March Favorites

Here's a short list of my current favorite things. Some of these are old and others a new purchases that I have fallen in love with. Enjoy!

1. Hunger Games at Target for $8.49: I couldn't resist. I told myself I wouldn't read these books, or I would at least wait until I had seen the third movie but I bought it anyway. How could I not after seeing Stephen King's endorsement on the back cover, he's my fav!! After having it for barely 48 hours I am already 100 pages in. I love this book! I barely wanted to get off the train this morning because I was so into the story. Suzanne Collins paints a very vivid picture of the world Katniss and Peeta live in and I love it. As I read I even find myself comparing the book to the movie and I have to say the movie got a lot of it right. This was an impulse buy, its at least $4 cheaper on amazon but I couldn't help myself. I also haven't bought a paper back in a long time, I usually buy the Kindle version of everything (saves money!) but having a physical book is a nice change.

2. Satin Pillow on sale at Target for $6.78 Down from $7.99: I have been looking for a satin pillow online for a while so image my delight when I saw that they are sold in Target. By the way, shout out to Target and it's growing selection for natural hair women, I remember not too long ago when all they had was Miss Jessie's product line. But now, in addition to the natural products, Target carry's Evolve, a line of tools for natural girls. They have silk scarves, bonnets, shower caps, pillow cases, wide tooth combs and more. Last week this same pillow was going for $7.99 but a week later I was able to get it for $6.78 which definitely put a smile on my face. I was a bit mistrusting of it but I have nothing bad to say. The pillow case was big enough to fit a king sized
pillow if need be, it is very soft and the fushia color doesn't bleed. I slept on it with my hair in dry two strand twists and woke up to my hair being perfectly in place, no frizz and plenty of moisture! I most def. recommend this.



3. Wet N' Wild lipstick in colors Cherry Picking #965 & Cherry Bomb #918D: These babies were on Cherry Picking is perfect! Cherry Bomb is giving me that Ox Blood color that has been on trend this fall and winter. Even though spring is coming I would still wear this for a evening out when the weather changes.

sale at Walgreen's last week, 2/$3. They are usually pretty cheap anyway but that knocked off a few cents. A lot of people might look down on buying cheap lip stick like Wet N Wild but I don't! If you want to try a color trend but don't want to spend $8-$15 on a lip color you may not wear again for whatever reason you should just try an inexpensive brand like Wet N Wild or Black Radiance. They have a wide range of colors, their lip sticks are very pigmented and they are dirt cheap!! I have been looking for a pink to fall in love with and

4. EOS Lip Balm in Pomegranate Raspberry: I have always been a fan of EOS lip balms. My first was the pink strawberry, followed by the Mint flavor but I think the red Pomegranate Raspberry is the best. This lip balm smells incredible and tastes so good that I often find myself nibbling my lips! I sometimes use this to moisturize my lips, especially before putting on those cheap lipsticks that can dry out your lips. This really helps with that but if you put on too much it can make it hard for the lipstick to stick to your lips.

5. Denman Brush knock off made by Diane $3.99: Usually a Denman can cost you upwards of $8.99, on some sites it can set you back $14! That's too rich for my blood, so  I was thrilled when I saw this one at the Beauty Supply store for $3.99! This baby is my best friend. On wet, damp or dry hair it detangles my hair, clumps my curls and it doesn't pull my hair. I love this thing and I love that it was only four bucks! I really can't wait to use it on my hair when it gets longer to see how it defines my curls. I'm not sure how this brush compares to the tangle teezer, which I may eventually try but as of now I am satisfied.

6. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Jazzy Jade $2.49 at Target: Sally Hansen Xtreme wear is probably my favorite drug store nail polish brand outside of Sinful Colors. I basically have every color but Sally has just given us a few new ones. I was tempted to buy them all since I'm on another nail polishing kick but I forced myself to pick one. Jazzy Jade is a shimmery teal, it's kind of thin so I applied 2 coats to get the coverage I wanted. I really love this polish because it doesn't stain my nails or chip as fast on me. I really need these two qualities in a nail color, especially since I'm usually too lazy to apply a top or bottom coat. Just being honest!

7. Argan Oil about $1.59 at the Beauty Supply store: I really love this little tube of argan oil. They usually carry these at the BSS around my house and they have Tea Tree oil, carrot, grapeseed and many more. I love that it is small, I can carry it with me and it doesn't drip into my bag. I did this a lot this winter because putting a hat on my head would smash down my fro and dry up some of the oils I added to it before I left the house. Having a pick and this oil really helped me refresh my hair in the bathroom at work every morning after pulling that dreadful hat off of my head lol.

8. Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo & Conditioner: One thing I have found out being newly Natural is that we spend A LOT of money on products. Even when we have found the right leave-in and curl defining products there is the whole issue of conditioner. Natural hair can be very dry and to combat that we deep condition our hair a lot and when we do we slather that conditioner in, which means that stuff runs out pretty quickly. Instead of going for a natural brand like Shea Moisture and spending $9-$11 on a small bottle of conditioner I decided to try Herbal Essences. They have a much larger bottle and its only about $2.50. I used to use the Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship on my weave and I loved how this conditioner would leave that hair smelling so why not have great smelling natural hair! I love this stuff! So far I haven't had any problems with it not moisturizing my hair enough. As far as I can tell its doing just fine and saving me money!

9. Fioni "Staci" Boot on clearance at Payless for $34.99: I'm actually not sure if these are on clearance but I'm assuming so since I couldn't find them on their website & since they didn't have them at any of the other stores near me. So I guess I'm lucky! If you can get your hands on some you will feel lucky too because I freaking love these boots. I ended up buying them to go with my valentines day look, Long sleeved black body con dress, black see-through lace tights and these sexy heeled boots. Usually I try to buy all of my winter boots leather and from a nice store so that they will last me longer but 1) I needed this look fast & didn't have time to shop around for the best bargain, 2) I am on a budget! No major shopping until spring so a $100 pair of shoes is out of the question & 3) I commute to work so I seriously doubt I will be wearing these too often anyway. So I bought these cute, cheap boots from Payless. The heel is high enough to be sexy but not too high. The boots hit just below my knee and they are easy to clean. They are a little plain but come on they were $35 bucks!

10. Blackgirllonghair.com is my favorite site right now. I honestly hit up this site at least once a day to learn more techniques for my hair, read about celebs with natural hair and about the controversial topics going on in the world about black people, our hair and culture. I really love the pieces written about girls that are farther along in their journey. Often times they share their mistakes and fumbles during their hair journey, like failed perms, dye jobs and botched attempts at following trends. There is a lot of helpful info here so if you are transitioning or newly natural this could be a valuable tool!

I hope you enjoyed my March favs and that some of them will become your favs!