Tag Archives: weekend

TJMaxx Haul

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TJMaxx Haul

Heyy everyone and happy Tuesday! Over the weekend my mom and I ventured to one of the bigger TJMaxx stores in our general area for some shopping and scored some amazing deals. My mom and I concluded long ago that a shopping trip to TJs is going to be a hit or a miss and lucky for us, it was a definite hit this time around! We snagged some fabulous products from The Body Shop as a treat which is what I’ll be discussing today! Take a look at our finds:

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Our Purchases:

  • Satsuma body scrub: $5
  • Strawberry body scrub: $5
  • Jumbo Satsuma body butter: $10
  • Jumbo Honeymania body butter: $10
  • Cocoa Butter body butter: $6
  • Vineyard Peach body butter: $6
  • Grand Total: $42
  • Estimated In Store Price: $120+

During our TJs shopping excursion my mom and I spent quite some time in their bath and body care section which we don’t do very often. We rarely shop at the store that we were at, though, and we wanted to explore everything that it had to offer. I’m glad we did because we ended up with the haul of a lifetime thanks to their products from The Body Shop. When we saw all of the body butters, shower gels, and scrubs that were stocking the shelves, we couldn’t not grab a few! Especially when the prices were so amazing!

As an unspoken rule between my mom and myself, we never shop The Body Shop’s bath and body section when we’re in the store. We simply refuse to spend twenty-one dollars on a tub of body butter when we can get a huge jug of lotion at Target for a quarter of the price. Therefore, we only use the skin care and makeup products that TBS has to offer which is all we really need. My mom and I are longtime customers of The Body Shop and I also worked as their Assistant Manager for a while. With our knowledge of their body care prices in mind, we simply couldn’t believe how dirt cheap TJ’s selection was.

We scoured the shelves looking for all of the different scents that were hiding in all of the nooks and crannies and ended up with some of our favorites. I was SO excited because the Vineyard Peach and Cocoa Butter are my two all time favorite scents. We were also surprised to find jumbo body butter tubs so we grabbed a tub of Satsuma and Honeymania. You literally can’t go wrong with Satsuma and my mom loves Honeymania so I was glad I could talk her in to snagging a tub of her favorite for herself. It didn’t take much convincing though!

I rarely use body scrubs but I do have a soft spot in my heart for the Satsuma and Strawberry scrubs that The Body Shop has to offer. On the rare occasion that my sister and I have one of the scrubs at home, we use them to shave our legs. I had leg shaving on my mind when we were shopping (weird) because I planned on having a bath and shaving when we got home. So of course, I had to put a Satsuma and Strawberry scrub in to our pile. One for me and one for my sister.

At this point in our shopping, I had to go and get a cart so we could tote around our finds and browse some more. My mom ended up with a new pair of navy blue Keds to wear when she’s out and about. They’re so cute! We also spent a somewhat unnecessary amount of time in their animal section picking out a water dish for our newly adopted Ollie as well as some toys for him and his Golden Retriever big sister to play with. After inspecting our cart that was bulging full with doggy toys, I came to the conclusion that the time spent squeaking every single one was so necessary.

I can’t believe the stroke of luck that we had finding all of our TBS purchases. It’s going to be such a nice treat to use them because we literally never would buy them for ourselves otherwise. My mom and I already have plans of using up all of our half finished lotion and saving our butters for special occasions and colder weather. There’s nothing better than a good haul – especially when you get your purchases for the right price!

So there you have it, my most recent TJMaxx Haul! I had the best time shopping with my mom and I’m so happy with all of the fabulous treats that we found. What is your favorite beauty product to splurge on? What is your favorite fragrance from The Body Shop? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sunday Funday!

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Sunday Funday!

Hiiii everyone and happy Sunday Funday!! Just so you know, I will be out of office today because my boyfriend, Kyle, and I have a super fun day ahead of us. Kyle is the Assistant Manager at Gervasi Vineyard, which is in Canton, Ohio. It’s such a gorgeous property with three restaurants, villas, vineyards, orchards, and a huge lake. He has a work party today which is casino themed so that means we get to dress up, drink wine, and mingle!

The last work party of his that I went to was a blast, so needless to say, I’m SO excited! I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend and be sure to tune in on Tuesday to hear all about my night of frivolity! Much love. -Sarah

Vidal Sassoon Runway Red Review

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Vidal Sassoon Runway Red Review

Hi everyone and happy weekend! When it comes to my personal appearance, there is nothing, NOTHING more important to me than my red hair. I’ve had my hair red for quite some time now thanks to my wonderful stylist at the salon but only recently have I started to dye my hair at home. I discovered Vidal Sassoon’s Runway Red box color from their London Luxe collection over a year ago and have been a faithful user ever since. Frankly, I’m shocked that I haven’t reviewed this product before now but there’s no better time than the present so let’s do this:

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Once upon a time when I was paying close to eighty dollars monthly to get my hair colored, I thought that there would never be a box color that was as good as what I was getting at the salon. Honestly, there really wasn’t until Vidal Sassoon came out with their London Luxe collection. I can’t tell you the amount of times that I browsed through the box color section of Target or the grocery store only to find reds that weren’t red enough. Then, one day, I saw a commercial on TV for VS’s new collection. I took one good look at the girl with her hair dyed “Runway Red” and thought to myself, “this is it”.

I’m not really sure what brought on the need for me to stop getting my hair done professionally aside from the fact that I wanted to save money. I had been getting my hair done in the salon for years and I was nervous as hell to make the jump to at home coloring. But the next week, I went to Target with my mom and purchased my very first boxed hair dye, Vidal Sassoon’s Runway Red.

That evening, I would leave the very capable hands of my stylist and into the hands of my mother, who helped me on my first go at coloring my hair from home. We set up shop in the bathroom and my mom gave me the step by step guide on how to get situated. Step 1) Lay down LOTS of towels on the floor and around the sink. 2) Mix your color. 3) Put on your gloves. 4) Apply the color. And most importantly, always wear a top that you don’t have to lift up over your head!

My mom applied my color for me with the seasoned touch of a woman who’s been dying her hair from the comfort of her bathroom for years. Once my roots were completely covered, there was no turning back. That’s when the nerves really started to kick in! Loops of “What have I gotten myself into? Why did I let my mother near by head with hair dye? What happens if it looks ugly?” were running through my head at a hundred miles per minute.

By the time I eased myself out of a semi panic attack, our timer rang and it was time to apply the color to the rest of my hair. Once all of my hair was covered in red muck, my fate was left up to the gods. I waited for the color to set and then when it was time to rinse, I walked to the shower like I was on my way to the gallows. Once more, I thought to myself, “this is it” and placed my head under frigid cold water to wash away the dye.

As I stood in the shower freezing my nads off, I was shocked by how blood red the water was turning. It was so disgusting but kind of awesome! It took a while to get all of the dye washed away and I felt like I had developed hypothermia by the time I got out of the shower. I wrapped myself in a bunch of towels and held my breath as I rubbed away the fog from the mirror to inspect the color. I relaxed a little when I saw that my hair looked exactly the way it did once the dye is washed out at the salon. But I didn’t celebrate quite yet because the real moment of truth would come once my hair was completely dried.

I never blow dry my hair because it takes forever but I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to grab the dryer so I could start the process. I dried, and dried, and dried my hair some more and then took a tentative look in the mirror when I was finally done. Thankfully, the gods were in my favor because the color looked better than I could have ever expected. It was brighter than what I was getting done at the salon, it was bold, and it looked fabulous. See for yourself the power of Runway Red:

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I couldn’t even tell you the amount of time and money that Vidal Sassoon’s box color has saved me. It is the BEST thing that has ever happened to my beauty routine and I’m so thankful to have found a color that’s even better than what I was getting at the salon. Therefore, I rate Vidal Sassoon’s Runway Red with: one million stars, for making me look beautiful without breaking my bank!

So there you have it, my Vidal Sassoon Runway Red Review! Do you dye your hair at the salon or at home? What box color do you swear by? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Hello, It’s Me!

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Hello, It’s Me!

Hey there everyone and happy Sunday! I hope all of you are having a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I’ve noticed that I haven’t put up a whole lot of pictures of me on the ol’ blog lately. To remedy that, I had my dad break out his prized camera and snap some pictures of me during this past week. We shot some pictures outside and as you can see, Ohio got quite a bit of snow! (So much so that I was snowed in at home for an afternoon!) We also took some pics on our cool, color blocked hallway for your viewing pleasure. Take a look:

^^^ Thanks, dad! ❤

What I Wore:

  • Featured Image Jacket: This was one of my Christmas gifts, compliments of Target. You can read all about it in my post, New Coat Heaven.
  • Killin’ It Hoodie: My hoodie dress is one of my all time favorite Forever 21 finds which you can read about in my Monday Update: Forever 21 Haul Edition.
  • Black Skinnies: I got these from Express about a year or so ago. They used to have the coolest snakeskin pattern printed on them but unfortunately it faded away after over a year of washing. -_-
  • Zipper Front Heels: These babies are one of my steals that I got from Kohl’s a while back ago which you can read about in, If The Shoe Fits – Apt. 9 Edition.
  • Teal Fingerless Gloves: My glovies are one of my favorite accessories that I own. My mom got these for me from TJMaxx when I was in high school. It was on a day that I didn’t feel like going to school so we went shopping instead! I love them just as much now as I did when I first got them.

It was so nice to be able to spend the afternoon being photographed by my dear old dad. He definitely shot some winners and it was a great way to spend time together! How has everyone’s weekend been? What kind of weather are you having in your neck of the woods right now? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

What’s In My Bag?

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What’s In My Bag?

Hey everyone and happy weekend! I’ve been meaning to do a What’s In My Bag? post for the longest time – they seem like so much fun to do! I was switching what purse I was using anyways so I figured that I might as well snap some pics of the innards of my bag as I do so. (Remind me never to say the word innards again.) I decided to break out my beautiful Betsey Johnson telephone purse to tote around so take a look at what lies inside:

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The Purse: When I saw this darling Betsey Johnson stunner at Macy’s, I knew that I had to have it. I love all things Betsey and this little baby is no exception. My parents got it for me as a gift for my 21st birthday and I’m so obsessed…And yes, the telephone handle really does work! You can plug it into your iPhone and chat away! So cute.

The Contents:

  • Mustard Yellow Wallet: This was a find from Target and I always manage to get compliments on it. I’ve had my wallet for about three years now and it still looks great – I wish it were a little fuller though! 😉
  • Sequin Coin Purse: I got my little coin purse as a present for being a Victoria’s Secret Angel Card member. My mom, sister, and I spent our way to their credit card with the best rewards and this purse was one of them. I think it’s too cute! I was going to put it in my stockpile of freebies to gift to someone but I liked it so much that I kept it for myself.
  • Marlboro Smooths: Yes, I smoke. Whoops!
  • Car Keys: The keys to unlock my beloved Little Red Love Machine AKA my 2012 Mazda2 hatchback. My favorite keychain on there is of Despicable Me’s Agnes and her unicorn which my sister got for me at Universal Studios! We match because she got one for herself, too. 🙂
  • Envelope Makeup Bag: My sister gets a monthly beauty bag from Ipsy and her February goodies came in this precious purse. Obviously, she gave it to me and I adore it. Plus, it matches my Betsey bag perfectly! All of the next items listed are stored in my Ipsy bag.
  • Four Lighters: Yes, I’m a lighter hoarder. Whoops!
  • Five Chapsticks: I also appear to be a chapstick hoarder, as well…
  • Tide To Go Pen: This thing is a life saver! It has saved me from the grief of coffee, pop, and food stains when I’m on the go.
  • Bath & Body Works Hand Sanitizer: I got my Apple Harvest sanitizer as one of my B&BW freebies. It’s nice to have when there isn’t a way to wash your hands close by. I wish I would have gotten it in a different scent, though, because the smell is way too strong.
  • Plastic Heart (on top of the lighters): I sort of kind of snagged this from a restaurant that my boyfriend and I ate at recently. The candle holders on the table were filled with them and I couldn’t stop myself from stealthily dropping one into my purse!

*** Fun Fact: My purse wouldn’t stay standing up in the picture above so I put one of my Minnetonka moccasins in it to weigh it down! #clever

Ahhh! This was so much fun! It made me feel like one of the celebrities who empties out their purses contents for People magazine. You guys found out What’s In My Bag and now I want to hear about what’s in yours! What is one of your must have products when you’re on the go? What is something unusual that you carry in your purse? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Lifewithlilred By The Numbers

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Lifewithlilred By The Numbers

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! I was blown away by recently hitting my 2,000 followers mark here on lifewithlilred. Since I’ve had my page up and running for over a year now, I thought it would be fun to do a stats post and see just how much things have progressed on my little old blog. Let’s take a look:

   My Stats:

  • Posts: 562
  • Comments: 1,553
  • Followers: 2,105
  • Categories: 32
  • Tags: 2,335
  • Countries: 150
  • Views: 43,679

*** Note that I am prewriting this so these stats are slightly off!

If you would have told me when I first started blogging that after over a year I would have posted 562 times, I would have said that you’re crazy! But now, I feel strange if I don’t get to write at least a quick post every day! Once a week I take twenty or so minutes to plan out my posts for the week as well as ideas for days to come. I love coming up with new and exciting articles to write and it’s always so fun to me to see how you guys react to them.

I always find so much joy in looking at my stats and seeing how all of my hard work paid off. If you haven’t already, I can’t recommend making a post like this enough – or at least going through your accumulated stats to see how you’re doing. It felt awesome to look through these numbers and see how much they’ve grown since my very first blog post! For once, it was a trip down memory lane that was enjoyable to take!

So there you have it, Lifewithlilred By The Numbers! A short and sweet post that took ten minutes to write and that brought a smile to my face. So worth it. How long have you been blogging for? How many posts have you wrote? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Olay “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser Review

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Olay “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser Review

Hey everyone and happy weekend! I recently started using Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser and I’m really pleased with it so far! When I wash my face in the morning, I usually use some type of cream cleanser and then I use an exfoliater so it’s been nice using Olay’s product which is my two skin care staples in one. Take a look at the sunny bright packaging of my latest cleanser and let’s discuss:

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I’ve always liked using Olay’s skin care products and their exfoliating cleanser is no exception. As you guys know by now, it’s essential that the products I use smell good and my new cleanser passed the smell test with flying colors. As it says on the packaging, it has the essence of honeysuckle and white tea which makes for a sweet and bright scent. I love when my cleansers have a really invigorating aroma to them because it makes for a great pick me up during my morning showers. There’s a slight hint of floral to the scent but it’s not overpowering at all which leaves you with a fragrance that’s perfectly fresh and clean.

It is important to me that my cleansers create a lush and powerful lather when I’m scrubbing away and this product does exactly that. I was using one of Simple’s cleansers before this one and my biggest complaint about it was that it created no lather. Needless to say, I’m in bubble heaven now. What’s amazing about this product is that despite the exfoliater beads in it, it still feels so soft on the skin. A lot of exfoliating products leaves my skin feeling tight and dry but Olay’s “Bead Me Up” cleanser leaves my skin feeling supple and hydrated.

The best thing about this exfoliating cleanser is its personal vendetta against my blackheads! I have five nose piercings and I tend to get a lot of blackheads surrounding my studs. I’m not exactly self conscious of them because they’re really not noticeable but I know that they’re there and it drives me crazy! After just one use of “Bead Me Up”, 90% of my blackheads were gone. I rarely find cream cleansers that are strong enough to eliminate my blackheads so I am very happy with Olay’s exfoliating cleanser.

My one complaint about my cleanser is that it’s not gritty enough. What I love about exfoliaters is how rough it feels on my skin. I like the feeling of really scrubbing away and removing all of the dead skin and gunk clogging my face. If this exfoliating cleanser were just a smidgen grittier, it would be perfect.

Despite my desire for the exfoliating aspect of this cleanser to pack a bit more punch, I’m going to rate Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser with: four stars. I’ve really enjoyed incorporating this product into my hygiene routine and I’m excited to see the effect that it’s going to have on my skin!

So there you have it, my review of Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser! What is one of your must have skin care products? What cleanser are you using right now? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

My Makeup Free Weekends

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My Makeup Free Weekends

Hey everyone and happy Tuesday! I hope you all are having a great start to your week. So for the past few months I’ve been making an effort to give myself some makeup free days. I settled on doing makeup throughout the week and living makeup free over the weekends. At first, my days of being au natural were torture and all I wanted to do was plop myself in front of the bathroom mirror and do my daily makeup routine. That was then, this is now though because now I live for my days of having a fresh face! Let’s discuss:

As the weeks progressed of having my makeup free weekends, all of the benefits began to pile up. One of them being that it’s a total money saver! Thanks to my days of not applying a single drop of makeup, I haven’t had to buy any new makeup products in months. On an average month, I would say that I’m not wearing makeup for at least a third of it. That’s ten days of no eyeliner, eyeshadow, blush, and all of my other makeup must haves. Not using my favorite products regularly has stretched out my usage of them tenfold and has really stretched my dollars, as well!

I’m the first to say that I’m a total freak about my skin. Good skin care products as well as face washes and exfoliators are an absolute necessity for me. I’ll do anything to keep my skin as fresh as can be and I pride myself on my porcelain complexion. Over the TV, internet, and magazines skin care can be made out to be so complicated. There’s nothing hard about wearing no makeup though! I’ve noticed that my skin has become so much softer overall due to my au natural days. It makes sense when you think about it, though. For ten days of the month I have no makeup to scrub off of my face, no products clogging my pores, and a fresh face allows my moisturizers and treatments to really soak in and do their jobs. Score!

The money saving is nice and it’s cool to have my skin improve but the best thing I’ve gained from my makeup free days is confidence. When I was applying my makeup regularly before, you couldn’t pay me to step out in public with no makeup on. I always had to be done up even if I was just staying in for the day. I thought that I had to have makeup on to be pretty and I wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Now, I spend my weekends out and about running errands, working, and hanging out with friends without an ounce of makeup on and I’ve never felt better. I sometimes have days where I’ll catch my makeup free face in the mirror at a store and wish that I did my beauty routine that morning – but don’t we all? However, I must confess, that it’s Sunday (I like to prewrite my posts) and I am wearing makeup! My boyfriend and I have a few Super Bowl parties to attend and I wanted to get dolled up for them! But fear not, I made up for my negligence of my makeup free rule on the weekends by flaunting a fresh face on Friday. 🙂

My Makeup Free Weekends have done nothing but good for me and I can’t recommend my regimen enough. Does anyone have a similar makeup free routine to mine? What are the benefits that you’ve found from going makeup free? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jergens BB Hand Cream Review

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Jergens BB Hand Cream Review

Hi everyone and happy Super Bowl Sunday! I hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend so far. Over the holidays, I was lucky and won a giveaway by my friend, Victoria, over at livingdisrobed. I won some Jergens body care goodies which included the most fantastic hand cream ever. The Jergens BB Hand Cream is the best thing that has ever happened to my hands and their tendency to get insanely dried out. I have nothing but good things to say about this cream, so let’s discuss:

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If I could describe myself in one word when it comes to body care products, I would use “picky” with a capital P. If the product is greasy – no can do. If it has a scent that I don’t like – see ya never. And if it’s ineffective – girl, BYE. Lucky for me, the Jergens gods heard my prayer for the perfect cream and they responded by making their BB Hand Cream.

My hands are incredibly sensitive so it doesn’t take a lot to get them dehydrated. On top of this sensitivity, I’m a bit of a germophobe so I’m a hand washer as well. When my hands get dry, they get extremely red, they crack, and they legitimately hurt. You would think that with all of these problems, I would have found the perfect hand cream by now. Unfortunately, I’ve never been so blessed. #fml

It seems like every product that I’ve tried has missed the mark and I don’t like to pay for products unless I’m 110% sure that they’re going to do the job. My last attempt at a hand cream was when I used The Body Shop’s almond cream which worked well but was much too greasy for my liking. I thought that my days of red and raw hands was never going to end and then I ended up winning Victoria’s giveaway.

When my package arrived in the mail, I opened it with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas. I inspected my goodies and then eagerly squeezed some of the hand cream onto the palm of my hand. I took a whiff of the cream and was pleased that it was a nice and light fragrance that wasn’t overpowering in the slightest.

After the cream passed the smell test, I began to rub it into my skin. The only way that I can describe it was that it was like my hands were taking a long and much needed drink of water. The hand cream went in so smoothly and within seconds I couldn’t even tell that I had applied a healthy helping of the cream. There was no grease, no residue, and no strong fragrance left behind.

After just one use of Jergens BB Hand Cream, the redness of my skin was reduced, the scaliness was smoothed down, and my hands felt perfectly hydrated. I’ve never experienced a cream that truly helped revitalize my skin without leaving behind any kind of residue. Honestly, I thought that it was impossible. My Jergens BB Hand Cream has helped my winter hands become a thing of the past and that is something that I am so thankful for.

I would be ridiculous to rate my Jergens BB Hand Cream with anything less than: five stars. This is easily the best cream that I’ve ever used and I can’t recommend it enough. Thank you so much again, Victoria, because it was all thanks to you! ❤

So there you have it, my Jergens BB Hand Cream Review! What is your go to hand cream? What body lotion do you swear by? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nivea “A Kiss of Smoothness” Chapstick Review

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Nivea “A Kiss of Smoothness” Chapstick Review

Hi everyone and happy weekend! Last week my mom surprised me with a new chapstick because I’m seriously always complaining about how chapped my lips are. She came home from the grocery store with Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” balm and I was so excited because I’ve heard lots of good things about their products. But unfortunately, my new chapstick didn’t quite make the mark so let’s discuss:

My first impression of Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” chapstick when I put it on was how light it felt. The balms that I usually use tend to be thicker in their consistency which is something that I didn’t realize I liked until now. My number one complaint with this chapstick is that it absorbs much too quickly. To some, that’s a good thing. For me, not so much. I like being able to feel my chapstick on my lips and know that it’s working. Within five to seven minutes the Nivea balm was almost completely absorbed and I was left feeling like I needed more.

Before I snapped some quick pictures of the product, I applied a healthy layer on my lips. By the time I finished preparing the photos, categories, and schedule of this post – I was ready for another helping. What’s the point of a chapstick if you have to keep applying it multiple times per hour? My thing is, is that if the product felt like it was working every time I reapplied it, I wouldn’t have as big of an issue with it. But Nivea’s chapstick leaves my lips feeling dryer than they were before. The way I see it, Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” balm is giving my lips a few sips of hydration when I really just need a whole bottle!

One nice thing about this product is that it’s not fragranced which is a plus for me. I always end up licking the balm off if it’s scented with a delicious smelling flavor! I can see this balm being great in the summer time when something light is all that’s needed. However, with cold winter weather among us, I need something that really gets the job done and Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” balm just isn’t strong enough to do that.

All in all, I’m going to rate this product with: one and a half stars. The lightness of the balm and its lack of fragrance is nice. Having said that, it’s extremely inconvenient and annoying to have to reapply your chapstick constantly. Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” balm might be good for use on occasion but if you’re looking for the cure all product to your chapped lips then this chapstick is not for you…or me, for that matter.

So there you have it, my Nivea “A Kiss of Smoothness” Chapstick Review! What lip balm do you swear by? Who likes to make their own lip care products? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah