Review: New Black Radiance Radiant Lip Gloss in Blackberry Ice

I'm a HUGE Black Radiance fan and I always say that the best-kept secret for oily-skinned gals is the Black Radiance Complexion Perfection Shine Control Primer (click here if you missed my review). Not only are Black Radiance products inexpensive (hello! They're made my by Markwins, which also makes Wet n Wild) but so many of their products are of excellent quality and really deliver on performance.  If you haven't explored the Black Radiance line yet, I highly suggest you take a look at their eyeshadows, eyeliners, face primer, powder blushes, nail polishes and pretty much anything else I've talked about on this blog. You can find this line at select Rite Aid, Walgreens, Walmart and K-Mart locations across the US and you can also find an assortment of Black Radiance products at Walgreens.com if you can't locate this line in your area.

Today I'm going to talk about one of their newest lipgloss lines called "Radiant Lip Gloss".  I believe this line was actually released back in January, but my local Rite Aid recently revamped their Black Radiance display and only recently started to carry the complete assortment of "Radiant Lip Glosses" so I still consider this line "new". 

I received the following shade for review, but I want to tell you that, even though this was sent to me, I love this gloss so much that I will not be limiting myself to just this shade. It's a good thing I have Black Radiance at my local Rite Aid because I'm pretty obsessed with these, so let me explain why.

Black Radiance Radiant Lip Color in Blackberry Ice (retail: $2.99)

Blackberry Ice is a difficult color to describe. It's a deep chocolate-berry with beautiful flecks of gold and bronze, but I also detect a very subtle streak of multi-colored shimmer running through it as well. In certain lights, you can see green and orange and blue sparkles in this gloss, but the predominant shimmer is gold.

Before I forget, Walgreens.com has these glosses on their site and if you click on a swatch, you can see the actual tube, which is very helpful. Click here to check out some other shades.

So what do I love about this gloss? Well for starters, the brush applicator rocks. It's small and firm, which means you can apply this gloss with the utmost precision and you can also easily line your lips with it as well. 

Another thing I love about this gloss is that, even though it's sheer, the pigmentation is EXCELLENT (which is the case with so many Black Radiance products). I don't know about you, but I can't stand sheer glosses that don't show up at all on my lips. Why bother, right?

Let me talk about the texture for a minute: this gloss is not sticky, tacky or heavy. It really feels nice and light on the lips, and even though it's packed with sparkle, it's not gritty.  Also, to me, it smells like raspberry bubble gum, which I love.  But the fragrance is not super strong (and it fades pretty quickly). The flavor reminds me of raspberry bubblegum as well, but it's very subtle and it's not one of those glosses that is so sweet it feels like you're swiping artificial sweetener on your lips.

Let's take a peek at some swatches:

For a chronic gloss-eater like me, I'm also impressed with the staying power of this gloss. I have a bad habit of smooshing my lips together whenever I'm wearing gloss, and even through all the smooshing, I can get about three hours of wear before I need to reapply.  Also, I love that this gloss fades evenly and leaves a nice, subtle hint of color on my lips as it fades.

I just adore the chocolate-berry shade of this gloss, and it's exactly what I need for fall and winter. This one's a winner, lovelies. At just $2.99, I cannot recommend it enough. 

Do you own any Black Radiance products? What are your favorites from this line? Are you thinking about picking up one of these new Radiant Lip Colors? I'd love to hear from you!

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 editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.

Lots of Sinful Colors news!

If you're a Sinful Colors fan, I've got LOTS to share with you so let's get right into it:

1) HUGE thanks to all of you lovely readers for alerting me to the fact that the new Sinful Colors displays I recently posted about may actually be repromotes.  After discussing this with the lovely Nicole at Magic Maid, I've come to find out that the colors in these new displays are identical to existing colors from the Sinful Colors core collection (just with different names).  I'm pretty bummed that I went on and on about Love Bite being this new, beautiful shade (heck, I even made a video about it) only to have Nicole inform that it's actually the same color as What's Your Name, which is already part of the core collection.  Nicole did a thorough job of breaking it all down, shade by shade, so be sure to check out her post here, for more information. The moral of this story? Be sure to look closely at these "new" Sinful Colors displays before you make a purchase, because you may very well already own the shade!

2) Even though I'm bummed that these "new" displays don't contain anything new, and Love Bite left me with a little bit of egg on my face, I just can't deny my love for Sinful Colors. For the money, they consistently produce affordable, beautiful colors, and I've been very pleased with the quality as well. So I want to give a big thanks to my lovely Twitter follower, @carpe_comma, for sending me a pic of a Sinful Colors product that she just spotted at her local Walgreens:

Sinful Colors 5-piece Mini Polish Set (retail: $4.99, 0.17 oz per bottle)

I have never seen a mini-set from Sinful Colors before, have you? This is brand new to me, and I think that they selected some great shades to include in this set. HUGE thanks to Carpe_Comma for snapping this pic at 7:00AM in the morning AND jotting down the names of each shade (that's dedication!). From left to right, the colors are: Sugar Sugar, Canary Yellow, Love Nails, San Francisco and  Let's Talk .

In my opinion, San Francisco and Love Nails are two of the best Sinful Colors shades out there, so that's reason enough to buy this mini set alone if you're new to Sinful Colors and want to try some colors without committing to full-size bottles.

3) And finally, I have VERY good news about the coming week's Sinful Colors 99-cent coupon at Walgreens! In my previous post, I mentioned that the last time Wags offered this coupon, it was not a national promotion. In other words, the coupon was only available to certain regions within the US (which left a lot of us pretty upset).  But maybe Wags listened to our concerns, because I just got a Walgreens email with the "Sneak Preview" of next week's ad and guess what? The 99-cent Sinful Colors coupon is in the Sneak Preview! (And thanks to several of you for letting me know you spotted this as well).  

So just to be safe, I went online and tested this out specifically in my area. I checked for various Walgreens locations within San Diego, and sure enough, the coupon comes up for every location.  Click here to see and, just to be safe, change the location to YOUR area (in the left-hand sidebar) and see if the coupon comes up. I'm pretty sure it will.  So YAY! I'm SO happy this is a nation-wide promotion this time around!

Even though it was full of mixed emotions, I hope this post helped some of you Sinful Colors fans out there. Do you plan to use this Wags coupon in the coming week? If so, just be sure to double-check the colors in those "new" displays and make sure you don't already own them!

Review: Halle by Halle Berry Pure Orchid

I've mentioned several times on this blog that the original Halle by Halle Berry is my current favorite fragrance that you can find at the drugstore. So when I had the opportunity to receive the new Halle by Halle Berry Pure Orchid for review recently, I jumped at the chance. Not only because I'm a huge fan of the original, but because every time I see Pure Orchid at the drugstore, the tester is either missing or empty. So I actually haven't been able to get a good whiff of this fragrance or wear it on my skin until recently.

First let's talk about the bottle:

The bottle design of Pure Orchid is identical to the original Halle fragrance, except for the color. I'm a sucker for anything that's translucent, and if it's purple too? All the better!

Halle by Halle Berry Pure Orchid (retail: around $20, 1.0 oz)

Before I get into my personal take on this fragrance, I think it's interesting to explore its creation (from Basenotes):

Pure Orchid has been created by Rodrigo Flores-Roux and Christophe Raynaud from Givaudan, and will include notes of jungle cactus flower, lemon, blackberry creme, star anise, masdevallia orchid, giant sequoia and patchouli.

Looking at Rodrigo Flores-Roux's resume, it's interesting to see that he also created such popular fragrances as Donna Karan Black Cashmere and With Love...Hilary Duff (in addition to many others). In my opinion, these two fragrances share a little bit of a similar quality to Pure Orchid (I'm not claiming they're identical or even close in composition, but there's a subtle undertone or "personality" to them that I also detect in Pure Orchid, if that makes any sense).

The original Halle fragrance is tough to compete with, so I can't say I prefer Pure Orchid over the original. But, I think that if you are drawn to orchid fragrances such as Bath & Body Works Enchanted Orchid, you might love this fragrance. To my nose, it's got a richer, warmer quality than Enchanted Orchid, and I think it's a bit more interesting than the BBW fragrance.

As much as I wanted to detect the lemon and blackberry creme notes in Pure Orchid, I just can't seem to pick them out. But that doesn't really make me sad because, the longer I wear this fragrance, the more it feels like the original Halle by Halle Berry but with a sheer veil of orchid layered over the top. It's pretty, it's feminine, and if you like sweet, creamy florals, this might be perfect for you. And if you love the original Halle, this could be a fun variation for you to wear when you're feeling playful. It's a light, cheery fragrance and I think it works for all ages.

If you're interested in purchasing either Pure Orchid or Halle by Halle Berry, don't forget that there's a $3 printable coupon on AllYou.com. Hurry and print that though, because it's been up for a while and I'm not sure how much longer it will be available.

Do you own Halle by Halle Berry Pure Orchid? What do you think of it? I'd love to hear from you!

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 editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.

Thursday Thoughts...

If you missed this week's question, here it is again:

When we move from one season to the next, what type of makeup products do you get excited to purchase for the new season?

Of the 29 responses I received to this week's Wednesday Question, an overwhelming number of you included nail polish in your answer. Glad to see I'm not alone!

Almost as popular? Eye shadow. I totally feel ya on that one as I love seeing all the new seasonal shades as well.  Several of you are excited to see the coming season's new lip colors, and I was surprised that many of you look forward to new blushes as well (funny, I never think about new blushes until I see them in the display, but now that you mention it, it's fun to see the new shades!). 

A few of you seem pretty excited by the prospect of new weather-appropriate foundations, and I was VERY happy to see that a few of you look forward to new bath and body products. How could I forget to mention that? It's always so fun to see the limited edition holiday lotions, body mists and body washes! Thanks for reminding me about those--it gives me one more thing to look forward to as summer comes to a close.

Thanks as always for your wonderful responses. I learn something new every week and I'm grateful for that!

Weekly Drugstore Makeup Sales!

It's that time again! Click the logo above to see a breakdown of the coming week's drugstore makeup sales, brought to us by Make-Up on the Cheap.

Here's a huge spoiler: Walgreens is having another 99-cent Sinful Colors sale! Look for the coupon in this week's flier (limit three per coupon).

Oh and another one for you nail polish girlies: Rite Aid has BOGOFREE on Borghese nail polish.

Breaking Beauty News (and lots of it!)

The beauty news is really coming fast and furious this week so I thought I'd do a post that includes lots of little bits of information as opposed to several posts throughout the day. If you have a few minutes, be sure to skim through this one because I've got lots to share with you about beauty sales, nail polish, skincare, and recent drugstore developments. Let's get started!

1) Thanks to so many of you for pointing out my math error in my previous post about the Color Sensational deal at CVS this week (which ends this Saturday, btw).  Math was never my strong-suit but, in my defense, I was half asleep when I wrote that post and I added up my deductions incorrectly. Instead of paying $8 for four lip products, I actually paid $9, so thanks to everyone who pointed that out. I have updated that post and corrected my blunder. :)

2) I've mentioned several times on this blog that pretty much the only place I purchase high-end products lately is BeautyTicket.com.  I just adore this site, and the deals and steals you can get on high-end beauty products never cease to amaze me.  So I want to let you know that their amazing prices are about to get even better:

Beginning today and ending Saturday at noon (Pacific), you can receive an additional 25% off the ENTIRE SITE by using the above code at checkout. If you're already a BeautyTicket fan, you know this a pretty awesome code, so I suggest plotting your orders right away since things WILL sell out, and they'll sell out quickly, believe me.

3) Speaking of high-end beauty deals, I want to be sure you Tarte fans know about this news (from Happi.com):

Natural cosmetics brand Tarte is now available at Ulta stores across the U.S. The brand debuts with an exclusive "bestsellers" kit for only $25 (retail value of $75). It includes deluxe sizes of Tarte's top products:

• Mineral Bronzer in Park Ave Princess
• ReCreate silicone free primer with Wrinkle Rewind technology
• emphaEYES Inner Rim Eye pencil in Black
• Lights, Camera Lashes! clinically proven mascara
• Natural Cheek Stain in Flush
• Lifted Natural Eye Primer with Firmitol
• Vitamin Infused Lipgloss in 40 Winks 

 Wow, that's a pretty great deal for many of Tarte's best-selling goodies!

4) Selfridge's, the luxe department store chain in Great Britain, is going to release a line of Lego Nail Polish just in time for the holidays. Huh? Click here for the details. 

5) CVS news: renting movies just got a lot easier.  Redbox is about to launch nationwide in CVS stores, making CVS the first national drugstore chain to offer such a service to its customers (from DrugstoreNews).

6) All you Yes To Carrots fans, the Yes To family is about to roll out a new edition (from Happi.com):

Yes To Inc., the natural beauty brand that utilizes the power of carrots, will enter the anti-aging skin care category with its next fruit of choice - blueberries. The brand also features products with tomato and cucumber.

According to WWD, the five-item Yes to Blueberries Age Refresh line will launch in the U.S. in October, before rolling out to the brand’s global distribution of more than 30,000 doors in 31 countries. Currently, Yes To is in about 18,000 stores in the U.S., including Walgreens and Target.

Yum...blueberries.

7) Speaking of skincare, I just received this interesting information from Desert Essence's PR:

Desert Essence Re-design and New Products

The re-launch will not only introduce new packaging but also eight new skin care products. Desert Essence currently has the top three selling facial skin care items in the natural beauty category; two of these three are facial cleansers. What was missing from the line were the ancillary products to go with their top selling cleansers. Now, with these new products, Desert Essence will offer complete a beauty regimen that will cater to all skin types - oily-combination skin, normal skin and dry-sensitive skin.

The company’s new tagline, “Beauty Blooms in the Desert,” emphasizes the renewal of the mind, body and spirit that one feels when spending time in the desert.  Many of nutrient-rich botanicals used in the products stem from the desert including jojoba oil, aloe, tea tree oil and cactus extracts. The redesign of Desert Essence’s packaging evokes the desert’s colors with orange, green and yellow hues and simple textural designs. The redesign will also make the consumers’ shopping experience simpler, with color coded bottles by skin type.

And here's a sneak-peek of what the newly-redesigned products will look like:

I know that Desert Essence 100% Pure Organic Jojoba Oil has pretty much achieved cult-status at this point, but there are several other Desert Essence products I love, such as the Vanilla Chai Body Lotion and 100% Pure Tea Tree Oil. I just love how affordable their products are, and the quality is amazing as well. I'm pretty excited about this relaunch, so please stay tuned because I'll be reviewing some of their new products in the near future.

Whew! That's it for now, but as always, I'd love to hear from you about anything I've mentioned in this post.

How I got 4 Maybelline Color Sensational lip colors for $9

My self-imposed lip color no-buy has officially been lifted (well, for one day). I told you all that I was done with buying lip colors for a good long while (I just have far too many as it is) but the other day CVS made it hard to resist.

I've been a huge fan of Maybelline Color Sensational lipsticks and lipglosses since they were first released back in June of '09 (just do a search for "Color Sensational" on this blog and you'll see) and when I first heard that CVS was doing a 2/$10 with $3 back in Extra Bucks deal THIS WEEK on all Color Sensational products (and I think this also applies to the lipstains but check with your local CVS to confirm) I thought, "Wow, that's a great deal, but I think I can resist." But then, when I scanned my CVS card at the "Red Slot Machine", out came a $4 off a $20 purchase coupon! So naturally I thought about the best way to maximize my savings with this coupon, and I remembered that I still had four $1 Maybelline coupons in my purse (I got these from the tear-pad on the Sweet Thing display a while back). So what sent me over the edge? Well, the fact that these Sweet Thing coupons expire this month! I mean, I HAD to use them, right?

So I purchased two lipsticks and two glosses for $20

Then I used the $4 off $20 purchase coupon from the Slot Machine which brought my total down to $16

Then I used four $1 Maybelline coupons from the Sweet Thing display, which brought my total down to $12

Then I received $3 back in Extra Bucks, which brought my total down to $9 for four lip products.

So each lip product was just a little over $2. Pretty good!

I am so ready for fall and winter that I steered clear of the pinks and nudes and opted for rich cranberries and wines. Here's what I purchased:

By far, the stand-out shades for me are Wine All Mine and Plum-Tastic. These two shades are rich and deep, but both the gloss and the lipstick have a sheer quality about them that makes it so I can pull off the dark color without having "Hey! Look at me!" lips. As far as deep wine shades go, these are bold, but not jarring. I think they'd both look gorgeous paired with a very subdued eye and just a hint of color on the cheeks.

Be sure to enlarge the collage and look at the second set of swatches. It's a blurry pic so it really shows the sparkle in Wine All Mine.

So, have you taken advantage of the 2/$10 deal at CVS yet? If so, which shades did you buy? I'd love to hear from you!

The Wednesday Question

I can't believe another week has flown by and it's already time for a new question! Here we go:

When we move from one season to the next, what type of makeup products do you get excited to purchase for the new season?

For me, it's lipcolor and nail color. I get so excited to see the new limited edition drugstore displays, and I really enjoy the new crop of seasonal colors that come out because it's such a welcomed change of pace from the colors of the past season.

So how about you? What makeup products are you excited to purchase for fall? Or do you stick to the same basic group of products throughout the year?

Review: Wet n Wild The Gold & the Beautiful

Before I spotted the new limited edition Wet n Wild Craze polish collection called "Pixel Perfect" at my local Rite Aid, the lovely and amazing Niki over at Cheapalicious found the display in her area and reviewed a few shades (click here for her review). I was so excited to see more of these shades (I've only seen a few here and there on other blogs).  So you know what Niki does after I tell her how excited I am to see her swatches? She SENDS me one of the polishes! I mean, one of the new LE WnW polishes that she just bought! How SWEET and unbelievably generous is that? She said that she already owned a color very close to The Gold & the Beautiful (I love how all the colors in the Pixel Perfect collection are named after TV shows) so she didn't really have a need for it. Check it out:

 Wet n Wild The Gold & the Beautiful (retail: $1.99)

 (with flash)

(no flash, florescent lighting)

I don't have many golds in my nail polish collection so this was a very welcome treat! These pics were taken after two coats with no top coat. The formula is very smooth and applies easily (just like the other Craze polishes I own). I love how this shade is so rich and so perfect for fall. It's just got "autum" written all over it to me. How cute to pair it with some tailored slacks, a black turtlneck sweater and simple gold jewelry (and some cute black boots, of course). Wow, can you tell I'm excited for colder weather or what?

So again, a HUGE thanks to Niki for this random act of kindness.  I love my fellow beauty and fashion bloggers!! :)

PS: Speaking of nail polish! I just tweeted about this but in case you don't follow me on Twitter, there's a new $1 Nicole by OPI coupon up on Red Plum. You can grab it here.

Do you know about the Rite Aid Glam Bag?

I told you today was crazy and I wasn't lying. Today while I was requesting my Single Check Rebate for July on the Rite Aid site, I scanned the beauty-related Single Check Rebate offers for August and came across this:

Glam Camp 2010

Rebate #564

VALID ONLY ON PURCHASES FROM 07/25/10 to 09/25/10**

FREE GLAM CAMP BAG Rebate
Glam Camp

Purchase Ten Dollars ($10.00) Worth of Any Variety:
• Sally Hansen Products
• Maybelline Products
• Clearasil Products
• Veet Products
• göt2b Products
• CoverGirl Products
• Dickinson’s Products
• Phisoderm Products
and receive back mail a FREE Glam Camp Bag

Bag includes free beauty samples.
Glam Camp Bag mailed separately from rebate check.
While supplies last.

**Rebate valid only on products purchased between the dates shown above. Purchases made outside of stated dates will not be honored for the rebate.

Offer valid 07/23/10 - 09/23/10 in select California stores and 07/25/10 - 09/25/10 in all other stores.

LIMIT ONE (1) FREE GLAM CAMP BAG

Did you see the part I highlighted in red? FREE SAMPLES INSIDE THE BAG! Yes!

So yeah, let's see. Do any of us think we'll be purchasing $10 worth of the above brands before 9/25/10? Hahahaha! Probably, right? And btw, my kind reader b5ley just informed me that Rite Aid is running a BOGOFREE on Got2be this week, so pick up some of those products and you're almost already there! Just be sure that if you're not going to purchase $10 worth of the above brands in a single transaction, you enter EACH receipt (for every qualifying purchase) on the Rite Aid SCR site. They'll automatically keep track of everything from there, so just don't forget to save and enter those receipts.

That's it for now, but I've got even more on the way (it's a crazy day!).

In the meantime, do you plan on getting one of these bags? I DEFINITELY will be getting one, so it will be fun to compare notes with the rest of you and see what we all got!

This month's All You magazine: get it NOW!

This is one of those days where the information coming my way is fast and furious and I can barely type it up fast enough before another wave comes through with even MORE awesome information to share with you! Hopefully you have a few moments to read though everything I've posted today because I don't want you to miss anything!

First of all, in my previous post about haircare coupons, I completely forgot to mention that today's All You Freebie of the Day is also haircare-related! Click here to grab your free Nexxus Haircare sample. Yay for freebies!

And speaking of AllYou, I want to be sure that, if at all possible, you pick up this month's issue of All You Magazine (available at Walmart if you do not already have a subscription, which I HIGHLY recommend). This month's issue has been out for a while but it is still available, so hurry and grab it if you can. It looks like this:

The reason I'm practically begging you to get this issue? Well for starters, there's a GREAT article about how to save the most at the DRUGSTORE, with clear breakdowns of the various programs at Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens. This article explains everything more clearly than I could ever do, and if you're new to the world of drugstore shopping, it's a MUST-READ.

Next, there's also a fun article on the "Best Budget Beauty Buys" that is sort of like Allure's "Best of" list but specifically for budget beauty.

Now, if these two articles didn't already blow my mind (I mean, could there be a more perfect issue of All You for me than this??), these coupons REALLY sealed the deal:

Um, a BOGOFREE coupon for Rimmel Polish, another $1 NYC coupon AND a $3 Neutrogena coupon in the same week that there is currently a 40% off all Neutrogena makeup at Rite Aid? Yes, yes and YES!

And btw, some of you may see that "Purchase at Walmart" note on the Rimmel coupon and think you HAVE to make your purchase at Walmart. In the months that I've been using AllYou coupons, I've noticed that this is just a suggestion, and not a requirement. Nowhere in the fine print does it say that you MUST redeem this coupon at Walmart (the little black box above the barcode just says "Manufacturer's Coupon" and NOT "Walmart Coupon") so definitely try using it at a different store if you'd like.

So do you need this month's All You Magazine? If you're reading this blog, then YES. You NEED it. So get out and grab your copy while it's still on newsstands!

Huge Rite Aid Coupon News!

If you follow any of the various coupon forums out there, you might know that several "couponers" have been asking Rite Aid to produce an official coupon policy that clearly spells out their rules for coupon usage. Well, I am DELIGHTED to let you know that Rite Aid listened and they have just released this document that outlines everything you need to know about using coupons in their stores (FYI, I received this document directly from Rite Aid Public Relations).

This document is extremely helpful, and I would suggest printing it out and tucking it inside your purse or coupon holder. That way, if there's ever an issue when you're at the check-out stand, you can show this to the cashier. 

The BEST thing listed in this coupon? Rite Aid OFFICIALLY confirms that if you buy two items during a BOGOFREE sale and you have a BOGOFREE coupon, you get BOTH items for free. This has been an issue for me at Rite Aid in the past, so it's WONDERFUL to finally have this policy in black and white.

Give this a read and let me know what you think!

Rite Aid – Coupon Acceptance

To Our Valued Customers:

 

Rite Aid gladly accepts the following coupon types as detailed in the coupon acceptance guidelines listed below:

COUPON TYPES:

Manufacturer Coupons

·Manufacturer coupons are found in newspapers, magazines and even affixed to products. The UPC on these coupons begins with a "5."

Rite Aid Manufacturer Coupons

· Rite Aid Manufacturer coupons generally appear in our weekly circular, on our website and are sent to customers via e-mail. These coupons are labeled "manufacturer coupon" and have a UPC that begins with "49."

Rite Aid Valuable Coupons

· Rite Aid coupons are labeled "variable coupon" and have a UPC that begins with "48."

Internet/Print at Home coupons

· Rite Aid will accept Internet/print at home coupons up to the equivalent value of $5.00 off.

· A Rite Aid coupon (with the Rite Aid logo) is NOT considered an Internet coupon (even if printed off the Internet) and is therefore not subject to the $5.00 maximum.

+UP Reward Coupons

· +UP Reward coupons are special coupons earned by a customer in a prior purchase that can be used for any nonprescription purchase with a small number of exclusions that are listed on the +UP coupon. Multiple +UP coupons can be used (subject to the printed exclusions) up to the amount of purchase before sales tax.

Buy One, Get One Free

· We accept two coupons for the purchase of two items that are on Buy One, Get One Free Promotion.

· We accept a Buy One, Get One Free Coupon with an item that is in our flyer as Buy One, Get One Free, meaning both items are free. The cash register will compute any sales tax due, which varies by state law.

Total Purchase Coupons

· Rite Aid may feature total purchase coupons which discount the total purchase amount based upon meeting specific requirements. For example, $5 off a $25 purchase price threshold coupon.

· These coupons are accepted under the following conditions:

o   The coupon is valid and in date; only one total purchase coupon per transaction.

o   Total purchase equals or exceeds $25 before tax (before any coupons are applied).

o   Coupons for individual items can also be used including another "48" coupon that is tied to an item in the transaction.

o   Provided the total of items purchased is equal to or greater than the purchase requirement, other coupons can be used in conjunction with the total purchase coupon.

 

ACCEPTANCE GUIDELINES:

General Guidelines:

· Coupons must be valid and in date; Coupons cannot be exchanged for cash.

· Register will validate coupon through scanning or keyed entry of the coupon UPC number.

· In the event that any item's selling price is less than the value of the coupon, Rite Aid will accept the coupon in exchange for the selling price of the item. Coupon redemption can never exceed the selling price of an item and no cash back is allowed.

· When making a return for a product that had a coupon attached, Rite Aid cannot refund cash for the value of the coupon and cannot return the coupon that was used.

· Rite Aid reserves the right to not accept any coupon where the validity or the coupon cannot be established.

Multiple Coupons:

· More than one coupon can be used on the purchase of a single item under the following conditions:

· All coupons match the item being purchased.

· The total of the coupons is equal to or less than the selling price of the item before sales tax.

· No more than one "48" Rite Aid valuable coupon, one "49" Rite Aid Manufacturer coupon, and one "5" manufacturer coupon can be used on a single item.

· Rite Aid may accept multiple identical coupons for multiple qualifying items as long as there is sufficient stock to satisfy other customers within the store manager's sole discretion.

Lots of new haircare coupons!

If you've been planing on making some haircare purchases or you've been interested in trying out some new products, today's a great day for you! I've got lots to cover so give this post a read if you've got a minute or two.

1) Big thanks to the lovely Nessa over at Contests and Such for the heads-up about this one: TREsemme has posted a $1 coupon good for any Fresh Start product (click here to grab it). If you read my Fresh Start Dry Shampoo review, you know I had some mixed feelings about it, but I also know that it works well for A LOT of you, so if you're a fan, or you'd like to try some Fresh Start products soon, grab this coupon before it's gone!

2) I promised you that if CellFire started posting beauty-related coupons I would let you know ASAP, and sure enough, they just posted one today. (If you have no idea what CellFire is all about, click here and scroll down to the 5th item in my post.) Up until now, I have only seen food coupons on CellFire, and quite honestly, the assortment hasn't been that great (lots of 50-cent coupons for granola bars). But WHOA have things changed! There are ton of good food coupons now and several are high dollar value ($1 and $2) for things like olive oil, etc. that are normally pretty expensive at the grocery store. But the best coupon posted on CellFire today was for $2 off any Infusium haircare product (click here to see my love of Infusium if you missed it). Here's a pic I took of my Blackberry screen:

This coupon is good for Vons, but as many of you know, CellFire requires that you tell them where you are located so that they can link you to grocery stores in your area. I'm hoping that other grocery stores will have this coupon as well (let me know if you're in a different area and have access to this one!).

3) Look what I got in the mail from CVS yesterday:

Did you get the CVS Beauty Report for Summer/Fall 2010 as well? I'm not sure how I got on this mailing list (maybe they send it based on the amount of beauty-related purchases you make with your CVS card?), but I am certainly not complaining! I LOVE getting beauty-related info and samples from CVS and I'm sure you do too if you receive them. And this issue of the Beauty Report has a great L'Oreal coupon:

As you know, last week's Red Plum insert had a lot of L'oreal coupons in it, so combine this $2 coupon with a manufacturer's coupon and you've got yourself $3 or $4 off a haircare or cosmetics item (or wait for a BOGO sale and you'll save even more). Yay for CVS coupons!

That's it for now, but as always, I'd love to hear from you!

And the winner of the e.l.f. giveaway is...

First and foremost, a HUGE thanks to e.l.f. Cosmetics for making this amazing giveaway a reality. Thank you again, e.l.f.!

Next, I have to tell you that I never imagined that your answers to the giveaway question would have such a profound impact on me. From a Karate Kid reference that made me laugh hysterically *waves to Sara* and, on the other end of the spectrum, a few responses that moved me to tears (in a good way), it was a true pleasure and honor to read your messages. I cannot thank you all enough for the things you said--it made my day, week, month and year!

So let's get to the best part: the winner! After tallying up all the entries (each contestant had a maximum of three entries) we had a grand total of 644 valid entries. Thanks to Random.org, the lucky number was:

And who was lucky number 174?

Scarlett of ScarlettStyle! Congrats, Scarlett! I have sent you an email, so please get back to me as soon as you can!

Thanks again to all of you who entered. The response to this giveaway was AMAZING! And don't worry because I will be hosting a smaller (but still very fun) giveaway in the VERY near future sponsored by one of our favorite fragrance companies. So please check back soon! :)

Final Reminder

Today is your last chance to enter my big e.l.f. Cosmetics giveaway for a chance to win $101 worth of assorted e.l.f. beauty products, sponsored by e.l.f. Cosmetics!

Click the image below to enter, but hurry because this giveaway ends TONIGHT at 11:59PM Pacific:

From the Vintage Vault...

It's time again to show you a few products from my recently uncovered personal stash of beauty products from the 80s and 90s! This week I've got some that might spark some fond memories for you, so let's get started:

Cosmetic Factory Nail Lacquer in S.E.X.Y. (circa 1997)

Does anyone here remember Cosmetic Factory? In the late 90s, they were this awesome drugstore brand that produced DUPES of high-end beauty products such as nail polish and lipstick. I remember that they used to sell dupes of Christian Dior and YSL colors, as well as MAC:

Oh how I wish Cosmetic Factory was still around! I remember that a lot of their products were spot-on dupes of popular high-end products and I was totally obsessed with them (even back in the mid/late 90s I was all about finding dupes!).

I'm not quite sure when the MAC nail polish shade X.T.C. was released, but I'm assuming it had to be the mid-to-late 90s and it apparently was so popular that it warranted a dupe from Cosmetic Factory. I don't think I owned X.T.C. but I remembering loving S.E.X.Y.! I purchased this polish at the now-defunct Long's Drug Store for $1.99 (the price tag is still on the bottle). *sigh*

Next up:

Diamond Cosmetics Lipstick in Neptune (circa late 1990s)

I know a lot of you are familiar with Diamond Cosmetics nail polishes, but they also make lipsticks (click here to see what the tubes look like now) and in the 90s, there was a brief period where shimmery pale blue was very much in vogue, especially in lip color. I know this shade comes and goes like a roller coaster and every few years we see a resurgence of light blue lip colors at the drugstore, but when I bought this I remember it was super trendy. But I think I might have been scared to actually wear it because, taking a closer look at this tube, I can tell that I never even swatched it. Go figure.

Next up:

L'Oreal On-the-Loose Luminous Powder for Face & Body in Peach Soleil (circa late 1990s)

I know that a LOT of you are going to remember On-the-Loose because this line was quite a phenomenon for many years. I remember women would hoard this stuff and were obsessed with owning every shade in the range. If fact, I also remember there was quite a frenzy to find these at Big Lots after L'Oreal discontinued this line (around 2000, I think?). You may still be able to purchase these on ebay but I haven't checked.

All I remember was that this was one of the very first shimmer/highlight powders you could purchase at the drugstore and they were sheer and came in gorgeous, very wearable shades. I LOVED these babies and I loved the shaker container, which made it easy to apply it to your body, as well as to your brush to apply to the face.

Gosh, I remember sprinkling these on my arms, chest, heck, even my hair!

And finally:

Bath & Body Works Sparkling Snowflake Body Lotion (circa 2001)

Bath & Body Works released Sparkling Snowflake as part of their 2001 limited edition holiday collection. I was OBSESSED with this collection (in fact, I recently found a good dupe of Sugared Shortbread, which was another scent in this collection).

Sparkling Snowflake had a clean, soft scent to it, and I think that there are some bath and body etailers who offer a dupe of this fragrance in their scent catalogs, even to this day. It was pretty popular back in the day and a lot of people loved it.

But what I REALLY loved about this BBW collection was the packaging. Each bottle had a pretty winter scene on the front, as well as tiny flakes of irridescent glitter. Click this photo to enlarge it if you want to see the details on this bottle:

So pretty!

That's it for this chapter of From the Vintage Vault. I hope you enjoyed another stroll down memory lane, and I'd love to hear from you if you remember any of these products!

Beauty tidbits...

I spotted a few interesting beauty-related news items in my weekend reading that I thought I'd share with you because, well, you know I love hearing your opinions on these types of things (duh!).

First up: attention Burt's Bees fans! What do you think about this?

(From Happi.com)

Burt's Bees lotions are getting a makeover for Fall 2010. Leading the pack is the new Burt's Bees Naturally Nourishing Milk and Honey Body Lotion - now 99% natural and certified by the Natural Products Association (NPA). It is also packaged in #2 recyclable tube containing 50% post consumer recycled content.

Enriched with skin-softening milk and nourishing honey, this body lotion is formulated with botanical moisturizers, coconut and grape seed oil, as well as vitamin E, a natural antioxidant.

Next up: I'm not a big Walmart shopper, but if you are, I'd love to hear what you think about this news.

(from DrugstoreNews.com)

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (Jul. 30) Walmart.com shoppers now can enjoy flat-rate shipping on all health and beauty orders, the retailer noted on its website.

The flat rate of 97-cent shipping on single orders containing health and beauty items only is available for the 48 states within the continental United States, the ad read. Featured products and services include beauty products, wellness shops, personal care, medicine cabinet products (i.e., pain relievers and vitamins) and home medical products.

And finally: did you know that Dollar General has 9,000 stores across the US? I've heard so many great things about this chain--hopefully they'll keep expanding and open one in San Diego soon!

(From DrugstoreNews.com)

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. (Jul. 30) Dollar General celebrated the opening of its 9,000th store this week. The newest location is located in Fountain Run, Ky. The first Dollar General store opened in Springfield, Ky. in 1955. The retailer now has stores across 35 states.

“The opening of our 9,000th store is an exciting time for the Dollar General family, and I would like to thank our 80,000 employees for all they do every day to help us keep growing and serving our customers,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO. “As the company has evolved and expanded over the decades, we’ve remained true to our mission of serving others and our everyday low price model. We look forward to what the future holds as we continue to serve the needs of our customers in communities throughout the country.”

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts about anything mentioned here!

John Frieda Frizz-Ease vs. Root Awakening smoothing creams

Let's not mince words: I'm a smoothing cream addict. With my hair texture (fine, long, wavy and color-treated with oily roots and dry ends) I am prone to frizz and, since I often don't like or want to heat-style my hair, I'm kind of asking for flyaways. In other words, I'm the perfect candidate for a good smoothing cream.

It's been a while since I've used a John Frieda product. I remember purchasing the iconic Frizz-Ease Serum back in the day, but I could never quite get it to work with my oily roots. For some reason, even if I didn't apply it directly to my roots, Frizz-Ease Serum had a way of migrating toward my roots and making my hair just look and feel a bit greasy.

But then I discovered John Frieda Sheer Blonde Crystal Clear Shape & Shimmer Hairspray a few years ago, and I swear that's the one John Frieda product I will not be without. In my opinion, it's the best hairspray at the drugstore (and I don't even have blonde hair, so please don't think you have to have blonde hair to experience its magic). But let me save that for a future review--back to smoothing creams.

So for whatever reason, the Sheer Blonde hairspray has pretty much been the only thing I focus on when I walk by the John Frieda section at my local drugstores. Until one day, there was a good sale at CVS and I also happened to have a coupon, so I picked up one of the new root AWAKENING products for next to nothing because, as I said at the start of this post, I'm a smoothing cream nut.

And then, several weeks later, there was another good sale on John Frieda at CVS, so I figured why not? I picked up the Frizz-Ease Smoothing Creme for about a $1 after the sale and coupon, and I figured it would be fun to do a compare/contrast of the two products for all my fellow smoothing cream fans out there.

John Frieda Root Awakening Strength Restoring Smoothing Lotion (around $6, 4 oz)

John Frieda Frizz-Ease Straight Fixation Smoothing Creme (around $6, 5 oz)

At this point you probably just want to know which one I like better, right? Well, I love both, but for different reasons and different purposes.

Ironically, Straight Fixation Smoothing Cream works best for me when I want to air-dry my naturally wavy hair! It actually enhances my waves and gives them great definition. It also makes my waves a bit more springy and full of life. How crazy is that? I mean, it's a straightening product! Anyway, if you have hair that's similar to mine and you like to wear it wavy (as opposed to straightening it) you might want to give this a try. I honestly love the way it controls my waves, but it doesn't add any weight or grease--just gentle control that lasts all day for me. It's my new best friend! (Word of caution: less is more for this product, so don't use too much or it will weigh down your hair.)

As for root AWAKENING, I prefer this product for the days when I straighten my hair with my hair dryer. It's AWESOME for that specific purpose and here's why: for my hair, I find that it almost pulls the waves out and makes my hair straighter, even before I start to blow-dry it. BUT, it doesn't make my hair flat! I can apply a few pumps of this product to my damp hair, and by the time I comb it through, I can see my waves starting to disappear. And then when I blow-dry my hair, this cream makes it soft and straight yet full of life. No frizz, no flyaways. Just straight hair that's soft and still got a lot of bounce to it. But I do want to add that, contrary to the name on the bottle, I haven't seen any difference in my roots since using this product. I don't detect any added volume to my root area, but I do see an overall bounce to my hair that is quite nice.

Oh, and the fragrance! The Frizz-Ease Smoothing Cream smells OK. I can detect some peach, and also an underlying "hairspray" type of scent. Overall, it's tolerable and not off-putting. But the root AWAKENING smoothing cream? Now THAT, I love. To me it smells like buttercream mint candies! Seriously, it's got this crisp, clean mint note, yet it's also got this vanilla note to it that just makes the whole thing smell yummy. I'm kind of obsessed with it and sometimes I'll twist open the lid just to take a whiff when I'm in the bathroom. Weird but true.

I am so absolutely pleased with these two products. I got much, much more than I bargained for and I am still kind of in shock about the whole thing. If your hair texture is anything like mine, I think you might enjoy either one of these smoothing creams, depending on how you prefer to style your hair.

Do you already own either of these products? If so, how are they working for you? Are there any other great John Frieda products I should know about? I'd love to hear from you!