Blog Archive

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Buy It, Or Leave It? Product Reviews Galore!

You know what I'm not great at, as a blogger? Writing reviews of products that I promise to follow-up on. I always buy something and then say "I'll write a full review after I've used it for awhile" and somehow, that never seems to happen.
This post is going to talk about some products I've purchased over the last little while...I'll tell you if the product is a must-have or if you should pass on it (based on what my experience was with the product.)

I've found myself not using my Clarisonic that often. Maybe once a week for a good exfoliation.  When I first got it I used it once a day, but I guess it wasn't so life-changing that I feel the need to use it daily.  It is a good product, well made, etc...I just don't think I use it enough to justify the cost. Could I use it more?Yes. I guess I just feel like my skin is OK without using it daily.  I also like to use self tanner on my face and I feel this removes that color more quickly.

Buy it or leave it? Leave it. It's a luxury item, not an essential item.



I was anti-curling iron for awhile because I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to do it without messing up my ends. Then, I watched Tiffany D's YouTube video on how to make volumized curls and it changed everything. I finally had the courage to use my curling iron and so far, so good. I love this styling tool because it had adjustable heat settings and it's a good quality curling iron. It's easy to use and I like the results I get with it. I very much prefer it over my Conair one.

Buy it or leave it?  If you're in the market for a new curling iron, this is the one to have. Buy it.


I'll just be blunt- I prefer plain old baby powder to any dry shampoo I've used, but I do really like this product and the price is perfect (under $5) It's easy to use and it works, bottom line.

Buy it or leave it? Buy it, every girl should have a dry shampoo on hand.


I've been using this eye cream for several months now. I really love it.  The only concern I have is that the cream is not really meant as an anti-aging treatment but as a moisturizing treatment. Either way, it's really important to keep the eye area moisturized. I apply this generously to my eye area before going to bed. It's really rich and thick (but not oily) and it doesn't travel all over your face, it stays where you put it (which I love.) 

Buy it or leave it?  If you're in your 20s I would highly recommend this treatment. If you are 30 and older, you might want something with active ingredients that help prevent wrinkles. OR, if you like to use eye cream before putting on your makeup, this is a lovely choice. I personally only use eye cream at night right now.

This lip treatment is wonderful. It smells great and works well. It doesn't feel greasy which is awesome.  It goes on smooth and really conditions the lips. At $22.50 it's really pricey (I got it for 20% when Sephora had their F&F sale.)  The downside is the price, but it has lasted me pretty long.

Buy it or leave it?  I would say buy it if you'd like to splurge on a lip conditioner.  Otherwise, there are probably other conditioning products that cost a bit less.

This product really gives hair a volume boost!  I like how easy it is to get it on your roots due to the fact that it's a spray formula. I spray it on my roots and then brush it through.

Buy it or leave it?  Buy it!  If you like big, volumized hair, this is a great product to try! I think it retails for about $15 a can (and the can is HUGE!)

I got this liner really recently, but BB products never fail me (so far.) I really love this liner and I prefer them to MAC's gel liners (though there isn't a massive difference or anything, I just think the BB don't dry out as fast.) They cost about $22 but they last for a very, very long time.

Buy it or leave it?  I truly think every woman needs to own at least one gel liner. It's so versatile and the staying power is amazing. You have to use eye makeup remover to take them off- but in the summer heat, that's a good thing because the formulas stay on!


8. MAC Creme Blush  
I picked up one of the MAC creme blushes from the Lily Pulitzer line and I'm not really that impressed. I just don't reach for it very often.  Maybe I just need to use it more, but to be honest, I think the pigmentation and ease of blending the product is inferior to that of the Stila Convertible Color product, which is great to work with.  The color is gorgeous, but I don't love how it feels when I apply it.  I much prefer the Stila cream blush.

Buy it or leave it? Leave it. There are better cream blushes (IMO)

I'm not sure if they still have this color because it came out around the holidays. I never used it because I couldn't for the life of me figure it out, and then LisaLisaD1 on YouTube talked about how she finally realized how to use these NARS highlighters and now I love it!  I basically just use it straight out of the container and apply the product in a line directly on my cheekbones (to highlight.) Then I blend a bit with my finger.  Voila! I was trying to use a brush with it previously and I think that's what the problem was.

Buy it or leave it? It's pricey at about $36, but if you're not into powder highlighters, this is probably the product for you!
 

10. MAC Mineralize SkinFinish in "Porcelain Pink"
This is another product I never reach for. I find the texture to be odd, and I have other MAC highlighters that I prefer (like MAC loose powder in "silver dusk" which every girl should own, it's fabulous!)

Buy it or leave it?  Leave it. There are better highlighters.

I hope this was helpful!

xoxo,

Veronika.



Tuesday, June 29, 2010

OOTD: Zara White Linen Dress & Soft Waves Using Hot Rollers

This morning, I used hot rollers for the first time in awhile. I use ones by Conair that I got at Target. You can buy similar ones here.

Hot rollers are pretty easy to work with, though I find that they don't give me as much of a curl as using a curling iron does (probably because they don't get as hot as my Hot Tools curling iron- which I love, BTW.)

This is how it turned out (kind of softer, looser curls- they don't last as long as curling iron curls but they are pretty- note that I DID use a curling iron just for the front pieces because I ran out of hot rollers.)


I wore my white Zara dress today that I got on sale for $29.99. Zara only has a sale twice a year ladies, so if you can get there soon, go check out the offerings. They had a lot of great stuff and I would say 80% of the store was on sale. Today was also the first time I wore a slip. I bought a nude one at target to wear under this dress because although it's lined, it's still a bit sheer.

Dress- Zara
Shoes- Michael Kors Berkley T- Strap
(buy them here) (and um, yeah, I wear these A LOT!)
Cardigan- Charlotte Russe
Belt- J. Crew (on sale in brown)
Cardigan- Charlotte Russe

It is raining like crazy here today and the pressure has given me a migraine but I think the Excedrin is finally kicking in. Thank goodness!

Do you use hot rollers?  Do you try to wear your hair differently each week or do you pretty much stick with the same do? I definitely do the latter, but lately I've been trying to switch it up a bit by sometimes wearing it in soft waves. It's nice for a change.

xoxo,

Veronika.


Monday, June 28, 2010

Victoria Beckham Goes Long & Outfit of the Day: Basic Black


When I checked out one of my daily go-to celeb gossip sites this morning (Gawker) I nearly squealed with delight when I saw a photo of Victoria Beckham...with long locks!  I have been waiting for her to wear her hair long again for quite some time. 

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A $50 GIFT CARD TO SEPHORA!!!!

I have her book, titled "That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between" and I definitely recommend it for anyone who loves VB, needs a little style guidance or needs to get out of a fashion rut.  I actually never used to think much of her but based on the interviews she's done and her book, I actually really came to enjoy her and think she is lovely, clever and funny.

As a reminder, here she is years ago with her long dark hair (aww and there's the lovely Cheryl Cole with her too):

and here she is with her shorter hair (looking gorgeous, as per usual)

...and here she is today, with her hair extensions: (which I was surprised by because she said she hated "fake hair" in her book, but I guess maybe she got bored of having "the posh" and of everyone and their mom copying hair haircut)


I think she's pretty no matter what her hair is like, but I'm glad she switched it up a bit since she had her previous haircut for such a long time (though, it was fabulous so she was right to keep it so long!)

Speaking of long hair, I snapped this shot today and thought, wow, my hair is looking long:
In other news, I wore black today (I know, I know...)

 Dress- Target (similar here)
Belt- J. Crew (buy here, in brown)
Shoes- "Me Too" at DSW (similar here, with slingback)
Bag- Michael Kors

Hope you had a happy Monday! I am going to try and go to the AT&T store tomorrow to get my iPhone. I am going to get the black one. I've given up on the white one and I like the black one anyways. 


What do YOU think of VB's new hair?
xoxo,

Veronika.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Zara Semi-Annual Sale Finds & OOTDs (From Friday)

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!  Before I get into this post, I wanted to remind everyone about the $50 SEPHORA Giftcard Giveaway. This giveaway requires a little more effort than just commenting, but it's definitely worth it because I think you'll find that the KartMe website will be really useful in your everyday life and you'll be happy you signed up.  Go to my giveaway here.

On Saturday I was really sick (to my stomach) and had to spend most of the morning and afternoon at home until I felt better.  It was awful.  I hate being sick on weekends because I feel so unproductive.  I did start feeling better later in the afternoon so I decided to check out the Zara semi-annual sale. It was actually nice to get out of the house for a couple of hours after being home all day.

I ended up purchasing two dresses that I had tried on during previous visits to the store but didn't buy. I was so glad to find them on sale.  

First was this pretty white dress:

It's a linen material and I love the way the fabric is layered at the bottom.  The dress is lined but is quite sheer so I got a nude-colored slip today at Target for under $10 to wear underneath it.

The second dress is a really body-hugging style but I love the sleeves on it. Not sure if I will keep or remove the bow. It's quite flattering on, but I might need to get spanx or something because it's not very forgiving.
I assure you that both dresses look better ON than they do on the hanger. I will do some OOTD's with them soon. They were both on sale for $29.99 each.

Speaking of dresses, I wore my Express tiered ruffle dress that I got last weekend out for dinner on Friday night. I paired it with my J. Crew belt and Michael Kors wedges (I just love his shoes...and hangbags and watches...)

I also have another OOTD from Friday (during the day). I wore a bright-colored dress from target with a long open-faced cardigan from Charlotte Russe and my J. Crew ballet flats:

...and a BIG HELLO from LULU!

Did you score any deals at Zara?  I actually wish I would have spent more time looking through everything but the store was so crowded!

xoxo,

Veronika.


Friday, June 25, 2010

CONTEST: Win A Sephora Gift Card (Hosted by KartMe.com)


Happy Friday lovely readers!  I'm so excited right now because hubs, my best friend and hubs' best friend are going out for an awesome dinner tonight (yummy Italian!)...and because I get to host this awesome contest for you ladies

KartMe contacted me recently to host a contest featuring your "Summer Beauty Favorites." It's a new online service that helps you keep all of the links of things you like (for anything- books, travel, makeup, clothing etc) in one place.


I have so many summer favorites, but the ones I included in my Kart were:

For this contest, I want you to share YOUR TOP 3 summer beauty favorites or wishlist items with me using KartMe.  All you have to do is create your Kart and leave me the link to your Kart in the comments of THIS ENTRY. I will pick the winning comment using random.org.  The deadline for the contest is Friday, July 2, so you have one week (from today) to enter.

Now to get to the exciting part- we wouldn't want to leave you empty handed after wish-listing your summer beauty faves (or wants)...so the winner will receive a $50 gift card to Sephora so you can make your wishlist come true!

So, here's the low-down: KartMe is a new website that helps you find, save and share all of your favorite things (so if you have a husband or another family member that needs a little "hint" for special occasions, this is for you!) Once you sign up, you can save things in online lists called "Karts." No more cutting and pasting or emailing links! You can just drag the KartMe button to the top of your browser and then anytime you're surfing online and want to save what you see, you just click the button and it ads it to whatever Kart you want. It's so easy. I hate copying and pasting, this is much more convenient (especially if you're an organizing, list-creating freak like me.)
The best thing about KartMe is that it helps you take action. Technology automatically seeks out deals, puts maps on your phone, helps you debate with friends, and suggests new lists. KartMe's mobile app was even recently selected as an Apple Staff Pick! (and no, I still haven't gotten my iPhone!  *sad face*)

Step-by-Step How-To: Creating Your First Kart
1. Find and copy a link to a product on any website -
Sephora
, drugstore, Amazon, etc
2. Visit:
http://kartme.com/karts/prepopulate/decor/My Summer Beauty Favorites
3. Select "Paste link" and paste your link
4. Click "Submit"
5. Click "Publish Kart!"
6. Join KartMe (it's free!)
7. Copy the URL to your Kart and paste in your comment on veronabrit.blogspot.com


  
Rules (because, you know, there are always rules)
Mandatory Entry
Entrants must visit http://kartme.com/karts/prepopulate/decor/My Summer Beauty Favorites
and create a list (that is, a "Kart") showing your "Favorite Summer Beauty Products".  Publish the Kart (free signup for KartMe is required), copy the link to your Kart, and leave the link in a comment in THIS blog post. You MUST also leave a valid email address so I can contact you if you win.

Additional Entries
I hope you'll enter and share your summer beauty favorites with me and enter this lovely contest. Thank you KartMe for hosting!


xoxo,

Veronika.

* Disclaimer: KartMe contacted me about hosting this contest on my blog. I am being gifted a Sephora gift card to host this contest. All thoughts and opinions about the service are based on my experience using the KartMe site.

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