D-I-Y Nappturaliciously: My Two Favorite Drugstore Hair Finds!

Let's face facts: I am unemployed, and broke!!! While I am grateful as all holy hell for the weekly compensation given to me by the New York State Department of Labor, it really doesn't allow me to go crazy on my hair care products. It's times like these I wish I was a more popular blogger, so I can get scores of freebies! LOL

You can totally send me some, though! Just sayin'.... I mean, look at this punim, doesn't it inspire you to WANT to send products?!?!?

But alas, I'm not... so I have to work with what I got, within my modest budget. I've also put myself on a temporary spending freeze when it comes to purchasing products, which means that I am using up a lot of the more expensive brands I purchased when I had a steady paycheck, in addition to using products I've grabbed on a whim from my local Duane Reade. Two products in particular have worked themselves into my weekly routine, so I thought that it would be a great idea to share them with you because.. that's pretty much what I do, isn't it? LOL

Shea Moisture Restorative Hair Conditioner ($9.99 at most stores). Now, my wet hair is not crazy about this stuff.. like, at all! But when I tried it on my hair when dry, Whooo!!! Magic Happened!! I use this every night before bed, when I put my hair into two (or four) braids before wrapping it. I love how my hair looks when I take the braids down in the morning.

Kuza Coconut Oil Conditioner and Hair Dressing ($3.99 at most stores) I can almost hear the collective gasp in the natural hair universe. "Hair... grease?!?!" Yes, hair grease. My hair L-O-V-E LOVES this stuff!!! I don't apply this to my scalp, because... I'm not crazy, but this is another product that I use once or twice a week to maintain my braid outs. And the smell is AWESOME!!!

I've been using both products since the beginning of the year, and I am very pleased with the results thus far. Do any of you use Drugstore brands for your hair? Leave a comment with your faves!!

maniCURATIVE: Milani NEON Collection: Dude Blue

I admit that I've been a bit of a nail polish snob lately, opting for my staples O.P.I., China Glaze and Essie, ignoring the color choices available at my local drug store. I've been dying to try O.P.I./Sephora's Glee Collection color, Slushied for a hot minute now, but I haven't been able to make it over to Sephora after work to snatch it up.

Last week, I was at Duane Reade Downtown Brooklyn, when I spotted Milani's Specialty Neon Nail Lacquers in a display and thought that Dude Blue looked an awful lot like a slightly darker version Slushied.



For $4.99.. I decided it wouldn't be too much of a risk to try it out, so I laid my cash down on the counter and headed home to start my weekend rituals, part of which involved changing my nail color for the upcoming week.

OMG... what can I say about Dude Blue?!?!? I am SO IN LOVE with this color!!!! It's like having a mini mood elevator attached to your hands 24/7. Just looking at my nails made me smile! I got a TON of compliments on the color... and I really really dug the look of shock on people's faces when I told them the brand! LOL



This was my nails last Monday...(I was a bit dorky about the fact that my nails matched my straw.. which I am sure those of you who follow me on Twitter know! lol). Sorry for the picture quality, it was a cell phone shot while at work!



Here are my nails the following Friday (another crappy cell phone picture! lol) I am super duper hard on my nails (I type all day at work and type for hours when I get home doing blog stuff, tweeting and other things), so I generally get TONS of chips by the end of the week. I was astonished at how little the damage was for a Drugstore Nail Polish Brand!!! At the end of the week, I couldn't wait to reapply (Nicer pictures approaching! lol).



Step One: Fill the Gap! Smoothing Base Coat
Step Two: Milani NEON Collection: Dude Blue
Step Three: Seche Vite Dry-Fast Top Coat

(Side Note: I am SOOOOOO "Not so Much..." about No Chips Ahead Chip Free Top Coat - Plainly put: it stinks!!! It causes bubbles all over your nails which is always such a bummer!)







Here is Dude Blue just dried on my nails!! I recently snatched up some of O.P.I & Katy Perry's Shatter polish, so later this week I plan on adding it to my ring finger and thumb (Gotta rock my Blackberry Bling whenever possible) so be sure to check out the Miss Moon's Musings FaceBook Page for updated pictures.

Do you need some "Dude Blue" in your life!?!?!? Well you're in luck, because today THREE is definitely a magic number!!!

I have three bottles of Dude Blue for the first three of my Followers that leave a comment with their email address! Best of Luck!!