New Before and After Photos using John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7-Day In Shower Treatment

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I've been spending my free time between work and cat nursing tying up some loose ends around here. I'd always hated the photos I used in my review of the John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7-Day In Shower Treatment, which is a great product that I've been using for a couple of years now. Everything else in that review remains the same, except that in addition to having fine hair, I feel like my hair has got  bit thinner lately as well. I've updated the photos in the original post, but I'll include them here as well. I used the same products for both photos, and styled them the same way (partially air dried and then blow dried with a round brush). The volume in the after photo isn't major drama, but my hair is definitely fuller. I like this stuff a lot. Check out the original post for full details.

Before:

After:

Quick addendum to L'Oreal Miss Manga review

When I wrote my original review of this mascara, I had been testing it for 2-3 weeks. I noted that I hadn't had the problems with flaking that I'd had in the past with other L'Oreal mascaras. By the time it had been open for a couple of months, however, and got a bit drier, it became flaky as fuck. It's a mess now. So be warned: if you typically don't get along well with L'Oreal's mascara formulas, this one may not be any exception.

Addendum to my post on Stridex BHA pads

Disclosure: This post contains no affiliate links.
I just recently posted about these things, I know. But I was reading the ingredients list for the millionth time, and somehow I had failed to notice until just now that they contain menthol. Ugh. I guess it was too good to be true. It's low on the list, but I really hate when skincare products have menthol in them. Partly just because I feel like they're trying to trick me. Oooooh, tingly, that must mean it's doing something, right? Fuck off. But also because menthol can be a cause of low grade irritation, which may or may not be something you are worried about, but which I'd rather just avoid when there's no good reason for it. Anyway, heads up if menthol is an ingredient that pisses you off too. (Harley Quinn recommended the Paula's Choice BHA body treatment as a less expensive alternative in the comments of that previous post. I definitely plan to look into that.)

Curel Intensive Healing Cream update

So I said I'd let you know if this cream made any lasting difference to my dry cuticles and nails or my feet. Here's the photo I took after using it for 4 days straight, several times a day;

A little better, maybe? I don't really see a big difference (you can see the before photo here). Certainly not more than what you would get from regular use of any other decent hand cream. So I'm going to say no to the "healing" properties of this stuff. (I didn't notice a huge improvement on my feet either.)

It moisturizes very well and makes things look and feel better when you use it. It absorbs quickly and doesn't have any fragrance whatsoever. If those things are important to you, you could give it a shot. Personally, I'm going to stick with lotions and creams that don't come in a jar or pot, because I don't particularly like rubbing it on my feet and then stick my fingers back in there.

e.l.f. Studio Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow: 9 months later

I recently bitched because after several months, my e.l.f. cream eyeliners were all dried up. I realized today that I hadn't checked on the weird mousse-like eyeshadow that I bought around the same time.

Verdict: Still in perfect condition! I'm impressed. That's some nice shit.

Update: e.l.f. Studio Cream Eyeliner (9 months later)

Remember when I posted that I liked it? Probably not. It'd actually be slightly weird if you did, although you'd have a pretty fucking impressive memory. Well, anyway, this is what starts to happen after about 6 months:

Stitch Fix update (Or: That's Quite a Markup)

So I was in Nordstrom Rack today, and I came across one of the exact dresses I was sent by Stitch Fix. If you go to this link, it's the patterned hi-lo he dress in the bottom right of the first photo here. It was on sale there for $23 (not on clearance). The tag said that the regular/MSRP is $44.

I'm posting about this for two reasons: (1) in case you like that dress, and want to know where to get it really cheap, and (2) as an example of how high the markup on Stitch Fix items is. I know that they are charging extra for the service they provide, but it's not like $44 is the wholesale price. Brick and mortar stores provide customer service assistance and have other expenses too. And for me, the personal styling wasn't particularly accurate. $44 to $69 is a 59% markup in addition to the markup from whatever they actually paid for the dress wholesale. That seems excessive to me. They were asking $69 a month ago for a dress that is $23 at Nordstrom Rack right now.

I still think there is possibly some value in this service if you have a lot of disposable income and hate the ordeal of shopping for yourself. Otherwise, keep in mind that you can probably easily find clothing from the same brands, and the same styles and quality, elsewhere for much, much less.

Addendum to yesterday's perfect sunscreen post (yes, it mattifies)

Harley Quinn asked on yesterday's sunscreen post: How mattifying is it?

I don't remember ever having problems with shininess when I used this, but today I decided to put some on at about 4 pm when I was already a little oily from just sitting around all day with my skin doing what it does. Not only did it not make my face look any greasier, it got rid of most of the shine that was there. That makes sense, since it has a silicone base, which is what a lot of mattifying primers are made of, though this is a thin liquid rather than a gel.

The silicone is also one of the things that makes it so wonderful to apply. I can just slide it over my whole face in a matter of seconds. It's slippery, and that makes putting on sunscreen so much less of a chore. Impatience is basically one of the top factors in deciding whether I like something or not. This is fucking quick and easy.

I swear I don't work for a sunscreen company or anything. I just really like this shit.

ETA: The mattifying effect didn't last more than a few hours on my oilyish skin without any powder or anything else on top of it. It went back to normal eventually. But that isn't its primary function, of course.

So apparently Ipsy has kind of shit customer service this month . . .

Remember how I said I didn't know anything about their customer service?

A bunch of people didn't get their May bags yet, even though they got tracking numbers two weeks ago. The tracking numbers are invalid. They're not getting help via email, and there's no customer service number to call. On Facebook they say they are "experiencing a high number of emails" and to be patient, but really, over a week's response time when they have already charged people for the bag is not cool. They should stop expanding if they can't handle the business they already have.

Anyway, I wanted to update you on that. I'm not canceling my account or anything, but I think that's pretty shameful behavior on their part. I hope they sort it all out.

BzzAgent Review: Update on Schick Hydro Silk Razor

In my original review of this razor, I gave it 5 out of 5, but said that I would report back about whether or not I could continue to use it without shaving cream.

The results? No, it needs shaving cream. It doesn't lube up nearly as well the second time around. And to be fair, it doesn't claim to be an all-in-one razor. I was just hopeful.

So I would still give it a 5 out of 5 for an ordinary razor, but I won't be replacing my Intuition with this one.

Disclosure: I got these products free from BzzAgent.