Category Archives: Beauty

Oct6

New Mocha & Oxblood Nails

Posted on October 6, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Howdy!! When Johnny and I had COVID, I had a nail appointment that needed to be cancelled. The last thing I wanted was to make all of the fabulous techs and patrons of my favorite salon sick! As I lounged about doing a whole lot of nothing, the promise of a fill was the treat I needed to look forward to. My nails were so grown out and it was driving me nuts! This past Tuesday, I couldn’t wait to hit the salon after a quick shift at work and Shelley slayed on these Mocha & Oxblood nails:

I was feeling very uninspired the past few fills in terms of nail polish colors. Summer was winding down, but it wasn’t quite fall and it was hard to determine what I wanted to go with. Not this time, though! On Monday evening, I went out to a delicious Mexican dinner with my bestie, Lea. She had on the most lovely beige polish and that was all of the inspo I needed. This is not the first time that I have done a variation of nude and red polish, but it hits just right every time. It feels so chic for fall and I am living for that oxblood polish – it is gorgeous!

When I have a first thing in the morning appointment at Elysian Nails, I am SO fine with the fill taking longer because my work won’t start until later. In the middle of the day, however, I want a super speedy session so I can get back to whatever else is on my agenda for the day. Shelley is synonymous with super speedy fills and she knocked mine out in forty minutes. As always, it is most impressive and she completely rocked it. In under an hour, my grown out talons were a distant memory and I left the salon feeling like a million bucks. This is the first fill I have been excited about in a while and the color combo has me feeling like a fall queen.

Some pampering was exactly what I needed for a post COVID pick me up and your girl is officially back to feeling herself. It’s amazing what a mere hour at the salon can do!

What are your favorite fall colors? What color of nail polish do you have on? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct3

Bath & Body Works October Freebie

Posted on October 3, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello! After having COVID, I felt like I had a billion things to do! Disinfecting our COVID lair, getting caught up with work, and tons of errands. Even though it has been busy, busy – it feels good to be well enough to be doing anything! No errand day would be complete without a trip to Bath & Body Works and I was excited to cash in my October freebie coupon. This month, it was a free hand cream and although I am not a huge fan of this product by B&BW, free is free! I chose the Find Serenity hand cream from their Aromatherapy line in Mimosa & Spearmint:

This trip to B&BW was an interesting one because my sense of smell is lacking thanks to COVID. So, I simply went in, grabbed a tube of hand cream at my whimsy, checked out, and left. I chose the Mimosa & Spearmint scent because I was intrigued. I genuinely thought that it was going to smell like an actual mimosa and, sadly, that wasn’t the case. In fact, I still have no idea what this “mimosa” is that they speak of! Hold on… Let’s give it a Google…

OH – It’s a flower! Okay, that makes much more sense than a hand cream smelling like an alcoholic beverage haha. Now that that mystery has been solved, let’s talk about this scent! From what I can smell of it – it doesn’t really smell like anything. It’s not really floral, it’s not really minty, it’s just neutral. I read the reviews for Mimosa & Spearmint to see if it was my COVID nose playing tricks on me and I am pleased to report that that wasn’t the case! This scent seemed to be a headscratcher for those who purchased it because it wasn’t true to its description. That is fine by me, though, because good or bad, I don’t care about the scent of lotion since I only wear it before bed. I’m just happy my sense of smell was accurate! 😀

Is this a must buy from B&BW? Who’s to say? If you are looking for a fresh, neutral scent then go for it. If you are looking for something that packs more of a punch, then you can definitely skip on Mimosa (It’s a flower!) & Spearmint.

When did your sense of smell fully return after having COVID? Who is excited for the Bath & Body Works Christmas line? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep26

September 2023 Finishes

Posted on September 26, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hellooooo darlings! September is drawing to a close and that means it’s time to discuss my beauty finishes for the month. August empties left me less than impressed and this month was only slightly better. As always, it’s no harm no foul because trying new products is fun and I like to let my readers know which ones aren’t worth their money. Not everything can be a winner, amiright?! Let’s take a look at my September Finishes and chat some more about the oh yeahs and the oh nos:

^^^ Totally forgot to add the Bath & Body Works lotion to my empties shot lol WHOOPS

Would I Use Again:

Evoluderm Micellar Water: YES

Purifect Bright Vibes Only Serum: NO

Hope Soap Vanilla & Fig Body Nectar: MAYBE

goodhabit Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream: YES!!

Bath & Body Works Everlasting Magic Body Cream: YES

Why/Why Not?

Purifect Serum: I was SO excited to try the Bright Vibes Only Vitamin C Serum by Purifect. The packaging was adorable, first and foremost, and I love the bonus boost of radiance from Vitamin C products. Sadly, this one massively missed the mark. This serum was really thin in texture and it almost felt like I was splashing water onto my face when I was applying it. The bottle was quite small and a lot of serum was needed to fully cover my face and neck. Within three weeks, the bottle was empty and I never noticed any positive changes in my skin’s appearance. Even if I did, I wouldn’t buy it again because it simply wasn’t a long lasting product and a poor value for my money.

Hope Soap Lotion: I received this product as a gift and it is from a local boutique in my neck of the woods. While I always support shopping local, I am less than impressed with the Body Nectar by Hope Soap. The Vanilla & Fig scent is delightful and I love the whipped texture of the lotion. However, I never felt like my skin benefited from using it. It just didn’t seem as effective as a lotion from Bath & Body Works, for example, and I wouldn’t use it again unless it were gifted to me. A+ in scent and texture, F in effectiveness.

goodhabit Moisturizer: Now, this is a product that I LOVED. You can read more about it in the review linked above. What I will say, is that this is one of the best moisturizers that I have ever used. Yes, the Smurf blue color is slightly off putting lol, but that doesn’t take away from the excellence of this moisturizer. It was long lasting, my skin felt baby soft after each use, and I would be ecstatic if I found it again at TJMaxx – I would buy every single one available!

B&BW Body Cream: I am a huge fan of the body creams by Bath & Body Works and the Everlasting Magic scent was an absolute delight. To me, it smelled like rich plum, ripe blackberries, and the softest notes of floral. I loved being able to use it every night and it makes it even better that it was completely free! I am very impressed by the effectiveness of the B&BW body creams and my skin felt hydrated and nourished throughout the entire day from it. Highly recommend!

There were some winners and some big losers in my September Finishes and that’s A-okay. In fact, I’m thrilled to even be writing this post because October is right around the corner and that means Halloween!! Bring on the spookiest month of the year, baby! 😀

Which products did you use up this month? What are your thoughts on any of the above if you have used them before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep12

TJMaxx Skin Care Haul

Posted on September 12, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! On Labor Day, I had the potential to go into work but as luck would have it, I had the day off. Johnny and I made the most of our free day by visiting his parents, going grocery shopping at Aldi, and shopping at TJMaxx. I was fresh out of moisturizer and needed to do a restock of my beauty hoard. And, of course, I never say no to early holiday shopping and treats like a gorgeous new sweater you will see tomorrow! The skin care department was severely lacking during this trip, but I managed to walk away with the following:

Normally, it doesn’t take me long to pick out skin care when I’m at TJs. I know which brands I like and are cruelty free so it’s just a matter of locating them and filling up my cart. This time around, I couldn’t find any of my go to brands! I was really hoping to find another jar of the Rescue Me moisturizer by goodhabit, but it was nowhere to be found. To add salt to the wound, the majority of the selection was from brands that weren’t cruelty free. I spent SO long going through all of the moisturizers and serums and coming up empty handed. Not that I mind the thrill of the hunt for skin care, but even I was getting annoyed!

For moisturizers, I ended up with three jars that I probably wouldn’t have bought if the pickings weren’t so slim. I’m sure they will be fine and maybe I’ll end up liking them, but I am always partial to a gel based moisturizer! These were the literal only cruelty free ones I could find and were relatively cheap at six bucks a pop so what can you do? I also found a serum that I am kind of interested in trying out with all of that shimmer. I love a touch of glitter and I’m hoping it will bring a pop of brightness during the grey months of fall and winter.

One final thing that caught my eye was some floss picks, which I also happened to be running low on. Rather than making a separate trip to Giant Eagle for them, I thought I’d give these plant based picks a go. You never know what you’ll find at TJMaxx! I have taken my oral health very seriously since my raging success at my last periodontist appointment. Floss picks have become a must have staple for me and it makes me feel good to be taking much better care of my teeth. I’m just hoping these plant based picks will be as durable as the ones that I usually use!

Am I thrilled with this TJMaxx Skin Care Haul? Not particularly and it was a very lackluster showing on TJ’s part. On the bright side, these are all new to me products and it’s always fun to test out new brands. We’ll see what happens!

What are your must have beauty products? What is your favorite cruelty free brand? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep6

Bath Bomb Blitz: Bombs & Balms Edition

Posted on September 6, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! I enjoyed a wonderful long Labor Day weekend with Johnny and we had a blast doing a whole lot of nothing. One of my “goals” over the weekend was to finally use the last of our purchases from the Punk Rock Flea Market we attended in mid August. Johnny bought me a bath bomb from our friend’s booth, Bombs & Balms, and I have been eager to try it out! This bath bomb was easily the coolest looking one that I have ever used and I think all of you will be able to see why:

There were tons of awesome goodies at the Bombs & Balms stand including bath bombs, obvi, and lots of adorably unique homemade jewelry. Johnny and I both gravitated towards the bath bomb we walked away with immediately because we like anything with skeletons and cauldrons lol. I am also a lover of all things with an apple scent so I couldn’t wait to take a whiff of the Green Apple fragrance! On Sunday evening, I thought I would cross my bath time goal off of my to do list and it was just the relaxing, pampering treat I needed.

The scent of this bath bomb was so perfectly Green Apple and I was really impressed with its sweet/tart fragrance. I had a great feeling about this bath bomb because the last one I used from Bath & Body Works sucked on ice. Before popping this bomb into the tub, it was a given that it would begin to bubble and brew in the cauldron. Seeing it actually happen was SO cool, though, and it was like watching a potion fizz and pop!

My literal only gripe about this bath bomb was that the cauldron floated, so it was up to me to keep it under the water to fully do its thing. This wasn’t a big deal because the novelty of the witch’s brew was fun and different enough that a floating cauldron was the least of my worries. This bath bomb turned my water a bright glittery green and I thought that was fantastic because lighter colored bombs have the potential to turn the water swampy. After my soak, my skin felt soft as can be and as a bonus, the bath bomb washed away completely in the tub so there was no scrubbing afterwards. 😀

You can check out Bombs & Balms on Facebook and place orders through their page. If you are looking for a treat yoself purchase with some spooky flare, then you know exactly where to go!

What is your favorite homemade beauty brand? What is your favorite fall fragrance? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep4

New Pink & Lavender Glitter Nails

Posted on September 4, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello! Lil Red has some REALLY exciting news on the horizon and I can’t wait to announce it! Unfortunately, everyone is going to have to wait a little bit longer because the event that I will be attending got postponed a week. It is not often that I get my nails done twice in one month and I guess I could have held off a little bit longer. But, I didn’t hear about the rescheduling of the event until it was too late to reschedule my nail appointment. That’s okay, though, because I never say no to some extra pampering and I love my new Pink & Lavender Glitter Nails! Check it out:

When I was on my way to Elysian Nails, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for my colors. Did I want to give a final hurrah to summer? Or did I want to welcome fall with rich deep hues and jewel tones? Both options sounded good to me so I decided to let the nail polish wall decide. As I browsed through the endless array of nail polish, I ended up going with not my first idea or second one either. Instead, I found an adorable glitter pink called “Bubble Bop” and glitter lavender called “Just 4 U” sitting side by side. They looked so cute together that I figured I might as well! My new nails look exactly like candy with these sweet shades and I am obsessed.

Mary, my nail tech, knocked this fill out of the park as always. We were working on a time crunch because she was running a little late and I needed to get back to work, which was totally fine. I have had many a speedy fill by Mary and I trust her with my claws completely. It always amazes me when Mary does my nails with limited time because they still look like someone spent over an hour on them. This fill was accomplished in forty minutes and in that time she didn’t miss a beat with her attention to detail or customer service. I cannot wait to sport her handiwork for the event I am going to!! 😀

Keep it locked on lifewithlilred for some big news and a brand new Bath Bomb Blitz all coming soon!! YAY! ❤

Do you like glitter on your nails? Do you prefer gel, dip, or regular polish? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep1

New Hair, Who Dis?

Posted on September 1, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! This past Friday, I spent a wonderful four or so hours getting my hair done by the amazing Anna at The Shear Shop. We decided to say bye bye to rainbow hair and move onto something deeper and more lux for fall. This was the shortest amount of time that I have ever spent in Anna’s chair in I don’t know how long. Short and sweet because this is my absolute favorite thing that she has ever done. I know I say that every time I get my hair done, but I really mean it this time! Check it out:

Pulp Riot colors from left top to right bottom:

Fireball

Pyro

Nightfall mixed with Velvet

Satire

When conferencing with Anna pre appointment, we decided that we loved the idea of jewel tones. The “peacock” portion of my hair last time around of green, blue, and purple faded into something swampy and very unsightly. A deeper blue or purple was the way to go to avoid that because the faded portion of my hair looked HIT. To achieve this do, Anna began by bleaching out my regrowth and it only took about a half hour to get my roots lightened to her satisfaction.

Once the bleach was washed out and my hair was dried, the fun part of color application began! My favorite part is when Anna brings out her tray full of Pulp Riot colors and we just have to smell it because it smells exactly like Sweet Tarts. 😀 Anna first started by painting my roots with Pyro and applying Satire next to my bangs and crown. Then, she tied it all together with some Fireball. Once the top half of my hair had color applied, she painted the bottom half with her combination of Nightfall and Velvet. We were hoping that this would pull as a rich navy blue and crossed our fingers while the color sat for forty-five minutes.

The almost hour of waiting to be rinsed off dragged on for forever because I couldn’t wait to see the results! As always, we washed it with ice cold water once the time was up and it definitely woke me up lol it was freezing. While my hair was being washed, Anna told me it was looking really good, but we never know how good until it is cut, dried, and styled. What usually extends my appointments is that we are not happy with how certain colors pulled so we either have to rebleach or redye or both to those areas. That was so not the case at this appointment!

Even with wet hair, we were going gaga over the Nightfall and Velvet combination. It was exactly what we wanted and the contrast between it and the bright colors on top was stunning. Not that I don’t freaking love spending a day at The Shear Shop, but it’s always great to have things go accordingly to plan the first time around. Our literal only regret is that we didn’t have more of the navy and we plan on applying it even higher at my next appointment. I am thinking we will keep with this color combo for a long while because it is shear perfection.

As per ushe, Anna is a genius and a true master of her craft. She works magic every time I see her, but this style is on a whole other level. ❤ Keep it posted for my brand new OOTD tomorrow featuring my brand new do!

What is your preferred hair dye brand? Are you changing your hair for fall? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug31

August 2023 Finishes

Posted on August 31, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello everyone! I blinked and we are already at the last day of August! The end of the month means that it’s time to discuss my finished beauty and skin care products. This post will be short and sweet because I only used up two – in July I had seven empties to discuss! Let’s take a look at my August Finishes and chat some more because they were both duds lol:

Would I Use Again?

Honest Beauty Vitamin C Radiance Serum: NO

Goop Glow Vita-C Brightening Eye Cream: NO

Why/Why Not?

Honest Serum: This is the second product by Honest Beauty that I have used and I was expecting a bit more from the Vitamin C Radiance Serum. I was most impressed by Honest’s Calm & Heal Melting Balm and was hoping for another rave review. I wanted to like the Vitamin C serum, but it just didn’t do anything for me. I loved its shimmery orange hue and that’s about it. I needed a decent amount of serum to fully cover my face and neck. Despite the bigger bottle, it was finished in under a month. In that time, I noticed no positive changes in my complexion. I suppose my skin looked a tad brighter, but literally any serum can do that. This is one you can definitely skip on.

Goop Glow Eye Cream: I received this product as a freebie during my Sephora Birthday Haul and it was pretty good. This was actually a nice free item to receive because the tiny jar lasted me over two weeks of morning and night use. I did notice the skin around my eyes to be brighter and a lightening in my under eye circles. However, I simply refuse to pay fifty-eight dollars for a full size jar of it. That’s ridiculous and even if it were at TJMaxx it would still be too expensive. It’s another no from me, dawg.

My empties for August were not anything to write home about. That’s okay, though, because they can’t all be winners and whether I like the products or not, it’s always fun to try something new. See you in September!

What products did you finish this month? What are your thoughts on any of the above if you have used them before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug30

goodhabit Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream Review

Posted on August 30, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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goodhabit Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream Review

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new skin care review on lifewithlilred! Today, we are going to be talking about the Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream by goodhabit. I have been using it for the past month and still have a little ways to go and I have been loving it. Johnny really likes it too and it has treated his forever dry forehead well lol. The only thing we still can’t quite wrap our mind around is the color of this moisturizer! Take a look:

I will never forget when I opened this moisturizer for the first time and my first impression was simply “Smurf blue”. I always open a new moisturizer expecting a white or off white color so you could color me surprised when the Water Jelly Dew Cream just wasn’t haha. After the initial shock of all blue everything, I was able to appreciate the delightful aquatic scent this moisturizer has. It is so crisp and refreshing! This product also fully lives up to the name of a Jelly Dew Cream because it feels exactly like jelly and jiggles like it too. 😀

Applying the goodhabit moisturizer is like giving your skin an instant hydration boost. You barely need any of it to fully cover your face and neck – a little goes a very long way, but just a little packs a huge punch. This moisturizer absorbs really fast, sits well under makeup, and my skin has never looked or felt better. My face feels SO insanely soft and it looks fresh and bright… almost as if I am well rested for once in my life! I am going to be so sad once it is all gone and I think Johnny will be too!

If you are on the market for a new moisturizer, I can’t recommend goodhabit’s Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream (that’s a mouthful!) enough. I am hoping that I find more during my next TJMaxx shopping trip because I could imagine it being most helpful for dry skin during the fall and winter!

What is your favorite skin care brand? Have you used any goodhabit products before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug20

Bath & Body Works Halloween Scents Pt. 3

Posted on August 20, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Bath & Body Works Halloween Scents Pt. 3

Hello!! Other than purchasing hand soaps from Bath & Body Works and shopping the occasional Semi-Annual Sale, I really don’t buy anything from there. The remainder of my B&BW stash comes from freebie coupons that get sent out monthly or bimonthly. Because of rarely spending money when I visit the store, it has taken a long time to rack up points for their rewards program. After my Halloween hand soap haul, I finally got a free full size product reward and stopped by to cash it in.

I thought I bought all of the Halloween scents in hand soap form, but I was mistaken. There are actually two other fragrances that I missed – Everlasting Magic and Midnight Spell. Midnight Spell was a massive dud, but I LOVED Everlasting Magic, so I used my rewards points for a body cream:

Everlasting Magic is one of my favorite Halloween scents from B&BW. It’s not as good as Purrfect Pumpkin, but I actually think I might like it more than Vampire Blood. That’s really saying something! Everlasting Magic offers notes of “bejeweled berries, phantom petals, and magic musk”. Normally, I am not a fan of musky fragrances – this one, however, was fine because I really couldn’t smell it! To me, it smelled like rich plum and blackberries with the softest touch of floral. Also, can we talk about how pretty the packaging is?!

As always, I am a huge fan of the Body Cream from B&BW so I was really happy to snag it for free. While I will forever be partial to The Body Shop products, this cream is a close second. With a shea butter base and hyaluronic acid, it is so hydrating and nourishing. My skin feels and looks soft after every use and I think it is one of the best products that B&BW carries. I would definitely recommend getting a bottle for yourself the next time you go shopping! In Everlasting Magic, perhaps? 😀

There were several Halloween scents from B&BW that I didn’t care for at all and I feel like Everlasting Magic was a redemption in that regard. Here’s to waiting another year plus for my next free product reward lol!

What is your favorite B&BW Halloween scent? What is your favorite product they carry? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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