Box O' Lashes (and Fake Nails)

Perhaps some of you also were contacted by Revlon to test some of their products? Well, as Revlon is carried in probably all of our pharmacies* on 34th Street, I asked for the lashes and fake nails. Honestly I was hoping to test some serious press-on nails. I can't resist the press-on.

Here's what came to the office this morning:










I thought I'd be getting maybe two pairs each. Nope, 112 pieces like these:

Fantasy Length lashes, "Chic," "Defining," and "Lush." Think I"ll put Lush on top of Defining;

and these, decorative french manicures, YES!










As one of my favorite guys said upon viewing above box, "We need some trannies." Seriously. I plan, of course, on testing them all and will post a review later. But soon, I'm sure, my office-mate will tire of me gluing on nails and lashes in our shared space. So some major giving away is in Fashion Herald's near future to anyone and everyone who wants to sample. Don't forget nieces and younger sisters. Remember when you, too, were obsessed with Lee Press On Nails?**

*Favorite 34th Street pharmacies: Irmat at 2 Park Avenue when I want highbrow, Walgreen's in the Empire State Building, just to be buying shampoo in the basement of the ESB, and Duane Reade on the corner of 34th & 5th, my go-to snack stop.

**warning: none of these nails are actually press on, you've got to use the glue. But I do have several self-adhesive fake lashes.

Dry Shampoo, The Final Day

It's Sunday (Day 3) and I'm cheating, but only because we're going to the beach. There's no way I'm not going in the water as it's insanely hot. But first, to the gym. I was thinking my hair might be smelly or greasy, but no. It didn't smell like anything and fell perfectly into place with hardly a brushing. I didn't even wear a baseball cap and I always wear my Jets hat because my hair looks like crap in the morning. At the gym I ask my husband how it looks. Is it greasy looking? Flat? No, he says, but it looks a little shellacked. Yes, I think as I gaze into the full-length mirror, it looks perfect.

No itching today, either. Still, I'm dying to get the H2O on my head.

We go to the beach. Finally my hair's getting wet! But as we near the water, we notice something really gross: an infestation of disc-shaped jellyfish. They are EVERYWHERE. Maybe, I thought, they're just on the beach? I dive in and am immediately surrounded; they're bumping into me and it's disgusting! I scream but still dunk my head under because, well, I haven't washed my hair in three days. I flounder my way back to shore, yelling "Are they in my hair? Are they in my hair?" And as we scramble up onto the beach, my husband says "Ugh, that was like swimming in something your mom made for Thanksgiving dinner." Huh? Oh, yeah, the marshmallow jello!

After returning home, and rinsing any jellyfish detritus from my locks (no shampoo), my hair dries and I see the beginning of dreadlocks. Speedy dreadlock formula: days of dry shampoo + jellyfish infested waters.

Conclusions:

• this stuff is pretty miraculous, but not perfect. Test your limits, but I say one day for me, two under dire circumstances;
• I didn't use any shine product with the dry shampoo, but I'm guessing that would help with the "matte" effect;
• S (stylist) got back to me about the rinsing question: "Why rinse it? I love to use it as a styling product for volume. Adds body to the hair!! Love it more than hairspray!!!"
• She's right, it adds crazy volume. The dry shampoo will now be a permanent product in my hair-care rotation.

You can get the Rene Furterer dry shampoo at Sephora:
Sephora, 130 W. 34th btwn Broadway & 7th

Testing, Testing, Day 2: The Dry Shampoo Relationship Endures

5:13pm:

I have not yet used the dry shampoo today, and I must admit my scalp it itchy. Gross, yes? I'm curious if it will still itch afterwards. To be fair, it's like 110 degrees where I'm sitting in my apartment today, and I was running errands outside all morning sweating buckets.* But when I finally dragged ass out of bed, I was able to go out in the world without the usual Saturday morning hat to cover up my heinous bed head. Interesting, yes? My helmet style was intact.

I also have an email out to my stylist, "S," asking if it's cheating if I just get my hair wet when taking one of my 3 showers of the day (I'm not OCD, it's just hot as hell). It's REALLY hard for me not to do this, as I'm addicted to washing my hair, and am dying to just dunk it.

*totally unrelated, but I highly recommend Sportea to all of you suffering in hot climates who work out or spend a lot of time outdoors. I've had a gallon today already, and it's like Gatorade but without all the sugar and calories. I buy it from Gong Fu Tea in Des Moines, Iowa because I like to support my home-state businesses. Get 4 or 5 boxes at a time; I buy the big iced-tea bags. Tastes great, too.

10:56pm:

Still haven't heard from S, so, before I drag my laundry out to the laundromat, I again spray the Furterer all over my head. And I forgot to tell you before, it's not like spraying a little hairspray. No, this is like a helicopter landing. No wonder the cats were freaked out. We might not be stripping our hair of essential nutrients by refraining from shampooing, but we are not exactly helping the ozone. Anyway, here's my assessment on not washing my hair since early Thursday morning:

• perhaps I'm taking this a little too far;
  
• this is the grunt day; no longer am I enraptured by my new product. Day one was easy, fun and pretty, but today? The Furterer is keeping my hair in line, but it certainly doesn't have that fresh-washed feeling. Instead, I feel a little Aqua Net-ish;
• my scalp has stopped itching;
• I also notice that after spraying, letting it dry for 2 minutes, toweling it off and then brushing, my hair is "matte." Not shiny, but perfectly matte. Hmm. I like this in lipstick sometimes, but my hair?
• I'm able to actually be on time to meet my husband and pick him up at his bartending gig because I'm not blow drying and flat ironing. No, I'm spraying, putting in a few bobby pins and looking groomed;
• I'm beginning to get a little "Apocalypse Now" on my dry shampoo. Like that Seinfeld episode where Kramer was test driving the car and wouldn't stop for gas? Maybe I'll just keep on going...

Ok, one more dry shampoo post before you see me on the street, nodding to myself and begging for Rene Furterer money, saying "don't wash, just spray, just spray!"

Testing, Testing: Dry Shampoo

It's Day One. Because I woke up at 8:15 am, dehydrated and tired after wandering round 34th Street in 90+ degree weather yesterday, it was a perfect day to not wash my hair. I sprayed the Rene Furterer all over. The cats were horrified and fascinated at once; the husband admonished me and told me to spray by an open window.

Yes, it goes on white. But I was amazed at the instant poufication of my hair. I then, as directed, combed it through although I was worried it would de-pouf the do. No problem. My hair still had body and now the white was gone. I went to work.

Usually, if I don't wash my hair in the am (rare occasion), by lunchtime I look in the mirror and think "gross" and "flat." Honestly, not today. It looks perfect. Actually, it looks more perfect than when I wash it. It made me remember how, a very long time ago, way before Amy Winehouse was teasing her wig, I had a hairstylist friend who would give me beehives for fun. Way bigger beehives than Amy's. Then he'd take me out to Georgetown cocktail parties. I was 19 and so gullible. But I remember he'd yell if I washed my hair that day, because if it was too clean he couldn't easily style it. Now, without the mountains of hairspray, I've achieved a similar, stylable effect.

I'm about to leave work, and have resisted picking up the bottle and spraying again. It doesn't really need it, but I can't stop thinking about how it looked at first spray. Could it be, is dry shampoo the junk of the hair world?

To be continued....