Hey girls!

Hey girls! Sorry I haven't been posting in like three days.. gasp! I know, such a long time right? Well I've been away at my college orientation and I just got back a couple of hours ago. I should be posting by tomorrow night again so never fear!

I ordered a nice haul from Fyrianne before I left, so I'm really excited to get that. I ordered two of their face primers and a finishing powder, specifially geared towards oily skin. I also should be getting my Mac Book Pro on Friday so woohoo! I'm thinking of starting to make You Tube videos once I get it so... be on the look out! Anyways, have a good day ladies!

xoxo

My Favorite Facial Skincare Products- June

I've always gotten a lot of compliments about my skin being very natural and glowy and questions as to what I use etc, etc. I am not very adventurous with my facial products, most are drugstore which is a good thing so all of you can give them a try for little money! I will start from the left to right as to what the item is and how/when I use it.

1. Neutrogena Oil- Free Acne Wash: I use this in the shower every night or day, whenever I take a shower. It has 2% salicylic acid for acne control and has these little 'micro beads' which exfoliate the skin. I have used this religiously for years.. I've gone through several tubes of this.. and I will continue to purchase it. I put it on after I shampoo my hair and I let it sit and penetrate my skin while I wash my body then I wash it off in the shower. I recommend doing that, because if it's easier to get all the little beads off your face.
   
2. Neutrogena Rapid Clear- Acne Spot Eliminating Gel: This is just a 2% salicylic acid treatment which I just put on pimples and blemishes when they appear. I put it on overnight and by morning I really do see a reduced amount of redness. I usually use the Clean and Clear one, but I ran out and this one is basically the same thing.
3. Murad Acne Spot Treatment: This is a 3% sulfur acne treatment which in my opinion is less strong than the salicylic acid ones. I use this when my face is behaving and just rub it on at night if I feel some pimples coming on.
4. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion: This is the little travel size one. I wanted to try it out before buying the big bottle and I LOVE it. It is my new staple and I'm close to running out. I have been using this as my night time moisturizer for the past month. It's lighter than Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief which I use during the winter.
5. Chanel Activateur Purete- Oil Control Purifying Lotion: This is a bit pricey at $38 but soo worth it. I think I might be using it wrong? I use it after I wash my skin and I dab all over my face with a cotton pad before putting my makeup primer on. It does mattify my skin though, which is the reason why I bought it... but I never really figured out how to correctly use it so help!
6. Vaseline: Duh.. Vaseline! I use this at night and put a dab on my lips to keep them soft.. I heard that they can stop the natural production of lipids or something?? I don't know.. but I've used this at night for years. During the day, my staple is Nivea's Kiss of Moisture Chapstick.
7. Clean and Clear Oil-Free Moisturizer: I've used this for years! Not the Morning Burst one, but the regular one. I honestly can't tell the difference but I love this moisturizer. It is light weight, oil-free and doesn't make my skin too shiny. I use this during the day under my primer or sometimes I mix it in with my liquid foundation.

So those are my seven staple items that I reach for every single day. I have a ton more that I could list, but those 7 I have been using religiously for years so I could honestly say that I recommend them all. Please comment and let me know your top facial skincare products! Thanks girls :)

Accesories: A Turquoise Summer

I love turquoise jewelry. I think they are essential for summer and look great with white or black centered outfits. I got all of these at my local jewelry store called Vines and Roses. Each piece was just under $20 which I think is a really great buy. If you're on Long Island and interested in checking this store out, you can find more information here.

I'm looking to do an Accessories Swap from someone from the United Kingdom. As you have a ton of really great stores I do not have access to- Accessorize, Topshop, etc. Please let me know if you are interested, I can purchase for you from Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, etc. Just send me an email at thebergdorfbrunette1@gmail.com or just comment me back on this post! Thanks :)

Day in Manhattan/Haul: Forever 21, Lush, H&M

Okay so I had a fabulous day yesterday. I caught the early train at 9:23 into the city with my friend Andrea who attends NYU (New York Univeristy), so she knew her way around pretty well... thank god! We accidentally caught the express Peak hour train in so we had to pay $3 extra each, but we were in the city before 10:30 am which was good. From Penn Station we took the subway downtown to the Greenwich Village area where the big Forever 21 one is located. Before going there, we stopped at Starbucks where I got my standard tall, iced vanilla coffee with half and half, two raw sugars and one Splenda. Then we walked to Forever 21 and it was two floors of complete heaven. Since we were there so close to it opening, everything was neat, organized, spotless and clothes were easy to find. When I walked in, I literally was overwhelmed by the massave amount of cute clothing. It took me 3 trips to the dressing rooms to figure out what to purchase and my damage is below.





I also got a black, scoop knit tank top, but I couldn't find the picture for it. Anyway, after Forever 21, we passed a store called Strawberry which I have seen several times around the city, but never actually ventured it. The clothing was unbelievably tacky and cheap in my opinion, but in the back they were having a sale on sandals which caught my eye. We must have spent almost 40 minutes trying shoes on and I was soo close to buying a new pair of gladiator sandals for just $19.99, but I decided against it. Actually I was planning on coming back if I couldn't find another pair, but time didn't allow for that. So then we went to Aerosoles for a quick look and blehh, no luck there.


On to LUSH! Now Andrea has never been in Lush before, heck she hasn't even heard of Lush.. she was a Lush virgin. I introduced her to the wonderful world of handmade soaps and bubble bars and bathbombs.. but she didn't even buy anything for herself. She got the 7 hair items for $15 for her friend's birthday gift, and a massage bar/soap gift pack for her mom's birthday.


I picked up two things as you can see.. the Brazened Honey Mask and a little sample of the Ultra Light Moisturizer. I tried it once and it's heaven for my skin.. I have oily and acne prone on days when I'm PMSing and I can feel the mask working when I put it on for the first time. It's supposed to "exfoliate, detoxify, stimulate and nourish tired skin". Some ingredients include refreshing herbs, fruit juice, spices, ground almonds and moisturizing honey. It was just around $8 USD and so worth it. You have to keep it chilled and it has a shelf life of about a month, because there are eggs in it.



After our LUSH trip, we went to Baluchi's for lunch. It is a small, chain Indian restraunt that has multiple locations around the city. They have a fabulous lunch special where everything is 50% off the menu (excludes take out). I ordered Chicken Tikka Masala and Andrea got Chicken Vindaloo. I highly recommend my dish if you can't take spicy foods. Andrea's was so spicy, when I tried it, my face started sweating profusely. The restaurant itself feels extremely authentic, due to it's decor as you can see below. This is not my picture by the way, I found it online. The only downside was there as no air conditioning and yesterday I was so hot running around.


To find a location in New York or to see their menu, you can visit their website here. I highly reccomend trying it out if you're in the area! After lunch, I had a Barnes & Nobles gift card and I wanted to buy a book: The Lie by Chad Kultgen.



Warning, this book is NOT for feminists or women who are easily disgusted by graphic scenes and sexuality. I picked this up one day wandering around a Borders and starting reading it not knowing what it was about, but I could not put it down... so I decided to purchase it yesterday in the city. The Greenwich village store was out of it, so we walked all the way to Union Square where I purchased it there. On our way out, there was a huge H&M staring at us in the face, so of course we had to go in. I walked out pretty satisfied as I only had to pay $10 USD for this cute, teal colored dress.


After H&M, I realized we were extremely late in catching the 3:43 pm train home, so we literally ran to the subway, ran to Penn Station and at 3:41 pm, caught the LIRR back home. I did not think we were going to make it, but whadddyaa know... we did. All in all, I had a fantastic day, and I'm already planning my next trip which will be next week. I hope you enjoy reading this long post, so let me know your thoughts!

Dry Shampoo: Ojon vs. Pssst!

Dry shampoo. I finally got on the trend and decided to pick up my first bottle- Psssst! from the drugstore. I was pretty happy with my purchase as it did exactly what it's supposed to do. Refresh your hair and take away the oils without having to wash it. All you have to do is shake the can, hold it like about 6 inches away from your roots and spray. Leave it in for a minute or two and let your hair soak up the product, then brush it out. The only thing that bothered me was that since I have very dark, brown hair, it left streaks of white where I sprayed the product. After about fifteen to twenty minutes, it slowly fades, but you can't just run out of the door after applying it if your hair is dark, because you will look like a skunk! It costs around $6 USD and you can purchase it at any drugstore or here online. For $6, I thought it was a great steal.... until I came across Ojon's Rub Out Dry Cleanser.

Ojon's shampoo is aamaazzingggg. Even though it is smaller than the Pssst!'s size and just a tad more expensive, it is SO worth it. It has the most amazing smell, where the Pssst! one does not have any scent to it. I can't really describe the scent that it has, but trust me it smells amazing. It also does not leave any white streaks or residue in my hair which is perfect, because I can just throw it on if I am in a rush. For comparison, the Pssst! size is 4 oz. while the Ojon size that I purchased is 2 oz. I bought the 2 oz. size from Sephora for$10 USD. The actual full size bottle is 4.5 oz and costs $24 USD. You can purchase the mini one from Sephora here.

At the end of the day, I tend to reach for my Ojon dry shampoo more, but Pssst! is more affordable and you get more bang for your buck... soo it really is up to you what you deem worthy of purchasing.

Let me know if you have tried either and what you think! My fabulous city haul is coming soon, as I had a perfect day today running around in Manhattan!