Ebay Selling Vol. 1

Well, I have been for the last month or so, lurking Ebay. Figuring out the ins and outs of selling and buying. Now, people tell me that it isn't rocket science. They're right, it isn't. But, to sell and to buy, you need to be aware of rules and how they want things done. To me, it was confusing at first, simply because you had to learn to navigate your way through everything. They linking Paypal. Then figuring out shipping labels. Yes, I'm still working on the shipping labels. There have been times where I've been way off. So now, I just do Flat Rate. No way to go wrong there! Unless you know that it can fit into a padded envelope with easy.

One thing that I am investing in is a mail scale. I found one that will weight packages up to 140lbs. So I feel this will help in getting correct postage in the future.  I've also invested in bubble wrap and packaging tape. Some of my best friends! Another lesson I've learned is to do 2 invoices. One for yourself and another for your buyer. I also make sure that I save the label records. This way, if there are any disputes, you have a paper trail. Virtual and physical paper trail. I have two books where these go. I have them all meticulously labeled. For a hobby, sure sounds like a full time job, right? Well, if you sell on Ebay, it is!

I believe after you sell $10,00 or $5,000, I'm not sure which, you do have to report to the IRS. You have to make sure that if this happens, you have the taxes for it. I know when you invoice people, you can add your state taxes or theirs. Choice is yours. Now, I could be wrong, I am not saying that everything I say is absolutely correct. I am stating that this is MY experience with Ebay. Yours could be entirely different. I will definitely keep you updated on this journey, that's for sure! There is always more to learn and more to read up on. If you have anything that could help with this journey, please let me know!

Have fun, I'm going to go troll Ebay again!

**Ebay logo courtesy of Ebay.com**

Tomoson

Ok, I found this website through the grapevine called Tomoson.com. The purpose of this website is to connect bloggers with companies to promote items. Now, that is an awesome concept, so of course, I signed up. Now, while I am still working on the bits and pieces of it, I am proud to say that I got some promotions coming my way. Now, we will just have to wait and see what happens! Be sure to stay in touch to see what happens while trying these products!

Milani Bella Eye Shadows

Milani. When I think about the brand, I see pretty gold packaging and not much else really. Well, then they came out with the Bella Eye Shadows. They have polishes too, but they don't have them here that I've found yet. I admit, I really like the ones that I bought. I only bought 4 of them, and I do plan on buying more.

When I heard that these were out, I stalked my Walgreens. I got 4 of them to just try out to see if I would like them. Oh, boy, do I! I got 4 neutral colors simply because I wanted to be sure that I would like them. I always figure go for the neutral colors before the racier colors to test. Well, I have to say, they are wonderful! They truly remind me a lot of Urban Decay or Lorac. More Lorac than Urban Decay though. True pigmitation and wonderful color payoff. I didn't see a single fall-out while using them!

New Milani Bella Eyeshadows

While I do love the packaging, I really wish that Milani would have just put these into palettes, cause singles can take up a lot of room. But, packaging isn't really my concern. It's the products inside that I'm most fascinated with. Ivory is a color I have been using the most with any eye shadow I have lately. I blends beautifully and a perfect compliment to any color.

Espresso is a rich dark brown that reminds me of the drink. A nice rich coffee to brighten your eyes. Pink was a bit harder to work. While it didn't go with the browns that well in my opinion, it worked well with Ivory and other pink shades. Champagne is such a beautiful bronze color that blended so well. You didn't need much of it to achieve a beautiful, amazing glow with it. Works wonders with green eyes.

Swatches

I will say these are some buttery shadows. They blend easily and are heavenly feeling. You don't want to miss out on these that's for sure! These are on sale I believe at Walgreens for $4.99. Not bad at all and if you have points, you can knock the price even lower!  This is a perfect product for those starting out in make-up to the most advanced in make-up. I do believe this is part of the permanent line, so they will be around, but prices may go up, so get them while you can!

So head to your nearest Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, anywhere that carries these and grab them. You won't be sorry!

Another MAC collection? A Novel Romance Collection

I'll be honest. I was not sent this collection, but I did get an email telling me all about it and I saw it on Facebook, of course. I MUST HAVE THIS COLLECTION. It's coming out next month, and I think I want it for my birthday, lol. Hint hint darling! But, seriously, I am in love with this collection. And yeah, I like some of the lipsticks and glasses, but it's the eyeliners and eye shadows that I want! Anyone ever feel like that? I normally don't get on the hypes from the MAC collections, but this one hits me and describes me perfectly. I love romance novels. I love to curl up on the couch and just read.

Well, for fall, I'm going to be my own romance novel. I'm going to get me this collection, cause it's calling my name! I may spend more money than it's worth, but it'll be worth it to me! I'm currently looking for pictures and swatches to add to this, but you may have to wait until I buy it, lol. Sorry. Mac didn't deem me special enough to send me the collection to try, lol. I wish they did though! It would be fun to try something before anyone else! Maybe next time!

As soon as I get pictures and such, I will post ASAP. I promise!!!!

Meanwhile, if you need to see the collection before I get it, go check this lovely lady out on her blog:
http://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/mac-makeup/mac-a-novel-romance-collection-review/

Karen is a talented and lucky blogger who I heard about this collection from first!

Cont. search for the "Unicorn Piss" AKA Hard to find past cosmetics

As we know from the last time I wrote of the phrase "Unicorn Piss", I was on the hunt for past collections of cosmetics that are no longer available. I have been through many, many, many wholesale cosmetics sites, collectors sites, even EBAY. I have asked questions and I have inspected inventory to make sure everything I've looked at was either legit or fake. So far, I've found ONE company that seems to be on the Up and Up. I was easily able to look at reviews on YouTube, Facebook and around the web as to the authenticity of the products that they offer. Didn't think I would even consider ordering from them without checking them out did you?

At this time, I am not disclosing the company name until I order from them, but I have seen everything from OCC, L'Oreal, Revlon, Tarte, Benefits, even MAC. All reviews are extremely promising, and the prices are something that will not hurt the pocketbook. Unless of course you see too much you want and order it all. LOL. Now, I did notice that some of the products were priced at where you would by straight from the companies and Sephora and Ulta. But then they have an interesting section for factory mistakes. Now, if the mistakes aren't too bad, I think it would be something to look into.

Some of the stuff that's coming are brands like Tarte, Too Face, MAC, PIXI, OPI, and past Wet N' Wild palettes. I am reviewing this website, so I picked out a variation of items to check out. I wrote the company, told them what I was doing and offered to send some stuff for me to review, such as mailing time, packaging, authenticity of the products. Yes, I will be going to retailers in my area to verify that all of these products are genuine before stating a thumbs up or thumbs down.

I am very excited about it. All this because I was searching for rare palettes that I really wanted. I will be sure to include prices and compare them to prices in stores. This way, I can give you an idea of what you can save versus purchasing off of EBAY or in stores for some products. Now, remember, it is NOT a guarantee that these are genuine. I will not know this until I take them to respective store to verify the products. The items should be here within the next couple of days and I will keep you posted. Be sure to watch for the third installment of this post.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette

That's right my beauties, I finally got my hand on the new Too Face Chocolate Bar palette and I couldn't be more happier! Trust me this, guys, you want your lady to be happy at that time of months, give her this palette. You won't hear a single negative thought on the gift. The scrumptious smells of 16 different antioxidant-rich, cocoa powder yumminess is enough to assault your senses! They sure did mine!

When you have names like Amaretto, Salted Caramel and Triple Fudge, you can't help but think of the Tooth Fairy when you get near this! Not only does it smell like so many yummy chocolates, it TASTES like them too. Yes, myself and several others have done the taste test of this palette. Not to worry. No one actually ATE any of it, we just tasted. Yes, well aware that there are other ingredients in this besides cocoa powder, so no massive, major or any other harmful acts were done in testing out this palette. It does state on the package that the product is not edible, but why make the shadows taste yummy then? LOL.

The packaging is adorable, looking like a very large Hershey's bar. It is plastic, but only downside is that the names aren't under the shadows like traditional palettes. It's on a piece of plastic that you have to be careful not to loose or you so loose the names of all of these shadows.  I just taped it to a darker color and taped it over a mirror. I never use the mirrors in the compacts anyways, so it works out. Another downfall if that it doesn't lock tightly, so I am going to try desperately to keep the original box it came in to make sure that it stays shut and the shadows don't get hurt.        

All of the colors are matte colors and very rich in color. My favorite being Cherry Cordial, with its deep cranberry/burgundy color. Least favorite due to a bit of flakiness is the Black Forest Truffle. Beautiful color, but has a lot more fall out that any of the other colors. But, that can be dealt with in creating wonderful looks with this. This reminds me of a mixture of ALL THREE Naked palettes in one. Sounds great to me, cause $49 for this or $156 and tax for the Naked Collection. Granted, for me, I would spend both amounts. LOL. But for those that want the best of all three palettes and the cheaper price tag, than this palette is for you.

I promise that you will enjoy it. I have yet to name a palette my favorite and honestly, just from taste, texture, smell and the looks of this products, which hits all of the human senses, this could easily be my favorite. This is, thankfully, part of their permanent line, so if I use this up, I can get another, like with any of their other shadows. But, honestly, I think I will savor this palette for a while.

Sigma brushes

         Recently I was sent some Sigma brushes and was told to say what I thought. Now these weren't sent by Sigma, they were sent by someone entirely different, and that's ok. I got some brushes that I have been lusting after! Ha ha. But, after only getting three brushes when I thought was going to be a whole set, I was kinda bummed out. But not for long! I had gotten the E25 Blending brush, the E40 Tapered Blending brush and finally the E55 Eye Shading brush.

         I love them all! I wasn't very fond of the E40 until I figured out what was the best use of it was. I use to to apply the beginnings of my highlighter and contours. Works wonders! It's just the perfect shape to get the fine lines started for getting the lines that I want for any look that I'm after. The brush is just too big for me to use it as a blending brush.

        The E25 has been a brush that I have heard wonderful bedtime stories about. Yes, they are all true. I can perfectly get into my eye crease with this brush and buff it out to perfection! The feel of it to me, is like butter. Just can't get enough of it. I have MANY blending brushes, and I have been reaching for this so much, and not just to review, but because I truly like how the brush works and how it feels on the sensitive areas of the eyes.

        Now the E55? One heck of a combonation. The only comparable brush that I do have to this is my E.L.F. shading brush. I love them both. I reach for BOTH just as equally as the other. While the E55 is more dense than the E.L.F. brush, I like the E.L.F. one just as well. I feel that they both do a wonderful job in shading the eyes.

        So overall, do I feel that the Sigma brushes are worth the money? Absolutely! Do I feel that there are other, less costly brushes out there that works just as well. Yes. While these brushes are fairly pricey, you have to look at the over all picture. While the price is kinda high, the quality goes into play with these brushes. While I have never tried MAC brushes, I feel that the quality is like no other. I love it. I feel pampered and rich using these brushes. So feel more than welcome to go check out their website at www.sigmabeauty.com and go check out the wide selection of wonderful brushes that they have to offer. They also have cosmetics if you are wanting to try them also.

                                                                                                                             

Happy Holidays

I wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays. Be sure to be safe out there on the roads and to never drink and drive! Be beautiful and safe, from my family to yours.

Drugstore VS. Luxury makeup

          There is nothing more fun than playing with makeup, with the exception of playing with your children. You can get makeup everywhere now. But, how can you be sure that you are getting the best makeup for you? Do you go to the drugstore or do you go to the department store to get the makeup?

          Let’s start off with the obvious, since that’s where we all started from, and for most of us, are still at. Drugstore makeup. Covergirl. Maybelline. Revlon. N.Y.C, L.A. Colors. Yep, we’ve heard of them all. Most are all great products. Some not so much. But more than likely, we all have a variety in our makeup stash. I can’t even tell you how many different brands of drugstore makeup I actually have. I want to say a fair amount. But in reality, about half of my makeup is drugstore.

          With so many different products easily accessible to us, one would wonder why they would go anywhere but the drugstore. Plus, there are coupons for these products! There are only a few items that I use that I only get at the drugstore. One is my Olay. I use that all the time and I tend to freak out when I run out. Another is my NYX products that I get either at Ulta or Target. I also get my Physicians Formula at the drugstore too, if they are having a really great deal.

I’m not going to knock the drugstore makeup. They have some awesome stuff. I’ve worn Covergirl, Maybelline, Revlon, L’Oreal most of my life. I could swear by their stuff. I still can. But, the only problem is this. I’m getting older and my skin is getting way pickier. So it’s a lot harder to wear certain kinds or brands of makeup. If I wear the absolute cheapest stuff out there, and we all know what they are, then I have the mother of all breakouts. When my skin isn’t happy, then I’m not happy.

          I know that most people would just say wash your face. I do. But with drugstore makeup it really depends on formulation and on how my skin is going to act. Everyone’s skin if different. I can only say how my skin is going to act. I can only be the one to tell you what makeup I can use on my face. No one else can.

          Now, we have to move to on to Luxury makeup. This include MAC, Urban Decay, Tarte, Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent, Clinique,  Bibbi Brown. So many more! All of them I want and all of them I know I can’t have. But, I sure can try!

          Luxury makeup is not something that I thought I would get. I figured that only rich and snooty people bought it. It was EXPENSIVE! I never had the means to really get it. BUT, now that I am able to, and I have done my research, Got my skin typed and finally have figured out my skin, I have indulged in some of those products. I have let myself get $40 foundation and eye shadow. And not have a panic attack with spending the money. I have figured out that with my skin, on some things, I have to have the more expensive products. Or it gets even. I’m talking about horrible cystic acne that pits my face and leaves my face a horrible uneven color.

          Yes, I have gone to the other side! I have Tarte foundation and powder. I have Urban Decay shadows and moisturizers. I have awesome lipstick that makes me feel special.  I get samples of expensive primers and foundations at Sephora and Ulta. I have no shame in admitting that I buy it. I have no shame in admitting that it’s better for my skin, which I can make out everything that is in my foundation and eye shadow. I adore it. I guard it like a dog. Ha ha.

          But, I mix the two. Drugstore and Luxury. Sometimes I do use all of one thing or nothing at all.  Sometimes, I am just trying things out before I end up giving it away and just using it to review. I do it with both worlds of makeup. There are duds in both worlds and there are holy grails. I love my Cover FX primer. It’s $38! But I also like my Rimmel primer and it’s $6. Some days, it’s Cover FX and other days it’s Rimmel. I’m not a complete snob. Hell, I’m not a snob at all. I’m just a regular girl who loves to play and wear makeup. That just happens to have picky skin.

          So no matter what, both are good, and both have good and bad points to them.

YouTube Beauty videos

Ok, for those that don't know I am on YouTube. I am doing my best to compete with all the GORGEOUS women on there, where as I think I'm rather average looking, and I don't know if I'm making an impact. I hope that I am, but maybe I was expecting something faster, but then again, I haven't been on as long as they have, lol.  Still frusterating.

You ever have a wish you could change something about yourself? I do. I wish I had better skin, better features, better everything, but its not gotten to the point where I am happy with who I am, but it took a long time to get there.

Remember this ladies, your looks are your own, even with plastic surgery, it doesn't shine on who you are inside and I know a lot of men who would rather have the inside than the outside, but with all the awesome fun products out there, we can enhance our best features.

First Blog and post

Ok, this is my first post and I'm pretty dang excited about it! I am a stay at home mom to 4 wonderful boys, married to a wonderful man and have awesome dogs. I am in Moore, Oklahoma, we just moved down here this year, and so trying to find things to do. Makeup and beauty have always fascinated me and finding out that I've been doing my makeup wrong for years have pushed me into action to do it right. I do have a YouTube channel, Beautylearningwithlaura as I go through the process of learning to do my makeup all over again in my thirties. Have fun with me and you won't regret a thing!