Makeup MVPs 2013: Haircare

I am so sorry for the delay in my posting. Due to the weather we've had internet connection issues for the last couple of days! It's been frigid cold here in Southeast Michigan! But, a warm up is on the horizon and my internet connection has been restored, so I am back with the next installment in my favorite products from 2013. This time it's haircare. I am going to talk to you about all of hair products I used and loved in 2013.

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle deep conditoner- As far as Shampoo, I tend to switch back and forth between different brands depending on what's on sale. I don't really find that it matters what shampoo I use, they all sort of work the same for me. But when it come to conditioner, I love my 3 minute miracle. I used to used this just once a week as a deep conditioner, but in 2013 I switched it up and it became the conditioner I use every time I wash my hair. I love this stuff! It smells amazing, makes my hair so unbelieveably soft and easy to work with, and it's super affordable! You just work it into your hair, leave it on for a few minutes, and then rinse. It's like magic! By far the BEST conditioner I have ever used, even compared to some much more expensive ones! Definitely try it out!

Organix renewing Moroccan Argan Oil- I have tried a few different hair oils, and this is my favorite for the price. It's available at the drugstore, and it's a huge amount of oil for the money, considering how little it takes! I have had the same bottle for nearly a year and I am only about half way through it! I tend to use this only on days when I wash my hair to add a bit more moisture and help tame flyaways. I love the way this smells, and I feel like it really makes a difference in the health of my hair!

Dove Dry Shampoo- I have tried quite a few drugstore brand Dry Shampoos and the Dove one is my fave! Because I have dry hair, and a pretty dry scalp, I don't need to use this extremely often, but it's great to have in my arsenal of hair products because it absorbs any excess oil I have in my hair while also giving me tons of volume! My hair is pretty long and because of that it tends to fall flat pretty easily due to gravity! But this works to add just a bit of oomph! Plus it smells amazing and it's super affordable. What's not to love?

Tresemme Heat Tamer Spray- In 2013 I started experimenting a lot more with different hairstyles, and that meant working a lot with heat! Curlers, straighteners, blow dryers- they all do damage to your hair. Tresemme Heat Tamer Spray helps protect your hair! I love this stuff because it's a very fine mist so it doesn't spray out at a super high intensity like some of the other heat protectant sprays I have tried. It has a pleasant smell, and it's, again, super affordable. No high end hair products here. I go for what's affordable and what works, and this does! Try it out, you won't regret it!

Got2B Beach trippin Salt infusion waving spray- When I want a bit of texture in my hair, I always reach for my salt spray from got2b. I have a whole review on my youtube channel just raving about this product. It does an amazing job of adding waves and texture to my hair without drying it out a ton of making it feel gross and damaged. It's another super affordable product that can be picked up at your local drugstore, and I just love it!

Tresemme Tres Two Hairspray- For the money, I really don't think there is a better hairspray on the market! I use the number 4 extra hold, and it keeps my hair in place all day without it feeling super crunchy. It's a huge can of hairspray for just a few dollars, and it does the trick just as well as higher end hairsprays I have tried. Why pay more when you can get a good quality product for less?

There ya have it! My favorite haircare products from 2013! These are my tried and true favorites that I just keep coming back to!

How I Curl My Hair

July Ipsy Glam Bag

Hey guys! In case you can't tell, I have been trying really hard to get back into blogging lately. I have been devoting a lot of time and energy into my youtube channel (Which you can, and should, check out here) and it's caused me to sort of move away from blogging. But I've been missing it a lot, so I am definitely making strides toward getting back into it.

Today I am going to be sharing with you all the contents of my July Ipsy Glam Bag. For those of you not familiar, Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription site. You pay just 10 dollars a month, and that gets you 4-5 full size and/or deluxe sized sample beauty products each month in a super nice reuseable makeup bag. It's a great service. The products that I receive each month are always generously sized samples (and often full sized products) and I am never disappointed with what I get, especially at the 10 dollar price point! So, let's check out what I received in my July bag!

 Each month, the ipsy bag is created around a certain theme. The theme for the month of July was Beach Beauty. So all the products in the bag are perfect for the beach!! The bag itself is super cute! It's a bright pink, transparent bag that is going to be fantastic for tossing into my bag when I am headed to the beach or pool. It's going to be water resistant, and the fact that I can see everything inside is super convenient. The bag is a great shape and I love the ipsy logo on it. So cute! Now let's move on to the more exciting aspect of the bag- the contents!!

In my bag, I recieved 5 products that are percect for beach going.

 I got a travel size can of the big sexy hair weather proof humidity resistant spray. This little guy is perfect for me. My hair is very frizzy naturally and when you add in humidity? Forget about it. If this product works it will be a life saver for me this summer! The cap on this product is the kind that you twist to lock/unlock so it's going to be perfect for tossing into my bag and not having to worry about a cap coming off and the product spraying everywhere (that has happened to me before, it's not pleasant) The full size product costs about 19 dollars. I would never pay that kind of money on a product I have never tried before. I'm glad to be able to test this product out because if I do like it, I will definitely pay full price to have this product in my haircare routine! Another great thing about ipsy is, along with the products, they also have coupon codes that they give you to use on the brands that they work with each month. So if you try a product and fall in love with it, you can buy it at a discount! The big sexy hair coupon code is worth $5 off a purchase of $25 or more at ulta.

The next product I received in my ipsy bag is a sample of the coola mineral sunscreen Rose essence tinted moisturizer. I have never heard of this brand before, but I am always anxious to try out new things. This is one of the smallest samples that Ipsy has ever sent. Generally the samples are quite a bit larger. But, there's plenty enough product in here for me to test it out and see if I like it! The rose scent of this tinted moisturizer is nice, and I think the color will be okay for my skintone! The coupon code they sent for Coola is 30% off any purchase at coolasuncare.com so that's a great little savings if I love this product and want the full size.

Next up is a product I have always wanted to try but have never been willing to shell out the money for it. It's Benitint from benefit! One of my favorite parts about my ipsy subscription is that they send a lot of samples form higher end brands. Benetint is a rose scented cheek and lip stain and the full size of this product retails for 30 dollars! There's no way I would ever drop that kind of money on a product that I didn't know for sure I was going to love, so getting this little sample is great! This is a fairly small sized sample, but a little bit of this product goes such a long way that this little guy will last a good long time! The deal that ipsy sent me gets me a free gift with purchase of a benefit product, so that's awesome too, should I decide to make use of that.

Next up is a full sized product! It's a Pop Beauty pouty pop crayon in the color coral crush. It's a goreous lip product that is just fantastic! Pop Beauty is another brand that I had never heard of before I started my ipsy subscription. They have sent out a mascara from this brand in a previous bag and now this lip crayon and I gotta say, I am really liking this brand. I swatched the lip color and it's a gorgeous pink. The swatch lasted on my hand for ages, so something tells me this product is going to last quite some time on the lips as well. If Id decide I want to try out more of these in different colors, Ipsy was kind enough to include an offer for 20% off a purchase from pop beauty as well!

And the very last thing in my bag this month is a selection of sample eyeshadows from BH cosmetics. Apparently, BH Cosmetics has a line of eyeshadow palettes called the Califonia Collection. This sample includes 3 eyeshadows. One each from their BH Hollywood, BH san francisco and BH Malibu palettes. The Hollywood shade is a gorgeous royal purple, the San Francisco shade is a nice brown, and Malibu is a golden shade. Each of the eyeshadows is nice and smooth and pigmented. And this little trio of samples could create an awesome look, or be worn separately. And if I decide I like the samples enough to try one of the full size palettes, I can use the coupon code and receive 10% off my purchase.

So that's everything that is in my bag this month. If you want to see more of my thoughts on each of the products as well as my swatches you can check out my video on my youtube channel, which I will be posting shortly and will then include a link to here. But overall, I really love my ipsy bag this month!!

The bag is always worth so much more than 10 dollars! I highly recommend you check it out! It's a fantastic way to try out new brands and beauty products. If you are interested in signing up, and you use my referral code, I can an extra product in my upcoming bag. And once you're a member, you get your own unique referral code so you can start recommending the site to others as well! Click here for more information on ipsy and for the chance to sign up through my unique code!

Goody Ouchless Ribbon Elastics Review

I've heard a lot of hype on youtube and otherwise about these ribbon style hair ties. I've tried other ones in the past and wasn't super impressed by them. Hair Ties are Hair ties, right? Well, I gotta say, since receiving these ones from Goody in my influenster sunkissed voxbox, I have changed my mind. I really do like these a lot. They differ from regular elastics because I don't find that these pull or tug on my hair, and they don't leave that dreaded pony tail bump like a lot of elastics do. These come in a variety of colors and are pretty inexpensive. Just 3-4 dollars. And they look so much cuter on the wrist than a rubber band or regular elastic. Such pretty little ribbons!

Here's what goody has to say about this product:

• Soft, stretchy material that looks beautiful on the wrist or in the hair!
• From America’s #1 elastics brand, Goody® Ouchless®
• Unique knot style hair ties are perfect for personalizing or dressing up your look.

I got mine complimentary from influenster to try, but I am pretty sure you can pick these up at drugstores. For more information you can visit http://www.goody.com/ Goody is an awesome brand! All sorts of hair products for super affordable prices. you can't go wrong!

Natural, pretty Face of the day!

Hey guys, so I thought I would just share with you my face of the day! I did a neutral look using the urban decay naked basics palette and I was quite pleased with how it turned out! I took the photos with my phone, so the quality isn't the greatest, but you can get the idea!

Products used:
Pixi flawless and poreless face primer from the february ipsy bag
Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour Foundation in Ivory
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment and Concealer in Fair
L'oreal True Match super-blendable crayon concealer in fair/light
NYC Smooth skin pressed powder in Translucent
Physicians Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural
NYC smooth skin bronzing face powder in sunny
Elf Golden Bronzer (highlight)
Mac Painterly Paint Pot
Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette (W.O.S. All over the lid, Naked 2 as a blending out color in my crease, Faint in my crease and outer corner, as well as under my bottom lash line and Venus as a brow bone and inner corner highlight)
Elf eyebrow Kit in Medium
Antastasia Beverly Hills brow gel
Mica beauty black gel eyeliner from the february ipsy bag
Benefit They're Real Mascara
Fresh sugar lip balm
Revlon colorburst lip butter in creamsicle
Palladio herbal lip gloss in pink candy

I also curled my hair using the remington clipless curling wand in the 1-1.5 inch barrel size for some nice loose waves.

Suave Professionals Waterless Foam Shampoo review

Hey guys! So today I have a review of the Suave professionals waterless foam shampoo for you!

If any of you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I have gone on a bit of a journey trying to find a good, affordable dry shampoo. I tend to only wash my hair about twice a week. I find that that is what works best with my hair's texture. I have pretty thick, dry hair that is prone to frizzing. It has a bit of a natural wave to it and holds curl very well. My hair is just easiest to style a day or two after washing. And since I don't have a particularly oily scalp or anything, I can get away with washing less frequently than every day. But after three days my scalp does tend to get a little oily, and it makes my hair weighed down and lifeless looking. And that's when dry shampoo comes in handy. I can liven up my 'do without having to wash and deal with the super frizzy crazy just washed hair syndrome. So I have tried a lot of dry shampoos, but when I came across the Suave waterless foam shampoo I was intrigued. This product is a foam that is meant to be applied to dry hair. You work it into your hair and then towel off any excess product, and this is supposed to help remove the oils from your hair leaving your hair fresh and smelling good.


Since my current favorite dry shampoo comes from suave, I was anxious to try this new product. I thought it might be a nice alternative to the spray type of dry shampoo I currently use. So I picked it up, and took it home and gave it a shot. I gotta say, I really like this product! I wasn't expecting much from it to be honest. The dry shampoo from suave that you spray on is much quicker and easier to use, but this waterless foam shampoo is really nice. It gives a deeper "clean" than the dry shampoo. I feel like it revitalizes my hair and makes it look healthy. It smells really, really good, and while it does weigh my hair down a little bit, it's nothing that I can't deal with.

So overall, I really like this product. It's great when I want the look and smell of washed hair without the hassle of washing and drying and styling. It revitalized my waves or curls when i am wearing my hair in that manner, and it's a great alternative to dry shampoo, in my opinion. I do recommend this product!

I hope you found this review helpful! Have you tried out this product? Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of it. xoxo Thanks for reading!

Quick Face of the Night

I apologize for the somewhat repetitive posts lately. I guess my creativity has been a little weak. I promise there are some different types of posts coming soon. In the meantime, hopefully the repetitive posts don't bother you too much!

tonight I went to my cousin's house to watch Glee and hang out. I did a really quick makeup look, so I thought I'd share it. I don't get out much, so when I do, It's always an event for me. haha.




Super simple look. Just one eyeshadow! I haven't done a one shadow look in forever! But I like the finished product!

::Products Used::
Face-
Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation in Ivory
NYC smooth skin pressed powder
Elf all over color stick in persimmon

Eyes-
Elf eyelid primer in sheer
Urban Decay Sidecar all over the lid
Elf Cream eyeliner in Black
Maybelline the Falsies Mascara

Lips-
Eos Lip Balm
Elf glitter gloss in Ruby Raspberry

Hair:
Messy 2-in1 side braid

Hair tutorial: super easy sock bun!

As you all know if you have been reading my blog, I have very curly, frizzy hair that can be a pain to work with. I have to put a lot of product in it to look nice, or else use a lot of heat. And failing that, when I don't have a lot of time, I tend to do a lot of pony tails. It's just the simplest, fastest way to get my hair looking decent. But on days when I don't have a ton of time, and don't want a simple pony tail, I have been doing a sock bun. It's super cute, super easy, and a great summer look that I think will will also be great in the fall time. It's so chic!




There are several different ways to do a sock bun. This one is my favorite!

What you need:
A sock similar to your hair color (I used black)
Scissors
hair ties
comb
hair spray
bobby pins

1. The first thing you need to do is cut off the toe of the sock you are going to use. I think this is a great way to use those socks that have inevitably lost their mate. After you have cut off the toe, roll the sock in on itself so that it forms a donut shape. (you can also buy hair donuts already made, but why waste your money? a sock does the same thing, plus you get to use up your single socks!)

2. Comb your hair and pull it back into a pony tail. you can do it at whatever height you want. If you want a high bun, start out with a high pony tail. If you want a lower bun, start out with a lower pony tail.

3. pull your pony tail through the hair donut you made from the sock so that the sock covers the hair tie you used to secure your pony tail

4. Pull the hair donut down to the bottom of the pony tail.

5. Start rolling your hair up the hair donut. Make sure that all of your ends get tucked under as you roll the donut up.

6. continue rolling until you reach the top of your pony tail

7. Secure is you wish with bobby pins and spray it all with hair spray to keep it in place.

It's very easy to do, but not exactly easy to explain. There are plenty of videos out there showing you how to do this. One of my favorites if from MakeupbytiffanyD on youtube. You can watch that video here. You should subscribe to her channel if you haven't already. She's great!

So there you have it. a super easy, super chic hairstyle. I hope you enjoyed this hair tutorial. If you have any suggestions or questions, leave them below in a comment.