Ouidad Mongongo Oil Giveaway!

This summer I had a giant love affair with Ouidad curly girl hair products. Let's face it - no one does curly hair products quite like Ouidad, a curly girl herself! See Ouidad herself, here.

(This is not a sponsored post. These are the hair products that I love and use. This post does contain affiliate links)

My Ouidad travel set

I normally waste tons of summer time (and summer vacation time) by having to blow out my hair. Left to it's own devices my hair looks like a really bad home perm. I don't have pretty curls, I have nasty curls. In some ways they are fantastic - they hold a blowout like no other, but they seriously can't be left unsupervised!

Until I got my hands on Ouidad products. I've written about Ouidad before, here   here, and here. This summer on the Glam Italia tours in Capri and in Puglia the Ouidad curly hair products were an absolute game changer. I was able to get away with not blow drying my hair, instead just going au naturel.

Curly girls will know what I mean when I say that salt spray type beach curl products just dry my hair out to breaking point, make it frizzy and strip away any color I've added, leaving me with hair that looks like straw. So the normal beachy wave options just weren't an option for me.
Then along came Ouidad with her fantastic products that super hydrate, defrizz and give you amazing curls.

Flirting with boys at sunset in Capri

Sometimes instead of blowing my hair out smooth, my hairdresser will create big, glossy, gorgeous, controlled curls with Ouidad products. She recently added Ouidad Mongongo oil to the products she uses on me, and I love it. (I wish I had had it this summer!)




Mongongo oil is a lightweight, multi use curl treatment product that leaves any type of curl, from loose waves to kinky hair softer, shinier, more manageable, and frankly - gorgeous!
I've been playing with it, using it on damp hair and on dry hair and the results are lovely. Most oils weigh my hair down and then make it look dull the second day.

Ouidad Mongongo Oil puts bounce back into my curls and makes my hair look luminous the next day.
Even though it is a curly hair product I also use it when I blow my hair smooth, because it is so lightweight and it gives such a lovely shine, almost from within the hairshaft.

7 Ways To Use Mongongo Oil

I am so in love with this product that I am doing a giveaway so that you can win a bottle and try it out yourself.  

To keep it legit the Corinna B's World Mongongo Oil Giveaway is being run by Rafflecopter. There are multiple ways that you can enter and get extra chances to win. 

Click on the Rafflecopter widget below to enter this giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out these Mongongo Oil before and afters

Check out the Ouidad You Tube videos to see how to use Mongongo Oil on each of the different curly hair types, from wavy hair to curly hair to kinky curls.

Summer Beauty Essentials - 8 Must Have Hair Products

If someone gave you a truly fantastic trip out of the blue, for say, next week, would you be ready to jump on a plane and go?
I have spent my entire adult life ready to take that flight.

And funnily enough when you are ready to board a flight at a moment's notice all kinds of fantastic opportunities find their way to you. 
Whether it's flying to the Caribbean to shoot workout videos, meeting a family member in Europe, accompanying a client to Cabo or Turks and Caicos or just heading out on vacation somewhere fabulous, I am convinced trips come my way because I am always ready to go.

Part of always being ready to go is having all my travel beauty essentials packed and waiting for that next trip. Thanks to the security folks at London's Heathrow airport confiscating the bulk of my travel beauty products, the same products packed in the same clear plastic travel bags that have made their way round and round the world more times than I care to count, I now have to make a list and re-buy it all.

Luckily most of my hair products were packed in my suitcase.

My list of travel beauty essentials doubles up as a list of summer beauty essentials, today we are looking at summer travel hair care:

Summer Beauty Essentials ~ 8 Must Have Hair Products

Rahua Voluminous Shampoo and Rahua Voluminous Conditioner
I love these two because they are 100% organic, make your hair bouncy and shiny, and lets face it who doesn't want added volume??

The Ouidid Curl Essentials Trial Set $36 Embrace your curls! This is the greatest thing ever for bringing out the best in your curly or wavy hair. This was my first trip letting my hair go curly, and I had been obsessively obsessing over these products, right up until they got confiscated. I tried t pick up another set at Naimies in L.A. on my way home, but they were out of stock, so I am re-ordering them online this week.

Oribe Travel Sized Gold Lust Oil $37
This lightweight yet luxurious hair oil smoothes,adds glorious shine and is the perfect antidote to a day at the beach. It has a gold fleck in it that keeps your hair looking luscious. I've traveled with it for years - partly because it is super concentrated and lasts for a really long time! You absolutely cannot beat the smell of Oribe products either.

Glossy hair in Siena, on the Glam Italia Tour

Bumble And Bumble Thickening Spray
My hairdresser just turned me on to this one a few months ago. Even though I have more hair than the next three people all put together, I use this to create volume at the root when I'm blow-drying my hair smooth. It also helps you to get more mileage out of your blowout.

Oribe Travel Sized Style Cream
For luxuriously smooth hair that bounces when you walk and smells like heaven.

Oribe Cote d'Azur Hair Refresher
Spritz a little of this magic spray through your mane any time you want your hair to be refreshed and smell like heaven. This one is a must after a long flight, when everyone's hair smells gross!

Bumble and Bumble Surf Infusion
If you are going for beachy waves and don't have to fight curly, frizzy hair, channel your inner Aniston with Bumble's Surf Infusion.

Capri With Ouidad

Oh Capri.
So incredibly beautiful!
I took my 2 most recent Glam Italia tours to frolic glamorously on the most chic island in the Mediterranean (and maybe the world?).

view from the boat off the coast of Capri

I chartered a private boat to take us on a half day tour around the island, with multiple stops to swim in the sapphire blue waters off the coast of Capri. 

girls reclining glamorously on a boat named the Sophia Loren

of the coast of Capri...

Really I should dedicate an entire post to the hott-ness and total fun that was Captain Paolo, but I'm sure that would embarrass him, so I won't.

Captain Paolo after a quick rain. Honestly,  I've had worse days :))

Baring in mind that  there was much glamour to follow, I normally would have either been stressed out about getting my hair wet and the total frizz induced fiasco that would have followed, or I might have skipped swimming. ( Which would have been completely lame.)

Those of you who aren't Jennifer Aniston might understand the problem. You see I never emerge from the sea and get hair that is glorious with beachy waves.
I get frizzy, dull, completely trashed looking hair that I liken to a home perm that has gone terribly wrong. It's quite mortifying.

This trip though I came armed with the good stuff, in the form of Ouidad travel sized magic potions. I brought the travel sized Curl Essentials Trial Set with me.

My hairdresser (to whom I give all the credit) set me up with 3 products guaranteed to bring out the curl and amp up the shine.

The first is the Moisture Lock Leave In Conditioner that you put through your hair before going in the water. 

Pre-swim conditioner. Note the limoncello glasses on the floor of the boat!

It both protects your hair and keeps it soft rather than ocean-brittle, but also moisturizes from the inside out, which is a key part of creating perfect curls post-swim. For those of you with color treated hair it adds an extra layer of protection.
(I should add here that my Glam Italia Tour travelers who have straight hair used it too, and post swim had gorgeous, glossy locks.)

Once out of the water and towel dried you use the Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel. There is a trick to this. She told me to rake the gel through my hair with my fingers, and then hold the ends and shake them, literally shaking the curl into your hair. 
It sounds like much more drama than it actually is - because its no drama at all. The whole "rake and shake" deal is actually doubly brilliant because it helps dry your hair more quickly too.

The last part of the equation for me was spritzing a little Botanical Boost Refreshing Spray into my hair once it was dry. (I used it the next day too to refresh the curl a little.)

The sun setting on Capri and my beachy hair!

I loved my Ouidad hair!

That night went on into the wee hours, and my hair instead of turning into a static-y frizz ball stayed wavy-curly and shiny all night long. Allowing for the fact that it took approximately 2 minutes of my time to do while flirting madly with Captain Paolo, I was thrilled to pieces!


I don't think I will bother any more with blow-drying and doing the do when I travel. In fact post Capri the remainder of my time in Italy was with Ouidad hair, which was a first for me! I normally waste time smoothing my hair when I'm traveling.

The only down side to my Ouidad story is that on the way back to the US I flew through London Heathrow airport with my travel sized Ouidad products in my carry on luggage, and along with my Tatcha skin care products and a bunch of makeup products they were confiscated. It was super annoying, but on the bright side they were only travel sized so won't be expensive to replace.


Read about why I wont use Heathrow Airport here.

You can order Ouidad products here.  

And The Winner Is....

Congratulations to Maria M from Dexter Michigan for winning the very fabulous Climate Control Duo from Ouidad!
And a huge thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway - your support is much appreciated!

My Ouidad Climate Control Duo by my pool. Its Summertime!!!

Ouidad has a new promotion running, which I will miss out on as I am about to fly out on the 2016 Glam Italia Tours - make sure you follow along on Instagram @ Corinnamakeup.
I have a link to the Ouidad promo here: “Curls-on-the-Go” Travel Size Event! Buy a 8.5 oz, Get a 2.5oz travel size FREE!

And a banner ad below. The Curls On The Go travel size products will be with me in Italy this year, keeping my curls glossy. (I also use some of the products when I'm blowing my hair out smooth. Just don't tell Ouidad...)

Enjoy your products Maria!

 

Embrace Your Curls And Win The Ultimate Curly Girl Summer Hair Products!

Embrace Your Curls this Summer!

Are you ready for summer?

I am.

I always am. I love the sun, I love the beach, I love summer clothes, I love summer vacations.

The one thing I don't love? Summer hair.

Are you a curly girl? If you have curly hair you already know what a nightmare summer can be with your hair!

My hair is somewhere between wavy and curly. It holds a blowout like no other, but left to it's own devices looks like a really bad home perm gone very wrong. Add a little summer humidity and it turns into a fluff ball. Go swimming and get my hair wet? Hell in a hand-basket. I'm left somewhere between fluff-ball and frizz-fest.
All of which blow my glam plans for summer.

In the past I've had Brazilian Blowouts to keep it smooth and straight, but that cancels out beachy waves, and cool relaxed summery hairstyles.

Last year my hairdresser turned me on to a cool trick. She said that before I go swimming in the ocean I should coat my hair in Ouidad conditioner. The Ouidad philosophy is to moisturize the hair from the inside out so that it doesn't get weighed down with heavy product. That inside-out moisturizing made my hair super soft instead of salt water stiff, and instead of a madly frizzy mess I ended up with soft, shiny curls! 
With two Glam Italia Tours about to kick off , taking me to humidity and to the Mediterranean, I've been stocking up on some more Ouidad products. I got a travel set called the Curl Essentials Trial Set. You can read about it here. It's perfect for summer travel.

I also just got my hands on the Ouidad Climate Control Duo kit, which I am super excited about.

This duo set is comprised of the two best selling Ouidad products, and is only available as a set in certified Ouidad salons. 
And to my Corinna B's World readers!
Because I have a set to giveaway.

So here's the low down on the products you can win.
First of all there's the Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel. This is a lightweight protective "smart" gel locks in moisture, seals out humidity and helps you to shape gorgeous curls that last all day.
The Curl Last Flexible Hold Hairspray is the answer to the curly girl's blues. Normally if you are spraying curly hair it starts to look stiff and the curls don't bounce and move, so they lose their magic. This hairspray gives you hold, but flexible hold infused with shine. You can build it as needed and it wont get crunchy or flakey. it's fabulous! 

And here is a secret - although these products were designed for wavey, curly and kinky hair, they are also amazing for smooth haired girls who have to battle with frizzy, hard to control summer hair! 

There are lots of ways to win this giveaway! You have to enter through the Rafflecopter widget below. Rafflecopter tracks your entries and their computer picks the winner. The more entries you make the more chances you have to win!

Let's make this your hair's best summer ever!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Want more information on Ouidad and her amazing products?
Check out the Ouidad website, and read about the amazing Ouidad herself here

How To Avoid Hat Hair This Summer

image by Kelly Capelli
makeup by Corinna Cooke

If I so much as put a hat on for 60 seconds my hair is trashed for the rest of the day.
It drives me insane.
And it can be a real problem during the summer, especially on vacation, when you've been out and about in the sun all day with your fabulous hat on, and now everyone is going to lunch/dinner/drinks/or some other place where you either can't have your hat on or will look stupid with your hat on.

So what is a girl supposed to do?

 Tips For How To Avoid Hat Hair This Summer.

Start by choosing a hat that fits your head, is not fitting too tightly anywhere, and that is made of quality, light materials. This will help your hair to breathe beneath the hat.

1. Pull your hair back into a low pony or low braids and wear your hat loose.

2. Don't put your hat on over wet hair.

3. Fold a bandana or scarf flat and place the non seamed side against your forehead, tying it above your ears. Let your hat sit against the scarf, stopping your hat from leaving indentations against your forehead.

4. Fold a silk scarf into a large triangle and place the longest edge against your forehead, the V over your head, tying the two corners behind your head. Let your hat sit loosely on top.

5. If you wear your hair in a part, direct it in the opposite direction before you put your hat on. When you take your hat back off flip your hair back to it's normal side you will have created volume!

6. If you can avoid getting an indentation on your forehead, when you are done wearing your hat spray some dry shampoo (I use Klorane) into the roots of your hair, letting it sit for three minutes. Fluff your hair with your fingers,
spritz the mid-lengths and ends with Ouidad Botanical Boost Curl Energizing and Refreshing Spray 

for curls or glossy hair, or Bumble and Bumble Surf Infusion for beachy waves, then clip or tie hair into a high pony.

What To Pack This Summer For Capri

Capri has to be one of the most glamorous places on earth.

Perched prettily in the Gulf of Naples with a view along the Amalfi Coast, (from Villa Jovis) Capri is all spectacular views, sapphire blue ocean and glamour for days.

From the top of the world at Villa Jovis, looking down at the water surrounding Capri

I always think about Jackie O in her heyday walking around Capri town buying sandals. In fact every time I go to Capri I buy sandals from the same store Jackie O did! (read about it here)

When you are packing for your trip to Capri there are some key elements to keep in mind.

Capri is luxe casual. It is the epitome of chic, but effortless chic. 
Cottons and linens wear beautifully on this sunny island, lightweight fabrics that move with you when you walk. 

Here is my list of what you should be packing to take to Capri this summer.

Ideal staple items to base your wardrobe on are a great pair of wide legged, flowy white linen pants like my favorite Cool Breeze Wide Leg Linen Pant  from Nic and Zoe. Pair them with a sapphire loose fitting tank.

A maxi sundress is a must on Capri. I love this Quintana maxi from Sky, available at Revolve.com

Abandon your black and your beige - they look out of place and dull on Capri. Channel some 60's glam with some Pucci instead.

Leave your heels at home, trading them in for a chic flat sandal. I like to buy world famous Capri sandals at Shettino on via Roma just beyond the piazzetta in Capri town.

Dolce and Gbbana retro style bikini

Malibu Barbie swimwear looks crass in a place as fabulous as Capri. Opt instead for a vintage/retro style bikini or maillot. 

Dolce and Gabbana vintage style maillot

Protect your face with a wide brimmed hat like this one from Revolve Clothing. (I found Revolve via the fabulous @rachelzelic on Instagram)

Sunglasses are a must on an island, and glamorous, chic sunglasses are essential on Capri.
 Leave your traditional aviator styles at home, instead wear an oversized pair like the Dior Twisting 58mm glasses

or something uber-chic and new like Dior So Real sunglasses.

Makeup needs to be so minimal it borders on non-existent. A full face of makeup looks redundant on a sun drenched island, so stick to the basics. A gold tinted dry oil, like Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Or 

keeps your skin hydrated and gives you a fabulous glow. Use a waterproof brow product so that you can swim and still have brows, and a blockbuster lash building waterproof mascara is a must. My favorite for years and years has been DiorShow Blackout Waterproof. 

If you want some extra bronzing use a gel bronzer so that your skin looks fresh.

Top off your Capri summer makeup with a bold pop of lip color like Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lip in Venezia

Don't forget your hair. You can't be blown out perfection on an island, even a super glam island - it just looks like you're trying too hard. Instead embrace your curls or waves with Ouidad. Before you dive into that beautiful sapphire blue Mediterranean sea coat your hair with Ouidad Curl Quencher Moisturizing Conditioner. 

It will protect your color and keep your hair super soft. When you get out of the water, towel dry then spritz it with Ouidad Botanical Boost Curl Energizing and Refreshing Spray. 

If you are a curly girl it will help give you bouncy, shiny curls instead of post-ocean frizz. if you are a naturally smooth haired girl or a Brazilian Blow Out smooth haired girl your hair will be soft and glossy and shiny. I just got both of these in travel size, ready for summer in Capri.

The Curly Girl's Guide To Gorgeous Summer Hair

Are you a curly girl?

I am.

If you have curly hair, wavy hair, kinky hair or tight curls, then this post is for you.

In my mind my curly hair looks like Ciara's.
Unfortunately in real life it doesn't.

In my mind I have luscious, beautiful, bouncy curls, but in reality I have that nasty curly hair that looks like a really bad home perm, gone terribly wrong. 

Although my kind of hair holds a blow out like no other, it can be brutal in the summer when you're going to the beach, pool parties, dealing with humid weather, traveling - basically anything that falls under the headings of "fun" and "summer". Unless of course, I want to spend the time blowing it out. Which especially when I'm on vacation, I don't.

Shakira's beach curls - I wish mine looked like this!

So I have been looking for something to help me both for everyday life and also for dealing with summer, and found these fabulous products courtesy of Ouidad, world renowned hairstylist and pioneer of the curly hair industry, and her fabulous line of products designed specifically for curly girls.
(A.K.A. lifesavers!)

One of the things I love about Ouidad products is that I can buy them in travel sizes. If you have curly hair then you already know that you absolutely must have products with you when you go on vacation or you will look like a frizzy, unkempt mess. 

Curl Essentials Travel Set

I just got the Ouidad Curl Essentials Trial Set which includes what I call travel sizes, of their famous essential core products:
The Waterworks Clarifying Shampoo, to cleanse the hair without stripping away essential nutrients and moisture.

The Moisture Lock Leave In Conditioner, a lightweight leave in product that gives a breathable moisture foundation that keeps your hair hydrated without weighing your curls down.

Botanical Boost Curl Energizing Refreshing Spray energizes and reawakens curls, both the day you wash your hair, and the following days when you need to liven it back up. (Especially good for those of us who can't shampoo our hair every day without looking like a brillo pad)
Climate Control Heat And Humidity Gel fills each strand of hair with the optimal level of moisture and then seals it in, preventing expansion in even the most humid conditions (stops you getting frizzy), but doesn't leave a greasy or heavy residue. 

Another Ouidad product that is totally amazing for curly girls is the Ultra Nourishing Cleansing Oil. Curly hair can get really dry, which makes it brittle, causing breakage. When curls dry out they look dull and lifeless and to make it worse they get frizzy. 
Sometimes the answer is in the way we cleanse our hair. 
Ultra Nourishing Cleansing Oil turns even the driest, lackluster curls into bouncy, gorgeous curls, adding moisture from the inside out, and then coating them in CR4 Repair, binding the moisture in and making your hair glossy and shiny. I'm ordering this next!

There is a BOGO on The Ultra Nourishing Cleansing Oil at the moment, so you can buy one and get a second one half off.

Read about Ouidad and her lifesaving line of curly girl hair products here.