Frugal Friday: Rediscovery

One way I've been able to save a little bit of money, lately, has been by trying to see some of the makeup I already own in a different light. For example: I have a Vincent Longo Hydro-something-or-other that I almost never use. I tried it as a blush; I tried it as a highlighter; I even tried it as lipgloss and eyeshadow. Nada. Into the abyss--I mean, drawer--it went, probably never to be heard from again...until I saw this video on YouTube:



My Hydro-whozee-whatsit is very similar to the stick product used in the video! Also, that eye shadow looks an awful lot like that weird Snakebite color in my Naked 2 palette! And I'd never thought of lining my eyes with that technique! Now, I'm no Victoria's Secret model, so I didn't follow the tutorial to the letter, but I did use it as inspiration and, using only products that were on-hand, came up with this:


Again, pardon the car. It's the best lit area I have. Seriously. Also, someone please tell me that the model in the above video started out with bronzer in the hollows of her cheeks, and make me feel better. Pretty please?


I really like this! Plus, I now have a use for a couple of products that were previously collecting dust.

Looking for inspiration, yourself? Here are some of my favorite tutorials that I've stumbled upon recently. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have! The ladies in these videos are incredibly talented, and a lot of fun to watch. Please click on the "More Info" button at the top of each video for information on how you can subscribe to their channels. Thanks!

Audience Participation Time!

Question: How many of you subscribe to Glossybox? Any of you trying to figure out what to do with the boxes once you've unpacked the goodies? Bueller? Bueller?

The actual Glossyboxes are baby pink, high-quality, heavy-duty cardboard gift boxes with lids. Think of a photo box, and you've got the basic idea. These are not cheap boxes; in fact, a similar design at The Container Store will run you $9.99. In other words: I don't want to throw them out. That's like throwing away money, and that is just something I can not abide.

My current plan is to use the boxes as organizers. I've taken all my nail polishes out of the dump bag they were in, and replaced them--standing up--in one of the boxes, then set that box in a drawer. My other box is housing all of my small travel palettes and a few loose items that were floating around in another drawer.

Nail polish is almost sort of organized. Apparently, that red has given up on me...traitor.

All of my small travel palettes, plus some loose items and tools.

And here's that same box in it's new drawer home. Hmmm...maybe I could use another one for larger palettes...

My July box will probably end up...holding loose craft items, maybe? I need a sewing box, so that might work, for now? After that, I could store them to use as Christmas gift boxes, but then what? I don't have any photos to store, so...decoupage? Anyone up for an art project?

Seriously, I don't want to toss them out, so do you guys have any suggestions? Leave them in the comments, please, and maybe we can discuss them when the July box rolls around. Thanks!

Frugal Friday: The Magic Dresses

First up, here are today's specials!

Aeropostale: This weekend only, use the code HOLIDAY25 to take $25 off a purchase of $100 or more. That might be a challenge, since there's also a 60% off sale going on. Of course, I love a challenge.

Kohl's: Through December 11th, take an extra 20% off with the code CHEER20.

Folks, I have experienced a Festivus miracle. No joke. As you might know, I sing weddings. A lot of weddings, and when I perform, I try to dress, more or less, as a really boring guest; something simple, elegant, and generally black. If it's an evening wedding, I might add a little sparkle, but not too much. I'm on the altar, so I try to just blend in with the woodwork (er...gold leaf? It's a really fancy church) as much as possible.

I go through a lot of cocktail dresses. I have dresses for skinny days and dresses for fat days, dresses for weddings I know are going to be really formal and dresses for afternoon tea weddings, dresses for hot days and dresses for cold days, dresses with sweaters and dresses with flats...

...dresses that no longer fit and dresses with rips, dresses so old they've dry-rotted with age and dresses that have seen much better days...oh, wait. Those are all the same dresses. I realized last night that a few of my go-to wedding dresses needed to hie themselves to Goodwill, and I needed some new dresses to toss into the rotation. But I'm broke. As are we all.

So, I rummaged through a box of old dresses from college and shortly thereafter, in the hopes that something appropriate might show itself. Of course, the entire search seemed an exercise in futility. I'm nowhere near the size I was in college. Anything pulled out of that box would surely be too small.

And yet, hope springs eternal. I pulled out two dresses that I thought might work. They were in excellent condition from being stored in plastic in an air-tight tupperware box, so they were already doing better than the dresses in the closet. One was black velvet with a sequinned band under the bustline; not really church-appropriate, but with a sweater covering all but the skirt, it could definitely work. I also thought this had a shot at still fitting because it had a loose, a-line skirt, and the bust didn't matter because it would be covered by a sweater, anyway.

The second dress...I knew was going to break my heart. To give you an idea what we're dealing with, I bought this dress six years ago, while I lived in New York. I was dancing regularly, walking everywhere, and drinking milkshakes to try to gain weight. (Yeah, go ahead and hate 25 year-old me. I know I do.) I might have weighed 105 lbs. soaking wet and fully clothed. I bought this dress for a New Year's Eve party, and it was black and nude with black lace overlay, strapless, and completely body-conscious. With a sweater, it would be wedding appropriate (really!), but without, it's as va-va-voom a dress as they come. Bettie Page would approve of this dress. There was no way on God's green Earth it was going to fit over one leg of 31 year-old me. Still, I had to try.

I took a deep breath, stepped in, closed my eyes, and tugged...and the dress slid on...and fit! Not only did it fit, but it actually looked better than it did in my twenties! I have curves now, and this dress was built to show them off. I seriously considered crying.

I slipped on the velvet dress, just to see if my luck would hold out, and I had the same result. No, the dress didn't look like it did half a decade ago. It looked better. I looked better. I looked like a filled out, grown up woman, and not a skinny little girl.

So, yeah, I danced around the room a little bit, and yelled out to Thomas that these had to be "magic dresses". Wouldn't you? But really, there's nothing magical about these dresses. They're the same dresses I've always had. What's changed--what's magical--is me and my ability to feel comfortable in my own skin. 25 year-old me would have freaked out to see 31 year-old Erin's weight on the scale. The sizes on my current clothes would have thrown younger me into an absolute tizzy. And, I'm not going to lie, I'm not thrilled with them, myself. However, I know what I look like, and, more importantly, I like how I look. As long as I'm healthy and happy, the numbers don't matter (as much).

These dresses don't "still fit". I just grew into them.