Very Honestly Me: Sometimes you just have to splurge!

I grew up in a home where we used Suave hair products, generic brand just about everything, and we reused mini m&m containers (perfect for bobbys and q-tips), sour cream tubs, etc. My mom has always been very frugal, and I applaud her for it. Her and my Grandma Jojo frequent the D.I. and are always able to find some seriously great treasures. If either of them ever say "guess where I got this", we all automatically know that it came from 'their store'. My Grandma Gigi is 93, and has a lot of memories and some seriously great advice from her young years during the depression. She has taught me to save, recycle, reuse, and keep out of debt. She doesn't waste anything, and she makes sure we don't waste it either. Now for those of you who may be thinking we were poor, it's absolutely not the case. I never needed anything more than my parents were able to provide me, and I lived a very comfortable life. My mom just knew how to live well on a dime, she's kind of awesome like that.

I had a few years there when I was first living on my own that I strayed away from this frugal frame of mind, and got into some serious debt because of it. My mom being the angel she is sat down with me and helped me figure out how I (not she) was going to pay off my Nordstroms, Victoria's Secret, American Eagle, Target, and Old Navy credit cards (there may have been a few more I'm forgetting). Let me just remind you real fast that this was close to 10 years ago, and I really have learned from my horrible mistakes. Moving on... Now that I've grown up, and seen the light; I've become a lot more like my mom when it comes to pinching my pennies. I buy Kroger, I have decent couponing skills, I shop at the DI (although not as well as mom and Grandma JoJo), and I squeeze every last ounce of lotion or toothpaste out of their bottles (just like Grandma Gigi taught me).

Anyways... getting to my original point of this whole post. Our finances have been tight the past year, so I have really cut back on some of the more expensive name brand products I like to 'splurge' on. But I just have to say, there are some things you just can't skimp on. Now if there are any men reading this post, I'm about to lose you here, but I just have to say - One of those things us women should not skimp on is foundation.

I started using Bare Minerals Foundation back in 2011, and was amazed at the difference it made in the way my face looked, and the way it felt during wear and after. It gave my face a beautiful flawless look without feeling like I was wearing a thick mask of crap, and clogging all my pores. My friend was working for a company that sales Bare Minerals products, and she was able to get me a steal of a deal on my makeup. Then last year money got tight, my friend got laid off of her job meaning no more sweet deals for me, and my Bare Minerals ran out. So I resorted to the unused foundations that were sitting in my makeup box, in the hopes of saving money. I quickly remembered there was a reason they were sitting unused, and decided it was time to go out and buy something new. I went to the grocery store and bought Loreal True Match. It was cheap, I needed cheap. I've been using it, mixed with a darker shade of Mary Kay foundation for going on 5 or more months now. I use both because I like to highlight and contour my face.... Every girl should do this! If you don't know how to do it, watch this awesome tutorial. She's one of my favorites, and has some seriously great tips! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd9GCnHntcs

I'm not sure if mixing the two different foundations is what was causing the problem, or if it was just the fact that I was using a cheap $7 powder foundation, but my face was not happy, and therefore I was not happy. I felt like I had to cake on the foundation to give me an overall smooth look. This turned into a snowball effect - more powder = more breakouts. But the more breakouts I had the more powder I wanted to use to cover up.

Finally two days ago I just had Enough! I went and bought some Bare Minerals Original Foundation for $27.00. I know it's pricey, but here's the deal; with how little I end up using each day (compared to how quickly I went through the Loreal) I end up saving money in the long run. For the past two days I've been using only Bare Escentuals, and already it's making the difference. I've been using their Youth Revealed before bed and in the morning, as well as the Mineral Veil, Foundation, and blushes.

So the moral of this post is....

This - http://www.beautyencounter.com/buy/l-oreal-true-match-super-blendable-compact-makeup-neutral-spf-17-sunscreen/071249136652/158526/2