Tag Archives: beauty

May2

Face Mask Festivities: CVS Avocado Oatmeal Clay Mask Edition

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Face Mask Festivities: CVS Avocado Oatmeal Clay Mask Edition

Hey everyone and happy Hump Day! If there’s one thing a Lil Red loves, it’s a clay mask. I don’t buy them too often because I don’t use them too often, but the one that we’re discussing today was a hand me down from my beauty queen sister. It wasn’t the best, but it certainly wasn’t the worst, either. So, take a look and let’s get to it:

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Okay, so a major pro of this mask was that it smelled awesome. It had a nice and creamy texture thanks to the avocado, but it’s scent was rich and sweet from the oatmeal. I have a love/hate relationship with the overall feel of this mask, though. I liked that the consistency of it was lighter than a standard clay mask. But, at the end of the day, I love a really thick texture. It’s a matter of preference, though. I love being able to take a bath and let a thicker mask soak in. It was impossible to do that with the CVS one, because it dried so quickly!

Although this product smelled really good, I am glad that I didn’t go out of my way to purchase it for myself. When I use a face mask, I’m only genuinely concerned about one thing: Blackhead removal. And, unfortunately, my blackheads were none of the better after using this mask even though it’s supposed to be a purifying one. Don’t get me wrong, my skin felt soft after using it and it will be nice to apply every once in a while. But, don’t expect a miracle in this face mask, because you aren’t going to get it.

What is your favorite face mask to use? How do you like to pamper yourself? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May1

Bouquet Beauty

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Bouquet Beauty

Heyyy everyone and happy Mayday! With another lovely month of spring upon us, it only seems right to plaster lifewithlilred’s walls with a floral frenzy. It’s hard not to see a huge field of flowers, a lone rose, or a freshly picked bouquet and not smile. That’s basically how I’ve been feeling for the last few days since my hopeless romantic dad gifted my mom with this here bunch of flowers:

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Seeing this bright pink delight every time I walk into the kitchen is always a treat. Seeing the blooms of daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths all over the neighborhood is always a treat. And, spending another month with my beloved readers here on lifewithlilred is the best treat of all!

Happy May! ❤

What is your favorite month of the year? Are you doing anything special in the month of May? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr26

April 2018 Finishes

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April 2018 Finishes

Howdy! I hate to say it, but 2018 is moving at a rapid pace. With April drawing to a close, warm summer days will be on the horizon before we know it. As much as I’d love for time to slow down dramatically, that’s just not the way things work! Lovely May is just days away and that means that it’s time to see which beauty products I am saying bye bye to this month. Check it out:

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Would I Use Again?

  • Bath & Body Works Country Apple body spray: YES
  • Tresemme Botanique Damage Recovery hair product: YES
  • Jones New York body cream in White Tea: MAYBE

Why/Why Not?

B&BW Spray: We all know by now how much I love anything apple scented and Country Apple by Bath & Body Works will always be one of my faves. I buy this body spray in bulk for a whole three dollars during B&BW’s summer sales and it usually lasts me close to five months. Talk about a teeny tiny cost per use!

Tresemme Hair Product: I really, really liked this spray. 1) It smelled awesome. 2) It made my hair really shiny. And 3) It provided protection from heat while leaving my hair feeling soft and fresh. It took me at least six months to finish this product and I would buy it again in a heartbeat. In fact, I plan on it once I finish up the oil that I’m currently using. I would definitely recommend this!

JNY Cream: I got this as a gift from my BFF for Christmas and I ended up really liking it. At first, I wasn’t too wild about the White Tea scent, but it ended up growing on me and by the time I finished my cream, I totally loved it. I love the texture of this product. It was thicker than a normal lotion but not as hard as a body butter by any means, which made applying it so easy. Despite the pillow soft texture, my skin still felt really hydrated and supple after each use and I got as least five full body uses out of the jar. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it again, but if I was gifted with it, then I would be really happy. 😀

Even though I didn’t finish up too many goodies this month, I enjoyed using all of my empties, which makes April a definite success!

Which beauty products did you finish up this month? Have you ever used any of my empties before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr21

Frugal Flowers

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Frugal Flowers

Hi everyone! One of the things that both my parents and myself love having around the house is fresh flowers. Whether they’re picked from our yard or selected at a farmer’s market or store, there is nothing like a huge bouquet sitting on the kitchen table to make you smile.

We never look to spend too much on satisfying our flower fascination, and my mom seriously took the cake with the last bouquet that she bought when it comes to saving money. She got four bunches of the flowers seen below for ONE DOLLAR at the store. You definitely can’t beat that!

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When it comes to the little odds and ends that make you smile, I always say:

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Whether it’s a dollar bouquet of flowers or that new color of lipstick that you’ve been dying for, a little pick me up certainly goes a long way!

How do you like to treat yoself? What is your favorite flower? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr18

Beauty Scenario Tag

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Beauty Scenario Tag

Hey everyone and happy Hump Day! While browsing through my WordPress beauty feed, I noticed a Beauty Scenario Tag post by Fridoline and it looked like so much fun that I had to join in! Here we go:

You have to get rid of all your foundations and you can only keep one high end and one drugstore, which do you keep?

Much to everyone’s shock when I tell them this, I don’t wear any type of foundation or concealer products. I consider myself very lucky and my pasty pale complexion is one of my favorite things about myself.

You go for an interview and the lady interviewing you has lipstick on her teeth. Do you approach the subject or ignore it completely?

Oh wow… I have no idea how I would handle this. I actually don’t think that I would say anything. If a total stranger told me that I had lipstick or food in my teeth, I would feel so embarrassed. I think that it would be better if she found out herself or if a coworker who she knows better pointed it out. But, that’s just me.

You’re not feeling yourself and need a pick me up. Which lipstick do you put on to make yourself feel beautiful?

NYX’s Pure Red Matte Lipstick, of course. It’s my go to shade and is fifty percent of the reason why my nickname is Lil Red. (The other half being my red hair, obvs lol.)

You go back in time for a day to your teenage years, how would you do your hair and makeup differently?

When I was a teenager, I actually didn’t wear a lot of makeup. Maybe if I did, I would be better at applying it now! Ha. But, I had long hair as a teen and I wish that I dyed it red, because I think that it would have been so pretty. I’d love to see what it would have looked like, because it is so difficult for me to grow my hair out now.

You ask your hairdresser for a shoulder length Pixie Lott hair cut, but they hear wrong and give you a pixie cut.

Do you:

A) Smile, say thank you, leave and call your mom hysterical.

B) Cry in the chair and things get awkward.

C) Complain to the manager and demand a refund.

OR D) So, I had no idea who Pixie Lott is and I had to Google her. Her hair is very pretty, but it’s not me at all AND I look great in a pixie cut (#humblebrag) so I don’t think that I would have been too upset.

HOWEVER, since that’s not an option, I would probably go with C. I would be very nice about it and say “this is not what I wanted at all and I don’t think that I should have to pay for it”. At the end of the day, it’s your hair that got messed up, so paying for someone’s mistake just adds to the suckery of it.

Your friend surprises you with a 4 day city break and you have 1 hour to pack. Which ‘do it all’ palette do you pack in your makeup bag?

I don’t own any palettes aside from my Elf Nude Rose Gold one, so I guess that’s the one that I would be bringing, lol.

Your house has been robbed, don’t worry everyone is safe, but your beauty stash has been raided. What’s the product you really hope is safe?

Since 99% of my makeup is drugstore brand, besides for my Better Than Sex mascara, I wouldn’t be too disappointed about anything. But, I would be kind of pissed if the Tarte Lip Paint sample that I got for my birthday from Sephora got messed with because it’s an exclusive shade for the Beauty Insider members and I freaking love it.

Your friend borrows your makeup and returns it in awful condition.

Do you:

A) Just pretend you haven’t noticed.

B) Ask them to repurchase it.

C) Secretly do the same to something of theirs.

Can option D be “none of the above”? Lol, I’m not really keen on letting anyone but me use my makeup.

Thanks again to Fridoline for this fun tag! It was a hoot. How would you answer some of these questions? What is your holy grail beauty item? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr14

New Black & Ruby Nails

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New Black & Ruby Nails

Hiii everyone and happy weekend! It has been over a month since my last fill and I was so happy to finally get my claws prettied up on Wednesday. After what seems like a year of not being in the salon chair, my nails are now back to their normal fierce selves and I am looking forward to another month (And then some!) of wear. Check it out:

rubyyy* Featuring my minion socks!!

I am so in love with the color of my accent nail this time around. So much so that I am even considering getting all of my nails painted that color next time *gasp*. This shade is called Red Carpet and it looks like a freaking blood diamond. I love that the red is so deep that it looks like it is mixed with black. It is so glam in a dark way and I feel so badass I can’t hardly stand it.

As always, my nail tech, Steve, did an amazing job shaping and sharpening my talons and he finished in a record time of an hour and a half, which is most impressive. Steve’s thoroughness and attention to detail is so one of a kind and I always feel completely spoiled after I leave his salon!

What color of nail polish are you wearing right now? How often do you go in between getting your nails done? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr13

Tiny Little Haul

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Tiny Little Haul

Hii everyone and TGIF! When it comes to purchasing makeup, I am pretty frugal and try to stick to drugstore brands only. But, that’s a different story when it comes to mascara! I am obsessed with Too Faced’s Better Than Sex mascara and consider it a staple item for when I’m painting my face.

Trust and believe that if there were a drugstore dupe of Better Than Sex, I’d buy it in bulk. But, it was getting to the point that I was mixing at least three different mascaras to get the lashes that I wanted and, even then, they still weren’t as big and bold as I would like. To save myself the concocting catastrophe, I now only buy Better Than Sex and I’m not even mad about it, because my lashes always look amazing. In fact – I usually buy two at a time!

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Not only am I, for the most part, frugal about my makeup purchases, but I am kind of a cheapskate when it comes to my nails, as well. I normally wait for over a month to get my nails filled and I rhinestone them myself, because I will be a monkey’s uncle if I pay five bucks per nail for some bling!

After restocking my mascara, I had to re-up my rhinestone stash, too, especially considering that I spilled the remains of my near empty bag during my last fill. It costs me a little less than four dollars per bag, and I am able to save at least ten dollars per fill by rhinestoning my nails myself. You can’t beat that!

There is no shame in splurging for things like acrylics or a high end makeup brand. But, it sure makes me feel better about it by cutting the costs on other things with DIY bling or clipping coupons for my drugstore dupes!

What do you splurge on when it comes to beauty products? How do you save money when restocking your makeup must haves? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr11

Nail Passion Website Shout Out

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Nail Passion Website Shout Out

Howdy! Okay, so you know how on WordPress you can see the referral links to how someone stumbled upon your blog? It’s super handy and I’m super thankful for it, because a certain special website has brought me TONS of new blog viewers. At the beginning of April, someone linked to lifewithlilred on a website called Nail Passion, which discusses all things real and fake nails.

As you all know, part of the signature Lil Red look is my long, talon acrylics that I am totally obsessed with. And, I guess other people are, too! I want to thank whomever it was that thought my nails were fierce enough to put on the Nail Passion page. It was most flattering and I am so appreciative of all of the new blog viewers that came my way because of it!!

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Who else has a love for all things nail care? Do you wear acrylics or keep your nails natural? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr7

Itty Bitty Beauty Haul

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Itty Bitty Beauty Haul

Hiii everyone and happy weekend! I was running low on a few of my beauty staples, so I decided to visit TJMaxx (Of course.) this week so that I could restock. TJ’s offers a wide variety of skin care, makeup, and bath and body care goodies, all for a fraction of the original price. I ended up with a new black eyeliner and a charcoal beauty bar for a whole eight bucks. Take a look:

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Normally, I use CoverGirl’s eyeliner that looks exactly like the one that I got by L’oreal. And normally, I pay around seven dollars for it. Being able to get essentially the same product by a different brand for over three dollars cheaper was a sweet deal. Plus, it takes me at least three or more months to finish an eye pencil in its entirety. This gives me a cost per month of a dollar and change – and I can definitely swing that.

I do have to say, I was a bit disappointed that the past two times that I was at TJ’s, they didn’t have my usual Destiny Boutique charcoal bar that I love so very, very much. So, I had to compromise with the PlantLife bar, instead. Charcoal is charcoal, and it worked the same as the Destiny Boutique bar. It was also about two dollars cheaper. Not bad for a bar that should last me around five months!

Balling on a budget means making compromises. Although it’s nice to use my favorite brands and staple items, I was able to save five bucks by switching things up a bit. Cha-ching!

How do you cut down the cost of your favorite beauty items? Where do you score the best deals on your self care staples? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr5

Furless Eyeshadow Swatch In Sinister

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Furless Eyeshadow Swatch In Sinister

Howdy! My sister, Kristen, has been getting the Ipsy Glam Bag for at least two years now. I have to admit, that even I’m excited when the signature metallic pink envelope arrives in the mail. It’s always fun to test out new products and sometimes, if I’m lucky, Kristen will give me some of her loot that she doesn’t like – like this new Furless eyeshadow. Take a look:

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^^^ The first heart is the eyeshadow dry and the second heart is the product when it’s wet. As you can see, they both pretty much look exactly alike – which is cool.

Of course, the best thing about the Furless brand is that it is cruelty free and vegan, which is so important to me. The second best thing about this eyeshadow is that the color is fabulous, which we will discuss in more detail shortly. And, finally, the third best thing about this eyeshadow is its name, because Sinister is a great word AND it is one of my favorite horror movies. This product was obviously meant to be in my possession.

My sister really does know me all too well, because I love literally any gold toned eyeshadow. Gold is a color that just works well with all of my features – my hazel eyes, pale skin, and red hair always manage to become enhanced when gold is featured in my makeup look and I love that. Sinister is an especially gorgeous color for us gals with hazel eyes that change from brown to yellow or green because it’s gold, but there are green undertones to the pigment that really will make your peepers pop. My eyes are constantly changing to green or yellow so it will be fun to play with Sinister to see what effect it has on them.

Sisterhood is great. It’s a built in best friend and the hand me downs are nothing to sneeze at, either! Thanks, Kristen!! ❤

How do you play up your eye color with makeup? 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