Surprising Find on Labels

Hello there! I found a couple of different products at, can you believe it, Walgreens. I really liked these products until I looked even further into the ingredients, so here's my review on them.

 First off is Organix brand shampoo in Moroccan Argan Oil. This scent was $7.99.What I like about this brand is that it tries to be pretty natural, there are no parabens plus it's safe for color-treated hair. It says that this shampoo is sulfate free, but yet it has Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate as an ingredient. So I don't consider it fully sulfate free. I've researched what it is and supposedly, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate is a larger partical than other sulfates so they "can't" be absorbed into your skin. While yes, this exact ingredient isn't as bad as a Sulfate, it can still cause irritation and is still not fully natural. I'm not sure if I want to finish this bottle after reading the ingredients.

I like the smell, it just smells good. Ha ha, I don't know how to describe it to you. This shampoo gets the job done. It does leave my strands squeaky, hard to comb, and also pretty tangled if I don't use a conditioner after, I just use any that I have around.

 The second item I purchased was the Organix brand Cherry Blossom Ginseng shampoo. For whatever reason, this scent costs $1 less than the Moroccan Argan Oil shampoo, so it was $6.99.The same deal goes with this shampoo, you will want to use a conditioner afterwards, unless you enjoy a tangled mess. Ha! I purchased both of these shampoos mainly because I wasn't sure how I would like them, the reason that I got two is because there was a buy one get one free, not 50% off, but free. So I was really happy when the cashier told me this, I ran back and grabbed this one. :)

This one smells so good. One of my favorite smelling shampoos out of any I've ever tried, right after Herbal Essences Color Me Happy. This shampoo is supposed to rejuvenate your scalp and hair follicle, add volume at your roots, nourish your hair, plus add hydration and shine, which I must say it does. I was very impressed with this one. I was going to keep purchasing this shampoo, but I went and recently looked at the ingredients list. I was a little disappointed by what I found, the bottle says "sulfate free" and so does their entire website, but one of the ingredients was Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, just like in the moroccan argan oil shampoo. Because of this, I will not be purchasing their shampoos any more. I don't know if I'll be finishing this bottle either.
 And all this just goes to show you that you can't really trust a label, always look at ingredients. The reason I am being more and more cautious about ingredients is because my I'm becoming more aware of what these ingredients can do and that the ingredients in the simplest things are not as safe as you may think. I'm not liking what I'm finding on my shampo and body wash labels, so I will soon be throwing most of them away. If you're looking at the ingredient lists on things, you'll notice way more than half of them have either Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfate or even Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate. Of the three I listed, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is the strongest and most irritating.
 I've found Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, and Sodium Sulfite in my Philosophy body washes (the only two I currently have are Sugar Chick and Aloha Girl, Aloha Girl excluded Sodium Sulfite). Then I found that in my only Bath & Body Works shower gel (Coconut, from their Signature Vanillas) there is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, TEA-Lauryl Sulfate (which is a drying cleanser), and Sodium Laureth Sulfate. I wanted to go on their website to see if all of their body washes contain these, but they do not provide ingredient lists online, and I don't think it's because they don't want anyone copying recipes. Go figure. Looks like I won't be buying body washes from either company now.
 I find it extremely disappointing that companies know that they can make more natural and less harmful products, but yet they still choose to use these harmful fillers. They should be called beauty products for a reason, because they assist in making skin beautiful, and not damaging the skin, but most companies are just interested in making an easy profit. That just makes me want to look harder for better products now.

Walgreens can surprise you, Annie

Sephora Mania!

So I went a little crazy in sephora the other day. I had a make-up artist do my make-up for me, I told her I that I wanted something I could wear in both spring and summer, something that wasn't too bold, but not too neutral. She nailed it! I will explain what she did at the end of my post. :)
Here's everything to be covered. :)

First up is the Nars Illuminator in Orgasm. This is one of their names that will make you blush while asking an employee if they have it in the store. Ha ha. A little bit awkward, but it's a very pretty color. The Illuminator costs around $30. In the swatched photo, the top is just a dab of it, the below it's blended out on and around my knuckle. I really like this color, and it's great at adding a subtle highlight, once you blend it in on your face, there is almost no sparkle. Some people say that there is enough pigment in it to use it as a blush too, but I don't find this to be true.

Now for their Duo Eyeshadow in Sugarland, this goes for $34. In my swatch, the gold is on the top, and the purple below, the purple has a lot of gold sparkle in it, making them very compatible with each other. Very pretty colors, however, the sparkle tends to all go underneath the eye instead of on the eyelid. Even using an eyelid primer, the colors were bleak. The only time that the sparkles seemed to stick to my eyelid and the colors really show up, was when I used their Soft Touch Eyeshadow Pencil in Goddess. However, I decided not to buy it since it costs $24. Bad decision. I suppose that I'll just have to save up and return to get the eyeshadow pencil.

The Nars Eye Liner Pencil in Kaliste is super pretty!! I loveeee the teal color!! This pencil costs $22. I'm sure you could find one that's pretty close in color at a much lower price though. The swatched pencil is darker towards my wrist, and lighter/more blended towards my knuckles. I really don't have much to say about this pencil, I just like it.

The last Nars product I purchased from Sephora is their Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover for $24. This product is genius!! So pretty and wonderful. This is my life saver! Mostly because it stays where I put it all day, pretty much until you eat, even then the pigment still clings to your lips. It's a lot like a lip stain, but more like a gloss when applied, as the day goes on, it becomes more matte. Such a great invention. I love it because I hate reapplying lipgloss or lipstick throughout the day, it is just frustrating. With this product, I don't have to worry. :)

The last product I purchased from Sephora is from Tocca. It's a 1.7oz. perfume called Colette. I really like this scent, it's light and sweet, not super heavy like some of their other ones. All of their perfumes this size are $68. The one thing that I don't care for is that it doesn't last a long time, after about 6 hours I can no longer smell it on my skin. I like to spray it on my neck so that it kinda gets in my hair and on my shirt, so that I can smell it all day long. :) In my opinion, this perfume is worth the money. I had to show you guys the box too, it's so pretty! On the inside flap, it says "Love yourself", aww, so cute. :)

What the make-up artist did:

The woman began by asking me what my typical cosmetic routine consisted of, how often I wear make-up, and what exactly I used (foundation, powder, translucent powder, anything like that). I expressed to her that I generally don't wear eyeshadow unless I'm dressing up, going out, or just feel like looking 'nice', but always wear concealer, BB Cream, and MAC Fix Powder.

 ~Anywhoo, she took the Nars Illuminator in Orgasm and highlighted my face on the forehead, nose, and cheeks.

~Secondly, she took the Nars Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in Goddess and applied it all over my eyelids up to the brow, again I soo wish I had purchased this because of how intense it makes my eyeshadow and makes the shadows stick.

~After that was applied, she used the purple from the Duo Eyeshadow (the name of the duo is Sugarland and incase you're not familiar with Nars, they name the duo, not the individual shadows in the duo) and applied the color across my lid up to my crease.

~She next applied the gold color from the same duo into my crease, I was slightly surprised that it looked quite pretty.

~Afterwards, she grabbed the Nars Eyeliner Pencil in Kaliste and lined my upper lid with a thin line.

~Last but not least, she applied the most amazing lip creation pretty much ever called the Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover.

So there you go, I hope this helps give you a new way to use these products.

A day full of happy splurging and wonderful make-up, Annie

MAC and Chen Man!

This is the heart-hidden surprise from the picture I posted yesterday!!
MAC Cosmetics partnered with Chen Man to form a collection called Love and Water. Chen Man is a fashion photographer from Beijing, in her photography she combines her camera skills with her computer photoediting techniques. She says that she was inspired by her infatuation with love and water, yin and yang, and pink and blue.

 





These are the two ads for this collection and the pictures are of Chen Man herself.

And these are a couple of her works in photography.

So let's get on with the product that I purchased from this collecion.

The one that I got is a mineralize eyeshadow duo, which is available in three colors: Supersweet, which is bronzy, gold mélange, pink on one side and the other is a golden pink; Pink Union, half is a taupe, lavender, brown mélange and the other half is a solid dark violet; and Love Cycle has part light blue, white, dark blue mélange with the other side being a solid royal blue. And just so you know, mélange means that it's a mixture.

 I thought that the sleeve that Chen Man created for the box was pretty so I just had to take a picture and show you guys. As you may be able to tell, I bought the Pink Union color. I love purple in pretty much everything. Ha ha. This duo is great, they go perfectly together and they are so smooth! Which is odd for a mineral eyeshadow. Very blendable and very pretty.

 Though I do have to warn you to be careful when applying it, there are a lot of sparkles packed in here and most fall to your under eye area, so I recommend holding a tissue or something underneath while applying. If not, then apply your eyeshadow before any face make-up so that you can use make-up remover to nix any extra sparkles underneath, where they shouldn't be. :)

Here it is swatched. This duo is absolutely buildable and wonderful! :) I did like the rest of the collection, but I don't think it's for me. Very pretty though. You all should take a peep at this collection. :)

Pink Union dreams, Annie <3

Haul/Review Partayy!!

I know, I know, I'm like a week late. Things have just been piling up around here. Here is a picture of the overview this post, except for a fantastic mascara! The heart is covering up tomorrow's post topic. He he! 

And since 2:52pm yesterday, I have been entering a contest and trying to purchase a purse. Both were for the same purse. (The website completely sold out in just about 14 hours!! So they're on backorder.) It's a purse that Kandee Johnson designed with Imoshion, which is a vegan leather handbag brand and has been featured pretty much everywhere. Kandee Johnson is a youtube make-up guru and celebrity make-up artist, on top of this she's a mom to 4 children! I love her videos and have been following her since her Selena Gomez tutorial in 2009. She is sooo talented and super nice, I wish I personally knew her because she's just a burst of energy!! Here is her youtube channel and her mommy blog. This purse is super cute! I am in loveee with it. It combines leopard print, studs, hot pink, and a pop of turquoise. I know it sounds like a hot disaster, but it isn't, it is really pretty and cute!!  Click HERE to see her make-up blog (it's a link to the post to enter for this purse, but you can just click Home to see her other posts). The contest ends April 5th 2012!

Of course on the left is the frontal view of the purse and the turquoise tassel, 3 studs on the two front pockets, and by the way, there are a ton of pockets, and I mean a ton!! In the middle picture is the inside again more pockets. And on the right is the purse and the matching cosmetic bag that comes with it. :) I am so excited to get this purse!! :)

Lets proceed with the haul/review. <3

Up first is the Chocomania Body Scrub from The Body Shop. I purchased the small size which is $6. Now, this is a negative for me. I find that if I use it after I use soap, then rinse, it makes you sticky. Even if I wash afterwards, I'm still sticky. Not typically desirable. But if I scrub after using it, then I'm fine...and I mean scrub... I'm not a big fan of it though. :/

On to Purity Made Simple from Philosophy. The 16oz. is $32. I loveeee this cleanser. It is so amazing! This is such a staple in my nightly routine. It removes even the toughest make-up so easily and quickly. This is a makeup remover, cleanser, and toner, all in one bottle. :) And I forgot to photograph the bottle, so here's the sample package, but you can see the full size bottle in the overview pic at the top. Ha ha.

I present to you, drumroll please, Sugar Chick from Philosophy. I purchased the 16oz. for $16 because they were on sale, but they're normally $22. I love this scent! It smells sweet, but now overpowering. Their description says "sugar coated marshmallow" which is initially a turn off for me, but I love smelling their stuff. So I did and it smells slightly lemony, and agreeably, sort of like peeps...but better! This soap cleans really well, like all of their other cleansers. If used as a shampoo, the scent lingers for a while, but in a wonderful way. As a body wash, the scent disappears once you hop out of the shower. Plus it's sparkly, I can't wait to try this in a bath!

The ladies at Philosophy in Nordstrom gave me a sample of Vanilla Birthday Cake, which I already had smelled since this was Sephora's birthday gift last year and I did not like it then. The full size bottle is $16 and only comes in this one size for sale. I decided to try it out again, and it smells the exact same, the scent smells quite pleasant in the bottle, but once you use it in the shower, it just elevates. I just really do not like this scent.

Here is a summer must have, the Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Deodorant/Anti-perspirant. This not only makes you sweat less, but you don't need very much of it! This was about $19. It also makes my underarm hair grow quite a bit slower, which is great in summer since they're always exposed. Ha ha! It has a twist top, which I do like, and a twist up bottom.

Last and absolutely not least is the best mascara I have ever used so far, Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara for $19 at Sephora stores. This mascara gives length, volume, and definition. What's cool and different about this one is that it's in a squeeze tube, which you don't generally see, but I like it. :) This mascara is formulated with Pro-Vitamin B, Natural oils and waxes, which all prevent eyelashes from breaking and also promote lash growth. This mascara doesn't smudge, crumble, or flake off at all. Period. No exceptions to that, no "for up to 8 hours", it will not until you take it off. The little thing that looks like a cute guitar pick is actually a smudge shield which you hold behind your lashes. Of course the wide part goes at the base of your eyelashes. I love this mascara and I can't wait to try the other two that they have. I hope the Sephora here gets the Curvy and Fat brushed mascaras soon! :)

Wonderful smells, pretty purses, and wonderful lashes, Annie

A little bit late

Hey there! I know I'm a little late, but I will have a new post upthis week. It is of course, a mini haul/review. And surprisingly, it includes a couple negative. But the positively discussed ones are so fantastic!! :)

 Almost posting, Annie :)

DIY Chocolate Bath, yumm!!

Hey there! So here's the DIY post I was yammering about last night. :) Though I didn't quite post this in the evening...it's now 5:15am. Oopsie. Ha. I suppose I will get started on how to do so. *Of course if you are allergic to any of the following ingredients, do not use them!

What you'll need:

1/4 cup of honey

2 cups of milk

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

*I used Hershey's Cocoa Natural Unsweetened, but any will do, I prefer organic seeing as I will be sitting in this and don't really want fillers,etc. etc., I also used an organic honey for the same reasons.

What the ingredients do:
*In case you don't care about what they do, proceed below to the Mixing section. :)

Of course the cocoa powder softens your skin nicely, plus it moisturizes and re-mineralizes the skin and metabolism.  The chocolate also improves mood by producing more endorphins, hormones that generate feelings of well-being.

You could also just use milk. This was of course made famous by Cleopatra, she is said to have used camel's milk. She took milk baths to soften and improve the appearance of her skin, however, she used purely milk without the water, seeing as that would take quite a bit of milk, I decided to cut the amount (and cost) down, ha ha. The milk and honey supply a lot of nutrients to your skin along with proteins, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and calcium and is also quite hydrating.

Mixing:

First, measure out 1/4 cup of honey, I just poured it into one big microwave safe measuring cup (didn't want to dirty too many dishes). Now, add in your 2 cups of milk. Then microwave the ingredients for 2 1/2 minutes. The reason for microwaving is because it makes adding and blending the cocoa powder easier. Remove from the microwave and whisk until frothy.  Add in your 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder and whisk again until the cocoa powder is dissolved.

Bath Time!!:

Fill your bathtub with about 75% water, while the water is running, pour your mixture under the faucet. The running and warm water makes the mixture nice and frothy.

Now, dim the lights, possibly burn a candle or two, and just sit back and relax with a good book or magazine. *For an extra luxurious touch, take some dark chocolate to enjoy eating. I recommend Divine brand chocolate. <3

Sweet chocolaty dreams, Annie

HEADS UP!!

Woahhh! I have a new blog post coming at ya soon. You should read my post that will be up tomorrow.
 It's about a chocolate DIY thing, nooo, it's not dirty, it's nice and squeaky clean. :) ...well, maybe not. You kinda do have to wash after. ha ha , well in case you're wondering what it is, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow evening...more like this evening, but you know. It will be up earlyish evening. :)

Heh heh heh...secretive blog posts...Annie :)