Five Favs Friday - Beauty Edition Guest Post

It's that time again - another Five Favs Friday. This week I've asked my friend Abby to guest post on her favorite beauty products because she's gorgeous & has gone to school for cosmetology. I'm going to sit this one out & will be back next week with some Holiday links. Have a great weekend & Happy December! And thanks Abby - I really appreciate that you agreed to do this. 

Hi there my name is Abby and I currently run Dirtontherocks.com Thanks to Ms. Danielle she invited me to write a little guest post for her. Due to being busy I had to postpone this post a bit later. Thanks again Danielle for understanding.

Ms. Danielle asked me to post about five beauty products I enjoy and why. However, seeing as I have so many favorites or a certain routine daily I decided to cheat a little and break these down into two categories which is Hair and Makeup. I decided to break it down between those two categories because that’s what really matters to me in the morning.

Hair – Besides that I’ve gone to school for cosmetology I can honestly say that I’ve lost interest in my hair when it was a lot longer. I pretty much got bored with my hair and would just straighten it daily. With that said having shorter hair means that it’s more maintenance. This is true, because with long hair you can just let it air dry and tie it in a pony tail. With short hair if you don’t do anything about it all the strands will just fly everywhere. Taming shorter hair is a pain. Here are my top three picks for hair products:

1. Conair Infiniti I-Series Folding Handle Dryer - Blue What I love about this blow dryer is that you can fold it up for easy storage. I also love that you can purchase this at Target or Walmart. Unfortunately, I don’t remember how much I bought this for. The site has this product out of stock and so I’m not sure how much it is. It’s easy to use. The blow dryer doesn’t have a lot of knobs to configure. Just a hot or cold switch and 3 switches how strong you want the air to be. I just put mine on the highest speed and on hot air.
2. Metal Round Brush – I always use a metal round brush when blow drying my hair. It adds volume to my hair and it also adds that shine I’m looking for without any products. I don’t use the brushes that have the plastic bristles because it’s messed up my hair in the past. I’ve even gotten my hair tangled with the plastic bristles. That’s never fun. The round brushes vary in sizes and in price. You can get the round metal brush that I use at Sally’s beauty supply or at any drugstore. They’re affordable and durable as well.  Just a quick tip: If you have long hair don’t purchase the round brush with a rubber grip. My hair used to get caught on the grip while drying my hair and it was so painful.
3. Hana Pro Flat Iron – I’m all about purchasing affordable beauty products. However, I love my hair and I’ve seen my hair at its worst. I’ve even had my hair break off because of so much damage done to it. I’ve been using a different flat iron before the Hana Pro for the last several years and let me tell you paying a good amount for a straightener is well worth it. My flat iron still works today and it’s lasted me years. It has helped me from completely damaging my hair endlessly. With this new Hana Pro flat iron it’s easier for me to use because I have shorter hair. My old flat iron is a lot wider and it was hard to get the smaller strands. The Hana Pro is a bit pricey, but from what I can see this product will last you a good while. It looks durable, and I love the sheen it gives my hair when I straighten or curl it. Spending a little extra goes a long way when it comes to taking care of your hair. 

Makeup:

1. Sonia Kashuk eye definer in Taupe  - This is what I use to stencil or draw my eyebrows on. I know that sounds weird to say, but I have really sparse brows and I need something that will help the eye shadow I place over adhere properly. It works well for me and it doesn’t smear easily. I like that it’s affordable and you can pick this up at a local Target of yours. I’m not sure that they have this at Walmart. It’s very affordable at $5.99USD. What’s great is that one pencil can last me a year if not longer. A little goes a long way with this eye liner. Yes, it’s eye liner not brow definer. 
2. Mineral Blue or eye shadow in pinched – I had the opportunity to try out Pinched from Southern Magnolia Minerals a while ago. I’m not a fan of mineral makeup, but I fell in love with the blush. I just love rosy cheeks. This color is very, very pigmented and a little definitely goes a long way. What’s great is that you can choose the size of product you want to buy and therefore you’re not overpaying for something you might not like. SMM Cosmetics is also a treat! They took care of me well and shipment was fast. I love that I didn’t break out with the sensitive skin that I have. That’s always a plus! A very huge plus for me.
3. E.L.F Essential Waterproof Pen – I love this pen. Not only is it cheap I think that dark pigment is great. I know a lot of people don’t like this product for being cheap, but honestly I haven’t had issues with this eyeliner. It’s a pen, it goes on dark and it’s easy to use. I’m not picky with eyeliners, and that’s probably why I don’t mind using this. It doesn’t smear as much on me like other people have reviewed it to be. It’s a great product overall. 

These are my top picks. I hope you all check out my favorites! Possibly purchase some for the holiday as a gift or even for yourself. Thanks again Danielle. I enjoyed writing this post. I’ve forgotten how much I enjoy beauty products. 

If you want to check out my other sites you can find me here:

http://dirtontherocks.com – main site.