February 2013 Empties

Another month of empties! Woo hoo!

Pantene Flat to Volume Shampoo- Worked just fine. Didn't notice any extra volume but cleaned my hair without drying it out.

CVS Medium Thick Hair Conditioner- CVS's knockoff of Pantene's conditioner. Worked well for me.

Olay Tone Enrinching Ribbons Body Wash- Steven and I both enjoyed this body wash because the cream ribbons were so moisturizing. I will definitely repurchase...with a coupon of course!

Bath and Body Works Winter Cranberry Foaming Hand Soap- I love the scent of this soap. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait to repurchase next winter.

Slatkin. & Co. 3 wick candle in Frosted Cupcake- I wasn't too fond on this scent, so I will not repurchase. Nevertheless, Slatkin&Co. candles from Bath and Body Works are my favorite!

Simple Night Cream- I loved this night cream from the brand Simple. It had no fragrance or weird ingredients that would irritate my skin. I used it as a day cream too since my skin has been so dry, but I think it would be too heavy for the summer. I would repurchase this next winter.

Lypsyl lip balm- My favorite lip balm! Way better than Burt's Bees in my opinion. I have already repurchased another tube because all my other lip balms were in pots and I don't feel very sanitary using them after I've been touching stuff in public.

Revlon Brow Fantasy in Brunette- I never used the pencil side of this brow duo but I loved the gel side. It was tinted enough to look like I had filled in my brows and it was quick to use. I'm not using other brow products so I won't be repurchasing this for a while.

Revlon Lash Fantasy Total Definition mascara- My current favorite mascara. The primer reminds me so much of Dior's primer at a small fraction of the price. The rubber brush adds tons or length and definition to my lashes and never flakes. I'm already on a new tube of this.

CoverGirl Nature Luxe mascara- I really enjoyed this mascara. It has a mousse formula so it was very light on my lashes. I used it alone for a natural look or as a layering mascara with other mascaras to seperate and lengthen my lashes.

Glam Glow Youth-Mud Tinglexfoilate Treatment sample- I received this one time sample from a Sephore online order. This stuff retails at around $60 for a tiny jar. After reading the reviews I was expecting it to tingle and make my skin look AMAZING. Um that didn't happen. My skin was very smooth but the mask didn't tingle and the day after using it my skin was flaking everywhere. Gross. I would never use this again.

Ren Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream sample- I almost wish I had never tried this moisturizer. It is so amazing. My skin has never felt so soft and moisturized without looking greasy before. I was able to skip my usual face primer because this cream prepped my skin for foundation too. I would purchase a full size but the price tag for that is $55!!!!!! Maybe I will splurge on it next time I get a gift card because it really is worth it .

Revlon Age Defying Cream Makeup samples- I tried using the pea sized samples of this foundation in different colors. The cream had shimmer in it and didn't do much for my skin so I know I wouldn't repurchase it.

What did you finish in February? Post a blog link in the comments!

February 2013 Favorites

My beauty favorites for February are short and sweet just like the month was. Between traveling and lots of studying I used the same products every day. Here are some things that I discovered this month or that really stood out to me.

Skin and body: I've really enjoyed using Origin's Checks and Balances face wash and Modern Friction face scrub. I received these items with three others in a sample kit from Sephora. The face wash is labeled as "frothy" which is right on point. I use it with my Clarisonic Mia and this stuff foams like crazy. It has a minty smell which is nice in the morning especially when I'm sleepy. My skin hasn't broken out since using this and it removes all my makeup. Plus, a little bit goes a long way. I will definitely purchase a full size bottle once I use my sample up. The Modern Friction scrub is interesting to use. I apply a quarter size amount to my dry face using my dry finger tips. Then after about 30 seconds-1 minute I wet my fingers and scrub some more before rinsing with water. It has the perfect amount of roughness and gentleness. I like to actually feel a scrub but I want it to be gentle enough not to turn my face red. This definitely does the trick.

I also discovered a new razor that I received from BzzAgent. The Schick Hydro Silk for women has 5 blades and a water activated moisturizing serum strip that keeps my legs super smooth without breaking out in razor bumps. 99% of the time I will choose a men's razor over women's but this one did just as good as my favorite men's razors!

I found the Sonia Kashuk Limited Edition Brush Couture 4 piece Brush Set at my local Target. I love Sonia Kashuk brushes, especially the ones with limited edition prints. This set comes with a duo fiber brush, large eyeshadow brush, crease brush, and angled liner brush. My favorite brushes in the set are definitely the duo fiber which I use for bronzer and the liner brush which I use for cream liner and my brows. The best part? The $12.99 price tag!

My best friend passed along her ELF Eyebrow Kit in Medium because it was too dark for her. The $3 gem has a wax and powder that are so simple to use. I normally just use the wax to fill in my brows but if I have extra time I put some of the powder over it.

I also rediscovered my favorite cream blush: MAC's Blushcreme in Brit Wit. This is the original formula that MAC no longer sells. I use my Real Technique's Stippling Brush to grab a TINY bit of this pigmented cream and swirl in on the apples of my cheeks to my hairline. The color is a dusty mauve that is extremely pigmented and smooth.

What were your February favorites?

Hearts and Darts 3.1.13

Hearts

• Work vacation- I was in Kansas City, MO for the past week for a college bookstore trade show. It's always nice to get away from the office for a while. Even though I was working my company's booth it was fun to connect with my coworkers, eat lots of yummy food, and have a king size bed all to myself. No snoring husband. No purring cats. No fidgeting dog. Plus, I got to see like 1.5 feet of snow! All looking. No touching. Snow is not my thing.

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• George Strait- Tonight Steven, his parents, and I are heading to Knoxville to watch George Strait perform in his farewell tour. He's one of our favorite country singers. I mean he's a legend! We surprised Steven's parents with tickets and I'm so excited to see how happy Steven's mom will be at the show.

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• Glitter tips- A glitter accent nail is cute, but I like glitter tips a bit more. I like to use a nude polish like Essie's Topless and Barefoot as a base and some kind of glitter dabbed on the nail tips. Right now I'm wearing Essie's Like Linen and Stroke of Brilliance together. My favorite part? The glitter helps keep your polish from chipping!

Darts

• Middle seats on planes- Me and planes just don't mix. I get terribly sick and tend to have bad luck with connections and the airlines changing my flights without telling me...which all three happened this weekend. On my way back to Chattanooga I had a flight from Kansas City to Atlanta. They changed my flight and I made it just in time to realize I was sitting in the dreaded middle seat. I'm not totally against that until the other two flyers decide to take up the arm rests leaving me awkwardly trying not to touch them. Was it so hard to give me at least one arm rest?!?

• Sookie Stackhouse series- I just don't know if I can keep reading the series that True Blood is loosly based off. Sookie is already an annoying character on the show. In the books she is 4324234 times worse. She is so conceited and pretty dumb. Not sure if I want to keep wasting my time.

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• School anxiety- For some reason I get so nervous when I need to meet with a teacher about a paper or project, especially when they have already sent me some feedback. I am taking an individual studies class about finance in the public administration field and I feel as though I'm a bit over my head in it. I worried all week long about meeting my teacher and in the meeting he acted like I was doing pretty good. Why do I feel like I need to worry? I really have to work on that.

I hope you all have had a great week! What were your Hearts and Darts?

Hearts and Darts 2.15.13

Hearts

• Plum/fushia lips- I have been reaching for plum or fushia lip colors all week. They add color to my face without making me look crazy at work. For the fushia, I just dab it on. But on the weekends it full on. I actually stained my lips from applying so much Saturday night. Oopsies. My go-to colors have been Maybelline Whisper in A Plum Prospect and Revlon ColorBurst in Fushia.
• College best friends- My group of college best friends (plus my best friend since 8th grade) came to visit last weekend. We ate a lot of fatty foods, drank way too much, and had such a great time. I wish they all lived in Chattanooga, but at least we have a lot of weddings/showers/celebrations to look forward to this year!

• Rock and Republic Ankle Boots- I broke my vow to only buy secondhand clothing for the rest of the year. But I broke it for a great reason. Look at these boots! I found them on sale for $29.99 at Kohls. They are super comfy and look good with skinny jeans, leggings, and wide leg jeans. I think I'm going to order the black pair, too. Here is a link to purchase them from the Kohl's website.

Darts

• Running out of favorite products- I'm trying to go the entire year without purchasing any makeup products. So far, so good except I'm starting to run out of my favorite primer, foundation, and lip balm. THE HORROR.
• Angry people- I'll admit it; I get really bad road rage. However, I try to contain it and do breathing exercises so I won't scream out profanities or scare my passengers. On Thursday (V-Day) I was going back to work after volunteering at a local high school and stopping by Sonic to get me something to eat. I hit a red light and stopped like I should have. I didn't notice a guy in the turning lane trying to turn left. Well I guess it was my fault that he couldn't get it...which wasn't even true because he got past me...and while he drove past he screamed STUPID EFFIN B**** three times. EXCUSE ME?!?!? I almost whipped my car into the parking lot to follow him but decided my hot dog and apple slices were more important. But seriously dude????
• Over sharing on social media then complaining about it- This week I saw a girl post on Twitter and Instagram that she was going to surprise her boyfriend by traveling to see him. Well then someone told him. And she got mad. Why did you put that all over the internet for people to see???

What were your hearts and darts for the week?

What is Lent?

My religious denomination doesn't participate in Lent. I was unfamiliar with the term and meaning until I was in high school. Lent is not mentioned in the Bible but is practiced by many denominations of Christianity. So, what is Lent? Lent is the 40 days before Easter and is a time for Christians to reflect of the life, death, resurrection and sacrifices of Jesus. This is done through fasting or giving up something pleasurable.

Although I do not participant in Lent with my other churchgoers, I will be doing two things in preparation for Easter. I will go on a walk every day to spend time in prayer and reflection. I will also being giving up fried foods. This is more of a personal goal to help me get healthier. 

I think doing these two things will help me get to a much better mental and physical state than I am right now. I have been so swamped with work and classes and have really let myself go crazy in the mental department as well as the eat-whatever-is-convenient department. I have totally ignored Weight Watchers which is silly because I know eating better and losing weight will make me happier and mentally stronger.

The Walnut Street Walking Bridge is my favorite place to walk in Chattanooga.
I hope to be doing most of my walks here.
Source

Good-bye Chick-Fil-A waffle fries, Champy's fried chicken, and my favorite Zaxby's chicken tenders.

Are you giving up anything for Lent?

January 2013 Empties

Since I'm trying to go an entire year of not buying any makeup I decided to keep track of all the empty products throughout the year. Here are all the products that I (some with the help of my husband) finished in January. 

A mini review will follow each as well as rather 

I would repurchase them again or not.

Hair Products:

 I'm not very picky when it comes to my shampoos and conditioner. I normally buy them for under $1 or get them for free when I coupon. As long as they get my hair clean and moisturize my hair I'm happy.

Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly shampoo: Got my hair clean and I loved the smell. No complaints from my husband or me. I would repurchase this.

Pantene Nature Fusion conditioner: I LOVE this stuff. I hadn't used this line from Pantene before and I was very surprised when I started using it. It moisturized my hair without leaving it limp or heavy feeling. I will definitely repurchase this.

Body and Skincare Products:

Secret Deodorant in Va Va Vanilla: This is the only antiperspirant deo that I use. It does what it's supposed to do, smells good, and doesn't irritate my underarms after I shave. I will definitely repurchase.

 Bath and Body Works Shower Gel in Be Enchanted: This wasn't my favorite scent from B&BW. It was a bit too sweet for me, so I wouldn't repurchase.

St. Ives Green Tea Scrub: I really liked this face scrub. It was gritty enough so it didn't irritate my skin. I used it with Clarisonic Mia and the scrub would foam up which I enjoyed. I think this is a great drugstore face scrub option, especially for those with oily or acne prone skin.

Nivea Creme: I stock up on these .99 hand cream tins. The thick cream sinks into my skin quickly so it doesn't feel greasy. It smells faintly of roses and does a good job of moisturizing dry areas like elbows, knees, and palms. I am stocked up on these, so I won't be repurchasing them until I run out.

Lumene Sensitive Touch Cleansing Wipes (2): These makeup removing wipes did a good job of removing all my makeup, other than multiple layers of mascara which isn't a big deal to me. What I liked most was the fact that my skin didn't feel dried out after I used them like some wipes do. My only gripe? I had to store them upside down with a book over the packages so the wipes didn't dry out. I would repurchase them if I found them on sale.

Random Products:
Walgreens Isoproyl Alcohol 91%: After watching Lisasz09's video about cleaning makeup brushes with rubbing alcohol, I decided to give it a try. I use this cleaning method about once a week and deep clean my brushes once a month using baby shampoo. My brushes look good as new and haven't dried up any which was my main worry when I first started this. Below is the video if you want to learn how I clean them.

Makeup Products:

L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara: I tend to go back to this mascara over and over. The blackest of black formula gave my lashes volume, length, and thickness. I liked to layer it with the Extra Volume Collagen and Falsies Flared mascaras.

L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara: This was the first time I had used it and I must say I was impressed. I used to be a die hard Maybelline mascara fan, but I'm slowly going to L'Oreal's side of the tracks. This mascara did everything that the Voluminous did but tended to get a bit clumpy at times.

Maybelline Falsies Flared Mascara: The first few weeks I use this mascara I hate it. It definitely needs a few weeks to dry out before it lives up to its full potential. I will say that when combined with the other two mascaras I get a falsies look without the actual falsies.

I would repurchase all three mascaras. That might happen if I run out of the mascaras that are in my collection. Mascara is one thing I cannot live without.

MAC Viva Glam V lipstick: I finally finished up an entire lipstick! This pinky nude color was my go-to natural color on days when I didn't want a fussy lip color or had a colorful eye look going on. The best thing? 100% of the $15 goes to AIDS research. I will repurchase this once my makeup ban is over or when I have enough MAC products to Back 2 MAC.

Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Treatment mini: I received this for Sephora's birthday gift last year. I know the full-size of this product is pricey at $22.50 but I would pay that. Not only was the subtle rose tint beautiful but my lips felt so smooth after using it. The best thing about it was that I didn't have to reapply it every hour like normal lip balms. Maybe I'll receive it as a gift for my birthday or a holiday (hint hint everyone).

January 2013 Favorites

LypSol- I found this lipbalm at my local Walgreens. It reminds me a lot of Burt's Bees lipbalm but stays on my lips longer and moisturizes them more. It seems like actually sink into my lips, unlike some balms that just stay on the top layer. It also has a cute little bee on the side that moves the balm up and down in it's tube. How cute!

L'Oreal Infalliable Foundation- This medium-full coverage foundation has been a lifesaver for me this month. Depending on how much time I have I either apply it with my Real Techniques' buffing brush or with my fingers. Two thin layers of this foundation gives me enough coverage that I can go without concealer and lasts me most of the work day. I think it covers better than my beloved Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation and the price tag of $10ish is a lot better than that $43.

Covergirl + Olay Simple Ageless Blush in Rich Cinnamon- This cream blush doesn't have a lot of pigment to it and that's why I like it so much. It's very hard to over do it when applying this blush. The Olay moisturizer that is swirled within the blush provided extra moisture to my chapped cheeks this month. The Rich Cinnamon color provides a warm flush to my cheeks. Perfect for this nasty winter weather.

Essie Penny Talk- This rose gold metallic polish is one of my favorites. You do have to work with the formula a bit because too little can make it look streaky. Rose gold jewelry doesn't look flattering against my skin, but this polish does!

Essie Topless and Barefoot- My favorite nude polish. Normally Essie's nudes and lighter colors give me trouble, but this one is the perfect formulation and coverage.

Nivea Creme- The magical cream in the little, blue tin pots have been a lifesaver this month. I dab a bit on my hands and elbows every day. The thick creme sinks in quickly and doesn't leave me feeling greasy. I have also used a bit on my chapped nose to calm the redness and moistuize the chapped areas. Best thing about this stuff? A travel size costs .99.

Revlon Lipbutter in Berry Smoothie- This has been my go-to lip product for the month. My lips are pretty pigmented already, so I like to call this my "my-lips-but-better" shade. I can swipe it on without a mirror and it doesn't accentuate any chapped areas. I'm almost done with my tube of it and that makes me a little sad.

L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Fairest Nude- This is a fairly popular lipstick on YouTube and now I see why. I love the creamy formula and the pinky-nude color. It's much more natural that those "I just swiped concealer on my lips" shades. I've read that a lot of people don't like the smell of these lipsticks, but I do. It reminds me of my mom's makeup when I was young. I think this is a great shade to start with if you want to experiment with nude lips.

Maybelline 24 Color Tattoo shadows- I didn't wear much eye makeup in January, but if I did I was reaching for any of my Maybelline Color Tattoo cream shadows. Most of my shades are neutrals, so I haven't been picky. Which color is your favorite?

What were your favorites for the month? Link your post below or comment. I would love to find out!