April Favorites

I know, I know, I know. It's been awhile. My first semester back to college after taking 8 months off just sort of kicked my ass. But, here I am! With my April/the last 4 months Favorites!

• Tresemmé Split Remedy conditioner
• I actually just recently purchased this and am already so in love with it that I have to include it in this list. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror while at work the other day and my hair just look atrocious. I already have problems with my hair because it's so horribly fine. Seriously, if I put my hair in a pony tail, it's only about as thick as my pointer finger. I also have a problem with the ends looking horrible because over a year ago now I had a horrible hair dye mishap that resulted in the stripping and re-dyeing of my hair. The part of my hair is finally grown out enough to be towards the ends, which is great, but it makes my ends more easily damaged and also a slightly different shade than the rest of my hair which tends to make the ends look even more damaged than they are. I use hair protectants every day when blow drying, but it just doesn't always work and because of my super fine hair I am limited with the amount of product I can use on my hair. Anyway, I immediately noticed a difference the very first day I started using this conditioner. My hair was soft, my ends looked less damaged, and as an added bonus, it smelled incredible! I was previously using Aussie's Aussome Volume shampoo, which I love, but did nothing to take care of my hair. Super glad I made the switch. I think I will be switching to the Split Remedy shampoo as well when my Aussome Volume shampoo runs out. 
• fresh Sugar Rosé tinted lip treatment
• I received this as a sample in my March Birchbox and immediately fell head-over-heels in love. It's a really perfect your-lips-but-better red shade, is super moisturizing, and has an amazing smell and taste. I even splurged and spent the $23 to buy the full size product (it's worth it, I promise!). 
• Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray
• I've been wanting to try this product for quite some time but wasn't sure about spending the $30 on the full-size bottle. I picked up the travel size at Ulta during one of their Urban Decay events and I love it! I've never really had a problem with my makeup staying because I don't have oily skin so my makeup doesn't move around or smudge, but I really like the spray as an extra layer of moisture and protection. 
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Sin
• I've always heard really great things about Urban Decay's primers, but never felt the need to try them out. Like I said, I don't have much of a problem with my makeup staying, but I wanted to give it a try. I particularly like this shade because it has some shimmer to it so it works as a brow highlight when you're wearing shadow, or you can wear it without shadow and it just evens out the skin tone on the eyelid and gives it a nice shimmer. I really, really like it and can't picture myself liking any primer more than this one!
• Urban Decay Naked Palette
• Apparently this is the Urban Decay month! This is partially because I had an Ulta Friends & Family 20% off coupon which is good for Urban Decay and you can't normally use coupons on Urban Decay. I wasn't about to use that 20% off on any old stuff! I bought the Naked 2 palette in February, but I don't believe I ever wrote about it on my blog (I'll do a review of it at some point). I heard a lot of people say that if you have one palette, you don't need the other, and I listened to that so I only bought the second one. I had never purchased the first one because when it came out I was in no financial position to spend that much money on a palette. The second one came at a time when I could finally afford something like that. I went with the second one because 1) I was told either one would work and 2) It was the newest one. Now that I own both I could not imagine not having both! It's true that they are very alike and both create neutral looks, but I think they are both fairly different neutral looks. I think the first palette is more suitable to the looks I normally go for. I'm especially a fan of Virgin (like, seriously obsessed with it. I even bought the single of it because I love it so much), and there isn't really a similar shade in the Naked 2 palette. The closest shades in the Naked 2 palette are Foxy and Bootycall, but Foxy is a pretty matte tan color and Bootycall is a fairly shimmery peach color. I like Virgin because it's a slightly shimmery champagne color which is exactly the kind of color I prefer for all over my lid. That being said, there isn't a shade in the Naked palette I really like for my crease. The Naked 2 palette, however, has a ton of colors I enjoy as crease colors: YDK, Verve, Suspect, Pistol, and Snakebite. Whether or not to get both of the palettes is completely up to you and I think entirely depends upon your particular taste in makeup for you face! 
• Bath & Body Works Coconut Water candle
• I picked this candle up during their 2/$20 candle sale a couple months ago and I love it! It's the perfect scent for Spring and Summer. It reminds me of tanning lotion, which I love the smell of. As soon as I light it, it's like I'm at the beach (just minus the awful things like heat and sand). I also picked up the Jungle Kiss candle, which is also quite lovely, although I picked it up moreso because the color matched my room than because of the scent ;) 
• Kérastase Elixir Ultime
• I was always a bit iffy about hair oil, but I really, really like this stuff. It gives a great scent to my hair, smoothes it out, and just makes it feel healthy. It is $54 though, so it is quite expensive. I think it's worth it, though. Particularly if you have frizzy hair.
• Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint
• I've tried tinted moisturizers before but never had any luck. This one, however, might be the love of my life. It makes my skin look radiant, doesn't look like I'm wearing any makeup, and evens out my skin tone. 
• Dermalogica Daily Microexfoliant
• Because I have dry skin I have to exfoliate a lot. The problem is, a lot of exfoliators I find are also cleansers, which is not what I want because they are often too harsh for my skin or mess up my skin care routine because I won't be able to use them every day and when I switch between cleansers my skin tends to break out. This exfoliator, however, is JUST an exfoliator, so I am able to use whatever cleanser I want! I've noticed a huge difference using this and it's a super easy powder to work with! You just do a couple shakes into the palm of your hand, get it a little wet, and then mix it into a paste that you rub all over your face for about a minute or so. No drying out, only exfoliating. It's lovely!
• Aveeno Ultra-Calming Foaming Cleanser 
• Because I've been away from my blog for awhile, I don't think I ever mentioned the horrible skin problems I had for the majority of the first part of this year. I've never had any problems with my skin before, but suddenly I couldn't get a handle on it. I think one of the reasons was that I was using too harsh of cleansers. My skin isn't exactly sensitive, but it is dry, and because it doesn't really have many problems, a gentle cleanser works just fine. I finally tried this cleanser hoping it would clear things up and IT DID! It feels so nice to finally have my skin back again! Not to mention it's cheap and lasts a long time. 
• Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer
• Along with skin problems, I also had a really hard time finding a moisturizer for me. Because I have such dry skin and because it was such a dry winter, my skin was so difficult to keep moisturized (another reason my skin went crazy, I'm sure). I tried a million different kinds and all of them still left my skin feeling dry afterwards. I tried outrageously expensive ones and cheap drugstore ones, but nothing seemed to work. When I started using the cleanser I decided to try the moisturizer as well. It's amazing. Although I still have to apply a few layers in the morning after my shower, I don't have to reapply throughout the day. It has a bit of an odd smell to it (too flowery for my tastes), but other than that, it's amazing. Hopefully I will still be able to use it throughout the summer once it gets humid out. My skin seems to be getting pickier with age, so who knows.