4 products for the perfect blowout - without breaking the bank

Hi!!

I hope everyone is having a great start to their week! Hopefully not many of you forgot about the time changing and got late to work. 

Driving to work while it's still so dark is so much harder! I swear my eyes kept closing!

Anyways....

Today I wanted to share with you 4 steps, or products, to achieve a perfect blowout, without breaking the bank. 

There are sooo many products out there it is really hard to know which ones are worth it and which ones are just trash. It's also hard to know how much money you should spend on these products!

There are some products out there that are really amazing and that are some of my all time favorites, but let's be honest, sometimes spending more than $20 on a hair product is a little bit too much. Not to panic.... there are great options that are budget friendly and that can give great results as well! It just takes a little experimenting to figure out which ones. 

After trying out several brands and products I have declared these my current top 4 products for an everyday, great blowout, that will last all day, and not costing you and arm and leg. I do have to say these might not work for every hair type. My hair is very thin, oily in the roots and I tend to get split ends if I don't look after it. In order to style my hair right I need products that provide volume, hydrate my ends, and prevent oily roots. I also get highlights every few months. If your hair is similar to mine you will love these products. I will go over them in the order in which I use them

Make sure you wash your hair with a good shampoo and conditioner. I will make a review on some of my favorite soon. Make sure you use shampoos and conditioners that are specific for your type of hair. It really does make a difference. 

1. After washing your hair comb it out and remove excess water with a towel.  Spray your hair all over with the Tresemme Heat Tammer Leave-In Spray. It is crucial to use a heat protector when you use any heat tools. It may not seem like it, but your hair really does get damage every time you style it if you don't protect it.  

2. Apply about a lemon size amount of the L'oreal Boost It Volume Inject Mousse on your hand and run it through your roots. focus on the areas where you most need volume and massage it.

3. Apply about a quarter size amount of the Fructis Full & Plush Voluptuous Blow Out on your hand and run it through your hair, not your roots. Massage it and just run it very lightly on your bangs or front part of your hair. 

Make sure you comb your hair to make sure all the products are evenly distributed. Blow dry your hair and style.

4. After blowing out your hair and styling it, apply a penny size amount of the Fekkai Color Protector Glaze on your ends. Do not apply anywhere near the roots. Focus on the areas where your hair feels dry. This glaze will help hydrate the ends and prevent split ends as well as prevent frizz. This is one of the only oils I can use on may hair that will not make an oily mess out of it. 

These products will provide protection from heat as well as protect your color. It will give you amazing and long lasting volume, prevent frizz and will not make you hair oily. I usually have to was my hair everyday because the roots are so oily and products usually make it worse, but with this combo I can actually go an extra day, if I don't workout (cause I sweat like a a pig). 

I hope you try it out! Let me know if you like it!

AB

My favorite lipstick

Hi!!

Don't you just love that feeling of purchasing a new lipstick... its so shiny and new and it just looks so pretty! I love trying out new shades and collecting lipsticks but I think we all have that one lipstick in our collection that is our go-to, the one that makes you feels the prettiest, that complements your completion perfectly, right?

If you don't have one lipstick that you just love I would really recommend you go out and experiment and find your lipstick soul mate. A lipstick that you can wear with your everyday makeup that will help you look effortlessly beautiful and put together. Something that complements your skin tone and complexion and that looks naturally beautiful. 

Which is my lipstick soul mate?! I don't even have to think twice!

The Chanel Rouge Allure  in number 129, Surprenante! Luminous Intense Lip Colour!

This lipstick is so smooth yet rich in color. The formula is great for your everyday-any time makeup that looks naturally beautiful. If you are on the hunt for a lipstick that you can just grab and go I really recommend this collection. I have been buying this lipstick for years, and even though I have found so many that I like, this just keeps being my #1 year after year. 

Which is your favorite lipstick?

AB

The Big Easy

Hi!!

And so a new week begins.... wait... a new MONTH! 

I can't believe it is February! 

Where did January go?! I feel like I just came back from Christmas break. I just hate when time goes by so fast. Plus my bday is coming up and I just get weird lately instead of excited.... 

wrinkles stay away!!

This weekend I did a little cleaning and organizing and realized I had so many makeup samples! Truth is, if the samples are small I tend to never reach for them. I like the cute samples that look like the actual product but a mini version... they work great for when you are carrying a small handbag or when you travel. The tiny samples on the other hand just seem to accumulate in the drawer. So, in  an effort to try new things (and maybe find the fountain of youth-makeup) I decided to try the Benefit's Big Easy Foundation sample. 

The Big Easy Foundation is supposed to balance moisture and control oil, which in theory would be the perfect foundation for my since I have dry/combination skin. This makes it sooo hard for me to find a good foundation I like that doesn't feel dry, looks cakey and that does not make me oily and shiny. This foundation also claims to self-adjusts to skin tone and perfect with a powder-finish. It also has SPF 35 which is very nice and necessary. 

When I first applied the foundation it felt thick and I immediately thought it was going to be really oily and that it would make me shiny really quick. It took a bit long in my opinion to blend it out completely but I think this was because unfortunately the shade was a little too dark for me. The coverage is light/medium. I have to say I was surprised; at the end if the day my skin still looked great and I was not oily or too shiny like I had expected. I had a very busy day and never reapplied makeup or powder throughout the day and still looked good and with enough coverage. Even though I still like the foundation I use now more, I think this foundation is a great option for a person who likes light/medium foundation and has dry/combination skin. You still need powder to set it but overall I like the foundation. I want to try it in a shade that goes better with my skin tone. 

This reminded me how important it is to try new things.... you never know, maybe you find a new favorite, a better option or something to incorporate to your makeup routine. The foundation I use everyday is more high-end and pricey so I'm looking for a more affordable option to incorporate to my makeup bag for days when I want to use foundation but its for a more casual/active day, like going to the beach or a day by the pool, when you want to look your best but maybe feel like your makeup would be wasted in a way. Is it just me that feels this way? Maybe this makes no sense to you all but this will be added to my makeup bag for my "active/casual" days haha.

Have a fabulous day and let's enjoy February by trying new things!

AB

and tomorrow.... Christmas Eve!

OMG how time flies!!!!

I feel like it was a week ago when I started pulling out my Christmas boxes and decorating my tree! I feel almost sad that this wonderful time of the year is going by so fast.

When I was younger I remember some people telling me that Christmas time made them sad, I thought they were crazy!! How could someone be sad during Christmas right? There was food, parties, presents.... everything was just perrr-fect! 

Well, today, I am a bit older, and I completely understand what they were saying... actually, I have become one of those people who feel sad during Christmas time. These last few years have been tough. My family has been through some difficult times and difficult situations. I know my problems are nothing compared to what other people experience, but sometimes I have a hard time remembering this. 

I have to be honest and admit a lot of times I feel depressed and deep sadness, I wonder how everything in my life has changed so much during the last few years. I pity myself sometimes.... what a horrible thing to do I know. Christmas brings a lot of happiness but also reminds me of what I have lost. Last week at work something happened that made me open my eyes and realize I need to stop feeling this way and instead focus on what really matters and most of all, appreciate what I have.

We have several student employees at my office. There is one lady who is pursing her undergrad degree; she is about 50 years old. I had never really talked to her but I assumed she had decided to go back to school because her children were all gown up and she needed something to do. OH but how wrong I was. 

I was sitting in my office and I heard her asking our secretary for a Tylenol because her head hurt. Our secretary asked her if she needed to go home and she said "I am starting to think about it". I though to myself " oh what a baby.... she should suck it up, I get head aches all the time". I will regret thinking that all my life. A few minutes later a heard a loud noise, I thought some boxes had fallen down from the cabinet. I ran out to find her laying on the floor. We rushed to pick her up and she woke up about 45 sec later. She told us that was the third time that day she has passed out, once in the morning  at her house, a second in the hallway at our office where nobody saw her, and this time. I asked if she had eaten anything and she told me she has half a banana in the morning. I was shocked! I am the type of person that needs to eat almost every two hours! To make the story short... her son came and picked her up, she didn't want us to call 911. 

After she left, one of my co-workers, her supervisor, told us what really was going on: she has cancer, for the second time; her husband is not employed; she mentioned it is hard to eat when you have no food in your fridge; she has no electricity or water right now in her house; she has no money to see a doctor. 

I have not been able to stop thinking about her since that day. My co-workers and myself decided to each give some money to make her holidays a little better, but I wish I could do more for her. I don't want to share this experience with you because it helped me refocus and remember that this holiday season is not about spending money like a crazy person, it's not about feeling sad because you are not getting that beautiful handbag you can't afford for Christmas, it's about cherishing what we have and the people we have in our lives. Christmas ins about giving thanks for what we have received in life and thanking God for our blessings; sometimes we forget we have blessings, since they don't always come in the ways we expect. Blessings are not money, success, fame.... blessings have a much deeper value.

I hope you join my in remembering we shouldn't be sad during this time of year... we should remember what really matters. It doesn't matter if you are surrounded by 1000 people this Christmas or just you are alone. Enjoy this time, give thanks for the blessings we receive, for being alive! Don't get lost in trying to buy presents, the crowds, the stress of the holiday bills! Remember Christmas is a feeling we should carry with us all year long.

Tomorrow let's celebrate life and being alive!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

AB

My first blog post!

Welcome!!

I had been thinking about starting a blog for a long time now so I have decided just to go ahead and do it! I am still trying to figure out how to make it pretty so bare with me!

I was going to wait until January 1st to start my new blog but there have been a lot of thoughts going through my head that I would like to share.

I wanted to create this blog for several reasons.... share my beauty and fashion tips and finding and also to use it as some sort of diary to record what goes on in my life. Sometime I feel like I keep a lot of thing bottled up so hopefully this will help me and others along the way :) 

AB