Showing posts with label Deals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deals. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

I Won't Spend More Than 10! Part One

One of the reasons I started this blog was to be able to share affordable nail polish with everyone. As a personal choice and financial choice I will not pay more than $10 on nail polish. I have nothing against higher end brands and I definitely encourage anyone who wants to purchase a higher end brand to go for it! However, I know many of us are living in a day in age where we need to save our money, but saving money doesn't mean you can't still have fun and enjoy great products!

The next 3 days I'm going to showcase the drugstore brands I'm familiar with including their pros and cons. All the brands I'll be featuring will be between $1-$10. Today I'll start with the lower end ($1-$3), tomorrow will be moderate end ($3-$6)and Friday will be higher end ($7-10). My pros and cons on these brands are purely my opinion, so I do not mean to offend if I may find something I don't like in product you love. Also, the price ranges I came up are averages based off of stores and e-tailers. You will sometimes see these products for more or less in other places. The bottles I'll be showing are not necessarily favorites just ones I picked out to use for the pictures. I hope with these next few posts I can help shed some light on drugstore brands, give you shopping ideas, and help keep more money in your pocket!

International Readers: See bottom of post. I would love some help from you. :)


Low End $1-$3


Frankens


Featured Colors: Red Giant, Firecracker, Mythical Forest, & London Fog
Price: $1+
Pros:
- Most creative & less expensive option
-Create your own colors using colors in bottles you already have, mixing makeup pigments/glitters in clear polish, and etc.
Cons:
-Polishes this way can become goopy make sure put some silver balls (BB pellets found at Walmart) so the polish can mix properly. Also nail polish thinner can help thin out the polishes.

E.L.F.


Featured Color: Coral
Price: $1
Where to buy: E.L.F website, some Targets, and K-Marts
Pros:
-Price
-Many colors are similar to core line colors of other drugstore brands
Cons:
-Not a wide color selection

Wet N' Wild

Featured Colors: Wild Orchid, Caribbean Frost, Quartz of Course
Price: $1-$2
Where to buy: Walgreens, KMart, some Walmarts, and some grocery stores
Pros:
-Recently have introduced innovative and trendy colors
-Typically have BOGO free or BOGO 1/2 sales often depending on the store
-Usually introduce different collections for seasons
-Wide color selection
Cons:
-Some bottles are duds with brush problems
-Polishes do have the tendency to thicken up (can be fixed with nail thinner)
-Some colors are not the most exciting

NYC


Featured Colors: Fuchsia Shock Creme, Times Square Tangerine Creme, Canal Street
Price: $1-$2
Where to buy: CVS, Target, Walmart, some grocery stores
Pros:
-Price
-New York Color minute line dries quickly
-Basic line has some colors that could be dupes to other more expensive drugstore core line brands
-Typically have BOGO free or BOGO 1/2 sales often depending on the store
Cons:
-Probably the least imaginative as far as color selection goes
-Polishes tend to be on the thicker side
-Polish names are misleading some things labeled as cremes are not true cremes

Pure Ice

Featured Colors: All Nighter, Splash, Spit Fire, Celestial Frost
Price: $2
Where to buy:
Walmart
Pros:
-Wide selection of colors, finishes, and pretty shimmer/glitter top coats
-Good application
-Price
Cons:
-Only can be found in one store
-As far as I know they don't introduce new collections so you're not really sure if you're getting a newer color or one that has been there for awhile.

Sinful Colors

Featured Colors: What's Your Name, Sagitta, Boogie Nights, Cream Pink
Price: $2
Where to buy: Walgreens
Pros:
-Wide range of colors,finishes, and fun top coats
-On occasion are either BOGO 1/2 off or BOGO free depending on time of year
-Most colors are always readily available and easy to find
Cons:
-Some of their colors can be very similar to each other
-Some colors are bit stinky especially the glittery ones
-This is purely personal, but the naming of some their colors I find a bit odd and don't really relate to the colors at all


Enjoy your day!





Attn: International readers! I'd love for you participate in this to. I'd love if you'd share in the comments some affordable products in your country that are equal to or less than $10 in your currency. If you have a brand to share please just let me know the brand, what country you are from, price (in your currency), and where you can purchase the item. On Saturday I will gather up all the posts I get from international readers on their products and use that as a special international affordable products post for that day.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Recent Swatches, Your Best Buys, & Deals

I have to say I'm not looking forward to today. I have a final exam tomorrow for my Business Math class, so I'm going to be studying ALL DAY. I feel completely unmotivated, but I'll get it done. I figured I only need to get a 55 on the final to finish the class with an A, but I'm perfectionist I want an A on the final. :P Anyways, here are some swatches of my recent purchases. Enjoy!

Hard Candy-Lava



Wow! This is a winner polish for me. It really looks like lava. I'm sorry I couldn't capture a better photo. I have noticed my camera has a hard time capturing any reds with glitter. This is a red orange with flecks of gold glitter through out. It is a HOT color, which I love! I used 2 coats.

Sally Hansen- Antique Bronze



This is a color I never would buy. I have no copper or bronze colors and I don't know why, because I really do love bronze/pink lip glosses and lipsticks. I decided to push myself and got this one. It reminds me a lot of a nail polish version of MAC Mythology eye shadow. It's pinkish copper/bronze frosty metallic with tiny flecks of holographic glitter. Honestly, I don't even notice the glitter on my nails only in the pictures so it's very subtle. I do love this color and I think I'll be wearing it later on this week. I used 2 coats.



Now on to everyone's best buys of the week! I appreciate all of your comments!
Jean of War Paint got
-Milani-Sugar
-Milani- Parfait
-NYC- Sun Goddess
all for $8 @CVS because she had $3 extra bucks from CVS Rewards.
She said CVS is having a deal right now where if you spend $10 on Revlon products you get $3 CVS extra bucks! Her Revlon purchase consisted of Minted, Gumdrop, and Cotton Candy.

Tip: If you all do not have a CVS rewards card. I definitely recommend you get one! I get some amazing coupons by using it and you sometimes get extra bucks you can use on things in the store depending on your purchases.

Bec of Bec's Beauty Buzz really hit the jackpot this week she got 35 bottles of nail polish for $69.27 on Ebay!
-3 Color Club lots of 5 for $5
-Orly Foil FX Collection, Poison Apple, & Enchanted Forest ($23)
-China Glaze Sci Fi, Emerald Sparkle, & Flip Flop Fantasy. ($11)
-Nubar Polish Prisms Absolute and Brilliant ($13)
-Essie Ridge Filler, First Base, Good to Go, Apricot Cuticle Oil, Quick-e Drying Drops, Shine-e and Millionails all for $7.27!

Around her town she picked up
-4 chrome polishes for $5 each
-2 matte polishes and some nail decals from the BYS range for $33

I think this haul deserves a standing ovation!


Tip: Ebay is a great place to look for polishes. You can also find polish lots for reasonable prices. Just make sure to check your seller's ratings before you bid or buy!


I also wanted to point out a great deal going on at CVS too thanks to tips from Nouveau Cheap & Polish Beauty Blog. Right now N.Y.C. & Rimmel cosmetics are BOGO free, but that's not all if you go to RedPlum you can print off coupons for a $1 off N.Y.C. Products & $1 Rimmel Products. So, basically you are going to pay next to nothing for 2 products from N.Y.C. & Rimmel. Sounds like a plan to me. If you're confused (because I know it's a mouth full) you can click on Polish Beauty Blog for a more detailed explanation of this deal.

That's it for today. Time to study -blech-