Empties!

I figured that today I would show you some things that I have recently finished up.  I want to tell you my final thoughts about them and let you know what I liked and didn't like.  Don't ask me why my BB Cream is in the photos with my bath items (I couldn't tell you the answer to that).

To start off, I finally finished up my Herbal Essence "Honey I'm Strong" shampoo and conditioner.  I wrote about this a little bit ago discussing my love for the product.  I have always had pretty thick hair and when I started changing my diet, I did notice that sometimes my hair would fall out.  I figured trying a shampoo and conditioner that was formulated to make  hair stronger would be a step in the right direction and I was 100% correct.  Naturally, when your hair is a little thicker, you tend to need more shampoo and conditioner and I found that to be the case here.

I quickly moved onto the Garnier Fructis "Fall Fight" line and fell in love with that as well.  I never really believed people when they said that your hair could get adjusted to the shampoo and conditioner that you were using and that you should change it often, but it is definitely true (as I have seen in probably the past year or so).  This was a great system to use after the HE "HIS" system.  The follow up is great because it feels like the hair shaft is being conditioned and bonded so that it literally is much stronger.  I would recommend trying these one after another.

I also have the Clean&Clear "Blackhead Eraser" Face Wash here.  I have to say, I bought this product with semi-big expectations because I heard some good things about it on YouTube.  I really don't like it.  For the first day after I used it I said to myself that it could maybe work, but it was just the first day.  After the first week, I realized that it was doing absolutely nothing for me and actually it was making my skin have random pop-ups of a blemish here and there.  No, thank you!  I would much rather stick with my St. Ives Apricot Scrub (that I am sure is only meant to really be for exfoliating).

Next you can see that I have my Suave "Ocean Breeze" body wash.  I mean, theres nothing more to say about this except that I just love it.  I get it every single time I need new body wash and it never disappoints.  The best part about it?  The smell.  The second best thing about it?  The price.  I don't think it's more than $2 at Target and it's the best thing ever.

So I guess I will talk about my Maybelline BB Cream down here with these mascaras.  I wrote a post about BB creams a while ago and told you guys that I was trying this one out and liked it.  I still stand by that.  I really enjoyed this BB cream.  The formulation is great and so simple for application.  The cream lasted a really long time and did not make my face feel oily or dry by the end of the day.  Because it is a BB cream, you really cannot expect much out of it as far as coverage goes, but it does help give the skin a semi-flawless finish (did I just make that up?).

I really didn't like the Illegal Length Mascara, I found it truly pointless.  The formulation did not help my lashes at all and it didn't give them any length.  On the contrary, I do love a good old Cover Girl Lash Blast Fusion.  I don't think I have ever met someone who doesn't like it.  My eyes always look curled and voluminous when I use it.

Well guys, I hope you enjoyed my first "empties" post!  Send me a tweet and let me know what you used up this month!  What should I try?  Thanks for reading!

Xoxo-Brit.

DIY Accessories Holder/Organizer.

Hi everyone!  How are you all doing today?  I was traveling into the city today and it gave me inspiration for a blog post that you will see in the future but today is the second installment of my DIY series!  Today I want to talk to you all about organization.  When it comes to organizing things, I usually describe myself as "organized chaos" because when you come into my room, things are almost always ALL OVER THE PLACE, but I know where each thing is if you were to ask me!  Do you know what I mean?  Anyway!  I hope you can follow me and learn how to make my DIY Accessories Holder/Organizer.

Overview of the DIY Accessories Holder/Organizer.

 There are a few things that you'll need starting with a large piece of wood that will act as the back board for your organizer.  For this, you can use the same size as you used in the nail polish racks, 2ftx2ft.  The next thing you'll need is some wire so that you can wrap it around the corners and half way down the back board as seen in the photo.  You can get both of these things at Home Depot and if you need help, the people there will help you.  Like I said, being a girl in Home Depot is a severely unique experience.  Finally you will need cork material to put in the middle of your organizer to stick you earrings on, I got mine at JoAnn's Craft Store.  Aside from these essentials, you'll need a nail gun and make sure that you are CAREFUL with it!

The left corner.

The right corner.

This is extremely easy and affordable, like the nail polish rack and thats why I love it, so let's get started.  With the back board, lay out where you are going to want to put the wire in the corners.  You don't really need a ruler for this because you can measure them to your liking and they even can be different if you want them too on each side.  Once you are done, make sure you make the wire long enough so that it wraps to the back of the board and staple it there.  Sometimes it helps to staple it once, fold over the excess on the end and staple it again to make sure it stays there.  

Once you are done with the two corners, go ahead and decide where you want to put the wire in the middle of your board for (in my case, see the photos) the headbands.  Do the same thing that you have done for the wire on the top.  Measure, fold & staple and then fold & staple once again.  Once you are done with this, you could always add more wire on the sides if you would like, but for now I kept it with two on the top and one in the middle.

Now it is time for the cork board.  Like I said, I purchased my cork board at JoAnn's and it came in roll form.  I simply unrolled the cork and measured it to the size that I wanted.  As you can see in the photo, mine is basically right in the middle, about 1.5ft.  I like this size because it is absolutely huge and a large surface area.  There is a lot of room for a ton of post and dangly earrings.  I found it to work great when you put your dangly earrings on the bottom and the post at the top (although this is probably not a surprise to you).  As you can also see in the photo there are some dangly earrings that are hanging in the top left corner because they are some of the newer ones, I tend to put the newer ones higher.

Headbands.

Also, make sure when you are stapling the cork roll to the back board that you do two layers.  This will make sure that the earrings can stick through and will not fall when you peg them into the cork.  If you only do one layer of cork, they will not stay because the portion of the earring that goes through the ear is way too long.

As you can see, I have my bows on the left and some hair barrettes on the right.  The headbands are on the bottom and the earrings are in the middle.  The best part about this is that you can see everything!  I wanted something that displayed everything that I had for when I chose outfits in the morning, that way I don't rule anything out!  Being able to see everything that you own is a great way to incorporate all of your pieces into your outfits.

Feel free to round the edges if you'd like and decorate them to your hearts content.  Another great option for this is to add a small nail on the back that will support the weight of it and a ribbon to hang it on the wall.  I feel like this would add an adorable touch and make it such a cute fixture for either a little girls room or anyones bedroom!

Earrings.

That is all I have for you guys today!  I hope you really enjoyed this second installment of my DIY series, the DIY Accessories Holder/Organizer.  I love making these pieces because they are so personal and customizable while they are also  inexpensive and practical.

If you try this out or my first DIY piece, the Nail Polish Rack, please tweet me with a picture!  Thank you for reading as always.
Xoxo-Brit.

Pop of color in the winter via Cargo's Laguna Blush

Hey guys!  I hope you are all having a great day today!  Like yesterday, it was absolutely freezing out.  I had contemplated not leaving the house once again (because I was off from work), but I stopped at a friends house and went to Target.  I wanted to tell you today about a great blush that I decided to wear because I was craving the summer time!  

Cargo, Laguna blush.

Cargo Laguna is an amazing blush.  When you apply it though, start with a light hand.  Especially because of the color of this one, it can get dangerous.  If you dip a blush brush into the color and tap it off a couple of times then brush it lightly on your hand, THEN apply it, you're good!

The fact that this color is so versatile is great.  What I mean by this is that when applied lightly, the cheeks actually look so natural and glowy.  I love it.  The color is also buildable, meaning that the more color you add, the more it will look like the color in the pan.  

The worst thing about this blush is that I believe Sephora has stopped carrying Cargo but you can still get it online, check it out!  Also, Cargo products can be found at Ulta and Macy's.  That's all I have for today, sorry it is so short!  Send me a tweet and let me know your thoughts!  Have you ever tried Cargo?  

Xoxo-Brit.

Shampoo and conditioner for healthy hair!

Hi everyone!  How are we today?  Like I said yesterday, I absolutely was not lying it is FREEZING!  The current temperature outside is 18 degrees!  I mean, we had to know it was coming because it has been beautiful the past couple of days.  We also got some snow and it actually wasn't that much.  The local kids had no delayed opening and everything was business as usual.  I figured today I would talk to you all about some amazing shampoo and conditioner that I recently found and absolutely love.

Herbal Essences Honey, I'm Strong Shampoo and Conditioner.

Now my intentions here are not to sound gimmicky because I am the queen of hating gimmicks, but I really love this duo of haircare.  For as long as I can remember I have been using Herbal Essence hair products and I have always liked them but I really never found them to do what they said they would do on the outside of the bottle.  Am I alone in this?  I just really couldn't understand the claims that they made because I always fell victim to picking up the latest formulation and trying it out (didn't I just say I hated gimmicks?).  

While this is all true, recently I picked up Herbal Essences, Honey I'm Strong shampoo and conditioner.  Now the absolute best thing about these is that they are so incredibly affordable.  Let's be completely honest with ourselves, are we going to want to spend a million dollars on hair care when we can be spending that money on fantastic makeup?  For me, the answer to that question is fairly easy.  I love saving a little here, so I can spend a lot there; if you know what I mean!  

Anyway, this formulation is absolutely wonderful.  On the front of the bottle in huge numbers is "10x stronger in one wash!"  I think that after one wash my hair was most definitely stronger but I don't know about 10x.  Another thing the shampoo promises is that it will strengthen while conditioning and nursing back to health already damaged hair.  The reason why I like this shampoo and conditioner so much is because I agree with that statement.  Two years ago during the summer I took horrible care of my hair.  I would go swimming and come out and never condition my hair (don't ask me why), and it never got better.   I have been looking for something to help me combat that and after I started using Moroccan Oil, it helped drastically but I could never find a shampoo/conditioner to work with the MO until now.  This duo does it.

I found that after one wash my hair was increasingly stronger but after one week of using it, my hair was feeling significantly stronger and my ends were even better.  I could feel the strength in my hair when I run my fingers through and when I straighten it I can see how shiny and different it looks.  Call me crazy, but I can also see how it is making my hair grow.  Around Thanksgiving, I cut my hair to probably 1/4 in above my collar bone and now it's about 2.5 inches below my collar bone.  I largely attribute the growth to this shampoo/conditioner.  

The ONLY thing I don't like about this shampoo/conditioner is the smell.  Now this is wierd for me to be saying because I normally absolutely love the smell of almost ever Herbal Essence shampoo/conditioner (especially the blue one that smells like coconut), but with this one I beg to differ. I feel like they tried to smoosh the smell of honey with a floral scent together or something, ew.  I mean, it's not absolutely horrific or disgusting and you can't really smell it until you rub it in, but its definitely noticeable.  

With only one bad attribute, I really like this shampoo.  It has taken me a really long time to find something that is worth using alongside my MO for healthy, shiny, strong and growing hair.  Try out Herbal Essences Honey, I'm Strong from target.  I think I got mine for around $3-$4.

Thank you for reading!  Let me know if you enjoyed by leaving a comment in the section below.  Do you use this shamp/cond and do you like it?  If not, what do you use to get these results?  Send me a tweet and let me know!
Xoxo- Brit.

What is a BB Cream?

Hi everyone?  How are we all today?  Like I said yesterday, it is absolutely freezing today.  I don't think the temperature went above 36 today but I shouldn't be complaining about that because the lows are going to be incredibly low and tomorrow it is supposed to be colder (I think).  Also, I believe were going to be getting some snow and more over the weekend.  I am NOT happy about this.  Anyway!  Let's get cracking with the rest of the post because I really want to talk to you guys about BB cream.  Have you ever used one before?  If so, please let me know what kind you've used and which ones you like in the comment section below!

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream, Revlon Photo Ready BB Cream, L'Oreal Magic Skin Beautified BB Cream.

BB cream stands for "beauty balm" cream.  The formulations in BB creams are not supposed to be super heavy and they are not really supposed to give you full coverage, but they have so many other benefits that you may not realize.  BB creams are supposed to help essentially make your face an even canvas.  What I mean by this, is that the BB cream (applied like a foundation) is more of a tinted moisturizer.  Although it is not a foundation, it provides very minimal coverage but moisturizes the skin and assists in helping with discoloration, hyper-pigmentation and more.  I would recommend BB cream for anyone who doesn't want to try foundation just yet, or who doesn't really know how to apply/use foundation.  I would also recommend it to anyone who just wants a light coverage for every day that they can apply quickly with their hands and doesn't require much effort.  

I am lucky to have pretty descent skin that doesn't have very many breakouts (knock on wood) and this is the reason why I primarily (pretty much exclusively) use BB cream.  The BB creams that I am going to be talking about in this blog post are from the drugstore and they are absolutely wonderful (well most of them.  I am going to talk about three; two of them I like (one more than the other) and one of them I can leave.

First I want to talk about L'Oreal's Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream in Light.  I absolutely cannot stand this BB cream for a couple of reasons.  First of all, the color match must not be right for me.  With this being said, I feel like if I was to go back and get another color, it would be too dark or too light.  Also, if I was to change it for another color I still wouldn't like it because the color payoff is rather orange when applied to the skin.  Another thing is that when the product comes out of the tube, it is a white color and a sandy consistency.  I didn't think this was going to bother me at first, but I think that may be whats making me not like it more.  You don't know the color pay off until it is on your face, making it really hard to know what it will look like; therefore making the product almost a complete waste.  I definitely would not repurchase this product.  I got mine for about $8-$9 at Target.

L'Oreal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream.

Next, I want to talk about Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB cream in Medium Sheer Tint.  I really like this  BB cream.  The coverage is pretty good and the formulation is not too bad, the product is SPF 30.  When applying it on your skin, the product tends to feel a bit more watery than the next one that I will talk about but not too much that it feels too thin.  This does a great job at concealing redness which is huge for me because I have a lot of redness on all of my face, not just my cheeks.  The product really doesn't smell like anything and that can be a good thing.  When coming out of the tube, the product actually looks like what it applies on your skin which is great because there are no surprises at the end of the day.  The application is quick and it doesn't take a while to settle into your skin.  The packaging is small and says that there is only 1.0 fl. oz. of product, but it lasts so long because you really only need a little bit.  I would definitely re-purchase this from Maybelline!  I got mine for $7-$8 at Target.

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream on the left,  Revlon Photo Ready BB Cream on the right.

Lastly I want to talk about Revlon's Photo Ready BB Cream in the color 020 Light Medium.  I really love this BB cream and it is probably my favorite out of the three.  The only downfall that I want to talk about first is that it can be a liiiiiittle bit oily for the skin so if your skin is oily to begin with, this may not be for you.  Aside from that, the product is awesome straight out of the packaging.  The formula is a little more dense than the Maybelline BB cream.  It seems that this one is slightly lighter as well than the Maybelline BB cream but it matches my skin like a dream.  The smell is probably my favorite thing about it!  I love when products smell like something tropical or the beach and this one smells like sunscreen, omg instantly in love.  Revlon's formula is SPF 30 so that is great and you can tell that the product lasts all day long, even when you apply it earlier in the morning.  I got mine at Face Values for $7-$9.

Okay that's all I have for BB creams right now!  If you have any comments, please leave them below and let me know what you think.  You could also send me a tweet letting me know what kind of BB cream you use or think I should try.  I haven't tried any high end BB creams so maybe that will be next on my list.  Talk to you all soon and as always, thanks for reading!  If you liked it share with a friend.

Xoxo-Brit.

Winter Skincare/Nail Polish favorites!

Hey all!  I hope you're having a great day.  I just wanted to go ahead and continue with my "Winter Favorites" series by showing you some of my favorite skincare and nails of the winter so far.  Let's get started!

First I want to start with some skincare.  Now I went to the drugstore to get a new moisturizer when my Hope In a Jar ran out because I was trying to see if I could get something less expensive, but just as good!  The reason for this is because I tend to go a little heavier with moisturizer in the winter, like I am sure most of you do.  I tend to use Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer.  This moisturizer has an amazing consistency and it actually has a great scent, while being unscented (if that makes any sense!).  Although that tends to normally be my favorite from the drugstore, I wanted to try something else.  I picked up a Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture for combination skin, horrible decision.  The moisturizer made me swell up underneath the eye, I had an allergic reaction to it overnight!  When I woke up, my face was blown up, I couldn't believe it.  I believe it was $10 on sale at my Target when I picked it up, but I would not recommend it.  I didn't even notice a difference in my skin the next morning other than how huge it was.

Ponds Dry Skin Cream

Needless to say, I finally ended up going back to Target and picking up the Ponds Dry Skin Cream Rich Hydrating Facial Moisturizer.  This was $5 at Target and is probably the best kept secret of all time.  Now to be honest, I thought immediately of old ladies and moms when I looked at the Ponds products.  For some reason, I always think of older women using Ponds products, so as someone that is only 23, I was swallowing my pride a little bit with this purchase.  Let me tell you something right now, Ponds did NOT let me down.  I put the cream on my face the same day that it swelled because of the Neutrogena moisturizer and the next day that I woke up, the swelling was down, the dry skin was gone and my face was amazingly moisturized.  I was NOT expecting this at all, but I was accepting of it nonetheless.  If there was one thing I could change about the product it would probably be the scent.  It's not terrible, but it's not the best, it really just smells clean.  The back of the container says that it's Hypoallergenic, Suitable for sensitive skin, and it won't clog pores.  I completely agree and would recommend it to absolutely anyone!

Deborah Lippmann, "Billionaire" and "It's Raining Men."

Now moving on to some of my nail favorites for the winter thus far.  Maybe this is harping on the past but I just must go there, Christmas nails!  I can never get enough of my Christmas nails and this year I just wanted to go back to basics with it.  As you can see in the photo, I used two Deborah Lippmann colors in Billionaire and It's Raining Men.  I love them because they are true colors to Christmas and they are just beautiful.  These polishes are a little steep in price about $16, but they are completely worth it.  The color pay off is great, its bright, lively and fun.  The red here is a true Christmas red and the green and mossy, forest green.  The brushes on these polishes are great for application and the formula is a dream!  I tend to like this classic application technique, red on all the fingers except for the ring, where theres a green surprise!

My "Brown to Tan Ombre."  

The next nail design (or play on colors) that I have to share with you is my "Brown to Tan Ombre."  The reason i share this with you is because I have just been loving rocking it.  I think this is so appropriate for school, the office or even just everyday wear.  I love that it adds pizazz to the nails without really being obnoxious and taking it too far.  I wish I could remember the names of the polishes that I used but even looking at the photo I just cant remember which polish is which, I have way too many!  If you would like to know, please leave a comment below and I will try to look them up.  I posted a photo to my instagram and everyone seemed to love it!  If you try this look, tweet me a photo!

American Apparel's, "Peacock."

Finally, I wanted to show you this amazing color.  I tend to call it a "teal denim" because it reminds me of teal colored jeans.  I love the color and think it's perfect for winter for that pop of color for the season.  I love American Apparel polishes because they are very practical, and to be honest I love the unique bottle design and packaging.  The application of this polish is amazing and the opacity of the color is amazing with one coat!

Okay all, that's all I have for you today!  Look forward to another installment of my winter favorites coming tomorrow and if you have any questions please leave a comment below or send me a tweet. If you haven't already, check out the first installment: My Winter Beauty Favorites. Also be sure to check out my instagram and follow me there for outfit of the day photos, nail insta's and other random stuff!  Love you all and thanks for reading! 

Xoxo-Brit.