Mind Body Beauty for Elle See's // Favorite Curly Hair Products

Eeeek! I am really exited to have my blog post on Elle See's, right now. That's right! I am a guest blogger over there for the day! Elle is seriously amazing. If you haven't checked out her blog and love beauty blogs, what are you waiting for? I really mean that- When she announced she was looking for guest blogger's, I was all over it. I feel humbled - haha! Elle, I can't thank you enough!

Elle's Blog
 Here's my blog post

Ok so when I get out of the shower, I do not towel dry my hair {thank you to Elle for that tip} I dry my body, then wrap a towel around my shoulders after I wring my hair out of it's excess water. As soon as I do that, I use John Frieda's Frizz Ease Serum. I also really love Paul Mitchell's Skinny Serum, but Frizz-Ease is targeted towards extra frizzy hair/curly hair. Works like a charm to really tame any frizz you might have. It starts the foundation for sleek, soft hair.

Directly after that, I take a good amount of Miss Jessie's Quick Curl's Curl Cream. I got this in my Birchbox awhile back and at first, I hated it. It made my hair so sticky! It's because I wasn't using it right. The trick is to use it while your hair is really, really wet. Don't waste any time letting your hair dry. I use a tablespoon amount {or 2} and scrunch it through my wet hair. This is when waves start to turn into curls. The curl cream is sticky, but don't let that throw you off. If you apply it to wet hair, your hair won't feel gross once it dries. Did I say apply it to wet hair yet? (:

Big Sexy Hair Root Pump is my next step. I may or may not use this. It's really 50/50. I do think that the mousse's I use after really help to give my hair volume, but if I am feeling I want a little more lift, I apply this directly to my roots and scrunch my hair upwards. I don't like to use this in my hair when I am not blow drying it. It makes for some serious product build up and does nothing for my hair if I do not blow dry.

Paul Mitchell's Round Trip is my favorite of this bunch. When my hair wasn't bleached blonde, it worked even better than it does today. It gives me really pretty, defined spiral's. It isn't sticky like Miss Jessie's Quick Curl's Curl Cream either. It's pretty awesome. I actually use a bunch of this stuff. I don't think there is any limit. The more, the better. Again, I scrunch it through my hair.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Thickening Mousse. Anything that says thickening on it, I am sold. This mousse really helps to hold to curls in place and also builds a ton of volume. I use 1-2 palm fulls of it and start at the roots. Really work it in! Then start working it down my hair shaft in a scrunching motion.

Suave Mousse Extra Hold: I have been using this forever. Since the 8th grade for this hair style. Even though this hair style has changed dramatically over the years, I never do my hair like this without this mousse. I use 1-2 palm fulls and scrunch it through my hair.

Now I blow dry my hair upside down. But I don't blow dry all the way. I do it until it is 3/4 of the way dry. If you saw me at this point, you would think I did this all on vain. Then another half hour or so passes, and you see that my hair has actually gotten more voluminous and it dries to really nice tousled curls.

Here's some examples:

2nd or 3rd day hair:

Let me know if your inclined to try this out! I love it because it is easy, fast and fuss free. In the summer, I don't want to mess with hot irons only for my hair to get damp/wet or just fall from the humidity and heat. I never have to worry about my hair becoming flat or looking awful mid-day. I can even take it into a few days without washing it. After a while, you wont have to work as hard for tighter curls. It's the beginning of the summer {the start of when I do this hair style} and by the end of the summer, by curls will be even more defined. After months of styling my hair like this my hair starts to know what it is supposed to do, and will look better the each time I do it. I swear you can train your hair.

Thank you so much Elle for letting me take over for a blog post! Elle See's is one of my favorites yah no!
xoxo
Erica

Current Beauty Faves

I have not done a favorites blog post in so long! I have had lots of different favorite products in the past few months, but I never did get around to talking about them. Here we go:

Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam Foundation:  
After using it a time or 2, I wanted to take it back! I couldn't get used to the peculiar packaging. After using it a while, I started to really love it. I already love the Dream Mousse Foundation in a jar. That one is much more creamy and keeps my face really matte and gives really great coverage. This 1 is really much more airy although it doesn't give as good coverage as the the original Dream Mousse foundation does, it give nice coverage and dries to a nice velvet, almost matte, smooth finish. 

how to find your color

The actual product is hidden in the jar and the color they paint the actual can isn't the color of foundation that comes out. I ended up picking the perfect color match. I knew I am cool toned and I am also on the fair to the light side of the spectrum, so I chose the lightest shade with red/cool undertones. The color on the can looked nothing like my skin tone but the product inside did. Happy camper

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer:
I am a little bummed that mine keeps coming apart from the base because the product gets twisted up to the shaft, not the sponge tip, and there's a bunch wasted! Maybe I got a dud but concerning the actual product, I have been really loving it! You need only a very thin amount and because of the sponge applicator, it dictates how much is being applied to the face which in turn makes it pretty much fool proof. A really thin layer really covers a lot of ground and even outs and blends in nicely. I really love this. I may even love it better then Maybelline's 24/7 concealer!

Maybelline Mega Plush Volume Express Mascara:
I must be loving Maybelline! I am always looking for a mascara that will volumize, but more importantly a mascara that will lengthen. This one, will volumize more and I am not impressed with the length it gives. It gives some, but the ultimate is Revlon's Growlucious. The reason I love this is because of the formula. Once it dries, it doesn't make your lashes brittle or dry. It actually makes them smooth and "bouncy" would be I guess a good way to describe them. I am convinced, because of these points, that it is healthier for your lashes. Take that last comment with a grain of salt as I have no evidence of this. Purely speculation.

Tarte Blush in Dollface:
I wont go too much into detail because I did a whole blog post about this blush. I just love the color and I haven't found a blush yet that lasts as long as this one does on the skin. I love it.

Suave Dry Shampoo:
In the past, I have tried Oscar Blandi's dry shampoo. It was a huge disappointment! I tried and re-tried Oscar Blandi's version reading and re-reading every single word in the directions, convinced that a) I was obviously not doing it right or b) that dry shampoo just wasn't for me. Oscar Blandi's made my hair even more greasy than before. Suaves actually works well! It sucks up all of my oil and keeps me going for another day with gorgeous hair. It even adds volume to it! It say's it's for fine and straight hair, but I have thick, curly hair and it works great for me.

Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Eye Liner's for Brown Eyes:
A great deal. You get 3 eye liners for $10. They really are great eye liners too. I have been into the purple and brown ones a lot lately! Nicely pigmented and they last on my eyes. The swatch you see lasted on my hand all night. I tried washing it off with just water and my rubbing it with my hand and it still stayed. I would have swatched the black one, but it was down to almost nothing, then the liner fell out of the tube so, yeah.

ELF Eyeshadow:
This is totally random and I feel a little bad because this eyeshadow duo doesn't even have a name. I got it in a Christmas Pack from last year and also gave one of them away too. Life as a Southern Girl won so maybe she will be the one to benefit from this being added to my faves for inspiration for herself-lol. The eyeshadows are ok quality but with a primer, I have been loving the bronzed color on the lid with the brown color in the crease. Particularly, the bronzed color is actually a pretty good dupe for Urban Decays Smog. Next to Smog, The ELF one is much prettier with more silvery taupe finish, actually. It has more depth. I like it. If you can find it this coming Christmas season, they are really cheap! I found it at Target last year.

Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray:
I bought this mega size at Sephora when it was on sale for $17. I really love the De-Slick (a Holy Grail) but I ran out and since this was so cheap, I figured I would try this one out! This 1 only keeps your makeup lasting and doesn't keep your face from getting oily like De-Slick does. De-Slick to me is better because of that but this one really does make your makeup last which was my favorite part about De-Slick anyhow. It's one of those products that I can't believe I have been living without it and now a good setting spray is a must. I have only tried Urban Decay setting sprays so far but you have tried another good brand that's a better price, let me know!

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion:
I got this last year for Christmas with my Naked palette. I have never had a high end primer until this one and it keeps my makeup lasting longer then any other drug store brand. It also keeps it from creasing better than any other drug store one too. It creases slightly if I have too many layers but I have really oily eyes lids and I have hooded eyes so that may be why. It also really makes any eye shadow color look that much more distinguished and vibrant.

There you have my beauty favorites! 

If you have Monthly Favorites up on your blog, please link us so we can check them out too! 

as always,
thank you so much for reading
xoxo
Erica

♥Wal-Mart Shopping Trip♥

Hey!

I have been doing some shopping here and there for the past couple weeks! I seriously love shopping! Shopping for clothes, makeup, books, & pointless things I probably don't need. I love shopping online. I love fake shopping online. Putting stuff in my cart and not buying it...yah no, just in case! I even love grocery shopping! I am the 1 that does the grocery shopping. Looking at different ads, calculating it all out, & finding inspiration from foodie blogs is my specialty! (: I think it would be fun to do a grocery shopping haul & maybe I will one day, but for now let me show you what I got at Wal-Mart!

1. Suave Mousse
I cannot tell you how many times I have re-purchased this. I have been using it on my hair since the 8th grade! First off, it smells amazing and you + other people could smell it throughout the day. It creates volume when added to the roots. I have wavy hair and what I have always used it for was for the days I wanted my hair to hold my natural curls and waves and didn't feel like straightening it or using a curling iron. I scrunch this into my hair, while my damp head of hair is flipped upside down (this and a couple other great curling products) and blow dry. The wetter the hair, the better to control frizz and give you natural curls. It's not going to make your hair look wet, or crunchy if you know what I mean. It is such a staple, I don't think I have ever even mentioned it here!

2. Hard Candy Matte Polish (Matte-ly in love):

I have wanted this for weeks! I have seen a nail blog or 2 put it over shimmery polishes, glitter polishes, & duo-chromes and have really wanted to give it a go. Right now I am wearing it over Blue It! from Sally Hansen. It's so pretty! If your on my main page & have a chance to scroll down, then you already know there will be at NOTW or 2 feat. Matte-ly in Love! As you can see I have been a little obsessive with nail polishes and nail art!

3. Hard Candy "Glow Away" Bronzer and Highlighting Duo:
It doesn't look like you get very much of either colors, but I have been looking for a nice bronze highlight. We will see if it works out. The bronze color has an orange undertone which I happen to like because I am pretty light. Orange undertones make me look more natural for the most part. Some other bronzers make me look muddy if it's too deep or leaning too much toward a brown undertone. For reference, I have cool undertones in my skin so that could be why too.

4. Dog Harness
I can't say this is really exiting (unless you are a proud new owner of your baby puppy!) but Stella needed another one badly. She chewed hers up and now the buckle will come off when she pulls hard enough on her old one. We were at the park and she was barking and pulling away to go see some other doggie's, and she got off of her leash because her old harness was busted. I was afraid she was gunna run over and either bark/bite/be mean/jump and play. You never know with her! She's wound up! When she got to the other doggie's, she stopped dead in her tracks, not barking or anything. She just wanted to sniff & sniff them! Good dog! She usually loves other doggies & kitties! It's people she is weary of! Smart puppy! LOL

I am positive I will mention these things even more in depth (besides the dog harness!) after I have used them to give you a proper review! I heart Wal-Mart.

Have you bought anything good from Wal-Mart or Hand Candy Lately?

Thank you for reading!

xoxo
Erica