Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Color

Hello everyone! I've got a lip product review for you over the Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Color. Say that ten times fast. I bought this after hearing raving reviews about it, and I figured if it really was as long wearing as it said it was, it was definitely worth a shot.

They retail for about $8 each, and I started out purchasing just one shade, in Continuous Coral, and ended up purchasing two more in the shades Keep Up The Flame and Constantly Cabernet.

It is a two step lip color, starting with the application of a liquid lipstick, allowing it to dry completely (this is important) and then applying a balm over top. Now just a warning, the first lipstick step is very, very sticky while it's drying. Once the balm goes on it's all smooth sailing from there.

When they say long lasting, they mean long lasting. You can eat, drink, kiss, whatever it is you want to do with your lips, and this stuff does not budge. The balm wears off just like any other lip balm, but the color absolutely stays put. The stickiness also goes away after the first balm application, so even when the balm wears off it still feels fine.

The directions say to remove it with makeup remover. I figured I'd be able to get it off with just a baby wipe, and boy was I wrong.

This is what it looked like after scrubbing for 30 seconds with a baby wipe. As you can see, the color remained primarily untouched and only the balm was removed. It's also a little difficult to get off with makeup remover, but hey. It's worth the extra time taking it off if it means I don't have to reapply constantly and worry about smudging.

My only qualm with this product is that since it adheres to your lips so intensely it does settle into the lines of your lips. I think if you exfoliate and moisturize your lips enough it will help to remedy this a bit, but if you had a lot of fine lines in your lips you might want to opt for the darker shades to help mask their appearance a bit.

Have you had any success with other long wearing lip colors? Let me know in the comments!


xoxo,
Caitlin.

MANICure Monday — Easy Going

Hello everyone! I've got a MANICure Monday post for you!

I know I missed last week, but I was busy getting home on Monday and didn't have time to do my nails until the middle of the week. But I'm back this week!

I've noticed a lot of pale pinks and whites seem to be in this season, so I went with a pale pink shade.

This is the shade Easy Going by Sinful Colors. I don't typically opt for pale colors, since I'm quite fair skinned, but I thought hey. 'Tis the season (apparently). I think this color would look great on darker complexions or for those of you that get a nice tan during the summer (I was blessed with skin that burns, not tans). However I think it still looks pretty good against my lighter skin.

Do you have a favorite pale summer shade? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,
Caitlin.

Wet Hair Don't Care — Tangle Teezer

Hello everyone! I've got another hair care post for you. Today it's all about the Tangle Teezer.

In case you don't know what a Tangle Teezer is, it's a hairbrush specifically designed for use on wet hair. Well why do you need a special hairbrush for wet hair? Let me tell you. Your hair is in its most fragile state when it's wet and is more prone to breakage. What do most of us do when we get out of the shower? Rip through our tangly hair with a regular hairbrush causing all kinds of damage.

Supposedly, the Tangle Teezer is constructed in a way to minimize damage on your hair while you brush it. It's also supposed to cut down on pain when brushing out tangles. It has an ergonomic design that is supposed to fit in your hand to make brushing easier (because apparently it's hard to brush your hair). The bristles vary in lengths, some being short and others longer, which is supposed to help detangle the hair from root to tip. Now that you know all that Tangle Teezer claims to be, I'll give you my opinion on it.

I purchased mine from Target (I made a trip specifically to get one, and cereal) for about $10. Now if you ask me, $10 for a hairbrush is a little excessive. I've always used the cheap Conair hairbrushes (with the jelly handles) and never really had a problem, but I figured if it really is as special as it claims, then it might be a good investment to keep my hair looking healthy.

All Target had was pink. I'm not much of a pink person. But it'll do.

After using it for a couple weeks, it does indeed detangle your hair. I wouldn't say it's necessarily painless though. Coming from someone who is not tender headed, I did experience a little pain while brushing. It didn't hurt every time, but there definitely was still a little bit of scalp tugging. My hair seems to brush out a little quicker, meaning I don't have to go through as many passes through it to get it all brushed out, which is great because I'm lazy and I don't want to spend ten minutes brushing through my hair.

I can't quite tell if it's reducing damage or not. That may mean it's working because I'm not noticing any new damage since my last hair trim. I really wanted to get it to use while I blow dried my hair, because it gets really tangly then, but it says specifically not to use with heat, which was a bummer.

I've read a few reviews that claim it works wonders for their hair type, and also some that say it caused mats to form in their hair. The mats formed in 4 a/b hair (from most of the reviews I've read) so if you have this hair type (you would know if you do) I would recommend skipping this tool and using something else. Other than that, it works pretty well for me, so I'm happy with my purchase.

Have any of you tried the Tangle Teezer or any other similar products? Let me know in the comments!


xoxo,
Caitlin.

MANICure Monday — All Nighter

Hello everyone, I've got a super quick MANICure Monday post for you. I know it's going up a little later than normal, but it's been an incredibly long day and this is my first opportunity to sit down and actually get anything done. So let's get to it!

 

I had a bit of a late night last night, so I wanted to do something simple and without any frills. I used Pure ICE in the shade All Nighter (it feels like I pulled one today). It's a really nice burgundy shade, and it's incredibly reflective. The color registers a bit more on the purpley side in real life, and I like it a lot. I plan on using it as a toe color here soon as well.

I said it would be quick, and I kept my promise. What do you think of this polish color? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,

Caitlin.

Organix Shampoo & Conditioner

Hello everyone! I've finally got a post that's not about nails! It's about hair. Primarily how I clean my hair, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I recently went in for a hair cut (just a trim, nothing drastic) and after getting all of my damage removed I wanted to try to take some extra precautions to keep my hair looking like it had just gotten trimmed (for a long, long time. I'm a busy girl, I do not have time for monthly hair appointments.). I figured for starters I would switch up my shampoo and conditioner, I'm not too big into treatments or masks yet. That day will come. I've used Herbal Essences for a few years and was pretty satisfied because it always smelled great, but looking back on it I don't think it really did much to benefit my hair at all (way to let me down, shampoo). So I started doing a little bit of research.

Now I'm a fan of hanging out in the hair care aisle. Judge me. There are a ton of products of all price ranges that do a ton of different things (I'm the type of person that reads everything on any given product, and if there's one thing hair products do, it's write a lot of stuff on their packaging). Typically I walk past the section of over priced shampoos and treatments that claim to have the most precious oils and unicorn tears and eye of newt and whatever to make you believe their stuff is the best. But there has always been a product that I've wanted to try, and I finally decided to give it a go.

The bottles I have look like the one on the left. I didn't photograph mine because they were wet, and I'm lazy.

Before I go into my review of it let me tell you some of the things about this brand that I liked:

• no lauryl or laureth sulfates in any of their products
• paraben free
• safe for color treated hair (not that I color mine, but if I ever decide to I know I can use this product still)
• no animal testing (fantastic, A+ in my book)
• most of the products are gluten free (the ones above that I purchased are)

It might seem a little excessive that I went into this much detail about my shampoo, but I had my reasons. Sulfates can damage your hair, making it dry, brittle, and causing the ends to split. If I want to keep my ends looking like they just got snipped, I obviously want to opt out of the sulfate party. Parabens (according to my research) are unnecessary in all products. They mimic estrogen in your body, and apparently are just all around bad. So my goal was to keep my shampoo and conditioner as natural as possible without breaking the bank.

This is what led me to the brand OGX (Organix). I purchased these two products at Wal-mart, and they clocked it at just under $6 each. Now you might say, 'look at that tiny bottle, what a rip off', BUT. I got a deal. I had grabbed two normal sized bottles from the hair care aisle and then stumbled upon an end cap with bottles double the size for the same price (I would photograph my bottles but I just took a shower and they're wet and that's too much of a process). Obviously I snatched up the larger bottles and went on my marry way.

As far as the results of the products go, I like it a lot. As you could see in the picture, I got the Renewing Argan Oil of Morocco shampoo and conditioner. I wasn't sure which one I was going to get, but after reading the front of every type they had (there's that reading thing again) this one sounded the best for my hair type. It doesn't say it on the front of the bottle, but after getting it back home and reading up some more it actually helps protect from heat and UV damage (score).

I've used it for about a week and a half now (I try to wash every other day alternating between this and a clarifying dandruff shampoo) and I'm really liking the results. It smells really nice, and my hair feels very, very soft after a shower and drying my hair (if I have the time I let it air dry). It's only been a few washes but I can tell that it looks shinier already. I'm super impressed with these products and I'm definitely going to look into the brand some more.

Make sure if you want to try it you look for the larger bottles. There's nothing better than extra product (and a good one at that) for free!

xoxo,
Caitlin.

MANICure Monday — Sparkling Rain

Hello everyone! I've got a new MANICure Monday post for you!

I bought a couple new polishes the other day (I was at Target. I never leave Target without nail polish) and I thought I would use one for this week's look. The day I bought them it was pouring buckets outside and one of them just so happened to be called Rain Storm by Sinful Colors (total accident. I didn't see the name until I was back home). I ended up painting my toes with it that night, and I absolutely loved the shade, so I decided to do it on my fingernails as well.

This gold polish is a pain to photograph. It's incredibly reflective. Great in real life, not in photos.

As you can see it's a really pretty shade of navy blue, and I love it because I've never seen another polish quite like this one. I wanted to add some sparkle, so I opted to do an ombre (kind of) effect with Gilded Rose by Maybelline. I think it sort of gives off a nautical effect, which is fine by me.

What do you think of this week's look? Would you try pairing Rain Storm with any other polishes? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,
Caitlin.

MANICure Monday — Pastels

Hello everyone! I've FINALLY got another MANICure Monday post for you! I've been out of town these past couple Mondays, and it was a little difficult to do my nails let alone write up a blog post about them. Excuses aside, these weekly posts are back!

This week I wanted to do something a little different with accent nails. I chose two Essie polishes I really like, Sand Tropez and Lilacism, and paired them a little differently than I normally do.

Left polish: Sand Tropez            Right Polish: Lilacism

While I love these two polishes on their own and side by side in the bottles, it's not my favorite color combination on my nails. So why post about it? I thought maybe someone would enjoy it, or at least like one of the colors. After all, I took the time to paint them this way, I might as well show them.

What are some Essie color combos you're loving this summer (wow it's summer)? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,
Caitlin.