ULTA...Some Fun for Valentine's Day

I don't love Ulta as much as I love Sephora...I think having non-prestige cosmetics is a sell-out, but in the interest of supporting a store that does carry a limited selection of prestige I do shop there occasionally.; not to mention they have crazy good sales and specials going on almost all of the time.

From now until Valentine's Day when you order online you get a free makeup bag with eight free samples with a purchase over $35. Caveat: It's a stupid clear bag and the samples are those useless packets but they are free and, therefore, excite me very much. Also, every ULTA brand item is buy two get two free right now, I already cashed in on this one in store and bought four body scrubs @ $10/each for $20!

Suggestion: make a shopping bag filled with your favorite goodies, pick your free samples, throw in some extra stuff just because it's Valentine's Day :) and leave your computer strategically placed so your man will see it and purchase everything on your list for your gift! Thank you, I am a genius!

I Found Out What's Wrong With My Face!

Hurrah!! I am just going with what the dermatologist said because I haven't heard it before so I am going to assume it is correct. YAY, there is something I can do to fix it all! I have something-or-other dermatitis that is causing my eye problems, something-or-else-other dermatitis around my mouth, and psoriasis on my scalp (gross!). My derm said that it was a severe case of bad luck that this all happened at the same time. I blame stress so I will attribute the improvement in my skin to the Wii Fit (see previous post:).

I have been using the products/skin regimen she recommended for only 5 days and I can't believe the difference. Everything literally looks almost normal again! I am taking an oral antibiotic and, am washing my face with CeraVe cleanser then applying Protopic around my eyes and an anti-bacterial lotion around my mouth. I have a cortisone liquid solution to put on my scalp. Fun fact, it is literally 39% alcohol, I wonder if I just dipped my head in a vat of vodka each day if it would be the same difference. I am following all this up with CeraVe moisturizing cream. It's all quite nice. Also, with my new skin care regimen, I have a lot more stuff to swap on Makeup Alley! According to my Derm I should be able to use my regular makeup and once this mess on my face gets cleared up it should stay away!

Wii Fit & Relaxation...the Best of Both Worlds!!!

I got a Wii Fit a few weeks ago and LOVE it!! The last month or so has been so stressful and I have had so much fun getting a little bit of exercise playing games and not thinking about things that have to be done. I got the Wii Fit Plus at Target for $99. The Plus has an extra set of games that are super fun. There are also balance games, aerobics, yoga positions, and strength exercises. I admit that I definitely play the new games and the balance games much more than the other choices but I try to do a few of those just for posterity. My favorites are the hula hoop, skateboarding, and the obstacle course.

I do have to say that while it is very fun and you are certainly burning more calories that sitting on the couch, the Wii Fit is not going to replace a regular workout schedule. I am using it in addition to my workouts at the gym, cardio exclusively, and do it everyday for the body test. It measures your BMI and weight and records it. It definitely helps me to see it on a graph and is a really great and easy way to keep track of exercise and weight without having to write it down, which I never remember to do.

ENDING TODAY...Banana Republic Sale

One of my favorite places for work clothes, the Banana, is having a great sale on work attire. 25% off work styles, online only. Be careful of ordering online from the Banana if you don't know what cut pants you wear. They have a few different cuts, which I definitely appreciate, but they fit wildly differently, even in the same sizes. One style of their wide-leg dress pants (not my favorite but maybe it's yours) starts at $49.99, HELLO!

Best Beauty Tips

I am finally getting around to going through the ridiculously large pile of magazines that I get in the mail and don't have time to read. I am determined to go through at least one each day until I get them out of my house, which isn't really hard because once I get started, I usually read three or four at a time. Could you have guessed that I love magazines??

An InStyle from this summer had a list of the 50 Best Beauty Tips and I thought I would pick out the best ones and share. Some of these I actually hadn't heard before and will be trying ASAP!
- Make your own dry shampoo - I have posted before about one of my favorite hair products, Pssssst! Dry Shampoo. I do love it but I go through it quickly since I only wash my hair two or three times a week (try it, don't be a hater!). I pay $7/can at CVS but I am going to make my own, per this InStyle recommendation, and save some money!! Just mix equal parts Baking Soda and Baby Powder. Sprinkle it through hair, leave in for maybe a minute, fluff hair, then brush out...gorgeous!! I can't wait to try this!

- Make your own volumizing spray - take two sugar packets and put them in a 20 oz. bottle of water. Spray in hair for instant volume. I haven't tried this one but it was recommended by Oscar Blandi so I am just going to assume it's a great tip.

- Wash your face with dandruff shampoo? - this sounds a little fishy to me but with all the trouble I've been having with my eyes I am definitely going to try it. According to InStyle, washing your face with dandruff shampoo decreases yeast levels which cause scaly skin. Who knew? Well, InStyle I guess.
- Last but not least...make your own cream blush - I am all over this one! Take old/cracked powder blushes and crush them up in a bowl with the back of a spoon. Mix the powder with regular old lip balm (I'm going to use Burt's Bees) and, poof, you have cream blush. I use cream blush under my powder blush since my oily skin sucks up powder color so I can't wait to mix a few of my old powder blushes together and make some new colors of cream blush...FUN!

Swagbucks Redux

It's been a week since I started messing with the Swagbucks and it's going alright so far. As you might notice, I did remove the widgets from the side of the blog, they were just too unsightly. I have been using the search engine that I downloaded and get a buck or two every day. I have 15 just from this week. That is enough swagbucks for a bunch of things, the only ones that I might be interested in are a few different CD's (not all of which are complete crap) and several different $5 gift cards. I am going to continue saving the swagbucks though and will probably wait until I have several hundred so I can get a gift card...YAY!

Portero Luxery Louis Vuitton Event

One of my favorite websites, www.porteroluxery, sells premium pre-owned luxury goods. Trust me, I'm not talking about "vintage" crap that is disintegrating, most of their items look fabulous and their website is so fun to browse through when you are trying to not be doing something else! They also rate their bags with ratings like "pristine" and "excellent" and provide a great description of what these terms mean when they are rating so you will never be surprised!

Right now they are having a Louis Vuitton even with bags up to 63% (that's a weird percentage, right?) off and some bags starting under $200...SCORE! The only thing I see right now that I love is the LV Damier Azur Canvas Saleya MM Tote Bag, excellent condition, retail = $1,050, portero price = $683, percent off = 35%. Check it out though, maybe you'll see something you love and can't live without.

Just a side-note, I certainly don't want to be false advertising that I'm going to go right now and drop $683 on a LV, I am not. In my fantasy world, though, I already bought it:)