Fave products- alert!

I have been using a great HD primer by Smashbox called Photo Finish, and this tiny little tube has lasted me a long time.  It’s nice to put on under your foundation when you know you’re going to be taking pictures.  I didn’t use it every day because 1- it’s expensive ($36 http://www.ulta.com/photo-finish-foundation-primer?productId=xlsImpprod3590041) and 2- I wasn’t planning to take pictures with an HD camera every day of my life.  It is silky smooth and really does feel quite amazing going on your skin.  I’d put it on after my sunscreen/lotion because I’m in my mid 30s and need to wear sunscreen daily…I’m also needing to investigate products that have stuff like “age reversal” and “skin firming” type titles on their bottles.  I’m not sure when this whole “getting older” thing happened, but young girls in your teens and 20s- hold onto those sweet, precious years where your skin is flawless and your biggest concern is a small pimple that might rise after you’ve spent 5 sessions at the tanning bed.  It would be silly for me to lecture “said teenager/20-something” on the need to avoid tanning beds and start to wear sunscreen daily, so I’ll keep that lecture to myself since it would more than likely fall on deaf ears.  Sunscreen?!  Daily?!  What?!  I’m not a MOM!  Jeez!

So, I love this Smashbox item, but I was in Target (big shocker…a mom’s home away from home) and something on the shelf caught my attention.  e.l.f. has a similar product!  They have several options, but what got me excited was the Illuminating Face Primer.  There’s a primer that will make me look illuminated?!  Yes, please!  AND this primer was only $6!  Hello?!  I gotta try it, so try it I did, and I love it!  It has the same silky texture as the Smashbox product, but it gives me a little gleam and makes me feel like J.Lo on a beer budget.  I can this a win-win. Plus, there are several other primer options if you weren’t digging the J.Lo vibe, and at $6 you’re not breaking the bank.

elf face primer

Since my face was looking brighter without looking shiny, it was on to my hair!  A friend of mine came to visit us this summer and she had an adorable bob haircut.  She had quite a bit of wave to it, and I noticed that she would just let her hair air dry and would still look amazing.  If I let my hair air dry, then it would be no bueno.  Frizz city.  She said she used this product called “Don’t Blow It.”  I couldn’t remember the darn name and kept thinking it was “Don’t Blow Me” or “Blow Job” or something inappropriate, but I finally found it- it’s by Bumble and Bumble (love this brand- see more of my favorite products for my Styling Creme recommendation), and I went to purchase the item for myself.  Now, because I have minimal curl to my hair I didn’t have the amazing success with this product BUT I did find another one that was neighboring “Don’t Blow Me” (that should be the name- it’s way funnier), and it was “All Style.”  This product is amazeballs. You use about a nickel size amount and rub it into your damp hair, and it helps keep your hair smooth when you dry it.  My hair is healthier and smoother, and it doesn’t weigh it down or make it sticky.  Healthy and happy hair- yes please!  This was about $14 for the small tube and $30 for the large.  I started with the small to ensure I liked it, but I’ll be back for the big tube.

All Style Blow Dry

So, today I bring you hair and make up tips…I love when someone else tests a product for me and tells me what I should try and what I shouldn’t.  Saves me a science experiment on my hair and face.  Now, I’m debating whether or not I need to go down the R+F path and spend $800 on reversing my face damage from not wearing sunscreen in my teens and 20s and laying in the tanning bed for a number of years; young grasshoppers, listen to your elders, and learn from our mistakes!  Yes, yes, I know R+F is amazing, and I’ll have such great results I’ll want to post pictures of my naked face on FB for the world to see how much better my skin looks.  Let me tell you, if I’m dropping $170 on my face wash regimen then I better have amazeballs skin!  I’m currently using Clean and Clear for $5…scratch that WalMart’s version of Clean and Clear for $3 for my face wash, so it’s hard for me to swallow throwing hundreds at a new face wash routine when mine currently seems to be okay.  Also, I wash my face and slap on some sunscreen…am I ready to wash my face, slap on a skin brightener, mix 2 formulas together to slather on some type of vitamin something and then put on some sunscreen?!  Am I ready to multiply my morning and nightly routine by 3?!  Is this one of the moments when my 40-self is going to wish my 30-self would have stopped being cheap and done a better face wash routine?!  Ahh…the decisions!  (Side note- I have an R+F gal, so no need to post a bunch of messages that you sell R+F…sometimes I feel like half of my FB feed sells R+F…which might be telling me it’s time to join the bandwagon and actually use the products.  You’ll just have to check back with me to see if I bit the bullet.)

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