Hair Product Review: Not Your Mother's Knotty to Nice Detangling Spray

Last month I made a completely unnecessary and yet totally unavoidable trip to Ulta. The nearest one is about 45 minutes from me so I don't go often. But when I do, I tend to buy more things than I actually need. All I wanted to buy hair product-wise was some Batiste dry shampoo (great stuff by the way; if you've never tried it, I highly recommend it). Anyway, I had heard good things about the "Not Your Mother's" brand and wanted to try something out. I chose a detangler because I have medium-length, super thick, curly/wavy hair that is a pain to brush after showering. 

As a detangler, this works but not as well as I had hoped- I wanted no knots left. There are definitely less knots and it's easier to manage, but I still have to work through a few rough knots. But I have noticed after a month of use how healthy and thick my hair feels. I don't wash my hair everyday so I was afraid this would make my hair greasy but it does the opposite: it keeps it very soft. I also have an issue with frizz and I've noticed that has decreased as well. 

I usually put a leave-in conditioner or smoothing milk in my hair after the shower but sometimes, when I'm in a rush in the morning, I only need a few sprays of this and my hair looks just as good throughout the day as it would with the conditioner or smoothing milk. It has a nice, fruity smell to it as well.

The key ingredient in this spray is the keratin protein. Keratin is a natural protein in your hair that can get stripped away by harsh chemicals, sun, heat, etc. The tips of my hair have been dyed for about a year and are very dry but I love the color so I don't want to chop it off. This spray restores the keratin back to my hair that was lost. Keratin leaves hair flexible, soft, healthy, and strong- all things I have noticed as I've been using this product. 

I have been wanting to try a keratin infused spray product for months but the one I wanted (It's a 10 Miracle Leave-In Plus Keratin) is $20 for 4oz. I didn't realize when buying this detangling spray that it would do the things that the more expensive spray does for a fraction of the cost. But I am so happy it does! I believe I spent around $6 for 6oz. 

I want to try some more keratin infused products as well as some more Not Your Mother's products. I give this a 9/10!

XO Alyssa

Current Favorite: Fall Lip 2014

I am a huge fan of bold lips so fall lip colors tend to be my favorite because they are dark and sexy! Here are the ones I've been wearing a lot:

(I don't have a fancy camera or lighting or anything so excuse the low quality) Here we have 7 lip products of various finishes that are great for the fall. I have a bunch of other fall colors I own but these are the ones I've been reaching for the most lately.

Here are my bare lips with some chapstick on. Not in the best condition but I really wanted to get this post up. Also please excuse the face demons, it's that time of the month.

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First up is Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Red Dahlia. This is something I repurchase every year once I use it up. It is just so easy to wear and feels so good on my lips. It gives a subtle wash of color so I don't look dead and can be layered a bit to make it look darker. I just keep this in my bag to throw on whenever. 

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This was an impulse buy from Ulta last month. I've been really wanting a dark lipstick and I saw this and fell in love. It's the NYX Simply Vamp Lip Creme in Enamored. It's this brown toned plum color that has a purple iridescence to it. From afar is looks purple-ish black. It applies very softly and smoothly and it feels like nothing is even on my lips. 

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 Favorite lip color of life right here. I've been searching for a good cranberry color and casually came across this in CVS a few weeks back. It's the Rimmel London Lasting Finish Matte by Kate Moss lipstick in 107. This is a light application I'm wearing, which is what I'll do for daytime looks. At night I use a couple more layers of this and it becomes a dark, rich cranberry color. Also this lipstick smells so good. I don't know if it's cranberry, strawberry, or watermelon scented but it's fruity and delicious. The other Kate Moss lipsticks, the ones in the black tube, kinda smell like clay so this was a nice surprise. In the picture it looks more satin than matte but it person it looks matte. It's not drying but not moisturizing either.

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 My go to work-appropriate lipstick. I got this tiny thing as a birthday gift from Sephora. It's the MUFE Rouge Artist Natural 09. It's definitely a my-lips-but-better color. It doesn't last too long but it feels very comfortable on the lips, almost like a balm.

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Ah. Wet and Wild Cherry Bomb. My first dark lipstick. It can be dry and patchy but I usually just pat it on my lips lightly and wear it with a lip balm. This is another that can be made darker with more layers. It also lasts really long on me.

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This is Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten. I love this pink. It's bright and sultry at the same time. And it really is a balm and a stain. I love the stain it leaves behind and this is so easy to reapply throughout the day and night. It's gotten quite a lot of action in my purse, hence the barely there label. This has a slight minty scent that goes away in 2 seconds and it feels very moisturizing. 

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After watching so many beauty vloggers rave about the Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stains, I had to buy one. I bought the darkest color of the bunch because I've been so into vampy colors lately and I swear to you I wear this almost every other day. It's build-able, unscented, comfortable, and gorgeous on. The bottom lip looks patchy but I swear that's just because I've been abusing my lips with this post, haha. The color is Parisian Passion and it doesn't actually leave much of a stain on me but I love it anyway.

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And here are some arm swatches with light coming from my window. From L-R: Revlon Moisture Stain, NYX Lip Cream, Revlon Balm Stain, Rimmel by Kate, Wet and Wild, MakeUp ForEver, and Burt's Bees.

I hope you enjoy this post, I really liked making it for you. Let me know what you liked or didn't like/things you've tried or want to try for the fall. Thanks for reading!

XO Alyssa

Welcome!

Hello fellow beauty lovers!

My name is Alyssa and I've recently realized that I get way more excited about makeup than most of my friends. So I wanted to create a blog to share my love with others who also have this obsession. Most of the makeup I own is relatively inexpensive/drugstore items. I try to find the best bang for my buck as I am a poor graduate student in the middle of an unpaid internship. Sometimes I get giftcards to Sephora though, so that's when you'll see the more expensive items. I notice that a lot of "beauty on a budget" bloggers tend to share more mid-range priced items instead of low-range. I'm here to tell you the truth about drugstore products and hope you enjoy some of them as much as I do (some of my finds can literally save your wallet). I can't wait to get started :)

XO Alyssa



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