SUPER SHOPPING SECRET #8

This week's Super Shopping Secret is http://www.overstock.com/. I'm sure you have heard of overstock.com. They have commercials on TV that mostly promote the availability of electronics and jewelry on their site. Overstock also has great clothing and accessories. They carry great designer labels like Anne Klein, BCBG, Betsey Johnson, Calvin Klein, DKNY, IZOD, Jones New York, Liz Claiborne, London Fog, MICHAEL by Michael Kors, and Tahari. Some of their most unique and pretty things are by labels you may have never heard of. This is my favorite place to shop for cute tops. I posted a photo of some of my favorites that I've purchased from their site. Items are returnable and one of the best things is that the cost of shipping for your entire order is only $2.95!

Rock & Republic Haul

This is my Rock & Republic cosmetic haul. I purchased all of these items from http://www.hautelook.com/ which was one of my super shopping secrets. I got everything at 40% off. I had never heard of Rock & Republic cosmetics, but when I saw all the beautiful colors I fell in love with them. When my order came in I was not disappointed at all. This is the happiest I've been with a cosmetics purchase in a long time.

First of all, the packaging was so luxurious. All the items come in beautiful shiny black boxes. Then when you open them up, the compacts that contain the eyeshadows and blushes are so beautiful and very heavy. They all contain mirrors. I was surprised at how large the blushes were. They are absolutely huge so you get a lot of product for your money. The glosses are also very large. And one of the things I love most about the glosses are that they are very pigmented. Many glosses are so sheer that when you put them on you lose the color completely. These may be used in lieu of lipstick. The eyeshadow colors are top left to right: Chain Link, Spy, and Asphalt
Middle left to right: Tempting, Exile, and Affair
Bottom left to right: Nailed, Snakeskin, and Diffused Blush colors left to right are: Tease (a plum pink), Spank (pink), and Call Me (peach)
Lip Gloss colors left to right are: Mistress and Sexy Beast.
This is my favorite color combo right now. Blush: Tease (plum pink). Eyeshadow combo left to right: Asphalt which is a matte charcoal color for the lower lid to the crease, Tempting which is a beautiful smoky purple for just above the crease, and Chain Link which is a very light and sheer silver for the brow bone. I switch out my lip gloss because both of these go really well. The one on top is Sexy Beast which is a plum color. The bottom one is Mistress which is more of a neutral color. Both gorgeous!

You may purchase their cosmetics, clothing and accessories on their website at http://www.rockandrepublic.com/ but they also sell their cosmetics at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdales. They are pricey which is why it pays to subscribe to their website so they can send you offers and to sign up for other designer discount websites I've mentioned like Hautelook, RueLaLa, and more.

DISAPPOINTING PRODUCTS

I thought I would give you a list of things I've tried that I didn't like. Of course this is my personal opinion based on my personal experience. So here it goes...

1. NARS blush in Orgasm. I can't tell you how many times I have read that this blush is universally flattering. Well, guess what? It's not. Too orangey and sparkly for me.

2. Stila eyeshadow in Kitten. Ditto above. Year after year this eyeshadow color pops up in magazine articles. I tried it. Twice. Returned it both times. Too sheer and sparkly and gold. Did not compliment my fair skin or my age.

3. Make Up Forever's HD (High Definition) Foundation. Wasn't impressed at all with this.

4. Perfectly Amazing Concealer. This is touted at one of the best concealers out there. I don't agree. Returned it.

5. Covergirl Outlast Lipstain. This is like using a marker to color your lips. I like the idea, but it didn't wear well at all.

6. Dermadoctor skincare line. I bought it for my sensitive skin. Ended up returning it.

7. Bumpits. This is supposed to give your hair that fullness at the crown like a 60s hairdo. Well, I followed the directions to the letter, but no matter what I did you could see the bumpit through my hair. I have a cousin that also tried it and had the same problem. It was also returned.

Do you have any products that disappointed you? Did you try some of the items I mentioned above and have a different experience? I would love to hear from you...

LASH STATS

I came across some interesting statistics in the October issue of InStyle magazine. They are as follows:
1) 70 - Average amount of times a woman swipes her mascara wand over both eyes.
I find this hard to believe. I will have to count when I am applying my mascara tomorrow. I think I average 36-40. We will see. It would be fun if some of you would let me know what your count is so we can see if they are right!
2) 230 - Lashes on the eyelids (top & bottom).
3) 0.4 Inches - Length of the average lash.
4) 42 - Days in a lash's life span. Who knew or cared?
5) 6 months - after which you should toss open mascaras (they are no longer resistant to bacteria). Do you follow the 6 month rule?

All this lash talk led me to another question. Would any of you consider using a lash growth serum such as Latisse which is available only by prescription? I would love to hear from you all!

Great sale today at Hautelook.com

Just a quick update. Hautelook.com is offering Mario Badescu at 20-24% off today. Like I said before, I've never seen MB on sale except for on these discount web-sites. Also, today they are offering really nice Invicta watches at 75% off! You can get a $695 watch for $173. And Tahari coats are 55% off. I just thought they had some great sales today and wanted to share. I will be posting a real blog article later today.

Super Shopping Secret #7

This week's Super Shopping Secret is http://www.smartbargains.com/. They have fabulous clothes and accessories. They offer labels like Anne Klein, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Michael Kors, BCBG, Kenneth Cole, Tahari and more. I bought an awesome Ellen Tracy dress there last year. I get compliments on it every time I wear it. Happy Shopping!

Organizing Clutter - Part III

I thought today I would talk about organizing our thoughts, and I could think of no better place to begin than where I keep all my ideas for this blog. Yes, I keep them in this lovely Wonder Woman notebook. When I saw this it just made me smile. You have to understand that I grew up watching Wonder Woman. While my Mom had role models like Donna Reed and June Cleaver, I grew up with Charlie's Angels and Wonder Woman. I just thought a Wonder Woman notebook was the perfect place to keep my notes. She was smart, beautiful and strong. Perfectly capable of taking care of herself. The same could be said for Charlie's Angels, but Wonder Woman got to wear a really cool superhero outfit with cuff bracelets and go-go boots! I guess I've gotten off track here. Anyhoo, I'm an avid listmaker and this is where I keep all my topics listed as well as my list of potential Celebrities of the week.

As far as day to day notes, I have a tiny little moleskin notebook my cousin bought me at Barnes and Noble. This notebook is so small, thin and light that it is perfect to carry around in your purse. Some of the things I jot down in it are songs I hear on the radio that I want to download onto my IPOD. If I find a pair of pants in a store but they don't have my size, I will write down all the info off the tag and go to another store to try to find it. I also write down books I would like to read and other random things. It comes in handy when you need to write down someone's address or phone number. You know, you always need a piece of paper for something. Target sells similar little notebooks in a 3 pack for $1.99. You can get them with lined notepaper or graph paper.

At work, my two obsessions are my calendar and my post-it notes. How in the world did we ever live without post-its? I love the mini post-its. They are great to flag pages in books or magazines, and I've been known to use them as book markers when I'm in a pinch.

My desk calendar shows one week per page. I write my activities down on each day of the week so I know where I'm supposed to be and at what time. It's just nice to have a visual of what's going on, not only today, but the rest of the week. It keeps me from forgetting occasions or double-booking myself. And at the beginning of each year, I transfer over all my family and friends' birthdays so I don't miss them. For my personal use, my husband buys me a Mary Engelbreit calendar every Christmas. I just love her artwork. It is so cheerful and sweet.