Fighting Winter Weather With Almonds

Everyone is trying to stay hydrating during winter. I don’t know what is harder, trying to stay hydrated or shoveling the side walk, seriously. With the heat on and the extreme cold, my skin hurts. Recently, I discovered L’Occitane Almond Shower Oil and this random Dead Sea Salt and Almond Vanilla Oil Scrub that I picked up at Home Goods.

In combination, my skin feels extremely smooth. The almond shower oil not only soothes dry skin but it also cleans it so you can skip the regular body wash. When it lathers, it’s so milky and soothing. A few times a week but not too often I use the scrub just to polish the skin first. After rinsing the scrub off you can really feel the small oil it leaves behind to hydrate. Add that to the shower oil and I smell like a walking nut. At least I smell like nuts, and I’m not nuts right? Some days that will be debated haha.

If you have tried any of these brands or have used any other oil based shower items, let me know in the comments below.

Wipe It Off Gently

No7 Beautiful Skin Makeup Removers are perfect for a lazy makeup remover or even just to gently cleanse your face after working out. Perfect for sensitive skin as I have stated before I have. They have a slight scent but it isn’t over powering. It even takes off water proof mascara.

I have tried so many wipes. Some made me break out in hives or even pimples. Others burned my face. I get this product 2 thumbs up and look forward to trying more of their line.

Healthy Sexy Hair

One word to describe how I feel about these products? LOVE. This brand is just golden in my book. First let me introduce the Soy Renewal Argan Oil.

The Soy Renewal Argan Oil is a rich oil in which you can put in wet and dry hair. I have done both but depending on the style of my hair. If I am leaving my hair wet and not going anywhere or if I need extra tangle help, I put it in wet and leave it. If I will be styling my hair (typically straightening) then I’ll put it in after I’ve blow dryer. It does an amazing job toning down and fly-aways I have and trust me because iI get so many.

The Soy Sea Salt Spray has saved my butt in so many situations. I get lazy having long hair so a few squirts of this leaves my hair slightly surely (i have naturally straight hair) and a little crisp. I like these factors though because you can do simple beach hair and it helps reduce the need for any hairspray.

Set Your Face

I have watched a few beauty guru’s on YouTube as I am no professional and I found many of them if not all of them use a setting power for liquid foundation. I was interested to see what the different could be. I was sold. I picked up Tarte’s Smooth Operator Clay Finishing Powder. It truly does make a difference. It’s so light and feels like silk when I use a big puffy brush to swirl it around my face. The up side other than it’s amazing? It’ll last forever because you hardly need any!

Soft and Silky

EVA NYC Therapy Session Hair Mask, and oh boy did I need a therapy session. So, my hair is long and becomes dry, produces static, and sometimes can become knotty. Well, not anymore. I have found my HOLY GRAIL conditioner. It says you can use it as a mask or as a daily conditioner… I opted for daily conditioner.

I wash my hair, then take a scoop and run it through. I then throw my hair up in a clip and leave it for the rest of the shower. It has the warmest, light vanilla scent. After I am out of the shower instantly my hair is more manageable. I have gotten so many compliments on how soft and sweet smelling my hair is. Secret: my boyfriend also uses this product.

If you’re wondering where you can pick this gem up, you’ll find it at Ulta.

Pour Some Sugar On Me

As stated in my last post, I have just discovered sugar scrubs. I think I didn’t want to buy into the hype and extra step in my showering routine because, I didn’t have time for that. I use this as a pamper product or on leg shaving days haha. My friend had actually gifted this to me for Christmas.

I am not a rose scented kinda girl but I have learned to ignore the rose smell and just rub on the product. But, if you love rose anything, you’ll probably love this. I use this in the shower after wetting my whole body. I then take a small scoop full and start scrubbing. I have sensitive skin and this has not bothered me one bit so of course I was pretty excited.

Scrubs are a great way to soften the skin and remove all the dead skin cells. It also roughs up any small hairs you may have to make shaving your legs easier… TMI maybe? I highly recommend this product.

Kissable Lips

More recently I have discovered sugar scrubs. I came across the Tarte Lip Sugar Scrub. First off let me say I am in love with Tarte. Their line is absolutly amazing.

Anyway, I was using this scrub with my finger and I just wasn’t getting the results I was looking for. I decided to purchase a baby toothbrush, yes… a toothbrush for babies. The soft bristles are not abrasive and gently exfoliate my lips. I typically use this in the shower about twice a week or if I notice my lips have just peaced out on me haha. I stick the brush in, scoop a bit up, and then start bringing the brush every which way on my lips. I rinse it off and then immediately follow up with chapstick once I am out of the shower.

As far as chapstick goes, I use whatever is near me. I really love Dr Lipps, which is like a vaseline almost. But, I typically use just regular old chapstick.

Laura Mercier Bath & Body

Thank goodness for amazing best friends! So I was gifted this set from my best friend and I could not be more over joyed. I have my eye on this for awhile, however the price tag just wasn’t worth the investment yet. But let’s go ahead with this review:

The smell is of almond and coconut. Together, they smell sweet, nutty, and milky. The lotion goes on silky smooth and the scrub is unique. The scrub has chunks of almond slivers (I believe) and then little bead like items to scrub away. They are fairly large compared to sugar scrubs of course. I haven’t been able to use the Honey Bath yet, as I needed to see how my skin would react to the other items… so far so good!

Add below if you have used this product and let me know your thoughts!

Shower Essentials

Yes, you could say these are “Holy Grails”. Some of these have just recently been purchased again hence the fullness. So, let’s get started:

Paul Mitchell Awaphui Shampoo – This shampoo is just heaven. The way it smells, the way it cleans, and the way it leaves my hair feeling so soft even without conditioner. I have medium-long brunette hair which is not color treated but it does get dry on the ends and greasy on the scalp. This evens out both issues so well. This was purchased at Target.

Neutrogena Rainbath Body Wash (Pomegranate) – I have never felt cleaner with any body wash. If they were to discontinue this product, I would be so sad ha. Not only does it cleanse away all that yuck from day to day but it’s the perfect moisture/cleanse balance. It smells delicious and it’s so relaxing. This was purchased at Ulta.

Nioxin Scalp Recovery – I recently discovered this a few months ago. Basically this shampoo cleans the scalp of any build up and as the weather changes it will calm my scalp from being irritated. I use this about 2 times a week or more if needed. This was purchased at Ulta.

AcneFree Oil Free Acne Cleanser – This is a great acne cleanser for those, ahem, hormonal break outs. I use this about once to twice a week in place of my daily cleanser. I use it morning and night to dry up the spots. I found this at Target,

First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser – This is by far my absolute favorite daily cleanser. I use it twice a day and it doesn’t dry out my skin. Again, I have combination skin. It calms my redness I typically get that comes with weather changes. This was purchased at Sephora.  

Boscia MakeUp-Breakup Cool Cleansing Oil – Some people think I am weird for keeping this in my shower but I find it so much easier to use. This makeup cleansing oil is the greatest! It removes all my makeup of course and even removes 99% of waterproof eye makeup. I accidentally got a bit in my eye and it was blurry for a few minutes but it doesn’t burn and easy to rinse out. This too was bought at Sephora.

Beauty Box Experience

A couple months ago, I was subscribed to both Birchbox and Ipsy. This was when I really started to get into beauty products and a few friends had recommended them. Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t find them very helpful.

Birchbox: The subscription is 10 dollars a month. Each box I received, I was given a perfume. This may be great for some but I had opted out of receiving them so often. Also, I would receive items like crazy colored eye liner and eye shadows that I would never wear. When I submitted my profile I made sure to put everything that led to a “Classy, Simple, Girl”. I received about 5 boxes and cancelled. I was hoping for so much more.

Ipsy: I received a bit from Ipsy that I did enjoy but again, wasn’t worth the 10 dollars a month. This subscription was mostly products that you would find in Ulta or Sephora which I loved. I received an array of hair, body, and make up products. Again, it wasn’t something that wowed me because the sample sizes I was getting I could pick up at Ulta or Sephora. So, after about 6 boxes I cancelled.

For someone just starting out in makeup, this could be an awesome deal. It breaks you into what’s out there without spending a fortune and if anything helped me understand what I wanted in beauty. What helped me the most is YouTube. I started following a few of the Vloggers below and learned way more about beauty. Not gonna lie, I have a girl crush on each haha.

EssieButton

Zoella

Amelia

Claire Marshall

What experiences have you had with ship-to-your-door beauty products? Are there any other Vloggers you follow that I should know about? Post in the comments below!