I was recently sent the Garnier BB Cream in Medium/Deep to review. I have always wanted to try using a tinted moisturizer and this one claimed to be a great one-step product but I was not impressed.

**Warning: Horrible No Makeup Pictures Ahead!**

I found the Garnier BB Cream in the Medium/Deep to be a poor fit for my skin and my makeup routine. The cream smelled nice but that’s where the pros ended for me. I was very excited at the possibility of combining my moisturizer, concealer and foundation application into one easy step and was disappointed when the coverage from the Garnier BB Cream was subpar. As you can see in the pictures above it only covered portions of my face.

In addition to not being a good color match, it did not give me adequate coverage. It left my skin splotchy as though I had nothing on and didn’t help even out my skin tone. At the same time it also left my face slightly oily. The cream was very heavy on my face and I found that irritating because it felt as thought I had a lot of makeup on…and yet my face felt exposed. I considered putting on another layer but it was already so thick I just wanted to take it all off.

All in all, it will certainly not replace my usual makeup process – all those steps provide results and I’m happy to do them for the coverage.

Thank you all for your support with our loss and for understanding my break from the blog. The grief still punches me in the stomach many times a day and it takes me a moment (or hour) to recover but we are healing slowly. We miss him and love Trigger every moment of every day and we appreciate the love from you all.

Life however doesn’t take too kindly to breaks and while we gave ourselves a week or two, it came back at us full speed. My business is busier than ever (and it’s exciting!) and I’ve been spending a lot of my time volunteering at the shelter (we currently have 3 very cute foster kitties stinking up our guest bathroom in case anyone is interested) and then of course planning the wedding. The house hunt was on hold for awhile but we’re back at it and while we’re being picky, we know we’ll find the right one for us and all furbabies present and future.

I got an email the other day asking if I wanted to attend a special event at Blo Austin, the latest location of a very fun and practical concept of salons – no cut, no color. Just a shampoo and a fun style. I immediately said yes because I needed it to pull me out of my ponytail and smelly animal clothes funk and I’m so glad I did.

The salon is just plain adorable and all the ladies (and guys) are the sweetest. They gave me a ‘Hair Menu’ to look through and I chose the ‘Red Carpet’ look. Ashanti was sweet and did a great job on my blowout!

Before (forgive the unwashed, unstyled hobo look):

After…blown away! (sorry couldn’t resist):

Blo also gave me a bag full of goodies like yoga classes and coupons for future blowouts (in case anyone is interested!) and a trial of the hairspray they used, Aerogel, which is incredibly light and soft. And some fun pink cotton candy – I was tickled pink! Seriously, I must quit with the puns. I blame the champagne. Kidding. Don’t drink and drive, kids.

But DO go out and get your hair did at Blo – they are doing $21 blowouts tomorrow on their opening day! They also offer updos and birthday or bachelorette parties and even come out for events to you. They have locations all over Cali, Florida and TX.

This inspired some much delayed outfits posts:

Skirt, Shoes, Bangles, Belt, Purse: All thrifted and around a couple bucks or less each. Top: Old Navy, also a couple bucks. My whole outfit was like $8-10 I just realized. Score!

Have a blessed weekend!

(it’s a poem)

If you follow me on Twitter you know that Friday afternoon Bear and I spent time on a jigsaw puzzle….and then went out to Bingo with friends that night. I dressed up for Bingo in an effort to feel less like I was 87. Don’t worry, we all had drinks after to remind us we’re still in our 20′s.

< Supersoft dress from F21, $10; Bag from H&M, under $10. It’s this fun foldover purse that I fell in love with. >

<These shoes are surprisingly comfy. They were about $10 from the Nine West outlet. And I’m totally digging this summery orange/pink OPI shade I found at my cousin’s – ‘My Chihuahua Bites‘ >

Joined Bzz Agent awhile back and they sent me some products to review.

First the got2b Smooth Operator:

It’s a ‘Smoothing Lustre Lotion’. I combed it through my towel dried hair and the sample they had given was quite large so I didn’t use all of it. It smelled great and made my hair soft and somewhat shiny. But I wouldn’t say that it did much for the frizz or smoothing of my hair…not past the initial few hours. I wouldn’t buy it because I tend to not use a lot of products in my hair and hate the idea of putting something in and weighing it down.

Second, the CoverGirl ‘Smoky Shadow Blast’ duo. I was able to choose colors and chose the ‘Citrus Flair’ combo (shown left).

I did that because I don’t really have any green eyeshadow that color in my collection. Now I realize with good reason. While the concept is great – combine the two colors so all you have to do fully cover your eyelid with one side (has a wide tip) and then use the other (smaller curved tip) to do the liner/shadow – it didn’t look right on my skin at all. I’m sure another color would have looked much better and it really is an easy to-do. However, I’m not the greatest fan of any eyeshadow but MAC powder so I don’t think I”d ever get it. And especially not in the color.

CoverGirl and Bzz Agent also sent me the ‘Shine Blast’ lipgloss.

I chose the color ‘Smolder’ because I have been looking for something nude. However, what I got was something that didn’t look anything like the color online. In reality the color was not a dark nude, but rather a very shimmery pale color that on my lips only shows up as glossy. Fail. However, I do like the color and I love the applicator tip which is specially designed to cover your your lips. Just wish the colors were less shimmery gloss and had more color to them.

Now I’m off to a job interview for something super fun. Fingers crossed…

Smells great, makes my lips soft and shiny, no crazy taste….officially my new fave. Go figure!