Dre Does January Favorites

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I'd really like to start sharing my favorite products from the month, both beauty and non beauty related. While reviews are great, I think it's more realistic and beneficial to know what people are using consistently. So here are my January Favorites!

1. Physician's Formula Organic Wear Mascara: I had heard some really great things about this mascara but I never gave it a serious thought because of the extremely tacky green metallic packaging. That sounds really stupid when you type it out...haha but seriously! If it wasn't for a ridiculously great sale at Rite Aid and a two for one package, I might not have ever tried it, but I really do love it! The brush is a little larger than I'm used to so that took some getting used to but I love it now. I like how it separates my lashes and gives me amazing volume, but the thing I like most is that I can apply multiple layers and it doesn't clump up like some volumizing mascaras do. I also really like how easy it is to remove, yet it doesn't flake off when you're wearing it. I absolutely hate mascaras that are really hard to get off. I don't care how great it makes my lashes look, I won't realistically wear it if it drastically increases my nighttime skincare routine (ie. Benefit's They're Real). I highly recommend it and now I'm even happier that I got two tubes for the price of one!

2. Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Hair Mask: I got this hair mask in my January Ipsy Glam Bag. Click here for my post on it! I managed to get 4 uses out of that sample and I would say I noticed a difference in my hair's texture. While my hair isn't very damaged, I could tell the mask made my hair softer and smoother. I am probably going to be purchasing the full size soon before that Ipsy discount expires! 

3. Maybelline's 'The Elixir': I won't go too in depth with these since I just posted a review here on them, but I am a huge fan. They are my new favorite lip gloss which is huge since I'm much more of a lip stick girl. I love the pigmentation and texture. They aren't sticky and smell yummy too! 

4. Aveda Beautifying Compostion: Since I've been going to an Aveda Institute since October I've been falling in love with all Aveda Skin Care Products. I could spend hours talking about which ones I love, but for the sake of this post I picked our Beautyifying Composition as a favorite because it's seriously such a multi-use product. It's designed for body, bath, and scalp so I use it as a deep conditioning treatment for my hair, a remedy for any dry skin patches on my body, in my baths, and especially on my cheeks because it's an anti-eczematic! That's only a few of its uses. I'm going to be doing a post on it soon so look out for that! 

5. Beyoncé's new album: I have honestly not been much of a Beyoncé fan in the last couple of years just simply because I couldn't get into her music. That all changed with her new album though. I absolutely love it all; the songs, videos, everything! So good. My top songs however would be Drunk In Love (obviously haha), Blue, Heaven, and Flawless. Just incase I wasn't the last person on the planet to buy it and you haven't listened yet, please do! 

6. Covergirl's Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation: This is another product I heard about through the YouTube world that was getting good reviews so I decided to pick it up at the end of December and it's amazing! When I saw the 3 in 1 claims (primer, foundation, and concealer) I wasn't expecting much. However, this foundation stays on really well, gives you a flawless finish, and conceals the majority of my hyperpigmentation and scarring problems. It has a matte finish though so if you are really dry or like a dewier finish it might not work best for you. I don't like my skin to be 100% matte so I mix it with a tiny bit of another foundation and I find this works well to add some moisture. I have a large amount of hyperpigmentation on my chin due to my Mediterranean skin that tans easily, so when I breakout I scar no matter what. I had to remove this foundation from my chin at school for a procedure and everyone was shocked at the scarring that this makeup was covering, so I have to give Covergirl credit for making an amazing product. I highly recommend this one. 

7. Real Techniques Expert Face Brush: I talked about this brush in my Brush Guide found here, but it's another must have for me. I've only reached for this brush when doing my foundation since I bought it a few months ago. Great price and great quality.

8. Celestial Sleepytime Tea: Sleepytime tea is my go-to night time tea. With no caffeine and lots of amazing herbs it smells heavenly and tastes so good. I've gone through a whole box in January alone because I drink it so much. It's so prefect for relaxation and getting you ready for bed (shocker I know since it's called Sleepytime...haha).

9. tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hr blushes: To say that I love these blushes is an understatement. I have many and they are honestly the only blushes I grab for 95% of the time. Perfect amount of pigmentation, gorgeous shades, and they last longer than any other blush I've ever used. 100% worth the higher price tag. Go to your nearest Sephora or Ulta, swatch them all, and TRY to walk out without purchasing at least one...I DARE YOU! I'm like a kid in the candy store with all tarte products...

So there they are! The first month of 2014 is over and these are the products that helped me welcome the new year. What were your favorite products last month? Leave me a comment below and let me know!

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does an Ipsy Review

It's already time for another Ipsy Review and I absolutely love this month's Glambag! It's a great mix of skin care, hair care, and makeup. It was my second bag and I'm still incredibly happy I chose to start my subscription with Ipsy. Read through to the end to see how much it's worth! Here is an overall glance at my January Glambag!

First off the bag is adorable. I really like the material of it because it's got that plasticy feel that seems like it would be really easy to wipe off and clean, so I look forward to using this for travel! Not to mention the cosmetic bottle cartoons are really cute. 

Now for the products, first off I got this MICA Cosmetics tinted lip balm. Seeing as I've never heard of this brand, at first glance this looked like it would turn out being a sheer tinted lip balm that wouldn't do much. Boy am I glad was I wrong! This is one of the most amazing lip products I've seen in a long time! It's a ridiculously pigmented product. Probably one of the best I've ever used. It's extremely thin and comfortable on your lips and even though it dries to a matte finish it didn't feel extremely drying. I wore it to school the night I got my Glambag in the mail and I got so many compliments on it! I love the shade I received (#6 Fiesta) and the wear was also really great through the evening! I found myself researching the price of these normally before the night was even over. So basically I'm already hooked and will be purchasing more of these as soon as possible, especially since Ipsy gives you a 40% code for MICA Cosmetics! A tinted lip balm normally retails at $30 for 4g, but this sample isn't too far behind at a value of $18.75 for 2.5g. So your bag is already paid for with this product!

The next product is from the new Proactiv + line. They sent me four Mark Fading Pads which contain Salicylic Acid in them. I like that they sent me more than one so I could get more of a feel for the product, but since fading is a gradual thing, four isn't really enough to see a difference and see if they work. I was excited to try them however because hyperpigmentation and dark spots are my biggest concern for my skin. The main thing I didn't like though is that Ipsy included a product that you can't buy on its own. You have to buy the whole Proactiv + line to get them so I probably wouldn't ever purchase them. It also made it pretty hard to calculate its value, but it looks like it only added a dollar so that brings our total to $19.75.

Now for something I loved. I have heard of the Nourish Organic brand before is I was excited to find their Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion in the scent Argan + Rose Water. It smells sooooo amazing and is a great sample size. You can get many uses out of it. The product is just like they say, lightweight and moisturizing so it's a great daytime lotion for me since I get oily throughout the day in my T-zone. The 1.7 oz full size retails for $21.99 so the deluxe sample at 0.5 oz is worth $6.47. This brings the current total to $26.22.

At first I was really excited to see a eye product called the Smooth Shadow Creamy Eye Pencil from the brand Elizabeth Mott because I love eye shadow bases, especially neutral ones. This one is in the shade Pearl and while I like the color, I don't like how much chunky glitter is in it. It was hard to photograph exactly how glittery it was but we're talking disco ball here. I will probably use it up since I have it and just place other eye shadows over it to tone down the glitter but I like bases that I can use on their own in a rush if needed. The 1.5g full size retails for $14.99 so this mini guy is valued at $7 at 0.7g. This brings our total to $33.22.

Lastly, we have the Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask. Depending on how much hair you have you can probably get a good two or three uses out of this sample which is pretty good! I recently got 9 inches cut off so my hair is pretty healthy. Therefore, I can't really judge it on how well it repairs but I can say it made my hair really soft and it smells nice. The 5.25 oz full size retails for $26 so this deluxe sample comes in at $4.95 for 1 oz. This brings our final Ipsy Glambag total to $38.17!! That's almost 400% the price you pay for the bag!

Overall, I'm still extremely happy I started my subscription with Ipsy last month. I loved this bag even more than the first, and as an esthiology student who loves skin, I was happy to see the broad range of types of products this month. I still recommend subscribing and will continue to review them every month! If you'd like to join the link is below!

http://www.ipsy.com/r/1ji4

If you'd like to see my review on last month's bag, click here!

Have a beautiful day,

Dre