Beauty Talk: NYM Texturing Spray + Swisspers Blotting Paper

Happy Saturday!  And happy to be chatting with you all.  Finally.  Again.  

I wanted to talk about a couple of beauty items that I recently bought.  One at Ulta and the other at Walmart.  First off, Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturing Spray.  

OMG I love this stuff and I've had it less than a month.  And I only bought it because I had a Ulta coupon for $3.50 off $10.  I needed bobby pins and hair spray and then I saw the NYM products.  The packaging caught my shopping eye, I decided on two items and off I went.  The other NYM product I bought is the Beach Babe conditioner but I have yet to use it.  Okay so per the directions on the bottle, you spritz it in your dry or damp hair, style as you wish and you're done.  I only used my hands to style it. I worked it in and "crunched" my hair here and there and voila I had a little hotness on my head and I was digging it.  My hair naturally has a little oomph to it but this stuff really kicked it up a notch.  See?

Don't believe me?  Here's a pic of my hair with no product.  

So Not Your Mother's gets a big thumbs up from me on this one.  I most certainly plan to buy more products and give those a try.

Okay and now for the product that failed me and did not leave me with a shiny(less) happy feeling.  Let me just start off by saying that I have a very oily face.  In my teens I noticed that I had the common T-zone face but over the years and especially after my pregnancies, my face has gone full blown super oily.  I mean get the Ewings out here 'cause I'm sure they'll keep making their millions.  Ugh.  

For years I have been using Clean & Clear oil blotting sheets (they're blue) to wipe the oil off my face a couple of time of day.  I even use the store brands by CVS or HEB.  This past week I bought a completely new-to-me brand while at Walmart.  I went to grab the Clean & Clear per usual but they were all sold out and there was no store brand next to it.  So I look around and came across these Swisspers near the nail care section.  Out of desperation and short on time and I grabbed them and off I went.  I used them as soon as I got in the car and right away the blotting sheets began to tear and they tugged on my face.  What the what?  With the Clean & Clear (or store brands) I only needed to use 2-3 sheets at a time.  I've used about 5-6 sheets per use with Swisspers.  I even keep them layered to see if that will prevent them from tearing.  Nope.  

And they don't "soak" up the excess oil from my face like my little blue sheets.  Not.at.all.  I'm going back to the store to get my usual and I'll hold on to these for the occasional emergency.  Sorry, but I say save your money on this one if you've got oil rigs on yo face like me.  Anyone else not like these?

My Dallas Cowboys Nail Art

Happy Sunday, y'all!  As you all know the Fall season is right around the corner and football season has just begun.  And if you read this blog then you know that my house is a Dallas Cowboys fan zone. Born and bred baby.  Win or lose we are fans through the good and the bad. 

Fun side note: In high school, my hubby was chosen as football athletic scholar from our high school and was invited to attend a banquet where he got to meet and take a picture with the great Tom Landry.  A very proud and exciting moment for him.  :)

Okay on to the girlie part of this post.  Because we are true blue fans I thought I would have some fun with my nails for game day.  Now, all of the crazy and fun nail art I have seen lately is pretty neat but it's not quite my style.  I'll do a flower on my big toe when I get pedicures or something like that but I've never done anything else.  But something about all this nail art these days got me wanting to do a little something and this is what I came up with for my nails on game day.  

You like?

I Won A Twitter Prize Basket!

Who hasn't heard of Twitter?  Like everyone has, right?  I jumped on the bandwagon a couple of years ago and have been tweeting away since.  Once I accidentally joined in on a Twitter chat party because I saw a #hashtag that caught my attention and I replied.  Don't remember what it was about but 30 minutes later or so I was thanked for joining the chat party.  Huh? Well I soon caught on have participated in a few here and there.  I try not to do too many because I know it can drive followers crazy so when I do a Twitter party I try to stick to replies only.

Anywho, I joined in on a chat party this past December when one of my friends (Hi, Teresa!) replied with the hashtag #LatinaHolidayBeauty.  Of course that caught my attention so I looked at the feed and I joined the other gals.  It was a chat about all things beauty and sharing each others tips.  It was fun and I enjoyed it.  :)

Well at the end of the chat party I received this tweet from Latina Magazine.

Shoot yeah I messaged them my information and within a few weeks I came home to a brown box sitting at my door step.  And inside was a basket full of beauty products and some great ones too!

Oh I was so giddy when I opened up the box and started looking at all the products.  I'm telling ya, I was like a little girl on Christmas morning.  What is it about getting a rush when you win something?  Big or small we all get excited just to win something.  I mean look at all those folks trying to catch a free t-shirt (that they would never pay for) at sporting events?  It's just fun.  But even more fun when you get beauty products.  Well in my opinion.  :)

Here's a break down of what was in my beauty basket.
-Two full size bottles of Pantene's Classic shampoo & conditioner.

-Aquis wash cloth, an Ecotools shower mitt, a loof sponge and a full size bottle of Olay body wash.

-A Venus disposable razor (yes!), some CoverGirl nail files and a CVS nail kit.

-And last but not least: CoverGirl eyeshadow quad, two CG eyeliners, two CG Lash Blast mascaras and an Ecotools makeup brush set.  

Aaaaaagggh!  Lemme tell you that the Lash Blast mascara is one of my favorites.  And I got two of them!  It is an awesome mascara and if you've never it used then I highly recommend you buy yourself one.  Your eyelashes will look fab!  And I currently own other Ecotools makeup brushes and I am quite happy with them so I was ecstatic to get these brushes and try them out.  

Oh and I can't forget to mention the basket that has already come in handy.  So yeah I am pretty much a girly girl and I love all things beauty so winning this prize made my day.  Even my baby girl oohed and ahhed as I opened the box.  She was excited for her mommy because she knows how much I love makeup.

I think I will stick to Twitter chat parties and see what else I can score.  Hasta! :)

My First AND Last Shellac Manicure

Anyone ever heard of Anjelah Johnson?  Anyone ever seen her stand-up comedic act based on her experience at a nail salon?  No?  Watch it here and get a great laugh out of it.  I surely did the first time I saw it .  Remember, it's all in good fun.  :)

The video is about four or five years old and I laughed my arse off the first time I saw it and I still do 'til this day.  Probably because she nails it.  Pun intended.  :)

Well on the morning of April 27th of this year I went to the nail salon to get a mani/pedi because I was once again going to be a bridesmaid.  My beautiful, smart, witty and funny life long friend was getting married and I was more than happy to be there for her.  (I heart you, Janice!)  Anywho, I went in and told the ladies what I wanted: a polish mani/pedi.  I always get polish and never ever get fake nails.  I don't even know the proper terminology for fake nails.  Acrylic, right?  To be honest without being crude or snotty, I just never cared for fake nails.  Me no like the look at all.

So imagine me politely declining a gel manicure as the technician gets to work.  On her third attempt, the girl sitting next to me chimes in and asks if I've ever had a gel manicure.  I said no and right away she busts out with, "Oh my gawd they are AWESOME!  I highly recommend you get one today especially if you are going to be in your friend's wedding."  All the while the nail tech is filing my nails away and is desperately hoping I will change my mind.  "Sure, okay I'll go ahead and try it."  Pressure I tell ya, pressure.  The real reason I did not want a gel manicure that day is because I just didn't want to pay extra for anything.  I had a busy day ahead of me and my goal was to be in and out.

An hour or so later my nails looked like this:

Six weeks later...

Why I liked the shellac manicure-

• Dry to the touch upon leaving the salon
• Pretty, glossy and durable
• Chip free in everyday, normal activity
• Looked great for about 3 weeks

Why I didn't like it enough to do it again-

• The polish felt way too thick on my nails
• Kinda looked like I had fake nails
• Not crazy about having my hands under a UV light
• I was very unsuccessful in removing it myself

After trying to get the shellac polish off myself and even peeling it off I was so frustrated.  I had not returned to the salon since the wedding because I just didn't have the time.  Really, I didn't.  I'm by myself a lot with the kiddos because the hubs works his tail off and spends lots of time at the library.  It wasn't until my hairdresser told me that I would have to return to the salon to get the polish off.  She told me that my nails would soak for an X amount of minutes and then they would slowly scrape it off.  What?!  Um, no thank you.  After hearing that I decided I would just continue to let me nails grow out and file them as they grew out.  And after reading this article from Shape magazine I realized that the salon I went to did not use CND Shellac polish.  I wish I would have read it before my shellac mani;  it explains the procedure for a true CND Shellac manicure.  Oh well live and learn.  I can see why so many gals like shellac manicures but I guess this is one area where I like it the old fashion way.

And since we're talking polish, this is one of my favorite shades this summer: Paparazzi Pleaser by L'Oreal.  I love it and wear on my toesies all the time.  Go get ya bottle or two.