Archive | September 2014

Tips for Buying Beauty Products on EBay

Sep30

I love to shop for beauty products.  I like trying new stuff.   I usually get most of my skin care products at Ulta.  I’m a rewards member and often have coupons.  I really like Neutrogena Rapid Tone Repair Moisturizer with sunscreen. It has a broad spectrum SPF of 30, which is crucial.  I’ve been using it for about 6 months now.   The bottle is 1 ounce and lasts me about a month, using it every day.  I have seen a marked improvement in the tone of my skin.  I had a few sun spots that have virtually faded to nothing. It has also softened some of my wrinkles.

I’ve been spending around $20 a month for one bottle.   I try to get it on sale when I can.  After doing some research, I’ve discovered that EBay has the best price.  I recently paid $10.50 for my last bottle of my new favorite day cream.

Today I checked the price on several websites, they are as follows:

Walmart.com-$17.97, Ulta.com-$21.99, Walgreens.com-$23.49 and Ebay.com $12.50 with free shipping.  I recommend buying products you use all the time on EBay.  I did buy a ROC moisturizer a month ago on EBay for half of what it normally costs. I read positive reviews; however it ended up irritating my skin, so I stopped using it. Had I bought the ROC at Ulta, I could have returned it.

Make sure to check for an expiration date when shopping on EBay.  Sunscreen will break down after one year, and not be as effective.

EBay is a great place to buy perfume too.  I have purchased perfume that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else for a reasonable price.  I can’t remember the last time I bought fragrance at a department store.  The best value on fragrance seems to be when you buy a gift set. One thing I have noticed on fragrance lotion is, once it’s opened the scent doesn’t last for very long.  If you aren’t going to be using it the all the time, I would skip it.

I love when I can shop from my couch and get great deals. Plus no coupons to clip!

Just call me Morty, but my name is Sally!

Sep19

Ok, what is going on with my body? I swear I’m turning into an old man, but I’m a middle aged woman! WTH??? I have hair growing in weird places. Like hair coming out of my nose, black hair, and I’m blonde! I have more pubic hair growing down the back of my legs than in my pubic area. Is it trying to escape? Is it migrating towards my feet? Don’t get me started on the hair on my face? If I didn’t shave it off, I’d be a dead ringer for Grizzly Adams.

I know your body changes when you go through menopause (which I’ve been in for five years), but this is ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, I like not having periods anymore. I would take them back in a heartbeat to not have all of this extra hair. Oh, and did I mention that the hair on my head would be going south if it wasn’t for the wonder elixir Rogaine? I’m just a middle aged hot mess!

I exercise five days a week, for an hour at a time just to maintain my weight. Do you think my legs might be a bit toned after walking 15 miles a week? Oh hell no! I have lost all of the muscle tone in my body. My shorts go to my knees and my shirts stop at my elbows. I know I should lift weights to firm up, but who has time after exercising an hour a day five times a week.

If anyone can suggest a good workout to firm up, I would really appreciate it. Now if you will excuse me while I go and trim my nose hair, and shave the back of my thighs! Good grief!

Quadraboob Quandary

Sep18

I’m going to a wedding in a few weeks.  A dear friend’s daughter is getting married in October.  Her other daughter got married this past May.  I broke down and wore a dress with panty hose for the May reception.  The last time I wore a dress was when this same friend got remarried 7 years ago. As you can probably guess, I rarely dress up, let alone wear a dress.  My friend said “Oh, just wear the same dress in October; just wear some black tights with it.”  Now if all of the same people weren’t going to be at this wedding I may have considered this, but we have a lot of mutual friends. So that was not an option.  I decided to pull out an animal print dress I bought a decade ago for a class reunion I never attended.  I bought the dress online specifically for my reunion, but have never worn it.  It’s a sleeveless shift dress with a black long jacket.  The jacket has animal print on the collar and down the front.  It’s actually a very nice outfit.

I tried in on, it fit! Yeah!  My weight has been up and down over the years, so I wasn’t sure it would fit.  After admiring my reflection for a while, (I had to really get a good look, as I was wearing some old glasses and couldn’t see too well), I thought it would work.  I found some nice shoes, put on the accessories I was going to wear, and thought ‘hey there good lookin’, you don’t look half bad for a middle-aged woman’.

The wedding is early in the day, and the reception is several hours later. Having this in mind, I wanted to make sure my ensemble was comfortable. I sat down, took the jacket off on the rare chance I might get my husband to dance with me.  Then I noticed it.  It being the strange way the top of the dress fit.  After I put on some newer glasses, I saw it. OMG! The dress fit well, but cut my chest in half horizontally, mid nipple.  I thought, oh crap, I have a quadraboob. How that word even popped in my head is anybody’s guess.  My ‘girls’ are big, so it was pretty darn noticeable. I have a rare talent of retaining absolutely useless information.  I’m sure I heard quadraboob sometime in my life.  I Googled it, and was aghast when I saw the photos.  Those quadraboobs were just ill-fitting bras with some major spillage going on.  They didn’t look like they had four boobs, just boobs falling out of the top.  I didn’t see any photos of what I had going on.  Thank god I put on those newer glasses.

I can just hear those people at the reception now, “Hey, check out the chick with the four boobs on the dance floor.”  Geez, maybe I should just wear the same dress with tights, and different glasses.

 

Oh Dollar Tree, how I love thee!-Maybelline Colorshow Nail Tattoos

Sep17

Just picked up these Maybelline Colorshow Nail Tattoos at Dollar Tree a few days ago.  They are so flipping fun! Super easy to apply, and they look cool.  Of course they are discontinued, but I did find them on EBay for $5. Score one for me.  The fact that I’m a bean counter makes these even more fun.005

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Sally Hansen Insta- Dry Top Coat-Review

Sep13

Sally Hansen Insta DryLet me start off by saying I’ve been painting my nails for more than 40 years.  Now you may think I’m older than dirt, but I know a thing or three about make-up.  I do my own nails and have for years.  I’ve neglected my nails for long periods of time, especially when my son was small, I was going to school and working full time.  I discovered Sally Hansen Insta- Dry Top coat a few years ago.  Before I discovered this awesome top coat, painting my nails was usually an ordeal, that’s why I did it so rarely.

This top coat changed everything for me.  That sounds corny, but when you don’t have a lot of time to wait around for your nails to dry, you just don’t do your nails.  I now do my nails before I go to bed.  You heard correctly, right before I go to bed.  No sheet imprints, smudges, anything.  It is simply amazing.

My co-workers tease me because I have different polish on every other day.  I’m in to nail art these days, so I go a little longer with the same polish.  You simply apply your regular polish, wait two minutes, and then apply the Insta-Dri.  After 30 seconds, it’s dry to the touch.  I go to bed, and wake up with a perfect manicure.  Our two dogs sleep with us, and I toss and turn a lot when I sleep, but nothing smudges my polish.  I only wish this stuff came in a bigger bottle.  It works with any brand of polish. Try it; you will be glad you did.  I usually buy it at Wal-Mart for under $5. When I’ve used the top coat with Sally Hansen polish, it looks like a gel manicure, and lasts for days without a touch up.  It’s nice to find a product that actually does what it’s advertised to do.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sally-Hansen-Insta-Dri-Anti-Chip-Top-Coat/10322333

Sept. 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag Review

Sep13

Yippee! I got my September Ipsy glam bag today.  Lots of good stuff.  The cosmetic bag is a pewter colored bag with silver studs.  The five items I received are as follows:  Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair deep conditioning mask for hair.  I can’t wait to try this, as I color my hair and need a deep conditioner. Leeanni Eco 3 in 1 Revolution Light, a toner, serum and moisturizer combined.  Sounds like this will save me some time in the morning. Pacifica Natural Minerals eyeliner pencil in brown. Hikari lipstick in Cabernet, which is a dark pink, matte lipstick. Last, but certainly not least is a Crown Crease/Shadow brush.  This is the third eye make-up brush I’ve gotten from Ipsy.  I love the fact the brush is a dual brush.  The bristles are very soft, and the brush is well made.

I wasn’t real crazy about the lipstick, as the color was a bit too bright for me. I wish I had a purse that looked like the cosmetic bag for this month.  I’m such a little kid waiting for my bag each month.  I knew it was coming today, and had my hubby throw the pink package upstairs to me after he got the mail.  He asked me how I knew it came today, and I told him I saw the fuchsia package as he was walking up the driveway. I will most likely give the lipstick to my niece.  She loves getting packages from her aunty, because she knows she’s getting some great hair, make up and skin care products.

Sept. 2014 Ipsy Glam Baghttp://www.ipsy.com

A Sugar Cookie for Mom

Sep9

My fifteen year old son brought me a sugar cookie today from school.  He has one every day with his lunch, and has told me how yummy they are.  While this may not seem like a big deal, it’s a huge deal to me.  You see my son’s only surviving grandmother passed away suddenly about ten days ago.  Prior to that day he was a typical 15 year old boy, he barely spoke to me, always playing his computer games, smart mouth, etc. If I tried to hug him, he would act like he was dying.

I only have one child.  My son and I were very close when he was little. Once puberty kicked in, that all changed.  He doesn’t talk much and is painfully shy.  I on the other hand can talk to anyone, anytime or anyplace.  He has a hard time making friends, and doesn’t seem to care to meet new people.  He was very close to his grandmother.  She spent a lot of time with him.  She lived close by, and was in good health.  Often picking up our son after school and taking him to the dollar store, or for ice cream.  She was a dear woman.

My husband is devastated by the sudden loss of his mother, as am I.  We just saw her the week before she passed.  We live in the same area, and would see my in-laws several times a month. We encourage our son to try and make friends, but he’s been rejected so many times, it’s like he’s given up.  As a parent, it’s heartbreaking to watch your child be rejected by others.  I just want to tell those kids what an awesome person my son is, and how they are missing out by not wanting to be his friend. We as parents can only do so much. Our greatest wish is for our children to be happy.

In the past few months, I’ve been trying to go for some stealth hugs and kisses from my son.  He hasn’t be recoiling like he was six months ago, so I thought I was making some progress.  He’s a sophomore in high school, and I have come to the realization that he will be leaving for college in a few years.  My mother in-law was a shining example of a good mother.  She was always there for her children, and they were her life.

Our lives get busy and we sometimes forget just how precious our children are.  My heart breaks for my husband, his siblings, and my father in-law. When I said good bye to my dear mother in-law at the funeral home, I told her I would take care of her son and her husband.  I will do my best to honor her, because that’s exactly what she would do.