Live Love LA

I have long hair. And by long, I mean it comes down to my waist.

I like it this way, except for one thing–I hate spending too much time grooming.

I’m all about the products when it comes to pampering myself, but on a regular basis as part of a regime? No, thanks. If I have to spend more than fifteen minutes on anything, I’d lose it.

Enter John Freida’s Frizz Ease Secret Weapon flawless finishing creme. This product, priced at around $5.00 and readily available at most places you can pick up a bottle of generic shampoo, completely tamed my epic mane.

The instructions clearly read that you apply it to dry hair, but when I do that, my hair gets a little to oily. Instead, after towel-drying my hair a bit fresh out of the shower, I squeeze a dime-sized dollop onto my palms, rub them together and work the stuff into my locks from the tips to the roots–focusing a little more on the former than the latter.

I let my hair air dry a bit while I do my make-up, then give it a light brush with my fingers (I try never to use a brush when my hair is wet, always giving it a more thorough brush before I showe) and then I blow-dry.

Voila, perfect locks. And the stuff has sunscreen, too.

My friend Melissa Barlow is a brilliant make-up artist who’s currently working on bringing all the knowledge she has amassed over the past decade to us plebs–in the form of fast and furious video tutorials.

Her posts over at Twirlit now include videos, as well as the usual break-down of the steps in text form for easy following. She has great tips, too.

Her tutorial on how to give your brows a polished look with brow powder changed my life forever. See my eyebrows in the picture to the right? I’d show you a before picture but I need to retain some sense of dignity. Let’s just say she improved my look dramatically.

Here’s the best part–not only can you watch her tutorials and read her top-notch tips and product reviews here, you can also follow her on Twitter, where her username is @melissabarlow, and @message her any questions you have or even suggest a tutorial.

Isn’t technology amazing?

Thumbnail image in the banner (not displayed in the post) by kuuipo1207.

Writing about relationships has exposed me to more brands of intimate products than the average person. Most of you, if you know Wet at all, know it for its wide selection of lubricants. Surprise, surprise, the company has expanded its line to personal care.

Never having been a fan of flavored or self-heating lubes, I didn’t check out the Wet products that had been given to me at an event along with other schwag until my best friend, who’d also attended the event, told me on the phone one day that she’d tried out Kitty Kreme and had one of the best shaving experiences of her life.

Forbidden Fruit. I’m a smell snob, so the first thing I did was take a whiff. It reminded me of the cheerleaders in a rival school during the height of the 90s scented lotion craze.

I wasn’t very impressed, but my best friend is a Virgo and when she says something works, 99 percent of time, she’s right (that other one percent was an error involving Smooth Away, which worked on her legs, but nearly made another friend’s you-know-what fall off).

I ventured into the shower with Intimo by Wet’s Kitty and Total Body Shave Kreme for Women, applied it to one underarm and shaved. On the other arm, I used Skintimate SkinTherapy moisturizing shave gel.

Amazing! Kitty Kreme left my skin softer and smoother. Later, I gave it a test run in my bikini area. It’s been a few days and there is no irritation to report.

Its ingredients may not be the usual natural fare, but this one is a keeper as far as I’m concerned.

I consider this a bath-time must-have.

There is a reason why this sugar scrub is one of Bath & Body Works’ two sensuality scrubs. The scents of black currant and vanilla combine to create the sort of smell you’d imagine on the body of an enchantress like Cleopatra–you know, if she’d been much higher up in the northern hemisphere where black currant actually grows.

It smells so good, it can be a little distracting.

Of course, the scrub is more than scent, the combination of sunflower, safflower, almond and jojoba oils work with the exfoliating grains of sugar to leave the skin incredibly soft.

Here’s the idea behind the product: sugar produces glycolic acid, which naturally binds to free-radicals (the small chemical particles left over from naturally-occurring chemical processes) and neutralizes them.

Glycolic acid also stimulates the production of collagen (the protein needed for healthy connective tissue), elastin (which gives the skin its elasticity), glycosaminoglycans (which give your skin that nice full and smooth look).

The sugar also acts as an exfoliant, which helps reduce the incidence of ingrown hair and other blemishes by loosening the dead skin cells on your body. Clear pores mean natural oils can flow unrestricted to the surface of your skin, giving your body a fresh, more radiant glow.

Bath & Body Works sells a 13 oz. container for US$16.00, but they currently have a special 2 for $20 promotion going on where you can buy any two products from their home fragrance and body care lines–that means you can get the scrub and the massage oil or candle for just US$20. Yum!

Soaps are a necessity. Soaps that you keep mostly on display for their fragrant properties are a delicious extravagance. Of course, there are soaps that smell so good, you just can’t help reaching for them when you are washing.

I don’t blame you. I’m so obsessed with smells, it’s ridiculous, and if I could make my sheets smell like My Sister’s Wedding (which is a marriage of sweet lime and lavender), I would never leave my bed. (It’s probably a good thing I can’t, huh?)

This soap, priced at US $6.50, is made by Clean Living, a local company based out of Santa Monica. They don’t use tallow (animal lard) in their soaps, which is preferred by many soap manufacturers, choosing instead to use vegetable and seed oils, which are rich in vitamins and leave no residue.

The oils used vary depending on the soap–this one is made with olive, palm, macademia and kukui oils, as well as avocado, grapeseed, apricot kernel, shea butter, and beeswax. It’s scented with an intoxicating blend of lime, lavender, and geranium essential oils, not synthetic fragrance oils, which are more likely to cause allergic reactions.

The owner, James Derner, whom I met at the farmer’s market on Santa Monica on a recent Sunday afternoon, told me theirs is a no-compromise approach to all-natural living. The company started out of necessity–James is allergic to commercial soap! From there, they’ve expanded to all kinds of other products, but for me, the best of these will always be their soaps.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to be local to get these, they make ordering easy via e-mail on their site.