I’ve fallen in love with a lot of products in the month of January. After clearing out my makeup inventory and putting my fragrance collection out on display, I’ve found myself reaching for products that I’ve had sitting in my collection for months. Surprisingly, all of my favorites for the month are VERY affordable products.
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Amber Blush Fine Fragrance Mist by Bath & Body Works – I am loving this fragrance! It’s sweet, elegant, youthful, and sophisticated. I wear it casually to school, to church, to parties (well, I would if I went to them), on dates, and even to the gym. It’s amazing that I’m not sick of the fragrance and have used up as much as I have.
Huggies One & Done Refreshing Wipes Cucumber & Green Tea – If it’s good enough for a baby’s skin, it’s good enough for me. These wipes smell AMAZING and they’re perfect for just about everything. They also shut securely so the wipes don’t dry up. I use these wipes to remove makeup before washing my face, to remove any residue after washing my face, to clean my skin after sweating at the gym, and for feminine care. I bought a 56 pack of wipes for around $2.00 at Target full price. I have no intentions of purchasing makeup wipes ever again.
NYC Applelicious Glossy Lip Balm in Pink Lady – Can we just take a moment to appreciate the super cute packaging? There’s an apple shaped core in my lip balm! I’ve had a couple of these lip balms and my favorite is Pink Lady so far. These lip balms smell great, taste decent, and they provide a good amount of moisture. They also give the lips a light tint of color. This is the perfect balm to try if you’re new to lip colors and want to try subtle shades.
Pacifica Island Vanilla Perfume – I got this in an Ipsy bag last year and really disliked the fragrance at first. It reminded me of the sweet coating on peppermint Tic-Tacs. However, I recently decided to give it a try again and I ended up liking it more than I did when I first tried it. I’m not sure why I like it now since I still think it smells like the sweet coating on Tic-Tacs. But I’m glad that it’s not sitting idly in my collection of perfumes anymore. My only minor complaint with this fragrance is packaging. My rollerball may just be defective because it barely applies any perfume to the skin. I have to keep rolling the fragrance across my skin for a few minutes before I apply the equivalent to a single spray of bottled perfume.
Shower Gels from Bath & Body Works (previous version) – Bath & Body Works recently had their SAS and I went and stocked up on the shower gels. I bought 11 for a little over $20.00 after tax. That should be enough to last me until the December 2014 SAS. These shower gels are nice and thick, have a great lather, and the scent lasts a long time. The newer 2013 version is nicer overall in quality but I use the shower gels to shave, and the previous formula is better for me because it’s thicker (the new formula is a bit thinner).
e.l.f Essential Blush, Bronzing, Blending Brush – This is a long time love of mine. I started off using the POSH Angled Blush Brush when I was 17 (currently 22) and I liked it a lot. The e.l.f brush is an exact dupe for it. POSH is $14.00 and e.l.f is $1.00. It’s surprisingly soft compared to other Essential face brushes and it does a great job at applying contour powder, blush, highlighter, and setting powder.
Smooth Intense Polishing Conditioner by L’Oreal – I have thick, curly hair and have always steered towards moisturizing conditioners. I decided that my hair is as healthy as it can possibly get for curly hair so I switched to a smoothing conditioner instead. Let me tell you, this is the best hair decision I have made since the day I started using hair serum. This product smells amazing, conditions my hair, and helps reduce frizz/breakage. The new L’Oreal line in general is amazing. I’ve kicked Fekkai and Macadamia Hair out of my shower because I prefer L’Oreal’s line.
No Brand eBay Brushes – I got these brushes in 7 piece makeup sets on eBay. Each set was around $3.00 so I figured I would try purchasing them. At first, I thought these brushes were puny and useless. However, I recently gave them a try and I actually love them. They are perfect for precise application of cheek contour and they’re a great size for applying blush without over-doing it. I don’t use powder highlighters but these brushes are amazing for highlighting as well. If you look on eBay for these brushes, definitely purchase the synthetic bristle brushes over the dark, natural bristles.