BBW $3 Body Creams (good through tomorrow, June 14th)

OK all of you BBW fans: TODAY and TOMORROW ONLY: $3 Signature Collection Body Cream!

I don't know about you, but BBW lotion does practically nothing for my dry skin, while the body cream is much thicker and far more moisturizing. These make nice gifts as well and you just can't beat this price.

Will you be picking up some body creams this weekend? And if so, which scents will you get?

Super cool things to read this weekend

It's time once again to bring you my favorite blog posts from the past week, from my favorite fellow beauty bloggers. Let's get started!

OlderGirlBeauty brings us one of the funniest and most informative reviews of the new Maybelline Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara I've read to date. I defy you not to giggle when she demonstrates the poor design of this product! :)

BeautyJunkiesUnite introduces us to some new dry shampoos which have me believing that my fave Stila dry shampoo now has some serious competition.

If you're like me and just cannot figure out how (or why) to use a protein treatment on your hair, check out TheArt&Scienceof[beauty]'s review of Redken Extreme CAT for exactly how it all works.

Definitely budget-friendly, TheMakeupDivas gives us a recipe for a fantastic DIY foot mask which includes three wholesome ingredients: cucumbers, olive oil and lemon juice.

If you're in that special group of gals who find that Urban Decay Primer Potion and Too Faced Shadow Insurance just do not work to keep your eyeshadow from creasing, Read all about PinkSith's solution: ArtDeco Eyeshadow Base.

Whether you're getting married soon or are in a wedding a soon, you must click over to TheDailyBeautyBreak to get some essential wedding makeup pointers from the professional herself (this is also helpful for any of us who just need our makeup to last all day for a special event).

I don't know about you, but I just never get tired of looking at swatches of the Sephora Kat Von D True Romance eyeshadow palettes, and MyMakeupReview's lastest pics definitely do not disappoint.

Been curious about those Soap & Glory products you see at Target with the cute, retro packaging? I know I have been, so I'm glad that PinkTrainCase took the plunge and reviewed The Fab Pore for us.

Happy reading! :)

Some VERY exciting giveaways...coming soon!

I've got some exciting news for you, dear readers, so please take a minute to read this following announcement!

First off, I want to tell you that, in celebration of YOU, Nouveau Cheap is sponsoring a very special giveaway in the very near future. I am rapidly approaching my 10,000th page hit on this blog, and in honor of this event, I am personally sponsoring a giveaway EXCLUSIVELY for my loyal readers who follow this blog. If you have signed up to follow my blog (see right-hand side bar for a list of my followers) you will be eligible for this giveaway.

I am personally assembling a jam-packed giveaway that will include several of the products I've talked about on Nouveau Cheap, including many of my all-time favorite budget-beauty makeup, nail care, hair care, and body care products! This is going to be one very special giveaway that I cannot wait to share with you!

So when my counter (see bottom of this page) rolls over to 10,000, I will annouce the details of the giveaway, and ONLY official followers of Nouveau Cheap will be eligible to participate! This is the best way I can think of to honor YOU, my faithful readers, so please stay tuned...

Also, coming up very shortly, I will announce an insanely awesome giveaway from Suave that you will definitely NOT want to miss!

Thanks a million for your support!
Recessionista xo

Lush fans! Listen up!

If you're a Lush devotee, you probably already know about this great deal, but if you're a casual fan of Lush or have always wanted to try their hair care products but never knew exactly what to invest in, this deal is awesome!

For a limited time, you can get a customized 7-piece trial kit for $15 which includes 1 H'suan Wen Hua hair moisturizer, 1 Jungle Solid Conditioner, 1 Liquid Shampoo (your choice), 2 Solid Shampoo Bars (your choice), 1 Liquid Conditioner (your choice) and 1 Styling Gel (your choice).  That is quite a deal!  

Personally, I've always gravitated toward their Bubble Bars, body creams and soaps, and I think I've only tried a few of their hair care products because their soaps are just so darn irresistible.  Plus, I'm always a bit overwhelmed by the choices of hair care products (solid shampoos, liquid shampoos, etc.).  So this is really a perfect, and affordable, way to sample all the goodness that Lush has to offer. :)


Click here for the deets.

Review: Maybelline Flash of Gold Nail Polish

So I finally did a manicure with one of the new Maybelline Express Finish Flash of Gold polishes (you can see pics of the Flash of Gold display with all of the available colors here)! The color I purchased is "Golden Plum" which is anything but plum in color.  To me, it's a medium melon/coral (the photos make it look a bit lighter than it actually is) with subtle golden micro-glitter.  When I say subtle, I don't mean that there's not a lot of micro-glitter, I mean that the color of the micro-glitter is subtle gold.  In fact, indoors, the micro-glitter looks coral in color, not gold.  Basically the micro-glitter looks to be almost the same color as the polish.  This pretty much sucks since the whole concept of the line is "Flash of Gold".  I really wanted gold micro-glitter but unless you're in bright, direct sunlight, it's just not happening.

This polish is pretty streaky when applied, but it's sheer, so I would go ahead and classify it as a jelly.  (For an excellent definition of  jelly polishes, click here.) Looking at all of the other colors in the display, I think it's safe to say that they're all jellies so, if that's your thing, you're in luck! Because this is a jelly, I had to apply three coats to make the color opaque, and still, my nails did show through the polish a tiny bit.

 Now if you've been reading my blog for any length of time now, you know that I do not have the patience to apply three coats of color to my nails. So I'm really glad that this formula is "Express Finish" because the drying time in between coats is just a minute or two.  It was actually tolerable and I have to say, Maybelline polishes have excellent staying power so the payoff was well worth the effort.  I used Orly Bonder as a base, three coats of Golden Plum, and one coat of Seche Vite on top.  This combination gave me almost 6 days of chip-free wear.  Pretty good for $3.33 a bottle (the regular price of Flash of Gold polishes is $4.19 at Rite-Aid but there are $1 off coupons at the display).

Final Analysis: If you like jelly polishes, I definitely recommend these. But even if jellies aren't your thing, you can get a pretty opaque look with three coats instead of two. These polishes have great staying power and the color selection is fabulous. But if you're looking for a "Flash of Gold", I'm afraid it's actually more of a whisper of gold.

Marshalls Alert!

So I didn't even think I was going to Marshalls today but I was in the area for other reasons so of course I had to pop in and see if there were any great deals. Um, WOW! I cannot believe I found this:

NARS Skin Bath and Shower Gel in "Acacia" (retail $38, 6.7 oz)

I talked to an employee who said they had a few other NARS body products but they sold quickly (duh!) and this was the only product left. Marshalls price? $10. Crazy!

Also, I noticed that they had a HUGE new shipment of Korres bath, body and hair products (click here to see my original review of Korres) including body milk, shampoos, conditioners, super-size bottles of shower gel (see lower left side of pic) and of course the famous Korres Body Butter, all in a variety of different scents. All of these products were $3.99 and $4.99 (more than 50% off the retail price).

I'm constantly amazed at the quality of bath, body and hair products now available at Marshalls. Why would you ever pay retail again? If you're a bath/body/hair product junkie, definitely pop into Marshalls a couple times a month to see what's available.

Review: L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara

So when I saw this display at Rite-Aid, and then I saw Shakeup*your*Makeup's review, I knew I had to try it for myself. As you can see in the pic above, my lashes are pretty much non-existent without mascara. Volume is a real concern for me (even more so than length) so if a mascara has the word "volume" in it I am all over it (especially since my beloved Max Factor Volume Couture Mascara is about to become unavailable here in the US).

L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara is available at Ulta and just about every major US retail outlet where L'Oreal products are sold. The retail price is around $7.99 (but it's on sale right now at Ulta for $5.99). Since I'm not a fan of WP mascaras (just because I simply don't care for using eye makeup remover) I purchased Washable Blackest Black.

The first thing I noticed about this mascara is how lovely the packaging is--it's a black tube encased in clear lucite. So sleek! Also, the brush is a traditional bristle brush (nice and big but not ridiculously humongous, and it has an hourglass shape), as opposed to a rubber brush. Something I like very much is that when you pull the brush out of the tube, it barely touches the inside of the tube. I like this because you're not wiping most of the product off the wand before you use it, and I also like how smooth the motion is when you're removing and replacing the wand.

Surprisingly, even though the wand is not a tight fit on the opening of the tube, you're not left with a lot of extra gunk on the bristles. I've found that I'm left with the perfect amount of product for building nice volume without clumping. The "after" pics above were taken after two coats, but I would like to note that I tried three coats and it was even better. I had really thick, dramatic, deep black lashes and the lengthening property was good as well. So yes, clumping is not an issue, but I'm afraid there are some other issues I must tell you about.

I tried to capture this in the photos so I hope you can see it: This mascara gathers at the ends of your lashes, leaving a glob of product on each individual lash. You can easily remove these little globs by just pinching them with your fingers, but who wants to have to do that? Now, I don't really consider this a clumping issue because, for me, clumping is when the product encases several lashes together in a heavy amount of product. Lash separation was not an issue; just the little ball-like globs on the tips of my lashes.

Another problem for me was flaking. This didn't happen instantly, but I found that throughout the course of the day, my eyes felt a little itchy and, sure enough, it was due to flakes. Also, as is the problem with several other L'Oreal mascaras I've used over the years, this one tends to smear under my lower lashes after about four hours (I blame that more on my oily skin than the product itself).

Final Analysis: If I'm going out for a night on the town, this is going to be my go-to mascara because I love the volume it gives my lashes. When I'm getting ready to go out at night I have extra time to remove the "globs" on the tips of my lashes, as opposed to getting ready in the morning when I barely have enough time to put on mascara at all. Also, since my nights on the town consist of about 4 hours these days, I won't have to worry about the flaking or smearing. As for using this as my daily mascara, no way. I just simply don't have the time to fuss with this and worry about flaking and smearing throughout the day. This product has great volume and impact but, for me, it's strictly for nighttime use.

If you've tried L'Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Mascara, I'd love to know your personal experience--is it similar to mine?

Problem solved!

I think I've fixed the glitch in the comment field, so those of you who were having trouble leaving comments can now post away. Thanks for your patience! :)

The Wednesday Question

Here's a new feature for NouveauCheap: The Wednesday Question!

In an effort to learn more about you, my dear readers, I'm going to ask a new question every Wednesday and I welcome everyone to leave an answer in the comments. Simple!

Today's question is:

What's your favorite drugstore lipgloss (brand and color) and why?

Can't wait to read your responses--especially since I'm in dire need of a good drugstore lipgloss :)

A great MAC dupe for $1.99? Yep!

If you read my post about this a while back, then you already know that Avon True Color Eyeshadow Single in Smokey Slate is an excellent dupe of MAC Copperplate (click here for the pics and full review). Not only are they super close in color but, believe it or not, I like the Avon e/s better! It's more finely milled than the MAC, it applies smoother, it blends more easily and it's got better staying power.

The sad part for me was that I thought this Avon shadow was discontinued. But that was until the lovely Tanya from Pink Train Case sent me an email today informing me that it's not only still available, but it's also on sale at Avon.com for $1.99!! Tanya, you ROCK!

If you have been wanting MAC Copperplate, I highly suggest that you pick up Avon Smokey Slate instead, because this is one of those rare instances where I honestly think the dupe outperforms the original. Let's all thank Tanya, shall we? :)

How to save a broken nail (and it really works!)

Do you ever break your nail well below the nail bed? I seem to be really hard on my nails and this happens about once every few months. Usually I end up clipping my nail down and suffering in slight pain for a while before the break grows and moves its way up past the nail bed. The worst part about this kind of break is that it usually means I must clip all of my nails down so they're uniform in size. Well, I am here to tell you those are days are now officially over!

I recently received a shipment of Fing'rs nail products to try, and when I saw the Brush-On Nail Glue, I was actually kind of hoping to break a nail just so I could test it out. Well it finally happened and, as you can see from the pic above, the break was pretty far down on my nail bed. Ouch!

I followed the directions on the bottle of Fing'rs Brush-On Nail Glue (around $2 at your local drugstore) and cleaned my nail so that it was free of oils. Then, I applied the glue, which was SO easy thanks to the brush (see pic) and held the break in place with a pair of tweezers. I waited a few minutes until it was dry, and then I used a nail buffer to gently buff the glue until it was smooth. Super easy, super fast. Just how I like things to be.

As you can see in the last pic, taken after buffing the dried glue, you can barely see the crack. I mean, you really have to struggle, even in real life, to see it. Fabulous! Also, I have washed several dishes, taken two showers and used hand cream several times since I repaired the break and this glue has survived it all. And when I say survived, I mean the break will not budge. I even test it sometimes by pushing down on the break and it just does not move. Success!!

I can't recommend this product enough, and I am SO glad I finally have a real (and extremely inexpensive) solution to those below-the-nail-bed breaks. Do you use Fing'rs Brush-On Nail Glue? I'd love to know your thoughts and if you've ever tried gluing a completely broken nail tip back on (my next mission).

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and gratis samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.

Review: Daisy Fuentes Voluminous Curls & Waves Shampoo & Conditioner

Come on, you know you've been curious about this line. Well stop your wondering because I actually purchased the Daisy Fuentes Voluminous Curls & Waves Shampoo and Conditioner and I'm giving you the scoop so that you can decide if you want to give them a whirl.

First off, let me warn you:

Do not buy these products if you do not like the smell of gardenia flowers. Seriously, the fragrance is so strong it will wake you up in the shower. This was deceptive because it didn't smell that strong in the bottle. But put some in your hair and WOW, it's a gardenia garden! And the scent lingers in your hair for a good long while afterward, so consider yourself warned.

That said, you can find Daisy Fuentes hair care products at Rite-Aid and Walgreens. The shampoos and conditioners retail for $7.99 each (10 oz). I decided to purchase the Voluminous Curls & Waves shampoo and conditioner (the other option is the Flawless Smooth and Straight Shampoo and Conditioner) based on the fact that I have wavy hair and I tend to play up my curls as opposed to straightening my hair.

I used both the shampoo and conditioner every day for one week straight and I can honestly say that I don't hate either one. I love that these products are paraben and sulfate free and, unlike some other sulfate-free shampoos, I have no problem at all with getting this one to lather. The lather is nice and thick and your hair feels clean when you rinse, but not dry at all. In fact, it feels more moisturizing than any other shampoo currently in my shower (and I've got a lot of shampoos in my shower, let me tell you).

The conditioner is thick, so it's bordering on difficult to squeeze out of the bottle. Conditioners, for the most part, are tricky because you don't know right off the bat how much you should use on your particular hair. I can use a conditioner one day and absolutely hate it, but use it the next day at half the original amount and suddenly it's the best product to have ever touched my hair. That said, I used too little the first few times I tried this conditioner, then I used too much. Eventually I found my sweet spot: For my med-long hair, a little less than a tablespoon seems to work best.

I like to call this a "sleeper" conditioner. What I mean is that you don't really feel that your hair is overly moisturized when you're rinsing it out in the shower, but once it dries it feels incredibly soft. So soft that I'm inclined to recommend this to thick, coarse-haired girls only. It feels so soft on my fine, oily hair that I am scared it will look flat and oily before the day is over. It never does look flat or oily but if feels like it's right on the border of turning that way all day. Not a good feeling. To combat this paranoia, I tried using less product but that just made my hair feel dry, poofy and out of control (i.e. like using no conditioner at all). So with this product, more is better, I guess.

Also, I should add that this did nothing to enhance my curls yet, surprisingly, it didn't weigh them down either. In other words, they looked about the same as they always do.

Final Analysis: If you love the scent of gardenia and you have thick, dry, coarse, wavy or curly hair, DEFINITELY give these products a shot. For the rest of us? There are far better sulfate and paraben free products on the market for fine and/or oily haired girls. For me? I'll probably use the shampoo on a semi-regular basis and save the conditioner for the days after I've just colored my hair and I really need some heavy-duty moisturization.

I really should have thought about the fact that Daisy Fuentes has gorgeous, very thick hair. I'm sure these products work like a charm for her...

New Bath & Body Works weekly specials

Just in case you aren't aware, BBW is in the midst of their Semi-Annual Sale and some of their specials change from week to week. I want to keep you posted on every week's new specials, so here are this week's deals:

4 for $10 anti-bac soaps
$5 Wallflowers (starter sets and refills)
Buy 2, get 2 free True Blue Spa items
Buy 1, get 1 free select Men's items

And of course:

$5 Signature Collection Classics items
$6 Aromatherapy Classics items

Have you purchased anything from the BBW SAS yet? If so, leave a comment--I'd love to hear about the deals you're finding in-store!

ATTN: Nail polish junkies, I've got a deal for you!

Nail polish divas! I'm tickled to bring you the following exclusive offer from Beautyticket.com. (You know that Beautyticket.com is one of my favorite recessionista-friendly sites and this offer doesn't disappoint!)

POP Beauty has given BeautyTicket.com an exclusive 25% off code for their new Nail Glam polishes! (If you're not familiar with them, they are on InStyle Magazine's "Best Makeup Under $15" Top 10 list for Summer 2009.) The coupon is only good at the Pop Beauty website and expires 7.1.09. (The website is located in the UK, but people who live in U.S. and Canada only pay domestic shipping charges!)

Look at all of the gorgeous summertime colors to choose from...oh my! I'm eying "Mandarin" which looks like an ice cold glass of Sunny D to me. :)

Super cool things to read this weekend (late edition)

Due to ongoing computer problems (I actually had to purchase a brand new computer on Friday--argh!) I didn't get a chance to post my usual weekly roundup of my favorite posts by my favorite beauty bloggers.

But because the weekend isn't quite over yet, I decided that I still had time. So here you go:

Probably the funniest post about frizzy hair that I've read to date, Happy Face, Happy Wallet reviews ION Alcohol-Free Hairspray from Sally and tells us if it helped her locks stop singing showtunes.

Shakeup*your*makeup shows us a very pretty look using the 75% off Victoria's Secret gel liners paired with Maybelline eyeshadows.

The Cheapest Girl Around gives us the lowdown on the Wet n Wild MegaSlicks Lip Color Retractable Pencils (how have I not seen these yet??).

Fun, Flat Broke & Fabulous gives us some fun ideas for wearing bright colors on our peepers.

A reusable airless bottle with a pump for Revlon ColorStay foundation? Yes! Check out Beda's Beauty Blog for the deets.

A girl after my own heart! Tanya at Pink Train Case shares my love of inexpensive gray nail colors--check out where she purchased her latest steal here.

Sorry for the late edition, girls!

Big Lots Alert! Pink Sugar dupe for $4!

Before I begin, I wanted to say that if you subscribe to my blog via daily email, I'm sorry for last night's edition. I'm not sure what's going on with FeedBurner but in addition to the Thymes post, last night's email also included two previous posts that I wrote a while ago. I'm sorry for the confusion and hopefully this problem will be cleared up in time for tonight's email. :)

I wanted to tell you about a product that I saw at Big Lots yesterday:

Skin Below the Chin Clinically Formulated Vitamin Complex pH Balanced Body Cleanser in "Spun Sugar" (16 oz, retail $7)

If you're not familiar with "Skin Below the Chin", it is line of bath and body products made by C Booth, a company that also makes bath and products under the name "Booth" that are available at Rite-Aid, Walgreens and other retail outlets (Booth products are considered by many to be knock-offs of Kiehl's products).

What's special about Skin Below the Chin Spun Sugar shower gel is that it smells exactly like
Aquolina Pink Sugar. Honestly, it's a spot-on duplication, and the 16 oz bottle of shower gel is avaiable at Big Lots right now for $4. If you're a Pink Sugar fan, then you probably know that Aquolina Pink Sugar Glossy Shower Gel retails for $18 (8.45 oz). So the Spun Sugar shower gel is a huge cost savings and you will not be disappointed with the scent. Definitely worth a trip to your local Big Lots.