Summer Favorites!

Now that the clouds have sort of parted here in the midwest, just kidding! Actually we are now enjoying our "summer" by being flooded out with more rain then we normally see in... well... ever...  But, it's officially summer according to the calendar, and at least it's not cold anymore! (Well, the warm days outnumber the cold days at the very least.) I feel like it's time for summer favorites!

 

Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula deep conditioning protein pack $1.22
You can find this HERE. I find it at Target stores that have an "Ethnic" hair care section.  I love that these are large enough so that I only have to use one on my ungodly thick and long hair, but it's still a single serve package. However, if you have short or thin hair you could probably get 2 uses out of this so that's a bonus! All you do is shampoo your hair, massage this junk in, distribute it evenly (I finger comb it through), and chill out for 10-20 minutes, then rinse. I like to follow up with my normal conditioner, but it's totally up to you. I use this once a month and do a coconut milk wash twice a month, it seems to help my hair from getting too out of control in the summer time. Oddly enough, I don't have a huge issue in the winter with dry hair. This is amazing though, one use leaves your hair super moisturized, soft, and lovely. It smells like coconut and has a pourable lotion type thickness, not quite as thick as a bottled conditioner but not as thin as water. My warning is not to upend the entire package into your hand at once. It will run all over the place and you'll just waste it, which would be a shame because your hair needs this.

Banana Boat Baby Tear Free Sting Free spf 50 broad spectrum sunscreen  $7.99-$10.99
You can find this HERE. I buy it at our local Walmart, but you can also find it in some grocery stores, and Target. For me and my daughter, who have milky white skin that would rival a creature living under a rock in a dark cave, sunscreen is a must. My daughter also has exceptionally sensitive skin. Bug bites create huge welts, certain lotions cause rashes, and most sunscreens cause her to break out in hives. This caters to her sensitive skin and protects her from the sun. This is freakishly thick, much like a thick body cream, odd for a sunscreen I think, but nice. It's white so it is easy to see where you've applied it. I like that it's tear free, I don't have any worries about it next to her eyes. I use this as well and have never had a sunburn while using this no matter when I've applied it, before we leave the house, after I'm already in the sun, or right out of the water. Of course, it's best before you go out into the sun, but it's never let me down. It is slightly greasy looking after it's applied, but I've never had a problem skin wise afterwards.

Yaby concealer in buff cc008 $4.85
You can find this HERE. I got this last month in Ipsy's Glam Bag and have been in love with it ever since. It goes on exceptionally creamy and it's super blendable. It covers like a thick concealer but feels lightweight, a thin layer will cover even the most stubborn blemishes or dark circles. This color matches my skin tone freakishly well, as I said in my review of it before, I wish I could find a foundation that matched my skin tone this well! But no, I have to mix foundations to match my apparently weirdly colored ginger skin. Once this is on and set with a small amount of powder it doesn't budge until you wash it off, which is awesome for a summer concealer.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm  $34.00
You can find this HERE. I love this. It adds just a sheer wash of color, but somehow covers my red cheeks and blemishes It also improves my skin tone, as long as I continue to use it daily. Which I don't all the time, but I definitely notice an improvement when I use it several days in a row. It doesn't seem to shift with sweat, even if I haven't sealed it with powder. It also has an awesome mint scent and a cooling tingly effect on my skin. It lasts forever. Because it's a thinner formula, you only need a small amount to cover your entire face. I could see this easily lasting an entire summer, which is extra nice considering the price.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin $18.00
You can find this HERE. As usual with anything Urban Decay, this eyeshadow is super creamy, highly pigmented, and super blendable. Sin is a pinkish champagne with a hint of shimmery awesomeness. This is fantastic for a wash of color with a little brightening action, without the heaviness of full on eye make up. It's really nice with or without liner and lovely from lid to brow. I get a full 10 hours of wear out of it, without primer, before it starts to disappear from my lid. I generally like to apply this with my finger, from lashes to brow, throw some liner on, top it with mascara, and go. So easy.

Avon Extra Lasting Liquid Eyeliner in Black E02 $8.50
You can find this HERE. This has a thin, slightly curved, sponge applicator, much better then a brush because it has no chance for the bristles to come apart and cause any weird second line that you never wanted to create. The curve at the end is perfect for an effortless cat eye effect, it requires no skill at all. This makes a clean line, thick or thin, and doesn't move an inch once it's dry. It also lays down solid color with one swipe, as opposed to gel liner which can spot as it wears off the brush. The only thing I don't like about it, is when you wash it, it come off in weird little chunks. It's almost as if you could wet it and peel it off in one strip. Which is odd, but I can easily deal with that for something so awesome.

So I tried several times to get a picture of the entire tube of this but my camera kept focusing on the tube itself and not the lettering and they kept turning out super blurry. Although the tube isn't what I love about this, it's the awesome sponge tip applicator above.

Avon Super Extend Extreme Mascara in Black  $9.50
You can find this HERE. This comes in regular and waterproof. I've never had an issue with the regular formula smudging with sweat and I don't wear mascara to the beach, so I don't see a point for the waterproof formula in my life. I have shorter lashes on my left eye then I do on my right for some reason. A cruel cosmic joke if you will. So mascara tends to accentuate that problem. This formula does exactly as it promises, it makes your lashes appear longer, mine actually look even after I apply this. The brush has shorter rubbery bristles, so it's easy for those of us who are creeped out about putting huge mascara brushes near our eyes. It really only needs one or two coats to be opaque and cover all of the lashes. It dries quickly and doesn't budge until you wash it off. It is easy to remove with soap and water as well.

It has these little strings in there that adhere to your lashes, which makes them longer, literally, not just appear longer.

Secret Outlast Clear Gel Deoderant  $6.97 for a 2 pack
You can find this HERE.  I got this in my Influenster Spring Fever box. I normally never use gel deodorant, but this converted me. It only takes one swipe, it dries clear so there isn't any white marks to contend with or those stupid white chunks that accumulate when you sweat a lot. It smells clean and fresh but isn't overpowering, I can't smell it once it's applied which is nice considering some of them are so perfumed that they fight for dominance with your other scents. This is amazing. Amazing. So fantastic for the heat of summer.

Bath and Body Works Scented Candle in Lemon Mint Leaf / I got mine 3/$10 I'm not sure how much they are normally.
It would appear that these are not on their website so you'll have to go into a Bath and Body Works store to find this. I do wonder if they were discontinued, which is totally normal for B&BW to do to me once I find a delicious scent. You can find their website HERE.
I'm a little crazy over lemon scented anything, the scent reminds me of summer and makes me happy, so it was such a fantastic find. It literally smells like the lemon balm we plant on our deck. Very lemony with a hint of minty goodness. It is also a really lovely shade of pastel green, and the packaging is adorable. I have another mini candle like this and it lasted about 10 hours. I haven't lit these yet, but it would be odd if they didn't last the same amount of time give or take.

So there you have it. Do you have any summer product favorites? Lay them on me, I'm always looking for a new something to try!
Enjoy!

Ipsy June "on the wild side" glam bag

This month's glam bag featured an adorable little make up pouch covered in leopard print with a neon green zipper. It's super cute! Much cuter then the chevron easter egg colored pouch last month.

 

 

 

As usual, it came in an awesomely bright pink padded envelope which contained not only my glam bag but also a card telling me the product names and the percentage off I can get them if I check out the coupon codes at Ipsy.

It included:

Starlooks Lip Pencil in Bare   $12
You can check this out HERE. I tried to swatch this and it broke the second it touched my skin. It tugged and pulled like crazy. I'm not sure how this will work on my lips then, but it is a lovely nude color which would wear nicely under a lot of lipsticks or even a shimmer or colored gloss. It went on super creamy after I sharpened it myself, apparently that first bit was the only part that was stiff. It was completely opaque with 2 swipes and is a light mocha color on my lips. It's too dark for me to wear alone but when worn under some of my brighter lipsticks it darkened them up a bit, which would be awesome for a more muted fall look. It lasted several hours, but it felt thick underneath a lipstick. I'm not sure if I like it or not. On the one hand, I love that it was so creamy and easy to apply without several passes. But on the other, I'm not a fan of how it felt on my lips under lipstick.

NYX Mosaic Powder in Silk    $7
There are 12 different mosaic powder cases with 5 colors inside each, you can check them out HERE. I took a chunk out of mine to see if the mosaic pattern was just a top layer and the colors go all the way through to the bottom which is awesome, a lot of the time you see patterned cosmetics and it's just a print on top which wears down after the first use. This swirls together to get a nice orangey pink, much like the bottom left hand color. I attempted to swatch the colors separately but they were so hard to get any color to show up and because of the shimmer combined with my pale skin, I couldn't get my camera to pick up a full swirl swatch. It didn't go on as dark as I had expected and left a slight color that looked just fine on my fair skin. This would actually work nicely as a subtle bronzer for me.

J. Cat Beauty Sparkling Cream Palette in SPC106   $4.49
There are 12 Sparkling Cream Palettes on the J. Cat Beauty website HERE. I'm a huge fan of 102 and if I were a couple years younger, when I wore glitter more often, I'd totally buy it. On a scale of 1 to Drag Queen my love for glitter ranks right up there with the magical drag show we used to go see in the cities every week. I'm completely in love with glitter and it kills me that I'm getting older. (Is it still appropriate once I turn 30? Do I care...) This is a really interesting product. I'm used to loose glitter and stick with one brand so I don't branch out much. I've never seen a cream glitter before. Maybe I've been a hermit with my loose glitter for too long. I dug into one of these colors and found the amount of glitter on the top is consistent throughout. It's creamy and easy to apply with a finger, with the sponge tip applicator included in the palette, not so much. It was hard to get a solid glitter out of these without caking it on, so it would be nice over a solid color and a few sparkles on top. It would also work really nicely as a liner with an angled brush.

Cailyn Line Fix Gel Liner in Iron    $21
There are 13 different colors of this gel liner. You can check them out HERE.  I received one in Iron. Which is more like a gunmetal grey metallic that appears to have very fine silver glitter in it. I think this would be fantastic to use with a dark smokey eye, a nice change from the expected black liner, or even use as a base underneath dark eye shadow colors. It's exceptionally creamy and blendable. It applies really smoothly, no snagging or gaps, and is opaque with one swipe.  It dries in about 20 seconds and after that it's unyielding. I actually had to wash my swatch hand twice before I had fully removed it all. The brush included is nice, I like that it's fully detachable from the lid so that you can clean it but still cover your gel pot. Overall this is a pretty fantastic gel liner.

Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter pencil    $18
This comes in one color and you can check it out HERE. This matched my skin tone extremely closely, which is lovely. It adds a hint of highlight but blends in almost seamlessly. I used it on my brow bone, my cupids bow (the dip in the middle of your upper lip), and down the bridge of my nose. Because it matches my skin tone, I also used it as a concealer when my daughter had hidden mine and I was in a rush to leave the house, it covered wonderfully. It didn't budge for a full 10 hours, until I washed it off. It's exceptionally creamy, blendable, and one swipe of the pencil is all you need. I didn't notice even the slightest greasy residue or shine from it either. I also love that it highlights without shimmer. I love shimmer and glitter as much as a unicorn, but sometimes shimmery highlights end up looking a bit greasy in the summer time and that's a look I'm not going for.  Because this blended in so nicely it was exceptionally hard to get a swatch on my skin. If you look behind the Chella pencil you'll see it faintly on my hand.

As usual, if you would like to receive your very own Ipsy Glam Bag you can sign up HERE! It's $10 a month and each monthly glam bag has a theme of it's very own right down to the mini make up pouch. You also take a beauty quiz when you sign up to help personalize your glam bag.

Enjoy!


*Ipsy Glam Bag is a monthly beauty sample bag that I paid for with my very own money. I do not get paid to give good reviews*

Awesome Flea Market Find! Sally Hansen Salon Effects!

So, as we do every Saturday morning, we found ourselves at the flea market near our home. Normally it's ungodly hot and we don't generally go into the small buildings turned shops, rather we stay outside and walk through the sea of awnings. Today, however, it was chilly and overcast so we ended up browsing inside. The last shop we walked into was full to bursting with beauty products at ridiculously discounted prices. I was in heaven and had to exercise all of my restraint in order not to spend every last penny in my pocket. I did find something I couldn't resist though. In the very back corner was a bin full of Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips. I started to claw my way through them hoping to find a design that I couldn't live without. I ended up stumbling upon a bunch of Halloween themed strips, much to my delight. I'm crazy about anything Halloween themed, the cheesier the better honestly. I ended up with 4 boxes, and at $2 a piece how could I say no? I picked 3 Halloween themed ones and one beautifully delicate flower pattern that in no way suits my normal tastes but it reminded me of my mom and made me smile so I couldn't turn it down.

I ended up with "How Corny" a shimmery candy corn pattern on a silver background

I'm sorry for the flash in all of these, I had a hard time getting it not to reflect on the outer package and didn't want to open them all at once.

"Numbskull" which has a black skull and crossbone pattern on a white background

"Patch-O-Lanterns" which has orange jack o lantern faces on a black background

and Good Morning Glory which has a purple flower pattern on a white background.

Again, sorry for the flash, I had a really hard time with this one I think because the colors are so light as well.

The Halloween themed ones are from their 2012 Halloween collection and the Morning Glory one is also from a 2012 collection. So they are a little out of date but I'm not going to be picky.
I like the polish strips because my nails are naturally very soft and the polish strips are pretty flexible so they bend with my nails instead of crack like normal polish does. These normally last a couple weeks on me, depending on what I'm doing and if I give them time to fully adhere to my nails before getting my hands wet. I also love me some nail art and lets just face it, I do not have a steady hand. I'll never be a brain surgeon and I'll never be able to paint fun little pictures on my nails. These are about a 6 on the difficulty scale to position, but once you get them in place the rest is smooth sailing. 
Each kit comes with 16 strips, such an odd number, but you can totally cut the others up and use them as tips if you'd like, which is what I do. It seems a waste to just throw them away really. They also come with a little wooden stick to push back your cuticles, a mini file one smooth side to smooth your nails, half a rough side to shape your nails, and half a medium/smooth side to trim the nail strips. And there is a set of instructions.

Just to show how nicely everything is packaged

As I said before, you can cut these any way you'd like, you could do stripes, tips, or cut them diagonally to do a half nail polish/half design. These say to start with a clean nail, but they will stick to nail polish as well, it just doesn't last as long. If you do put them over nail polish make sure to slap a couple layers of top coat over it to help it stay on. I do that even when I just use the strip itself just to help protect the design. Although you don't actually "need" a top coat, these are pretty shiny on their own. Another fun tip is to run one of your nails or the edge of the wooden stick (just be careful not to rip the strip!) along the edges to help seal it down.

So in the end it should look something like this!

You can find these at Walmart and certain drug stores, Target has the Kiss polish strips which are fantastic as well. They retail for about $8.50 normally.  If you'd like to check them out on the Sally Hansen website you can do so HERE.

Enjoy!




**I purchased these with my own money, these are my true and honest opinions, I do not get paid to give good reviews**