Regretful Product Purchases

I miss blogging...sorry for the absence :(  However, it's Summer, and even though we really haven't been doing a ton of "fun" things, we have been enjoying being outside and relaxing together.  I think we've been out in the yard more this Summer than we have in any of the previous eight that we've lived here.  Nothing better than dining al fresco and enjoying an adult beverage in the warm evening air.  But onward to the point of my post... 

While cleaning and organizing my bathroom last week I came upon a few things that I've been using recently that I'm not really loving, but using anyway as to not be wasteful...things I will not repurchase once the bottle/tube/what-have-you is empty.  All of these are drugstore products, nothing that would break the bank, but it's still annoying to spend money on something and not be satisfied regardless of how much or how little it cost.  These are just my opinions, of course, so sorry if you use any of these and love them!

#1 L'Oreal Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin  I normally use the Clinique 3-Step system when I wash my face at night before bed, but I like to keep something cheaper in the shower that the hubster and I can both use (he uses whatever I put in the shower, he's not picky).  I was initially intrigued by the little scrublet that comes w/ each bottle (which, btw, only I used...we didn't share, lol) and chose the sensitive skin version because I figured it would lesson the chance of it breaking me out.  It's a creamy cleanser and lathered extremely well, but it really dried me out!  I'm pretty oily, so usually a product that is a bit drying still works ok with my skin, but this was just too intense for me.  It made my face feel tight.  No good.  I did however LOVE the scrublet!  In fact, I kept it even after I tossed the empty bottle.  I think I paid $5 w/ a coupon.

#2 John Frieda Root Awakening Nourishing Moisture Shampoo  I have a lot of hair, but it's super fine which makes it pretty limp most times.  I normally reach for a volumizing shampoo, but those types of shampoos generally dry out your hair and blow out the follicle which in turns makes your hair appear fuller and more volumized.  Over time the volumizing shampoos started drying out my hair and my scalp especially, so I switched to a more moisturizing shampoo which I've found doesn't weigh down my hair like I assumed it would.  I saw this shampoo at Target and thought that maybe since it was geared towards healthy roots and contained eucalyptus it would help my scalp while adding more moisture into my hair.  Wrong!  While I love the smell, it really does nothing for me.  In fact, on days when I use this (I like to switch between shampoos and usually have two in my shower at all times) my ends appear so dried out like I'm in dire need of a trim or something.  And as far as it nourishing my scalp, I think it makes it feel tighter.  I'm still slowly making my way through the tube which seems to be taking forever!  The hubster doesn't even like it.  It's quite a shame since I've normally heard good things about John Frieda products...maybe I'll try something else of his down the line.  I think I paid about $7.

#3 Aussie Cleanse & Mend Shampoo  I picked this up at Walmart after I started using the John Frieda and I wanted something that would help my ends not look so dry.  This shampoo is supposed to gently, yet effectively cleanse your hair while softening and smoothing your ends.  Wrong again!  This seemed to dry my scalp out even more and really didn't do much for my ends at all.  Plus, I think it made my hair feel greasy at the roots as the day went on.  Overall, not good.  I was so glad to see this bottle get finished!  It was around $5...I guess you get what you pay for.

#4 Garnier Fructis Style Full Control Anti-Humidity Hairspray  Ugh, the humidity!  My hair turns to a gross, lifeless, sometimes frizzy, sometimes greasy, overall disgusting mess when it's humid.  On those days I have to go light on the hairspray otherwise it just adds to the cotton candy effect.  I saw this Garnier hairspray mentioned in a magazine ad and the "anti-humidity" sucked me in...it's supposed to provide hold even in 90% humidity.  Nope, not even close.  First of all, I went for the strongest hold I could find in this line and it provides no hold at all, even if it's not humid in the slightest.  It's been delegated to what I call "ponytail hairspray" meaning the spray I use to hold down fly-aways when I toss my hair up to do stuff around the house.  I think I paid $4 w/ a coupon at Walmart.  Save your money and don't bother.  It smells nice though.

#5 CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Blasting Waterproof Mascara  It pains me to not like this mascara since everyone raves about it!  I bought it in the black/brown shade and I think it's a great shade for my eye color and complexion, but the formula and brush are not my favorite combo.  The the little rubber bristles are supposed to coat every lash but I think they're way too short and stubby to properly do this.  And the mascara just clumps on to the brush.  When I pull it out of the tube, you can't even tell there are bristles, that's how much product is on the darn brush.  It takes me 5 minutes of wiping the brush along the edge of the tube to get enough product off so it doesn't clump up on my lashes.  The formula is also too wet...it may remedy itself as it gets a bit older and naturally dries out from air exposure, but until that happens, I'm struggling.  I've also had problems with it flaking as the day goes on and it is a PAIN to remove at night.  Even after eye makeup remover AND Pond's cold cream it's still hanging on.  I personally like waterproof mascaras for their staying power, but this is just ridiculous.  Overall, just too much work.  I bought this at CVS during a CG buy 1 get 1 half off sale...normally it's about $8 a tube, I think?

That's about it for the time being.  $30 worth of products I dislike :(  I'm sure there will more in the future... the hunt for the "best" products never ends!  Even when I find something I love I'm still on a quest for something better, does anyone else do that?  Why can't I just be satisfied once I find something that works and does what I want it to do?  One thing's for sure, it would be easier on my wallet!  Anything you've recently purchased that you wanted to love but didn't?  Let me know!

The Land of the Free, The Home of the Brave...

...and there's no place like home.

Happy Independence Day, everyone! 

1 Month Follow-up to "Putting it out there..."

A few days late, but better late than never I say!  I did weigh myself on the correct day (June 27th) just to give myself an accurate reading.  Sadly, I only lost 2 pounds...1 pound short of my 3 pound goal.  Without sounding like I'm making excuses, because I don't want to be that kind of person pushing blame onto other things, it was a busy month full of a lot of eating "out" (ie: be it restaurants or other peoples homes, parties, etc).  I need to have better restraint in these types of situations.  I am allowing myself one reasonable cheat day a week and I think that's fair, otherwise, I just really need to focus on making healthier choices.

One thing that I've been doing is tracking pretty much everything I've been eating and drinking on Sparkpeople.com.  If you're looking to lose a few pounds and need to see things in black and white, sign up!  It's free to join and easy to follow.  I use it strictly to track my calories and water intake and it helps a ton to see it everyday and know where I succeeded (did I get enough protein?) or failed (did I go over my "fat" goal?). 

I am pretty proud of myself, though, for really sticking to my goal of upping my water intake.  I've read that you should be drinking half your body weight in ounces of water per day, and then for every caffeinated and alcoholic beverage you consume you need to drink an equal amount of water (in addition to your "regular" intake amount).  While I haven't always stuck to that rule of drinking additional ounces to counteract the caffeine or alcohol, I have been drinking my required ounces and that's a huge step for me.

I've been exercising, but not nearly as much as I should be.  Again, I really need to push myself and get into a routine.  It is getting easier though to want to go for a power walk in the evening... daylight until at least 8:30pm and lackluster Summer television help ;)

Overall, I'm ok with only losing 2 pounds, but really wanted to lose more.  Baby steps.  Hopefully month 2 will bring me better results!

Birthday Recap

I had such a great birthday this year!  Totally makes up for last year and then some.  In fact, my birthday was kind of celebrated throughout the whole weekend and yesterday, my actual birthday, was just the icing on the cake. 

Saturday my in-laws took us out to dinner as a combo birthday/Father's Day celebration.  Afterwards we went for ice cream and then back to their house for gifts.  They know that, with me, cash is never frowned upon, and at times it's actually preferred ;)  They even threw in a yummy smelling Bath & Body Works candle so I'd have something to open other than a card.  Way too generous, but I'm very thankful that they care so much to make it a special day for me.  Now I just need to decide what I want to spend my money on, hmmmm.....

Sunday the hubster pampered me at home, making me breakfast, lunch and dinner and helping me with things around the house.  My dear friend Jen even surprised me with a few gifts...the to-go coffee cup and wine preserver I blogged about a month ago.  Both awesome and are already being put to use! 

Yesterday we decided to go see Toy Story 3 instead of SATC 2 (re: this blog post)...I'm so glad I changed my mind!  Toy Story 3 was so, so awesome and it even made me cry.  I've loved this whole series of movies and would even venture to say they're some of my favorite animated movies of all times (after The Little Mermaid, of course).  The theatre wasn't crowded at all (we went to a matinee) but we weren't the only adult couple in the there, which made me feel a bit better :)  I highly recommend going to see it if you're a fan of all the other Toy Story movies, it's worth the ticket price!

Before we left for the theatre, the hubster surprised me with a cake, card and another gift!  The cake was not expected at all and I loved that he went through the trouble.  The gift was the perfume I had also mentioned in that blog post from a month ago, Eternity Summer (it even came with a free beach towel, too).  After the movie we went to dinner and then just came home to relax and eat a slice of my cake - it was super yummy!  He did a great job, couldn't have asked for more and I sported my new watch and perfume the rest of the day.

I also got lots of phone calls, emails, texts and Facebook messages from family and friends wishing me a Happy Birthday and it really made me smile.  My 30th, take two, will not be forgotten!

Happy Birthday to...ME!

It's the first day of Summer, the longest day of the year, and MY birthday :)  Whoo hoo!  Mother Nature came through with an awesome birthday gift this year...it's to be absolutely beautiful today.  The hubster took a half day (originally for a different reason, but that "reason" was postponed, but still worked out in my favor) so we have plans to have an early dinner at a new restaurant that just opened near us, and then head to the movies to see SATC 2, finally!  I know he would never admit it, but I know he's looking forward to seeing it too, maybe not as much as I am, but still... 

Last weekend he let me pick out the watch I wanted because he knows how super duper picky I am and have to try things on and touch and inspect and go back and forth a million times between a few different styles and drive the salespeople (and him) crazy!  I ended up going with the Fossil Stella Skinny White Glitz Watch, but the face of mine doesn't look nearly as "mother of pearl-y" as it does on the Fossil website, which is a good thing in my opinion.  And because I'm a thifty shopper and the hubster is too, after the sale price and a coupon, we saved $30 off the price of the watch :)  And because I know my husband and know he has/had a "birthday budget" set in his mind, it only means I have money leftover towards something else ;)  So I'm not completely sure if he has anything else up his sleeve, but fingers crossed!

Healthy Snacking

I've been trying to cut down on my snacking and desserts, but when I do snack or am craving something sweet, I try to make it as healthy as possible.  One of my favorite healthy snacks/desserts, that I kind of forgot about until a few weeks ago, is a fruit and yogurt parfait with granola.  Very rarely do I actually make it pretty and layer it in a fancy glass, but it's still the same ingredients and idea, just in a bowl.

This day I was using vanilla yogurt, strawberries and vanilla almond granola.  I use 1 cup of yogurt (the recommended serving size), add about a cup of sliced strawberries, then sprinkle some granola on top.  Easy peasy.  It's filling, low in fat, a good source of protein, and it's yummy! I also love it with blueberries too :)

Any healthy snacks or desserts you enjoy that you'd care to share?  I'm always looking for new ideas.

Redness Relief

I need to take a minute to rave about a new product I've been using for the past two weeks.  It's the Clinique Redness Solutions Instant Relief Mineral Powder. 

I've seen the product at the Clinique counter a few times before and I wasn't really sure what to think of it...it's a yellow powder, for God's sake!!!  None of the reps ever mentioned it to me or talked about it, and I never felt the need to ask about it either.  But I saw it mentioned in a Youtube video by Sardun1 and it peaked my interest.  I have redness issues, maybe this could work for me?!  So I picked it up and tried it out the very next day.  I'm sold.  I definitely see a difference when I use the powder.  It doesn't completely, totally, get rid of the red, but it tones it down a significant amount.  No matter how fair my foundation was, I never felt like my face, neck, and chest "matched"...but it does now :)  This is my new finishing powder, all the way.  It feels wonderful on my skin and it has a nice cooling effect too.  You can reapply throughout the day if you need to, and in my experience, if you use a light hand, it won't get cakey or give your skin a yellow cast.  It's a little pricey, at least for me, but you use a very small amount that the jar should last a pretty long time.  I highly recommend checking it out if you have redness issues!