{last girl on the planet?}

to know that I really should be using a heat protectant before I dry my hair?

Well, this little bottle gets RAVE reviews by the "powers that be out there".  

Where ever out there is??   I've been using it as religiously.  Well

religiously in terms of as often as I can remember to use it. 

Not quite a given yet; but, I try.    

 I must say, for me....going without a trim all summer

long without it being totally fried is something that has probably never

happened before.  I'm not saying I don't need a  trim, but it  hasn't

been mandatory yet.

  I suspect that MAYBE this had an impact of some sort. 

{it's a keeper!}

LOVE!

This is definitely a "where have you been all my life?" find. 

Apparently hair masks = moisture and not necessarily for repair such as

intense conditioners.  Well, whatever this is for....I love it.  I read

amazing reviews and although I used to be a Pantene girl years ago,

I veered away from it for whatever reason.  I still use different shampoos

and conditioners, however, they are also carrying the shampoo and conditioner

in the above - so, I'm sure I'll be trying that in the near future, and, I'll let

you know.  But, I use the mask about once a week and it is amazing.

And, it smells good. ;)  I threw that in because usually if I like 

a hair product I HATE the smell, not this one though.  Very nice!

But, the results are smooth and soft hair that feels very well conditioned.   

For whatever, reason, I've been on a growing it out kick and haven't

even had a trim this summer.  

{not saying I don't need one, just haven't had one}. 

But, I really like this so well, I think I'll probably always have it around.

If you try it out, let me know what you think!

And, remember, this is my opinion only;  I just wanted to share

some great finds with my friends. :) 

{summer beauty haul}

remember the few posts i did way back when re: beauty product finds?  well, i continued my quest, but failed to blog about it.  with my schedule this summer, i was lucky to keep the main things, the main thing.  I still have quite the way to go before I can declare a status of being caught up...but, i may be able to start 'sprinkling' some posts with my finds.  the good, the bad and the ugly.  the above is not the haul.  it's a small fraction.  the majority of things...i either really like or love; some were fails.   and, if you remember....the catalyst of this was seeing women come in the location i was at and drop TONS of $$ on products that I was getting samples of when I would go in.  the samples, well they were okay to good, but, nothing outstanding and because of the name brand....these women were not giving a second thought to what was coming out of their pockets.   so, my research began.  it's been rather fun actually.    

so, stay tuned, i've got LOTS to share!

{beauty find}

This one is AMAZINGLY AWESOME!

Not to be disrespectful by ANY means, but prior to purchasing this

one reviewer simply commented "Holy, yes!"

Not that I would ever put holy in the same sentence as hairspray, but, if

you were using Aqua-Net as a main staple to your beauty routine in the

80's........you may have a unique understanding as to why she described

it in that manner.  Maybe??

But, seriously.....this will be one of my all time favorite finds. 

And, let me add a disclaimer.   This works WONDERS for me.  But,

I have a massive amount of hair despite sweet Amber thinning it out for me.

That massive amount of hair is very thick.   It has just enough curl in it

to make living in the south almost unbearable in the summer.  I become

a growing {yes, my hair grows "out" throughout the day in humidity} into a

frizz ball in a big way [no pun intended]}   So, Aqua-Net was my cement
stand-by  in my teens and early twenties.  I actually  have
true concerns over the possible lung damage Ang and I did to
anyone under the roof during that time period.    Our motto:  if it was not close to touching
the ceiling of our car....it wasn't high enough.  {partially kidding}  I think we met that
goal on Prom Night.  

So, I finally gave up my old stand-by years ago,  and, then I bounced around quite a bit to

whatever was recommended to me.  The vast majority of those purchases

being passed on to my mom as they just didn't work for me.  At all.

Probably the best thing I had found although it KILLED me to pay for it was this. 

I pretty much only used it for special occasions and weddings I would shoot, because

I didn't want it to 'grow' and frizz to the point I would be a distraction!  I'm really not kidding. 

Well, move over expensive hairspray........

Seriously, in my opinion, this has got to be the dupe for the above.  It smells different,

 but, oh my it works the same or BETTER for me.  And, remember, I use this and 

my hair pretty much does not move. It gives me volume that is crazy and makes 

it super-shiny all at the same time.  I don't know that it would work for everyone

{thin hair?} but, it is like spray magic for me.   And, it is soooo inexpensive!! 

It is usually on a lower shelf at Wal-mart and cannot believe I had never tried it before.

Probably, the cheaper price totally threw me off.  But, I'm learning, there

are GREAT drug store products out there that completely rival the big dogs, or

in this case for me...........replace them. 

  

I am a reformed hairspray snob.

Let me know if you try this and what you think about it!!

Have you tried any of the other 'finds'? 

If, I'm not helping here, I could be blogging about other things

{like my chickens}  KIDDING!

You thought I was going to say kids, huh? :)

{beauty haul}

I know I've been MIA lately.

The schedule has been a tad heavier than I had planned.

I'm thinking Ang needs to take over the bookings again.   

But, for now...I had mentioned this last week....and I LOVE it so much! 

I hope I am never without it. 

Okay, last year after a hormonal upheavel, my face went beserk. 

And, actually is still going beserk, but that's another story.   

Being a little desperate, I tried a very expensive product from Murad.

LOVED it.  But, remember very expensive.  

And, it didn't help with the breakout situation, but made my skin

so crazy-smooth.  I was getting compliments for the first time forever.

Then, I started getting some mini-facials.  Some girls love them. 

 I'm not one of them.   And, honestly the "after-effect" was very similar to 

what I was doing at home.   Skin issue still going on, but, texture and 

smoothness..........great.   But, if I could do it at home?  Why not?

Then, I started my little research and saw rave reviews about this product..... 

I get basically the same results as I do from the expensive stuff. 

And, actually like it much better.

And, the price......I have been using it since about December {although I haven't

of late, so don't look at my skin!}  but, I ended up finding it on Amazon and with the

subscribe and save discount, I get it for around $17 with free shipping.  And, one will last me

about 2 months. Probably less if I would use it like I should though!

Love, love, love it!  Definitely a staple for me!   

{beauty find}

This is a quick but fun one.

I am naturally a bare-nails kind of girl.

But, then I see nails everywhere that look so cute and make me curl my fingers 

to hide mine.  I do not have oh so lovely hands.  They need all of the help they

can get.   I wore acrylics for a little over a year recently and totally ruined my nails.

Since that time, I have gone to a salon in an attempt to get them back into shape. 

Initially they would not even "take" an at home polish because they were so

ridged, thin, peeling.......just in very poor shape.  Thankfully, all of the damage has

grown out.  And, even to go in for a polish is around $10 a week or $17 every two

weeks for shellac.  And, add the time/gas of getting there.  I had to come up with Plan B. 

Initially my problem was the fact they would chip within a day.  What was the point?

And, honestly, I have actually come to really like the look of a little polish.  

I had tried everything from OPI, China Glaze, Sally Hansen and everything in between. 

Well, almost everything. I started to explore the world of drugstore nail polishes and 

saw rave after rave of the Essie brand.   They are definitely more pricey that some of typical

ones carried in the grocery store at around $7-8 dollars a bottle.  BUT, let me tell you....I

am loving them!  I am not sure what is with the applicator but it goes on so smooth that

it looks like I've had them manicured.  And, they are lasting so much longer.  Which is

huge.  I cannot paint my nails every day.  And, the colors are so fun!  I must say that

I have only used it with Sally Hansen Mega Shine Topcoat (it dries in 60 sec) - but that

also received rave reviews.   Tip:  make certain the polish is DRY before applying Top Coat.

I didn't and I learned fast! 

Another great thing, apparently short nails are in.  

I can use all the help I can get!

My next post will be something that has been HUGE for me!  I think it will be one of my tried and true favorites I will always have on hand.   Great, great product!