Amazing Dupe for a Gorgeous Valentino Bag

I fell madly in love with the most perfect, sweet, of course PINK, bag walking through Nordstrom in King of Prussia Mall one day, but of course, it was Valentino so I knew it was out of my budget. When I got up close to it, I just fell more in love so imagine my sincere disappointment when I flipped over the price tag to see "$1395.00"! This was almost 2 years ago now and I have been on the HUNT for a decent brand that made a purse that looked anything like it. Now this purse is the Valentino Lacca Patent Leather Top Handle Bag. It's a medium sized purse in patent leather. It's a soft blush pink color and features a patent leather bow. It is the epitome of girly, adorable, classy, and every other great thing in a bag. And being a blush pink it's virtually in season year round.

I finally, FINALLY found it! It's a Betsey Johnson bag I found in Macy's. It's the Betsey Johnson Bow Satchel (full price $88.00, but it was on sale for $74.99 when I purchased it) in the color: Pink Quilted. Now this bag is not a literal copy. The handles and bow are patent leather, but the bag is a soft, quilted leather, which I love and feel it makes this bag more every day friendly than the dressiness of the Valentino bag. There are also gold decals in the center of the bow and on the handle. It's not perfect, but it's the closest I've found in all my searches in size, shape, color, and of course ... the bow! Take a look for yourself:

   

Left: Valentino Lacca Patent Leather Top Handle Bag ($1395); Right: Betsey Johnson Bow Satchel ($88.00)

My New Lover

So I have found my new obsession in a tiny little jar and I love it all over my lips :) It's made by The Body Shop and I found it in ULTA. It's super small, inexpensive, delicious smelling, and a MIRACLE!

The Body Shop Shea Lip Butter

^click me to go to The Body Shop and buy me^

It's a life saver (not to mention a lip saver) that can fit in the palm of your hand. Dry, chapped, or peeling lips suck. There's no two ways about it. It's uncomfortable and can be down right painful, can lead to bleeding, and facing facts, it's fugly! Lips, whether full or thinner, are supposed to be soft, smooth, supple, and KISSABLE! Dry, cracked lips do not yell "kiss me" at all. This product is amazing. My number one complaint is that when my lips are dry, I might as well skip any lip color. It looks terrible around the cracks, doesn't last, and gets that awful white line in your lips. But I, as I'm sure every fellow makeup lover out there, knows your look is just incomplete if you don't have SOMETHING on them. Gloss, lipstick, tinted balm, stain ... whatever, just something! I have used ten million and one products that claim to hydrate, soften, smooth and so on and very few do one if any of the things they promise. I love my Victoria's Secret ProFX Lip Scrub and Balm ... the scrub is great. The balm is really nice as a hydrating base under lip color, but as an overnight treatment or for severely needy lips, that just doesn't pack enough punch. This lip butter is my new best friend. It literally feels like rubbing your finger tip into a stick of butter. It's thick, creamy, luscious and one touch, you'll know it's going to help your dry lips. It smells AMAZING, a soft hint of shea butter. There's no real taste either so it's not gross if you get a little on your teeth.

It's $6.00 on The Body Shop's website. I found it at ULTA for $6.50, on sale for $4.50 so by all means, stock up! The Body Shop is offering a Valentine's Day special right now too! "Mix & match any items side wide and buy 3, get 3 free or buy 2, get 2 free". Now's a great time to buy & try!

Bonus: you're helping the world by helping your lips. The Body Shop shares:

• 

  Shea Butter

  "Our Community Fair Trade shea butter comes from Ghana. Local women hand-harvest shea nuts, dry them in the sun and crack them to extract the kernels. These are roasted and ground into a paste to make the butter. Our trade with the Tungteiya Women’s Shea Butter Association has helped to fund three medical centres and 10 nursery schools. To find out more, visit our Community Fair Trade section."

A Little Advice

Hey there fellow beauty lovers! I just wanted to write a little post with a bit of advice for you for anyone who is just getting into makeup, looking to get back into makeup, or simply needs to refresh their kit. I love makeup. It's my passion, obsession, hobby, and career goal. I just feel that, like my "mission statement", confidence in one's image is essential to happiness. That doesn't mean you need to go all out with your makeup and that doesn't mean you need to keep your daily makeup super simple either. It just means that whatever you do or don't do to your look is fine as long as you feel confident. Everyone loves a confident person and you'll like yourself even more.

Now if you've read my blog, you know I don't discriminate makeup brands. Just because something is low cost doesn't mean always it's "cheap", drug store products don't mean they can't ever work, and high end products don't necessarily mean "over-priced" for the same thing elsewhere. You just need to have some knowledge before shopping like key ingredients in skin care that you need and ingredients cosmetic counters tell you about that are irrelevant. Read blogs and watch vlogs and talk to people that have a look you like and make your shopping list based on that.

One of my favorites is NYX Cosmetics. They are sold directly from the manufacturer online at their website, at Ulta in store and online, and they are now available at some Target locations. I would compare their products to MAC Cosmetics in that they are highly pigmented and great for everyday as well as in pictures, but they are a little less costly than MAC. Now don't get me wrong; I love me some MAC. MAC's Paint Pot in Painterly is my all time favorite eye primer or to wear alone with liner for a simple look and nothing I've tried yet has been better. NYX offers a wide range of makeup, primers, and more like MAC, just a little less costly. Downside to them is that while they can be found in some stores, the best way to shop is from NYX directly because you have the best selection of products, colors, and comparison shopping as stock in store for favorites tend to be low. Now when ordering online, you end up with the issue of shipping costs, feeling like the order isn't worth buying essentially a product  or more in shipping. Luckily many cosmetic sites offer free standard shipping once you hit a certain threshold. NYX offers free standard shipping on orders of $25 or more! That's one hell of a deal. Many places only offer free shipping once you've spent $100 or more, almost making you over shop to get the free shipping. UBER BONUS?! NYX invites you to sign up when you first visit their site by providing an e-mail account, name, and zip code and they e-mail you a coupon code for *get this* 25% off your ENTIRE FIRST ORDER!!!!!!!!!!! AND YOU STILL GET THE FREE SHIPPING!

So go shop away. Google products for reviews, or colors to view swatches people have posted, comment here if you have any questions, or take some time at an Ulta or Target that has NYX and see what colors you'd need with the testers and make a nice list then go splurge with one hell of a discount at NYX Cosmetics.

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