Cosmetic products that offer more bang for our buck

With all the cosmetics out there, everyone has their favorite products and brands. I've found a number of cosmetics products that offer more bang for their buck. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean make up that is good for more than just one thing. From muli-cosmetic purpose to even household use, here are some products I like that are budget friendly:

1.  As you all know, I LOVE Urban Decay products. Urban Decay does not always fit into a frugal budget.  That's why I jump on the deals and sales they offer.  One product in particular that I absolutely love because of it's unique purpose is Urban Decay's Transforming Potion.   While it regularly sells for $18 a pop, I just scored this item on Hautelook.com for $5!  What does it do?  Well it's basically a clear liquid eyeliner that turns any of your eye shadows or blushes into an eyeliner.  So let's say you really love that glittery purple eyeshadow you own and wished for an eyeliner like it?  well here you go.  You get the idea. Instead of buying a brown, black, blue, purple, white, etc liner just get this and use it with your shadows or blushes.  I found it on Amazon too for just $10:
















2.  AVON's ultra color rich 24k gold lipstick.  This product had a number colors including golden raisin, golden rose and a few others.  the 24k gold color is simply a gold colored lipstick with real 24k gold dust in it.  This product is great alone especially with a tan in the summer.  BUT the 24k gold color in particular I love for another reason.  You know that lipstick you bought a while back that you don't wear.  Ya you know the one that you put on that was too dark, or maybe it was too bright, or was just too bland for you.  Well put that lipstick on and put the 24k gold over top.  Wala, it lightens up that dark color, changes the color of that bright color, and adds sparkle and definition to that bland color.  This product is currently not available on the AVON site but you can find it by searching online OR ask your AVON rep.  They may have a few on hand. 

3.  Clear nail polish -- of course you can use clear nail polish alone on your nails for a shiny look.  It can also be used as a top and bottom coat for your nail color to make your color last longer.  Those things you already knew.  You can also use it to temporarily stop that runner in your pantyhose.  Come on ladies, you're in a hurry your pull up your panty hose only to find that once you wiggled into them there's a run starting at the thigh.  You don't have time to change but you're worried it'll be a huge runner buy dinner.  That's ok, take your clear nail polish and lightly dab it around the runner .  It will temporarily stop the runner and save your look for the evening.  Any clear nail polish will do from wet n' wild to SpaRituals Laquer Lock basecoat found on Apothica.com




4.  e.l.f. shimmering facial whip -- love this product.  I own several colors.  At only $1 a pop you can afford to try them.  These can be used as a blush, eyeshadow, or even a lip shimmer.  It is long lasting too.  If you were to buy only one though I'd recommend like Camilia.  It's a very versatile shade for all the aspects  Or choose the color Spotlight to ad a shimmer anywhere you want.  Mix this one with a blush or eyeshadow to create a beautiful shimmery new look for your colors.


5.  fine glitter --- fine glitter can be used in a lot of craft projects but it's also a nice beauty tool for those nights you just want to sparkle.  Here some tips on how to use fine glitter to shimmer your look for the summer:
--mix a little fine glitter with some petroleum jelly to create your own body glitter alternatively you can mix some fine glitter into your body lotion or a shimmer.

--Use your clear nail polish i listed above, while wet, sprinkle some fine glitter over your nails.  Allow it to dry then paint another clear coat over top to hold it. 




These are just a few products.  If you want more, let me know.  I'd be happy to do another post.  Have fun, look pretty, save money.



Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More

Deals & clearance finds at Target!

I was all excited to figure out this sweet deal at Target yesterday all by myself, only to return home and find it posted about on several blogs I read. Oops! Well, the deal was, Target had a printable coupon for $3 off 2 John Frieda products. There was a $3 off Root Awakening by John Frieda coupon from the 5/1 SmartSource paper insert, of which I had two. In total, it would be $9 off two Root Awakening products.

When I got to Target, the Root Awakening products were marked as $7-something a piece, which was still an OK deal with $9 off. But when I got to the register, they rang up as $5.09! They were on price cut but were lacking the signs that said so.

So I paid $1.18 (or $0.59 a bottle) for shampoo and conditioner that's usually $7-something a piece!

These Old Spice body wash sets were on clearance for $2.80, originally $4. The set includes a 16 oz (regular size) bottle and a 8.4 oz half-size one. We had a coupon for buy-one-get-one-free Old Spice body wash, which worked with this set! So we got two sets - two full size and two half sized bottles - for only $2.80. There's only one set shown in the picture because my brother already took the other :)

I also found these e.l.f. makeup sets on clearance. E.l.f. is cheap enough already, most of their products being $1, but it's good quality stuff. These sets were $4.99 for 5 products, but were marked down to $2.50! One set has 3 different color liquid eyeliners and 2 eyeliner pencils (one shimmer and one brightening) with built-in sharpeners, and the other has 4 dual-color eyeshadows and a double-sided eyeliner pencil and eyeshadow brush. I don't know what I'm going to do with so much eyeliner, but I couldn't resist the deal!

Get 20% off e.l.f. orders and support Japan earthquake/tsunami relief!

 

The awesome budget-friendly makeup brand Eyeslipsface (more commonly known as e.l.f.) is having a wonderful promotion right now - use code JAPAN at checkout to score 20% off your order (max discount $100) and they will donate 5% of your total to Red Cross! Code is valid until April 10th. You can also get 4% cash back on all purchases when you click through Ebates!

Get 10 free mineral eyeshadows with a $25 order at e.l.f.!

Get 10 free mineral eyeshadows with any $25 purchase at e.l.f.! Add $25 worth of stuff to your cart, then add 10 mineral eyeshadows and use code MINTEN to get them all for free (a $30 value)! I did this last time there was a code for it and I LOVE my eyeshadows! Such a good deal! Tomorrow (2/13) will be the last day you can use this code, so go shop now!

e.l.f. daily deals

Another one jumping on the daily deal bandwagon: e.l.f.! Every day they will feature a new daily deal with prices slashed dramatically! Today's deal is the entire Mineral Brush Collection - which includes 12 brushes, a case, and brush cleaner - a $71 item for only $35. It's limited to 1000 and will only be available for purchase for 24 hours.

What's more is you can cast your vote for future deals. A selection is showcased at the bottom of the page, and the ones that get the most "likes" will  be featured. It's not mentioned whether their daily deals will be a limited-time thing, or something they will  be doing regularly now, but either way it looks like fun!

Get a free gift card with your e.l.f. order!

E.l.f. is having a price-tiered gift card offer available now until November 21st!

Spend $50 and get a $25 gift card back with code CB25
Spend $25 and get a $10 gift card back with code CB10
Spend $15 and get a $5 gift card back with code CB5

Limit $25 in gift cards per person.

Half off mineral makeup at e.l.f.!

E.l.f. is having a 4 day sale on their mineral line! Get 50% off all mineral items (brushes too!) with a minimum purchase of $20 - up to a discount of $100! Their mineral stuff is already really cheap and great quality, and would be a great idea for holiday presents! Use code MHHALF at checkout, valid until 11/14.

25 cent shipping at e.l.f. today!

E.l.f. sold 25 million products today, so they're offering shipping for only 25c as a thank you to all customers! Enter 25FOR25 at checkout. This is only good until 1am EST today, so shop quickly! Also, 100 lucky shoppers will win a $25 gift card for orders placed today!

Update! The free shipping sale has been extended an extra 25 hours! It now ends at 2:00 am EST November 11th (or the night of the 10th, depending on how you look at it)

My e.l.f. order and coupon codes!

I made my first order to e.l.f. after my post the other day about their time-limited sale. E.l.f. is really my kind of brand! They're super cheap, have tons of promotions and coupon codes available, and an entire mineral line that's free of talc and parabens! They shipped super fast (I received my order 3 days after placing it) and everything I've tried so far works nicely!

The total for my entire order (all you see in the photo) including $6.95 shipping was only $39.95! For 10 mineral eyeshadows, 2 eyeshadow pallets, eyeshadow primer, mineral foundation, mineral powder, mineral blush, mineral blemish kit, lip stain, kabuki brush, and a free gift of lip gloss (got by giving up 3 email addresses - which I don't recommend you do to anyone you like because they will be flooded with emails!) Considering comparable brands charge $28 for one single mineral foundation, this is beyond cheap!

There were various codes available, including the 50% off one I posted about, but the one I ended up using got me 10 free mineral eyeshadows! Yes, TEN!! What am I going to do with 10 shades of eyeshadow when I'm predictably boring and always use the same color every day? Who knows. But I couldn't pass up the deal. The code is 10SHADES and requires a minimum $30 purchase. Add at least $30 worth of stuff you want, then add 10 eyeshadows, then add the promo code. It will remove the price of the 10 eyeshadows (which is $30) leaving you with your original total and 10 free eyeshadows!

I also subscribed to their mailing list under an email address I didn't order with, and they've been sending me tons of promo emails tempting me to place an order. I'm thinking they have special email deals they send to people who HAVEN'T ordered yet, so the deals are limited to first-time buyers. I suggest signing up if you're looking to place an order, and order when a good deal strikes (they've all said "expires in 48 hours"). I've been getting emails every day, and every day it's different. They're also different from the emails I'm getting at the address I DID order with... complicated!

Anyway, I think the first-time buyer deals are probably not ones everyone can use. But in addition to the 10SHADES coupon, the following deals should be valid for everyone:

- Free mini makeup collection ($80 value) with $10 purchase or more. Use code MINI expires 10/25
- 10% off your order EGTENAZ no known expiry
- 50% off the first $15 of any order (max $7.50 off) GTLHW2 expires 10/31
- 50% off eye makeup and brushes (I hear it's max discount of $100 - huge!) EYES50 expires 10/31
- Buy one get one half off everything (must buy two of everything) ECD17

You might also want to try this code for $1.98 shipping on any order over $15: ECD6 - but I'm not sure if it will work for everyone. Don't forget that you can only use ONE coupon code per order, so choose wisely! There is no Ebates cash back available, but MyPoints users will get 3 points per dollar.

Happy shopping :)