February Wishlist: Gorgeous Early Spring Pieces from Choies

Feb 20, 2014 | Fashion

1. Ruffled Loose Suit in Black $33.19 / 2. Luxurious Long Sleeve Contrast Dress $51.19 / 3. Orange Shirt with Scenery Pattern $16.99 / 4. Vintage Black Dress with Bead Turtleneck $32.79 / 5. Celebona Plain Signet Ring $19.90 / 6. Folding Wayfarer Sunglasses $15.98 / 7. Gray Long Sleeve Whale Print Sweatshirt $24.79 / 8. Cute Pink Falbala Dress $34.39 / 9. Stripy Snake Print Heeled Shoes $87.19 / 10. Pants in Flowers Print $39.99 / 11. Laser Leather Shopper $31.99 /

It’s kind of that in-between time of year, when it’s still blustery and cold, but signs of Spring are already showing. You still need to bundle up, but are craving some pretty colors and happy florals as comfort. With a lot of end-of-year sales going on, now is the time to snap up some great pieces that will work for the months to come. If I could just buy, buy, buy this whole week I could be totally happy with pink, hologram, jewels, and flowers (see wishlist above).

All these chic items are on sale, so hurry snap them up before the prices return to normal!

xo
Carly

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How to Use the Cartwheel App to Get Bonus Savings on Everything You Love at Target! Plus Bonus Giveaway

Jan 30, 2014 | Fashion, Life, Score!

I’m always on the hunt for a bargain, and savings on top of that bargain is just icing on the cake! My local Target is one of my favorite places to score fabulous, fashionable items for a steal – and now with the Cartwheel App, there are even further discounts available! It’s super-easy to use (and fun to be able to use it in the store and see what you can save on the fly!) Cartwheel can be used on desktop, tablet, mobile web, iPhone, and Android (though first you have to download and install the app on your device.) You can use it before going to Target, to see what has Cartwheel discounts before going.

When checking on items at Target.com on your mobile device, you may see a notation next to the item that says “Cartwheel Offer” – for these items, you just click through to the item and hit the “See Target Cartwheel Offer” button.

The Cartwheel app will open and tell you what discounts are available. If you find a Cartwheel offer that you like, you simply hit the “Add” button to add it to “My Cartwheel” – which will then be scanned at the register at Target. The barcode that is generated by Cartwheel is unique to you.

Cartwheel offers can only be used on in-store purchases, but once you’re at the store you can also scan the barcodes of items to see if there is an applicable Cartwheel discount. This scarf caught my eye, so I scanned the barcode to see if it was discounted on Cartwheel. By tapping on the barcode icon in the top Search Bar of the Cartwheel app, the app opens your phone’s camera with a rectangular area to scan the barcode. Hold the phone with the item’s barcode in the rectangular area, the app will scan it, and then it will redirect to a page that tells you if there are any Cartwheel offers on that particular item.

And there was: 15% off Women’s Fashion Scarves! Score! When I browsed through the lamps aisle, thinking to pick up something for my bedroom table, I saw a gorgeous clear bubble-stemmed lamp base, and decided to see if Cartwheel was offering a discount on it.

I was in luck and Cartwheel was also offering 15% off Lamps, expiring that very day! So I tapped the “Add” button, and it was added to my other saved Cartwheel discounts.

The neat thing is that even if items are on Clearance or marked down, the Cartwheel discount is on top of any other Target discounts or coupons, manufacturers’ coupons, and your REDcard discount. So it’s like double, triple, quadruple savings!

At checkout, after ringing everything in my cart up, the cashier scanned the barcode Cartwheel was displaying. This barcode activated my saved discounts: 15% off Lamps, 15% off Mirrors, and 15% off Women’s Scarves. I had 2 mirrors and so the discount was applicable to both of them – woohoo! One of the mirrors was even a clearance item and marked down already – so I got 15% off that final price. (For each Cartwheel discount, you can have up to 4 items.) I ended up saving a grand total of $30.68! This was on one lamp base, 2 mirrors, and 1 scarf – and though some items were already on sale, just by using the Cartwheel app I saved an additional $17.18 off my purchases. Cartwheel offers change often (there is a countdown in the app to when each offer expires), and there are more than 700 discounts available! Each person starts with 10 spots on their list to “clip” their virtual coupons to. You can earn badges for saving and interacting with the app, which earn you more spots on your Cartwheel list to fill up with extra discount offers.

Sweepstakes

To celebrate the launch of their new app, Target is offering one person a $1,000 Target GiftCard®! Entering is easy: just leave an answer to the following question in the comments on this post:

What is the biggest discount you’ve gotten when purchasing something? Did you use creative couponing, time your purchase to an annual sale, stock up on gift codes – how did you make that big score??! Do tell!

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/30 – 2/28.

Be sure to visit the Target Cartwheel brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Good luck! xo Carly

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Review: Beauty Box 5 and Its Products

Jan 8, 2014 | Beauty, Fashion

I was contacted by Beauty Box 5 to see if I could do a review of their monthly beauty subscription box service. I immediately agreed (after all, who doesn’t like free beauty items?!) and they sent me a customized box in December.

My BB5 box came with Coolway Cool Cleanse & Hydrate Shampoo and Conditioner, be a…bombshell Eyeshadow in Bora Bora, Spongeables Pedi Scrub Foot Buffer, and NUBAR Nail Lacquer in Blondie. Here’s what I thought:

Coolway Cool Cleanse & Hydrate Shampoo and Conditioner

I was glad that I received both the shampoo + conditioner in the box (sometimes you only get sent one or the other and it makes it tough to tell if it works). The duo smells spicy and minty, with a fairly light texture. Once my hair dried, I could tell it was shiny and there seemed to be fewer flyaways…but I love messy volume and texture so these weren’t my favorite.

be a…bombshell Eyeshadow in Bora Bora

This eyeshadow from be a…bombshell is a bright teal: a beautiful turquoise blue with a green shimmer to it. It’s very, VERY pigmented and bright. Normally I don’t go for a ton of bright eyeshadow, but this is a fun one even just used as a thin liner close to the eyes. I have to do a full face of makeup to feel even remotely comfortable wearing it, but it is quite a head-turner and long-lasting.

Spongeables Pedi-Scrub Foot Buffer

I think this was my favorite product in the box: this little workhorse of a foot scrubber from Spongeables. Besides it being so well-timed (my feet are definitely feeling ravaged by Winter lately!) it smells amAHzing: soapy and vaguely floral. It lathers up quickly and scrubs efficiently, all while releasing that lovely scent. My feet never felt so pampered! (I was sad that the trial size I received only lasts 5 uses…this full-sized versionlasts a good 15 uses before you have to dispose of it.

NUBAR Nail Lacquer in Blondie

This glitter polish from NUBAR is great – LOVE that it is vegan and cruelty-free. It has scattered glitter in large hexagons and small dots – that ranges from light gold to light turquoise depending on the angle. Two coats is what it took to get the coverage above – and I found it was quite easy to take off with a nail polish remover (no scrubbing or soaking like some glitters).[line]

So is Beauty Box 5 worth it?

Starting from $12, Beauty Box 5 subscription plans are one of the most affordable out there, and deliver 5 beauty samples and products each month from drugstore, vegan, and luxury brands. (For only $30 you receive a subscription for 3 months!) You specify your personality and beauty issues and you receive a personalized selection each month. Every month there is always 1 full-sized product in the box, so the monthly subscription pays for itself.

If you love trying new beauty products and especially like vegan or cruelty-free brands, I’d recommend trying our Beauty Box 5. Every single item in the box may not be a keeper, but it’s certainly fun to try new things – and is way less than a splurge at Sephora. Plus, you’re bound to come across a new product or favorite brand that you find you just can’t live without. 🙂

Check Out Beauty Box 5

xo
Carly

FTC Disclosure: I was sent a Beauty Box 5 with 5 products in it for review purposes. The above opinions are my own. I have not received compensation for this post. To read my full Disclosure Policy, click here.

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Create Your Own DIY Holiday Gift Bracelet with Persona

Dec 7, 2013 | Fashion

Lately it seems that beaded bangle bracelets have gone completely DIY, with companies offering a variety of different beads and charms to completely customize the look of the bangles to the wearer’s identity. Each charm can be something meaningful or commemorative for your recipient, and with a number of beautiful and semi-precious options the resultant bracelet can become a timeless family heirloom. Persona is one such company that offers the choose-your-own-charm option for bracelets, and they kindly sent me a bangle with 2 beads and a charm to review.

The bracelet arrived in a lovely jewelry box inside its own sleeve, along with a soft jewelry pouch, silver polishing cloth, small gift bag, and even some folded tissue paper in case you might want to present it to someone inside the gift bag. It’s an incredibly thoughtful array of packaging and needed items for the long-term care of the bracelet, which is much appreciated.

This particular Bangle from the collection is rhodium-plated, and has easy-open swivel ends. They also included a couple beads and a charm for decoration. From left to right: Crystal Cove bead from the Celestial Collection, Tiger Tooth from the Highland Collection, Lucite Beehive bead from the Celestial Collection.

The jewelry is a bright, non-tarnishing silver – and I love that the bangle has adjustable stopper beads to prevent all the charms from sliding around (space them close together or far apart, however you want them!). It is very lightweight, though – and barely feels like I’m wearing anything (great for bracelet stacking purposes!) The charms are incredibly detailed (the tooth charm is my fave!) and I like how they look edgy and modern (as opposed to stuffy and outdated like some other brands I’ve seen).

For someone like me, who loves black, silver, and sparkles and things with an edge, these beads and charm are perfect for my personality. But what if that’s not your style?

The great thing about the Persona collection is that you can totally customize the look of the bracelets no matter what your style. If you like pinks and baroque styling, then beads from the Versailles collection might entice you. If you prefer neutrals and black, the Highland Collection might speak to you. And if sparkles are your thing, then go for the Celestial collection! You can choose Zodiac beads, affirmation beads, crystal beads, beads with Swarovski rhinestones, Italian glass beads, and marcasite beads, a well as precious metal beads of silver and gold. They also have a number of different bracelet styles so you can customize the base of your arm adornment too. In other words, you have complete control!
Check out the graphic below for a quick how-to:

If you’re looking for that perfect gift for a special someone, you could make it truly unique to that person with your choice of beads and bracelets.

Check out Persona

xo
Carly

FTC Disclosure: I was gifted a bangle, 2 beads, and a charm from Persona for review purposes. The opinions above are my own. I have received no compensation for this post. For my full Disclosure Policy, click here.

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