Burt's Bees Res Q Ointment

I recently returned from my annual camping sojourn and I loved it. Do you know what my friends ask? "Did you go camping camping or camping"camping""? What? There's more than one type? Apparently I went the real route by sleeping in tents and braving the elements instead of luxury camping. While I was there, I had barely any problems with bites. I do admit that I go a tiny bite on the side of my ass, where a wayward mosquito decided to have a bite. But it paid dearly for it's taste. But after three days, nothing. However, when I returned home, after the first ten minutes, I was bitten everywhere. It was on the worst places ever! Mostly on my hands and toes. Gah! Except for the face, being bit on the hands and feet are the worst. Look at it.

 It burns.

I'm the type that doesn't like to scratch and would prefer to ride out the itch-fest but my goodness. I couldn't handle it. Then I remembered reading this in a magazine once about how bengay can be applied to stop the itching. I don't have bengay or tiger balm around but I did have this. Burt's Bees Res Q Ointment to the rescue.

This was supposed to be for muscle soreness but I've read that this does wonders for cuts as well. I still am skeptical about putting that on my cuts, I have neosporin for that, but decided to give this a try. It comes in a tin and is a smooth ointment that did not melt even during the east coast heat wave. It stinks to high heaven with the traditional tiger balm's, medicinal scent that doesn't really fade. But this thing worked like a dream and brought me temporary relief.

It stops the itching for a but and you do need to reapply it. It does seem to sink into the skin after a while but as I've said, the scent is still there. Since I know that Burt's Bees is a company known for healthier ingredients, I don't mind using this again and again. The tin does get a bit hard to open and close with the itchiness all over my hands but it does seal in the ointment. I've had this lying around as an unused gift set for a while but still hasn't dried out. So overall, this is a pretty good willing to repurchase product.

Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter

I've been trying to grow out my hair and try a particular hairstyle that I saw on youtube. My hair is in decent condition with not a lot of split ends and no real rough texture. I do have the occasional tangle but the part that bothers me the most is the still dyed parts at the end of my hair. In order to combat that, I've started using my Etude House oil again but if you know me then you know that I needed a change. I was going to try some Argan Oil or some Macadamian oil but when I was on Sephora I saw this Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter for about $11. Now let me reintroduce my hair. It is fine with medium to long length that is untreated at the roots but dyed at the ends. It tends to get oily very fast but the ends remain pretty brittle and so I've become best friends with my dry shampoo. 

Here's a picture of my damp ends. The water hides most of the damage but I do have a childhood bad habit of playing with the ends of my hair.

This is the product and it claims to pretty healthy with no parabens, petroleum, mineral oil or any artificial colors. It does contain beeswax and is recommended to apply directly onto damp hair in order to deep condition, protect it and provide a natural shine. Gosh this sounds perfect. This does come in a bigger container but I roped myself in and just got the smaller one. Now this thing smells extremely strong and doesn't really fade for a long time. It smells like musky ginger and I am not a fan of woodsy or ginger smells so this was not a good start. This was also extremely thick and I was worried that the hot, close to 95 degree weather would melt it but nope. It is so thick and I could tip the container upside down and not have it spill. Good for traveling. Now for the road test.

I first put on the amount, rubbed my hands together vigorously and tried to get it to go through my hair. But it still didn't really coat the hair. So I took a bit more but it still wasn't coating or smoothing out my tangles. I decided to wait and let my hair dry before doing anything else. My sister saw me after and asked if I had washed my hair. This left my hair really greasy and oily. It did not get rid of the tangles and didn't condition or smooth my hair. But wait, maybe I applied too much product. So I put on maybe half the amount or maybe a bit more on the hair next time and nope. Still the same. It did leave a shine but did nothing to improve the condition of my hair. Not only that but it was pretty heavy and I couldn't get the stuff off of my hair. I had to go soap my hair three times and follow it with a vinegar rinse.

This is a picture of me after the first time applying it. The roots look ok but the top part looks to greasy. Now most of the reviews that love this are primarily women with curly thick hair, which is the complete opposite  of my hair profile. I honestly wouldn't but this and would cough up a bit more to try the other oils. Damn it.