Friday Favorites~ Beauty Product Edition...

...
I am so excited about this Friday's Post! I am linking up with Kelly's SUYL Favorite Beauty Products and Friday Favorites. I LOVE talking about beauty products, so brace yourself for a long post!

I am NOT a beauty expert by any means, but I do consider myself pretty well versed in the beauty product arena and I have done lots of hands-on research through out my 33+ years of living. My mom was a hairstylist and my sister is now a hairstylist, so I grew up and continue to be surrounded by lots of beauty products and beauty trends.

One of my favorite pastimes in high school, college, and even now (when time allows) is reading about new beauty products and hitting up Ulta and Sephora to try them out! Thank goodness for on-line ordering or I may never try anything new these days.

While I love to try almost anything, here are some of my tried and true that are always in my bathroom:

face favorites by jgranberry featuring Clinique

So, when it comes to washing my face, I go back and forth between my Neutrogena and St. Ives. I always use my Clarisonic though! I received this last Christmas and it is my favorite, I feel like it really gets my skin clean, totally worth the money!

I follow up face washing with Aveeno Moisturizer. And then a recent addition (a recommendation from my SIL) I put on Clinique Super City Block.

Hands down, my favorite eye gel ever, is this Simple brand. I feel like it brightens my eye area and makes me feel more awake than any other eye cream or gel I've tried. I wear this every morning.

I am also obsessed with Revitalash for my lashes. It makes my lashes extra long- and who doesn't want that!?

Have to Have: Hair by jgranberry featuring Pureology

Oh man, where do I begin? Let me start by saying that despite my mom and sister both being hairstylists, I was SO AGAINST hair product until about 6 or 7 years ago. Only occasionally (read basically never) would I even bust out the hairspray. Now I probably "over-product" my hair. If that's even a thing.

One thing I need to mention is that I have the finest, thinnest hair. It is so sad. If I don't use product, it hangs straight and limp. Zero body. And I walked around just like that for YEARS!? What was wrong with me?

Pureology is my absolute favorite shampoo/conditioner combo for volume! Moroccanoil is another favorite, mostly for it's smell, but also because I love the way it makes my hair feel. I alternate between the two and use Moroccanoil for Grey's hair. (Other faves I buy on occasion: Big Sexy, Kenra, and L'Anza {all the volume lines}, I also use Nioxin after postpartum hair loss to help stimulate hair growth). I wash my hair every 2-3 days, so on my non wash days, I am all about Tesemme Dry Shampoo. I have tried several dry shampoos. This is one of the few that smells decent AND doesn't look like powder in my hair. AND it's cheap. Win-win-win!

Without fail, I ALWAYS use Big Sexy Root Pump Plus to add volume at the roots while drying my hair.

Then for texture (super important if I'm curling my hair), I alternate between Bed Head Superstar and Fave4 Twice as Thick. This also helps add volume to the rest of my hair.

If I'm using my curling iron or straightener, I also use Kenra as a heat protestant. This also adds great texture!

My favorite hairspray is hands-down Fave4 Texture Takeover. (close seconds are Big Sexy and Kenra 13)

AND finally, when I'm not drying or styling my hair, I use Fave4 Up For Air! This cream is uh-maz-ing. I do not have nary a curl in my hair, so when it air dries, it's super blah. This cream adds texture so my luscious locks (ha!) don't hang quite so limp.

make-up must haves by jgranberry featuring nars cosmetics

I love wearing make-up and everyday may look a little different as to what I have on, but these are the ones I pretty much ALWAYS wear, without fail.

I have always worn powder until about 2 years ago when I started wearing Bareskin by BareMinerals. I love, love, LOVE this foundation. It goes on light and even, but gives great coverage.

I always finish off with BareMinerals Mineral Veil, it keeps my face from getting oily (because it's base ingredient is cornstartch- if you were curious!)

Who doesn't love NARS Orgasm blush? Pretty much the perfect color.

I don't wear eyeshadow very often at all anymore, but I love a good nude pallet to play with. This Maybelline one is a more affordable version compared to the popular NAKED pallet.

I love Bobbi Brown Eye highlighter. It doesn't crease around the eyes, but certainly brightens the area up!

Covergirl Bombshell is my favorite liquid liner! It goes on smooth and doesn't wear off or smudge as the day goes on.

Oh mascara, how I love thee!! I have tried probably 2-3 dozen mascaras in my life. One thing I have discovered in my experience, is that the cheaper brands are almost always my favorite. My current favorite is L'Oreal Flash Lash Wings. I recently switched from Covergirl's LashExact, which I have used for yeeeeeeeears. I will probably swap back and forth between these two. The thing I love about both of these mascaras are that they separate and lengthen my lashes, are not clumpy, and wash off so easily. Think, no eye make-up remover necessary (although I do have a favorite one of those too).

{via}

Esse is definitely one of my favorite polishes, but I have recently been introduced to Caption by my mom. This brand comes with a base coat and top coat, and you can change out your color. When using all 3, this polish stays on for 1-2 weeks with barely a chip! I am so hard on my nails, so this has been a serious game changer. The best part, it only requires one coat of the color, and each coat is dry by the time your done with both hands/feet. So, you're not spending an hour waiting and waiting for one coat to dry before applying the next. And one other thing I love about this brand is the shape of the brush, it's flat, making application so easy! All the heart eyes for this polish.

I kind of feel like someone should pay me to test out beauty products.

I can't wait to read others' faves, so I can make a new list of things to try!