If you're anything like me, you are a woman on the move! I rarely find time to pamper myself but once in a while I take advantage of some quiet time and indulge. Recently, my new hobby has been repeatedly painting my newly grown-out-for-the-first-time-ever finger nails! Pretty exciting stuff, I know. One of the issues I've had (besides splurging on tons of new nail polishes and kits) is that I can do a fabulous job painting my nails but I'm too impatient to wait until my nails are 100% dried before I start messing with something and before you know it, nails are totally messed up! After spending too much time applying base coats, color and top coats, just to have to redo it all, I was fed up. Then I got to thinking, "How do I always leave the nail salon with my nails being set?" So I pulled out my handy-dandy mini-computer smart phone (Samsung Note II to be exact) and typed in "UV nail lam"p into my Amazon app. There they were, UV nail lights/lamps ranging from around $18-$60. As usual, I chose a product based off reviews and price. I went with the "U-Spicy Eclair 9W Professional UV Acrylic Gel & Shellac Curing Nail Dryer/Lamp/Light." It had 4 out of 5 stars with 111 reviews, included Amazon Prime 2-day shipping and only cost me $20.56, including tax. One thing I was excited about was that the product included UV protective gloves. I was super stoked about this because I was a little worried to use the product often (more than once a week). As soon as the package was delivered I tried it out to see how it worked. I was so pleased! I was able to apply a base coat, two coats of color, one coat of glitter, and a top coat and I didn't have to wait so long for my nails to be set. I used the UV light for about 2 minutes between the color coats, and an additional 3 minutes after the top coat. Not to bad when I had Jason breathing down my neck, ready to leave for our dinner date. If you are someone who enjoys painting your nails at home, I highly recommend getting a UV lamp, especially since they don't take up too much space and you can spend under $20.00.
I never used to spend good money on hair products. Really, I still don't. I think I've only have my hair cut at an official salon a handful of times and the same goes for coloring/highlighting. I buy boxed hair color when I'm in need of a change and I have been known to cut my own hair, especially when I used to have bangs. A few years back I was having an issue with the shampoo/conditioner combo that I was using (most likely Pantene) where even after just washing and blow drying my hair, it still felt oily/dirty. A friend of mine who had gone to cosmetology school explained that a lot of cheaper brands of shampoo were not sulfate-free and this is what was causing the issue. I had done some homework back them and found out that I needed to spend a little more moola on my shampoos and conditioners and not to waste time and money on the cheap stuff.
About 6 months ago I splurged a little when shopping at TJ Maxx and bought TIGI Bed Head Styleshots Epic Volume shampoo and conditioner. At $14.99 per bottle, I was REALLY splurging this time! Even though they came in pretty pink bottles and smelled so yummy, like strawberries, my main interest laid in the description: epic volume. I have really long hair now and I like it to not just look limp and dull. After my first use I was sold! Even Jason really liked the stuff!! As soon as my shampoo was getting close to running out I began my search for a replacement. After lucking out at Ross, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx, I chose to order the shampoo from Amazon. I felt weird ordering a personal product like that from Amazon but it worked out and the price wasn't too bad. Around $17 including tax and shipping. I loved the product so much I even asked for people to buy it for me for Christmas! Unfortunately, I didn't specify WHAT I wanted them to buy and I ended up with 3 shampoos and no conditioners. Now I was on a mission to even up my at-home supply but even Amazon was selling the stuff for crazy amounts of money. We're talking over $25.00 a bottle (I know, not too crazy but do you know what I could buy for that much money!?!) I couldn't get myself to buy the stuff online for that amount so I started looking around wherever I went but I couldn't find the stuff! Not Walmart, couldn't find it at TJ Maxx or Ross, and not Target. Then I realized I would have to search online for a deal and discovered that Ulta sold the product. Good ol' Ulta. Not only did they sell it (FOR $28.00 A BOTTLE!!!) but they were having a sale which dropped the price to $12.99 AND THEY HAD A COUPON FOR $3.50 OFF $10.00! (caps obviously indicates my excitement...) Needless to say, I purchased enough conditioners to even my supply at home (at separate times of course, so I could use my coupon more than once. Duh.) So the moral of the story is if you can get away with cheap shampoo and conditioner, great! If not, spend the money and get something compatible for your hair type. And always shop around for the best price. It's so worth it when you can save more than 50% like I did. I practically skipped my way out of Ulta.
My third, and final review, is for the Conair "You Style 2-in-1 Brush." I was browsing the beauty section at Ross (yes, they have one and I ALWAYS find cool stuff) and I came across this cool looking brush. I wasn't sure what the 2-in-1 was at first but quickly realized that the brush was able to convert from a flat brush, good for everyday brushing and straightening, to a rounded brush used to create lift and waves. I was really excited since every time I blow dry my hair I use BOTH a round and flat brush. Another extremely exciting factor was the price. It was being sold for only $2.99! I bought the only two brushes still available and was really happy with my first use. I also researched the product on Amazon and found out that it was being sold for $11.99 and had 4 out of 5 stars with 13 product reviews. I will say that the head of the brush does seem like it will become loose over time since it is only secured to the handle by a single screw, but either way, I'm happy to be using only ONE brush now instead of two. One less item on my already crowded counter.
No comments:
Post a Comment