Contributed by Editor: Laurel

(New York) Last month I had the lucky opportunity to attend the official launch party for the Arrojo American Wave System at the Arrojo Studio down on Varick Street in NYC. American Wave is a new professional hair treatment using ionic technology to amplify the natural texture of hair and achieve a variety of curly looks, from “beachy waves” to “full blown curls.”

Textured, wavy hair dominated the runways at NY Fashion Week this year and according to Nick Arrojo, “Straight hair is out. Disheveled elegance is in.” I met Nick Arrojo, founder of the Arrojo Studio and his team who presented the American Wave system to a room full of bloggers and reporters. Nick explained his background, the history of perms, and his excitement for a boost in trend and customer demand for soft and natural wavy or curly hair that reduces the stress on hair. Next we saw a demonstration of the range of texture and length that can be achieved with the new system and soft tool wraps including:

• The Beach Wave (marrying straight and wavy to create sexy, tousled beach waves)
• Style Support (adding volume and texture to create resilient consistent waves)
• Expanded Curls (creating buoyant and resilient waves and curls)

American Wave is launching May 1st at Arrojo Studio and Arrojo Ambassador Salons throughout the US (salon locater will be available on May 1st). The service cost ranges from $200-400 and takes about 1.5-2 hours total service time. Clients with all hair types are eligible and the formula lasts for about 3 months. It even works with many permanent and semi-permanent hair colors!

As someone with very fine, straight hair, I would love to try out American Wave sometime this year. How fun would it be to have beachy waves for the summer months?!

Before I left, I checked out Arrojo’s professional hair product line. For me, the standout product is the new ReFINISH Dry Shampoo. Like most dry shampoos, this product soaks up excess oil and cleanses air without water. But two things make it stand out above the rest. First, it has an amazing fresh smell that’s a mix of aloe vera and ginger. It really makes your hair feel refreshed and clean. Second, the shampoo spray comes out clear. It’s not white and powdery like most dry shampoos that are hard to hide once you spray them on. I really recommend this product. So far I love using it, and really enjoy having the chance to wash my hair fewer times a week.

For more info on the Arrojo American Wave, visit www.arrojostudio.com and check out the video below!

Disclaimer: At the American Wave event, Arrojo gave us some styling products to sample and review, including the dry shampoo mentioned above.

Check out Laurel’s blog on food and health: http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com
Follow Laurel on Twitter: @LaurelMoll

This photo was taken a few months ago when I first got my canon 600d and was snapping pics of everything! This manicure however is not ordinary so I am glad that I took a photo of it.

The kitchy paw print is a throwback to high school years (i guess i was a late bloomer) when I had just discovered nail polish and my steady hands to actually manage a decent polish job.

This is very easy to do and can be done with any contrasting colour combination. Just grab the brush, make a large dot in the centre and mini dots along one side for the toes. Here, I’ve used an Essie base coat and a Maybelline dark shade to create this design.

(London) Everyone has a favourite lip-balm or gloss may that be Vaseline, Chapstick, Labello, Clinique, Lancome’s Jucicy Tubes or whatever it may be. For me, it is Buxom plumping lip gloss. I love this stuff so much that I actually swear by it. Well, no, you’ll never hear me say “I swear on my Buxom lipgloss” but if I had to ever swear on something, I would pick this first. I love the gloss firstly because of the mentholyptus effect it has. It is instantly cooling and ultra moisturizing. The gloss is also long-wearing and last forever. It is very pricey in the UK and you can expect to pay around £25 for it although it is just $19 in the USA so on my last visit, I bought 4 just to stock up. That’s how addicted I am to this stuff. Never having believed that there could be any other gloss that would ever come near Buxom, I was pleasantly surprised to find a similar product from Too Faced.

The Too Faced Plumping Glamour Gloss has the same cooling effect as Buxom and similar moisturizing effects. The colour is not as shiney/gliterry but is richer and more velvety in comparison. It costs £15 at Boots so that’s a great alternative to the £25 of Buxom.

(New York) Madonna is launching herself as the star of her new ad campaign for the fragrance Truth or Dare. Is it just another display of her love for herself or is it going to work? Thoughts?

You can skip the hype and pre-order the fragrance from Macy’s here.

(London) My favourite word in the English language is ritual… most likely just because it has my name within it and because of what it defines. A ritual need not be religious and could be a comforting habit that you indulge yourself in now and again or the weekly girly dinner catch-ups you love so much. For such reason and some more, the word ritual attracts me. That is why I wandered into the Rituals store in St. Christopher’s Place just off Oxford Street a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it was fate or just a lucky day because they were giving away bottles of Rituals Yogi Flow shower foam!

With a name like ‘Yogi Flow’, I figured that returning the good karma with a glowing review was quite appropriate. I loved the product and will be returning for more, even though I’ll have to pay for it. Ingredients like sweet almond oil and Indian rose give it a gorgeous fragrance and add to its luxurious silky feel. The foam is thick and feels instantly moisturising which I noticed when testing out the product in store. The cute bottle will look good in your shower caddy and will make your bathroom smell amazing after a hot shower. Rituals Yogi Flow is sold for £6.50 online and in stores.

Disclaimer: This review was based on a free giveaway.

I am a loyal fan of Essie Nail Polishes as you can see here. I picked up a bunch of base and top coats when I was last in New York since they are a lot more expensive in London, my purchases including 2 bottles of Good to Go and one bottle of No Chips Ahead, both of which can be found on the Essie website.

When I searched the web for reviews of Essie’s No Chips Ahead, I found more than half to be negative and I think I know why. Most of the reviewers used this top coat right after applying colour and as the only top coat. In my opinion and experience, the best first top coat, hands down, is Essie’s Good to Go. No Chips Ahead is best when used for after-care of your manicure when you start to notice the polish getting brittle or starting to crack. This topcoat acts like a bandaid, sort of glueing the polish back together. The appearance may still remain cracked or chipped but further cracks and chips will stop immediately.

Here are my best practices for making your manicure last with Essie products:

1. After applying at least two coats of colour over a good base coat, follow with one generous coat of Essie Good to Go.
2. Top up your manicure after 3 days with a fresh coat of Good to Go.
3. 3 days after the last refresher, use a generous coat of Essie No Chips Ahead to mend any damage to your manicure.
4. Repeat step three after 2 days and you can stretch the mani up to 8 days!

 Essie’s No Chips Ahead topcoat – buy it on the Essie Site here.

My manicure on day 6. Looks nearly perfect. Thanks, Essie!

(New York) Leighton Meester loves her bangs and we love her in them. She likes to switch up her bangs and was last sporting this choppy fringed look.  She has grown out her bangs slightly and changed them to this sultry wispy look below seen at the 100th Gossip Girl party last month.

Source: http://www.gossipgirlfashion.net

Madonna joins the list of celebs with a perfume line and it is aptly named Truth or Dare. The fragrance will be released in April 2012.

(London) After being awe-inspired by the Halloween cat make up on this lady working at make up counter at Bloomingdale’s in SoHo, NYC last year, I decided to pay her a compliment this year. Imitation is the highest form of flattery after all, isn’t it?

My inspiration:

My ode to her amazing make up: 

What you need for this look:

- Cat eye contact lenses. I used these bought on Amazon.co.uk which were quite comfortable. Cost: £12.60
- Cat ears and tail costume accessories. Just go with the cheapest ones you can find but better if they are fuzzy. Cost: £4.99
- Lots of gel eyeliner to draw the best cat eye make up with and to draw on your nose and whiskers which can be used to draw on the lips as well. I used Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner. Previously owned. Cost: £7.99
- A handful of cotton buds to correct mistakes with the eyeliner as you go.
- For the costume, just wear high-waisted tight black pants and a sexy black tank. I wore my favourite black riding trousers from American Apparel and halter tank from Bebe. Cost: zero if sourced from your own wardrobe.

(London) London’s own Nails Inc. has just released a magnetic nail polish. You thought shatter polish was cool and fun to play with? Wait till you see this!

What on earth is magnetic nail polish? It is polish loaded with iron particles that gather together when magnetized. You can do it on your own at home as the cap of the polish bottle comes with a built in magnet. There are step by step instructions here: http://www.nailsinc.com/magnetic.

With three shades, named after London landmarks like Trafalgar Square, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, these magnetic nail polishes are available on the Nails Inc. website here, for £13.

The three shades available are below.