Louboutins for $200?! Fashion Finds on the Cheap: Shop Hers

As you guys have probably noticed from my posts (or you soon will) I love shopping. I love clothes and shoes and bags and anything really, I could get excited buying oatmeal. What I really love is finding an amazing deal. Later this week I'm going to post some of my recent amazing finds, designer deals! I'm the kind of person who will mix no name with brand name. For me it's all about the quality of the piece, who cares if the shirt cost me $2? It's a great find! I can't deny though that I do drool over gorgeous designer pieces, who amongst us hasn't?

So considering my passion for fashion, imagine my delight when yesterday I came across Shop Hers. It's basically an eBay from my dreams. The setup almost reminds of Pinterest, but with the danger that I can actually buy all these lovely images on my screen. Before you start thinking that this is just a online yard sale of someone's closet rejects, just know that they only accept certain designers that they deem worthy and there's a quality check. So it's more swap party meets sample sale.

To get started you sign up and put in a your information, like selecting some of your favorite designers from a list and entering in your size. This helps when you're trying to sort through the clothes and shoes, because an icon will light up if it's labeled as your size. The best part for me is that Shop Hers gets the items from the sellers before they are listed and completely quality check them, which means two things: you're getting a top notch quality piece and you're actually going to receive it. I've known people who have tried to purchase things on eBay only to be out a few hundred dollars and get scammed.

Another favorite feature is that there is a section of under $200. This is where you will find some really amazing deals, at first glance I saw some Louboutins and a pair of Prada heels as well as Manolo Blahniks and so much more. You can also shop by type of piece (tops, dresses, shoes, etc.) or designer (the list is amazing.)

If you are looking to sell some pieces in your closet (hey you have to make room for more clothes somehow) they walk you through the process. You choose your own pricing, but they ask that you try to list what you originally paid for the item (this also helps you see the deal you are getting.) There is an 18% fee for each sold item and there is a team that can assist you with your listing at any time. 

A really interesting feature they have is called Flaunting. Even if you don't want to sell an item, you can show it off. Some people use it as an opportunity to say, make me an offer I can't refuse, others just to show off what they have.

It's a great way to get to do some high end shopping on a low end budget.

ModCloth Cabin Fever Sale

You guys have to get over to ModCloth in a hurry. I've told you about the great deals I've scored during sales and how they have some really fun, unique pieces on their site. This Cabin Fever sale is crazy, there are 2,204 pieces on sale at up to 70% off. There are a ton of things I want (and a few have already sold out) and there's really something for everyone.

Go check it out!

Want a $5000 diamond ring for $24.95?

So do I. I was just recently introduced to Diamond Candles and though I have yet to get one for myself I'm super anxious to order some. Diamond Candles are basically large soy candles, which is fantastic because they burn longer and cleaner. The twist is what happens when you burn your candle. Inside is a ring. Yes, there's a ring in your candle. Sometimes it's a $10 cutesy Cracker Jack ring, but it could be a $5000 diamond ring, hence the name. I'm already making a wish list of scents and I can definitely see myself buying some of these as gifts next year.

Check them out here.

Some of the delicious sounding scents I'm craving are: Apple Slice, Brown Sugar Pudding, Caramel Apple Cider, Carnival Candy, Chocolate Truffle, Cinnamon Roll, Cupcake (obviously!), Gingerbread Latte, Honeydew Melon, Orange Vanilla, Peachy Mango, Pomegranate Lemonade, Tropical Retreat, and Watermelon Wedge. Seriously, could they sound any yummier?

Move over Yankee Candle, you've got some serious competition!

Have you ever tried a diamond candle? Did you get a great ring? Tell me in the comments!

Blog Update: New Features

Hey guys, so as you know I'm in the middle of moving. Oh, the fabulous confusion of living in a forest of cardboard boxes... Anyway, this has made it a little bit hard to keep up with one of my New Year's resolutions, a new recipe every week. If you've read the About Me post, you know that my current kitchen is a makeshift shamble of a plug in 2 burner unit and a toaster oven that's pretty much a grown up Easy Bake Oven. In order to make it up to myself and to you guys, once I'm fully moved in I'm going to do one week of a new recipe every day. If there's a certain kind of recipe you guys want to see, let me know in the comments below. After that I'll pick a day of the week that will be home to the new recipe each week. The other new thing I want to feature is a Fashion Friday post. At my main job I wear scrubs every day so I don't get to showcase any of my fabulous clothes and accessories. I convinced the big boss (a.k.a. my mom, yes it's a family business) that we should have a dress down day. Her response? No, but we could have a dress UP day. Even better. So I'm going to try to do an OOTD/OOTW on here.

If there's something you guys want to see, let me know in the comments. 


What new feature do you want to see on Gorgeous, Cupcake?

Happy Bubble Bath Day!

Happy Bubble Bath Day to everyone! This is a great wacky holiday for me because I absolutely love bubble baths AND one of my New Year's resolutions was to try to be less stressed. What a perfect way to relax and unwind. For my bubble bath I'll grab a Lush bubble bar and bath bomb and maybe a glass of wine. Make the most of yours! Put on soft music, light some candles, romance yourself! You deserve it! I like to keep my phone and other noisy distractions far away so I can soak in peace. Make sure you pamper yourself afterwards with some nice moisturizing lotion and then slip into some comfy pajamas and be lazy for the rest of the night. You have the rest of the week to be busy.

No tub? No problem. Take a nice long shower to relax. Use a gentle body scrub to buff skin smooth. Moisturize and relax for the rest of the night.

Happy bathing!

What's your favorite way to relax?

Product with a cause: Lush Charity Pot

I love helping causes wherever I can. If I can donate to a cause, I almost always will. Even if it's my pocket change in the Salvation Army Bucket or adding a dollar to my checkout, every little bit helps. Because of this I love when a product or company that I already love helps to support a great cause. And what's better than a great cause? A lot of great causes. Lush helps hundreds of grassroots organizations around the world with this best selling lotion. It's made with almond oil and cocoa butter and lots of other skin loving ingredients and packaged in a recycled pot, which means while it's doing your skin some good, it's also doing the world a lot of good. Each pot features one of the many organizations supported by the program and when I gift them, I try to pick one the recipient might have dear to their heart. I keep one right at my desk at work and I share it with everyone. It's super moisturizing (which we all need this time of year) and I love to tell people how it can really help others. Everything except the tax is donated. EVERYTHING.That's amazing! It comes in two sizes, 1.7 oz for $5.95 (I keep that size in my purse for on the go moisture) and 7.9 oz for $22.95. A little goes a long way, so the big one should last for a while. Also, remember that Lush will give you a free face mask when you bring in 5 empty black pots to recycle!

For more information on Charity Pot click here.
To get some visit your local Lush or buy it online.

 

This is the Charity Pot that lives in my purse. This particular one features the fight to end animal research at the University of British Columbia. Fun fact: Lush fights all animal testing and will not use any suppliers that use animal testing or endorse it.

Get free stuff with Swagbucks

I mentioned Swagbucks briefly before. For those of you who have never heard of it or used it, Swagbucks is a free site and service. You can use it to replace your current search engine (or alongside it), play games, print coupons, do surveys and lots more, all while earning points.The points you get are called SwagBucks and they can be used to purchase things (including gift cards) in the SwagStore. One of the most popular items is the Amazon gift cards which you can get from $5-500. I used my SwagBucks to get some of my Christmas shopping done this year and none of my recipients had to know that their gifts were free.



Here are some of the ways to earn SwagBucks:
Coupons: You can print coupons and each one you use gives you 10 SwagBucks (plus you save money!)
Daily Deals: You can buy things through SwagBucks at an already discounted price and get SwagBucks back.
Daily Poll: Only worth 1 SwagBuck, but every bit helps!
Games: If you're already playing online games, see if the one you like (or a new one) is up on SwagBucks. Sometimes you will earn SwagBucks for regular gameplay and other times there are tournaments.
NOSO: A.k.a. the No Obligation Special Offer. It will have you click through a few screens, you can choose to take advantage of the deals shown, if not, at the end you will earn 2 SwagBucks.
Referral: See that banner that is tempting you to join SwagBucks and earn free stuff? It has a link with a referral for my account. This helps me to earn points. When I earn points from searching it also helps the person who referred me. We all help each other out. (I'd love it if you clicked and signed up! I want to use my points to get a new camera to make better vlogs!)
Search: This is one of the easiest ways to earn SwagBucks. You can install the toolbar right into your browser (which also gives you 1SwagBuck each day when you open your browser.) Search as you normally would and randomly win various amounts of SwagBucks. Fridays are MSBD - Mega SwagBucks Day and the search & win amounts are higher. There are also occasionally limited edition collector bucks, find the whole collection and collect a bonus amount.
Shop & Earn: This is a relatively new feature, but it's a great way to earn SwagBucks if you like to shop online. By shopping through SwagBucks you will earn a set number of SwagBucks per dollar spent on qualifying sites. There are often special promotions with higher amounts per dollar.
Special Offers: These vary from subscriptions to credit cards to surveys. They're always being updated and if there is a service or subscription you're looking into, check here first.
SwagBucks TV: Watch videos on just about anything and earn. They just made an app for this as well and I sometimes leave it on on my iPad while I'm doing other things.
SwagCodes: These pop up randomly in the blog or on the main page and sometimes even on Twitter and Facebook. They are worth different amounts, but all you have to do is enter it on the main page.
Tasks: It's just what it sounds like. Tasks range in difficulty and value, and can be something as easy as checking a Google listing.
Trade-Ins: Trade in your books, video games or consoles and get paid in SwagBucks for them.
Trusted Surveys: By far my favorite way to earn SwagBucks. Fill out your information profile as well as subsequent profiles to help find surveys suited for you. Filling out information earns you SwagBucks, but doing the actual surveys will earn you lots more. Sometimes they will even earn you entries into raffles for things like iPads.

They've also recently added a daily goal. It's usually between 60-120 SwagBucks. If you earn the goal during that day, you get a 10% bonus. So if it's 100, you get an extra 10. Plus there are additional bonuses: 7 Straight Days 25 SB + Daily Bonuses, 14 Straight Days 100 SB + Daily Bonuses, 21 Straight Days 200 SB + Daily Bonuses, Full month 300 SB + Daily Bonuses

There are lots of ways to spend your bucks once you have them, but my favorite is the gift cards!

Have you tried SwagBucks before?

Champagne & Caviar

I know this is a little late, but everyone keeps asking me about my nails. If you didn't see my picture on Instagram, here it is. Yes I realize the edges are messy, I cleaned them up right before I went out the door, but I was doing these a bit last minute.

I wanted to do a Champagne and Caviar manicure because I thought it fit with New Year's Eve very well. I had to buy some nails because in the midst of packing and moving, I managed to bang up my nails pretty badly. I bought Kiss nails in a huge pack of different sized clear nails in the medium length oval shape. They were a little long for me so I filed them down a little bit. I used Essie Good as Gold polish for the Champagne (I was pretty happy with one coat and I was in a major hurry) and I used Sinful Colors Black on Black for the caviar. The pearls are a generic version of the Ciate caviar pearls and I bought them on Ebay for a lot cheaper (7 colors for about $19 compared to Ciate's $25 for one kit.)

Voila! Ultra luxe manicure.

Ciate Velvet Manicure Review

A few months ago I bought the Ciate mother of pearl caviar nail set and was pretty happy with it. Just in time for the holidays, Ciate came out with their velvet manicure. I was dying to get my hands on both the deep garnet red and the navy blue. The two Sephora stores near me were out of the blue, so I decided to just try the red for now. I have to say I'm glad I didn't buy two. The color of the polish is absolutely stunning and I would definitely wear it again. The velvet is a whole different story. It was a little bit difficult to apply and the container for the velvet cracked halfway through doing my nails. I managed to finish up my manicure and it looked pretty good for about an hour. Once I had to wash my hands it looked a little worse for wear. The velvet dries pretty quickly, but doesn't look the same afterward. After about one day of wear my nails simply looked as if I had smudged the polish while it was wet. I did mine for Christmas (velvet always makes me think of Christmas) and it was sufficient to get me through the day. For $19 though I wasn't overly impressed. It's good for a one night occasion, but I didn't find it had lasting power past that.

I would give it a 3/5. Pretty, but not spectacular.

What nail trends have you tried?

Lush Haul

I love Lush and I'm super excited to do my first haul video! (Sorry it took so long to get up on the blog, I thought it had published days ago.) I'm going to post some reviews soon, but I'm in the middle of moving so we'll see how fast I can get them up.


What I got:

Golden Wonder Bath Bomb
Cinders Bath Bomb

Christmas Candy Box:
Rockstar Soap
Candy Mountain Bubble Bar
Bubblegum Lip Scrub
Butterball
Snow Fairy Shower Gel

Tickled Pink:
Creamy Candy Bubble Bar
Rose Jam Bubbleroon
Fair Trade Foot Lotion
Bubblegum Lip Scrub
Helping Hands Hand Cream
Ro's Argan Body Conditioner
Strawberry Feels Forever Massage Bar
Godmother Soap
Rockstar Soap
Comforter Bubble Bar
Rose Queen Bath Bomb
MMM Melting Marshmallow Moment
Pink Bath Bomb
Sex Bomb Bath Bomb


Festive Fun:
Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly
Whoosh Shower Jelly
Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub
Popcorn Lip Scrub
Ponche Shower Gel
Party Popper Bath Bomb
Northern Lights Soap
Mr. Punch Soap
Crackersnap Bath Bomb
Bubblebeard Reusable Bubble Bar
Rocket Reusable Bubble Bar

Are you a Lushie? What's your favorite product or what have you wanted to try?