Boots No 7 Moisturizer

With it being slightly gloomy here in Michigan, I figured it would be a good time to talk about some new moisturizers I recently purchased. I knew I was in desperate need of new moisturizers. My night cream was pretty average, but left my face oily and would clog my pores during the night if I put even a little bit too much on. My day cream wasn’t awful, but after weeks of using it I realized I really needed to start using some with SPF in it. This was my mission seeing as summer was on its way and you definitely need to help your skin thrive against the sun. 

After looking up different kinds, knowing the price I wanted to spend, and finding one for normal-to-oily skin, I settled on Boots No 7 Beautiful Skin day and night cream since the reviews were rather good. It took 3 trips to stores to find both creams (I was determined to not order these online). They were both $13.99 for a 50 mL container at Target and also at Ulta. The day cream has spf 15 in it, which is perfect since my foundation has another 20 spf. The day cream claims to moisturize for 24 hours and leaves a matte finish.  

I've now been using these moisturizers for a few weeks now. One good thing I've noticed with these is that a little goes a long way, so I'll be using these for quite some time. I'm also a fan of the packaging. I like the aesthetic of lotions in jars and the colors are just perfect to me. I'm really loving the night cream because it's very moisturizing for my skin. When I wake up my skin does feel oilier than I'd like, but seeing as I wash my face right when I wake up this isn't too troubling for me. The day cream I'm still on the fence with. I love the spf, but I've noticed that I'll want to wash my face earlier in the day. I've been testing out new foundations and such, which makes me unsure as to what is causing my face to become oily faster. I'll continue to use both moisturizers, will definitely be repurchasing be repurchasing the night cream, and have to come to an absolute decision about the day cream. 

I've really become intrigued with this brand. I want to try out more products from Boots No 7. I'm most interested in their face cleansing wipes and eye creams. I have one of their foundations and I quite enjoy it (although I picked up a shade that's a smidge too dark for me). So I'm really interested in trying out more make up products for the No 7 line. Today I was in Target again (It's my home away from home) and I found a tinted moisturizers for $11.99 USD that I might pick up soon. Have you tried anything from their brand and is there anything you would recommend? 

Kate Spade Saturday

Hello Earthings! Today I received a package I was anticipating and I wanted to share it with you while I'm working on another post! If you couldn't tell by the title of this post I was perusing Kate Spades Saturday site while they had a big sale going on. I needed a nicer purse for days when I needed to look like I'm 22 and not have a cat print purse. I was also in need of an "adult" wallet because currently I was using two small wallets; the first was a pink leopard coin purse that I'd only use to stick my license in and the second was a little boys Spiderman wallet that couldn't even fit all my cards. Very mature wallets, yes I'm aware.

 

To start, how everything was packaged was adorable. my order slip was tucked in an envelope that reminded me of old school plain tickets. On to the products, I first picked out the Assembly Cross-body Bag in the color Black on sale for $49 USD. It reminded me of an old doctor's bag with how it's shaped and how it opens. It's got a very cute print lining the inside and a small front pocket. I really love this purse, but I'm not too thrilled on the latch that opens the purse. It's a small push through latch that is a bit difficult to open. I'm able to overlook that for how cute it is though.

 



 

The second item I got was the Zip Around Wallet in the color Steel on sale for $30 USD. Grey is one of my all time favorite colors for anything and I thought the pop of orange would match perfectly with my Kate Spade make-up bag I was given for Christmas. On this inside it has a little pouch for coins, six card slots, one slot with a window, and four long slots for paper cash or whatever else you stick in your wallet to forget about. It fits everything I need to carry with me and it's fantastic colors.

 

 

I'm loving what I got, even though it was more along the lines of an accidental purchase on final sale items. These items were long over due for me to get anyway, so my bank account may not be the happiest (although I did save a lot with these items being on sale), but I'm quite happy with my "grown up" items. This weekend I'll be heading up north and will most likely be visiting Mackinaw Island early next week, so look out soon for a post on my mini vacation!

 

Visit www.Saturday.com to view more products from Kate Spade Saturday!

Chicago NRA 2014 Food Show

  

               Last month I was finally able to cross something off my (nonexistent) bucket list, well two technically things. I attended the NRA Food Show in Downtown Chicago. If you’re unfamiliar with what it is, the first thing you should know is NRA is the National Restaurant Association and not the one dealing with Rifles. Makes more sense that way. The food show consists of everything you could possibly imagine for running a business. It’s literally everything from drinks to food, heaters to beer taps, and companies helping with advertising to menus. The show takes place at McCormick Place Convention and to say this place is huge is completely an understatement.

Andrew Zimmern at the NRA 2014 Food Show

                The show itself was amazing. Every part of the convention center was dedicated to the food and it was incredibly to see new products and trends. It’s a perfect place to try new products because everyone there is giving out samples. The first day there for the show, we barely spent money on food since we just kept eating. A lot of companies were also giving out reuseable bags, so I’m now set for a giant shopping trip! My favorite thing there (other than rice krispie treat ice cream) was listening to Andrew Zimmern speak. He was discussing sustainability with our foods and mentioned a company called Hampton Creek. They’ve developed a plant based egg that they use in mayonnaise and cookie dough, but will eventually be selling the not-quite-an-egg egg products itself. The mayonnaise is available at Whole Foods if you’re interested. Apart from that, I’ve loved the show so much I wanted to go back every year now.

 

                Chicago itself was also a new experience for me. I didn’t get to do anything really because the reason I went to the food show was because it was my last class for my degree. So in reality I need another trip to Chicago to get the full experience. What I did experience, I rather enjoyed. I’ve always loved the idea of a city, but I came to realize it’s good for a short time. I loved walking everywhere and I managed to find a CityTarget. Whenever you’re in a city that has one, locate it right this minute because that is the coolest thing I’ve seen. They actually have an elevator and an escalator specifically for your shopping basket. The outside is rather adorable too. We went to Gino’s one day for dinner that was literally the best thing I’ve eaten. I'm typically not a fan of pizza unless it's Jet's or homemade, but this stuff was just amazing. We even tried to bring our leftovers back on our five hour drive back. If you couldn’t guess, we were not successful at all.

               There were only three things that I was not fond of while in Chicago, the first being that Sunday, literally everything closed by 6pm. Where I live everything closes by 9 on Sundays and I will never take that for granted again. Secondly, everything there makes you feel so claustrophobic. It’s cute, but I greatly missed an actual subdivision with space. Lastly, since everything was so close together, it’s surprisingly easy to get lost. I always had the map on my phone pulled up so I knew I was going the right way. We got so lost trying to get to our hotel, it was a constant joke the easiest way to confuse a Michigander was to stick them in a big downtown city like Chicago.

                That was everything from my weekend trip to Chicago! I wish I took more pictures to share, but I was in such awe over the whole thing. Being to the food show for a class made me miss out on the Chicago experience though. We planned on hitting the typical tourist places like parks and aquariums, but we simply had no time.  I've promised myself that I need to go back and I'd love to hear of places to go. If we were able to read all this was, then congratulations! Below are links to things I mentioned if you want to check them out more

 

www.andrewzimmern.com

www.hamptoncreek.com

www.restaurant.org

www.show.restaurant.org

www.ginoseast.com

www.mccormickplace.com

 

Giovanni Shampoo and Conditioner

As a brand new blogger, The most difficult thing so far (other than gaining the courage to start it) has been the type of blog I wanted to create. I started with the idea of food then make-up and I think for now I’ll simply settle with a Hodgepodge lifestyle type of blog with whatever pops up in the moment.  Today that type of thing has been a shampoo I’ve somewhat been obsessing over.

I must admit, I’m quite a sucker for buying shampoo and conditioner even when I don’t need to get any. I like the different smells, colors, packaging, and strangely enough I love the idea of purchasing shampoo, which is a common trend with some of my purchases. Now before I continue on about the shampoo I purchased, just some background on the type of hair I’m dealing with. I have slightly thick hair that loves to hold on to any product I use and I wash my hair a minimum of every other day (more often than not I push it to 3-4 days). I’ve tried shampoo that moisturizers, helps with hair growth, for colored hair, for long hair, but I didn’t quite love any of them. So on one of my frequent Target adventures, I found Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Threat Shampoo and Conditioner for all hair types down the naturals aisle.

The packaging is what originally caught my eye. It’s sleek and rectangular, very unique for a shampoo and conditioner in my opinion. It’s a clarifying shampoo and the packaging also says it strengthens hair with a blend of three organic oils. Another bonus, other than it being natural, It’s sulfate free. The shampoo gives a very herbal and peppermint smell. I quite enjoy the smell and love the tingle sensation it gives. I’ve never had a shampoo clarify my hair so well before. Perfect for getting any styling product out. The conditioner enhances natural shine and gives a good amount of moisture with the same pepperminty smell.

The small downside is the price if you usually buy the drugstore brands. At my local Target they were on a price cut, so I snagged them for $6.39 each with a $1.50 coupon attached to one of them. Other than the price, I’m really enjoying what this shampoo and conditioner combo is doing for my hair. If you want more information on this shampoo and conditioner, check at Giovanni’s website at www.giovannicosmetics.com