello perfume, which also came in the Customer's Favorite box I purchases this month too. Which is great because I LOVE this perfume, it smells so nice. Like a citrusy vanilla dream, so good. I would actually purchase a full sized bottle for sure, even if they are expensive.

I generally like Amika products and usually love getting hair care products in my Birchbox but I'll be shaving off whats left of my hair probably this weekend so I really won't need any hair stuff till the spring probably. This is Amika's Bombshell Blowout Spray, which is actually one I've been wanting to try for a while now. I may save it to use once I am done with the chemo and have hair again, or I may swap it for something I can use now. But I will be changing my survey to reflect my hair change.

Eye cream is one of those things I love but have a ton of, so this is another item I haven't tried yet. The 100% Pure brand is new to me, so I'm looking forward to trying it, and a coffee bean caffeine eye cream sounds intriguing too. It smells really good through the plastic, but the tip is sealed up so I don't want to snip it till I'm ready to use it up. I'll be saving this for when my usual morning eye cream runs out.

I really liked this box and thought it was perfectly curated for me. I wouldn't say it's my favorite box ever but definitely in my top 5 for sure. I'm so glad Birchbox is around and I'm looking forward to the next 5 years with them. Are you a subscriber too? What did you think of your box?