Oh my goodness, March is gone already. I’m not exactly sure what caused it to rush by, but I know our little stomach bug did not help. I hope this post finds you healthy and happy, I know I’m glad to be feeling better. I’m sharing my March Favorites today, four things that made my March better in some way. By the way, this post is not sponsored by any of the companies I mention below. I have not received any of these products for free or been paid to give my opinion. I just really love and use all of them and want to share them with you! Some (not all) of them have affiliate programs, which means if you decide to purchase one of the products, I will receive a small commission for the purchase. This does not affect the price that you pay! Thanks for supporting the running of this blog!
First up is a company called Everlane. I actually discovered them over the summer, but I added to my collection in March and I’m so happy I did. I consider them my go to for basics now. I currently have three tanks and one long sleeve t shirt from them, and I can see my collection expanding in the future. What I love most about this company is the quality at such an affordable price. I have had no problems with shrinking, pilling, or a shirt losing it’s shape. The shirts are so soft and comfortable, and for a price that isn’t that much more than Old Navy, I feel the quality is easily three times as good. If you check out Everlane’s website you will see why. They are an online only company, cutting out the need for paying brick and mortar related costs. The other reason I love this company is because of their shipping policy. I shop online almost exclusively these days, thanks to two small children, and some stores always charge shipping or make you purchase a large amount to qualify for free shipping. Everlane has free shipping on orders of two items or more. My first order with them I purchased two items, the first one I didn’t like and the second one was the wrong size. They quickly did an exchange for a new size and I did not have to pay for the return shipping on the item I didn’t like. Their official policy is that if you return for store credit, you don’t have to pay for the return shipping and you will also get free shipping when you use the store credit. My one complaint would be that the fabric is sheer enough that I need to layer when I’m wearing white, but maybe that goes for white shirts in general? Overall I have found them so easy to work with and love the quality of the clothing that I have tried.
I own the cotton tank, the Ryan tank, and the Ryan long sleeve tee.
I mentioned briefly in a previous post that I have started drawing. I have always had an interest in art but thought that I wasn’t good at it. I read a book that changed my mind, and I’ll share more about that soon. But one of my favorite finds for March was The Virtual Instructor, a web based class series for tons of different art mediums. There are classes for drawing, painting with acrylics, oils and watercolors, learning to use oil and soft pastels, and how to use colored pencils.
It is a paid membership for most of the classes, but there are quite a lot of free videos and articles that I have found to be so helpful. I haven’t gotten a membership yet, but once I feel like I would like to go deeper into the content, I think I will sign up. I have limited time to work on this hobby, so I haven’t made it through all the free material yet, but I’m learning a lot and having a lot of fun. If art has ever been an interest for you, consider checking it out at www.thevirtualinstructor.com.
Ok, don’t judge me for this next one: I love dry shampoo. I’m a fairly recent convert, and have only been using it for a few months. But it seriously has changed my life. My husband thinks it is a little gross, so hopefully you won’t. I promise I’m a clean person. But I don’t have the time, energy, or desire to wash, dry and style my hair every day. Even though it’s a pixie cut right now, that’s still about 15 minutes that I could spend doing something else, like preventing my daughters from trashing my house. Because you know that is exactly what they will be doing while I’m distracted by the noise of the hairdryer. It happens every time. I’ve tried four different brands so far, which has led me to believe that they are not created equal. The first one I tried was based on a bloggers recommendation, Sexy Hair Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Dry Shampoo.
This one was way too much for my hair. It felt like I had baby powder in my hair and really dried it out. However, I should point out that I have very fine hair and it’s normal/dry, not oily hardly ever. So while this product worked great for the blogger, it was awful for me. The next one I tried because it came in my Birchbox. (I talk more about Birchbox in this post) Sexy Hair had kind of scared me off of dry shampoo, but I’m really glad I got this one in my box. It goes to show that just because a certain product doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it doesn’t work at all, it might just mean that you need to try a different formula of that product. Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray is my favorite that I’ve tried, but is also the priciest at $44 for 8.5oz.
Birch box does have a rewards points program, which means I could get it for less than that if I could be patient enough to save up some points. I got it in my box almost a year ago, but I remember it having a light scent, no powdery feeling in my hair, and it gave my hair some texture. I really liked that feature for the days that I actually washed my hair too, sometimes my fine hair can be kind of flat on wash day. A few months later I received a sample of R+Co Death Valley Dry Shampoo.
This one is my second favorite and a little cheaper at $29 for 6.3oz. It smells AMAZING. Just a tiny bit of powdery feeling but not too bad, and it gave me great texture. This is probably the one that I will purchase next, after I finish the rest of the sample of Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo that I got in another box.
I’m making it sound like Birchbox sends you the same kinds of products over and over, and that’s really not the case. You can customize your settings and have some control over the samples that they send you. I’m happy with the variety of samples that I’ve been getting over the last year. But back to Klorane. This one is just kind of meh for me. I like that it’s $20, which makes it seem cheaper and I don’t have to shell out as much cash at once. But if you do the math, it’s really about the same as the others because it’s only 3.2oz. So to sum up, my favorites are Oribe and R+Co Death Valley, and don’t be afraid to shop around and try different brands until your find one that works for your hair type. Most retailers will accept returns for a product that you really don’t like. (Sephora, Ulta, Salons etc.)
Finally, I have an inexpensive remedy for a super annoying problem. Curling rug corners. (Also, yes this is a sneak peek of the new rug I purchased for the Master Bedroom. I know it’s the longest wait for a reveal ever, but gotta follow the budget…You can see the before pictures of the Master Bedroom in this post.)
Maybe you all already know about these and I’ve just been oblivious, but these are a rug curling game changer. Of course, this is only the second large area rug I’ve owned in my life, so it has been a relatively knew problem for me. The NeverCurl sticks to the underside of the corners of your rug so that it doesn’t curl up and trip you every time your walk through the room. Which in turn protects your rug from fraying.
They are really easy to apply and only $13 for a set of four. So glad I found these.
That’s it for March Favorites, I’d love to hear about products that made your March better, tell me in the comments!
