My Favorite Hair Products

To me, my hair is one of my favorite features. It's always been long, thick and I've been fortunate to have hair that curls easily and stays stick straight. I recently got my haircut because I fell in love with Veronika's layers and style and let's just say I needed a bit of a trim. So I've always been one to spend the extra $20 on a great product that makes my hair look and feel amazing so I figured I would share my favorites with you all.

In order from left to right:

CHI Straight Guard- This product came with my new CHI flat iron (will elaborate more on that later) and so far, I've loved it. It adds that smoothing effect to my strands before I flat iron my hair while protecting them from the heat. The one downside about this product is the smell. It smells like a man in my opinion. Very cologne-like in my opinion. 

Rockaholic Dry Shampoo- I love this dry shampoo! It is so lightweight and wallet-friendly that I couldn't ask for anything else. It blends easily whether you spray it in your palms and run it through your hair or spray directly to your roots. I really can't get over how affordable this product is for such a big bottle. 

Kenra Curl Defining Creme- One of my all time favorite "wavy" "curly" hair products. If you ever see photos of me with my hair looking beachy, this is the product I used. It smells amazing and takes little to no effort to get the desired results. I comb my hair after I wash it, let it air dry for a few minutes, pump a nickel sized amount of product into my palms and rub them together. I then "scrunch" the products onto the ends of my hair. Since the product is a little "gummy" in texture I wash my hands and come back to use a hair dryer and repeat "scrunching" while the dryer is on my hair. After, I go over my entire head with a quick mist of Joico JoiMist and I'm done. Super easy and the waves and curls stay in for hours. Plus my hair smells AH-MAZE-ING. 

Moroccanoil Hydrating Styling Cream- Most of you probably already know or have at least heard about how amazing this product is. If you haven't tried it, it is to die for! Best money I have spent in a long time. SMELLS AMAZING, and leaves your hair silky, shiny, and frizz-free. Simply a great product. 

Bumble & Bumble Quenching Masque- I just picked this product up from my stylist the other day when I got my hair cut and absolutely love it. It's for "thirsty" hair and is a 10 minute masque that rehydrates and renews damaged and dry hair. Downside, it will make your wallet cry. Just this travel size was $16; the bigger bottle (which wasn't very big) was $37...yikes. Since it was a new product I wasn't ready to sacrifice $40 on something I might not like. Although I like it, I use it sparingly because of the cost. By the way, smells great too. 

Joico JoiMist Firm Spray- I'm not really into hairspray and rarely use it but this is my second bottle of JoiMist and I do like it. It's lightweight but has a firm hold which is great for those days when you don't want to look like your head is matted down with Aqua Net. 

Matrix Vavoom Styling Mousse- I picked this product up because some days my hair looks thin and needs that boost of volume. This mousse definitely does the trick and was reasonable on my bank account. However, like so many mousses, this product can get stiff quickly so I only like to use it on my roots for a bit of a lift and style shortly after to avoid that stiff feeling while the product sets. 

CHI Flat Iron- It's official. I broke down and spent $100 on a CHI iron. It came with the Straight Guard product and round brush as a gift which was a nice incentive, who doesn't like free stuff? I took my cheap Wal-Mart flat iron that I thought worked pretty well for only costing $15 to France and blew a fuse while we were in Nice so for the past 3 months I have been using rollers to set my hair. Let me tell you, it just hasn't been the same. So I caved and I haven't looked back. I'm already obsessed with it. It makes my hair look and feel amazing. Best of all, it makes my hair last longer. By that I mean I can go 1 more day without washing my hair, yay! I love less work especially since my hair is getting so long. I really can't say enough about the CHI so if you're looking for a new flat iron, it won't disappoint and will be completely worth the money.

I hope you found this helpful! Have a great Saturday!

Love&Luck

Current Faves

As of late I'm obsessed with a handful of things:

1. My iPhone (honestly I hardly use my Mac now that I have it, I even blog right from my
phone!)
2. iPhone apps: I regularly check the following apps on my phone: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapette, Words with Friends. If this is embarrassing, I don't even care because YOU KNOW you do the same so stop judging me.
3. My Fiji by Essie nail polish. This and 'You Don't Know Jacques' are all I've been wearing lately, obsessed.
4. Cooking. Lately I've been throwing anything and everything I can find in the fridge and pantry into a pot to throw something together and I've never had more fun cooking. Trying to figure out which flavors will marry well is exciting and a little daring.

Also, today I picked up my first CHI flat iron. After years of so-so flat irons, I fried my latest cheap-o iron in Nice, France while on vacay. Whoopsies. So after 3 months of round brush drying and using curlers, I finally caved and purchased my first expensive flat iron. I hope it's all it's cracked up to be, trust me, I'll let you know. Review to follow.

So M will hopefully HOPEFULLY be home by my birthday. Trying not to get my hopes up but that is what I want most for my birthday. In the meantime I'm excited to see what he is getting me as a gift for the big 2-4. Gifts have never been our thing and we've never put much of an emphasis on them but I've given him quite a few options this year so I thought I'd share with you.

1. Hunter rain boots. My season in Europe is right around the corner and I don't like wet socks.
2. I have a large wish list at Stella and Dot for multiple gorgeous pieces
3. I also created a nice little wish list at Tiffany's ;) minus a diamond ring believe it or not
4. This amazing bag from Forest Bound

I think this pretty much sums up my wish list. Please keep in mind that we didn't really do
Christmas presents and I've never given him gift ideas before, this year he asked for them. So please don't think I'm a materialistic snob, these are a just a few ideas I have been lusting after.

I also wanted to share products from Mama Mio that I'm excited about to give to a great friend who is expecting her first child this summer. Kourtney Kardashian among other stars have been known to use Mama Mio's products during and after pregnancy so I'm really excited to get her a gift basket for her baby shower!

Any beauty or otherwise favorites you can't get enough of that I should know about?

I still can't believe that this time last year I was laying by the pool enjoying the good life of "hockey housewife" in Fort Myers, FL. Life is so different now, crazy how quickly things change. I don't think I'll ever stop saying that.

Love&Luck

Weekly Round Up: Happy Friday!

Hiiiiii lovers!! So sorry AGAIN, the crazy life I call mine never ceases to desist. I hope everyone else is getting just as excited as I am about this St. Patty's right around the corner; #1 because I'm alotta Irish and #2 because I will be working at an Irish bar in a mainly Irish populated city this year so I'm excited to watch everyone else act a fool while I make all the money, muahaha!

In other news, B. Rouche is doing great and really getting the hang of potty training. She is getting so big already it is so depressing! I'm not sure how I'll do with children growing so quickly if I can hardly handle my dog doing it. We are also varying our sleep routine; sometimes she sleeps with me, sometimes she sleeps in her kennel. Slowly but surely she is befriending her kennel, we are spending a lot of time in it when it gets close to bed time by her hanging out in it while I have my arm in there petting her and saying things like "good girl" and "good kennel". Seems to be working so it is nice to finally see some progress. She is also running at lightening speed up the stairs and is already due for her 12 week shots next week, how crazy! Gah, time is flying by.

Also, two good friends and I will begin a 90 day workout challenge starting Monday. I'm super excited about it and trying to figure out why we didn't do this before? I think it will be great that 2 others will be holding me accountable and vice versa, it will be great to push each other. I won't be posting too many details about the challenge until we're done, then I will be posting before and after photos, measurements, results, etc.

My goals for the 90 day challenge look something like this...

Honestly, I would kill to be able to confidently wear a thong bikini. Hopefully I can get close, fingers crossed. 

In celebrity news, I CAN'T BELIEVE SNOOKI CAN REPRODUCE! Honestly, that girl should be one of the last people on Earth to have a child. YIKES

Look at this train wreck!

Yikes. Let's just hope Snooks cleans up that act of hers and pulls it together.

Secondly, anyone else see JSimp's naked prego Elle cover? I'm really 50/50 on this one because I do think pregnancy is beautiful and all that and I think I would like to do something similar but keep it to myself and throw it in a personal scrapbook. But on the other hand Mama Jess is just so big! I mean somebody needs to break her water because she looks like she is going to burst!

Does anyone else think that photoshopping of some sort was done here? Because why does she look so much bigger when she wears clothes?? I heard Jess has signed up to be a Jenny Craig spokeswoman to get rid of the baby weight which I'm excited about because you know she's gonna need help pullin that weight off and it will be cool to see how successful she is at it.

Last week I finally got my hair cut (it was going on 6 months, way too long I know!) and I asked my amazing stylist to recommend a restoring masque for my dry and damaged hair. This is what she suggested, I'm excited to do a review for it after I try it!

Also I've said it before but I am SO READY for M to be home. It is officially less than one month till he is back and I couldn't be more ready. Ready to have my partner, friend, confidant, voice of reason, love, shoulder, rock to be home and be by my side. So close! I'm so fed up with long distance that I don't even like to Skype that much anymore, I'm just annoyed with our current situation so I try not to acknowledge it and just keep counting down the days till he is home and we never have to do this again, woohoo! 

Okay I think that's all I have for now. I'm going to post a couple videos of Rouche playing with Maggie at some point this weekend but otherwise don't expect much from me as I'll either be crazy busy working or dead tired from working. 

Hope you all have a great weekend and a safe St. Patrick's!

Love&Luck

Beauty Review

Ok readers I have to talk about a couple products that I'm in love with this month. Per Veronika's blog I fell in love with Essie's Fiji nail color; it's a beautiful light pink and a perfect necessity for spring. Here it is on me, I applied 3 coats to get the look I wanted. 

I am also in love with my Revlon Lip Butter and have passed on my contagious obsession to my best friend. Here are our Lip Butters being friendly. 

Don't get me wrong, I still love my Eos Lip Balms but my Lip Butter is a perfect substitute for when I also want a pop of color. 

I also wanted to let you know that I do A TON of shopping online and if I find a product I love in a store, I usually go online to see if I can get it for cheaper. Example, an average Essie polish is ~$8 but I found a brand new bottle of it on Amazon that included shipping and was still cheaper than $8.00 making it obvious that I saved money because I didn't need to drive to the store and I got the bottle for cheaper than retail price. Just a tip for you, I try to do this as much as I can for anything from flat iron's to hair products. Do you have any great ideas or ways you save money that you'd like to share?

If you check them out I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Love&Luck

A Beauty Recap

I've mentioned this before but I'm going to say it again, makeup and beauty supplies make me a lot happier than clothes or bags.

Here are my latest obsessions...

So remember seeing and hearing all about those Revlon Lip Butters and how amazing they are? Well, all that hype you heard was right. I purchased my first Lip Butter from Ulta the other night and absolutely love it. It's so creamy but offers a great color all in one little tube. I purchased the Berry Smoothie color which looks like a slightly darker pink and I thought would be a different change for my typical lip color (if I wear color at all it's usually in the light pink color) however I discovered that it's really not that much darker than my natural lip color so it looks really pretty on but really not that different. Another color I was looking at getting was the Strawberry Shortcake color because the pink is just so beautiful but since I already have a few lipsticks that color I wanted to try something new. I also really want to get the Cherry Tart which is a true vibrant red but the whole red lip thing is a little intimidating. What do you think? Should I try it?

I've also been obsessed with highlighting/contouring my cheeks lately with Benefit Cosmetics. I'm not sure what the product is actually called because I got it awhile ago (and the writing on the bottom is in a foreign language?) but here is a picture of it. 

It definitely slenderizes your face and adds some depths. Kandee offers a few other options for highlighting and how to do it correctly here and here.

I've also been tuning into Veronika's Blushing a lot for her makeup and beauty routine tips. I love that she doesn't wash her hair everyday (because it's not healthy AND a pain in the ass) and reviews products that I love. Also she has a great knack for sale shopping.

I love this post about her typical hair routine and this one about how to look effortlessly amazing 90% of the time.

Okay, I think that's it for my latest beauty round-up.

Have a great Super Bowl Sunday!

Love&Luck

#SaturdayProblems

Ever since Ashley at Inspired by a Love Story posted this recipe I have been dying to make it and stuff my face with it. How friggin good does this shrimp fried rice look?

If it weren't so cold and dreary outside I would make my way to the grocery store to pick up the short list of ingredients. But it's sooooo chillllllly.

I've been holed up all day in bed watching movies since I woke up with a headache and "off" feeling; you the know the feeling when you can tell you're coming down with a cold? That kinda feeling. I will proudly announce that I did wake up at a decent time and shoveled the driveway (thank you manly neighbor for saying hi and then running back inside so you wouldn't feel guilty not helping me, I know where you live!) and made my way into the shower.

I've been trying to make plans for tonight so I can try some new makeup techniques I spotted on PinkLouLou's blog. More specifically I'm talking about this look she wrote about. By the way I love Kandee's videos.

I feel a little behind since I remember looking at Urban Decay's eye palette almost a year ago and I still haven't bought it because it's a little on the pricey side but I can't get enough of it!

I love the colors and they just came out with a new palette which also looks fab. What's a girl to do? I think I'm going to have to invest in one or both pretty soon.

I'm also on the fence about a new MAC product I purchased the other day. Of course I walk into MAC needing new mascara (see what I use here) and new fluidline eye liner (seen below). By the way if you haven't hopped on this crazy train, I highly recommend it. Bolder than a pencil, easier to apply than a liquid=my eyeliner heaven.

MAC fluidline in blacktrack

And obviously the makeup artist talks me into this amazing highlighter that they have which is seasonal (really isn't everything at MAC practically seasonal?) so if I want it I better buy it right now. And really the product is beautiful, it gives me a tiny bit of color which I'm missing since I'm trying really hard not to tan this year but $30 for this little compact?

Anyway, I ended up getting it feeling slightly pressured but slightly knowing I wanted it anyway. Hence the pictures of it still in it's packaging since I still haven't made my mind up about whether I should keep it or prioritize my weak bank account. << Seems pretty obvious what I should do right? Work more, go back and buy it when I feel comfortable. But if I'm going to go back and buy it anyway should I just keep it? The responsible adult in me is telling me to return it. The girl in me is telling me to keep it since makeup and products make me so happy! Anyone have suggestions?!

Have a great Saturday loves!

Love&Luck

Hair Business

Finally! I have been watching a dozen YouTube videos on how to create a fishtail braid and tonight I finally made one that resembles one! Here it is, I know it needs work but I'm excited regardless. I wore my braid with a hat tonight because it's so cold in MN right now.

I like to watch Lilith Moon's  hair tutorials. She has a lot of unique ideas that I would like to try if I ever wake up with enough time to do something other than dry and straighten my hair. 

By the way, fried my straightener in an outlet in Nice so I've somehow survived being back in the States and not buying a new one yet, I can't believe I've made it this long!

Love&Luck 

Great Mascara

I receive comments quite frequently about the length of my eyelashes. Although they are inhumanely long by nature (thank you Ma, Pa, and God for blessing me with great genetics) I do get a little help from a company called MAC. I'm sure you've all heard of this company and your first thought may probably be, "Oh great I'm going to have to spend a hefty penny on makeup". Well O.K. you may be spending more than $5 (think ~$11), I think it's absolutely worth it for the results I receive from their Plush Lash mascara. I've used other mascaras of theirs before as well, Studio Fix, but nothing makes my eyes pop or my lashes separate and plump better than the Plush Lash. If you think about it, you spend $5 on that crappy mascara you buy from Target that clumps your lashes together and gets all goop-y on you. Plus it dries out in a matter of weeks and you have to go back to buy another tube sooner than you'd like.

If you want full, thick lashes, just go to MAC and pick up some Plush Lash or Haute & Naughty and be done with it. I guarantee you'll love your results and won't ever go back to a Target brand mascara again (not there is anything wrong with Target, I usually can't leave without spending over $100).

A Few Favorites

If you know me at all, you know that when I come to love something, I could sell it to anyone and everyone even if I was on my death bed; I wanted to write and share a few products I can't get enough of.

Rhonda Allison Pumpkin Facial Cleanser

I have been hooked on this product for 2 years now- my girlfriend's mom carries it in her salon so I had to pick some up after hearing her talk about it for so long. My skin type is dry-oily combo and needs very little maintenance so anything more than a cleanser is too harsh but regular bar soap isn't enough to maintain a clear complexion. RA offers a variety of cleansers in different "flavors" (green tea, citrus, pumice, and milk to name a few) but the fresh smell of pumpkin after I was my face is amazing especially since it's Autumn. The cleanser is creamy and made of all natural products that are listed on each bottle and can all be pronounced. I'm heading to the store this week to pick up more cleanser as well as the  Raspberry Lotion and some Blemish Serum; currently I use Olay moisturizer but my skin reacts so well to the Pumpkin Cleanser that I like to have my regime from the same brand if possible. Also, a few week ago I had tried going to a different all natural bar soap from a boutique (it was a disaster, which led me to write this post) which left me with a million blemishes that I've been getting back under control since using the Pumpkin Cleanser again. I've heard rave reviews about the Blemish Serum and figure it couldn't hurt for those emergency cases where you don't have time to let it heal itself.

To order your own products or find a salon/spa that carriers Rhonda Allison near you, visit http://www.rhondaallison.com

Another product that I've fallen in love with is Larenim makeup. This makeup line is completely natural and was developed after a woman had severe reactions to her designer makeup. A great boutique in Buffalo, MN (http://www.sheoncentral.com) where I found this great makeup. Currently I am using the foundation mineral powder, Mineral Silk powder, and under-eye concealer called Decollete. I love the way the powder makes my skin feel, flawless and naked. It literally feels like I am wearing nothing and my skin naturally feels like silk. Larenim also makes me look "polished"; like I woke up looking amazing and almost as if someone airbrushed my makeup on with one effortless stroke. 

Check out www.larenim.com for more products!

I literally get excited in the morning to put my makeup on (let's be honest, copiers doesn't exactly get me out of bed in the morning). 

I hope you check out these products if you're in the market for some new skin care. Please let me know how you like them if you decide to give them a try!

On a more personal note, I made a trip to New Ulm, MN this weekend to visit my dear friend Sarah and I am excited to report that she officially asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding this June! Deep down I was really hoping I would get the honor to be apart of her wedding party on her special day but now that it's official, I couldn't be more excited. Obviously we spent the majority of the time together pouring over wedding magazines and discussing bachelorette ideas over wine and margaritas. 

Here is a picture from the "good ole days" of college...

Sarah and I with my mom at one of Michael's games in 2008.

That's all for now folks. Hope you have a great start to the week!

xoxo