Cop This: Kardinal Offishall Not 4 Sale

Hey y'all,
I know this is a beauty blog, but sometimes - not often - there are some things more important than makeup. Or so I hear anyway. Either way, it's my blog and I'll stray off topic if I want to, right?

That being said, consider this a PSA: Kardinal Offishall's latest album hit stores on Tuesday.

Buy. this. album. Now.

If you don't know who Kardinal is, you're either living under a rock or you're not Canadian. Either way, you need this in your life:



Kardinal is an extremely gifted artist and producer who is blazing a trail for Canadian artists and has been for years. The man was on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno this week, for goodness sake. That is absolutely unprecedented for a Canadian hip hop artist and no one deserves it more. Check the video and tell me you weren't doing the Dangerous dance in your chair:

Dangerous Jay Leno Live

And in case you're wondering, this is not a case of me shamelessly plugging something just because I know and/or like the artist - I have no connection to Kardi save a youthful crush and you ought to know by now I get crushes like other people get subway transfers. So this is my completely non-partisan opinion: Buy this album and do your part to support Canadian music. You won't be sorry. The album is hot.

Oh yeah - the wiwfm verdict on this one is hells yes!

Product Review: Redken Smooth Down

I have a confession to make: I've been unfaithful.
Back in April when I wrote my first post, I told you about my Long Term Relationship with Herbal Essences. And it was good, don't get me wrong. LTR was good to me and for me. But it's hard to be monogamous when there is so much out there and I admit that I was led astray.

First there was a dalliance with Herbal Essences Pin Straight. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it didn't really work out. At first I was dazzled by how much it loosened my curl, but over time I realized that I just needed more moisture. I thought longingly of LTR and vowed to go back and beg forgiveness for cheating, but then my head was turned once more. I think this one is for keeps.

My new love's name is Redken Smooth Down and it is the truth, let me tell you.

After that one night stand I had with Redken Extreme, I was more than willing to try it again. But I knew this time I needed something that would give me the moisture of LTR and the straightening of Pin Straight. Mom, I think I've found the one.

Redken's website promises that the Smooth Down family of products is "specially formulated to enrich and tame extremely dry, coarse, unruly hair". Fortified with macadamia oil (which is supposed to be great for hair) and a whole bunch of other stuff, it provides great conditioning and makes your hair visibly straighter, even before you blowdry.

I couldn't afford the whole line, so I went for the Shampoo, Conditioner, and Heat Glide. Let me break them down one by one for you...

The Smooth Down Shampoo was great: it had good lather and rinsed clean, but left my hair feeling a little stripped afterward. Nothing new; pretty much all shampoo does that. One thing that puzzled me though was the smell. Not that it's bad, it just smells clean. But with the colour of the packaging and the fact that it's got macadamia oil in it had me expecting a warm cocoa buttery-type smell so I was a little thrown off when I sniffed it and just smelled...shampoo. No biggie though.

The Smooth Down Conditioner was nice too. Not as thick as I like, but it did the job. I had a hell of a time rinsing it out though, as usual. But that may have been as much because of my method of rinising my hair in cold water whilst trying not to let said cold water touch my skin as because of the conditioner itself. I know I didn't get it all out, but what was left was just on the ends and they need moisture anyway so...

Now the Smooth Down Heat Glide is serious business. It's a thick serum that just glides through your hair. And it really works! I was already ecstatic with the results after putting it in wet hair before blowdrying, but last night I decided to try an experiment: I put it on my dry hair at night just before wrapping (on just one side of my head so I could compare the results) and when I took it out in the morning the difference was remarkable. This.stuff.really.works.

I'm going back next paycheque for the Smooth Down Butter Treat which I'll use as a pre-poo and maybe even the Sleek Obedience anti-frizz solid serum after I run out of my other serums. I'll skip the detangling conditioner as I don't really have a problem with tangles.

Obviously, the wiwfm verdict on this one is hell's yes!

Product Review: Lancôme Hypnôse & Juicy Tubes Smoothie

Hello darlings!
Last week I was invited to attend the Milles Femmes event at BCE Place. Part of the Luminato Festival, Milles Femmes is a tribute to 1,000 artistic, creative and inspiring women from Toronto and their protégés, who embody the passion and heritage of the city. A few of my friends (and fellow blogger Henna of Canadian Beauty) were included in the event so I went to the launch.

Why am I writing about this you ask? A couple of reasons. First because I've been itching to mix up the beauty posts with some more personal stuff (because I belive – perhaps mistakenly – that you guys want to know what’s going on with me) and also because the gift bags included some great full size (!) Lancôme products. I haven’t had the chance to try everything, but I leapt at the Hypnôse Mascara and the Juicy Tubes Smoothie.

For some reason, I haven’t really dabbled too much in Lancôme. I have a couple of their Color Design eyeshadows (I ♥ The New Black) but that’s it. All the more reason why I couldn’t wait to try these. But I promised to cut down on the long-ass intros so I'm just going to move on to the reviews already.

Let’s go with the Hypnôse Mascara first.

According to Lancôme’s website, “With each stroke, the patented POWERFULL™ brush intensifies lashes from root to tip. Exclusive, fluid SoftSculpt ™ formula, enriched with Vitamin B5, wraps lashes one luxurious layer at a time without smearing, smudging or clumping.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. They ain’t never lied. I loves this mascara. The formula is nice and thick in a Voluminous kinda way but not clumpy. I do scrape off a fair amount of product before I apply but once I’ve done that it glides on smoothly and gives me great length and volume – even on the little skimpy lashes at the inner corners of my eyes. I always curl my lashes before applying mascara and this does seem to pull the curl out, but so does every other mascara I’ve ever used so I just curl again once it dries and I'm good to go for hours.

Sidebar: Does anyone know why mascara takes the curl out of lashes? Maybe it’s just me though because I’ve never heard anyone else mention it. It’s so annoying.

The wiwfm verdict on this is a hell’s yes!

On to the Juicy Tubes Smoothie.
I got this in Honey Violet, which is kind of a deep plummy red with gold shimmer. It’s a lot less purple than in the picture. I was a little wary when I looked at the tube, but once I put it on I really liked it.

It’s very well pigmented but still provides a sheer wash of colour, if that makes sense. What I mean is that the colour doesn’t go on as intense as it looks in the tube, but it’s not so sheer that you can’t see the colour on you. It also smells like watermelon Jolly Ranchers, which is never a bad thing.

I lent this to my sister Marsha indefinitely, only because it’s much more a Marsha colour than a Max colour. But I liked it so much I couldn’t bring myself to give it up permanently. I might “borrow:” it back from her the next time I see her.

The wiwfm verdict on this is yes as well.

Now I'm on a mission to try more Lancôme. Any recs for must-try products?

Have a great day ladies!