Hey! I’m back. After a two year hiatus from notesonpretty, I decided it was time to get back to blogging about some of my favorite things. I’ve done lots of researching for you folks and I have many, many recommendations to make. What I have found is Beauty is much like cooking, nothing is written in stone and for the most part mistakes are easy to fix. The best thing you can do for yourself if figure out what kind of skin and hair type you have and find products that do well with your type. Most beauty disasters come from not knowing what you’re working with.
For example – For the most part I can handle spray perfume in small does or in a lotion but certain flowery scents give me an instant migraine. Likewise, fragrance in a skincare or makeup 9 times out 10 will break me out. I can tolerate the thickest of creams and the oiliest of oils but fragrance will almost always cause me to break out with deep painful acne. I thought I had sensitive skin, but not really I’m just allergic to fragrance – as long as peels and serums are fragrance free my skin can tolerate them quite well. Since fragrance is superfluous to skincare, it is easy to avoid.
With hair products knowing your hair type and what ingredients mesh with your hair type, make a huge difference. I have dry, naturally curly hair and for years I bought products with silicones because I thought it was helping my hair fight frizz. As it turns out silicones seal your hair well that moisture i.e. conditioner never penetrates the hair shaft and your hair gets dryer and dryer and frizzier and frizzier. So. lame. When I finally figured this out and switched to shampoos and conditioners without silicone, my hair started to get a lot less dry and frizzy. If you have a similar hair type, I should also mention that you will need to wash out the silicone before you start conditioning it. The best way to do this is with a good clarifying shampoo like Neutrogena or Lush’s “Big”.
So having said all that, where are those recommendations I was promising? We’ll start with these and I promise to publish on the regular.
Up first:
Acure Organics Moroccan Argan Oil + Argan Stem Cell Shampoo & Conditioner
This shampoo and conditioner is better than most expensive brands and can be found at Whole Foods, Target and Amazon for $7 -$10 a bottle. Acure makes products are organic, sulfate free, paraben free and are completely amazing. The scent is of light almond, which I love but I would not recommend these if you are allergic to nuts. I found this combo to be super moisturizing and transformed my dry and processed hair over the last 6 months. LOVE. If you have oily or normal hair, Acure has you covered there as well and they have a shampoo for all hair types.
Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentrate (24-Hour Miracle Cream)
Sure this sounds French and fancy, and it is, but on the scale between cheap and expensive, this stuff aint too pricey, especially compare to La prairie which sells its stuff for $800 a jar. For $800, that stuff better come over and clean my house and help my kids with his homework AND turn me into a supermodel. Back to Embryolisse – It is another fantastic skin cream with no scent. Youtube bloggers love it, I love it and you can get it at Target and Birchbox. Expect to pay between $16- $25 a tube.
Avene Cicalfate Repair Cream 
The French really know their stuff when it comes to skincare. Another brand I love and use frequently is Avene. In the deepest darkest days of winter, their Cilcalfate cream is the stuff of dreams. Their thermal spray is really nice too for a mid afternoon pick -me -up.
And now for the cheapest and bestest – I like to mix my own oils and creams. Crazy I know! My favorite for my dry winter wrecked face, is mixture of organic Shea butter, coconut oil and almond oil. I wouldn’t mention it if it didn’t work so damn good. I like the brand NOW a ton but I recommend perusing the aisles at Whole Foods.
Lastly, this year I finally realized that I have dry and dehydrated skin. I thought they were the same thing, but no sir they are not. You can have oily skin and still be dehydrated. They products mentioned above help me, but if you have oily dehydrated skin, I would recommend using Clinique or CeraVe. I also am a strong believer in the oil method but more on that for another day.
As this is always a dialogue, let me know what you like and what you hate. May good hair and skin always be with you…
Natalie
notesonpretty 