So I am turning 35 this year and I have been feeling pretty low...depressed is a more clinically correct word for it I guess. Is it a mid-life crisis? Who knows but I do know that I wanted to change myself, inside and out. I started by going on the South Beach diet. Today marks my 4th week on this diet. So far I have lost 7 lbs. It was 8 but after the carb fest on Friday, I gained a pound. But that was expected and the fact that I gained just a pound...I will take that gracefully. I had pizza, melted sandwiches, chips and dip. Ugh..it wasn't even something I wanted to do. But it was there and we had a small get together and I wanted to chill out. Not have to worry about what I should eat. So now I am back to my no carb diet. But I did a major no no though today. I had McD's with Ethan cause we were out and I was staaarrrvvvinnnggg. It was the only thing we saw and I caved in. I had a Big Mac. And then a sip of coke. Ugh...whyyyyy??? So no more cheating for me. I need to stay focused. I kind of went off topic didn't I? Ok, where was I....oh yea! I started this diet, I also started taking better care of my skin, teeth and hair. Although my hair doesn't seem to be reacting well to when I normally don't pay attention to it. So let's start on the favorites. Below is a before pic: before diet and a follow up pic 3 weeks into the diet. I think my face has slimmed down?
First up, I want to talk about a new shampoo and conditioner I read about on a review off this blog I follow everyday. It's Nouveaucheap.blogspot.com. I LOVE this site because the girl that's behind it not only reviews all new drugstore products, mostly beauty stuff but she also tries some of the stuff out and let's you know how it worked for her. I have grown to depend on this site and this is where I found out about this brand of shampoo and conditioner. It's the new Suave Coconut dandruff formula. I don't have dandruff (knock on wood). But I love anything that smells like coconut. I have to say that the smell is wonderful but what was a pleasant surprise was the texture. The shampoo is a creme like and very rich. The conditioner is my favorite part of showering. This stuff leaves your hair so silky smooth. I love it.
Next is my holy grail of face cleansers...Biore Pore Unclogging scrub. My face has not been the same since using this stuff. This came recommended from another blogger and Youtuber that I follow: Hollyannaeree. Her face and makeup are always so flawless and I just adore her. She uses this stuff in her daily nightly routine and I thought I would try it. O.M.G...I can't go a day without using this stuff on my face. The smell is really nice and my face feels super soft after washing it off. I don't moisturize with regular lotion. My face is a grease ball usually and anything I put on my face will just make my face so oily in seconds. Even the oil-free stuff makes my face oily. I do use a Clean & Clear acne moisturizer at night. But when I wake up and wash my face, I don't put any lotion on. I use waterproof eye make up and my holy grail makeup remover is the Neutrogena face wipes. This stuff kicks serious ass and it doesn't sting my eyes like some other brands.
My most favorite hair product I have found recently is Treseme's Heat protectant spray. Not only does this smell good but I feel like it does protect my hair from damage when I curl it. Another product that I picked up that I kept hearing great reviews about was the Dove dry shampoo spray. Now I wash my hair every day...EVERY DAY...religiously. If I know I have somewhere to be the next day and need to look good, I have to wash my hair the night before. Not that morning...I am not a morning hair washer. Throws me off completely. So I rarely every get the oil build up on my scalp because I wash my hair before it gets to that point. But some girls that have the same hair type as I do and the same routine used this stuff to add some volume. I decided to try it. The smell is what is most amazing about this stuff. Love the way it smells. Dislikes: it turns my scalp oily. I feel like my roots feel really heavy and weighs down my hair a lot. It's too bad because I really like the smell. Another hair product I got that I am sooo in love with was a present from someone. It's a new salon professional type curling iron. I have always used Conair or Revlon irons. It's cheap and available any store I go to. I normally use the 1-1/4" barrel. I own the other sizes but this is the one I use the most. So when I got this one, it was love at first sight. Not only did it have a temperature dial on the side, it had a on and off switch that could not be accidentally touched to turn it off while I was using it. The best part...it's PINK! I love pink. It works amazing and hope that it works as long as my other irons have worked for me. I still have the other one's as backups just in case. But I love this one.
On to make up...I just discovered E.L.F. I know...where have I been right? My first product that I randomly bought one day was a felt tip eyeliner. Which followed to an eye shadow primer. I thought both products worked really well for only $1 each! I had to know more. So they have their normal Essential line which everything is $1 at Target and on their website. They also have a Studio line which I like better. The eyeliner and primer are the only 2 items I like from the Essential line. I have tried some brushes, glosses and powders. Did not care for those items. I love everything from the Studio line. I got every single one of the brushes ($3 each) but I got the 13 piece set for $25 online through Target. I love their blushes, tinted moisturizers, gel eyeliner, mascara, matte lip stick, lip balms and foundation. I just love everything. I think I have bought 90% of what is available in the Studio line. My favorite brush is their flat top face brush (I forget what they actually call it). I liked it so much that I got 2. E.L.F also has a mineral line which I haven't ventured in yet. This line also has brushes but the one's I got works really for me right now. Most of the beauty vloggers on YouTube raved about the tinted lip balms that are all a rage right now. Revlon Lip Butters was on top of that list. L'Oreal The Balm, Mabelline Baby Lips and Burts Bees which I believe were the originals that had a tinted lip balm/moisturizer. MAC or maybe the high end make up brands may have come out with a version before Burts Bees but I don't ever shop department store makeups. I have bought a few from each and my favorite has to be L'Oreal The Balm in Nude. It's just enough color and I enjoy the feel. Now I did go nuts on the Revlon Lip Butters. I happen to go when it was BOGO 1/2 off. Hard not to take advantage of the deal so I bought several colors. The only shade that I liked from the whole line was Fig Jam. The other colors I liked but didn't find myself grabbing for them as often as Fig Jam. Some of them have a grainy texture that is suppose to be shimmery. But I do not like the feel on my lips and after an hour, I really don't like how it leaves my lips looking or feeling at all. So those have gotten pushed in the back of my drawer. A few other glosses that I love is L'Oreal's Color Riche Gloss in Nude Illusion. The smell is like cotton candy and the feel is not sticky or thick. Love this! Another gloss I love is Hard Candy American Girl. This is meant to be a lip plumper so it has that minty taste and tingles the lips. I like it! It does make you look like your lips are fuller. I enjoy the other colors in this line but the other colors have small particles of glitter in it. Some are more obvious that others and depending on how I feel that day, sometimes I am not feeling the glitters going into work. For regular lip stick I love Revlon matte finish lipsticks in Mink and Mauve Over It. These colors are like a better shade of my natural lip color. I really love Matte lip sticks.
Eyes...I am loving Wet N Wilds trio pallets. First of all, you cannot beat the price of these pallets. Most stores have the retail at $1.99. You can't beat that. Second, the color payoff on these pallets are amazing. Some colors you need to have a light hand with otherwise you could easily end up looking like a clown. But the colors are very pigmented, they stay on all day and they blend very well. My favorite pallet right now is Eggshells. Another eye shadow I love right now is the Hard Candy duo baked shadows. The colors I have are similar to some shades I have from Wet N Wild. But Hard Candy is a little different when applied, it's hard to explain but on my eyes the 2 brands have a different effect. My holy grail eyeliner is the Mabelline Stilleto liner in Very Black. I have been using this liner for 2 years. I like the E.L.F waterproof liner but it does not last very long once you start using it. The pen dries out quickly and when my eye lid gets a little oily, the color starts to move and smear into places I don't want it to. So very annoying. Now I double my Stilleto liner with the Wet N Wild gel liner for maximum staying power. Mascaras that I love right now is the Mabelline Falsies mascara. I love the formula and the brush. I have tried L'Oreal's Voluminous mascara but this stuff puts too much product on the wand and it gets clumpy very quick. My eye lashes do not like that one. The most amazing product that I have tried recently that made me say "how have I gone this long without using this stuff??!!". I lack in the eye brow area. Everyone knows this. I have drawn in my eye brows forever. I have tried pencils, powders, wax, felt pens, etc. Short of tattoo'ing my eye brows in, I have tried a lot of products. Recently I saw a review on Mabelline's Define-A-Brow. I LOVE THIS PRODUCT. It is so different from what I have used and it gives me so much control. My eye brows have not looked this good...like ever! I really am enjoying this pencil. The best part is I don't need a sharpener either, you just have to twist and just a little comes up. To me this is perfect.
going to have to get some of the Biore pore cleaner and see if it will help Nick. If I can just get him to use it. haha...
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