My Blingy Issues

Kinley woke up at 6:00 which is was too early for me her and now she's mad at the world because she's still tired.  Everything is making her cry.  I'm almost excited that today is a school day. 

Remember how I told you about the whole Zales thing yesterday?  So, I did write a nice little note to their corporate office regarding the less than stellar customer service that we received at their store.  This woman was the rudest person.  And knowing how many thousands of dollars we've dropped in their store...we expect decent customer service.  Not perfect, but decent.  She was a far cry from decent.  So I wrote a note.  It resulted in a phone call from the district manager and then a fifty dollar gift card.  And not that I'm not appreciative, but a fifty dollar gift card from a jeweler is purely for their benefit, not mine.  Cause they know good and well that I'll have to spend at least another $100 to even use the thing.  But that's another issue. 

So we go to pick up my rings and we get the same fabulous sales person.  I get the vibe that she knows that I complained.  Maybe I'm just paranoid, but it sure seemed like she knew.  Not that she was even nicer, really.  I pick up my rings and away we go. 

We got to the car and I was taking pictures (for the blog, of course) and my husband asked to see it (to see how good he did--his words, not mine--such a goof!).  He immediately saw something in the center diamond and was like, "what is that?"  I start peering into the stone with him and was like, "oh yeah, what is that?"  There was a big white something in the diamond.  So he polished it on his shirt thinking that something got under the stone or maybe on top or maybe the side of it.  Nope.  Still there.

Not sure what to do, we put Kage back into her stroller and back into the mall we went.  Knowing that we'd be dealing with the awesome sales person again, I expected nothing but attitude.  After waiting for about ten minutes for her to come and help us, we told her the situation.  She grabbed her little magnifier thing and looked into the stone.  Sure enough, her "diagnosis" is that there is a large cloud inclusion.  We get that.  But my stone never had a large cloud inclusion.  My husband looked at tons of diamonds before buying the one in my ring.  He knows the stone well. 

So....what do you do?

She gave us the store manager's card and said we'd have to discuss it with him.

But in all honesty, it's their word against ours.  The diamond isn't registered, so there is no record saying that the cloud inclusion was there or wasn't there when purchased.  We still haven't called the manager.  We feel defeated before even starting....  What would you do?  We've heard accusations of jewelers switching diamonds before, but does that really happen?  We clearly stated that we weren't blaming or pointing fingers....we just want to know why there is an apparent inclusion there now that wasn't there two weeks ago when we dropped it off.

It stresses me.

To completely switch topics....(which is code for:  Kage is starting to freak out and I gotta cut it short)

I got a new polish color last night.  And I am in love.

Fuchsia Flare by Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

We picked up Kinley's Cozy Coupe car from our storage unit on Sunday and since, she won't get out of it.  She wants to watch Super Why in the car.  She wants to eat in the car.  She wants to climb in the car.  She wants to go on walks in her car.  She loves the car.

And this one, is just because it is so stinkin' adorable.

And lastly, this one is because it made me jump up and down.

Yes, I did in fact make the Dean's List last semester.  Go me!  I totally was shocked.  For some reason, I was under the impression that 4.0 was Dean's List...and well, I got 3 A's and 1 B last semester.  Guess I was wrong!  So my Dean's List run continues strong!

These are a few of my favorite things!

So I've done the whole "Kinley's Favorite Things" post a while ago.  But sometimes, I'm nosey curious to see what your favorite things are.  What are your tried and true products?  What could you not get ready without?  What is your routine?

As I mentioned before, I have become obsessed with watching the YouTube beauty community videos and have learned about so many products that I now consider must-haves for my routine.  And I'm finding out that I love this new girlie-girl side of me.  Even if it always was there but covered up in baby puke and baby poop.  :)

So here we go....in no particular order.

My splurge.  Matrix Biolage color care shampoo and conditioner.  Love the smell, love the way it makes my hair feel.  Around $22-$25 a bottle (liter size) and purchased at Ulta.

I use the Chi Silk Infusion on my hair (wet) every day.  To be honest, I don't even know why.  I'm not sure of it's "claim to fame" or what it is even supposed to do to my hair, but I love the scent and I bought it....so I use it.  Purchased from a beauty supply store eons ago and I can't remember what I paid for it. 

The Alterna Hemp Texturizing Glaze is my must-have for when I want to wear my hair curly.  My cousin is a stylist and she has natural curl in her hair as well as swears by this stuff.  I now know why.  I use it on my wet hair and let it air dry.  My curls look awesome.  I got this at Ulta for like $19.

I use the Herbal Essence Max Hold hair spray to hold whatever look I'm going for.  Have had it since my wedding in 2008.  It serves its purpose and smells great.  Bought for a couple bucks at Walgreen's.

I alternate my shower face wash.  Every other day I use the St. Ives Apricot scrub--Walmart, like $3.  It smells okay and makes my face feel super soft.  On the "off" days, I use the Noxzema Clean Blemish Control  foaming wash--Walmart, around $4.  Love this stuff.  I use it at night as well.  Well, when I take the time to wash my face before bed.  Which doesn't happen too often.

I always moisturize after my shower.  And I like to switch up my scents.  Right now, I am using the Love Spell from VS because the scent is mesmerizing AND because they just had their semi-annual clearance and I got it for like $2.  I know....why didn't I buy several bottles. And I use the body spray occasionally too.  Cause it was like $2 too.

I use these make-up removing wipes before bed because they really work. Even for stubborn eye make-up.  I don't spend the extra on the Ponds or Olay because the Walgreen's brand works just as good for half the price--Walgreen's (duh) and about $3.  Super quick and easy.  I follow up with the Noxzema (see above) if  I feel ambitious.

The cosmetic wedges are a must have for applying foundation.  I have heard that a lot of girls use brushes to apply liquid foundation, but that seems weird to me.  So I use wedges--Walgreen's $2.

My most uber important item--blotting papers.  I use these things all day long, because I have super oily skin.  Love the Walgreen's brand cause they are just as good as the others and a dollar less.  Walgreen's (duh) and like $4.

And the biggie.

My make-up.

I'll start top-left.

Make-up brushes--or eye shadow brushes.  A crease brush ($2 Walmart) and a blending brush ($3 Walmart).  My ghetto eye brow brush/eye lash comb (it's all broken and gross but I still use it daily)--99cents at Walmart (so why not go buy a new one, right?)

My Mary Kay compact filled with random shadows. (couldn't even begin to tell you how much this cost....it's been around for some time.)

Mary Kay foundation brush ($6-ish maybe?) and my Rimmel Stay Matte powder ($4-Walmart) for touch-ups after blotting.

Moving to the left:

Mary Kay Triple Action Eye Enhancer.  ($14)  Not sure if they sell this anymore.  But it's the best eye shadow primer I have ever used.  And one tube lasts forever and ever.  Which is why the writing is all rubbed off and they probably discontinued it years ago and I still have mine.

Mary Kay creme eye color in Beach Blonde (like $6?) (thank you for recommending it, Gina!).  This also is a good base for your eye shadow and a subtle white-silver color.  Love this.

Rimmel Stay-Matte liquid foundation (clearanced at Walgreen's for about $3) in color 200 Soft Beige.

Monistat Chafing Relief Powder Gel.  Okay, say it.  WTHeck are you talking about.  I know.  I said the same thing!  But I'm telling you....it is hands down THE BEST make-up primer, ever.  Love, love, love how it makes my skin feel.  AND, it's like $5 at Walmart.  Try it.

Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Roller.  Ulta-$14.  I have serious eye issues.  This works.  It's like an eraser and concealer in one.  Love it.

Rimmel Glam'Eyes Lash Flirt.  Was clearanced at Walgreen's for like $3.  Serves it's purpose.  I was blessed with nice eye lashes that rarely need curled and fortunately they aren't picky about mascara anyway.

Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller.  Walmart-$13.  Told you that I had eye issues.  I use this morning and night and it seems to be working.

Moving on down and to the right.

Revlon Color Stay Finishing Powder in 030 Sunkiss.  It was like $5 at CVS.  It's an okay product.  I love the finishing effect it puts on my make-up but it does have a slight shimmer to it and my oily skin+shimmer= disaster.  So I don't use it every day.

Lipsticks and gloss.  Use every day.  And I bought these three (current rotation) for 49 cents each at Walgreen's on sale.  They are from the Wet n Wild line and I like them.  I do have to reapply a few times but that's not a big deal to me.  Gives me the option to change up the color if I want to.  And then I also use the Cover Girl Lip Slicks gloss ($5 at CVS) (the pink tube) in clear to wear alone for just a satiny look.

Then I have my SPF for the days that I go to the pool or splash park.  This one is SPF 50 and is made for faces.  It was like $5 at Walmart.

Finally, my Velocity moisturizer from Mary Kay.  This is very light and doesn't aggravate my oil slick of a face.  It was like $12 maybe?

My new Justin Bieber Someday perfume purse spray.  Love it!  $25 at Ulta. 

Binaca Breath Spray.  Must have for the purse.  (Thanks to Danielle for introducing me to this yummy flavor!)  $4 at Walgreen's.

DKNY Pure perfume.  My "signature scent" these days.  $50 Ulta.

And I mustn't forget my beloved Chi iron and dryer.  I use them basically, every day.  As you can tell from the wear.  They are both on their last leg but I love them so.  I don't want them to die.  :(  The iron doesn't even turn on/off via the switch anymore and only warms up if you lay it on a certain side.  I know.  Ghetto.

But mom bought these for me 4+ years ago for Christmas and paid a hefty dime for them.  I gotta her her money's worth!

I spent way too much time preparing this post--and I'm sure I left out so many things.  Seriously?  This is how I spent my Saturday nap free-time.  Lame.  But hopefully it will motivate you to prepare your own list because I love to get new ideas for things to buy and try.  It's like playing make-up with friends on-line, no?

So tell me about your must-haves and leave me a comment with a link to your post, m'kay? 

I wanna talk about me!

You know, I'm really bad about getting hooked to things (not literally and not like on drugs or anything).  I start doing something or watching something and BAM! I'm doing it all.the.time.  But it'll go in spurts.  Some call them obsessions or addictions or trends...whatever.  Call it what you will.  Right now, I'm getting so hooked to the beauty community on YouTube.  OMG.  I watch these videos for like an hour a day.  It's late at night when everyone else is in bed....so I'm not taking away from my time with Kage.  I get home from the gym between 10:30 and 11:00 (or sometimes after midnight--depending on how late I get there) and then feel wired from my workout.  So my unwind time is spent on these videos. 

I've always considered myself a girly-girl but I was a girly-girl on hiatus there for a while.  A few years, actually.  Slowly, I feel my girly-girl ways resurfacing.  I find myself wandering the cosmetics aisles and trying new products that before I would shrug off as unnecessary.  Luckily, the beauty community really looks for bargains! 

I think that it has a whole lot to do with going to the gym and getting in shape.  The scale is the most stubborn thing, even more than me, and isn't budging on that number.  But I think I'm starting to see some definition.  I surprise myself with my ability in the gym.  I am doing exercises that I always deemed to be "too hard" or whatever.  For example, I am doing planks.  Planks always used to make me whine, cry, moan, give up.  Now?  I ask for more.  I think that my abs have really beefed up!  Too bad they have that layer of pudge over them hiding my hard work. 

I had to give up on logging my food intake on MyFitnessPal because even though it was helpful to count my calories, the OCD/Crazy in me kept seeing it as a goal to beat.  I was starting to see it as a way to see how I could eat fewer and fewer calories each day.  And while starvation worked as a great "diet" tool in my 20s, it does nothing for me in my 30s.  So I've kind of been winging it lately with the food.  I watch what I eat and try to be smart about what goes into my mouth without counting the actual calories.  We'll see if that works for me.  And I go to the gym about five times a week.  I rotate my schedule, strength training one day and cardio the next.  We now have Netflix on our Wii (Thanks, Denise!) and using a review (from the beauty community) I will try to do the Pilates video a few times a week (Kage allowing, that is).

But back to my beauty community on YouTube....  I am learning so much and finding out so many tricks and secrets to getting great looking make-up.  And tips on sales for clothes!  I *love* it.  And I'm loving this new hobby of mine of getting new girly stuff to try and get all dolled up...even if I really only go to the grocery.  It's fun to be girly!

So I wanted to pass on the three of my favorite "channels" that I watch on YouTube just in case you have the urge to nurture your inner glitter girl (and no, I don't mean stripper) too!

My favorite, favorite, favorite is abbysmom88.  She is so stinkin' cute and I just love her style.  As a bonus, her and I have the same skin type (hello oil slick!) so her ideas and reviews are totally relevant. 

Next, I love watching BargainPrincess.  She cracks me up.  I love her great deals and reviews and her personality just makes me laugh.
And finally, I love to watch emilynoel83.  I found her first in the beauty community because she's a news anchor where we used to live.  I got hooked on her first and she's got great ideas and reviews and tips. 
So there you have it....my top 3 (well, today it's my top 3). I seem to stumble onto new channels that I find that I really like so it could change.  But if you love girly-girl stuff or want to love girly-girl stuff...check them out.

Oooh, and because I feel that a blog post is just blah without a picture.....check out this polish color!  I saw on abbysmom88 that she got the Essie polish in a beautiful beige color but when I went to pick it up, I gasped at the $7.75 price tag.  Now, that's not a lot for polish, but it was more than I wanted to spend.  So I grabbed the bottle and compared it to every other bottle until I found a pretty close match.
What do you think? 

It's like a nude color and I am so in love with it.  So if you're looking for a cheap(er) nude colored polish, look for Revlon's Gray Suede.  I also picked up a great dark clay color that I have planned for my toes (I just painted them a pink color so the slate will be next) and it's the Sally Insta-Dri called Slick Slate.  Gorgeous color.  I highly recommend it if you're looking for a fun toe color.  It's a little too dark for my fingernails.

On these beauty channels, the girls talk about their "hauls" which is stuff that they've gone out to purchase and it's fun to see what they buy and try.  So I take their ideas and do my own hauls.  I may start blogging about them....but we'll see.  I'm not one for anyone to take advice from....I still have my cosmetic training wheels!