Affordable Beauty Haul

I've decided that I need to find beauty products that are more affordable and accessible. I don't plan on cutting out all high-end products, but I definitely want to mix in great products at a lower price.

What I bought today was:

Clean and Clear Morning Burst Scrub
St. Ives Apricot Scrub Invigorating
Garnier Anti-Puff Eye Roller
St. Ives Vitamin E Hydrating Cleanser
Sonia Kashuk Eye Make-up Remover
Conair Volume Rollers
Cotton Pads
Several nailpolishes (OPI, Nicole and Essie)
NYX Felt Tip Liner in Jet Black
NYX Mega Shine Lipgloss in Sweet Heart


I'll try to test out each for at least a week before I form an opinion!

Watching Australia with Bryce. Ciao!

Second day of work

Had a great day at work. Felt more independent. That was a nice feeling. Being able to handle things on my own all on my second day.

After work  went to the Hobbit Cafe with Bryce, Jessica and her friend, Juan. Ate a Shire sandwich with NO mayo. Mayonnaise is puke-inducing! The sweet potato fries were tastier than normal, not sure why.

Went to an art show with several local artist showing pieces. Many mediocre, a handful pretty cool and a bigger handful of very shitty. I still can't get over the 5th grade looking art that was accompanied by frames. Someone thought the work was worthy of frames? Really? If I had photos of it, I'd share so you could share the perplexing situation. Juan's work was really nice. My taste: surreal.

I'm home and going to cuddle up with The Dark Side of Camelot.

NIIIGHT!

First day of work (yesterday)

Yesterday was my first day at the new salon. I loved it! Everyone seems really nice. I came across familiar faces, which was nice. They seemed very happy to see me, so it felt good. I am pretty amazed at the differences from the other salon:
-Focus wasn't on menial things like the breakroom needed to be spotless (when other things need to be done)
-No owner running around like a chicken with his head cut off and trying to make everyone do "busy-work"
-The entire staff was very personable and sweet with product reps.
-No bitchiness
-I can wear heels because I don't have to stand at the front desk for 8+hours

There are more, but I'm pressed for time. I'm liking the fact that it seems the entire female staff loves Anthropologie, which reminds me of an old co-worker who I think would fit in SO perfectly at this salon and love it, but I know big changes like that wouldn't be easy. This salon uses macs, which I'm a PC gal! :( But I guess I'll have to get used to its backwardness, haha.

Okay, need to throw on my heels!

Have a great day!

Day 10-- Laser Hair Removal

This is for those who absolutely hate to shave and wax!!!! I've always been interested in getting laser hair removal done, but always squashed the idea due to the ridiculous cost of it! Full Brazilian (everything off down there) you're looking at around $330 per session. You need 6-9 sessions. So let's round it off and say you're looking to spend $2,000-3,000. Most places will offer you package deals where you save about $100-200. I happened to come across a deal, on Groupon.com, of $150 for 3 sessions on an area of your choice (not including legs). My mother bought me the package for 3 sessions, too. I chose my Brazilian. I wasn't too thrilled of the actual spa, since it was a house made into a spa and the treatment room where I bared it all on a table had a window 3 feet away from me almost identical to the house next door. Nice. Also, as being someone who works at a front desk in the same industry I have a pretty high expectation of how the front desk should be run in terms of catering to customers. They were sweet, but slopping. For example, I could be waiting there with three staff at the front desk chattering about, waiting for them to check me in or even acknowledge me. Another example being staff eating fast food right by the stairs that clients have to go up in order to get to certain treatment rooms. I once even went down after a treatment to book my next appointment and leave gratuity, but no one came for at least 3 minutes. I left. ANYWAY!...

I was pretty thrilled with the results since I was seeing a great change in hair growth. I could feel how smooth most areas were, but I began to think the technician was getting careless with her work. She would talk a lot and fail to tell me she was switching sides, so it left me with not having the correct leg bent to where she could access everything for proper zapping and she would just zap away anyway and not get the same areas on those several treatments! I suppose I was too intimidated by this lady to actually speak up, so I used all 6 sessions and still had areas that really bothered me. The thing that I was most annoyed about was the fact that I didn't start off with that much hair or that much stubborn hair, so I was sure I'd be done in those 6 sessions.

Having the sweet boyfriend that I do, Bryce got me another 3 sessions for $150 on Groupon.com for another spa. My first treatment at Metropolitan Laser Institute was great. I let my technician, Ashley (who I recommend), know that I have had 6 previous treatments and I wasn't happy with the experience because how sloppy I felt the other girl's work was and I was dealing with the same areas that have had hair for the last 3 treatments. She was extremely thorough! 40ish zaps compared to 8!!!! I was pretty shocked, but happy that I mentioned how unhappy I was with my previous experiences. She said I should wait the 6 weeks to see if I would have any growth, just because I had so little hair left and she didn't want me to pre-book without knowing. Unfortunately there were 3 tiny areas which I actually pointed out to her today and she went zap happy on me. I'm excited to see how this session will turn out. I have my next and last one set for 5 weeks, I hope it'll be for next to no hair! :)

I have recommended a few people to the Metropolitan Laser Institute, in particular, a client at the salon I was working at was interested in laser hair removal for his back but had missed the deal on Groupon.com and I suggested he call or go up there to mention getting in on that deal or getting some other kind of deal. They were more than happy to do the 3 treatments for $150.

Things I've learned:
*The zap sensation only lasts in the moment and is more 'painful' due to anticipation of pain.
*You cannot wax or tweeze when going through laser hair removal treatments (that's a bitch to go back to shaving)
*Groupon.com saved me over $2,500!
*I need to speak up if I'm unhappy with results and I'll likely get what I ask for.
*Livingsocial.com also has these good deals!

Have a great evening! I need to wake up early... start my new job bright and early! I'm beyond excited for this! :)

PS I've realized I somehow missed Saturday. So... I'm a day off. Oh well. Ha.

Day 9-- Ethiopian Dinner

You know those days where you do a lot of things, but don't feel overwhelmed of having to accomplish anything? The kind of day where you don't have any down time, but feel contently productive. I had that day today.

Woke up, made breakfast, watched Lost in Translation (for the billionth time) while eating breakfast, got dressed, took Drew and Milton to the dog park, scooted to the Houston Public Library, I went to the gym, took a shower, got ready went to my great friend's, Sara, home for an Ethiopian dinner her father's girlfriend made for us. I'm home now and happy about my day.

The dinner was absolutely delicious. I still have an aftertaste of seasonings used in the dishes and it's pleasant! A couple of Sara's friends brewed their own beer-- it was amazing! Conversation and company was more than pleasant. I laughed a lot. I just love being around Sara, so I always have an amazing time after I've visited her. I love having friends like that. Intelligent, funny, interesting and fun. :)

Bryce and I need to find a new series to watch on NetFlix!

Day 8-- Children's Museum

This afternoon my mother and I took Tristan to the Children's Museum. He's almost 20 months old, so he couldn't really participate in many of the exhibits, but there is a "Tot Spot" where 35 months and younger can play. We were all instructed to either take off our shoes or put on sanitation covers around our shoes to enter the tot zone. This was good for me because upon arriving the museum I managed to get a stick lodged into my left foot, so there was a bubble of blood on my foot, gross. There was a slide, which Tristan absolutely loved going up and down. His little knees were so red from frogging his way up the slide, managing to defeat gravity. I think he felt accomplished. It was clear the 35 month old rule wasn't in place, as there were several 4-5 yr olds running around in there. Tristan enjoys all the toy cars, colored balls and walking through an uneven walkway which made several toddlers fall. My mother and I took Tristan around the entire museum via stroller and there were so many different interesting, fun exhibits all the children seemed to be having fun with. I think in a year he'll be able to enjoy more of the Children's Museum, but for now he'll just have to spend hours in the Tot Spot.

My mother and I went to Mardi Gras (restaurant) to get ceviche and oysters. Too bad, they were out of both.

I woke up at 4:03am today  to visit Houston's monk psychic, Cau Chin (finally saw him around 11:30am). It was interesting. More just of the fact that I finally got to experience a reading from him. Everyone got a number, up until 60. There's a sign saying he takes 60 people a day, but ends up taking a lot more because he feels a lot of people need healing. Apparently 65 people were in line yesterday, Saturday, at 5am, but he ended up taking over 200 people. He's quite bizarre. He counted a lot of money in front of me, answered calls and went at Bryce more than telling me things like which parent I looked like, how many siblings I had and what my favorite colors are. He says I need to talk less so my stomach will stop hurting and I'll sleep better at night. Oh, that I should be a humanitarian. Not to mention, he told me I was "on a different level than most people" so that's why he talks to me differently. Sweet.

Goodnight.

Day 7-- Dog Park

A bit tired, but wanted to type up a little something.

Milton and I went to the dog park. Milton is so good! Just plays fetch and minds his business. A Cardigan Corgi I've seen before was there today. I WANT! He loves me. His owner is a bit nuts (borderline senile man) says Stan must be trying to scout for a new master. Ha. Aww...

Babysitting Tristan this evening. He's spending the night with Bryce, the boys and me. It's about 10pm so it's wind-down time. I hope he falls asleep soon because I woke up at 7:07am. Zzzzzz.

Goodnight!