I think discovering clipless irons has changed my hair life. It’s been the only type of iron I’ve been able to use on myself to make gorgeous waves that hold. Folica.com sent me their latest and greatest clipless to review, the Sedu Revolution and it.is.FANTASTIC. I decided instead of making another tutorial of myself (I’m pretty sure you guys are sick of me trying to curl my hair in front of a camera anyway), I decided to switch things up a bit, so I enlisted my sister Haji to help me review it.
Well, there’s actually two reasons I wanted her help — first, ever since I posted my last tutorial about how to use a clipless, she has been begging me use one on her. Second, she has been blessed with GORGEOUS thick, dark hair. I knew this would be fun.
I’ve been pretty happy with my other iron, but this has some additional features that mine didn’t have. RIGHT off the bat, I noticed (and really appreciated) its super long cord (a nine foot cord to be exact). It’s also very lightweight and sleek-looking. It’s ultra-polished ceramic coating ensures glossy curls (as you’ll see), and a little security stand that you can pop out so it can safely stand on its own on your table (you can see it in the picture above).
One of its best features I think though is its adjustable heat settings…and totally superficial note, I loved that it lit up in blue — so pretty (sigh). My other iron automatically heats up to the highest setting which is fine for me because my hair is a bit on the thicker side. But if you have short or finer hair (or if you just want looser curls), it’s so clutch to have the option to use it at a lower setting. We used it on the highest setting for Haji. Here’s her before pic.
Her hair is straight in the pic, but it’s normally naturally wavy like mine. I showed her how I hold the iron and how to wrap the hair around the barrel keeping it rounded (not flat) to get more wavy-like results. I made a little video of her using the iron for the first time — she picked it up easily!
The best part about curling your hair like this is you can make so many easy styles — like this side pony tail. Or, you can use bobby pins to pin your hair up in a messy bun similar to Mila Kunis’ Oscar hairstyle.
The Sedu Revolution clipess iron is normally $250 but you can get it on Folica.com for $119. But here’s even BETTER news: BATF readers get an exclusive discount — use the code SHYEMA20 at checkout and you will get an extra 20% off ANY Sedu appliances for this week ONLY (offer ends 4/1). And remember, you already get free shipping. Needless to say, my sister’s now a believer and loves her new waves!
All photographs by Sabeen Amanat. Video recording by Sabeen Amanat, editing by Shy.
If you need some color in your life, head on over to Inglot‘s newest studio in Chelsea Market. I first mentioned them in a post about their Times’ Square location a while back. Since then, the international brand has expanded to Vegas, Miami, Cali and slowly working it’s way around the country, which is pretty — think serious quality without the price tag.
Celebrity makeup artist James Vincent was around at their launch party to give us the grand tour and tell us about some of his favorite products. The gorgeous studio is perched on the 5th floor of the Chelsea Market building, and walking in, you feel like you’re entering the set of a cover shoot with makeup stations lined against an entire wall and another whole area devoted to photo shoots.
Trained makeup artists are at hand to help you to pick out what you need. The thing I feel like I always need the most help with is putting on fake lashes. I never end up doing it because one stubborn end always manage to pop out of place. Lucky for me, makeup artist Anne, who’s also this location’s store manager, picked out the perfect lashes for me and helped me apply them. It’s amazing how one little thing can make you feel so glam. I had to attend the L.A.M.B. fashion show right after so couldn’t have been better timing!
What do you think? If you don’t live near one of the stores (sad), I just found that you can order their makeup online too at inglotusa.com. Tip: Look for their Freedom System palettes, where you can make your own palette of eyeshadows, blush, concealers, or lip colors in a sleek black pan.
Shop It To Me and American Express Premium Return Protection are teaming up with one fashionista to win a $3,000 shopping spree with designer Whitney Port! The contest runs for 10 days, and each day through April 2, they’ll also be be giving away a Premium Return Protection subscription and $100 to shop Whitney’s No Regrets Spring Picks.
*Follow @ShopItToMe and @AmericanExpress on Twitter.
Check your twitter DM inbox every morning to see if you won! For an extra entry, leave a comment on this post about your biggest purchase regret.
Sorry for the MIA’ness everyone. The thingggg is, the cutest little guy came to visit me in NYC (also known as my nephew) and it was just a tad distracting. He LOVED the city. Well, he can’t talk yet but I’m pretty sure that’s what he would say. I’m also pretty sure if he could talk, he would say the food at Yerba Buena, a lively Latin American restaurant that he visited with his younger cousin was phenom.
OK, he really didn’t eat the food and he may or may not have slept throughout brunch but he did get a lot of attention from the ladies while we started with the Croquetes de Queijo, these little croquettes filled with manchego cheese that comes with pickled jalapeño salsa verde.
The real superstar is the Pan Dulce french toast. O Em Gee. My brother’s in-laws who took us here, were not kidding when they told us how delicious this dish was. It was the best french toast I’ve ever had, made with brioche toast and also stuffed with manchego cheese, dulce de leche and bananas.
We also tried the Green Chile burger (piedmontese grass fed beef, cheddar cheese, tomato, lettuce, green chile sofrito), done medium. I prefer medium well but it was really tasty and came with a side of crispy shoestring fries (tasted more like potato chips). Also, you guys would be really proud of me — I actually ordered a seafood dish too. The Chupe de Mariscos — a spicy soup with shrimp, calamari, black cod, aji amarillo broth, rice queso fresco, choclo, and a poached egg.
The only thing is, this place is LOUD. Depending on what type of atmosphere you’re looking for, that could be a good or bad thing. We were with a newborn and a two-month-old and they pretty much slept throughout the entire meal so it wasn’t a big deal surprisingly. We also had really friendly wait staff and patrons alike. ALSO, I have mentioned this website before, but if you sign up for VillageVines.com, you can get 30% off your entire bill here (and a lot of other great restaurants – I’ve already signed up and planning to use it more often when I go out to eat!).
Winners for the Bare Minerals Skincare Giveaway!
Congratulations to Anne-Marie T and Nusra! You won by the luck of the draw and will be receiving products from Bare Minerals Skincare! Look out for an email coming your way today.
Thanks to everyone for entering! I’ll be posting the next giveaway for a gift set courtesy of Folica for (1) clipless curling iron, (2) flat iron, and (3) mini travel flat iron (altogether worth $400) as soooon as I get 1,000 likes on BATF’s Facebook page — almost there so invite your friends to join!
I’ve been passing by Nomad in the East Village almost every day this week and it always looks so warm and inviting inside. The Moroccan/French restaurant serves traditional plates and tapas and has the most gorgeous decor of jeweled lanterns, tiled tables and dim lighting. Man, even their bathroom is so pretty I almost took a picture, but that would be weird so I didn’t. In the back, they have a beautiful enclosed courtyard-like space. The food, I found, was equally impressive.
If you go, you HAVE to try the duck pastille a l’orange appetizer. It’s a filo pastry stuffed with duck, almonds, and pieces of orange. It has the most interesting mix of flavors, a little sweet and salty. The lamb tajine is also really tasty, made with prunes, carmelized onions, spices and comes with a side of couscous.
Sorry, it’s a dark pic but the best I could do! The service was also very friendly. Overall a pretty great find I think. If you’re looking for entertainment, they have a live band and belly dancers on Thursday nights, along with a $25 prix fixe meal. I also found that if you sign up for Village Vines (www.villagevines.com), you can get 30% off your entire bill here (and also get a discount at a bunch of other reputable restaurants). Definitely worth a pit stop.