Charles Worthington Big Waves Enhance Spray, 8 fl. oz.

Charles Worthington Big Waves Enhance Spray is a product that I loathe. To me, the only good thing about this product is that it smells really good (which is one of the main reasons why I bought it, in addition to the claims on the label).

Product fail.

I am always looking for hair products that will make my wavy hair look good, but this spray is a complete failure. It is sticky on my hair and hands after I've sprayed it and scrunched it in, and when it dries it mattes my hair (on the underside; thankfully you can't see the mattes). It's like I have dreadlocks going on, and those mattes are so painful to brush out (I have to try to brush them out when my hair is dry, because when I've tried to wash them out in the shower it makes the dreads worse and then I have to try to get them out of my wet hair, which breaks more easily). I've tried using it a few times on the off-chance that it was a one-time thing, but no such luck;  I get the same bad result every time.

Overall: This is an awful product that will suck you in with its great smell and spit you out with dreads.

Re-buy?: No, not in a million years!

Garnier Fructis Leave-In Conditioning Cream, 10.2 fl.oz.

I discovered Garnier Fructis Leave-In Conditioning Cream while attempting to learn how to curl my hair using a straightener via a YouTube video - it must have been fate because I can't seem to find the same video now. Anyway, the girl in the video said she used this product to set the curl because when you use it you doesn't need to use hairspray or anything, and since it's a leave-in conditioner, it's good for your hair. Even though this product sounded too good to be true, I saw it work in the video so I decided to go out and get some for myself (no joke; I went out and got some that very night). Once I got a hold of it, I saw that this leave-in conditioner is actually for "frizzy, dry, unmanageable hair," which I have been known to have. Lo and behold, it works! I put this product in my hair when I want to define my waves, and it doesn't leave my hair looking and feeling greasy like so many other "anti-frizz" products do, plus it smells great. I even used it when I curled my own hair with a flat iron for my wedding (well, a friend helped me curl my hair in the back).

The magic bottle

Check out my hair on my wedding day

This product is not only great for curling your hair with a straightener, it's great for those days when you want to define your waves and give your hair some body without much effort. Here's how I do that:


Step 1: Work a quarter-sized dollop (depending on your hair's length) into your hair and dry your hair for about 5 minutes with a diffuser attached to your blow dryer until it's mostly dry but still slightly damp (most blow dryers I've seen come with a diffuser, so hopefully you still have it). Make sure to blow dry upside-down for at least half the time. If you don't have your diffuser, just blow dry on a lower setting and keep the blow dryer farther from your hair than usual (you should also blow dry upside-down at least half the time). When you're about done blow drying, finish it off by using the "cool" setting all over until your hair feels, well, cool (or at least not hot anymore) - this'll help set the style.

Diffuser on my blow dryer

Step 2: Work another dollop into your damp hair (I usually apply it to my hair upside-down) and put it up in one of those messy ponytail/bun-type things. Leave your hair this way for as long as you can while you continue to get ready (the longer you leave it, the more pronounced your waves).

Messy ponytail/bun-type thing

Step 3: Take the ponytail thing out and fluff your hair a bit by gently putting your fingers through your hair and taking them out again starting at the roots while your head is upside-down (hopefully that makes sense!). If it doesn't look de-frizzed enough, or defined enough, just use more product - seriously, I've never used too much of this stuff and some days I use a lot. After you like the way your hair looks, you can set it with a hairspray or finishing spray if you want; I usually will if it's going to be a long day.

Voilà! Wavy hair with minimal effort

If you want to learn how to curl your hair with a straightener, check out YouTube - I can't vouch for any of those videos because I haven't tried them, but I can recommend using Garnier Fructis Leave-In Conditioning Cream in place of whatever product they use!

Overall: This is a great product, and you get a lot for your money (I think it was only $3 or $4). It smells nice and doesn't leave my hair looking and feeling greasy like a lot of other "anti-frizz" products do, and it's versatile - I can use it to curl my hair with a flat iron, to give my wavy hair some definition, or even in place of a rinse-off conditioner in the shower when I use Neutrogena Anti-residue Shampoo (review for that coming soon). And honestly, you can't use too much of this stuff. If your dollop wasn't big enough the first time, try again with more. Some days I use more than others, but have never felt like I've used too much. It's awesome.

Re-buy?: Yes! I love this hair product.

Dial Complete Foaming Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap (Pear)

I bought Pear-scented Dial Complete hand soap (7.5 oz) for our bathroom on May 6, 2011 - three and a half weeks ago. Take a look at how much is left:

Ethan and I are not the sort of people who wash our hands 50 times a day or anything, so I am amazed that we have gone through this soap so quickly (and not amazed in a good way). Now, I am not normally a fan of foaming hand soaps (I like to create a lather myself, it makes me feel like the soap is working), but I tried this at a friend's house and it smelled nice. Since we needed new hand soap anyway, I bought some.

We don't like it. This entire bottle will only have lasted about a month! For a household of two, that is unacceptable - it usually takes us about 3 months to go through a bottle of hand soap. Not only that, but for the last week or two I've washed my hands in the kitchen a few times in order to avoid using this soap because it dries out my hands - so we aren't even using this soap as often as we normally would and it is still disappearing at an alarming rate. The website claims that the lather is "lotion-soft," but whether or not the lather is or isn't lotion-soft doesn't matter to me - I want my hands to feel lotion-soft after using this product (or at least normal! Dry as a bone is just uncomfortable). But, on a positive note, it does smell good. It's not an overwhelming sweet smell or anything, but rather is a light fruity scent that stays on your hands for a while (in a good way).

Overall: This was not a good product for us. We aren't germaphobes so Dial's claim that it kills 99.99% of germs and is #1 doctor recommended doesn't do much for us as a selling point. The soap left our hands dry and uncomfortable and we went through the bottle extremely fast. On the bright side, the soap does smell good and the scent is long-lasting.

Re-buy?: Definitely not. Although this product was relatively cheap (about $2), it wasn't worth the money for us.

"Marnie" Crocs (Espresso/Mushroom)

Before our trip to New York City in March, my husband and I went shopping for weather-appropriate clothes. We'd never been to New York before so we weren't sure what to expect, but we knew it wouldn't be similar to the weather we were leaving behind. You see, we live in Southern California so we don't usually need much more than a hoodie and jeans to keep us comfortable.

We decided to check out Bass Pro Shops to see if we could find anything good on sale... no such luck. I was ready to leave after scouring the sale racks and finding nothing, but we brought my mom with us and she is a wanderer, so I decided to go upstairs and check out the shoes while she looked at everything downstairs. I am so glad I did because I found an amazing pair of flats! I'd gone upstairs on a whim thinking, "I will probably be doing a lot of walking in New York... I wonder if there will be any good walking shoes here?" but I wasn't expecting to find anything beyond hiking boots and boat shoes. The ladies' shoe area is kind of small, so I found the most "fashionable" shoes rather quickly: Sanuks and Crocs. I know, I know - Crocs?! I was surprised too. I thought they only made  silly-shaped plastic shoes that you find on babies and old ladies in the garden. And let's be fair, that's how everyone knows of the brand, because that is what the first Crocs were. But it seems as though the brand has branched out. They even make heels now! But I digress. This post is about my new favorite pair of shoes - "Marnie" Crocs in the Espresso/Mushroom color (aka kind of a neutral olivey brown).

This pic is truest to color

I found them nestled in a back corner behind some not-so-cute Crocs. They are just a basic pair of flats, which fits my lifestyle perfectly, and they are brown, which goes with everything. And they are so comfortable! Sometimes I even wear them around the house instead of my slippers (which have a tendency to disappear under the couch). They are also very easy to clean - just run them under warm/hot water with an old soapy toothbrush and let them dry (although if you're in a hurry, you can blow-dry them to speed up the drying process).

They are definitely the trademark (plasticky) Croc material, but that's a good thing because they're super durable. Like I said, they can get wet! And the best thing is, they don't even look like plastic - they're slightly textured, and look like a faux suede. I've gotten a bunch of compliments on them and people are so surprised when I say, "they're Crocs!" There are a few downsides though: because there's no air in there, they can make your feet smell a bit after you've worn them all day. Luckily, since they're plastic, they don't retain the smell so they aren't stinky in and of themselves. Also, again because of the lack of air, sometimes my feet squeak in them on hot days. It's actually kind of funny walking around Target and hearing squeaky sounds coming from my feet, but it doesn't really bother me.

I went onto the Crocs website and saw that they even come in purple! They also come in black, but I tried on the black ones in the store and they were more of a dark grey and not a true black so I wouldn't recommend them.

Overall: These are great. I've had them for about 3 months and haven't had any real problems. The brown is a perfect neutral, great for most outfits, and I love that I don't have to worry about getting them wet or dirty. Granted there are a few quirky things like squeaky feet and a little stink after a long day, but you'll find that with almost any shoe. You should know that they run large - meaning, if you're normally a size 8, buy a size 7. They don't come in half sizes but going a full size down worked for me (they actually fit perfectly in a 7, and I am usually an 8 or 8.5, although once or twice I've worn 7.5).

Re-buy?: If anything happens to them, I will definitely buy them again. I might even get an additional pair in the plum color as soon as I can afford to!