WWW.BOOHOO.COM ....is the BOMB!

I have heard lots and lots of talk in my beauty groups about ASOS, which is a UK online retailer that offers clothes, shoes and accessories at a very very reasonable cost,  ships free and as long as you keep your order total low, you don't get hit with duties, but in all my browsing I really haven't found anything I love on that site that wasn't over $100.00, but with my recent obsession with Maxi Dresses (for hiding those unsightly love handles!) I knew I had to hunt some down, so I took to google to find some reasonably priced fun ones for summer! I came across another UK retailer that offers free shipping over $25 and promises no duties if your order is under $18 which is actually harder than it sounds on that website and is a pain since you need $25 to get the free shipping but I got a little excited last Friday (the 14th) and made an order for  this dress priced at $30, I figured I could test the waters to see if I would get charged duty for $30
* Picture Direct from Boohoo.com
I then got even more "outta control" and ordered this one as a separate order, again it was $30
* Picture Direct from Boohoo.com

They advertise delivery in 7 to 14 working days, after hastily making these purchases I ended up checking out their Facebook and noted that quite a few customers had been making inquiries regarding their order and the fact that they had been hit with duties, long shipping waits, and items being delivered direct to a customs house instead of home delivery, a quick web search also showed that some peeps have had delivery being attempted and then the item being sent back to the UK without a second try.............my heart broke a little inside as I had been really really excited. But I figured this is what happens when you jump in without So I settled into wait and since I was having it delivered to my office I kept a little stash of cash in my desk in case of duties.  I received notice on Sunday (the 16th) that my items had shipped and I looked at the tracking on Monday after I returned to work and my order showed an expected delivery date of Friday (the 21st) and I though "yeah right" not after everything I had read, I checked my tracking this morning and low and behold it ACTUALLY was supposed to be delivered today! and with our morning mail .....there were my much longed for Maxi Dresses! my next pleasant surprise was that there where no duties or additional charges whatsoever! My guess is that I think some of the other orders had not been broken down into separate purchases to avoid duty?

I tried one on in the bathroom at work as I was a bit nervous about the sizing, Boohoo shows you the UK sizing and the Canadian equivalent when you make your order, but still when you are shopping online at a retailer without having had a chance to try their product before it can be a bit nerve wracking and again I was amazed at the Fit and the Quality of the dress, I ordered a size up from my normal which translates in to a 14 UK ( talk about an ego bruiser!!) and other than it being a little loose in the hip area which for me is okay as that was a plus when it comes to Maxi Dresses while I wait for this 20 pds to melt off me...... LOL I think these will be very comfortable to wear! The quality was a bit better than I had expected, they should last for a few summers (I guess I will have to confirm after I wash them) and the only problem I have now, is I pledged myself to a three month no buy so I have to wait to make another order!!

For a Limited Time they have 25% off for Canadians, code is 25CAN use it at checkout! I recommend!!

Stunner of the Month!

Back at the beginning of May I was browsing MUT, and came across some girls discussing a monthly sunglass sub, and since I have cancelled all of my beauty subs except 1 due to either not being impressed or the OVERLOAD of product I now have after less than a year of being a subscriber and the idea of monthly subs still makes my little heart flutter! I have been branching out into other more lifestyle orientated subs like Popsugar.

Stunner of the Month is $9 a month plus an additional $5.49, shipping to Canada, which may seem like a fair bit for "Fashion" sunglasses but I thought it would be fun to try over the summer since I have recently gotten into the whole sunglasses as a fashion accessory instead of a way to see in the sun LOL thanks to Captain Amazing. I have always been that person that either loses or breaks sunglasses in quick order but almost 2 years ago when I bought Captain Amazing an expensive pair of sunglasses for Christmas I picked myself up a pair of Guess Glasses at 50% Off and have managed to not only keep them but keep them in good condition, since then I also added a pair of London Fog Aviators from the House of Harlow (Thanks Pop Sugar!) so I thought this would be a fun and inexpensive way to grow my collection of "Stunners" and if I end up not liking them then I can always gift them or throw them in my camping gear!

This sub Ships twice a month depending on when you sign up, I signed up I think around the 12th of May but was not charged until the 23rd of May ( Just under $13 dollars, and I do not remember using a promo code)  which was pretty much the beginning of the week that they shipped.  Once I saw the charge on my card I took a peak into my account to see if I could jog my memory as to when they would ship and was surprised to have an option to "Rate My Stunners" which of course contained a picture of the Stunners I was to receive, and I gotta say I was not really in love with what I saw, I received a shipping notification on the 30th day of May and my Stunners arrived yesterday on the 10th, which was just over a week for shipping, which isn't bad as my american beauty subs take TWICE that to get to me.

The Packaging was nice and kept the Glasses from being damaged and they also came with a  fabric classes "Bag" I really can't call it a case LOL, I also received a key chain miniature screwdriver set, that I think is amazingly useful!

Now that I have them in my hands I have to say that they are kind of growing on me and I can see wearing them to the beach and what not, what do you think?

If you want to give them a try, use the code trystunner for your first month free

https://www.stunnerofthemonth.com/

International Delights Iced Coffee Product Review

I recently was invited to participate in a newly launched BzzCampaign for a new product being marketed by International Delight (The people who give us those AMAZING coffee Creamers) and with Summer fast approaching (or is it here?) this is a perfect Summer beverage.

The Bzzkit I received contained 9 FPC's, 3 for me and 6 to share! I also received some Branded Tumblers which I use almost daily so this kit was really one of the most amazing that I have received lately from BzzAgent.

I picked up the Mocha flavor first, as I really am a fan of Tim Horton Ice Cap and this could be a very cost effective and certainly more convenient substitution for my favorite summer treat! I have tried this product in several different ways

a) Simply over Ice - Delish!
b) Over Ice with Vodka......again a new favorite
c) Blended with Ice and Bananas --- I cannot tell you how awesome this is, I am not sure that a word exists yet!

On to the nitty gritty, Per 8 oz Serving the regular Iced Coffee (They are coming out with light versions yay!!)
has 160 Calories, 58 mg of caffeine and 2.5 grams of fat, which all in all won't break your bank if you track calories like I do, and still serves to satisfy my need for caffeine AND my sweet tooth! The cost (if I had not have had the FPC) at Walmart was $4.00 which is just a tiny bit more than regular milk and the carton is quite generously sized.

A Quick peak at the ID website  http://www.internationaldelight.com/ gives you a place to check out their current products and upcoming launches. It also has a recipe section and apparently coupons! though I haven't been able to get that to work for me as it doesn't like my postal code :( If you manage it please let me know!

I give this product a 8.5 right now the quality of the beverage is great, its cost effective AND convenient, once the new flavors launch I think that would move up to a 9.5 as I love variety!, I notice on their website that they are also launching a to-go format in individual sized bottles, which I think for anyone who enjoy's the Starbucks version (at a much higher cost) would be a great replacement!

Have you tried International Delights Iced Coffee yet?  IF so share your recipes with me!!

Wantable, New Subscription box open to Canadians

With the demise of 2 out of the 3 solely Canadian Beauty Subscription boxes, we have been sort of getting short changed on the Subscription options compared to our brethren to the south. Wantable is a U.S based sub that has been around since I think fall of 2012, they offer both a "Beauty" box and a  "Jewelry" box.  A few months ago they announced that they were expanding their shipping area to Canada (Yay!!)

Wantable has an extensive survey to help "Customize" your box and you can fiddle with it for previous boxes if you feel like they didn't quite hit the mark.  I think this is an amazing feature, but I have my doubts how sustainable this feature will be as their subscriber base increases.

Wantable promoted the launch of their Canadian shipping with the fact that they would offer the first box free (plus Shipping/Handling and Duties) to new Canadian Subscribers, I know your thinking AMAZING right, but after an overwhelming (I assume) response from us Canadian gals, they actually ended up with two options.

1) the first 1000 peoples to subscribe would pay for the box and shipping/handling and duties (Approx $47) and get refunded $36.00

2) The balance of the people that signed up during the offer period, would get the same but instead of a refund they would get credit towards the next months box.

Luckily for me I was in the group 1, now being as I have accumulated an abundance of product, I choose the Jewelry box, I was very excited when I first made my order but as spoilers started to roll in on the BBS group on facebook, my excitement lessened a fair bit as the pieces people received seems cheap and junky, so when I finally received my package I was pleasantly surprised a the contents.

Now don't get me wrong, I was not really jumping for joy either, the quality of the pieces is equivalent to Ardene or Claire's and for a monthly price of $47.00, I could pick up a large quantity of pieces that I pick out myself at Ardene's or Claire's.

Now its possible that with the large new amount of subscribers that the quality went down this month to accommodate so I am willing to give them another shot.

The Beauty boxes all looked great though!

Have you checked out Wantable?  what did you get?  Have an interest in checking them out?

My Referral Link is below.

https://www.wantable.com/invite/pJ-YYCUX6kc


I paid for this box out of my own funds, and was in no way compensated for the review.

Eyes Lips Face -Mystery Bag

I have heard plenty of good things about E.L.F (eyes lips face) and I have also heard plenty of bad things but the products are so cheap if you order 5 things and only end up liking one, you are still most likely coming out ahead due to how dirt cheap everything is.

I have done plenty of my version of "Window Shopping" on the E.L.F website, which means I frequently browse and fill up my cart, but I have been very hesitant to pull the trigger as it almost seems to good to be true that you can get decent quality beauty items at those prices and the shipping cost to canadas winds up being around 17 dollars which can cut into the savings,  though if you pay using paypal that cost goes down to around 7 dollars.

Recently I recieved an email offering a Mystery Bag of e.l.f products free with a minimum purchase of $20, and we all know how much I love a mystery bag so of course I decided to swallow my hatred cof shipping charges and give it a try.

For my order I purchased

1. Eyelash Curler ($1)
2. Slant Tweezer ($1) darn it I bought 1 before and forgot it was in my cart lol at least it was just a buck
3.Eyelash and brow wand ($1) I really wanted to try applying Coconut Oil to my lashes at night,  I have heard good things
4. Stipple brush ($3)-not sure what product I will use this for yet, but I am building my Brush Collection
5.Small Brush Holder ($5) they were out of stock on the large on, but thats on my list!
6. Blemish Kit - Shear ($8) this is a minerial "concealer" with medicinal ingredients to help zits say good bye faster
7. Maximum Coverage Concealer-oil free-sand ($3) I have heard mixed reviews but looking forward to trying it.
8. Make up Remover Cleansing Cloths ($3 )
9. 5 Piece Duo Eyeshadow Collection -Day ($5)

So all in all I spent 28 dollars plus tax and shipping which depending on how the products work maybe an amazing deal! I will be posting a review at the end of the week after I have a change to try all the products.

On to the good stuff - The Mystery Bag!

The mystery bag was huge! 

1. Vanilla sugar cookie lotion wipes
2.Misty mauve eye primer
2. Defining eye brush
3. Glitter gloss in golden glitz,
4. Hypershine in flirt,
5. Glitter shadow in night owl,
6. Body shimmer in blazing bronze
7. a lipstain
8. Hand Sanitizer trio

Product Overload :) and only 1 item is destined for the swap bin so far!

Have you ordered a Mystery Bag from E.L.F?

Glymm - February 2013 - Epic fail!

I am not sure if you are aware of all the drama surrounding this sub lately, but I had decided to cancel my membership with Glymm in January due to the quality of the products being sent, changes to the terms of service without notice, 2 price increases in a 6 month period, some subscribers have been told by VISA while they were doing chargebacks that the company is bankrupt  and a SLEW of other things and this was supposed to be my second to last bag with Glymm as by the time I finally connected with their customer service, after sending two emails, I had already been charged for March as well since they charge a month ahead though they changed their shipping to the very end of the month from the beginning so you actually get charged twice before receiving the first bag :( Today being the 8th of March I have not even seen a tracking notice for the February bag, so I decided to contact both their customer care by email AND their FB as it seems posting on their facebook generates a faster response. 

This was my facebook post keep in mind I was very careful to avoid the term "You" and instead use "Glymm" so that it would not seem like a personal attack on their Facebook Staff but my frustration with the company as a whole

I am still waiting for my February bag, I have not even received a shipping notification yet, THIS is exactly what I talked about with customer service when I cancelled, as I was worried that since I cancelled my sub, Glymm would "conveniently" FORGET to send me the bags that I have already PAID FOR, I was assured by Glymm Customer Service that I would received a February and March bag since I have paid for them, your customer service is a complete joke, and I really hope you guys don't wonder why you cannot keep subscribers? I have also sent an email to your CS team, but it looks likes like I will have to do a charge back with my credit card company since you guys have decided not to provide me with the service I have paid for almost three months ago now"

They responded to me on FB within a half an hour

Melissa Mayer - Your box has been shipped, please private message us or email member services if you have not received it. We send all members bag that have been paid for no one is ever forgotten. We kindly ask that you speak to us in a respectful tone as member services does everything possible to help all members.  Thank you.


to which I posted 

Glymm I am pretty sure that my posts clearly states that I have not received it along with the fact that I have already emailed customer service, so would you like me to email it again? I am confused about the tone that you refer to? I was simply stating my feelings as to how "Respectfully" I have been treated? I have paid for a service that Glymm has not provided to me how is that "Respectful" in the least? The terms of service that I signed up for have been repeatedly been violated by Glymm, which is why I cancelled as there is a total and complete lack of respect for us as subscribers. So if you think I should apologize for being slightly upset about being lied to (if my package has been shipped where is my shipping notice? or a tracking number?) and paying for items in January that according to the terms of service should have been mailed in early February until Glymm changed it at the last minute, and that now in March I still have not received ? Or the fact that I have paid for in Glymm's words 

"Glymm works to ensure that samples are luxury and deluxe sized, meaning that they offer multiple uses so that you can really see the benefits of the product over a longer period of time. Also, each sample is hand-picked in accordance to your beauty profile. So eliminate the randomness of in-store samples and try the products you really would buy to actively improve your beauty regime!" 

and what I have actually received have been dried up tiny products that I cannot use. Then I respectfully refuse

Can you tell I am slightly pissed ? this months bag is I know from spoilers: repeat samples, a gross brown eye shadow and a UV GEL polish for professional use only (and you need to have a UV light for setting it) so its not the product that I care about, its the point of the thing, they have a terrible business model, horrible customer service, they lie to their subscribers, sell products they do not have in stock which causes MONTHS of Shipping delays for Store Orders until people ask for their money back and are they are just down right sneaky..............

THEN it turns out my bag was delivered today while I am at work, so I feel a little chagrined about my rant, but not too much since everything I said was true, I paid for February's Bag  on January 1 expecting it to arrive at the beginning of February as per my terms of service implied, when the day came and went that they were supposed to have all bags mailed out they quietly posted to their facebook that their shipping dates would now be the last day of the month, which for people who do not check facebook everyday or don not even have a facebook that was useless, as I didn't even see it and I am on facebook for hours a day!  so I was charged January 1 for the Feb Glymm Bag, February 1 for the March Glymm Bag AND if I had not have cancelled I would have been charged again March 1 for the April and all while not having received a thing from them. 

I am glad that this months bag which should arrive in April will be my last and final experience with this company. 

Golden Tote February Sale!

This time when the sale rolled I wasn't too in love with the large tote choices, but one of the items from the smaller tote intrigued me.

So I grabbed the smaller tote for the first time!  My Shipping notice was received on February 15th and my tote finally arrived a little later than normal on March 6th, and for the first time I wasn't over the moon impressed with my tote.

I picked the thin blue and grey hoodie shown above (pic from Golden Tote) as my choice, and I have to say I am in LOVE with this item, I have had my tote for 36 hours and already worn it twice. The fit was amazing and it is super soft!, I wore it to the movies on Tuesday with jeans and then again yesterday with a pair of comfy pants, it looks great with either option and it is light enough that I will enjoy wearing it in the spring and summer months on those blustery days. <3 <3 <3

I only received one other clothing item which is within the guidelines of the service, but it was one of the choices from the larger tote.  I have just used the picture from the Golden Tote Website, although the one I received was an emerald color (yay for the Pantone color of the year) so its on trend, but my feeling is that I really hadn't wanted any of the items from the larger tote or I would have ordered it.  I haven't tried it on yet, as I am trying to work up the nerve,  it is not something I would pick out for myself as it seems boxy to me and my frame does not need to look boxy, but the idea of a boxy shift with some lace detailing is growing on me, it may look cute with a pencil skirt and a cardigan?

I think I would have much preferred an item from the larger totes extras, they received scarves, a basic layering tank and a lace bralet.    In my tote I also got some more hair ties, the ones made from a elastic that are not supposed to wreck your hair, I love them and can never have enough and a bottle of nail polish, which as you know I am already swimming in (Plus it sorta seems like an afterthought, it wasn't on trend color wise or anything) these items were just "fun" extras.

The smaller tote is $49.00 plus a $20.00 shipping charge (it actually costs them more than that to ship a tote to Canada, around $30 or $40, so I have a sneaking suspicion that this charge may rise soon), but I had a $15.00 credit so this tote ended up costing me $54.00, I am not sure that for me personally the value was there, I definitely do not think I would have been happy if it had cost me almost $70.00, This was my third order from Golden Tote with all of my other totes I have been ecstatic and felt that I definitely got more than what I paid for, I am not entirely sure if that is just how the smaller tote works as it was my first time ordering one, but I also kind of felt that the girls over at Golden Tote were not 100% dedicated to the February sale, with all the other things they have going on.

I realize that the last part of my review sounded pretty negative, but that does not mean I am done with Golden Tote by any means, in fact I am looking forward to the next sale as the concept is something I am really in love with and I have discovered a variety of items that I would not have chosen for myself but now wear on a regular basis.

The girls over at Golden Tote have been working on a website overhaul, which is expected to allow for more customization of totes, originally supposed to launch on February 28, but I think has been delayed along with the March sale till March 11.  They have posted some AMAZING spoiler pics from their next tote, so I am quietly sitting on my hands waiting for it to begin.  P.S it also looks like this month they will be offering an accessory tote as well! So my credit card better watch out!!

Here is a link to their facebook if you would like to check it out!

www.facebook.com/pages/Golden-Tote/135947516506384


and if you have any interest in trying it out, my referral link is below (no obligation to use it though)

http://mybuzzlink.com/bee/offer.htm?aId=1013&cIval=30&tt!pID=1723&tt!bD=1291592_1&overrideLanding=aHR0cDovL2dvbGRlbnRvdGUuY29tP3R0IXBJRD0xNzIzJnR0IWJEPTEyOTE1OTJfMQ%3D%3D