John Frieda Salon Tour recap

Early in June I was lucky enough to attend the John Frieda Salon Tour in Dallas, TX at the Shops at Park Lane. From what I gathered, this is a yearly summer long event, and a first for Dallas. Last year they visited Houston.

A red carpet leading up to the fun inside. Everyone who comes will receive a complimentary 15-minute consultation and hair transformation. Since there was no one there early in the morning my consultation lasted a big longer!

The tools used. The set up was like a real salon and even nicer than some cheap ones I've been to. This is mobile so props to them. I was impressed at how nice it looked inside!

Okay I forgot my stylists name already, but she was awesome! She's from LA so if you're there you should get her to do your hair. It would help if I could remember her name! She asked me about the problem areas of my hair. I told her my number one problem would be volume and then dry ends.

She's working her magic, and it's so voluminous wow! I need her skills! It's impressive that we only used "drugstore" products of course. Go John Frieda!

After adding volume she then decided to curl my hair. I told her my curls never last and was up to the challenge. Sorry to report that they did not last... Anyhow, here on her iPad she is showing me what products she used.

The lovely blogger ladies who were also there. Tina, Julie, Elissa, and me. Props to Tina for the photos of me!!

John Frieda's new line of products. Loving it! She used the Protecting Root Lift Foam, the Perfect Ends Deep Infusion for my dry ends, and the Touch-Up Flyaway Tamer. *giveaway coming up*

Hair Care by John Frieda

They also used the new Anytime Volume Refresher on me! It's their dry shampoo! It's pretty awesome except a week later it stopped spraying the powder and only mist. Either it runs out fast or the design of the can is not good. I did really like the formula of it while it was working properly. I'll do a full review on this later.

Me outside feeling all happy about my new hair! :)

Elissa playing paparazzi with Tina.

Afterwards we stopped by Gordon Biersch for a delicious lunch!

I definitely like John Frieda a lot more after this event. While I used to see them as just another drugstore brand, I now feel like they are near-salon quality at drugstore prices. I'm interested to use more than just their shampoo. It's easy to forget they are a huge salon in NY and LA. They don't have a fancy salon here. They should!

The info for the last two tour locations! If you live nearby them and you're a blogger, shoot me an email asap! :)

MINNEAPOLIS, MN
MALL OF AMERICA
Friday, July 15, 2011
12:00PM - 8:00PM
Saturday, July 16, 2011
11:00AM - 7:00PM

ATLANTA, GA
PERIMETER MALL
Friday, July 22, 2011
12:00PM - 8:00PM
Saturday, July 23, 2011
12:00PM - 8:00PM

I hope that John Frieda comes back to Dallas next year. I heard the turnout was not huge but that would be due to the location. The shops at Park Lane does not get heavy traffic and the location of the truck was not visible to shoppers driving by. They would be better to park where there is more walking traffic or to do it inside North Park Mall. That's my recommendation for you PR people who set this up!

CVS Beauty Sale - A closer look

After reading about the annual Beauty sale at CVS on Nouveau Cheap and Diva Makeup Queen I decided to investigate. (Even though I'm battling a cold!)

My CVS had a well stocked and organized display of the popular L'oreal HiP shadow Duos so I snapped a pic because I am a more visual person. I counted a total of 12 shades that are on sale at 75% off retail price. Your retail price may vary by location but mine was $8.29. After 75% off it came to $2.07. After my $2 coupon I snipped from an old paper it came to $0.07 tada! I swear I never pay more than $2 for these babies! Cut the coupons!!

807 Poppy
318 Flashy
404 Flare
114 Adventurous
234 Roaring
208 Sassy
236 Forgiving
336 Devious
508 Cheeky
518 Charisma
536 Wicked
908 Mischief

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips that are 75% off
Pop Collection for Blue Eyes
Pop Collection for Hazel Eyes
Smoky Collection for Blue Eyes
Smoky Collection for Green Eyes
$11.49 -> $2.87

October Favorites

October Favorites! These were well received last time so I'm at it again!

1. Dior Quint in Ready to Glow - I've been wanting to splurge on some top notch eyeshadows for some time now, and why not continue my addiction to Dior? I LOVE every single one of these colors! If I was going to spend a lot on this quint I wanted to make sure I loved every single dang color, no exceptions. The texture is smooth and heavenly but not sparkle crazy like other quints I've seen. This retails at $58, but if you divide it by 5 it's $11.60 per color which ain't so bad.. okay it's bad BUT I bought this on ebay for $40. So that's about $8 per shadow which is more reasonable.

2. Batiste Dry Shampoo - I've tried many low end and high end dry shampoos but I'm always itching to get back to this one. I stopped using it for a couple months while testing any other one I could find just to experiment. When I finally used this again this month it was like night and day regarding the difference in effectiveness. Zaps grease, no residue left once massage in, smell manageable, low price. That's all I really need. $7.99 at Ulta.

3. Givenchy Play for Her - I got this deluxe mini size from Sephora with code "herplay" and I'm so glad I did because this fragrance is LOVE! The only downside is that it's not very long lasting. If you like the pretty and sweet florals then give this a whiff! It has Bergamot, Sweet Pea, Amyris Wood, Tiare Flower, Sandalwood, Musk. I dry down was a pleasant musk which surprised me b/c I usually do not like Musk but it really works in this case.

4. Milani Polish in Bare To Wear - The perfect muted purple light gray color. Good quality creme polish! Limited Edition but you can buy it directly Milani.

5. Mac lipstick in Innocence Beware - The perfect pretty light pinky nude color. I grabbed for this the most in October. Since it's a cremesheen there's a slight shine which is nice. It's limited edition, but Hue may be a good color dupe from what I've heard.

6. Neutrogena lipstick in Just Whisper - see my review here.

7. Isqueen Crystal White Series Pore Refiner - I like how it's pink.. haha, AND that nothing bad has happened from using it so far! It gets the grime that my cleanser may have missed. Not so sure about the "pore refining" bit but it leaves my skin refreshed. Def worth checking out.

8. Milani Liquif'eye pencil liner - no smuding on my eye so far! It's deep black and inexpensive, and goes on smooth. Possibly replacing my mufe liner. It's only $5.99!

9. OMI Ume Softcream lipbalm - waaay better than any EOS lipbalm. It smells like peach and ume (plum) but more so peach. It's not better than Espie but I really enjoyed using this all month! It's now sold out on sasa.com but there are similar ones on ebay if you search OMI lip.

Review of Neutrogena MoistureShine in Just Whipser

Neutrogena MoistureShine Lipstick with SPF20
in Just Whisper 210 [buy here]

It's a very pretty nude pink that I've read is a dupe for Mac's Blankity. I love this! I want to try more shades! It's perfect on it's own or paired with a gloss. You don't really need a gloss though since this gives a nice creamy finish.

Pros:

• nice range of colors
• smooth
• moisturizing
• spf20

Cons:

• $9 (expensive for drugstore)
• cheap packaging
• only available in the us?

I highly recommend this lipstick! Have you tried Neutrogena makeup? A lipstick this awesome makes me want to put down the $25+ lipsticks and look into more shades from them!

What is everyone doing for Halloween? I'm not going to any parties (not cool enough) but I will be handing out candy. I actually like doing it! It's fun to see the mini Princesses and Spidermen. I got a bunch of glow sticks for free from CVS after coupon so I think the kids will LOVE that! I'm not going to BE anything, but I may put on dramatic makeup just for fun. I will however be sporting my Día de los Muertos Necklace!

[blogged here]