Outsource for healthy skin, use Eye Cream!

Urggh! Those lines! (Photo credit: weheartit)

“When I was young, I wanted to get older. But now that I’m older, I want to be young.” Not that I’m unhappy with where I am now, in fact, looking back, that was great journey, but seeing my face at the mirror, with those little dry skins under my eyes and fine lines that are starting to get visible, plus those not very horrifying but worrisome potential wrinkles at the sides of my eyes when I smile, I detest getting old.

But age and wrinkles are part of growth, indeed. To deal with it, I learned that using eye cream early, and by early I mean few years before hitting thirty, is good in protecting your skin. A while before dry and wrinkled skin crawl your face, you should already be nourishing it with effective eye cream products.

Since age causes the decline of your body’s ability to moisturize your skin, using eye cream that contains nutritional ingredients help to alleviate dry skin around your eyes. An effective eye cream can hydrate, rejuvenate and refresh your skin; stimulate collagen production, repair and protect your skin from future damage.

I recommend using your eye cream simultaneously with regular exercising, sleeping early and living a less stressful life. Nothing beats the natural preventions of wrinkles, yes, but outsourcing moisture and collagen renewal is also beneficial.

What do you think girls? At what age should we start using eye cream and other anti-wrinkle products?

Be fashionably smart, don’t buy books, just rent them!

Did you read about a family who saved $4,000 a year in school expenses? It’s not that they painfully cut budgets for school supplies, like making the kids wear the same shoes for three years even if the toes are already saying “hi!” to the world. No, not that gross. Instead, they were able to save that much money simply by making some smart moves. (Read the story here)

photo credit: wehearit.com

One technique that really works in saving money from school expenses is by renting books instead of buying them. Bookstores seem to be the only place to get school books, but these stores squeeze the money out of you. There are book rental stores that provide you with all the books you need, or for your kids, for cheaper prices. They provide practical alternatives.

Campus Book Rental is a textbook rental company that allows you to well, rent textbooks and save significant money for college. What’s even interesting is that they partnered with Operation Smile and are donating over 1,000 life saving cleft lip surgeries this year to children in need. Not only would you save money by renting their books, you also are able to help lots of kids get better lips.

So what is this gotta do with fashion? Simple. If you’re a fashionista mommy, we both know very well that the first budget to get cut just to give way to your kids’ needs is that for your fashion, unless otherwise you shop out of budget and hid them from your spouse. If you’re able to save money from the school expenses, then that gives way to your fashion needs.

But if you’re just a creative fashionista and not a mommy, then take this as an advice, for future use, that is!

Minna Spring and Summer Collection 2010

Have you heard about Minna Hepburn? She's the woman behind the playful, stylish and eco-friendly designs that you must have stumbled upon browsing some Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Red, Women’s Wear Daily or Easy Living magazines.

Her designs are vintage inspired and "can best be described as Eco Luxe. Each piece is hand embellished and made from sustainable, organic, recycled and locally produced textiles" otherwise called the re-definition of ethical fashion.

But she's not your typical fashion designer. She did not get formal training, instead, it was simply a passion and hobby mixed with special skills and her love for vintage clothing which snowballed into success. Her label was first launched in 2008. 

The downside of buying fashion items on sale – which fashionistas are in danger?

The community of fashionistas is divided into groups. The first group is made of those who refuse to buy items that are mass produced. They chase for products that are almost not available to the public which give them some feeling of exclusivity. Don’t even talk about fashion on sale to them or they’ll see you as cheap.

The next group is made of those who buy designers clothes and accessories and mixed them up with some high street products. They may or may not buy items on sale depending on their mood. While they appreciate copycats and occasionally go for them, they don’t hesitate to buy high ends whenever the urge demands.

And then there are those who purchase designer items if and only if they’re on sale. Most of the time, they prefer high street products because they’re stylish, affordable and practical. They absolutely love mega sales and they don’t bother to mix up brands with some unbranded items.

If you ask me, I belong on the third group. What about you?

There’s this mentality that buying items on sale is practical. It’s okay to acquire more as long as you spend less. To put it a bit negative, “spending more for less”.

But for how many instances I found that buying items on sale is not always as practical as it may seem. I realized that to make the most of getting discounts, you have to be keen with the red flags.

I bought two fabulous tops from Forever 21. They were sold at 50%. I loved their style and since they promised comfort to me, I didn’t hesitate to take them. Out of these two, the “I love my Boyfriend” shirt was my favorite. Not only because it screams out what’s in my heart, but also because it feels very cool on the skin. Its fabric is 100% Rayon. It can be worn off shoulder. The shirt hangs loose down the torso but hugs around the hips. I really liked its cut.

Fabulous shirt, yes, but not durable

I felt proud sporting my “expensive but bought on sale” shirt around the city. But to my disappointment, when I washed it the first time, the cloth on the upper back started to make holes. Those holes were contagious because more and more holes were coming while the original ones were getting bigger. It was something I didn’t expect.

The other white shirt however, though it wasn’t my favorite at first, was actually the one that gave my money’s worth. It’s made of 50% Rayon and 50% cotton. After quite a few times of wearing, it still is good.

Another disappointment that I earned from buying on sale is through this pair of boots. Its brand is Gazi and I don’t think it’s internationally known. As you can see, they’re simply adorable. I don’t always wear my favorite clothes and shoes because I wish to preserve them. But that practice turned out to be a bad idea for these shoes. After wearing them twice with only few months interval, I noticed that their skin was wearing off. I’ve not had enough of them yet and now they’re starting to look ugly. I don’t think I can still wear them, not with their cracked skin. So now they’re just sitting there in my closet, pretending they’re still pretty. You can just imagine my sadness.

The boots that couldn't stay pretty for long

I asked my friend the other day what bothers her when I saw her frowning early in the morning. She showed me her still quite new shoes, with the skins wearing off, too. I inquired if those were the pretty shoes she bragged about that she got on sale. The answer was “Yes”.

Therefore I've concluded two things.

1. When you are tempted to buy shoes on sale, examine the material. Usually, items are sold on sale because they’re nearing their deterioration period. Not all, of course, but mostly. Polyesters are very likely to wear off quick when bought on sale.

Even leathers have their limits too. Leathers that are bought at good quality become better in time especially when worn often. But a leather that’s been stocked for a long period of time before being sold on sale is a different case. Be careful.

2. For clothes, be wary of materials made purely of Rayon especially those sold on sale. A combination of Rayon and Cotton is more durable. Also, some fabrics are fake cottons. Just few weeks back I purchased an undershirt camisole that says 100% cotton and was on sale. After I did laundry, they showed lots of windows.

So those are my tips. What about yours? Have you experienced disappointments with products you bought on sale? What are your secrets when buying bargained items?

The winner of the Fashion to Figure giveaway!

I made a grievous sin and that’s not updating my blog for quite a few days. Not that I plan to abandon it, no not yet (there's plan of moving it to a new home), but it's because life just gets caught up in a whirlwind. Yes, there’s a lot to share about what’s consuming me right now but I’ll do that on the next post. Today, let’s celebrate for the winner of our recent giveaway.

photo by: weheartit

Thanks to FashiontoFigue who brings to this world stylish plus size jeans and apparels because one creative fashionista has won the item of her choice.

And the winner of our fashiontofigure giveaway is Karen of Art.Congratulations!

Thanks to all the girls who participated on our giveaway and of course, special thanks to our sponsor.