Monday, March 30, 2015

March 2015 Favorites


Yes, it's that time again! With the end of the month comes my favorites of the month.

1) Estee Lauder Double wear concealer/ Maybelline Fit Me concealer - this concealer combo has been AMAZING! I love the Estee Lauder concealer but it's very heavy under the eye, I love the Maybelline concealer finish but it doesn't give me enough coverage. Put them together and you get the perfect concealers. First I put down the Estee Lauder concealer and then cover it with the Maybelline to get that great natural looking finish. I've also been using Estee Lauder concealer with some translucent powder on my eye lids for my primer.

2) Simple face lotion - I discovered this product late in the month and it is all thank you to Ingrid Nilsen and her "My Skincare Routine!" video. She raved about how amazing this lotion was so on my next trip to the drugstore I deiced to pick some up and she was right! Best face lotion ever! I feel in love right away.

3) Tart clean slate timesless smoothing primer - this is just a baby sample that I got from Sephora and I'm going to be heading back to purchase the full size. I just use a very tiny portion on this primer and i focus the products just on my cheeks and around my nose were I have large pores...it's amazing and just blurs them into your skin. I wear this even if i don't have foundation on that day.

4) Josie Maran 100% pure argan oil - still loving my Argan oil, I've had the regular 100% and light for a few months now. The light has been tucked into the back on my closet but I'm still using the 100% in my hair and mixing it with my foundation to give me a dewy glow on the skin. You can use this very sparingly, this little bottle I use everyday and I still have about half left.

5) T25/family walks - my March fitness routine consisted of T25 and tons of family walks! I love this program because I only have to workout for 25min, great for busy people and I'm so far LOVING the results I'm getting. Now you only have to do this program 5 times a week but I like to be active daily. On the 2 days I don't workout I've been going for long family walks which have been so much fun!

What product favorites did you have this month?


Monday, March 23, 2015

Product Empties March 2015

Getting rid of a couple of empty beauty products. Here is what I used up this month.

Sensationail gel polish removal kit - I can't remember how much this cost but it was a waste of money. These are basically nail wraps that help remove gel nail polish and while I LOVE this system there are cheaper nail wraps out there. Save your money and head over the Sally Beauty, I just picked up 100 wraps for under $7 and they work just as well.

Redken wave ahead & curvaceous ringlet- these were both great product when my hair was shorter but it doesn't work for me now that my hair is longer.

Alterna weightless whipped mousse - again this is a great product if you have shorter hair, not recommended for longer hair as it weights it down.

Living proof amp instant texture volumizer & style extender - I think I had one of these products in a blog post before. I haven't had much luck with this brand, they really don't seem to work well with my hair.

Garnier fructis damage eraser - this is the best hair mask I have ever used! This is about my third container and I have replaced the one in my shower with a new one plus I have an extra one on hand. This makes my hair so silky soft and I have noticed there is less damage to my hair. It feels very healthy and amazing after I use this mask.

NeoStrata lash enhancer serum - I didn't think that this product did a lot but now that I've stopped using it I've noticed a change in my lashes. I don't know that they helped them grow longer or faster but they seemed more conditioned. Mascara seems to go on smoother and I seem to use less mascara when I was using this product daily. Next trip to the drug store I'm defiantly going to be picked up another tube.

Tresemme 7 day smooth system - I didn't really noticed a difference when I used this product. Also the directions say to use 8-10 pumps which seems like a lot! My hair doesn't like a lot of product and this seemed to weight it down. I cut back to about 4 pumps which didn't weight it down but I also didn't notice a difference.

Lancome double action eye makeup remover- I think I already had this in a blog post before as well, it's amazing! By far the best eye makeup remover I've tried. I have a couple spares that I purchased because its that good.

That's it for this month! If you have any recommendations on products that I should try please leave them in the comments below.


Saturday, March 21, 2015

21 Day Fix Review

I've had 21 Day Fix since January, now that I've been through the program twice I feel I can give an honest opinion of what I thought of the program. This is an at home workout and eating plan that is made by Beachbody. For those of you who don't know Beachbody has over 20 different workout DVD and before attempting this program I did go through P90X back in October.

You have a few options when purchasing the program, I decided to purchase the "challenge pack". In the challenge pack you will receive the workout DVD's, eating plan, color coordinated containers, shakeology container and a one month supply of shakeology. The one money supply of shakeology is not included in the picture because I and waiting on my next order to arrive.

First off lets go into what the eating plan contains. The eating plan guide will tell you step by step how many calories you should be taking in everyday. Based on your calorie intake you get to eat a specific amount of each color coordinated container. So to give you an example: my calorie intake based on my weight was 1,200-1,499 everyday. What does that mean? I got to eat 3 green containers, 2 purple containers, 4 red containers, 2 yellow containers, 1 blue containers, and 1 orange container. So what does that mean? Well every color of container falls into a food category. For example the green container is vegetables. The eating plan even gives you examples of vegetables that can go into this container: kale, carrots, cucumbers, celery, ect. The eating plan is very straight forward and even includes recipes in the back of the book to help you come up with meal ideas. The theory behind the eating plan is portion control, this is NOT considered dieting. Many people overeat and it can affect your fitness results.

At first when I looked at the meal plan I thought there is no way 1,200-1,499 is enough food I'll starve!!! But to my surprise that was enough food for me, I cut way down on all the snaking I did throughout the day. I enjoyed eating real food and I stayed away from going out for meals, Its amazing how much it affects your body! I'm also big on drinking calories. What does that mean? Well at my office we get an endless supply of coffee, juice, pop, ect. I head to the kitchen about 5 times a day to get something to drink without thinking about the calories I was drinking. Over the 21 days I stuck to drinking shakeology, water and tea only. Now I will say that the first week is tough. Your shocking your body into making a change and my energy level was low. By the end of the 21 days I felt I had more energy and with my weight loss I felt my self confidence go up! Now that I've done this twice I feel amazing, it's hard to describe but I don't feel weighted down by the extra crap I was eating and drinking everyday.

Now the workouts portion. I've done other Beachbody programs before and they didn't work for me. I was really hesitant about this one but I have to say this is my favorite so far! Each workout is only 30min, it was really easy to fit this into my day. I did my workouts everyday after work, I was finished before dinner time! The trainer on the DVD doesn't rush any of the moves and you get breaks in between each move. It was easy for me to follow along, there is a modifier on the DVD and for my 1st round I had to follower her for the 1st week. By week 2 I felt a lot stronger and just followed the regular moves. Now you do need some equipment to complete this program, depending on what you have in your house already you may or may not need to invest so extra money on top of your purchase. All you need is a yoga mat(or some kind of mat you can do floor exercises on) and 2 sets of weight (a light and heavy set).

In 21 days the biggest place I notices a change was my arms. They are more defined and it got rid of my "chicken wings" that I disliked. Over my first 21 days I've also lost 9 pounds with the workout DVD and eating plan. Mostly I get comments that my face looks skinnier but I've also noticed my hips are slimmer. Almost to the point were I need new jeans which is exciting!

For me personally I think this program is amazing but now that I've done it twice I'm feeling a lot stronger and I'm going to be purchasing 21 Day Fix Extreme next!!

If you want to purchase this program you can head over to www.beachbodycoach.com/mspamblam


Monday, March 2, 2015

Products I Regret Buying February 2014


I know everyone is posting their blogs on products that they've loved over the month of February and as much as I love doing those blog posts....I really don't have any February favorites that are new.

So instead I've decided to do my very first products I regret buying. I have a lot to mention and as soon as I done with this blog post they are all going in the trash!

(starting from the top left)
1) Living Proof Prime Style Extender - this claims to extend the life of your hair style and is supposed to be like a makeup primer for your hair. Personally I didn't know any difference if I used this product or not

2)Alterna Uplifting Root Blast - this product is supposed to give you more voluminous hair but again I didn't notice any difference when I used it

3) got2b Gaurdian Angel - now this product I used to LOVE! Its specifically for hair when you are curling it with either a straightener or curling iron. This was the first heat protecting product that I ever tried and I fell in love with it straight away. However, this bottle was nearing empty and when I tried to find a replacement bottle I couldn't find this product anywhere! I think it might have been discounted so I picked up some new products and just never went back to finishing this bottle.

4)Tresemme Platinum Strength Heat Protect Spray - defiantly don't use this spray when you are trying to curl hair, its way too heavy and the curls will fall out very quickly. I tried this for when I straight my hair and it's okay but I have another product that I prefer so I don't use this one anymore.

5) Aveeno Pure Renewal Dry Shampoo - I'm big on dry shampoos but I have dark hair so I have to be careful about which ones I use. This leaves a white/grey residue in your hair so if your blonde this would be okay but I can't use it

(now from the bottom left)
6) Lush Tea Tree Water - this is my first Lush product that I was disappointed with. I felt this really dried out my skin so I've stopped using it

7) Living Proof Full Thickening Cream - recently I've been trying different thickening products but this one didn't agree with my hair at all. This really weighted it down and made it feel very unclean...not something you want when you get out of the shower

8) Pantene Curly Hair Style - I was using this product when I was going for that wet scrunchy look. It does work really well for that but I don't find that hairstyle is in anymore so I've stopped using this product.

9) Klorane Dry Shampoo With Oat Milk - another dry shampoo and another fail. This dry shampoo also left that white/grey residue in my hair which is just not flattering for dark hair gals

10)Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Dry Shampoo - and last but not least....another dry shampoo. Now if you have dark hair you can use this dry shampoo but I wasn't a fan of the texture if left in your hair. My hair felt very dirty and I like my dry shampoos to leave my hair feeling refreshed.

What were your product regrets from February?