Surviving Valentine's Day..

Is Valentine's Day a trap?

Something as simple as a relaxing bath is all I need. You don't need to spend alot of money for Valentine's Day, which should be a celebration of Love all year around! *Side Note-Neva eva use faux rose petals in tour bath tub! The dye will stain ur tub. I've done that before and it wasn't pretty. You should enjoy the aroma and benefits of rose water anyway :)

This is just a quick post of a wash day!

My wash day from last week (posted on instagram) This day I used Shea Moisture African Black Soap Balancing Conditoner to Co-Wash and Mane N' Tail Conditioner as my deep conditioner ( I left a little in as my leave in)

After Season Bargains & More Bang For Your Buck

After Season Bargains

I've found that the best time to shop for a season is after the season. If you live in Texas, that can be confusing because one day it's 100 degrees and the next day 30 below. On the plus side, you won't have to wait until next year to wear what you buy.

So to make this easy keep this in mind: When spring is near, stores (thrift or not) will mark down winter items. You can get your hands on some of the coolest and trendy jackets, vests, pants, gloves, scarves and hats for a fraction of the price. When summer is near, spring items will be marked down because it's hot and people want to show more skin. This is the best time to get cute dresses and skirts; especially floral prints and vibrant colors.  When fall is near, summer items will be marked down because the weather should be cooling down. This is probably one of my favorite times to shop because swim suits, flip flops, cute tops and shorts are essential items that can be worn anytime of the year. You probably won't see too many deals between fall and winter because the weather can be tricky. Fall weather can be just as cold as winter. 

More Bang For Your Buck: For Trendy Women on the Go

When I'm shopping for certain items, I want to make sure it's multi-functional as much as possible.  A great example of this would be shopping for a cute coat or jacket.  Just being cute isn't enough for me.  There needs to be a little something extra, like: standard pockets, secret pockets, a hood, buttons, drawstrings and more POCKETS. There's times when I really don't want to take my purse with me and having plenty pockets is a plus. 

See my thrifty finds below.

This red coat is by Old Navy and it's key features are: double-breasted, has buttons, two outside pockets, 3/4 sleeves and of course secret pockets in the inside.  Everyone knows it's hard to find a woman's coat with pockets in the inside; men's coats are usually known for that.  Also, having a 3/4 sleeve coat is a definate bonus. You can keep your sleeves from getting wet when your washing your hands, and you can show off your wrist bling. It was $3.33 marked down to $1.67.

This blue jacket is by Eddie Bauer and it's key features are: two outside pockets that button close, drawstrings at the bottom and top, a hood that can be tucked away and zipped into the collar, 3/4 sleeves and rain proof. I paid $2.32 with no markdown.  I hope these tips help you in your future shopping endeavors!

            



Protective Styles For My Natural Hair

I love to change my hair up from time to time, so wearing my hair in protective styles helps minimize breakage, avoid heat damage and encourages my natural hair to grow healthy. Here's a few of my favorites below.

 

I wasn't going to cut my hair to achieve a short style, so I did a rollerset on permrods w/ Ecostyler olive oil gel and BB moisturizer lotion with Aloe Vera and Castor oil.

Actual length of my hair is a little past my armpit. This look was inspired by an old Youtube user, Chiselle Couture. She had some of the BEST hair tutorials, but unfortunately she longer does vlogs or blogs of any kind. I hope all is well with her.

Flexirods (orange ones) on 3 day old straightened hair

using a dab of Ecostyler gel on each section

 

Equal Deep invisible part wig by Freetress: Bently in 1b
Synthetic hair that looks/feels real and heat can be applied up to 400 degrees

 

Equal Deep Invisible part wig by Freetress: Bently in OH227144

This was the first Bently I bought (I have two in this color) I wore this one so much that it started to tangle too much, so I decided to straighten her out and brought her back to life

Havanna Marley Twists-this was one of my favorite styles, but it was the most challenging style I've ever done. I watched numerous youtube videos day after day after day until I got the hang of it. I moisturized my hair with some raw organic shea butter on clean hair. It was easier to do the second time, because I did them on stretched hair (less frizz and smoother twists) I left the twists in for about 3 1/2 weeks.  Below are a few links to some of the youtube videos I watched.

http://youtu.be/uDXwNY6vrNg (User MSPYT81)
http://youtu.be/cn1VnJrjwKw  (User Donedo)
http://youtu.be/QzMlHmqs8Ag  (User My Natural Sistas)



How To Thrift Shop

Growing up I did'nt realize how wonderful it was to shop at a thrift store, all I could think of was how embarassing it was to have to buy used clothes and these stores are made for poor people.  My parents provided me with all of the daily essentials, which included clothes on my back and that's exactly what that meant. There's no parent rule book stating that you have to buy your children brand new clothes or else!  Don't get me wrong, we did get new clothes here and there, but the majority of them came from thrift stores or hand me downs (we did get brand new shoes and undergarments)

Can you imagine buying brand new clothes for three girls?  My parents were on a budget and that meant going to the thrift store for back to school, winter, spring and summer.  Life is about experiences and I'm greatful that my childhood bargain shopping has grown into a passion for shopping on a budget to find great threads, food, jewelry and beauty products all on a budget.

Today's bargain shopping trip to my favorite thrift shop-Savers Thrift Store, was a success!
I spent around $35 for nine great pieces to add to my wardrobe.  I was already a Savers club card member, so I saved 50% off on every clothing item.  If you didn't have a Savers club card, employees were standing by to sign up those who needed a card. 

When you have a Savers club card, you get the sale prices before everyone else.  So this upcoming Monday, will be 50% of select items (60th Anniversary and  President's day sale)
It's free to sign up for a Savers club card!! Below are great tips on how to shop on sale days and photos of my great finds!

Before you step out the door here's a few things you should  know and ask yourself:

• Are you a digger?  If you can't see yourself digging through racks and piles of clothes (my favorite part) then shopping at a thrift store isn't for you.
• Are you easily grossed out by weird smells, crying/sometimes barefoot children and the idea of touching/trying on clothes that someone else has worn? then shopping at a thrift store isn't for you.
• Make your way to the front door, and get ready for an adventure.  NOT SO FAST- Make sure you wear comfortable shoes/clothes, pull your hair back in a bun, bring a wristlet to put your  money, debit or credit cards in (several thrift stores do not permit large purses due to theft, but you don't need any extra weight holding you down as you sift through clothes and other items)
• Arrive early to stores (I recommend before opening hours) to get your hands on the best items and to make sure you get a shopping cart.
• Grab fast and weed out later. Meaning, you don't want to miss out on a great item by taking your sweet time sorting through racks and bins checking for quality.  I have a trained eye, because I'm naturally observant, but I've been bargain shopping for many years, so I know what to look for.  Try to look for colors and prints that catch your eye.
• Quality over quantity.  I'd rather have a few quality items that I can work into my wardrobe, than several "ok" items.  You never want to go home and say why did I buy this?  I don't look for name brands necessarily, but it gives me a great rush to find brand name items at a bargain price.

       

 

1.  Xhilaration-purple & gold print skirt $2 (was 3.99)

2.  Sharon Young- blue, floral print dress $5 (was $9.99)

 

 

3.  Unknown designer-black & white poka dot tie front shirt $3 (was 5.99)

4.  New York & Co.-purple, floral print dress $5 (was $9.99)



 

5.  New York & Co.-purple, zen dress $5 (was 9.99)

6.  Lauren Conrad-white crochet & black shirt $4 (was 7.99)

 

7.  Unknown designer-gold, vintage-like necklace $1.50 (was 2.99)

 

8.  Rubbish-denim wide leg pants $3 (was 5.99)

9.  Cable & Gauge-gold chain, black shirt $4 (was $7.99, new with original tag of $48)

 

 

Please donate gently used items to your local thrift stores or do a swap meet with your friends.  Let's keep wonderful stores like these in business and gently used clothes out of our landfills.  Even though I didn't buy these clothes from they're original stores, IT'S NEW TO ME!  I am NOT an employee of Savers Thrift stores, I was NOT paid to do this review and I used my own money to purchase the items posted in my blog.

 

This review is dedicated to my parents- I love you!