Wednesday, July 13, 2011

July Birchbox!

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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

St Tropez Review Update

A first/second time use impression wasn't adequate.

Granted- the first couple uses it's great. But! The third time I used the moussse... I kinda turned orange. Ish. It's not a good look. It looks good inside, and under shade, but in direct sunlight, you see orange. Makes me /sadface a bit. Ah well.

Bear in mind, that's not necessarily the result everyone will have. I'm exceptionally pale white, it'll most likely turn up differently on somebody who already has an actual tan.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Stripper to Go review(june birchbox)

Just a quick review of one of the products I got in my June Birchbox:

Stripper to Go - These are nice little travel nail polish remover mitts. It pretty much looks like a uhm... a little oven mitt, but without the thumb.  Or a tiny little tanning applicator mitt. It's about one and a half to two inches long, and you can put your finger in it, and twist your finger around to remove the polish. When you open it up, the little mitt is in there and it's pretty much soaked with remover. The remover smells like lavender, which is nice.

So I pulled the mitt out, and used it to remove my polish. I had two coats of color, one silver shatter, and a clear coat. The first hand, it did fantastical. The second hand on the first few fingers, it started to slack off. The last couple fingers? I dunno, the mitt seemed to have dried out a bit and it wasn't as effective. BUT! I was able to stick it back in the little packet and pick up more remover that had been left in there, and that cleaned up the last few fingers no problem.

I think that it dried out kinda quick because of the shatter. I think that any glitter or larger particles are going to demand more of the remover, and use up the mitt faster. I think that having normal polish on would get the mitt to last longer.

Ordering these- you get 6 mitts for 12 dollars. Each mitt is a one use thing, so 2 dollars for one use... is a bit expensive. That said, if you're really limited on space when traveling, but you Know that you'll be redoing your polish a lot, then go ahead and get these. They do what they say they will and that's all that really matters. But, if your space isn't limited, or you're not going to be redoing your polish, then don't bother.

Monday, June 20, 2011

St Tropez Review and Lotion Vs. Mousse

A couple weeks ago I caved and purchased a couple things from StTropez: Their gradual tan lotion, and their self tan mousse. This is just gonna be a review, and then a comparison of those two products.

Review
Overall, St Tropez is going to come in at the very top of all the sunless tanning products that I've used. In general, I've only used drugstore products, and I've tried them all. Maybe not literally, but it feels like it. All my drugstore attempts to self tan have turned me... orange. Orangey, orangish, whatever. I was always tinted an orange color. Some of them left me crazy streaky as well, but overall, they all left me orange.

St Tropez has an AMAZING color! It's a lovely brown color. Not muddy brown, but a very nice golden brown that makes it look like your skin is naturally tanned. I'm normally pasty white, and both products gave me a nice amount of color, and looked natural. And it's not even close to orange.

The smell.... Ok, I know that St Tropez is all "we have aroma guard! you can't smell the fake tan smell!" Well, I can smell it. If you're not overly sensitive, you'll probably just notice the light floral scent of the product. If you're sensitive, you're gonna smell it. In general, because of the smell, I would only recommend applying before sleep. I wouldn't wear either of these out.

Lasting power. They both last a few days, but obviously require upkeep as your skin sheds.

Buy again? omg, YES! These products might be more expensive than the drugstore brands, but the amazingly natural color makes it totally worth it. I personally prefer the mousse, but will use the lotion on lazy days.

Lotion vs. Mousse
Ok, I was going to do a side by side comparison, but I can't figure out how to do columns. Whatever. Anyways:

Everyday Gradual Tan for Body:
The lotion was incredibly easy to apply. You put some in your hands, smooth it around, wash your hands, and you're done. However, there was no color guide, so completely even coverage involved a bit of guesswork, and I kinda messed it up on day one. The color payoff is really good, so any errors are noticeable. But, the second day, I applied another coat, and that pretty much evened out any errors on the first day. The lotion left my skin "sticky" feeling for quite awhile- I wasn't able to get dressed for quite awhile, and certainly not right after application. Day one application left some definite color, without being too severe.
One thing with lotion is that it's difficult to do the tricky spots- wrists, backs of hands, ankles and feet. I always end up overdoing those places, and my wrists always look terrible with horribly obvious lines. This lotion wasn't any different.
Overall: It's good, and it's easy, it has good color payoff. Would be awesome with a color guide. Fades weirdly.

Self Tan Bronzing Mousse:
This is more difficult to apply. You'll *need* a application mitt. Applying involves wearing the mitt, putting the product on it, and rubbing onto the body bit by bit. You can't do whole limbs at once, you can only do small sections. However, it has a color guide, which ensures even application, no streaking, and makes difficult places much easier. This product dries really fast! I was able to get dressed in less than 5 minutes after application. And, with the color guide, you can go out immediately with great color(if you don't mind the previously mentioned smell) When I rinsed off the color guide, the end color payoff wasn't as dark as the lotion. It's still there, but it's more subtle. I'm sure more applications would darken it up. (I only did one before this review)
Overall: It's harder to apply and takes longer, but the more even results are worth it. Fades normally.

Monday, June 13, 2011

I'm UGLY (Response)

Ok, I wasn't actually tagged with this and I'm not sure it's a tag, but I saw the video, and I've been thinking about it(a lot) and I wanted to write a response to it.

I watch a beauty guru on youtube- meganheartsmakeup. I've watched her for awhile and even though she's really young, she is a genius and I learn a ton from her. She also has a vlog channel and I think her sister has a couple channels as well. So when I saw this video from her, I was shocked because I haven't seen any comments like the ones she says she gets(but I don't really read through all the comments anyways)... I think I was more blindsided than shocked. Anyways, here's the video: I'm UGLY.

So. To make everything short and simple: haters are gonna hate. It's what they do and asking them to stop... Well, it will *Never* work. ever.

Alrighty, now that that's done, I'll move onto the long version.
I grew up with haters, I think that there are haters in pretty much everyones life. Every unpopular kid feels like everyone's hating on them, but the popular kids also have haters. If you've got it all, if you don't have anything, if you're ugly, if you're beautiful, if your rich or if your poor. There is always going to be somebody who hates. Even as an adult, I know they're still out there.
My haters... I can't even remember what they hated on me for. I think it was cause I was short and skinny. I also had really pale skin. And after a nice little experience in cheerleading, I became much more selective about who I hung out with and considered friends. Anyways, I had my haters.

Part of growing up for me was realizing that there was absolutely nothing I could do about those haters. I think that realizing was a huge step, and something everyone with haters needs. When I stopped trying to "fight" them, as it were: stopped caring about whatever they said, stopped worrying about what aspect of my appearance they didn't "approve" of, I gained a whole new perspective. When I stopped putting so much energy into the haters, I discovered a freedom I didn't have before and in a sense, found my identity. I was able to do what I wanted, and love myself for it and because of it. Being free of the haters has given me the confidence to really being able to do anything that I want. I can take whatever it is the haters don't like about me, and turn it around into a reason that I'm awesome.

To make this kindof like hers, turning the negative into positive, Imma add this little bit at the end:
Short --> Petite. Granted, it make getting stuff off the top shelf a bit exciting, but being short means I get to rock great heels and not have to worry about being tall than my date.
Skinny --> Thin. There are people who pay thousands and thousands of dollars to look like they have the metabolism that I was blessed with.
Pale --> Creamy. Ok, Yeah, I just bought some self tanning stuff to experiment with. But still, nothing wrong with having pale skin. Plus, with all the vampy movies and tv shows that are so hot, my skin is the new Tan. My skin is so in.
Bitch --> Strong. Yes, I am. I do my job, I do it fantastically, and I don't get messed with. I can handle myself on my own time, and I certainly carry myself in such a way that I am not a target for any shenanigans.
I'm UGLY -> I AM AWESOME!


(omg, I just now realized this is crazy long) Anyways, if you feel like it, go ahead and tell me about your haters, and why you're awesome.

Moroccan Oil

I was on a really big LUSH kick a couple months ago. Their products just smell so amazing, and leave everything so soft and silky, it's just amazing. Amazing. I was so thrilled with their shampoo, conditioner, bombs, soaps, everything.

Well, now I'm on a Moroccan Oil kick. Their products... wow. I first discovered Moroccan oil through amarixe's youtube channel. I watched her hair repair video and tried out the deep conditioning mask and the Moroccan oil for hair. Love em both. Probably very close to the top of my "best purchase ever" list. The mask is just so luxurious, it makes my hair feel like silk. The oil, as a daily thing, is perfect. It's lightweight, smoothes hair, smells amazing. I'll be doing reviews on both those products soon. On sat, I purchased the shampoo and conditioner when I got my hair done. I've only used them once so far, but am pleased with the results.

I'm definitely going to be doing reviews on a bunch of these products, and may be purchasing even more.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Got some Feathers

Friday was.... a horrible day for me. I was originally going to wait until next weekend to go and get my hair done, but after Friday, I needed some pampering. So I called up the place I made my appointment, and the stylist had time for me so I changed my appointment.

I went in, got my hair redyed, with a lot of highlights so I can lighten up the color, since I my color was... close-ish to black. I grabbed a trim, too, just to get rid of any hint of split ends. I didn't really have a lot, because I almost never use any heat with my hair. After all that, I went and started looking at feathers. They didn't have too hot of a selection, but it was good enough. Rather, they had a good selection, but with me being in the military, they didn't really have a good selection of subtle colors. They also didn't have a lot of the grizzle feathers. They had plenty in crazy bright colors, but nothing that I could get.

Oh! Crazy story! So while I was choosing my feathers, I was at the mirror "trying on" a couple different ones, when these try girls came in and bumrushed the feathers laid out on the table, and then tried to snatch the few I had set aside to get(cause they were soooo awesome!) Thankfully, my stylist saw their attempt to ninja my feathers and grabbed them up real quick, telling the girls they were reserved. I ended up with an orangey-red with a solid black line down the center, and a darkened edge, a dark red and black grizzle, and a bright red and black grizzle.

Once I had picked my feathers, my stylist told me about how they would lay on different sides of my face, and the differences between having them forward and having them back and when I picked a spot (part side of my head, about a finger length back from my hairline and three fingers above my temple) and we put em in. They lay nicely, blend well, and if I want them to show more, all I have to do is find the clamp, follow it down with my fingers to get the feathers, and pull the feathers forward.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Feather hair Extensions

I'm not normally one to jump on a bandwagon, but I think I'm gonna at least try these out. Even though work doesn't permit, I think that if I get some muted colors, and place them well, that I'll be able to have them completely hidden while at work, and then style them to show when I'm not at work.
I put myself on a waiting list on one website... Might just grab some from amazon, but I want to make sure to get some good quality feathers.

If anyone already has them- what's your feedback? Also- where did you get them?