Why am I looking at garbage? (Or: Empties)

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I think empties posts are a little divisive (boring or voyeuristically fascinating?), but I like that they provide mini reviews for products that someone has tested really thoroughly. Plus, for selfish reasons, I like to keep my own record of what I've used in case I want to try/avoid those things in the future.

Makeup empties (photo above) are the rarest of empties, so I don't usually have this many in a single batch. Then again, it's not like I finished a blush or a lipstick or an eyeshadow palette. Mascaras and concealers are much more frequently used up and tossed out.

Left to right above:

L'Oréal Lineur Intense Felt Tip in Earthen Rock Brown: Reviewed briefly here. This was my favorite liquid eyeliner for years and years until it was unfortunately discontinued. I love a brown liquid liner for a more subtle everyday look than black. Right now I'm using Lancôme Artliner in Brown, which is very similar, but much more expensive, of course. I also have the brown version of the Physician's Formula liquid liner (reviewed here in black) waiting in the wings.

YSL Touche Éclat in 2 Luminous Ivory: I got this in a marked-down, now sold-out, Sephora Favorites kit, and I wouldn't have bought it on its own. It makes a decent sheer/casual under-eye concealer and non-shimmery highlight. I just think you can get similar products for a lower price, like Maybelline's. Also, it has a faint lavender scent that might not appeal to everyone.

Sephora Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer in Fondant: Reviewed here. This is the third tube of Gel Serum Concealer I've finished. I used a Swoon wand to scrape out what the doe foot couldn't reach (even after removing the stopper), which gave me at least another good month of use. I recently (stupidly) decided I'd try something new and bought a tube of the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye concealer. Big mistake. Huge. It must only work for very dry skinned people, because it disappeared from my face in a couple of hours. I've already ordered a new tube of Gel Serum from Sephora. Why mess with perfection?

Wet N Wild Lash Primer: Reviewed here. Not an actual empty, but it had started to smell funky, so I tossed it. Lash primer just doesn't do much for me, so I didn't get through it.

Essence Eyebrow Designer Pencil in Soft Blonde (above): This isn't a true taupe (nor does it claim to be) but it's cooler/taupier than most affordable eyebrow pencils that are actually called "taupe." It's a good texture (i.e. hardness) and color for my brows at the moment, and for $2 I'd forgive a lot (though luckily I don't have to). I'm on my second pencil now. I have a bunch of brow products to review--I should get on that.

Tarte Tarteist Lash Paint mascara (mini): This was a perfectly serviceable mascara. Provided volume and length. Didn't wow me so much that I'd buy it, but it was just fine.

Black Radiance Eyeshadow Primer: Reviewed here. This is a great primer. I didn't completely finish it, but I find that most primers last me so long that they get to the point where they don't perform quite as well as they once did before I finish them. I'm talking well over a year, though, so I'm cool with it.

Look at all this skin care! Let me direct you to previous reviews and be as brief as possible to save all of our sanity.

Starting at the top left:

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Swivel Stick: Reviewed here. I don't even know how many tubes of this I've used up so far! I have another one going now.

CosRx Acne Pimple Master Patches: Reviewed here. I've gone through many of these too.

The Ordinary Azelaic Acid: Reviewed here. A new staple. I'm on my second tube.

Simple Micellar Water: Not the best I've ever used, but usually the cheapest, so I'm using my second bottle of it now.

Drunk Elephant B-Hydra Gel (packet): A decent light moisturizer.

The Ordinary Matrixyl 1-% + HA: I will review this soon, but there's not much more to say than that it was a good hydrating serum. Nothing mind-blowing.

Paula's Choice Calm Redness Relief Serum: Another good hydrating serum, but it didn't help my redness a whole lot. I won't buy it again.

Acure Organics Rosehip Oil: This is kind of cheating, because it was getting old so I dumped it into a bottle of body oil. I've finally come to terms with the fact that even though rosehip oil is nice, it always causes milia around my eyes, so I need to let it go.

Paula's Choice Ultra Light Super Antioxidant Serum: Reviewed here. The tube is full size--I cut it in half to get the last drops out. This hydrating serum is my favorite, but I'm looking at alternatives, because it's too expensive. The e.l.f. essence I reviewed here is serving as a workable replacement at the moment, despite the fact that it's not actually a serum.

Farmacy Honey Savior Salve (packet): If you're into that #sluglife, where you coat your face with a heavy occlusive layer at night to lock in the moisture, this is an excellent option--except that it's very expensive, so you could just get some Vaseline or Aquaphor or CeraVe ointment to serve the same purpose. I like the packets for traveling, though.

Korres Golden Krocus Elixir (mini): An ok hydrating serum, though it has strong fragrance and shimmer in it. I'm way more excited about having a tiny dropper bottle to use for travel than I was about the actual product, to be honest.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel (mini): Looking for a more affordable replacement for my old favorite Paula's Choice Moisture Gel, but this wasn't quite it, although it did what it said it would do.

Avène Eau Thermal spray (mini): I feel a bit ridiculous for liking this. It's water in a can. Sorry, mineral water in a can. It is awfully refreshing on a hot and sweaty day, though. But like, you could just buy some mineral water and put it in your own spray bottle.

Paula's Choice Skin Recovery Hydrating Treatment Mask: Reviewed here. A great product that I did not finish, because it's huge, and I only needed to use it once every week or two. It was getting old, even for my extremely lax standards, so I decided to let it go. I don't know if I would buy it again, though the price isn't bad compared to other Paula's products.

Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Cloud Cream: A very nice, light, moisturizing gel that would be a great replacement for Paula's Choice Moisture Gel, except that the full size comes in a jar and is even more expensive than Paula's.

Glamglow Glowstarter: Shimmery pink lotion that smells extremely strongly of creamsicle. I used it on my legs.

Origins Gin-Zing Gel Moisturizer: Got this one for free from Influenster. Again, it's fine, except for the jar and the very strong GoJo industrial orange soap smell. And the price.

Paula's Choice Moisture Boost Cleanser: I really like this cleanser for being effective but not drying, but there are equally good cleansers out there for less money.

Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid: I've been using this for over a decade now! My skin is always clearer and happier when I use it. But I recently decided to try the CosRx BHA Liquid instead, because Paula's Choice prices are rising faster than inflation.

That's really the theme here: finishing up the Paula's Choice products that I've relied on for years and trying to find more affordable replacements. When I first started using Paula's Choice, the prices weren't bad at all, even though I had to pay in Canadian dollars. Then I posted my referral link on this blog a few years ago, which tons of people used, so I had enough credits to continue using the brand even while prices crept up. I tried to point out in reviews whether I thought I would still buy something even without a credit. After their referral program ended and prices continued to climb, I'm now at the stage where it's just not feasible for me to buy multiple $30-50 basics each year when there are cheaper options out there. The one thing I haven't yet found a good replacement for, as you can see from the above, is the Moisture Gel. I'm currently using Marcelle's Lumipower moisturizer, which is a gel in a pump, but it's only worth it because I got it in a value set. At full price, it's about the same as Paula's.

Just a few staple hair and body products to finish off the list, and I can conveniently link to this post for reviews of all of them but the perfume! I've used multiple bottles/cans/tubes/jars of each of these. The Chloe and Replica Beach Walk fragrance samples weren't favorites, so I used them as room/closet sprays.

Let me know if you have questions about any of these things! It's always gratifying for me to use things up instead of just hoarding them. But I probably shouldn't pat myself on the back too much until the day you see an empty lipstick in one of these posts.

Easiest waves: Living Proof Perfect Hair Day In Shower Styler Review

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I'm not a hair person. Really not. For all my interest in skincare and makeup, all I want from my hair is to look halfway decent with the minimum possible effort. Fortunately I've always had naturally very straight hair, so while I've envied wavy and curly hair, I also appreciate that my hair type suits my laissez-faire approach (a different kind of straight privilege). My usual "styling" involves applying a little smoothing/detangling serum to my wet hair, combing through it with my Wet Brush (briefly reviewed here), and letting it air dry. Often I use a big mascara wand with liquid gel or hairspray on it to smooth the flyaways on either side of my part. If I'm feeling extremely ambitious, I might blow-dry it with a round brush, but even then I usually get bored and stop before my hair is completely dry.

Some time last year I noticed that my hair was sometimes doing something that almost approximated waviness. Like, probably not enough that another reasonable person would apply the "wavy" label to it, but it had slightly more body and texture than it'd had in the past for some reason. I got a mini-tube of this Living Proof In-Shower Styler in a Sephora Play box, and when I used it, even with limited instructions, the waviness was amplified. Exciting! Once I'd finished the mini, I bought a full-size that came with more detailed directions for use, and finally I could achieve actual, noticeable waves with almost no work. I'll explain how I think it works best for my hair type below.

Recently I chopped off my long hair to just above my shoulders. While I'm enjoying the length, it's not the best shape. It has a tendency to flip out at the bottom even if I curl it under, and it puffs out to an annoying triangular shape. I know I could go back to get it fixed, but I really don't enjoy getting haircuts, and so I'm just dealing with it for now. I've found, however, that I like it much, much better wavy than straight. The waves seem to disguise the flaws in the cut, and I've always been enamored of a wavy or curly bob anyway.

As a point of comparison, here is how my hair looks if I use shampoo, conditioner, and a little smoothing serum, and then let it air dry. It's just a pyramid of meh.

Here's how it looks after using the Living Proof In-Shower Styler:

Much better, I think! (Why the color looks so much different, I don't know. It seems to shift a lot depending on the lighting.)

So, the way this stuff works is that you shampoo and condition your hair, and then you apply enough of it to completely coat your hair from roots to ends. You rinse it, but only very briefly. You should still be able to feel the slippery texture of the product in your hair after rinsing. If you use too little product or rinse it too thoroughly, you won't get much wave. If you use too much product, it'll be a little crunchy and wet-looking, rather than soft and natural. It takes some trial and error to get it right. You can lightly towel dry and then periodically scrunch your hair as it dries, with no additional product (which is what I usually do). (For others with straight hair who have never had a reason to scrunch, there are good gifs here to illustrate the technique.) If you want curlier hair, however, you can also try plopping, which I've done with nice results. (And here is how to plop your hair--a long-sleeved t-shirt works great.)

Here's how my (naturally straight! remember!) hair looks while it's still wet, just after towel drying and scrunching with the In-Shower Styler:

When it's dry, you can comb your fingers through it or scrunch it some more to soften the texture. That's it! It's very simple and not at all time-consuming. I usually get similar waves to the ones I can create with a straight iron, which isn't exactly labor-intensive, but that's a less lazy method for sure.

My favorite part is that I can wash my hair and use the In-Shower Styler before bed, do the whole scrunching thing, and go to bed before it's completely dry. In the morning, I can just wet my hands and scrunch it again to get nice waves back. I'm sure spritzing with water would work too. I do this on the second day, too, instead of washing again. (Dry shampoo forever!)

There are other products out there that will probably get you similar results, but this stuff has the advantage of only taking a few seconds in the shower and leaving me with smooth, fairly shiny waves in the end. It also happens to smell great, and my tube has lasted me for months of (not daily, but) regular use.

Here's another photo to show the air-dried waves from the side:

It worked when I had long hair too, but the waves were a bit looser, naturally.

For someone like me who has always wanted waves but has been too lazy to work at it, it's fucking sorcery. The cheapest place I've seen the Living Proof In-Shower Styler is on Amazon. ULTA also sells a travel size, if you're not sure you want to commit. Highly recommended!

Obviously the techniques I'm describing in this post will be familiar to many, if not most, people with natural curl, but in the past I'd never had occasion to use them, so I had to do a little research first. I'd be curious to hear how this product works for people who already have naturally wavy or curly hair, since the instructions say it can be used for a range of hair textures. Let me know if you've tried it!

More empties

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It seems like I just wrote an empties post, but I took the rather uninspiring photo above back at the end of August. So it's time to write about this garbage (literal garbage, I mean--some of the products are great) before I forget all about everything. The main function of these posts for me is to keep a record of things I've tried, so that I can remember what I should and shouldn't buy again. I have a terrible memory! I hope they're at least somewhat useful and/or interesting to you too.

(I'll move from left to right in the photo, top row and then bottom row.)

Note: I used referral credits to buy the Paula's Choice products listed here, in case you're wondering how I could so cavalierly dispose of some of this expensive shit.

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day In Shower Styler (mini): I got this as part of a Sephora Favorites kit and ended up loving it. I've already got a full size. If you have little-to-no wave in your hair like me, you can get little-to-some wave with very minimal effort using this stuff. You just apply it to your wet hair and barely rinse it in the shower, and then air dry (while occasionally scrunching, if you remember). Simple! (I think it enhances curl and wave in other hair types too, but I can't speak from experience.)

Sephora Gel Serum Concealer in Buttercream: Swatched here. This is my favorite concealer formula, and this shade is a good match, but I replaced it with Fondant (reviewed here), because for whatever reason the coverage and application seems better in that shade. Oh, and if you tried this stuff a year or two ago and hated the applicator, they've changed it.

John Frieda 7-Day Volume: Reviewed here. I'm on my third or fourth bottle. Good stuff! (It's much, much cheaper on Amazon than anywhere else I've seen it, for some reason, so I always get it there.)

Paula's Choice 8% AHA Gel: A lot of people love this product, but I've found that glycolic acid just doesn't seem to have any effect on my skin. Lactic acid (like the mask reviewed here) works much better for me. So I used probably a quarter of the bottle on my face, then started mixing it with body lotion for my legs, etc., for a while, and then finally when I moved, I tossed the rest, because I didn't want to pack it.

Paula's Choice Hydralight Lotion: Reviewed here. This moisturizer was a favorite of a lot of people, myself included, and so Paula's Choice got a lot of flack for discontinuing it this year. Thankfully they listened to feedback and brought it back!

Paula's Choice Resist Oil Booster: It's a decent, light skin oil, I guess, but it's nothing special for the price. I ended up using it mostly on my cuticles and as the last step in this excellent masking routine.

Paula's Choice Moisture Boost Cleanser: I have said many times that you can get cleansers that are just as good as those from Paula's Choice for a much lower price, but of theirs this is probably my favorite. I don't even have dry skin, but it's still effective, gentle, and non-drying.

Caudalie Beauty Elixir: So this is pretty much just scented alcohol and water with a bit of glycerin in it. A lot of people love it, but I don't know what they experience when they use it, because it did nothing for me. I ended up using it as a (very pricey) body spray--fortunately it was in a Sephora Favorites kit, too, and the kit was marked way down, so I didn't actually spend much to try it.

Wet N Wild Mattifying Powder: This is a decent powder. It has a fine texture and it does mattify. But I have never emptied a powder so quickly in my life! I think I finished the whole thing between about April and August, and that wasn't using it every day. My brush picked up a lot, and the pan is barely more than a millimeter deep, despite the unnecessarily large packaging. It's fairly cheap, but you can definitely find an equally affordable and effective powder out there that will last you five times as long. I wouldn't buy it again, needless to say.

Batiste Tropical Dry Shampoo (mini): Smells like piña colada, works just as well as all the other Batiste dry shampoos.

Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask: Reviewed here. This is my favorite mask ever. It works so well, it's cheap, and the tube contains a TON. I didn't actually finish it, because of that whole containing a ton thing, but it was getting very old and I had certainly got my money's worth. I'll definitely buy another tube once I finish the new clay mask I'm trying now.

Dr. Brant Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner: This is a thin mask that works pretty well, but it's much more expensive and less effective than the Freeman mask above, so I'd recommend that instead.

Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt (mini): I got this in a Sephora Play! box. I liked it--it did make my roots/scalp feel cleaner. It definitely needs to be followed up with conditioner if you don't want super crunchy hair. I figured I could DIY it by mixing a bunch of epsom salts (I had some Aloe & Rosemary salts from CVS that had a very similar scent to this) with shampoo, but the salt turned the shampoo really watery and it wasn't the same at all. I still don't think I would spent the million dollars they want from me to put some salt on my head, though.

Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream (travel size): You can buy this cheaper in giant tubs, but I mainly only use it as a heavy eye cream or on whatever part of my face needs some extra moisture, so the tiny jar lasts me about a year. I got mine at Bed, Bath & Beyond, but I can't find this little jar online anywhere for you. And now I'm reminded that I have a new replacement jar at home that I haven't opened yet, and I should dig that out. It's great if you want something thick but simple to layer over other products.

So that's it for this round! Have you finished up anything exciting (or terrible) lately?

Do I Need This? Root touch-up hair dye

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Welcome to the latest installment of my Do I Need This? series. In these posts, I offer my experience and opinions about whether or not I think a product or technique is worth it. Obviously, you don't really need ANY beauty products, so the answer to the question is always going to be no, to some extent. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to offer a starting point, at least.

Do I need a root-touch up hair dye product? 

Short answer: No, just buy a regular box of dye that's a good match and a brush to apply it to your roots.

Here's the story: A few months ago, I dyed my hair red, which is a color I love having, but which is one of the most difficult to keep up. Most reds fade like crazy. The two biggest causes of fading hair color are sun and water. I already stay out of the sun for the most part, but for good measure I also used a UV serum from Alterna that I bought from Hollar. At the same time, I cut back washing my hair from 6-7 times a week to every second or third day (and increased my dry shampoo use accordingly). My red still faded, but less than it might otherwise have done. The downside to my success was that my naturally dirty blonde roots became increasingly noticeable as they grew in.

At first I was just going to buy a box of the dye I'd originally used, L'Oreal Superior Preference 6AB Chic Auburn Brown, which I bought from Amazon. I like coloring my own hair. It's fun. It's cheap. And normally I'm pretty good at it. You can see how it looked right after I colored it on my Instagram here. But I had a CVS coupon. Unfortunately, neither of the CVS stores near me had that specific color in stock. So instead of paying full price ($9) for another box from Amazon, I decided to use the coupon for a box of Clairol Nice n Easy Root Touch-Up, which ended up costing about $6-7. The color range is quite small, so I went with what seemed closest to the current, slightly faded color of my lengths, 6R Light Auburn/Reddish Brown.

I quickly experienced some buyer's remorse and contemplated returning it and getting the real deal. But I convinced myself to give it a shot. If it worked, I'd have saved a little money. If it didn't work, I'd get a blog post out of it, at least.

Spoiler: It didn't work, and here's my blog post.

My first mistake was believing, without confirming, that this root touch-up stuff would be something like the Just For Men dyes, where you custom mix just the amount you need, and then you can reuse what's left in the future when your roots grow in a bit more. No, of course we ladies cannot have something as practical as that. It's a single-use product. You mix the two components of the dye in a little tray, and it comes with a brush to paint the color on your roots. The instructions tell you to start with the most visible roots at the front and in your part, and then work from there. Because I was paranoid that there would be a stark difference between my roots and the rest of my hair, I used the brush to pull some of the dye down in streaks from my roots, especially at the front. It was a good idea, because if I hadn't, I think it would have looked even worst than it did.

The thing with red dye is that for the first couple of days it tends to be WAY BRIGHTER than the color it soon settles into. So when I rinsed out the dye, let my hair dry, and found that I now had pretty intense, burgundy-red hair on the top of my head (light auburn brown my ass), I tried to remain calm. Give it a couple of days, and it might fade to the promised shade. Here's how it looked on day 1:

I actually think the contrast is somewhat less noticeable in the photos than it was in person, but you can see the darker red framing my face (again, that would have stopped abruptly had I not combed the color through a bit).

Okay, three days later:

Not better. I also took photos on the fourth and fifth and sixth days, but I won't bore you with them, because they're the same. On the one hand, kudos to this hair color for staying power! Too bad it's neither light nor reddish brown.

Eventually, since I'd created this mess just before moving, I found time about a week later to completely redo my hair color. I used Clairol Nice n Easy 6.5R Natural Light Radiant Auburn--which is much more radiant than natural and was definitely clown-orange for a couple of days. But it's more realistic, and very pretty, now. (I'd asked for recommendations on Instagram for good red dyes, and then ended up not using them, because with a combination of coupons and ExtraBucks, this box of dye cost me 12 cents at CVS. But I am keeping that excellent list of suggestions for future reference.)

In the end, I can't advise buying a product like this, particularly if you are touching up your roots after using a color that has faded significantly. Possibly with a dark brown, where you can be more assured of a match, and where the old color is more likely to have stayed deep and rich despite your roots growing out, you might have better luck. But with a red dye, it's a gamble. Since the regular price of one of these kits is $8+, you'd be much better off just finding your original color on sale (or not!) and using that to touch up your roots. Hair color brushes are not difficult to come by, so there's no need to buy a root touch-up kit just to get one of those. I got my mixing bowl and brush from Sally Beauty, but here's a set for $3 and free shipping on Amazon.

I walked around for a week looking like a failed beauty experiment, but at least I did it for science the blog.

My Cheap Favorites: the best bath, body, and hair products for $10 and under

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It's been over a year since I wrote my last cheap favorites master post! I still stand by my choices there, and I don't think I'd change any of them now if I had to do it over. I've had in mind to write this additional post all along, but since I'm admittedly not that picky about products in this category, it hasn't felt so pressing. Still, maybe there's something here for you to discover (or something you can suggest to me!).

Favorite Body Washes: I don't really take baths, so all I've got here are shower products. My criteria for a good body wash or shower gel are simple: gets me clean, doesn't dry out my skin, smells good. There are lots of affordable options that check all of those boxes. I love almond fragrance when it's done well, and Tree Hut Almond and Honey Body Wash does it well. It's also very moisturizing and has a lovely texture. Luxurious, even. I like this so much that I haven't tried any of the other scents, though I suppose I should. The Almond variety is a bit difficult to find in stores. I got this one at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $6.

New Before and After Photos using John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7-Day In Shower Treatment

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I've been spending my free time between work and cat nursing tying up some loose ends around here. I'd always hated the photos I used in my review of the John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7-Day In Shower Treatment, which is a great product that I've been using for a couple of years now. Everything else in that review remains the same, except that in addition to having fine hair, I feel like my hair has got  bit thinner lately as well. I've updated the photos in the original post, but I'll include them here as well. I used the same products for both photos, and styled them the same way (partially air dried and then blow dried with a round brush). The volume in the after photo isn't major drama, but my hair is definitely fuller. I like this stuff a lot. Check out the original post for full details.

Before:

After:

Miscellany: Dry shampoo hysteria, tricky sunscreen, Amazon sales, and Too Faced on HauteLook

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First: My husband shared an article from the Atlantic with me today linking dry shampoo with hair loss. "It's in the Atlantic; it can't be complete garbage." Oh, no? You can read it for yourself. It's the typical beauty article where the writer ask "experts" (in this case some combination of hair stylists and dermatologists) about her theory, and they basically respond, "Yeah, I guess it's possible that something like that could happen." I'm not going to throw out my Batiste. The lesson is probably that you can't replace actually washing your hair with using dry shampoo, because building up all the product on your scalp isn't great. I imagine it would feel pretty gross, though, so I don't know how someone could stand to regularly use dry shampoo without washing it out. (There was a similar article in Refinery 29 where the woman clearly had some kind of allergic reaction to an ingredient in her dry shampoo that caused the hair loss. If it hurts you, stop using it!)

Second: Evangeline emailed me with some helpful information about that Sephora Sun Safety Kit. I've never bought one of those, because I'm picky about what sunscreen I use on my face (though sometimes I use sample packets like these ones I reviewed on Instagram), but not at all picky about what I use on my body. That means a bunch of mini sunscreens isn't going to be much use to me. But if you are still trying to find your ideal sunscreen, buying a kit full of various minis seems like a potentially useful way to narrow down the search.

But here's what Evangeline says: "I recently bought the Sephora sun safety kit. I knew that $32 was a lot to spend on the total amount of sunscreen in the kit. It really annoys me to find that some of (all?) the small tubes are only half full. This trickery came as a complete surprise to me. I weighed the cost against the size of those small tubes. They fooled me."

So it sounds like this is one of those cases where you have to pay close attention to the labels in order to determine how good a deal it really is, because they've used tricky packaging to make it look like you're getting more product than you really are. That is something I often forget to do, as evidenced in my "tricky, tricky" series.

Third: Amazon has a deal right now where Prime Members get $25 back when they spend $50 on luxury beauty, so if you've been biding your time to buy something fancy on sale, now might be your chance. The downside is that it seems like you also have to spend the $25 you get back in the luxury beauty department, so you'll have to think about whether or not there are $75 worth of things you need right now. Use code PRIMEBEAUTY25. They also have a 35% off section, which seems to include mainly LORAC, Mario Basescu, Make, and Gorgeous.

ETA: Too Faced is on HauteLook today for 40-60% off, if you're looking for any eyeshadow palettes or lipsticks. Their eyeshadow primer is also marked down to $12.

L'Oréal Paris Advanced Haircare Extraordinary Oil Shampoo, Conditioner, and Lustrous Serum Review

Disclosure: Affiliate links. Products free from Influenster.
"Hey Lyn, how's that whole 'blog more often' plan going for you?" "Hahahahaha SHUT UP."

Anyway. I got this hair stuff from Influenster, and I like it a lot, so I thought I'd share it with you. (In case you're not aware, anyone can sign up to get free stuff to try from Influenster. You don't need a blog, though I think the more social media followers you have, the more things they send you.)

I was interested in trying these products, because I've had really good luck with some of the L'Oreal Advanced haircare in the past. For example, the Total Repair 5 Extreme line is excellent for getting dry, damaged hair under control. The conditioner feels (and smells) really similar to the magical stuff they include with home hair dye kits.

The Extraordinary Oil line is marketed for "daily care for dry, lifeless hair," and it claims to be, "lightweight" and "non-greasy." This sounds perfect for me, because the lengths of my hair tends to be very dry and the roots are oily, which means that sometimes products designed for dry hair don't clean the grease out well enough or leave my hair weighed down, while those meant for oily hair strip it too much. There are tricks I can do like coating the lengths in conditioner before shampooing and/or shampooing the roots twice, but I would prefer to cut down on the number of steps in my shower routine as much as possible.

My assessment of these three products (shampoo, conditioner, and serum) is that they definitely live up to the claims. They leave my hair very soft and shiny but not weighed down. Here are comparison photos. In the first one, I shampooed and conditioned with some mediocre products that I had in the shower and that I'd been using semi-regularly, and then let my hair air dry. In the second photo, on a different day, I used all three of the products pictured above (the serum on damp hair after washing and before detangling, with which it helps a lot) and again let my hair air dry. I think the difference in shine and smoothness is pretty clear--even though it turns out that it is very difficult to take a photo of the side of your own head.

All three of these products have a pretty strong fragrance that is a sort of warm, amber scent. I'm not great at identifying and describing fragrances, but it's the kind of thing you would expect from products that are supposed to be "exotic." If you're tried the Suave Moroccan Infusion line, it's similar. I know a lot of people love this kind of scent, but I don't usually like it. In this case, however, it's started to grow on me--and it doesn't make me sneeze like some others do. The first day I used the serum, I could smell it all day and it was a little overwhelming. But I have used it many times since then, and now it seems just mildly pleasant. So if you don't like this type of fragrance, it's something to consider, but you might end up enjoying it anyway, apparently. If you are a big perfume wearer, however, it may interfere with the scent you wear. I will usually avoid other perfume on days I use these.

I also tried each of the three products separately in case it was only one of them giving me these good results. That is, I shampooed with the Extraordinary Oil shampoo and used a different conditioner and serum/treatment product, and so forth, with each one. I saw some improvement with each product separately, but not as dramatic as when using them all together. I would say if you want to try just one, you should pick the conditioner if you don't want as strong a fragrance, and the serum if you are fine with the fragrance and want to get the most impressive results from a single product. (There's also a leave-in "transforming oil-in-cream" that I didn't get, but I am now curious about it. I wonder if it would be too heavy for my hair.)

In addition to other oils and silicones, the serum and conditioner both contain a lot of coconut oil, which has been shown to be particularly good for hair. One of the suggested uses on the serum bottle is to apply it to hair before washing to nourish and protect the hair, which is also a great way to use plain coconut oil. The silicones in this stuff add an extra boost of shine and smoothness, in my opinion. (Nothing wrong with 'cones in hair products.)

I like this stuff as much as or more than any of the much more expensive hair products I've tried. The L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil products are about $6 a bottle. If shine and softness are your main hair goals, definitely give one or more of these a shot. The only potential downside I can think of is the fragrance, but as I said, I actually enjoy it now in spite of myself.

What about you? Do you prefer mild scents in hair products or is the fragrance part of what makes you enjoy them? I prefer skincare products to be unscented, but I do want some fragrance in my hair products--I'm just picky about what exactly they smell like.

My favorite dry shampoo: Batiste Cherry

Disclosure: Affiliate links.

I use dry shampoo pretty regularly. I have what I think is best described as combination hair: oily at the roots, dry at the ends. Because it's oily, I can't do that whole thing where you don't wash your hair for 4-5 days that I always see recommended on blogs. It would get nasty. I know people say if you stop washing your hair as frequently, it stops being as oily, but I don't know if I believe that--and I am not willing to go a few weeks with smelly, greasy hair to test that theory. If you have been endowed with hair the "looks better the second day," I fully admit my jealousy. Without dry shampoo, if I wash my hair before bed the night before, it's limp and stringy by the following late afternoon or evening. With dry shampoo, I can go between 36-48 hours without washing my hair, but that's it. I'm fine with that. I try to stretch it out to those 48 hours so that I can avoid drying out the rest of my hair with excessive washing, and that's where dry shampoo fits into my routine.

So it serves a definite function, but at the same time, I know that I don't need to keep buying cans of it for $6, because lots of less expensive substances, like corn starch, will work just about as well. That's what I used to use before I even knew that dry shampoo in a can existed. The advantage of a simple loose powder, other than cost, is that it doesn't create a cloud around your head that you have to avoid inhaling. The disadvantage is that it's messier and harder to distribute evenly than an aerosol. I also prefer my dry shampoo to have a nice scent, and though I've thought about ways to add fragrance to corn starch, I've never got around to actually experimenting with that. I end up going back to dry shampoo cans, even though I sometimes think I shouldn't.

Accordingly, I've reviewed a lot of dry shampoos on this blog. Some of them good, some of them terrible, but I kept trying new ones, because I felt like there had to be one out there that ticked all the boxes for me: pleasant but not overwhelming fragrance that doesn't make me cough or sneeze, doesn't leave powdery residue on my scalp, absorbs oil, doesn't give a bad texture to my hair, doesn't make my hair look dull, adds a little volume, easy to spread though the hair and brush out. I've used some dry shampoos do well on some or most of those requirements, but there was almost always something not quite right.

Lots of people recommended Batiste, but I'd tried their original scent ages ago and didn't like it, so I sort of ruled them out. Most of the other scent descriptions don't sound like things I would like: "wild" (i.e. vanilla and musk) or "blush" etc. But I do like fruity scents, so long as the fruit isn't apple or watermelon. Or banana. Or coconut or raspberry. I'm really picky about fragrance, apparently. An unpleasant perfume can ruin an otherwise decent product for me. I'd never seen the Cherry scent in a store, but I noticed it one day last fall on Ulta's website and decided to go for it. It was an excellent choice, because this dry shampoo covers all the bases for me. So, to repeat myself for eeeeemphasis, these are all the things I like about Batiste Cherry Dry Shampoo:

• Smells good, but not overpowering.
• Not messy.
• Doesn't leave white residue on my scalp or roots.
• Absorbs oil well.
• Easy to distribute evenly through hair and to brush out.
• Leaves my hair feeling soft and normal, not rough or stiff. Easy to run my fingers through my hair after using it.
• Adds a little volume.
• Leaves my hair looking as shiny as it ordinarily is rather than dulling the shine at the roots/crown.
• Can matches my blog's color scheme. (Obviously the most important feature.)

Here are the requisite awkward before and after photos of the top of my head. Before (24 hours after washing):

After (just looks like normal, clean hair, I think):

If I had to come up with a criticism, it's that sometimes I find the fragrance that lingers in my bathroom after I use it a little strong. Other days, I'm not sure why I had a problem with it. I think it just depends on my mood. It is a slightly floral, cherry scent, a bit like the opening, very ephemeral notes of Escada's Cherry in the Air perfume. If you don't like the taste/smell of cherry candy, then you should probably choose a different scent.

I reviewed this stuff on Instagram last year, but then I decided to use up all my old, inferior dry shampoos before buying any more. I almost made it through them, but I do still have a little bit of that Klorane dry shampoo to finish. I picked up my latest (third) can of Batiste when Target had a beauty sale recently, because Target seems to sell it for slightly cheaper than most other places to begin with ($6). It costs the same amount in store or online at Target, unlike some things they sell, and I have actually seen the Cherry variety on the shelves there recently. Amazon has it for $6 right now too.

So that's it! I've found my favorite, and as of now I plan to keep using this until I become ambitious and responsible enough to DIY a scented corn starch, I guess.

Free samples of No. 4 and Schwarzkopf hair care products

The No. 4 site is running very slowly now, so you might have to refresh a few times and be patient to get it to load. The Schwartkopf samples are through their Facebook page.

Surly Sunday Screed: Pantene isn't crap

I got my hair cut recently and complained a little about it on Instagram. I tend to only get it cut a couple of times a year. I try for every 3-4 months, but I usually don't manage it. I put it off for a long time for a few reasons: it's expensive; I don't particularly enjoy making small talk with a stranger for an hour; I have to take my glasses off and, because my eyesight is so poor, that adds to the awkwardness; and I don't have a regular stylist now, so it's always a gamble trying to find someone new who will give you a cut you like. That means there's a lot riding on each salon visit. I went back to the salon I usually go to (though the stylist I used to see left a while back), which I like for two main reasons. First, they give a scalp massage before the cut, which can be amazing. Second, they don't pressure me too much to buy their products, which I can't afford. They usually tell me what they're using, and why, which is interesting, but that's it. And I have actually purchased some of the things they used in the past, but I can't swing it now, and I don't like the hard sell.

Well, this time the gamble did not pay off, and I could tell it was not going to be a great experience from the beginning. As soon as I sat down, she asked me what kind of shampoo and conditioner I use. Never a good sign. My hair is very dry in general -- and especially at that moment because I had been avoiding buying new products for a few months, and instead just using up some old shampoo I had on hand for my boyfriend that was not doing anything to help the dryness. I was also using some expensive, "natural" conditioner that was equally useless. So I mumbled some (drugstore) brand name, and she immediately launched into a lecture about why "grocery store" and "drugstore" products are terrible for your hair. You've heard it before. They deposit "wax" on your hair which builds up and makes it rough and dry (unlike the expensive "natural," "botanical" products she could sell me). She explained that the reason my hair doesn't take a curl is because I have all this gunk on it that won't allow styling products to penetrate the hair, because it's like having a plastic glove over my hair. (Do I want hairspray to penetrate my hair? That's not generally how it works.) Never mind that my hair has never curled well with heat, even when I was a child. The worst part was that she delivered this inept and misinformed lecture while giving me my scalp massage, so she was half-assing the massage, and I was simultaneously annoyed by the nonsense she was spouting.

I know there are worse things going on in the world right now. This ranks as an annoyance, not a disaster.

I don't entirely blame the hair stylist, because I know that this sort of thing is part of her training and part of her job. It's what she's been taught, and she believes what she's saying. "Pantene is horrible because it deposits silicone on your hair and it builds up and forms a film that weighs down your hair." Yes, most conditioners deposit a film on your hair. That's how they work. It's the film that makes it soft and smooth and shiny (with the exception of very few ingredients, like coconut oil). That is true for both drugstore and salon conditioners and styling products. All you have to do is look at the ingredients to see that they are very similar in higher and lower end products. Silicone is fine for your hair - it washes right out with shampoo. So even if you are concerned about build-up, all you have to do is use a clarifying shampoo once or twice a week to clear it up. I know that some people with curly hair prefer to avoid silicone, which is a legit choice - but even if you accidentally use a product containing it, it's easy to shampoo out. If silicone didn't wash off with soap or detergent, most of us would have a thick coating of it on our skin, because it's also an ingredient in a lot of lotions and moisturizers.

Pantene adds more silicone than some other products, because they make a conditioning shampoo. You can read all the specifics of how it works in this post from The Beauty Brains, in which they also answer someone's question about why Pantene isn't sold in salons if it's "so good." The answer, in short, is because they wouldn't make nearly as much money from it as they do now. (Sidenote: I'm really sad that when The Beauty Brains lost their archives, they lost the post in which they collaborated with a stylist who swore she could tell the difference between hair washed with drugstore and salon products. In a blind test she was right less than 50% of the time - which suggests that if she was choosing the "nicer" hair, the drugstore product might have been better. It was so good.)

Anyway, the anti-drugstore spiel that you get from hair stylists and that other people repeat over and over is another version of "it's better because it costs more." Some expensive products are great, and some are crappy; ditto for cheaper stuff like Pantene. Here's an good explanation of why people think cheap things are worse, even though there is little correspondence between cost and value today (h/t Liz, thanks!):


In the end, I also didn't get the haircut I wanted (if I can tuck them behind my ears, they aren't bangs!), and I had to leave to get lunch with some friends, so I couldn't stick around to get it fixed. But the most annoying part was the concern-trolling, nonsensical sales pitch. Experiences like these are why I don't relate much to people who find getting a hair cut relaxing. If you do, I guess I need to go to your stylist!

Poof! Review of Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk

Disclosure: Affiliate links.
I'm a big user of dry shampoo, since I have oily-yet-dry hair. If I can go a day without washing it, I will, to prevent the lengths from drying it out any more than necessary. But the roots get greasy quickly, so dry shampoo is absolutely necessary if I want to go more than 24 hours between washes. In fact, even if I wash my hair before bed, I usually need a little dry shampoo to get me through the next day without my hair going limp and stringy. In a pinch, corn starch works just fine. But sprays are usually easier and quicker to use, so I've tried (and reviewed) a lot of them in an attempt to identify my favorite one.

And I think I have found the best one! Only it's not the product I'm reviewing here. It's Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry, which costs about $8. The many other fragrances of Batiste presumably work just as well, but this is my favorite scent. I went through two cans last fall and winter and didn't have time to write up a proper review (just a quick one on Instagram). When I replace it, I will review it, finally.

In the meantime, I've been using Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk. Like many of the other pricier products I've reviewed here during the last year, I wouldn't have tried this if I hadn't been able to use Birchbox points to buy it. Even so, I got it in a Birchbox sale, so I didn't have to spend a full $20 worth of points on it. Klorane always pops up when people talk about their favorite dry shampoos, so I wanted to see if it was somehow better than the cheaper ones I've used. I've fallen into that trap before. It's not. But it does have some good qualities.

One of the most interesting things about this dry shampoo is the packaging. It's not an aerosol can. It's a flexible plastic bottle that you squeeze to send a poof of powder out of the nozzle. It works pretty well, although of course you can't get a continuous spray like you can with an aerosol, so you tend to end up with powder concentrated in certain spots. But non-aerosol dry shampoos seem to last a lot longer than aerosols. I just finished the Oscar Blandi powder reviewed here last week, and I've been alternating this Klorane with that since at least last December, and I think it's still about half full. (It also comes in a regular aerosol can.)

Update: How that John Frieda volume treatment actually works (from The Beauty Brains)

I posted that I'd had good results with the John Frieda 7-Day Volume Treatment a while ago, but I wasn't sure what was in it that made it work. The cosmetic chemists at The Beauty Brains have explained it all for us. It's the polyimide-1 ingredient that does it, if that means anything to you. They spell it all out at the link, so I won't repeat it here. Their conclusions seem to be the same as what I came to empirically: it will create some volume, though not a huge amount, which will last for a few days, and it will probably work better on some hair types than others.

(Note: They say that you need to blow dry after the first application to get it to really work, but I had increased volume when I just air dried as well.)

Instagram Mini Reviews

I'm away from home at the moment, and don't have the photos I need to finish any of the posts I've started recently. Instead, here's a quick round up of some mini reviews I've posted on Instagram in the last couple of months for those who don't use it. If you follow on Instagram: sorry - I'll have something more interesting for you soon.

It's a 10 Miracle Leave In Product

Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstick in Maple Kiss: On my lips here and swatch comparison here

Derma-e Evenly Radiant Brightening Day Crème SPF 15

Sally Hansen Triple Shine Making Waves: Nail swatch, then 4 days wear and 5 days wear

Suave Natural Infusion Strengthening Light Leave In Cream

Plus: how to paint your toenails without making a mess and my final Birchbox

Bigger Better Hair (Review of John Frieda 7-Day Volume In-Shower Treatment)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I got a mini bottle of John Frieda 7-Day Volume In-Shower Treatment from Target. They have interesting samples every now and then on this page, so it's worth bookmarking and checking when you think of it.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7-Day Volume Treatment

I didn't have high hopes for this product. Here are the claims, from the description on Amazon:

• Texturally transforms fine hair, leaving it full even after multiple washes
• Semi-permanent treatment establishes a base for volumized styling, achieving a look that was previously viewed as unattainable
• Works by penetrating into each fiber and amplifying each hair strand for lift that lasts through multiple washes

 I expected one of two possible outcomes:

1. It would make my hair rough, frizzy, or dry (i.e. "texturally transform" it), or; 
2. Nothing.

I was really pleasantly surprised with the results. The way this works is that, after shampooing and conditioning, you apply it all over your hair and leave it for about 5 minutes and then rinse. It doesn't replace shampooing and conditioning - it's an extra step. Some of the reviews on Amazon seem to have missed that point. Far from leaving my hair drier or duller, it actually made it softer and a tiny bit shinier. It seemed to add some extra conditioning so that I could easily brush through it while it was still wet without adding extra product (using the Wet Brush, which is magic and is something I really should review here - but still, sometimes it's easier than others, depending on my hair's condition). 

The volume increase was subtle but definitely noticeable. It doesn't create big, dramatic, country-singer hair like a volumizing powder will, but it adds extra volume and body throughout the hair, not just at the roots. It just looks like you have more, thicker hair.

For some reason, I had a hard time capturing the change in photos. I don't know if it's the lighting or the angle or what. A professional photographer I am not. But I do know that I didn't imagine the difference, because I used it multiple times to make sure it was doing what I thought it was doing. Here are before and after photos, both taken after I let my hair air dry and didn't add any additional product. The style doesn't look very cute, but I didn't want any extra steps to affect my comparison. (And obviously I need a trim.)

I've updated the photos to show the change more clearly. I used the same products in each photo (with the exception of the In Shower Treatment, which I only used for the after photo, of course). I also styles my hair the same way: partially air dried and then blow dried with a round brush.

Before:

After:

I think it looks like I have about 30% more hair. You can also compare this photo on Instagram, which shows my usual, flat hair, with this one or this one, both taken after using the treatment.

I do not have thin hair, but I have fine hair, and quite a lot of it. I think this may make me the ideal candidate for getting good results with this product. If you have thin hair, I suspect you will notice some results but not as obvious ones, because the more hairs it can thicken, the better. 

I honestly have no idea how this product works. Like I said, the texture of my hair doesn't feel rougher or stiffer, and it doesn't feel coated with anything - it just looks thicker. My hair has a tendency to hang there limply, and this stuff gives it a little more oomph. Is that clear and descriptive? Ha.

Here are the ingredients, in case you have any insight to provide:

Water, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Pvp, Polyquaternium-37, Vp/Va Copolymer, Cetyl Alcohol, Polyimide-1, Benzyl Alcohol, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Fragrance, Silicone Quaternium-18, Trideceth-6, Malic Acid, Trideceth-12, Glycine, Steartrimonium Chloride, Glycerin, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Pg-Propyl Silanetriol, Alcohol Denat., Amp-Isostearoyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Green 3.

Most of the first several ingredients seem to be things like emulsifiers and film formers that you would find in regular shampoos and conditioners. Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose absorbs water and prevents evaporation, so maybe what is happening is that it's keeping extra water in the strands of hair and plumping it that way. Here is an article on other hair thickening products from L'Oreal that seem to work in a similar way, which may provide some clues.

[ETA: The Beauty Brains explained that it's actually the polyimide-1 that is the magic ingredient.]

I still have enough left in my little bottle for one more round with this stuff, and then I think I will buy myself a bottle. It gives my hair a little extra life without blowdrying it upside down, which is what I do when I am not feeling too lazy (i.e. very occasionally). I wouldn't say the effects last a full 7 days, but they do last 4-5 days before the volume starts to decrease significantly.

I would recommend this product if you have sad, limp hair like mine and want a change. Right now Amazon has it for $6, making it the cheapest anywhere I've found it. Of course Amazon prices jump around all the time, so do your homework.

Anyone else tried this stuff or something similar? What kind of results did you have?

Empties 2015, Part III (Hair and Body)

Here are some more things I've finished up so far this year. It's kind of fun to keep track of this shit. It's nice to feel like I've accomplished something, even if it is incredibly fucking trivial. I finished a bottle of shampoo! Whatever! So many things in my life are incomplete, but that's not. Plus I have a record to look back at for future purchases.

Hair Products

Generally, I don't write much about shampoo and conditioner or foils, since the former are rarely exciting enough in a good or bad way to warrant comment, and the latter are usually too small to form an opinion about. In the absence of any other information, assume something is just fine. So this should be fairly short.

Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry: I've reviewed a bajillion dry shampoos on the blog here, but even though I went through two cans of this in the fall, and it's the best one I've tried yet, I haven't written a proper review of it. (Mini Instagram review here, though.) I'll do one with before and after photos when I buy some more, but first I have to use up some more expensive and less impressive dry shampoos (including the Oscar Blandi one reviewed here).

Davines OI Conditioner (mini)

Pantene Smooth & Sleek Shampoo and Conditioner (minis)

Carol's Daughter Sacred Tiare Anti-Breakage Anti-Frizz Leave-In Cream (mini): It didn't really seem to do anything. I don't have much frizz, per se, though I do get quite a bit of breakage. Maybe didn't use this regularly enough to notice a difference.

Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray (mini): I like this product, and it smells great. If I were in the market for another beach spray, I'd get this one. I used it to make loose waves in this post, which is maybe not the best advertisement for it. My favorite part is the spray nozzle, so I saved this bottle for some future purpose, to be determined.

Davines Minu shampoo (mini)

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Shampoo and Conditioner (foils)

Teadora Rainforest at Dusk Shampoo and Conditioner (minis): Smelled better that Rainforest at Dawn (mentioned here), but otherwise just as mediocre and overpriced.

DermOrganic Daily Conditioning Shampoo and Masque (minis)

Pantene Expert Age Defy Shampoo and Conditioner (foils)

L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Shampoo and Conditioner (foils)


Body Products

Unknown foaming body wash: Got it as a consumer trial, so I have no idea what it is. It comes out of the pump as a moussey foam, and I haven't seen anything like it in store yet. It lasted forever.

Essential Elements Wake Up Rosemary Body Lotion (mini): One of the endless fucking supply of hotel lotions Birchbox has been sending me. Very strongly scented; the initial rosemary fragrance fades quickly to just mint. Worked okay as a hand lotion.

Vitabath Fragrance Mist in Nouveau Rose: I got this from Influenster a million years ago (or October 2012, to be more precise). It had a perfectly fine rose scent, but I don't really use body sprays, so it took some creativity to finish it up. I used it as room freshener, fabric deodorizer, etc. Finally, when there was about an inch and a half of liquid left in the bottle, I just started spraying it on myself every single time I got out of the shower and that eventually killed it.

Nivea Extended Moisture Body Lotion (foil): Makes a good moisturizing hand lotion.

Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream: Spent some Birchbox points on this and used it for most of the winter. It has a nice, fresh grapefruit scent. I wasn't particularly impressed by it while I was using it, but when it was gone and I was left with other things, I missed it. It moisturized well without being greasy, yet it didn't leave my hands feeling really soft. I think I prefer hand creams with a little more silicone for a smoother sensation. While I liked it, I wouldn't spend real money on it, because it costs $15 for 2.5 oz. That's too much for hand cream.

Avon Haiku Roll-On Antiperspirant: I don't usually include deodorant in these things, but there it is. Pretty fragrance, incredibly fucking cheap ($2), and it works well, but there is something supremely unpleasant about rolling cold goo in your pits - and then flapping around like a chicken while you wait for it to dry.

Curel Intensive Healing Cream (mini): I think I finally only have 1.5 of these little tubs left. I use it as hand cream before bed. It's okay (reviewed here).

So that's that, though I still have photos of empty makeup and skincare stuff to post once I have a chance. Getting shit done.