July 2013 Favorites - Beauty, Craft, Food and Lifestyle

It feels like forever since I've done a proper post - maybe because it's been since April. It seems like as the months go on it's harder to find new favorites. Some things are pretty much Holy Grail products so new things that I LOVE are few and far between.

Also, this month I managed to film a video AND write this post. However, somehow between filming and this post I think I forgot some of my favorites...that said, some may be missing from the post below, but if it was mentioned in the video and not down there the info for it will be in the info bar of the video on YouTube.

This post may contain some affiliate links.

Beauty

COVERGIRL LipPerfection Jumbo Gloss Balm - Rose Twist (#225)

This particular color is half of my favorite lip combo right now (the other half is the Almay stuff below). It's a great color without being too bright or loud, which is great for me.

Almay Color + Care Liquid Lip Balm - Rosy Lipped

This is the other half of my favorite lip combo right now (see above). I like that there's a bit of color instead of just being a gloss, but it's still really shiny. To me it's not too sticky either and it lasts a decent amount of time for being a liquid.

Equate Blemish Control Apricot Scrub

Truth is that I'm not really picky about my brand of exfoliators. This Walmart brand is just what I happen to have at home. I'm not even sure I need the acne kind either since most of my breakouts are hormonal and the acne meds don't really do a great job at preventing those, just sometimes at fixing ones that already exist.

Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof Spray

This has been great as a finishing spray, rather than used as a hairspray for hold. I used it a few times after straightening my hair and it really helped keep the frizz and humidity related ickiness away.

NuMe Finishing Serum

I used a couple drops of this on the ends of my hair on really humid days. It made my hair feel really soft without weighing it down too much or making it get too greasy looking.

Goody Ouchless Ribbon Elastics

I really like these a lot better than the Twist Band brand. They seem to last better and don't stretch out as quickly. I wore one on my wrist - as well as using it to hold my hair - for over a week and it still worked great.

Simple Revitalizing Eye Roll-On

It's no surprise that I'm tired...a lot. I like to use this on days when I'm really tired and my eyes are feeling it. It works just like any other eye roll-on that I've ever seen and just helps my eyes feel better, even if I don't use it regularly enough for it to have noticeable, long term effects.

Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo

I've tried many dry shampoos from the very expensive to the very cheap (obviously) and this is my favorite. It gets the job done and doesn't make my hair smell overly perfumed or anything for the whole day.

Craft

Food

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

I found a recipe for this when I was doing my clean eat challenge at the beginning of June and kind of tweaked it to make it work for what I had on hand. It's basically a little mayo, fresh grated parm and some lemon juice though. If you want a more exact recipe let me know!

Lifestyle

Ibotta

We don't typically buy brand name items, but when we do we almost always have a coupon. Ibotta is kind of like having coupons on crack because you can use it even WITH coupons. You just snap pictures of your receipt(s) and then scan the items you purchased that have money back offers and BOOM! Once you reach $5 you can transfer it to your PayPal account. I don't have a ton of money from it yet, but it's nice to know that on some items we've gotten on sale and used coupons on, we've essentially gotten paid to get it.

What's the Phrase?

This is yet another Zynga game ala Words with Friends and the like. I played it a lot in July and I'm sure it will wear out its appeal in the near future. It's a Wheel of Fortune type game where you spin a wheel thing and then guess a letter. I wish games like this had the option to play against a computer instead of always needing to play against a real person. I'd play them a lot more if that was the case.