I googled “color that means success” and gold came up, so I polished my nails gold for a little motivation. This is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Gilty Pleasure with China Glaze Luxe and Lush (from their Hunger Games collection) on top. I used Gelous as my base coat and Seche Vita as my top coat.
I’ve been doing pretty well in my budgeting endeavors! I only bought a few things over the last few weeks and my purchases were planned and I used a few coupons. Here’s what I bought:
Aveeno Daily Moisture Body Wash- $6.99 (after $2 coupon)
Crest Vivid White Toothpaste – $4.25 (after $.75 coupon)
Supergoop! Spf 30 Everyday Face and Body Moisturizer- $15
EOS Lemon spf 15 lip balm- $3.29
2 packs Venus Embrace Disposables- $9.87 for both (after buy one get one free coupon) *that’s $4.93 a pack!!*
1 gallon of Aloe Vera Juice- 7.99
Avocado Oil-6.99
Rosemary Oil- 5.99
Grand Total: $47.04 (after coupons, a gift card, and other discounts)
That’s still more than I would have liked to spend (that trip to GNC for those oils put me over the edge :/) but I’m getting better! This month, I plan to spend less than $25. But there are a few things that are going to make that VERY difficult for me.
Now, good sense would tell me to start with the things I “need” and work my way up from there, but my good sense often fails me when nail polish and hair crap are involved. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best. Pray for me.
I just combed through my bank statement from last month and discovered that I spent a whopping $200+ on miscellaneous bullshit. I spent another $75 in Ulta. On what you might ask? I have no effing clue. But I do know one thing, it stops here. I’m putting myself on a strict budget (I thought I had already, but obviously that didn’t work). I have all this stuff on my Summer Want list, but I nibbled away at the dollars I should’ve been using for that. NO MORE, I SAY! From now on, I will not be buying stuff that I don’t need unless:
That seems like a lot of exceptions, but I can count the instances on my hand that those issues have been the case (and coincidentally, none of them were the case last month).
Also, I will allow myself a slight budget for stuff I don’t need, but I’ll only purchase those items based on priority (how bad/long I’ve wanted it). So. I’ll start with a budget of $150/month to be broken down as such:
$40 skin/makeup
$30 hair
$80 clothes (I NEVER buy clothes, so my wardrobe consists of an ass of shit that I only kinda like, but bought for a dirt cheap price)
So wish me luck. Join me. Whatever floats your boat.
Haven’t posted anything in almost 6 months! Time surely flies! Needless to say, I kept saying “I’ll do it tomorrow…” but ya know how that goes. So I guess I have quite a few things to update you about.
I’ll start with my skin, since it seems to be the simplest to update. At the beginning of the year I was using Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Stress Control Power Cream Wash with my Clarisonic Mia and moisturizing with Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. But after using this combination and not seeing any results for 60 days I was on the hunt again for something else.
First I switched up my cleanser and started using Cetaphil Gentle face wash with my Mia. It was ok. On a scale of 1-5 I give it a 3. I also purchased Thayer’s Witch Hazel Toner (the cucumber one) and incorporated it into my regimen. I would have kept using the Cetaphil/Thayers/DDMG combo, but I went in Ulta one day a saw a new skin care line geared towards teens called Bellaboo. I went home, did a lil’ research and by the end of the week I had purchased the 3 piece kit and a mask. It did take me a week or so before I decided to give Bellaboo a try, but I am SO happy that I did. I’ll give a full review later, but I can honestly say that I’ve seen an improvement in my skin. My face, though not totally clear yet, has been slowly but surely turning over a new leaf. I still use the Thayer’s with the Bellaboo line, and I’m really pleased with the results.
As for my hair, where do I begin? *sigh* By February the longest point of my hair had grown to my bra strap, but since I hadn’t had a relaxer or trim in the 5 months prior, a trim was definitely needed. So I got a lil bit trimmed off. All was well. But as my hair became less and less manageable, my level of care for it slowly declined. Not because I didn’t care, but because I had grown frustrated. I did purchase a flat iron and I’ve flat ironed my hair 3 times in the last 2 months (the first time was just the roots). Even though I had not used any direct heat on my hair since January 2011, my hair hasn’t suffered from any heat damage (I heat protect the hell outta my hair before using direct heat now out of paranoia). My hair however, has broken off around the nape and has caused my ends to look extremely thin and wispy. I’ve also noticed that my hair is broken off at the very front and at certain parts around the crown. I know the breakage is due to my shady detangling techniques and ponytails. Since the breakage can’t be reversed, I’ve come up with a plan of action to get my hair where I want it by the end of the year. I’ll go into more detail later, but for now all imma say is: braids and sew-ins.
WHEW! That was a long ass update, but I guess that’s what happens when you don’t update for 5 months!
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to save money on beauty stuff. One way to do that is by taking advantage of coupons! Before I go any further though, let me drop this little bit of advice. Don’t abuse your coupons. Yes, the coupons are for consumers to take advantage of, but don’t be greedy. You don’t need to buy 15 papers and print off 26 coupons and wipe the store out of their whole supply of whatever it is you want. Trust me, you can’t use a bagillion liters of shampoo and conditioner before it goes on sale again. No need to go off on the cashier for enforcing store/vendor policy. So just chill. That said…
January is the month that most brands put their cleaning products on sale. That includes everything from shampoo to Clorox. If it involves freshening up or making a fresh start then it’s probably on sale. I scanned my newspaper for deals at my favorite stores and on my favorite brands and here are a few that caught my eye:
Ulta
– $12:99 shampoo/conditioner: Rusk, American Crew, ArTec, and Wella
– $14.99 shampoo/conditioner liters: Matrix, Redkin, Abba, AG, Joico, Sexy Hair and Brocato
– $2-$4.99 nail polish – I bought the whole On Stranger Tides by OPI line for $4.99 each!
Walmart
– $5 twin packs of Crest Vivid toothpaste (plus coupon in the P&G brandsaver!)
Target
– $8 Venus Embrace razors/refills (plus coupon in P&G brandsaver!); Target is also offering a $5 giftcard when you buy two Venus embrace products
– $4 Dove beauty bar 4-pack
Bath and Body Works
– Semi-Annual Sale! Includes $3 antibacterial hand soaps and seasonal body care
CVS
– $3 in Extra Bucks when you buy Schick refill cartridges (coupons on Schick’s Facebook page)
Extras
– Check your coupon inserts from Sunday’s paper! P&G’s monthly insert went out this week and has coupons for all of their brands (Gillette, Pantene, Olay, Crest, Covergirl, Secret, Aussie, Herbal Essences)
– Office Depot has good deals on storage bins that can be used to organize cosmetics and toiletries
– Lots of stores have sales on Crest White Strips (plus the P&G coupon)
– Lots of stores have sales on water filter pitchers, water bottles, and refills (I got a GE pitcher from The Home Depot for only $4.98!)
I know a lot of people advise against making New Year’s resolutions, but I’m not one of those people. I make resolutions every year. Do I stick with them? Eh, sometimes. But I’m a chronic list-maker so making a list of resolutions is like watching the ball drop. It just wouldn’t be New Year’s Day without it. So without further adieu, here’s the list.
As you probably figured, this is a blog about SKIN!! The “juice” refers to hair, nails, products, services, inspirations, and the like. I’m a premed with a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. LOVE magazines. LOVE medicine. I’m trying to get my skin clear, my hair long, and my ish together! Hope you enjoy!
Skin and Juice 