Carol's Daughter and Me

There is a relatively new line of skin, hair care and body products based out of Brooklyn named Carol's Daughter. A black owned company that has celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith and Mary J. Blige promoting their products. The products are all natural and according to the celebrity hype - amazing for black hair and skin.

Well, I believed the hype, jumped in with both feet and ordered skin, hair and body care products from them. I places a relatively large order online and left both my email address and telephone number in the event of a problem. I received a confirmation number when I places the order but never received an email to confirm the order as most commerce websites do. I kept checking my email daily to see if I would receive an email when my products shipped. Nothing. No email, no phone call.

About 4 days after placing the order, I did get an email saying that one of the items I ordered was not in stock and I would not be charged for it. But still no email on the arrival of my order. After over a week I called the company's customer service department and was informed that my order had been shipped and should be arriving the next day. I asked why I wasn't sent an email regarding this, suppose I hadn't called and no one was at home? I was told by the customer service rep that she did not know. I asked if this was normal and got the same answer. I hung up more aggravated that I was when I called.

The following day my shipment came, as informed by customer service, but I was confused. The box was tiny. I place a large order, how could it all fit in that box? I opened the box to find only half of the items I ordered. Back on the phone and another call to Carol's Daughter's customer service. I explained my situation to the young lady that got my call. She may have been hired for her bi-lingual abilities - but English was not her strong language. After explaining my situation several times, I was told that I never ordered the missing items. Strange, I have a printed confirmation with all of he items on it and a total of over $200.

How can that be?......

Ah...your system is faulty and didn't transmit the entire order to you?......

Isn't that something that should be fixed?......

Oh, they know about it?......

And you don't know if it's being taken care of?......

You don't know?! Okaaay then!

After a few minutes of ridiculous conversation with this person, I asked if she could tell me weather the items I did not receive we're in stock. I was put on hold and waited for a good 7 minutes before she came back to let me know that they were not.
I stupidly asked, "Could this be why I didn't receive them with my order?" "Maybe" was the answer I got. I thank her kindly for all her assistance and hung up as quickly as I could!

In spite of all this I was still eager to try the products that got so much black star power behind it. I cracked open bottle after bottle sniffed. It all smelled pretty much the same - very herbal. I wasn't expecting anything else so I forged on.

I have very oily skin which leads to breakouts constantly. Carol's Daughter has face wash and serum that was designed for oily skin. I grabbed them and headed to the bathroom. I washed my face with the wash. It left my face feeling coated. I rinsed numerous times to clean the stuff off, but no change. My face felt like there was a coating of something on it. Well, there's still the serum. I opened up the tiny bottle and put a few drops on my fingertips and proceeded to massage it into my face, following sparse directions to the letter. Was I surprised to find that the "serum for oily skin" was OIL based!

Yes folks, here I was rubbing what amounts to nothing more than herb infused oils into my already oily face! withing half an hour everything I touched had oil all over it. I had to keep cleaning my glasses - they we're constantly smudged. After 2 hours of this mess - I headed back to the bathroom to clean my face with my normal face wash. Thankfully - it got all the oils of my face and even removed the strong herbal smell too. I have since found that all of Carol's Daughter's products are oil based. From the face wash to the hair conditioners- anything that is supposed to moisturize will leave you feeling like you we're in an oil slick.

I have not contacted the company regarding my disappointment and wasted money. I just thank my lucky stars that half of my order did not come. Thanks to their incompetence I was saved a lot of money and heartache. I will NEVER recommend this product to anyone. It's awful. The herbal smell is so strong I was sneezing the entire time I used it. The shampoo does not clean your hair - it leaves it feeling tacky. I could go on and on but why bother. I have just learned a valuable lesson - what works for Carol's Daughter does not work for me!

A Letter to the Smokers in 1D and 2C

Dear neighbors,

I understand that you have the right to do as you please in your respective apartments, but you constant cigarette smoking is making ma family's life miserable.

I go to bed each night and wake up each morning to the secondhand smoke from 2C. I awake sneezing, my eyes burning and my chest hurting. Each morning the first thing I do is take an allergy pill so I can live in my apartment. I leave my bedroom and attempt to find refuge in my living room only to be enveloped by the smoke coming from both 2c and1D. My new sofa has taken on a lovely smell of Eau de Ciggy.

I am extremely allergic to cigarette smoke, and my son is asthmatic. Our lives are miserable because of your bad habit. I beg of you, please, please be a bit more considerate and keep your smoking outdoors. I don't know either of you and i'm sure that you are both understanding people. And for the neighbor in 2C - can you please stop throwing your cigarette butts off your balcony onto mine?

Thank you,

Your neighbor in 1C

Bunny Shoes

Cris, my eldest child, came bursting throug the door last night with something she swore I had to see and would absolutely love....I held my breath in anticipation.


She is an easy going, fun loving young lady. She's like me in many ways- she can be childlike and goofy. So when she came bursting in last light I couldn't wait to see what this marvelous thing was.

Bunny shoes! Shoes that look like a 5 year old should be wearing them - but made for adults.

They are made of faux sheepskin, so they're all fuzzy. And as you can see from the picture, they have bunny ears and a bunny tail. They also have eyes and two bunny teeth in the front. Oh, they are adorable and so very much like my Cris. She is the only person I know that would actually wear a pair of these when it's not halloween.

As a mother, it makes me so happy to see my child embracing the silliness life has to offer. Last week she bought really cute undies from Old Navy - and they turned out to be for toddlers. She liked the patterns so much - she never paid attention to the size. (My 4yr old neice got them)

Cris is young, beautiful and completely secure in who she is and what she wants. She could be a totally self absorbed person, but she's not. She lives her life in a totally different world. She's wacky and silly and always makes people laugh. Kids and dogs love her! And isn't laughter the greatest gift you could give? There is a yiddish proverb that says: "What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul." My Cristina is a big beautiful bar of soap for the soul!

So I would like to thank my Cris for always bringing joy to my life and keeping my soul squeaky clean! And I love her as a daughter but even more as a person.

The Blog Snobs

I've just had my first experience with blog snobbery.

My daughter Cat suggested that I join a blog directory to meet like minded people and get more traffic on my blog. Let's face the truth, no one knows that my blog even exists. I started this for me, but I figured "ah what the hell, it might be fun". So in my naivete I signed up for blogcatalog.com - they seemed to have a nice mix of people and topics and I figured I would be able to learn a lot from them - Ha!

My simple blog wasn't good enough for them. One of their admins took one look at the blog I submitted, my knitting blog- Knit me Knot- and promptly denied me membership. I have to admit that it's a simple blog, I am after all a noob, but I thought there would be a place for everyone. Apparently blogcatalog.com is not one of those places. You better be a professional blogger or you get no love from them.

Well, I say Fuck them! I like my blogs just the way they are! As a noob, I have a lot to learn and I plan to get better at this. But for now, I have learned the harsh lesson that blog snobbery exists and blogcatalog.com can kiss my black @$$!

To Blog World and Back

I took a trip around blog world today and all I can say is:

Wow, am I inspired!

Being new to blogging I did the obvious thing and started journaling - with some pics and music thrown in for fun. I am so ashamed.

I didn't realize what you can create and accomplish with a blog. I had no idea that your blogs were so amazing. Viewing some of the other blogs has really opened my eyes to the possibilities of what I can create. I'm now chomping at the bit to make something amazing as well. I have only one question; are all you folks artists, designers and in the graphics field? Or am I the only schlump that doesn't know anything about anything when it comes to blogs and html?

What do I do now? I need to come up with a concept and rethink my blog strategy. I don't need unnecessary bells and whistles, just solid content. Actually, I like the bells and whistles - i'll just keep it to a minimum. Oh I can't wait to get started.

Although, I must say that I really enjoy journaling on Brooklyn Blues. I get to vent about everything here and not have to apologize for my bad behavior. It feels goods to be able to do that. So, I may very well keep this blog exactly as it is.

Why give that up? Everyone needs their bit of naughtiness. :-)