review: olay age defying daily renewal cleanser

well, i ran out of my st. ives scrub a while ago, and even though it's been working great for me, i decided to try something new. i was also slightly scared that i'm exfoliating my face way too much. for whatever reason, this cleanser looked appealing to me:

actually, i bought the generic "equate" version, but we don't need to get into whether we think generics are the same or not. all the ingredients are the same, so i say the generic is just as good. plus i only payed $3. woot.

you can't tell from the picture, but the label says it has small microbeads and beta-hydroxy complex. which means it will chemically exfoliate my face, and the microbeads won't be too harsh. when you pump out the cleanser, it kind of looks and feels like lotion. and it totally has an old-lady smell. but i'm not opposed to old-ladylike things (case in point: pond's dry skin cream!), so that doesn't really bother me too badly. 

i've been using this cleanser day and night for a couple weeks now, and i think i like it. nothing dramatic has happened, but i haven't broken out, i have less flakiness on my face by the end of the day, and i think it's getting rid of some red splotches. i still have some little bumps that aren't acne (i don't know what they are, but i deeply dislike them). my face just looks more.... even. yesterday i didn't even wear foundation, just some concealer. but of course, i wouldn't be me if i didn't change my mind incessantly, so now i'm craving this new facial "cleanser":

holy moly! i read some reviews about this "jane iredale magic mitt" on beauty.com, and basically you just get this mitt wet with warm water, and something about the fibers cleans your face really thoroughly! you can wash it whenever, take it on a plane, and even stop buying face wash. i'm just curious enough that i really wanna try this....

bad idea?

e.l.f. haul.... from target!

look at all the stuff i got for $11!

oh yeah, and a n.y.c. liquid eyeliner thrown in there too. i read that one of the rockettes swears by this eyeliner, and i'm in the market for a new one (for the musical!), so i bought it. it was definitely less than $2. oh yeah, and the fake lashes are for the play too. who wants to mess with gobs of mascara on stage? not me.

anyways, the coolest thing i got from my "haul" (does $11 count as a haul?) is the palette. you can purchase little magnetic pans of eyeshadow, blush, or lipgloss (only eyeshadow is available at target, though) and make your own customized palette! so cool. i know what you're thinking: why do i need any more eyeshadow?? i have that huge honkin' palette of 120 colors. but i'm not actually gonna take that thing on a trip somewhere! or carry it in my purse! so i figured this was a good thing to keep on hand:

moondust, mocha, pink ice, and golden glow

these are all of my favorite neutral shadow colors! and i'm really loving having them all together in one palette. and even though each component is only $1, this stuff is good quality! not as shimmery as some other shadows i have, but i really like it. you could make these shades work for anything, for a daytime event or even a more dramatic situation. i'm definitely taking this with me to my in-laws' house this weekend. 

i'll post more about the other items after i've tested them out!

"updo" of the week

ok, again, it's not really an updo. a down do? i'm just supposed to show up to play rehearsal with all of my hair out of my face. naturally, i don't wanna look ugly while i'm rehearsing, so i feel compelled to be creative.

for this look, i parted my hair on the side, braided the hair near my temple on both sides, and then braided the rest of it together at the end:

next time i'll have to braid it a little tighter. it ended up falling out by the end of practice.... boo. so i guess my braids defeated the purpose of keeping my hair out of my face..... oh well, next time, next time.

jordana incolor pretty shine luxury gloss: gotta catch 'em all!

whew, what a mouthful of a name. i bet you guys have tried these lipglosses before, because they're only 2 bucks at walgreens. the first one i ever tried (like 2 years ago... ha!) was "dazzling", the bright tangerine shade. the formula is awesome! it's smooth, pigmented but still a little sheer, shiny, and smells like apples. this is a perfect gloss for spring and summer:

the next one i tried was "adorable", a pale nude gloss. i figured the formula would be the same. nope, not so. it's thicker, stickier, and very frosty. BUT, i've found that if you apply clear balm first, it goes on really smooth and sheer. it's pretty to pair with bold eyes:

my newest addition is "lovely", which is really true to its name! it's like a beigy pink, mostly beige. this gloss has a lot of shimmer to it, but isn't sticky like "adorable." 

i like this shade because it's slightly darker than my natural lip color and is really neutral. which means i finally found something to wear with my teal shirts! see? 

yay! plus because of the shimmer, it doesn't wear off as quickly as the other two. here are some pics of the actual tubes. you'll see that "dazzling" is actually a tangerine color, not blood orange like it looks in the first picture.

 top: dazzling

middle: adorable

bottom: lovely

of course, they have other shades available too. the bright red looks interesting.... anyone else tried these?

review: wet 'n wild megalast long-wear lipstick

so i'm frantically memorizing lines for "oklahoma!" which is coming up soon.... and of course i get distracted and wonder.... how should i style my hair on stage? what shade of long-last lipstick should i wear?

so when i went to walgreens the other day to get a new wide-tooth comb, of course i HAD to hunt for a good lipstick for the play. i wanted something that was kind of berry-hued for my character (i think red is too dramatic.... berry is nice and innocent, i think. she is a country girl after all, not that i know anything about being a country girl.... ha!). and it definitely needed to be kiss-proof (*ahem* sorry, husband). in the past i've used many different shades of covergirl outlast lipstick, but i didn't really wanna shell out $8-9.... so this is what i picked!

photo: wnwbeauty.com

the color i picked is "eternal", which i thought has pretty flattering, and still visible from stage. unfortunately, when i tried to apply the color, it felt really strange on my lips! it had a mousse-like texture.... which is great for my maybelline dream mousse blush, but looks kinda funny on your lips.... i let it dry for a long time, then applied the clear balm. now the balm did feel good. but after applying it, i tested my lipstick, and it rubbed right off! it had the staying power of gloss! weird....

"First, apply the rich, liquid color, then seal it in

with the ultra-conditioning topcoat for satiny color that lasts."

ummm, i'm missing both the "liquid" and the "satiny color" part.... it was kind of gritty.... i did test the balm with a different brand of long-lasting lipcolor, and it works! plus it feels good on its own, too.

so unfortunately, i'm still looking for a good lipstick for stage.... i may ask kasmira from whatiwore2day, because she acts a lot, and always has a bright lipstick on.

updo of the week

so, i didn't actually go to play practice this week, because it's spring break. but i decided to do an updo anyway, mainly because i was scuzzing today and didn't feel like washing my hair. i did sprinkle in some baby powder though! 


this is pretty simple. it's just a little bit of french braid, tucked in and pinned:

snip 'n save

even when you think you've used up all of a product, there's probably still some skulking around at the bottom. bottom-dwellers, if you will. my foundation was running low the other day, and i decided to snip open the container to see exactly how much i still had. and behold:

tons! this will last me for about a month, i'm guessing. pretty cool, huh? i wonder what else i can break open and search for treasure- toothpaste, concealer, face wash.... crab legs. mmmmm, crab. (i started a diet today, so i'm SUPER hungry).