Oldie But Goodie

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Fun and Flirty Fashionista Friday: The Thrift Store Way

Total Spent:  $7.75

Top $0.75 Cents

 

Found this at a yard sale for 75 cents.

 

Necklace $1.99 at Fallas Discount Store.

Sewed together 2 skirts to make one.

$1.50 at my favorite thrift store.

  50 cents at the same store.

Boots $3.00.  

Scored these babies for 3 bucks.  

They were marked at $6.00, but I go shopping on half price days, so yeah, 3 smackeroos.  

Okay, now before you start with the "ews",  & the

"Used" shoes?  "Uh, . . .no".

 Know this, I am the Queen of "ew".  

But these are Tony Lama people and they are beautiful IRL.

Seriously, purchasing second hand shoes is cool and unless the previous owner had some serious foot fungus or flesh eating disease, a little Lysol Disinfectant Spray will suffice.  

So there you have it.  Fashionista Friday's look of the week.  Until next time, this Thrift Shop Fashionista will be hitting yard sales, rummage sales, thrift shops, and flea markets in search of another affordable look.

Makeup Monday: Cover Girl's Tropical Fushion

Drug store cosmetics have come a long way.  Now that I have been penny pinching, I've realized that I can achieve great makeup looks without going over budget.  Cover Girl Eye Enhancers 4 Kit Eyeshadow Set is a great buy for under $5.00.  I picked one up at my local Walmart awhile back and was quite impressed.  The pigment is vibrant and blends well.  With this eyeshadow quad, one can create numerous looks.  It's perfect for the up coming summer months.  Just like it's name suggests, Cover Girl's Tropical Fushion, is a delicious paradise of vivacious color which fuse together perfectly to create many fun looks.

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Beauty On A Budget

For almost 2 decades I worked in the cosmetic industry and had all the hook ups to the top of the line department store skin care and makeup lines.  

Well times have changed and

I am now a penny pinching housewife on a strict budget. 

 

I've done my research, gotten creative, and have replaced Bloomingdales with Walmart.  No worries.  It's all good.  Here are a few tricks I've picked up.

• No need for fancy smancy exfoliants.  Miracle Whip salad dressing removes dead skin just fine.  Now I'm talking Miracle Whip brand ONLY.  Regular Mayonnaise will not work.  Begin by washing your face and patting it dry.  Now rub a small amount into your skin and let it dry a few minutes.  While the skin is still slightly moist, start massaging your face with your fingertips, rubbing vigorously.  You will be surprised at how much dead skin will roll right off.  Ew.  This treatment also works great on feet, elbows, and knees.
• Toners smoners.  Restore the natural Ph-balance or acid mantle to your skin with apple cider vinegar.  Pour some into a basin of warm water and splash your face thoroughly.  Let it dry without towel drying.  Do this every morning before applying moisturizers or makeup.   Misting a thoroughly clean face with mineral water is great too and if you prefer, mix up a cup of water with 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, place the mixture in a spray bottle and use this to mist your face.
• After you've applied your makeup, spray your face with mineral water or soak a tissue in mineral water and lightly dab it all over your face.  This will set your makeup and keep it fresh longer than usual.
• If you're grossed out by the Miracle Whip suggestion, a paste of oatmeal and water makes an awesome facial scrub and exfoliant.  Apply to face and allow to dry until it feels tight.  Rub off with your fingers in a back and forth motion.  Not only will this slough off dead skin, it will help get rid of blackhead.  Concentrate around the nose area.
• Tried and true, a teaspoon of sugar with soap lather is another great method of exfoliation.
• Did you know that the fastest way to dry up a blemish is with lemon juice?  Well, it is.  Dab it on your juicer a few times a day and it will clear up in no time.  
• Castor oil, in its odorless form, makes a seriously good eye cream.  I've learned that plastic surgeons use it on their patients following surgery.  Before bedtime, apply a light amount of Castor oil around your eyes.  
• Everybody should know that placing fresh cold cucumbers on your eyelids will rid them of redness and puffiness.  Well, cold teabags work well too.  I recommend green tea teabags

As for facial masks, I could go on and on and on.  There are oh so many yummy facial mask recipes you can whip up right in your own kitchen that will do wonders for your skin.  One of my favorites is simply applying an egg white to my face.  After it hardens and drys, I rinse it off and my skin is unbelievably smooth and firm.

How about one of these?
http://www.beauty-soap-and-bubbles.com/homemade-facial-masks.html
 
Rose and Honey

Honey and oats are used in the beauty industry to soften and heal the skin tissue and help attract moisture to the skin

• 1-2 tbs of honey
• 1 cup porridge oats
• 1 tbs of rose water

Mix ingrediets together adding more honey if required. Avocado Face Mask Choose the ingredients which feel most suitable to your skin today.

• half ripe avocado
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (normal or oily skin)
• 1 egg yolk (normal to dry skin)
• 1 tbsp plain yoghurt
• 1 tsp olive or avocado oil

Peel and mash the avocado half in a bowl Beat in the remaining ingredients and use immediately. Banana Face Mask

• half medium size banana
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp plain yoghurt (oily skin)
• 1 tbsp cream (normal to dry skin)

Peel and mash the banana in a bowl Beat in the remaining ingredients and use immediately. Pineapple and Cornmeal Pineapple is a natural exfoliate.

• 1 slice of pineapple half an inch thick
• 2 tblsp plain yoghurt
• 4 tblsp cornmeal

Puree the pineapple. Put the puree in a bowl and mix in the yoghurt and enough cornmeal to make a thick paste. Leave it for 5 minutes before using to let the cornmeal soften.

Here are a few more links for reference.
http://www.wittyliving.com/recipes/facial-mask-recipes.html

http://www.skin-care-recipes-and-remedies.com/facial-mask-recipe.html

Thrift Shop Fashionista

I've always had a thing  for Thrift Shops, Rummage Sales,  Yard Sales and Garage Sales.  Throughout the 1980's, during high school and college, I'd seriously rarely step foot into a department store.  Seriously.  This may be due to the fact that my dear ole dad split when I was a child and left my Mother to raise me by herself. Money was scarce, to say the least.  Considering the situation, Mami did the best she could to provide for me.  Segundas/Thrift shops y la remate/ Sunday auctions are where my wardrobe came from growing up.  No worries.  My Mami is an amazing seamstress and she would alter and add to my second hand duds and I was happy.  As a child I began to take an interest in sewing as well.  I created clothes for myself, my dog, and my dolls.  I've always been a little off beat and once I entered high school, the 1980's began.  Believe it or not, once upon a time, one could not go to the mall to purchase animal print anything.  Hot Topic did not exist, so if you wanted something cool and hip, well, you had to make it yourself.   I hung with a crowd of misfits, like myself,  who frequented the local thrift stores and weekend yard sales.  We were ahead of our time and Project Runway had nothing on us.  Thrift stores where my play land filled with beautiful velvet, lace, mesh, and every animal print fabric imaginable.  Gorgeous 1950's prom dresses, beaded sweaters and stilleto heels were at our disposal to tranform into 1980's chic.  Remember Cyndi Lauper?   She and Madonna were my fashion icons.  Fingerless gloves, tights transformed into leggin's, and accessories and jewelry galore!   Tons of 1960's beatnik left overs satisfied my Quadrophenia Mod fashion phase as well.  I was going to marry Robert Smith from The Cure, but that never panned out.  The 80's was an awesome era to experience and for fashion!  Anywho, yeah.  So fast forward to the mid 1990's.  Grunge was in full force and I still was rocking my Thrift Store ensembles: Combat boots and baby doll dresses.  Sometime toward the end of the 90's things began to change.  I was earning more money and I began to purchase "real" clothes at "real" stores.  I sold out.  I got married which meant more income and more designer shoes, handbags, and clothes:  Lots and lots of clothes.  Did I mention that I LOVE clothes?  Fast forward yet again to 2008 and BAM!  The recession hits.  The DH and I are now unemployed and forced to leave paradise and totally change our way of life. Yes.  we were humbled.  But hey, the ride was fun while it lasted and there is food on the table and I have years of experience being a Thrift Store Fashionista.  So, again,  no worries.  This is the outfit I scored and sported last Easter Sunday at our Family gathering.  Total was under $20 for the entire outfit which includes, purse, jewelry, and shoes.

I scored the top at a thrift store for $1.99

I paid one dollar for the skirt.

 

During a late night ice cream run at Right Aid, I found a really cute pair of flip flops for $6.99.  I, by the way, am a flip flop princess.

The tote was $1.00.  I found it at a church rummage sale last weekend.

I added a silk rose to give the bag a pop of color.  

I purchased a bouquet of 6 silk roses at the 99 Cent Store.  The sugar skull was purchased on Etsy from Arte De Mi Familia. 

This artist rocks!!!  

I use her supplies for my artwork as well.

As for accessories, 

I found these earrings for 99 cents at the  

99 Cent Only Store 

The necklace cost $1.99 at 

Fallas Discount Store.

All together I paid $16.00 for this look. 

 Yes, I am a self proclaimed Thrift Store fashionista.