Thanksgiving

Just a heads up, I will not be posting this week(end). I'm going home for the first time in a year and will be spending time with my family and friends I haven't seen in way too long. I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving!!

This Must Be What Hell Smells Like: Drybar Hot Toddy Heat Protector Frizz Fighter

Sephora $33 (out of stock)

Let me preface this post with a disclaimer: I used this product precisely once before returning it (you can probably tell why from the title), so I can't speak to how it works. That being said...

Welcome to my first "This must be what hell smells like" post. You know how in my banner it says the scent can make or break a product? Well, I'm putting this one in the "break" column. When I bought this, I had just cut my hair short for the first time in a while and I had grand plans of straightening my hair regularly (Ha! Tell that to my lazy self when I'm trying to get ready in 15 minutes or less in the morning). With that in mind, I began carefully comparing products on Sephora's website to see what might help cut down on frizz while also giving me heat protection and shine. I settled on Drybar's Hot Toddy Heat Protector and Frizz Fighter. It claims to "naturally enhance shine and bounce" by "sealing split ends" and "creating a protective barrier against heat." It's cruelty free and safe for use on keratin and color-treated hair. Sold.

It came in the mail and I decided to try it immediately. The first thing I did after I smoothed it into my hair was run my head under the faucet and rinse it all out. I can't even describe the smell. Reviews online say it smells fruity and other people thought it smelled great, so maybe my nose was off that day. Maybe I got a bad bottle. All I know is that I literally could not stand to live with the smell. I actually stuck my head in the sink because I couldn't even wait to get in the shower. The scent was overwhelmingly strong, and not in a good way. I returned it and went for a cheap drugstore heat protector while I looked for something better. Two years later I think I've straightened my hair once, so I'm glad I didn't end up spending a lot on a product I did need.

What's the last product that made you say, "Oh my gosh, no. You could not pay me to use this again"?

One Lovely Blog Award

I want to begin by thanking Sari from The Sweet Life for nominating me for the One Lovely Blog award. She's got a really fun blog dedicated to the things she loves like beauty, fashion and food, so check it out and show her some love.

The One Lovely Blog award is passed around by bloggers to the new(ish) blogs that they want to bring some attention to. The award allows bloggers to recognize those blogs they think are "lovely" based on content and the way that their authors interact with followers and other bloggers. It's a great way for the blogging community to come together and help each other bring in some more viewers. To accept the award, bloggers must complete the following five steps:

1) Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog.
2) Follow the person who nominated you on bloglovin'.
3) List the rules and display the award image in your post.
4) Share 7 facts about yourself.
5) Nominate other bloggers you want to know better.

Here are 7 facts about me:

1) This is my 4th attempt at blogging, and the only one that's lasted more than a couple of posts. I have the Birchbloggers community to thank for that! When I've tried to blog before, I've given up when I realized that no one was reading (side note: Page views are great, but I'd really love to hear from you. Please comment if you like (or hate) what you're reading).

2) I moved from New England to the South a year and a half ago and I still feel like I'm new to town.

3) I watch way too much tv (and my two favorite shows, Scandal and Parks and Recreation, could not be more different).

4) I used to sing in chorus, musical theater, and a cappella and I miss it all the time.

5) I've changed my mind approximately 1,700 times since I graduated 4 years ago about what I want to do with my life, and I still haven't figured it out.

6) I adore makeup, but I hardly ever wear it because I can't seem to make it out of bed more than 10 minutes before I need to leave in the morning.

7) I get unbelievably excited any time it snows.

I nominate:

Jade at A Teaspoon of Serendipity

And I'm looking for a few more bloggers to nominate, so if you would like a nomination, please let me know and I'll update this post!

DevaCurl Styling Cream

DevaCurl Styling Cream $25

This one's an oldie but a goodie. I've been using this styling cream for a while now (just checked and it's been 11 months) and I'm still on my first bottle. When I first bought it, I remember thinking, "Should I really be spending this much on a styling cream?" but 11 months later, I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it. 

Anyway, I'm writing about this cream because when I first got it, I remember saying, "Oh my goodness, I don't even care what this does to my hair. It was worth $25 just to smell it." And the smell is heavenly. It's always reminded me of grapes for some reason, but don't buy it or not based on that description, because that's more of a feel than a smell. I can't explain how a smell can feel like a grape, but... Okay, this is veering into bizzare-o rambling territory, so let me try this again. A commenter on the Sephora website described this as smelling like Starburst candy, and I actually think that's a great description. It's sweet and fruity and I seriously want to eat it every time I do my hair (don't eat it!). 

Remember how I said I didn't care what it did to my hair as long as it kept on smelling just that delicious? Well, this cream actually works really great for me. I have super thick, wavy hair. Too much product and it's crunchy and flat. Not enough and I get a vaguely triangular, frizzy mess. About a pump to a pump-and-a-half of this (My hair is shoulder-length now. I used 2-3 pumps when it was mid-back-length) and I'm good to go. I rub it between my hands, run my hands through my hair until most of the cream is off, scrunch, then flip my head over and shake my hair out. The flipping and shaking probably undoes the scrunching, but that's what works for me, so I keep doing it. The DevaCurl cream helps give my hair a little more curl definition while keeping the frizz at bay. The description says it works best with "Botticelli and corkscrew curls" (I have no idea what Botticelli curls are. Anyone?), so it's probably even better if you are lucky enough to have real curls, but I've been happy with what it does for my wavy hair. 

I'll probably buy this again when I run out unless I find something I love even more first. Any suggestions? I'm always looking for ways to make my hair look styled just by tossing in some product. 

On a side note, I'm looking for some blogs to nominate for the One Lovely Blog Award (it's a fun way to get to know a little bit about some great new bloggers, spread the love to some blogs your readers may not be familiar, and get some links back to your own blog). All you have to do is write a few facts about yourself and provide links to a few other blogs. Super simple. So if you have or you know anyone who has a blog you think would like to participate, leave a comment below with a link to the blog. Thanks!

Naobay Body Radiance Lotion

Naobay Body Radiance Lotion $18

Keeping on the moisturizer track, today's product is Naobay's Body Radiance Lotion. I got this in a Birchbox a few months ago and it immediately went on my favorites list. I made my sample last as long as I could, but it's gone now and I can't wait to buy more. It's a very light lotion. A lot of the reviews online are from people saying, "It was alright, but I prefer a thicker lotion," but I actually love that it's light and almost a little liquidy. It rubs in really easily and doesn't leave your hands feeling sticky afterwards. This lotion also left my skin feeling so smooth, I just wanted to touch my legs all the time. I would shave, put this lotion on, and go into my sister's room and say, "Feel how smooth my legs are." She thought I was weird, but whatever. 

This lotion has a lemon scent that I love. The smell definitely lingers, but I don't think it's overwhelming. Also, I don't know if this is a selling point or not, but my sister's cats loved the smell. I'd use this, go into her room in capris, and they'd immediately start licking my legs. The website says this is 98% natural and 19% organic, so it's probably not as bad for them as it could have been. Obviously, I tried to prevent the cats from trying to eat my lotion, but the point is, this scent is loved by both humans and animals! I have, I want to say, 4? full-size bottles of lotion right now, so I'm waiting to buy this, but it's definitely worth it.

Has anyone else tried this lotion? Did you love it as much as I did?

TOCCA Crema da Mano

TOCCA Crema da Mano $10

Okay, so it's been a while. I've been in the process of moving - side note: Is there anything worse than moving? - and it's sort of taken over my life, but I'm in my new place now, so I have no excuse. I still have an abundance of unpacking and organizing to do, but it's slowly coming together. The one thing that is the most daunting and I am also most excited to organize is my bathroom. The new place has pretty much no bathroom storage, which is a giant pain in the short-term, but also means I won't be able to leave things out on the counter and make a giant mess in the long-term, so, yay? Anyway, I'm getting back to what I think I'll call improved normal, which means I'm going to start blogging in a much more regular manner. I'm promising to post once a week (probably Sundays going forward), with the potential for more. I'm also still playing around with what I want the blog to be, so expect some out of the ordinary posts coming up soon. Let me know what you think when they arrive. 

So here we go with another favorite: TOCCA's Crema da Mano. This was (again) a Birchbox find, and I feel like it is especially appropriate to write about now that the temperatures are starting to drop. I'm prone to dryness all the time, but especially in the fall/winter. It's only early November and already I can see my hands starting to crack. When you're dry like I am, you tend to develop very strong feelings about very boring things like hand creams, and I'm definitely in love with this one. It's moisturizing without the greasiness you get with a lot of hand creams. I keep it in my desk at work and use it a couple times a day (probably not as often as I should, but I'm trying to make the decent-sized sample I have last as long as possible). Since moving it from my purse to my desk, this is what I've learned is the mark of a good hand cream: I put it on, rub it in, go straight back to work, and don't see any greasy residue on my mouse or keyboard. This is actually really amazing to me, because even hand creams that didn't make me feel greasy in the past still looked greasy, so the fact that one that smells so good, doesn't, makes it a winner in my book.

That's right, the smell... This comes in five different scents: Cleopatra (grapefruit and cucumber), Stella (blood orange), Giulietta (pink tulip and green apple), Bianca (green tea and lemon), and Florence (bergamot and gardenia). I have Cleopatra, which I love. I think the cucumber is a little stronger than the grapefruit, but cucumber's an overwhelming scent that way. There is a nice, fruity hint from the grapefruit. I don't know what else is in there, but it's good. Yes, I need to moisturize my hands during the day, but part of the appeal of using this at work is that it smells so good it gives me a little pick-me-up in the middle of the day. Basically I smell hand cream instead of drinking coffee. Weird? Yeah, probably weird. Anyway, Cleopatra is great, but I can't wait to try Giulietta next. Tulip and apple? How can that not be amazing? 

Have you tried any of the TOCCA hand creams or any other hand creams that I should know about (seriously, you can never have too many)?