{ Totally Girly Product Review }

So I was trying to save money and go drugstore cheap on some beauty products the past few months and have discovered there are certain things that just aren’t worth saving a few bucks over.

First of all, skincare – I tried using some face soap that I’d had from before switching to beauticontrol when I ran out of the foaming face wash. BIG mistake. Finally ordered more of the wonderful foaming face wash along with some wet/dry face powder. That powder is amazing and right now I’m rationing crumbled pieces of it until the new order comes in. I hate the feeling of foundation so I usually put a tiny bit of concealer on any dark spots or under eye circles and then brush on this powder and it just evens everything out perfectly and lasts all day.

Now, my make-up routine consists of 3 (maybe 4) things. Powder (concealer when necessary), mascara and lip gloss. 99% of the time that’s it. On rare occassion a little eye shadow or bronzer on my cheeks. Of those 3 things, if I could only choose one it would be mascara. My FAVORITE mascara has LONG been Lancome. Quite pricey but after trying at least 4 different brands over the  past few months trying to find a cheap drugstore version I’ve discovered that when you factor in the number of times I’d REapply the drugstore mascaras because of flaking or smudging it’s gotta add up to the amount I pay for Lancome’s and apply once in the morning and it looks great all day. And ya gotta love gifts with purchase because along with the mascara I got a bag with all sorts of goodies including my new favorite lip gloss – Lancome Juicy Tubes in tickled pink. :)

And then there’s hair products. First of all, you’d think clean hair is clean hair and shampoo is shampoo but NOT SO. So many times I’ve run out of ‘the good stuff’ (my current fav is by Joico) and went a week or two using DH’s shampoo until I can get to the mall and it’s amazing to me how quickly I go from good hair days to bad. Took me a long time to figure this out thinking it had to be that I was in need of hair coloring or a cut but no, it’s quite often just a matter of bad shampoo. For me it can effect whether it holds a curl or even takes curl and that’s with a super duper hot curling iron.

I’m also one of those people who needs conditioner every day. Without it even my short style gets snarly and so dry looking. Once again I discovered a new favorite by getting it free with the purchase of something I needed anyway. Along with my old stand by, Paul Mitchel Fast Drying hairspray, I gotta have Kiwi hi.illuminator polish to give my hair that piecey and healthy shine look. Same stuff as my sisters use (texture shine) but it’s got a fun kiwi scent. Switched to it when they had a buy one get one offer a few months back & haven’t switched back. Well, this month it came with a free deeptreat masque and that stuff is amazing. I’ve been rationing it because once it’s gone I just can’t justify that kind of money on a daily conditioner but I can tell a huge difference from the days I use the masque to the days I use my regular (and still great) conditioners. It makes my hair incredibly soft and yet somehow still style-able which is a tough combination to pull off. I know it’s just a conditioner but I’m a girly girl and I get excited about that kind of stuff. :)

So there’s a little product review since I love hearing other real people’s reviews/suggestions for stuff like that and I had these recent discoveries to share. :)

Didn’t get much further on the LO I’m working on and I’m doing a bit more sewing this morning before heading to work this afternoon but hopefully tonight I’ll have a LO to share and more purse pictures to post. Another multiple post day. :)