Some of My Favorite eBay Buys Under $1 SHIPPED

I wanted to do a little post on some of my favorite things on eBay that you can purchase for just a dollar SHIPPED!

It sure takes a long time to get arrive, but for only a dollar, who can complain?

First thing is crystal necklace charms. These little charms dazzle and sparkle so much in real life. They look VERY MUCH like Swarovski, but at a minimal cost. At just a dollar each, you can collect a multitude of these in different colors and shapes. If you get one, and see how gorgeous they are, you'll want MORE.

HERE is the real Swarovski heart pendant for $100! I think not! I love designer stuff too but not when the cheaper version looks better!

Next up is false lashes. You can get 10 (TEN!) pairs shipped for just 99 cents! They are nice too. I've gotten a bunch of these, and I think they are wonderful. Just don't get the extremely dense ones like these:

I just find these too thick to be natural looking...

Over knee socks or thigh socks! I love these. They are pretty popular in Asia but very hard to find here in the US, ESPECIALLY for such a great price!

Phone covers. Whether your thing is cutesy like Hello Kitty or artistic, they've got one for you and at super cheap! Mine are from eBay and they are nicer than the more expensive ones that I've seen at the mall.

Finally, I just find these sleep masks to be so cute and funny. I've got a husband who loves to stay up really late next to me reading, and eye masks make such a difference for me in getting a good night's sleep.

NYX Eye Shadow Palette vs. Coastal Scents Eye Shadow Palette

So, recently, I've been on this eye shadow craze. Based on online reviews and bloggers, the two lower cost eye shadows with great quality are NYX and Coastal Scents.

Some people love NYX so much that they buy tons of single NYX eyeshadows. Seeing how addictive this was, I decided to buy a palette to save money and not have that never ending lust for more eye shadow singles.

The crazy thing is you can get NYX Eyeshadow Palette S104 78 colors for $25.00 with free shipping! <--This was the best price I was able to get it for. You can also get it HERE sometimes on sale. I liked the NYX Eyeshadow Palette S104, because it had 78 colors including a huge array of fantastic vivid colors like purple, orange, yellow, etc, but the majority were commonly used neutrals.

Coastal Scents was reputed to have even higher pigmentation than NYX, so I purchased this as well. For Coastal Scents, after much research, I picked Coastal Scents 78 Piece Makeup Palette. <--- This is only $16.11 (free shipping) with subscribe and save. It has 78 pieces, mostly eyeshadow, but also 6 beautiful blush shades. I chose this palette once again because while it consisted mostly of everyday neutrals, it also had many choices of bright vivid colors.

Now, both of them arrived to me safe and sound and I can do the review! :)

Not that this matters all that much, but the packaging from NYX looked A LOT more professional. It was glossy and the design was very pretty.

Cardboard box aside, the NYX S104 palette was very well built. It was extremely professional looking and the hinges were nice quality. The Coastal Scents was just a plastic flap. Applicators from both products were not that great, but I've never come across a great foam eye shadow applicator. Most people use separate brushes with these palettes anyway.

You get a good quantity of eye shadows that should last you a VERY long time! Even though the eye shadow pots are small, the colors are super pigmented so not a whole lot is needed. Going through one small pot would take me a very long time! The NYX S104 palette has some more product holding 3.13 oz. The Coastal Scents 78 palette holds 2.45 oz.

Now, on to the stuff that matters! quality of the eye shadows! Top row is NYX; bottom is Coastal Scents. As you can see, both palettes have some very pigmented shades. While most of the eye shadows in each of the palettes are highly pigmented, a few of the eye shadows are not.

The crazy thing is that I wore NYX eye shadows for over an hour working out sweating, and the NYX stayed on FLAWLESSLY. And, I have very oily eyelids to begin with!

NYX S104 Palette Ratings (Remember, I'm a tough critic) :

Packaging- 7.5

Pigmentation- 8.5

Lasting Power- 9

Blendability- 8.5

Smoothness- 9

Coastal Scents 78 Palette Ratings:

Packaging- 3

Pigmentation- 7.5

Lasting Power- 8

Blendability- 8

Smoothness- 9

Both palettes are great buys and perform VERY well. However, doing this over again, I'd definitely only purchase the NYX Eyeshadow Palette S104!

Wet and Wild Color Icon Eye Shadow Trios Plus Abercrombie Outfit

So, recently, I've been doing a lot of research on eye shadow. I've always been a strictly eyeliner girl. But, I finally realized that eye shadow does wonders in enlarging the eyes and adding a look of softness. So, I read the heck out of eye shadows. Come to find out, the most popular low cost eye shadows online by bloggers and reviewers are:

1. Wet and Wild Color Icon- Walmart, Kmart, Walgreens and Sears

2. NYX Eyeshadow Palette S104 Can also be found HERE

3. Coastal Scents 78 Piece Makeup Palette <-- best price. I did subscribe and save and got this 78 piece set for $16.11 with free shipping! After the item was shipped, I unsubscribed.

I purchased all three... reviews of NYX and Coastal Scents will follow. :) This post focuses on Wet and Wild Color Icon.

Of the Wet and Wild Color Icon, I purchased 6 trio palettes. They include: I'm Feeling Retro, I Dream of Greenie, Spoiled Brat, Walking on Eggshells, Sweet as Candy, and Don't Steal My Thunder.

Swatches:

I only swiped once in the color and applied. No multiple swipes to increase pigmentation.

I got I'm Feeling Retro, I Dream of Greenie and Spoiled Brat for $1.99 each! The others were $2.97 each. You can only get that price from Kmart. Other places, the trios all run about $3. Don't bother running to Rite Aid, CVS, and Target; they don't carry Color Icon.

So, why is Wet and Wild Color Icon eyeshadows so popular???

Well, the pigmentation is great. I have VERY oily eyelids, and they withstood much longer than anything I've tried before. I used THIS as a primer (not meant as a primer, but amazing as one), a very well known comparable substitute to the infamous Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Original (nude dries invisibly) .34 fl oz (10 ml).

It is also EXTREMELY SMOOTH and SUPER blendable! This is very hard to find amongst cheaper eye shadows. Plus the color trios work so well together, takes the brainwork out of eye shadow application! :D

Finally, the W&W Color Icons consist of many MAC dupes for a ridiculously cheaper price. It is well known that many of the Color Icons are very VERY close in quality to expensive MAC eye shadows. They also have a duo-chrome effect which is very hard to find once again in eye shadows.

It is so surprising that Wet and Wild came out with such a well respected makeup product and at an unbelievable price. I remember buying this W&W as a teeny bopper, and the quality was SO bad, but it was all my teeny bopper wallet could handle. :D DEFINITELY better than the other drugstore brand eye shadows I've tried in the past!

My favorite trio was Sweet as Candy. Though it's definitely very natural but oh so sweet and flattering combo!

Here I am with Spoiled Brat:

I don't put a whole lot of eye shadow unless I'm going out at night... so sorry that it's not too visible... and I need to learn how to smile. :P

Products used:

Foundation: EverydayMinerals.com

Bronzer: EverydayMinerals.com

Lips: Blistex Lip Tone

Eye Inner Corners: L'Oreal HiP Color Chrome eyeliner in Lightning Flash

Eye Shadow: Wet and Wild Color Icon Trio in Spoiled Brat

Eyelashes: Self constructed falsies made from $0.99 for 10 pair eyelashes. See PREVIOUS POST about this.

Rating of Color Icon: (I'm a tough critic)

Pigmentation- 8 out of 10

Duo Chrome Effect- 9 out of 10

Lasting Power- 6.5 out of 10

Blendability- 8 out of 10

Buy again? - YES

And, here is a pic of my outfit that day. I just LOVE flouncy low-waisted mini skirts like THIS one!

DIY High SPF Foundation

This is a post on how I apply foundation most days. Mind you, I've come to this technique after experimenting with many different products.

I have oily skin, and almost every foundation causes my face to breakout. Everyday Minerals has been the most non-reactive product I have ever tried. The coverage that they offer is extremely impressive for a powder. And, yes, I have tried Bare Escentuals. That was awful by the way. Bare Escentuals don't have many color choices and the shades left me looking a little like a pumpkin. Plus, my skin would get bumpy and blotchy after a few wears. Everything about Bare Escentuals was inferior, price, coverage, color, lasting power... NOT good!

I'm also very aware of the aging effects of the sun. So, I try to wear facial sunscreen everyday.

But, when you have oily skin, wear sunscreen (prefer Neutrogena and Aveeno) underneath, the coverage from any foundation or powder will not last very long.

Plus, the following guide on how to create your own high SPF foundation is really useful as most foundations currently have no more than SPF 15.

So, pretty darn simple...

1. Squeeze some sunscreen face lotion onto hand.

I use a mix of fairly summer and beige neutral to create my shade.
2. Mix powder(s) with sunscreen!
3. Apply the mixture to your face using clean fingers. That's it; you're done. If you want a very matte or fuller coverage, add a dusting of powder to your face using a brush.
4. Also, optional, using a concealer brush, conceal any blemishes or use concealer brush to highlight chin, under eyes, forehead and nose bridge.

This has been the healthiest way of applying foundation for me. Not only do I get great protection from the sun, my face has never reacted negatively to this blend of sunscreen and Everyday Minerals powder. Plus, it's WAY more economical than buying foundation with built in high SPF. Good luck just trying to find it!

Do It Yourself:Fancy False Lashes

A tutorial on how to change simple cheap lashes to more flattering lashes!

You may have seen these false lashes before on eBay. They sell for a measly $0.99 shipped for 10 pairs of false eyelashes.

They are not the greatest quality but SUPER great for under $1 for 10 pairs. That's 10 cents for every pair of false lashes. The only problem with these lashes is that they either tend to be too sparse or too thick, never just the right amount of drama and naturalness. Here's a tutorial on do it yourself how to add thickness to false eyelashes!

99 cent eyelashes for every 10 pairs!

You will also need:

scissors to trim lashes

a piece of foil, toothpic, or q-tip to apply the glue to lashes

Ardell LashTite Adhesive (<--recommended) or regular temporary eyelash glue

Step 1: Trim the lashes

I always cut 1/4 of it off like below. I don't like my false lashes to be full length. It tends to be unnatural looking and much harder to apply.

Step 2: I take the ardell lashtite glue and apply a little to the smaller part where the lashes are supposed to touch your skin. Then I stick the smaller 1/4 length lashes to where I want it on the longer 3/4 lashes:

Here is the final result. See how the altered lashes are thicker, it does look much nicer on the eye!

You can be really creative with this. Here's another style that I made using this technique. This time, I used two different lashes: A sparse spikey lash and overly thick fake looking lashes. I cut the a third of the really thick lashes into little pieces. I trimmed the sparse lashes down to 2/3 as before:
Glue them together and voila!:
Hope this helped!

Recent Shopping Haul

So, I wanted to share with you my recent shopping haul! I got a yummie tummie tank from Ruelala, and false lower lashes!

I've never tried lower false lashes so this was interesting. Here they are:
I just purchased these 2 sets from eBay. Took forever to ship here but they were really cheap.

ok... so my honest opinion? False lower lashes are so over-rated! There's a reason why they haven't really caught on here in the US. Here's a pic of one eye with false lower lashes and one without:

As my husband puts it, one eye just looks caked with mascara.... Plus, they are 20 times harder applying than upper falsies!

And, from farther away, you can't really tell that much. Upper false lashes totally transform one's eyes but lower false lashes don't make the eyes look that much prettier... imo...

See? The eyes almost looks the same...

Plus, I can feel the lower lashes after a little while and it's not unpleasant, but a little annoying.

So, on to the Yummie Tummie tank. After all that positive review from Oprah and so many others, this was a total disappointment!

For those of you, who don't know what yummie tummie is... it's a tank top with a waist shaper built in the middle! Awesome idea, right? You see why I was curious?!

I got an xs which is for waist size 23-25 which is what I am. But, it was too big to hold anything in! It looks just like a regular tank!

In fact, in some ways, it's even less attractive than a regular tank! It tends to gather around the smallest part of your waist. And, as it's not tight around my waist, you can see every groove and shape (like where my rib cage ends) under the mid section area!

So, if you are smaller, don't get Yummie Tummie; they don't make it in your size; xs is the smallest. :(

For reference, I'm 5'5" at 100 lbs.