The Latest Styles and Bargin Shopping. Odd Couple or Perfect Pair?

Remember when you were young and you believed that you had to spend a fortune on the latest fashions the day they hit the racks? Of course it was worth every penny just to be in style. Well, we are older now but the years have not changed our minds about what’s important. Looking great and being in style are just as important at 30 as it was at 18 and probably more important now. What likely has changed is our disposable money, it has gotten smaller over time and looks like it may stay that way for some time to come. That’s OK; this is not the end of the world or the end of our shopping days.




There are a couple of options for shopping on a budget. First keep shopping at all your favorite stores; mine are Macys, Express, Pac-Sun, and The Limited. While shopping at your favorite stores keep in mind one important thing try to buy on sale. This can be very difficult, you want the new merchandise because it's new and exciting you haven’t seen it on anyone else yet and it looks so great on the model in the poster on the wall. But it's not on sale, not yet anyway. Another thing that makes this difficult is that the store is telling you that you want this. It is in the front of the store, lining the walkways and of course the newest items are always on display on the mannequin. There is a reason for all of this; the newest items are within arms reach. So, browsers become buyers. These tactics will not get us though, because we are not browsers, we are shoppers. We came hear looking for a new blouse, skirt, or pair of jeans that will look great and we will ware for the whole season and maybe next (maybe). So go for it, shop, look, search for what you really want and get it (on sale if at all possible) but do no just buy what you see. The sale rack may just have something much better! More budget shopping tips next time, and my favorite discount stores!

All the Pretty Flowers! Floral Prints are Back in Style

I'm not talking about those big ugly flowers on your grandmothers sofa. I'm talking about soft greens and pale pinks on a semi shear silk wrap top. Or, sharp orange and cream hints of color on a flowing black polyester tank. These are the floral prints that I am seeing in all the stores on all the racks and have only two words "love it". We can be soft and feminine in jeans and that silk wrap top in floral print or the polyester tank under a blazer for work. Yes you can rule the board room and the PTO meeting and you can do it all wearing flowers and looking great! So next time you are out browsing your favorite store or boutique give that floral print that caught your eye a try (given it is in your colors, and you know what they are) you wont regret it and you may even find a new fave.apfyn7hsui

Product review for benefit ooh la lift

No matter how much sleep I get I have the worst dark circles under my eyes and now with the heat of summer, which can make eyes puffy or baggie, it's a hundred times worse. Concealer is fine in the winter but in the summer I try to avoid wearing a heavy foundation. I was looking for something light weight that I could reapply throughout the day if needed, without having it look caked on. I had been hearing and reading a lot about a brand that I had never tried or even seen "benefit". I looked into a few of their products and found that there was definitely something different about the approach this brand took to beauty. Since my greatest insecurity on my face is, without a doubt, the circles under my other wise stunning dark brown eyes, I settled on an eye brightening product call ooh la lift. It is a light pink cream that is applied using a wand with a sponge on the end that also serves as the lid so you never have to improvise. It has the texture of a watery moisturiser. The directions say to apply three dots under each eye and pat to blend. I had to use four dots for each eye but my dark circles are pretty deep. I gently patted the product over my skin using my ring and middle fingers, I am sure that you already know this but You should never use your index finger for applications to the skin around the eyes. Your ring finger is weaker and less likely to pull on the delicate skin around the eyes.
With oh la lift I saw a dramatic difference in the appearance of my eyes but I wanted a tough critic so I asked my husband if he noticed anything. You may be inclined to think that of course he would tell me that I look great, why would he want to rock the boat over make up. This is just not the case with my husband, he can in fact be painfully honest. A quality I love and hate equally. I was thrilled by his reaction because I knew that he wasn't being patronizing. He said "wow that really does make a difference".
The best part about this product is that even on the days that I reapply two or three times it never looks caked on. For around $20 Oh la lift by benefit is a must have for every hand bag. I would love to hear your product reviews or anything else you might have to say.

I am a 33 year old accountant, I am not a CPA or an account at some big successful company. I am just a staff accountant at a mid size company enjoying average success (the company not me). That is the last time you will ever hear mention of my job. You see, I do not love accounting and I am certainly not passionate about it. I am passionate about style and fashion which both require a passion for shopping.
For many of us who love fashion, shopping has changed. We have always looked for the best deals but now we search desperately and agonize over every purchase about where that money could have gone. Still we shop, even if we try not to there comes a point where you have just been seen in that outfit too many times and you long to show up in something that they haven't seen you in before. Maybe, this is not you, maybe you can refrain from shopping for months or even years. I can not and I know that there are others (many others) out there who, like me, who love to shop. Contrary to popular belief it is not all about the act of shopping, I love to stand before the mirror in a new outfit that I have carefully put together.
Of course, along with the shift in the economy most of us have had to adjust our spending habits. Instead of just going to the department store that we know will have the item we are looking for we hit the discount stores first to see if they have it. Very often they do, it use to be that discount stores were at least a season behind usually six months to a year. now you can often find the same things at the discount stores as you do at department stores. That is not to say that department stores should be overlooked, I find great deals at department stores all the time. I spent an afternoon at Macy's this weekend and took home several outfits four new outfits for under $100 TOTAL! Knowing where to look at the department stores helps. They don't put out arrows leading the way to the 70% off rack, you have to know where to look for them and then have the patience to sort through them, but it pays off. Department vs. Discount, that could be a great future blog. I would love to hear what you think and of course about the great deals that you find.