Walmart Bonne Bell Liplites Haul

I have heard rave reviews (and watched a few YouTube videos – shot out to Nicole Guerriero) about Bonne Bell Liplites, particularly about how Strawberry Parfait is a milky-pink dupe for Nars Turkish Delight.  So while at my local super Walmart I made sure to hit up that section of the beauty department.  I admit, if I wasn’t on the lookout for it, I probably would have never noticed them.

After scanning the selection at my store, I decided to pick up two shades – the Nars dupe as well as a creamy shimmery light brown shade.  They’re relatively affordable, if I recall correctly they are $3 each.

Here’s what I picked up:

* Bonne Bell Liplites in Strawberry Parfait

* Bonne Bell Liplites in Cappuccino

QUESTION:

Have you tried anything from Bonne Bell?

Maybelline Electro Baby Lips Haul

I was browsing through the blogs that I follow and stumbled upon a blog post by EmilyNoel83 featuring the new Maybelline Electro Baby Lips and it immediately sent me into motion.  I wasn’t even aware this new collection dropped but seeing the gorgeous pigmentation, I knew I needed to have them.  Emily only had purchased 3 shades so I looked up other blog posts to see swatches of all 6 shades available.  After online browsing for a few days, I decided I was going to stick with the 3 most pigmented shades and leave the other 3 behind even though they’re gorgeous in the packaging.

I do want to point out that these are placed right alongside the Baby Lips, not on a new display or anything.  I have only been able to spot them at Walmart locations – but Targets website states they are sold in stores, but my store did not carry them.

First of all the packaging is super adorable.  It’s a black casing with a clear cover which has bold neon print on the tube.  I like a sleek looking packaging and I have to admit, I like this packaging more than the original packaging for the baby lips.

The 3 shades I picked up are:

Pink Shock

Oh! Orange!

Strike a Rose

QUESTION:

Have you picked up any of the new Baby Lips?

Hot Buns Haul

I am not much of a hair girl. I’ve never quite learned or taught myself how to do my hair which would explain why my hair is usually up in a ponytail, in a sloppy bun, in a twist or when it’s shorter down.  I saw a video by Emily Noel on YouTube where she hauled the Hot Buns from Sally’s and seeing her talk about it immediately made me want it.  Granted, she didn’t do a full review on the product, but that sent me into motion looking for reviews online and other “how to” videos.

I found the consensus was typically split down the middle.  There were people that loved it, people that hated it and people who could go either way with the product.  I felt from just looking at the product that it would be easy to use – far easier than a sock bun method or even the donut method (which I did purchase from Amazon for like 50 cents).

I wanted to purchase online but every website I went to it was overpriced – even Amazon!  The product is typically $10 but shipping and handling from the Hot Buns website would make it almost $25, Amazon was $15+.  Sally’s sells them but I wasn’t going to go on a mission to Sally’s but surprisingly enough Walmart sells this in their “As Seen on TV” section for $9.88.

My hair is stalk straight.  I only get volume out of my hair by using volume adding shampoo and conditioner.  My hair also gets oily rather quickly, so I do wash my hair daily.  Because my hair isn’t very thick and has absolutely no volume normally I decided Hot Buns may work for me.

I’ve tried it a few times and I find the snaps, as many have mentioned, are truly a pain in the butt.  When you’re looking straight at it, you can clip it and unclip it but when the product is behind your head it can get tricky.  It’s definitely one of those hair products I am going to have to play with to see if I truly like it or if it’s even going to work for me.  Fingers crossed!

QUESTION:

Have you purchased Hot Buns? If so, did you like it or hate it?

Goody Tangle Fix

I spotted this Goody TangleFix gentle detangler brush at Walmart last week after almost purchasing the Tangle Teaser on Amazon.  Originally I found it (the Tangle Teaser) for $9.99 on Amazon and when I went to order it, it was $19.99 – err, put the brakes on – NO thank you at that price.  So when browsing around Walmart, I decided to head down the brush aisle (which I typically don’t do) and gasped when I saw this.  I grabbed it, put it in my cart, finished up my shopping and ran home.  It was under $8 and after using it, it was worth every single penny.

When I grow my hair out, my hair gets tangled quite easily.  When my hairs shorter I can comb the tangles out without a problem – but when my hair grows past my shoulders, forget it.  If I don’t slather conditioner into my hair while washing, I end up tugging my hair with my brush when I’m combing it through.

I have used this both wet and dry and I have to say it works perfectly both ways!  No pain, no tugging, just a quick and easy brushing.  The design of the brush simply gets rid of the tangles without tugging at my hair.  I don’t know how it does it – or the mechanics of it, but it’s phenomenal and I’m SO glad I have this in my life now. Worth the investment AND the hunt if you’re looking for something to make combing your hair a breeze.

QUESTION:

Have you purchased a detangler brush?

This is what $25 worth of lotion looks like

Have you ever wondered what $25 worth of lotion would look like?  If so, look no further because this is it!  My boyfriend and I went into Walmart the other day for one thing and we ended up with a whole lot of random things.  I went crazy in the glove department (it's been sooooooo cold here lately and it snowed the other day!) and the lotion department.  My hands have been a bothersome topic for me for months.  I've tried a lot of things and things work for a while and then they lose their luster.  One of my coworkers was raving about Cetaphil so I decided to pick up a tub because at this point investing in one more type of lotion wasn't going to kill me.  I am pleased to report that this does work quite well and my hands are certainly looking better.  The Cetaphil was priced just below $11.

I was then looking at the Aquafor moisturizers and decided to get the Equate (Walmart brand) because it was almost $3-4 cheaper.  This is a petroleum jelly based ointment which can be used on all skin, lips, etc.  I figured this would also help me out in the winter months where my the back of my hands get terribly beat up with wind burn.  I have heard a little of this goes a long way so I'm sure this is going to last me FOREVER.  This was priced right below $10

The last thing I purchased was this Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula for Dry, Ashy skin.  The fall/winter months are brutal on my skin in general because the cold just literally sucks ALL the moisture out of me.  I have a slightly darker complexion and my skin can get grossly ashy even hours after applying lotion.  In case you don't know what ashy is -- it's when your skin gets so dry that it develops this white cast on your skin and if you scratch it (at least in my case) it gets VERY irritated and you could literally scratch & scratch & scratch until you start bleeding.  Palmer's makes pretty decent products so I figured I'd give it a shot and so far, so good.  My legs aren't crazy looking by mid-afternoon, so yay!  This was priced a few cents below $6.

So there you have it, my $25 lotion haul!

Shannon's Combined Target & Walmart Haul

This is my combined Target and Walmart haul - which were done separately, at different times but instead of making separate posts, I'm just going to combine them into one.  I currently use the Elf eyebrow gel and have no problems with it (other than product getting stuck in the bottom of the container), but I've heard great things about the Maybelline Great Lash Clear so I decided it was time to give it a shot.  I had scoured Targets high and low for a few weeks and was never able to find the Clear variation -- so while at Walmart one day, getting some OTC medicines I spotted the mascara in the makeup aisle and snagged it.

The foundation is a whole new story.  I was watching YouTube videos and somehow landed on a video (by randomly clicking on the suggested videos) where the girl (apologies but I can't remember who) was talking about how she loves this L'Oreal True Match foundation and she first learned of it because of Kandee Johnson.  So I looked that Kandee Johnson video up (which she contours with a darker shade - which I won't do I rather bronzer) and started looking up different reviews on the product.  I decided it was going to be best for me since my skin is SO hard to match due to the undertones in my skin.  While at Walgreen's one day they had a whole display of every shade with a tester.  I tested a few and found N7 which matched the skin on the back of my hand and wrist absolutely perfectly!  I then went grab it off the shelf to buy it all excitedly .... and they were completely out!  Off to CVS - they carried 7 shades but none in the color combo I needed.  Went to Walmart - completely sold out of the shade I need.  [I now realize a lot of people that live around me are N7's!] Went to the Target closest to me, nope not even an option as they only carried 7 shades.  A few days later I went to the next Target up as I was running errands in the area and popped in and found THE LAST SHADE on the shelf!  I then noticed they had concealers so I grabbed the matching concealer - held on tightly because if I accidentally dropped them I'd be out of luck since these were the last shades in the store in my tone.  I purchased and my hunt was over!

Here's what I picked up:

- Maybelline Great Lash Mascara - Clear
- L'Oreal True Match Super-blendable Makeup - Classic Tan (N7)
- L'Oreal True Match Correcteur - Medium Deep (N 6-7-8)

Shannon's Combined Beauty Essentials Haul

This is my combined haul from three separate stores -- Walmart, KMart and Big Lots.  I attended a trade show nearly two weeks ago and tried out this Dial lotion there and instantly fell in love.  My hands have been shot for the past 6-months (we have hard water at work, plus I work with a lot of paper, etc.).  It smelled fabulous and instantly hydrated my hands.  One thing I liked was that it went on smoothly, like water, and left no greasy residue.  I immediately went on a hunt to different stores to find it -- couldn't find it anywhere and when I nearly spent $12 for it on Amazon I checked Walmarts website and saw it was sold there!  The other two items are a product of walking around the store and seeing things.  Lately, my body chemistry has been changing, where my body is straight up rejecting some deodorants (I honestly think I've been using some brands too long) so I've been finding clinical strength deodorant has been doing the trick.  I then saw the body wipes in the check-out line at Kmart and grabbed them because when I go for a walk at work and come back, I sometimes wouldn't mind wiping down my arms or back after a vigorous walk - so yay for body wipes!

Here's what I picked up:

-Dial NutriSkin Replenishing Lotion - Shea
-Degree Clinical Protection Deodorant
-Playtex Sport Body Wipes - Travel Size

Quick Little Walmart Haul!

This here is my quick, little Walmart haul.  An unsuspected one at that because I went in looking for liquid foundation and ended up not finding it, but of course I found a few other goodies!  The same lipstick is priced at $8.99 (plus tax) at CVS and because this is part of the permanent line it's only $5.50 at Walmart.  Craziness!  I really like brown shades because they show up nicely on my lips, but I tend to reserve those for later in the year because they are darker.  This is a few shades darker than my natural lip, but it looks very nice.  I then got some Vitamin C gummies because I've tried taking Vitamin C pills and they have this horrendous smell AND taste that I just can't do it.  So I figured gummies would be the best bet for now.

Here's what I picked up:

- Maybelline Volum'Express mascara in Blackest Black
- Maybelline lipstick in #315 Broadway Bronze
- Vitamin C Gummies

Shannon’s Random Beauty Walmart Haul!

This is my haul from two weeks ago.  I popped into Walmart after running a slew of errands and did some random shopping.  I originally went into Walmart to get some B12 and Biotin and of course I can’t just go to one section and leave – I have to look around.  Otherwise, there’d be absolutely no use to go in ANY store.  At least in my book.  Honestly, I really wish someone would hire me full time as their personal shopper because that would be marvelous.

Here’s what I picked up:

-          Large Facial Cleansing Pads (Cotton rounds) – I know I could have gotten the smaller version at the dollar store, but I wanted the larger ones for now.

-          B12. This just helps me stay alert.  For a very long time I was really tired all the time and my doctor found my B12 was slightly low so she told me to take a B12 supplement and it really does help.

-          Biotin 1000mcg. Before I started taking these I was taking Gelatin for my nails but switched to Biotin to see if I could have some change in my hair and my skin.  I have noticed my nails are growing at an increased rate and are really strong.  My hair does feel slightly thicker, but I need to give that department a little more time before I say yay or nay.

-          Suction cup soap dish.  This is really crap. I bought it to put my Lush soaps on, I stuck it on the wall, walked out of the bathroom and 2 minutes later heard CRASH and my Lush soap was smashed into bits.  Fabulousness!

-          Goody Quikstyle hairbrush. I had seen Krystal feature a post about this and started peeking down random stores hair care aisles so I could get myself one.  I found them at CVS but they were a little under $14, so when I found it at Walmart I want to say it was $11.

-          Onyx Professionals 3-2-1 Dry nail polish drying spray. One thing I dislike about painting my nails is waiting the time it takes to dry.  So I purchased this.  That is BEFORE I saw a Yahoo Beauty feature saying you can dip your painted nails (air dried by 2 minutes) into really cold water and the water will “freeze” the polish on your nails.  You then pat your skin dry.

So there you have it, my Walmart haul!

Haulage: Tart Burners & Wax Fragrance Cubes

I went to Walmart today to pick up a few things and inadvertently spent my way through the entire store buying much more than anticipated.  I will admit I’ve had a plug-in burner on my buy list for a while and my local Walmart doesn’t carry them, but the much larger Walmart a few exits up on the highway does.  So I ended up going there today after going to zumba and Kohls’.  I was breezing past the fabric section to head to the candle section, when I noticed an array of fragrance cubes on this shelf.  So I zipped on over and spotted these SUPER ADORABLE limited edition was burners.  One was the stand-alone plug-in unit and since it was an owl and would go well in my bathroom I snagged it.  I then saw a full-sized burner so I picked that up as well – again in the owl design.  I have wanted another full size burner but some of the designs Better Homes and Scentsational has are rather … goddy for the lack of a better term.  These are nice sleek white porcelain so it goes nicely in my living room as well as in the bathroom.  No strong classes of décor .

Of course I also picked up a few more packs of was fragrance cubes.  The fall scents (they were more pumpkin and fire) but they all struck me to be overpowering and just not something I’d want to smell in my house.  And it’s not like I need anymore - my basket of fragrance cubes is over flowing.  But in my mind I said “I’m buying 2 more burners… so I’m going to need more fragrance.”  I’ve got a problem.

Here’s what I picked up:
-    Better Homes – Owl Scented Wax Warmer (large size) - $15
-    Better Homes – Owl Plug-in wax warmer - $12
-    ScentSationals – Faded Denim
-    Better Homes – Exotic Sandwood Musk
-    ScentSationals – Sunlit Meadows
-    ScentSationals – Calypso Sands

So there you have it, my Better Homes & ScentSational haul!

REVIEW: Montague Jeunesse Cucumber Peel-Off Masque

I had hauled this mask forever ago and finally got around to trying it. I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out considering as I opened it and applied it, I was at first a bit skeptical.

PACKAGING & PRICE:
The Montague Jennesse Cucumber Peel-Off Masque comes in a thin 0.3 fl oz. foil pouch that you rip open to reveal and squeeze out the product. Since the product is in such a thin foil pouch there isn’t a whole lot of room this will take up. That is unless you had about 20 of them then they’d take up some space – but since they are so thin (compared to an envelope) you could tuck them into a basket and they’d be fine. The only downfall with foil pouches is you need to make sure your hands are completely dry before trying to open it. The price really varies, but you can get them on sale for 2 for $3 at Walgreen’s or generally if you are only buying one stores tend to charge you $1.99. Although you can get them for $1.37 at Walmart.

PRODUCT:
When I first opened the product I noticed the slight green coloring to the gel. As I started to apply it to my face (product applies relatively clear looking) I found the scent to be borderline offensive. But now when I say offensive let me explain – I HATE the smell of alcohol (rubbing alcohol). Something about it just instantly congests me and makes me feel as though I can’t breathe. So needless to say I was holding my breath for a moment until I got the product onto my face. I did not notice a cucumber scent, but honestly, the alcohol smell overwhelmed me and I couldn’t smell anything else. As the product was on my face it started to “burn” my skin just slightly, particularly around nose area. Not an uncomfortable burn, but a few waves of my hands near my face calmed that. I do use an acne regiment so I’m sure that was also in part of the burning. As the product starts to dry – roughly 5-10 minutes after application, it starts to show slightly rubbery on the face, while clear in others. You’ll notice it’s drying because your face will feel a bit tight. As you peel the masque off, it reveals your freshly, smooth skin.

PURCHASING:
You can purchase these at any Walgreen’s – but you cannot purchase these on Walgreen’s website. You can find these at CVS and you can also purchase these on CVS’s website BUT you cannot ship these by air service due to the alcohol in them and the regulations associated with shipping aerosols and/or alcohols. You can get these at Ulta stores and Walmart stores (they’re the cheapest as most things are at Walmart).

OVERALL:
Minus the smell I will say this is a pretty stand up product. It made my face feel very smooth and refreshed. After a long day my face feels greasy since I have oily skin but after washing my face and applying this, it felt nice. It did not over dry my skin, didn’t even dry it, or cause too much moisture. I liked the end result and I will be repurchasing at some point!

Another Scented Wax Cube Haul -- I admit I have a problem...

I've taken the first step -- I've admitted I have a problem.  And I realize full and well that I keep buying these scented wax cubes even though I DON'T NEED anymore!  But I keep finding myself in Wal-Mart and for some reason Wal-Mart tends to have new shipments of these cubes in while I am there.  Truthfully, it's starting to overtake me (haha).  My boyfriend was looking at a 3-tier bookcase and I was in the aisle behind the aisle he was in smelling wax cubes.  Great give and take, right?  When he was ready to go, I was sticking these scents under his nose inquiring his thoughts (since we do live together, he will undoubtedly have to live with the smell -- thoughtful, right!?).  Since it was nearing closing time (they were literally paging to bring items up front or be locked inside forever -- okay so the last part is a stretch) I decided to stick with the 3 I had in my hands because these were a splurge purchase.  The 3 fragrances I picked up are as follows:

Better Homes:
- Sugared Melon Kiwi
- Enchanted Evening Walk

Scentsational:
- Date Night