It's the PITS!

does everyone see the picture of the innocent-looking deodorant to their right? take a good long look at it so that you never make the mistake of purchasing this nightmare! it's seldom that i hate a product so much that i want to warn people about it, but this Almay deodorant has left me feeling desperate to prevent anyone from wasting their money on it the way i did! buyers beware!

Almay Clear Gel Fragrance-Free Antiperspirant & Deodorant, $3.09, looked perfect for me when i spotted it at the drugstore a few weeks ago. not only is it fragrance-free (which i prefer), but it's also hypo-allergenic and seemed to be a gentle formula that wouldn't cause any irritation. also a great plus was that the gel is clear as opposed to the white solids that claim to be clear but really leave you with visible white flecks (oh how i hate that! soooo not a good look!). although i'm pretty loyal to my Dove deodorant, i decided to give Almay a chance because it seemed like a great choice for the summer, wearing tank tops, etc.

the next afternoon i was planning to run around town with my friend and so after a shower, i applied the new deodorant. i made sure to carefully twist up only a tiny bit because i hate the wet, sticky feeling gel deodorants can leave you with when you've applied too much. right after i put it on it felt very sticky and slimy but i was in such a rush to get out the door that i figured it would dry eventually and off i went. huge mistake! as we were driving i was becoming more and more uncomfortable because instead of drying and becoming undetectable like it should have, the gel had only sort of halfway dried, leaving it feeling extremely tacky. it got so bad that i felt like i had covered my armpits in Super Glue! everytime i moved or lifted my arm the skin of my armpits actually stuck together! and when i touched the area where i had applied, it left my fingers feeling weirdly powdery but slick. it was unbelievably disgusting and i eventually had to go into a bathroom and wipe it off with a wet paper towel! can you imagine?!

as soon as i got home this monstrosity got tossed in the garbage can, and that's saying a lot because i almost NEVER throw away any kind of beauty products. it is officially the worst product i've had the displeasure of using in 2008. stay far, far away unless you have a thing for Super Glued pits! if you're in the market for a nice deodorant & anti-perspirant, check out Dove's range, several of which i've used and liked. they don't cause irritation, leave your armpits soft and smooth and hardly ever show up in little white flecks (especially if you only apply a small amount). i just got the Dove Go Fresh Cool Essentials Green Tea & Cucumber formula, $4.50, and not only does it smell great but it performs as well.

what are some of the worst products you've ever used? i'd love to hear about them so i can avoid them myself, so let me know in the comments!

Starflashing

hello readers! if you've been wondering where i've been lately i don't blame you-- so have all my other computer acquaintances! the deal is i'm having very annoying computer difficulties and haven't been able to get online for about a week now. very frustrating! i don't want to lose all my loyal readers so i thought i'd pop on here and let you know that things will be up and running again ASAP (prob around the 18th). i'll be back in action and ready to review several new things that i'm dying to talk about! for now i'm going to give you a quick taste of the new MAC eye shadow collection that i'm very excited about...

Starflash consists of 12 new pearly eye shadows, 4 Kohl Power eye pencils, and Plushlash mascara. i really couldn't care less about the eyeliners and mascara, but the eye shadows! they are gorgeous! you really need to motor to your local MAC counter and take a look at them, they range from green to purple to copper to pink and a few more in between. as usual the texture, pigment and blendability are fabulous and the price is do-able at $14.50 a piece (that is unless you want to get them all, like i did!). i settled for Glamour Check!, a beautiful shimmery copper (described on MAC's website as "frosty reddish brown") that i plan to pair with an equally shimmery aqua (either Shimmermoss or Parrot) for a bright, fun summer nighttime eye.

if you're interested in the rest of the eye shadows in the Starflash collection, check them out here, and if you like what you see, hurry to your counter because these babies are limited edition (who would have guessed it?!). meow!

Sashay, Tarjay!

happy August everyone! today marks the beginning of the hottest month of summer, which i hate, but also marks the unofficial last month of summer, which i love! just seeing those big, fat, juicy September issues of all my favorite fashion mags on the newsstands makes my heart pound! i love the Fall and can't wait for cool weather, sweaters, boots and blankets again!

but anyways...since there are still a few months of warm weather before us, i wanted to alert you all to my latest adorable fashion finds from Target. i freaking LOVE Target and think it's the best thing since TiVo! Target has adorable affordable clothes and shoes, a fabulous beauty section, great things for your house and kitchen and food to boot! what more could a bargain-savvy girl ask for?! the only thing that could make me love Target more would be if they had an in-store Sephora or they gave me an unlimited free gift card.

first there's this adorable striped dress for $15 which looks about a thousand times cuter in real life than it does in this picture! i'm not really a dress person per say because i feel that my legs aren't exactly up to supermodel standards but even i can rock this casual dress. it's easy to wear, not too short, looks cute with flats or plain old flip flops and the pockets don't accentuate your hips. i love it so much i got it in this color and green, too!

next is this tiered dress, $15 also, which looks a little 5th grader-ish in the picture but is adorable and not too elementary school in real life. i think this dress is really versatile because you could wear it just the way it is with flip flops or heels when it's warm out and then when it cools down, you could add a cardigan, a cute scarf, tights and/or knee boots and it would still look great! you could keep it super casual or dress it up (somewhat) for a date or a night out with the girls. i also got this one in 2 colors, grey and turquoise (hey, i know it's not super adventurous to get several of the same dresses in different colors but i got a little overexcited that i had finally found dresses i liked myself in!)

next is this really, really cute green tunic-style shirt, $9.99 (which also looks not-so-cute-at-all in the picture; what's up with these pictures?!) that i almost didn't try on because i find a lot of shirts with elastic under the boobs very unflattering even on 90 lb models, but i'm glad i did because it's really nice! it comes in several different colors and is a really easy throw-it-on-in-2 -seconds-and-still- look-decent kind of shirt. love!

last of all there is this simple but interesting tank top, $9.99, that comes in several different colors of which i picked white and grey. it has ruching along the neckline, sleeves and hem that just adds a little something to an otherwise standard wardrobe staple. the white one looks especially adorable with a long gold chain necklace, my super dark skinny jeans cuffed at the ankle and bright red strappy stilettos! classic with a twist, and perfect for a hot summer night when you want to be comfortable but still look your most adorable.

these are just a few of the treasures to be found at Target. it should be your first stop if you're looking for camisoles or spaghetti strap tanks to go under things, flip flops in every color of the rainbow or some cute new pajama pants. what i love most is to see the type of woman who's not so hung up on status and labels that she can mix a ten dollar shirt from Target with a $175 pair of jeans, $2 earrings from Forever 21 and a $300 handbag and end up looking a thousand times more unique and fabulous than the fashion victim in head-to-toe designer clothes! this is my fashion inspiration.