Project Minimize: 5 Hairstyling Products

Trying to minimize the amount of products I have in my bathroom since I have a load of fragrances/makeup. Realistically I cannot cut my makeup stash down to 5 items, but hair products I can totally do!

My hair isn't too fussy, and I usually don't do enough to my hair to care about it all too much. Unlike my skincare routine which I can get intense about my haircare routine is pretty chill and I like to focus more on making sure it stays healthy. I only tried dyeing my hair once, and that was only the tips and it was a major fail since I have very dark black hair. I also don't usually use heat styling, only for special occasions, so I think its stayed pretty healthy. It's partially because my hairstyles never stay for long without hairspray, and I haven't found a hairspray I really like so ┐(´∇｀)┌ I'm also on a quest for a good dry shampoo that doesn't leave too much residue or doesn't show up in black hair so if anybody knows some good ones please tell me.

Anyways, here are the 5 hair styling products I will be keeping.

The 5 products in the yellow cast of my bathroom lights aw yes.

#5 Tresemee Heat Protectant Spray

Lets be real, I don't heat style often and I think I've had this bottle for over a year now but if I ever need to heat style you can bet I'll be using heat protectant.

#4 Batiste Dry Shampoo

I hated this the first couple of times I used it. Even spraying from over a foot away I'd still get an intense white cast in my dark black hair. However, after much trial and error and last minute showers to wash out the Batiste I've found a way to make it work for me, and work it does. I've realized it looks terrible 15-45 minutes (brushing it out led to no absorption of oil) but if I do many light layers all over 1 hour before going where I need to go before brushing out whatever leftover white spray there is it actually looks pretty darn good and last quite a while to boot. I am not attached at all though. I don't like the smell and as someone who wants a spray and go within 15 minutes type of product this is NOT holy grail status. On the look out for a product that works better for me, but this'll do for now.

#3 John Frieda Frizz-Ease Leave-In Conditioner Spray

This works well with my hair. I usually spray on a load of it post shower and there is a noticeable  difference between sprayed & unsprayed hair a few hours down the line. It smells okay, nothing bad but nothing to write home about either. I've gone through multiple bottles of this spray and it hasn't let me down yet.

#2 John Frieda Flawless Finishing Cream

I usually use this when "styling" my hair, or basically whenever I want my hair to look more put together. I usually don't like using product around the top of my head because it weighs down pretty quickly but this works well.

#1 Organix Argan Oil

I use this daily from the middle to the ends of my hair. I'd go for roots but my scalp is amazingly oily and slicks up again within 24 hours, don't want to take even more frequent showers. This is lovely, my hair always feels smoother and looks glossier after using it, even a couple hours later. It also tamps down on my hair's tendency to frizz. I put around a dime's worth on my fingers and run it through my hair. I find it easier to spread the product around if it's on my fingers rather than on my palms like the directions say to do. This is the only brand of Argan Oil I've tried, and I quite like it.

So that's it! The 5 hair styling products I will be keeping & taking with me when I leave. All bases except hair spray/texturizer are covered, whew.

Project Minimize: Desk Objects

My desk is a hot mess. My love of pens, pencils, and writing utensils in general is hurting me and I need to let go of some of them, especially before I move out. I already did a major toss out where I tested literally every pen/pencil I owned (which took way too long) to make sure they could still write and tossed those, so the ones that don't make the cut will likely be bundled and donated once school season begins in August/September. And if places don't like used goods I'm sure I could find a shelter or person who would love my plethora of goods. Anyways, on to the aforementioned goods! In addition to writing utensils I also have organizers and whatnot.

So! Before~

My desk before.

And After!

Aaaaand after. Also dusted & cleaned it with wipes as well which was nice.

This took a lot, I am a craft hoarder and having so little on the desk feels a bit strange. It's for the best though! And I still have to tackle the things below my desk but little steps right?

No Buy

Reddit and its makeupexchange subreddit have been the death of me. Today, after almost agreeing to a $60 transaction, I realized I've spent over $100 (and the new transaction would have pushed me over $200) on cosmetics in a month. One month!!! That is the most I have ever spent in such a short period of time, and truthfully I've barely even used the things I bought! So I'm banning myself from /r/makeupexchange and going on a no buy either until shiro has their sale (which is at the beginning of May I believe) OR I lose 10 lbs. Gotta get motivated right? I seriously can't believe my lapse in judgement though, also now I really want indie perfumes in addition to the indie cosmetics orders that I have coming in but I really must not. I think I might try making my own in this time though. I have jojoba oil that I mainly use for moisturizing my face (I'll probably do a post about that, it's lovely) and I think I can spare some drops for fragrance experimentation. Maybe then I won't feel the need to spend $40 or $80 on 18 mL of perfumed oil, even if they sound lovely and multidimensional uhu.