Empties Review - It's All About The Hair!

I've been missing you gals (and guys!) It's that time again to let you know what I've used up and am loving. Oddly, it's all hair products this go around. But thats OK! We have to take care of our hair, too, so let's get started.

I am a big believer in touching up those pesky gray roots at home. I don't know about you, but I don't have time to run to the salon every 2 or 3 weeks to keep the gray away. So, I started doing that at home, when my schedule permits and it's working out great. I'm really loving the Color Brilliance Cream Color from ION. My hair has been highlighted and is quite long now, and I really like the ombre look, so it's easy to choose a color close to my natural hair color and fill in the roots, and achieve a beautiful ombre style.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Of course, you don't have to do this, because the ION color is great for all over coloring if you're not interested in highlights ( or if you have really short hair) It takes about 45 minutes for the color to process, and I find myself doing the dishes, watching a show, catching up on some reading while it's doing its thing. It's like double tasking! You can find the ION color (and the 20% devloper that mixes with it) at your local Sally Beauty Supply.

Long hair needs some extra pampering, so that it doesn't dry out, break and look scraggly. I've been loving the Matrix Color Bloom Mask. I use it once or twice a week, leave it in for about 5 minutes while I'm finishing up in the shower and it really seems to keep my color looking vibrant and my ends feeling moisturized (which is essential when you're growing your hair out, so you don't end up with lots of split ends that will have to be cut off) You can find this at some drugstores and Ulta stores. 

Dry Shampoo, I love you. I became a believer in dry shampoo over the last year and do not know how I functioned without it before. I try different kinds all of the time and just recently finished two bottles. Not Your Mother's dry shampoo is great - the white cast isn't terrible, it smells nice and the bottle is fairly large. I had never tried it before, and I'll definitely purchase it again.

I also went through a bottle of Tresseme Dry Shampoo. I picked this up in a hurry at the grocery store. The price sucked me in - it was cheap and on sale. So I grabbed a bottle and hoped for the best.

I'll be honest, it has a little bit more of a white cast, but it dissipates quickly once you brush it through. It's a great economy option (and is easy to find since it's pretty much everywhere.

Urban Decay Naked Lip Gloss - First Impression

 I love a good lip gloss, don't you? But I hate the overly sticky feeling of many and the way my hair gets caught in my lips when the wind blows. Yuck.

I recently got to try the new lip glosses from the Urban Decay Naked line. I was pretty excited!

First, they are so so pretty! All of the colors are in the neutral/naked range - so they are light and perfect for spring. I tried a few and personally, some were a little too light for me - I preferred those with a tiny bit more color - something closer to my natural lip color. Rule34 and Beso fit the bill nicely. Naked is pretty, but just too nude for me.

Second - They smell nice. I'm generally off put by lip products that have funky and/or a chemical smell. Naked glosses smell fresh, with a hint of mint. But nothing so strong it's all you can smell. It's just a nice, clean fresh scent.

Third - They're not overly sticky. This is huge. Glosses appeal to me (and maybe you) because they're easy to apply, give some color and moisturize. But sometimes that moisture comes with stickiness. No thanks. The Naked glosses feel slick when applied - a definite selling point.

Fourth - The applicator is great. It's a paddle applicator and it picks up just the right amount of product so you don't have to double or triple dip to get the right amount of gloss.

Want to get yours? Visit Urban Decay and pick a few up. They're $20 each and come in nine nude shades.

Meaningful Beauty

Ok let's face it, ladies. We should all be so fortunate to look like Cindy Crawford - my lord, does that woman ever age?? It just doesn't seem fair to the rest of us, does it?

Well, when a box of her line of skincare Meaningful Beauty arrived at my doorstep to review, I must confess, I sorta snubbed my nose at it at first. After all the celebrities who have smacked their name on label for this or that, I just wasn't sold.

So the poor box sat. And sat. And occasionally, I'd open it up and see what Cindy had to say about her miraculous products filled with this rare melon extract. And then I'd close it back up and go back to whatever I was using at the time.

And it's not that I have "bad" skin or "troubled" skin - but I want that "lit from within" skin. So a few nights ago, as I was taking inventory of my stock in my bathroom, deciding what to keep and what to toss, I decided to give Meaningful Beauty a try.

This is what true love feels like! I look forward to washing my face everyday now - this formula removes makeup without causing my skin to become stripped. Skin just feels clean and soft after using.
Combine that with the Créme de Serum, Skin Brightening Décolleté and Neck Treatment SPF 15 and my oh my will your skin feel amazing.  I can't speak to the anti-wrinkle effects of the line, as I don't have any wrinkles, but I will say that your skin will feel healthy and moisturized while using this line and that, I believe, is half the battle!

I did not encounter any sensitivity issues nor did I break out at all while using Meaningful Beauty - in fact, I noticed a decline in hormonal breakouts! I would definitely recommend this line to anyone looking to change up their skin care routine.