Fabulous Over Forty – Where Beauty Is Ageless

As my ‘Quest for Beautiful Hair 2010′ continues I was so anxious to try Shu Uemura’s Art of Hair styling products.    If you read this blog regularly you know that I am nearly very obsessed with the Prime Plenish shampoo and conditioner and the Essence Absolue hair oil by Shu Uemura Art of Hair.  These products are a mainstay in my hair care and spendy, yes, but to me worth every penny.    Since I loved these products so much I thought I would have the same lovin feeling for the new voumizing mousse called Ample Angora.

The name is catchy, Ample for the volume and Angora for the softness.   It was described to me by my stylist via the rep for the line that it envelopes each hair strand to give each strand volume and yet it doesn’t make your hair dry and brittle like some volumizers can.  So I bought it.   It too is spendy – $33 for volumizer.  But the potential promise of volume in my fine, limp hair is always enticing to me.

Sadly, this product has done nothing for my hair.   Nary a voluminous hair on my head.   Yes, it does make my hair soft – maybe too soft, and yes, it smells lovely.   But for $33 and no volume, I’ve moved on to future hopefuls and past proven workers. 

Shu Uemura Art of Hair

Shu Uemura’s Art of Hair line of products have wowed me this year!   (I’ll have more to talk about soon)  I fell in love with the Prime Plenish formula of the shampoo and conditioner.   When I ran out I literally was sad and made a mad dash to a local salon that sells it.  It’s more than I’ve ever spent on shampoo and conditioner, but for me it is worth every penny.  

So when I heard about a new addition to their line, Essence Absolue, I just knew it had to be remarkable as well.   It’s an oil, so many with fine, limp hair like mine one would think there was no way I would put an oil in my hair.   Wrong!   A few weeks back my hair was in desperate need of a cut and it was very dry and lifeless (more than usual).   I took a few pumps of this and worked it into my hair, leaving it in my hair all night long.    Expecting my hair to look like a stringy, oily mess in the morning, I was SHOCKED at my hair!   All the oil had soaked in and made my hair feel more thick, shiny and like magic there was bounce and wave back into my hair!   I didn’t need to do a thing to my hair that morning – which is like a miracle in itself!

Now, I wouldn’t recommend doing this treatment like I did very often.  In fact, I would only do that again when my hair is super dry.   But, you can use this “liquid gold” in many ways; put it in your hair for a treatment before you shampoo, use it overnight like I have, when you’re done styling your hair take a small dab and work it into your hair for shine and fly-away manageability.  Essence Absolue is so popular that it’s sold out nearly immediately! 

What’s in this to make it so special?  It’s inspired by the Geisha and her incredible beauty of her shiny hair.  Made with Camellia Oil – it nourishes and protects the hair fiber, provides intense nutrition, protects against the sun’s UV rays, and adds incredible shine.

At $65 it’s probably priced at what I expected after seeing the shampoo & conditioner prices at $50 each.   But, a bottle will last you a long time as this isn’t used every day.   Think of it more like a beauty treatment for your hair – one that can do remarkable things for your hair! 

Did you all get a little too much sun this past holiday weekend?   I know I had more than my “usual”.   We all hear about what we should bring to the beach; sunscreen, hat, great beach bag – all those are wonderful, don’t get me wrong!   But what about after the beach?  

You can protect your skin all you can if you’re like me, but after spending 2 days by the lake boating and soaking up the sun your skin still can feel like, well, dried and grimy.   Especially when you add camping into the mix with bonfires and all.  Ahhh, the 4th of July in Minnesota.

So here is what I used to get my skin back into shape after a weekend of abuse.  And YES I used a lot of sunscreen!  It’s a must in my house, my youngest just had a pre-melanoma mole removed this week, so with my history along with his we do not go without and neither should you.  But lets face it - sunscreen can attract gunk and beach sand etc so let’s talk about getting the skin back into tip-top fab shape.

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Shu Uemura Art of Hair is giving away to one lucky winner one years’ worth of products with a value of approximately $1680.00!   Click HERE to enter and see rules.    But, do it quickly, time is short!

Sweepstakes entry ends June 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET. 

See my review of the Shu Uemura Art of Hair products.