High End Hair Products: Shampoo and Conditioner

Last month Ulta was having their liter sale. At that time, I was watching a Bentley Blonde video on how she keeps her hair platinum blonde that she made a few years back. She mentioned Ulta was having a liter sale back then, and that anyone with damaged or highly lifted hair should "run" to the nearest Ulta. It just so happened that I used a high lift hair dye {form of bleach} on my hair a few days before that. This was also when I realized Ulta was having that same liter sale they had years ago. It was obviously fate.

They also had the two liters that she mentioned I needed. Fate, I tell you. One of them was the AG Sterling Silver Shampoo. The other was Redken's All Soft Conditioner.

AG Sterling Silver Shampoo:

I am new to purple shampoos and I have only tried this one and Clairol's Shimmer Lights. I may have to compare them later. This shampoo is no joke. It is a deep, dark purple. It scared me, initially. I thought it would get my shower all purple. This did not happen though. I find that it doesn't stain neither my skin or shower. Once you start lathering it {and yes it does suds up really nicely} into your hair, it turns into a pastel purple. Your supposed to massage it and leave it in your hair for at least 1 minute. If you look on the color wheel, purple is opposite of orange. Anyone that is an unnatural blonde knows that they do not want those orange brassy tones in their hair. Just like you learned in art class, purple counteracts orange. That is the idea behind a purple shampoo.This stuff really does help neutralize brassy tones. I honestly never see any brassy tones. Years back when I was blonde in high school, I wish I would have known about this. It would have made my hair look much better and like it was either done by a professional or genetics. This also has AG's CARE complex. That stands for Color and Radiance Enhancing Complex. I don't know what it is, but it is good.

To prove that this should be an addition to your shower routine if your blonde, I have had a couple people ask me about my hair. When I tell them I am not a true blonde, they are surprised to learn that. I do believe I can attribute this to many different things I do, but my purple shampoo is a must have.

Redken All Soft:

I knew I had to buy AG's Sterling Silver Shampoo, but I was on the fence about the conditioner. It was only when I learned from Wendy at Bentley Blonde that Redken's All Soft shampoo contains an ingredient called Gold Camelina. Camelina is only found in conditioners you get with your box hair dye as far as she and I know. It is a natural ingredient that has exceptionally high levels (up to 45%) of omega 3 fatty acids. It is also rich in antioxidants and has a lot of protein. You can also use camelina as a cooking oil for all of these benefits. Above all, all of these things are great for your hair. I find this conditioner really nourishes my otherwise dry, over-processed hair. It is a really thick conditioner and it smells and feels luxurious. Along with my Sterling Silver shampoo, I smell like I just walked out of a hair salon. I love that smell. Kind of like an herbal coconut. I am in love with this conditioner. I wish I could only use All Soft, and All Soft only, for the rest of my life. Think of this as the Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque only in conditioner form. Except better.

Do you have any life-changing shampoo, conditioners, or hair products in general?

Do you know of any other hair products containing camelina?

As always,

thank you for reading

xoxo

Erica

August Ipsy Products Review

Better late than never, right? Truth is, I wanted to give myself some time before I started writing all about everything. I find that when I give you a first impression type of blog post, I tend to regret what I said about it a week of two later. My opinion is always changing anyhow and I would rather review these things than haul these things. Every blog is hauling the Ipsy stuff. I actually really like to read and watch the Ipsy hauls. They are what made me want to sign up for Ipsy in the first place. However, I thought I would do what I used to do with Birchbox and review everything. It's more helpful, right?  That's a long winded explanation! Let's move on...

Micheal Todd True Organics
Jojoba Charcoal Facial Scrub {$18}

I always hear different beauty vloggers and bloggers talking about this skin care line. I have always had it on my wishlist, I just never bought it.  I use Proactiv on a daily basis and have a ton of it, so this face wash was just a wish and not on my shopping list.  It is black. Strange. It is for all skin types and is said to draw out impurities. My skin is combination skin. It is oily and dry and it tends to break out a lot. Even though it is a scrub, it is very gentle on the skin. Gentler than Proactiv. My face feels soft after I use it. Along with the exfoliator in with it, the rest of the formula turns into a foam, not like Proactiv. It is a really good face wash/scrub. I would consider buying this the next time I am out of my Proactiv face wash. I wouldn't normally say something like that so soon in regards to skin care, but this stuff is pretty awesome. It has also been keeping my spots at bay pretty well. All of those things combined, I am sold.

Pacifica
Alight BB Cream {$16}

 I talked about the Coola Tinted Moisturizer that Ipsy sent out last month. I mentioned how I liked it and was the best tinted moisturizer/BB cream I have ever tried, but doesn't wow me. This one on the other hand is great. It has a nice cream finish and doesn't feel too liquidy and like it is sliding off of my face. It has a nice finish to it. It really does blur imperfections and makes my face and skin tone look even. It doesn't cover up my freckles. Honestly, it gives a glow to my face without it being all sparkly. You know those BB creams I am talking about with that sheen to them. {I'm looking at you, Tarte!} Ugh, I hate that finish. To me, this is the perfect BB cream. Being light and airy, and actually covering up imperfections while making my face look fresh. This BB cream has that special something that I didn't even know was possible. Ok, that sounds so dumb. But it's true. Spring of 2014, this will be on my list.

Urban Decay Lipstick
Anarchy {$22}

 If you know me, you know I love bright lipsticks and pink lipsticks. This was right up my alley. It's a very pigmented bright pink that doesn't dry out my lips. That quality is hard to find in a bright lipstick. Because of that, it is the best bright lipstick I have tried. I have never gave a second look to any Urban Decay lipsticks. I have a gloss from UD that I love and now Anarchy is joining my collection of UD lip products. I have yet to meet one I don't like. Even though I like it, I probably won't purchase it. I do not have 1 high end lipstick and if I ever bought one, I would buy one that is more or less wearable for any day, any season, and for any look. I have so many bright pink lipsticks and you can find some really good ones at the drugstore. Maybelline's Fuchsia Flash is almost the exact color of Anarchy. Anarchy is a little deeper in color. The only thing that separates this from the rest is the fact that it stays creamy. 

Mica Beauty
Shimmer Powder in Bronze {$10}

Wow. This is so pretty. Since I got it, I have been using it everyday on my lid. I just tap my finger on the cap and then press it onto my eye lid. I get a nice, rich, duo chrome bronze every single time using that simple method. Sometimes metallic duo chrome eye shadows can be deceiving. They look really pretty in the pan but don't deliver that color onto the eye. This one does not have that problem at all. Granted, I have yet to use a brush with it but my finger works so well with it. I also never get that much fall out, if any fall out. I love this stuff.

Pixi
Lash Boosting Mascara {$17}

I have always wanted to try Pixi. All of their stuff is so cute! This is a deluxe sized sample of mascara. Because of that, the wand is smaller. If I were able to try it with a bigger, normal sized wand I might like this a lot better. Or maybe not, actually, considering that the mascara tends to transfer onto my lid- big time. I have been liking it my for bottom lashes because of those things. Comparing it to my all time favorite mascara, Mally's Volumizing Mascara, Pixi's doesn't make my lashes as full or as long as they would be if I was using my Mally favorite. Pixi's Lash Boosting Mascara makes my lashes longer and volumized, yes. But only to a certain degree. It makes my lashes more long than voluminous. Maybe I am spoiled with my Mally mascara. If it didn't transfer onto my lid so much I might really love it. It's good but not great.

Whoopsie! Almost forgot to include the swatches.

From left to right: 
Pacifica BB Cream, Urban Decay Anarchy, and Mica Shimmer Powder in Bronze. 

I wanted to give you a "swatch" of the BB cream blended out. So where the swatch used to be of the BB cream, it is now a blended out swatch. Not the greatest blending job but you can kind get the idea. From here, it looks shimmery but there is no shimmer in it. I swear! lol

I have really been loving getting the Ipsy bags each month. Birch Box was great because after building up points, you got to get free full sized products. I also miss trying out all the skin care. But, as you can see I got a really nice Micheal Todd face scrub to try out. I find myself actually using these Ipsy products on a daily basis. Not to mention the company was founded my Michelle Phan, debatably, the original beauty blogger.

thank you for reading!
<3
Erica

Monday Funday

 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Monday Funday is not a thing. I am late. This was supposed to be a Sunday Funday post but now it's a Monday thing. Woah. My freaking computer desk is falling apart as im writing this. Let's just move on and pretend none of these things matter.

The past couple weeks have been busy and fun. We moved from one house to another and if you have ever moved, you might know a little about what I am going through. On top of moving to another house, we also had to move my uncles stuff out of the house so we could move in.

While moving I found a fondue pot that has never been opened, much less used. When I lived in Vegas we used to love going to the Melting Pot and I wanted to re-create it. I had Alex, Philly, all the dogs, my little cousin's Chrissy and Seth, and my aunt and uncle over for the event! I felt sweet, im not going to lie. I even broke out the "good china" which I am now using as my daily dishes. No big deal. A formal dessert party with a great wine pairing. If you think hoodies and flip flops are formal. Oh yeah, there was also beer.

We had chocolate fondue. Warm 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream. Bring to almost a boil. Then add a bag of chocolate chips. Stir it up. Transfer to the fondue pot. Boom. Your done. For dipping we had the following:

Pound Cake

Angel Food Cake

Raspberry Cheesecake

New York Cheesecake

Banana's

Strawberries

Blueberries

On the last day in the old house, we seen the most gorgeous sunset. Thank you, Ohio summers! I will miss having all that land. But I am glad I have neighbors. Alex to be exact. She lives 2 streets over! I love that.

I have been obsessing with making everything so adorable and darling in the "new" house. I use the " " because the house isn't really new to me. It was my Mumum's house and the house my dad grew up in. We revamped the whole place. It's kinda new. I used some scrapbook stickers for my pen holder and I am going with only cute pens and pencils from here on out. I'm not a snob. I just know what I like.

I have also been eating unhealthy lately. I excuse it saying it's just the move and we can't spend money on groceries like we used to. Obviously home decor, Cedar Point, and editing programs are much more important. But these were $1 each at Wal-Mart. Omg I love flavored Greek yogurt. You can have that"fruit at the bottom" crap. Chobani is my favorite brand and when I seen they had actual flavored yogurt, I had to buy some. To make it even better, they came with mix-ins. The Key Lime one is amazing. I want to try the Blueberry one today.

My days have also been filled with this old girl. Thats Chelsea, Chooch-a-lou. I feel bad because my uncle lived here, but didn't really live here with her. He was gone a lot. She was Mumum's dog but Mumum died almost exactly 3 years ago. It came down to my uncle not even having 1 piece of furniture and she was here all by herself, mostly. It looks as if she is going blind. She is an old dog. She came with the house. Stella loves having another dog around and Chooch is old but she can play and run. I love her. She looks so happy now! That was my one concern when we were moving. I wanted to move in asap to be with her.

Sunday, I drank strawberry wine, gave my myself a pedicure, and watched 9/11 documentaries while Stella and Chooch napped. Stella like's to sleep on the computer chair. I think it's because I always sit here and it smells like me.

that's everything! Well, not everything but everything that was interesting and cute. 

How has your August been going so far?

Thank you for viewing!

xoxo

Erica

Holy Grail: Wet n Wild Eye Shadow Trios

I took my Holy Grail Page down for a moment. I may just make a blog post dedicated to my holy grails. As for now, I want to talk about my favorite eyeshadow's. As you most likely know, Wet n Wild eyeshadow's are the most pigmented eyeshadow's at the drugstore. They are also probably the cheapest too. The 6 pan eyeshadows are around $6, Single pan eyeshadow's are under $1, and the trio's are like $3 a piece. I have one single pan eyeshadow from Wet n Wild which I talked about here. I honestly don't have any 6 pans. Unacceptable.

Something always draws me to the trios. They are always ascetically pleasing and each color seems cohesive with each other color. They always choose the perfect colors and finishes to correspond with the other shadows in each trio. Each trio is "created to highlight, define, and accentuate your eye" and even has the directions molded into the eyeshadow. It doesn't get much easier than that. I find that when I don't go by the obvious rules imprinted into each shadow, they still look pretty paired in different areas.

Aside from the pretty colors, pigment, and price, most of the shadows are easy to blend. We can talk more about that later. Let me take you through each palette.....

The Silent Treatment

My favorite palette. It is on the cooler side of the neutral color spectrum.The brow bone color being a satin finish, it has the least pigment but I think it does the job because of that. It doesn't look so stark and powdery. It has a nice finish. Pairing that with the deep pigmented crease color, and the nice shimmery eyelid color, it makes for a gorgeous look.

Eyelid: 

satin neutral pinkish color. As neutral as pink can get.

Crease: 

black brown with silver glitter.

Brow Bone: 

shimmery cool toned taupe

Im Getting Sunburned

A very shimmery, dramatic summery palette. It has a nice pop of color with the Brow Bone color but is still anchored in corresponding neutrals. The Brow Bone color looks great on the lid too. This palette has the best pigment of them all. I can attribute that to the finish of each shadow. 2 shimmers and the crease color being a deep color with glitter.

Brow Bone:

shimmery cool toned blue based pink. Otherwise known as purple.

Crease:

a deep brick red based brown with red glitters.

Eyelid:

shimmery true gold. Reminds me of Half Baked from the Naked Palette

Knock On Wood

The obvious red/brown palette. Very wearable and different in my opinion.

Brow Bone:

baby pink with some glitters in it 
{glitters with an s? Im not an English teacher. Just a beauty blogger. were going with glitters on this one}

Crease:

A brown with a duo chrome red aspect to it. Very pretty. Not as deep or pigmented as the other crease colors.

Eyelid:

My favorite color in the trio. A shimmery maroon. umhp. So pretty.

The only thing I must say that could possibly be a problem is those crease colors.  Most of them are very deep and very pigmented. This can make it harder to blend if your not careful. For me, it is difficult to place the color then blend it out with those crease colors. They tend to not blend out well if you over do it with the first application. So the best advice I can give you is to tap off the excess! 

Another great tip for using the crease colors is to use a tapered eye brush to apply the color. I love Sigma's E45 Small Tapered Blending Brush for this. Then I will blend the crease color out with the brow bone color using Sigma's E35. It's a nice blending brush but I do wish I could find a blending brush a little bit smaller. I have hooded eye lids so I don't have as much lid space as the next person.

Those are my thoughts on the Wet n Wild trios. They are great quality for a really cheap price and that is what equals a holy grail to me. Something that will make you look like a million bucks and you only have to spend a few pennies. Or 300 pennies. Which isn't that much.

quick side note:
I am sure you guys are wondering where in the world i have been. Maybe? Maybe not? I never believed in giving any sort of explanation before about the lack posts. Maybe it's because I would never go longer than a couple weeks. Maybe because I like to keep this as a hobby and when I decide I need to explain why I am not doing it, it feels like a chore. But it has been 2 and a half years that I have been writing on this very blog and I actually felt pressed to get back into it since the beginning of August. I have been moving! We are finally moved into the new house. It's the house my dad grew up in and the house my Mumum lived in {my dads mom} until the day she died so it is kinda cool to call it my own place. We pretend Mumum haunts it. Is that sick? Probably. We even inherited my Mumum's dog, Chelsea. AKA Chooch. aka Winston Choochill. AKA Susan Choochie. AKA Choochin Luchi. We finally got internet and cable! Oh God. I need to shut up before this becomes more than half of the blog post! I will have updates for you guys in the form of videos and blog posts. Stay on the look out for my room tour. It's gunna be a good one. I will show you how to make your room look awesome and well organized for way under $50. Ok, later!

Thanks for reading!

Whats your favorite eye shadows from the drugstore?
 

xoxo

Erica