Target Beauty HAUL

Hey hey ladies ;) Here's my first ACTUAL post in a while (haha), I hope you all enjoy.  It's just a few beauty items that I picked up the other day from Target, because I was in serious need of some makeup bag restocking, not only because of my recent and drastic tanning (every year, once I get into swimming, all of my face makeup needs replacing), but also because I was getting bored of a few things and needed to freshen up.  Again, I hope you all enjoy :)

 Essie "No Chips Ahead" Anti-Chip + Shine Top Coat ::: $8.49

I don't know if I've told you all before, but my go-to base and top coats for the last year or so have been the Revlon Quick-Dry versions.  Don't get me wrong - Revlon does a GREAT job with their nail products - but I decided that I would try something of a better quality this time around.  All of my favorite polishes, after all, are Essie (excluding "Monsooner or Later" by OPI), so I decided to get the Top Coat to finish off my collection, of sorts.  I used it on my most recent pedicure, and the shine is beautiful.  Also (most importantly), no chips yet!

 Revlon Colorstay Liquid Makeup ::: Combination / Oily Skin ::: 370 "Toast" ::: $9.99

As I mentioned above, my skin has gotten majorly tan, as it does every year.  I've been gradually buying new foundations (I've built up quite a collection in the last few weeks, as it happens) in order to accommodate my relentless tanning, and this is the latest of the bunch.  I bought it in the color "Toast," which  (I believe) is the fourth to darkest shade in the Colorstay line.  Anyway, I've used it three days in a row and the application is smooth with a medium coverage.  Also, I don't look oily, so I would definitely recommend! 

 Essie Nail Lacquer ::: "Peach Daiquiri" ::: $8.49

As a Hollister employee, I am NOT ALLOWED to paint my finger nails - it's been quite a struggle, but I think I'm getting used to the look.  Anyway, while manicures are prohibited, pedicures are not.  We're allowed to paint our toes any shade of red (that includes pink), so I decided I would make the best of my situation and go bright and springy and beautiful for my pedicure.  As an extra plus, the name of this polish is simply glamorous: "Peach Daiquiri."  I LOVE THIS COLOR.

 NYC ::: Color Wheel Mosaic Face Powder ::: Bronzing ::: $4.99

For as long as I've been wearing face makeup, I've used the Physician's Formula Bronzing Powder - it's slightly matte, a good color for my skin, and lasts FOREVER.  It just so happens that FOREVER ended about a week ago, when I couldn't get a single speck of powder out of that case.  So, I went for this one - the colors are a bit darker, which is perfect for my current skin tone.  Despite the intensity of the color on the palette, itself, it looks completely natural on the skin.  Also, the price is INCREDIBLY reasonable for the quality.  I recommend.

L'Oreal Voluminous ::: Extra-Volume Collagen Mascara ::: 695 "Blackest Black" Waterproof ::: $6.59

Don't think I'm betraying my favorite mascaras (the L'Oreal Carbon Black and 24-Hour Power Volume), I'm only trying new things.  I used this mascara for the first time today, and the results were beautiful - no clumping, but still very full, dark results.  I'll continue to use this and maybe do a review later :)

So that's everything, loves

I hope you all took some product tips from this post - make sure to check back, as I'll be posting more often form this point, forward :)

Love you all

<3

I'M BACK: Major Life Update

Ladies, ladies ... WHERE HAVE I BEEN, you ask?  The answer to that is: a lot of places, yet nowhere, all at the same time.  So I'll get started on what's been going on in my life (which leads to why I haven't been blogging lately), things that have changed, and what I plan to do in the future with this blog and everything relating to it ... 

FIRST THINGS FIRST: I haven't posted since the second day of the year, and we are now more than halfway through the second month (I know, pathetic, right?).  So, to start off this post, I'M SORRY to all of you who would have liked to be updated regularly, who might have been missing my writing.

NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF:

1. I'm an adult!  Contrary to my apparent age, listed on the right sidebar (you know, where that picture of me is), I am EIGHTEEN years old.  The reason the sidebar is incorrect, though, is a completely different story.  THE POINT IS, I am now a legal adult in the United States, which means I've had a bunch of stuff to do lately - reliving childhood moments as well as capitalizing on my new-found freedom (example: no curfew), which happens to take up some time.

2. I finished applying to college!  I'm graduating from high school in June of this year, and am (hopefully) off to far better things (don't get me wrong, I LOVE HIGH SCHOOL) in the years to come at a university of my choice.  I'm allowed to be optimistic now, see, because I finished the tedious and stress-inducing process of actually applying, which includes figuring out a major, writing an abundance of essays (and then editing and re-writing, and re-writing, etc.), running around meeting with teachers and school counselors, filling out enough forms to make a person's hands explode, and spending quite a pretty penny (or not-so-pretty) to send in applications and test scores.  

3. My computer had a stroke ... and a heart attack ... and an aneurysm ... This is not news to those of you who used to watch my (now completely outdated) YouTube channel.  Here's the honest truth: I have an iMac, but it is no longer working.  It was old, see?  Like, 2007-old, and it felt the need to retire - and by "retire," I mean "the entire screen went black one day, causing us to buy a new monitor for it, which eventually became useless because the computer, itself, (among other things) ran out of space on the hard drive and just wouldn't turn on anymore."  The significance of this is that, firstly, I had Photoshop on that computer, which is where I've done all of my graphics for this blog (including the right sidebar - see why it's not right anymore?); and secondly, I had iMovie on that computer (can't do YouTube videos the way I like them without iMovie).  These two things put together have set me back a little, but I've been making do.

4. I got a job!  For the most popular, internationally-known bloggers, jobs aren't really necessary - their blogs (and the ads that show up on them) are their jobs.  It sounds like a nice life, but it's not my life (hopefully, one day, it will be).  Therefore, I needed to find a way to rack up some cash in order to support my regular lifestyle as well as my profile as a blogger (can't post a haul without money to buy haul-items).  So, since you're all dying to know, I got a job at Hollister Co., the California-based branch of Abercrombie & Fitch.  If you guys want, I can do a post about all the perks of being a Hollister employee, but for now, I'll just say this: I am loving work - the people are amazing and I get to be surrounded by clothing all the time.  The only thumbs-down-element of being a working member of society is that working takes up a lot of hours - hours I would have used (before) to update my blog and various other pages.

5. Senior year is STILL stressful!  Even after all the college-application shenanigans I went through, I've still had a bunch to do: I recently had finals for my fall semester, have been playing in my FINAL season of varsity basketball, and have Winter Formal coming up this weekend (ladies, you ALL know that school dances are more about the preparation than the actual event).  It's all been time-consuming, yet extremely exciting.

SO NOW THAT YOU'VE BEEN UPDATED ... WE CAN FUTURE-CAST ...

This year has brought a lot of change, and I have no doubt that the change will continue.  I'm going to college in the fall (I have no idea where, at this point), and am going to have to manage my time very well if I'm to keep this up - which I have every intention of doing.  All I'll need is a decent camera I can take with me to school, and a laptop to maybe start up my YouTube channel again :)

Anyway, dolls, that's everything ... Sorry there were no pictures to look at for this post, I honestly didn't have the time or the motivation to go out and shoot (haha).  Still, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you now have an understanding about why I've been gone.  I'll definitely be more present from now on, since I've adequately adjusted myself.

Love you all

<3

HAPPY NEW YEAR ||| Favorite Beauty Products: 2013

Favorite Beauty Products: 2013 by the-saltine-herself

Hey dolls!  First things first: HAPPY NEW YEAR!  It's 2014, which means there are new people to meet and goals to catch, more posts to post and more lovin' to be done!  Before all of that starts, though, I would like to honor 2013 by featuring a few (eight, to be exact) products that I fell in love with (or re-fell in love with) during the past year ...

1. DevaCurl Products: As you've all read, the Deva products are absolutely amazing for curly hair, but that's all I'm going to say for now - I keep putting this off, see?  Because I promised to do a full-blown review focused ALL on the Deva line of curly-hair products.  Stay tuned!

2. St. Ives Blemish and Blackhead Control Apricot Scrub: So for the first half of the year I was without a good exfoliating scrub, and my skin (which was a very angry thing, at that time) was suffering even more because of it.  I was then introduced to a site called Crunchy Betty, which is completely focused on all-natural, D.I.Y. beauty products.  My favorite mixture was the No-Nonsense Daily Scrub, because it was easy to make.  Honestly, though, we all get lazy - the St. Ives Apricot Scrub has been my solace on off-days, when I didn't have the energy to mix my own facial scrub.  I chose it because it has a lot of natural extracts in it (which I learned about from the Crunch Betty site), and isn't filled with harmful chemicals that might handicap your skin-health in the long-run.  Great product!

3. Bath & Body Works "Twilight Woods" Body Mist: It's a well-known fact that I am in love with this scent - it's perfect (check out my haul for it for more details on the scent, itself) in every way, and I've been using it for years.  

4. Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette: The Naked Collection is the best thing that could happen to the eye-makeup world, hands down to the ground.  The colors (if they can even be appropriately called "colors") are so natural and beautiful.  I've used this palette for myself (and all of my friends) for every event this year (formal dances, parties, birthday dinners, etc.), because its perfect - smoky eye, natural eye, top-lid heavy, any look can be done with a Naked.  Another perk is that it seems like the shadows never run out - my palette (which I take care of like a baby, but use nearly every day) still almost looks unused.  Incredible makeup - every woman should own one of these.

5. Essie Nail Lacquer (Pictured: "Stylenomics"): I've always been a huge nail-polish freak, but it was only this year that I figured out Essie was the brand for me.  Awesome pigmentation (even in the super-light pinks and nudes) and consistency (not too-thick like some Sally Hansen lines or too-thin like other drugstore polishes like NYC or Wet-N-Wild) every time.

6. Boots No. 7 Quick-Thinking Wipes: Being a contact-lens-wearer and a girl with sensitive skin, it's difficult to find makeup-remover that wont irritate anything, but these No.7 wipes, which I started buying only because of a giant Target sale, have done the trick.  They're fragrance-free and super gentle, but they remove makeup (even waterproof mascara) quickly, no scrubbing needed.

7. Burt's Bees "Honey" Lip Balm: During my freshman year, I never went anywhere without a tube of Burt's Bees.  But then the e.o.s.-craze began, and I joined in the love.  This year, however, the winds (its a SoCal thing) were especially annoying, drying out my lips and the surrounding skin, and my go-to e.o.s. was not getting the job done, for some reason.  I went back to Burt's Bees and was healed in less than two days.  The "honey" version is especially moisturizing, and feels very natural.  Still love this lip balm, after all this time.

8. Neutrogena Shine Control Liquid Makeup: I started wearing liquid foundation this past year because of my crazy break-out phase, caused by Pro-Activ :(  In the beginning (you can see that post here), I wore the L'Oreal True Match LUMI Liquid Makeup in W6 "Sun Beige," which was an amazing product (looked awesome in photos!), but probably not the best for me - I have oily skin, and the foundation had a dewy finish.  I would highly recommend it for other skin types, however.  ANYWAY, I wanted to find something with a much more matte finish, and so I found the "Shine Control" line by Neutrogena, which I definitely trusted with my acne-prone skin.  This makeup did not clog my pores, gave me a more matte look and awesome coverage with a little amount.  Also, since I've been wearing this makeup (maybe it's hormones, maybe its my prescription, but maybe not), my acne has cleared up significantly.  This foundation can be applied either with your fingers or a brush (I would recommend a stipple or a buffing brush), which makes it very convenient.  Highly recommend, especially for combination or oily girls!

And that's all for now, folks...I hope you enjoyed this post, and maybe picked up a few tips

Happy New Year to everyone! :)

Love you all

<3