Baby Lips Bargains

I haven't been couponing much lately but I kinda went to town this week at CVS. My favorite drugstore. It's been months since I've been to Wags or Righty's

I partook in 3 different deals over 3 different stores. I'm going to write it up as if I bought it all in one transaction so if you see more than one $10/$50 thats why. Though apparently CVS's new coupon policy allows you to stack $/$$ coupons.

4x Nivea Lip Balms @$2.50 each Sale Price =$10
10x Maybelline Baby Lips @$4.29 Reg Price B1G150% = $32.17
2 x Maybelline Color Tattoo @$7.29 Reg Price B1G150% = $10.93
1x Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Foundation Reg Price $12.99
3x Maybelline Mascaras $5.99 Reg Price B1G150% = $11.97 (2 were 1/2 price because of the foundation)
2x Maybelline Lipsticks $8.49 Reg Price B1G150% = $12.73
1x Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer Reg Price $10.99 ( Had the first store had the color I need I could have saved more buying it with the foundation)
3x Got2B Hair Styling Products @$3.99 each Sale Price = $11.97

Subtotal $113.97

Minus 2x CVS Coupon $10/$50
$20 CVS Coupons

Subtotal $93.97

Minus Manufacturers Coupons

12 x $2/1 Maybelline Lip Coupons =$24
3x $3/1 Got2B Styling Product Coupons =$9
2x $2 Maybelline Foundation Coupons =$4
2x $3/2 Nivea Coupons = $6
3x $1/1 Maybelline Mascara Coupon =$3
2 x $1/1 Maybelline Eyeshadow Coupon = $2

$48 Manufacturers Coupons

Subtotal $45.75

Minus ECB Received

$3 ECB for Nivea

Subtotal $42.75

Minus CVS Cash Cards Received

3x $10 =$30

Subtotal $12.75

Beauty Bucks Earned $10

Subtotal $2.75

Actually I received $15 in ECB 2 days after this transaction so really came to $0 for $173 retail value. I used ECB and CVS cash cards to pay for most of the transactions so I only paid tax out of pocket. Could have paid even less if I had started my trip at the most well stocked CVS makeup wise because I could have used more $10/50 coupons AND gotten the 50% off of the concealer.

Makeup Haul 2011

I really did plan to break this down into several post explaining the deals I got on everything but never got round to it so this is most of the makeup I got in my couponing adventures in the last 4 months of 2011. ¡Enjoy!

Most everything was either free or a money maker. If not then under $1

Lip Palettes

I'll admit it. I'm OBSESSED with lip palette and eye palettes. I think I wanted to be a painter once upon a time since anything that looks like an art supply I love. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Whats more fun than using palettes? Making them. When you buy a premade lip palette your stuck with just the lipstick that company makes and their ideas of what colors work. What better way to get something with all the lipsticks you like to wear and some forgotten ones to make a lip palette.

This is a small one I made from lip stick samples. I love it except for one thing. The lipstick formulations has mint in it so it makes your lips tingle. The palette is from Japonesque and they make lots of great lipstick palettes.

This time I'm trying to go a little bit more professional. I order some metal eyeshadow pans from eBay. They were about $5 for 20 pans (as you can see I really need 21) I'm using an empty Mac Eyeshadow Palette which I've removed the divider for. But that's because thats what I had you can make one from any hinged container you like. What would be super cute is a pencil tin. You could probably fit 2 rows of shadow with room for a lipstick brush like my palette above. The eBay store also had round pans which would just fit into the Mac palettes without removing the divider.

Here's how to make a Hello Kitty palette.

And heres the video that inspired me to make the palette I'm going to make

DIY Hair Results

Well the hair adventure worked out well and with some work, planning and professional supplies I got a professional result and managed to even out all the layers of box color and get a nice chocolate brown. It has a shimmery shiny quality but it's not a dramatic change in fact Don Coupon couldn't tell the difference.

What did I use?

1/3 a tube of Wella Koleston Perfect in 6/0 Neutral, 6/2 Matte and 6/7 Brown with 4oz of 20 Volume Peroxide developer.

Before I colored for a week before I did the shampoo train where I shampooed several times using cheap shampoo to help lift the old color out and actually it did a pretty good job too. I put a "Malibu 2000" Color Correcting treatment on the day before I colored too.

So how did the pricing work out well the tubes of color were $10 each ( remember these are professional hair dyes so they are sold like paints and you mix them together and choose what strength of developer you need) and I used 1/3 of 3 colors so $10 for the actual color.

The pro level develop was $12 for 1L/33.3oz so thats 36c a oz and I used 4oz so $1.44 for developer.

So thats $11.44 for a single process color. Now the salon I used to use charges $85 for a single process color so thats over $80 savings. Now I know I mentioned previously I was going to use 5 colors and I am. In 4 weeks time I will refresh the ends with a demi permanent color using Wella's Color Touch in 6/0 Neutral and 6/77 Intense Brown. When my roots start to grow in I will retouch with the Koleston only in the roots. Just like the pros ;)

DIY Savings

I'm a very DIY girl. It doesn't matter how much money I have I always want to do it myself. This includes haircolor and even making hair extensions. My latest project is formulating a hair color using professional dyes vs box color which I have been using and getting free or even the "professional" dyes you get at Sally's

I'm aiming for a nice chocolate brown with no reddy undertones. I have been reading the Killerstrands blog and have come up with a formula combination of 3 permanent colors mixed together for the base and 2 demi permanent colors to glaze over and to use to refresh the color periodically

So using 5 colors mixed together sounds expensive though when you consider it that I'll likely get 4 applications it doesn't sound so bad. I guess the real cost benefit analysis will be how good it looks and whether the quality will compare what I get out of the box vs what I get at the salon.

New Year New Savings

I have to admit this last month I've been very burnt out all over and having been couponing much but this morning I got up, put my big big big girl panties and grabbed a toilet paper deal at CVS.

I've been thinking about posting about how to save on your beauty related expenses as well as just coupons. Things like how to make your own clip in extensions and how to highlight your own hair. That and some comparisons between high end makeup and drug store steals.

Vegas on a dime without feeling cheap

There are certain times in Vegas where the city is deserted. December is one of them and you can pick up some killer room rates. If you do a quick search you'll see you can get rooms for as little as $12 a night. We chose to stay somewhere new at the Rumor Hotel. Rumor is a boutique hotel that is not attached to a hotel. This is perfect if you plan to drive to several other hotels for food and entertainment because the time to get from the door to you car is about 30 seconds and valet is equally efficient.

We paid $41 for a suite that would go for about $200 on a busier weekend. Like all things in Vegas you get a lot of style for your money. Though as lovely as the hotel was it didn't have the glitz and glamour as some of the more upscale hotels such as the Bellagio but we'd paid $300-400 a room for that luxury so for 10% for 80% of the style well this couponista will take that bargain any day.

Service was great for the price not excellent but personalized. When we checked out they knew what room we were in and they had our car out front without asking. Though the entire city was deserted so we may have simply been the last guest scheduled to check out that day.

The room was almost exactly what was pictured on the website and we had a suite that stepped right out onto the pool area. Pity it was freezing!

To save money and time we drove ( yes driving from LA is quicker than flying nowadays ) plus when you have your own car in Vegas you save big bucks on taxis. Valet is always free and you just have to tip $1-2. Having your car out front already buys the valet a nice $5. If you lose your valet ticket and they find your car for you anything less than $10 is being cheap and mean. One thing we NEVER skimp on its tips. These are your fellow human beings here trying to make money to take care of their families. Don't be a jackhole and stiff them just because you think shouldn't have to pay.

Another thing I don't skimp on is food but again that doesn't mean you can't save. I love a good buffet and my 3 favorites are the Bellagio, The Rio and The Wynn. The Wynn buffet can run you $36 a person at night but during lunch is about half that at $18-20.

If you like to play the slots make sure to join the casinos slot club. Usually they'll give you a few bucks to play with. You can stretch that into an hour of entertainment. Grab a free cocktail ( don't forget to tip!) and your on your way to a good time. Don't forget to quit while your ahead