Indie Friday: My most-used indie beauty products

Bought It

Indie beauty stuff, I have lots of it. I thought it might be interesting to look through my collection and share which products I've been using the most often lately. Sometimes I'll give products a good review but they don't necessarily achieve OMG MUST-HAVE status, so I thought it might be interesting to look at a few of the things that have ascended to that level. Some of these are perennial faves, some are seasonal faves, but what do they all have in common? I like them. I mean like-like them. Swoon.

Indie Friday: The Sweet Anthem/SA List - Fall 2014 Fragrance Anthology

Bought It

At long last, my SA List fall box is here! There was a bit of a shipping mix-up which resulted in me getting this waaaay late, but the owner was super-fast to rectify the situation once I noticed it was missing, so kudos to her for that.

Keeping Unnaturally Red Hair Vibrant with Nexxus Color Assure

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I have a not-so-secret secret to share with you: I dyed my hair bright red again a few weeks ago. I didn't document the experience because it came out a little different than I expected (hellooooo Ronald McDonald meets a carrot) and needed a bit of after-care to not look ridiculous, but I look semi-normal now! Hooray! This post isn't about dyeing hair though, it's about maintaining dyed hair. If any of you reading have ever dyed your hair bright red before, you know that it is the MOST impossible color to maintain. Washing your hair less often helps, but eventually you're going to need to wash it if you don't want to look greasy. Society and their demands, man.

I recently had an opportunity to try out the Nexxus Color Assure haircare system, an oil-infused line that promises "2X longer color protection and vibrancy." I agreed to test the products for at least three weeks, and naturally I couldn't wait to see how they fared against my newly-found Ronald-ness.

There are four products/steps in this system. I'll go through them in the order of use for clarity.

Insta-pamper with scrumptious-smelling body care by Nubian Heritage

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I am (and always have been) a sucker for good-quality scented body products. I have become sort of picky with my fragrant choices over the years though: I tend not to like products if they smell sort of artificial, and in the case of lotions and whatnot, they also need to be pretty darn emollient. Call me crazy, but I want my body moisturizers to actually moisturize. Today I'd like to introduce you to some lovely body products by Nubian Heritage that fit the bill in both departments. Insta-pamper session, no reservations required.

Indie Friday: Etsy Wishlist + Gift Card Giveaway!

Hey hey, it's Friday! Have you got fun plans for the weekend? Or will you be glued to your computer like me? Today I thought I'd share a few of the items on my Etsy lust list. For enabling entertainment purposes. Even better yet, every single thing on my list is $10 or less! Hooray for not breaking the bank. I hope this whets your indie shopping appetite, because I'll also be giving away a $25 Etsy gift card to one lucky reader! Woo-hoo! (Giveaway details/Rafflecopter widget below.)

Weekly Poll: It's Pumpkininny!

Happy Wednesday, all!

It's not technically autumn yet, but I'm already seeing scores of blog posts pop up dedicated to dressing for fall and eating for fall and just generally falling for fall. (See what I did there?) Which brings me to a very hard-hitting, topical question:

How do you feel about the pumpkin/pumpkin spice craze?

It seems like everybody and their grandma is already stocking up on pumpkin candles and pumpkin lattes and whatnot. What do you think—totally delicious and worth the hype or kind of bleh? I've always been a big fan of pumpkin pie and pumpkin as an ingredient in other recipes, but I'm not sure where I stand on the latte issue. And pumpkininny candles either smell good to me or give me a headache, depending on the manufacturer.

So where do you stand on the pumpkin issue? Pumpkin all the way? Sometimes? Never? In space? Deep thoughts.

10 Favorite Foodie Uses for Coconut Oil

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Ah, coconut oil. My Pinterest feed is inundated with posts professing its muli-tasking, beautifying abilities: You can use it as conditioner! As makeup remover! As a natural mouthwash! And so on. While some of those things are definitely true, I still tend to think of coconut oil as a cooking ingredient more than anything else, so today I thought I'd share a few of my favorite foodie uses for the stuff. (And if you want to steal a spoonful for your hair every now and then I certainly won't oppose.)

Indie Friday: A few tidbits from the Haus of Gloi Autumn 2014 Collection

Bought It

You know it's almost fall when you start contemplating picking up pumpkin scented bath goods. I've been able to resist the pumpkininny-ness of this seasonal transition so far, but I did find myself browsing the Haus of Gloi autumn release and ending up with some Halloween candy-scented items instead. Oops. Yay? I didn't go totally wild with my purchasing this time, but I thought I'd share my thoughts on the few items I did get for future reference and posterity.

Everything came wrapped up in tissue with fall leaves printed on it. Aww.

Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation Review & Swatches

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It's almost fall, y'all! Weird. I actually just bought a bunch of summer clearance clothing in preparation for winter, but that's a weird topic that should probably wait until later. Um, anyway, who wants to hear about a new (ish) and awesome foundation? The product du jour is Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation. Some of you may remember this popping up in my Walgreens summer beauty post, but I wanted to give it a more detailed review.

I own this foundation in two shades: Porcelain Ivory (10) and Ivory (15). These are the lightest options in the range and there are 10 additional, darker shades. Not a bad selection.