Friday, September 28, 2012

My Most 5 Hated and 5 Loved Products

Hi there.

Today isn't a particularly busy (or quick day) at work, so I thought I would enlighten the world on the products I have at home, or have purchased in the past that I would either recommend or tell you to run far away from.

We'll start with the products I hate, and end on the positive. Nobody wants to walk away feeling negative, so I'll start you out sad and perk you up. Sound good? Ok.

1. SO brand clothing, generally featured at Kohls.

Always adorable in the store and tempting for the price. I can't even tell you how many SO v-neck tees I have stuffed away in a drawer at home (not even neatly folded, but rather shoved out of anger).  The problem I have with these is that you wear them once, wash them according to label, pull it out, and the shirt is a completely different shirt then what went in the washer.

 I tried various types of washing and drying with these things, and I get the same outcome every time. A shrunken, stretched out, tube-topped piece of t-shirt. The V-necks I buy are simple tees, or a 'boyfriend' type style, from what I've heard. Is your boyfriend supposed to wear this shirt too? I don't know. Either way, once washed, the shirt is immediately considered a hand-me-down for a toddler.  I have a pair of SO jeans on the other hand, and I love them. They never fade or stretch and I'm convinced the jeans are not correlated with the tops whatsoever. What's going on there SO?


2. TRESseme 24 Hour Body Creme

On the back of the bottle--tube, whatever, it says, "only use a dime size amount". The stuff feels like a lotion, as it should, because it does say 'creme' on the front, which is just a fancy french word for cream, obviously. Anyway, you rub the fancy french cream throughout damp hair, and blow dry. The first time I used it, I thought I hadn't washed the shampoo out of my hair completely. But being lazy, I didn't care and carried on with my day with the misconception that I just take terrible showers. This could also explain why I always forget to shave one of my legs. It doesn't matter. I tried the crap again the next day and came to the relieving conclusion that I take showers just fine, the product just isn't good. My hair is always left feeling greasy and heavy, and when your hair feel greasy, you feel ugly, and that's just the way girls minds work.

3. Herbal Essences Body Envy Volumizing Hairspray - 4


Most girls don't like their hair flat to their heads. We need a little oomph. Hence why "Bump-Its" were invented. I don't care about the cheap, flaky, commercials, I want some Bump-Its. Anyway, I have had various volumizing products go through my bathroom cabinet, and this hairspray is one that ends up pushed to the back, collecting dust, sad and lonely next to the drip pan. I don't have a drip pan in my bathroom cabinet, but if I did, that's what it would be next too. I spray it in my hair, give it a tease, and 2 minutes later, it's flat against my head again, but with hairspray in it. I've used the hairspray with clean hair (shampoo, conditioner), because I know some of you are thinking that it probably weighs my hair down because I have build up. Well excuse you, I don't. The hairspray is just a 6 on my imaginary scale, 2 of those points being for the amazing fragrance that eludes from the can. I've always been convinced that Herbal Essences focuses more on the fragrance, versus the actual job of the product at hand. My suggestion, spritz a little on after a style for the aroma only.


4. Any sunglasses EXCEPT for gas station glasses

I just have to say that I do NOT buy designer sunglasses. In all seriousness, I strictly buy gas station sunglasses because my experiences with them have always been successful. I bought a pair of $6 dollar sunglasses at a little gas station across from Six Flags in Gurnee, IL about 5 years ago. Those baby's lasted me about 2 years until one of the arms fell off. Thereafter, I got another pair of gas station glasses. They were black and lame and fit my head perfectly. I adored them. Ben and I took a trip to California (drove to California from Chicago in 2.5 days - we're dumb) I picked up a pair at some creepy truck stop in New Mexico. They were purple and pretty, but they were so tight on my temples that I got a headache. Those broke 2 days after I bought them. Those stupid things were $20 bucks. $20 bucks I might as well have lit on fire and sprinkled into the Southern California air. We went to Disney World two years later (April 2011), and I got a pair at the Magic Kingdom. They were black and rad and had a teeny Micky in the upper corner of the right lens. I was stylin'. They broke 2 weeks later. Those were $16. Now mind you, all the while, I still had my black and lame glasses, but I would occasionally try out some new pairs, but nothing compared. Nothing. In July of 2012, Ben and I were at Wal-fart, purchasing a bike for my dad for fathers day. I took my beloved sunglasses off and left them on a nearby Barbie box so I could fix my hair. We wheeled the bike out to the car and I went to put my glasses on, but they weren't there. I made a mad dash back to the Barbies, and they were gone. In the 6 minutes it took us to wheel the bike out, buy it, and walk out the front door, some thief had swiped my glasses. Are you kidding me? I had a record going. So, I had those sunglasses for 3 years, and they were $5 dollar sunglasses that I got at some random gas station. 3 YEARS...do you understand how long that is for someone like me? I seriously wanted to cry. Why would you even want them? Anyway, getting back to my subject. I bought a pair of Mudd brand sunglasses that were on sale at Kohls. I honestly couldn't tell you what they looked like because they were broken in seriously a day. $15 dollars flushed down the toilet. Stupidly, I went back and got a pair of pink Mudd aviators, as shown because they were still on sale. These seemed sturdy, and more promising. Nope, broken a week later. They fit my head like I was Sloth from the Goonies and would fall off if I even bent over slightly. As you can see from the pic, I tried to tape the arms so that they would have some tension and not fall of my face, but this just left me wearing a crooked pair of sunglasses with tape on them.

5. ULTA Brand Mascara - Orange tube

I don't know the exact name of this mascara, and I can't seem to find a picture of it online. I have a tube of it at home that I've used once before retiring it into a messy drawer of other misfit make-up. In this drawer, you will also find a Mary Kay pressed powder that is apparently for a person with albinism, some hideous NYC brand bronzer that bronzes my sink more than my face, and some other crap. All I know, is that this mascara looks like the one in the picture, but it's orange. Pretty sure that's a black and white picture, so it could have very well been orange, but either way. It should have been a clue when I purchased it on a whim off of the clearance rack. My lashes are quite long, and I like them to look full and bold. It took at least 17 coats of this mascara to get the effect I was going for, and shortly after, my eyes started to itch. I've been wearing make-up since I was about 15, probably too much at that time, and probably sporting the awkward bright blue eyeshadow look, with the slicked back ponytail and two pencil thin bang strands, but I've never had the 'itch eye'. I was perplexed. It was too late to wash my face (because we all know that if you try only get the mascara off - it's just not going to work, you're whole face art is coming off, girlfriend). So I put up with it for that night, but the orange tube of itch was retired into the misfit drawer.

Ok, now that list could go on forever, but I'd like to avoid carpal tunnel, and now that I've got you depressed, let me tell you about the products I love! 

1. Maybelline Intense XXL


Although the name of this awesome mascara sounds dirty, it works brilliantly. After purchasing, I could not figure out the idea of the primer on your lashes. In case you didn't know, you put the white side on, and you lay it on thick, and then paint over with the black. It took minimal effort to get your lashes pumped and chunky just like I like 'em. Don't get too cray cray, you don't want your lashes to look like tarantula legs, but you get the idea.






2.  Blowfish Brand flats
These shoes are the best kinds of flats there are. I am one of those people that look awkward in Toms, and Puma's look like bananas on my feetsies. My feet are too wide I think too, so I have to get sizes that are bigger, so the skinnier the shoe the longer it is on my foot. This ultimately makes me look like a clown. My brother Brandon was deathly afraid of clown shoes as a kid, so I guess the only enjoyment coming out of having shoes that are too big is to shuffle around the house and chase my brother with them. He's not afraid of them anymore, but it will still be funny. I posted a new shoe to the right because they look prettier, but I posted my actual pair of Blowfish's because they are quite simply put, the most awesome pair of shoes ever.

Yes, they are dirty, and beat up, but that makes them better. To clear up any confusion, I wear the tiny ballerina socks designed to wear with flats, I do not have one black bottomed foot. I think I'm just wearing that one backwards.




 3. Scentsy Wickless Candles



Yes, I am a Scentsy Consultant and I am proud of that. Seriously though, Scentsy would have made my list whether I was a consultant or not. I became a consultant because of how much I love the stuff. It's a wickless alternative to candles. As a consultant, it's my job to push this on people, but what I'm really trying to do is make you understand how awesome the stuff really is. You buy the warmers, throw in a cube of wax from the wax bars, and let the scents fill up your house. There's no chance of burning your house down because it's warmed with a tiny light bulb. In the picture of my beautiful and growing kit, you will see my buddy Mollie, who has her arm draped on one of my warmers. I have another one in my bathroom, and a wall plug-in in my front room. Once you get one bar and a warmer, I swear you will be hooked. My mother-in-law got me a warmer and a bar for Christmas last year, and collection has grown quite a bit and now I try to get other people to love it as much as I do. Give it a shot ladies and men, the products will suck you in, I promise. My husband even admitted he loves it. Of course, I have to advertise:

https://brittneylove.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Home


4. Hoover Wind tunnel Pet Hair Vacuum


This vacuum is amazing. I have two long hair mancats who love to get fur on everything. They particularly love to play on my stairs, so I frequently am stepping through tufts of fur and watching tumble furs blow across my kitchen floor. You get the idea. The first time I used the vacuum, the canister, obviously empty, was completely filled to the brim with cat hair. Mind you, I am a very cleanly person and I vacuum 3 days a week, and I do not have a big house. The amount of hair that this vacuum picked up from the staircase alone was astonishing. The attachments work like you wouldn't believe on upholstery and curtains and makes carpets look like new. The ONLY thing that bothers me about this vacuum is the bare floor setting. I have it set correctly, but it doesn't pick things up the best unless the rollers are turned on, but then you could have the kickback effect. I vacuum up a lot of cat litter that is constantly showered around the house from the cats running away from their own poop and showering gravel about the house. If you turn the rollers on while vacuuming it, it will kick it back at you, turning your vacuum into a weapon. I think it's mainly for carpets and fabric, but nonetheless, this vacuum is my best friend.  The bare floor issue doesn't even bother me because it's nothing a broom can't handle for those tricky corners and yes, cat sand.

5. Got2be Collagen Mousse


I love Got2b products. The collagen mousse (which I just recently ran out of unfortunately), is relatively affordable and works like a champ. My hair was so pumped and fluffed, I was ecstatic. My hair is generally more on the limp side, but this stuff defies gravity. I haven't used the pink bottled products yet, but the yellow ones are great. 












Like I said, my lists could go on and on, but I have things to do...like leave work.

Feel free to share your thoughts, share your products, or send me hate mail or if you want. Whatever floats your boat.

Have a good weekend =]

Disclaimer: I purchase all of these products on my own, and am not paid for my opinions on these products. With the exception of the pictures I personally take, the pictures are simply used for enjoyment and I do not take any rights or own any of the stock photos used.