Cocoa Connection

Overwhelming Scents

Ladies, consider this a PSA.

Autumn is near and with it comes another batch of seasonal allergies for allergy sufferers. 

There's nothing like a wonderful light scent to accentuate your natural body odor, but there is nothing worse than entering a room or walking down a corridor and smelling the person who was there 10 minutes ago.  It's even worse when the offender still around. 

Next time you go to spray your perfume, consider:
1) Do you already have one scented lotion?  If so, skip the perfume - it's overkill.
2) One spray on the elbow, wrist, or behind the ear will do. After the spray you can distribute using your wrists.
3) If you are trying to mask an odor, consider getting rid of the odor first.  Perfume over sweat or any BO is horrendous. 

If you smell strongly of perfume, people will only assume you are covering up something foul!  Please, spare us all!  Some of us (like me) are even allergic to certain perfumes.

Next time you go out, feel confident about yourself and how you smell and don't knock anyone out with your scent in the process.  :-)

(Men, this applies to you, too!)

Oh, so soft hair, part II

Yesterday I wrote about the Nexxus Luxury Moisturizing Shampoo. I also recommend the Nexxus Humectress conditioner. I've used this conditioner since I was a pre-teen and no cholesterol or hot oil treatment ever came close to moisturizing as well as this. If you can not afford Nexxus, Suave Humectant conditioner is actually a very excellent substitute. Both Nexxus products cost a pretty penny, but if you relax your hair you're already spending money to change your hair so why not invest a little to keep it looking healthy? Consider these two products especially if you use any kind of heat on relaxed hair.

Oh, so soft hair

 If you have relaxed hair then this article is for you.

 As we all know, relaxers a convenient way to straighten the curls of our hair. However, this treatment often leaves hair feeling very fragile and dry. In order to stop breakage, relaxed hair needs excessive moisturizing. To control the frizz and dryness that relaxers leave on our hair, most women use hot oil, cholesterol, or some other form of deep moisturizing treatment every 2-4 weeks.

 When my hair was relaxed, I discovered by accident a shampoo that enabled me to use less deep conditioning treatments and still have soft and manageable hair. Hard to believe that a shampoo can moisturizes, but the Therappe Luxury Moisturizing Shampoo by Nexxus does just that. It is the only shampoo I have ever used that actually left my hair feeling soft after shampooing. You know that tangible, stripped feeling some other hair shampoos leave your hair after wash? Therappe does the complete opposite. Therappe leaves your hair feeling completely and thoroughly washed yet not stripped of the nutrients that your hair so desperately needs. No, Nexxus does not pay me to say this, although they should definitely through some free shampoo my way for the heads up ;). With this shampoo my relaxed hair felt clean but to my amazement, very soft. It’s quite odd to shampoo your hair and have it feel like you just conditioned it!

 Now that I have natural hair (as of December 2005) I actually wash even less than before. When I do use shampoo, it's still with the Nexxus Luxury Moisturizing Shampoo. If you have relaxed hair, give this shampoo a try. You won't regret it.

Battling Oily Skin

Alot of us have combination or oily skin. I have tried lots of moisturizers and until recently, assumed that I would just have to deal with washing my face multiple times or using powder to eliminate the oily look that occured a few hours after my morning wash.

A couple of months ago I went to a pharmacy near my dance studio in Montreal and asked if the beauty clerk could recommend anything for oily and sensitive skin. Usually I am weary of these people trying to just sell me expensive products but this time I was ready to try anything because winter in Montreal was not nice to my skin! The woman recommended that I try La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Active Matte Moisturizer. I bought the moisturizer and left it at my boyfriend's place figuring I would try it sometime when I did not have my current moisturizer (Aveda All-Sensitive Moisturizer) with me.

Well, I have to report that this moisturizer works great! It is the first and only moisturizer that I have ever used where my face remained clean-looking. I started using it a few weeks ago and was surprised when I did not have to perform my usual 2-3pm routine at work of going to the bathroom to wipe down my forehead, nose, and chin. I made this my everyday (morning and night) moisturizer and I have seen a great improvement in my skin.

If you are feeling desperate like I was, this is an excellent moisturizer to try. To use, just squeeze a very small amount onto a finger, rub and spread lightly on your face. It's a little pricey and costs more than the usual moisturizer but for me it was worth it.

Non-Scented Lotion

If you are an allergy sufferer like me with year-round dry skin, you need a lotion with minimal fragrance and maximum moisturizing results. So far, I have found Aveeno’s non-scented Daily Moisturizing Lotion to be quite effective, but I wonder if anything comparable or better is out there.

 

Have any recommendations? Please share with us!  Fall is approaching and I would love to try something new.