Cheap Thrills: 25 under $25

Since I took a little break and missed the last couple of weeks, I decided to do things a little differently. To make up for lost Cheap Thrills, I put together a big list of 25 goodies, each under $25. For you, for your friends, for your everyday gifting needs. Sometimes you need a pick me up that won't make a huge dent in your budget, or maybe you need a gift for someone but want to keep the spending to a reasonable amount... I gotchu covered, babies! Browse this list for a little inspiration, you'll be surprised how much fun you can get out of $25.

DIY Beach Hair

After writing last week about what my Summer Hair Essentials are, I realized that my absolute favorite of them all was the sea salt spray to create that messy beachy look. I also realized at the time that I was sure I could make it at home. I looked online and found a few DIY recipes and picked and chose what I wanted in mine to create my own recipe.

What you will need:

Clean Spray Bottle

8 oz Water

Sea Salt (finely ground is best)

Gel

Hair Oil (Coconut, Moroccan, Almond, Etc.) or Conditioner

Optional:

Tea Tree Oil or other Essential Oil

Alcohol

Directions:

In bottle, mix water with 2 tsp. of sea salt (the more salt, the more wave but also the more dry your hair will be)

A tbsp. of hair gel (try to find unscented so it's scent won't compete with the other scents)

A dollop of conditioner or 1 tsp of oil to counteract the dryness.

I put in3-5 drop of Tea Tree Oil for scent and it helps promote a healthy scalp but you can use any type of Essential Oil if you would like.

Combine all ingredients and shake! Make sure to shake well before each use if you put oil in it as the oil will float to the top.

This recipe is very soft and will not give you that "crunch". If you want the crunch, you can add 3/4 tbsp of rubbing alcohol. If you add too much alcohol, it will overpower all other scents. For that extra crunch without alcohol you can also add more salt and/or gel until satisfied with the outcome of your hair. I happened to have all of these products at home so I literally spent $0 !



As you can see I have generally straight hair with a slight wave at the bottom (thank you erratic pregnancy). I put no alcohol and very little gel in my mixture because I hate crunchy gelled out hair, but it still gave me a soft messy wave that I like. I am beyond low maintenance, and at times I may venture into hobo territory, so this style is perfect for me. It's great if you're in a hurry or you need to fix that bed head ASAP. You can spray, scrunch and go or blow dry on low heat/low air or high heat/high air with a diffuser. The options are endless! okay not really, there really is only like three options but still it's super easy! Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Beauty Bar's Sample Society

To celebrate Spa Week, we're gonna bring you a little extra beauty courtesy of Beauty Bar's Sample Society. You all know I'm obsessed with Birchbox, and I've become suspicious of copycats, but I think Sample Society is a winner. If you're familiar with Birchbox, you'll know how the basics of Sample Society work, but there are a few differences. First off, Sample Society is $15 per month. For those $15 you get 5 samples from high end brands, a code for $15 off a purchase of $50 or more that includes at least one item from your box (code is good for 60 days!), expert beauty advice that comes with each box, and a one-year subscription to Allure magazine.

For the time being, there are no personalized boxes, everyone gets the same one every month. You can cancel at any time, and there's an easy to use website dashboard where you can make changes to your account, review your boxes and browse other goodies available from Beauty Bar.

And now for the question of the (Spa) week, what's in the box....?

March Birchbox

There was a slight delay in my Birchbox this month, do you think they were just messing with me because it was my birthday? Well... the real reason may be that there were two box options to choose from this month, the regular March shipment or the special Teen Vogue box. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I spent about 20 minutes staring at my email, trying to decide which one I wanted. Because I faced turning another year older this month, I went with the Teen Vogue box to make myself feel younger. Let's see if it worked...

Mad Men Stylin'

The 60s craze continues this week with some retro hair and makeup inspired by the return of Mad Men. Instead of trying to choose one of the characters on the show, I went with the 60s feel that was based on the Bridgitte Bardot Makeover featured on The Hairpin. This look is about big hair, major lashes and oodles of eyeliner.  I stocked up on supplies that I didn't have at home: fresh lashes, lash adhesive, teasing comb, styling foam (a soft, squishy Bump-It), Beyond the Zone Volume Powder and strong hairspray. I was able to find everything at Sally's Beauty and Walgreens, no time machine needed. I've never done hair this big before, my hair doesn't want to be teased! If this big hair novice can do this, anyone can, really. Ready to see the transformation?

Cheap Thrills: Crazy for Curls

It never seems to fail, people with masses of curly hair always want a magic straightener and us folks with stick straight locks want a head full of wild curls. My latest obsession is trying to get my stubborn hair to cooperate with my desire for curly hair. I don't want 24/7 curls, just an day or two once in a while. Our very own Heather wrote a great article about rag curls, which inspired the latest experiment on my blog, Verbal Switchblade. That brings us to this week's edition of Cheap Thrills, where I explore what other tools could I find to fulfill my corkscrew fantasy. 

Rag Curlin'

For my recent trip to the Edwardian Ball I wanted old-fashioned, natural looking curls. Curling irons are great, but the spirals are just too uniform for me and my straight hair doesn't like keeping the shape for very long. By using an old technique and letting it dry rolled up, my hair not only looked natural and amazinnnggg, but it held all the way through the next day! The additional pros are that it's cheap/free (you can use rags, cut up old shirts, nylons, socks, or even paper bags!) and doesn't damage your hair!

Heather's Top Ten Bargain Beauty Favs

We all have our favorite beauty buys that are reliable and cheap.

These are mine, ladies.

1. Organix Moroccan Argan Oil. This stuff smells great, lasts a long time, smooths out my hair and makes it feel healthy. $8.

2. Dove Beauty Bar. Gentle enough to use on my face, I always keep a bar in the shower.

Birchbox: January

It's time for another peek inside our boxes, Birchbox reviews are here. Just in the nick of time to still count towards January, phew! This is Charlotte's last Birchbox, as she has decided to bid adieu to the service. I remain fully obsessed and will keep showing the world the contents of my box. Let's get this party started, Char-Char is up first, we'll have a moment of silence, then I'll come in like a neurotic superhero on a questionable zip line.

Charlotte

Here is my last Birchbox. It is a combo December/January Birchbox because of all the December Birchbox drama. Go figure, they send out a decent Birchbox right when I decide to quit ! Yes I am quitting because of all the drama with the Decemer Birchbox and I didn't think it has been worth my $10 every month. Vanessa will be your Birchbox advisor from here on out. Anyhow, on with the show, and $10 back in my pocket every month. **Sigh**

Clark's Botanicals Smoothing Marine Cream ($115)- I absolutely LOVE this stuff! It makes your skin so soft and you can actually feel it work, probably because of the glycolic acid, but I like to think it is magical skin fairies massaging my face...

FIX Malibu Immaculate Complexion Smoothing Serum ($125)- This stuff feels and smells AH-Mazing! I also really like this sample. It makes your skin feel silky soft to the touch and it makes a noticeable difference just looking at your skin. Love in a jar <3.

Miracle Skin Transformer Treat & Conceal ($36)- I was not a big fan of this product. The color didn't match me but I tried it anyway so I could give you lovelies a full review. It is very powdery and cakey looking at the same time. It's not flattering. If you have something you need to conceal, I feel like this makes it stand out more.

stila Smudg Stick Waterproof Eye Liner ($20) in peacock- This is an awesome eyeliner! I don't typically like waterproof makeup but this color is so amazzing I just can't hate on it.

Lifestyle Extra #1 Larabar Mini Bar ($15) in Chocolate Chip Brownie- It was a yummy little treat but was nothing new. I'm not sure why it was in this box, but hey, It's chocolate so I'm not complaining

Lifestyle Extra #2 Birchbox Magnet- Uhm...a Birchbox Magnet...that about sums it up...I like magnets so I'm not complaing....mocking, but not complaining.

Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss ($20) in Birchbox Pink- This is a fun and awesome lip gloss. It's a fun, sheer, bubble-gum/flamingo pink gloss. Pro: Not the least bit sticky. Con: Smells a little funky.

Oscar Blandi Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo ($25)- Dry Shampoo is my favorite dirty girl product. It encourages me to skip a good hair wash every now and then. Who am I kidding, I use it like three times a week..Anyways I didn't think this one was any more amazing than Tresseme or Suave, and so far nothing even touches PSSST. So in my opinon it is not worth the extra money but it did the job.

Showstoppers Designer Fashion Tape in Nude ($10)- These are good for skinny girls with small tatas. No way, no how will these work for my DDD tatas. I can't review them so I gave them away to a skinny  girl with small(er) tatas....

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse ($58)-  Pro: Made my hair AND skin feel ridiculously soft and beautiful. Con: Left glitter ALL.OVER.EVERYWHERE. Now don't get me wrong, I love glitter. But this is just too much glitter. I didn't even know those words could be combined to make that horrible sentence!

Atelier Cologne ($70)- I do love this smell but it is very androgynous. I honestly couldn't tell right away if it was for a man or a woman. That didn't stop me from wearing it though, and liking it.

Vanessa's Top Ten Budget Beauty Buys

Normally, these top ten lists come at the end of the year, but we Whoreders were a little busy wrapping presents and mixing cocktails. Whoops. I get some flack from people (Heatherrr!) for my fancy product lustin', but I'm also a big believer in budget buys (I AM!). I put together a list of my top ten favorites, all found at your local drugstore for under $20.

Ready? Here they are, in no particular order...

Birchbox: December

Ho-Ho-Ho, the December Birchboxes are here!

It looks like the Grinch may have made off with Charlotte's box this month, but mine made it safe and sound. Okay, Charlotte, look away from your monitor and skip the following sentence. This was one of my favorite Birchboxes ever! One product in particular sent me over the moon, but we'll get into that in just a bit.

Magical Hair Powder

Hi. My name is Heather and I have flat hair.
(insert sobbing here)

I have typical white girl straight hair. I can't complain - my hair treats me pretty well even though I'm mean to it all the time. No, I take that back, I AM going to complain. HOWDAREYOU, hair! You're so flat and boring! YOU'RE RUINING MY LIFE.

My hair is needy, too... it INSISTS on being washed every day.

Things have changed around here, as I have found an answer to the battle of this deflated fluff of fringe. I have briefly mentioned Suave Dry Shampoo before, but it really is a great product. So great that I decided to contact Suave to see if they would let me do a proper review and sure enough they were awesome enough to let me!

Cheap Thrills: Coif It Up

In this edition of Cheap Thrills we'll be exploring our inner hair inspirations, be it Rapunzel, Mia Farrow (circa Rosemary's Baby) or Curly Sue. The bevy of hair accessories available to us is staggering, but let's try to narrow it down to a selection that is worthy of our lovely locks that won't break the bank. Toss your hair back and dive in!