When I last posted, I had 5 items leaving above those which entered my collection this month. This particular post is going to mess with that number quite a bit. Hopefully, by the end of the month, I can again move that number to a more balanced position.

First of all, cutting my hair quite short brought to light (literally) some scalp issues I’ve had going on. To be honest, this was part of the reason I cut off my hair. I thought I could likely get a handle on those issues if I just had less hair in general. But, once I cut my hair, I needed to pick up a few things that I knew were likely to help.

I have found that the best way to deal with my particular issues seems to be with salicylic acid. I’ve used the Lush superbalm before, one container lasts me quite a long time. It works very well when things are feeling at their worst, but it can also be a formula that’s difficult to use on longer hair. They seem to have reformulated it a bit since the last time I purchased it, and this is a welcome change. Getting it to the scalp between long strands of hair is tough, but even tougher was washing the greasy mess back out. It’s very thick and greasy. With super short hair, I can apply it only to the particularly problematic areas and in the morning I can easily just wipe it back off my head. (Yes, I leave it on overnight even though it suggests 20 minutes.)

Since things were at their worst, I also picked up some Neutrogena t-sal as a support shampoo for the treatment I am applying to myself. Already I’ve seen great improvements, everything is healing up nicely and I am excited to see my scalp return to normal, especially since it is so entirely visible right now.

At Lush, I was asked if I wanted a sample. Naturally, I said yes! And I picked up a sample of the sleepy body wash, something I haven’t tried before. This one should move out of my collection again relatively quickly.

We are desperately close to finishing up at least two sunscreens. With upcoming beach vacation, I thought I’d better get a replenish of my favorite going. I had a 20% off coupon, and these two together were much less expensive than they would be separately. I bet we use at least one of them up during vacation time anyhow.

Which brings us, already, to 5 products in. Balanced. But wait. Here’s the “ugh.”

I purchased two products and they came with a boatload of samples. I wanted to add vitamin c to my skincare routine, and I’ve heard good things about Mad Hippie. It was on sale and I picked some up. It came with a sample. Also, I wanted to pick up a mac NW 13 foundation because I am beginning to conclude that this is my closest mac color match, despite being told otherwise. (The lights in the shop always lie. Always.) And that came with a boatload of primer samples, something I am relatively frustrated with since my primer collection is completely overflowing anyhow. Who knew during my makeup journey that I would actively get annoyed at receiving samples in an order?!?! I just shoved all of these samples in a drawer for now, but maybe I can work through a few before the end of the month. For the above photo, 8 items entered my collection. But wait, there’s more!

I needed to pick up some hair product for my newly short hair. I decided to try out the powder play by big sexy hair. I’ve heard good things. It’s going well. Very well! This is a texturizing powder that helps create the volume and height I am looking for with the hair that is still longer at the top of my head.

I have wanted to pick up another colourpop super shock shadow, so I did. I use this one in conjunction with the darker one I already had to create a very easy eye look when I don’t want to mess around with a full look. I use the light shade on the inner part of my lid and the darker shade on the outer part of my lid. Then I go in with my bronzer as a crease color, fluffing that toward my transition area. That’s it. Once done, it looks pulled together and fresh and like I really tried even though I spent likely less than a minute on the look.

And, Miss Butterfly decluttered a highlight to me. This was a highlight she received in an ipsy bag. This was called Daisy and Pearl natural radiance booster. It’s very pretty but it’s a bit too dark for Miss Butterfly. She’s been using it as an eyeshadow. But, she’s got enough palettes in her collection right now to serve that purpose so she decided I might get use out of it. I am happy to have it in my collection, it does look lovely! That’s another 3 items in, 11 items out of balance. That’s really going to be tough to whittle down by the end of the month, but we’ll see what I can do.