Free: Pantene shampoo or conditioner

Sign up on facebook now for your free Pantene shampoo or conditioner coupon!  This coupon for up to $4.99 and you can very much get a bottle for free!  To sign up, you must like Pantene North America on facebook and also be at least 18.  If you are not......just put an older birth year LOLOL

Free: Herbal Essences

Today on facebook, Herbal Essences is giving out 125,000 $3.99 coupons for their shampoos and conditioners! Snatch one now!  You can totally get a bottle free and maybe even get paid to purchase one with the coupon if the drugstores have a sale going on!

Free: Teeth Whitening Pen

Sign up at Savemore today and you'll receive a $10 credit just for signing up!  Today, they are selling $30 Smiling Bright Teeth Whitening Pens for $8.50 with free shipping so you'll get one for free!  Sign up here and this offer expires tonight.  You do need to enter in a valid credit card/debit card just to confirm that you are real, they will not charge the card.

I also promise that this site is legit because I have gotten $45 worth of nail stuff before for free.

Free: Bare Minerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer

Another Sephora JCP coupon is out!  Call your store ahead of time so you don't drive there for nothing like I often do because sometimes the store doesn't have it.  Coupon good till 7/25/11 but I'm pretty sure they'll run out before that...

Steal: Urban Decay 50-66% off

Select Urban Decay products are 50-66% off on the Urban Decay site!  I highly suggest you try out the eyeshadows and primers because that's what Urban Decay is known for.  There's also free samples and free shipping at $50+

Weekly Roundup: 6/19-6/25

1. I purchased 100 Bobbi Brown Blotting Sheets for $5. Currently, with every single order, no minimum, you get a sample size mascara, face lotion and you can choose between 2 of either foundation, tinted moisturizer, eye creme, or lip balm.  Free shipping with code bronze55!  I also purchased through Shopathome.com to get 5% cash back which in turn justified the tax to only 3%
2. I bought a bottle of Suave Professionals Heat Protection Spray and Touchable Finish Hairspray in Lightweight Hold for free!  My coupons for free bottle of Suave expired today and I had to go to Hannaford because I've only seen the full selection of the line at supermarkets.  It's weird, you'd think they'd have them at drugstores, but no, they only have the original Suave line which is a little iffy.  The hairspray smells amazing and I've never gotten a lightweight hold hairspray before and I love how this one doesn't feel crunchy.  And of course, you can never go without heat protectant.  I still have 2 more free bottle of Suave coupons and I'm planning on purchasing the Shine Spray but I have a hard time finding it on the shelves.  Currently I have 4 bottles of heat protectant, 7 bottles of dry shampoo, and 4 shine sprays so I don't know what I'm going to get for the 4th free coupon.  They have 2 voluminizing mousses/sprays and curling ones, but I have naturally big hair and it is chemically straightened at the last 18 inches so any type of scrunching looks horrid...
3. I purchased a bottle of the Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer for $2.60 because they're 75% at CVS.  I think the guy messed up or the computers are wrong because they're $7.79 originally and $2.60 is 66% off.....that's okay, its only $0.60 more.  The primer is always out of stock at CVS because it is 75% off, but I found 3 bottles laying in random places.  I only grabbed 1 because it was the most sanitary one; the rest looked like someone tried to test it out and got product all over the screw cap.  Cool.  Beauty hoarders also like to buy backups just in case we run out of something so I might go buy the remaining 2 even though they're disgusting...you really can't find them anywhere these days!
4. So I grabbed another nail polish.  This is my 24th nail polish purchase in the past 2 months and I don't ever do my nails so I'm a bit impulsive.  Anywho, I got the Sally Hansen Insta Dri Nail Color in Mint Sprint.  Theyre $5.49 at CVS and you get $2 ECB back with purchase (limit 1) and I had a $1 off coupon (the guy accidentally put my coupon in my bag, LOL) so it ended up being $2.49 which is an okay price for polishes.  The Revlon Polishes are actually cheaper this week because they're $1.99 after ECBs and they have more product.  I might go back and grab 6 more because I'm an impulsive buyer.....so they'll make my count up to 30. Smart Connie. Real smart.
5. Power Bar Chocolate Bites are free after ECBs this week at CVS so I grabbed a bag.
6. I purchased 2 boxes of Samy Fat Foam Hair Dye in Medium Blonde at Rite Aid.  They were $8.99 a box and I had 2 $5 off coupon from Rite Aid Video Values and 2 $3 off facebook coupons.  You also got $5 in +UP for purchasing (limit 2).  Needless to say, I technically received $8 for purchasing these.
7. Revlon Colorstay cosmetics are 40% this week at Rite Aid.  I grabbed 2 Just Bitten Lip Stains in Flame and Passion.  They were $8.99 down to $5.39 each and I had 2 $2 off peelie coupons, 2 $2 off Rite Aid Video Values coupons, $1 off non-prescription purchase Rite Aid Video Values coupon and a $3 off $15 purchase from doing a Rite Aid survey so I got $1.21 for buying them.
8. Most Victoria's Secret Pink Bras are $12.99  from $19.95-28.50 now so I got 2.  I could have also gotten a free ruched panty with my purchase, but I didn't have time to print out the coupon.  New Pink Nation sign ups can print out a free ruched panty with purchase coupon.
9. I bought a bottle of Suave Professionals Touchable Finish Hairspray in Extra Hold and the Dry Shampoo for free with my 2 free Suave product coupons.  I looked in 5 stores today and NONE of them had the Sleek Anti Frizz Cream nor the Vibrant Shine Spray so I just got the hairspray and dry shampoo.
10. And then impulsive little me decided that I needed more nail polish so I bought another Sally Hansen Insta Dri and 3 bottles of Revlon polishes.  After ECBs, I paid like $8.50 for them which is a bit much in my standards for drugstore nail polishes so I might just return these.
11. Free Quiznos sub with purchase of sub and fountain drink with my coupon.
12. Returned a Revlon Nail Polish in Golden which was a nasty gold color and Not So Blueberry which was just an attack of shimmers.  I also returned my Physicians Formula Talc Free Mineral Powder which was really cakey on the skin.  
13. Popcorn chicken deluxe at Corner Ice Cream :D
14. Got a panty from VS Pink for $3.99 and got a ruched back one for free with Pink Nation coupon.
15. Got another Murad Oil Free Mattifying Lotion from Sephora JCP

I bought $170 worth of stuff and spent $46 out of pocket and got $5 in EBC and $10 in +UP rewards.

Free: $20 Target Gift Card

Sweetness!  Plum District is offering free $20 Target gift cards again for referring 3 people!

All you have to do is sign up here and hit subscribe via facebook and also accept the facebook application request to have a chance at these gift cards.

Once you have signed up, click on the Get It link.  It is a banner in purple and green, right under the header.

Enter in your address and click next; on the new page, you can choose to either spread the word via facebook or twitter.  Have a friend click on your link and subscribe via facebook, CONFIRM IT IN THE EMAIL THEY SEND, and you have 1 referral!

Note: Your referral must have at least 25 friends and must be new to Plum District.  The gift card will be shipped out within 10 business days and this promotion ends on 6/24/11

If you're wondering if this is too good to be true, I promise you it's not.  They had this promotion back a couple months ago and I got my $20 gift card to Target.

Stupid people like me tend to plan out shopping trips weeks in advance

So here comes summer and along with it summer jobs; the paychecks and the long 8 hour work days ahead.  If I'm going to be working 8-5 every single week day, I might as well buy something I want.  The problem is, $1320 of it goes to tax!  That is crazy!  I went through $1000 in a YEAR of shopping and to think that the government can just take 130% of what I spend in a year for income tax for 10 weeks is obscured!  I seriously need to move to a tax free state when I'm grown.  If I were to save all the money that would have went to taxes every year, oh my, I'd have a completely new wardrobe.

But anyways, I'm thinking about saving half the money, and spending the other half.  For my 1st paycheck, I'm purchasing a phone with it because I have the most lousy parent in the world who thinks it is unnecessary for me to have a cell phone so he took it away after a year so I have been phoneless for officially an year now.  I was actually planning on getting the iPhone 4 in white because I have a $70 gift card to the Apple store as a gift, but after careful consideration of the costs, it is 2x as expensive to get an iPhone at Verizon on my own plan with the data costs.  An year with the iPhone costs $1004 a year ($70 a month) without taxes and there are PLENTY of taxes when it comes to phone bills.  So instead of of putting 1/3 of earnings into a phone, I've decided that I'm going to get the LG Optimus V at Virgin Mobile for only $450 a year ($25 a month) with unlimited text and data.  If I were to get a phone at Verizon, the plans would start at $40 a month and I'd have a forced $30 data charge and let's not talk about texting.  I plans with an iPhone is to not get texting because there's apps for that.  Anywho, I'm a deal hunter and I found my deal.

As for clothes and whatever the hell girls love to buy at Forever21, I racked up $1268.84 worth of crap on my wishlist.  Of course when the time comes, I'll narrow things down like crazy, but as for now, I'm just adding everything I like.  The logic comes when I actually have to buy things.  Although the wishlist is practically everything I have been wanting for months, the current stock of Forever21 does not include nude belts, leather pants, super floppy hats, suspender tights, and nice shoes.  For the European fashion that I crave, I'd probably have to order it off of Asos.com and the shoes would have to come from various places.  (If you don't know, I freaking hate shopping in person.) Regular shoes would probably be around $200 in total and then there's the Jeffrey Campbell Skate Wedges that I MUST purchase ($200). I'll either justify the price or pass when the time comes....My back to school budget is around $1800 right now, but come on, I'm psycho.  I'm sure I'll come to my senses when I actually order things.

Whatever I end up buying and how much it totals up to, I will forbid myself from buying anything for the rest of the year unless its on a crazy deal or I need it for than dear life.  Uh huh.  I made that promise last year and it did not work out so I don't even know why I'm planning on doing it again.

As for the makeup, I shall put myself on project 10 pan!  If you don't know, it is a mission where you try to use up everything in your makeup collection until you have completely finished 10 things.  Before you finish the 10, you can not buy anymore makeup.  If it is an absolute necessity and you run out of it, you are welcome to repurchase it, but it does not count towards the 10. Wait, what if there's a crazy makeup deal?  Eh oh.

Weekly Roundup: 6/5-6/11

1. I purchased 2 Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Nail Polishes at Rite aid on BOGO 50%, retail $2 each and I had a $0.50 coupon for both.
2. I purchased 2 Rimmel London Nail Polishes.  They were BOGO 50% and I had 2 $2 off Rimmel coupons at Riteaid.  The polishes retail $4.49-4.99, I can't remember
3. I purchased a box of Clairol Natural Instincts Vibrant Hair Color in Light Ash Blonde for free with my coupon.
4. I purchased a family size bag of Lay's Kettle Cooked Jalapeno Peppers chips for free with coupon.
5. I bought 4 boxes of Veet Facial Waxing Strips.  They retail $4.49 each box and I had 2 $3 off and $2 off manufacturer coupons.  I also had 2 $2 off Rite Aid Video Values coupons.  There was a $2 off In-Ad coupon in their weekly flyer which I totally forgot about which made me really upset with myself; I used it on my 2nd trip.  There was also a $5 +UP reward with purchases of 2 (limit 2).  So, after all the coupons, I got 4 boxes for -$10.
6. The John Frieda hair products were $4.99 this week at Rite Aid.  The Full Repair line has a rebate of $5 at Rite Aid this month.  Only the Root Lifting Foam was on sale for $4.99 though and I got 2 bottles because there's a limit of 2 for the rebate.  There's $1 off John Frieda coupons on the products and I only used 1 because I forgot about the second time which makes me even more disappointed in myself because I forgot about coupons 2x.  But anyways, I got them for $-1
7. I grabbed 2 Almay Bright Eyes Concealers for around $2.50 each, I don't remember the exact amount but I know it was around there.  They retail for $8.99 I believe.
8. At Walgreens I grabbed the last Revlon Age Defying Spa Concealer for $2.78.  Retails for $11.  I forgot to use my $1 off Revlon coupon!  Ugh 3rd time this week.  I could have saved $6 more this week, but I didn't.  I know $6 doesn't seem like a lot to fuss over, but I can legit get $40-50 of stuff for $6 so relatively it is a lot.
9. I got my antique chain bracelet from nomorerack! It actually looks pretty good.  

I got $84 worth of stuff for $8, which could have been $2 if I didn't forget my coupons.

Weekly Roundup: 6/12-6/18

1. I got the Decorative Black, Light Floral and Leopard Jamberry Nail Shields in the mail
2. I got a sample packet of the Garnier Clean shampoo
3. I purchased 2 Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stains in Lust because they were 75% off and I had 2 $2 off coupon peelies.  Came out to $1 for both
4. I got a deluxe sample of the Murad Mattifying moisturizer from Sephora JCP with coupon
5. I returned my Sephora Blockbuster Palette 2011 version for the Urban Decay Naked Palette.  They both retail $48, but I had a $15 client accommodation for the Sephora Palette so I technically only spent $33.
6. I exchanged my Boscia Black Luminating Peel Off Mask $34 which I got for free for the Sephora Favorites In The Glow Set $35.  I liked the mask, but it really didn't pull out anything, not even from my nose because I guess the pores would just absorb everything no matter how much I put on so I would literally see holes at my pores with the mask on; when I peeled it off, nothing would come out because the mask had separated from the parts of the mask in the pores.  In the Sephora set, it had the mask AND 6 other skin products.  Most of the products are 1/2 the size of the full product, all retailing $30+.  It says that it is worth $110, but I did the math and it was around $103 which is still a pretty amazing deal.
7. I purchased the Benefit Stay Put Set $10 because I really liked the Benefit Erase Paste concealer.  The full size is 0.15oz and it retails for $24.  The set comes with a 0.11oz of it and including the other 2 products, it is only $10!  If you do the math with all the proportions, it comes up to $31 worth of makeup!  I did all my Sephora shopping in 1 go and I used a $23 gift card which I got free for returning a gift and I also got $11 back in cash from the returns. Woo!
8. Free entree with entree purchase at Smokey Bones!  Saved $8.99

This week I got $140 of stuff and spent $4 and got $11 back!

Obsessed: May Favorites

I don't know what is it with me lately, but I'm been doing things so out of the ordinary.  I've actually been painting my nails!  If you know me, you would know that my nails are ALWAYS bare even though I have a bunch of polishes.  I guess the top reason is because I got new polishes that are suppose to dry fast = no frustration for me.  I get frustrated really easily so when my nails smudge, I get upset so I really don't ever paint my nails because I don't want the extra stress.  Right now I'm loving Revlon Top Speed Nail Polish in Jaded.  It's a mint color and I've been wanting a mint nail polish because they're all over youtube.  After I purchased it, I went home and discovered that I had the exact same color already but in a shimmery formula as apposed to the cream of Jaded.  I really like this polish because it really is a nice color and it says on for 3 days without chipping.

Another thing I've been loving is self tanner.  My body is always lighter than my face and it is really annoying because it always looks like my foundation is too dark for me, but it's not.  If I were to use a "correct" color, I feel like it just looks weird....So, I use the Jergens Daily Glow in Medium/Tan in the firming version.  I have it in the express and revitalizing as well.  The express is just intense and I feel like I only need to use it if I want an rapid boost or when I'm just beginning a gradual tan trip.  I have not tried the revitalize version yet, but it smells different than the firming one.  I really love the smell of firming because it just smells like caramel chocolate or something.  I don't know.  Most people absolutely dread the smell of self tanner, but I love it?  Or maybe it is just this one?  The St. Tropez smells the same though....

I've been sporting wavy hair as well.  My hair texture is really messed up in that it is natural slight wavy, frizzy, and just BIG, but my longer layers are stick straight because I've had 2 chemical straightens, the most recent one was 2 years ago so my short layers is all natural texture.  It is really annoying to dry it straight because I have to fix it in place every time I move and I'm too much of a control freak to damage my hair by straightening every time I wash my hair.  It is almost impossible to dry my longer layers wavy though because they are too long and they just like to be straight.  Nowadays, I just take it out the towel after a shower and I put some leave in stuff and then put it in a smooth, but messy bun so it can have "some" texture.  I take it out quite a few times so it would actually dry and then when its around 95% dry, I put some Alterna Caviar Extreme Wax in and put in a messy bun again and I wake up to VERY loose waves.  In the morning, if I have time, which is very very rare, I take big sections and wrap them around a .5" curling iron to get more defined loose waves.  It is a nice mix to my every day straight hair.

I don't know if it is just me, but I think I need a closet makeover.  I feel like most of the tops I won, I can't wear because they just seem so juvenile!  I look at things and I'm just like "Why did I get this?" because it is either in an awful bold color, the cut is funny, or it just seems some childish.  So now I've just been wearing loose t-shirts, high waisted shorts, or cream lace dresses. It is quite sad.

Since it got warmer, I started wearing flip flops again until the day that my arch decided it couldn't handle it anymore so now I have to wear either wedges or heels everyday or else I'd have to walk limped.  Gives me more reason to get more shoes :D

How to: Self Tanner

• Purchase a self tanner that is for medium-dark skin tones!  If you buy something for light skin, you will only end up ORANGE because the product is orange based, not brown.
• Exfoliate beforehand!  Color built up at the ankles, knees, and elbows are a dead giveaway of a fake tan.
• To avoid looking streaky, I recommend either a gradual self tanner, St. Tropez Mousse, or Bare Escentuals Faux Tan.  When apply, make sure you REALLY work the product in and your body is moisturized and exfloliated so the tanner doesn't catch on to dead skin cells.
• If you are applying with your hands, wash your hands afterwards to avoid orange hands.  I suggest wearing gloves.
• You want to start from your legs and work your way up because if you start on the top and work your way down, when you bend over, you can get lines on your stomach.
• If your body natural tans different colors in different areas (ex. thighs lighter than legs), apply more to areas where you need the color more.
• For knees, ankles, and elbows, I suggest using the left over residue so you don't get patches from the product catching on the dead skin cells.
• When in doubt, apply less.  It is much harder to get self tanner off than to put more on.  
• Always let the product dry longer than it says on the tube because who wants orange clothes?
• If you are too orange or uneven, I suggest you exfoliate with a brown sugar scrub.
• To maintain a glow, apply your self tanner everyday or every other day if it is a gradual tanner.  If it gives off a good color in just 1 application, I suggest doing it either once or twice a week.

Weekly Roundup: 5/29-6/4

1. 3 Revlon Colorstay Mineral Lipglaze in Continuous Coral.  They retail $9.99 each and were on 75% clearance down to $2.50 and there are $2 off Revlon Colorstay Lipglaze coupons on the packaging so I got the remaining 3 for $1.50 in total.
2. Certain Rimmel products are also 75% off at CVS.  I grabbed 2 Stay Matte Foundations in #200 Soft Beige and a Glam'eyes Flirt Mascara for $-1 because I had 2 $3 and a $1 off coupon.  I plan on going back for the 75% off primer I've been wanting for the past 2-3 years.
3. The ROC Multi Correxion Lift Anti Gravity Eye Cream I won is here! I'm probably giving this to my mom.
4. Got a Natural Instincts Hair Color coupon in the mail from facebook promotion.  Max value $16!
5. 3 Happy Me Skincare samples from facebook promotion.
6. 2 Tresemme Naturals samples from a promotion.
7. 2 Milani HD Lip Colors from Seventeen Magazine giveaway.
8. Got the boots I ordered from Amazon.  The opening is tighter than most sheerling boots which I'm not too keen about because I have large calves.  The main reason I like sheerling boots is because the opening tends to be the same size as the largest circumference of my calf so it makes it look slimmer because it doesn't taper if I wear them.  I think I might give these away.
9. 2 Garnier Pure Clean samples from promotion
10. 2 John Frieda Root Awakening for Dry Hair samples from a promotion.
11. 2 bottles of Renpure Organics Body and Shine Conditioner for free from Riteaid.  They're $4.99 this week and if you buy one, you get $4.99 back in +UP rewards. Limit 2.
12. 3 $15 Jamberry Nails vouchers for free from Savemore.com.  If you sign up, you get $10 to spend on whatever and the vouchers were $7.50 each!  I would still sign up now if you still haven't, there are tons of things that on there that are $10 and under.
13. Ordered Jamberry Nail Shields in Decorative Black, Leopard, and Light Pink Floral
14. 2 Tend Skin 0.25 fl oz samples came in the mail.  
15. I purchased a travel size tube of Sudocream from England for $6 shipped. I had left overs of a gift card that I purchased half priced.

Saved around $114 this week and spent $2!