Friday, May 28, 2010

Memorial Day Madness

Whether you are sipping cosmos poolside this Memorial Day weekend, or sneaking cosmos into the new Sex and the City movie, I hope you all have a great one! I will probably be doing both, and also checking out the sales online. Here are a few online retailers that are having sales this weekend:

Trish McEvoy
20% off sale-May 25-27th enter code: MEMORIAL2 at checkout
Clinique is giving away a suntote with any 2 Sun, Self Sun, or City Block items. Enter code: SUNTOTE at checkout
Lady Foot Locker (it's almost beach season, the perfect time to start working out!) has $10 off a $50 purchase, just enter code: IP23T552 at checkout
If you want to skip the workouts, Walgreen's is having a sale on QuickTrim. I have never used it, but the ads with Kim and Kloe Kardashian make it look like it works like magic...or maybe that's photoshop trickery.
Walgreen's is also having a buy one get one 1/2 off sale on Almay and Covergirl.
$5 off a $25 order at Sally Beauty Supply (online only) enter code: 555942
$25 off a $125 online purchase, just enter code: 555944
Sephora has a few good deals this weekend, and samples! Enter DRBRANDT at checkout, for sensitive skin samples by Dr. Brandt, and enter SUNDUO at checkout for free Shiseido samples

Have a great, long, weekend! I will be back next week with more samples and product reviews.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Sample Me This

I love getting free samples. Perfume samples are my favorite, and I like to keep them in every purse, and makeup case. I hoard mini sized samples of lotions, skincare, and face washes and use them when I travel. Samples are also a great way to try before you buy.

Asking for samples at a beauty counter can be intimidating. I feel like sales people lock them away and only give them out when you purchase hundreds of dollars in products. Stores like Sephora are great for samples, because with every online purchase you get 3 samples of your choice. They will also make you a sample from any perfume in the store.

I found a few websites this week that are giving away samples. I'm going to make this a weekly feature, so check back next week for more:
Dove Haircare Sample
Crest Whitestrips Sample
Playtex Gentle Glide
Tampax Pearl
Lemon Body Scrub
Dr. Scholls Insert Sample
Nivea Touch of Happiness

Monday, May 17, 2010

How it all Began

From the moment I felt my first lipgloss glide across my lips, I was in love. I was 12 and I wore Bonne Bell Lip Smackers in Dr. Pepper. To me, this was lipgloss. It was clear, rather tasty, and created a sunlit shine to my lips. It was light enough, where I could wear it everyday and the sugary taste made it addictive.

Pretty soon, I wanted more out of my lipgloss and wanted to add a punch of color to the mix. Being a preteen and not having an older sister to look up to, I had the next best thing...Madonna. Madonna was (and still is) the biggest thing around when I was growing up. She was everywhere, and had the most amazing, unique, style. I wanted to be just like her, but I was overweight, my skin looked like an erupting volcano, and my hair was as curly and big as a Halloween clown wig. I couldn't afford her clothes, I didn't have her hair, but I could copy her makeup. I watched the Borderline video about 5 inches away from my small 80's television and took notes on her look. The recipe called for bright lips, jet black eyeliner, 8-10 coats of mascara, heavy eyebrows and a touch of badass. I had the makeup part down at least.

I wasn't allowed to pluck my eyebrows at this time, so I already had the heavy Madge brow down. For the eyes, I used a 50 cent Jordana black eyeliner I bought at my local pharmacy and burned it at the end to make it darker (a trick I learned from my older, much cooler, cousin). As for the lips, I used Wet N' Wild lipstick in shade 202, which is a neon shade of pink which screamed "I'm from Jersey and I like Camaros". The whole "look" cost me under $5 but made me feel like $100 (this was a lot of money to me when I was 12).

So, from that time on, my love affair with makeup and fashion had begun. I still like to recreate looks in fashion and makeup, and am still pretty broke....but the pretty part is one part that counts :) You can be gorgeous on a budget, and look as posh as Victoria Beckham on the salary of a VH1 reality show castoff. You just have to know how to shop, and what to buy (or not buy), and that is what this blog is all about.