A New York City Health and Beauty Blog

Review: Is Moroccan Oil an Option For Fine, Frizzy Hair?

When everyone and their shampoo girl started talking about Moroccan Oil, my baby-fine hair and I immediately tuned out. I’d long ago given up on working with its limp fineness coupled with its tendency to either lay flatironed into boring submission- or when air-dried, paradoxically make me look the bassist of an spandex-clad metal band circa 1986. Even when carefully styled, my hair always seems to have a bit of unwanted frizz that really suggests I am inept with styling tools and belies its lightweight texture. Clearly, this miracle Moroccan Oil would be better suited to my girlfriends, all of whom were blessed with luscious locks they don’t color into crackliness every six weeks.

Or so I assumed. My sister, a master stylist, included a massive bottle of the much lauded Moroccan Oil with my Christmas gift this year. Despite my skepticism that Moroccan Oil and my hair texture were destined to be enemies and that the treatment would cause my locks to separate into difficult to define clumps, the big apothecary style bottle and fancy box won out over my impulse to swap it. (It was Tiffany blue! Like a Tiffany box!) I worked the exotically-scented potion into my hair starting with the cotton-candy like ends, smoothing it out over my breakage-heavy roots and all the while convinced it wouldn’t work.

Miracle! After a few uses, my formerly unruly and sparse coif has been transformed. It’s not thicker, alas, but a simple blow-dry results in smooth, shiny, cohesive style. Top-knots and chignons fall effortlessly into place with no errant crimped half-ringlets, and even after using a shower cap, my hair remains smooth and most surprisingly, not greasy or weighed down. I’ve tried every possible defrizzing potion, and as anyone with fine hair knows, most of them are a bit too intense for thin hair. If you’ve struggled with limp, fine hair that doesn’t do anything, Moroccan Oil might just be the secret ingredient to avail yourself of breakage, frizz and hairnemia.

Do you have any desert island hair potions? What products have drastically diminished the number of bad hair days you wake up to?

Review: CND Shellac Gel Manicure Utterly Exceeds Expectations

Nail services have always been a mixed bag of satisfaction. Nail extensions provide flawlessness and durability, but at a relatively high cost with necessary scheduled upkeep. (Plus, emery burns are no fun, and the feeling of newly acrylic-less nails is pretty shiver-inducing.) Natural nail manicures feel pampering and look good for the first 30 seconds, but if you’ve ever nicked a freshly painted nail fishing out your payment method or car keys, you know they have their drawbacks, too.

When I first heard of UV gel manicures, I was skeptical. The durability of artificial nails combined with the understated look of a standard manicure and a relatively low price? Is there a bridge in Brooklyn you’d like to sell me? Still, curiosity won out, and I was soon under the lamp of a local nail den to test out CND Shellac. The nail tech filed and shaped my abused nails nicely, and launched straight into the painting part of the process.

A coat of clear was applied to each hand, then they were set to cure under UV lamps. I selected the dusty pink Rose Bud, which was applied in individual coats before a final clear coat. I grilled the tech about rumors I’d gleaned from the internet during the 30 minute service. Removal was easy, she said, and there would be no damage to the natural nail as with acrylics. I wasn’t routed to the dryer station either- as soon as my hands left the lamps, the hot towel and massage portion of the manicure occurred. This was my first clue that the hype was believable- nary a dent or a bubble appeared in my vinyl-shiny nails, and the tech said I could freely touch things, wash dishes, clean the bathroom, or change my oil.

On to the real test- durability. As the week wore on, I glovelessly exposed my lovely manicure to every indignity I could. I clawed boxes open, scoured the bathtub, soaked them in water- no damage! My nails were as glorious on day 8 as they were immediately after the polish was applied. Inevitably, my nails grew in and I planned to get a new color, but a blizzard walloped the New York area, and I was required to remove the polish at home.

Using a basic acetone solution, I soaked each nail for 1-3 minutes. An orange stick cleared the polish with little effort, and my nails felt normal immediately. The advent of CND Shellac and similar products is so exciting- if you’ve found manicures and painted nails to be gorgeous but incompatible with your lifestyle, there’s finally an option to sport gorgeous, strong and perfectly styled nails. Prices vary, but the service was $20 in my area.

Have you tried the CND Shellac or similar nail services? Has your experience measured up?

Review: Ecotools Recycled Retractable Kabuki Brush

Ecotools Recycled Retractable Kabuki Brush

A love of makeup generally comes hand in hand with a love of makeup brushes. A good brush can make a bargain bin powder go on more smoothly and look more polished, and a bad brush can suck the joy out of the most finely-milled, high-end shadows. But price is no indicator of quality, and some of the best brushes I’ve owned have been the kind that are part of limited-edition sets, were picked up on a whim at an arts and crafts store, or even found their way into my makeup bag through a random drugstore encounter only to be dusted on my eyelids until their poor little bristles fell out.

One brush missing from my arsenal for years was a good, multi-purpose Kabuki brush. I knew the Kabuki brush was an indispensable tool with many applications (finishing powder! mineral base! blush!), but it seemed that most were far out of my price range. (This did not stop me from wistfully stroking their exotic bristles every time I came upon one.) It was with much trepidation and excitement that I anticipated receiving the Ecotools Recycled Retractable Kabuki Brush from Amazon after finding it at the irresistible price of $7.19. Pictures suggested a full-bristled, soft and sturdy tool, but experience suggested similarly priced Kabukis often fell short.

I’ve had a chance to use the Ecotools Recycled Retractable Kabuki for about two straight months now, and it seriously outperformed even my stringent needs for a heavy-use Kabuki. Bristles are soft, but the brush is full enough that they provide a sturdy base for application- holding up to heavier-coverage uses, like full-face mineral powder foundation.

While “retractable” wasn’t even on my original Kabuki checklist, the sleek metal tube into which this puffy brush disappears means it comes with me everywhere for touchups. And when it’s un-retracted, it poofs back up to its full-size, unaffected by travel time. The Ecotools Recycled Retractable Kabuki also has the soft feel of far, far spendier brushes, and there has been no measurable shedding despite my near constant use of it.

Overall, the Ecotools Recycled Retractable Kabuki is a fantastic tool. At this price? Totally worth stocking up.