Thursday, July 11, 2013

I Won!

A while back, I entered a contest hosted by makeup artist Terry Alabata on YouTube.  Well, guess what?  I WON!!  My prize packet included products from WEN and 100% Pure.

I’ve wanted to try WEN for a long time, so I was really excited to try it.  I have to say I was skeptical at first.   I have this terrible idea that my hair is going to look exactly like the models on TV, which is always a mistake when trying new products.

During my first attempt, I followed the directions exactly.  I didn’t pre-twist my hair or anything.  I just applied, waited, rinsed and re-applied.  At that point, I considered it a fail.  But one thing I’ve learned on my healthy hair journey is that you have to give products a chance and that may involve using it in a different way.  So, on attempt number two I used the curly girl method – I applied conditioner to my hair and twisted it into large sections before getting into the shower.  After the first rinse, I  un-twisted, applied more WEN and re-twisted.  After my final rinse, I got rid of excess water, did the same un-twist/re-twist using the WEN leave-in and let my hair air dry.

I was going to do fancy things to it, but it was late, so I just converted the twists into Bantu Knots and called it a night.  The reveal?  Well, I have to say this method worked better because my hair was so soft and light!  My curls weren't defined much, but that was my fault for not taking the time to do a proper twist out.  All in all, I loved the results.

Now the 100% Pure products were a special treat from Terry.  I hadn't heard of the product line, but was excited to give it a try.  She included a body lotion, hand lotion, eye cream and bar soap.  All of the products (except for the Mango Shea bar soap) were in a vanilla bean scent.  The first thing I tried was the soap. Loved it!  It left a soft, light coating on my skin and the scent was so luxurious.  It was a huge bar of soap that Terry said would probably last a year.  But since my sister got a whiff of it, it has been dwindling quickly.
                                                  
The body lotion has a coffee bean scent, which starts out strong but mellows out.  But hey, I love the smell of coffee!  Since going natural, I’ve become an ingredient reader, so I checked out the ingredients and instantly wanted to put the stuff in my hair!

The hand cream is a mellower, sweet scent and works well.  Now the eye cream, though small, packs a punch.  The directions say that it is infused with caffeine to give you that wide-eyed look…which it certainly did…and almost immediately.


So, I just wanted to make a post letting everybody know how much I appreciated my prize packet from Terry.  Go check out her videos and Facebook page, subscribe and like because she is an amazing artist who specializes in the eco-friendly.