September 2010 Favorites & Not-So-Favorites

Hello, Beautiful!

Before I begin my September favorites list, I want to remind you to enter our daily contest for a chance to win $5 to spend at ValentineKisses.com!


Click here to read our contest blog post and to enter the contest!

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Now onto my September favorites!

September is more than half way over and I've fallen in like, lust and love with many beauty products this month. I've also come to dis-like a few beauty products.

My September Favorites:

Makeup Sponges

I've fallen in like with using makeup sponges again. I know, there is nothing special or fancy or magic about makeup sponges. It's almost kind of pointless to even list them. But I went months without using them; I was hooked on using my 187 MAC Stippling Brush to stipple on my foundation. And although I still prefer using a brush over a sponge any day, the sponges have been such a time saver in the mornings. For that reason alone they are on my September favorites list!


WEN
I've fallen in lust with the WEN hair care line! The reason it's lust and not love is because I'm not sure it's really a system I can keep up with. It requires a lot of time to do it correctly, you need a lot of product, and I can't stand the Fig smell (in fact, I'm sending it back to get a different scent). If you haven't tried WEN yet both you and your hair are really missing out! After just one application, my hair was completely transformed; not only in how it looked, but how it felt too! I did a big blog post about my experience using WEN, including pics, which you can check out here.


L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base
I've absolutely fallen in love with this primer! It is for sure my favorite primer, probably of all time! I even like it more than my Make Up For Ever HD Primer (which is a beautiful primer that works amazingly). It's just the perfect primer for me! I did a blog post about this primer, including swatches, which you can check out here.


Ikea GISLEV Rug!

This rug is just $19.99 at Ikea. I absolutely love it. It goes beautifully in my bedroom (which is themed out in black, white and gray tones). It's also the rug you'll see on Project Runway (in the girls' bedroom). In fact, I'm thinking of going back to Ikea just to pick up a second (for my office). Although I was worried it would feel really awful since it's only $20 and it's 6'x5' in length. It's not a  luxurious rug at all, but it does its job (at least in my house) and it's a really affordable way to change up your room space.



Jason Mraz Concert!!!!!!!!!!

Only a few days left (10) until the Jason Mraz concert! I am super excited and I'm already thinking of what makeup and hair look I'll choose. I have no idea actually, and I'll probably try out several over the next ten days. Any suggestions??



My September Dis-Likes:

My recent purse purchase from Target:

Okay, I'll start by saying I generally love the purses I get from Target (I actually get a lot of compliments on my purse and people are usually surprised when I say I got it at Target). Sure, they're no Kate Spade, but they allow me to change out my purse often without breaking the bank. I recently picked up a pretty deep plum hued purse (with black and white zebra print inside). I loved the way it looked, it was big enough to carry all my crap (like my coupon organizer thingy), and it was under $30. BUT every time I wear this it bugs me. Only one strap will stay on my shoulder. The other falls off right away. I have to keep pulling it back up... over and over again. The only way the straps will stay up is if I hold them up! It's frustrating, but yet for some reason I continue to use this purse everyday (I don't want to waste my money and it's far past the return policy - plus it's used). This is the first purse from Target that has given me these issues.

Bare Escentuals Natural Lip Gloss

I have this in "Sugar Cookie", which is a pretty shade and the gloss actually smells/kind of tastes like a sugar cookie. But it's so freakin' sticky!!! The kind of sticky gloss where you talk and your lips stick together. The kind of sticky gloss where your hair will surely get stuck in it not once, but 100 times. If this gloss wasn't so sticky I would really love it, but it's just too sticky for me (and that's saying a lot, considering I love the Stila Lip Glazes - which are slightly sticky)!

Body Wash - almost all of them!

I don't know what it is this month. I just can't stand the way any of my body washes smell anymore (well, that's not completely true - I still love my Korres Bitter Almond body wash). I get an instant headache from my body washes and I'm forced to use the "back ups" because I'm out of my Korres body wash. Maybe it's the changing of the seasons that's making my nose change the way it picks up smells, or maybe it's not. Whatever the case, I want to throw all my body washes out at this very moment (but I won't, I'm too cheap for that, so instead they will go into the guest bathroom where most of my beauty product cast-off's end up).

My Neighbor's Dog(s)

I doubt my neighbors read this blog, but I secretly hope they do because maybe they aren't aware of this situation (and the fact that all the surrounding houses can't stand your dog(s) barking). EVERY NIGHT their dog(s) bark... and bark... and bark... and bark... and FREAKIN' BARK. I have dogs - I have two right now, but I've had five at one time - I can tolerate dog barking and I understand that dogs are going to bark. If anyone in my neighborhood could tolerate dogs barking, it's me. But their dog(s) bark a lot - especially during normal sleeping hours. I don't really mind the dog going bark-crazy during the day. I can even tolerate it going bark-crazy at 9pm (despite my son hearing your dog(s) barking and not being able to sleep). But I can no longer tolerate the midnight, 1am, 2am, 3am, and even the 4am barking!! It has got to stop! It's making me crazy! You better believe the moment I get pregnant is the moment your 9 month countdown begins to get that dog barking under control. Because once I have a newborn in the house sleep is precious - both to me and the new baby. If your dog even once wakes my baby up, or me up, I will become that mean neighbor. I don't want to become that neighbor - you know, the one that calls the cops because your dog is making too much noise - but I'm not the only neighbor that can't stand your dog(s) barking, and probably by the time I actually get pregnant someone else will have called the cops on you anyway. This was a nice and quiet neighborhood before you moved in. Now you have the most annoying house in the neighborhood. I'm so lucky to be your neighbor.

[Just to clarify: I do like our neighbors, I just hate their dogs. Also, I'm not pregnant now, but my husband and I have been trying to get pregnant again for years. Eventually it will happen... I hope!]

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.

- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com