Happy Monday everyone! I always tend to forget about Valentine's day until I walk into the local convenience store and am hit with a plethora of purples, pinks, and red colored everything. A complete hallmark holiday, but also something to help pass the winter blues, amiright?

So, that being said, I have something really cute to share with all of my Michigan readers today. My friend Becky came up with some adorable, and unique Valentine's day cards for Michiganders! Becky's "Smitten in the Mitten" card series features two colorful, unique designs for Valentine's day. The bright colors are perfect for these grey, dismal days we have been dealing with here in Michigan the past few weeks. I love winter, but come on, there is nothing magical about half-melted snow/slush and another wave of -10 degree weather. Yay.

So, if you are a Michigan resident, or would like to send a card to someone you know in the Mitten, please check out Becklo Photography and Design for these awesome cards. 

If you know me, you know I am easily distracted by anything shiny. Shiny + Sparkly? I am there! So when the amazing people over at Anjolee sent over these bad boys for me to review, I was beside myself. 

Anjolee has a great selection of diamond hoop earrings, and since I have plenty of room on my lobes for pretty things, I am really excited to try these puppies out. I feel that hoop earrings are very versatile, they can be worn with a nice outfit (LBD + date night anyone?) to keep things classy and sleek, or, even make a simple outfit of t-shirt and jeans look a little nicer. I would like to pair these with some simple stud earrings, because I am a fan of mixing & matching my accessories. 

Speaking of mixing & matching, Anjolee also offers some awesome wedding ring sets that can even be customized.  Which is really nifty, especially since their selection is pretty large. 

I am excited to wear this pair of earrings, I am sure they will be making their way into my outfit posts very soon. I did not have a photographer (*cough* Kyle* cough*) handy, so instead you get to get a glimpse of them in the pretty packaging they came in. Seriously, my other earrings are jealous. 

Since it is Spring, and therefore, shopping is bound to happen, there is a cool sale going on until the 12th over at eShatki! Buy three items, and get the lowest priced item for free! See the site for details!

Here is a special discount code CHBBYLMPKN, exclusively created for Sideburns & Bangs readers to get 20% OFF when you shop at eShakti - valid from 02/26/13 thru 03/10/13.

Don't for get that eShakti offers customization on their items, even embroidery :) 

eShakti is having a winter clearance on some cute items right now, so it is a good time to stock up on some affordable , cute items. Also, if you are new to eShakti, you can sign up for $25 gift certificate (see website for details). Happy shopping :)

My good friend, fellow aspiring writer, and talented artist Hassaun finally has his own website up and running. This has been a long-time coming, and it is not just a storage site for his artwork, it is a melting-pot of many of his talents. You can check out some of his stories, as well as read his art-blog. 

So go check out his brand-spanking new website, The Art of H.D. Harris. Because Morgan Freeman is asking nicely by staring into your soul. 

A great idea for a gift this Holiday season is a really cool photograph, because if people are going to hang crap on their walls at work or at home, it might as well be something worthwhile to look at amiright? Becklo Photography and Design is a Michigan based photography shop, containing beautiful and interesting prints alike. For the Mitten-State resident or lover, there is lots to choose from. 

There are also a few more unique and just effing adorable items as well. Ahem. 

Check out Becklo Photography and Design for more details and for any questions. Happy Holidays!

The Holidays are officially upon us, and it is therefore time to get loved ones something special. Lauren Moyer, fashion blogger &  fine artist, is once again offering custom pet portraits to pet lovers of the world. Send Lauren a photo or two of your pet, or a loved one's precious creature, and she will create a custom portrait for a wonderful gift. Have two critters in your home? You can get an add-on, or a 2-on-1 custom print as well. Check the shop for more details!

Hello everyone! Today I have a speical giveaway for the readers of "Sideburns & Bangs" from the lovelies over at Shabby Apple. Shabby Apple is a sweet online shop featuring pretty dresses for women, as well as little girls dresses and even maternity dresses. Now that Spring is just around the corner, it is the perfect time for sweet little dresses. Right now, all readers can enter to win this lovely minty Ahoy dress! To enter:

-You MUST like Shabby Apple on facebook and  leave a comment below stating where you would wear this dress to.

-Be a follower of Sideburns & Bangs via Google Reader, Google+ or bloglovin

*For a bonus entry, become a fan of Sideburns & Bangs on facebook.

I will pick a winner on 3/9/2012 and announce here on the blog.

The most adorable thing that has ever been mailed to me in my entire life, came this Christmas with a personalized Christmas card from my friend Stevie. As you can see from the picture above, she is as talented as she as awesome. Please check-out her facebook page to see more of her amazing artwork & become a fan :)

 This slice of awesomeness is brought to you by H.D. Harris. Check out his Facebook page for more art & any inquiries.

Now I am off to finish cleaning the house, it's not too bad, and to finish laundry. I have a huge pile of it that needs to be organized, folded, hung and probably ironed. Joy. I think this calls for some diet pepsi and Gilmore Girls to make the chore a little easier, no? ;)

This post has been long overdue, but to be fair I really had to wait  for  a few days where it wasn't 90 degrees out so that I could actually test this product and give a fair review! A little while back, Misikko contacted me to do a product review for them on one of their styling products. If you have been a reader of this blog for awhile, you will know how much hair is a topic I like to mention at least once per month. I severely damaged my hair last summer when I attempted to put a bright purple color in my then already dyed black hair. Since then, I had to have my hair chemically stripped, had a light reddish color put over the bleach, and had a good few inches hacked off. There still are quite a few damaged bits in there and I have to carefully trim them out every 8-12 weeks. I never flat iron or curl my hair, and I almost never blow-dry it, except for those bangs.  

Misikko is a company that offers salon blow dryers,  Flat irons, and Chi Hair dryers, and  I was very hesitant at first to review a hair dryer because of all the damage it does to my hair. However, when I do go for trims, my stylist does dry my hair with a Chi hair dryer and my hair always has sleek, shiny results so I decided to take a chance on it, to see if I could achieve the same results. My current hair dryer is a result of a 2am impulse buy at a convenience store years ago so I figured an upgrade might be in order.  My package from Misikko arrived and it was as if the transition from never using a hair dryer to actually testing one out was known. There were all kinds of lovely goodies wrapped up with my Hanna dryer to make the transition go smoothly and to butter me up.

All kinds of goodies were included in my Misikko package, from shine shield to hand sanitizer, with a sleep mask and a stuffed monkey for good measure. I have had the pleasure of trying Paul Mitchell hair products at the salon so I was happy to have some at home to tide me over in between visits.

As I mentioned above, I never actually dry my hair, only the bangs but I wanted to give the product a real, honest review. So I decided to bite the bullet and try it. I did the safest thing I could think of and let my hair air-dry about 70% of the way, just like my stylist did when I went for a trim, and then I finished off with the Hana hair dryer while brushing it with my boar bristle round brush and I was happy to say that my hair turned out very smooth and sleek. The only bummer is that it has been so hot outside, that I end up throwing it up in a bun and don't get to really enjoy my smooth hair but that is summer for you! 

I would recommend Misikko's products based on this review of the Hana dryer, & also the shine serum. The only thing I am slightly bummed about is that there is not a retractable cord, but it did come with a nice cloth bag to store in so I have been using that to avoid having the cord tangled up.  You can purchase Misikko products here, and I just noticed that they offer free shipping for purchases over $50 if you would like to try a product yourself.