Haul and: Bangs or no Bangs? Please help me decide!

Hello, all!

I went out this evening to run a couple of errands with my Very Patient Boyfriend, and of course we ended up at a few makeup hot spots; Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, CVS, and Walgreens! I needed conditioner and toner, and there were a few goodies I was keeping my eyes open for, as well. I was good and didn't shop off my list, but I still managed to come home excited to break into my new goodies. I don't know about you guys, but I love opening up new products and poking at them as soon as I get home; I decided to take pictures as I went, and let you all enjoy this process vicariously along with me!

So, here's my little haul, (minus the hair products!):

I ended up with Boots' Damask Rose Skin Tonic (on clearance for $5.58) , Sinful nailpolish in Bare (on sale for $.99), Wet n Wild Bronzer in Reserve Your Cabana ($4.49), and Wet n Wild lipstick in Black Orchid ($.99). This is actually my fourth or fifth bottle of the Damask Rose Skin Tonic. I am almost almost out of my current bottle, and I am so glad I didn't wait to pick up my next bottle. When I got to its aisle, it was the last one left on the shelf, and it had a clearance sticker slapped onto it! Believe me, I would gladly pay the extra $2.50 for the comfort of mind that I'd be able to continue purchasing this toner for the rest of my days. I feel like it really does cleanse my skin and get any residual oil, cleanser, and makeup off, it smells amazing, and it doesn't make my dry, sensitive skin sting, tingle, or feel stretched tight. I am so sad!

The Wet n Wild Color Icon bronzer I bought after hearing it is the same shade as the old Acapulco Glow. I never used Acapulco Glow, but I know a lot of people thought it was a great highlighter, and I've been on a highlighter kick lately. I figured it would be worth taking a look at, since so many people loved it, and it's only $4.49. The Wet n Wild lipstick I ended up with because a lot of people had been finding my blog with the search term "wet n wild black orchid." Of course I was curious; I'd never heard of this lipstick before! Well, people on Make Up Alley were pretty enthusiastic about this shade, claiming that it was gorgeous when blotted, and looked a lot like Clinique's Black Honey when worn this way with a little bit of balm. For $.99... I was curious. Finally, the nail polish was one I had seen swatched at some point in time and put on a list of drugstore lemmings, and when I saw they were on sale for $1 off at Walgreens, I made sure to keep my eyes peeled! What I didn't find that I wanted were some of the new Milani spring releases.

Here's Sinful's Bare; I had one finger that my nail polish had completely peeled off of, so I painted it quickly to see what the color looks like. Not surprisingly, this was my jankiest finger and nail; ignore the ugly, and just pay attention to the pretty nail polish!

Sinful Colors "Bare" 

Sinful Colors "Bare" 

Here's Black Orchid:

Wet n Wild Black Orchid

Wet n Wild Black Orchid

Here's the product twisted up a bit:

Wet n Wild Black Orchid

And here's a swatch of the lipstick; I haven't put it on yet, so I can't tell you much about the wear or what it feels like on the lips. I dabbed on the swatch on the left, the right is just one swipe of the lipstick. It is fairly glossy already, and seems very pigmented. A dupe for Clinique's Black Honey? I don't think so. I don't own Black Honey, but I've swatched it and tried it on many times; this looks more pink, less brown to me. However, I haven't tried it on my lips yet, and maybe it changes a lot once it's on? Who knows; either way, it looks like a gorgeous deep berry wine color that can stand on its own, whether it's a dupe of a higher end product or not.

Swatch of Wet n Wild Black Orchid

And here is Reserve Your Cabana! It's a very soft, very pigmented champagne-gold color. It's really close to my skin tone, except a little more golden and shimmery. The shimmer in it seems very finely milled; it's not glittery at all. In fact, I had a hard time getting this product to show up once I blended it onto my wrist. It's night time, and I just took these pictures (lazily) at my coffee table, so the light isn't the best. That being said, this looks like it will be a great subtle highlighter, which I've been looking for; I'm trying not to get my hopes up, in case it's less subtle in daylight. This might even work well as an all-over subtle brightener, if you want something with a bit of a glow to it. I'll report back later, after I've had a chance to wear it on my face!

Wet n Wild Reserve Your Cabana

Reserve Your Cabana

You can see how soft this powder is; I pressed my finger into it and realized it was a much softer, more pigmented powder than I'd assumed it would be. You can get an idea of the texture in the photograph below.

Wet n Wild Reserve Your Cabana

And here's the swatch. Sorry it's so hard to see where the product is; it's kind of on the top right quarter of this picture, for reference! I'm hoping this will add a subtle glow on the face.

Swatch of Wet n Wild Reserve Your Cabana

Finally, here is my precious toner; isn't the old fashioned bottle so cute? I spotted one on a dressing room table in "The Artist" (great film, by the way)! 

Boots Damask Rose Skin Tonic

So there you have it, my excitement for the evening! 

Finally, I wanted to ask your guys' opinion on bangs! As you may have noticed, I haven't trimmed mine in awhile and they're in the awkward stage. I haven't decided if I want to keep them or not, so I've been avoiding trimming them so I can try to see how they look brushed to the side. I hate bangs! They are so annoying; I have to blow dry them every day, and even then they don't always look nice, and they get nasty looking before the rest of my hair. I know these are common bang-maintenance complaints, but I also hate having hair in my eyes, maybe more than most people. On top of all that, I have wavy hair, and so my bangs often flip up at the bottom! Not cute. And I hate feeling like I have to go in and get them trimmed every couple of weeks, or trim them myself that often and risk looking like a doofus. Believe me, I don't get it right every time... Oh, and I almost forgot, they always want to part where my hair part is, and it looks dumb to have to comb the hair on either side towards the center right there and hide the part in my bangs. 

Now, with all these complaints, you might be asking why I would get bangs in the first place! I didn't do this by choice. I had bangs as a kid and growing them out was traumatic; I swore never again! Fast forward ten years, when I went in to get my long hair cut to a shoulder-sweeping bob. I walked out with a pixie cut; my hair wasn't longer than two inches ANYWHERE on my head. I cried for days; when my mom saw me, she burst into tears. And as my hair grew out, the front of my hair kind of evolved into bangs. I have a small forehead, so I really don't *need* bangs to look proportional, but a lot of my friends seem to think the bangs really suit me. I think bangs are cute on other people-- hell, I think they're cute on me-- I'm just not convinced they're worth the upkeep, or that I look better with them than without them. What do you guys think? You are my impartial beauty advisers!  

For reference, I've included a couple of old pictures of me without bangs. Yes, I'm younger, but you get the general idea: 

*poutpoutpout*

Awww, this picture is coming up on... 7 years old? That's scary. 

And here I am with my bangs at a length that I prefer them at: 

She bangs, she bangs! 

This might be a really dumb concern, but eventually I AM going to make a Tudor gown (I am! Hopefully soon!) and bangs won't mix well with a Tudor hood.