Pantene Pro-V® Truly Natural- REVIEW

When my hair was permed Pantene hair products were a staple in my hair care routine , fortunately for me Pantene has created a line that is tailored to my hairs current needs. I recently had the opportunity to try out Pantene Truly Natural Line a  line of products designed to help manage your natural hair.

First up Pantene Pro-V® Truly Natural Clarifying Shampoo which is designed to gently cleanse your hair’s unique structure and remove buildup—leaving it shiny, clean and refreshed. I really put it to the test, I used the Clarifying Shampoo after having braids in my hair for over three weeks. It definitely stood up to the significant amount of product and dirt residue. As you can see in the picture above it does not generate a ton of suds, but surely left my hair and scalp clean without stripping it of all it's moisture.

Following the Clarifying Shampoo I applied  Pantene Pro-V® Truly Natural Deep Conditioner  which is an oil-enriched conditioner that moisturizes and detangles natural hair. My hair thrives off oil so I was excited to try it! While the bottle does not tell you a specific amount of time to keep the conditioner on I coated my strands with the conditioner put on a plastic cap and sat under my hooded dryer for 20 minutes. Detangling was a breeze and once I rinsed the product out  my hair felt super moisturized and manageable. 

Pantene Pro-V® Truly Natural Defining Curls Custard works with your hair’s unique structure to define curls and control frizz up to 24 hours, even in humid weather. This styling custard leaves curls manageable and feeling soft. I rounded out my first experience with this product line by doing a Wash and Go style applying the Defining Curl Custard and allowing it to dry completely. It left me with defined curls and minimal frizz although it does claim that your hair would be manageable and soft there was an initial crunch feel that I eliminated by gently scrunching my hair leaving my hair touch-ably soft. Honestly I rarely wear my hair in a Wash and Go style, but instead wear a Flat Twist Out, well I added the custard to my usual routine and boy did it make a difference not only did my twist out stay define through an entire cookout, but it looked  great even days later! 

Pantene Pro-V® Truly Natural Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner instantly cleanses, conditions, and detangles hair in one easy step without stripping the hair’s natural moisture. This low-lathering formula refreshes unmanageable curls and helps control frizz, leaving hair soft and shiny after use. OMG this is my absolutely favorite product from the line not only was it great in the cleaning department but it made detangling, which is usually a nightmare after a Wash and Go, a cake walk. I didn't have time to deep condition afterwards and my hair remained super moisturized for a entire week of me NOT re moisturizing my hair.

Overall I give the line two thumbs up and will be adding them to product arsenal!


I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Macy's Culinary Council Crown the Sizzle Showdown Winner @ Lenox Square Mall

Do you live in the Atlanta Metro area? Are you a foodie? Interested in having a entertaining and informative afternoon? If you answered yes to the prior questions I hope to see you this weekend at Macy's in Lenox Square Mall for the Sizzle Showdown!

Six finalists will compete in the “Sizzle Showdown” at Macy’s Lenox Square in Atlanta, which will be hosted by Tracye Hutchins, co-anchor of CBS’s Better Mornings Atlanta. Following two rounds of competition, Macy’s Culinary Council chefs Cat Cora, Marc Forgione and Stephanie Izard will select the winner, who will receive the grand prize of $10,000 and a trip to the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks in New York City where they will be revealed as America's “Greatest Grilling Guru.”

When:

Saturday, June 8 at Noon

Where:

Macy’s Lenox Square Mall

Atlanta, GA

“Macy’s Great American Grilling Guru” is a national search to find the country’s ultimate master of the grill. The contest launched on Macy’s Facebook page as part of its summer celebration of “American Icons.” From April 9 through April 27, people across the nation submitted prized recipes along with images of the finished dish for a chance to win a spot in the “Sizzle Showdown.”

Macy’s Culinary Council is a national culinary authority comprising some of the nation’s leading culinary masters. Launched in 2003, MCC’s team of distinguished chefs serves to inspire the way Macy's customers shop, cook and eat at home. The chefs are both ambassadors and instructors, providing expert culinary advice and leading cooking demonstrations at Macy’s stores, with the aim of teaching customers how to cook and shop like a master chef.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere provided me with compensation for this post about Macy’s Culinary Council's Sizzle Showdown.  However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.

It's My Anniversary- Three Years Natural

If you are not natural it may seem odd to have an anniversary centered around your hair. Well I am natural and it still feels odd to me as well. But there was something very special that happened three years ago today it was the day that I embraced my beauty. As you can see by the pictures below I went from past shoulder length to less than an inch of hair. This drastic change was triggered by my desire to donate my hair to Locks of Love a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. So in addition to helping others regain a since of confidence in their appearance I was able to find a different level of confidence of my own.

June 2010

So this day became significant not just because of my natural hair journey, but because the personal journey it has taken me own.  I shared in my very first post some of my insecurities I have and still do struggled with from time to time. But, it has been a true blessing to be embraced in to a circle of women  who are all about uplifting each other and embracing your own beauty, regardless if this circle is centered around our hair, the support and encouragement is un matched.

June 2011                                                         June 2012                                                        June 2013

Help me celebrate my three year anniversary by supporting Locks of Love,  if you are doing a big chop  soon consider donating your hair if not find other ways to help here!

Do you have a day you celebrate that may seem odd to others, but may mean a lot to you?

Red Tricycle Big Peach #Giveaway!

 
Photo Courtesy of Red Tricycle

Red Tricycle  is a digital city guide for parents, delivered to your inbox, and has recently launched here in Atlanta. If you aren't familiar with Red Tricycle and you are a parent in the metro Atlanta area or one of the seven other markets they can be found in you should take the time to get to know more.

Our mission is simple, to help parents have more fun with their kids.

To help you have fun with your favorite little people Red Tricycle offer ideas for cool things to see, eat, make and do with your kids in your area.  So not only are you getting the convenience of entertainment ideas being delivered to your inbox they are also saving you time from scouring through the never ending happenings here in the Atlanta area to find the  ones that not only spark your interest but are kid- friendly as well. So with all that extra time on your hands what are you going to do with yourself. Well you can start by entering some of the awesome sweepstakes and contest they have listed on their site including the Big Peach Giveaway!

Help Red Tricycle celebrate their launch in Atlanta by entering to win one of 17 awesome giveaways from Atlanta's best businesses! The list of giveaways alone will give you great ideas for kid- friendly entertainment starting your relationship off right with Red Tricycle!

You will be entered to win:

• Graco Children's Products Jogger Stroller
• 4 Tickets to Tree Top Quest
• $300 Child Portraiture Session from Kate Byars Photography
• cinda b Baby Bag & Travel Friendly Pouch in Scala Ivory
• 2 Family Memberships to Chattahoochee Nature Center
• Family Membership to Southeastern Railway Museum 
• Family 5 Pack to AREA 51 - Aurora Cineplex and The Fringe Miniature Golf
• 1 pink and 1 green Highchair Organizer 
• The Music Class, Fall Session 
• Build your own bday party for 6 at Hippo Hop
• $200 B. Baby Braithwaite Gift Certificate
• emerald august $250 Gift Certificate
• 4 Pair of Babiators, 2 original, 2 polarized
• $200 Family Photo Session with Deana Levine Photography
• Southern Sitters & Nannies Annual Membership
• Rhubarb & Custard $75 Gift Certificate
• $300 Youth Technology Center Gift Certificate

Want to double your chances to win? Share with friends and family on Facebook and get an extra entry for each person mentions your name in the referred by box!

ENTER NOW!

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Red Tricycle. All opinions are 100% mine.

Making Healthy Living Easier- Salad In a Jar

When starting a journey of healthy living the first complaint is always that its inconvenient.  Well at least that WAS my complaint, but I have decided to finds ways to make living a healthier life more convient for me and my family to make it easier for us to maintaing this lifestyle. All it takes is a little bit of creative thinking and planning.  While putting salad into a Mason jar is not a new idea (check out Pinterest) it is definitely new to me and my family.

So I went on an adventure to my local grocery store and bought quart sized Mason jars. A pack of 12 was less than $10 dollars, I am a very frugal person and even I think that's a great deal.  After purchasing the jars  I set down to craft a plan and after a few minutes online I came across this one site in particular named TheKitchn.com that made it super easy to understand the proper way to layer your salad. So I enlisted the hubby and we commenced to chopping and layering. 

First thing in is your choice of dressing we used a Vinaigrette. Next pile in your "hardy" vegetables  they will act as a barrier between  your dressing and  any other ingredients you don't want to get soggy in our case our hardy vegetables were cucumbers, carrots and cabbage.  Now you pile in the "fun stuff" tomatoes, chickpeas, onions, almonds, cranberries or strawberries, eggs  and low fat cheese made up this section for us. And last but not least comes the Mixed Springs and Spinach you want to save this for last to keep it as far away from the dressing as possible to avoid having a soggy salad. Seal with the lid and you have a meal thats ready to go and stays fresh in the refrigerator for 4-6 days.

In the end we prepared six ready to go salads to be used as our lunch for the remainder of the week. If you layer your salad loose enough you could simply shake it up to mix all the ingredients together and eat it right out the jar.As you can see ours is pretty tightly packed so we will use a separate bowl to pour the contents in to enjoy our flavorful masterpiece. 

Once the boys saw what we prepared they were disappointed to find out that these colorful meals did not belong to them. Note to self buy pint size jars  for the kiddies on the next run to the grocery store!

What are some of your tips for making healthy living easier?

World of Coca Cola- Mother's Day Giveaway!

Photo Courtesy of Coca Cola

At the World of Coca-Cola you can experience the history of the world's most famous soft drink at the dynamic, multimedia home of the 125-year-old secret formula for Coca-Cola. Get closer than ever before to the vault containing the secret recipe, and see the fully-functioning bottling line that produces a commemorative glass bottle of Coca-Cola for every guest. View more than 1,200 never-before-displayed artifacts, take a trip around the world in a thrilling 4-D movie experience and tempt your taste buds with more than 60 beverages from around the globe.

Everyone has there go to places for taking their out of town guest, mines is most certainly World of Coca- Cola mostly because it gives me the excuse to experience it all over again! World of Coca- Cola is definitely a place that can bring moments of happiness to the young and old alike. In honor of  Mother's Day I would love for you to share a moment of happiness that you've had with your own mother. 

Photo Courtesy of World of Coca Cola

I'll go first! One moment that stays at the forefront of my mind was May 27th 2009. This was the day that my oldest son was born. Both the baby and I was pretty groggy after being in labor (induced) for nearly 72hrs, but I recall looking over as my mother held my son as she rocked in the rocking chair and a smile creeped over my face and than my mother said "My baby had a baby". In that moment I felt like a Girl Scott who had just been given the highest badge of honor from their troop leader, I was officially a mom and who better to deem me so than my own mother.

Enter to win! Share a moment of happiness you shared with your own mother and you could win four (4) tickets to World of Coca-Cola, assuming two adult and two youth tickets, the total ticket value would be $56! 

Make sure to Like and Follow the World of Coca Cola on Facebook and Twitter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer: The tickets were provided by the World of Coca-Cola no compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own. 

Best Dessert Atlanta 2013

I had the greatest time at  Best Desserts Atlanta 2013. The hubby and I were able to enjoy fine desserts from some of Atlanta's primer restaurants including Seed Kitchen and Bar, Rathbun's and 4th & Swift. There was a distinguished panel of judges Dolvett Quince a Trainer from the Biggest Loser,  Joshua Russell from the Food Network Challenge and Michelle Rickett the president of She Is Safe (SIS), an international nonprofit that frees and empowers women and girls from abuse and exploitation in 8 high risk countries, just to name a few.There was also a silent auction with a wide selection of items and experiences to choose from. All this excitement was housed inside the beautiful showroom of Hennessy Porsche North Atlanta. 

As impressive as the desserts, judges, auction and locale was and is sure to be next year, the star of the event was without a doubt  Faith Hope Adoption. Faith, Hope, Adoption (FHA) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that exists to help prospective adoptive parents successfully navigate the often-complex adoption process. The Best Dessert Event is held to support and raise funds for Adoption Discovery which is the mission program of Faith Hope Adoption. Their goal is to reduce the numbers of orphans one child at a time, they do so by helping those who have already decided to adopt navigate from beginning to end of the sometime complex adoption process.

Hubby, Dolvett & I

Michelle of She is Safe & I

Joshua Russell of The Food Network & I

Members of my very own family have had the joy of expanding our family through adoption. While the end results makes the journey worth while it was certainly an experience that could have been less stressful and more efficiently executed had my family been aware of and had access to Faith Hope Adoption. So if you or someone you know are considering adoption definitely seek out assistance to help you/them navigate the process. 

If you would like to support FHA you can find out more about volunteering and donating here. 

Disclaimer: I received complimentary tickets to the event, but as always my opinions are 100% my own. 

FYSIKO LASHES

Every time I look into the sweet faces of my adorable sons and handsome husband I am reminded of one thing I always longed for LONG LASHES. How in the world did all the men in my life end up with these long and thick lashes that I could only dream to have. For so long I wanted to try an Eyelash Growth Serum, but couldn't convince the hubby that it was a warranted purchase. Fortunately for me I have been given a complimentary bottle of  Fysiko, a growth serum that can be used on both the upper, lower lashes and your eyebrows. I will be using the product and sharing my results with you here on my blog.

Before I tried the product here are a few questions I wanted answered:


Q. Can I use FYSIKO with extension?
A. Yes! You Can!

Q. How is it different from LATISSE?
A. Fysiko is made with natural ingredients, doesn't need prescription and it is cheaper.

Q. Is FYSIKO safe for contact lenses?
A. Yes, put contact lenses on 10 min. after applying FYSIKO.

Q. How long until I see results?
A. First results may be seen in 4-6 weeks, depends on the person, full results of FYSIKO will be seen in 16 weeks.

Day 1 

For the past two weeks I have been applying Fysiko on my upper and lower lashes nightly, and have had no ill side effects to date. Make sure to check back here for an update on my progress. I am on my way to longer and fuller Eyelashes!!!