I Got It (Clarisonic) & Other Weekend Buys (Oh, and My Hair Cut)

Well ladies, I finally got it! I went and bought the Clarisonic Mia at Sephora with my 10% VIB discount. I got the pink one. I got the Mia because I like the size of the Clarisonic itself, and the charger takes up less space. Since it is the same brush head, I hope to get awesome results.

I have a strategy for my Clarisonic use. I pray I won't go through a purge period, so to avoid it, I am starting off slow. I am not going to use it twice a day (or even once a day) and I am going to use it only on my non breakout areas (so I'll use it on my forehead, nose and cheeks, and avoid my chin and jaw.)

I will give updates as I use it. I can't use it tonight because it has to charge for 24 hours first. So Sunday will be my first Clarisonic cleaning day.

Here is a pic of my Mia, right next to my Sonicare toothbrush:

Before I get to the rest of my purchases, I'll show you lovely ladies my new haircut. Today was hard because I actually had more cut off than I had planned to. I love it though. I needed it. Basically, my hair was so damaged and snapping off, that my "length" at the back of my hair was actually just the longest part of my hair that hadn't broken off yet, so it kind of formed a "V" at the back. When my hairdresser showed me in the mirror, I was like, just cut it off. David talked me through what he would do, I took at deep breath, and off we went to the washing sink.

I really love how much lighter it feels, and how he took the front layers up shorter. Now keep in mind, this is hair I've been running errands with all day, and laid on the couch with for hours before I took these pics (watching the last episodes of Season 2 of True Blood: love love love):

Here is a shot of the length so you can see how far it goes down my back now:

Here are some more shots of the layers:

Anyways. I really like it. It's a bit shorter, but it's healthier and softer.

I've made a new commitment to myself this year. I want to focus on making everything the best it can be. Taking better care of my hair, skin and body. I want to take my vitamins regularly and just focus on keeping my skin in great condition. Next on my list is a Vitamin C serum for my skin.


Now onto my purchases. My friend Heather (who got married on the beach) wore these gorgeous earrings on her wedding day from Swarovski. I had to have them. Not only are they oh-so-pretty, but they are exactly like my engagement ring! It is the same look of a round center stone with pave around it. Love them. They are the style called "Angelic." They retail for $75.00. I told my husband they were his Valentines day gift to me, and he said I ruin surprises. I think he meant to say "thanks for making gift-giving so easy."


Love them.

I also got this great final sale skirt from Ann Taylor today. It has an awesome animal-print-like texture (and we all know how much I love animal prints). It was $39.98...originally $120, which obviously I wouldn't have paid for it.


I was once again disappointed with my trip to Forever 21. The stock just wasn't great today. I tried about 7-8 things on, and bought one top. It's just a simple pink and black striped top, for $10.80.
It looks kind of shapeless, but it is really nice on. It's actually one of those tops I picked up thinking "this could be very good, or very bad." For $10.80, there wasn't much to lose.

You know I can't resist a Victoria's Secret coupon, so when I got one in the mail for a FREE lacie panty (they are my fave!) and $10 off of any bra, I was sold.

I got this cute animal-print bra for $24.50.

Here it is on VS model Miranda Kerr:

I love her. So pretty. Speaking of Miranda Kerr, how awesome is this recent pic of her ( I believe it's from GQ):

I love her hair...kind of actually reminds me of how mine is now (the length and layers.)

Back to shopping... I got this cute workout headband for $1.50 at Forever 21:

Yes, I wear headbands with bows on them to work out. I still like to have cute accessories. Plus, this one has little teeth in it to really hold hair back.

My final purchase was this awesome bracelet from Forever 21 for $7.50. It looks a lot like some of the ones I've seen at J. Crew and Ann Taylor for $80-$100.

It is much more sparkly and awesome in real life. Very happy to have gotten such a great deal on an accessory I've had my eye on for awhile.

That's all for today ladies. As always, thank you for reading and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!

xoxo,

Veronika.

Taking the Calrisonic Plunge & Other Updates

I think I'm finally going to do it (purchase a Clarisonic skincare brush.) I seriously cannot deal with my skin anymore. Today, after a LONG day of work that started with a 5 a.m. wake-up call, I glanced into my rear-view mirror as I was driving home and was horrified to see that my makeup somehow just looked awful, uneven, poorly blended, etc. I don't remember it looking so gnarly this morning, so I thought it must be because my skin is uneven and I haven't exfoliated in weeks, and over time the oils and other grossness just made it seep into my pores and smudge all over the place.

I've heard great things about the Clarisonic including its ability to even out skin, make products work better and reduce pore size.
It's a pricey investment, but after pondering the importance of healthy skin for awhile (prompted, no doubt, by my SPF-70 obsession while sunning myself) I think the investment is worth it to have great skin, since glowing, healthy skin is among one of the most desired beauty traits for most women.

My skin has just been feeling rough, uneven, red and blotchy etc. Of course, I can cover all of this up and make it look nearly flawless...but I don't want to have to do that, I'd rather just have skin that is as awesome as possible on its own. This isn't to say I don't want to wear makeup/a base, but I'd like to be able to not always wear a base and feel good about how my skin looks sans coverage.

Some girls have mentioned there are websites that sell the Clarisonic at a discount price...if you know what these are, please let me know. I might purchase from Sephora anyways, for the return policy and the points, but I'd love to know how they are priced elsewhere online or if you got a great deal somewhere. Feel free to let me know how you liked it in the comments as well!

In other news, I am seeing my lovely David on Saturday morning for a trim. Yep. I have re-evaluated the situation and I don't think it's that bad. I think I was just being a bit dramatic. I do want to have the layers reshaped and the ends trimmed up and possibly bring some of the layers up a bit, but I'd still like to keep the length, because I just love having long hair.

Please share your awesome-skin secrets, products and advice in the comments below!

xoxo,

Veronika.