my go-to haircare is always Dove, and the new Oil Care line is no exception

     Hello, I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend! Mine has been great; Matt's birthday was yesterday and I got to spend the day with him and his brother at the flea market again. I found some super cute owl bookends for $5 this time, plus a Gameboy Color for $10, so now I can give my little sister's back! 
      So, onto the review! I always have been very picky over my hair, so I won't just use any shampoo. The kind I find myself reaching for over and over again is Dove. Don't get me wrong, if I have a coupon or there's a sale, Pantene does a good job, but there is absolutely no beating Dove. I regularly use a blowdryer and a flat iron on my hair and am able to use heating implements on my hair more often without damage because the shampoos and conditioners Dove makes are so nourishing. And, not only can my hair handle more abuse with Dove products, but it takes longer to get split ends after trims. Being long, my hair is fairly heavy, so I usually opt for the Volume formula, but the last time I went s&c shopping another formula caught my eye- the Oil Care. I know there is a huge buzz about argan oil, and this formula is built with almond and mineral oils. I have oily skin and hair, so I've always been somewhat skeptical of oils actually helping me, but I decided I would give this product a shot. Luckily, I have been very impressed with the results! 

     With this formula I get the same quality I expect from Dove, plus a little extra. My hair is still shiny, soft, and healthy, but with this formula it feels even more hydrated, without being weighed down. This is a formula I would readily recommend to those with unmanageable or frizzy hair, as I notice less flyaways and random fuzzies while using this s&c. It has a feminine "clean" smell without being overpowering (my fella even commented on how nice it smelled!) The formula is thin enough to be easily spread through hair but is still substantial enough so that you don't have to use a large amount- I use less Dove than I would of Herbal Essence, for example. The shampoo is easy to lather and the conditioner is easy to work into hair, and they are easy to rinse out, too.
     In addition to having amazing products, I feel good about buying Dove products because they support a cause very dear to my heart-  confidence and self esteem for women and girls. In a world where we are all pushed to be "perfect", this company actually encourages people to find beauty in their selves the way that they are and even used funds to support this cause. One of the things that makes me the saddest is to think that a woman or girl can look in the mirror and see anything besides a beautifully unique individual and I am glad that Dove has the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

muddy plums

     Today my college had a snow day AND since it was President's Day, my government- employed boyfriend had the day off, which was good news because it meant we got to spend some time together before I had to go to work. And what did we do? We bathed the ferret! And he was also souper sweet and fixed me chicken noodle soup and a grilled cheese for lunch.
     I was in a hurry to leave my house and Matt likes the au naturel look on me as far as make up, so I decided to keep it fresh and light, with a pop of plummy purple at my eyes to make my blues really stand out.

 

Either the lighting in the living room is crazier than I thought or my bangs cast one wicked shadow- that one eye looks like it has a bruise under it! Totally not existent IRL, though! 

     For blush I used just a dab of Too Faced's Pinch my Petals (my favorite!) and on my lips I had a swipe of Clinique's gloss in Tenderheart. For my eyeshadow I pulled out the handy dandy Naked palette and used Buck in the crease and Naked on the main lid. I then went over Buck with Jezebel from Concrete Minerals. To highlight the inner corners and under my arches I used Tiki, a brozer/ highlighter from Hard Candy. And violola! Look complete! 

one of my very favorite activites

     It's a proven fact: women love to shop, and I am no exception. It is also a proven and fairly unfortunate fact that most men hate shopping with women. Luckily for me, the Good Lord let there be flea markets! The cool thing about flea markets is that there is usually something for everyone, and looking at things is more of an adventure than just browsing through a store. On Saturdays when I don't go into work until later, sometimes I will tag along with my fella and his family to this huge flea market there is in Bristol, TN. Because my fella and his bro and me (when I have the time) are all gamers, we spend most of our time checking out the vendors selling games and consoles, and we like to check out the movies and books, too. And of course there are all sorts of random treasures set out on display. The last time we went before today I found an old comic book from the 50's called "The Son of Black Beauty." The guy's price was $15, and he had another copy, so he let me have both for the $15. That was definitely one of my favorite buys. The majority of my purchases are game- related, with most of those being of the Pokemon vein (for those of you who love Pokemon like I do, you gotta check out Shiro Cosmetics!) And today I found two very neat items- a big "Pokedex" book for the Pokemon Diamond game ($5) and Pokemon Pinball for Gameboy Color ($10.) I wasn't really looking to buy anything today, but since I'm in the middle of playing Diamond I figured the book would come in handy, and I couldn't pass up Pokemon Pinball. If you put a triple A battery in the cartridge the Gameboy shakes with the game because it has a rumble pak built in, and I couldn't pass up something that neat! I've been playing it some this evening, and it's definitely worth the $10. 

 

Goodies! 

     So, are any of y'all gamers or Pokeholics? How about flea market pickers? If so, what's your favorite loot? 

I may be coming back.... :)

     The other day I was at school, writing something or the other, and I couldn't help but think: "Man, my writing skills are getting rusty!" It's hard to believe that I haven't did anything on this blog in a whole eight months... I have missed blogging, but with college, work, homework/ studying, and my personal life, I have just had trouble getting the time and motivation to write and to edit pictures. After some personal wallowing about poor me doesn't get to blog because of yada yada blah blah, I finally did something productive and came up with a solution: write shorter posts! That way I can do more with less time and effort. Instead of doing haul- style reviews, from now on I'm only going to review an item or so at a time. Also, I think I'm going to stop rating things on a "stars" scale, and even though I like doing a "breakdown" style review, writing reviews in a more article- type style would probably be a better tool to improve my writing. So be warned, there will be changes, just not sure how drastic they will be yet. I do hope to do more posts on looks and there will probably be more that are just about life in general and not even related to beauty/ make up. This can include but probably won't be limited to: animals, books, movies, music, the adventures me and my fella go on, and more! I'm pretty excited and I hope I can keep at it this go- round :)    

 And for now, I'll just leave y'all with this picture of the two things that make me smile the most- my Matthew and our baby ferret, Loki! 

I hope y'all like seeing this little guy, because he will probably weasel his way (har har har, pun intended!) onto the blog pretty often!