Loc Maintenance: Summer Edition!

Every summer I ask any hair stylist my most popular two questions of the summer:
How do I keep locs smelling fresh in the summer heat between appointments and how do I protect my locs during swimming??

This time I posed my questions to master locticians and natural hair stylists at Loc Lov Styles of  Loclov.com on Instagram during their weekly "Ask the Stylist" feature to get their advice.  I'm so excited about their responses (because they are great at natural hair with a holistic approach) that I had to share it with you guys.

Read below!

Will this help you this Summer?  Do you have any advice to add?? Please chime in!
Also, stay tuned for a review on Re'Fresh N which has been called the Febreeze for locs. So glad I got my hands on this stuff!

Mother's Day Pop Up Shop in the DMV

Mother's Day is around the corner. What do you have planned? Stop by the Mother's Day Pop Up Shop by Key2Impressions at the Hilton Garden Inn. Celebrate Mother's Day shopping your heart out at this fun shopping event.

Work Out Essentials with Adidas for Women Body Spray

Work Out Essentials by yummy411 featuring Adidas Women's Body Spray

Are  you getting in those workouts, getting Summer ready? I have a lot more to accomplish that will take much longer than the arrival of Summer.  I'm making more efforts to get moving and get more active. In my quest, I've come up with a few things that are must haves for me : good sneakers, great sports bra, water bottle, comfy pants and an activity monitor.  

There was one other worry I had. Strange smells...ODOR. Jumping into a workout right after a long day of work, I was worried about smelling like a gym sock! Once I tried perfume...much too fragrant and the warmth from my body intensified the smell.  That was terrible!  Adidas Women's Body Spray is great and fits the bill.  It's a mist spray that smells light and refreshing.  A squirt or two under my shirt and I felt refreshed and confident about getting worked up with sweat.  The Adidas Body Spray has been added to my must have list!  I like to keep this handy for gym workouts, but it can be worn anytime for a light fragrance.

Click the image to find more information on the products including the Adidas Woman's Body Spray. There are two additional fragrances offered.   The sprays retail for less than $5 at mass retailer near you.

*PR sample provided

Beyonce Rise Fragrance Review

It's been said that Beyonce' named her new fragrance Rise because she was inspired by her favorite Maya Angelou poem, Still I Rise.

I wonder if Beyonce' watched Moesha with the rest of us and saw Maya Angelou preaching to the young homie, Moesha? (Forward to the 9:48 mark)

 

International BusinessTimes reports that Marsha Brooks, vice president of global marketing for Cody, described the scent to WWD as having "a strong sense of 'overcoming adversity and rising above it all." She adds that,"The fragrance concept is about female empowerment and finding the inner strength that makes women so beautiful."

It was cool to read that, but I wasn't sure if I was convinced.  Her fragrance is debuting on the heels of her new album release that promotes sexual freedom. When I saw Rise, my mind thought maybe this is Bey's idea of a scent that will get a rise out of a man! Ha!  I bought this on mere speculation.  There wasn't  even a tester yet and I don't own any of her other fragrances.

Rise has notes of apricot, Italian bergamot and iced basil sorbet. The main note of the perfume is  "Golden Symphony" orchid mixed with freesia and Sambac jasmine flowers.  Base notes are autumn woods, cashmere, musk and vetiver. 

The packaging is low key regal with a golden structured top to encase the light golden liquid.

Overall, the scent isn't bad, but it's character is not unique. I bought this 15ml bottle at Walgreens for $20.

Have you seen or smelled Rise?  Do you like it?  What have you heard about it?

My La Femme Blush Palette Swatches

 Swatches on NC45 skin (no flash), NC55 skin (flash), NC45 skin (flash)

After rereading my last post as a blog reader, I thought 'what good is waxing poetic about the product if you can't see swatches for yourself?

Here are swatches in the same order as shown in the palette in my previous post:  (Click here to see the post and read a mini review on the blushes.)

Left Row-
Soft Beige- matte, warm brown-- on my skin tone it's a decent contour color
Flamingo Pink- matte, barbie pink-- bright, clean pink-- as you can see it's not great with flash on darker skin tones!

Mulberry-pink fuchsia
Purple Passion- matte, magenta love!
Grape- matte, reddened purple- definitely not what I expected from grape. I was thinking a pure bluer based purple

Right Row-
Naturelle-matte,  light tan. orangey shade, not for everyone
Golden Rose- shimmer, hot pink shade laced with gold shimmers
Terracotta- shimmer, terra cotta,orange and less red than sunkissed dawn, laced with gold shimmers
Sunkissed Dawn-reddish orange laced with gold shimmer
Golden Sunset- shimmer, deep orangey red laced with gold shimmer

These colors are so pigmented, they aren't  quite fool proof.  Be careful to blend!