September Beauty Favorites

       Hello, everybody! 

I finally got around to posting my September beauty favorites.  This month was a little awkward for makeup and beauty products because of North Dakota's transition from summer to fall.  Sadly, we really didn't have a fall.  The temperature one day would be 85 degrees, and down to 50 the next.  So when getting ready in the mornings, I had to adjust my routine to the melting weather or the frozen solid one.  Hopefully October is a more structured month for me.  I also have many new products to try out this month, so I'm excited to see what ends up in my October favorites at the end of this month. 

Anywaaaayyy, let's get into it! 

From left to right:

1.  Victoria's Secret Fantasies Deep-Softening Body Butter in the fragrance Love Spell
Find it here.

2.  Batiste Hint of Color Dry Shampoo in Dark and Deep Brown (for dark hair)
Find it here.

3.  Organix Anti-Breakage Keratin Oil
Find it here.

4.  Forever 21 Pink Cat Patterned Makeup Bag
I wasn't able to find this bag on Forever 21's website, but they do have some SUPER cute bags, for cheap, too! You can check them out here.

5.  Almay Smart Shade Concealer (I am in light)
Find it here.

6.  CO Bigelow Triple Task Eye Treatment
I purchased this at Bath and Body Works, however, it is no longer available through them.

7.  Avon Lipstick in the color Rich Ruby
I purchased this through my local Avon representative, you can, too :)

8.  Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm in the color Peach Kiss
Find it here.

9.  Bed Head Rock N Roller Bubble Curling Wand 
Find one like it here.

10.  Vera Wang Lovestruck Perfume 
Find it here.


Here's my short review on all of these products.


1.  I bought the Love Spell body butter online, never feeling it in person before purchasing it.  It is very creamy and leaves my skin feeling sooooo soft.  The smell is amazing!  I received the body spray in the fragrance Love Spell last year, and fell SO HARD in love with it.  (I kinda went on a Love Spell buying spree online, which lead me to add this product to my cart.)  People comment daily on the scent of peaches that follows me around, so the scent definitely stick with you.  Long story short, I recommend this to everyone.


2.  I had never purchased a large bottle of dry shampoo because I had so many of the small little travel sized samples.  But one day while browsing in Ulta I ran across this one made specially for brown hair. The white powdery looking residue on my hair was a small but noticeable thing for me, so I was really happy to have found this.  The smell is not my favorite... but I can deal if it means I won't have greasy looking hair.  The spray itself is actually a dark brown color, so you have to be careful when using it to be sure it doesn't get all over the skin.


3.  I purchased this keratin oil not too long ago, as you can see in the picture.  However, the few uses I've had out of this baby were wonderful.  My long, long hair is so hard to take care of sometimes and I'm deathly afraid of my fragile hair breaking on me.  It feels good in my hair and so far I haven't run into any problems with it.


4.  Okay.  This bag. I am a cat fanatic and I found this in Forever 21 sometime during the summer.  I HAD to have it, so I actually purchased two, one in blue and the pink one shown above.  I ended up putting them away some where, and in between moving came across them again.  I've been using the pink one to carry my necessities with me in my purse when I go somewhere.  I fall even more in love every time I see it.  It reminds me of the love of my life, my fat white cat :)


5.  This concealer I purchased and never really used until this month.  It surprises me how the concealer really changes color to match your skin.  It covers my imperfections perfectly.


6.  I haven't exactly noticed huge differences while using this eye treatment, but it has become a necessity for me in the hopes that I will soon see improvement.  So I thought I'd throw this guy in here.


7.  This lipstick is gorgeous on.  It's the perfect crimson red color, and I've worn it almost daily during this transition to "fall."  It stays on all day, too.

8.  We all know about Baby Lips, so this goes without explaining.  I decided to throw it in here, however, because I've actually finished three other Baby Lips that I had been using for a while.  September was a big thing for me and my favorite drug store lip moisturizer.


9.  I curled my hair almost every day of September, and I've been loving using my BedHead Rock N Roller curling wand.  I was able to create many different looks using this wand.  I can post some of my favorite hair styles using this wand, if anyone would be interested just let me know in the comments.


10.  Last but not least! My FAVORITE perfume at the moment.  It has a perfect warm scent, and it's so beautiful for the fall and winter time.  If you haven't smelled this beauty, do it.  You won't regret it.


Let me know some of your September Favorites and if you've ever tried any of these above!

Lazy Day...

Hey everyone,

       Happy Friday! I hope you all are having a great day today.  It's not so nice here in ND with all the wind and rain.  It's even started to snow on us.  Currently it's about 6:30pm and it's already getting dark outside.  Soooooo, I guess this calls for one lazy, lazy day.  One of my favorite things about this kinda weather is being able to relax and warm up with a cup of coffee or tea and a snack.  

       I may or may not have overdone it today as I am on my fourth cup (a hot mocha with whipped cream & chocolate syrup of course,) but this weather also makes me pretty tired.  Currently I am all curled up in bed with my laptop and beloved books, about to catch up on my blog reading list and maybe watch a couple movies.  That's all for now,
       Let me know what you guys like to do on a gloomy, rainy day :)

Biotera Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner Review

Hey everyone,
       A while back I went into Sally's looking for a new shampoo and conditioner.  I usually like to try out new brands and new products, and never really stick to one specifically, so I consider most of the recommendations I get.  So while in Sally's, one of the girls recommended I try out the Biotera brand.  I specifically picked out the volumizing shampoo and conditioner set and got the two for about 9 dollars each (These are one liter bottles).

       I have long hair, down to my hip bones, and it's hard for me to get good volume with my heavy hair -- layers and all!  The first thing I noticed about this shampoo and conditioner was the smell.  It isn't a terrible smell and I've read many reviews from people saying they love the scent.  To me, however, the scent is very clean -- in a cleaning product kind of way.  It reminds me of a freshly cleaned public bathroom.  I didn't want that smell in my hair all day.  A couple weeks after using this shampoo and conditioner I noticed that my hair was very dry at the ends and always tangled.  Having such long hair, I'm used to having to comb it often.  While using this shampoo and conditioner, however, every time I brush my hair I shed like crazy! I also noticed that it weighed down my hair tremendously, and my roots were always greasy.  I wanted to be sure that it was the shampoo and conditioner causing these issues instead of the weather or some other factor, so I stopped using it for a few weeks.  Yep -- it was the shampoo and conditioner.  I wasn't expecting something super great because of the price of the set, but I did expect something better than greasy roots, broken ends, and hair loss.  I tried to finish using this product, thinking if I used other products to help style my hair, it'd work out better.  I just can't do it.  My poor hair needs something better :(
       I might consider purchasing other Biotera products, but these specific products are a no-go for me.

Ulta Salon Formula Nail Lacquer Review

       I went into Ulta recently just to browse, and was happily surprised to find that the 21 days of beauty sale was going on.  I picked up a few nice things, but I was mostly excited to try out the Ulta brand nail polish that on sale during this event... for two dollars! I bought 10 of them (surprise, surprise!) and tried 'em out as soon as I got home.  This is the color I currently have on my nails:

Ulta Salon Formula Nail Lacquer in the color Fuchsiamania

       I've painted and repainted my nails three times now with this brand of nail polish, and I have to say, it's not a bad formula.  I wore the polish along with OPI Natural Nail Base Coat and the OPI Designer Series Top Coat.  The polishes are very smooth and apply nicely.  I also found that one coat of polish covered my nail completely, and a second coat was not completely necessary.  They are quick to dry and I have yet to run into an issue with smudging or scratches, which is a very common problem for me as I get distracted quickly :P  With my nails completely dry and a top coat applied, I have not had any chipping issues AT ALL for a solid week.  The only reason I changed the colors was out of pure boredom, although my polish would have lasted a while longer.  Now I'm sure for someone who is rough on their hands, chipping may happen occasionally, but the fact they lasted a full week made me a very happy girl, with a cute at home manicure! I would definitely reccommend these polishes to a friend, and I will be repurchasing them, even at their full price of 6 dollars (hey, not bad).