Total Beauty: The Eight Worst Hair Shampoos





TotalBeauty.com
8 Worst Hair Shampoos





Be kind to your hair. Avoid these.






Before you fall for promising packaging, see why readers gave these shampoos a thumbs down

See shampoos





No. 8: Bumble and bumble Seaweed Shampoo, $16





TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 4.4*


"It does have a funny smell and my hair doesn't feel clean after use."

No. 7: PHYTO PhytoSpecific Optimal Hydration Shampoo, $24

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 4.3*


"For the cost you can buy another better shampoo; it's just not worth it."

No. 6: Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar, $5.99

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 4.2*


"It was pretty difficult to get enough lather to completely get my hair clean, and I ended up in the shower for way longer than I wanted to be."

Want to see No. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1? Click here.

Saturday's Cocktails: Sangria

My drink of choice lately has been sangria. It's always been a favorite of mine, and it makes me think of summer, Spain, and good times. Here is an excellent recipe from Food Network that makes some of the tastiest sangria I've found.

You'll Need

  • 1 orange, sliced thin
  • 1 lemon, sliced thin
  • 2 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar, or to taste
  • 1 bottle chilled dry red wine
  • 1/2 cup cognac
  • 1/4 cup orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 cup chilled seltzer or club soda
  • Ice cubes
Directions

In a bowl, muddle the orange and lemon slices with the sugar with a wooden spoon. Add the red wine, cognac, orange liqueur, and orange juice. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a pitcher, chill until ready to serve and then stir in seltzer and add ice cubes.

While I'm not a huge fan of the glasses (I've always drank my sangria out of a tumbler), this pitcher is fantastic. Available at Barware.com.

Allure Magazine is Giving Stuff Away Again!


Allure always gives away the best stuff. I'm always surprised that I never try to win anything - I mean, it can't be that hard, right? But I have so much stuff anyway, and I can't ever keep the dates straight. I should probably utilize my iCal for that sort of thing.

At any rate, February brings Shiseido skin care, RoC Complete Eyelift Pens, Bliss daily moisturizer, Rimmel mascara, and much more.

Head on over to Allure to check it all out.

Loving: MAC's Penultimate Liner


It's probably hard to tell in this photo, but today was the first day that I took out my Penultimate liner by MAC, overcame my fear, and gave it a shot. I love it! It's soooo easy to use and gives an excellent finish. Nice and carbon-y black, this pen gives you the boldness of a liquid liner in a pen form; or perhaps I should say a stiff brush with which to apply it, which has always been key to good liquid liner, in my opinion.

Now, the bad news: this is a limited edition item, which means that once it's gone, it's gone. Originally part of the Chill collection, I was told by a SA that it probably wouldn't become a permanent item in their line. Personally, I'm heading back to the counter to pick up about four of these, because I can't imagine liquid liner being any easier.

With Love, Michael Kors Set


I love Michael Kors. Seriously, I just adore everything he does, from his jeans to his fragrance. I've posted about his Very Pretty fragrance before, and now he's got even more coming out for me to get all excited about.

This set has three different fragrances: Very Pretty, which is described as "sparkling citrus and drenched coconut with sheer white florals, vetiver and sandalwood; Eau de Parfum, the iconic tuberose balanced with spices, sensual woods and incense; Eau de Toilette, a lighter and softer way to wear the Eau de Parfum.

The best part? They come in a set of rollerballs! I love rollerballs for travel - they are compact and fit just about anywhere, unlike a larger bottle. The box is lovely, and would make an excellent Valentine's Day gift. Retails for about $40.

Clarins Offers a Winter Skin & Body Set Free with Free Shipping

Winter Skin & Body Set

If anyone is as big of a fan of Clarins as I am, be sure to take advantage of this great offer. I always find something new to love when I get Clarins samples.

Essentially, you receive a free gift set and free shipping when you spend $75. Make sure to use the code CLRNEW when you place your order.

75% off Bags at E.L.F.


Doing some traveling soon? I am. I'm going to Salt Lake City next week, New York City for Fashion Week in February, and Lexington, Kentucky in March. I'm sure there will be a few other trips tucked in there too, as I get antsy if I stay in one place for too long.

What with all that traveling, I tend to go through makeup bags fairly quickly. I also tend to carry at least three for various different things. So when I got the email from E.L.F. about their sale, I jumped all over it.

Use the code 75OFF to get 75% off the clearance makeup bags. Happy shopping!

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin Available at Sephora

I was just talking about this one, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Sin is one of my go-to colors in eyeshadow (it works with everything and blends like a dream), and having a primer in this color is going to eliminate at least one of my beauty steps!

If you are a Beauty Insider at Sephora, then you can get your hands on it right now. If you're not a Beauty Insider yet, head on over there and sign up - it's free, and you'll get lots of great samples to try out when you make a purchase.

If you are already a Beauty Insider, then head on over and grab yours!

Welcome to Our New Contributor!

You may notice a new name over there in the "contributors" column. Before it was just me and my little photo, but now we have some new blood to bring some life to Daily Dose of Coffee. Please meet Anna, who will no doubt have some fun and slightly sarcastic things to tell you about all things beauty, fashion, and pop culture.

Welcome Anna!

This Week on Beautiful! Fabulous!

I have an article talking about spring nail polish trends. Head on over there and check it out!

How to Wear It: Leg Warmers

Not too long ago, I had a friend ask me, via Twitter, if I had any suggestions on wearing leg warmers this season.

My first reaction was along the lines of, "unless you're at dance class, just don't." Then I came across some super cute cashmere leg warmers. Then I had to rethink my entire leg warmer stance.

These leg warmers, as photographed by paintedbooklady are super. And those shoes are super as well.
And katrinkles wears them really well here, too!

So then I realized what the common denominator in all the "cute" photos I found: they were wearing them like socks, and usually with a skirt and comfy shoes.

I personally love this approach. It makes you look warm and bundled up without wearing bulky pants. And since I find all hosery interesting (bright tights, anyone?) I think you can really make this look work.

I would only warn against one thing: don't wear them over your jeans. Just don't. We did that in the early (mid?) 80's, and it looked weird then. It doesn't look any better now.

Other than that, rock on with your cute knitted legwarmers! I might be picking up some for myself on Etsy.com.

Urban Decay's Spring Collection Makes Me Want to Shop


I've been browsing over at UrbanDecay.com's website, and I have SO MANY things that I simply must have. They have some seriously great things coming out!

First up, their cream shadow. They have some of the same gorgeous colors that you find in their powder shadows, and some fun new twists. These are actually silicone based and are easy to blend and build. You can combine these with powder shadows as well, and of course it will work better with Primer Potion. I want Asphalt, Rehab, Suburbia, Grass, and Delinquent.

Next is their uber-fantastic 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil. They have four new shades available, each of which looks like it is based on their deluxe eyeshadow shades. They are Flipside, Graffiti, Underground, and Ransom. These eyeliners are simply the best I have ever used, and I have about six or seven of these in various colors in my personal stash.

And if you haven't tried their lipsticks yet, there is one more good reason to do so: they have taken their extremely popular Midnight Cowboy shade and turned it into a lipstick! I would describe it as a nude with lots of glitter/shimmer. It's always been popular and I'm sure this lipstick will be a great hit for them since the nude lip keeps coming back into fashion. And who doesn't need a go-to nude lip when they are rocking the smokey eyes?

Midnight Cowboy also makes an appearance in a new Heavy Metal Glitter Liner alongside Stagedive (turquoise), Catfight (dark pink), and Groupie (pale pink). These are always fun for a night out. I only have one, but it comes in handy.

I also heard a little rumor that Beauty Insiders can take advantage of the new Primer Potion in Sin over at Sephora. Why I haven't done that yet is beyond me, since Sin is my absolute favorite shade of anything Urban Decay has ever done.

What do you think about Urban Decay's new collection? Are you a fan? I've been wearing them for so long that I'm excited to have some new products in the mix.

NARS Cosmetics Spring 2010

Total Beauty

About Me

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Meredith Edwards-Cornwall is the founder of online lifestyle websites RetrodivasBeauty.com and RetrodivasCloset.com. She is also known as @retrodiva on Twitter. She specializes in drinking large amounts of espresso, shopping, and enjoying social media. In all of her free time she writes for StyleBakeryMom.com twice a week, and does various other freelance gigs involving writing, designing, and generally being awesome. While she believes that success is indeed a job in New York, she currently resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia with her husband, two children, and two cats and has hung on to her day job.

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