There are a lot of beauty products out there that seem super useful but are actually complete garbage (I’m looking at you, “As Seen On TV” ads!). However, there are also beauty products that seem really unnecessary but are actually huge lifesavers. How do you differentiate between the two? Advertisements and commercials can be misleading, and you can never trust the companies to be 100 percent upfront with you about the limitations and problems with the product they’re selling — so who can you trust? Turn to me, fellow fashionistas — I can show you the light! Hopefully, I can be of service to you in determining which products are the real deal and which products are scam central.
Curling wands:
Even though this hair tool has been around forever, I’ve just recently hopped on the bandwagon. I don’t know about you, but curling wands seemed too good to be true. I was skeptical that a wand without a clip could create long-lasting curls, and I questioned whether or not it was even safe to use a barrel that was heated to 360 degrees and not get burned. I was just all-around unconvinced. At least that was until I actually used it on my hair for the first time, and, oh my goodness gracious, you guys. It’s like magic. That’s probably why they call it a ‘wand,’ now that I think about it. The curls were beyond beautiful. I was in shock and awe, and I couldn’t stop touching my hair the entire night.
Ladies, you know what typically happens to curls when they get touched a lot… they get flat. It’s such a pet peeve of mine — every single time I curled my hair, the curls were gone literally two hours later. It was a nightmare. But not with my magic curling wand; the curls lasted all night and even all of the next day. I loved the product so much that I ordered it the next day (off of Ulta.com — the Remington pink curling wand, if you are curious). I cannot say enough good things about this curling wand. It’s definitely the best purchase I’ve made in a while.
Coconut Oil:
I haven’t really heard any negative reviews about coconut oil, which shows that it’s generally seen as an effective beauty product, but before I tested it out for myself, I wasn’t sure I believed the hype behind this product. People go crazy over coconut oil — they claim it strengthens hair, improves overall health, relieves dry, itchy scalps and even works as a skin and cuticle moisturizer. Basically, coconut oil is advertised as a multipurpose holy-grail product; but can it really do that many things? As always, I was skeptical (as you should be with beauty products, since there are so many products out there that can cause real damage!), but because it was all-natural, I decided to give it a shot, and I was not disappointed.
Because I rarely deep condition my hair, and I straighten it all the time, my hair was pretty damaged and lifeless. After using coconut oil as a deep conditioning treatment on my hair right before I showered, I witnessed a noticeable improvement in the health and overall quality of my hair. It was shinier, fuller and softer. Since it was such a success on my hair, I tried it out on my skin and could not have been happier. I was getting actual complements from people on how soft my skin was, and I never had to worry about dry skin again, even in the winter months. It is a true must have, and it’s my holy grail when it comes to hair and skin products.
Skin lighteners:
In other words, bleach. You may or may not know this, but women of color have been using bleaching products and skin lighteners on their skin for ages, partially to relieve the look of discoloration but mostly to lighten their skin tone. I haven’t personally tried any skin-lightening products, but my sister once tried lightening cream, and the results were disastrous. Her face broke out in hundreds of bumps, and she had to seek professional help to clear her face up, and even then it took months of trying.
That’s because those skin-lightening products are full of harsh and harmful chemical products — it’s just so unnatural. All those chemicals don’t react well to your skin, especially if it’s sensitive. Please stay away from these products. Skin doesn’t need to be lightened; all skin colors are beautiful. I hate even including skin lighteners in the “beauty products” category because they will not make you any more beautiful. Scam central!
These are just a few products that I’ve had personal experience with and can definitively say whether or not they worked for me. I’m sure there are tons more products that I’m leaving out that are either super useful or super useless. Do you know of any products that fit the bill? Let me know, fellow fashionistas!