Hi everyone! I’m sharing some things I’m loving this week for “Friday Five.” I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
The lineup:
- Bare Minerals “The First Resort” Bronzing Collection
- Bath & Body Works Lavender Vanilla Pillow Spray
- Redken “Pillow Proof” Blow Dry Primer
- Sally Hansen Dry & Go Drops
- Bliss “Pout O’ Matic” Lip Exfoliating Kit
This bronzing collection from Bare Minerals is incredible. It’s so hard to find a bronzer that will give my fair skin a natural glow without looking too brown. I’ve tried a few bronzers over the years (some which were also Bare Minerals) and this is by far the best I’ve come across. The fan brush is the perfect tool for applying a light layer. The gloss, in “Party Starter” is a gorgeous coral I’ll be wearing all summer. Plus, unlike most kits, this gloss isn’t a “limited edition” and is available in the regular Bare Minerals lip color collection. As I’ve mentioned before, purchasing the kits is a great way to try full-size products for a fraction of the cost over buying them separately.
Every night lately, I’ve been spritzing Bath & Body Works lavender vanilla mist on my pillow before hitting the sheets. According to the description, it “calms and clears the mind for a truly restful, peaceful slumber.” I don’t know if this is entirely accurate because usually I’m so exhausted by the time I go to bed that I sleep pretty deeply. But I do know that the scent is heavenly and I will continue using this product for that reason alone.
I received this Bliss lip-exfoliating kit as a freebie in the load of beauty goodies I scored from Lucky FABB. It may sound weird, but I was really excited when I saw this. I’d been wanting to try a professional lip exfoliating system for awhile. Prior to getting this, I tried the toothbrush method recommended by beauty magazines, but this has proven to be the real deal. When I apply lipstick or any kind of tinted lip color, it looks so much more smooth and even. I even find my lip color to last longer now. Bonus: the sugar scrub feels creamy and smells divine.
I purchased this Redken blow dry primer from Ulta a few weeks ago and have been addicted ever since. It provides a trio of important benefits for those of us who blow dry our hair often: shortened blow dry time, anti-breakage, and protection for heat styling up to 450 degrees. I didn’t realize how much it really did cut down on my blow-drying time until I switched to a different product after having used this for a few days. I typically wash my hair at night, so the faster I can blow dry it, the better. Just be sure to evenly distribute through your hair, because otherwise it can leave a slightly tacky feeling after drying. If this happens, using a polishing milk (I like Redken Outshine) on dry hair usually takes care of the problem.
Finally–a quick-dry product for nails that actually WORKS–Sally Hansen Dry & Go Drops. When I paint my nails, I want them to a) last all week and b) dry quickly. I used to be so, so careful about doing practically anything for hours. Yes, I’ve even had my husband dress me because of the dreaded “wet polish syndrome.” I spent nearly three times as much on a similar product which did in fact dry nails instantly–but then began chipping and peeling the polish off within hours. This product not only dries nails super-fast, but it doesn’t affect the appearance of your polish color or how long it lasts. Just squeeze one or two drops on each nail and it spreads out instantly to cover the entire nail. I use it in addition to a few coats of polish and a top coat. For nail polish addicts like me, this stuff is golden!
