Messy Bun Monday!

I do love a messy bun! End of story.

Easy Updo

Directions:

1. Start by teasing sections of hair to create volume.

2. Make desired part.

3. Smooth hair on top.

4. Make "inside out" ponytail

5. Take remaining ponytail, and tuck ends into first ponytail.

6. Pin everything down :)

Remember these?! Other easy hairstyles!

Delipscious by Body Shop

Found these while checking out the sales in The Body Shop. I always love their post-Christmas sales because they always have great stuff at my favorite price, CHEAP. I mostly like to stock up on the shower gels, but this time I found lipsticks on sale 3 for $10. Not sure what the regular retail price is, but at less than $3.50 per lipstick I'm guessing I got a pretty good deal. I only have two for myself because my mom took the third one..

So far, I'm liking them. They feel very moisturizing. They are sheer, but I like that because it just looks like my lips are naturally rosy. They give a very nice, subtle hint of color. I might try to go back and purchase more.

What are your favorite lip products?

Dove Gofresh Body Mist

I received a sample of this product in the plum and sakura blossom scent a couple of months ago and absolutely loved it. I wanted to purchase the full size bottle right away, but every time I would check for it in stores, it was always out of stock! I was finally able to find a bottle of the stuff at Target and decided to pick up a bottle of pomegranate and lemon verbana as well. Naughty, naughty. My justification for this is that they were only a little over $4 a bottle. That's not too bad, right?

Plum and Sakura Blossom:
It's light and fruity, without being too sweet. It doesn't overpower, and I think is perfect for day time when you want your perfume to be a little on the lighter side. The scent lasted pretty well as well.

Pomegranate and Lemon Verbena:
I thought this one was a little stronger than the plum scent, but still smells very nice. It's fresh and isn't too overpowering. I would wear this more at night. It smells.. sexier? I haven't worn this one out yet so I don't know what the staying power is yet.

They have other scents: cucumber and green tea, nectarine and white ginger, and grapefruit and lemon grass. All of the scents have a hint of Dove moisturizer, which is awesome because it won't dry out your skin. They are also 3 oz, which makes it perfect for traveling! I can't wait to try them all!

What's your favorite body mist?

Gold Silk

Gold Silk by Rimmel is a great color! It's a pale gold with a pink undertone. It's neutral, metallic, shimmery. I love it! Plus, it's so easy to apply because the brush is wide and flat. It also dries pretty quickly which is great. I'm not quite sure if it actually holds up for 10 days like it says on the bottle because I normally don't keep a polish on for that long, but it definitely doesn't chip right away. Another plus is that it is inexpensive. I find them for a little over $3 at Target, and sometimes you can find coupons for a $1 off. Not bad at all!

My small collection. Hope to add more soon!

Do you have a favorite nail polish brand?

Ingrid

Today's exciting nail color choice is Ingrid by China Glaze! It's a dark gray/taupe shade with a very subtle golden shimmer. I absolutely love this color! It's deep, rich, very wintery, and is neutral which is an absolute must for me when it comes to choosing a nail polish.

Gold Coin

I love gold nail polishes, especially during the holidays! This is one from Revlon that I have been enjoying a lot lately. What's even better is that I got it for free using coupons! Sweet.

What are your favorite holiday nail colors?

Beauty Station

One of my favorite things in my room is the little station that I have set up. I don't have a large room so everything is condensed into one little area. I also don't like to have a lot of knickknacks on display, so bins and shelves were out of the question. Instead I took what once was used as a computer desk and turned it into storage for everything I could ever need for getting ready. It was perfect. I could have everything within arm's reach and could hide it all once I was done. I love it!

This desk was a thrift store find! It was sanded and stained. It has seven drawers in total, with three on each side and one in the middle.

Makeup is separated into categories and organized into bins or pencil trays that were purchased at the dollar store. Makeup brushes and hair tools are separated into tin pails that were purchased the dollar section at Target.

All of my hair products fit into one drawer. All of my hot hair tools are placed in a clay flower pot.

How do you organize your makeup and other beauty related products?

Homemade Sugar Scrub

I don't know about you or how it is where you live, but the cold winter weather where I am is taking some toll on my skin. I've always wanted to try a sugar scrub to help with exfoliation, but instead of going out and buying a jar I decided to concoct my own. Part experiment, part I'm too cheap to buy something that I have the ingredients to make. I looked up several recipes and after seeing what goes in a basic scrub, I came up with my own mix. I just eyeballed the measurements, but pretty much three-fourths of the mix is sugar and one-fourth is a mix of everything else. I took the mixture and put it in a glass jar (a thrift store purchase!) that I could keep in my shower. Totally living up to my self proclaimed diy bargain ways :)

I'm excited to try this! What are some of your cold winter skin tips?

Pretty Petals

I took my very plain, very boring nail color and turned it into something a little more fun. Still neutral colors, but with a little more interest. I'm thinking that I need another trip to the dollar store soon so I can pick up more L.A. Colors Art Deco nail art lacquer. I definitely need a lot more practice, but they're so fun!

A Very Eventful Saturday

NOT! Unfortunately, I didn't have many plans. What did I do? Let's see, I ran some errands (the boring kind!), got some pizza, and watched tv with my boyfriend. That about sums up my day. The only thing that has slightly amused me was the fact that my hair held out all day despite the fact that I put minimal effort into it. Why is it when I don't try my hair looks just the way I want it to- wavy, bouncy, voluminous. But when I actually want it to be something special, it's a mess! I have no hair talent. I didn't have anywhere to go tonight, so I was stuck at home and resorted to taking pictures of myself to provide some entertainment. Enjoy :)

End self-taken photos.
On a brighter note, I have a couple of things to look forward to next week. Monday night, some girlfriends are coming over to have Christmas themed cocktails and sweets combined with a Harry Potter marathon. Can't even describe how excited I am! I'm planning on baking gingerbread men, snickerdoodles, and peanut butter chip cookies. With that we're having a little peppermint schnapps hot chocolate and peppermint martinis paired with some peppermint bark. Keyword is PEPPERMINT. I think we just threw in all of the peppermint stuff to be able to call it a holiday get-together, but really we just want alcohol and girl talk. You know, it's just classier that way. Also, on Sunday night I will be on my way to Vegas! Maybe it's a good thing that I didn't go out this weekend. I'm saving all my energy for things to come!

Putty Concrete

I'm a fan of neutrals on nails. I have issues with nails clashing with outfits, and I like that a neutral color is always a no-brainer. It goes with everything. Today, I chose Putty Concrete by Icing. I believe I got it on clearance for about $2, but I actually like a lot of their polishes. A lot of them are chip resistant. They also go on smoothly and dry quickly, which is good because I'm impatient when it comes to drying nails. I'm also not the best painter so it's such a hassle when my nails become ruined when I don't wait long enough for them to dry thoroughly. Means I have to start all over again, and that is no bueno. This particular color is opaque after just one coat, but I put on two after applying a base coat. I'm mostly a fan of grays, taupes, and golds so this color definitely fits the bill. I know it's such a boring color, or lack of color actually, but I love it :)

A Little Something

I was out with a friend and decided to pop into Sephora to use a gift card that I was given for my birthday. I picked up a little bottle of Josie Maran Organic Argan Oil Moisturizer that I found in the trial/travel section that they have near the registers. On the box it says that it can be used as a daily moisturizer, to treat split ends, condition cuticles, as a body moisturizer, to soothe rough patches of skin, and as a bath oil. This interested me so I went ahead and got it without really giving it much more thought. I felt a little bad on the way home knowing that I spent $15 on a tiny bottle of something that I have never heard of before, but when I got home I checked Sephora's website and was relieved to find that it was highly rated. Made me feel a little better. Hope it works out for me!