Loma Pearatin Hair Serum

I have hair that is oily at the roots and dry at the tips. It can get pretty dry there and eventually my hair feels very rough and crackles when touched. I have used conditioner but it doesn't give me the results that Loma Pearatin's Fortifying Repairative Serum does.

This is only sold at authorized salons but they can also be found at places like Beauty Outlet, which is found at some Chelsea Premium Outlets. If you live in Northern California, the Gilroy, Napa and Vacaville outlets all have the Beauty Outlet.

I just put about two quarters worth in my palms and work it through the ends of my DRY hair before leaving the house. I've used it when my hair is wet, but I really want my hair to soak up the product so I apply when it's dry. If more is needed, then put in a bit more. It will look like your hair is wet and oily for a couple hours but it will eventually dry out and your hair will be left silky and soft. The results usually last me a couple days before I have to reapply.

I don't remember the exact price for this product, but I do know it's a bit pricey and you could use a lot depending on much hair you have or how thick it is, but I like the results and it's better than leave-in conditioner.

Image from: http://www.williamcollierdesign.com/store/prodpics/lg_CIMG0218.JPG

Life Savers: Dr. Scholl's Fast Flats

There seems to be a trend that the cuter the shoe is, the more it will kill your feet. I've experienced this plenty of times: there are tons of cute high-heeled shoes sitting in my closet that only come out on special occasions or very short outings because, to put it plainly, they are a pain to wear.

Sure they feel fine for the first hour or two, but then the inevitable occurs - your feet get sweaty or swollen, then they start sliding around inside the shoe jamming your toes up against the toe box. If you have flatter feet like I do, then you might experience your non-existent arches aching from being at an unusual angle for prolonged periods of time.

There's an entire medley of things that can go wrong when you wear cute, but killer, shoes out, among them: blisters (closed or open), corns, bunions, red burns from ill-fitting straps, etc. etc. The list goes on and on...

But we don't have to let ourselves get to that point anymore! Thanks to Dr. Scholl's Fast Flats! These cute black flats come in a small gold clutch that can easily be tucked into your purse or a large coat pocket. Once your feet start barking you can just pull these babies out, slap them on and walk around like you were supposed to: flat.

These are great for regular outings with girlfriends, family or your significant other, and they are also great for weddings and other kinds of events that call for more than just a cute ballet flat. On my latest occasion, after I returned to the car with my boyfriend, I simply removed my shoes and slipped these on, leaving those cute heels in the car.

Since they are black with small little bows on the front they go with practically anything, so there really is no wrong occasion to wear these. The only bad part about them is that the soles are very very thin. I understand that it's because they need to be folded to fit in the clutch, but I can feel everything in these flats! Everything from cold restroom floors to bumpy asphalt. You will definitely feel any inconsistencies in the ground like pebbles, but I think the trade-off is definitely worth it.

These retail for about $9.99 at Target and Walmart to $13 at local drugstores.

Image from: http://images.bizrate.com/resize?sq=450&uid=2065114246

Goopy nail polish? Try this!

I think I definitely have a problem...

Sitting in my closet is a small handled plastic thing that has to hold my collection of nail polishes.
It's filled to the brim and is pretty heavy. There's so many polishes in various colors and finishes and no way on earth is there a way I can wear all of them all the time. My mom is always complaining that I do my nails too often, but even then, I haven't made any significant dents into any of my polishes.

As the color of the week/month lacquers my nails, what do the others in the closet do? They sit, separate and get goopy, so that the next time it's chosen it has become a thick mess that goes on messily and forces me to choose a color that's a bit more "fresh."

I'm sure you've all heard the trick of putting nail polish remover, which is acetone, into the bottle to help restore it to its original consistency. I've done this before and a few of my polishes have turned a bit darker or have started to separate when sitting for a while. (My poor "For Audrey")
It was definitely a problem until I found Beauty Secret's Nail Polish Thinner ($4 for 4 oz. at Sally Beauty Supply). This has saved the lives of countless nail polishes and there is still TONS of product in the bottle. Depending on the goopiness of the polish, I drop in several drops of this magic liquid, shake up the polish and PRESTO! Good as new. :)

If any of you are curious about the ingredients in the thinner vs. nail polish remover...
Beauty Secrets Thinner: Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Heptane
Rite Aid Nail Polish Remover: Acetone, Water, Propylene Carbonate, Dimethyl Glutarate, Dimethyl Succinate, Dimethyl Adipate, Glycerin, Gelatin, Fragrance, Denatonium Benzoate, D&C Yellow #11

Hope you guys found this helpful!

Image is a screen cap taken by me (from the Sally Beauty website) and edited with MS Paint

I broke my lash glue! ._.'

Hi everyone. This is just a quick post about something that happened today.
I'm a complete noob when it comes to applying false eyelashes, so I figure it'll be better with practice. I don't practice with any expensive lashes, just some that I picked up from my local Dollar Tree. Can't go wrong practicing with cheapy lashes. :)

I've heard that the Duo lash glue in Dark Tone was particularly good, and since it dries dark instead of white/clear, I wouldn't have to worry about reapplying eyeliner if I use too much. The product is about $6 and I was only able to find the dark tone at my local Sally Beauty Supply. My local drugstores and Targets only carry the white/clear version.

Perhaps it was a sign when I noticed that the area where the tip and the tube meet was beginning to crack, but I didn't think anything of it. Maybe there was a nice protective plastic sheet inside to protect from numerous openings and squeezings. Well, today I found out. When I opened the tube I heard a crack and the top snapped clean off and was stuck inside the cap!

The damage was already done to my product though because the top portion had already dried into a solid rubbery mess. I was going to throw the entire thing away but thought I'd try to salvage it by putting the remaining glue from the bottom into a contact lens case that twists shut. I have no clue whether this will work or not.

Has this happened to any of you? Any suggestions on how I can prevent this from happening again? Thanks in advance. :)

Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Eyeliner

My eyelids are probably one of the most frustrating things to work with as far as makeup. They are oily like French fries and no liner or technique has ever worked for me.

There was a multitude of drugstore pencil eyeliners that couldn't stand up to my greasy lids, so I attempted to try something high end and different formulas. I've tried Mac's Blacktrack fluidline which resulted in me looking like I had attempted the smoky look when I hadn't. Even setting it with powder didn't stop the migration. Urban Decay makes some infamous eyeliners...Perhaps you've heard of them, the 24/7 glide on pencils? Yeah, those didn't work for me either. No amount of eye priming, "waterproof"-ing or setting with eye shadow would make any liner stick to my lids. Once I even tried fluidline set with powder set with 24/7 and set with powder again, and that didn't work either. Maybe that was doomed from the start. <(_-_)> I was all ready to give up on ever lining my eyes, until one day I came across this product.

My mom has oily lids too so she is always on the hunt for a budge-proof liner. We passed by a Stila counter and saw they had two new eyeliners out: the Smudge Stick Waterproof eyeliner ($20) and the Stay All Day (also $20). Mom picked up the smudge stick for herself and the stay all day for my sister, who likes liquid eyeliners and doesn't seem to have an eyeliner migration issue. (curse her...)

I tried out both, but didn't like the smudge stick. It was very soft and applied smoothly, which was great, but the end of it was so fat there was no way I would ever get a nice thin line along my lash line. I don't think that lasted of my lids either but it works for my mom, so kudos for her.
Then there was Stay All Day...and the rest was history. The tip is very fine and a bit long. I thought it was unwieldy at first, but it just takes some getting used to. I wasn't used to using a liquid pen either and every little nick of the pen resulted in strange markings all over my lashline. The color is a rich and true black, and it dries quickly and with a bit of a glossy finish. I applied it today with no eye primer and it lasted from 9am when I put on my makeup to 4pm when I took it off with just a little smudging on my right eye. Maybe that would disqualify it from being an HG product for a bunch of people, but that's pretty impressive for me.

Overall, I really love this product and will continue to buy it as long as they make it. If you have oily lids and are looking for a good eyeliner, give this one a try. :)

Image is a screen cap taken by me (from the Sephora website) and edited using MS Paint

Product Hate: ELF's All Over Color Stick

Hopefully you're actually reading this and haven't just looked at the title and passed by this post. Perhaps I shouldn't put my feelings about products in the title...Hmm...

Anyways, don't get me wrong, I love ELF products - they do some really great stuff. Their studio line is beyond amazing and they are churning out new stuff all the time. However, this product isn't from their studio line, it's from their infamous $1 line and while some of those products are really amazing, other products make you realize you sometimes get what you pay for.

I am not really a fan of cream blushes since I have oily skin and have heard horror stories of oily-skinned ladies like myself trying cream blushes and breaking out something fierce, then chucking that creamy culprit into the garbage to be picked up on the curbside by the man in the jumpsuit. (That was a really long sentence ._.). But there are also stories of women putting on cream blush under powder blush which helps it stay on longer, and I am all about getting my makeup to last. So $1 is not too much to sacrifice for an experiment, right?

I couldn't have been more wrong. This product is the antithesis of "cream blush." I know it says "All Over Color Stick," but this won't apply just anywhere. The shade I purchased is Golden Peach and it is very beautiful in the tube and in the swatch, but it is so so dry. Literally when I tried to apply this straight from the stick to my face I could see and feel the skin around my eyes being dragged down as this tried to deposit product. The obvious next step is to use my finger to warm up the product, and this helps...to get it on my finger. Once it's on there it doesn't really transfer well to my face and I'm left with a peachy-pink finger and some highlight on my face.

I'm sure this experience with a cream product is probably a fluke and I'll just have to try something a little more high-end, but I'm still disappointed in the quality. So a repurchase is definitely a no.

<3