Now who in their right mind doesn’t love a good dupe? When I was at the Craft & Hobby Show a few weeks ago, I came across this dupe for the Z Palette but it’s a lot less than the Z. 

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Count me in for anytime I can cut a step out of my regular beauty routine. One that I want to avoid is that time between getting out of the shower and donning clothes. It’s freezing and who wants to stand in the cold bathroom/bedroom applying body lotion? Well the folks at NIVEA just came out with one you use while you’re still in the warm shower. I seem to recall something like this quite a few years ago but I digress. This new In-Shower Body Lotion (7.99/13.5oz @ walgreens.com target.com) from Nivea is a liquid form of moisturizer that’s applied as your last step before exiting the shower and they break it down easily …

Wash

    Apply

        Rinse

            Go!

Easy right? They’ve made 3 different formulas: Hydrating In-Shower Body Lotion, Smoothing In-Shower Body Lotion and Nourishing In-Shower Body Lotion (shown here).

They claim 24hr+ moisture but how does the average person measure that? I mean the few times I’ve used it in the past week, my skin felt hydrated the night after showering but it’s not like all of the sudden BAM my skin was dry after the 24hrs+.

Anyway, the bottom line is this one made my skin feel hydrated, smooth and not one iota of sticky, so no waiting around for it to absorb.  

Disclosure: A sample of this item was provided for review purposes.

I should have known the 2015 Craft & Hobby Conference & Trade Show (2015 MEGA SHOW) was going to be huge when I saw it took place over the span of 5 days, not the typical 3 that I’m used to when it comes to beauty shows. So to say the least, this show was huge, so much so, that I wasn’t sure the one day I had allotted would be enough to see everything.

The CHA was held at the Anaheim Convention Center from January 9th - 13th and since I’ve decided to expand my site into including more DIY and craft tutorials, the timing was great! I grew up in a household with an artist mother so we were alway creating something with clay or paper or paints and using them in a lot of non-traditional ways, so it's only natural for me to include what I do on the side in this blog. So expect to see more in this cateogry.

Anyway, back to the MEGA SHOW!! The show floor is comprised of 400+ exhibitors and 140+ distributors in the craft and hobby world and they covered the pretty much every category you can think of – paper crafts and scrapbooking, polymer clay, paint/spray paint, yarn, craft organization, cake making/cake making supplies, beads, glues/adhesives, jewelry supplies and many other categories. And they also had exhibitions, special guests like authors and known crafters and some companies had hands-on workshops where you could make your own item using their product. 

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I love most things that have to do with the hair, especially hair tools and hair accessories. When I was young I got really involved in making those ribbon barrettes and my fascination with anything I can stick in the hair has not waned! So consider this a tribute to my DIY ribbon barrettes I used to make. 

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I can’t believe it’s been 15 years since the debut of TARTE COSMETICS! I remember writing about their first-ever product, the iconic cheek stain. So to celebrate, they are putting out a whole bunch of new products under the 15 Year Anniversary Collection tag.

First up? The Park Ave Princess Contour Palette ($34 @ tartecosmetics.com). Makeup contouring really took off as a trend in 2014 and doesn’t seem to be slowing down in 2015. 

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I’ll admit it, I’m tease-challenged when it comes to giving my hair some good root volume. I just can’t seem to get the tease to go the distance, which I attribute to having fine hair. I’ve seen some people just use a plain ol’ comb but I’m just not that talented, so thankfully there are some products and tools out there to help. Here are my 5 Favorites... 

1. VOLOOM Hair Volumizing Iron $129.99 @ voloom.com

2. SPORNETTE Little Wonder Boar-Nylon Bristle Teasing Brush $8 @ spornette.com, birchbox.com

3. CRICKET Amped Up Styling Brush $5.99 @ ulta.com sallybeaut.com

4. BIG SEXY HAIR What A Tease - Backcomb in a Bottle $19.95/4.4oz @ walgreens.com

5. TOOL STRUCTURE 3 Row Styling Comb $2.49 @ sallybeauty.com

I’ve been a tad obsessed with two things the past few weeks – the Dollar Tree and Pinterest. The DIY Craft category on Pinterest is just loaded with good stuff to try and tips to getting the most out of your craft projects.

And the Dollar Tree … need I elaborate? I’ve probably made about 10 trips to about 5 different stores since Thanksgiving and on one trip I saw these Barbie busts in the toy section that I just had to buy. I didn’t know what I would make with them but I knew I’d think of something.

Then I started seeing more of these, these and these and thought I’ll make those at some point but I bet a Barbie busts would look fab on top of the two glass jars I just picked up at the Dollar Tree!

I knew I already had the glue, paint and embellishments in my crafting box, so all I needed was the time and I had it now between Christmas and New Years. Yes!

So how did they turn out? Click after the jump to see. This is a picture-heavy post!

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Being a long-time fan of the original INSTYLER, I was excited to hear that they just came out with the InStyler MAX. Gotta love improvements to an existing product, right? Or did they take it too far? Hmmm, click after the jump to find out if this new one is better or if you should skip it. 

Instyler VS Instyler MAX

The new MAX still uses tourmaline ceramic smoothing plates as the original and you can still do your straightening, soft curls, root boost and flip out the bottom, and has the auto safety shut-off, but there are a few new traits they have added with the new one so let’s compare a few key ones.

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