Stress Out, Break Out

College.... so much stressssss! I have midterms all next to one another, papers to do and a neck which feels like being hung but that would be a waste of tuition money >_>

Unfortunately, my skin type is: you stress out and then you break out. So my skin is going crazy and it's pretty disgusting. So in order to help deal with it I bought a product that has been very much raved about: Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque.

General Information:
My skin type: combination (oily T-zone, dry everything else)
Buy it at: Ulta, Sally's Beauty Supply, Walgreens, (if you're lucky) Rite Aid
Price: $4 or less for 8oz.
Ingredients:
water, kaolin, bentonite, glycerin, zinc, oxide, propylene glycol, sulfur, chromium oxide greens, fragrance, phenoxyethanol, methylparaban
NOTE: this is not a natural product

Product Claim:
Helps dry up acne pimples, rinse away blackheads and shrink enlarged pores

How to Use:
cleanse face, apply masque generously, allow to dry for 15 minutes, remove with warm water and washcloth

I wanted to get this product so badly since gurus kept talking about it. However, I couldn't find it at Walgreens and I thought I would be out of luck. Luckily there's an Ulta near SBU and I finally got to pick up the product.

Now here's the generalized rules for skin care:
Cleanse and tone daily (morning and or night)
facial scrub every 2-3 days
masque once a week
moisturize daily

I would've given this a product review sooner but since you should only use a mask once a week i decided to give it at least a month for trial period.

*Whenever I wear the mask I start singing songs from Wicked lol
Product Review:
Definitely smells like mint toothpaste and looks like it when it comes out of the tube (squeeze, no pump), which isn't a bad thing. It's very cooling to the touch and it is very thick and creamy, easily spreadable. When you put it on, it kind of feels like your face is being stung or on fire. Yeah that sounds pretty scary but you get used to it because of the results you get. Spread it all over your face or do spot treatment on pimples or large pores.

After spreading it to your entire face you should wait 15 mins plus to dry. It take me about half a hour for it to completely dry. You can tell it's dry when the green paste becomes an off white green color and you'll find it kind of hurts to smile with the mask on because your skin has dramatically tightened. Once this has occur go wash it off with warm water (opens pores while cold water closes them) and a washcloth.

My experience with the product is:
-it does shrink pimples and gets them out within 2-3 days after using the mask
-temporarily shrink pores since it tightens your face
-does not get rid of blackheads

I like this product even though it doesn't shrink pores or gets rid of blackheads (or at least all of it) it gets rid of your zits quickly. Other products like Clean and Clear, Neutrogena, Oxy and St. Ives don't do anything for me anymore. So this is a great buy and it's cheap. You should definitely try this product out even if your skin is acne free, this mask will give a nice facial treatment to tighten the skin and leave a refreshing sensation without feeling drying.

Hauling Away My Allowance

So yeah didn't blog last week. School work makes my head ache. In any case this week I stayed on campus and went to the mall. And I've been totally obsessed with going to Marshalls because of youtube videos, where you can get all sorts of really good makeup and perfume. In Particular I was scouring for perfumes because I figure I should stop buying too many cosmetics. I bought a pencil case for my travel makeup (aka school) and I completely filled it with only lipsticks and lip gloss!

(Negima Pencil Case from Borders $1 and all 19 lip products were generally $1 except 2 that cost $3)

Big Lots is a necessary evil.

So when I went to Marshalls I was looking for With Love perfume by Hillary Duff and any Britney Spears perfume sets because they are apparently popular. I'd thought they'd be tacky but apparently a lot of celebrity perfumes are good like Celine Dion's Pure Brilliance and Paris Hilton's Heiress (yeah Paris Gilton eww as a person and OMG LOVE HER perfume).

So I succeeded in my quest of finding Hilary Duff's With Love. AND I GOT A FREAKIN DEAL AND THEN SOME. The perfume set comes with: eau de perfume 1.0oz. Body lotion 1.7oz and shower gel 1.07oz. It says it retails for $35 and I got it for $15. It has a very woodsy scent that has some floral undertones. It smells kinda mature but NOT old lady perfumy smell.

Top notes are spices and mango; middle notes are cocobolo and mango blossom; base notes are amber and musk.

Unfortunately I failed at finding Britney Spears perfume. They had curious but either the box was broken or things were taken from it.

However, I did find Elizabth Arden's Mediterranean perfume set. I didn't know anything about the perfume but I know Elizabeth Arden is supposed to be a good brand. It comes with: eau de perfume 1.0oz, body lotion 1.7oz and shower gel 1.7oz. It retails for $35 and it was on clearance so I got it for $7. The top notes are kinda strong but once it dries down more to mid and bottom notes it smells so good. And so far so good because I sprayed it at 3:00 and I'm still smelling it at 10pm.(For reference:I tried Incanto Bliss at Ulta and it fizzled out by 4pm good thing I didn't buy it).

Top notes are sicilian mandarin, plum and peach; middle notes are magnolia, orchid and wisteria; base notes are sandalwood, amber and musk.

Just in case your not interested in Hillary Duff or Elizabeth Arden, Marshalls was like a holy grail for expensive perfumes for less. I was this close to buying a Vera Wang Princess for $50 (it came with: large perfume, mini perfume, large body lotion and shower gel)but then I remembered that I didn't like Vera Wang. I can't smell anything and I've tried. To me it doesn't make much of an impact, unlike my beloved Daisy by Marc Jacobs, so don't kill me if you love Vera Wang Princess. They had other perfumes like Be Delicious by DKNY set for $35, Britney Spears perfumes (not a set, I think sets make your money go a little further), Viva La Juicy, Paris Hilton, and other stuff I just can't remember definitely had a lot of designer perfume. They must've restocked or something.

After Marshalls I crossed the highway because I'm too impatient to wait for the bus. I'M STILL ALIVE! So i crossed the highway and went to Smith Haven Mall. The first place I went to was H&M because I remember my roomatetelling me that the best deals are in the back. AND OMG SHE'S RIGHT. I got 2 shorts with an long elastic waist band,thigh high with plaid-ish design and button cuffed at the bottom. They are usually $12.95 but they were on that $5 deal so I got one in black and the other in white.

They're perfect for gym or just casual. I also got a striped black and pinkish-purple T shirt for $5.95. Feels nice, it's cotton.

After that I went to Claires to check out the makeup, to look at only I swear! One of the youtube gurus promotes some of Claires cosmetics. And It's pretty well designed cosmetic set that is VERY pigmented. So if you want to start out, or get inexpensive cosmetics check out Claires. I can get stuff for cheaper so i won't, plus I have a good amount of makeup and basic brushes.

Then I went to Charlotte Russe to see there perfumes but no was enough.

Lastly I went to XXI Forever (Forever21 but it has men's clothing as well). I really wanted a different colored beret but I decided to not get one because I got other things. I needed belts in different colors. One is braided black and white for $2.95. Very sturdy.

Another was light brown for $4.50 in a V braided design.

And lastly a taupe color in faux suede in the braided design for luck, I didn't really like it plus I felt that getting 2 perfume sets $3.50.

I like braided belts just because you can adjust it easier then the ones with the set holes.

And lastly I got this scarf in turquoise-aqua green with sequins in the middle and beaded fringes. It's very long and thin. It was the very last of it's kind and it was reduced from $15.80 to $0.99.

Total Damage: $54.23 and thus goes the $ my mom gave to me for allowance part of it anyway. My real allowance is a secret ;)