Erika with a K

The most common question I get asked as a hair dresser is, are ombre and balayage the same thing? Second most common question, what is the difference between ombre and balayage? I know I've mentioned this briefly in a post before but lets be serious, who can find that post? I certainly couldn't, so here we are with an entire post dedicated to ombre and balayage. Can I have the origin please? Ombre is a French work meaning "shading" or "shaded". Balayage is a French word meaning "sweep" or "handpainting". Great Erika, what in the world does that even mean in relation to my hair? When you think of ombre you most likely think darker roots faded to lighter ends, with a select few pieces lighter by the roots... think shading. When you think of balayage you probably also think darker roots faded to lighter ends, with a select few pieces lighter by the roots... think technique, think placement. Great Erika, so what's the difference ...

When it comes to black jeans our options are limitless. Having a pair of black jeans in your wardrobe will prove to be incredibly versatile. Black jeans can not only be used with a wide range of colors, because after all black compliments everything, but they can also be dressed up just as easily as they can be dressed down. Are black jeans still in style? Before you start to question if black jeans are still in style, rest assured that the cut and wash of jeans makes just as much of a difference as it does, what you decide to wear them with. Distressed and/or skinny black jeans will provide you with style and versatility in your wardrobe. When it comes to jeans, I recommend trying jeans on with stretch. Traditional structured jeans are great but don't compare to the hip hugging curves and overall fit you'll get from a pair of high waisted, skinny jeans with the littlest bit of stretch. A general rule of thumb for style is when in doubt leave it out. In the case of the black...

Today's blog post is brought to you by various samples of moisturizers that I received. I believe they are all from BirchBox, possibly one could be a Sephora sample with purchase. Anyway since I finished these samples and they are all in the same "family" of products I thought I'd group them in this post. First up is the Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre- moisturizer for all skin types. I can't, for the life of me, pronounce that name. The Pros: I absolutely love the packaging of the sample. It looks like it is a high strength prescription. The application was nice and smooth. This moisturizer boasts that it can be used as a primer and makeup remover. Lets be serious, every moisturizer can be used as a makeup remover. That is a total gimmick. Take your favorite, or any moisturizer that you have, with a cotton ball, towel or even a tissue and you will be able to remove old makeup or new makeup mistakes. Besides the fact that that claim is frustrating to me,...

I was going through old inventory images and came across these beauties. It's not only important to remember where you started from, but it's also hilarious. Keg and cooler plus the corner of a beer pong table, priorities. I used to set up my camera in the backyard, put a timer on it, then run in my heels to try to pose in time for the pictures. A few outfits would take me an entire day. My head looking weird and not making it in front of the camera before the 10 second timer was the story of my life. After I would find a some what decent picture, I would do some serious cropping to not show the keg, cooler and everything else. My favorite part about these pictures (besides the fact that the black poncho is completely sold out) is that this part of our house no longer exists. This was the door off the kitchen into our backyard. That doorway still exists but now it is opened into our mudroom. This area where I'm standing is actually the starting point to our extensio...

I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my efforts, check out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA! https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/ It's the hair, scalp, and skincare you DESERVE!

Love comes in so many different forms, and as a former longtime member of the lonely hearts club, spending my days sitting at the love stinks table... I thought today would be a good day to talk about that other kind of love. The kind of love you feel for new products. Products that come into your life out of no where and you wonder what you ever did without them. When it come to favorites, I could write a 10 page novel, or maybe I'll save it for a YouTube video, but today is about the products that I have been obsessed with in recent months. Products that literally changed my life, replaced old favorites and overall changed my outlook and raised the bar for other products. I am going to start with the Arrow Endure water-resistant mascara that I've been blabbing about since November. But seriously, where has it been all my life? Better yet, how did I ever do my makeup without it? Mascaras that I used to think were great, don't even hold a candle to the volume and length ...

What's Pink and Red with love all over? Yes, Valentine's day! Also, my Poshmark closet! Click the link to shop a wide range of brand new with tags, pink and red items from my boutique ! Starting at $10, there is something for everyone! Here are some faves: I hope you enjoyed this post and/or found it useful! To continue to show support for me and my efforts, check out my cruelty-free, woman-owned small business, made in the USA! https://www.roxdollcosmetics.com/ It's the hair, scalp, and skincare you DESERVE!

2018 has been a funny year for my posts. If you are new hear, welcome, my name is Erika and I am a small business owner/hair stylist/makeup artist/YouTuber and blogger that strongly dislikes leaving bad reviews for companies, products and services. If you've been here before you know that rather than leave a bad review, I would just skip the reviewing process all together. That was until 2018 when I set a goal to actually USE the products that I already own and to stop hoarding samples. With this I decided that good or bad I would review each and every product I use. I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote a positive here on my blog, until today.  I receive the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation & Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Primer as a sample from Sephora with purchase.  As I always do, here is the shortened copy and pasted description from Sephora:  "Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation: Coverage:  ✔ Med...

For those of you that don't know, my husband had a week long business trip to Germany in the middle of January. During this time my mom and I had planned to spend as much time together as possible. We had dinner plans every night and we even scheduled a day off for both of us to go shopping. We literally haven't done that since probably 2013. I can't even remember the last time I physically went to a clothing store to purchase an article of clothing for myself. Definitely before Joey and I purchased the house in 2016. So Thursday of that week we went shopping. That upcoming Saturday, my mom and I had one of my best friend's baby shower to go to, she's having a boy by the way. So as soon as I saw these pants at TJ Maxx , I knew I HAD to have them, they are perfect for a baby boy baby shower! I knew what shirt I would wear with them, insert shameless plus here: My cropped, over-sized, turtle neck sweater from Shoppe LulaMae . But I had no idea what shoes to wea...