Image: Nordstrom

The Angel Cakes set smells like a freshly baked angel food cake — sweet but not overly so, and absolutely delicious. If you haven’t tried Philosophy’s shampoo/shower gel/bubble bath, you are really missing out. This high foaming liquid leaves your skin and hair fresh, clean and silky soft.

The Philosophy Angel Cakes Set is only $20.00. It’s available online at Nordstrom.com and at select Nordstrom stores.

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Philosophy Angel Cakes Set

I was looking at ULTA and they have these ULTA Spa Sponge Collections that include 3 different sponges – a mesh pouf, a loofah, and a natural cut body sponge. I like a mesh pouf because you can use a very small amount of body wash and still get a ton of suds. Using less product saves money. These sponge sets are on sale for half price right now.

ULTA Spa Sponge Collection
Regularly $12, on sale for $6

Another great buy for the bath is the Earth Therapeutics Feng Shui Mesh Body Brush for only $1.99. It has a long handle and a rope hanger. It comes in two colors – Earth/Yellow or Wood/Green.

Feng Shui Mesh Body Brush
$1.99

Here’s something that I’m going to need to snatch up before it’s all gone – Bodycology Vanilla Buttercream Body Cream. I love this stuff and I use it regularly. It’s thick and creamy and leaves you smelling like a cupcake. The 8 ounce size cream is available at a clearance price of $2.49. I hate to see this body cream go.

Vanilla Buttercream Body Cream
$2.49

Add a muliti-use product like Philosophy’s Vanilla Birthday Cake 3-in-1 Shampoo, Body Wash, and Bubble Bath, and you’ve got the makings of a easy and inexpensive holiday spa-style gift basket.

Vanilla Birthday Cake
$16

When shopping at ULTA, use the promo code 23126 for a $5 savings on any $10 purchase or use the code 22493 for 20% off of one item.

Image credit: ULTA.com

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Saving Money At ULTA

Image: Sephora

The Cocktail Party from Philosophy is a bath time essential. This trio of products includes their multi-purpose shampoo/shower gels in three cocktail scents — Margarita, Mimosa and Melon Daiquiri. These hair and body cleansers smell absolutely wonderful.

You can get The Cocktail Party for just $30 at Sephora. It includes a 6 oz bottle of each product packaged together in a signature box. If you find you love one of these scents more than the other, a 16 oz bottle is priced at $16.

Since you are relaxing in the bath, you might as well as stir up an actual cocktail. Here’s a fabulous recipe for a Mama Mimosa — a fresh twist on the traditional variety.

Ingredients:

• champagne (4 oz)
• orange juice (4 oz)
• orange liqueur
• raspberries

Directions:

1. Add chilled champagne to an champagne flute.
2. Top with chilled orange juice.
3. Add a tablespoon of orange liqueur and stir.
4. Add a few raspberries and enjoy!

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Relax with a Mimosa

Show your thanks to someone ‘with gratitude’ with this fabulous pomegranate scent. This sweet and delicious fragrance is invigorating. And the product cleanses, conditions and hydrates both skin and hair. You can get a 16 oz bottle from Nordstrom for just $16.

Image: Nordstrom

The Philosophy 3-in-1 products come in a variety of scents, but the pomegranate ‘with gratitude’ is a fabulous choice for summertime.

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Philosophy ‘with gratitude’ 3-in-1

3-in1 Shower Smoothies
$14.99

Ulta Salons throughout the US are offering a series of Free workshops throughout the month of July. The workshops will be offered by ULTA’s Pro Designers and they will be teaching you the techniques you need to Turn Up the Volume or Tame Your Mane.

If you are interested in haircolor, pre-book an appointment for a free one-on-one consultation. If this will be your first visit to an ULTA Salon, you can recieve a discount of 30% off your haircolor or a $30 Signature Cut at the salon. To book an appointment, call 1-800-968-5823 or take get more information about a salon near you by visiting ULTA.com.

Workshop dates are as follows:

Turn Up the Volume:
*Saturday, July 11th – 10:00am-Noon
*Sunday, July 12th – 11:00am-1:00pm
*Saturday, July 18th – 10:00am-Noon

Tame Your Mane:
*Sunday, July 19th – 11:00am-1:00pm
*Saturday, July 25th – 10:00am-Noon
*Sunday, July 26th – 11:00am-1:00pm
*Saturday, August 1st – 10:00am-Noon

Tracy Guthrie, ULTA’s Salon Training Manager suggests these tips for achieving the look you want…

Turn Up the Volume:
*Wash hair with a volumizing shampoo and conditioner to add density to the hair shaft
*Comb hair with a wide tooth comb to eliminate frizz
*Apply a volume enhancing styling product from roots to ends
*Blow dry with a round brush for fine straight hair or paddle brush for thick curly hair
*Lift hair up from the scalp to create height
*Finish your blow out with a frizz fighting blast of cold air
*Back comb hair at the crown and around the temples
*Smooth the top layer of hair over the teased portion with a dollop of finishing serum
*Use a large-barrel curling iron on 2-inch section of hair from the chin down to add big curls to the bottom
*Set your style with a volumizing hairspray   

Tame Your Mane:
*Wash hair with a smoothing shampoo and conditioner
*Comb out hair with a wide tooth comb to eliminate frizz
*Apply a smoothing cream mixed with a drop of shine serum onto damp hair
*Blow dry hair until 80% dry
*Use clips to section hair to complete the blow out
*Pull small sections straight with a paddle brush and direct heat from the blow dryer until completely dry
*Apply a heat protective styling spray on dry hair and smooth with a flat iron
*Tame fly aways and add shine with shine spray or serum

Image credit: ULTA.com

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The Latest From ULTA Salons

Sound like an impossible delusion? I may have agreed with you once upon a time, but science – and beauty researchers – apparently can make the impossible dream a reality.

Image: Sxc.hu

According to an article in the Times of India,

Dr. Bruno Bernard, head of the hair biology research team at L’Oreal Paris, points out that hair goes grey when the pigment-producing cells, known as melanocytes, die or no longer work properly. He, however, also highlights the fact that such cells often survive long after people go gray.

He and his colleagues have also found that the cells lack a certain enzyme, known as TRP-2, which is found in the skin and protects it from losing its pigment.

If researchers can learn to copy and recreate the enzyme’s action on hair follicles, re-awaken the cells, allow people to maintain their hair color for longer, or even reverse the process.

One can only imagine how much a shampoo that erases gray would cost…and the lines to get it once it was available!

We all know people who are in their later years, and swear they’ve never once dyed their hair. And then there are those people who start going gray in their late teens. At the very least, something like this could sort of even the playing field, and maybe even avoid playing with chemicals and hair dye quite as often!

But it is a little Brave New World-esque…and anti-nature, in a way. (Though I suppose hair dye is, as well.) I’m curious, if something like this existed, and was available at a palatable price point – would you try it?

I think I would! Then again, nature has so far saved me from my gray fate!

Now if only they can find an anti-cellulite soap. I am so there.

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Can We Shampoo Away Aging?

When I hear about friends who can go three days without a shampoo, I can’t help but feel bad for my poor limp locks, which have never gone two days without being assaulted by suds.

Image: Ojon®

Until now.

I’ve only recently begun learning about some of the dry shampoo products on the market and, honestly, I haven’t been impressed. The thought of dumping a white powder-like substance onto my dark hair 10 minutes before I have to leave for work sounds like a disaster. Curious though, I picked up a sample bottle of Ojon® Rub-Out Dry Cleanser at Sephora and figured I would give it a try.

The dry shampoo is meant to be used between washings, when you’re in rush or have overused a styling product and need to undo the damage. You simply shake the can, spray it onto your hair and rub it into your scalp. Its ingredients, which include Amazonian white clay, rice, silk powder and potato starches, are supposed to sap the grease and oils from your scalp and create texture and volume.

Ojon® made me very, very happy. It revitalized my lifeless hair and gave my waves a bit of a lift – something it’s reluctant to do even on a shampoo day. A lot of dry shampoo reviewers focus on the repulsive scent some of these products emit, but Ojon® smelled like a mix of baby powder and flowers. Saccharine, maybe, but, after all, it is still a spray can product.

There is hope yet.

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Dry Shampoo Savior

Pureology Hydrate Shampoo and Conditioner is part of their Serious Colour Care line.

I’ve been trying to avoid products with sulfates in them, and Pureology is all nature. It also is great for keeping my hair feeling fresh and vibrant, which is super important when you go to posh events every night! If you have keratin treatments done, this won’t pull out the process – an obvious added benefit.

All my favorite salons use this brand – another reason this is probably a must-have addition, and at quality price and value!

Image: Amazon.com

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Pureology Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner

Due to this less-than-pleasurable memory, hearing that a shampoo was now made FROM cotton did not sound remotely attractive to me! However, Fresh’s Cotton Shampoo is actually a pretty good product.

While many volumizing shampoos can dry out the hair, this one is actually conditioning, and it’s due to the cotton seed oil!

Cotton Shampoo also contains a trio of natural seed extracts of Moringa, sunflower, and camellia, all environmental and hair friendly!

Image: Sephora.com

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A Whole New Meaning to Cotton Head

Conserving water is just one reason to avoid shampooing daily, another is that shampooing too often can lead to excess oil building up on your scalp.

As you know, we are doing a mini-series up through Earth Day (April 22) where celebrity hair stylist David Babaii shares a few of his tips on how to find eco-friendly ways to style our hair. In this instance, the advice is super-simple: Just use a bit of baby powder!

Baby powder lightly spritzed throughout the hair acts as a dry shampoo, which helps eliminate oil and leaves a fresh scent throughout the day.

Added bonus? It’s way cheaper than buying a dry shampoo!

Alternatively, you can use a cosmetic damp cotton pad and dab it around the hairline and roots to eliminate any excess oil. If you wish, mist the pad with a light oil free fragrance or squeeze a few drops from a fresh lemon to give hair that fresh smell.

Image: Sxc.hu

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Keep Your Hair Fresh Without a Shampoo