Beauty for Every Body ~ Summer Edition

One of my favorite stores is Target. Target just has so many happy feelings and memories! The stores (especially the Super Centers) always seem so open! So inviting! So clean! And oh! They have those baskets that aren't just square/rectangles, but they curve in a bit to sit ever so perfectly on a woman's hip. And they don't have metal handles but rather soft plastic ones, so no matter how much stuff you pile into the basket, there is rarely any pain included:) And! Targets often have cheap popcorn (that is delicious) and Starbucks inside the stores! You can buy clothes, makeup, food, wine, shoes, jewelry, etc..

I imagine Heaven is like Target. Plus DSW. With a little bit of Dunkin Donuts mixed in....

Anyway, the reason I'm starting out with gushing about Target is because Target does some else super special! Every season, the put together these fabulous little sample packs to send to some fans on their Facebook page. (did I mention they are FREE??)

Last month, they announced their Summer Beauty Bag (and a special thank you to Whitney for reminding me to sign up for mine!) and I got signed up and waited for it to get here. I thought they said wait 6-8 weeks, but I'm pretty sure it got here faster than that!

When I first opened the box, I was greeted by a blue patterned makeup bag... it's a fabric kind of like denim; it's a Contents by Allegro bag and seems to be pretty sturdy!

Unzipping it showed all its goodies!

Ta-da! So full! So exciting!

1. A pack of coupons (yay! Saving money while shopping!:)
2. Tresemme Split Remedy Shampoo and Conditioner (1 fl oz each). Promises to reduce up to 80% of split ends after 3 uses!
3. Neutrogena UltraSheer Dry-Touch Sunblock SPF 70 (1 fl oz) (woohoo!! even more than my usual 50 SPF!)
4. Aveeno Smart Essentials daily detoxifying scrub (1 oz)
5. Garnier Fructis Fortifying Color Shield Shampoo and Conditioner (.34 fl oz each)
6. Revlon Lip Butter Peach Parfait--I remember when the summer beauty bags were first advertised a bunch of the girls on FB thought we might get a full size lip butter! lol, no such luck! 

But what I'm really excicted about using this card for is to keep track of all the lip butters I acquire! You may recall that when I first got Strawberry Shortcake, I was really not a fan like everyone else seemed to be. However, after giving them a second chance with Sugar Plum and Gumdrop, I definitely became a believer:) And now I want more.... ;)

Be sure to follow Target Style on Facebook to keep up with future beauty bags!

Did you get a summer beauty bag from Target? What is your favorite item? Have you tried any of the products that I received to sample?

Revlon Lip Butters.... Revisited

Hi Lovelies! You know how sometimes there's a product you LOVE when you first use it, then after time you kind of start to hate it? Other times, you try something and you're just not sure about it... but you try it again some other time and then you like it? Or you use it for a while and it starts to grow on you?

So, a couple months ago, I did my first review on Revlon Lip Butters. It was shortly after they were released in the US and everyone was talking about how awesome they were! And girls were buying every color! Target was nearly sold out all the time! It was a huge craze!

I, however, was not a fan.

I got Strawberry Shortcake and talked about how pretty the packaging was and it was nice, but I wouldn't use it all the time, blah blah blah.

That was really my nice way of saying, "Are you all smoking crack?? Am I seriously the only person in the world who doesn't like this???"

I'd seen a few other sorta negative reviews and realized maybe I wasn't alone. Then, I saw some girls trying other colors and giving more positive reviews.

Fine, they're in the UK now. Now *those* girls like it. I decided I needed to give Revlon a second chance.

I picked up Gum Drop and Sugar Plum last weekend. I still love the packaging. But even better, I now love the inside too!

I haven't used Gum Drop much yet, but that's only because I have not been able to put down Sugar Plum! This color is perfect! Not too dark, not too light! Compliments my features perfectly, and I swear it looks just right with whatever makeup look I have going on!

So, I am fully invested in this product now! I might even try a few other colors! I love the texture of it--it's definitely more than a balm; not as shiny as a gloss; and not as heavy as a stick. Revlon, you nailed it with this. And I'm definitely now on the I Heart Revlon Lip Butters bandwagon:) I'm so glad I gave them a second chance!

How about you? Have you loved them from the beginning? Or did it take a few color tries for you to honestly love them? Have there been any products you've changed your mind about? :)

Revlon Lip Butter Review...

By now, you've probably read at least one review or heard at least one person talking about Revlon Lip Butters... I'd seen several reviews, and most girls seemed to be absolutely raving about the product! Picking them up in numbers of seven, twelve, etc. I jumped on the bandwagon and figured, omg, I must need to try this!!

I was at Target last weekend picking up stuff for my giveaway (which, ps ends TONIGHT, so enter while you still can!) and decided I NEEDED to try one of these. The selection was getting smaller... mostly one of each color and a few colors missing... (this increased my opinion that they must be the BEST THINGS EVER since they were ALMOST SOLD OUT.) Hmm.

I bought Strawberry Shortcake. It's a soft, almost coral'ish kinda color and thought it would look pretty good in an every day look. I decided if I was going to do a fair review, I had to use it exclusively or else other products on my lips may sway what I think of the color/texture/lasting wear, etc. And that, my friends, is the ONLY lip product I've been using allll week (until last night:)

Let me tell you, the packaging is AMAZING. It really makes it almost worth the $8 simply because of how pretty it looks! The color, the texture, the size, everything about the outside of it is pretty! The color itself is also very nice. It's a little pinkier than a baby pink, but not TOO pink (honestly, could anything ever be TOO pink?)

one swipe left, multiple right, with flash

one swipe left, multiple right, without flash

 I was surprised by the feel of it on my lips. I honestly don't even know how to explain it... not quite a gloss... or a stick.. or even a balm... it was kinda like a lipstick that had been sitting in the car for a few minutes on a hot summer day, if that makes sense. Softer and almost melted a bit. Which is good for application, it smooths on very nicely. It really is kind of like butter.

I was hoping it would smell like strawberries or have a light strawberry taste or anything.. it doesn't... there's just... nothing.

It stays on just okay. Made a mess on every coffee cup, can, glass I drank out of :( and I had to reapply every few hours.

Overall, I'm happy I tried it so I can say I tried it. And I'll definitely still use it sometimes; but it's not good enough to make it into my every day wear routine, and I won't be buying any more.

So what do you think? Have you tried them? Do you think they're hyped up way more than what they really are? Or are you one of the girls that has them in every color and have no idea what you did before they existed?? :)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post...

I didn't get the time to do a good formal post today. I was gonna do a review of Revlon lip butters (and honestly, who of us hasn't seen several of those already? Lol) I do still plan on writing it up because my review may not say everything you've read before. I can tell you right now my bottom line is "don't buy into all the hype." But more on that later:)

Just a few quick things about friends I wanted to share. Last weekend, I started a series on friendship and how hard it is to make friends. I was surprised at just how many of us have similar situations!! It's nice to know I'm not alone:) Today, out of the blue, I had this girl I used to work with chat me and say "Why is it so hard to find good girl friends?!" (she had no idea about my blog, and that I was struggling with the exact issue!) I about fell out of my chair! "You've got to be kidding me!" I replied, "I've been wondering the same thing!!!"

It's hard to make friends, and sometimes even harder to keep them.

I will be continuing the friendship series on the weekends for as long as I still have stuff to say about it and as long as you all can still relate to it lol:)

One final friend thought. I recently reunited with a friend last weekend. There was a while we saw each other every day of the week with going to the gym and dance class together along with other social outings. But as often happens, life gets in the way and we didn't see each other as much. It's been several months and last Friday we ran into each other at a Pampered Chef party. I'm super excited to report we're gonna go out tomorrow!! Yaaaay!!!:) should be a pretty fab time. Just wanted to share a picture of us from last year. It was a pretty great makeup night for me! May try something similar tomorrow night!

xoxo,
Kristen

(yes, this is from the blogger app. I'm laying in bed and too exhausted to get my computer out lol. Sweet dreams, lovelies!!!:)