A new favorite: Sonia Kashuk dual ended foundation brush

Happy Tuesday, y'all! Me again. Can you even believe it? Two posts two days in a row ... say it isn't so. You just wait. You're in for a treat this week.

Obviously I've been MIA since I moved to Vegas five months ago. I'd be lying if I told you I haven't thought about shutting the ole blog down more times than I can count. Ultimately, I just couldn't bring myself to do it and I didn't want to. I really do miss you guys and I miss this blogging community. I have definitely felt like something was missing from my life without it. So what I'm saying is I just can't quit you guys, OK? And since we basically have five months of catching up to do and I don't really know where to begin, I'll just start with a beauty review because who doesn't love a beauty review?

And I'll kick off the first of a few upcoming beauty reviews with the Sonia Kashuk Complexion Perfector dual sided foundation brush since it seemed to spark the most interest when I Instagrammed a picture of my bathroom counter after getting read a few weeks ago.

The brush looks like this upclose and I bought mine at Target, my home away from home.

$18.99 online

 

Before this brush, I used to apply foundation with the elf stipple brush which I've reviewed and then I blended with just a plain make up sponge wedge. I still love the elf stipple, but dare I say I love this Sonia Kashuk more? I dare.


If you're looking to switch things up in the foundation application department, I highly recommend giving this brush a whirl. What I do is put about a dime size amount of foundation on the back of my hand. Then, I take the brush end and dab a bit of the foundation and apply to one section of my face at a time until it's applied all over. Then, use the sponge end to blend to a flawless look.

Since I bought this brush, I have not switched back to any of my old foundaton brushes and i literally use it every day. I look creepy here - I manage to do that any time i try to take a "selfie" as I see they're calling it these days - but here is my skin after using the dual ended brush for applcation. Keep in mind I'm in natural light, "#nofilter" and absolutely zero self tanner. I think the brush does a fairly good job of covering imperfections. Because trust, my skin has plenty.

SIde note: That lip gloss sitch is just awful. Please disregard.

 

Has anyone tried this brush? What's your favorite application method for foundation?

 

Remedies for desert dry skin

Before I thoroughly disgust you with my alligator skin tales, I want to announce the official return of FRIDAY FAVORITES this week! I would love for anyone who would like to help "celebrate" the return of Friday Faves to link-up and share your faves from the week (or past few weeks if you've been Fri Faves MIA like me).

Moving right along ...


Imagine my disgust when I looked down at my feet last week after a long day at work and saw skin only suitable for a reptile. To say I was horrified is an understatement and I could not get my scaly self to the Target lotion aisle fast enough.

You see, I rarely wore or needed lotion in Dallas because of the climate. I just used my favorite moisturizing body wash at night and did not look like I slathered my legs in baby powder by morn. Le sigh ... Those were the days.

Lately, however, my scaly skin and lips have been completely parched on the reg. I'm obviously not OK with this reality so I turned where any serious researcher would turn: the Internet. Now, I know a lot of you obviously don't live in the desert, but since winter is right around the corner for all of us, I thought I would share some of the dry skin remedies I found.

1. Refrain from showering with really hot water and lotion up immediately after you get out of the shower while skin is still damp to lock in moisture. Who knew?

Currently loving the feel and scent of Dove Cream Oil Intensive Body Lotion

True Life: what I look like while typing blog posts after working all day. Hash tag not cute.

2. Butter and olive oil ... Huh?

According to a post in the "kichen beautician" series on Lauren Conrad's Beauty Department blog (how clever is that series name btw), a good DIY moisturizer is a mash of 2 tsp of coconut butter and 10 drops of EVOO. She said the butter/oil concoction can be used on dry lips, elbows, knees, etc. a few times a week to combat extra dry skin.

I've never heard of this, but the benefits of coconut butter and EVOO, which you can read about here, sound worth a try.

3. This is a no brainier, but find a good moisturizing lip balm for you lips and make sure you have one everywhere: night stand, purse, desk, etc. I've just recently made sure I had my favorite mint e.o.s. lip balm handy at all times.

4. Last, but not least, apparently I should drink lots of water. I always go through water drinking phases and I really need to get back into the phase where I drink a lot of it. But coffee and diet coke are so good. OKKKKK, fine, pass me the Fiji. FML.

If you live in a dry climate, what are your glowing skin secrets? Do spill.

Teen Mom 2 star Chelsea Houska chats beauty with the Bargain Blonde

When I recently received an e-mail from Chelsea Houska's PR Team asking me if I'd like to interview her, I couldn't type "Um, duh" fast enough. Were my eyes deceiving me? Was this really an e-mail asking if I'd like to interview Chelsea Houska from MTV's Teen Mom 2?  No friends, my eyes were not playing tricks.  This was real life and last night i had the opportunity to speak with this pretty mamma all about her favorite beauty and hair products.

via Chelsea's Instagram (@ChelseaHouska)

As a huge Teen Mom fan (I've never missed an episode), excited was an understatement. Chelsea has always been a favorite of mine because of what an amazing Mom she seems like and on a personal level, I can relate to her relationship woes with Aubree's father. 

Plus, I've always thought she was beautiful with great style, and since she is currently enrolled at Black Hills Beauty College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she studies the art of make-up application and hair design, I couldn't wait to chat all things hair and beauty with her.  

In case you are wondering, I'm happy to report that Chelsea was just as sweet and down to earth as I expected.  In fact, I totally felt like her and I were long lost besties just chatting away. You could even hear little Aubree running around in the background.  Speaking of Aubree, is she not the cutest ever?

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Enough of my rambling. Check out our interview below and let me know what you think in the comments! 

Did you always know you wanted to be involved in beauty/hair?  What made you decide to go to beauty school?

My mom went to beauty school and she did it for a little while when I was younger. And when I was growing up, our house had a room that was like a salon. I was always in there playing with my friends' hair so I've always known this is what I wanted to do.

You are running late and only have time to put on three make-up items before leaving the house, what are they and why?

Mascara because you always need mascara, a little powder or bronzer and lipstick or chapstick. I feel like that covers a little of everything.

I have long hair as do you, so how do you keep yours healthy?  Any tricks of the trade learned in beauty school?

Before beauty school I never used thermal sprays, but ever since I started school, I learned how important thermal sprays are. I use Kenra Thermal Styling Spray, which you can get at salons.   

I always curl my hair, and the products I use are mousse, a spray leave-in conditioner, thermal spray and I finish with a silkening gloss. 

Chelsea's Curls via

Favorite hair product you swear by? 
There is this stuff that I use that makes my hair really big. It’s called Dust It by Osis. You put a little bit in at the roots and then you tease it. I love it!

*Editors Note: We started talking about how we both have fine hair and I told her it is impossible for me to tease my hair because of this. She swears Dust It is a miracle, so I am ordering it online here and I will report back.  It has great reviews online!

How many times a week you wash your hair?

My hair is really fine and if I don’t wash it often, it looks greasy so I wash it every day or every other day.  I have used the Kenra Dry Shampoo between washes. 

Whenever I'm babysitting my 4-year-old nephew, my beauty routine goes out the window.  How do you find the time to put yourself together as a single mom enrolled in school raising a young daughter?   

It’s so hard!  But, I always wake up early before her to get ready and then once I'm ready, I'll get her ready.  We have a great routine down.  If I try to get ready while she's awake, it's so hard because she loves to play in my make-up. 

Chelsea and Aubree via

What is your favorite drug store foundation and mascara? 

I've used Revlon Colorstay Foundation for forever and my favorite mascaras are by L'oreal. I just try to find the mascara with the thick brushes on the end because I like my eyelashes really big!  

  

Do you use pencil, automatic or liquid liner?  What is your favorite brand? 

I use pencil and automatic.  I am obsessed with all MAC make-up, so their eyeliner is probably my fave. 

Name a makeup crime that you hate.

I hate this but I know I’m guilty of it sometimes. I hate when people have foundation lines all down their chin. I hate it, but I know I’ve been guilty of it! 

via

What celebrity beauty style do you admire the most?

For hair I admire Lauren Conrad because she does a lot of how-tos on her blog that I like to follow.  I love the Kardashian girls for make-up.

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Do you feel like you have to get "done up" before filming? Do you have stylists that help you or is what we see hair and make-up wise done all by you? 

I wish we had people who did our hair and make-up but they definitely don’t!  At first, when I first started filming, I would always try to get ready, but now I don’t always and I always regret it if I don't. 

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There you have it bargainistas. My Guiliana Rancic "red carpet moment".  Except I was sitting on my couch in sweats on a cell phone.  Story of my life.

So, what do you think? Do you love Chelsea as much as me?  I cannot wait to try out the Dust It hair product she recommended.  Huge thank you to Chelsea for taking the time to chat beauty with me! 

Link-up: Friday Favorites!

So we meet again! What a week it has been. Work has been busy for me and as I type that I am reminded of a link-up idea I have been tossing around in my head so I think now is as good of time as any to bounce my idea off of y'all.

While bloggers typically blog about anything and everything under the sun, we rarely talk about what we do to to fund our lavish lifestyles.  In my case, I'm clearly joking about the "lavish" part.

What do we think about a "How I make my money honey" linkup? And I'm not talking about disclosing company names or addresses. I'm certainly not trying to get fired or worse, assaulted in my work parking lot by a wanna be Ted Bundy. But we could totally talk about our line of work without revealing any incriminating or potentially dangerous information.

Let me know if the comments if this is something that would interest you and I'll host a link-up.  I for one would LOVE to know what everyone does for their "real job" because I can probably count on one hand the number of bloggers I actually know what they do for a living.  Plus, I'm nosy.

Without further adieu, here are my Friday Faves for the week!

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I mentioned this Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra Lift Anti-Wrinkle Eye Roller when I blogged about the 3 hair products I can't believe I ever lived without.  I said I'd tell you about at a later date and today is that day.  I have been using this at night under my eyes before putting a serum all-over my face and it's phenom.  My favorite thing about it is the cooling sensation you get from the metal roller ball, which is super relaxing for the end of your day. 
I'm deathly afraid of wrinkles on my face especially around the eye area so I love that this protects the most sensitive part of your face with pro-retinol.  I bought mine at Target and it was around $11. 

Champneys is a U.K. spa that launched their luxury spa line in March 2012 at Target stores in the U.S.  I had never heard of Champneys so I checked their line out while at Target recently.  I smelled this bubble bath and I had to have it.



This "Exotic Retreat Bubble Heaven" is just that — heavenly. Not only does it smell delicious, but is so thick and moisturizing.  All of the Champneys products range from $7.99 to $12.99 and you can find them at Target.  They have several products, but what I want to try next is their Shimmering Body Oil, which is a dry body oil that claims to condition your skin and leave you with a subtle gold shimmer. Yes, please.  Hopefully it will bring all the boys to the yard.  

Some of you know this about me and some of you don't, but Big Brother is my favorite TV show in the history of ever.  I anxiously countdown until it's return every Summer and yesterday all of the new houseguests' pics and interviews were released.  Next Thursday, season 14 premieres and I could pee my pants with excitement already.  I've already bought my live feeds, so it's go time people. 



If you are a BB fanatic like me, then check out all the new houseguest info here on BBDish! (my favorite and the ONLY Big Brother blog I'll read).  Also, if you want the live feeds, buy them through the link at the top of her blog! 

Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte, where have you been all my life?  Cinnamon, butter and brown sugar flavors. Need I say more?  I've always stuck to my usual vanilla latte at Starbucks but I've seriously been missing out.  I just tried the Cinnamon Dolce Latte for the first time yesterday and it's love at first sip.  Just order it non fat and skip out on the whip cream/sugar topping to save cals. 

This week on The Bachelorette we saw Emily visit her boys in their hometowns.  While in Dallas (holl-er!) at Sean's parents, Emily was wearing the Rebel Pendent Necklace by Stella & Dot.  



Click HERE to purchase your own celebrity coveted Stella and Dot style from your personal stylist a.k.a. me. The rebel pendent has also been spotted on Tiffani Theissan, Kelly Clarkson and Selena Gomez. I lurve it. 
P.S. The Fall Stella and Dot line DEBUTS TODAY!!! So excited!!! Get a sneak peek here! 
P.P.S. I'll be posting pics of the new line as they become available on my Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  Make sure you follow me!


Grab my button at the top of this post and link-up to share your favorites from the week!  And if you're interested in the link-up I mentioned at the beginning of this post, let me know in the comments.  TGIF. 

4th of July insipired nails using at home gel system

I love all the patriotic painted nails popping up all over Pinterst and Instagram, but the picture above is by far my favorite take on 4th of July inspired nails.  


It's been a while, but I blogged about my love for gel manicures a long time ago.  The only problem is that sometimes I can't make it into a salon and gel manis can be pricey.  Well, my loves, did you know you can give yourself at-home gel manicures??  You can!  Ulta carries a brand called Red Carpet Manicure, which is an at home LED gel system.  


I'm certainly not a gel nail or nail art expert, so Red Carpet Manicure nail technician Danielle Candido is giving you bargainistas a step-by-step guide to achieve patriotic gel nails at home.

1. Paint the whole nail with Red Carpet Reddy

2. Before curing the second coat of color, take a striping brush and lay down a stripe of Drop Dead Gorgeous. Do not cure this layer.  

3.Clean the brush and  lay down a stripe of White Hot either right next to the first stripe or even down the center of the first stripe. Do not cure this layer.

4. Clean the brush.

5. Next, with the thin edge of the flattened striping brush, pull the tip of the brush through all the lines in a pre-determined pattern and cure.

6. Apply a thin coat of Brilliance Top Coat. Cure and wipe with Purify 

I have wanted to jump on the at home gel nail train for a while, but didn't really know which products to use. I discovered that Red Carpet Manicure has a starter kit with a portable light for $59.99, which I think is a good price if you think how much money you'll be saving in the long run.  I might have to take one of my 20% off Ulta coupons and scoop this bad boy up.

Has anyone bought an at-home gel manicure kit?  What brand did you buy and did you like it?

What do you think about patriotic nails?  Will you be jumping on that trend this 4th of July?

3 hair products I can't believe I ever lived without

Ever heard of the women's magazine Allure's Best of Beauty Awards?  If you have not, then you should know that according to Wikipedia (Wikipedia is all-knowing), Allure began its "Best of Beauty" awards program 14 years ago to help readers choose among the vast array of makeup, skin-care, and hair-care products on the market.


If I'm ever looking for new products to try, I go online to check-out the Best of Beauty winners, make a list and buy.  That's how this happened during a recent trip to Target:

I'll talk about the Almay make-up eraser sticks and Boots No. 7 Beauty Serum in a separate post because today's post is all about hair. 


The Dove Nourishing Oil Care Detangler, which was actually brought to my attention via my bloggie bestie Raven (not the Best of Beauty), the John Frieda 3-Day straight semi-permanent styling spray and the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner have all been added to my hair care routine. It's true love.


I'm going to talk about these products in the order in which I use them, so first up is the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner.  This stuff is priced right.  Less than $5!  It's a thick cream and it smells so fruity and yummy.

via

You shampoo as usual, put in the Aussie conditioner and let it sit in your hair for at least 3 minutes while you continue showering.  It made my hair reallllly soft and I use it a few times a week now.  You can read it's Best of Beauty review here.


Next up is the Dove spray.  After towel drying your hair, shake the bottle up to blend the oils and spray generously. For me, that means a lot of sprays.  I have a TON of hair and it's ridiculously long and wavy so it tangles like nobody's business.  Legit, it takes me upwards of 20 minutes to brush my hair. I absolutely hate brushing my hair after a shower. Woe is me. 


After coating your hair with as many sprays as you personally need, comb through. I promise it will not make your hair oily.  I have enough oils in my hair so the last thing I need is more.  The argan oil and almond oil give your hair a great shine and make it much easier to brush through.

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As with all Dove beauty products, this is also priced right at around $5. As if I'd be blogging about something that wasn't budget-friendly ... pshhh


Last, but not least, we have the John Frieda Frizz-Ease 3-Day Straight which might be my favorite of the three.  It's a spray with heat protection that blocks frizz out as you blow dry/flat iron. Seriously it works wonders. I have used this several times now and my hair is easier to blow dry straight and actually stays straight, smooth and shiny for at least a few days. Read the Best of Beauty review here.

via (around $8.99)

The Best of Beauty Awards do not lie.  Here is my hair the night before I left for Charleston all natural aka ratty (Reese insisted he brush my hair like Repunzel) and then after using all 3 of these products. Sorry I look creepy and it's not the best picture of my hair, but you get the idea.

What are your favorite straightening products?

Sonia Kashuk Satin Luxe Lip Color Review + $100 Target Gift Card giveaway

If there is one thing you know about me, you know I love affordable, great-quality make-up, and more importantly, I love sharing my latest and greatest bargain beauty products with all of you bargainistas. When I recently received the new Sonia Kashuk Satin Luxe Lip Color from Target to test out in Classic Red and Pink Punch for free, I couldn't wait to share with you ladies.

However, if I'm being completely honest, I was slightly terrified thinking about how I was going pull this look off when I saw how vibrant the hues were. I typically stick to light pink glosses because of my fair skin, but I have to tell you, I'm so glad I had the opportunity to test these bold colors because wow, did they make me feel glamorous! If I can pull these colors off, I know they will flatter anyone with any skin shade. Hello red lips...

How playful is this hot pink lip with wavy hair for a fun summer look?

Now, let me dish on the deets.

Maybe you are feeling spicy and want to wear a hot pink or a classic red like me, but maybe you want something more low-key for the office. You're in luck, because the Satin Luxe Lip Color comes in 14 shades and is only $9.99! Ladies, that is a steal and you better believe I'm planning on adding more to my already out-of-control make-up collection. Yes, I am a make-up hoarder, and no, I don't care.

So not only does this lipstick soften and hydrate your lips, it will protect them from the sun with built-in SPF 16. Sun safety helps with anti-aging, and the nourishing ingredients plump up lips for added firmness.

Speaking of ingredients, any of you care to know what you are putting on your lips? This Satin Luxe Lip Color is paraben- and fragrance-free and contains Brown Seaweed Extract to preserve skin elasticity as well as Ceramide 2 and Palmitoyl Peptide to visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

Other than the incredibly pigmented color, which you can see in the pictures of me above, the best thing about Sonia’s line of lipsticks is the way they wear. When first applied, they are smooth with a silky glide, but within about an hour they change and behave more like a stain, but with a satin finish. After about 3 hours, I reapplied and my lips looked fantastic.

Oh, oh, oh! I almost forgot. I know this may seem silly, but packaging on products is important to me. I LOVED the new black packaging with its color button to make finding the right tube easier when digging through my stash.

How exciting is this? BlogHer is offering all of my readers an opportunity to enter a sweepstakes to win a $100 Target GiftCard to buy some of Sonia Kashuk Satin Luxe Lip Color for yourself! All you have to do is leave me a comment answering the following question:

Rules:
No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 6/4 to 6/30.
Be sure to visit the sponsor's brand page on BlogHer.com, where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Review: Hana Titanium Flat Iron!

Way back in January the kind sirs at Misikko sent me the Hana 1.5 inch Titanium Flat Iron to give a whirl and review for all of you bargainistas.  Five months later (I needed to give it a proper test run, okaaaay), here I am to dish ....

I think it's important you know that prior to owning the Hana Flat Iron, I religiously used my hot pink Chi Flat Iron.  In fact, the Chi and I were in a pretty serious relationship and we were even approaching our 10-year anniversary.  That's a long time if you ask me, so I feel bad that I haven't so much as thought about touching my Chi since my introduction to the Hana.  I'm sorry Chi, but I'm not sorry.  

It's hard to see everything that came in my package, but Misikko hooked this bargain blonde up! In addition to the Hana Titanium Flat Iron, my box was complete with several heat protective travel flat iron cases, thermal protectant Serum, a silicone mat for your counter top, e.l.f. goodies (how'd they know?), hair towel, sleep mask, nail files, etc.  Seriously, it was Christmas in January when this box arrived.  Being a blogger does not suck.

So what's so great about the Hana? A flat iron is a flat iron is a flat iron, right?  Wrong.  My hair is really wavy (especially in the back) so I absolutely cannot get away with an average, run of the mill flat iron. The shiz has to be legit.  The Chi works great, don't get me wrong (or else I wouldn't have used it for 10 years), but the Hana works better IMHO.  

The titanium plates are the real show stopper here.  This particular model has a 1.5 inch plate, which means I can grab more hair at a time.  The more hair I can cover per stroke of the flat iron = less time to get ready.  Wam, bam, thank ya mam!


I also love that the Hana has an adjustable heat setting.  I use the highest setting (450 degrees) when straightening my entire head of hair, but if I just need to smooth out a kink or two to touch up, I can lower the setting to save my hair from unnecessary extreme heat.

They say the proof is in the pudding, so here's my proof.    

I wouldn't be singing the praises of the Hana Titanium if I didn't love it so much.  I had my Hana with me in the "getting ready" rooms during my friend Courtney's wedding as well as my friend Kristina's wedding back in January and February, and all my besties tested the Hana out. I'm happy to report that they loved it just as much as me.

If you want to get a Hana for yourself, it's on sale right now for $174.99. It's regularly $239.99, so you can save some major dollars!  It ships same day, comes with a free 2-year warranty and you'll get these goodies for free:

If you have any additional questions about the Hana, I'm happy to share my experience using this flat iron. Just leave your questions in the comments or e-mail me!  Happy Thursday ladies.

Calling all Blondes. Purple shampoo: why and how it works!

Sorry my non-blonde beauties, but you'll have to sit this post out.   Hugs and let's reconvene tomorrow?

Friends shouldn't let friends let their blonde get brassy, so today we explore the brilliance that is Purple Shampoo.  If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about then you are probably wondering two things:

I used purple shampoo in high school, forgot about it during college and started using it again about two years ago when I came back to my senses.  In between highlights my locks inevitably loose their luster, so to breathe life back into my hair, I use a purple shampoo a few times a week (do not overuse purple shampoo. A few times a week is ideal.).  I was curious how and what purple shampoo actually was so I asked my stylist the last time I was in the salon.  Here's what I learned.

Hard water, air pollution, too much sun and clorine are some of the culprits that will turn your blonde a brassy or yellow color.  Purple shampoo revives brassy tones in your hair between a fresh color sesh and below is how.    

Two words: color science.  The general theory is that opposing colors on the color wheel neutralize each other out.  Exhibit A:

As you can see above, purple and yellow are directly across from each other on the color wheel.  Thus, the purple color in a purple shampoo/conditioner will effectively neutralize all the yellow tones in your hair.

Any questions class? Maybe you don't know where to find purple shampoo?

Go to your local Ulta.  Don't have an Ulta? Try Target or Sally's Beauty Supply.

Want my personal recs?

Currently I'm using AG Sterling Silver Toning Shampoo (33.8 oz size = $40).  

Don't freak.  I did not spend $40 on shampoo.  I purchased it during an Ulta promo when it was on sale for $12.99. I also had a $3.50 off $10 coupon I used, so my bottle was less than $10.  btw - I only remember this because I blogged about it. 

I  go through conditioner faster than shampoo, and I recently ran out of my AG purple conditioner. I wasn't about to spend $40, so I picked up the budget friendly John Frieda Sheer Blonde Color Renew Tone Restoring Conditioner ($5.99).  That's a mouth full.  

Now go forth, buy some purple shampoo and say see ya later to your yucky brassy blonde.  I promise that after about 3 uses, you and those around you are going to notice a difference.  Bargain Blonde out.