hair product

First Impression: Hair Products

/ Kayla Hutchison / 2 Comments

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My first impression post this week is some hair products I have been testing out from an Ulta sale. I am not very into hair products per say, mostly because I have 2 kids and I have to pick between glorious hair and doing my makeup (makeup wins, obviously). However, I do like to take care of my hair since it’s very long and black.
Ulta had a sale a few weeks back where a hair product each day, and I waited until a specific day to get everything pictured. I waited for the day when the Healthy Sexy Hair leave-in conditioner was $7.99 because it’s normally $18, and I have actually tried that product once before. I loved it. It made my hair feel very soft and healthy after showering, and it made brushing it out way easier. I have very thick and naturally curly hair, so combing through it can be a nightmare at times. I will say that if you have thin or very straight hair this product may weigh your hair down a bit. It weighs mine down, but in a good way for my hair type. I want my hair to lay a bit flatter, especially if I plan on straightening it. The smell of this product is also phenomenal. I don’t know if I could ever bring myself to pay full price for this product, which is why I bought it on sale and got way too excited when I saw it was only $7.99 at Ulta.
The Psssst! products were also on sale at Ulta for BOGO free, so I decided to try the dry shampoo since I had seen a few other bloggers say it was amazing. I have to say, it’s a pretty decent dry shampoo. Very light scent, doesn’t leave a ridiculous amount of residue on my roots. I hate when dry shampoos leave a ton of residue behind, it makes my scalp feel weird and itchy. The point of dry shampoo is to refresh hair between washes, not weigh it down and make me feel gross. This dry shampoo doesn’t though. It retails at about $8 alone, and I do feel it is worth that. It works better than some of the cheaper brands I have tried, and better than a few higher end dry shampoos I have tried as well.
I went out on a limb and decided to try the clarify and shine scalp treatment even though I didn’t have high hopes. This product claims to “melt” product buildup out of your hair before showering to rejuvenate your scalp and give it shine. I do use a lot of dry shampoo and hair spray in my hair between washes, so I figured this might be worth a shot. This product definitely exceeded my expectations! I sprayed and massaged it into my scalp and let it sit for 3 mins before showering. My hair seriously felt so soft the next day and had a healthy shine to it. I would recommend this product to anyone that uses a lot of products in their hair. I guess our scalps just need a bit of treatment at times to get all of that product buildup out. I am so happy that this was not a flop like I expected, and I will for sure be re-buying this product in the future once I run out.

What are some of your favorite hair products?
Now that my hair is longer (middle of my back) I need some things to keep it healthy and strong.

Target Fall Beauty Box Review

/ Kayla Hutchison / 1 Comment

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I typically miss out on the sample and beauty boxes Target releases and every time I am a sad panda. So, when I was browsing and saw that they had released their fall beauty box and they weren’t sold out I immediately ordered it. I was beyond excited when this pretty box arrived in my mailbox today and I couldn’t wait to open it up and see what was inside and show you all!
Let me begin by saying this box was $7 shipped to me. I have a Target debit card though, so I don’t know if shipping costs would apply to anyone without a Target debit card. I personally judge beauty boxes/subscriptions by what’s inside, if I like the products or at least most of them, and if the overall value exceeds what I paid for the box. If I’m paying $7 for a sample box and the products inside are worth less or just a little more than what I paid for the box itself, I feel kind of ripped off.

Inside the box:
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First thing I noticed about this box was the beautiful coupon it came with. I love coupons. The cool thing about Target coupons is that you can stack their store coupons with a manufacturers coupon and use cartwheel (mobile app) on top of it creating an amazing deal. I’ve scored free and really cheap makeup many times stacking coupons and cartwheel offers.
The next things that caught my eye were the full sized Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in white and The Loreal Colour Riche Lipstick in “Blushing Harmony.” I use the jumbo eye pencil almost everyday as an eyeshadow base, so I was pretty excited to get another one of them, because having extras of things I use on an almost daily basis is never a bad thing, in my opinion. The Colour Riche lipstick is also beautiful. “Blushing Harmony” is a very deep rosy nude glossy type of lipstick. It’s not a very sticky formula though. It’s also not matte or a long wearing liquid lipstick. It can be worn alone or on top of lipstick. The value of the eye pencil is $4-5 and the gloss $8-9 so those two products alone made me feel like I got my money’s worth with the coupon.

Next thing I noticed was the set of nifty BB cream cushions. Laneige is a Korean brand and these BB creams are exclusive to Target and have a high SPF. The estimated value of this is between $14-15 and there is are light, medium, and dark cushions as well as the SPF cushion. I’m extremely excited about this particular sample. I have been trying to find a BB cream that just “wows” me for the longest time now, and getting a sample that has several different skin tones in it is amazing. Many beauty and sample boxes tend to only include one shade, and we all know people come in very many different colors and we are not all one shade. The light shade will obviously be the one I try. I will probably gift the others to friends or family.

Fekkai Salon Blow Out Dry Shampoo (1.7 oz) This is not a full sized product, but the value of it is still about $8, and dry shampoos always make me happy. I feel like they probably make anyone with hair and a life happy. I can’t and don’t wash my hair everyday. Even before I had kids, it just makes me hair brittle and dry if I wash it constantly. I can’t wait to try this one out.

Loreal Paris Elnett Hairspray (2.2 oz) This is valued at around $2 for the sample size. I know there are still so many bloggers and hairstylists that use and swear by this hairspray. I have even heard my mom talking about it when she talks about the Aqua Net glory days of big hair. I have never gotten a chance to try it out for myself though because I am partial to my Vidal Sassoon hairspray or my Garnier anti humidity hairspray. However, if I like this little guy I may switch it up.

Overall, from what I have researched the total value of this box is around $38, which is over 5 times what I paid at $7! I feel this was definitely worth it, personally. I haven’t received any box/bag from a subscription service that has had that valuable of a box compared to what you initially pay in so long. It gave me a bit of hope in some weird sense. Haha. This box is a one time purchase, but I will totally be on the lookout for the next one they release. I hope it’s soon! If you have received this box as well, please feel free to comment with your own thoughts and overall opinions.