Carolyn Braden: Subscribe to Ipsy

Join me on @ipsy! http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h6r5iifon91t7fc Makeup bags for just $10/month. Use my link & I get a free goodie. I've been a subscriber for over 6 months and I love it. The bags are cute and useful and the products are fun to test and use. 

You can cancel at any time so it's worth trying. 

The latest bag, September 2013:

Carolyn Braden: Tried Sally Hansen Gel Polish Strips

I wish I could say this product is amazing but I can't. I love Sally Hansen's products. The gel strips unfortunately don't measure up. I followed the directions to the T and they chipped within a day. One gel strip actually started peeling off my thumbnail within an hour. I superglued it down hoping maybe I made a mistake since it was the first nail I did. I didn't make a mistake; it's just not a great product. The strips lasted on most of my nails but the tips chipped fast. The regular polish strips last much longer so I'll be sticking to those and my Shellac and my RCM. Maybe others will have success with the gel polish strips but I did not.
FYI:
My mom bought Gelish gel polishes and let me use them. They lasted just as long as Shellac and RCM. I may be buying that brand next time along with my regulars.

Carolyn Braden Likes Ipsy (Formerly My Glam)

I received my first Glam Bag today from Ipsy.com. Ipsy is a company that is all about beauty. For ten dollars a month, they will send you a cosmetics bag filled with samples and full size products. You can cancel your subscription at any time. This month was inspired by the "bombshell" look. I received deluxe samples of Pequi Oil hair treatment, theBalm What's Your Type mascara and Coastal Scents eyeshadow. I received full size Mirenesse Lip Bomb and Be A Bombshell eyeliner. The chevron striped bag is adorable. I am already excited for next month's bag! I love how they send you a tracking number so you know when you'll receive your bag. So far Ipsy has impressed me and my beauty habits are inspired.

Carolyn Braden: Good Beauty With Sephora, Bad Fashion With Shoes.com

I had to report on a good beauty company and a not so good fashion company.
Good news first: Sephora brightened up my week by drawing my name during their ladies night event. I won $650.00 worth of beauty products. I looked up the price of each item and was seriously wowed! I was just there to use my 10% off coupon in order to restock on Urban Decay's De-Slick spray and I purchased the perfume sampler (sample perfumes then return the certificate for a full size bottle, great deal!) I never knew I would be greatly surprised with leaving the store with so much more! See the photo of what I won. I will report on which products are "Worth it!"

Bad news: I'm sad to report this about a fashion company: I will never ever purchase anything from www.shoes.com again and I highly recommend people follow suit. I purchased Franco Sarto's Poet boot on October 3rd. A week went by and my credit card was charged but no boots arrived. After being on hold for over 20 minutes, a customer service rep told me their warehouse was not shipping orders until 10 days after purchases are made. The website stated they would be shipped within 3 business days. I told her to refund my money knowing I could make the purchase through Zappos.com or Amazon.com and have my boots within a couple of days. The only reason I purchased through Shoes.com was to try out the company that offered a discount of 15% and free shipping. Trying to save money did not pay off. It is now October 13th and my money has not been refunded. The rep said I would receive an e-mail confirmation of the cancelled transaction and I have not. An e-mail to customer service on Wednesday the 10th was never replied to. I tried calling yesterday and the phone wait time said it would be 20 minutes. Today I tried calling and the wait time said 46 minutes. What the.....? So, I will try calling and e-mailing again. My husband will be helping me out as well. I may end up having to file a dispute on never receiving my product through my credit card company.

So in a nutshell, Sephora is great, Shoes.com is horrid.

By the way, I've ordered the Poet boot through Amazon.com and I've got the tracking number and will receive my package on Monday. Yay Amazon!!!!!

Carolyn Braden's Question: Natural Skincare?

I have been on a "pure and natural" kick for a few weeks now. I have paid attention to what I consume for years. However, I didn't give much thought to my make-up and skin care. When you think about it, your skin is like a sponge. What you put on it gets absorbed into your skin and can stay there for a while. This summer I began purging my products. After reading labels, I began removing products that had a ton of ingredients. I realized my routine to wash my face was taking forever. It was the process of all the products I applied. I remember my grandmother loving a lye soap I made at school in the 5th grade. I replaced my Bioelements face wash with Grandma's Lye Soap which only has three ingredients. I removed my Bioelements Oxygenation. I added Grapeseed oil. I was surprised to discover it did not make me breakout. Next I will try removing the Bioelements Oil Control Sleepwear. Not that Bioelements were bad products, I just wondered why I needed so many different products to clean my skin and keep it clear.
I removed my liquid foundation and started using Bare Minerals.

Now I am awaiting the results. So far, I've noticed an improvement in my skin tone and my breakouts aren't as often. With any product change I expect the worst but hope for the best. I figure that mother nature has created many beautiful things so why should she stop at making skin beautiful too.


http://www.grandmaspureandnatural.com