Ulta isn't for everyone. It'd be nice if Ulta were for everyone, but unfortunately, some of us have pockets that aren't quite that heavy or full. Thankfully, Dollar Tree seems to be showing up for those of us who have to pay rent and student loans.
My ~luxury Dollar Tree~ experience is new. It took maturity for me to go back to the Dollar Tree. It took me spending way too much at Ulta, CVS, and even Wal-Greens. It took me realizing that if something works, it doesn't matter where it came from.
Here are a few things I've found on those green and gray shelves and am currently in love with.
Spa + Scentials Coastal Cream Hydrating Body Perfume Oil
Scent: ★★★★☆
Lasting Power: ★★☆☆☆
Chemicals: ★★★☆☆
Can you find better elsewhere? Probably
Smells heavenly, but seems to last for about an hour at most. I've tried boosting it by pairing it with a body lotion that would match its scent, but all I could smell was myself after about two hours.
I'm still experimenting with this one. I'm confident that I can find a way to make it last longer. I haven't discovered that way just yet.
At the bare minimum, this is worth buying just for yourself.
B-Pure Vitamin C Illuminating Body Lotion
Scent: ★★★☆☆
Lasting Power: ★★★★☆
Chemicals: ★★★☆☆
Can you find better elsewhere? Probably
In all honesty, I likely won't be buying this one again. I haven't been using it for long enough to reasonably expect any changes, but when i tell you that the smell of this lotion is a powerful enough reason to put me off of it, I mean that.
If you like citrusy scents, this would be the perfect base for some scent layering. I was positively walloped by just how much like a lemon this lotion smelled like.
Lovely reader, I'm not sure how many times a day you apply lotion, but I try my best to hit that twice a day mark as much as possible. Listen: I'm a person who wants the softest, most glowing skin ever. I'd apply lotion on the hour every hour if I could.
With this lotion, I genuinely do not feel that I have to apply it more than once. My skin still feels hydrated, supple, and glowing long after initial application.
But with the amount of chemicals on it and the way I dislike this scent, I'm not sure how useful it is. I struggle to review this product specifically. The scent is such a minor thing in the grand scheme, but such a major reason why I dislike it.
I'll update you all on this one. If I empty the bottle and find my skin truly radiant, I'll overlook the smell. If I empty it and find my skin to be the same, I'll demand to speak to the manager.
(I won't, but I think it's funny to pretend that I'm the sort of person who would.)
Spa + Scentials Bright Paradise Body Perfume Oil
Scent: ★★★☆☆
Lasting Power: ★☆☆☆☆
Chemicals: ★★★☆☆
Can you find better elsewhere? Absolutely
I like this one so much less than I like the Coastal Cream. Coastal Cream is a Coastal Dream, a fragrance wonderful enough that I see no issue in reapplying it multiple times throughout the day. But Bright Paradise? Repplaying it would feel like more of a chore. I can absolutely find this fragrance elsewhere, and I will find a fragrance like this that will last longer and be more powerful.
This is a warm, playful scent that immediately brings to mind beaches, summer fun, and flirtation. The moment it is on your skin, however, it seems to last long enough to sustain a single thought before it's gone.
This particular scent can be found anywhere, and with much greater lasting power. This is such a popular and timeless scent that I have no issue with recommending you find a more expensive version of this if you enjoy it.
Scent: ★★☆☆☆
Lasting Power: ???
Chemicals: ★★☆☆☆
Can you find better elsewhere? Probably
I mostly just included this to alert my fellow Dollar Tree baddies that there is, in fact, snail mucin at the Dollar Tree. This is the first time I've found it at my local Dollar Tree. Yes, I bought multiple bottles of it just in case.
I haven't used this yet, but I will say:
The smell of it makes me nauseous, personally. This is also the first snail mucin product I've ever used, so maybe I just don't enjoy the smell of it at all.
There are more chemicals included in this product than I've found in other snail mucin products. If you're the sort of Baddie that tries to avoid excess chemicals, I'd research this one before using it.
There's another snail mucin product that I've been recommended but have yet to try. I wonder if this one might be the superior product?
Let's be clear: being happy for someone who has precisely what you want is not an easy task. It's like you're back on the playground, watching as the popular kids show off their new shoes while you're stuck with sand in your shoes on account of the fact that your big toe is sticking out of the split in the shoe's seam. Was it ever easy to be happy for a classmate who just so happens to be going on your dream vacation? Be honest. Was it possible? Yes. Was it easy? Not at all.
I've dreamt of marriage from childhood. Dear reader, how can I possibly number the times I've fallen asleep to visions of myself walking down the aisle to my one and only, forever and ever? How can I ever recite the vows I've written on paper that ended up in a trash can? I could describe the rings I've gazed at longingly, but neither you nor I have the patience to sit through my sparkling-eyed daydreaming.
When my coworker described what her boyfriend had planned for her birthday, I knew at once that she was on the road to a relationship evolution. It was all too perfect, too mysterious: her boyfriend had been working extra hours for the last two months straight; had taken her to window shop for jewelry two weeks ago; and had announced he'd planned her birthday out from start to finish. How much clearer could a man be? Outside of just coming right out and saying it, I'm not sure.
Needless to say, the start of a new work week was coupled with a new accessory bedazzling the manicured finger of my much, much younger coworker.
It's not about me. There's not a place for me in this situation. It has absolutely nothing to do with me, or my feelings, or my age, or my spinsterhood, or my undying need to be chosen by a handsome or beautiful person to spend the rest of their life with.
Boy howdy, dear reader. My imaginary table was overturned by such a wave of joy and jealousy in equal measure as I peered down at that gorgeous ring on the finger that means my coworker has experienced one of the most beautiful moments in a person's life: a moment of public, loud, and firm commitment.
I fed the happiness before I fed the jealousy. I thought about how badly she'd mentioned wanting to marry her boyfriend; how kind of a person she was and how much she deserved happiness. And I thought about how devoted her boyfriend seemed to be: he regularly takes long trips away from his workplace to surprise her on her breaks and seems so nervous, so awkward, so bashful whenever he walks in and asks for her.
But now I'm home, sat with an emotional playlist vibrating my eardrum, and all I can think about is how much I wish I was able to say that my life was headed in such a beautiful direction as hers.
Instead of making wedding plans, I'm making recovery plans. Instead of shopping for wedding dresses, I'm window shopping for clothes that fit the person I want to be. Instead of getting teary-eyed over the promise of a shared future with another person, I'm dabbing my waterline with a tissue over financial stress and loneliness.
There can be an even middle ground, though, and I'm working so very hard on finding it. I am feeding that happiness relentlessly, replacing each thought of "Why not me?" with thoughts of "It should be and is her." I'm also allowing myself to feel that turmoil, that regret, that frustration. I'm allowing myself to feel it temporarily.
Because, after all, she does deserve happiness. She deserves a devoted partner. She deserves to blush and get flustered over her absolutely gorgeous ring.
Just as you deserve it. Just as I deserve it. And just as it'll all come to fruition if only we have hope.
just yesterday, i was on a forum for a fandom i'm in.
the topic was:
being a late bloomer and interacting with the fandom in question.
the main characters of the show are all early bloomers,
or just bloomers,
or anything at all besides late bloomers.
so watching the show as a late bloomer is an odd and unique experience.
i commented on my experience watching the show as a late bloomer, and the person who initiated the topic replied to me and said:
"congratulations on blooming!"
which my mind then interpreted as a beautiful sentiment like
"congratulations on blooming at all!"
which filled me with unbearable degrees of gratitude as someone raised by a family of people who never got the chance to bloom
and as someone who is very lucky to have wrestled over the issue of blooming at all
how lucky is it to come of age?
how lucky are we to discover ourselves?
to receive that comment in a time when i feel so lost and uncertain of myself, when my identity is a big question mark, when I never truly know what I really want or desire out of this lifetime--
"congrats on the blooming!"
meant more to me than anyone will ever fully know.
I am here, back on the blog that raised me, staring at the screen with a can of Redd's Wicked Apple Ale in one hand and my phone in the other.
I have work tomorrow. I have important work tomorrow. I have the sort of work that makes things go to hell if you call out. I have the sort of work that people rely on you showing up for. I have work that I should be proud of, but feel a little angsty over. It's not artistic, bougie, or fresh in any way, shape, or form. I'm the person that people joke--to my face, mind you--that they hate to speak to.
I am here, the latest of bloomers: someone who is only just now beginning to come into themselves. According to my culture's rulebook, I should have my own house, a successful and cemented career, a husband, and 2.5 kids. Instead, I have tons of medical debt, a career field that I've only been in for 6 months, a handful of girls and guys that have turned me down, and a few succulents I forget to water and nearly kill even though they only need to be watered once a month.
I am nothing special. I am your typical modern day human being.
And I, unfortunately, have a very loud mouth and need everyone to hear my innermost thoughts. So, as I begin to try to get better--as I try to free myself of old addictions and habits and thought patterns--and as I unravel the path I've taken to get here, I'm doing so out loud and in the open so everyone can see.
