Smart Ash the update!

Link to original review here

So I’ve been exclusively using Smart Ash to clean my teeth twice daily for about 6 days now. Below is the before and after photos. 


I definitely feel that my smile is whiter, but as you can see it’s not a drastic difference. To be fair, my teeth weren’t extremely yellow to begin with and I’m viewing this more as a maintenance product for me. The biggest difference I’ve noticed is how clean my teeth feel and that’s why I will continue to use this product. I thought it would miss the minty fresh feeling after I brushed my teeth but honestly the super clean feeling far outweighs the clean taste for me. 
Xoxo,

Ashley 

Bumble and bumble… The Silkening Set

So yesterday I decided to kill some time in Sephora while I was waiting for my hair appointment. I noticed that they changed out their reward options and saw the Bumble and bumble silkening set and knew I needed to cash in my precious Sephora VIB points at once. 


This set includes a pre-shampoo masque that says it’s a balm that transforms into an oil. Shampoo, conditioner and a hair oil. 

The balm to oil masque is really nice, it has a calming light scent. It had the consistency of coconut oil and melted into an oil just as coconut oil does.  It felt very soothing on my dry scalp and it was easy to work into my hair. After I applied all of the product into my hair I used my hair dryer to further melt the balm and make sure all of my precious strands of hair were evenly coated. The instructions stated to wait 20 minutes and then shampoo your hair. 


Time to rinse this hair masque out! I rinsed my hair out before applying the invisible oil shampoo and the hot water helped remove the masque. A nice side effect of this was it moisturized my back very well. The shampoo and conditioner had a stronger scent than the masque but I really enjoyed it. It smells like oranges and honey suckle. The shampoo cleansed my hair pretty well but I used it a second time because my hair is darker and oil hair treatments usually leave my hair looking dirty and piecey instead of shiny like my lighter haired friends. The conditioner was decent as well, it was very smooth and didn’t have a sticky feeling. It was easy to work it through my medium length hair. 


I towel dried my hair and worked a dime sized amount of the hair oil through my hair. All the items in this line have the same orange and honey suckle scent. Each at vairying levels of intensity with the shampoo being the strongest. I dried my hair as I normally would but I didn’t add any additional products. My hair felt as it normally does to me with my normal care routine so this didn’t provide any amazing instant results. I asked Bobby for his opinion on the softness and silkiness of my hair; he said that my ends felt the same as they normally do, which he also noted that my hair is always soft so it didn’t feel bad, but he did say my roots felt softer than they normally do (he indicated this by patting my head to show me which areas felt the same and which felt different 😂). My hair wasn’t any easier to style either which I saw that some other people noted in their reviews. 

While this product wasn’t amazing right out of the box for me I do think repeated use would make the biggest difference. I already take pretty good care of my hair, including using hair oil daily, so I’m sure someone else might have more noticeable effects right off the bat. 

Day 2: I just used the shampoo, conditioner and hair oil. My hair felt noticeably softer to me the second day. I’m not sure how I feel about the hair oil though because it caused some patches of hair to look oily and my normal Morrocan hair oil doesn’t do this. I do have somewhat oily hair and this is advertised as being for those with dry hair. I have dry ends and dry scalp but my roots are usually hydrated with my natural oils. 

I think this is a good product but I don’t think it’s designed for someone with my hair type. I will continue to use the shampoo and conditioner but I think the hair oil isn’t designed for someone with my hair type. 

Xoxo,

Ashley 

Charcoal Teeth Whitening Powder First Impressions…

…Smart Ash!

What? No, I didn’t just call you a name. Smart Ash is the clever name of one of the new trendy charcoal teeth whitening powders. 


I love the packaging. It doesn’t feel cheap or flimsy, and I like that they embraced the black color of the charcoal and incorporated it into their package design. My teeth are sensitive so traditional teeth whitening solutions don’t work for me and I was excited to give this a go. I purchased it on Amazon for $30. Seems a little steep but Bedrock & Bloom estimate this to last you for 6 months with daily use. 

My first experience with this charcoal powder wasn’t bad at all. The packaging recommends brushing in the shower for easy cleanup but I don’t feel that is necessary. My routine is to brush my teeth and then wash my face so the residual powder is washed and removed with that process. After I’ve washed my face I just use the wash cloth to wipe the sink out. I don’t really feel that this added any additional time to my morning or bedtime routine at all. The powder contains coconut shell charcoal, natural calcium bentonite clay (to remineralize teeth), frankincense (to help combat cavities, toothaches, bad breath and strengthen the teeth and gums). For flavoring they added mint and orange peel. 


Brushing with the powder was interesting. It takes a little longer to coat your teeth since it’s a powder and not a paste. Although flavoring is added with the orange peel and mint I felt it was tasteless. After brushing and rinsing I was pleasantly surprised to find my teeth felt very clean! I honestly think they feel as they do after I have by bi-annual visit to the dentist for my cleaning. I didn’t notice any amazing instant whitening effects, but I didn’t expect that from this powder so no disappointment there. I’m excited to try this for a week and see if there are any noticeable whitening effects from this. As a tea lover I’m always looking for ways to keep my smile sparkling!

For more information on this product, visit Bedrock & Blooms site:

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Xoxo,

Ashley