Veet Spray-on Hair Removal Cream

This is just going to be a quick product review post to share my thoughts on Veet Spray-on Hair Removal Cream.

So, simply put. I hated it! HATED IT!

It did NOT work for me at all. I tried it exactly per the directions on the first leg, which tell you to only leave it on for a max of 5 minutes. But, 5 minutes just wasn't cutting it at all! So on the 2nd leg I left it on for closer to 8 minutes... again... didn't work. I will say though that it didn't cause me any skin irritation which was my biggest worry when I first bought this product so that was a plus.

The smell was predictable but not at all over powering or offensive. I'd say it smelled "fine". The consistency of the cream was nice and creamy feeling. I chose the "Suprem Esscence" for sensitive skin which claims to contain essential oils so it was nice to not have dried out, scaly skin after using it.

But all in all... it sucked! Despite the presentation factor for the Veet Hair Removal Cream, it did a terrible job at hair removal. I had what seemed like little black spots everywhere, which were simply the root and bottom portion of each hair since the Veet only removed the utmost surface level of hair. In some areas, it didn't even remove that much!

So, I'd give the Veet "Suprem Esscense" Hair Removal Cream a score of 1 out of 5. It DID technically remove hair but it did NOT remove it in any kind of way that would have allowed me to be able to walk out the door when I was done. And I'm sorry but I'm personally NOT a fan of having to shave my legs after using a hair removal cream!!!

Oooh, Snap!!!

That's right people! I's is KNOCKED UP! I was horribly sick before and that led right into getting pregnant! Not the smartest move in the world since I've been so sick but OH WELL! So I was still undiagnosed and then pregnant thus making diagnosing that much harder! Joy! The doctors did eventually decide however that I have what is referred to as "post infectious IBS", which is just a fancy way of saying that the parasite infection + the double round of antibiotics = a COMPLETELY wrecked digestive tract. I basically need your typical daily amount of probiotics x 10!!! All the good bacteria in my gut was depleted and so now I have to work on replenishing it which can apparently take up to 2 years for some people to fully recover from and THAT is why I've been sick for sooo many months now! I feel like I'm slooowly coming out of it though. I'm not as bad as I was a few months ago, pregnancy doesn't help of course, but I'm gradually improving. Maybe soon I can start feeling like a human again instead of this odd consciousness dwelling in a damaged, diseased shell! Ugh!

But hey, on the bright side... I'M PREGNANT! Aahhhh!! This wasn't exactly the timing I had in mind but after a few months, the shock has eased off (though the terror has not!) and I'm getting more and more excited by the week. I'm an extremely impatient person so it sucks that I have to wait 2 more months to find out boy or girl but I'm trying to just suck it up and deal. I want a girl... but my instinct (coupled with a current family history of 4 boys in my generation and 5 boys that have been born in the next) tells me its a boy. Guess we'll see! ;)

5 Months of Hell and Counting!

This is just going to be a brief update post to explain why I haven't been around for pretty much any part of 2011. I've been sick since December 23, 2010 and it's still going. Insane, I know! In December I was diagnosed with a weird parasite infection and went through 2 rounds of antibiotics to treat. However, though some of the symptoms of the infection went away, others decided to stick around and have yet to leave. I bet you I've had more testing done in the last 5 months than some people have had in their whole lifetime! I'm not going to give you the gory details of all my symptoms so let's just say I've been excessively hungry with constant nausea and upset stomach since December and they have yet to figure out why. (And No, I am not pregnant. Yes, I am positive.)

There are a few different conditions on the table that the doctors are working on trying to diagnose and/or rule out. These days I'm at some sort of doctors appointment or having some sort of testing done at least once a week. I'm sooo sick of tests! My most recent was a colonoscopy and wow... I'd love to never have to go through that whole process again! Part of the problem has been that it's hard to find a good doctor who's willing to think outside the box or who even knows how! I've got a good doc now and expensive insurance (at least it's expensive for me) so hopefully a diagnosis is just around the corner. It's bumming me out that we're inching into summer and I may be too sick to enjoy it. I am a woman of faith though and I have faith that EVENTUALLY I'll feel better and will be able to carry on with life again.

In the world of beauty, I should be ashamed to call myself a beauty blogger, which I guess I technically haven't been for the past  5 months. My hair is dry and totally neglected. My new growth is out of control and I have no idea what length my hair really is because I haven't straightened it... which I guess on the bright side means I'm definitely still having success transitioning; length retention, probably not so much. My skin is super dry and flaking all the time. My eyebrows are a mess. I haven't worn makeup since New Years or much beyond sweat pants and leggings. My world of beauty is completely non existent so until I'm feeling better, I won't have much to blog about except updates about my health. Sorry. Until then, this is me signing off from my bed where I've been spending a lot of my time lately! Sad, I know. Pray for me! Thanks to all my followers who haven't ditched me yet! ;) Check ya later.

New Year Hair Update

Going into the new year it has been a little over 6 months since my last relaxer. My longest stretch was 1 year so I'm not feeling particularly accomplished as of yet. However, this year my plan is to carry on in my transition to natural without chopping at all!

This is my second attempt at transitioning. The first time I think I was overtaken by all the lovely "Hairlistas" that had beautiful, long, RELAXED hair. Not to mention, I was dying to see how my year long progress would look relaxed! So I did it! It was nice for a while but what I really started missing was the thickness. As well as the acknowledgement that the number one reason why I had wanted to transition in the first place was for the health of my hair. No matter how you cut it, chemical relaxers are bad for your hair. THE END.It doesn't matter how well you take care of your hair before and after the relaxer. It all boils down to the same inevitability: You are willingly, knowingly causing damage to your hair every time you relax. For many women, it doesn't matter because they are willing to take that extra time and energy needed to care for their damaged hair so the damage isn't even noticeable. However, my hair texture is pretty fine so the effects of damage from chemical relaxers is much more visible. Thus, the decision to go natural! So even after I relaxed and enjoyed it for a time, nothing had changed in the makeup of chemical relaxers and I still had to face the fact that I was back to damaging my hair very 3-4 months. I was on the fence about my decision for a few months until I lost my job! Suddenly, not only were relaxers damaging to my hair but they were also damaging to my cash flow! DONE! and now i'm transitioning!!

The last time I tried to transition, I was trying to pull it off without using heat. FAIL! This time around, I've decided I will use heat 1-2 times a month. However, to combat the negative effects of heat on my hair I'm making sure to do a few things:

• #1 and most important, ensuring I'm not having any major breakage issues before applying heat
• Always use a heat protectant
• Flat ironing with the goal of loosening my curl pattern as opposed to flat ironing for sleek results, meaning,
• 2-3 passes on the roots and 1 on the length of my hair
• only flat ironing on clean hair

So far the transition has been going fairly well. I'm at the point now where it's very easy to get caught up with detangling and end up being heavy handed on my hair. Especially, since I tend to procrastinate getting ready to go and end up having to rush to get out the door! So, this is the point where I'm working on more simple protective, LOW-MAINTENANCE, styles and prepping my hair AT NIGHT so I'm not having to fuss with it in a rush in the morning. A big standing ovation to those ladies who have their routine down so they don't have to mess with their hair as often. I'm still working on it!!

During my transition, I'm trying out the Real Queens Regimen. (Click here to see details of the regimen)Before I ever even heard of this method, I personally called it the Jheri Curl Method! My aunt had a Jheri Curl back in the day and her hair grew a ton while she had it. I always thought a big reason why the hair likely grow so much faster was because it was constantly moisturized with "Jheri Curl Juice" and BAGGIED often to maintain the style. The Real Queens Regimen uses oil instead of "the juice" however, the effects of the "green house effect" within the regimen is likely to have similar results in my opinion. So that's one thing I'm trying out heading in 2011. Stay tuned for more udpates down the road!