Miracle Makeup

it really is a magic potion!

OK, this post isn't really about scoring any deals, but I just had to take a moment to tell you about my new, amazing cosmetics purchase (and it's my blog, I can write about whatever I want, right?).  So what is this miracle product?  It's Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion.  I had been hearing for a while that this primer was really good, but wanted to finish up the (terrible) primer I already had (though I don't know why, because it didn't make one iota of a difference in my makeup).  Anyway, since using this primer, my eyeshadow and eyeliner stay perfectly in place, with no creases whatsoever.  In fact, Saturday night I fell asleep without removing my eye makeup, and it was still perfect in the morning when I woke up!  You have to admit, that's pretty impressive.  At $18, this primer isn't a bargain, but it's certainly not very expensive, and considering that you won't have to touch up or re-apply your makeup, I think it's worth every penny!  I have looked for deals for this product and have come up empty-handed.  However, Sephora does sell a few combination sets that include the primer, which are pretty good values.  There's even one on sale for $16 that includes 6 eyeshadows, an eye pencil, and a half-size version of the primer.  Now, that is a pretty good deal, and a reasonable way to give the primer a try.  Anyway, I really did feel obligated to post this PSA, because I'm sure some of you out there also struggle with eyeshadow creases, and now you don't have to! And I do recognize that this post is pretty effusive in its praise for the primer, but I'd like to assure you that I'm not nearly important enough to be paid or sponsored in any way by Urban Decay to write this post.

The Better Deal- Numero 28 Pizza Napoletana

Today's Better Deal is for Numero 28 Pizza Napoletana in the East Village.  The two deals for this restaurant are from Scoop St and from Restaurant.com.  Scoop St is offering a deal for $25, which includes any appetizer, any 18" pizza, and 2 glasses of wine or dessert.  Considering that an 18 inch pizza by itself costs $18-$26, this is a pretty good deal (especially if you choose the more expensive options, which would be around $50 in total).

Photo courtesy of Scoop St

The other deal, as usual, is from Restaurant.com, which is offering a $25 voucher for $15.  However, if you read this blog often, you will know that you should NEVER pay full price on Restaurant.com, since they very frequently offer 80% off promo codes.  Right now, the promo code is "DINE," and is good through Monday, Feb. 28.  With the promo code, you'd only pay $3 for a $25 voucher.


So which is the better deal?  Well with the Scoop St offer, you can potentially get a $25 discount, but only if you order the most expensive options.  You're also limited to getting the app/pizza combo.  Lastly, you're investing more for this voucher than you would with Restaurant.com.  On the other hand, the Restaurant.com certificate provides a $22 discount (as long as you buy with the 80% off promo), but gives you flexibility to order whatever you want.  I think Restaurant.com wins this contest, though it was definitely a close call!

Watch Sales Update

For those of you who are in the market for a new watch, and were not impressed with the Toy Watch selection on Gilt today, Rue La La will be hosting another Toy Watch sale on Friday the 25th.  I have no idea what the selection or prices will be like, but it's definitely worth checking out, and in my experience Rue La La prices are a little better than Gilt's.  If you want to go a little higher-end, Rue La La will be hosting a vintage watch sale, featuring names such as Rolex and Cartier.  My guess is that that sale is NOT going to be for someone on a budget, though it doesn't mean you won't find a good buy!

Toy Watches on Sale at Gilt!

Until recently, I never cared much about watches.  I wore a watch--I always need to know the time (not that it stops me from always being late), but I looked at watches as something functional, something serious.  And then one day I woke up with an epiphany, watches can be fun!  Watches can add something to your outfit!  I think this revelation came alongside the new trend of bulky watches that women were starting to wear.  At first I dismissed the trend--I liked it on other people, but my wrists are tiny and I was sure I'd look ridiculous.  But then I tried one on.  And it looked good!  Anyway, sorry for making a short story long, but I wanted to explain why I was excited about today's Toy Watch sale on Gilt!  I think Toy Watches exemplify the current fun watch trend, as I'm now calling it.  I've rarely seen them on sale, but today on Gilt,  there's a selection on sale from $135-$165 (if you check Bloomingdale's, the same watches currently retail for $225-$275).  So if you're in the market for a new fun watch, check out Gilt now!  They're going fast!

Toy Watch sale on Gilt

Deal of the Day- $19 Mani/Pedi from Groupon!

Today's Deal of the Day is a $19 Mani/Pedi at Black Label Nails, courtesy of Groupon.  The salon is located at 318 Lexington Ave., between 38th and 39th Street in Murray Hill.  It got great reviews on Yelp, and based on its website's pictures, the salon looks very cute-- not your typical nail salon.  You can find similar deals throughout the city--it may take some searching, but I think it's possible.  However, I doubt those places will be nearly as nice as Black Label.  According to their Yelp profile, the salon strives to be a "high-end nail salon with reasonable price(s)" and it places high importance on hygiene and sanitation, providing each manicure customer with a new nail file and sanding block.  $19 for a mani/pedi at a place like this really is a bargain!  I'm definitely going to purchase the Groupon for this deal, and you should too!

Photos from Black Label Nails

Lauren Merkin Update

The other day I posted that you could get 40% off anything on the Lauren Merkin site through today.  Well, I have good news, the discount has been extended though Monday, February 21, with the promo code "PRESDAY."  So if you didn't read the last post on time, or you need a few more days to mull over your potential purchases, you got it!

Coat Buying Season is Upon Us!

As today is the nicest outside that it's been in a while (please stay for a bit longer, 60+ degree weather!), I figured it would be a good time to talk about . . .  winter coats!  It's been a rough winter, and believe me, I can't wait to start buying summer clothes (when I saw the bathing suit section in full swing at Bloomingdale's yesterday, I got so excited... winter's almost over!!!), but I save this time of the year for winter-coat buying.  It's no secret that the end of the season is always the best time to score deals on that season's clothing, and coats are no exception.  As I am in desperate need of a new winter coat, yesterday I decided to check out the coat department in Bloomies. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they still had a pretty wide range of sizes in stock (though very few, if any, XS's or 0's).  They had a decent selection of wool/cashmere coats from Chequer and Andrew Marc, plus some DKNY and Calvin Klein.  They also had a lot of bright puffer jackets (I didn't check, but I think they were DKNY), and Andrew Marc puffer coats.  Everything was significantly discounted and then you could take an additional 40% off the already discounted price.  To give you an idea of the prices, I ended up purchasing the Andrew Marc coat above for $155 after tax.  The original price was $495.  Not bad, right?  (Although I subsequently found the same coat on Bluefly for slightly less...hate when that happens!).  


These deals are not unique to Bloomingdale's.  As I explained above, I found the same jacket on Bluefly.com for $142, including shipping (thanks to its Presidents' Day Sale, going on now), and Bluefly still has a pretty large selection of other coats left.  And it's a safe bet that all the other department stores will be offering heavy discounts as well.


I know it's not as exciting as buying new summer clothing, but if you wore your coat to death this year like I did, it's definitely worth your while to pick up next year's coat now!  It's the smart thing to do.  Plus, don't you love when you can classify going shopping as being responsible?

Barneys Warehouse Sale

The Barneys Warehouse Sale starts today.  For many, this is one of the most anticipated sales of the year, but to be honest, it just doesn't excite me that much.  I think the first issue is I'm simply not trendy enough to really appreciate the inventory.  Secondly, a lot of it, while highly discounted, is still above my price range.  Third, my size is generally hard to find at events like this.  Lastly, the first day of the sale tends to be pretty crazy (there was a substantial line waiting to get in to the sale this morning an hour before its 8 am opening).  As a result, the best items get snatched up quickly, and since I'm not that hardcore, by the time I get to the sale, there's nothing left that I like or in my size, and the place is a mess.  


That being said, people do love the Warehouse Sale for a reason.  You can score some great items for a low(er) price.  I may convince myself to check it out at some point, and I will definitely report back if I do.  And this year, apparently the men's selection is better than the women's, and I doubt it'll be nearly as crowded.  So if you have a Y chromosome, I'd recommend paying the sale a visit.   For more information (and to see how crazy the sale really is), check out Racked for their take on this year's sale. The sale is located at 255 W. 17th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenue, and runs until March 6, so you do have some time.  However, if you're going to go, I'd recommend going sooner rather than later.

Kate Spade and Lauren Merkin on Sale!

Well, it looks like the powers that be would like you to purchase a handbag this week. Lauren Merkin is offering 40% off the entire site, which is a pretty significant discount, with no real exclusions.  Just enter the code "WELOVE" at checkout.  

This may be the excuse I need to get a new clutch (or a jewelry case... which I know isn't that exciting, but for some reason I really want one)!

Look at this jewelry case...so useful and cute!  But at $85 normally, hard for me to justify....

If you're not a Lauren Merkin fan, don't despair, Kate Spade is hosting an online sample sale!  It's going on for a "limited time," whatever that means.  Looks like there are substantial discounts on a selection bags, wallets, scarves, shoes, clothes, jewelry etc.  Nothing really popped out at me, but you never know what may catch your eye!  

A good sample sale option reduced to $197 from $395.  The same exact bag is on sale at Bloomingdale's for $276

 The regular site is also offering a decent amount of sale items (on what I think is a much better selection), definitely worth checking out.

Happy Shopping!

Custom Greeting Cards at Drugstore Prices!

In this post, I'm not going to tell you about some amazing deal I just found on greeting cards, but I will tell you about how you can get a lot more bang for your buck in a greeting card.  I recently discovered tinyprints, and I am hooked!  Basically, this site offers customizable greeting cards (as well as items like stationary, invitations, photo gifts, etc).  I know customizable greeting cards don't sound that impressive, but they have a great selection of cards for all occasions, and you can personalize it with photos and your own text.  The quality of the card is good, and the envelopes are really cute too--they have embossed "To" and "From" on them.


I will tell you straightaway, these aren't discount cards, but they're not much more than drugstore cards.  One personalized greeting card is $3.99, and that includes shipping.  You could easily spend close to that at Duane Reade for a standard, run-of-the-mill card.  Plus, you don't have to leave the comfort of your home (or office) to get it (yay laziness!)!  Also, I noticed the other day that tinyprints was running a promotion on Valentine's Day cards (I can't remember how much the cards were, but I think it was less than $2.00 per card)!  I wouldn't be surprised if they frequently run promotions for major card-giving holidays, making these cards even better deals!  In fact, they are currently running a buy one, get one free promotion for birthday cards purchased by February 21.  Just enter the code "BDAYBOGO" at checkout.  If that's not an excuse to stock up on birthday cards, I don't know what is... 


In addition, tinyprints also offers membership plans where it's $2.99 per card if you commit to purchasing 5 cards or more and $1.99 if you commit to 10 or more.  There's an annual fee of $5.99 and $16.99 respectively, which is waived the first year.  I'm not sure I would get a membership plan--don't think it would be much of a benefit to me, but if you can see yourself purchasing a lot of cards from them, you should definitely consider it! 

An example of the front of one of tinyprint's cards 

the inside of the card

I tried this service for the first time for Valentine's Day, and I think (hope!) my boyfriend really liked the card and was surprised by the personalization.  Now he knows where his next card is coming from!

Happy Valentine's Day (and some V-day Complaints)!

Disclaimer-- this post is more about venting than dispensing actual advice, but hopefully you'll be able to glean some useful information from it!


Happy Valentine's Day!  I'll be honest with you, I enjoy celebrating Valentine's Day.  I know it's a Hallmark holiday, and is pretty much just an excuse for flower shops and restaurants (and Hallmark, of course) to boost sales, but for whatever reason, I like doing something for it.  Even when I was single, my friend and I established a tradition (that lasted a whole 2 years!) of going out for burgers at some of the city's top spots that we hadn't yet tried.  In case you're wondering, we went to the Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien one year, and Molly's in Gramercy Park the second.  If you don't have a date, or just want something really low key, I'd definitely recommend going the burger route!

Burger Joint--not a bad-looking V-Day meal!

As good as that burger looks, and as much as I enjoyed our mini-tradition, I enjoy having a legitimate date on Valentine's Day even more (no offense Cass!), and it's a nice excuse to celebrate your relationship.  Because it is a Hallmark holiday (IMO at least), I don't think it's necessary to go completely crazy.  Ideally, I'd like to go to dinner at a cute, reasonable, low-key, exposed brick Italian restaurant in the East Village.  You know--the ones you see on every other block. I figured it would be easy to find one and make a reservation.  I was wrong--most of them are booked up, and are only offering expensive prix fixe menus.  I'm not down with that. I'm a picky eater.  I also don't like being told how many courses I need to get.  I especially don't like this when the restaurant is usually not a pretentious, prix fixe type restaurant.  


And forget about a sceney restaurant!  They get booked up months before, and most of them have very expensive prix-fixe menus.  


Of course, I am generalizing.  There are restaurants that offer their normal menu, you just have to dig a little to find them. Asellina-- the new restaurant at the Gansevoort Park Hotel (for which I have a 9 o'clock reservation that I'm probably going to cancel--so if you want it, let me know!) is one example.  Of course, Asellina is pretty pricey normally, but at least you're not constricted to some overpriced Valentine's Day menu, just an overpriced regular menu.  Another interesting option is Primehouse, which I believe is offering its regular menu as well (also expensive).  However, Primehouse is throwing in a bonus-- free admission to Ten's Gentleman's Club.  Now, if this is something you'd like to do, I have to say it's a pretty good deal!


It's pretty last minute, if you're still considering going out, there are still restaurants with available reservations for tonight, so check out Opentable and make one while you still can!  (Otherwise, my guess for your best bet would be a neighborhood restaurant, but call them and make sure they have openings--I would not just walk in!).  


Anyway, on that positive and romantic note, single or coupled up, enjoy your Valentine's Day and eat lots of chocolates (or wait til tomorrow when they're on sale!).

Deal of the Day--MAJOR Discount on Jewelry

Today's Deal of the Day is for a $525 voucher for Love Rocks jewelry.  The price for this voucher?  Only $150.  That's a $375 discount! This deal is courtesy of 8moms. I'll be honest with you, before I saw this deal, I hadn't heard of Love Rocks, but after checking out their site, I definitely saw many pieces I would be more than happy to wear.  And apparently, quite a few celebrities have donned some Love Rocks.  For you guys out there looking for Valentine's Day gifts for your lady, I bet she'd love one of their initial pendants!  And, she'll think you spent a lot more on her than you actually did! That's still in the spirit of giving, right?  For you ladies, what better excuse is there to treat yourself than a great discount?  There is none. The voucher is only available until midnight tonight, so take advantage of this great deal while you can!

from  8moms 

The Better Deal-Amber Restaurant

Today's Better Deal is for Amber Restaurant (if you're not familiar with the Better Deal, please refer to this The Better Deal).  It's not a traditional better deal, because the 2 deals are for different locations, but the menus/restaurants are essentially the same.  The first deal is offered by Groupon, and is for the West Village location of Amber, located at 6th Avenue and 9th Street.  The deal is $15 for a $30 voucher, which expires May 9, 2011.  The second deal is through Restaurant.com ("RC"), and is $15 for a $25 voucher for the Gramercy location (3rd Ave between 27th and 28th).  Of course, by now we all know that Restaurant.com doles out frequent 80% off promotions, so you should never pay full price for a restaurant gift certificate on that site.  And there is an 80% off promotion going on now--just enter the word "LOVE" at checkout to receive it.  Thus, the Restaurant.com cert would only cost you $3.  That would be a savings of $23 at the Gramercy location.

Which is better?  Depends on your situation.  The RC cert doesn't expire, while the Groupon expires in a few months.  The RC savings are larger; however it comes with a $50 minimum purchase (before the discount is applied).  The Groupon offer has no minimum.  So if you don't think you'll order that much food, it may not make sense to buy the RC. And lastly, there's the location.  If you live in the WV, you're probably not going to want to schlep to Gramercy, and vice versa.  So I've laid it all out for you, it's up to you to decide!

Deal of the Day- Pay $75 for a $165 Gift Certificate at National Jean Company!

I was pretty excited when I saw today's deal of the day--$165 voucher at National Jean Company!  The price? $75.  That's a $90 discount off anything at any of their stores (they have 2 in Manhattan and 4 on Long Island).  The voucher expires August 8, 2011, but it doesn't seem as though there are any other exclusions (which  means you can score a great deal if you find a sale item!).  For those of you who are unfamiliar with National (though if you grew up on Long Island, you are probably very familiar with this store), they have a great selection of designer jeans as well as designer clothing and accessories.  You should take a look at their website if you want to get a better idea of the lines they carry.  This offer is being made through Rue La La, and they often sell these vouchers at a limited quantity, so if you're interested you should buy now!  

Tour Ashton Kutcher's House Through Gilt City (OR DO IT FOR FREE!)

So Gilt City Los Angeles is going to have a very special promotion on offer in about 6 hours-- a tour of Ashton Kutcher's home.  Because the sale hasn't started yet, I'm not sure how much tickets will be, but my guess is that they won't be cheap.  Does anything else come with the tour?  Based on Gilt City's description, I don't think so.  Do you get to meet Ashton?

  

Doesn't seem as though that is included either.  AND, Gilt City has furnished the house itself (with items that it will later be selling on its website)-- Ashton's stuff isn't even there!  In case you couldn't tell, I find this promotion to be pretty ridiculous (although proceeds from the tickets will go to charity, so there is one good thing).  However, if you are Ashton-obsessed, it turns out that Ashton's house is for sale!  Forget about a measly little tour, for $2.6 million, you can OWN the house (though in this market, you can probably still get it if you low-ball a little).  OR for those of you who are on a budget (and if you're reading my site, you probably are) you can just schedule an appointment with the broker Gary Gold and see the house for free!  Take that Gilt City!

Dollar Saving Vacation Tips

Originally published January 27, 2011

In light of the most recent snowstorm to hit NYC this winter (what's up with the weather this year??), I thought it would be a good time to further reminisce about being in Hawaii.  As promised, I'm going to give you some tips on how to score good deals while vacationing.  I'm also going to give you some "don'ts" so you don't make the same mistakes I did.

1.  This is an absolute "DO"-- get a guidebook before you go on vacation.  They are soooo helpful and really give you an insight into wherever you're traveling that you wouldn't have otherwise.  Also, it will give you recommendations for restaurants, tour companies, excursions, etc.  I will usually do some research as to what are the best books for a particular location, but in general I really like the Let's Go series for Europe, and will use Fodor's for other places as my default if I can't find any clear book winner.  For Hawaii, I heard unequivocal praise for the Hawaii guidebooks from Wizard Publications (which I had never heard of before).

I will usually check these books out of the library prior to my trip.  However, the NYPL actually does not carry Wizard's The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook, so I went out and purchased it (using a 20% off coupon at Barnes & Noble!).  I would HIGHLY recommend this book if you ever go to Hawaii (there's a different book for each island).

2.  The next tip is pretty obvious and goes hand in hand with my previous tip.  Research and plan beforehand.  When I'm doing a vacation involving a lot of sight-seeing, I like to have at least a rough idea of the things I want to see and do.  I won't make a structured itinerary--I like to leave some flexibility-- but I want to make sure that I'll have time to do everything I had hoped to.  Another benefit of researching beforehand is that you may actually save money!  For instance, my boyfriend and I decided to take a helicopter tour of Kauai.  We decided on one particular tour company that seemed to be the most reputable.  When I looked on their website, I saw the price was $229 per person.  I called the company and asked about discounts and learned that the only available discount was for AAA members.  So I did a little more digging online, and found a Maui-based tour company, Tom Barefoot's Tours that was offering discounted reservations.  I wound up booking through Tom Barefoot, and we paid $197 per person.  While this certainly wasn't cheap, between the two of us, we wound up saving $64.  Hey, it's something!  And for the record, the ride was totally worth the money.

View of the Napali Coast from the helicopter. The picture does NOT do it justice!

Anyway, this post is much longer than I anticipated.  But I still have a few more tips so stay tuned for one last post on my vacation money-saving tips!

Mahalo Priceline!

I had originally posted this post, as well as the following one, on the Wordpress version of Dollar Saving Diva.  However, I did promise everyone one final installment on my money-saving vacation tips, and that is coming soon.  I figured it would make sense to have all three related posts on the same blog so I've re-posted the first two for your ease if you ever do need to reference them in the future (which I would love to happen!).  So here they are!

Well, I’m back from Hawaii!  Thanks to NY for welcoming me with freezing temperatures.  It’s sooo great to be back!

My trip was fantastic–we spent 9 nights in Honolulu and Kauai, and had a wonderful time.  Of course, just because I left NY behind, doesn’t mean that I left my dollar-saving ways behind too.  In fact, I’m happy to report that while the trip was by no means cheap, I was able to score quite a few discounts, saving us a significant amount of money.

I’m going to share some of the tips and tricks I used to get the deals I found, so that you can save some dollars on your next trip!

One of the biggest savings that I got came from Priceline.com.  Believe it or not, I had never used the “Name Your Own Price” feature on the website, but I wound up using it twice for this trip.  And I can’t wait to use it again!!!  I used Priceline for our hotel in Kauai, as well as for our rental car there.

Because we went to Hawaii during the rainy season, I was afraid of bad weather and wanted to do everything I could to ensure the best possible weather.  For that reason, I decided to stay on the South Shore of Kauai, in Poipu Beach, because it was supposed to be sunnier and drier than the island’s other major resort areas.  I wanted to stay in a 4 or 5 star resort, and there were only two in that part of Kauai–the Sheraton and Grand Hyatt.  At close to $500 per night, the Grand Hyatt was out of our budget, so I decided to stay at the Sheraton with a base rate of about $230 per night.  I monitored Sheraton’s website and found a deal for 35% off the nightly rate with the 5th night free.  This was by far the best deal I found for it, coming in with a base rate of about $175 per night.  I was very happy with this rate, but wanted to see if I could do better.  (Also, I was kind of salivating over the Hyatt).  So I decided to check out Priceline.

And I’m glad I did!  I had never used Priceline before because I was afraid to relinquish control over what hotel I’d be staying in.  But I didn’t realize that you can choose hotels by star level and by location.  I checked out the regular hotel search on Priceline, and the Sheraton and Grand Hyatt were the only 2 hotels that appeared in the location I wanted and in the “resort” category, so I knew that I’d get one of the two.  So I went for it, and wound up booking the Sheraton at $135 per night!  For a beach-front resort in Hawaii, that deal was pretty much unbeatable, and I saved about $40 per night.

What made it even better was that the hotel was supposed to undergo a renovation starting 2 days before we were supposed to arrive.  The hotel only announced this a few days prior to that date, and as a consolation, it was going to offer its guests free breakfast for the duration of their stay (the buffet was normally about $25 per person).  Luckily, the renovation was pushed back until after we were leaving the hotel, but we were still given the breakfast vouchers.  Additionally, because the hotel wasn’t at full capacity, we asked for and received an ocean-view room.  For $135 a night (plus taxes and the BS ”resort fee”).

The view from our balcony... I wish I could be there now!

The hotel itself was nice, but nothing spectacular.  I’m curious to see what it will look like after the renovation.  Overall though, it was undoubtedly worth what we paid for it, and even if we had paid the higher price, I wouldn’t have regretted it.  Thanks Priceline!

I booked a convertible through Priceline as well.  The savings were much more modest at about $15 per night, but I think we could’ve gotten a great deal if we had just wanted a normal car.

Anyway, the savings did not end with the hotel and car.  Stay tuned for some of the other discounts I found as well as my other vacation saving tips!

*If you were wondering about the title, Mahalo is “thank you” in Hawaiian.

Blackboard Eats No Longer Free

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, but I've been lazy. Sorry about that.  Anyway, I wanted to let you know that Blackboard Eats, which I had written about a while back, announced a few weeks ago that they are no longer offering free restaurant discounts.  In the earlier post, I had extolled its virtues, since it would provide substantial discounts (usually 30% off your bill) for pretty popular and upscale restaurants.  I had wondered how they actually made any money.  It appears that they weren't making money, or at least not enough of it, because they now charge $1 per deal.  Luckily, $1 is pretty negligible in comparison with the potential discounts; however, I will no longer indiscriminately accept each restaurant offer, as I had done previously.  I am happy to report that Scoutmob is still offering free restaurant deals, and I've been pretty impressed with some of the offerings of late, though I still have not taken advantage of any of their deals.  I will soon though, and I'll report back!  Promise!

Old Posts

Some of you may be wondering where all Dollar Saving Diva's past content went.  Well, no worries, if you get nostalgic for past posts, you can still access it at http://dollarsavingdiva.wordpress.com.  Any new readers should check those posts out too!  I will also continue to reference these earlier posts in my future posts.  So without further ado, welcome to the new and improved Dollar Saving Diva!

By the way, I'm very excited that Blogger lets you play with text color.  Can you tell?