Free stuff!!! for me. ha!

Hey everyone!  Today's post is a little busy, but I promise, there's a mani at the end!

First up, really quickly there is a SUPER COOL blog out there called MakeUp, Movies & More!  Hayley is having a giveaway due to her 100 followers, and the prizes are so freaking cool=] check her out, she also has a cool blog, I'm a sucker for other beauty junkies=]

And now, for your viewing pleasure, I give you... the cute bag o' goodies I received from the Target Summer Beauty Bag giveaway!  I can't remember how long this took to get to me, I know that I signed up for it once I saw this post on OkayeAmy's blog, which is dated May 22, and mine got to me a few days ago so....about a month.  Which is cool, since I'm pretty sure a lot of people ordered them and it's free so... yeah!  This does not count as part of my haul for this month because of the freeness, which unfortunately will have to wait to conclude this coming weekend since I'm waiting on one last thing to come in the mail, and would TOTALLY be here if the FREAKING MAIL ran on sundays...psh.. anyway, onto the bag!

sorry for the background noise, I got Garnier Fructis & Aveeno's color care shampoo and conditioner samples, Tresemme's split end treating shampoo, Neutrogena SPF70 ultra sheer sunscreen, and a sample of Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait, as well as a little booklet of cosmetic related coupons=]

First off, isn't this bag FREAKING cute?  I love the bag more than anything lol
Second off, you all have to know by now my love of Revlon lip butters, and I think this one is my new favorite.
Third off, I do love the sunscreen, it goes on feeling a little heavy, but it does disappear and I don't see that it makes me have to retouch my makeup sooner than normal.  I'm still on the lookout for the perfect feeling sunscreen for my face, and I'm on the verge of just using spray on sunscreen for my body because yeah, I'm getting that lazy.

For the fourth off, I'm going to be doing a little preaching, so everyone please, have a seat, make your children be quiet, and listen up: sadly the hair stuff will not be used by me.  Being in hair school now, I am completely biased on drugstore hair care products, it's pretty much taboo.  I will not judge you at all for using any of these products, I know they are way more affordable than the super awesome salon stuff, and if I hadn't gone to hair school I would still be using either of these. My only thing with these is there are sulfates in the shampoos.  Saying that you are protecting color and then putting sulfates in your shampoos is just not true.  If you are coloring your hair and you want to keep it for longer, you need to be using a shampoo that not only says it was made for color care but also that says sulfate free.  Sulfates are basically what helps the shampoo to lather up really well when we put some on our hair, and it helps us to feel like we are doing a better job of cleaning our hair.  It definitely does clean you of your natural oiliness and build-up from products, but using these shampoos (and conditioners) WILL fade your color much faster.  Sulfate free products are hard to use at first, when you go your entire life with the feeling that you need a big big lather in order to feel clean...and then sometimes repeating after the rinse just to be sure.  I grew up showering and washing my hair every. single. day.  It's how my family is.  We have really thick hair, and it gets dirty pretty quickly.  My body was working hard to over-produce oil that I felt I needed to wash out every day, it was actually making my hair oilier than it has to be.  A few years back I quit that bad habit, to every other day sometimes third, and haven't looked back.  I'm learning a lot in school now, and some things are hard to swallow, like not buying shampoo and conditioner from wal mart.  Anyway, so they don't lather up like the sulfate shampoos do, because they don't have those cleaning agents in them.  They do clean your hair though, without robbing it of important stuff, like robbing your scalp of your natural oils to the point of being dry and brittle.  They also may be a cause of hair thinning/loss.  I read somewhere that they don't clean your hair as well so you will need to shampoo more often, and I don't think that's true either.  I have just recently colored my hair a very vibrant red.  Am I terrified of even sulfate free shampoo?  A little bit.  Red is the easiest fading color, especially the super pretty ones.  The good thing is, with my red hair I can hide dirt better.  Seriously.  I have no idea if it's just all the hair spray I've been using, because on most days I do style my hair with curls and junk.. but red hair has just been easier for me to get away with not washing every other day.  It's probably the better shampoos and conditioners I've been using..I have no idea.  I wash my hair twice a week max.  If I can get away with once I will.  I still shower every single day, guys!  I'm not gross lol but I am totally prepared to do what I can to protect my hair from fading.  Anyway, I'm gonna step off my sulfate-free soap box lol  Here's some nails:

This is Revlon Chic.  I love this color.  It's so neutral!  I think the photo makes it look a teeny tiny little bitty bit bluer than it really is, but you pretty much get it.  It's a creme, opaque in two coats, and I have no complaints with this one at all=]  Perfect for work, or those occasions you need a neutral, but is a great alternative to gray or nude. This is the second (maybe third..?) day of wear, so I did have a couple chips on my index finger, from working and school.  Styling a mannequin head really takes it outta your nails! lol..anyway, it looks like I will actually be participating in the summer challenge at least one day this week!  woohoo!  Go me=]  I still have plenty more to show you guys, I'm just waiting for the big one to come in the mail!