Treseme Keratin Smooth Serum Review

Oh wow, look at me! I'm back from my blog hiatus which was totally unplanned and sort of unnecessary but nice to have at the same time. It's just that I had so many side projects that I had to put this whole thing on the back burner but now I have the focus to get started again. I really haven't gotten anything new except for hair products and one of hem happened to be the TRESemme Keratin Smooth Serum. Since I have been washing my hair every other day to preserve the health of my hair I notice that after I release my shower bun my ends are sort of frizzy looking. Since then I have been looking for a hair oil of some sort to tame the frizz without giving me greasy looking hair and wouldn't interact badly with my dry shampoo at the same time. 

I had passed over this product for awhile and almost passed over it again due to the Allure stamp of approval because I feel I normally get sucked into hype products that just don't work for me but at $4.99 at Target I thought it wouldn't hurt to try this. I got to try this out the next day as luck would have it and honestly I didn't expect to like it but was pleasantly surprised that I did. I had this giant poof of dry ends after my shower and greasy roots to boot and honestly don't know why I didn't just wash it and be done with my first world pain.

 I stuck it out and dry shampooed my roots then prayed I wouldn't get any funky mix of serum/powder film at the ends of my hair. My hair almost instantly became tamed and like I just had freshly washed and dried hair. It felt lightweight and had the signature TRESemme scent going on. All TRESemme products have that scent to it but I really don't know what to describe the smell as. Just open up a bottle and see what I mean. My hair felt very smooth and shiny and just overall gave a nice healthy glow. 

I dispense two pumps, rub it between my palms, and then smooth it over the ends of my hair and add more if I need it. I have thin hair that is very straight but a lot of it so if you have thicker hair or thinner hair do however many pumps it takes to make your hair happy. Overall I was super pleased that my initial gut feeling was wrong. This has to be one of my new favorite products in my low maintenance morning routine. I will note that I didn't like using it on my wet/damp hair and prefer it on my second day ends. I feel it made my hair look a bit on the greasy because it was hard to get it absorbed into my wet hair without it looking stringy. But yes, I will be using this every time my hair needs a pick me up at the ends and if nothing changes I would definitely repurchase it because it is not only one of the best budget smoothing serums I have found but on of the best hair serums period and it really does deserve the Best of Beauty title. 

XOX

Veritypretty 

City Color Contour Kit Swatches and Review

I have been wanting to get a contouring kit for awhile and while I was at Generation  Beauty City Color had one for sale for $5, normally $7, and I thought why not? I tested the kit out and I really liked the texture of the pressed powders and thought at $5 it was a bargain. I mean, yes I have a matte bronzer and a highlighter I like but I thought I would like to have just one kit to use for traveling or just in case I cannot for the life of me find what I need. Because you know those beauty lovers/bloggers that have the nice organization system for all of their makeup, yep...that's not me. I do have a system but I cannot for the life of m keep up with it. So good makeup kits are my boyfriend. 

I know when I first look a look at this kit I was just thinking meh the whole time. I mean, I thought the contour was too dark and I would end up looking like I got some dirt on my face but I did like the bronze color as it is very matte. As for that highlighter, no it isn't ghostly white on the skin, unless you really pile it and and just don't blend at all. It just gives a nice subtle shimmer to the skin 

I wanted to show you all how the colors looked side by side on my skin. I wanted to exaggerate the highlighter a bit because it just wasn't translating well on camera but it does blend to a sheer shimmer that looks better in person, I promise. I just really like how matte the bronzer and contour color are. I am almost obsessed with it. I really think this kit is good for a beginner at contouring. It really helps give me an even more angled look with a couple swipes to my jawline and at the hollow of the cheek. Blending is super easy and I use my elf flat top studio brush which works great because I really hate using a fluffy brush to blend out on my jawline because it tickles. I do find myself reaching for other highlighters as the one included can seem a little too subtle for some nighttime looks but is perfect if you just want a slight glow for an everyday daytime look. One other thing I dislike is that it just has a magnetic closure and can pop open easily but if I do travel with it I will probably end up rubber banding it shut. 

Overall I really like this kit and I think it's a good investment in my collection. I would definitely buy it again if I don't find something better. But really, at $7 I can bring this with me on a vacation and not have to worry so much about loosing it but I really hope I never do loose it. I hope you enjoyed my input on this and if you think you found another good contour kit let me know! I'm always looking for some good contouring items. 

XOX 

Veritypretty

Nair Clay Hair Remover Review

When I first started shaving my mom made me use this horrible loud electric shaver from the 1960's or 70's because she was so afraid of me cutting myself. I was desperate to ditch the huge clunky machine so I thought it would be a good idea to start using Nair. The smell was horrible but somehow I thought I won the war against my mom and her pleads to leave my armpit and leg hair alone. Flash forward to now, I have switched to razors but now I wish I listened to mom and never started shaving at all. Well, not really. But it is such a pain to keep up with it and and getting my knees shaved is the biggest struggle ever. 

I spotted this spa clay at Big Lots and decided that maybe, just maybe that the formula and scent has gotten better. Though I have never seen so many steps for a depilatory in my life. I felt while applying the cream on my skin the pink spatula was pretty dang useless. 

I do like that it comes with a sponge to dip in the jar and spread it on your legs but then you have to rinse it off and you still get some of the product on your hands and it still stinks but thankfully not as much as it used to back when I first started using it. 

The texture of the cream was very thick and stayed on my legs without slipping. It did feel a little bit tingly as I left it on my skin but I used to get that feeling with the creams before. 

These two added steps were some wipes to prep the skin and a moisturizer to apply after you get out of the shower. I let the moisturizer wasn't very effective and that just using a little aloe gel or an unscented lotion would be good enough. As for the wipes, you only get two. Two. I don't know what they were thinking but there are way more than 2 applications in that jar. the wipes were a bit on the oily side so I think it was to moisturize and soften the hair before application. I think a little dry oil on the skin would be good enough as a substitute. 

So it got most of the hair off my skin but there were patches where my fur was like "Uh uh! I'm staying right here bro!" and it took some extra effort to rub it off or I had to resort to shaving a tiny place I missed. But I miss places when I shave all the time anyways so that is no big deal. What I don't like is how fast it still grew back. I remember it not growing back as fast before maybe taking 2 days to grow back in but I had dark stubble with this the next day. what was the point of taking longer than shaving and all these steps if it was just going to grow in dark polka dots the next day? 

What I did notice was that all of the hair around my knee was gone and stayed gone for a pretty long time. I am super afraid to nick myself while shaving and I always have peach fuzz around my knee. I would definitely switch to just using any depilatory around my knee then shaving the rest off. To me the extra time would be worth it to not have hairy yeti knees. 

Overall this whole thing reminded me of how much I hated the smell of this stuff but then opened my eyes to just using it on my knees exclusively to just make my life easier. Would I ever repurchase this again? Not this formula, maybe one of the original ones but not this. I don't think it is very effective at taking off all the stubborn hair on my legs and my hair isn't even that thick. 

XOX

Veritypretty

May 2014 Glossybox Review

I was super freaking excited to hear that Glossybox was doing a collaboration with Bergdorf Goodman for the month of May.  I was most excited because of all the skincare goodies that were possibilities in the box. We would all also receive a gift card for $25 to use at Bergdorf Goodman online or in stores. I just so happened to have enough glossydots to redeem for a free box this month so it was just all free, free, FREE!!! I earned it after sticking with them for a year and just reviewing the items on the site. Took long enough! Sheesh! 

But I really regret not buying a gift box for myself on top of my usual box because I got some really good stuff. I wouldn't have minded getting two of everything plus I believe the gift card was stack able. Oh well, I still am glad I got a good deal anyways. I liked the box and was happy with all the purple as it is my favorite color. I used the giftcard online on the very last day before it expired on Dior Show Mascara and shipping was free plus I wasn't charged tax. All I had to do was enter my card number and they sent it to me super fast. I was super happy I found something I wanted for the exact amount on the card. I will be reviewing the Dior Show later because it has been years since I have used but I remember liking it. I sure hope my opinion hasn't changed about it. 

I got everything I wanted in my box. I really wanted more skincare items and the ones offered this month were mostly serums and I got a face cream. I had also gotten the Hair CC cream, a primer and hand cream and a hand cream. I was a little disapointed that the hand cream was so small but it smelled like heaven and I have yet to touch the hair cc cream or the primer. All I really want to talk about for now are the top 3 items I am excited for in my box. 

I think this face serum was the most exciting thing I got in the box. So far I have barely discovered serums so trying a new one and comparing it to my other one should be fun. This is a brand I have not heard of before but am willing to try anything to help preserve my skin. This so happens to be the lifting serum with pure gold and plant stem cells that is supposed to keep skin moisturized. 

I know that some people say that your really don't need anything special for undereyes and some people say you do. I feel that maybe you don't but it really wont stop me from trying a product that is aimed to be for eyes only. I really don't have many lines around my eyes but I do feel that isn't an excuse not to take care of the skin around there. I see it as me being proactive and taking care of something before it happens to get in the habit of doing it. If in the process my skin looks good then I'm good with that. I would just rather have a good habit now than to try and develop it when I really need to. So I will see if this works on my fine baby lines and if it does I will report back to you. 

I have seemed to get this brand Sulwhasoo confused with The History of Whoo which is an amazing brand (which is also on the pricey side) but The History of Whoo works like nothing else I have ever used. I am hoping to see something awesome to come from using this because I really have faith in my Korean face care products. I will probably be using this after my serum and face oil but before my sunscreen. The texture is very heavy so if it doesn't work out with my normal everyday routine I will probably switch to using it at night. 

So there you have it! I think this is one of the better boxes I have received because there is NO mascara or nail polish. I seriously need a break from those two items. Is it possible to send a note to them all stating I am going on hiatus and no longer accepting mascara and nail polish? Says the person who bought a mascara with her gift card....Until next time lovelies!

XOX

Veritypretty

Jewelmint May 2014 box

I have been wanting to try a jewelry subscription box for a long time now and now that I have kind of given up on Julep I decided to swap it out for a Jewel Mint VIP box instead. By stalking people on Instagram and reading a few blogs I decided on this one because the jewelry didn't look too cheap and usually wasn't too flashy looking. I actually thought I was purchasing a collaboration box but then soon realized that it was the regular old VIP box. I was okay with that as it still was a mystery to me as to what I would be getting. It was also the same price of 29.99 for 3 pieces. It came pretty quick as I think it ships from somewhere in LA and I live close by. I can easlity say this is up there in the pretty packaging rank with the sturdy black box and blue ribbon. 

When I opened it I honestly thought to myself "Oh gawd, not dingle dangle earrings!" I have absolutely no earlobes and most hanging earring hurt me or make my ears itch like nothing else. I think they're allergic to fabulous. I just can't stand how they usually make my ears feel like they're dragging but they look so dang pretty. I'm cursed I tell you. As for the rest of the items, I didn't notice them because I was too busy dreading trying to figure out what to do with the earrings. 

Crescent Falls Earrings 

They are pretty cute though, I felt so bad that I actually tried them on and figured I could pass them onto my sister or something if they really did bother me too much. But they actually didn't. My ears didn't feel itchy, they were lightweight and felt like I was just wearing regular ol' studs. I ended up wearing them all day at Genbeauty on Saturday with a black cowl neck romper and sandals for a more casual cool vibe. Another complaint I usually have about dangle earrings is that they get caught in my hair and these ones didn't.

Robin 1 - Box 0 

Rayonnant Pendant 

The necklace upon further inspection is pretty cute and all but I really wish that the chain was thinner. I like a thicker chain usually because they are harder for me to ruin but this one calls for something more delicate. I feel that the chain being too large distracts from the actual gems and sparkle. I have yet to find a good outfit to wear it with but will most likely pair it with a simple V neck tshirt maybe in white or grey to lend a more hippie vibe to my look. I am not a hippie dippie person but have been leaning more towards the style lately. 

Robin 1 - Box 1

Helena Bracelet

Ugh, the more I look at this bracelet the more I dislike it. I sit all dang day at a desk typing and trolling and wearing this to work would just be a waste because I would end up taking it off so I don't cut off my circulation. I don't really wear bracelets or bangles to begin with and probably would have preferred that I got something not so stiff. On top of that I hate how it fits. It just feels so tight and stiff and doesn't move up or down my wrist. No movement. Nadda. A little bit more wiggle room would have been nice. But yes, this one might definitely go to my sister if I do not warm up to it. 

Robin 1 - Box 2

Do I feel they captured the Midsummer's Night Dream inspiration that they were going for? I guess they did with the earrings, not so much the other two. I would have rather received a necklace with a donkey head on it because the one included looks more like a sand dollar or a funky daisy to me.  Please someone make one because I would wear it. but I guess they were trying for something along the lines of romantic more than literal inspo. I would have preferred something along the lines of magical with fairy looking elements than a "romantic" feel. Or maybe I am being too nit picky. All I know is that my first impressions after opening it were blown away and ended up liking the one thing I thought I would hate the most. 

For $30 I don't think I would do this every month. Maybe every once in awhile or if there is another collab where I feel like it might be worth it. I do like how it makes me think more out of the box for my outfits as I really don't purchase much jewelry because I end up just buying the same style over and over. The quality of the items are pretty good except for the bracelet where I thought the plastic "gems" just made it look cheap. Maybe if it was a better quality plastic I would deem it okay but everything seems very sturdy anyways. If I get anymore of the boxes I will let you all know what I think but I might try a different jewelry sub box before I do. 

XOX

Veritypretty