April Beauty Product Reviews

I have always loved makeup and doing my hair, but for most of my life, Suave and Cover Girl have been the only options I could afford. I still use both of those brands, but in the last few years of blogging and reading blogs, it has been fun for me to try out other products. Who knew there were so many other options out there that might actually work better?!? I still typically only buy drugstore products, and I almost never try them without a recommendation. Some of you have requested more beauty product reviews and I get it - I love beauty reviews too! I am totally on board with giving you my opinions about when it is worth it to splurge and when it's better to save.

1. Acqua di Gioia **** 

This is my new favorite perfume! I have been a loyal DKNY Be Delicious customer for years, but this is the first fragrance that has hooked me since. I discovered it last month after I received the roll-on sample at an event. My husband and I both fell in love with it. Because they can be expensive, I personally don't buy perfumes often, but I do find that the more expensive perfumes last longer and are worth the cost. Luckily, I forget to wear it most days, so one bottle usually lasts me a long time. Sephora describes this scent as having notes of "Mint, Brown Sugar, Lemon, Jasmine, Peony, Pink Pepper, Cedar Wood, and Labdanum." It definitely isn't citrusy or floral. I highly recommend smelling it next time you are at Sephora, Ulta, or Nordrstom!

2.  The Body Shop Mango Body Butter ****

Speaking of good-smelling things, this body butter is one of the best things I have smelled in a long time. It almost smells peachy, and really gets me ready for warm weather and sunshine! I keep a tub of this in my desk, and it really is delicious to rub on while I work. It moisturizes really well although not in a heavy way. Speaking of, I think I need to put some on right now!

3. Essie Go Ginza ****

I love new nail polish. If I'm in the mood for a pick-me-up, new polish is usually the cheapest non-food item at the grocery store that can cheer me up. Usually I go for the $.99 quick-dry polish and it works well enough, but sometimes the best colors are from Essie. I had a Target coupon for an Essie polish and picked this one up this week. I really, really love it. If lilac can be edgy, this is it. Not too pink, not too bright, and perfect for pairing with my usual black, brown, and white outfit combos. 

4. CND Sticky Base Coat ****

How do I get those $.99 polishes to stay on for more than an hour? This stuff! This base coat is THE BEST base coat in the universe. It really, really will extend the life of your polish for days. I also love the CND Super Shiny Top Coat. It is crazy shiny and will make your polish look like you went for a mani/pedi when really you did them yourself. 

5. Maybelline Color Whisper- Oh La Lilac **

This product only gets an "I want to love it and I still use it but...". I love, love, love the color of this stuff. It is the best lilac colored drugstore lipstick that I have found, but I hate the smell and the texture of it. It's just too smooth and it smells too waxy. It can't compete with my favorite Revlon Lip Butters, but Revlon doesn't carry this color. So I suffer through it for the sake of the beautiful pastel lilac/pink color. Even my husband loves it, so I guess I'll just muscle through the smell and the texture.

6. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day*

This shampoo, conditioner, and hair treatment set has been the source of a lot of chatter lately. There are great reviews online for it, so I was excited to try it. I have to say I didn't love it. What I did love was the smell - it smells AMAZING. The grapefruit smell lasts all day, and I would keep using it just for that if it wasn't so expensive. The product touts a lot of benefits, and the ones I did notice were extra volume and texture to my hair. What I didn't like was that my hair felt less smooth to me and even a little weighed down while I was using it. It didn't work with my hair, but maybe for other cuts or hair types it does. 

And that is it for April! Let me know if you have any products you would like me to review next month - I think it would be fun to do this monthly. I'll always try to include more drug store brands than high-end brands if I can because those are what I use anyway.

Have you tried any of these products? I'd love to hear what you think of them!