Red Lips Green Heart

“The grass is always greener on the other side” is more than just a bumper sticker. We all want a bit of what we don’t have. So it’s only natural that as a curly haired girl, I have gravitated to straight hair styles my whole life. (All you fellow curly haired girls, I know you can relate). I consider myself a bit of an expert on flat irons and straighteners, since I have tried kajillions of them. Literally. Kajillions.
And after all these years of comparison, I can say with confidence that the H2Pro Flat Iron 300 Special Editionis at the top of the game.


We all know that a ceramic flat iron is way better for our hair in that they produce gentle, even levels of heat that won’t destroy your hair. They can even actually help repair damaged follicles. The H2Pro Flat Iron takes this one step further by adding Tourmaline to the ceramic plates of their flat irons. Tourmaline is a stone that when ground into a fine powder and infused into the ceramic plates of a flat iron, its high negative ion output creates sleeker, shinier, frizz-free hair. Even my super curly, coarse hair was super soft, shiny and STRAIGHT in minutes…and the most amazing part was that it actually stayed like that for two days! With other flat irons, I’ve had to go over my hair multiple times in ONE day, whereas with the H2Pro Flat Iron one straightening session lasted two days with no touch ups. UNBELIEVABLE!

The H2Pro flat iron has the additional advantage of Nano Technology. This refers to the technology of nano science, meaning very small particles. Nano-sized ions transfer the heat quickly, creating shine and eliminating static. It also uses infrared heat, which warms the hair from the inside out, thereby causing less surface damage. In short, this flat iron uses all the latest technology to give you the best possible straightening results in a short amount of time. What girl could ask for more?!?!?
With adjustable heat settings (depending on how hard your hair is to straighten) this is the perfect flat iron for all hair types, from the most difficult curly hair to you lucky straight locked ladies who just want to add a bit of sheen and shine, or make your hair super super straight…and for everyone in between.


After years of spending a good chunk of my time straightening my hair, only to have it look frizzy, fried and straightened, I am beyond thrilled to have found a tool that leaves my hair looking sleek, shiny, and as if it was naturally straight. Ironically, it was just recently that I came to terms with my curly hair and have found some styles with which I love it curly. Hmmm, this may change all that….

Bangs are everywhere, on short and long hair styles, on straight and curly hair…Here’s how to tame your bangs so that they lay how you want them to, even if you have a cowlick. The crisscross motion she talks about is key: it is what overrides the hairs natural inclination to lay to one side or the other. How? by confusing your hair so that it just gives in and does what you want it to. You can’t get great hair without first breaking it’s spirit. True story.

Learn How To Do Bangs like Eva Scrivo from evascrivo.com on Vimeo.

Leave it to Mother Nature to provide us with the perfect styling product for hair: salt water. For those who don’t start every morning off with a trip to the beach, try Bohemian Beach Spray from David Babaii for WildAid. This non aeresol spray is perfect for all hair types, creating texture and volume with salt from the Dead Sea and volcanic ash from the South Pacific. It also contains Shea Butter, Jojoba Oil, Hemp Oil and Cupuacu Butter to keep your hair hydrated…that means you get texture and volume without the crunch of some styling products…this one’s all about the soft and supple. Spray it in straight hair, then curl, and your curls will hold without hairspray. Curly hair gets definition and control without stiffness, and fine, limp hair gets some pumped up strength. All this and it smells like a day at the beach, all coconutty and tropical, but in a subtle way. Uncontrollable craving for a pina colada? Blame it on the beach spray.

The entire David Babaii for WildAid line of products (which includes shampoos, conditioners, and styling aids) is vegan and cruelty-free with a portion of all proceeds donated to WildAid, a wildlife conservation organization committed to raising the awareness of and saving endangered animals. Not only do the products protect the world’s wildlife, they also protect you and the Earth, as they’re made without parabens, sulfates or petrochemicals. Green inside AND out, the post-consumer recycled plastic bottles are also recyclable.


The product line, proudly touted as “tested on Kate Hudson, not animals!” includes an amplifying shampoo and conditioner that leaves fine, limp hair with both body and shine, using mineral rich volcanic ash and white ginger.


My curly hair loves the Hydrating shampoo and conditioner, with Cupuacu Butter – from the South American Amazon – as a natural moisturizer. Wild Orchid also adds moisture while keeping hair healthy and shiny and Blue Algae Extract strengthens the hair shaft.

A quick and easy home remedy for silky, shiny, naturally gorgeous hair? Raw eggs, of course. Try this deep conditioning mask (suitable for all hair types in need of deep conditioning!)


Mix two whole eggs with four tablespoons of olive oil. Smooth through freshly washed but towel dried hair. Wrap head with plastic wrap or throw on a shower cap. Let sit for 10 minutes and then rinse well.


You can do this once a month for an intense conditioning treatment or more often on dry, damaged hair.


And look! This video proves I’m not crazy for telling you to put raw eggs in your hair and honey on your face…at the very least, it proves I’m not alone in my insanity!!
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Olive oil for your cuticles, honey for your zits, and now apple cider vinegar for your hair? I know I’m making it hard to tell your medicine cabinet from your pantry, but this stuff works just as well if not better than expensive facial products, for a fraction of the price.


Apple cider vinegar makes a natural great hair rinse for a variety of reasons. It gets rid of residue build up from all your hair styling products, balances the scalps pH, controls dandruff, and stimulates hair follicles to encourage hair growth. All this in one easy step: mix one half cup of apple cider vinegar (I prefer Braggs brand as it is unfiltered and full of enzymes) with one cup of warm water. Use this on wet hair before you shampoo, and massage it into your scalp for a couple of minutes. Then shampoo and condition as usual and you won’t have any lingering scent of apple cider vinegar on your hair thoughout the day. I do this every 6 weeks or so, just to get rid of residue build up (it makes my hair super soft and shiny) but you can do it several times a week if you have issues with dandruff or dry, itchy scalp.


Coming soon: the many uses of sea salt in your beauty routine. With that, the honey, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar, you can look fantastic and whip up a lovely little vinegrette while you’re primping…anyone have any beauty secrets involving fresh cracked pepper or romaine?


a few bonus uses for apple cider vinegar:
*since it’s naturally rich in alpha-hydroxy acids, it’s great as a gentle exfoliator…just soak a cotton ball and swipe it over your clean face before bed…enjoy silky, smooth skin in the morning!
*Sunburned? Add a couple of cups of apple cider vinegar to your bath water and soak for at least 15 minutes. (For more intense sunburn, apply undiluted apple cider vinegar directly to skin with a cotton ball). This reduces discomfort, peeling and itching…though you do smell a bit like a pickle….

Parabens are used as low cost preservatives in cosmetic products: shampoos, conditioners, cleansers, lotions, and most makeup contains parabens. Take a quick look at the labels of most products in your bathroom and you will see parabens in the ingredient list, often more than one variety (methyl-, propyl-, butyl-,and ethylparabens are the most common).

There is an ongoing debate about the safety of parabens in topical products. While there is suspicion and minimal evidence of it’s dangers, there is no hard prood that they ARE NOT dangerous either. And I believe that until someone can prove that they ARE NOT dangerous, it is better to take a precautionary route and avoid them. The suspected effects of parabens are too great to take them lightly.


Explained so well I can’t compete, here is an excerpt from Terressentials Organic Natural Bodycare website:


“The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their report “Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment: Agents of Subtle Change?” reported that parabens showed estrogenic activity in several tests. This means that these chemicals mimic your body´s own hormones and can have endocrine-disrupting action when they are rubbed into your body or washed down the drain into your drinking water. These disruptors interfere with your body´s endocrine system: your hypothalamus, your ovaries, your thyroid—virtually every system in your body. The EPA also stated that “continual introduction of these benzoates (parabens) into sewage treatment systems and directly to recreational waters from the skin leads to the question of risk to aquatic organisms.” Scientists in Europe found other endocrine-disrupting body care chemicals in the bodies of fish that humans are eating, and in human breast milk.


Dr. Elizabeth Smith has written that “It is a known medical fact that estrogen stimulates breast cancer” and that “anything absorbed through the skin may be as high as 10 times the concentration of an oral dose.” (Think about how nicotine and birth control/hormone patches work—the chemicals are absorbed through the skin!) She also reported that, in one study, a paraben was injected under the skin and was found to have an “estrogenic response on uterine tissues.” Scientists observing these harmful effects on the uterus remarked that “it is suggested that the safety in use of these chemicals should be reassessed.”


Endocrine disruptors are transported into the body, daily, via absorption through the skin and hair follicles when using personal care products.”


Playing around with ingredients that may spur breast cancer and wreak havoc on our endocrine systems, not to mention poisoning our water sources, is just too risky for me, given the growing field of paraben free choices. Do you have to immediately throw away everything you own containing parabens? Not neccessarily. Are parabens more dangerous in skin care products that soak into your skin than hair care products that sit on the hair shaft and later wash away? Definately. Do you have to vow to never use anything with parabens again? No. Would it be wise to limit the amount of parabens you are exposed to with whatever products you can? I think so. Just sayin.

I thought this was a cute idea, but since my hair is too short to try, I turned to my friend Sarah into a guinnea pig. Her hair is similar to the model’s, long, layered, and on the thin side (not too bulky) so it worked great on her. If anyone with thick or curly hair gives this a shot, I would love to know how it worked for you!

Soooo Amy Winehouse, this one. Though you could tame it down by not teasing it so much, making it a much more wearable ‘do. There’s no denying the look is sassy… just don’t go “Winehouse” all the way…retire the black eye and drug addiction, and accessorize with a healthy glow and happy life instead. Just sayin.

This is a great way to create a unique and elegant look in minutes (it makes me miss my long hair!!!)…perfect for holiday events and parties…or just a night out!