Extraordinary Oil #hairexpertise!

I recently got chosen by Influenster to sample and review L'Oreal Paris' new line of hair products! I got the email to take a survey, then the email that told me I finally qualified for a VoxBox. It had certainly been a while since I qualified, as I've been pretty quiet on social media, except for Instagram. Still, definitely not as much as I used to.

I guess they figured that I qualified for the Extraordinary Oil line of shampoo, conditioner, and hair mask. I remember ticking the box that I was concerned about how dry my hair was, but I realized my hair wasn't as dry as I thought. The smell was actually really good and even my husband told me that my hair smelled good. 

I used the shampoo and conditioner a couple times, but I found my hair getting too oily, too fast, I can usually for 3 days without washing my hair, but with this product, I had to wash every other day. I definitely saw some improvement in the feel and look of my hair, especially the ends, after the first wash, but it was too much on my roots. The product didn't turn my hair red, that was my doing! I was totally ready for a change, and I jumped on the chance when I found a box of red hair dye in our basement. 

I ended up giving my free products to a friend at work, and I hope it works well on her hair. I wouldn't buy this Extraordinary Oil line again, but I would try out some of their other types if they were on sale. 

Do you have a favourite hair product?

*I received this product complimentary from Influenster for review purposes. All opinions are my own.*

xo. Nicole

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Favourite Things

Happy Thursday! It's only one more day until Friday, and that also means only 5 more working days until my summer break! Anyways, today I wanted to share some of my favourite things with you. I always love reading your posts about what you use every day for make up, and other things, so I decided to share some of my every day items with you.

• NYC Big Bold Mascara: I am totally loving how long it makes my lashes! I had a $1 coupon for it, and it was already on sale for $4. $3 mascara? Sure! It comes off super easy when I want it to without flaking and rubbing off during the day. Definitely buying it again!

• Color Energy Immune Booster: My mom does aromatherapy (and all sorts of other fun things) and she gave me this. When you feel a cold coming on, rub it on your neck and the bottoms of your feet. I choose to also put a tiny bit of it on my cheeks by my nose. It helps me breathe and relieves the ache that comes with clogged sinuses.

• Anniversary Flowers: It was our first wedding anniversary on Monday June 16, and Rob got me this beautiful bouquet of a variety of flowers. They smell SO good and are such pretty colors! Flowers are a rare treat for me, as he reserves buying them for special occasions :)

• Julep: My June maven box arrived on Tuesday. I think that it was my favorite box yet! I received more polish than I thought I would (or remembered purchasing) and they're all gorgeous colors (review coming soon). I promptly put on this pretty pastel purple color.

• Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser: I've been using this hair mask that I received from Influenster a while back, and it really does help my damaged hair. I am in desperate need of a haircut, but after I use this, my hair feels super soft for a couple days. I've had to resort to this more than once a week because the conditioner from this set just does NOT come out of the bottle. If you're in the market for a good hair mask though, this is a pretty good one to buy!

Have you tried any of these products? 

What have you been loving lately? Link me!

xo. Nicole

PS. Have you entered my giveaway? It ends on Saturday!

Impress Vox Box!

Finally after waiting almost a month after my tracking code said it was "delivered", I received my Impress Manicure Vox Box from Influenster! It appears as if the post man/woman forgot to put a key in my slot after they delivered it, so I couldn't open up the big parcel slot in our mail box.

Anyways, I love Impress by Broadway Nails! If you follow me on Instagram, or have seen some of my recent posts, you'll have seen me trying out some pink nails from them. They lasted about 4 days, and only because I had to do a very hands-on task at work, and they started to peel off afterwards.

Even though the box labels the nails as "short", they definitely weren't. I ended up having to cut and file them down to a functional length, and I think they lasted much longer because of this. As a result of cutting and filing them, the glue that is used to keep the nails on started to pill and collect all sorts of dust, and snag a bit on my clothes. I kept having to pick the pills off, and it resulted in taking some of the sticky glue out from underneath the nail, which I feel also contributed to them coming off after 4 days. 

Even during my small struggle with the glue fiasco, I would still recommend these to friends (and you!), and I would buy them! I am still not a fan of the crackle polish look, so I was a bit disappointed they sent those to me again, but the other design looks pretty cute. I've got my eyes on some zebra print ones, though!

xo. Nicole

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

• Mystery Vox Box Revealed! •

I received these products complimentary from Influenster, but opinions are 100% my own!

Last week, I received some mystery L'Oreal product to try out and review. You can check out my post on it here!

I tried it out and really loved it! I guessed by commenting on another lady's facebook post, that it was Garnier and I was right!

The damage eraser products helped me out with my split ends and hair feeling super dry. It smelled super good, and my first impression was that it smelled like candy...but it's tropical! I think the best product of the three (shampoo, conditioner, and split-end serum) was the split-end serum. Those types of products always make my hair feel softer than the actual shampoo and conditioner.

The only thing that I wasn't happy about was how dry my hair felt in the shower after using the shampoo (easily fixed by using the conditioner), and how the conditioner just DIDN'T want to come out of the bottle. I tried shaking it, hitting it, anything...but nothing worked unless I had the bottle stored upside down for the next shower. I'm glad that the conditioner bottle of the actual product is actually stored upside down for easy use!

Here's my hair Before:

And here's my hair After:

Both pictures were taken after showering, but in different light (sorry!) I'm so happy that I got the chance to use and review these products, as I had never used Garnier before. This was a great first impression for me!

To become an Influenster, just go to Influenster.com or click the button below. It's completely free!

ps. I've reached 100 followers so I'm going to reveal the NEW blog name and host a fun giveaway this week! Stay tuned xo

xo. Nicole

• Mystery Vox Box •

Note: I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.com. All opinions are 100% my own!

Today, I arrived home from my day trip to Red Deer and Leduc, to find that I had received my second Vox Box from Influenster! This one is called a "Mystery" one because I have to guess what brand the products are. You can see the first box that I received, here!

The major brand name is L'Oreal Canada, who owns a lot of different brands! My job is to use these products during my usual styling routine for 1 week, and to review and guess what the brand is. So far, it smells like candy to me! It's made me more excited to try them out tonight.

This is my hair a day after being blow dryed and straightened. During the week, I usually shower at night, and just brush my hair while it's wet. I go to bed with wet hair and wake up with relatively straight hair. It's not usually too frizzy, but I've noticed that the climate change from BC to Alberta has made my hair as dry as ever. I also haven't had it cut since before our wedding in June 2013. 

Here's hoping that these products work well for the frizz, but I'm sure a hair cut would help too. I'll be sure to post a before + after post at the end of the testing week!

If you'd like to be a part of Influenster (it's completely free!), please click on the button below and have fun!

xo. Nicole