Shescentit review, a Youtube Contest, They're Back and Pepa & Jacque?

Below is a video review of the SheScentit coco creme leave in conditioner. I like this product! I also show my little Afroveda haul.
I hope you have a great Friday and weekend.

Rosalyn Scents Contest
Rosalyn scents is giving you an opportunity to win prizes and get your Youtube fame on! If you enter her contest, which requires you to post a video showcasing your personality, you will win a Rosalyn Scents goodie bag and your video will be featured on her youtube channel. For more details click here.

(picture courtesy of Brown Sister.com)

They're Back
Many of us may remember watching Martin each week as he juggled his relationship with his wife Gina and close friends on the hit show Martin. If you have waited patiently to see if Martin Lawrence would return to the small screen, you don't have to wait any longer- he's backkkkkkkk. This time around he is working in a different capacity, serving as the executive producer of a new tv series, "Love That Girl", staring another person who has been missing from the small screen, Tatiana Ali! We all remember her as Ashley Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, don't we? Well this now 30 something (time flies) Harvard educated, entrepreneur will be back to work on our tv screens this month. She is going to play a divorced woman who is putting her life back on track as her brother comes to live with her...I suppose comedy will ensue. Having Martin as the executive producer is sure to round up a few laughs. I can't wait to get my giggle on, on January 19th on TVOne the fun begins. The show will air for three consecutive nights and then it will continue on every Tuesday. I am DEFINITELY watching, but will you check it out? Do you have the station TV One?
Can't wait until January 19th? Well you can catch Tatiana Ali on HER show Buppies, a web series that will only appear on the BET website. On the show, Buppies (black yuppies) deal with everyday issues all while living posh lifestyles.
Tatiana is the executive producer and this project is from her entertainment company which she runs with her sister.
Check the webisodes here.

(picture courtesy of Essence.com)

I remember watching Jacque Reed as a youngster as she reported the latest news on BET. She began her work there after Tavis Smiley was released (what a sad day that way for me).
Side note- I used to stay up as a kid to watch Tavis dish out the facts and his opinion to whomever was on his panel. I would wait to see if he would use any words I didn't know. In my book when it came to tv personalities, tavis was the MAN. I would then turn to Bill Maher to watch his commentary...yeah I know, I was a wierd kid..lol Now back to my regularly scheduled post hehehe
Who knew that Pepa , of Salt and Pepa, had been friends all this time with former BET reporter Jacque Reed. Well apparently that is the case, and she has two other reporters to round out her gaggle of close gal pals. One thing that they all have in common is that fact that they want a man, although their reasons for wanting Mr. Right may be different, they all want one. Same story different players, but I will be tuning in. Pep's new series airs on VH1 on Monday...Will you be watching? For more info check out the article here

From Head to Toe and WHO APPROVED THIS

I have a love hate relationship with oils, they are just too oily. I don't want to leave my fingerprints on everything I touch but at the same time I love all of the shiny goodness left on my skin after I apply an oil. I decided to purchase the After Bath oil from Oyinhandmade during their Black Friday sale for a mere $12.00 (a larger size is also available). This oil can be used from head to toe so I decided to actually use it on my hair and body. Well well well, thank you Oyin for giving me just the type of oil that I need in my life. This oil works better on my hair to lock in moisture than probably any other oil that I have used. I like it mainly because it doesn't weigh my hair down like some of the heavier oils that I've used in the past. I should also note that I use very little at a time when sealing in moisture because I hate a greasy heavy head of hair. While I am still not fully on the moisturize and seal bandwagon, when I do seal in moisture this is the product that I turn to.
I also love the fact that this oil is available in a variety of scents, I selected coco mango. I mentioned on one of my videos that the coco mango scent really does smell like a fruity mixture of coconuts and mangos (emphasis is placed more on the mango/ fruity scent as opposed to a strong coconut scent).
For my body this oil absorbs as well as coconut oil, maybe a little better so that works out well for me too! I feel like the oil absorbs well but that generally translates into the fact that I need to apply more if I want to maintain my shiny glow that you all know I love.
I would totally get this product again, in fact I am going to upgrade and get the largest bottle possible.
Some of the ingredients include - rice bran oil, walnut oil, coconut oil, vitamin E, sweet almond oil and black seed oil.
Have you tried this after bath oil? Which oils rock your boat? Do you seal your hair after moisturizing?
In the Theaters
Yesterday I saw this trailer (see below) for a new movie entitled "our Family Wedding" which features many well known actors. - Does anyone else have a problem with Regina King being married to Forrest Whitaker while playing the MOM to Lance Gross? I think she looks way too young to be linked to Forrest or playing the momma to Lance. Although I'm glad she is working, I am still left asking #whoapprovedthis ? What are your thoughts

What's Your Role?

When such topics arise I often desire more male readers...lol
This morning I was listening to the radio (Power 105- don't judge me lol) I normally don't tune into this station but the topic caught my attention.
They started talking about relationships and the role that a woman should play in a relationship. Things have changed and many women today whether they like it or not have to work to support themselves. Certainly some women LOVE their jobs and they embrace working outside of the home, however I do recognize that not all women share this passion, but I digress. A guy called into the station and said the reason why many educated women are single is because they don't take care of the home anymore. He said that we have moved away from the cooking that we used to do back in the day. The female radio host gave him a brief snippet of her day just to detail the hours she works and how tired she is at times. She said although she loves to cook she is sometimes just too pooped. When Malika, the female host, suggested the gentleman pick up a pot or pan on occasion you would think she had asked each living man to shoot himself in the foot.
The same male caller, let's call him caller #1, continued with this:
Male caller #1- Women need to take care of the home it is their responsibility in the relationship. I am college educated and I work too so I am tired as well, but she needs to handle the household duties. (his comment was something like that..lol)
Malika- The women that cooked all the time and did everything were very often able to do it all because they didn't have to work outside of the home. Why can't men today help with the cooking etc.
Male Caller #1- Because we have our own role in the household and it's not cooking etc.
Malika- Well then if our role in this day and age in this economy is to cook, clean and take care of the kids and financially contribute to the household please tell me what is the role of the man?
Male caller #1-We have our things to do like taking care of "KNICK KNACKS"
ME- yes ladies and gents the caller said KNICK KNACKS...lol
Malika- WHAT?
Ed Lover- We take out the trash, put doors up and fix things.
Male caller #2-"Women need to get back to "popping string beans instead of opening canned foods. "
Male caller #3- " Yall too much wit DAT education" - I won't even touch his comment..lol
Female caller- Maybe I don't have knick knacks that need to be fixed so maybe I need help with the cooking, or the kids- it's a partnership. We need to do whatever we need to do to make that relationship and the household work. If you are the man and you get home first start cooking, just like I will start cooking if I get home first.
Ed Lover- I dont know what kind of man would do that, I get home at 3 every day and I'm not cooking. I cook on occasion, a man can help sometimes but really that's on the woman.
Male caller #4-"Malika is showing you what's wrong, these educated women today are too combative too argumentative."
Malika says sarcastically oh ok "no back talk" lol
I was giving this whole conversation the side eye but what is the role of the man and woman in your opinion?

(My product related post for today is below)

Gels anyone???

Product Watch
If you recall, "Product Watch" is the segment where I tell you which products I have my eye on.
I had heard rumblings of a new gel nail polish that hit the market but I have yet to feast my eyes upon this product. Thankfully Amazon has the OPI Axxium gel nail polish in stock for $18.00 so I think I am going to purchase one. If you order the entire kit, you will be paying $135.00- yes for nail polish. My co-worker went to a nail salon where the gel polish was applied and she said that after a week on her nails she doesn't have a chip in sight. The gels are also supposed to keep your real nails strong and shiny so let's see what happens.
IBD is another company that sells the coveted gel polish but it is much cheaper at $8.00 per jar.
Have you tried gel polishes from either company? If so please share your experience.

No Bliss, Check the nails, Lets get married and Diddy

Bliss got my $18 with this oh so ordinary body wash, but they won't get me again. I purchased the 16 oz lemon sage body wash because the bottle explained that I was getting more for my buck and that the product is really sudsy...ok Im easy to please..lol. The scent gives you a hint of lemon but then that sage comes right around to punch me in the nose. I don't care for the scent and the body wash is not super sudsy, it's a regular old body wash and in my book not worth $18.00. I should note that this sulfate body wash (sulfates are common in body washes) is paraben FREE and includes aloe vera juice. Of course Bliss slipped in some blue dyes and other chemicals to round out their ingredient list.
So yup this is another product for the SKIP IT files. I have tried other things from Bliss but in general this company does not impress me. Nevertheless I plan on hitting up the Bliss spa this summer in NYC. Is there anything from the Bliss line that I need to check out???

Nail Check Antique Rose by Essie is the color that I am wearing in this picture. In person the color really looks like rose gold, so I like it. Ignore my sloppy application please..lol. This bottle costs roughly $8.00.
Let's get Married
There are two segments that I LOVE from Essence.com- 1) The annual - Will You Marry Me? videos where men propose to their lovely ladies on camera. We get to vote for the pair we love and the couple with the most votes will win a wedding package which usually includes a great honeymoon and other treats.
The second segment that I love is 2) 30 Dates in 30 Days which Essence only ran once- If anyone from Essence is reading this post (doubtful lol) PLEASE bring back this segment, it was oh so enjoyable. Essence would take women and fix them up with bachelors and show the dates online. The viewing audience would vote and select each date for the women. The women also had an opportunity to be styled before each date so that each woman would look fierce from head to toe!
Although my 30 dates in 30 days segment is no where in sight my WILL you marry me post was featured yesterday. Which couple will get your vote? Click here

Who Wants to Work For Diddy?
Well I know I certainly don't want the position but clearly there are many out there clamoring to be Diddy's assistant. Last night the final battle was fought between Ebony and Dan. They battled task for task in an attempt to outshine each other and impress Diddy. Diddy had them perform a myriad of tasks throughout the day to see how competent they were and to assess their flexibility,and overall potential. Both contestants had their shortcomings and showed that they would both require refinement before being thrust into the thick of things at Bad Boy, but in the end Ebony prevailed. Much to my surprise Dan was sent packing, I really thought he would take the crown as Diddy's new assistant.
I didn't expect to feel this way at the end but after watching the final episode and looking at the areas where Ebony fell short, I really thought she was going home jobless. While Dan certainly doesn't know everything he does have a certain level of general office etiquette which can not be taught easily. For example when Ebony decided to stroll around the Bad Boy office without shoes I was appalled. First of all you know that the final challenge will require you to run your bones all over NYC so why appear in heals and a pencil skirt?????? So when her feet could no longer stand up to the pressure, those shoes hit the bricks and she kept it moving. Dragging her bare toes across the floor grrrrrrrrr. Imagine if an important client or better yet DIDDY caught you walking around like that (he did by the way and wasn't pleased) that in my book is a common sense NO NO. Also Diddy gave her a simple test which I thought she would breeze through but again I was wrong. He gave her a list of names (first and last) and asked her to get the people on the phone on his behalf. However, before allowing this contestant to waltz out the door he asked her what she would say on the phone. One person on the list was Tracy Edmonds (the ex wife of Babyface) and Ebony said I would say " Hello can I speak to Tracy". I wanted to reach through the tv and grab Ebony. Of course Puff grilled her and told her that executives shouldn't be addressed by their first names etc. Did she think she was calling her bff? Gee whiz. Anyway congrats to Ebony. Perhaps she was just nervous during the final challenge, but I think she has a great deal of potential and I wish her the best.
Why do you think she won? I have my theories..lol

Washing my hair with grapefruits?

When I think of natural ingredients that will nurture my tresses and make my hair look amazing, grapefruit is probably the last item that would come to mind. Well I'm thankful that Verikira had enough foresight to include this delicious ingredient in their shampoo and conditioner.

I had no idea how my hair would react to these sulfate and paraben free products, but it turns out that my hair LOVES them.

When I used the shampoo I was initially concerned because my hair had very little slip, I would not have felt comfortable running a comb through my hair at that point. However, after washing that shampoo out, my hair was totally clean and the oil that I used in my pre poo had been taken away. It almost felt as if I had clarified my hair. Once I added the conditioner my hair was transformed into soft silky strands. It was after the conditioner application when I felt that I could freely pass a comb through my wet hair if I decided to do so. As usual, I allowed my hair to air dry and I was surprised with the level of shine that was revealed, just beautiful. I should also note that to my surprise, the product did not smell like a grapefruit peel, instead if has a light grapefruit scent that is anything but overwhelming. I actually liked the scent of this citrus filled product.
Although the shampoo has a light pink color, the conditioner is a light shade of gray as shown in the picture on the left.
Ingredients include MSM (sulfur) which is great for encouraging hair growth, pink grapefruit essential oil, organic aloe juice, panthenol, organic green tea, wheat protein and other goodies.
The shampoo is priced at $28.00 and the conditioner is sold for $32.00. You can make this purchase or search through the other natural products from Verikira by clicking this link.
Have you tried anything from this company?
* I neglected to include the footage of the shiny hair I was left with so I will include that later!

Evenly Gorgeous Skin

When a person has beautiful even toned skin, it generally becomes the topic of conversation. We just can't help but acknowledge it as we try to figure out what we need to do to get it. At least in my book beautiful skin trumps makeup any day of the week. I was eager to try the Evenly Gorgeous Exfoliating body wash and the Evenly Gorgeous body bar from Caress since it claims to help you unveil smooth even toned skin.
This product has burnt brown sugar which is supposed to gently exfoliate your skin. You can actually see the tiny brown pellets floating through the body wash. Although you will certainly feel the little sugar granules rubbing against your skin, they are not abrasive enough to irritate your delicate skin. Shea butter or karite butter as it is labeled on the bottle, is also included in the formula to keep your skin moisturized. The scent is delightful, it smells like warm brown sugar with a touch of perfume.
If you are not a fan of body washes, this product is also available in a solid bar form. Each bar contains the same tiny granules that you would find in the liquid version of this product.
Unfortunately, I didn't unveil eye catching even toned skin, perhaps more bottles are needed for that to happen but my skin was feeling rather smooth and silky.
For my fellow ingredient junkies I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that three dyes are included in this sls body wash, but this paraben free solution also includes yummy molasses!
Have you tried this product? What are your findings?

*I received this bottle of body wash and solid bar soap from Caress- thanks.