Hoarders: Beauty Product Edition

You may not know by looking at me, but I'm kind of a beauty product hoarder.

By now, you all know that I love a good bargain, especially on good quality stuff! So when I see a heavily discounted beauty product at TJ Maxx, or a sale on makeup at Target, or just something new that I've never tried before, I have to have it. As a result, I have a mountain of hair gels, mousses, eye shadows, brushes, you name it, sitting around that rarely get used. 

And why would I throw them away? You never know when you're going to wish you had it.

However, there are things that I buy over and over again because they are just that reliable (and affordable!). 

**Note that I was not paid or anything like that to review these products! Maybe one day my blog will be popular enough for people to send me free things...but for now, you get my 100% unbiased opinion.

So let's start with when I get out of the shower with a head of wet and crazy hair. 

I happened to stumble across Rusk BioFoam for a lovely price at TJ Maxx (as you can see by the sticker I never peeled off). It's a hard product to describe. It's meant to be a root lifter, but I use it more like mousse throughout all of my hair. It's very light, and doesn't leave my hair feeling crunchy or stiff. Unfortunately, I haven't been seeing it lately at TJ's so I'm afraid it might have been discontinued. 

Next, I spray Frizz-Ease Protective Styling Spray throughout my wet hair to get ready to fry it to death with my blow dryer and flat iron. For real, I didn't realize how important this step was until I realized that since I've been using it, my hair didn't get so brittle just a few weeks after a hair cut.

Finally, I've been putting a little bit of Moroccan Oil on my ends before I blow dry. I got this stuff as a free sample from my salon in State College, and I go back and forth whether I like it or not. I've ever actually bought any (from what I've seen, it's a little pricy) but it definitely makes my hair feel smooth and it smells HEAVENLY!

After I dry my bangs and curl my hair with the flat iron, I set it all in place with Dove Hair Therapy Extra Hold Hairspray. It's definitely my favorite hairspray I've found so far. It's very light, non-sticky, and I can hardly tell I'm wearing it. It's especially good for keeping my bangs in place on a windy day.

Speaking of bangs, TRESemme Dry Shampoo has been an absolute lifesaver when it comes to fringe. I've been using this stuff since college when I was a grody student who was too lazy to take showers every now and then. I'll be honest--if you want dry shampoo solely to soak up the grease and last all day, this stuff isn't the best because it works at first, and then leaves me feeling more greasy than before. However, it works wonders on bangs. Being blessed with a greasy forehead, after a night of sleep my bangs are not looking cute, but with just a spritz of this at the roots, I can blow them out looking like new. This stuff is also a great texturizer for fine hair like mine and can really boost volume.

Obviously, Chapstick had to make the cut. To tell you the truth, I'm really not much of a lipstick/lip gloss kind of gal. Every now and then I have the urge to paint on some bright red lips, but most of the time lipstick just makes me self conscious and afraid to move because it'll smudge. I don't really do lip gloss because I don't like the sticky and shiny feeling. This is why I am never without a tube (or three) of Chapstick. You might say I'm addicted. I might say you're right.

Finally, when my hair is in place and I'm ready to do my makeup (typically running late at this point in the morning, and cursing for allowing myself five extra minutes of blog surfing), these two things are my very first stop in my makeup routine. BareMinerals Prime Time Eyelid Primer is absolutely amazing. It's a little bit of a splurge--I pay about 18 dollars at Ulta for this little tube--but it lasts for MONTHS, and with a face that's prone to grease, it keeps my eye makeup from sliding right off within an hour. 

Once the primer is dried, I glide on some Physicians Formula Eyebrightener. One of my best friends and makeup guru, Shannon, introduced me to highlighter when she did my wedding makeup and I have never looked back. This stuff really makes my eyes pop, and on the weekends sometimes I just wear this all over my whole eye with some thick eyeliner and I am ready to go! For work, I usually wear browns or greys for my eyes, and then dab a little bit of this in the corners of my eyes as well as underneath my eyebrow. 

What are some of the beauty products you can't live without? Bring 'em on, because you all know I love trying new things. And there's plenty of room on my dresser for more.