Review: Herbal Essences Naked

Disclosure: The products tested for review were provided courtesy of Influenster.

Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo; $6.29
Herbal Essences Naked Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner; $4.59 each (full-size)

Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo

Before I get into my review, I would first like to mention that (of no one's fault other than my own) I only got 2 uses out of the dry shampoo, so my review is limited to just those two uses.  My bottle took an unfortunate, intense tumble across my bathroom which was so damaging that the nozzle no longer works.  Again, the brand is not to blame, it was my own butterfingers and lack of coordination (one could also blame my aversion to mornings) that caused it to fall to its death.  RIP, dry shampoo.

Now, even though I only used it twice, I'm still pretty impressed.  I only wash my hair every other day and because my roots get oily even after just one day, I rely on dry shampoo to keep the grunge at bay.

I've been using dry shampoo by Batiste and Alterna, which are OK, but they both have some flaws.  Batiste works great at getting rid of the excess oil, but leaves residue on my hair.  The Alterna Bamboo Cleanse doesn't leave a residue and controls oil, but leaves my hair looking a bit dull.

The Naked Dry Shampoo, however, gets rid of the oil, doesn't leave my hair looking dry and dull, and doesn't leave as much residue (the residue is very minimal especially when compared to Batiste).  The smell is clean and fresh, but is not overpowering and doesn't linger throughout the day.  Suffice to say, I would have loved to get more than 2 uses out of this (darn you, uncoordinated self!), but will definitely be picking up a bottle when my current stash is running low.

Naked Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner

I have fine, relatively oily hair, so I'm not the poster child for this particular set of products, but I thought I'd still let you know my thoughts on how they worked for my hair and how they might work for more dry, damaged, hair types.

I'm no stranger to moisturizing shampoos, so I do know how they have and how they do act with my hair type.  This shampoo, however, I would not even consider it to be a "moisturizing" shampoo.  After using this, my hair felt stripped down and not at all moisturized.  The moisturizing shampoos that I have used before left my hair feeling so moisturized I could have even skipped the conditioner.  This one, a conditioner is definitely needed after use.

The conditioner really is the saving grace of this duo.  It was even a little too moisturizing for my already oily, fine hair, so I definitely don't recommend this for anyone with fine or oily hair.  If you have damaged or dry hair, this could work wonders for you!  I also found that although my hair definitely felt moisturized, it also weighed my hair down and felt a little greasy.  

Again, if you have any other hair type and are in the market for a moisture-surge-level product, this one's for you!  I would just stick to the conditioner in this line and skip the shampoo.  If you're really in need of a good moisturizing shampoo, I'd recommend Suave Professional Moisturizing Shampoo.

Have any of you tried anything from the new Herbal Essences Naked line?  I'm curious to see how the Volume shampoo and conditioner have fared.  Any thoughts?  Comment below!

Closeted Couture: Paris Couture Week 2014 à la Cheap

When most people think of haute couture, they think of costume-like designs and silhouettes that either defy gravity or are so outrageous no Joe Schmoe would dare wear them in public.  Although there were some crazy pieces, there were quite a few looks from the recent Paris Haute Couture Week that were surprisingly wearable.  And, well, since I love finding affordable options for unspeakably expensive pieces, I've rounded up a few of my favorite looks from the week and turned them into something you'd be proud to wear in public.

Stripes on Stripes (on Stripes): Giambattista Valli

Image Credit: A Fashionista's Diary

À la Cheap:

Winter White: Dior

Image Credit: Vogue

À la Cheap:

Going Baroque: Chanel

Image Credit: Vogue Italia

À la Cheap:

Although haute couture is not for everyone, each look takes hundreds of hours to make so you can't help but admire the hard work and craftsmanship that go into these collections even if you aren't keen on the design.  I mean, I think hemming my pants is hard work, so can't even begin to imagine what it takes to make one of these pieces!

What do you think of haute couture?  Is it even relevant or necessary these days?  Personally, I like to watch the trends from the haute couture collections trickle their way down the fashion chain and into our closets (the power and influence of high fashion at its finest).  Well, let's hope THIS look doesn't make its way into anyone's closet.

L.A. Colors 12-Pan Eyeshadow Review & Swatches

Hullo, there!  I'm back with a review of the brand new L.A. Colors 12 Color Eyeshadow Palettes!  I picked up two for $1.99 a piece at my local Rite Aid.  The palettes are available in six different colors, ranging from bright blues and pinks to neutral browns and grays.  I purchased the two neutral palettes Blushing Nudes and Smokey (I love my neutrals!):

Blushing Nudes (L) and Smokey (R)

I can't speak for the other four palettes, but these two contain 6 matte and 6 satin/shimmer eyeshadows each.  (At least I think so.  It was a little hard to tell which shades were truly matte in the Smokey palette).  A lot of palettes include far less mattes than shimmers, which I find disappointing, so props to L.A.C. for at least keeping things even!

I've never tried L.A.C.'s eyeshadows before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but at $1.99 each I definitely had to find out!  As you can see, the packaging is pretty much on par with every other drugstore palette, so nothing to brag about there.  Although it's not much to look at, it feels sturdy enough that I imagine it will hold up just fine.

As far as pigmentation, it's hit and miss.  Much to my surprise, the shimmers seem to outshine the mattes in pigmentation (especially when used without a primer).  The mattes in the Nudes palette were the worst between the two, and although it helped to use a primer underneath, the payoff still wasn't great.

Mattes in Smokey weren't much better, especially with the lighter colors.  Overall, I did find the shadows in the Smokey palette to be slightly better in pigmentation.  I also love how they included browns and blues in with your typical smokey shades in this palette, which is something you don't see too often.  You can create tons of looks with the variety it offers, but unfortunately you'll have to look elsewhere for a decent highlighting shade.

Obviously I didn't swatch every single color, but I just wanted to give you a peek at how they performed.  The black in the top left was surprisingly good, but it does have coarse silver glitter throughout.  I know, it's a bummer, but the glitter is so sparse you may be able to work around it if you're not a fan of the glitter.  The dark matte browns in the middle were pretty bad, but as I said before, they do perform a little better when used over a primer.

In the Smokey palette, the blues were the most pigmented of the lot while everything else was just average.  Although the highlighter looks OK in the picture, it is quite powdery and you'd have to build it up a lot to get this kind of pigmentation.

I also noticed with the darker shades in both palettes that they are extremely hard to blend.  I tried blending with my finger, so I can't even imagine how hard it would be to blend with a brush!  So if you're wanting to use any of the darker shades, you would have to work pretty hard to make a smokey, blended out look.

Pros:
 - price
 - good mix of mattes and shimmers
 - variety of shades in Smokey palette
 - some were very pigmented
 - long lasting (when used with primer)
 - slim packaging

Cons:
 - pigmentation was hit and miss
 - darker shades are hard to blend or did not blend evenly

Overall, although there were some pretty awful shades, I will definitely be using the Smokey palette on a regular basis.  The blues are so beautiful and you can create a multitude of neutral looks just with the Smokey palette.  Though it's only $1.99, I would still say you can skip the Blushing Nudes palette.  There were maybe one or two decent shades, so I think you can get away with just the browns included in the Smokey palette.

I'm not a fan of green or purple shadows, but with the success of the two blues in the Smokey palette I will definitely be hunting down the all-blue palette in the collection.  Have you tried any of the colored 12-pan palettes from L.A.C.?  I'd love to know your thoughts!